45: Chapter 44, The Army is at the Gates_1 45: Chapter 44, The Army is at the Gates_1 Driven by sheer greed, the once united robbery team was now on the brink of breaking apart.
“Dividing the spoils” has always been the trickiest problem in the human world.
If this problem isn’t handled well, a robbery team, united by mutual gain, is immediately at risk of falling apart.
Looking at the list of supplies in his hands, Knight Charles felt a headache coming on.
Theoretically, the cash and the value of the supplies added up to a total of around 12,000 gold coins, but that is only if they could be liquidated.
If it were only a matter of difficult liquidation, that would have been it.
But the key issue is that, although the gains were substantial, the number of people to be paid out was even larger.
Among the Fifth Army, 73 nobles in total were involved in the looting, and per capita, it resulted in less than two thousand gold coins.
For some knights who are financially struggling, it was not an insignificant sum, as it at least brought them back to even.
But for the wealthier nobles, running the risk of disobeying military orders and creating friction with Earl Piers, all for less than two thousand gold coins, was simply not worth it.
An equal division of shares was impossible.
In the noble world, even siblings keep a strict account of debts to each other, not to mention allies.
Theoretically, the fairest way was to distribute based on the amount of effort each had contributed; no one would lose out or gain an advantage.
However, assessing the size of each one’s contribution turned out to be the most challenging part.
Hudson, except for his absence, every individual present boasted of their substantial contribution.
Faced with such a complex situation, Knight Charles felt powerless.
Even though he was the nominal leader, his family’s power posed limitations.
He couldn’t hold control over the powerhouses within the alliance.
The success of the robbery, after a brief moment of joy, soon turned into quarreling.
If it were not for Charles’s formidable personal strength, someone might directly challenge him to a duel.
Amid the argument, three pairs of “allies” had already declared duels on each other.
If Charles did not intervene, according to the nobles’ habit of dealing with insolvable matters, after conducting several rounds of duels, the distribution of interests could be settled.
Of course, this was out of the question.
If they actually proceeded , the fragile robbery team would inevitably disintegrate.
The alliance could not break apart, at least not before the suppression of the rebellion.
Otherwise, no one could withstand the accountability from the Governor’s Mansion alone.
Seeing the situation about to get out of control, Charles, who was filled with rage, couldn’t help but reprimand, “Watch your language, don’t do anything that would tarnish the honor of the nobility!”
He really regretted it at this point.
If he had known that profiting from war would be this difficult, he would have never led the team into the robbery.
In his heart, Charles had more than once criticized everyone’s shortsightedness, but his gaze had never left the chests filled with gold coins.
Impoverished and short-sighted, everyone dreamt of reaping war wealth.
Was Charles any different?
If he hadn’t been serving as the “Great Team Leader” of the robbery team at the moment, demanding him to demonstrate adequate generosity, perhaps his reaction would not have been any better.
Regretfully, the spoils valued at over 10,000 gold coins, when divided equally, could not satisfy them all.
To a solitary minor noble family, it is a fortune they couldn’t amass in a lifetime.
The regret was that none of them could monopolize the haul.
At this moment, everyone suddenly realized that having too many teammates was not necessarily a good thing.
After calming down, people gradually regained their rationality.
Even though the squabbling persisted, at least there were no more ensuing duels.
Unsurprisingly, in the face of the inability to accurately measure each person’s contribution, they finally adopted a distribution method that was in line with the world’s rules—respect for power.
The majority of the supplies couldn’t be liquidated, and their real value was difficult to estimate, so they directly divided the physical items.
Including Hudson, who was miles away, everyone reserved a share for him.
Although it was all leftovers from what everyone else picked, it seemed as if there was no room for discontent.
As the “Great Team Leader”, it was only natural that Knight Charles took a large slice of the cake.
While he didn’t get the most, he was certainly in the top five.
The generous gains compensated slightly for his injured pride.
However, looking at the alliance on the brink of splitting, Charles couldn’t feel any joy.
From the gloomy expressions on everyone’s faces, it was apparent that everyone was unsatisfied with the distribution of wealth this time.
He had to admit, Charles had failed as a leader.
He thought his distribution, which he saw as fair, would leave everyone unsatisfied.
But there was no choice, human desire is infinite.
Even if the treasure from the robbery had doubled, it couldn’t have fulfilled the demands of everyone.
Being able to make everyone begrudgingly accept took all the persuasion Charles could muster.
After all, he was just a minor knight who had been pushed to the forefront by the circumstances, this was his first time dealing with such a “technical job”, and he was truly inexperienced.
“Gentlemen, there isn’t much time left till our agreed meeting time.
We must hurry back and regroup, otherwise if we get caught, it will be difficult to explain to the Governor.”
There were many things that could be done, but couldn’t be brought to the surface.
As of now, while everyone was prepared for the possibility of being discovered, they couldn’t stand the consequences of being caught in the act.
If the matter was brought to light, no matter who pleaded, it would be of no use.
To maintain the game’s rules, severe punishment was inevitable.
Without any hesitation, after the distribution of the spoils, the robbery team immediately began their long escape.
Around noon, under the scorching sun, the Nobles’ Allied Forces, after a series of setbacks, finally arrived below Dardiel City.
However, compared to the original plan, they had been forced to delay by a day and a half.
If their marching speed was calculated, it would be embarrassingly slow.
There was no alternative, the Rebel Army was simply unsporting, they caused numerous problems for them along the way.
Either a bridge was broken here, or the road was gone there, and sometimes even sneak attacks were set up.
Although the damage inflicted was minimal, it was still extremely irritating.
The marching speed was forcibly reduced, which had even made Earl Piers question his decision.
Luckily, the terrains of the Wharton and Layton lands were flat, with only the peripheral areas being mountainous, otherwise there would have been more trouble.
Looking at the close gates of Dardiel City, Earl Piers knew that the plan for a quick victory had completely failed, the Rebel Army had no intentions of coming out and fighting.
“Send the orders; set up camp, we will lay siege to the city tomorrow!”
The cold voice of Earl Piers revealed his disappointment, not only because the strategic plan had fallen through, but also due to the anger from being rejected.
As one of the 12 Fiefdom Earls, a major noble in the entire Alpha Kingdom, he had actually failed to win over an unfeigned knight.
It wasn’t just a blow to his pride, it was also a dent to his strategies.
Without Hudson playing the traitor, it meant that his plan of establishing authority with the nobles of the Fifth Army had also failed.
Without a legitimate reason, even as a governor, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to the unified nobles.
The failure of the authority-establishing plan directly affected the post-war distribution of interests.
Piers had already envisioned a scenario post-war where minor nobles united to bargain with him.