"A meal, huh."
A bitter smile formed on Lucian's lips as he heard the Grand Duke's message.
A family meal could mean vastly different things depending on the noble house.
In a small family where succession disputes were meaningless, it would be nothing more than a simple breakfast.
But to deliberately gather all the rivals in a great house like Valdeck?
That could only mean one thing—there was a重大 announcement concerning the family.
"Looks like something troublesome has come up. Fortunately, it doesn't seem too serious."
"Huh? His Grace only said it was a meal."
"But he called only me and my brothers. That alone is enough to infer the situation."
At Hans's question, Lucian let out a quiet chuckle and leaned back.
If it had been a crisis too large for the heirs to handle, the wives would have been summoned as well.
Yet the Grand Duke had invited only Lucian and his brothers to the meal.
In other words, it was not serious enough to inform the wives—but perfect as a test within the competition for head of the family.
"He's probably going to give us an assignment."
"An assignment?"
"If things go well, it could turn into a new achievement. That is, as long as it's a problem I can actually solve."
At those words, Hugo—who had been silently listening—made his eyes flash.
"If there's any chance you'll be going outside, please be sure to take me with you. I'll lend a hand as well."
Since meeting Grand Duke Sigmund, Hugo had become even more driven than before.
Until now, it had been a half–uncertain faith, but hearing the word knight spoken directly from the grand duke's own mouth must have given his dream a sense of certainty.
Having personally witnessed Felicia being formally adopted as the Sword Saint's foster daughter likely made him even more restless as well.
Fortunately, Felicia's talent was at a level that even Hugo couldn't help but acknowledge, so rather than jealousy, it seemed to have sparked only his desire to improve.
"I was planning on that anyway. To begin with, you're the only one I can put to work right now. If you're not coming, who else would I take?"
"Uh… am I not coming? I thought I was one of your hands too, young master."
"You have to watch the house. No matter what, we can't leave the family estate completely empty. Or do you want to learn swordsmanship and come along? If things go south, you might even have to go to the battlefield."
"Guarding the house properly while my master is away is also a servant's duty. Just leave it to me."
The moment the word battlefield came up, Hans shouted with a grim expression.
Unlike Hugo, it seemed he preferred a peaceful daily life, even if it meant his rise would be slower.
"By the way, what on earth is going on?"
Lucian searched through the memories of his previous life, but nothing came to mind.
Though he had worked for the Valdeck family, he had only been a mere guard.
The information he could access had been obvious and limited, so a matter this important must have been resolved without ever leaking outside.
'If I want to understand the full story, I'll have to hear it directly from Father.'
Having finished his thoughts, Lucian rose from his seat and headed toward the family dining room inside the lord's mansion.
There was still a little time left, but for things like this, it was best to arrive a bit early and wait.
***
Lucian tapped his fingers lightly on the table as an uneasy silence hung over the dining table.
As if they had been timing it, Jordi and Joshua had arrived at the exact same moment as Lucian.
Under normal circumstances, they would have at least engaged in a brief battle of nerves, but with the grand duke due to arrive shortly, it didn't feel appropriate to stir up a commotion.
"All right, everyone's here. You must be hungry, so let's eat first."
Fortunately, Grand Duke Sigmund arrived soon after.
Judging by the fact that he had come earlier than the announced time, it seemed he had anticipated this uncomfortable silence.
The meal, presented under the pretense of formality, ended very quickly.
No sooner had the meal ended than the servants cleared away the dishes, and the grand duke immediately got to the main point.
"Recently, a problem has arisen along the border regions. More specifically, in the Bornholm province."
"Bornholm… isn't that where eldest brother is stationed?"
When Joshua asked with a start, the grand duke nodded.
"Yes. It's the place where I dispatched Tristan. A few months ago, we received intelligence that the Imperial Liberation Front was on the move."
The Imperial Liberation Front.
An organization formed by people from vassal states, rallying under the slogan of breaking free from imperial rule.
Its overall scale was small, but from time to time it had led local uprisings or assassinated high-ranking nobles, throwing the Empire into chaos.
Of course, most of their attempts ended with them being captured before they could even act, but the fact that there were a few exceedingly rare success stories made them, from the Empire's perspective, a thorn lodged beneath the tongue.
"But recently, an unusual report came in from Tristan. Not only have the Imperial Liberation Front scum been stirring, but monsters have started running rampant as well."
"Don't tell me it's a mass migration?"
Lucian voiced a single conjecture with a grave expression.
"A mass migration?"
A mass migration was, as the term implied, a phenomenon in which monsters moved in large herds.
When a particular monster population grew excessively dense in one area, the food chain would collapse and food would become scarce.
As a result, the entire group, unable to endure starvation, would move to another territory in search of prey.
The troublesome part was that the targeted area could include human villages—or even castles.
To monsters, humans were perfectly excellent food.
If preparations were properly in place, it would end as nothing more than a minor subjugation campaign, but if preparations were lacking, it could turn into a catastrophic disaster.
The largest mass migration on record had reduced as many as ten villages and one castle to utter ruin.
"Well, at a glance it might seem so, but it's too early to jump to conclusions. It's only been twenty years since the last mass migration in the Bornholm region was suppressed."
"Considering that the minimum cycle for mass migrations is fifty years, that does seem too soon."
"Even if it isn't a mass migration, the situation remains ominous. Dealing with the Imperial Liberation Front alone is already taxing enough, and now monsters are running rampant as well."
