The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 144
Episode 144
Heeheeheehee!
The cavalry, which had been running vigorously, gradually slowed down and finally came to a complete stop.
“Now, Viscount. “I think you should come out and see it.”
Baron Tate’s slightly embarrassed voice was heard.
Click.
Viscount Jayden opened the carriage door and stepped out, looked up at the blue sky, and then turned his gaze to the castle walls.
‘Tsk.’
He clicked his tongue slightly and took a brisk walk to the front of the cavalry line.
Hwiiing.
He stood on a small hill about 300 meters away from Cornford Castle, crossed his arms and said,
“Send a messenger.”
“What should I say?”
“I guess we should say hello first.”
His voice was calm, but his back muscles, bulging from exertion, were shaking under the cloak.
Viscount Jayden’s review of the soldiers and knights filling the castle walls did not look comfortable at all.
* * *
Kigigigging.
The castle gate opened slightly, and about 50 cavalry units slowly walked out into the field.
In Viscount Jayden’s camp on the other side, about 30 cavalry units slowly headed toward the castle gate.
In the middle of two camps.
The two cavalry units faced each other on a field with a hot wind blowing.
“Who is their representative?”
Temporary Commander Weyron asked, stepping slightly to the front of the line.
On the other side, Baron Tate stepped forward and negotiations began.
Viscount Jayden naturally requested that the gate be opened to allow entry into the castle, and Weyron confirmed that armed troops could not enter the castle.
As the fruitless conversation continued, Viscount Jaden finally stepped forward.
“Did you say Waylon? Your will to protect the castle is ambiguous, but you need to be careful about where you step out. “I don’t understand why they are blocking my path.”
“I don’t think that’s what someone who led troops to the count’s capital without permission would say. And just to be clear, an order has come from the Count’s deputy that no one except those concerned should enter the castle. “Please leave without making any more fuss.”
Viscount Jayden, probably offended by Weyron’s firm answer, shouted with a grim expression on his face.
“How dare someone who is not even a blood relative of the count family arrogantly make fun of someone by telling them to leave! And the count lying in the hospital bed is my brother! Officials? “Couldn’t we stop talking nonsense and open the gate right now?”
When he took out a greatsword on horseback, the knights on Viscount Jayden’s side also took out their weapons, and the Count’s side did the same.
Ugh.
As the energy waves collided between the two camps, there was tension as if a battle would break out at any moment.
At that time, a knight wearing a hood from the count’s camp stepped forward and opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry, but you cannot enter the count’s castle. “Viscount Jayden.”
“Who are you?”
At Viscount Jayden’s sharp reaction, he raised his eyebrows and took off his hood, and for the first time, Viscount Jayden showed a surprised expression.
“You…!”
“This is my first time greeting you. Raoul de Ashton. “He is the third son of the count, the lord of Calypse Bates Frannois Louisin, and the current temporary lord of Cornford Castle.”
“….”
Viscount Jayden looked at his face for a while with an expression that he had not expected at all, then raised his eyebrows and shouted.
“How are you here? And he’s very cocky. If you see an adult in your family, it’s not enough to be polite and greet them. Why are you holding your head high and rolling your eyes? “That Melvin messed up his child’s education!”
If it was an attempt to steal momentum, it was as good as a complete failure.
Raoul’s expression did not change at all, and his attitude towards him did not become polite at all.
“If you wanted to be treated as an adult of the family, you shouldn’t have betrayed the family with such trash 16 years ago! What is the real reason why a traitor whose name was erased from the family register has now shamelessly shown his dirty face? Viscount Jayden.”
“what! Who does this young laborer dare to rival? The count’s order has fallen to the ground. “Do you really want to die by my hands?”
A mana blade erupted from Viscount Jaden’s sword, but Raoul shouted back without even blinking.
“Shut up! Where does this bastard, who betrays his family and tries to take advantage of the family’s crisis to gain his own benefit, shout loudly? I have no intention or reason to bring scum like you into this Ashton household. “Leave this land immediately!”
“This, this, this…!”
Viscount Jayden, who had been scolded harshly by his nephew who was only sixteen years old, was speechless with blood on his face as if his blood pressure was rising.
Meanwhile, Raoul caught a glimpse of Viscount Jayden, took out an order from his pocket, and read it out loud.
“Baron Jarod! Baron Esteban! Baron Kian! …Baron! Those named committed the crime of rebellion by breaking their oath to the count family, bringing in outside forces into the territory, and moving their own troops without permission, throwing the count family into chaos! “I hereby order the lords called by the name of Dylan de Ashton, the Count’s representative, to disband their forces and to appear at the Count’s office disarmed within fifteen days and explain the facts of their relationship!”
I could see at a glance how Viscount Jayden’s people flinched when their names were called.
They probably never imagined that things would move so quickly and in such an unexpected direction.
Perhaps that was why some people left the ranks and complained of injustice.
“Viscount Raoul. Oh my! What a rebellion! “I simply escorted the head of the family’s older brother to the count’s castle.”
“No, you’re saying there’s a rebellion just because of something like this? “What on earth did we do wrong?”
“I just did what I was told. “How can a baron refuse the Viscount’s request?”
But Raoul just looked at them with cold eyes and spoke according to principle.
