Chapter 171: 171

Engineer

Translated by Raizu

I ejaculated three times inside Rose.

By the time the last shot was poured in, there were no more words of resistance, and Rose simply endured silently.

[Haa… Thank goodness.]

It feels refreshing, as if all the heat and stress of the battlefield had been fully absorbed within the void of her vagina.

One of the military officers handed me a towel as I picked up my trousers to put them back on.

After everything, Rose’ lower body was stained with my semen that had been splashed out due to my repeated pistoning.

When I was done meticulously wiping the area around her inner thighs, I placed the towel on Rose’s buttocks. This is to prevent other men from seeing her secret place.

Putting on my pants and straightening my clothes, I turned my gaze to the military officer.

[This Rose, I’ll bring her with me.]

[…..back to the mansion?]

I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was not very enthusiastic about it.

It’s not uncommon for nobles to be obsessed with women they like. Since Rose is a vassal of the Spierzeig family, one might think that it’ll be troublesome later if she were to become my lover.

I have been told not to interfere with daughters from other territories. But, in addition to complicating diplomatic relations, I am wary of the existence of the so-called demonic women.

There are too many stories about pitiful noblemen who favor princesses from other territories and end up at the mercy of their princesses, and even other families.

A woman with a noble family backing can’t be easily hung up, so it’s extremely troublesome to deal with her when she starts her secret maneuvers.

However, there is no need to worry so much about Rose.

The Quordenze and the Spierzeigs recognize each other as their own worst enemies, so the diplomatic actions between the two families are already minimal to begin with.

Once Rose is confined in a place isolated from the outside world, there will be no need to worry about her. After all, how can she cooperate with the Spierzeigs when she couldn’t even reach them?

Furthermore, it is generally said that nobles who are sexually active and love women have a low chance of favoritism. It’s a well-known fact that I embraced women here and there, and thus, many considered it unlikely that I’ll become extremely dependent on one woman.

It was after all those considerations that I allowed myself to embrace Rose.

If Rose had been a knight who served an noble family in a delicate position to the extent that the Spierzeig family had to send reinforcement reluctantly, at least I wouldn’t have been able to embrace her immediately.

[Treat her as a prisoner of war. Be respectful.]

It’s not yet time to bring her to the mansion, but I want to be able to sleep with her again soon. So, it’s best to keep her safe until then…that’s what I told myself.

Even though the risk of favoritism is low, the knights and military officers were still anxious. It’s safer not to show that I’m obsessed with Rosé.

If it’s not a knight from Spierzeig family, I’m sure they won’t mind if I suddenly scoop up a female knight and had sex with her. Having said that, the rape play… I mean it’s actual rape, but whatever— this time might actually make them at ease a little.

And most of all, I wanted to do the act of ordering my male subordinates to hold down a woman while I get to enjoy her for myself. It was a valuable experience that stimulated not only the desire to dominate the opposite sex, but also a sense of superiority over the same sex.

[Yessir! We will monitor her closely.]

After the military officer gave a clear reply, he raised his voice to the outside of the camp. He seemed to be arranging for a female servant to take care of Rose. Above all, it seems that my intentions were accurately conveyed.

[I’ll apply the magic seal again. It will last longer this time.]

[Much obliged.]

I turned the towel over a bit, put my hand on Rose’s buttocks, poured my magic power into her, and sealed her magic power.

The magic seal is convenient, but there are parts where it’s hard to tell when the seal will be broken. One day, she’ll suddenly become able to use magic again.

It’s hard to imagine this, but if I had to compare it, I think it’s close to the state where the whole body is wrapped in balloon rubber. Even if you try to release magical power outside your body to use magic, the magic seal that wraps your body will only swell and it won’t go out to the outside world.

The balloon will continue to inflate due to both intentional and spontaneous release of magical power. Eventually, when the limit is exceeded, it will explode with a bang. That’s why I don’t know the exact timing.

However, just as you can tell that the balloon is about to explode if it has been puffed up to a certain size, if you check the state of the magic seal, you will know that the seal is about to collapse.

Since only those with magical powers can check the status of the magic seal, not everyone can help to monitor it. This is why prisoners with magical powers are troublesome.

[…If the magic seal is broken and she tries to escape or take a servant hostage, in the worst case, you are allowed to kill her. It’s obvious, but be careful not to do that. The use of restraints is also permitted.]

I felt sorry to make them waste time for my sexual desire, so I decided to be a little more considerate.

If I say this, even if Rose’s magic seal is broken and she goes wild, the military officers will be able to use violence against her without hesitation and restrain her. It’s much better than having Quordenze’s servants get hurt or her escaping because they think, [I can’t hurt Young Master’s favorite lady].

[Yessir! I will pay close attention to any attempt to escape or self-harm.]

It’s difficult for someone whose magic has been sealed to commit suicide.

This is because magic sealing is a technique that prevents the release of magical power, but does not reduce the magical power itself to zero. Since both physical strength and vitality also comes from magic power, self-mutilation requires a good amount of power either.

