I'm not a lord

Chapter 279 The Death of the Duke of the Swamp (Part 1)
“Lothair is going to hold a banquet in the castle and has sent people to invite us. He even promised to reward me with a count's estate. Ha, how ridiculous.”

The following morning, after receiving the invitation from the Duke of the Swamp, Arno, the leader of the Power Mercenary Group, felt nothing, and even wanted to laugh.

Upon hearing Arno's words, one of his trusted underlings immediately warned, "Boss, he's trying to lure you into the castle so he can attack you. As long as you stay outside the city, he won't be able to do anything to you."

Another henchman said anxiously, "Boss, you can't fall for his trick! Lothair has almost lost all his money in the gambling, how could he possibly give you any territory as a reward? This is clearly a trap!"

Territory is a good thing; who among us wouldn't want it?
The reason these underlings followed Arno so devotedly was, of course, to win a territory and the title that came with it.

In the North, only nobles have human rights, and no one would not want the title of noble.

If Lothair had conquered Amber Harbor and successfully crowned himself king, Arno would at least have been granted the title of Earl, and the core members of the mercenary group would have received a baronial title or a large knightly title.

Now Lothair has almost no hope of turning the tide, and has even set his sights on their large mercenary group. How can the mercenaries let him control them?

"How could I not know what you're talking about? But tonight's banquet is undoubtedly a good opportunity, and I've already agreed to attend." With that, a ruthless glint flashed in Arno's eyes.

Lothair wanted to lure Arno into the city through a banquet, but he also wanted to turn the banquet into the Duke of the Marsh's funeral.

The strongest henchman asked excitedly and nervously, "Boss, are we going to make our move? Today?"

"Yes, today!" Arno slammed his hand on the wooden table, sending two rows of wine glasses flying.

"Give the order, boss!" All the trusted underlings looked at their leader.

Afterwards, Arnaud explained the battle plan for the night to his men in detail.

His plan was quite simple: use the excuse of attending a banquet to launch a surprise attack as soon as he approached the castle gates.

If they can control the castle gates, even for just fifteen minutes, it will be enough for a large number of mercenaries to break into the city.

Although the castle was guarded by five or six hundred elite court cavalrymen, Arno also had strong reinforcements within the city.

Some local minor nobles had already contacted him, hoping to work together from the inside to take Lothair's head and surrender to Otto.

Upon hearing this, one of the underlings suggested, "Boss, shouldn't we send someone to inform these nobles immediately?"

After a moment's thought, Arno rejected the idea, saying, "There's no need for that. Sending someone to inform them now would easily arouse Lothair's suspicion and lead to the failure of the operation. What I need is surprise, something unexpected! As long as we can control the city gates and cause chaos, these nobles will naturally cooperate with us."

Generally speaking, the simpler a plan is, the easier it is to succeed.

It's morning now, and the operation will take place in the evening, a few hours from now.

At this point, it would be too risky to try to contact the nobles in the city. If the messenger were intercepted by Lothair's men, the success rate of this operation would be greatly reduced.

A thin henchman said worriedly, "But isn't it easy to fail like this? What if those nobles don't cooperate in time?"

Arno glared murderously at his underling, then hissed, "Idiot! Don't assume everyone else is as stupid as you! If we can successfully create chaos, Lothair won't survive tonight!"

Putting aside the unreliable nobles inside the city, Arno's control over the more than three thousand ragtag troops outside the city was actually not very strong.

He could only effectively control a core force of about a thousand people, all of whom were his old subordinates.

The remaining soldiers were a rather complex group, including urban militia, thieves and bandits, exiled peasants, and impoverished nobles.

Given Arnault's skill and prestige, he couldn't possibly integrate all of these people.

His plan was essentially to create enough chaos.

As long as he can create chaos both inside and outside River Bend Fort, he will have an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

In fact, Arnault's success rate was not high, and if he failed, he would almost certainly perish.

But he was by nature a brave and ruthless person; otherwise, he wouldn't have joined the mercenary business, a business where one's life is at stake.

If he wins this gamble today, it will be a true meteoric rise to success.

To set an example for the North, Otto will surely reward him handsomely, starting with a real earldom, not just an empty title from Lothair.

Under Arno's arrangement, the entire Power Mercenary Group sprang into action and prepared for the uprising within hours.

The Marsh Duke in River Bend Castle had naturally also arranged a 'trap' for tonight.

His plan was equally simple.

