episode_0214

“Why are you blocking it!”

When he was stopped from collecting the body, the nobles began to protest.

“What… … . If you want to die from a curse, it would be okay to go into that land. Do whatever you want.”

“Um, curse?”

“What is the reason that the land turned black? This is because a huge amount and type of curse was activated, and all the blood scattered by those who were cursed was absorbed into the ground.”

The nobles who were trying to approach the blackened land were startled by the word curse, and retreated, making strange noises.

A nobleman who came closest to the contaminated ground collapsed on the floor, trembling, and then crawled away.

“Well, then, Viscount Steele, please take care of the bodies!”

“Why should I do that?”

“Of course, you are the only one who can collect the body in this situation!”

I felt absurd when a nobleman said that it was natural for me, a warlock, to do this. It may be okay to pray during a funeral, but it was not a warlock’s job to collect a dead body from contaminated land.

However, he was not angry at the nobleman’s shouting. Instead, he lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“If you pay the ransom, I will do whatever I can. The price is one third of the standard prisoner’s ransom.”

“What, what?! You want to get paid to save the body!”

“What can’t be done? I have the rights to those bodies anyway.”

“Why do you have that!”

“Of course I won the territory battle. Well, to put it simply, think of them as prisoners of war.”

“What nonsense is that!”

The nobles, who had provided troops to Viscount Tar and found themselves in a situation where most of them were killed, seemed unable to accept my words.

Some say it’s not respect for the fallen, some say it’s unscrupulous to see those who are already dead as objects of trade, some say an evil warlock is revealing his true intentions. They protested by bringing up all kinds of stories.

Of course, I didn’t really listen to that backlash.

“Is there a law that says corpses cannot be treated as prisoners of war? Even a living knight will not be returned unless a ransom is paid, so is it any different for a corpse?”

“No one receives ransom for the body!”

“That’s just because the knight’s body is difficult to dispose of for them, but not for me.”

To the common nobles, the corpses of enemy soldiers were nothing more or less than a nuisance. This was especially true for bodies arising from wars, including the Battle of Yeongji.

Most nobles wanted to get rid of the corpses as soon as possible because the large number of corpses could cause epidemics or natural undead. Most people actually welcomed the idea of taking it.

Even if we dispose of the body ourselves, there are costs involved, so it would be beneficial to reduce even one of them.

But I was very different from those common nobles. Aside from soldiers, there were many expert-level knights, so it was perfect for creating very powerful undead.

In some ways, it seemed ridiculous to me to send back a body that was like a strategic item without any compensation.

“The church will not remain silent!”

“I’ve already received permission from the church through the temple in my territory, so there’s no need to worry because that won’t happen.”

A nobleman mentioned the church as if he was planning to somehow retrieve the body, but that too was meaningless.

From the beginning, I knew something like this would happen and had a conversation with Father Thomas. Because it was an urgent situation, we couldn’t talk properly, but we shared everything that needed to be said.

From an administrative point of view, it is true that I declared war, but considering the fact that it was an actual provocation, the church recognized that the situation was the same as if Viscount Tarr had declared war.

If I had declared a territorial war and launched a preemptive attack for the purpose of securing the body, it might have been a problem, but it was not a problem in a situation like the present where it was the same as being beaten while staying still.

Furthermore, there was no reason for the church to tackle them as long as they could be taken away by paying a ransom, like prisoners, rather than preventing them from recovering the body.

“Qu… … .”

In the end, the nobles of the noble faction realized that they could not freely collect the bodies of soldiers and knights, and they changed their minds.

As I was looking at that, memories of my past life at the dentist suddenly came to mind. There is no such thing as dentistry in this world, so I added a useless thought: what if my tooth breaks?

‘Oh, it doesn’t matter because there is magic.’

While I was thinking about such useless things, the nobles of the noble faction were burning with anger and slowly began to calm it down.

“Okay… … . I’ll make you pay the ransom.”

After letting go of their anger, the nobles sighed and decided to pay money to collect the bodies of the troops they had supported.

