Dungeon Defense (WN)

* * *

“Why are you refusing to move our soldiers, Duke!?”

A young man shouted as he slammed his hand on a table.

“The enemy has been pillaging Pavia for half a month without being stopped in any way! They are treating our land like their front lawns and taunting us. This is ridiculous……!”

The young man’s black and curly hair was trimmed neatly and his white forehead glistened beautifully.

However, the young man’s beauty didn’t come from his forehead. His forehead, the area between his brows, and even the edge of his lashes were full of life. However, his eyes—his deep eyes suppressed all this vigor.

That was where the young man’s beauty lay. The vigor that could burst and overflow at any moment was being held back by his surprising self-restraint.

The young man was like a jockey controlling a violent horse. Similar to how a jockey becomes more impressive according to how violent the horse they tame is, the young man proved his will by being able to suppress his innate vigor.

“Do not worry, Grand Duke. The imperial army lacks supplies.”

“The people are dying! You are neglecting your duty as a noble!”

The young man had just become 26 years old.

His name was Cosimo de Medici. He was the head of the Medici family, which was right underneath the king of Sardinia, and he was also the grand duke that ruled over the great city of Florence.

“The imperial army is powerful, while our defending soldiers are weak. What can this old man possibly do?”

“Figuring that out is the mission given to you by His Highness the King!”

“His Highness ordered me to defend Milano.”

Duke Milano shook his head.

He was being projected inside a magic orb. Duke Milano who was in his sixties and the 26-year-old Grand Duke of Florence were currently in the middle of a strategy meeting.

“The tragedy of Pavia is unfortunate, but we must avoid incurring great losses pursuing a small profit.”

“Great losses? Did you just say great losses?”

The mouth of Florence’s Grand Duke twitched.

“I will tell you what great losses are.”

“This old man will listen.”

“The fact that you are not sending reinforcements even though your neighboring city is being destroyed.”

The Grand Duke’s black eyes blazed with anger.

“The fact that you did not free your people from imprisonment because of your frugality even though you more than could have done so. The fact that, despite having lost your military base, you are not taking action in any way because you are afraid that it may foil your original plan. These are great losses!”

The Grand Duke of Florence slammed his hand against the table.

“Know what shame is, Duke! Are you aware of how you are being slandered back at the capital? They are saying that the Duke of Milano is looser than that Farnese harlot!”

“…….”

The Duke of Milano let out a sigh.

“Listen to this old man’s words carefully. The imperial army is lacking in supplies. They are in a situation where they do not have enough to pay their mercenaries.”

“……Go on.”

The young man suppressed his anger and listened for the time being.

His position was higher than that of the old man before him, but their authority was practically equal. He was only higher in name but the same in terms of power. The young man wasn’t so foolish that he would behave arrogantly in front of someone like that.

The Kingdom of Sardinia went through a civil war only a few years ago where they lost almost half of their nobles. The nobles that survived that hell were all competent.

There may be a huge gap in age between the old Duke of Milano and the young Grand Duke of Florence, but they both made significant contributions to destroying the Farnese Dukedom during the civil war. They were both skilled.

—It was because of this that they acknowledged and were wary of one another.

“If we continue to defend our walls like this, then the imperial army will fall from exhaustion on their own. There is no easier enemy to face than unpaid mercenaries.”

“…….”

“They will soon revolt or leave. Similar to how dirty fertilizer is required to grow wheat, a certain degree of slander is always required for glory to sprout. We must endure!”

The Grand Duke of Florence tapped his finger on the table.

“What are you basing your claim on that the enemy is lacking in supplies?”

“They are trying to rush negotiations.”

The Duke of Milano answered confidently.

“They are desperately trying to sell the people of Pavia for a dismal sum. This means they are in urgent need of emergency funds.”

“……That is not enough proof, Duke.”

The Grand Duke furrowed his brows.

“They may be trying to hand their prisoners over to you because they do not wish to feed them. Milano will definitely experience a food shortage if you were to take in 20,000 prisoners.”

“My city has enough food to last three years.”

“……How would the enemy know that? We should not make hasty assumptions about their intent.”

The Grand Duke of Florence responded calmly, but he let out a sneer in his mind.

He has enough provisions to feed his people for three years? This made it clear that the Duke of Milano had been preparing for war since long ago. His ramparts were probably being maintained regularly.

‘Tsk, is this why he’s been so passive?’

No matter how strong the enemy is, he’s confident in his ability to protect his city. On the other hand, he’s not confident in fighting in the open. That’s why he chose to do nothing even as his neighboring city was being pillaged and destroyed…….

‘How despicable.’

The young Grand Duke’s heart was dyed with anger.

‘How can someone who cannot protect his people be considered a noble? A competent evil is more detestable than an incompetent evil. If you have an ambition, then achieve it while also protecting the people! Is that not how a proper noble should behave!?’

The Grand Duke of Florence slowly resolved himself.

He understood the Duke’s plan, but his proof was far too lacking. You cannot operate an army while relying on a flimsy assumption. They have to chase that whore’s invading army out of Sardinia as soon as possible.

The Grand Duke spoke firmly.

“I do not agree with your strategy, Duke.”

“Grand Duke de Medici!”

“This is Sardinia, we are the people of Sardinia, and they are invaders. Sitting on our hands while watching our people lose their possessions is not just. Duke, join me in intercepting the enemy.”

