Ch.546546. Their Stroke of Luck (1)

“Viscount Akion, a telegram has arrived!”

“Come in.”

Viscount Akion had been resting her eyelids momentarily when the soldier’s urgent voice came.

She slowly lifted her heavy eyelids and took in the soldier’s face.

Not only was he dripping with sweat, but his pupils were also trembling unstably. Unlike the soldier consumed with anxiety, the Viscount spoke with perfect calm.

“A message has arrived from the viscounty.”

“Yes…! A message from the barony just arrived…!”

“Report the details.”

“The viscounty’s walls were half-destroyed by the Baron’s attack…! Then the Karpel Barony’s forces advanced all the way to the lord’s castle!”

“Tsk.”

As Viscount Akion clicked her tongue irritably, the tense soldier straightened his posture.

“They can’t even properly defend a single wall. Utterly incompetent.”

The Barony has two Masters, so it was inevitable that the walls would eventually be breached. But to think they would surrender the path to the lord’s castle in such a short time.

Should she lament the unexpectedly incompetent skills of the allied forces? Or should she regret not having assessed the opponent’s level more perfectly?

Viscount Akion waved her hand dismissively with a sigh.

“The breach of the viscounty’s main city was already anticipated.”

“Then—”

“Inform them that we will continue our advance toward the barony as planned. After all, our viscounty isn’t some shabby family with just one city to its name.”

“I will follow your orders…!”

As if uncomfortable in this place, she quickly opened her carriage door, delivered her message to the soldier, and sent him away.

Then she began to contemplate.

‘The viscounty is vast.’

Besides the largest stronghold that served as the central city, there were two more cities.

‘Though I’m not pleased that the city I put the most effort into fell so quickly…’

Viscount Akion still had a chance to recover.

‘That city was nearly at its end anyway.’

The largest city belonging to the Akion Viscounty.

The city that should have served as a second line of defense when the County of Sianella was breached by demons and monsters. But with the County completely conquering the demon realm, its role as a second line of defense had ended.

With nothing but the former demon realm to the west and no other countries, it had become difficult to use this as an excuse to receive support from the royal family.

‘The same goes for the iron mine.’

The city’s high-quality iron mine had been continuously excavated for generations, depleting its resources.

The situation had reached the point where continuing mining operations was no longer profitable, leading to reduced extraction. The road extending westward ran along steep mountain ranges, making it difficult for merchants to travel back and forth. It was obvious that in just 20 years, the city would barely be able to sustain itself with its current scale.

‘Surrendering the city is all an investment for the future.’

The reason she was abandoning a city whose embers hadn’t completely died out and advancing toward the barony was solely for one reason.

It was all because of the contract in the secret conversation she had with the third princess, Amelie.

—Viscount Akion, there is only one thing I need you to do.

—Command me, Your Highness.

—Show the kingdom how powerful the barony’s forces are, making even the families that haven’t joined the alliance wary of the barony. And destroy as much of the barony’s cities as possible to keep their attention focused within their own territory.

—You mean…

—You don’t need to achieve victory in the territorial war. Just buy me time to infiltrate the west. I’ll handle the rest myself.

Amelie, who had always been focused on chasing after Adelheid while being overshadowed by her, had spoken with unprecedented boldness, without any sign of urgency about whatever had happened in the royal palace.

—…Are you asking me to abandon my family’s stronghold city?

—Yes.

—Your Highness, this is territory that the heads of my family have protected for generations—no, for centuries. To abandon it is…

—Possible. If it were anyone else, perhaps not, but the current Viscount can do it.

She even interrupted her own words.

—The mountain ranges that widely and extensively surround Viscount Akion’s territory are high and filled with nature’s fierce energy. The rivers flowing from the peaks are clear and pure. The Mana imbued with the mountains’ energy is exceptionally clean, making it suitable for mages to practice magic.

—……

—In time, my confidants who have gone to the Empire with my sister will secure a contract.

—A contract, you say?

—Cooperation in building an Imperial Magic Tower. As a Viscount who values honor and harbors ambition, you must know what a Magic Tower represents.

Magic Tower.

A tower for Imperial mages to train and research knowledge.

A tower of mystery built higher than any other building, hoping that human magic might someday reach the heavens. It serves as a tourist attraction and excels at attracting high-caliber talent and bringing expensive goods into the territory.

Viscount Akion’s eyes began to sparkle at the mention of a Magic Tower.

—I knew a Viscount interested in the Empire would react this way.

Even within the Empire, whether a territory has a Magic Tower or not makes a heaven-and-earth difference in effectiveness.

