Swiss Arms-Chapter 150

Swiss Arms-Chapter 150

Swiss Arms
Chapter 150
-VB-
Hans von Fluelaberg
Knock knock
.
"Enter."
I looked up and saw the captain of the 203rd Ranger Platoon, or more colloquially known as "Saint John's Rangers," because Saint John was their platoon's patron saint. He saluted upon walking up to my desk.
"It's been a while," I said with a smile. "Seeing as you are back in one piece, I assume the mission went well?"
"Yes, milord," Captain Reynold of Fluelaberg replied. "The job- mission was a success. Duke Rudolph III of Austria sends his regards." Then he pulled out two papers: an envelope and a field .
"Hmm," I hummed as I accepted both of them. The first one I skimmed over was the field .
In the months between now and when I first discovered how to use magic (along with that weird System upgrade), I realized that simply training my men wasn't enough for them to be good. So far, they did well because of the ridiculous advantage I'd given them in equipment and in my presence. However, they lacked the actual experience they needed to become the true elite.
As such, I have begun to, as they would say in the future, put them out.
St. John's Rangers was my first mercenary company, and so far from what I was seeing, they had done well out there.
However, my action had unintended consequences.
'Isn't that the story of my life?' I mused.
The Kingdom of Hungary was currently in an "interregnum," or "between kings." There was no clear line of succession, and as such, they did what European monarchies do in such times: war.
Hungary was currently split between multiple oligarchic nobles, and the one that the Duke of Austria had just fought was one such noble: the Koszegi. They controlled the fertile plains directly east of the Holy Roman Empire, and was one of the stronger nobles.
Was.
One of the dukes of Austria (and thus the House of Habsburgs) allied with Koszegi's rivals, Matthew Csak, and attacked the Koszegi. My mercenaries were among the duke's retinue when he fought them.
According to the , the high quality steel arrowheads flung from the new compound bows I equipped my rangers with had been devastating enough, especially when aimed not at the peasants and lightly armored cavalry or men-at-arms but at the commanders and heavily armored knights in the rear. The distance had been short enough that the compound bow launched arrows not only reached the nobles and knights but actually punched through the armor.
Accuracy, however, was an issue at that range.
"You didn't write how many hit."
"It was hard to confirm, milord. But if I had to guess, then maybe a third of the arrows hit their targets."
"If you include things that weren't targets but could have been?"
"A third including that, milord."
"Got it," I muttered as I scribbled that on the .
While my rangers reached out and struck their commanders and knights, they couldn't do that same in return. Their commander had been forced to retreat from the arrows and the lack of command as well as sniping of on-ground leaders had routed the Koszegi army.
Routed them so hard, in fact, that the Koszegis were no longer one of the oligarchs; Csak and the Habsburgs ransacked and annexed pretty much all of Koszegi lands. The Habsburgs gained Sopron city and its surrounding lands while Csak got the rest that Koszegi left undefended as he fled to Kapronca, which was a town south of the Drava River, one of the tributaries of the Danube.
I frowned.
'Doesn't that mean Koszegi lost all of his Hungarian lands and is left with just his Croatian holdings?'
Because, similarly but not exactly like the HRE, the Kingdom of Hungary was also a multi-ethnic state, consisting mostly of Croatians, Slovenes, Romanians, Ruthenians, Serbians, Germans, and Hungarians.
And Sopron had been one of the most "German" cities due to its proximity to the Holy Roman Empire, though it was still majority Hungarian. I think. Probably.
'I wonder who the Habsburgs will put in charge of that city,' I thought as I got to the second page of the .
This was the more important page.
The espionage . Only Captain Reynold had a part in this, and even then, most of it wasn't anything serious.
My eyes narrowed. "He seriously asked this?" I asked him, and he looked over the edge of the paper to see where I was pointing.
"Oh. Oh, yes. The duke was very interested in hiring our services. Permanently. And not in the way you want."
"And the rumors?"
"Consistent."
"So his own knights think that he will be aiming for Bohemia soon."
"Yes, sir. One knight swore up and down that the Habsburg ducal brothers were all upset that they lost the Roman Crown, so they wanted a conciliatory crown from the Kingdom of Bohemia. The knight did not realize that he was talking to a ranger under the employ of that very kingdom's ally."
"Most knights and men-at-arms wouldn't know of alliances outside of what they need to know," I hummed. "Not unless they frequent the ducal palace to hear the rumors and declarations."
"... Milord?"
"Hmm?"
"What if I was told a diversion?"
I looked up.
Reynold looked worried.
"A diversion?"
"Yes, sir. I know that you are strong and important far more than I understand." He didn't say anything for a moment, and I let the pause rest and waited for him to speak again. He gulped. "What if the Habsburgs want to attack us directly? Without us, your allies are … weaker."
I leaned back into my chair.
"... A possibility," I admitted. "Even though we have a good relationship with the former empress who is the mother of the current dukes, she has no say over the House of Habsburg's actions. More importantly, it aligns with the Habsburg's movement against the Forest Cantons."
He jolted. "Isn't that your home, sir?"
