Ch.116Carolingian Civil War

[Charles is currently unable to move. Now is the opportunity to carry out the plan.]

[…Thank you.]

I don’t like this.

Clearly, there are people who stand to gain from political chaos in Caroling, and they’re using me to achieve their goals.

Well, although their approach is disrespectful, these mysterious collaborators have genuinely been helpful to me, so I’ve kept quiet until now. But… isn’t this going too far?

*Thud*

“Haaah…”

The report they gave me flutters down onto the desk. It contains all sorts of methods for usurping the throne.

A scenario for rapidly advancing through territories of nobles who have turned against the king to launch a surprise attack on the capital, Lutetia.

A list of servants who harbor resentment toward the king and scenarios for using them to poison him.

A scenario for bribing demoralized troops who haven’t received their wages to capture the ill king, and many more.

What does this all mean?

‘They’ve already infiltrated everything down to the roots.’

It doesn’t matter whether the forces behind them are domestic or foreign nobles. The problem is that they possess such information as if it were completely natural.

Even if I were to take the throne, I would face many difficult situations if I don’t expel them.

No, I probably couldn’t even expel them.

To purge or exclude something requires preparation, but judging by their information network, any such attempt would be immediately exposed and things would go awry.

“Damn it…”

Still, it’s too late to back out now; things have progressed too far.

I’ve received funds, weapons, information—not just one or two things—and my army has greatly expanded in preparation for civil war. If I do nothing and remain still, I’ll suffocate under the weight of the army I’ve forcibly expanded through debt.

…No, even if I ordered them to stand down, it’s not certain they would obey my command.

The source of numerous weapons, the soldiers wielding them, the funds to hire mercenaries—a significant portion of what maintains this army comes from those mysterious collaborators.

I’ve squeezed my domain to the limit and gathered soldiers with help from various factions to minimize their influence, but I couldn’t completely remove their influence from the army.

Even if something happens to me, they will move according to their scenario.

There’s… no way out.

“Chamberlain, are you outside?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“The time has come to eliminate my usurping uncle and reclaim the throne that should have been mine. Prepare the army; we march as soon as preparations are complete.”

“…I will inform the generals immediately.”

Upon hearing my declaration, the chamberlain bows his head with an expression that suggests he knew this was coming, then hastily leaves.

Until just a year ago, I had been waiting only for this day… but now that I’m facing it, rather than feeling moved, my heart is extremely troubled.

……….

However, that throne claimant did not know.

That he was not the only one raising a rebellion to claim the throne.

“W-what should we do, General…? Those aren’t the king’s troops but Duke Norman’s army…?”

“Damn it, this wasn’t in our intelligence…!!”

As everyone knows, secrecy is paramount when staging a rebellion.

No matter how strong one might be, if word gets out about the rebellion, there’s a high probability of being crushed before gathering full strength.

For this reason, the three rebels had great difficulty knowing that others were preparing rebellions. With information further blocked due to Lotharing’s intervention, the traitors were literally struck by a bolt from the blue.

“…Answer me, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That other bastards were staging rebellions!! This ruins any chance of a quick resolution!!”

“We didn’t know either. We only gathered information to eliminate the Carolingian king, so we couldn’t know what other nobles were doing.”

“You dare call that an answer…!”

Despite knowing the internal affairs of the Carolingian Kingdom intimately, the mysterious collaborators clearly lie to the enraged rebels, but the rebels can take no action against them.

Killing them on the spot would gain nothing, and with matters already in motion, without their cooperation, the probability of losing the civil war and seeing their house destroyed is extremely high.

The Carolingian Kingdom literally splits into four pieces in the blink of an eye, plunging into a quagmire of civil war no less severe than that of the Holy Empire.

……….

“So there’s one rebel army in the north, one in the west, and one in the southeast…?”

Why is this so complicated and bizarre?

When Chloe and Ines asked to handle Carolingian matters to help me, I let them try, and as a result, three throne claimant rebellions erupted simultaneously in the Carolingian Kingdom.

Um… well… we’ve absorbed enough money from the Holy Empire to support rebels, but supporting three rebel groups simultaneously?

“Can we afford this financially?”

“Yes, honestly, it hasn’t cost that much.”

Chloe says this with a smile, handing me a paper filled with writing. A report?

Let’s see…

[We hired mercenaries who lost their jobs after the Holy Empire’s civil war ended at cheap rates, and for those who didn’t want immediate payment, we falsified the ledgers to charge the rebel leaders.]

[Rather than providing funds to rebel leaders in cash, we primarily used documents such as promissory notes, which are forged so that if things go wrong, they can be immediately destroyed to avoid payment.]

[The source of numerous weapons is the Empire’s vassal states that reduced their military following the Emperor’s disbandment order; we borrowed them cheaply in exchange for returning them intact. Of course, the debtors are registered as the rebel leaders, so Lotharing won’t have to pay regardless of what happens.]

…What is all this?

The report Chloe handed me with a smile contained all sorts of criminal activities they had committed. Document forgery was just the beginning; they even entangled completely unrelated foreign countries to complicate matters enormously.

“Don’t worry, we’ve trained everyone working in Caroling well, so no one will know Lotharing is involved. Of course, they might suspect, but without evidence, we can simply deny everything.”

Yet in that tangled web, there’s no thread leading to our Lotharing.

It might be strange to say this now, but… my wives are truly skilled. In a rather wicked way.

Now all I need to do is either sit back and enjoy watching Caroling’s hopelessly tangled situation, or seek to benefit by using the Carolingian royal blood flowing through my veins through my paternal line to claim the throne myself.

“Now… we just need your decision, my lord.”

‘I don’t particularly want the Carolingian throne…’

Chloe, Ines, and various domestic nobles seemed to subtly want me to join that chaos, but honestly, I’m reluctant.

Of course, if I were to take Caroling after Lotharing, the territory under my rule would become vastly larger, increasing my prestige tremendously, but that’s the only benefit.

Though both are kingdoms, Caroling is nearly three times larger than Lotharing, which means the power of its nobility is also three times stronger.

Why can’t massive territories like Caroling or the Empire get their act together? It’s because they have too many political factions to consider domestically.

If one could completely control all those political factions and make them focus on a single goal, Caroling and the Empire would be hellish opponents for Lotharing, but such a feat is impossible no matter what.

‘And I’m supposed to become King of Caroling and lord over those nobles?’

No way. The very thought sends chills down my spine.

The Carolingian nobles don’t even obey their legitimate king who inherited the throne properly, so why would they listen to me? I could handle a few troublemakers, but the problem is that it’s not just a few.

From their perspective, I’m a foreigner with half-commoner blood, so it’s certain that even more nobles would rise up against me than those currently rebelling in Caroling.

I think I understand how vassals feel. They always hate leaving their domains and staying home because stepping outside brings nothing but trouble.

I’ll just stay home. My Lotharing people listen to me well and are very good.

“Hahaha… Let’s just sell weapons and make money. Like we did with the Holy Empire.”

“Is that so…?”

What Lotharing needs now is stability, not power projection.

I need to mediate between inland and coastal nobles, finish urban redevelopment, build waterways—there’s so much to do. And now I’m supposed to swallow Caroling, which is in complete chaos after the failed crusade? Ugh… terrible.

“Yes, with all the domestic projects we’ve started—city construction, Bar development—we have too many internal matters to turn our attention outward.”

Hearing my explanation, Chloe and Ines slowly nod with gloomy expressions.

They should understand well enough.