“Cough!”
Maxim fell to the ground with a terrible scream.
In that instant, the sounds of a fierce battle roared in her ears, but that wasn’t what mattered to her.
“Really… You’ve been completely caught. I thought you were too eager to give out information, but of course, the Archbishop of the Church is different.”
“Cough! Wh-what… do you mean… There’s some misunderstanding…”
Maxim asked with a voice filled with pain, coughing up her words. However, upon seeing her like this, Christian merely chuckled lightly.
“There’s no use trying to wriggle out of this situation… We don’t have time to listen to your pitiful lies anymore. You intended to sell us out to the Emperor’s Army to earn some glory for yourself, but unfortunately, there will be none of that for you.”
“Wait… I… I didn’t mean that…”
“Take her away! If she shows even the slightest sign of resistance, cut off one of her fingers!”
“Yes!”
“It’s not… It’s not like that! I’m not an agent of the Emperor! This is all just a misunderstanding… Cough!”
Struggling violently and pleading, Maxim desperately tried to defend herself, but Christian ignored her pleas and dragged her along with the soldiers as they made their escape.
‘Since it’s come to this, there’s no choice… Normally, I would have planned to steal a bit more before proceeding, but there’s no time for that…’
*
The battle between the Emperor’s Army and the Mansfeld mercenary group at Munster Castle once again shook the dynamics of power within the Sacred Empire.
Despite steadily building up a formidable army of 27,000, Mansfeld and Christian suffered a loss of over half their forces in this encounter.
The remaining strength was barely around 12,000.
The mages were still able to maintain a contingent of a thousand, but it could be said they had suffered a catastrophic defeat, nearly to the point of annihilation.
Even so, Christian managed to cleverly buy some time, siphoning off a decent amount of supplies and loot during the process. However, once their forces had been decisively diminished, they would not be able to escape the status of fugitives for a while.
With their ability to confront the Emperor’s Army lost, they hastily retreated north, prompting the Emperor’s Army to quickly capture the small towns that were in disarray nearby.
Thus ended what could be termed the ‘Palatinate Restoration War,’ ironically referred to as the ‘Palatinate Pillage.’
However, this was not simply the defeat of a mercenary group that had been causing havoc.
Though their actions until now resembled those of bandits, Mansfeld and Christian were still distinctly marked as heretic forces.
Their loss signified yet another victory for the Emperor and the Church against heretics.
From General Tilly’s perspective, it was a triumph that wiped away the disgrace suffered in Bohemia, and additionally, the Emperor was able to restore his shaken authority since the events in Bohemia.
Moreover, the nearby lords who were quickly subdued by Spinola and Tilly had no choice but to abandon the cause of the heretics and kneel once more to the Church, allowing the Emperor to reclaim most of the Empire’s territories, excluding those in Bohemia and the heretic alliance surrounding them.
Thus, the Emperor successfully raised the banner of the Church over approximately three-quarters of the Empire’s mainland.
However, at this point, the Emperor had no intention of ending the war.
In his eyes remained the quarter of heretic forces in Bohemia and the still-living threat of Mansfeld, who had dared challenge his authority.
To ensure that he dealt with them decisively, the Emperor decided to implement a policy to re-establish order within the Empire and cover his lack of funds.
That was…
*
-Swish!
A warm cup of tea was set before me.
As I slowly took a sip, I started to go over the news that had just arrived.
The crushing defeat of Mansfeld as per plan. The advance of Spinola and Tilly, and the subjugation of the remaining Imperial lords…
As I read the documents containing this series of reports, Polena asked with a voice filled with concern.
“Are you alright? We did send people to carry out your orders, but such a hollow outcome…”
“Yes, of course, I’m fine. I see this as a prime opportunity.”
“What?”
Without a hint of hesitation in my affirmation, a bit of surprise crossed Polena’s face as she looked at me with a questioning expression.
“Honestly, I thought that if Mansfeld fell so easily, it wouldn’t bode well for us. Wasn’t the goal to keep them around as a nuisance to the Empire for as long as possible?”
“Indeed, while it’s true we’ve benefited from their antics, they exist like poison for a severe remedy. For a while, they may help us treat the illness, but if we hold on to them for too long, they risk killing the patient. Losing their power at this point is just right in my eyes.”
Actually, due to the havoc caused by Mansfeld and Christian in the Palatinate, we had gained quite a bit.
The most significant advantage was that their open provocation kept the Emperor’s army from planning to attack Bohemia, as they dragged their feet under Mansfeld’s influence for weeks.
Furthermore, even now, Bohemia remained helplessly preoccupied with recovering the territories devastated by the Mansfeld debacle, leaving them no opportunity to look elsewhere.
On top of that, before joining forces with Mansfeld, Christian’s wild antics solidified the doubts held by the lords who still had reservations about the heretic alliance.
The lords who faced the storm of destruction from Christian and Mansfeld during the war were all those who hadn’t aligned with the heretic alliance and were simply observing.
They perfectly understood that if Christian, the ‘mad woman of Hilberstadt,’ carelessly provoked the already grouped heretic alliance, Mansfeld would be stripped bare from Hilberstadt and the Brown Region.
This indirectly illustrated that the heretic alliance served as a practical defense against extraordinary circumstances.
Thus, the Mansfeld army, having lent Bohemia some valuable time to regroup and fortify, had inadvertently benefited us.
However, considering the troublesome issues that would arise if they were to remain unchecked for too long, I concluded that it was time to deal with them.
“If it’s not too rude, could you elaborate a bit more? Unfortunately, with my limited intellect, it’s difficult to grasp a clear picture.”
“Simply put, if they continue to rampage any further, we’ll lose control of the situation.”
With those words, I took another sip of tea and continued.
“As you know, we have formed a single force under the heretic alliance, and we plan to extend our reach to other nations using Friedrich the Lord’s connections. However, if Mansfeld’s reputation skyrockets at this point, they might reach out to him rather than us.”
“Oh!”
As I spoke, the light of understanding began to dawn on Polena’s face.
Seeing her reaction, I set down my empty teacup and gazed into her sparkling eyes.
“Even though they are engaging in betrayal and pillaging, those who wish to extend their reach within the Empire would certainly see Mansfeld as a crucial pawn. If anyone starts to contact him, then we could find ourselves in a perilous situation. My efforts to curb his momentum were aimed at that.”
“Truly impressive… Our Master… I never imagined you’d foresee this far ahead.”
“Haha… You’re too kind.”
Polena spoke with a radiant smile. Her slightly over-the-top compliments made my face feel a bit flushed.
‘Of course, the reason I can think this far is that I’m well aware of the original work…’
Being unintentionally praised again, I instructed Polena on the next tasks and then slowly rose from my seat to gaze out the window.
‘With this, the war will start flaring up beyond the Empire. And at this rate… that guy should start to reveal himself soon, right?’
Originally, someone who was supposed to be here where I stood at this point.
The individual who had ousted Count Turun and House Andreas in Bohemia and seized real power here, known from the original work as the strongest, worst ‘enemy.’
According to the original work, I contemplated the imminent appearance of that person, and a dark shadow began to swirl over my face.
‘No matter how hard I tried to cut this off early, they sensed the situation and ran away. Given that it has come to this… I have no choice but to fight.’
With time fleeting away from my grasp, I allowed my thoughts about the imminent figure to drift in melancholy.
I then started to picture the face of that person who would soon stir worries and nostalgia within me.
‘By the way… when will Cazerose come back? I haven’t heard anything despite waiting for so long… Should I go look for her myself, seeing as I have some leeway right now?’