The wrinkles on the Duke of Milano’s face became more pronounced.

“Facing the imperial army on the field is unwise! Have you already forgotten what happened to the knight order of Brittany?”

“It was the Demon Lord Army that defeated those knights, not that whore.”

“That is what they want you to think. They are trying to make us underestimate them so that we face them in the open!”

The Grand Duke stared the old Duke straight in the eyes.

“Then how about this? If the enemy forces surround Milano and lay siege to it, the men under my command will not budge an inch. You will have to handle the imperial army on your own!”

“What…….”

The old noble’s face became red. Once it did, the Grand Duke of Florence continued with more rage.

“It is unjust if forced upon you, but it is fine if forced upon others? How does that make sense!?”

“…….”

“Earl Pavia sacrificed himself for us. Who was it that said that we must make an example of the Farnese and decided to turn their second daughter into a slave? It was us. This was something we all agreed upon. Earl Pavia acted as the one responsible for that!”

The Grand Duke struck a glass cup off the table with the back of his hand. The glass shattered noisily on the ground.

“You returned his goodwill by forcing him to his demise! You are lounging here like a coward while your people are being slaughtered cruelly!”

“You are being far too harsh with your words, Grand Duke!”

“Know honor!”

The two nobles stood up at almost the same time.

“As the acting general for His Highness the King, I hereby order you to rally under me.”

“You do not have the authority to order my civilian militia however you please, Grand Duke! The supreme commander of Sardinia’s troops in the northern region is I, Ludovico de Sforza!”

The two glared at each other intensely.

“Even if the king himself were here, even he would not be able to move my people!”

“You old, arrogant man! May Pavia curse you for eternity!”

At that moment, the Grand Duke grabbed his magic orb and threw it on the ground.

The orb shattered into pieces. It was an expensive artifact, but the Grand Duke wanted to get rid of that shameless old man’s face as soon as possible. He had no regret.

The Grand Duke of Florence stomped on the shards with his military boot.

“The enemy we are fighting is the whore, and yet, are we not the ones who should feel more ashamed!?”

Protect the people.

Help your brethren.

Defeat the invaders.

These were such obvious duties that they had to fulfill, but the problem was the weight of them all. The weight was far too much for normal human beings that spent their days laboring away.

Nobles exist to bear this weight in their stead.

Nobles are those who naturally bear the burden of others. Nothing more, nothing less. If they weren’t going to bear this burden, then why should they be allowed to take taxes? What kind of noble would that be!?

They would be nothing!

And nobles must prove that they are not nothing…….

The Grand Duke put in every effort he could make.

For starters, he didn’t disregard the information he received from the Duke of Milano.

If the Duke of Milano’s assumption is correct, then, although it angers him, defending the city was the best option. Therefore, the Grand Duke of Florence devised a single plan.

The Grand Duke sent an envoy to the imperial army. He offered to purchase the prisoners of Pavia in the Duke’s stead.

‘If the imperial army requires urgent funding, then they will accept my proposal.’

The Grand Duke came to this conclusion.

‘If this was for the purpose of draining Milano’s supplies, then they will refuse.’

The imperial army then proceeded to refuse the Grand Duke’s proposal.

The envoy returned after failing to make the deal, but the Grand Duke didn’t blame the envoy. If anything, he decided to reward them as this now proved his belief.

‘The imperial army does not lack supplies!’

They want a prolonged battle, not a short one.  They are forcing a siege on Milano.

“Summon the other generals!”

The Grand Duke of Florence summoned all of the colonel generals under his command.

The generals had already been charmed by the young and beautiful Grand Duke’s charisma. His mercenary captains consisted of individuals of various descents such as Frankia, Habsburg, Sardinia, Polish-Lithuania, and so forth. The Grand Duke of Florence captured their hearts by fluently using 7 different languages.

“Blow your horns. We are embarking to punish that imperial army!”

35,000 Sardinian royal soldiers under the command of Cosimo de Medici, the Grand Duke of Florence.

Moving northward.

* * *

“They have taken the bait.”

I smiled after sending the envoy away.

Laura responded with a smile of her own.

“There is no reason whatsoever for the Grand Duke of Florence to purchase the prisoners in the stead of Duke Milano. It was the Duke who let Pavia fall, not the Grand Duke. And yet, the Grand Duke sent an envoy, which means…….”

“He is trying to figure out why we are trying to hand over the prisoners for a cheap price.”

I chuckled.

“It appears that the enemy’s high command has split rather splendidly, Lord. Anyone who misses an opportunity like this would be an utter fool.”

“Very true. Let us display a grand performance…….”

A competent commander’s enemy isn’t an incompetent ally, it’s their own competency. I learned this from Queen Henrietta. How about we kindly teach this lesson to others?

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Welp, I’m back from my trip to Japan. It was fun and I might’ve bought way too much merch. Although a day of my trip was ruined because Japan got hit by a huge typhoon, so we had to cancel almost all of our plans for that day. We only managed to go to one place for lunch and then return to our Airbnb. The wind and rain got so bad by the time we returned that we had to just run through the storm without umbrellas because the umbrellas would just break if you tried to hold them out. I could probably go on and on about my trip, but that would just turn this TL note into like a diary, and I probably shouldn’t do that.

In any case, I’m back and my legs are dead still. I’ll try to get back on schedule, but I might relax a bit over this weekend so I can just sleep off the accumulated exhaustion. We’ll have to see how I feel.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.