46. Right, I Knew the Original Story

Darius asked.

“What’s the possibility that Viscount Shire occupies the Tiberius territory, and then, drunk with victory, advances to our Inkheart?”

“The frivolous Count Tiberius might do such a thing, but Viscount Shire wouldn’t. He’s not a bellicose person, and he would already be exhausted just from initiating one war.”

While disturbances in nearby territories were concerning, there was no need to intervene if there was no direct harm.

“What about the case where Count Tiberius defeats Viscount Shire?”

The knight who received my question laughed inadvertently. It was Sir Lucion.

“Count Tiberius? While there’s always a possibility in everything, well… If war really breaks out, it would be best for the count to give up part of his territory and reach an agreement with the viscount. He has no talent for war.”

The meeting was proceeding entirely on the assumption that Viscount Shire would occupy the Tiberius territory.

No one present thought that Count Tiberius would suddenly display hidden military talent and defeat Viscount Shire.

‘Ah.’

This is an event from the original story.

Count Tiberius was frivolous and had no talent for war, but he made one correct judgment.

He requested reinforcements from the northern Inkheart territory that bordered his own.

In the original story, because Lady Ygret had taken all the money and fled, Darius at this time didn’t have a penny to his name, let alone public funds for the Inkheart territory.

So if I hadn’t dealt with Lady Ygret early on and put the lost money back where it belonged, today’s meeting would have gone in a completely different direction.

Like, could we get money from the foolish but wealthy Count Tiberius by offering to send troops to help him fight against Viscount Shire?

That was the flow of the original story.

“Then keep an eye on the Tiberius territory for the time being.”

“Yes.”

But now the situation had changed. Because of what I had done.

“When will the war break out? Not tomorrow, right?”

“Well. It will probably be settled within a month or two. By then, we might be greeting the new lord of the Tiberius territory.”

Sir Lucion answered.

〈War will break out in the Tiberius territory.〉

〈Within a month or two.〉

‘This is a battle that Darius won.’

Even after the meeting ended, I was captivated by that story.

With the great victory in the Tiberius territorial war, Darius, who had been a crouching Grand Duke of the north, would begin to make his name known in earnest.

‘I even know how he won.’

The weather that day, Darius’s tactics, and even his surprising strategy.

The Tiberius territory faced the Shire territory in front and connected to the rugged north behind.

What this meant was that when war broke out in Tiberius, the only route for Count Tiberius to request reinforcements was naturally our northern Inkheart.

Because Shire would be blocking the other side. So this time too, Count Tiberius would probably have no idea that a real war was coming until it was upon him, and then he’d frantically send us a request for reinforcements.

But now we’re not in such urgent need of money, so we probably won’t respond.

‘It’s such a waste to not participate when I know we’ll win.’

But would it make sense for a dignified Grand Duke to get involved in a mere dispute between a viscount and a count and fight a proxy war? He’s not a mercenary.

‘……Mercenary?’

I remembered one of my forgotten dreams.

* * *

Nicola Graus earned ten months’ worth of salary in just one month after his appointment. Since his annual contract was based on incentives, there’s no need to mention how much income he had recovered for the Inkheart territory.

I had devoted enough to the Inkheart territory so far.

What does this mean?

“It’s time for me to make money for myself now.”

If Darius doesn’t settle my contribution to the territory when we divorce—though that would make him less than human—anyway, for a possibly uncertain future, shouldn’t I have at least one reliable slush fund route of my own?

“Let’s find someone promising and create my own direct mercenary group.”

The dream of the ‘Black Rose of the Ines Ducal Family’ isn’t over yet. Wait, I’ll safely divorce the male lead and go to parties to hunt men.

From then on, I’ll change the genre to a reverse harem. I’ll show that even an extra can build a harem!

‘Fortunately, I have a strong candidate for the mercenary captain.’

The Inkheart territory is famous for mercenaries. In the original story, there was a man from this territory who would achieve the prestigious title of Mercenary King.

‘Though he didn’t appear much in the original story. I think he appeared as a volunteer soldier when armies were being gathered from all over the country for the final battle against the demon king, right?’

