The Kingdom of Sylvario, the nation we were at war with just a short time ago, had lost the war and had been made to pay massive monetary reparations and cede territory to us after the ceasefire, but it seemed they wouldn’t go down without a fight. In the first place, their coffers were flush from their trading port, which was the largest in the region, and they should have been a fierce opponent by using that economy to support their military armaments.
But in the war, they’d all been kinda...inconsistent? Their supplies had started getting delayed halfway through, leading to everything collapsing due to their blunder. We were currently investigating how that had happened, and we would probably get to the bottom of it all soon.
Anyway, Sylvario was currently using their funds and their boats to their advantage by recruiting mercenaries. We’d learned of this through the various channels we’d put in place while we were inside their royal palace investigating their breach of the ceasefire agreement, so our sources were very likely to have accurate information. And if they were gathering more than a thousand of them, that was pretty damn threatening. The only thing we could conclude was that they were getting ready to restart the war. It was more important than ever to ensure there were zero issues with the defensive force we had placed in our new territory.
“It could go either way. Apparently their second prince is the one at the center of it all,” Prince Alphonse continued.
“The second prince... I see. That sounds just right for his personality from what I’ve heard from Nia.” I nodded.
The second prince of the Kingdom of Sylvario, Balthazar. He was the oldest child of the king’s concubine and was spoiled by his mother and her father, a marquis, who wanted to make him king. He was hostile towards the first prince, Elmer, who was likely to become the crown prince. That hostility, plus his desire for power by becoming king, made him very ambitious. And here he was, gathering mercenaries—it was quite likely that he was going to try to take back the territory Sylvario had lost in an attempt to bolster his achievements...with no thought to the fact that any failure would put the nation in a position it could never recover from.
“So that means that not only do I need to build a good relationship with the brigade stationed in Stonegaze, but also with the village leaders of the surrounding area too. We want any information that could end up a precursor to invasion, after all. But ideally we’d want them to work with us in the event we mobilize the troops.”
“Yeah. I’d like to avoid needing to force anyone into conscription.” His Highness nodded, agreeing with my thoughts.
Any time you started trying to move a group of troops past a certain scale, signs of what they were doing would start popping up somewhere. The textbook example would be all of the food and fuel in an area being bought up, but from a normal person’s standpoint, most changes would be minuscule. Which was why, if we had a relationship with the local leadership where they were comfortable in mentioning the little things as well as the big developments, then we’d be able to tell if Sylvario was making any moves. Since we were the new rulers of the area, it’d be hard to build a relationship like that very soon.
The other thing, which would be even harder, would be getting the citizens to the point where they would mobilize as our troops of their own free will rather than being conscripted.
Currently, Stonegaze and the other regions that were becoming McGuine Viscounty had no soldiers under my direct control. That was why the brigade led by Count Farlon was stationed there, but those forces weren’t something I could move directly. That meant that in a time of battle, there were no troops in the region I could actually move on my terms.
Count Farlon would, of course, probably mobilize his troops if His Highness requested it of him. The Order of Knights and Special Battalion might not have been on friendly terms, but as organizations of the same kingdom, we wouldn’t go so far as to consider each other enemies. The problem was that we couldn’t make them do anything at the speed that we usually went, and there was a nonzero chance that owing them a favor would end up biting us in the ass later.
All of this was why His Highness and I honestly wanted some forces we could move on our terms, but any mandatory conscription of a populace we hadn’t won over yet would be just asking for antagonism. And with a future of governance in mind, we wanted to avoid any possible antagonism as much as possible.
“No one can really tell what will happen with the situation until we get to Stonegaze and get a feel for how the citizens see us,” I said. “Thanks to His Highness Prince Artur sending ample supplies to the area, we probably haven’t bred any animosity due to the brigade doing any pillaging or forcing a levy on them.”
“Yep. I haven’t heard of anything of the sort from the communications personnel I had sent there first. Everything that will happen next will depend on your capabilities as the new regional lord.”
“Please stop. My stomach is already hurting, and here you are trying to burn a hole through it!” I complained jokingly, but it was true that almost everything relied on me. If I’d had to go do it all alone, then burning a hole through my stomach would be the least of my problems.
“That’s what you have your wife for, isn’t it?”
“I think that’s only because it ended up that way. Though she herself seems eager to work when we get there, so I have no reason to stop her.”
In fact, she’d looked absolutely thrilled at the fact that she’d finally be doing something. Nia was cute like that too. But even saying that, I didn’t want to rely too much on her desire to work.
“Anyway, now that it’s all come to this, I’ll work hard to get the best outcome we can get.”
“Yes, please do. I’m sure you’ll be fine,” His Highness said with a smile.
Ahh, dammit! That part of him is so unfair! Of course I’d do my best after he said something like that to me! And that effort would give results.
“Understood. I will meet your expectations, Your Highness.”
That was why I always replied with a smile.