Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 375: Encounter of Two Heroes (3)

Sure enough, the goddess granted the wish of her humble servant.

The next day, the Habsburg Republic made a diplomatic statement.

The diplomatic statement was filled with dull words. It was quite literally your typical and boring diplomatic statement. If you scraped away the needless grease and managed to pick out the single voice and intent within, you could summarize it as “The Habsburg Empire is the biggest son of a bitch in the world”.

All worldly things can become surprisingly concise.

Why do people utilize all sorts of words and decorations to twist and turn their main point? They probably do this deliberately to prevent others from understanding. People have such horrible personalities.

Although I feel great remorse due to the preferential treatment of people wearing makeup over natural beauties, it appears that only I am the one who is saddened by this. The Habsburg Republic’s statement was accepted by other nations without any particular criticism.

Laura witnessed how the situation was unfolding and voiced her confusion.

“This is surprising. I thought that the Republic had been isolated from the nations around it.”

“It is because we had won too overwhelmingly. The other nations most likely do not wish for us to have such a one-sided victory.”

My head was currently placed on Laura’s lap.

We were both currently in bed while in the nude. The two of us have been sleeping together on almost a daily basis. The rumors about Laura and I being lovers had circulated long ago, so there was no reason to act reserved.

“We will not stop your war from occurring, but it would be troubling for us if one side were to win so one-sidedly. It’s obvious that this is what they’re thinking.”

“I see. So they are shifting the blame onto themselves.”

Laura stroked my hair as if she were combing it. I felt my mind being soothed.

“From a positive perspective, they are reading the mood. From a negative perspective, they are voluntarily taking the role of a clown. The Republic is acting as the proxy and saying the words that the other nations do not have the confidence to say. By remaining silent about this, the other nations are implicitly agreeing to their statement…… Mm.”

Laura put a strawberry in my mouth. It was one of the strawberries that were harvested to put inside the heads of the Earl of Pavia, the knight captain, and the vice-captain. We had harvested too much, so we still had a considerable amount remaining.

“Well, that’s the gist of it.”

“In the end, does this not mean that an implicit diplomatic agreement was established about the desire to stop the Empire? Are you fine with this, Lord?”

“It does not matter.”

I chuckled.

“There is nothing the Republic can gain by stopping the war now. We are going to request that the Kingdom of Sardinia immediately cease its support of the Republic, and Sardinia is not in a position where they can refuse…….”

“I see. So the Republic will end up acting as a supporting character before being tossed aside.”

I rubbed Laura’s rib as a way to affirm her words. Laura giggled. Referentially, Laura is extremely weak to tickling. Apparently, one’s erogenous zone has a certain connection to being ticklish, but I’m not sure if this is true.

“Can you guess how the Republic will proceed, Laura?”

“Hmm. They will most likely do their utmost to put themselves in an advantageous position before negotiating.”

“And how would they achieve that in a negotiation that happens during a war?”

Laura lowered her chin as she thought about it for a moment.

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“By obtaining victory……. The Republic would want to achieve victory in battle at least once.”

I nodded.

“I planted a spy in the Republic. According to them, Consul Elizabeth has been secretly drafting mercenaries while being supported by Venice. This started three months ago.”

“Three months ago……? Our army had yet to move by that point!”

Laura sounded surprised.

“That is also before our diplomatic warfare had even begun. How could the Republic have predicted our actions?”

“The Helvetica Federation had requested to be subjected under us at this point. We have a ceasefire agreement with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, negotiated with Teuton, defeated Frankia, and Batavia does not need to be mentioned. The only region remaining is Sardinia. The logic is rather simple.”

It was so amusing that a smile naturally formed on my lips.

“Consul Elizabeth has the intellect to see through simple logic. Hah, she truly does not betray my expectations. She is always able to entertain me.”

“…….”

Laura gazed at my face with a somewhat hazy look.

“Uhm…… Your Lordship?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Well…….”