Archers were ambushed on the second floor of the banquet hall, and elite heavily armored knights were deployed in the next room. As soon as Arno and the core members of the Power Mercenary Group attended the banquet, Lothair would launch an ambush by smashing a cup.

His four hundred loyal court cavalrymen stood by at the east and west gates of the castle, ready to go out and suppress any rebellious mercenary groups.

During the meeting last night to discuss the plan, a general asked curiously, "Sir, what if Arno sees through your plan and doesn't attend the banquet? What should we do then?"

Lothair's response was: "Handle it according to the actual situation."

To put it bluntly, Lothair didn't have a complete plan; he could only take it one step at a time.

The main problem is that his reliable troops are quite limited, with only a little over five hundred court cavalry at most. He can't very well openly engage in a firefight with Arno, can he?

When making plans, you should always start with the strength you have at your disposal.

If we could lure Arno into the castle and kill him, that would be ideal, saving us countless troubles.

But if Arnaud doesn't take the bait, Lothair doesn't have a good solution for the time being.

Both sides in the game place themselves in a dangerous gamble, and there can only be one winner.

That evening, Arno led more than fifty men and appeared on time outside the north gate of River Bend Fort.

As a large fortress built on an island in the river, River Bend Fort had four gates: east, west, south, and north.

Arno deliberately chose the north gate because he knew that half of the soldiers stationed at that gate were from the local nobles of the royal territory.

After recognizing the intruders, the guards on the city wall used a winch to pull up the heavy iron city gate.

A junior officer, leading ten soldiers, stood at the city gate and said to Arno, who was in charge, "Your Excellency Arno, the Duke only invited twenty guests. You have brought too many people."

This officer, from the Duke of the Marsh's court cavalry, had naturally received orders to remain vigilant against Arno.

Therefore, his soldiers were all fully armed and gripped their spears tightly.

At this moment, goose-feather-like snowflakes drifted in the dim sky, and the lead-gray clouds hung extremely low, as if they were about to crush the spire of the main building of River Bend Fort.

Snowflakes rustled against Arnaud's heavy cloak, accumulating a thin layer of frost on his shoulders.

The fifty mercenaries behind him were also wearing dark cloaks, their breath mingling with the snowflakes, blurring their faces.

Arno pulled back the hood of his cloak, revealing a hearty smile: "It's too chaotic outside the city, so I had to bring more people. Please forgive me."

He then waved his hand, and the mercenaries behind him automatically split into two groups, one of which slowly moved forward and gathered beside him.

The officer counted the number of men and led his troops out of the city gate. Arno, on the other hand, led his men on horseback slowly into the city.

The officer led the way: "Please follow me, His Highness the Duke has prepared a banquet."

But just as he mounted his horse, a sharp dagger emerged from under Arnaud's cloak, easily piercing through his chainmail and sinking into the officer's chest.

Arno is, after all, the leader of a large mercenary group. How could he not have some skills?
In terms of individual combat prowess alone, perhaps only the Duke of the Marshland can rival him in River Bend.

After piercing the officer's chest, Arnaud immediately twisted his right hand forcefully and shouted, "Do it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the mercenaries behind him lifted their heavy cloaks, revealing gleaming chainmail and various weapons hanging on their bodies.

Some of the mercenaries took down the short crossbows hanging behind them and pulled the triggers at the soldiers on both sides and on the city gate tower.

Another group of mercenaries quickly dismounted, drew their longswords, and rushed towards the city gate tower, attempting to take control of the winch.

The thirty-odd mercenaries waiting outside the city launched an attack on the city gate, attempting to rush into the city before the iron gates fell.

The soldiers stationed at the city gate were all elite troops, and they instinctively raised their spears to fight back.

As Arno and his mercenaries fought the soldiers, they shouted in unison, "Kill Lothair! Kill Lothair!"

At the same time, soldiers on the city gate tower shouted: "This is a rebellion! Release the winch! Close the city gate!"

Chaos erupted both inside and outside the city gates.

The local nobles stationed on the city walls exchanged glances, and after confirming that they were on their side, they also joined the rebellion.

In less than five minutes, the rebels, with the help of those inside and outside, seized control of the north gate of River Bend Fort.

Outside the city gate, nearly a thousand mercenaries, who had been prepared, advanced toward the gate at top speed.

The remaining mercenaries were scattered throughout the various military camps, inciting other soldiers to join the rebellion.

The mercenaries used a remarkably uniform rhetoric: "Lothair blamed the defeat on our left wing, and to quell the nobles' anger, he's going to kill us all! Brothers, to survive, we must kill Lothair first!"

