Chapter 21: Viscount Galliana and the Council

If I had to sum up the council in one word, I would say.

“Halfway.

And what is that?

'It seems to me that it has failed to choose between the opinions of both the inhabitants and the merchants.'

Viscount Galiana stroked his beard with his hand, urging me to continue.

Wetting my tongue with the liquor that filled my goblet, I opened my mouth.

I have been listening to the customers in the tavern, and it seems that the citizens and the merchants have different opinions about this battle.

The majority of the citizens are of the opinion that the council is too quick to surrender.

The majority of the merchants are of the opinion that the council is too slow to surrender.

Here's the short version.

The citizens, to varying degrees, loved and wanted to protect their free Nambonan.

They put the feeling of wanting to protect their homeland above the gain or loss of fighting.

You said, “…… I felt that too. Compared to the time when I was nominated as a council member, there were a great many more citizens who were attached to Nambonan.

I knew it.

On the contrary, the merchants had given up quickly.

If you think about it calmly, the area around Nambonan was now under the control of the Quardenze family. It was obvious that they could no longer win at this point.

If the Kuordenze family would only close the roads, Nambonan would be easily isolated. The reason they did not do so was that it would take too much time and effort, and Nambonan itself would be weakened and lose its advantage.

Since the merchants are in a position to do so, they should either break the situation before the Kuordenze overrun the surrounding area in the first place, or give in early and negotiate a compromise when the Kuordenze are staring them in the face. Late to negotiate a compromise when you are in a disadvantageous position like this.

We took various steps to protect our independence, didn't we? They were also making good use of the connections they had established with other forces when I was a member of the council.”

The whistle-blowing of a former council member alone is astonishing.

It seems that he had connections not only with the Zinkaen Empire, but also with the Mamshred Federation and St. Navempos.

Is it okay if I tell you that ……?

No, it's fine. I leaked the information to the Marquis of Quardenze, and that was the beginning of this war.

What a surprise. The Nambonan star and rumored messiah, Viscount Galiana, was the one who started the whole thing.

If the citizens of Nambonan found out, they would be raped.

My father, who had long suspected that Nambonan was behind this, finally decided to raise his army after receiving the accusation from Viscount Galiana.

If I were a member of the council, as Lord Wilk said, I would make more moves as soon as possible. So. Even if we no longer have a free city, we will have enough development if we stand as a city under the patronage of the Quordentse family.”

The five current council …… Nominees will naturally think the same way as Viscount Galiana.”

Viscount Galiana nodded slowly.

I continued.

I don't know any of the members of the council, so I'm just guessing based on what actually happened.

Please, tell me.”

The goblet in Viscount Galiana's hand was placed on the desk with a clink.

I believe that at this council meeting, the first thing that came up was a proposal for surrender, which was rejected.

Of course, it was the merchant councilors, elected by nomination, who proposed the surrender.

They do not choose to engage.

The councilors, elected directly by the residents, know the residents who love Nambonan. Perhaps the legislators themselves are full of love for Nambonan. If they vote in favor of the surrender proposal, they might be disappointed by the residents.”

Could such a legislator vote in favor of the surrender proposal?

The answer is yes.

Since there was no early surrender, the proposal was rejected.

The surrender proposal will be rejected. If you ask if we can start a war and win, we can't win.

Saying this, Viscount Galiana leaned forward as if peering at us.

I'm not particularly happy to see a man stooping.

So you need to convince me. Who do I need to convince? It is not the elected representatives.

“Oh,” He said.

“Once we have a big battle, we will show the people what a powerful enemy the Quardenzes are and what they are up to. That way, the condemnation of those senators who choose to opt for the surrender plan will be muted.”

In other words, we will make it easier for the elected representatives to vote in favor of the surrender proposal.

'So that's what you call that field battle? How could they have assembled so many mercenaries?

Most of the fighters in the field battles that took place on the plains a short distance from Nambonan were mercenaries.

What the volunteer army of citizens was doing was defending the city walls.

'I suspect that the elected councillors did not have the ruthlessness to send the inhabitants to a place where they knew they would surely die.

'If I were a councilor, I would definitely send a volunteer army of citizens to the plains. If they die, good; if they don't, they will return to the city and spread terror.

And so the mercenaries gathered on the plain fled.

The mercenaries knew the terror of their grandfather, General Gulfis, who went around overrunning the imperial territory.

And indeed, he was right.

The tsunami of fire that my grandfather unleashed on the mercenaries as they began to flee, struck the enemy, and a state of panic quickly ensued.

I imitated his magic and released a tsunami of blue flame, which was arranged in the image of a gas stove, burning down a large number of mercenaries in front of me.

Grandfather's red flames and my pale blue flames intermingled on the plain, and the land where the two armies met quickly transformed into a one-sided barbecue venue.

Would you like to join me in the Quardenze family to destroy the mercenaries? It's a simple job of activating magic in the direction your second-in-command points!

The mercenaries, in a general collapse, fled in all directions, and the sons of the noble families who came to the first battle attacked them from behind.

The armies of the other families seemed to be having difficulty capturing the mercenaries so as not to kill them.

'If you only listen to the results, the mercenaries we hired just ran away without a fight. To the citizens, it would seem that they did not fight. They themselves fought and won when their former lords came back to visit them. Must have been outraged at what a pathetic bunch they were.”

That experience was not a good one. The actuality that they have driven back the former lord's nobles, they foolishly dreamed that they could compete with the Quardenzes, who are also nobles. Much difference between them as between a snake and an earthworm. …… Even in the empire, that thing is famous for being a fallen aristocrat.”

He was a fallen aristocrat, but since he was beaten back by Nambonan, he has become a laughingstock in the social circles of the empire as a shitty aristocrat who even loses to a commoner.

The battle ended pointlessly, with no change in public sentiment. But perhaps it was different for the senators. When he saw the Quordentse allied forces, he thought that if they continued, all the inhabitants of Nambonan would be slaughtered.

It was learned after the city was overrun that a surrender proposal had been passed soon after the field battle.

But the citizens were not convinced.

When the decision to surrender was made and announced to the citizens, those who had been defending the city and were ready to fight lost their temper and stormed into the council meeting.

The Quardenze allied forces arrived at the right time and stormed the city walls, easily overpowering the city gates because the main force of citizens had boarded the council and there were only a few men left.

This must have been the worst news for the council, which had hoped to use the defensive battle at the city walls as an opportunity to find a compromise on surrender.

It is said that the messenger who came immediately after the city gates were conquered to inform them of the intention to surrender had a face that was pregnant with all the despair of the world.

From the citizens' point of view, it was a cowardly council that gave in without a fight.

'Oh no, I am glad I am no longer a member of the council.

Viscount Galiana laughed and clapped his hands.

Perhaps we should be grateful to the council for coming to a half-hearted conclusion.”

If they negotiated an early surrender, it is not necessarily true that 100% of our wishes would have been met.

On the other hand, if they had fought back thoroughly, the damage to our civilian population would have been great. The history of the earth shows that the national army that tries to protect freedom is terribly strong.

In our world, where the strength of the aristocracy is extraordinary, they would not have been defeated, but in the worst case scenario, they might have killed all the citizens.

I tipped my goblet toward the waiter and demanded a refill.

Viscount Galiana gulped down the rest in one gulp and asked for a refill as well.

I have heard good things,” He said. It seems that despite his high rank, Wilk has a deep understanding of citizenship.

Viscount Galiana paused for a toast, so I followed his lead and brought my cup close to his and clinked it.

That was the end of the conversation about the council.

Viscount Galiana and I continued to talk for a while about Nambonan's municipal affairs.

It was well into the night when I returned to my camp.