Laura trailed off. It looked like she was contemplating her next words.

“……Mm. Nevermind. More importantly, it should be difficult for the Republic to involve themselves in this war. If Consul Elizabeth gets involved, then our nation’s Demon Lord Army could immediately invade their land. They would end up fighting on two fronts.”

“We cannot do that.”

I’m emphasizing this again, but we absolutely cannot use the Demon Lord Army.

Utilizing demons is exactly what Consul Elizabeth wants. It would turn this war into a conflict between humans and demons. The neighboring nations, who have been observing thus far, would swiftly join the fray.

“The second Chrysanthemum War must remain as a political battle between human nobles. This is what Consul Elizabeth is saying to us: Invade us if you dare. We may fall, but you will also end up in hot water…….”

I chuckled lightly.

“Truly a woman with nerves of steel so hard that her entire body can deflect arrows. The Republic is a nation that the Consul created entirely out of her own blood and sweat. She is utilizing this precious nation of hers like some rook piece on a chessboard. How splendid.”

“…….”

Laura gave me a hazy look again.

For some reason, it looked like she was worrying about me. No, was it not worry? Concern? A mix of both? ……Regardless of what it was, a person’s emotion wasn’t something that you could describe concisely with a single word. Instead of telling her to not worry, I buried my nose into Laura’s skin.

I’m confident. I’ve made the preparations. The Habsburg Republic will fall either within this year, or sometime next year at the latest…….

* * *

The Habsburg Republic took part in the war about half a month later.

They didn’t exactly take part in the war per se. Several cities along with the city of Venice requested for the Republic to protect them. The Republic simply accepted their request and marched their way to Venice.

The number amounted to 15,000, consisting of mercenaries hailing from Anatolia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was excessive by all accounts for the task of defending a few cities. The comparison of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut was probably made for a moment like this.

It was intriguing to know that mercenaries from the Anatolian Empire were participating in large numbers.

After the fall of the Frankia Empire, there were only two nations left on the continent that referred to themselves as empires. Our Habsburg Empire and the Anatolia Empire across the ocean…….

Did they decide that they couldn’t let our Empire get any stronger? Or did Elizabeth incite them from behind? It was probably the latter. As I expected, Elizabeth is an entertaining person. She always arrives with one or two unexpected cards.

“How dare a foreign nation take part in this war! What is the meaning of this, Marquis!?”

Of course, even if I had personally predicted the Republic to participate, I put on a performance as I feigned anger. I immediately summoned Marquis Rody and went on an enraged tangent.

“They are not taking part in this war. The parliament of Venice was worried, so they made a request just in case…….”

“They are not, you say? Hah. Then if the parliament of Piacenza and Parma asks our Empire to be stationed at their cities, we will not be taking part in the war either?”

“Th-That’s…….”

“Why have you come here with an excuse that even a five-year-old child would laugh at!?”

Marquis Rody started to sweat profusely.

It was for this very moment that I never raised my voice while speaking to Marquis Rody up to this point. I remained calm when we were slandered and stayed levelheaded even when the situation seemed uneasy. This was a card that I kept reserved specifically for the day the Republic joined the fray.

“Your nation had asked us to wait! To give you time to negotiate! Marquis, that is what you told us. Is this what your nation has been plotting? Is this how you repay our respect?”

“……We have no excuse, Count Palatine.”

Marquis Rody didn’t know how to respond to my anger which he was witnessing for the first time. It was like he was struggling to figure out how he should respond to my shouting.

This old man is also in quite a pitiful situation. The royal family of Sardinia has been grilling him to reach a compromise, the Duke of Milano has been condemning him for ruining his plan, and the Grand Duke of Florence is insisting that they should give up on diplomatic affairs and prepare for battle instead…….

Now he’s here being reproached by me. How pitiful.

Not only must Marquis Rody feel depressed by this unfair treatment, but I bet he wants to bite his tongue and kill himself. There is nothing more stressful than being the ambassador for diplomacy. The problems are being caused by other people, but he’s the one who has to take responsibility.

