Dungeon Defense (WN)

“I understand.”

To put it simply, the situation was a mess.

A regent and an emperor, a mother and a son, fellow countrymen and foreign forces, royalists and republicans. All sorts of positions were being mixed together and creating chaos. The noblemen of this nation were probably churning their brains as hard as they could in order to determine which side they should take. Local territorial battles may have already occurred.

“If Your Highness does not have any more questions, then I will proceed to explain what role our group will take from this point on. We will continue to follow the Empire Road and…….”

“Hm?”

I tilted my head.

According to what I remember from the game, the civil war within the Frankia Empire had a more complicated situation underneath it. An important fact hadn’t been explained yet. Jacquerie seemed to notice my expression as he spoke out to me.

“Your Highness, was something about my explanation unsatisfactory?”

Jacquerie inquired. The dwarf genuinely believed that he had explained everything.

I then came to a realization. ‘That’ was still a secret at this point in time. It will become a public fact 10 years in the future, but only a small minority of people know of it now. This was something that even Paimon’s Liberation Alliance, despite having spies throughout the continent, didn’t know about.

No one knows yet――.

A hot feeling of excitement started to swell up from inside me.

I knew. I knew how the civil war of Frankia was going to be carried out and how this would alter the continent. An outline of events that would simply seem like boring historical facts ten years in the future; however, this information was currently priceless.

“Haha.”

I let out a light laugh which resulted in Jacquerie and Jeremi giving me a weird look. Fortunately, the two groups happen to both be under my command. I could use them however I want.

I do want to complain to Paimon about how she had sent me two groups with a conflicting chain of command……but the situation was different now. Thanks, Paimon. I don’t know what you were expecting of me, but I’ll show you a success that far exceeds your expectations.

“Jacquerie, how much do you know about the state of affairs within the Kingdom of Brittany?”

“The Kingdom of Brittany? I only know that Queen Henrietta lost to the Crescent Alliance and returned to her nation…….”

He looked confused about why I was asking this all of a sudden. With this, I was certain that there were things that the Liberation Alliance didn’t know in regard to the civil war in Frankia.

“Get in contact with the branch manager of the Liberation Alliance in Brittany right now. Confirm whether there are troops moving around at the kingdom’s border.”

“Pardon me? Your Highness, I do not understand what you are…….”

“The Emperor of Frankia should have requested the Queen of Brittany to send troops.”

Jacquerie’s eyes opened wide.

“What are you saying!?”

“A brat who has only recently become an emperor and the Empress Dowager who has run a country for several decades. It is quite obvious who has the advantage here. Furthermore, not only is the Empress Dowager being supported by her homeland, the Kingdom of Sardinia, but she is also close to the Batavia Republic. If a civil war is carried out in this state, then the Emperor would have no choice but to submit to the Empress Dowager.”

I smiled.

“Do you think the Emperor is not aware of this?”

“Don’t tell me, he is going to borrow foreign troops and retaliate with them……?”

That’s right.

Although reaching your hand out to foreign powers was undoubtedly a shortcut to ruin, from the young Emperor’s perspective, losing a bit of his national power for the sake of gaining complete authority was worth it.

Adding to this, the Kingdom of Brittany is the most hostile nation to republicanism. During the war with the Crescent Alliance, Queen Henrietta wiped out her entire army simply because she was afraid of republicanism spreading within her nation……. She probably seems a lot more trustworthy compared to the republic nobles who are loyal to the Empress Dowager.

Jacquerie looked at me with perplexed eyes.

“But there is no proof. No, how does Your Highness know this?”

“Do not be concerned about how I know this. What is important right now is confirming with the branch in Brittany whether this is true or not.”

I smiled.

“Jacquerie, you are the branch manager of the Liberation Alliance in Frankia. I believe that you must have a way to contact the other executives.”

“…….”

Jacquerie got up and went somewhere. A few minutes passed. I listened to the sound of owls hooting in the forest for a while before Jacquerie finally returned. He had a rather serious look on his face.

“Queen Henrietta has currently vacated the capital. She has apparently left with some nobles to go on a large-scale hunt due to the appearance of ogres at the border. The royal family and nobles do not often mobilize their troops to go on large-scale hunts, but…….”

