Viscount Loewenbert glanced to one side and said,
"It seems the court holds more than just enemies for you, Baron."
Forces beyond the Gale Knights and the duchy army had joined us as well. The Steinhof family was one of the few staunch allies who had supported us with knights back when Fiel was serving as vice commander of the Gale Knights.
To my surprise, the man leading the Steinhof private soldiers was Adolf Ritter von Steinhof. I never expected the old hero—who had supposedly retired, handed the family headship to his son, and withdrawn from the world—to come running in person.
Adolf paid his respects to me.
It made for quite an awkward sight.
"This old man pestered the family head until he let me come running to help the Baron of Rosenheim."
For all that he was the hero of twenty years past and the elder of a renowned swordsmanship family, Adolf’s official title was duchy knight—the same rank as Beort. Yet no one looked down on him as a mere duchy knight.
After all, the title the previous king had intended to bestow upon him had been nothing less than marquis.
So, out of respect for the old hero, I treated him with courtesy.
"Thank you for leading the reinforcements in person, Sir Steinhof."
"With our grandson so constantly in your care, I could hardly sit idle."
"Our family and yours share an unchanging friendship. If the Steinhof family ever finds itself in difficulty, I will not hesitate to rush to your aid."
Showing excessive courtesy to a duchy knight isn’t proper conduct for a titled noble, but this was the Storm Knight, the man they called a hero. In the Duchy of Beren, Adolf alone was qualified to receive such treatment.
He was also the grandfather Fiel respected, and meeting him with mutual respect was as far as I could reasonably go. Thanks to that, the Steinhof retainers seemed relieved as well.
"Other families aside, this old man has a certain history with Neunil and Reinfeldt. Viscount Neunil in particular is a man this old knight clashed with often in his younger days."
"Don’t tell me you intend to stand at the front, Sir Steinhof? That’s—"
"This may be the age of the Gale, but only twenty years ago, the name Storm Knight made every noble tremble. This old man may be retired, but when it comes to Neunil, I want to step forward myself."
"Hmm. Very well, then. But do not push yourself too hard. If anything happens to you, I won’t be able to face Fiel."
"Hahaha! Don’t you worry. Thank you for giving me the chance to settle a long-held grudge."
A flicker of killing intent showed in Adolf’s eyes. That’s not just "a certain history." The two of them seem to be outright sworn enemies. I don’t know anything about the affairs entangling their families, but it looks like Neunil has finally met his match.
"Streit and Steinhof. What a troublesome combination."
Adelbert, who had joined late as an observer, looked deeply uncomfortable watching the Steinhofs take such an active role. He held the highest rank of anyone present, yet he was the one being helped.
What dumbfounded him most was that the Judicial Department, which had savaged him as a family murderer, had now turned into an ally. He had pleaded that the accusation was false, but it hadn’t made the slightest difference.
In the end, the Judicial Department’s about-face came down to nothing more than a difference in power.
"So you’re the new Count of Reinfeldt. Your father’s death is regrettable, but I can only call it karma."
"My father is my father. I have no wish to discuss the history between my house and Steinhof."
Adelbert was reluctant to clash with Steinhof.
At that, a heavy killing intent poured from Adolf’s eyes.
"Out of regard for the Baron of Rosenheim, I’ll let it pass."
Fortunately, no blades were drawn. Adolf’s killing intent made me grip my halberd on instinct, which showed his presence was as tremendous as ever. Truly an incredible aura of intimidation. Then he returned to his retainers.
Adelbert’s legs nearly gave out.
"It seems Reinfeldt is surrounded by nothing but enemies."
"...Grudges that have piled up since my father’s generation."
It was Reinfeldt that had obstructed the Steinhof family’s cavalry lance business.
These days, far from obstructing the Steinhofs, the Reinfeldts were careful not even to provoke them, but back when the Finance Minister was at the height of his power, relations between the two houses had apparently been terrible.
The problem was that the grudges had piled up higher than the cathedral spire. That’s why, the moment the Finance Minister died, enemies came rushing from all sides to tear into the house he’d left behind. There is no such thing as eternal power and glory in this world.
