Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 39: Deception
No matter how many precautions were taken, a slip-up still occurred in the end.
A bishop from Bianshu Town had sent a letter to the grand cathedral in Dongsheng Fortress, and astonishingly, the letter used coded language. Eddie’s subordinates failed to recognize it and mistakenly allowed the letter to go through.
After receiving the letter, the Archbishop personally sought out Duke Eddie to inquire about the situation.
It took a lot of effort to placate the Archbishop, but unexpectedly, a female priestess named Anri had secretly waited for the Captain of the Holy Knights to leave the camp—and then caught up to him to deliver news from Bianshu Town.
“That wretched woman… I’ll make her pay!”
Duke Eddie cursed the priestess bitterly in his heart. This was the real reason he was so furious.
That morning, the Captain of the Holy Knights had already requested a meeting, but Eddie deliberately postponed it until the next day.
Now, he had to carefully consider how to deceive the holy knight captain when the time came.
At that moment, a servant entered and reported.
“Your Grace, Baron Wood, whom you summoned, has arrived.”
“Let him in.”
Duke Eddie replied.
Shortly after, Baron Wood, a slightly plump man, appeared at the reception room’s doorway. He glanced around the room cautiously before stepping inside and respectfully saluting with a hand over his chest.
“Good afternoon, Duke Eddie. May I ask what you summoned me here for?”
This Baron Wood was the very same minor noble who had fled Bianshu Town right in front of Owen. Through his connections with some nobles in Dongsheng Fortress, and by living off the wealth he had accumulated over years of exploitation, he had barely managed to gain a foothold in the city.
Duke Eddie stopped drumming his fingers and lazily lifted his heavy eyelids to glance at the man before him.
“Baron Wood, if I recall correctly, you said that Marquis Eisen seized your land in Border Town, didn’t you?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Not just mine—the lands of all nobles who fled Bianshu Town were taken.”
Baron Wood answered truthfully.
“Pitiful… victims persecuted by an incompetent lord.”
Eddie sneered.
Feeling uncomfortable, Duke Eddie shifted in his chair, leaning sideways and propping up his head with one hand.
Once settled, he continued.
“Baron Wood, I have a favor to ask of you. If you do it well, I’ll grant you a new territory as a reward.”
A flash of ecstatic joy crossed Baron Wood’s face, but he quickly suppressed his excitement and knelt on one knee without hesitation.
“Duke Eddie, what would you have me do? I will give you my full cooperation.”
“Very good!”
Duke Eddie smiled in satisfaction and explained slowly:
“Here’s the situation—the Captain of the holy knights has already learned that Bianshu Town plans to resist the undead on their own. I want you, as a former noble of Bianshu Town, to help me prove a point.”
At the mention of Bianshu Town, Baron Wood immediately looked up, his eyes glinting with malice.
“No problem. What do you need me to say?”
It had to do with that damn Marquis Eisen—Baron Wood’s interest was instantly piqued.
He would love nothing more than to see Owen torn limb from limb. That bastard had dared to seize his land and even threaten him with execution. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
“Tomorrow morning, when I meet with the Holy knight Captain, here’s what you’ll do…”
The next day.
As arranged the day before, the Captain of the Holy knights, Bray Geger, arrived at the gates of Duke Eddie’s castle.
He addressed the guards at the entrance—
“I am Bray Geger, Captain of the Second Division of the Holy Knights. I’m here to meet with Duke Eddie.”
The guard, clearly having been informed in advance, nodded and raised his hand in a welcoming gesture.
“Very well, please follow me.”
Bray followed the guard through the front courtyard and into the castle. Inside, a maid took over as guide and led him to the reception room.
The maid went in first to announce his arrival, then came back out and invited Bray inside.
As soon as he stepped into the room, Bray immediately noticed Duke Eddie sitting on an oversized chair, his body excessively obese. Beside him stood a servant and two other nobles.
Bray merely gave the two nobles a passing glance before turning his attention back to Duke Eddie and respectfully greeted him.
“Good morning, Duke Eddie.”
This time, Duke Eddie didn’t plan to remain seated in his custom-made chair the entire time. With the help of a servant, he struggled to his feet and looked at Bray with a face full of apology.
