The Second Son of the Count Is Too Good

Luke looked at Bjorn in silence. An unexpected oath of allegiance. He had a very cold face, but his heart was beating wildly.

‘The lord’s oath of allegiance.’

From noble mtl dot com

It is different from an oath given by a knight. A knight is a being who serves his lord anyway. If not yourself, someone else will find and serve you.

But the lord is not a knight, but a monarch. It is not a person who is used by someone, but a person who uses someone.

Receiving the loyalty of such a lord means one thing.

‘To serve as a king.’

Luke gently closed his eyes. It is not a formal loyalty received blindfolded like in the West.

Bjorn sincerely wanted to serve Luke as the king.

“Do you know what you mean?”

“I know you well.”

“My subordinates won’t like it.”

The lord of the lord is an ambiguous existence. The person he wanted to serve serves someone else.

When a servant sees it, it is a sight that hits the target. Needless to say, unless you understand why your lord is loyal to you.

‘If there is no king-like authority, there will only be opposition.’

Luke has no land and no status. All that was there was the title of an apprentice knight and two powerful knights.

Bjorn’s vassals had more than enough reasons to rebel. Even more so if it’s not formal loyalty, but sincerity.

“I’d rather.”

End with a brotherly oath. That was when I was about to say it. Someone jumped out of the crowd watching.

“Henrik?”

“I’m an ignorant bastard, so please forgive me for not knowing manners.”

Henrik opened his eyes and looked at Luke. Yeah, I knew there would be a backlash. No matter how much he helped, the lord would have done too much.

As Bjorn’s vassal, speak plainly. Henrik took a deep breath, got down on his knees, and shouted.

“Greetings to the Great Betrayal!”

“… … !”

“Please accept my lord!”

Luke’s eyes shook violently. Betrayal. A word that refers to a vassal of a vassal. Henrik was calling his master Luke’s vassal.

In the silence, another crash rang out. This time, it was one of Bjorn’s subordinates staying at the inn.

“Please accept my lord.”

That was the signal flare.

dump.

dump.

Young people started to kneel. The subordinates kept close by, the common soldiers, and the soldiers’ families.

Before long, the entire Falun people knelt down. In the midst of the silence, someone’s voice rang out.

“Please accept the young master.”

Everyone was silent, so the small sound was loud like thunder. And that was it. No one opened their mouths anymore.

The reason was easy to see.

‘It must be scary.’

They were all unlearned. It’s etiquette and you don’t know if you sleep. So, I chose to keep my mouth shut.

I was afraid that Luke would accept Bjorn if I said something wrong.

-You are the king.

Everyone in the room was saying that. The feeling of being considered a king by many was exhilarating beyond words.

“Whoa.”

Luke sighed deeply. It was a sigh to calm the heat in his chest.

“Wake up.”

“Will you accept it?”

“It won’t change anything if one vassal increases.”

Bjorn trembled. When he raised his head, his eyes met Luke, who was looking straight at Bjorn.

Luke calmly opened his mouth.

“Bjorn Veldine.”

“Yes, lord.”

“You are my sword from now on, the one who will become the king of the north.”

“… … !”

Bjorn and even Henrik froze at the shocking words. If you make a vassal into a king, there is only one place for that lord to aim.

“If the dream is too heavy for you, it’s okay to quit.”

“Absolutely not.”

Bjorn jumped to his feet and shouted.

“I will follow. Any way.”

Luke smiled. yes, that’s how it should be Bjorn followed Luke as he entered the inn.

Then the villagers burst into cheers. It was the moment when the first meeting between the king of the north and his lord was recorded.

* * *

The first thing I did after entering the inn was a strategy meeting. Since war was declared, Baron Greve will soon attack.

“What do you plan to do?”

“I’ll hit it first.”

Bjorn answered Luke’s question immediately.

“If you wait, reinforcements will surely come. You have to hit it first.”

“You’re wearing a little last name?”

“It is a small castle without a moat.”

What a great last name the baron must have. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a level that only has an assortment of castles.

If only Luke lends a hand, he could have captured it.

“And food is scarce. It’s not a situation where you can drag on and fight.”

“How much do you have?”

“If you scrape all the way to the floor, you will find enough military rice for about 15 days.”

At least there are few soldiers, so we can last for 15 days. If there were a lot of numbers, on the contrary, they couldn’t handle the food consumption, so it would have been impossible to attack.

“Fortunately, we are poor in numbers, but the other side is also poor.”

“Hey, it’s because I’m a baron.”

A soldier, especially a standing army, is a money-eater. If you are a baron, the only troops you always use are guards.

In contrast, the troops under Bjorn’s command are the elite who went through the war. If you rotate properly, you can defeat it at once.

“The problem is justification.”

“Is a justification necessary in this situation?”

“There are enough reasons to fight, but not enough reasons to occupy.”

“ah.”

It was something Luke hadn’t even thought of. Simply fighting a battle and occupying the land were entirely different matters.

In any case, a lord is a ruler recognized by the imperial family. If you recklessly kick them out and eat them without any justification, you will be pushed out of the justification.

