The First Magic World War

Chapter 409: 381, give you a choice, swear allegiance to me, or die.

Arsen Lupin Robin couldn’t help but curse, “Get lost!”

Charles pulled back his Magic Flame Horse, and when he returned to his three Sacred Order subordinates, he saw a convoy emerging from the crowd. Arsen Lupin had people take over the convoy and then led the bandits to retreat, not forgetting to flip Charles a slender middle finger before leaving.

Charles was pondering what seemed off about this situation when the eunuch from before came over and said, “Princess Akso asks for you.”

Charles went to Princess Akso’s carriage without his three Sacred Order subordinates, though Princess Akso probably knew. He wasn’t too brazen about it. When he arrived, he heard a voice near his ear, “I can’t conveniently send supplies every time. I wonder if Lord Mecklen could help me by sending Arsen Lupin living supplies twice a year?”

Charles was quite surprised and wanted to retort, “Such a large group of bandits can’t support themselves and need supplies from the princess? This guy is pretty useless!” Instead, he said, “As long as the princess commands, Charles will do his utmost.”

Actually, Charles really had some misunderstandings about the nobles of this world. Earthlings, even if not good at managing finances, still knew some basic business common sense from thousands of years of human trade rules. But the nobles of this world relied mainly on land taxes to sustain their lives and lacked any business acumen. They didn’t even grasp the basic concept of trade; financial management was more difficult for them than understanding Extraordinary Secret Arts.

...

Arsen Lupin was originally a carefree playboy who lived extravagantly and lavishly, even after taking on his nephew’s responsibilities following his brother’s “suicide,” raising his illegitimate children, and pulling together a band of bandits in Modova. However, Modova was not a wealthy country. He had robbed the few surrounding lords into poverty, and it was still not enough to cover his expenses, so he had to ask Princess Akso for help, requesting supplies once or twice a year.

Princess Akso whispered, “Thank you, Lord Mecklen, for your vigorous assistance. I will ask my father to grant you a prosperous fief.”

Charles was overjoyed. Although he controlled over a dozen cities, they were under the steward’s office and were technically not his fief.

For him, the difference between a steward and a lord wasn’t significant since he didn’t rely on taxes but accumulated wealth through trade. Still, owning an official fief was more proper.

After experiencing a “robbery,” the delegation did not continue forward but stationed themselves in a small town on the border of Modova.

Armed with a detachment of knights from the Brittany Family, Charles “officially” went out on patrol around the town and just “happened” to rescue Modova’s reception staff. Seeing these disheveled officials, he couldn’t help but ask, “With Arsen Lupin being so rampant, haven’t you thought about encirclement tactics against him?”

A middle-aged Modovan official with a distressed expression replied, “Our Modova is just a small country with no strong warriors. Even the captain of the royal guard was defeated by him; we really have no way to deal with this major bandit.”

Charles’s interest was piqued, and he asked, “No strong warriors? Then use sheer numbers! Modova must have hundreds of thousands of soldiers, enough to overwhelm him.”

The middle-aged official was startled and exclaimed, “Where do we have hundreds of thousands of soldiers?”

Charles’s eyes brightened further, and he said, “You must have tens of thousands of soldiers? With tens of thousands, you could also overwhelm Arsen Lupin.”

The official looked even more distressed and said, “Not even tens of thousands! The royal guard numbers only three thousand. Modova has only six nobles with their own estates, and they need their forces to protect themselves; they refuse to provide troops. Even including these nobles’ private knighthoods, it amounts to only about ten thousand.”

Charles’s eyes were already shining like stars as he asked, “So, is Modova actually helpless against Arsen Lupin?”

This middle-aged officer had no idea what dangerous thoughts were going through Charles’s mind and honestly said, “Not only are they helpless against Arsen Lupin, but they also can’t deal with several other major bandits.”

Charles nodded, drew the Blood Rose, and pointing at the more than ten officials said, “You have a choice, swear allegiance to me, or die!”

The officials were immediately dumbfounded, and the middle-aged officer exclaimed, “You are supposed to be the official diplomatic delegation from Fars!”

Charles said indifferently, “Sorry, I am a pirate!”

He turned his head and said to Golden Ram Herolf, “Report their identities to them.”

Old Goat gleefully said, “I am Golden Ram Herolf, and the People of Fars took St. Michael Island from us. Now I am leading my men onto land, looking for a place to settle. If you are wise, surrender quickly; otherwise, I will feed you to the beastmen.”

Golden Ram Herolf clapped Qiudelo on the back, who transformed, revealing his true form as a massive Silverback Ape Person, and roared to the sky, “I eat a hundred humans every day; if you don’t surrender, you’ll all become dinner desserts.”

These Modova officials, having never seen such a fierce beastman before, were terrified.

Modova Principality is sandwiched between St. Mabja and Byron, bordered by the Lionheart Dynasty and another small country, Parmas. St. Mabja largely prefers peace, and Byron’s vampires have no interest in Modova, as it is all mountainous with bandits as its most famous product. The Lionheart Dynasty also finds Modova too poor and its land too barren to be worth conquering. Although Parmas borders Modova, the Gandis Mountain Range lies between them, challenging even for Transcendents to cross, let alone an ordinary army. Hence, it has been relatively peaceful for centuries, troubled only by frequent bandit issues.

With Qiudelo’s enthusiastic performance, the more than ten Modova officials were terrified into meek surrender.

After forcing their surrender, Charles closely inquired about how many cities Modova had, the population of each city, and the strengths and weaknesses of local Knighthoods, quickly devising a plan to attack the nearest Sigma Baron’s Domain.

Charles, who had temporary command of more than ten knights from the Brittany Family along with Anne, forcefully integrated the ten plus civilian officials of the reception delegation into the group, and headed straight for Sigma Baron’s Domain.

Sigma Baron’s Domain was just tens of kilometers away from the small city where the delegation was stationed. Charles took this small group of knights, and before dawn, they had hurried to Sigma Castle.

He forced the recently surrendered Modova officials to call at the castle gates, claiming that the Grand Duke of Modova had sent messengers with extremely important matters that required the personal attention of Baron Sigma. Unaware that someone had come with barely more than ten people aiming to attack his castle and recognizing the officials who were indeed close to the Grand Duke of Modova, the Baron opened the gates and let Charles and his group in.

Within half an hour, Charles had captured Baron Sigma and taken the castle.

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