My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 189

§ 189 – Territory War? (1)

“Did he swallow an ogre’s gall or something?” [Ogre’s gall is a fictional substance believed to induce extreme rage and aggression.]

Count Crowd’s voice was so loud it hurt my ears.

Well, his appearance is certainly orc-like.

The Crowd County holds the empire’s largest granary.

Crowd was able to grow rapidly due to its overwhelming agricultural production.

It’s more than just a wealthy family; it’s a prosperous one.

Because of this, they’re always included among the empire’s most prestigious families.

Anyway.

“I will definitely avenge the wrong done to my son, Remington, for being disabled!”

I heard that Count Cyan was responsible for Count Crowd’s second son, Remington, becoming disabled.

It happened quite a while ago.

During the National Foundation Day event, which I barely remember.

Cyan was heading to the capital when the two got into a fight.

As a result, Remington was severely injured.

He was completely and utterly beaten.

A priest was urgently summoned to treat Remington, but there was lasting damage to his physical functions.

I heard his jaw joint was shattered, so his pronunciation is now slurred.

Looking at the outcome alone, Cyan’s actions were excessive.

However, considering the situation at the time, that wasn’t really the case.

Because that rascal Remington started the fight.

Of course, Remington didn’t directly pick a fight with Count Cyan.

Ah, it was Cyan Elandur back then.

Anyway, Remington threatened a woman named Amelia.

The problem was that Amelia was a resident of Cyan’s territory.

Remington didn’t know that, and he said things to the woman that he shouldn’t have…

No, did he know?

I think he did.

So after that, he insulted Amelia and Count Cyan.

Ah, so it was Cyan Elandur back then.

‘He deserved to be beaten.’

Honestly, he deserved it.

It was fortunate he didn’t die.

But how could these self-important nobles see it that way?

If they don’t like something, if it offends them, then the other person is automatically wrong.

As expected, Count Crowd took action.

To be exact, he was about to take action, but…

‘He chickened out at the mention of the Elandur name, I guess.’

He backed down when he learned Cyan was an Elandur.

Because it was Cyan Elandur back then, not just Count Cyan.

Because of this, the Crowd County actually ended up paying compensation to Cyan.

It was a truly pathetic sight, but…

Well, I could understand it.

There wasn’t a family in the empire that could thrive after being at odds with the Elandurs.

What crazy fool would want to be enemies with the Elandurs?

Crowd’s actions were inevitable and understandable.

I thought the incident had been settled in a vague way like that.

“I will make them pay dearly for ignoring our family!!”

Now he’s going to start a territory war using that old incident as an excuse.

At first, I wondered why he was doing this.

If he was so angry, he should have acted then.

Isn’t it strange that he backed down then and is only now raising his voice?

But if you think about it for a moment, you can guess the reason.

‘He’s not an Elandur anymore.’

Cyan was no longer an Elandur.

Cyan received the title of Count and abandoned the Elandur name.

At the same time, he became irrevocably estranged from the Elandur family.

Of course, the fact that Cyan was at odds with the Elandurs wasn’t widely known.

Just because he received the title of Count didn’t automatically mean he was at odds with his family.

Anyway, it’s a relationship based on blood ties.

There was a good chance that Cyan and the Elandurs were still cooperating.

In fact, there were many such cases.

No, almost all families maintain such relationships.

‘But he waged a territory war against Ruben…’

Well, whatever the truth.

Crowd has a justification.

He’s following the legal procedures.

There was no reason to stop him.

“I understand. As of this moment, I authorize the territory war between Ruben and Crowd. The territory war begins from the date the families are notified and will proceed for 90 days from that date.”

“Ha! 90 days? 10 days is enough!”

Count Crowd shouted confidently.

The imperial secretary wondered what gave Count Crowd such confidence.

That’s because the secretary knew something.

Ruben, where the Crown Prince and Princess are currently located.

Because of this, almost everything that happens in Ruben is reported to the imperial family.

So, I knew.

The fact that Kai and the White Wolf Knights clashed with Ruben.

Of course, I was also aware that they had been defeated.

“When will His Highness the Crown Prince and the Princess leave Ruben?”

So, the way Count Crowd looks right now.

Honestly, it’s almost comical.

Is he so sure of his victory?

That confidence is a bit… ridiculous.

Kai and the White Wolf Knights threatened Ruben, and they lost.

Should we send them to Count Crowd in the same way?

‘I wonder if the Crowd County will even survive.’

Of course, that was an exaggeration.

Still, Ruben’s power was so overwhelming that I had such thoughts.

Ruben defeated such a force.