If you want to commit suicide, the easiest thing to do is release the magic at yourself, but you can’t do that while you’re sealed.

The only method of suicide that Rose can do right now is to cut her own stomach, neck, or wrists with a hidden knife or other sharp objects. However, even if she did that, she would not be able to die instantly due to her strong vitality, and the punch line would be that someone would find her and heal her before she fainted and died.

If she had a chance to die, it would probably be when she fought me. Well, I don’t think there’s a knight who would rush to commit suicide when their master’s enemy is right in front of them.

Considering that, the decisiveness of that priestess named Diana of the Church of Holy Society Zeth, who made a quick decision for herself so that her own existence wouldn’t be an inconvenience for the organization to which she belongs, is amazing. I feel a distorted conviction that even though it is an object with an eerie shape that is twisted here and there, its shadow stretches straight.

[Good, I’ll leave things to you.]

I left Rose to the military officers, and decided to return to the tent where the headquarters was located.

Looking up to the sky after leaving the camp that was the rape venue, I could see the moon rising high in the night. Maybe my eyes were blinded by the light of the stars, but when I returned my gaze to the ground, the darkness around me seemed even thicker.

It was a very busy day. Riding on a horse from the morning, breaking through enemy units, fighting one-on-one with the fellow master, and raping female knight. I guess I’m mentally exhausted, and that’s why I felt sleepy.

As soon as we entered the tent of the main camp, the military officer inside began to move hastily. The battlefield seems to have settled down, and the number of military officers has increased much more than before.

A man who was entrusted with the command of the Quordenze army stationed in Nambonan City will soon arrive, with several high-ranking military officers behind him. The son of Knight Gatoren, who is the next head of the Gatoren family.

He looked to be in his thirties or early forties, the prime time of a man’s life. He was muscular and broad-shouldered, making him look very large. His thick neck was reminiscent of a giant tree, and the rugged backs of his hands bulged with floating blood vessels, strongly adding to his masculinity.

[Young Master.]

Starting with the top commander, the senior officers quickly followed to salute me. The surrounding military officers who saw it also panicked and took the same posture.

I was the only one standing in the silent tent, thinking about what to say to them.

[Defense officer, you did a good job. The results of this battle are due to your efforts.]

Accurate messengers after the discovery of Spierzeig’s army, the deployment of units assuming that reinforcement would come from New Nelly, and the work of each unit to support it after Wilk’s corps began to charge. Their skills are indispensable. It would not have been possible to unilaterally trample Spierzeig’s army without them.

Even though the senior military officers humbled themselves, I allowed them to stand on the grounds since we were technically still on the battlefield.

[Grandfather is fighting in the west. Please continue to prepare reinforcements.]

[Yessir.]

It seemed that they were currently constructing a reinforcement unit in parallel with the disposal of the enemy remnants. However, our soldiers were exhausted from the conflict with Spierzeig’s army, so we couldn’t leave right away tonight.

Since there are multiple main forces awaiting at the front line base, a certain size of reinforcement is necessary, and there is a high possibility that the number of soldiers on the ground has decreased, so a forced breakthrough by Wilk’s forces like earlier today is not acceptable.

If the army were forced to advance while they were still tired and ended-up being annihilated, there would be no point in providing reinforcements. So I need them to be fully prepared.

After some light exchanges about future policies, the commander made a suggestion.

[…The battlefield is already in a situation where we can handle it alone, so I would like Young Master to take a break. I’m sure you’re tired today, I just sent an errand to the city to boil the water.]

My love for baths is something that those who serve the Quordenze family know well. I often said that I don’t feel like the day is over if I don’t take a bath on days when I did exercise, so I guess he was being considerate of me.

Certainly, even though it was winter, I was sweating, my feet felt stuffy in my boots, and my body felt dusty and grimy. I want to take a bath before going to bed.

As the commander-in-chief of the reinforcements, it won’t do any good if I look too tired, so resting here is also a necessary act.

[Okay. I’m going to rest for today… If anything happens, report to me immediately.]

Upon hearing the reply, the commander selected several military officers to serve as my escorts. Apparently they had prepared in advance, and the military officers were armed not for war but for escort purposes.

When I was about to leave the tent with the guards, the commander let out a happy voice from behind me.

[Today… Young Master was truly marvelous.]

All but one of the horses that Wilk’s troops were riding during the charge were exhausted.

By the way, the only one that didn’t was the horse that I often rode around New Nelly. Perhaps because already accustomed to the strengthening magic, the horse was getting a lot less recoil from the exertion.

However, that doesn’t mean that it’s not affected at all. Since it didn’t look as energetic as usual, I decided to ride with another horse on my way back to the city.

Looking around on my way back, I could see Spierzeig’s soldiers gathered here and there. It seems that they have already been disarmed.

The contrast between the standing Quordenze soldiers holding their spears and the Spierzeig soldiers sitting with their legs thrown out, showed which side was victorious and which one was defeated.

Perhaps they were still cleaning up the remnants in the distance, from time to time, magic flames and lights would float in the darkness and disappear.

