Chapter 76. Things He Connected (2)
Norington, the territory that had lost its rightful owner.
Next to the mansion of Cadmus, which had been burnt black leaving only the site, a newly built lord’s manor stood bleakly.
Befitting Norington which was divided by three Lords, the newly built lord’s manor was also divided into three buildings, but just for today, the owners of the buildings had gathered in one place.
There was only one reason.
It was because of Blanc Cadmus, who called himself the rightful successor of Norington.
A single letter lying on the round table.
That letter bore a crest symbolizing the Royal Family of Gartaria.
And the three middle-aged men were looking at that letter with uncomfortable or angry faces.
“To think he would grow this big.”
Langketa, one of the three middle-aged men, clutched his forehead with a face of resignation.
“We should have caught and killed him somehow back then!”
Langketa, feeling suffocated, lifted his pale face and was sweating profusely.
“When did a thirteen-year-old brat grow up like that to bare his fangs at us!”
Since Baron Langketa directly bordered Norington, he was reacting more sensitively to the approaching threat, Blanc’s growth.
Unlike Baron Langketa who was trembling in anxiety and vomiting out passion, the two Barons looking at him were maintaining calmness on the outside, but their minds were equally disturbed.
“What is the use of regretting what has already passed.”
“Baron Langketa, please regain your reason. Wasn't this something we were prepared for when we raided the Cadmus family?”
Baron Vicious and Baron Kamora sitting in front tried to soothe him, but Baron Langketa’s anxiety did not subside easily.
“He is not an ordinary guy. Look at the achievements and titles he has accomplished in just 2 years.”
At Baron Langketa’s words, the two Barons also lost their words.
Blanc Cadmus.
The young wolf with black hair had become gigantic before they knew it, carrying numerous things on his back and howling fiercely toward them.
That howling sound started from Moirai, but now it was spreading widely even to Gartaria.
The three Lords had not been able to sleep properly from the moment Blanc Cadmus started gathering his soldiers.
“It is true that he is born with the qualities of a hero.”
Baron Vicious, who was sitting next to him, also let out a deep sigh.
Baron Blanc Cadmus, who was opposing them, was already a figure who had transcended the orbit of an ordinary Lord.
Moreover, Blanc Cadmus was a person who not only possessed outstanding ability himself but had also obtained the support of the Meritorious Nobles of the Felix Kingdom, the Torch Knights, and the Goddess Order.
A person equipped with everything.
He was truly a young dragon promised to soar high into the sky.
However, even if the three Barons regretted it, it was already spilt milk.
Because the three Barons sitting here were the very culprits who killed the father of the rising star shining most brightly in the three kingdoms of humans right now and stole his territory.
The tragedy of the Cadmus family.
The grudge regarding that could only be resolved with blood.
Baron Kamora, the oldest among them, picked up the letter placed on the round table and spoke.
“Anyway, what we have to do is decided.”
He soothed the trembling Baron Langketa with a voice as greasy as his portly physique.
“It is true that the greenhorn Baron is a person who has achieved surprising accomplishments, but war is not something that can be solved by one person’s ability alone.”
Baron Kamora shook the letter stamped with the seal of Gartaria in front of Baron Langketa’s eyes.
“Since the Baron saw it too, wouldn't you know? Prince Aleid is watching over us.”
The letter sent by the 3rd Prince Aleid contained warnings about the approaching threat along with encouragement that he would support them with gold and soldiers.
“It means that shining person is supporting us with gold and military force! If we combine the Prince’s reinforcements and the soldiers of the three of us, wouldn't it be a force easily exceeding 3,000!”
Baron Langketa naturally fell for Baron Kamora’s words.
“Moreover, isn't Blanc Cadmus leading soldiers down to regain his land? Even if a territorial war occurs, it will happen in Norington, so there will be no damage to our territories.”
As Baron Kamora said, Blanc’s objective was Norington.
If they set up camp here and faced him, even if they lost soldiers, there would be no direct blow to their own territories.
However, Baron Langketa asked back to Baron Kamora with a suspicious face.
“Would he really stop just by reclaiming Norington?”
There were those who evaluated the reason Blanc Cadmus could achieve dazzling accomplishments was due to his vengeance.
Even thinking with common sense, it was a situation where anyone could guess that Blanc’s grudge against the three families of Langketa, Vicious, and Kamora would be bone-deep.
It was difficult to think he would leave them, his father’s enemies, alone.
“Haha. How have you operated a territory with such a faint-hearted mindset?”
Baron Langketa was provoked by Baron Kamora’s criticism, but he couldn't get angry openly.
Because Baron Kamora was the one closest to the 3rd Prince Aleid among the three families here.
If he fell out of his favor, the rewards and interests for the Norington invasion, carried out while shouldering much burden, might become foam.
“Just by starting a war once, he would have to burn the assets and military power he has built up and gathered until now without rest; do you think he can reclaim Norington and then divide the battlefield into three to face all of us?”
Baron Kamora waved his hand saying that even for a hero sent by heaven, that was impossible.
“If that happens, it is rather something to welcome with open arms!”
If the battlefield is expanded with few troops, even the rising star Blanc Cadmus wouldn't be able to handle it.
The threat of Blanc Cadmus, who has neither territory nor a proper foundation, is merely something temporary created while burning his own body.
