Ch.220Threat (4)

“His Eminence Elector Friedrich III was truly a role model for all mankind.”

The hall is extremely quiet, but people’s expressions stand in stark contrast to that silence. If a deaf person were to witness this scene, they would think everyone was shouting.

“The Elector treated his subjects with divine loyalty, and his subjects served him with unwavering devotion. He protected the empire’s people from false crusaders who disguised God’s will, and preserved an empire that was on the verge of eternal division due to differences in interpreting God’s word.”

The Elector’s son, Maximilian, speaks as if suppressing something rising in his throat, and the black-clad officials likewise struggle to hold back whatever is trying to force its way out of their throats.

“Not only that. Under Emperor Friedrich’s reign, the church once again began to recite God’s word, and the nobility learned to bear their noble duties. The Holy Empire, which had been falling apart, could finally be called an empire again. This achievement is worthy of being called ‘the Great.'”

Having said this, Maximilian grinds his molars to maintain his composure and raises his head to look at the crowd gathered in the hall.

Everyone wears the same expression.

“However, the Elector passed away before his time. At the hands of a bastard king who commits sins as naturally as breathing, a bastard who committed the sin of being born of adultery.”

Maximilian bows and lifts up the items the assassins had been carrying.

Clothes and daggers made by Lombardian craftsmen, Lombardian fabric, maps of the imperial capital written in the Lombardian language—all items related to the Duchy of Lombardy.

Yet not a single imperial citizen believes the Duchy of Lombardy is behind the emperor’s assassination.

Because everyone in the imperial palace that night heard the emperor’s dying words.

“The wicked bastard king tried to frame the innocent Duchy of Lombardy for his crimes.”

In truth, there is no evidence anywhere that the Kingdom of Lotharing orchestrated the assassination.

The assassins all died on the spot alongside the emperor, so they couldn’t be interrogated, and none of the items they carried had any connection to Lotharing.

Yet all imperial citizens are convinced that Lotharing is behind this assassination.

Because that night, the emperor, who was the only one to speak with the assassins, named the bastard king as the mastermind.

“Not only the assassination of His Eminence, but also for his countless previous sins that would have already secured him a place in hell, and now to commit such an atrocious act—he is truly a devil incarnate, the likes of which the world has never seen.”

Combined with the bastard king’s notorious reputation for frequent assassinations, Claude’s orchestration of the emperor’s murder became an unshakeable fact within the empire.

The Kingdom of Lotharing sent envoys to the empire to explain, but they were met with a shower of filth from imperial citizens and cold responses from imperial leadership, forcing them to return empty-handed.

“The Empire… must follow the will of His Eminence. I—no, We, who have become Emperor of the Empire by unanimous consent of the Electors, solemnly declare before the deceased, in this place where we bid farewell to him, a holy war against the Kingdom of Lotharing to eliminate the devil!!”

“Hurrah!!”

Though it should be a quiet funeral, that silence is completely erased by anger.

Even the nobles who had been on bad terms with the Elector for taking away their rights cannot help but feel immense anger over this incident. No matter how poor their relationship with the emperor was, not a single noble wanted their emperor to die at the hands of a murderer like this.

Clergymen who harbored ill feelings toward the emperor for stripping them of church territories, ecclesiastical electors who were angered by the emperor’s disregard for the Holy See, and nobles who had fought against the emperor by joining the crusader forces—all are united in anger.

Under the newly crowned Emperor Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Empire declares war on the Kingdom of Lotharing with unanimous agreement for the first time in centuries.

……….

“I’m… sorry…”

Ines wears an expression I’ve never seen before. It’s exactly like the expression Chloe had as a young maid when she accidentally dropped and broke dishes.

“…No, don’t be. I approved it, so why are you sorry?”

To be honest, all of this is my fault.

Ines merely informed me that such a path existed. The decision to walk that path was made solely by my will, so it would be fair to say that the current mess is entirely my fault.

“Ines, go rest now.”

“But how should I take responsibility for this situation…”

“You really don’t need to apologize. You don’t need to take responsibility. Chloe, please escort her back to her room.”

“…Yes.”

Ines, overwhelmed by the sense that she has committed an unforgivable sin and now being dismissed, accepts Chloe’s support and leaves.

…I’ll need to comfort her a lot once this is over.

“Well then, is everyone ready?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Let’s go.”

After my wives have all left the office, I open the door connecting to the conference room. As the door opens, the gazes of the high officials who arrived earlier all turn toward me.

But those gazes are quite clouded. It seems the high officials are well aware that the current situation is not good.

“Since the matter is urgent, let’s skip the greetings. First, Lord Simon, I want to ask: the imperial army that was heading toward the Cisalpine Peninsula has changed direction and is rushing toward Lotharing. Can we complete the mobilization of soldiers before the imperial army enters Lotharing?”

“…It will be difficult. We could quickly mobilize the standing army and mercenaries, but the imperial army has already advanced to our doorstep. It’s fortunate that we’ve been consistently mobilizing soldiers for reservoir construction, which allows us to mobilize troops more quickly.”

“Huff… That’s at least some good news.”