When the unit led by a military officer created a bonfire with magic, a group of presumed enemy soldiers ran away from it. It was like a shepherd dog chasing sheep.

[Are there many units that are still resisting?]

The military officer walking next to me seemed to hear my mumbling.

[No, Sir. Those are common soldiers who are either confused or fleeing. Most of their military officers have been killed, and the engineers have surrendered.]

[The engineers, you say…]

The nobles of the Eruo continent maintain their own army and system, but they also have many things in common.

One of them was the existence of soldiers called engineers.

[Yessir. About 5000 engineers have submitted to us. It’s quite a number, so we may have to think about how to handle them.]

There are three main reasons why nobles have an army. To control the people, to counter the invasion of other families, and to protect the land from the monsters that are the enemy of mankind.

When monsters go out of the field, they defile the earth, so humans need to quickly rush to deal with them. For this reason, road maintenance has been actively carried out on the Eruo continent since ancient times.

It can be said that maintaining roads and being prepared to deal with monsters wherever they appear in the territory is the pride of the nobles as the guardians of the land.

If the roads are left unmaintained to make it difficult for other families to attack, the surrounding nobles will start saying, [We are the protector of the land from monsters. Nobles who can’t even maintain roads are not qualified to rule], which may lead to a bad reputation.

That’s why the ruling class of the Eruo continent is devoted to road maintenance. It is because the road is not only crucial in dealing with the monsters but also in diplomatic crises.

Therefore, regardless of financial difficulties, the nobles will desperately maintain roads to protect their face. A desolate and lifeless city with a splendidly maintained road next to it, if you compare it to Japan in my past life, it feels like a country road where a big politician would parade through.

It is said that the engineers started out as road maintenance workers.

Even if we simply say road maintenance, the scope of the construction is actually quite wide. From the laying of roads, flood control work, building a bridge over a river, clearing a large forest to make a road, or digging a tunnel through a mountain.

It is clear that it is faster and better to hire factory workers than to recruit temporary workers each time. Nobles with money to spare will employ factory workers all the time.

Needless to say, the lord was able to operate without the trouble of summoning them one by one, and the group was accustomed to organized actions. In addition, because they were employed by the lord to maintain their livelihood, they had a certain amount of loyalty compared to the conscripted soldiers.

It may have been a sort of inevitability that as time progressed, these hired factory workers were eventually incorporated into the standing army as engineer soldiers.

However, full-time employment comes with maintenance costs. Aside from the ratio, the majority of the army consists of a mix between conscripted citizens, mercenaries, engineer soldiers. The Quordenze family and the Spierzeig family are no different.

When moving the army, it’s safe to say that engineers will also join in. The basic rule is that next to the nobles are escort soldiers, and around them are engineer soldiers.

[5000? It must’ve been hard for the Spierzeig.]

In the common militia army, conscripted soldiers are easy to dismiss, but that’s not the case with the engineer soldiers.

Even ignoring the proficiency as a soldier, the construction technology that is the original purpose of an engineer soldier itself is not something that can be easily discarded. It can be said that the quality of engineer soldiers is an index that shows the scientific and technological capabilities of the particular noble family.

For example, in the Eruo continent, there is a saying, [Know the castle by looking at the bridge]. It is based on the idea that the strength of the builder can be seen by looking at the bridge, and therefore, the strength of the castle’s defense can be surmised.

[Put on decent clothes. People say that you know a castle by looking at the bridge].

It means that if you don’t take care of your appearance, you will be thought of as a useless person even on your inside.

The Quordenze family, which is located at an important transportation hub, is financially prosperous through trade. Recently, in addition to that, there is also profit related to the pioneering association that I sat as the president.

The Quordenze family has about 30,000 engineer soldiers, and even if you add the engineer soldiers owned by each of the subordinate knight families, it’s hard to say whether the number will reach 40,000 or not.

The Spierzeig family, which owns the rich land of the Voistra Plain, probably has as many engineer soldiers as the Quordenze family.

Even if the Spierzeig family had 40,000 engineers, the number of 5,000 is by no means small.

[How many prisoners do you think there will be in total?]

[We are still hunting the common soldiers, but we have estimated that there will be about 30,000 prisoners.]

For the Spierzeig soldiers, who had intended to attack a city when its lord was absent, it was an unexpected event that they would lose their own lord, Verret, to Wilk.

The Spierzeig’s army, with their chain of command broken, collapsed in the blink of an eye afterwards. The next thing that we knew, we were flooded with enemy soldiers who surrendered.

The number of troops who desperately fled was not zero, but since the Quordenze army originally had more soldiers and was more familiar with the area, we were able to block their escape routes.

According to the messenger arriving at New Nelly Castle this morning, the Spierzeig army, numbered around 38,000 soldiers, was approaching Nambonan City.

Approximately 80% of the enemy soldiers were taken prisoner as a result of the surprise attack by the lord’s Army… Normally such a report is likely to be taken as a joke.

[That’s quite a lot.]