“That is also occasionally used as an excuse to hide a war.”

Jacquerie gulped.

“……That is correct.”

“The Empress Dowager most likely does not want to genuinely start a civil war. Both her allies and enemies know that she has the advantage, after all.”

She probably intended to only gather her army in order to intimidate her son. Compared to the Emperor who doesn’t have the money to even hire mercenaries, the Empress Dowager possesses a massive amount of funding. He was completely outmatched. Scaring her son and making him submit to her was probably all there was to the Empress Dowager’s plan.

“But what will happen if the Emperor drags Brittany into the fray?”

“The Empress Dowager……would never overlook a foreign power getting involved.”

“Indeed. This will cause a genuine war to unfold.”

Jacquerie gulped down his brandy. His hands were trembling very slightly.

“How does Your Highness think the war will progress?”

“Huhu. It will probably prove that you can go further than rock bottom.”

The corners of my mouth lifted up slightly. I didn’t do this consciously. They went up on their own. The excitement that was swelling up from inside me had heated up my chest and was now warming up my throat.

“Jacquerie, try thinking about it carefully! Use your imagination to think about how this will alter the territory within Frankia. Despite everything, the Emperor is still the true heir to the throne. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager is of foreign descent. Devoting your loyalty to her would be treasonous. People should devote their loyalty to the Emperor.”

However, I continued.

“That very Emperor has also called in a foreign power. Brittany and Frankia have been sworn enemies for a very long time. Would the Emperor not be the true traitor? It will be very difficult for the nobles to pick a side!”

“…….”

“In the end, the nobles will be at a loss. Some people will go this way, while others will go that way. They will get split up and move according to their respective beliefs. Similar to how the Habsburg Empire has fallen, a different empire is also making a mad dash toward chaos!”

They were running into an utterly chaotic situation.

Let us say, for example, there was a royalist noble.

He has sworn his loyalty to the Emperor; however, by swearing his loyalty to the Emperor, he is forced to cooperate with the Kingdom of Brittany. There’s no way that Brittany would help the Emperor for free. The upper echelon of the empire’s authority will thus be handed over to Brittany. If this noble swears his loyalty to the Emperor, then he would also be volunteering to help their sworn enemies profit off of them…….

Nonetheless, it would also be troubling for him to go against Brittany. If he fights against Brittany’s invasion, then that would mean he would be cooperating with the Empress Dowager. Therefore, he would have to share his meals with republican nobles. He couldn’t do this or that. In other words, complete turmoil.

“Is this not entertaining!?”

I laughed.

“In the end, that is how authority is. There is no affection between mother and child. It does not matter whether someone is your nation’s sworn enemy or not. It does not even matter if your people end up shedding a lot of blood because of a civil war. Solely for the sake of authority. People are fine with being serenaded with blood-soaked screams from other humans for the sake of obtaining authority!”

How bold and honest they are!

I could feel the dignity of the strong from here. They were declaring that they were strong and that everyone other than them was ‘qualified’ to be sacrificed. I always feel respect whenever I see people be so confident in their own strength.

I want to watch those people fall apart with my own two eyes!

Just imagining the faces they would make when they realize they are no longer strong is exciting me……. When they are brought down by the people who they had deemed to be weak and when they are ridiculed and mocked by those people, would they still be able to maintain their usual lofty expressions?

Aah. I’m already having fun! I can’t erase the smile from my lips!

“Brittany only mobilized a few thousand soldiers during the Crescent Alliance war. On the other hand, Frankia had dispatched hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Even if Brittany loses to Frankia in terms of national power, they are currently on equal grounds. A back and forth battle will definitely ensue.”

And as the war continues, a countless number of citizens within Frankia will be plundered.

It didn’t matter whether it was by the imperial soldiers, the kingdom soldiers, mercenaries, deserters, or thieves. Their nationality and affiliation didn’t matter. The soldiers will ravage villages for the sake of either sating their hunger or satisfying their desires. The people who were barely able to survive the Black Death and the famine will have to, once more, endure the calamities of war.