Still, Adelbert seemed to think the situation wasn’t as bad as he’d feared.
Even if Reinfeldt weathers this crisis and survives, Adelbert will still have to clear hurdle after hurdle, and clearing them depends entirely on his own ability.
He also won’t be able to escape the Military Department’s shadow for some time. The Judicial and Administrative Departments will band together to try to keep us in check, but as long as we hold the Finance Department, the Military Department will lead court politics for the foreseeable future.
Originally, I was supposed to be the Military Department’s political man, but now that I’ve become a prince, we may need someone new for the role. Hmm. If only Margareta had stayed in Breisburg.
"We enter the Neuden northwest district. If anyone resists along the way, arrest them, no questions asked!"
"Gale Knights, move in!"
For the first time, the nation’s own army marched in force into the northwest district, lined with the mansions of the high nobles who surrounded the royal palace. Gatekeeper Karlstadt, who guarded the palace, must have been on pins and needles.
This place was simply too close to the royal palace.
Even though we had no such intentions whatsoever, the palace gatekeepers were probably wetting themselves. As expected, the northwest district was deserted and quiet. Almost no one resisted.
Viscount Loewenbert commanded the duchy army encircling the northwest district according to plan, and I likewise kept a vigilant watch to make sure the Gale Knights raided no mansion other than the Viscount Neunil family’s.
If most of them had positive dispositions, I wouldn’t have worried about it at all, but a good number of the former Hungarian mercenaries had negative ones. So I’d repeatedly impressed it upon Barosi and Herto:
Command them so that they absolutely do not raid anything but the target.
I didn’t know how long that order would hold, but it was the most critical issue of all.
As we advanced, the private soldiers guarding each mansion waited with tense faces for us to pass. Beort took the lead as our guide, having scouted out the location of the Viscount Neunil family’s mansion in advance.
Just as Frendel’s information had indicated, archers were posted along the walls of the Neunil mansion, and its defenses were quite solid. Adolf, who had secured my permission beforehand, took up position before the family’s front gate.
"Viscount Neunil! I have come to see that rat face of yours again!"
Adolf’s voice rang out like thunder.
How does a man past seventy still have that much power in his voice?
"You wretch, Steinhof! How dare you raise your voice here!"
"I see no rat—only a coward left in his place."
An old man of about Adolf’s age had come out. He didn’t seem to be Viscount Neunil. When I asked Adelbert beside me, he said it was Gustav, a retainer knight of the Viscount Neunil family.
Gustav is a very common name, but putting Gustav and Adolf together brought a single figure to mind: Gustav Adolf, the seventeenth-century Lion King of Sweden.
"I don’t want to exchange a single word with the likes of you! Bring Viscount Neunil out at once!"
"Did you think a lowborn wretch like you could meet a noble of high birth so easily?! Archers! Rain arrows on that man!"
The Viscount Neunil family was clearly determined to resist. The private soldiers’ arrows poured down on the Gale Knights. But with plenty of cover nearby, we suffered little damage.
"Shield unit! To the front!"
"Archers, nock your arrows!"
The Gale Knights’ archers had been replaced with Hungarian horse archers. They excelled at massed volleys but were hopeless at precision shooting. Even so, they were more than effective enough at suppressing the enemy archers.
Meanwhile, Adolf and the Steinhof knights, so heavily armored that mere arrows simply bounced off them, charged in to force open the mansion’s gate. The rookie noble members followed close behind.
We had put the rookies at the front, but it was no exaggeration to call their combat prowess first-rate. They had been systematically trained since childhood to become knights, and they were heavily equipped besides.
Backing them up were the veterans.
As the commander, I didn’t step in personally.
Hmm. It was practically a small-scale siege.
Adelbert furrowed his brow.
"They’re resisting more fiercely than I expected."
"Their lives are on the line, so of course they resist. Even a cornered rat will bite the cat."
"An interesting analogy. A cornered rat."
Adelbert, who had only just escaped being a cornered rat himself, seemed to be turning the words over. The accusation of family murder had been a threat grave enough to wear his nerves ragged.
But I could sense a faint killing intent coming from him.
It seems he intends to kill Mort the moment he lays eyes on him.