Ch.207207. Marquis of Bordeaux (1)

Marquis of Bordeaux. As a noble faction leader comparable to the Duke of Orleans… or rather, as a prominent anti-royalist figure in the political world, he was a high-ranking aristocrat of considerable standing in the Frankish Kingdom.

The Marquisate of Bordeaux, located in the southwest of the Frankish Kingdom, not only enjoys a warm and mild climate but also possesses abundant water sources and vast farmlands that rank among the top ten most fertile in the western continent.

Although industries other than agriculture are gradually increasing in proportion, considering that agriculture remains the foundation and backbone of nations in this world, their wealth becomes somewhat understandable.

The specialty of this region is, naturally, wine. Bordeaux wines are renowned for their exceptional reputation, and thanks to the rivers connecting to the western sea that spread throughout the domain, transportation by water has inevitably flourished.

Moreover, since the Bordeaux region provides an excellent environment for growing not just grapes or wine but virtually any crop, the area naturally came to claim both agricultural produce and wine—necessities and luxuries alike—as its specialties.

As a result of these overlapping characteristics, it’s hardly surprising that the Bordeaux region has amassed tremendous wealth.

Overwhelming wealth encompasses everything in human society.

This absolute law has applied in every era, and the Marquis of Bordeaux was no exception.

His personal combat ability barely reaches the intermediate level—he’s treated as a half-baked knight who has merely awakened his aura—but in exchange, the Marquis possesses the financial power to command dozens of knights with a mere tilt of his chin.

If the leaders and powerholders of the past conquered wealth and power through personal martial prowess, the current Marquis built his power on minimal combat ability that just crosses the threshold, combined with the wealth he already possessed….

While this approach would be considered natural from a modern perspective, in this world, it was far from the conventional path to power.

However, this alone is slightly insufficient.

In a world where nobility and power are guaranteed by individual ability rather than bloodline, such types of powerholders may command respect within their own domains but fall short of earning reverence from outsiders.

Most lords, who could easily be seen as thugs wearing noble masks, might respect a successful “big brother,” but they wouldn’t consider someone who merely has money as worthy of admiration, would they?

While slight deficiencies in combat ability can be compensated for in other ways, money alone cannot transform such lacking combat prowess into respect.

Employment relationships may be established, but lord-vassal relationships cannot form… That’s roughly the feeling.

Anyway, the decisive reason this man—somewhat lacking in respectability—could become such a renowned high noble in political circles was due to his tremendous political assets.

The royal family of the “Duchy of Aquitaine,” conquered by Charlemagne. The Marquis of Bordeaux is a descendant of those who chose to join the Frankish Kingdom while preserving only minimal territory.

Although the conquered territories of Aquitaine were distributed as fiefs to Charlemagne’s vassals, these nobles who took root in the Aquitaine region gradually underwent a reverse transformation of identity as time passed.

Since regional and local ties were incomparably stronger than in modern society, these originally “Frankish” people gradually became closer to “Aquitainians” as they intermarried and produced offspring.

Thanks to this, the Marquis of Bordeaux naturally rose to an untouchable position in the Aquitaine region based on this intangible authority, but…

Perhaps because of this, he now harbored greater ambitions… to be frank, he desired to rebuild the Duchy of Aquitaine.

Of course, no matter how “Aquitainized” they had become, other nobles with firm Frankish identities would never approve of this, but the Marquis, blinded by past glory and power, pushed forward with this plan while completely ignoring external opinions.

…Even though it would be fair to say that no one besides the Marquis himself wanted the restoration of the Duchy of Aquitaine.

But if he were to give up over such minor obstacles, he could hardly be called a power holder of this era.

Brushing aside voices of concern and opposition, the Marquis of Bordeaux steadfastly pursued his ambitions, plotting various schemes to realize his dreams, but…

His ambitions encountered a completely unexpected obstacle.

※ ※ ※

That day, too, the Marquis was plotting various schemes for the revival of the Duchy of Aquitaine, just as he always did.

He would support suitable noble faction lords to put them in debt, expand his political influence, recruit useful talents, and even visit them personally if necessary.

If not for the vain dream of rebuilding the Duchy of Aquitaine, his actions would be considered exemplary for a nobleman, and indeed, thanks to the Marquis’s efforts, his political influence was steadily growing.

Except for the fact that such influence would hardly help achieve his goal of restoring the Duchy of Aquitaine, his actions were genuinely building his political assets one by one.

And… while the Marquis was deeply engaged in his work…

“M-My Lord Marquis…!”

“…Head Steward?”

Seeing the head steward appear, breathing heavily as if he had been running in haste, the Marquis sensed that something serious had happened. He stopped writing and turned his attention to the steward…

“At the outer gate, at the main gate of the outer castle, a high-level magic user claiming to be Gregory Aleinos has appeared!”

-Thud!

“What…?!”

Upon hearing this news that could not possibly be ignored, the Marquis literally jumped up from his seat in shock.

The Marquis had numerous issues he wanted to address immediately.

As he recalled, Gregory Aleinos was a hero who had distinguished himself in the recent great invasion, and also a magic user whom the Marquis had attempted to recruit when he sensed something going wrong in his plans to attack Louis VII.

Of course, given his numerous political machinations, this matter wasn’t particularly high on his priority list, but lower priority doesn’t necessarily mean lower importance.

Especially since, according to the original plan, Gregory Aleinos should have been meeting with the Marquis’s proxy disguised as the Duke of Orleans’ messenger… why would he suddenly appear here?

“What in the…”

Feeling truly disoriented in this confusing situation, the Marquis activated the mental stabilization magic embedded in his ring to clear the chaos in his mind.

Although it had the drawback of temporarily simplifying his thought processes, it was a small price to pay compared to being overwhelmed by confusion and bewilderment.

“…So, what happened with this Gregory fellow?”

“He suddenly appeared at the outer gate’s entrance, and without warning—”

[—Marquis of Bordeaux! I have come to punish your arrogance for trying to use me!]

“…I don’t think you need to explain further.”

The voice that interrupted the head steward resonated thunderously in their minds, allowing the Marquis of Bordeaux to immediately understand the situation.

‘…So my scheme has already been exposed. Judging by how boldly this magic user presents himself, he must have brought escorts. Well, fine. He won’t be able to start a fight recklessly anyway.’

Furthermore, the Marquis of Bordeaux “reasonably” assumed that this magic user called Gregory Aleinos would not attack his domain.

After all, it was well known that his knightly order included a Sword Master—a high-ranking knight of which fewer than ten existed in the entire kingdom—and he had taken various measures to erase all evidence.

So, thinking that the other side would not resort to violent means first, the Marquis suddenly recalled something about the surname “Aleinos.”

Come to think of it, the sage from childhood stories also had the surname Aleinos.

In normal circumstances, he would have dismissed it as a coincidence, but the fact that a high-level magic user shared the same surname as the sage from the stories…

…There must undoubtedly be some connection between the two, the Marquis reasoned logically. Just as he was forming this conclusion…

-Rumble—!

[I will tolerate this no longer! Calamity shall befall you!]

“…Head Steward, didn’t they say today would be clear?”

“Yes, my lord. Even the meteorologist said it would be clear, but why…”

Immediately after the ultimatum was delivered, as ominous dark clouds began to form in the sky—a sight clearly unnatural to anyone watching—the Marquis of Bordeaux thought:

Perhaps something was going terribly wrong.