This rhetoric was naturally prepared by Arnault; it was the same old story, fabricating an enemy who was sharpening his knives.

It's a cliché, but it really works.

The soldiers outside the city were already resentful because they could not enter the city.

Why should the court cavalry and nobles of the Marshland Duke enjoy the protection of the city walls? Why should they be able to hold banquets every night, eating white bread, smoked meat, and drinking wine?
We had to live in a dilapidated military camp outside the city, enduring the biting cold wind and hard, black bread.

So, you've been planning to sacrifice us all along!

Humans are inherently prone to blind obedience.

"Kill Lothair! Enter the city, feast on meat and drink wine!"

With the mercenaries' encouragement and some shills creating a lively atmosphere, the remaining two thousand soldiers were quickly mobilized.

But since they were going to fight against the formidable Duke of the Marsh, many soldiers still couldn't make up their minds and hesitated.

Just then, someone shouted, "Look at the north gate! The north gate has been breached! There's also a rebellion in the city; Lothair must be dead!"

All eyes turned to the North Gate, where a conspicuous plume of black smoke rose amidst the swirling snow, and some soldiers near the North Gate could vaguely see the wide-open city gate.

Soldiers immediately reacted, grabbing their weapons and running wildly, shouting, "Hurry into the city, or it'll all be looted!"

Many of the ragtag groups came with the intention of making a fortune. Seeing that the situation was about to descend into chaos, their first thought was to hurry into the city to participate in the zero-dollar shopping spree, because if they were late, they would miss out on everything.

Once someone takes the lead, the rest will be easy.

The more than three thousand ragtag soldiers outside the city rushed toward the north gate as if they were in a race.

The shill lurking in the crowd, seemingly eager to stir up trouble, kept shouting, "Lothair is dead! Lothair is dead!"

Lothair, inside the castle, naturally received the news as well. He didn't even need his confidants to report the situation; he could guess the general situation just from the faint shouts coming through the wind and snow and the black smoke rising from the direction of the north gate.

"Arno must have rebelled! How dare he!"

Lothair slammed his fist on the table and immediately issued an order: "Notify the troops at the East and West Gates to immediately proceed to the North Gate to suppress the rebellion!"

Although his forces were clearly outnumbered, Lothair had great confidence in the court cavalry he had personally trained.

They were just a bunch of ragtag troops, and they only occupied the north gate. Once the palace cavalry assembled, they could be easily suppressed.

But right after giving the order, Lothair realized something and his expression changed drastically.

Because he had a limited army, the garrison guarding the north and south gates included many royal noble troops.

This arrangement was made to put the nobles in the castle at ease.

It's impossible for all four city gates to be guarded by Lothair's court cavalry, right? After all, the two sides are still in a cooperative relationship.

The fact that the north gate was easily captured by the rebels raises the question: does this mean that some of the royal nobles within the castle also participated in the rebellion?
If that's really the case, then even the interior of River Bend Fortress is no longer safe!

Lothair had a keen sense of smell, and he immediately gave a new order to his attendants: "Quickly, put on my armor!"

This is the dead of winter; no one would wear armor indoors all day long.

Moreover, Lothair would have to host the 'Hongmen Banquet' later, and it was impossible for him to wear armor and expose his murderous intent.

But it was too late. A series of hurried footsteps approached from afar, and two palace cavalrymen suddenly pushed open the door: "My lord, a rebellion! A rebellion! A rebellion has broken out both inside and outside the city!"

Just as Arnaud had predicted, the black smoke rising from the north gate sounded like a battle horn.

Upon seeing the black smoke, the disloyal nobles in the city hastily donned their armor and launched their long-planned rebellion.

They all knew that the opportunity only came once, and once missed, it would never come again.

Only by killing Lothair can they preserve their territory and their future!
For a moment, shouts of "Kill Lothair!" echoed over River Bend Castle.

At this time, Lothair had fewer than thirty trusted guards by his side, while the rest of the palace cavalry were stationed at the east and west gates.

A guard asked anxiously, "Sir, what should we do now?"

With the help of his attendants, Lothair hurriedly put on his plate armor, drew his longsword, and said, "Go to the west gate to meet up with the palace cavalry and then break out!"

At the crucial moment, Lothair finally remembered the option—going home.

If you keep heading west, you'll reach his stronghold, Golden Deer Fort.

But can he really return to his hometown?
(End of this chapter)