So Crowd’s confidence now was nothing more than foolishness.

It wouldn’t be surprising if this was a new form of suicide.

I guess Count Crowd doesn’t know.

If he knew, he’d just be farming quietly in the south.

It wasn’t just Count Crowd.

The nobles of the empire currently didn’t know.

What kind of power Ruben is hiding.

Why Cyan confidently broke ties with the Elandurs.

Right now, Crowd and other nobles were underestimating Ruben.

They see it as barren land called the Forest of Darkness.

They regarded it as a tiny territory located in the remote outskirts.

So, they must be so excited, but…

The secretary didn’t bother to correct their misconceptions.

The secretary followed the territory war procedure and prepared the documents.

Then suddenly, a thought came to mind.

The secretary raised his head and said to Count Crowd.

“Ah, by the way. Do you know that you have to pay compensation if you lose the territory war?”

But he’s so impatient.

In the secretary’s field of vision, he saw Count Crowd’s back, far away, stomping away.

The secretary briefly got up from his seat to catch Count Crowd.

“…Oh, never mind.”

To be exact, he tried to get up but shook his head and dismissed the idea.

He’s a count, so he must know the laws of territory war.

Also, the secretary had no obligation to inform him of that.

“He’ll figure it out.”

The imperial secretary sat back down and prepared the territory war documents.

#

“Crowd County…?”

The family written at the very end of the letter.

It was the Crowd County, not the Elandurs.

“If it’s the Crowd County… that’s the family that owns the empire’s largest granary in the south, right?”

At Cyan’s words, Conrad tilted his head and said.

The Crowd County, a noble family in the south and owner of the empire’s largest granary.

“But why is Count Crowd waging a territory war against you…?”

Why would the Crowd County wage a territory war against Ruben?

“Did you have a grudge against the Crowd County?”

At Conrad’s question, Cyan pondered.

“Well…?”

Then he slowly shook his head.

There was no reason to hold a grudge.

No, in the first place, what reason could Cyan have to hold a grudge?

Even before coming to Ruben, Cyan was a discarded child.

He was often ignored as an illegitimate son.

He was harassed every day, lived in seclusion, and rarely left the family estate.

Because of this, he rarely interacted with anyone.

He had no friends, let alone acquaintances.

Then who could he hold a grudge against?

Rather, Cyan was the one people would resent.

There was no reason for him to hold a grudge against anyone.

Even more so with the Crowd County.

Isn’t that a prestigious family that owns the empire’s largest granary?

“Why on earth would the Crowd County…?”

“Maybe… it’s because of what happened back then?”

Elena spoke at the same time as Cyan.

“If it’s about what happened back then… what are you talking about?”

“Why. It’s about the time when you, Young Master, crushed the second son of the Crowd County.”

“Me?”

Cyan tilted his head, genuinely confused.

Because he really didn’t remember.

“Listening to Elena, I think I remember hearing a report about it back then.”

But seeing that even Conrad was saying such things.

I must have done something for sure.

Cyan kept tilting his head and rummaged through his memories.

And was it because of such efforts?

“Ah… Ah… At that time… While going to the capital for the National Foundation Day event, there seemed to be a rascal who was hitting on Amelia in the restaurant…”

I vaguely remembered the incident.

“His name was Remington…? I think. Is that right?”

“I didn’t know that Miss Brahe was involved. But Remington is the name of the second son of the Crowd County. No, but why are you asking me that?”

Elena glared at Cyan with an incredulous look.

“Haha, I don’t remember well…”

Cyan smiled awkwardly.

Then he tilted his head and asked Elena.

“More than that, how do you know about that, Your Highness?”

“The social circles were buzzing about it at the time. It wasn’t a duel, but you just beat him up? People were calling you a thug or a gangster. Of course, they were talking about Young Master Cyan.”

Elena, as a princess, is at the center of the social world.

The news of the noble families always reaches Elena’s ears first.

Of course, whether she remembers everything is another matter.

“Ah… Come to think of it, I think Count Crowd paid compensation at that time.”

Only then could Cyan recall his complete memory.

“That’s why Count Crowd was angry.”

Cyan nodded at Conrad’s words.

There was a reason why Count Crowd was waging a territory war against Ruben.

But why suddenly now, after being quiet all this time?

“It’s because you abandoned the Elandur name.”

“Ah.”

Cyan nodded calmly at Conrad’s words.

At the same time, I could understand all the circumstances.

And this time, when Crowd waged a territory war.

‘Did the Elandurs instigate Crowd?’

There was a possibility that this could happen.

No, it was probably almost certain.