[For better or worse, it is a huge number]

With my brain beginning to blur from sleepiness, it seems to me that there are only good things for the Quordenze family. But, I wonder if there will be bad news because of this?

After I decided to return to the city, I started to lose my mind and my brain started to slow down, so I gave up thinking and asked the military officer for an answer.

[Is there something wrong?]

[It’s a bit misleading to say it’s bad, but it’s a number that can’t be determined on the spot…. What do you think should be done with the surrendered Spierzeig soldiers, Young Master?]

The military officer’s tone was light, suggesting that he was asking this as part of a casual conversation.

While biting my yawn, I slowed down the horse’s walking speed and thought about the answer to that question.

The first thing that came to my mind was to sell them off as slaves, but it was not good.

My grandfather often gives the soldiers that he took prisoner to slave traders, but he doesn’t sell so many of them in a single sale. At least I had never heard of trading in thousands or millions.

If I suddenly try to hand over 30,000 people to the slave traders around here, they will either refuse to buy them, or they will buy wholesale. The latter will cause slave market chart to become like Niagara Falls.

Preserving a living human being is both costly and time-consuming, so it is difficult to be stingy enough to keep the market from collapsing.

[I’d sell a few hundreds to slave trader.]

If there aren’t many, you can sell them to slaves, and if they don’t sell, you can hire them to build castles at the frontline base.

But, 30,000 is still too much. Just thinking about the food consumed makes my head hurt. On the other hand, I feel that it would be a waste to release the things that I have obtained into my hands for free. Is there no other way?

[Then, maybe kill the rest…]

[Are you sure, Young Master?]

As the military officer guessed, I was reluctant. Killing unresisting human who has already surrendered is a bad direction, no matter how much you get used to the sense of values of nobles in this world.

Of course, the Quordenze soldiers who will carry out the execution will feel it to some extent. Quordenze and Spierzeig, even though their lords are different, they are still commoners who speak the same language, so it’s all the more so.

And above all, considering the future, the massacre plan seems to have a big disadvantage.

[Most of the soldiers are the citizens of Spierzeig. It would be a shame if their city becomes devastated due to an action Quordenze takes.]

Exterminating 30,000 people here would simply eliminate these numbers, but that would also destroy the livelihoods of families who were waiting for their return in rural areas and cities.

If it’s a small village, it may collapse, and even if it’s not, their life may become difficult and selling themselves into slavery may become popular choice.

In Tico’s village, the villagers said that they lost a good number of their population after mercenaries forcefully conscripted them. The mercenaries were defeated by the Quordenze Allied Forces and many of these recruited villagers did not return to their homeland. And that caused the life in the village to deteriorate greatly.

By defeating Verret this time, the Quordenze family’s offensive will likely intensify. It’s a pity that some areas in Spierzieg territory will suffer. It’s something that I’d like to avoid, but if we’re going to invade anyway, weakening the enemy would be the most appropriate route to take.

[Besides, collecting grudges and increasing the number of seeds of revolt is irritating.]

If the Quordenze family is hated by the people of Spierzeig, it will become difficult to hunt remnants after the rule and we need to deal with guerrilla raids.

The wives and mothers whose husbands and sons were massacred will seek revenge behind the scenes, and help guerrilla fighters against the Quordenze family.

In the first place, there is a strong possibility the invasion of Nambonan by the Spierzeig family was perpetrated by the remnants of such a knight family.

[However, reducing the number of soldiers will lead to a definite weakening of the Spierzeig family. I wonder if cutting 30,000 here is enough room for consideration for future advances.]

It’s only like a military officer who had directly stood in the battlefield to think about the enemy in front of him first, rather than the territory that has not yet been acquired.

However, nobles and knights must decide their actions with an eye on the future of their territory. That is what is required of those who stand above.

I keep my mouth shut and continue my thoughts while being rocked by the horse’s stride.

[Hmm…]

After passing through the crumbling ramparts of Nambonan City and entering the city, I kept thinking about the treatment of prisoners of war.

In addition to the road already dark at night, I was surrounded by military officers on all sides, so the citizens wandering the streets didn’t seem to notice me.

Even if you look at me now, I’m fully armed with armor, and I’m wearing my grandmother’s belongings. [Hmmm! Isn’t that armor designed by Cassia Quordenze-sama, the head of the Quordenze family two generations ago?!There’s no way a mere military officer or knight could wear that armor… which means that the person over there is the eldest son of the Quordenze family. Wilk-sama!?]….. Unless you’re a commoner with an avid interest in everything regarding a noble, you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

When I reached the main street, I resumed my conversation.

[…..it might be best to just release the captives.]

[May I ask why?]

The military officer responded immediately despite the sudden continuation.

[Because it is necessary to let the Spierzeig know about the results of this battle.]

While organizing what I was thinking in my head, I spun the words.

[All the lords and knights leading the army have been killed by the Quordenze. Even the eldest son Verret was easily defeated in a one on one duel… the news will spread instantly if we have 30,000 mouths to do so for us.]