“Oh, esteemed Captain Geger, I apologize for refusing your meeting request yesterday—I wasn’t feeling well.”
“It’s no trouble, Duke Eddie. Your health is more important.”
Bray replied politely.
It wasn’t anything urgent anyway—Bray had simply wanted to confirm the situation in Bianshu Town.
“Well then, Captain Geger, what brings you here today?”
“Oh, I heard that the city wall in Bianshu Town has already been repaired. Is that true?”
If it was, Bray intended to lead his men there to help defend the northern wall—there was no need to let the undead destroy the place unopposed.
“Well…”
Duke Eddie pulled a strange face.
“To be honest, it looks repaired from the outside, but the reality is rather worrying.”
“What do you mean?”
Bray asked, puzzled.
“From what I’ve heard, Marquis Eisen used some kind of grey mud to pile up a bunch of rough stones and build the wall. But such a wall has extremely poor structural integrity—it could collapse if it’s bumped even slightly.”
The “grey mud” Duke Eddie referred to was something he had heard about from refugees—though they had only seen the northern wall from a distance. They didn’t know what it actually was, and certainly didn’t realize the material was called cement.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Viscount Colet.”
Duke Eddie said, glancing at Victor for a signal.
“He recently visited Border Town as an envoy from Dongsheng Fortress.”
“That’s right!”
Picking up on the cue, Victor immediately stepped forward with a mocking smile.
“I personally inspected the northern wall. That thing, slapped together with mud, is completely unreliable. I even questioned Marquis Eisen at the time, saying it couldn’t possibly hold off the undead. You know what he said?”
“What did he say?”
Bray asked.
“He said, ‘Just have the Holy knights hold them off like they did last year.’ Can you believe that? He clearly sees you as tools—he doesn’t care at all about last year’s tragedy.”
Victor even shook his head and sighed, pretending to feel sorry for the Holy knights and their sacrifices.
“Is that so?”
Bray’s stance was starting to waver.
“But I also heard they had some kind of powerful weapon…”
“That’s nothing but a trick.”
Duke Eddie cut in with his pre-prepared explanation.
“Marquis Eisen once recruited a fire-type mage. You can go to the Adventurers’ Guild to verify this.”
Duke Eddie said.
“To keep the townspeople from leaving, he told everyone they had a powerful weapon. But in truth, it was just a magician secretly casting spells. A lot of people didn’t know the truth and were deceived.”
“That’s right! I saw it with my own eyes—I can vouch for it.”
Another noble suddenly stepped forward and said.
Bray looked at the noble in confusion and asked.
“And you are?”
“Oh! Let me introduce him.”
Duke Eddie said, walking over to stand beside the noble.
“This is Baron Wood of Bianshu Town. Because he urged Marquis Eisen to evacuate to Dongsheng Fortress, he angered him and had his lands confiscated. With no other option, he had to come south by boat and settle here.”
“Even had his territory taken?”
Bray was startled. He understood what a territory meant to a noble.
“Yes.”
Baron Wood said with a look of sorrow.
“Marquis Eisen is far too selfish—nothing like his father. Just because he didn’t want to bear the losses of evacuating Bianshu Town, and knowing the Holy knights would not be coming to help, he decided to push all the townspeople to the northern wall to fight the undead.”
“That would lead to heavy casualties! We must stop him and have him evacuate the people from Bianshu Town.”
Bray said urgently.
At this point, Bray had been completely fooled, and Duke Eddie was very pleased with the result.
“You’re absolutely right, Captain Geger. Leave this matter to us.”
Duke Eddie said, stepping in at just the right moment.
“We’ve already sent people to Bianshu Town to persuade them to leave. In fact, quite a few townsfolk have already come to Dongsheng Fortress seeking refuge. As for Marquis Eisen—once he realizes most of the townspeople are gone, he’ll be forced to retreat on his own.”
“And as for you and the Holy knights.”
He said, patting Bray on the shoulder.
“Just stay here and prepare to face the undead. There’s no need to worry about anything else.”
“Then I’ll leave it in your hands, Duke Eddie.”
Bray nodded in agreement.