It seemed the Finance Minister’s goal was to pretend to help while eliminating the count who had bankrolled him so lavishly, swallowing the borrowed money whole. If my guess was right, it was exactly the sort of thing that old fox would do.
For Count Heinlein, it was a knife in the back he never saw coming, but that is the world of intrigue. Any opening is an invitation for a blade. You have to be careful who you trust.
And there was one more person involved, the one who had set this entire affair in motion.
"Underestimating Prince Louis was your fatal mistake, too."
"I should have known the moment that consumptive invalid sent Viola to you!"
"So the dead prince made a fool of the living count."
Louis never once danced to the count’s tune, right up until his death. By sending Viola, pregnant with his illegitimate child, to me, he had effectively crushed Count Heinlein’s ambitions.
Louis must have been certain I would get involved.
And he was right. I had only meant to wash away some filthy gutter water, but this was how it all turned out.
What would have happened if he had been a healthy man? He probably would have been the crown prince’s greatest political rival, dogging his every step. Thank God he died young.
It is almost embarrassing that I ever pitied him.
"Given how things stand, I’d like to make a deal with you."
"A deal, at this point? Do you really have any information left worth trading, Count?"
"Others might not care, but the Finance Minister’s conspiracy should interest you, Baron."
Hmm, the Finance Minister’s conspiracy. I will admit, it was tempting.
All I knew was that the Finance Minister was preparing to drag Adelbert down and reclaim his old position. What exactly the plan was and how far along it had come, I had no idea.
I had considered interrogating the count with the help of his mindset readings, but the problem was that my information sources were far too thin. Even so, I had no intention of tilting the board in his favor.
The details on the Finance Minister could wait until after we took Schafen.
"Count Heinlein, I’ll hear your testimony once you’re in a prison tower."
"Don’t come crying to me later, Baron. By then, it will already be far too late."
"Sir Beort, you’ll keep watch over the count."
After taking Count Heinlein and the Schlieffen mercenary company prisoner, we made camp nearby. God only knows what kind of Christmas Eve this had turned into, but we had captured our primary target, the count, so it was a major success.
[The Night of the Nativity Runs Red Quest Complete]
[Reward: 1,000 points, 10 silver coins]
[F-Rank Night Raid Commander (Vision 20%, Identification 20%)]
The measly reward aside, I had acquired a pretty good title: Night Raid Commander. The boosts to vision and identification alone raise the odds of a successful night raid.
That said, I have no intention of launching night raids unless the situation truly calls for it.
It is true that night raids throw the enemy into chaos, but they do the same to us. Without proper preparation, friendly fire in the dark is practically guaranteed. This time, we relied on torchlight to tell friend from foe.
Fortunately, this raid succeeded, and the panicked mercenaries surrendered after taking heavy losses. Pulling off even one successful night raid is genuinely difficult. Still, I got a good title out of it, so I was satisfied.
"You called for us, Baron?"
Once my personal tent was set up, I summoned Beort, Drek, and Barosi apart from the rest. I intended to address what had happened in the battle. Beort and Drek entered cautiously.
They had picked up on my sour mood.
They had spent years walking on eggshells around others, so of course they were careful.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but charging in blind is a problem. You know what I’m about to say, don’t you? Do you want to become fools who die pointlessly chasing glory?"
I have said it over and over: none of it matters if you are dead.
Coordination is critical in battle, and unless you possess overwhelming might like mine, charging ahead like some fearless champion when it takes three of you to barely handle a single mercenary is nothing short of suicide.
Beort and Drek were visibly shaken.
I rarely get angry at my subordinates.
Barosi, who entered after them, could not understand a word, but he read the room and quietly watched from the sidelines. In the suffocating atmosphere, Beort came to his senses and admitted his fault.
"We’re sorry. I think we grew impatient, desperate to prove ourselves as soon as possible."
"It’s not that I don’t understand how you feel, but too much zeal becomes poison."
They were nobles with positive dispositions who desperately needed an opportunity, so I had assumed they would manage on their own. I had been far too complacent. Now it was clear. These two were big fish in a very small pond.
Having never fought in a real battle, they had likely only ever learned to fight as a small group, drilling for coordination with their own retainers. But an army has to move in harmony as a whole, and that was something they did not know.
"Give us a chance! We will never fight so recklessly again!"
"Sir Drek, you said most of your retainers are friends from your hometown, correct?"
Drek desperately wanted that chance, but his retainers had been extremely rude to Barosi. Barosi had shown his displeasure toward Drek, though with the language barrier between them, he had kept his mouth shut.
"I heard your men calling Barosi a barbarian. Clear as day."
"Th-that’s just because they’re a little rough around the edges... No. My retainers’ fault is my fault!"
Drek immediately apologized to Barosi.
Barosi looked bewildered, but he seemed to grasp the intent.
"Baron, did this knight just apologize to me?"
"He did. No excuses. He took the blame himself and apologized to you."
"Then I accept the apology. But please tell him he needs to train his retainers properly!"
"Barosi, I’m not your interpreter, you know."
"Gah, my apologies! I’ll study German harder!"
If he panicked over a simple joke, what did that make me? In any case, I was glad it ended well. On top of that, I ordered joint training with the Gale Knights. Training together, they were bound to learn something.
Beort and Drek listened with the utmost sincerity.
They must have learned something today as well.
The moment dawn broke, we set out south for Schafen.