The size of the Balto militia was growing day by day.
As young people whose hostility toward the imperial family had reached its peak joined the rebels one after another, a large-scale army comparable to the Northern Noble Alliance was organized in just a few months.
It was the result of the indiscriminate looting and harsh military suppression perpetrated by the Imperial Army over the past few years.
"Filthy traitors!"
The Crown Prince, forced to make a humiliating retreat under the organized wave of attacks by the Amasek citizen army, slammed his helmet to the ground and raged.
Barcas lifted his gaze from the desk.
The Crown Prince, looking haggard from the aftermath of several days of grueling battles, was kicking a table in one corner of the tent and screaming.
"I swear to God that I will skin those vermin alive and hang their hides like flags all over the city streets! I will gouge out their eyes while they are still alive, pull out their tongues, chop them into tiny pieces, and scatter them as fertilizer across this wretched land! Just you wait, you dogs!"
Barcas leaned back against the chair and calmly waited for his cousin's frenzied seizure to subside.
As if his excitement had finally subsided, the man smashed all sorts of junk piled up in the barracks and slumped onto a chair.
Seeing that, Barcas gave instructions to the servant standing awkwardly at the entrance.
"Don't just stand there; pour a glass of cold wine for His Highness."
"I don't need you, so get lost!"
The Crown Prince roughly pushed away the attendant who was rushing over to pick up the wine bottle and cast a fiery glare at him.
"Why are you looking so nonchalant? It looks like you find it amusing that I've suffered such humiliation, doesn't it?"
Barcas picked up the goblet on the table without saying a word.
As he moistened his lips with the wine inside, Gareth suddenly sprang from his seat, snatched the glass, and...
He threw it into the corner and leaned his head dangerously toward him.
"Why aren't you answering? I'm asking if I look funny."
"You have picked the wrong person to take your anger out on."
Barks looked up at him with an expressionless face and said.
"Is this how you should treat someone who traveled a long distance to try and clean up this mess?"
Gareth stiffened slightly, as if he had read the warning message in his voice.
Barcas gestured to the Crown Prince with his chin toward the chair opposite him.
"Please come forward. Aren't we supposed to discuss future matters?"
"It's over for you. It seems you think even the Crown Prince is a joke just because you've risen to the position of Commander-in-Chief, doesn't it?"
Gareth, his face contorted as if he were resentful of being intimidated even for a moment, sneered through his teeth.
Barcas lowered his voice coldly.
"I told you to sit down.'
The Crown Prince, who had been glaring at him with veins bulging in his neck, finally pulled up a chair and sat down.
Barcas, having spread out a map in front of him, began to explain in a calm tone.
"From now on, Your Highness's direct units will be deployed to the rear. Please set up camp in the amber southwestern region and concentrate on cutting off the supply lines."
"Are you telling me to run away like a coward to avoid those lowly commoners?"
"This uprising is the result of the ruthless suppression Your Highness has carried out. His Majesty is wary of the Northerners' hostility toward the Imperial Family escalating any further."
Gareth's face flushed red at the accusations against him. He slammed his fist on the desk and asked as if wailing.
"Are you saying that this situation is my fault?"
Barcas continued his explanation calmly, neither affirming nor denying the statement.
"If the Crown Prince, who will one day rule the Empire, were to massacre the citizen militia of Balto, the resentment would reach an irreversible level. Even for the sake of reintegrating Balto into the Empire, His Majesty has determined that a humble figure is needed to stand in the Crown Prince's place."
"So you're saying that the cleanser chosen like that is you?"
Gareth snorted and sneered.
"And you merely humbly accepted the offer to become Commander-in-Chief out of loyalty to me. Previously?"
“Yes.”
Barcas answered gently.
"However, my second cousin is trying to cause a rift in my loyalty to the Empire."
"..."
"Please let me know if I am not needed. If His Majesty commands, I will gladly lead reinforcements back to the East."
Gareth gritted his teeth as if he were about to explode with anger at any moment.
After a tense silence, grinding his teeth, the Crown Prince spoke as if spitting it out.
"Alright, I will follow your orders for now. However, since I have turned my unit to the rear, the results must be certain."
Then, he jumped up from his seat and strode out of the barracks.
The next day, Barcas immediately reorganized his ranks and began to pressure Amasek. He had no intention of forcing a battle.
Barcas, having thoroughly isolated the city and blocked the expansion of the rebel forces that had begun to spread like poisonous mushrooms across the land, immediately established a base in the north and cut off the flow of the Lumen River into Amasek.
Although it required consuming an enormous amount of magical tools and gunpowder to reverse the flow of the massive river, its effectiveness was certain.
According to spies planted inside the city, signs of division among the citizens have already begun to appear.
According to records gathered by the Imperial Army after the fall of the city, a massive amount of food was stockpiled inside the amber fortress, enough to last for at least half a year. However, water was different.
Without it, they would not be able to last even a month and would have no choice but to raise the white flag. Now, all he had to do was wait for the moment when the rat in the trap would make its final desperate struggle.
Barcas positioned his cavalry in layers around the city gates in preparation for the fierce battle that was about to break out.