The horrific things they witnessed, having received my murderous intent up close, will spread like an epidemic.

In the future, it will instill a fear toward the Quordenze. The scared conscripts may even desert, and will be more difficult to gather mercenaries willing to be fielded against us.

[Well, it might be a good idea to start a victory banquet in front of the prisoners. Let’s show that the Quordenze family has plenty of food and money. I’ve heard that the Spierzeig family is financially tight. The commoners in their land should be in more of a pinch than that.]

I’ve overheard several times about Spierzeig’s citizens suffering from heavy taxes. Let’s show off the riches of the Quordenze territory in front of them. What will they think?

Let them understand that they were defeated by the Quordenze family not only in battle, but also financially.

[Some will think that living under the control of the Quordenze family will make life easier. Conveniently, this is Nambonan City.]

[Wha, what does Young Master mean?]

[I rode my horse all day to protect this city. To aid the Nambonan City which is supposed to be hostile to the Quordenze no less.]

The reason why Nambonan City cannot be allowed to fall is largely due to strategic reasons. But even so, in the eyes of commoners, it should appear that the nobles rushed to help.

[People will think. Even if the Spierzeig family were defeated and annexed, wouldn’t the commoners be saved like those living in Nambonan City? And wouldn’t the tax be lighter since the Quordenze family is wealthier? …something like that]

In fact, no massacre of citizens has occurred in Nambonan City, and on the surface, the city continues to operate peacefully.

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Nambonan City is a sample. In the eyes of the Spierzeig’s militias, it sets a precedent which shows that a change of lordship has little impact on the lives of commoners.

[It’ll be to our benefit if those ideas become contagious. Soldiers’ morale will drop, and it will be easier to take down the enemy cities.]

An army composed of soldiers who think that it would be better for the Spierzeig family to lose, would break more easily.

[People don’t move with loyalty like knights. However, if you show them a simple and easy-to-understand advantage, they will move by themselves.]

What I’m going to release is not the people of Spierzeig, but the future people of Quordenze. Enemy soldiers who have low morale and flee in battle… can be said to be a passive benefit for us.

And the more the Quordenze army gained momentum, the more they would increase in number.

While they’re still being imprisoned, we can also have some the persuaded citizens to deliver a stealth propaganda. Having the citizens say honeyed words like [Being annexed by Quordenze actually feels like winning a lottery. We can now live more abundantly!] or something like that.

[I see… Then, how about the engineers?]

Of the 30,000, 5,000 of them were engineer soldiers.

[….come to think of it, they surrendered way too easily despite being engineer soldiers.]

In general, unlike the territorial militia who were drafted, engineering soldiers tend to be loyal. It’s a strange story that they would surrender immediately.

Then, the military officer who was in front of me, turned around and answered the question.

[I’ve heard a little about it, but apparently they’ve not been paid much recently. I think it has to do with the financial trouble the Spierzeig family is facing, like what Ramon mentioned earlier.]

The military officer who said that was Raylight of the Gatoren family, who is famous for being a brothel maniac.

I previously asked him to guide Ramon to the brothel to enjoy themselves. Apparently they became close friends ever since.

It seems that Raylight, who had heard from Ramon about the financial problem of the Spierzeig family, went around to ask the surrendered engineers about the actual situation. He is really a man of initiative.

[Is the Spierzeig household so poor that they don’t even have money to pay the engineers?]

According to Raylight, some people even approached him to ask whether they could work as an engineer for the Quordenze family. Being able to negotiate like that means that they have confidence in their own skills.

There is no need to worry about having engineers with a high degree of expertise or skillful craftsmen. Rather than enslaving them and forcing them to work, it would be better to hire them properly. Their employment was well considered.

[….but 5,000 huh? I don’t think there’s any need to rush to a conclusion. It might cost us a little more food, but it would be nice to have them rebuild the ramparts of Nambonan City.]

Fortunately, the military is stationed in Nambonan City, so there are plenty of guards.

In order to deal with a surprise attack like this one, it would be a good idea to use it to solidify the defense line in Nambonan City and its surroundings, especially in the southern mountainous area.

If we take them to the front line base, it will be easier for them to escape because Spierzeig territory is nearby, so it would be safer to have the engineers work near Nambonan City instead.

[Also, let’s pull in the people that we can use.]

If you let them do their job, you should naturally see how competent a person is. Think of this as something like a trial period.

I’ll be grateful to receive the tops of the engineers who have been painstakingly trained by the Spierzeig family. What a great deal.

[Young Master, do you mean that we should release the militias, but keep the engineers?]

[That’s right, but of course we aren’t going to release them for free, you know? There will be some ransom to pay for them.]

Since I will return the people alive, I would like to receive a suitable compensation.

[….I think that would be difficult. The Spierzeig family will just choose to abandon them.]

Since it’s just commoners, letting them stay prisoners is as good as reducing the number of mouths to feed.

Nobles basically don’t take the lives of commoners seriously, so if the price is too high, they won’t sell. This time, if we remove the engineers, that leaves 25,000 soldiers. It will still be a considerable amount.

