The story of the knight blessed by God and the princess seemed to have vanished far into the distance, though.

Aachen seemed to be pleading with his eyes for me to please take away the girl in white, who was floundering, lost in her own world. Either way, I was relieved that she seemed to be doing well.

The prisoners captured in the Battle of Feuzen numbered 167. Of these, 22 were knights and 1 was a lord, and they were locked up in the manor dungeon. The rest were held under guard in a separately built camp.

They’d been disarmed, but since the prisoners were so numerous, I’d assigned most of the Gale Knights to watch over them. Honestly, I couldn’t trust the cavalry lot, so I’d even mobilized the reserve unit that had been at headquarters.

Hans, as captain of the guard, kept the high-value prisoners at the manor under ironclad watch. The standing army and levies stood guard tightly with their firearms, and the weapons seemed to have settled in naturally by now.

"To treat us to good wine and good bread, the Lord of Feuzen seems a man of great generosity."

The Lightning Knight, Sigmund, having tasted fine Rosenheim wine and a pretzel, marveled again and again at how delicious the pretzel was. Since I’d bought it with points, of course it was delicious. The mood was good.

He’d been stabbed in the armpit, but fortunately he had no serious problems. When he’d been carried in unconscious, Arzt had truly worked hard to save him. He was the highest-ransom prisoner, after all.

"You’re a prisoner worth treating well, so this much is only natural."

"Thank you. I’d like to feed my men too, but that would be too much to ask, wouldn’t it?"

"If you answer my questions honestly, I’ll see that your men are treated well."

"I’m sorry, but I’m not in a position to answer your questions."

It didn’t matter whether he told the truth. I had a scouter that could read a person’s thoughts. Before the interrogation, I’d secured the Baschurten map Sigmund had been carrying.

Naturally, nothing was marked on it. He probably knew the details and kept them all in his own head. I asked questions while probing for the location of the hidden detachment and the supply bases.

The truth can never be hidden from a scouter.

"Is there a detachment remaining in Baschurten?"

"I don’t know of any besides the unit I lead."

A lie. The way he played dumb was like a wily old fox.

So I kept right on tossing out questions without batting an eye.

"Is the remaining detachment in the north of Baschurten?"

"Come now, Lord of Feuzen. I told you I don’t know. If there were one, wouldn’t it be in the south?"

A lie. It’s in the north. By tossing out speculative questions like this, like a lie detector, I could tell apart the lies and truths in Sigmund’s head and pin down the rough location.

The detachment remaining in Baschurten numbered 1,200 and was in the northern border region. The supply bases were in Ladwig and Leben. I’d worked out the optimal locations from my experience running a supply unit, and it was just as I’d expected.

Sigmund was sick of the barrage of pointless questions. As good a man as he was, the indiscriminate question offensive seemed to be making his irritation boil over. That he didn’t lose his temper even so was thanks to his patience.

"I’ve never seen anyone interrogate like this."

"Thank you. Since I’ve gotten useful information from you, I’ll treat your men to wine as well."

"...What information do you claim to have gotten?"

"Didn’t you just tell me that 1,200 detachment troops are in Öderlen in the northern border region, and that the supply bases supporting them are in Ladwig and Leben?"

There was a delight in watching the once-confident Sigmund’s expression turn to shock. As I held white wine in my mouth, a thrilling pleasure seemed to stimulate my nerves. Sigmund’s expression stiffened.

It was because I’d hit the mark too precisely.

And that shook his composure badly.

"There’s a reason the grand duke favors you. To my lord, you are a truly fearsome enemy."

"I’ll take that as a compliment. What sort of man is the Count of Basel?"

"I think him a respectable man. Though his private life leaves a bit to be desired."

"Where is the Count of Basel? Is he in Baschurten?"

"He is in Basel. Please, ask me no more questions!"

He refused to answer as if shrieking, but I didn’t stop.

Sigmund plainly watched, before his own eyes, the spectacle of me asking questions and finding the answers all on my own.

"He’s in Baschurten. Where in Baschurten? Is he leading the detachment from the front?"

"...Just who are you? A demon risen up from purgatory?"