After a few weeks had passed, an unexpected visitor came to the barracks.
"It has been a long time since I last saw you, Sir Sheerkhan."
Barcas, who had been standing on the watchtower looking at the isolated city, turned his head toward the direction from which the sound came.
He saw hundreds of knights carrying long spears with green flags climbing up the hill.
The man with the massive frame standing at the front shouted in a cheerful tone.
"No, I suppose it would be proper to call you His Excellency the Grand Duke now."
Barcas furrowed his brows as he recognized the man's face a beat late. He was the second son of the Duke of Blesston, one of the most prestigious noble families representing the North.
He slowly went down the stairs and approached the man.
The man, having quickly dismounted from his horse, politely extended a hand toward him.
"I met you once a long time ago at an event at the Imperial Palace. How have you been?"
“It’s been a while.”
Barcas, holding his hand, slowly scanned the man with a wary gaze.
The Blesston family was currently serving as the head of the Northern Noble Alliance, replacing the Heimdal ducal family.
Why is the man who should be at the Dolagan Castle peace talks here?
As he gave him a suspicious look, the man brought up his business in a cautious tone.
"On behalf of the Blesston family, I have come to see you, Your Excellency, to make a proposal. Would you spare a moment?"
When looking into the man's eyes as if to discern his inner thoughts, Barcas immediately gestured toward the entrance of the barracks.
"You may come inside. However, you and one bodyguard are allowed."
The man, whose face was faintly stiffened, nodded with a sigh of resignation.
Barcas went straight past the checkpoint and headed for his barracks.
In the large tents, which were given only to commanders, only the minimum furniture for living was placed. Barcas strode into it, straddled a rather crude conference table, and gestured to the man to sit down.
The man, who was standing at the entrance and tilting his head, quietly pulled out a chair in front of him.
"What are you proposing?"
A hint of anger flashed across the man's face at first glance at the straightforward question. It seemed unexpected that he would go straight to the point.
The man who coughed in vain complained softly.
"You are very poor at serving guests. Isn't it possible to at least give me something to drink?"
"I want to decide whether to consider you a guest or an uninvited guest after hearing the reason."
A heavy sigh flowed out of the man's mouth in response to that dry response.
"Good. Let me tell you about the purpose right away... this."
The man took out a small envelope from his arm and held it out.
Barcas raised one eyebrow.
"What is it?"
"This is a personal letter from my brother. Duke Lorraine Blesston."
After checking the seal of the Blesston family on the envelope, Barcas immediately accepted the letter and tore off the wax seal.
On the yellow parchment was an unconventional request to recommend Anastair, the illegitimate daughter of the Blesston family, as the Crown Princess.
The corner of Barcas's mouth was filled with a sense of loss.
"This is preposterous. Although the Northern Noble Alliance has now sided with the Imperial Family, the fact that you too sympathized with Heimdall's rebellion cannot be erased. And yet, you are now asking me to make a daughter from a family that harbored treasonous intentions against the Crown Prince?"
"At the moment, there is no other way but this."
The man, whose dry lips were dry with a nervous face, continued cautiously
"Your Excellency is well aware that the public sentiment of the citizens of Balto is not unusual. To quell this, a picture must be created in which the empire generously embraces Balto. Where is there a picture as certain as a pure-blooded northerner ascending to the Crown Princess's position?"
He paused for a moment, as if asking for consent.
Barcas seemed to give a light chin as if asking him to continue, without saying anything.
As if impressed by his arrogant attitude, the man leaned forward with a table.
"At this rate, the war will not end even after a few years. The reason why the peace agreement has been sluggish for half a year is that the Northern Noble Alliance is also not sure that its position will be guaranteed. But if Anastair becomes the Crown Princess, that distrust will be dispelled at once."
Barcas tapped his fingertips on the table and stared down at the letter from the Duke of Blesston.
It was a very encouraging suggestion. It was also the most realistic solution at the moment.
The question was whether Gareth would accept this compromise.
Barcas, who already felt the goal being tight, pressed his temple. It won't be easy to make Gareth listen to him. Still, if the dog was well controlled, this terrible war could be ended in one fell swoop.
'If things go well, I can return to Raedgo Castle in the spring."
He clutched the parchment tightly
"Yes. Let's try to promote it. However, there is one condition."
"Tell me."
"As soon as the marriage is consummated, the Northern Noble alliance must be at the forefront of suppressing the rebels."
"That..."
The man's face hardened.
Barcas pushed hard.
"There should be no picture of the imperial army oppressing the northerners. You must kill the traitors yourself. That is also the way to prove the loyalty of the Northern Noble alliance."
"..."
"If I don't agree to this, I can't make a proposal to His Majesty the Emperor."
After hesitating for a long time, the man finally replied in a heavy tone.
"I understand. I will convey your will to the Duke."
Then he got up and held out his hand again.
It was just as he was about to hold his hands. A loud roar echoed outside the barracks.
Barcas immediately grabbed his sword and ran outside. At the same time, the soldiers' roars rang out.
"The enemy's attack has begun!"
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