As a side note, I have a hobby of making life worse for people who’re already suffering.

“This is a battle between the House of Farnese and your nation. Do you understand? I am saying that this is not some brawl that any third party can participate in.”

“You are right, Count Palatine…….”

“If you have lost the battle, then you should accept it. Yet, your people decided to get another nation involved because you couldn’t accept it? This is unbelievable……. Your nation is shameless and has forgotten even the most fundamental form of respect between nations!”

I kicked the table in front of me.

The table fell over, causing the wine bottle that was on top of it to shatter. The Marquis flinched. That wine was incredibly expensive, but it didn’t matter. It was deliberately placed there so that it could be broken.

“Marquis, look here. Open your eyes and watch carefully!”

Once I raised my right hand, a cloud of black smoke started to flow out from my shadow. The smoke soon took shape as six death knights promptly appeared around the two of us.

“C-Count Palatine, these are…….”

“Indeed. They are death knights. Each one of them rivals the skill of the Empire’s rank 2 combatants. I could summon two hundred of them right this instant if required.”

The Marquis’ complexion became pale. In truth, I could only summon about a hundred.

“They are no different from an order with two hundred highly skilled knights. I could sneak into an enemy’s camp and take the head of their commander without anyone knowing. Do you understand how impressive this is?”

“…….”

“I did not use this manpower at all while fighting your nation!”

I kicked the chair this time, making it scrape past the Marquis.

“Do you think it is because I am a fool who does not know how to utilize the troops that I can pull out at any time? Do you think I do not know how useful they can be on a battlefield? No!”

“…….”

“It is because they are demons and I believed that I should only engage in a gentlemanly duel against your nation! Because I respect your nation! Marquis, it is because I trusted you as a person! That is why I have not utilized demons despite being a Demon Lord!”

The Marquis gradually dropped his head further and further. At this rate, his nose would probably touch the ground if I kept grilling him.

“You and your nation have mercilessly stomped all over my trust……!”

“I sincerely do not know what to say…….”

“Do not give me your empty apology!”

I glared right at the Marquis as I approached him. If the members of the Academy were watching me, then I would’ve probably been given the best male actor award.

“If this Republic army takes even a single step from Venice!”

“…….”

“Our imperial army will no longer act like gentlemen! You have my word! You will learn the extent of how much suffering your people can endure!”

The Marquis’ expression became dyed with dread.

“Count Palatine, please……. I beg of you. At least spare the people…….”

“If you do not wish to bare witness to it, then put a leash on the Republic’s army!”

I roughly shoved the Marquis’ body with my hand. I was dismissing him.

“Get out of my sight!”

Today was another day that the Marquis had to leave looking completely drained. He looked like a father who was persecuted by his company.

After confirming the Marquis’ departure, I took out a new wine bottle from a drawer.

This is a secret, but the bottle that fell from the table and shattered was filled with cheap wine. I switched its content beforehand.

You shouldn’t mess with someone’s drink. Despite my appearance, I am a man with a fundamental knowledge of manners.

“Mm.”

I poured the wine into a glass cup and a beautiful fragrance filled my nose.

Elizabeth will now be faced with a fair bit of pushback. She left the Republic behind and came all the way here to Sardinia, so she naturally has to pay the price. Leaving home is never easy. Isn’t that so, Eliza?

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. The Marquis is really living a tough life. He just can’t get a break, huh? Welp, I don’t have too much to say this chapter. I sort of wish the project managers at my company knew how to properly schedule work and actually communicated with me before giving me more work. It’s fun when I finally get things done in time only to find out I received more work 3 hours ago on a separate schedule sheet 🙂

Maybe this is just what corporate slave life is like… Welp, in any case, I hope you guys are surviving the summer better than I am, cause things are getting really humid now. I took tomorrow off from work, so I can finally take a breather! Woo!

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.