"Impressive. To personally command the detachment. He seems a man worthy of respect indeed." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He was looking at me now with frightened eyes. Loyal vassal that he was, he never once spoke the truth to me. But his mind was telling me everything.

It was enough to make him feel fear.

Some of it was on purpose. I needed to firmly imprint on him that I was the man Basel would eventually have to face. Fear lodges deeper in the human mind than you’d think, and it breeds dread.

"Lord of Feuzen! Are you a witch? How else could you possibly do this?"

"You want to bring a witch trial against me? That charge is useless against a lord."

A witch trial only works on common folk; such things don’t work on a noble. Since he kept on about witches, I tacked on a different reason. He was a dead man anyway, so there was no real harm in it.

"I’m sorry, Lord of Birsfelden. The Imperial Knights commander spilled everything."

"...The Imperial Knights commander? So it was him after all. What happened to that damned traitor?"

"He died by my hand. Before he died, he sang like a bird."

"I never should have taken that man in!"

The Lightning Knight, perhaps furious, exploded with rage.

And that anger flew straight at me.

"Lord of Feuzen! Why mock me when you knew all along?"

"I simply needed confirmation. Seeing your reaction made me certain."

"Hah! I still have a long way to go, a long way! To fall for such a shallow trick."

Sigmund came to blame himself for walking so carelessly into my leading questions. Persuaded or not, he stopped going on about witches. In its place, all that remained was a deep sigh.

"While you’re in the dungeon, you won’t be treated poorly."

"..."

Sigmund closed both eyes and opened his mouth no further.

When I came out from the interrogation, I found the cavalrymen quarreling.

"This is mine! Can’t you see this mark?"

"Nonsense! Finders keepers, mark or no mark!"

"What? Why, you son of a bitch!"

Quarreling over spoils had become a very common sight.

The cavalrymen would raise their voices whenever they gathered, and even fistfights weren’t off the table. Rough cavalrymen from different factions getting into scraps was nothing new.

Even after staying a day or two and getting acquainted, they still associated only with those of the same faction, and there was almost no cooperation. They’d compete and squabble at the drop of a hat, which gave me a headache.

The greed of the Essenbach dragoons in particular was sky-high.

The battlefield cleanup was nearly finished and everything worth taking had been taken, so they wouldn’t want to stay garrisoned in Feuzen any longer. I had no intention of keeping the likes of them garrisoned in Feuzen either.

When dusk came, the reply I’d been waiting for arrived.

In the end, it was decided that we’d take Baschurten.

The Count of Baschurten had been purged. The Baschurten army he’d led was wiped out in a pincer attack by Belfort and Euz. It had unfolded like lightning, so the southern rebels probably didn’t know yet.

The crown prince and Count Essenbach wanted to pin the main force of the southern rebels near Hissen and have me launch a surprise attack on Basel’s rear, but the problem was that Count Euz strongly opposed it.

There were signs that the Count of Basel had won over the provincial nobles of Euz, so naturally Count Euz’s top priority was to deal with them first and stabilize his territory. Otherwise there was no point to the alliance.

"I’ll entrust it to the Lord of Feuzen."

Count Essenbach ended up dumping this troublesome problem on me. Baschurten or Basel. Naturally, I chose Baschurten. Feuzen, adjacent to Baschurten, was still exposed to the threat.

Stabilizing the rear so that the pregnant Hilda would never have to wield a sword again was my top priority. Count Euz would be pleased, but the other lords wouldn’t see it that way.

The letter Fried sent contained intelligence that the situation in Euz was developing at a frantic pace.

It said that provincial nobles centered on Baron Valent were massing troops, and that just as he’d begun to find it strange, he’d received my letter. A fortuitous letter for a fortuitous situation.

The justification the provincial nobles gave for massing troops was to support the Western Lords’ Army, but Fried naturally didn’t believe it, and through the Battle of Feuzen he came to clearly understand what their intentions were.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

After building up Feuzen’s defenses, I led 350 cavalry and advanced on Baschurten. Having roughly grasped the intelligence on Baschurten through Sigmund proved a great help.

Where we were headed was Leben, where the nearest supply base lay.