Baron Kamora shook his folded chin fat and spoke with fervor.
“Blanc Cadmus? Quiesco? They are guys who have already failed once and became ashes. Do you think things like ghosts barely alive can rise up and pierce through us who receive Lord Aleid’s protection?”
He pushed strongly, pressuring Barons Langketa and Vicious.
“Aren't we people who have already bet the family’s future on Prince Aleid? The sweat and blood we shed for the Prince’s shining tomorrow will all return as glory later.”
He won them over promising a sweet future.
Barons Langketa and Vicious knew well that Baron Kamora was playing them with his clever tongue, but.
The deed was already done, and the blood of Cadmus was flowing on the swords they held.
Now it was irreversible.
“If it were a surprise attack, maybe, but knowing that an adversary called Blanc Cadmus is targeting us, there is no way we will be defeated easily!”
Baron Kamora was becoming intoxicated by his own words.
“Let us not be dazzled by a mere greenhorn Baron! We just need to follow the order of our Lord, Prince Aleid, and finish the work here in Norington!”
Even madness hovered in his eyes judging the situation favorably and praising Aleid ceaselessly.
“No matter how you look at it, isn't it a situation favorable to us! Hahahaha!”
Barons Langketa and Vicious looking at Baron Kamora who was laughing loudly and satisfied.
All they could do was nod their heads and answer that they understood.
“Let us present victory for Prince Aleid who will write a new order. Everyone!”
Baron Kamora laughing loudly and encouraging them.
Baron Vicious turned his head away from him in frustration and looked out the window.
Into his view came the old mansion of the Cadmus family where everything had been burnt leaving only ashes and the site.
And an ominous thing standing in the middle of it.
Something blacker than anything he had seen in his life was standing there.
A black tree.
An ominous tree that seemed to shake a person’s soul just by looking at it.
Although it was a young sapling, the black branches stretching fiercely and sharply toward the sky seemed to be splitting the world.
‘If I had known I had to plant such an ominous thing, I wouldn't have agreed…….’
***
A white wall reflecting sunlight.
Clear dew had formed on the leaves of ivy tangling over that wall.
The lobby of the white inn, which had been noisy with the voices of mercenaries until yesterday, was sleeping silently.
Because the innkeeper did not accept other guests except for the Seeker of the Blue Star, Blanc Cadmus, and his party.
“Let’s begin.”
However, that silence was being broken from the mouth of a certain man.
There was only one person here equipped with the qualification to do so.
Magnus Dugar, the Cavalry Captain of Quiesco of the Broken Banner.
Wiseman, the Captain of the Thornbush Mercenary Corps.
Ulvent, the Captain of the Brass Helmet Mercenary Corps.
Hansen, the Senior Knight of the Cadmus Knights.
And Baron Blanc Cadmus who gathered them all together.
Only he was the one qualified to dominate this space right now.
“Others will think what we intend to do is reckless.”
Blanc looked around at the banners he had summoned with a calmly settled voice and eyes.
Hearing Blanc’s words, the banners fell into their own thoughts and nodded.
Anyone would find it hard to think that just a few mercenary corps and the troops of Quiesco, which had already fallen, gathering together could defeat the three families of Gartaria.
Even if Tolome and Neudorf, the Meritorious Nobles of the Felix Kingdom, provided maximum support.
“However, I think there is sufficient chance of victory.”
But Blanc was spitting out words different from the world’s common sense.
Therefore, everyone here had no choice but to pay attention to him.
“First, because we possess all initiative regarding this war.”
Blanc stood up from his seat and pointed at the map.
“It is us who decide when to start the war, and us who decide where to start it.”
As Blanc said, the timing and location of the territorial war for the reclamation of Norington had to be decided solely by Blanc’s decision.
“I have set the timing.”
“When is it?”
Magnus, the commander of Quiesco, asked Blanc with an intrigued expression.
“You must arrive near Norington by late summer at the latest.”
At Blanc’s words, Magnus distorted his honorable scar and smiled.
“It is the perfect time for those with nothing to lose to march.”
Understanding those words, the two mercenary captains also nodded and supported Blanc’s decision.
“The time of wheat harvest, at that time I will raise soldiers and strike the three families.”
Usually, if one said they were starting a territorial war or a war, it was common sense for Lords to start from around autumn when the wheat harvest ended and finish before spring when sowing began.
Because if they missed this timing or it went on too long, they could receive greater damage even if they won the war.
However, Blanc was a person free from such common sense.
He intended to force unfavorable time and harsh conditions upon the Lords of the three families.
Using the initiative he possessed.
The fifteen-year-old young Baron spoke with his head bowed.
“I am a Baron in name only and one who lost the place where I was born. It has been a long time since the things I held in my hands when born turned to ashes.”
The black wolf bared its teeth and spoke.
“I have nothing, and therefore have nothing to protect, and am one who only has things to take away remaining.”
However, when he raised his head, he was no longer the fifteen-year-old young Baron Blanc Cadmus.
“This is the second reason we can win this war.”
The man who raised his head.
He was one who had cherished anger and hatred toward the three families for over 30 years.
It was Blanc Scar.
“They will spend this autumn in hell.”
Transcending time, he connected the anger and hatred Blanc Scar possessed to Blanc Cadmus.