Thanks to the administrative focus on mobilization for reservoir construction, we don’t need to drastically shift our administrative direction. We just need to give the soldiers spears instead of shovels and pickaxes.

Nevertheless, our mobilization will still be slower than the imperial army’s arrival… Well, that can’t be helped. No matter how quickly we mobilize, we’ll inevitably be slower than an army that’s already assembled.

“We can delay the imperial army’s advance with delaying tactics, as we did with the rebel forces, but some occupation of Lotharing’s territory is unavoidable. With every imperial citizen, including ordinary villagers, having turned hostile, it’s impossible to conduct operations within the empire.”

“Tsk…”

“Even if some territory is occupied, we plan to delay the advance to Dijon as much as possible through delaying tactics. According to the recruitment officer’s report, we should be able to buy enough time to mobilize conscripts.”

“Where will the imperial army be when conscription is complete?”

“We predict they’ll be at Besançon.”

“…That’s close. If we lose even once, the next battlefield will be Dijon.”

Besançon is a city located about 75km from Dijon.

Even after mobilization is complete, we can’t immediately send troops to the battlefield due to formation building, equipment supply, tactical planning, and so on. And if we’re defeated and retreat, we need to regroup the scattered soldiers, reorganize, and develop new strategies.

In other words, considering these factors and the distance, if we lose even once, the next battlefield will inevitably be Dijon.

And unlike traditional medieval cities, Dijon’s urban area extends beyond the city walls, meaning that if it becomes a major battlefield, there will be massive damage.

“We will certainly achieve victory.”

“…Thank you.”

This… is unexpectedly painful.

Watching a loyal subject struggle to resolve a disaster caused by my mistake fills me with tremendous guilt.

I recall that some rulers in history, like Xiang Yu or Cao Cao, blamed their subjects to protect their power in similar situations. Now that I’m in their position, I’m convinced that those who did such things must have been psychopaths with something fundamentally broken inside them.

I can’t even look him in the eye properly.

“Ahem, how many imperial troops has the Intelligence Bureau identified?”

Unable to face Simon’s resolute gaze, I turn to ask the Intelligence Bureau chief.

“At the very minimum, 100,000. The vanguard that was originally heading toward Cisalpine and is now coming to Lotharing will be fewer, but due to the unfortunate incident and misunderstanding, all nobles in the empire have mobilized troops to their limit. Moreover, the imperial nobles and royal family have spent their private funds to hire not only troops within the empire but also all available mercenaries from neighboring countries, so the quality is excellent as well.”

“…”

It’s a bit late to realize this, but… this is truly a disaster.

Typically, when a vassal responds to their lord’s call, they provide only the number of troops specified in their feudal contract. There’s no benefit in providing more.

However, most Holy Roman Empire nobles are now so enraged by the emperor’s death that they’ve mobilized beyond their contractual obligations, raising as many troops as their territories can possibly provide. On top of that, they’ve spent their private funds to hire every mercenary company both domestic and foreign.

‘If it’s at least 100,000 at minimum, the maximum must be much higher. Counting the conscripts coming later, perhaps up to 200,000?’

Is this… really the feudal medieval era?

More than 80% of those troops are probably just simple militia, but still, how could they… Right, it’s my fault.

“…Nevertheless, my soldiers have undergone consistent military training, making them better trained than the empire’s raw conscripts, and our standing army can proudly claim to be worth a hundred men each. We can certainly hold back the imperial army, so everyone, please do your best.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Fortunately, thanks to our consistent training of soldiers, there is hope.

Our well-trained conscripts can quickly form tactical formations and maintain them despite their fear of cavalry charges. Our standing army, with their high training intensity, is equipped not only with their own combat skills but also heavy armor, scatter bombs, fire bombs, hand cannons, and numerous other equipment, making them arguably among the top 1% in military power in this world.

Moreover, we have many junior knights serving as non-commissioned officers, and the quality of officers who graduated from the military academy is high, so despite the bad situation, our chances of victory are quite good.

Once conscription is complete, our army will number about 100,000, so if we can hold out until then, our numbers will be decent enough to make this feasible—

“Y-Your Majesty!!”

“…What is it?”

Just then, a messenger bursts through the conference room door with an urgent expression.

Entering without knocking would normally earn a reprimand from the officials, but the messenger’s expression is so desperate that they silently await his next words.

And moments later, the officials feel as if they’ve been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.

“Following the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Albion has declared war!”

“…!”

So now the Kingdom of Albion has joined in as well.

The officials had anticipated this to some extent, but anticipating something and actually experiencing it are two different matters. No one can avoid the shock when the worst-case scenario comes true.

“They stated they would begin military activities by the time this declaration of war reaches Dijon, so the coastal regions are probably already under attack from Albion forces by now… *cough*!”

The messenger, speaking breathlessly with the officials’ attention, eventually chokes and breaks into a rough cough before finishing his sentence.

Coughing without covering his mouth is extremely rude and would normally draw frowns, but no one in the conference room points this out. No, they can’t.

‘…Fuck.’

I thought it might happen, but they’re really invading.