episode_0155

Savinelli urgently organizes the front line and decides to retreat.

Of course, it’s Savinelli’s opinion, but when he thinks about it. Ioanes is in danger now.

‘Our army is mostly made up of mercenaries. If Byzantine falls and we can’t pay them, we don’t know what the mercenaries will do.’

When Ioannes mobilized his troops. Savinelli, who remembered that many of the main mercenaries were included, was immediately worried about the safety of his lord and issued an urgent order.

“All troops, prepare to retreat, we are moving out of Dupol.”

In this way, preparations for the retreat from the Dupol front proceed.

‘His Majesty Ioanes… I hope you stay safe until I get there…’

***

Ioanes is anxious to hear the news that Byzantium is under attack. If Byzantion falls, the war will end in his defeat.

Capturing the capital of a country is not easy.

Thessalonica, which is quite large in Adria, is also difficult to capture, but it is as obvious as Byzantium that it will be captured.

‘Damn… I prepared this even before I formed an alliance with the United Kingdom.’

The Nicaean army is currently engaging in an unreasonable forced march.

It was so hard that some soldiers died from exhaustion.

It’s something I wouldn’t normally do for the sake of morale, but now it’s urgent.

There are now less than 5 days left.

“The worst was… avoided.”

Ioanes has been having nightmares lately when he sleeps.

A nightmare in which Byzantion falls and one is dragged to the execution site.

I think it was fortunate that he remembers waking up from that dream with his whole body in a cold sweat.

Because that doesn’t really happen.

-Your Highness’s skirmishers are back.

Ioanes says after hearing the words coming from outside.

“Ask them to come inside.”

As soon as Ioanes gives permission, scouts come in and report.

“Your Majesty! Big… big deal.”

Ioanes feels uneasy inside as he hears the messenger’s voice, which seems unusual.

‘Why are you making such a fuss? Could it be that Byzantion has fallen?’

Ioanes intuitively felt that what he feared had become a reality.

He takes a deep breath and slowly opens his mouth.

“Ha…, tell me.”

“Rain… The flag of the imperial army was planted in Byzantium.”

-Well… what do you mean? This is ridiculous!

-Then doesn’t that mean we can’t even receive supplies?

Upon hearing the news that Byzantium had fallen, Ioannes and everyone under his command felt despair.

***

Meanwhile, Agrippa, who captured Byzantion, is now preparing for a defensive battle.

Since the enemy could come here soon, war materials were transported to Byzantium through the port, and security was managed not long after Byzantium fell.

“Hmm… It’s nearby.”

I nod my head when the scout reports that the enemy has arrived nearby.

“If we had come this quickly, we would have forced a march when the enemy was tired. Should we attack? Or should I just watch for a little while?”

It is difficult to know how much supplies the enemy has, but Agrippa knows well that it will not last long.

Fighting a tired enemy is not a bad idea, but Agrippa thinks it would be a better choice to fight an enemy who is tired from not being able to eat anything, so he erases the attack from his mind.

***

The camp of Nicaea.

The leaders of mercenary groups are gathering and holding a secret meeting.

An orc wearing a turban who appears to be in his 50s speaks.

“Did you hear the news? They say Byzantion has fallen.”

“I heard that too. So what are our employment costs?”

A group of mercenaries hired on condition that they receive a down payment and a weekly hiring fee when first hired.

They become anxious at the thought that they will not be able to receive their wages if the Byzantine bank that pays them has fallen to the enemy.

“You probably won’t get it. And this war is already over. From what I heard, the city in charge of supplying the Nicaean army was Byzantium. If that place is lost, the army will soon disintegrate.”

The other leaders also nod their heads as they look at the orc who speaks in a noble and intelligent manner, despite his appearance.

“Damn. I came here just to have a drink. I heard the situation in Babylon is not good right now? They say that other demons have appeared and are causing a swarm of locusts to eat up all the food.”

Everyone looks worried at those words.

“Damn it… It’s ridiculous that we won’t be able to get paid for employment. We have more pages than Nicaea, so are they going to completely destroy us?”

As a mercenary leader with a mean face spoke, the hall became quiet.

“If you don’t have the money to give us, we should collect it, right?”

When the orc spoke, everyone’s eyes focused on the orc.

“We lost the war anyway. What if we bring the head of the king of Nicaea to the empire? Wouldn’t it open the door for me to go home?”

If they want to return to their homeland, they must pass through Byzantium.

But now that place has fallen to the imperial army. You cannot return to Babylon without their permission.

“Hmm…”

Everyone is lost in various thoughts about the orc’s words.

“Is that true too? Instead of having to fight the imperial army, why don’t we give Ioannes’ head to open the way, and after passing Byzantium, we go back and plunder the wealthy southern part of Nicaea? I heard that Nicaea has a lot of food, unlike Babylon, so it must be quite salty.”

In fact, there was a lot of food stored up as war materials at home.

If you take it to Babylon, you can make quite a lot of money.

“Then should we do it like this? How about killing the king of Nicaea, sending his head to the empire, and plundering the city or castle of Nicaea when heading to Babylon? No one will say anything to us, right?”

It hasn’t been long since the civil war ended in the empire.

Moreover, from the empire’s point of view, they have the clumsy idea that since Nicaea is a rebellious kingdom, they are unlikely to attack it unless they go to war with Babylon just because mercenaries are plundering it.

“That would be good? When should we fight? I also didn’t like how the Nikea kids were showing off.”

The empire, or rather the people of Nicaea and Babylon, loathe each other.

The reason is that it is difficult to look kindly on the people of the Babylonian Empire, who frequently invade Nicaea, and it seems that the Babylonians are also trying to match their country, which is nothing if not an empire.