Depending on the pricing here, it can be expected to some extent that the financially tight Spierzeig family will refuse, or even if they buy it, they will narrow the range by dividing it by age or the presence or absence of limb defects.

[Wouldn’t it be easier to negotiate if we put Verrett’s corpse together?]

Then, we’ll just make it a package deal.

They cannot ransom Verret’s corpse unless they bought the entire 25,000 prisoners as well.

[Isn’t that… kind of a waste? We could’ve used the body for something else…]

[No need.]

I don’t have the hobby of displaying the decapitated heads of my enemies in my room and admiring them.

Even if there is a use for the corpse, it would be a hassle to dispose of it later. So, I think it would be better to just return it.

[For the most part, it’s not Verret’s head that Father and Grandfather want.]

What my father and grandfather hate more than anything else is the former head of the Spierzeig family, who is said to have killed my uncle. Coming in close second is the current head.

The current head of the family probably has some feelings for his son, but neither my father nor my grandfather would be happy to shame Verret’s body.

Grandfather hates the previous head of the Spierzeig family in particular, but other than that, he didn’t seem to have much interest.

If I’m correct, they’ll let me do as I please with Verret’s corpse.

[But…]

I cut off the grief of the military officers who still thought it was a wasteful move, and gave instructions to clean Verret’s corpse.

Rather than handing over a decimated corpse, it makes me feel happier to send in a clean, well-decorated corpse…

[Well, it doesn’t matter if they refuse to negotiate. It’ll act as a free for the Spierzeig family that they are too weak to even negotiate for the custody of their son’s body.]

Considering the reputation of the surrounding nobles, I feel that breaking down the negotiations would cause more damage to the Spierzeig family.

Since we have a pawn called the Nambonan merchants that travel around the continent, advertising activities are overwhelmingly advantageous. It can spread notoriety across the continent.

[Besides, if we let more than 20,000 people die, we will have a hard time conscripting. Isn’t it possible that the engineer soldiers in the territory will also start preparing to flee at night?]

And I will supplement the explanation of the negotiations.

If you think about the feelings of the people, it would be better to first negotiate to pick up only the captured people.

If that negotiation were to come to fruition, the people of Spierzeig might be grateful. The nobles could say that they cut their own money for the people.

Of course, the Spierzeig family doesn’t have that kind of financial leeway, so it shouldn’t be possible. As a result, they will choose to abandon the prisoners.

Once the first negotiation breaks down, I will propose the offer to ransom Verret’s body but only if they also ransom the prisoners.

If this negotiation is successful, the people of the fief will be able to return to their hometown alive, but there will be no gratitude to the Spierzeig family.

[The feudal lord didn’t want us commoners, but the corpses of his own children, didn’t he? 　If he really wanted to save us, why did he refuse the initial negotiations?　Since it was sold as a set, he had no choice but to pay for it. You didn’t need us, did you?]…There will absolutely be no room for objection.

As a result, despite paying the ransom for the people of the territory, the Spierzeig family will end up attracting hatred rather than gratitude. This is exactly what it means to rub salt into the wound.

No matter how it turns out, it will be a delicious story. The price should be raised to the limit that the Spierzeig family can afford.

Just in case, let’s ask around for an estimate. Maybe to a former merchant, who can estimate a crude amount aiming at the limit of what the other party can afford.

[…that’s what I think. Anyway, I’d like to wait for my father’s judgment.]

Regarding the battle situation in Nambonan City, a messenger has already been sent to New Nelly Castle. It won’t be long before my father will reply.

However, it seems that it will be a long time before I see a reply, since my father is going to help grandfather with reinforcements. I will continue to think about how to treat prisoners of war, if by chance, my father asks me the same questions.

[Even so, the Spierzeig family will likely be set back greatly by this incident. I guess it won’t take ten years to capture Reisleaf Castle now.]

When I suddenly explained that, I realized that the atmosphere had changed in an instant.

The military officers awkwardly moved their heads and stared at me, then checked to see if there were any people around.

[What’s wrong?]

Seeing that, I immediately realized that I had made a mistake.

I waited for the military officers’ next words while thinking about what the problem was.

[Young Master, where did you hear that…?]

I don’t know who I heard the story from, but I remembered the person who said it.

I somehow felt like I heard it from a military officer of the Quordenze family, but when I thought about it more, I was wrong.

[…..from another house.]

[I see.]

The military officers must have realized that the [other house] I was talking about refers to a house outside the Quordenze territory. They started to blatantly show a relieved expression.

The officer then took a deep breath and whispered quietly with the air of advice rather than a sermon.

[Young Master. You should never talk about that openly, especially to the Master.]

[Why is that?]

Even though there were only military officers around, he lowered his voice even further.

[…..it’s a prediction on how many years we’ll need to conquer the Spierzeig.]

I didn’t understand why people were so concerned about war predictions.

Perhaps it’s like raising a flag, or jinxing things? Saying it brazenly will only make us fail in achieving it.