Magic Towers attract mages. Where mages gather, expensive materials and merchants always follow. Moreover, if unavoidable attacks come to a territory—specifically a territory with a Magic Tower—

The Magic Tower contributes to protecting the territory to preserve and maintain its mysteries. It’s an opportunity to secure both military power and wealth.

—Currently, families of Count rank and above cannot be ignored for their scale or military power. If they were to acquire a Magic Tower in this situation, they would become monsters that even the royal family would find difficult to challenge with claims of legitimacy.

—In such a situation, the Akion Viscounty has shown loyalty to the royal family for centuries, sending large-scale military aid whenever the kingdom faced crises. You’ve always maintained your level.

—Compared to other viscounties and baronies, yours is one of the most honorable families. With your natural fortress and pure Mana, is there a better place in the kingdom for a Magic Tower?

That’s what a Magic Tower means.

If a Magic Tower were established in her viscounty,

She would receive treatment equivalent to a Count or even a Marquis just for that.

Using the Magic Tower within her territory, she would have grounds to compare with the Lephelia Duchy or the Marquisate of Feiosha, both already famous for magic.

—If you willingly sacrifice your city for me, I will establish a Magic Tower in the Akion Viscounty.

—Is that possible?

—It’s difficult. But if you faithfully fulfill the role I’ve described…then the previously blocked path will open.

—May I ask what level of support we would receive from the Empire?

—If we’re lucky, level 8. If unlucky, level 6.

This isn’t just about floors.

Since the Empire divides mage ranks into 12 levels, they’re saying they’ll support and cooperate in training mages up to approximately level 7. The power of Imperial magic has already been proven when the Iron-Blooded Empress annihilated the kingdoms in the far east of the continent.

—Whether you rebuild the city destroyed in the territorial war with a Magic Tower or revitalize that satellite city along the mountain range, either way, wouldn’t it be an attractive proposition for the Viscount?

The Viscount couldn’t help but be drawn in by Amelie’s words.

—Abandon your city and advance toward the barony. After all, the alliance of families is united solely by your presence, not by those fools intoxicated with the Imperial items I gave them. If you stay in your territory and get captured, everything will quickly turn to nothing.

—You mean I should go personally.

—I have something from the Empire for this purpose. If used at the right time…the barony will develop flaws in everything from their territorial foundation to their honor. Yes, this will serve as justification to pull the barony down.

At the end of the conversation, the Viscount made her decision.

—From the moment you accept this item, there’s no turning back. Well, will you do it?

—I will.

She agreed to become Amelie’s chess piece.

And so, the Akion Viscounty’s forces and the allied army famous for their military might, heading in a direction away from the barony’s advancing troops and taking a detour toward the barony, finally…

“Most of the barony’s troops have all headed toward the viscounty! What remains are just insignificant rabble! Don’t forget that victory is right before our eyes!”

“Surely no one is afraid of raiding an empty house! Everyone, start warming up!”

As if sensing victory, they arrived at the forest near the barony with confident voices.

“We’ve confirmed the flag of the Akion Viscounty.”

The forest guardians who had followed Karpel Baron and Sione to human lands.

Among them, the guardians who had entered the barony with the Baron caught sight of them.

“Are you certain it’s the Akion Viscounty?”

“Yes, it completely matches the emblem that the blessed one of the great forest told us about.”

“Then let’s begin now.”

The first gateway to entering the barony.

The elves’ arrows began to hinder their progress.

* * *

Why is it that they only come to their senses after being beaten?

Leaving behind these family heads who only gave the answers we wanted after being beaten to the point of clarity,

We were busy discussing the information that came from their mouths while waving the flag of our barony from the highest tower of the lord’s castle, announcing our victory.

During a brief lull, Sione and I had a conversation, just the two of us.

“To abandon their own territory and come to ours… Viscount Akion seems to have no concept of honor.”

“By that logic, we also left our territory to come here.”

“…We’re different from the Viscount, you know? We’re on the offensive, while they were originally in a defensive position in the territorial war.”

Fair enough.

It was our side that said we’d smash and shatter them because we didn’t like what they said.

Thanks to that, according to the family heads over there who were beaten to a pulp and are now being treated by priests from the viscounty:

“So the remaining soldiers are actually heading toward our territory—”

The situation is as Sione described.

“Still, I’m not particularly worried.”

But I wasn’t at all anxious about it.

We had the mercenary guild that used our territory as their base city, as well as individuals we had recruited, the forest guardians, and the defense corps that had been retrained based on the experience from the County’s wall war.

“We’ve also received good information from the intelligence department—”

Unlike us, I was confident that the Viscount’s forces would not easily break through all of them.

I saw this as an opportunity instead.

“It would be perfect if we could attack them from behind together with the territorial garrison.”

A good opportunity to easily wipe out all of Akion Viscounty’s forces.