Chapter 418: Laying the Groundwork in Ispaden
On the other side, the news of the House of Thyssen's return to Kovir finally reached the remote and isolated Free Duchy of Ispaden.
Along with the news of Istrad's re-ascension to power, there came word that a witcher, who had distinguished himself during the War for the Throne, had been granted the title of Duke of Ispaden.
The nobles of Ispaden were accustomed to keeping all the tax revenue from their territories in their own pockets, and no noble was willing to have an additional Duke take a share of their money.
Thus, the nobles urgently mobilized their local armed forces. They cobbled together a force of twenty thousand men and marched grandly toward the Kestral Pass (marked by a red circle in the image).
The Ispaden nobles were not naive enough to think they could defeat Istrad, who had won the War for the Throne. They primarily sought to demonstrate a principle: Kovir was simply too far from Ispaden. It was separated by Targo and the Hengfors League. Ispaden was essentially an exclave. The House of Thyssen could not possibly exercise effective rule over Ispaden.
Given this, why not let the people of Ispaden rule Ispaden? As long as the Kovir people did not forcibly assert themselves as masters over Ispaden, Ispaden was willing to verbally acknowledge Kovir as its suzerain state.
Of course, the Ispaden nobles knew that Istrad would never easily accept such open secessionist rhetoric. Therefore, the matter had to be settled on the battlefield. Only by making the Kovir people aware of the determination and conviction of the Ispaden people might Istrad be forced to compromise.
And so... their allied army waited in the cold wind at the Kestral Pass for several months. They waited and waited, but the Kovir punitive army never arrived.
They sent spies into the Hengfors League to inquire and discovered that the Kovir army had not, as they had assumed, simply requested passage through the Hengfors League. Instead, they had directly destroyed the Hengfors League.
This sent a shiver down the spines of the Ispaden nobles. The city-states that made up the Hengfors League were originally part of Kovir. Now that the Hengfors League was destroyed, what did that mean? Ispaden bordered the Hengfors League; wouldn't they be next?
The nobles who realized this quickly conscripted another ten thousand peasants. Including the previous army, they now had a total of thirty thousand men.
Despite the cautionary tale of the Hengfors League, a considerable number of Ispaden nobles held onto a sliver of hope. They speculated that the conquered Hengfors League would be plagued by constant rebellions. Furthermore, with such a long supply line, the Kovir army's logistics might not hold up. If they held their ground firmly, there would surely be a way out.
Thus, the Ispaden noble coalition army waited in the northwest wind at the Kestral Pass for another two months.
And still... the Kovir army did not come.
The spies they had sent to the former Hengfors League reported back: after conquering the Hengfors League, the Kovir people had completely slaughtered all the former nobles. The masterless lands were now ruled by former Kovir soldiers. Most of the army was stationed in Kaedwen City, the capital of the Hengfors Duchy, but a small number of soldiers had been allowed to return and rest on their newly acquired lands.
At the same time, the newly appointed witcher Duke had issued many policies beneficial to the common people, most notably freeing the peasants and urban artisans from burdensome taxes. They previously had to surrender sixty to seventy percent of their income to the nobles. No matter how hard they worked, little remained in their hands. But now it was different. Since the Duke took office, the tax rate was adjusted to four parts for the noble, six parts for the commoner (40% tax).
The implementation of this policy had attracted many immigrants to the Hengfors Duchy. It was said that some people on the eastern border of the Marquisate of Targo had already crossed the border into the Hengfors Duchy. Even some peasants in the Kingdom of Redania, suffering under heavy taxation, were willing to risk being caught to flee North.
However, a benevolent lord could sometimes be mistaken for a weak one. But the Duke had used forceful means to prove he was no soft touch. Anyone who secretly opposed him was immediately executed. Criminals were also subjected to forced labor in high-risk places like mines. While the Duke gave the common people a greater space to live than before, he also demanded that his subjects be law-abiding citizens. His severity toward criminals even surpassed that of the so-called "Just" King Vizimir.
Since the Kovir army was not preparing to attack Ispaden anytime soon, the nobles began a new round of discussions on their next steps.
During the council of war, some suggested launching an attack on the Hengfors region while the Kovir army was still struggling to establish a firm foothold. They currently had an army of thirty thousand ready, so there was no need to waste time assembling a force. Since the enemy had recently demobilized a portion of its army, they would have an advantage in numbers.
This proposal was supported by some.
But others opposed it. The opponents argued that while their army consisted of thirty thousand men, more than half of them were conscripted peasants, who were severely lacking in equipment and training. Moreover, the peasants had been away from home for several months, their morale was low, and their combat effectiveness was questionable. If they were forced to attack the Hengfors region, the peasants might retreat at the slightest setback, which would in turn affect the morale of the entire army and the course of the battle.
During the council, the nobles argued back and forth like fishwives in a marketplace, with neither side able to persuade the other. However, they did reach one consensus: this large army had to be demobilized.
Although the thirty-thousand-man army lacked combat effectiveness, they could certainly eat. Even feeding them only two meals a day and providing the bare minimum of sustenance resulted in a terrifying consumption of food.
Since the Kovir army had temporarily demobilized a portion of its troops, it indicated they had no immediate intention of attacking Ispaden. Thus, their noble coalition's thirty thousand men didn't need to stay here any longer.
Of course, they couldn't disband the entire army. Otherwise, they would be doomed if the remaining Kovir army were to attack directly. So, after all the arguing and wrangling, the nobles finally agreed upon a solution that was acceptable to all:
Five nobles would remain at the Kestral Pass, each contributing one thousand soldiers to garrison the pass. After a period, they would rotate with other nobles. This ensured that every noble would get a turn, and no one would feel disadvantaged or unfairly treated.