"It was, but Fluelaberg is my home now. Its concerns come first."
He relaxed.
Oh? Was he worried that I might focus elsewhere or throw the Compact into a war?
Silly ranger
.
"But it's also known to the Habsburgs that I am from the Forest Cantons. If they try to attack the cantons, then they will try to make the Compact fracture as well."
"How, sir?"
I waved my hand. "I'll take care of it on that front, but how do you feel about the mercenary work?"
"... Honestly, sir?"
"As honest as you can be."
"I don't like it."
"How so?"
"I don't like working for other people. You're my only commander."
I stared at him in surprise… and smiled.
"I appreciate that. Very well, I'll have you marked down as not wanting to do mercenary work."
"Thank you, sir."
I waved him off, and he took that as the dismissal that it was. He gave me one small bow and left my office.
And it was only after he left that I allowed myself to drop the smile.
So.
Habsburgs were moving against Henry and may even be taking my alliance with him into account, were they?
I would need more evidence before I set a course but there was no harm in preparing early.
And the first of these was John.
Count John of Toggenburg.
Someone who had Habsburg blood in him.
… Actually, I needed someone else to know something else first.
-VB-
Isabella von Fluelaberg
"So this is your secret training room," she huffed as she looked around.
It was around three yards high, thirty yards wide, and maybe forty to fifty yards long.
It was a big room, actually, and the fact that this was underground was … shocking. She always knew, of course, that Hans dug deep and around the castle like a mole, but knowing was different from seeing.
And this room was the first place she'd entered after making only a few turns in Hans's underground tunnels. There were deeper tunnels down here.
He even showed her his "quick way down."
She shuddered again as she remembered that cliff fall. It was just a hole dug into the solid rock. When Hans dropped a rock down the hole, she didn't hear anything for a full minute.
It was a long way down, and he called it his "quick way down."
"Yup," Hans answered as he walked to the center of the room.
"So why did you bring me here?" she asked. Hans told her that he had something to reveal to her.
"Ah, well…" he hesitated.
She raised an eyebrow and waited. Hans was like this. He wasn't the most confident man out there. It had to be his peasant upbringing. Or was he worried that she would reject something about him?
She narrowed her eyes.
Hans
always
shared what he was doing with her. He goes so far as to even share his authority at times, even when he was in the city.
If something has him this nervous, then it
had
to be a big issue.
And that unnerved her a little.
"... Hans? What is it…?"
He took a deep breath in and let it out.
"It's about me."
Please don't say it's something bad.
"I… have magic."
She stared at him.
He stared back. Nervous.
She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Husband… you crush rocks with your bare hands."
"Uh, yeah?"
"Hans, normal people can't do that."
"No, but, I mean in a more literal way, not physically."
She let her hand drop and frowned. "Like how?"
"Like… you know how the Bible says that magic is bad when it comes from some other source, right? Like invoking demons, devils, and spirits?"
… She didn't like where this was going.
"Yes…?"
"I have magic that doesn't have that kind of a source. Just me and myself."
"..."
"Here."
He raised a hand up.
And he didn't say anything.
Then the air above his hand
rippled
and
pulsed
before -.
She jolted in surprise when she saw
fire
erupt.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she stared at it.
Then she took a deep breath in and let it out.
"... Since when?"
"Like… six months ago?"
She narrowed her eyes. She wanted to snap at him for keeping it a secret for so long, but seeing how nervous he was and how big of a deal the situation at hand was … she wasn't going to be
particularly
mad at him.
"Why tell me now and not then?"
"Ah, because apparently, I think-."
"Hans, just say it."
"I just said that my magic isn't from invocation but from myself, right? There is no other source other than my own soul."
"You didn't quite say it like that, but yes, you did say that," she agreed partially with a slow nod.
"It's leaking."
"... What's leaking?"
"Like how fire has wood as its fuel, my magic has mana as fuel. And my mana is leaking."
She blinked.
"Can you explain…?"
"My soul makes mana, and I use mana to fuel my magic. Like the fire," he said before he waved his hand and the fire disappeared without a residue. "But, as far as I can understand and see, my soul has a limited capacity, so like a barrel that can hold only a limited amount of water, my mana leaks because my soul doesn't stop making mana just because my mana barrel is full."
She … understood the comparison.
"And it's starting to affect things."
"How?"
"Most souls, yours included, don't exactly make a lot of mana, and what little mana you do make is used for growth and maturation of the soul. Or something."
"And…?"
"Well, since my mana is 'human' mana, people with empty reserves can take that into themselves and fill their mana barrel. Including animals and plants."
She stared at him.
"Wait, are you saying…?"
"You and Louis have been the closest to me. I think you have enough mana to learn magic. If you want to."
-VB-
1308 spring: Rudolph III Habsburg and Matthew Csak (Hungarian) wins against Koszegi (Hungarian). Csak takes majority of Koszegi lands, and Rudolph takes Sopron and lands directly around it that connect it to the Duchy of Austria. This has angered the rest of the Hungarian oligarchs.

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Chapter 150