They will no longer be able to hold themselves back.

This was truly the perfect time to spread the plague known as republicanism.

There was no reason to give a detailed explanation about the concept. The recipients were the people of this era. They were dumb. They wouldn’t understand and that was a good thing. I simply have to let them hear the words their ears wanted to hear.

Freedom! Equality! Stand up against oppression. Take back the authority that should’ve been yours.

These were nothing more than sugar-coated words. Commoners normally dislike nobles. They respect the dignity that nobles have, but they still detest them. Nobles steal from their farms which they had worked hard to cultivate and force them to fight in wars. My role is to fan the flames, so these sugar-coated words are necessary to incite that anger…….

We have to make them feel as if they’re revolting because of their own personal justice and not for their hatred for nobles. Freedom! Equality! Stand up against oppression and take back what should be yours. These modifiers should be more than enough to cover up their hatred.

I will make this happen.

“Jacquerie, what did Paimon order you to do?”

“……Well, to work together with the Empress Dowager and improve our image.”

Haha. That’s too weak. Paimon, that is way too weak.

What kind of order is that supposed to be? Isn’t that too abstract? Improve our image? What do you mean by that? Are you telling us to kill as many royalists as possible, or are you telling us to go around to republic villages and give speeches?

As I thought, scheming does not suit her. Scheming is a tool for the weak. God generously created schemes for those who are too weak to fight a fair fight. For Paimon, who has lived for almost 2,000 years, the impatience and the insecurity of the weak are probably unfamiliar concepts to her. She was fated by nature to never become a schemer.

“I will be refining that order.”

I was born as the weakest race known as humans and became a Demon Lord. Schemes suit cowards like me.

“I, the Rank 71 Demon Lord, Dantalian of Many Faces will hereby give you a command. Jacquerie of the Double Ax Mercenary Brigade and Jeremi of the Scarlet Scar. As honorable demons, you two will heed this Demon Lord’s command.”

The dwarf and the elf perked up instantly before kneeling before me.

“Our goal is to trigger the civil war within the Frankia Empire. Going beyond this, we will also be amplifying the war. First, Jacquerie.”

“Yes! Please give me your command!”

“There are Demon Lord Castles spread throughout the Frankia Empire as well. We will be working together with those Demon Lords. We will make them invade the territories that belong to those royalists.”

We will respond to the other Demon Lords’ armies within the territory and make the nobles lose. On the other hand, we will manipulate the battle to make it seem like our mercenary brigade won. Our fame will increase while the public opinion of the nobles will decrease.

“I will be in charge of persuading the Demon Lords. Next, Jeremi.”

“Yes.”

“Prioritize assassinating the smaller nobles that are affiliated with the republican faction.”

Jeremi opened her eyes wide for a moment before smiling.

“I did not expect to be given an assassination mission here as well, but I will carry it out at all cost since it is Your Highness’ order.”

It would be difficult to assassinate prominent figures like earls and viscounts. However, we have twenty professional assassins here. They should be able to handle baronets and the like. Several of the nobles from a certain faction were going to be assassinated moments before a civil war was about to erupt. The royalists will naturally fall under suspicion. Especially the Emperor.

An emperor who not only mobilized foreign troops but assassinated the nobles from his own nation for the sake of authority. His reputation will plummet unimaginably. I look forward to seeing the face he makes.

That night.

I was writing with my pencil endlessly while sitting next to a campfire.

I managed to finish several thick manuscripts in a single night. The same logic and rhetoric I had used during the ceremonial speeches were contained within these manuscripts. I intended to send these to the Keuncuska Firm and have them copied in large quantities. We were then going to circulate them throughout every village we passed by.

‘The Habsburg Empire and now the Frankia Empire.’

I must have had something against empires in my past life. Well, I was probably abused by them one-sidedly in that past life. I’m simply paying them back for what they did to me. This would probably make those imperial nobles feel better if they knew this.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Time for another rousing bout of Dantalian plotting behind-the-scenes. It’s been gradually getting hotter and I got bit by one mosquito like 5 times in one day. This is suffering. Mosquitos were a mistake.

Rambling aside, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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