The Kovir army had only three thousand men, while they would leave five thousand. Even if they were five thousand pigs, the Kovir people wouldn't be able to breach the defenses instantly.
Thus, the majority of the noble coalition retreated, returning to their respective territories. Only five nobles remained to continue garrisoning the Kestral Pass.
As mentioned before, the Kingdom of Kaedwen imported many goods from Kovir, and Kovir's merchants had to pass through Ispaden to reach Kaedwen. This was also beneficial to Ispaden. They made a considerable profit just by collecting tolls from passing merchant caravans.
When the House of Thyssen returned to Kovir, especially after Istrad granted a witcher the title of Duke of Ispaden, a portion of the Ispaden nobles believed they should prohibit Kovir caravans from passing through the Kestral Pass. They knew from their time as part of Kovir that Kovir's merchant caravans often served as spies.
However, this proposal was vetoed by another faction of nobles. The reason was simple: if Kovir caravans were banned from entering Ispaden, the nobles whose territories the caravans usually passed through would no longer be able to collect tolls, which meant a considerable loss of income for no good reason. When their own interests were involved, people became stubborn and blinded. While not everyone was like this, the Ispaden nobles certainly lacked the vision to sacrifice their immediate financial gains.
Thus, the proposal was abandoned.
That day, another merchant caravan from Kovir entered the Kestral Pass. As usual, the stationed soldiers conducted a strict inspection of the caravan. There was nothing suspicious, except for a large, bald man in the caravan. The caravan leader explained that times were unstable, so they had specially hired a bodyguard like him.
This explanation made perfect sense. Now—or rather, it had always been this way—peaceful times were few, and times of war were many. The common people were already grateful enough to enjoy a few decades of peace. And even in years without war, bandits and brigands were always present. Merchant caravans like Kovir's, laden with goods, were a magnet for robbers. Therefore, it was perfectly reasonable for the Kovir caravan to hire a few guards who clearly deterred trouble. Especially when the caravan leader cleverly took out a few gold coins and slipped them into the hand of the inspecting soldier, there was even less reason for the soldiers to make trouble for the caravan.
What they didn't know was that when the caravan left the pass and reached a spot out of sight of the stationed soldiers, the bald man parted ways with the caravan.
This strong man was none other than Letho. The soldiers hadn't recognized Letho as a witcher because Triss had given him a Disguise Amulet. The effect of this amulet was far inferior to the Amulet of Deception Fringilla had given Lynn, only capable of disguising the natural color of hair and eyes, not entirely changing one's appearance. However, for Letho, it was sufficient for the time being.
Letho found a suitable location nearby for a temporary hideout. He stayed there until nightfall before leaving and heading toward the Kestral Pass garrison, vanishing into the darkness.
The Kestral Pass already had a fortified checkpoint. This checkpoint had been built a long time ago. The Ispaden nobles reinforced this checkpoint later when King Nedamir of Kaedwen unified and established the Hengfors League, because the Ispaden nobles worried that King Nedamir would press his advantage and attack Ispaden. Although Nedamir never did attack Ispaden before the Hengfors League collapsed, the nobles at the time didn't know this. The thirty-thousand-man army that confronted the Kovir forces was also stationed at this checkpoint.
That day, one of the five nobles responsible for guarding the checkpoint, a bearded nobleman, unexpectedly found a letter placed on his bed when he returned to his room.
The bearded noble did not pick up the letter. Instead, he quickly and alertly backed out of the room and loudly called for the guards. The guards then entered the noble's room and conducted a meticulous search. Only after confirming there was no suspicious person hiding in the room did the guards leave, stationing guards both at the room door and in the hallway outside.
Only then did the bearded noble pick up the letter, open it, and begin to read.
The letter contained few words, and the content was simple. The writer, Lynn Augustus, Duke of Ispaden, promised the bearded noble that as long as he was willing to swear fealty, Lynn would acknowledge the legality of the bearded noble's current title and territory and guarantee that they would not be stripped away.
But the bearded noble merely crumpled the letter into a ball and scornfully tossed it to the ground.
"Daydreaming!"
The bearded noble was unsure whether Lynn's letter was a genuine offer to safeguard his interests or merely a false promise. But he didn't care. He had already decided to resist Kovir to the end.
The bearded noble was about to burn the crumpled paper. But then, as if he had an afterthought, he smoothed out the wrinkles, folded it into a small square, and tucked it away.
Later that night, the bearded noble summoned the other four nobles and showed them the letter he had received earlier that day.
"If I'm not mistaken, I shouldn't be the only one who received a letter; you all got one, too, didn't you?"
The other four nobles exchanged glances. Then, they each produced the letters they had received.
"Does anyone have any thoughts? Feel free to share."
The other four nobles looked at each other again. No one answered. Naturally. They weren't fools. Even if they privately thought that swearing fealty to Lynn might not be a bad idea if he truly guaranteed their interests, who would volunteer to be the first to speak up?
The quick-tempered bearded noble gave a cold snort. "No one wants to talk, is that it? Then I'll share my view."
"I believe this is a complete and utter deception. Don't forget, that Duke massacred all the nobles of the Hengfors League. Would he truly allow us to keep our titles and lands as the letter claims? Think hard about this."
The other four nobles seemed convinced by the bearded noble, nodding in agreement.
The meeting soon ended. The nobles dispersed, each returning to their own rooms.
But one of the nobles, upon returning to his room, called in a few trusted retainers. He ordered them to bypass the Kestral Pass using mountain paths unknown to outsiders and head toward the Hengfors Duchy.