The unpleasant thoughts that Barbro had previously buried about suddenly resurfaced.
The ultimate reason as to why Barbro was heading towards Carne Village was because of the proposal made by Marquis Bowlrob. If that was the case, then—
Could it be, the Marquis has betrayed me? In order to allow my brother to take the throne?
Such an unbelievable thought.
The Marquis’s daughter was his wife, and his relationship with the Marquis was good. If Barbro was to inherit the throne, Bowlrob would also become the head of the Six Great Families. If the Marquis suddenly started to support his brother, it was most likely just a feint that was part of a greater scheme against Marquis Raeven. However, other than that, Barbro could not think of any other reason why the Marquis had made such a proposal.
In that case… was I sent to such a backwater village in order to make the other nobles think that I won’t be able to earn any achievements?
“Is there something I can do for you? Should we perhaps stop and rest?”
“—Be quiet.”
An uncontrollable hatred leaked from Barbro, causing the knight to show an alarmed expression.
Even though Barbro was aware of his unsightly display, he was still unable to hold back his anger.
A burst of murderous intent could be felt from behind Barbro’s teeth as he voiced his command.
“I hereby order you. Once we complete our task at Carne Village, we will immediately head for the battlefield. Make preparations for the journey now while we are still on our way to Carne Village.
As soon as we finish our task, we will set out immediately and return to E-Rantel by night fall. After a short break, we will head towards Kattse Plains and aim to get there before sunrise.”
The knight frowned upon hearing that.
“Please forgive my words, but Your Highness’s orders might be difficult to carry out. Please look: Our force consists of the three thousand five hundred men from the Marquis and an additional fifteen hundred men sent from the various nobles as reinforcements for your highness. Altogether we have a total of five thousand troops. To carry out this mission as fast as possible, we didn’t take much troops for logistics, but stowed all our supply on fifty carriages.”
“I’m aware of that already. What’s the problem?”
“Out of the five thousand troops we have, four thousand five hundred of them are infantry and our cavalry only consists of five hundred men. Even if we can finish the task at Carne Village within an hour’s time, it will still be very hard on the troops to have them reach E-Rantel by nighttime.”
“I already said I’m already aware of that. I will ask you once more, do you have a problem with it?
If not, follow through with what I ordered.”
“Your Highness… Some of the troops might not be able to keep up.”
“You seemed to have misunderstood something. Honestly speaking, for such a small village that lies on our border, there’s almost zero value for us to go there. What we really should be doing is heading to Kattse Plains to defeat the Empire. What do you think? You are the Marquis’
subordinate, are you not? In that case I ask you, do you think that the coming battle will be so easy as to afford to send five thousand troops elsewhere to play around? Do you really believe that is the case?”
The knight closed his mouth tight.
“Do not confuse your priorities. …You say stragglers will appear within our troops? In that case, just let them go. The reason why you guys were gathered in the first place was for the battle at Kattse Plains.”
…And to raise my reputation.
“…It is as you say. I understand.”
The knight bowed his head.
“You should have answered like that from the start. Plan for when we would reach E-Rantel and when we would head out. I will leave the details to you.”
“Yes! I will do so immediately and will definitely bring you results.”
By the time the knight had left, his existence had already faded from Barbro’s mind.
Does my father hate me? Or has old age caused his mind to become hazy? To give away the throne to the younger brother when it is clearly the eldest son’s right to inherit… This will only antagonize the nobles.
Even though Barbro’s current situation was overwhelmingly to his disadvantage, he firmly believed he could turn the tide. Let them regret giving me the chance to take command of five thousand troops.
Those ideas swirled inside the mind of Barbro.
“Baron!”
“Yes!”
“I will be expecting you to perform your best!”
His sharp voice seemed to as if wanting to convey something more, echoing left, right and over.
Just you wait, Zanack. Bite your nails while you wait for me at the Capital.
Even though they were connected by blood, his brother was still an opponent who must be defeated in order to gain the throne. Furthermore, Barbro never particularly liked him in the first place.
Although it was not enough to warrant his immediate death, but if Zanack was to cause any additional trouble, Barbro will be sure to dispose of him.
Once I become king, how should I make use of him? Would it be better to just have him killed so that those foolish nobles won’t be able to use him as a symbol for revolt? But wouldn’t that be too wasteful? If he was a woman there would be many uses… Like my sister, even though her head isn’t very good, but at least her looks are rather decent. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to just sell her to the highest bidder. …Although that might cause some problems due to her royal blood, maybe it’s best to marry her off to some distant kingdom. …Perhaps that might even become part of my future foundation for power. Well, let’s just wait and see.
Barbro’s eyes narrowed as he began to envision the ideal Re-Estize Kingdom he would build in the future.
The image of the nobles kneeling before him as he sat on top of the golden throne.
With a single command, the entire court would bow down.
“Oh how great that would be.”
A faint smile appeared over Barbro’s face, but was covered almost immediately by his hand.
The task at Carne Village would be completed immediately, and after that, they would immediately rush over to Kattse Plains. Whether it would remain a dream or become reality depended on how well the two tasks were completed.
…I must get the soldiers moving even if I have to use force. What’s important is that I must arrive before the battle starts. Wait, no. Would it be better to wait until the battle starts and try to ambush the enemy?
Although that might indeed be a good move to take, however Barbro had little confidence in his ability to lead his troops to suddenly attack the enemy’s rear and flanks.
As much as Barbro was inclined to believe otherwise, he couldn’t help but to let the knights handle it instead. Although leaving his fate on whether or not he could become king to others might indeed prove to be a rather unwise idea.
While deep in thought on how to best display his brilliance, an idea flashed across his mind.
Could the villagers from Carne Village be used as negotiation tools against Ainz Ooal Gown?
It was as if a brilliant light suddenly shone upon Barbro, covering his body with radiance.
The ultimate scheme!
No matter what kind of reason Ainz Ooal Gown had for rescuing those at Carne Village, their existence could be used as bargaining chips.
If this unknown magic caster called Ainz Ooal Gown would withdraw from the coming battle, the Empire will lose their reason for starting the conflict and will most likely retreat as well.