[Is the prediction wrong?]

I don’t see anything wrong with my prediction. If my guess is wrong, the military officer should’ve corrected it.

While the other military officers were at a loss for an answer, Raylight asked for permission to speak.

[Just what exactly Young Master heard?]

[If the Quordenze family is at its current momentum, it will take 10 years to capture Reisleaf Castle, and another 5 years to capture Othelloria.]

The one who said that was Viscount Galiana. Apparently he overheard that from the muscle-brained military officers in the Galiana family and was excited to share such a story.

Since Othelloria is the home of the Spierzeigs, the fall of this city would mean the downfall of the family.

I vaguely remember thinking that by the time I became the head of the family, it would be nice if my enemies had already been destroyed and I could lead a peaceful life.

When I was wondering if this prediction was correct in the first place, Raylight seemed to notice my question and opened his mouth.

[The prediction is correct, and wrong at the same time.]

[….what do you mean?]

It sounded like he was giving me a riddle, but Raylight’s expression told me otherwise.

[This is a question that Young Master must think about. Once the correct understanding has been reached, it will naturally become clear why we can’t speak about it…]

Looking at the military officers having painful expressions on their faces, I could tell that I can’t force them to give me the answer.

As Raylight said, this is a question that I should find an answer for myself, and in other words, it’s a necessary study to grow as a noble of the Quordenze family.

[I understand. This is also a way to study, huh.]

Among the many military officers who looked relieved, only Raylight had a faint smile on his face. The way he smiled reminded me of his grandfather’s knight Gatoren.

[…..despite being an outlier, blood is still thicker after all.]

The story of a young Gatoren son who got tired of the strict house and decided to embark on a journey to find himself, was fairly well-known among those related to the Quordenze family.

Raylight Gatoren only recently returned to Quordenze territory, but he had been wandering the southern continent for years.

It’s not like traveling around is not permitted, and the Gatoren family is not an exception. On the Eruo continent, it tends to be relatively permissible for powerful young nobles to travel.

This is due to the historical fact that Zeth-sama, the founder of the Holy Society of Zethism, traveled around the continent when he was young. Even now when the nobles have distanced themselves from the Holy Society of Zethism, the vague sense of value that [travel is a good thing] still remains among the nobles.

In fact, my grandmother Cassia once left the Quordenze family and set out on a journey because of the sense of stagnation that surrounded her.

However, it is not welcome for a princess to travel around here and there, even if she’s not the first in line of succession.

Even though it was allowed due to the situation at the time, my grandmother was eccentric for her times.

One of the reasons why Lupetta and her commoner relatives are wandering around here and there is that there is an underlying sense of values that makes them want to go on a trip.

In addition, I think that Raylight was easily allowed to wander outside because his position in the order of succession to the Gatoren family was low.

If possible, I would also like to enjoy a sightseeing tour around the continent.

[Blood, is it?]

[Yeah, your father and grandfather are both enthusiastic about your growth.]

I had just met his father, the defense commander, and his words when I departed were the only words of praise for Wilk’s charge attack. I think he was careful not to turn me into a long-nosed goblin who was easily flattered by military officers.

I sensed the commander’s thoughts while we were talking, and was able to calm down my heart that was beginning to get carried away.

[No, well…]

Perhaps he was embarrassed, or perhaps he didn’t like talking about his family. Raylight started talking about his travels in the southern part of the continent as if to justify himself.

The free city county is the general term for independent nobles who rule the land without allegiance to the Kingdom of Levios, the Zinkaen Empire, or the Holy Society of Zethism.

The free city county spreads out mainly in the southern part of the continent, and there are many nobles of various sizes that possibly appear in the test.

There are no noble families with large territories like the Quordenze and Spierzeig families, and even if they are large, they are really small, at most the size of Galiana territory. It’s not uncommon for nobles to have only one city in their territory.

“Free Cities” is a term used to ridicule people who only have influence at the city level.

The Free City counties in the southern part of the continent, territories of independent nobles, were extremely prosperous during the heyday of the Holy Society of Zethism. It was because they were close to the Holy City, the center of culture.

However, due to their location, they were also directly affected by the turmoil that occurred at the Holy Society, forcing them to be dragged into a quagmire of civil war.

In the case of the Voistra region, the only ruler, the Spierzeig family appeared, but in the southern part of the continent, the unification of the area did not progress to the extent that there was only a single winner. Rather, the turmoil in the Holy Society sparked a series of internal divisions within the nobility, and the territory was further fragmented.

However, as a result, it can be said that they succeeded in surviving by becoming a smaller territory.

The turmoil in the Holy Society had dragged the continent into chaos, giving birth to a large number of monsters. But, due to the shrinking territory, the nobles were able to protect at least the land that should have been protected. Of course, the land that they couldn’t protect was overrun by monsters.

Even now, there are many areas in the southern part of the continent that are heavily contaminated with monsters, but the territories are protected to the extent that the independent nobles of the free city counties can somehow survive…or rather, only the protected areas survive.