Despite being from our territory, he had no connection with Darius, so perhaps he was a character the author created but forgot to include.

‘But still, his title is Mercenary King.’

Our boy grew up well to become the Mercenary King even though the author forgot about him. How admirable.

I knew his place of origin, I knew what would happen to him in the future, and I knew his name.

So I asked the knight commander, Sir Lucion.

“Sir Lucion! Do you happen to know a man named Barbarossa? He’s probably working as a mercenary.”

“……Barbarossa?”

I had never seen such contempt on Sir Lucion’s face before.

Even when Sir Lucion disliked me the most for coming from the south, he had maintained outward courtesy.

“Are you perhaps referring to the former knight trainee Barbarossa?”

However, upon learning of the ‘Barbarossa’ I was looking for, Sir Lucion warned me bluntly that I should not associate with him.

“I trained with him during our apprenticeship. He was a talented person, but that makes him all the more unforgivable.”

Barbarossa was an illegitimate child. Despite being illegitimate, Barbarossa, who had a famous knight for a father, was able to join the Inkheart Knights. However, due to his background, special conditions were attached to him.

“To live his life unmarried and devote himself solely to chivalry. That was the condition for allowing him, an illegitimate child, to join.”

Barbarossa seemed to be diligently joining high society despite his unfortunate background. However.

“On the day of his knighting ceremony, when he was supposed to swear to remain pure for the rest of his life, he did not appear.”

Contrary to his determination to live a pure life and wash away the sin of being born illegitimate, Barbarossa had been secretly meeting with a lover.

He had to choose between joining the knights and building a family with his lover, and in the end, he betrayed those who had trusted him. After that day, no one in Castle Inkheart had seen Barbarossa.

“I heard he quit knight training and became even more of a wastrel, wandering the back alleys. They say he eventually broke up with the woman who caused the problem.”

Sir Lucion coldly evaluated Barbarossa.

“He was always followed by bad rumors because of his illegitimate background. I tried not to have preconceptions about him, but in the end, he only disappointed the knights, and now he’s ruining his own life.”

As someone with aristocratic tendencies, Sir Lucion seemed displeased both by the utter degradation of someone he once held in high regard and by Barbarossa’s inability to endure the hardships given to him.

“In fact, even during his training, he wasn’t particularly diligent. He enjoyed going to taverns and talking with women without hesitation, despite knowing that many people were watching him. Still, I thought he would exercise self-restraint when the time came……”

Sir Lucion frowned at this point.

“I don’t know why you’re looking for him, but he’s absolutely not someone worthy of meeting the noble lady. Setting aside his abandonment of the knight’s path, his conduct itself is improper.”

‘Hmm. So to become a Mercenary King famous enough to be mentioned in the original story, one needs this kind of past.’

Since I didn’t know the person I was looking for had such a past, I listened to Sir Lucion’s story with my mouth hanging open.

As if to prove this was indeed a novel, even minor supporting characters had secrets about their birth. But who he was didn’t matter much to me.

I smiled brightly at Sir Lucion, who had a stiff expression.

“Sir Lucion, I’ll meet Barbarossa and judge him myself.”

“Lady Anette!”

“Sir Lucion, you opposed what I did before too. But how did that turn out?”

“Saving Rose and Barbarossa are…!”

“If I meet him and think he’s too much for me to handle, I’ll give up too. But for now, despite that tumultuous past, I like that you acknowledge he had skill.”

As expected of the future Mercenary King. It wasn’t suddenly emerging fighting skills but skills honed through the regular knight course.

“Could you find him for me? Oh, please keep it a secret from Darius for now that I’m looking for him. I’ll tell him myself once the outline of what I’m planning takes shape.”

In reality, I was asking for secrecy because I wanted to establish a mercenary group under my command without Darius knowing, to create a separate pocket of money.

“Seeing that you know how he’s living now, I believe if you set your mind to finding out, you could provide me with more detailed information. Please. Who else could I ask for such a favor if not you, Sir Lucion? Hmm?”

Does a money source need character? Barbarossa is a Mercenary King certified by the original story, and he smells like money. That was all that mattered to me.