“Hehe, let’s tell the kids first. Are the Nicea guys completely exhausted now? So, how about this morning?”

Everyone nods at the human mercenary’s words.

“Then, let’s all do our best to check in, and then we’ll find out in the morning, right?”

In this way, the mercenary leaders disperse.

***

Ioannes, king of Nicaea.

He is now sleeping in bed with a nearly naked Olivia.

He needed a woman due to the extreme stress of Byzantium falling.

After one violent affair, I was barely able to fall asleep.

And Olivia, a beautiful woman who relieved his stress.

She is sleeping peacefully in Ioannes’ arms.

-Ahh!

-Yo… a mercenary killed a person… Ugh!

-What…what!

As the surroundings become noisy, Ioanes and Olivia wake up.

-It’s a rebellion! The mercenaries rebelled!

“Umm… Your Highness?”

Screams and shouts can be heard around you.

-ding!

When the bell rings loudly when an enemy attacks…

“This… what’s the fuss?”

Ioanes barely wakes up and sees a soldier hurriedly entering the tent.

“Your Majesty! This is a big deal! The mercenaries have rebelled!”

“What… what?!”

“That… Your Highness?!”

Ioanes and Olivia, their complexions turning blue, hurriedly get up from the bed and their naked bodies are revealed.

“Treason?! Now that…”

Ioanes hastily puts on his clothes and tries to put on his armor…

“Ugh!”

A group of mercenaries entering the tent.

“ho? majesty? How have you been? We fight for life and death like this, but your majesty sleeps with a woman next to you. I envy you.”

When a mean-looking mercenary comes forward and speaks, Ioanes shouts in anger.

“… What kind of dastardly act is this?! Don’t you even know honor?!”

But perhaps it was so funny that the mercenaries burst out laughing.

“Haha, honor? We are mercenaries who only care about money. But what about this? I guess I won’t be able to receive my employment allowance this week.”

Ioanes frowns at those words.

“Huh? Do you think I, the king of Nicaea, can’t pay you a wage?!”

The mercenaries giggle and laugh at those words.

“You don’t have any money because Byzantion has fallen, so how can you pay us?”

At those words, Ioanes shouts as if he is dumbfounded.

“Byzantine has fallen, but I still have a huge territory… Wow!”

But Ioanes could not continue speaking.

“Shut up, you are already done.”

A mercenary with a mean face stabbed Ioanes in the chest with a long spear.

“Ugh… this… like this…”

Olivia screams as she sees Ioanes bleeding, his face distorted in pain.

“Aaagh! majesty! majesty! Ugh!”

The mercenary urgently helps Ioanes, but grabs the back of Olivia’s head.

“You look a bit smooth, don’t you? Are you Olivia, Ioanes’ mistress?”

“This… let go of this!”

“I heard that the king’s high-class courtesan is made of gold. Should I check it out?”

The mercenary throws Olivia onto the bed like that.

And Ioanes, who is bleeding and slowly losing his warmth.

And so the king of Nicaea died.

***

A report sent to Agrippa a few days later.

Agrippa was surprised to hear that the Babylonian mercenaries had killed Ioanes and were heading south to attack the city.

“What is it? Is this true?”

Agrippa is well aware of the natural tendency of mercenaries to save themselves when in danger, but…

Even so, he is confused because he did not know that he would kill the king of a country.

‘Oh my… what should I do?’

Agrippa is lost in thought, tearing his head with his hands.

It is natural to kill Ioanes, but neither Agrippa nor Devian has the intention of killing him at the hands of Babylonian mercenaries.

Of course, I knew that the plan was to transport him to Roman, use him as a prisoner at the triumphal ceremony, and have him stand trial in order to bring about justice…

Agrippa feels confused about this situation.

-smart!

at that time. When a knock was heard.

“Who?”

Agrippa’s extremely sensitive voice resonates in his office.

-Sa… Commander. Babylonian mercenaries sent gifts and letters.

Agrippa speaks urgently at the unexpected remark.

“Tell them to come in.”

After saying that, the office opens and two black-haired men wearing thick leather armor with studs studded here and there, characteristic of Babylon, enter.

“Hello. I brought you a gift and a letter on behalf of our leader.”

Agrippa is impressed when he sees one of them holding a box that looks quite heavy.

“Take out the letter and show it.”

When Agrippa holds out his hand, the mercenary hands him a crumpled letter from his arms.

[To Agrippa Ryan, Commander of the Empire.]

Hello. My name is Al Khwarizmi and I am a Babylonian. As if that wasn’t enough, he is currently serving as the temporary leader of the mercenary army from Babylon.

The reason I am sending you this letter is to let you know that we have no intention of fighting the Empire.

We only participated because the wicked Ioannes was attacking the Duchy of Dupol, but we did not hear that he was going to start a civil war with the empire.

But since I was already here, I couldn’t go back, so I just followed the evil Ioanes’ orders.

We have no desire to participate in the Empire’s civil war.

We thought you probably wouldn’t believe what we said, so we’re sending you a small gift and we hope you’ll be satisfied.

Please accept this gift and please help us, our poor people, to return to our homeland safely.

[Uploaded by Al Khwarizmi, a Babylonian mercenary group]

Agrippa feels deeply insulted by those words.

‘damn! ‘It was written very superficially.’

With that in mind, I open my mouth curious about the gift.

“What on earth is a gift?”

At Agrippa’s words, a messenger approaches and opens the box…

When Agrippa saw what was inside, he had no choice but to jump out of his seat.

Of course…

This is because it contains the supply and demand of Ioanes, who was distorted by pain.