Viscount Tarr, who could be said to be a party to the territorial war, did not pay any attention, but the nobles of the noble faction cried and demanded the removal of the bodies as if they were eating mustard.

Although Viscount Tarr’s war was his own, it was only natural that others supported other people’s wars.

This is because it was not a war to protect their home, but a war supported by lords for personal gain. If the troops supported for the lord’s benefit were annihilated and even the bodies could not be recovered, it would inevitably be a great burden for the lord.

It would have been a huge burden if the bodies of not just one or two soldiers but a large number of troops could not be recovered and were left to become undead.

The loyalty and morale of knights who are disappointed by their lord who cannot even collect the bodies of their comrades will drop, soldiers will not fight properly for a lord who will not collect their bodies even if they die, and in extreme cases, civil revolts will be led by those who have lost their families. This could have happened.

For that reason, many nobles began paying huge ransoms to retrieve the bodies of the troops they supported. The ransom was paid through various means, including in kind, bills, and interest.

Thanks to this, I was able to make additional profits in addition to confiscating Viscount Tarr’s territory. Although, considering the losses suffered during the Territory War, it was still close to a loss.

This is because, unlike other nobles, there were many who gave up on collecting the body. Since there were not many troops volunteered, it was a waste to pay the ransom right away. There were people who gave up collecting the bodies for various reasons.

Of course, it was not regrettable or regrettable that there were many people who did not pay the ransom. They could have used the bodies they gave up as undead.

Even so, a considerable number of skeletons were destroyed during this territory war, so they had to be replenished. There was nothing wrong with me if I could hire better undead in exchange for less money.

Anyway, as the nobles of the noble faction began to collect the bodies of the troops they had supported and returned home, the cleanup of the territory battle came to an end little by little.

While I was negotiating the ransom with the nobles, the official in charge of the fief war obtained a document from Viscount Tarr transferring ownership of the fief in its entirety and handed it over to me, and several nobles who watched the war as notaries acknowledged the outcome of victory or defeat. All work, including writing, was completed.

“Viscount Steel. Once again, congratulations on your victory in the Territory War.”

“Thank you. Count Carbon.”

And, Count Carbon, who had signed and stamped the document as a notary, approached me again and offered congratulations.

“By the way, you finally have territory worthy of your title.”

“In a way, we have taken control of the Tar Viscounty intact. Originally, my city also belonged to Viscount Tar.”

Considering that my city originally belonged to Viscount Tarr, it was the same as taking everything from Viscount Tarr.

“Viscount Tar must be very sorry. If only I hadn’t touched you. Isn’t the starting point when they gave you an excuse and then your territory was taken away? If I hadn’t touched it then, I wouldn’t have lost all my territory in the end.”

If Viscount Tarr had already lost everything and was in a position to leave his territory immediately, he could have been regretting it like Count Carbone said.

Even if a child was involved, if he had just held on for a moment, he wouldn’t have had to suffer the loss of his entire territory like he did now.

“I keep thinking that it is not for nothing that they say that not making enemies is the best.”

“But at the same time, it is also a very difficult task. So, don’t make enemies if possible, but make more allies who can help you.”

I nodded at the sight of Count Carbon giving similar advice to the crown prince. The need for allies had been clearly felt since the time of the Congress.

Therefore, I had a plan to make more allies this time too. This was while making up for the losses incurred while fighting a territorial war.

“Count Carbon. Could you please introduce me to royalist nobles who would like to purchase territory?”

“… … Those who want to purchase territory? Are you planning on selling the territory confiscated from Viscount Tarr?”

“Yes. I think it’s more profitable to sell it somehow.”

“No, why? No matter what, it is more profitable to hold territory.”

Count Carbone looked as if he couldn’t understand my choice. He also talked about changing one’s mind, saying that the larger the territory is, the more it can accommodate the number of people in the territory, and about taxes.

But I shook my head. It was true that owning a territory and running it consistently was beneficial, but by my standards, it wasn’t all that beneficial.