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Chapter 263: The Tacit War
🕑 Added 2025-02-14 14:03:01 +0000 UTCCharlot had only one thought in his mind: "This is far too grim!"
The Fars Empire wanted to directly annex the Behemoth Principality and the South Seraph region into its territories while dismantling the knight orders. Regardless of whether Brittany's offensive succeeded in holding back Byron, these two objectives had been largely achieved.
The South Seraph restorationists were entrenched in Ferranden, while the knight orders of the Behemoth Principality had been completely obliterated. Not only the noble orders but even Baron Febollet's knight order had been entirely wiped out during Brittany's assault.
As for whether Baron Febollet would cry to his elder sister or find another way to vent his frustrations, Charlot couldn't care less.
In the following days, Clair Bretagne gradually handed over the defense zones to Charlot, along with several knight orders. However, he specifically requested to take Gwen the Dappled Stag and Bancroft the Swift Wolf with him, two extraordinary individuals. Charlot generously agreed.
Naturally, Charlot did not retain these knight orders as they were but disbanded and reorganized them into the West Wind Knight Order. He also supplemented the combat squads of Anastasia, Dubin, and Yellow Bear, bringing their forces up to 800 soldiers each. Additionally, he promoted Italio Calvino, the quick-handed scribe, and Sebald of the South Seraph restorationists, granting each of them command over 200-man combat squads.
Charlot initially planned for the departure of Clair Bretagne's Purple Finch Knight Order and Maple Leaf Knight Order to lead to an intense assault from the Black Phoenix Dynasty. He had even prepared a strategy of fighting and retreating. To his surprise, after Clair Bretagne's departure, the main forces of the Black Phoenix Dynasty also withdrew, leaving behind only Chloe Hadrian, who had been harassing and chasing him for the past two months!
Chloe was unwilling to let it go. He felt Charlot had made a fool of him and was determined to settle the score with Charlot Mecklenburg in South Seraph through a final showdown.
Upon learning that Chloe had stayed behind, Charlot immediately sent a messenger with a letter, stating that war was truly terrifying and proposing a truce until the greater war concluded.
This reflected Charlot's true feelings. After tangling with Chloe for over two months, he knew the man was quite formidable, and his knight order was equally elite. Rather than sacrificing large numbers of soldiers and witnessing daily deaths, it was far better for both sides to engage in a tacit understanding of war.
When Chloe received the letter, he furiously cursed Charlot as a coward, insulting his ancestry all the way back to his great-grandfather. In his rage, he tore apart two copies of The Chronicles of Charlot, a novel authored by Italio Calvino, and challenged Charlot to a duel.
Charlot, however, was not afraid of Chloe. He simply had no interest in fighting. He replied with a letter stating that their numerous battles had already proven inconclusive, and further duels would be meaningless. Instead, he suggested both parties retreat to focus on cultivation, with the promise of a duel once one of them broke through their current limits.
To his surprise, Chloe found this proposal acceptable and responded in agreement.
Despite some initial turbulence, the war progressed precisely as Charlot had hoped. The armies faced off in stalemates, while the commanders dedicated themselves to intense cultivation. The situation had achieved ninety-nine percent of Charlot's vision for a "tacit war."
Besides practicing Blood Glory, Charlot focused on spreading The Chronicles of Charlot across the South Seraph region. He even trained hundreds of storytellers for the purpose.
The Old Continent lacked the profession of storytellers. Writers occasionally dabbled in storytelling, but such performances were exclusive to the nobility. Charlot's initiative introduced a new form of entertainment for the Fars Empire's common folk and created a completely new occupation.
With this outlandish novel as a tool, Charlot's efforts to indoctrinate the people of South Seraph progressed smoothly.
Charlot also widely proclaimed that South Seraph would be exempt from taxes in the future, combined with relaxed economic policies. This convinced many South Seraphians to abandon resistance.
In truth, Charlot cared little for taxation. War was the most lucrative enterprise.
With Clair Bretagne and Ebner Soumet showing no interest in South Seraph, and the Empire yet to assign officials to govern the region, the original administrative system of South Seraph had completely collapsed. The entire region was now under Charlot’s sole authority.
During the war, Charlot seized countless lands, shops, estates, and industries. While he promised to sell part of these assets to the nobles of Behemoth, he did not intend to break his word. The remaining war profits were more than sufficient to sustain the West Wind Knight Order.
Apart from maintaining the West Wind Knight Order, Charlot had no other administrative expenses. As for the future…
He was neither the ruler nor the lord of South Seraph. Why worry about the future?
Two and a half months later, an envoy from Strasbourg arrived, granting Charlot the same privileges as those of Behemoth, appointing him as the chief administrator of South Seraph’s five largest cities.
Charlot never imagined that this appointment would spark widespread cheers throughout South Seraph. The temporary official who had governed the region for only a few months had somehow earned the genuine love and respect of its people.
The envoy also brought news that the Fars Empire and the Ingrima Empire had finally formalized an alliance to jointly oppose Byron, the Black Phoenix Dynasty, and the Orc Tribal Alliance.
Although Charlot privately criticized the two nations for taking nearly half a year to finalize their alliance, he was relieved. This meant that Ingrima's forces might soon cross the seas to join the war and alleviate the pressure on Fars.
After sending off the envoy, Charlot expected a brief period of peace. However, the very next day, an extraordinary figure arrived in South Seraph.
Princess May Guillaume, the Grand Princess of the Ingrima Empire, graced South Seraph with her presence.
When Charlot saw the Grand Princess of Ingrima, he was utterly flabbergasted.
No, he was stunned.
He could not comprehend why this Grand Princess, instead of reading novels in Strasbourg, had come to the South Seraph front lines.
Accompanying Princess May was Aurora Soumet, whom Charlot had nearly forgotten was also part of the envoy delegation.
However, Princess May and Aurora were not leading an envoy. Instead, they had brought a "mercenary group." Though technically mercenaries, this group was, in reality, an investigative team.
Coincidentally, they were detectives from the Fierce Horse Detective Agency.
This team, tasked with escorting foreign princesses and deputy envoys to South Seraph, was ecstatic to meet Charlot. They had long heard from Strasbourg’s grapevine about the meteoric rise of their new agency owner.
Their enthusiasm only grew when they learned that Charlot Mecklenburg was not only acquainted with the Ingrima Grand Princess but also with a countess. They felt immense relief that the former director, Aubrey Tildon Atwood, had sold the agency and that they had chosen to remain.
Charlot, however, had no time to indulge his detective agency members. After arranging accommodations for Princess May and Aurora at a South Seraph noble’s residence, he couldn’t help but ask, “Princess May, what brings you and Aurora to the front lines?”
The Grand Princess replied indifferently, “Because in a few days, someone will go to Silver Dove Castle, and I have a personal grudge to settle.”
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