The Crowd County family, a noble family in the south and owner of the empire’s largest granary.

Its reputation and fame couldn’t be easily ignored, even in the empire.

But it still couldn’t compare to the Elandurs.

It was true that Cyan had abandoned the Elandur name.

However, it was also true that Cyan inherited the blood of the Elandurs.

What if the Elandurs still tried to protect him as their bloodline?

From Crowd’s perspective, there couldn’t be a bigger disaster.

Yet, Crowd confidently declared a territory war.

This suggested that the Elandurs were subtly involved.

‘Hmm…’

Therefore, Cyan paused to think.

Circumstantially, it seemed the Elandurs had incited Crowd.

But conversely, this made the territory war even stranger.

If the Elandurs were involved, the territory war shouldn’t have been established in the first place.

The Elandurs knew Ruben’s strength.

Kai and the White Wolf Knights.

Hadn’t they directly witnessed and experienced Ruben’s power?

Even if other families and nobles didn’t know, the Elandurs did.

So, they should have stopped Crowd, not encouraged him.

Yet, Crowd declared a territory war.

‘Did the Elandurs not inform them?’

It seemed they hadn’t told Crowd the truth.

They had only incited him.

They seemed to have kept silent about Ruben.

And the reason for this was easily guessed.

‘Are they testing us?’

To test Ruben’s strength once more.

They seemed to have incited Crowd to gauge and understand Ruben’s power in the upcoming all-out war.

In other words, a disposable pawn and a shield.

Of course, this wasn’t certain.

It was merely a situation based on speculation.

However, it was clear they had some ulterior motive.

Well, whatever.

Regardless, the territory war with Crowd was unavoidable.

“Are you… alright? Just staying like this? Shouldn’t we prepare something…?”

Perhaps because of this, Conrad asked worriedly.

Elena also looked at Cyan with a concerned expression.

Crowd County was a renowned family even within the empire.

A family that owned the empire’s largest granary.

Based on their overwhelming production, Crowd possessed immense power.

But.

“Should we prepare?”

Cyan had no thoughts of that.

Why would he prepare anything?

It wasn’t like they were the Elandurs. Why bother?

Of course, Cyan wasn’t unaware of the Crowd County family’s reputation.

But what could he do about it?

Ruben’s current power was experiencing explosive growth.

Growth buffs through numerous cash investments.

S-rank equipment slathered in gold.

Added to this was the experience of sparring day and night with the Royal Knights.

Ruben’s soldiers were at the level of decent knights.

Ruben’s knights were nearly on par with the Royal Knights.

And that wasn’t all.

The Arcanic Magic Corps of Lorshilte, known as the strongest on the continent.

There were also dark elf black mages who wouldn’t be outmatched by the Arcanic Magic Corps.

Even Kendrick, a master of the upper ranks.

The thousand-year-old vengeful spirit, Leia.

What kind of preparation was needed?

Unless they summoned a demon to attack, there wasn’t really anything to worry about.

Frankly, the dozens of ogres from before were much more threatening.

So, perhaps the fight itself wouldn’t even happen.

They might be dealt with by the monsters in the Forest of Darkness on the way to Ruben.

It was just another troublesome incident─.

‘No, that’s not right.’

Cyan shook his head.

They were a family that owned the empire’s largest granary.

That meant they must have a lot of money.

Surely there would be a lot to extort?

If they won the territory war, they could get compensation, right?

‘Jackpot? Damn it. This isn’t the time to be spacing out like this.’

It seemed he did need to prepare after all.

‘Hold on. So, the gold I need right now is…’

Preparing to spend money, that is.

Cyan quickly calculated in his head.

And Conrad and Elena watched Cyan’s expression change from moment to moment.

Conrad and Elena looked at each other as if they had made a promise.

“How about making something other than dumplings next time?”

“I’ll think about it when Master Cyan likes something else.”

They wondered why they had even worried in the first place.

#

“Stupid bastard.”

Remington smirked.

The second son of the Crowd County family, Remington Crowd.

Remington couldn’t help but laugh at the image of the foolish simpleton that came to mind.

None other than the foolish simpleton named Cyan.

He could have stayed hidden under the name of Elandur.

If he had acted like a fox, leveraging that name, nothing would have happened.

But he foolishly abandoned the name of Elandur and tried to stand on his own.

Deliberately, he gave them this opportunity for revenge.

Of course, it wasn’t that Remington didn’t know the rumors surrounding Cyan.

The greatest contributor to the Northern Incident.

The new star of the empire.

Remington didn’t acknowledge that fact.

How could a notorious dullard and rascal suddenly become like that overnight?