At the very least, the forces already dispatched were nowhere near sufficient.
The moment those words were spoken, all three of them could guess what the grand duke was about to say.
"It sounds like eldest brother needs reinforcements."
"That's right. One of you will have to go."
At the grand duke's words, Jordi and Joshua both closed their mouths at the same time.
No matter how they looked at it, there was nothing to gain from this.
Tristan had been dispatched first and was already grasping both the situation and the field.
Naturally, whoever went as support would end up serving as Tristan's subordinate.
Who would want to go when they wouldn't even be able to command the situation themselves and would instead have to act as a rival's assistant?
In the worst-case scenario, even if they distinguished themselves, all the credit could be taken by Tristan, leaving them reduced to mere window dressing.
"Is it really necessary for one of us to go? Wouldn't sending a knightly order under your command be enough to support my brother…?"
"Impossible."
The grand duke cut Jordi off coldly before he could even finish speaking.
"Sending any more troops risks provoking the neighboring lords of the Bornholm region. If we're careless, they could lodge a collective protest. Maintaining the current level of elite forces is our limit."
"Couldn't we simply explain the situation? Those neighboring lords are all barons or quasi-barons anyway. There's no reason for you to concern yourself with their opinion, Father."
"Normally, yes. But what if His Majesty were to raise the issue directly? If he were to ask why we're concentrating so many troops along the border, would you have an answer ready?"
Jordi was rendered speechless.
As the grand duke said, when a great house like Valdeck moved its forces, even the emperor would inevitably be on high alert.
No matter how firmly the Valdeck family stood with the imperial faction, troop movements were not something that could be brushed aside lightly.
As Jordi faltered after stepping forward, Joshua hurriedly spoke up.
"If we go without any troops and only ourselves, even we wouldn't be of much help."
"No. There are quite a few mercenaries in that area. It's a region where minor clashes occur frequently, not just with monsters. If one of you were to hire mercenaries, you could easily make up for the lack of manpower."
"But earlier you said that concentrating troops would—"
"Do you think elite forces that swear loyalty to me alone are the same as mercenaries who move for money? To not even understand such a simple principle!"
Irritation seeped into the grand duke's voice, and Joshua shrank back at once.
In Joshua's stead, unable to say anything further, Lucian opened his mouth.
"Indeed, mercenaries and elite forces are different. Even if they gain an employer, the number of mercenaries already present in the area doesn't actually change. That would prevent the negative effect of troop movements stirring up the region."
"—Exactly."
"More importantly, mercenaries move for money. That makes them a burden on the one hiring them, but conversely, it reassures those who worry about subversive movements. They won't accept truly dangerous orders, and if need be, they can even be bought off. His Majesty would surely be lenient when it comes to something like hiring mercenaries."
When the explanation ended, the grand duke's anger subsided and he nodded.
At the same time, a faint glimmer of expectation lingered in his eyes as he looked at Lucian.
"Then do you understand why I'm insisting on sending one of you? I could simply order Tristan to hire mercenaries himself, yet I chose not to."
"As I just said, mercenaries are difficult to handle. When pushed to the brink, it's not uncommon for them to betray their employer and flee. Mercenaries work with death at their side, yes—but their goal is to earn money. They don't take jobs because they want to die."
There are plenty of cases where mercenaries, forced into unreasonable orders, break their contracts and run.
Even Lucian, who valued trust highly, had fled several times in his previous life from employers who ordered suicidal charges.
That alone showed how common "fleeing after breaking a contract" was among mercenaries.
Conversely, it also meant there were just as many employers who made unreasonable demands.
"The problem is that the situation in Bornholm right now isn't good. If mercenaries feel that things are heading in a strange direction, they'll try to run at any moment. On the other hand, the family's knights will try to stop them."
Knights who must stake their lives to defend Bornholm, a Valdeck territory.
And mercenaries who are constantly ready to flee if the demands truly put their lives at risk.
Wasn't that a combination just waiting to clash?
If things went wrong, it could easily spiral into bloodshed.
"Of course, if eldest brother were personally commanding them, that wouldn't happen. No matter how dire the situation, if they were to lay a hand on a member of the Valdeck bloodline…"
"I would personally hunt down every last one of those hired mercenaries and wipe them out."
At Grand Duke Sigmund's chilling tone, Lucian nodded.
Any noble house would swear the same if its members were harmed, but the power wielded by House Valdeck was on an entirely different level.
Even if it took decades, the pursuit would never stop, and even if several innocent villages were caught in the crossfire, they would track down and exterminate every last survivor.
"Yes. The mercenaries are well aware of that. So even if it costs them their lives, they would obey eldest brother's commands without complaint. However, the area eldest brother must oversee is simply too vast for him to personally command the mercenaries."
The borderlands of Bornholm were wide, and there were two separate threats to watch.
Naturally, the forces would have to be spread thin, meaning that if he commanded directly, he would have to take charge of elite troops rather than mercenaries.
Even if mercenaries were hired, they would inevitably be placed under a deputy or another knight's command.
And that, in turn, would give the mercenaries the resolve to risk bloodshed the moment their lives were truly endangered.
No matter how renowned a knight might be, the value of his life could never compare to that of a Valdeck blood relative.
"Isn't this precisely why you intend to send one of us? Because in Bornholm right now, what's desperately needed is a frontline commander who can keep the mercenaries under control if things go wrong."
"Hmm."
The moment Lucian finished speaking, an incomparably satisfied smile formed at the corners of the grand duke's mouth.
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