“If you feel wronged, all you have to do is appear at the count’s office and directly explain your innocence. “If you don’t plan on making a big deal out of it anymore, go back now, disband your troops, and follow orders!”
They also seemed to realize that things would not be resolved easily due to Raoul’s firm attitude.
“It will never be good for you to push us like this!”
“If you falsely accuse us like this, we won’t stay silent!”
They crawled back into the ranks, carefully watching Viscount Jayden.
But Raoul was not sad at all. There was no need to appease them since they were trash that had to be separated anyway.
There was silence for a while, with a cold atmosphere hovering between the two sides.
What broke the silence was boisterous laughter.
“Hahahaha! I got a kick out of this! Hahahahaha!”
Viscount Jayden said as he took out his mana blade and placed a lead sword behind his back.
“There will be no answer at this rate. Isn’t that right, nephew? So, let me make a big suggestion. “How about we settle the day’s events by having a 5-on-5 knight battle?”
Knight War.
It is a way of dueling to determine each other’s faults that cannot be resolved by law.
It was one of the means of self-relief that corresponded to the intermediate stage between a duel between individuals and a territory war, and was often fought over disputes between nobles without territories or issues that were too insignificant to advance to a territory war.
“How dare someone with no honor discuss a battle of knights!”
Waylon shouted angrily, but Viscount Jayden only looked at Raoul and opened his mouth.
“How is it? “I don’t think it’s a bad offer?”
Raoul wanted to firmly reject Viscount Jayden’s offer, which he spoke with a sly expression, but as he said, it was not a particularly bad offer.
“What if I refuse?”
As Raoul asked again with a stiff face, Viscount Jayden flicked his index finger left and right.
“If you don’t like it, it doesn’t matter if we fight like this. But is it really okay? “I don’t think you’re an idiot who can’t even understand the situation properly.”
He stretched out his arms and turned his head from left to right, looking closely at the county.
‘Tch. ‘Someone like a raccoon.’
Raoul clicked his tongue and cursed Viscount Jayden.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just stick to it and sweep it away? I will stand at the forefront!」
Jake suggested this through guild communication, as if he was itching to fight.
Raoul wanted to do the same, but it was not an easy decision to make.
It was Kane who explained Raoul’s feelings.
“It would be better to avoid direct confrontation. We may be able to win, but the damage on our side will be significant.”
“What do you mean, Kane? The number of soldiers is overwhelming here, and the knights are also more than double if you include our hidden children!” “
Because we are lacking the most important military power. All 200 knights over there are armor users.”
“…!”
That’s right. The problem is power armor.
Raoul tried his best to secure power armor after the Gate incident, but he was able to secure only about 30 pieces over a period of 9 months.
It was impossible to find new production quantities, and there were about a dozen used items that were barely secured at a cost of more than ten times the cost.
After defeating the Imperial Hound, there were about 20 pieces of power armor that were barely damaged and barely repaired.
So, the number of power armors that the First Knights currently have is about 60.
As the number of expert drivers exceeded 400, it was an insufficient number.
Moreover, the current number of armor users at Cornford Castle was only about 120, including 60 First Knights.
The gap between the Golden Bear Knights and the Central Corps was that big.
‘I am confident that I will win even if I fight now, but the members of the First Knights whom I have worked hard to raise will be greatly injured. And since the walls are meaningless against armor users…’ If
they made up their minds and ran rampant inside the castle, the damage to ordinary soldiers and civilians could have been unimaginable.
Raoul didn’t want to take that kind of loss.
‘The real fight has to happen where and when I want.’
And that thought was the same on Viscount Jayden’s side.
Since the plan to respond internally had gone awry, the number of the Count’s troops and knights was too large to take over Cornford Castle immediately despite the damage.
Even if they captured the castle, if they couldn’t maintain their strength, they wouldn’t be able to handle the returning Central Corps and Golden Bear Knights.
Finally, Raoul asked again.
“What do you want?”
“If we win, a few lords, including me, will go into the inner palace and meet the head of the family. If we lose, let us quietly defeat our troops. how is it?”
Even if Viscount Jaden could not take control of the castle, he had to achieve his stated goal of ‘visiting and protecting the Earl’.
This is because not only will the lords who cooperated with him be able to remove the stigma of being traitors, but he will also be able to secure a justification for seeking the next earldom.
‘It’s not over yet, you brat!’
Although he now treats himself as a traitor and an outsider, the situation will completely change after Count Melvin dies.
In any case, vassals act according to their own interests.
Although Dylan appears to be the undisputed successor, there were many who would support him, such as the lords who had already been included.
So, at least now, there was a need to regain the title of ‘the earl’s older brother’.
“great. Let’s accept the knightly battle. “Are you going to follow continental law?”
‘Great!’
In the end, it’s a kid. It would have been a pain in the ass if he had refused, but I expected him to accept since he was a young man full of pride in being a knight.
Belatedly, Weyron and several knights were next to Raoul, saying words of concern, but they could not go back on what they had already said.
‘Right here today, I will prove the old Earl of Ashton’s ways wrong.’
Viscount Jayden was confident that as long as there were no people of interest, such as the Commander-in-Chief of the Golden Bear Knights, there was no doubt that this side would win.
He didn’t really realize who he was dealing with.
(Continued in the next part)