Clearly, the rumors were exaggerated and distorted.

But where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

It seemed there was something to Cyan.

A notorious dullard and rascal.

Cyan was now far from those rumors, he thought.

Well, maybe not the rascal part.

But he certainly didn’t seem like a notorious dullard.

“A bastard, they say…”

So, he had the blood of the Elandurs flowing through him.

But it was still nothing.

This wasn’t a simple duel or sparring match.

A territory war between families.

A territory war involving armies couldn’t be swayed by individual martial prowess.

And the troops currently prepared by the Crowd County family were immense.

6,000 infantry and 3,000 archers each.

2,000 heavy armored soldiers.

In addition to 1,000 cavalry and 500 knights.

They had gathered over 10,000 troops.

A scale that couldn’t be imagined as the power of a county.

It was a scale that could be considered a war rather than a territory war.

An enormous scale that even a county family couldn’t easily mobilize.

As expected, it was only possible because it was ‘Crowd.’

In the face of this scale, the tiny Ruben would disappear in an instant.

Originally, they had also planned to gather mercenaries.

Mercenaries were dogs who would do anything for money.

For mercenaries, a territory war was an opportunity to earn a lot of money.

However, contrary to expectations, they couldn’t recruit mercenaries.

They hadn’t received Crowd’s request.

To be precise, the Mercenary King stepped in and rejected Crowd’s request.

Even promising three times the reward, they didn’t budge.

They wouldn’t accept any amount of money.

They couldn’t point their swords at a place where their friend was, or something like that.

He didn’t know what nonsense that was, but the Mercenary King had even firmly warned the mercenaries who sided with Crowd.

Many mercenaries protested, but that was all.

Currently, the mercenary world couldn’t operate while going against the Mercenary King.

For that reason, they couldn’t recruit mercenaries.

But well, it didn’t matter much.

Even with this much, there was no problem in crushing Ruben and Cyan.

It had to be that way.

“Whenever I think about that time…!”

Remington clenched his fist without realizing it.

Remington had never forgotten it for a moment.

The time when he was beaten by Cyan and humiliated in front of people.

He couldn’t forget it.

The memory of his shattered jaw joint at that time was still vivid.

Even after calling a priest for treatment, he couldn’t fully heal his jaw joint.

As a result, he had to live with slurred pronunciation for the rest of his life.

Unless he concentrated when speaking.

If he lost his reason due to anger like now, his pronunciation would always be garbled.

But he couldn’t do anything about it all this time.

In front of the name of Elandur, Crowd was just a farmer with a lot of land.

But finally, the time had come.

Thanks to the fool who gave him this opportunity with his own feet, the time had come.

“Stupid bastard.”

Remington gave a bitter smile.

He could already see it clearly.

Once the territory war was over, Cyan would be groveling at his feet, begging for forgiveness and mercy.

That was the image of Cyan he was looking forward to.

If he had his way, he would lead his troops to Ruben right now.

He wanted to see Cyan’s tearful face as soon as possible.

But he couldn’t.

“I didn’t expect His Highness and the Princess to be in Ruben…”

The Crown Prince and Princess were currently in Ruben.

No matter how much it was under the pretext of a territory war, this was not the case.

But still, it would be soon.

Before long, the Crown Prince and Princess would leave.

And then…

It was just that a full-scale war hadn’t started.

The territory war had already begun.

“Young Master. We have information that the Ruben Brahe Merchant Guild is returning from their merchant activities.”

“Is that so?”

Remington’s lips twitched at the knight’s report.

The Ruben Brahe Merchant Guild, operating under Ruben’s affiliation.

And from what he heard…

Amelia was the head of the Ruben Brahe Merchant Guild.

The fox-like woman who clung to Cyan after her family fell and made his jaw like this.

Such Amelia was in charge of this merchant trip.

If news came that Amelia, who had left on the merchant trip, had gone missing…

“How amusing would that bastard’s face be?”

Remington couldn’t contain the rising joy.

“But… Young Master.”

The knight’s voice was heard again at that moment.

“There are reports that the soldiers escorting the Ruben Brahe Merchant Guild… are unusual.”

Remington’s expression twisted.

He was already annoyed that his pleasant imagination had been interrupted.

What was so unusual about them?

“What could be so unusual about mere soldiers?”

How unusual could the level of the soldiers accompanying the escort be?

“Don’t make useless noise. Just make sure the preparations are solid.”

“I apologize.”

The knight bowed and retreated.

Remington clicked his tongue.

But only for a moment.

“Amelia, that bitch. She did have a pretty face.”

A sinister smile appeared on Remington’s face.