The number of nobles in the free cities is unnecessarily large. The more people there are, the more conflicts will arise, and the more noble families there are, the more military skirmishes.

There aren’t that many wars where the territory is seriously scraped off, but it seems that there are many battles where the armies lightly clash with each other.

Raylight is said to have taken advantage of the privilege of being a noble’s son, and has traveled from one noble family to another as a mercenary.

The Free City counties are crowded with small noble families, so it seems that the cycle of rise and fall is quick.

As a mercenary, Raylight has seen from up close how a family was destroyed by the stupid decision of the new head of the family, while he was moving from one noble family to another.

[.. so, rather than the blood of the Gatoren family, I think it’s influenced by real experiences.]

I only knew him as a brothel maniac on a journey of self-discovery, but I now sensed that he also had deep and many life experiences.

[Come to think of it, when I started the assault, I saw the flag of the Gatoren family on the front line…was it led by Raylight?]

Just before the assault on Nambonan City, there was an unusually high-spirited unit of militia.

It seems that there was something that came to mind, and Raylight quickly admitted that he had been entrusted with being the unit commander.

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[Sounds like you made good use of the conscripted citizens. The knights praised your skill. It was a splendid move, just like when you led the engineer.]

It is said that while Raylight fought as a mercenary in the Free City counties, he was sometimes appointed as the commander of the unit.

When I asked him if his experience was useful, he honestly affirmed.

[There were few nobles with engineers in the Free City counties, so most of the soldiers were conscripted troops of commoners…]

Since there aren’t many nobles in the Free City county that have financial leeway, it seems that they can’t hire engineers.

In the first place, since the territory is not that large, it is said that there is also the fact that road maintenance does not require that many personnel. Basically, it seems that most of them recruit the people of the territory.

[No matter where you are attacked, if you can’t turn your people into soldiers immediately, they will easily perish.]

Since the territory is small, it’s not uncommon for the enemy’s army to attack the base all at once. For this reason, nobles, knights, and military officers in the Free Cities are said to be adept at turning civilians into soldiers quickly. Perhaps Raylight has acquired the know-how to move the militia there.

Even if he said that the travel was meant to find himself, it proves to be fruitful after all.

[So, you’ve inspired the citizens of Nambonan with that technique? It’s brilliant.]

[Receiving such praise from Young Master, I feel like I’ve stolen the credit from someone else…it was indeed me who led the militias, but I wasn’t the one who raised the morale of the citizens.]

Raylight hardened his face as he denied my praise.

I was under the impression that it was also him who was responsible for that. So, I asked Raylight who was worthy of that praise instead.

[It’s Miss Anna.]

[Anna?]

Upon learning about the impending Spierzeig army, the Nambonan garrison immediately began conscription from the surrounding villages and towns.

However, the enemy army advanced quickly and there was not enough time. Furthermore, there were no nobles in the Quordenze army yet, so commoners who were afraid to fight the nobles avoided conscription one after another. Around this time, Raylight suspected that the knight family that colluded with the Spierzeig had spread a bad rumor around in lieu of the invasion.

As a result, militias could not be gathered effectively, and the battle may as well be lost already.

The senior military officer decided to evacuate my women, including Anna, Kohari, and Rave, to the mainland.

However, Anna thought otherwise.

Anna called on citizens to defend the city in the parliament square.

It is Anna’s opinion that she would like to join the Quordentze Army out of her own free will to protect her homeland, rather than being forced into the Quordentze Army through conscription.

At first, the citizens were worried about whether I would really come to protect Nambonan City, which had been their enemy until recently. Nambonan City has a long history of being abandoned by the lords and nobles. They couldn’t help but worry that they might be abandoned again this time.

Anna worked really hard to persuade the citizens that the mayor would come.

She endured the intense murderous intent of the nobles felt from afar, the pressure of a great noble in the central part of the continent like Spierzeig family, and insisted that the mayor would definitely come.

Thus, the citizens of Nambonan, who had an unusually strong love for the city, rather than patriotism, had their morale roused to sky high, and Raylight successfully led them against the Spierzeig army.

[Has Anna evacuated afterward?]

[Last time I saw her, Miss Anna was escorted by the old lady of Evermill family. She’s old, but she’s still an experienced knight.]

She said that if Anna failed to raise the citizens’ morale, she’d evacuate with Anna quickly before the situation gets worse. Because I appeared and secured victory before that happened, they should still be in the city.

I don’t know where she is right now, but I’ll give instructions to find her by morning. She may still be in a state of excitement, but once she calms down, she will surely become anxious.

Even though it couldn’t be helped, more than a few of the citizens of Nambonan died in battle due to her own instigation. And when Anna faced that reality, there needed to be an adult man who could follow up so that Anna wouldn’t suffer.

Lost lives will never return, so let’s make new ones… gotta make a constructive and adult suggestion for her.

I looked up at the night sky when I could see the mayor’s residence.

I’m sure it will be sunny tomorrow as well. We might be able to send reinforcements tomorrow at the earliest.

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