‘The best way is to bring a relative.’

To find a blood relative with the right of succession and use it as a puppet proxy. It will be a common practice in the next few years.

For now, the justification of passing it on to a legitimate blood relative is satisfied.

‘But at first, I ate a lot of swearing.’

It just went on later and spread widely, saying, ‘Because everyone else is doing it, so am I’. The first offender was cursed until he died.

He said he left a filthy bad precedent in the history of the continent. As a result, he was attacked and killed from all sides for what he had done.

“It hurts.”

If you fight, you win, but you can’t occupy it. Of course, if you can’t occupy it, it will be difficult to recruit troops and supply supplies.

If you fight the viscount in that state, you will lose.

“Do you have a map? Tell me the location of Baron Greve.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Henrik pulled out a small map from his chest. A poor travel map for military strategy.

Still, the division of the area and the small road were written. Henrik pointed to one side with his finger and said.

“This is where Falun can be seen here, and Baron Greve considers it.”

“… … ?”

Luke blinked and looked at the map. what? Am I wrong now?

“Is this the Greve estate?”

“yes.”

“As far as I know, the name of the land was different.”

Elmholt. That is the name of this land given before returning. However, the name written on it now was completely different.

“Ah, the original name is Elmholt.”

“But why did it change?”

“It changed when the baron became the owner of the land. He said he didn’t like the name.”

“aha.”

Is it a case of not being a noble from birth, but having a territory later? If that’s the case, it’s completely understandable.

Originally, the owner of the land was probably kicked out because the imperial family and neighboring lords hated him.

“Good. I don’t need any more excuses.”

“yes? Is there a way?”

“Yeah, there’s an awesome way.”

It’s not standard, but there’s a reason not to be criticized by others. A justification that only Luke could do on this earth.

* * *

“Did he really do that?”

“Yes, Father.”

Philippe Greve, the current head of the Greve family, frowned at the report from his son Larius.

“You seem insane. To fight with only one falun.”

Of course, since Falun itself was close to an exile, all adult men were soldiers with war experience.

But even taking that into account, the available power was too little.

‘But to say they’re going to siege with that number.’

It was so absurd that I couldn’t even speak. Larius looked at his father, Philip, with a slightly uneasy look.

“Father, shouldn’t we ask the Viscount for help?”

“What is salvation, we are enough.”

“But just in case… … .”

Seeing his anxious son, Philip clicked his tongue. Obviously, the problem was that he was obsessed with his son, who was not bad in quality.

“If it is really a crisis, I will ask for help. But is this the level of a crisis? If we can’t stop even that number, what will the viscount think of us?”

“That is true.”

Larius swallowed the afterword that even we are few in number. Philip calmly explained to his son.

“War is not judged by combat power and troops alone. Think carefully. Why did Marius, your maternal uncle, go to Falun?”

“Food… ah!”

“Yes, they have no food.”

Philip grinned. If you are a noble, you know the importance of supplies in battle.

Countless lords have lost one or two battles where supply could change their fortunes.

“An army without food will collapse even if it stays still. We just have to put on our castle and defend ourselves.”

“But what if the Bernstein scion cooperates? According to the foreign teacher, he himself is quite talented, and the two knights under his command are extremely strong.”

Only in large-scale battles does the knight’s presence fade. However, in such a small-scale battle, the performance of a single knight was overwhelming.

The moment even one person climbs up the wall and swings a sword, the nightmare will begin. But Philip was at ease.

“Okay. Because if you have the right mind, there is no need to go to war.”

“Why do you think so? If Bjorn had promised a reward… … .”

“It was a problem before that. Don’t they have a reason to occupy this territory?”

Even if you win the battle, if you try to occupy it without any justification, it is invasion. Before the North, there will be wrath in the imperial family.

Even in the northern part of the country, which was at odds with the imperial family, ’emperorship’ was an important cause. The moment he becomes a traitor, he will drool and attack from all sides.

“That’s why you don’t occupy our territory and challenge the viscount right away? That, too, is crazy.”

In the end, no matter which side Bjorn chooses, he has no choice but to be defeated. If he had received even a little education, of course he would not join Bjorn.

“So there is nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

It was when Larius was delighted after hearing all the explanations. Outside, a messenger rushed in.

“Go, Your Excellency! It’s a big deal!”

“What? Did Bjorn come?”

“no! A declaration of war has been sent to you by the name of Luke Bernstein!”

“what!?”

Philip as well as Larius got up in fright. No, why did the son of the Bernstein family declare war, not Bjorn?

“Come on, give it to me!”

“yes!”

Philip snatched the declaration of war from the messenger’s hand and read the contents. The content itself was formal.

– Not being able to properly manage the territory is like undermining the authority of the imperial family. So, I will take back the land.

From noble mtl dot com

The problem was the right to occupy the land and what was written down.

“With the authority of Norman’s grandson and Lyria’s son? Will you kick out the lord who pollutes your ancestors’ hometown? Who the hell are those two!”