Otoko Nara Ikkokuichijou no Aruji o Mezasa Nakya, ne?

02 Oct 7450

Hesketh, capital of the Junkel Land.

Count Junkel, his person, and Viscount Lomli, head of the Knights of the Counts, as well as representatives of each mercenary regiment stationed on the outskirts of Hesketh, were gathered in the conference room of the Castle of Bisain, almost in the centre of that city.

Standing diagonally behind the Earl sitting on the top of the long table, Viscount Lomli spat at the ear of the Earl to make sure all the representatives of the mercenary regiment were there, whispering something.

The Count snorts one at the word.

Confirming that, Viscount Lomli looked around at the mercenaries arriving at the table as he stretched his spine again.

"With your permission, Count, I'd like to explain the content of the military conference that took place the other day... Hey"

When Viscount Lomli speaks to the young Knights who were holding back in the corner of the room, the Knights carry large boards with blackboard-like feet to the back of the Count and remove the cloth they were wearing.

There was a piece of paper with a simple map on it.

(* In addition to the fact that the above map is nearby Junkel Berg (Hou Guo) for the interpretation of the border line, there are also errors in the topography. Also a few incorrect or not deliberately depicted, such as the location of villages and rivers/streets)

The mercenaries breathed when they saw the map, which was drawn in considerable detail.

Normally, there is no such thing as an army that releases strategically or tactically important information to mercenaries.

Not to mention the fact that this map even depicts water sources.

- Is this guy... finally trying to add us to the official Knights?

An optimist who thinks so.

-... not good. Are you gonna turn it off when it's used up?

But some people seem to think pessimistically.

Seeing the mercenaries staring at the map with each expression, Count Junkel laughed damned at Nimmari, concealing his mouth with a fan.

- Hmm. Don't play boulders in the biggest orgasm. Looks like a mercenary in a war, always thinking the worst.

The leader of the largest Orga regiment in the mercenary regiment hired by the Count has his right eye crushed with a fume of mid forty.

He opened his remaining left eye the moment he saw the map and immediately gave a sinister look.

- And he sure as hell is from the Red Army... don't seem prudent not to look young. Fine.

The smallest red soldier in the mercenary corps.

The young man who heads the regiment also poses as faceless after only a moment of harsh eyes and an unfloating look.

The other three mercenaries were delightful unlike the two of them.

- Keep the Gordola Fighters, Iron Arm and Red Wyvern squads properly lifted for the time being.... but if you're decent, you're both foreigners... Huh.

The contents of the military council are also communicated by Viscount Lomli while the Count watches the mercenaries.

To be very brief about its content, it is expected that the addition of Fort Pax will be completed during the year, with plans to increase the number of troops stationed in the fort considerably, and to solicit volunteers for the increased number of troops there.

Dwarf, the leader of the Iron Arm group, asked questions such as, "Why not a regular Knights member," and the Viscount replied, "The fort is built near the top of Mount Demakar, so I expected mercenaries accustomed to fighting on such terrain besides poor scaffolding and little room to deploy cavalry nearby".

The Count sighs in his heart at the Iron Arm questioning this extent.

Because I had heard that the leader of the Iron Arm was from Count Junkel's territory, so I felt betrayed, just the most anticipating of the mercenary regiment.

- Unfortunately, this land still plays in the countryside... Really, I struggle with talent.

In front of such an Earl, the leader of the Iron Arm handled a strong beard with a green "I see. I don't know. To Saya Sakai Waira. You said you'd leave it to the Iron Arm!," he said with a motivated face.

I heard that. Viscount Lomli softly glances at the Count's complexion.

The Earl nodded small.

The Viscount who confirmed it said, "You see, Fort Pax, leave the defense to the Iron Arm? Yakan, but it's not enough. Anything else. Yeah, don't you have a regiment?" He called out to the mercenaries.

The strength that the Knights of the Counts would like to increase to Fort Pax is about 350, and its task is to defend the fort naturally, with patrols south of the fort as the main task.

It is an operation to conduct a reconnaissance to the nearest village of Lomberto at the same time as the snowmelt next spring, to start looting and so on around the summer, and to aim for a gradual decline as we draw the Lomberto army around the mountains that will come out to respond.

This operation itself is regular as planned, unless it is a special event, and there is not a single mix of lies and exaggerations.

I'm just not telling you that it's a positive move for a separate invasion.

Here's the original invasion operation against Lomberto.

Continue to send looting troops south on Mount Demakar to the nearby village of Lomberto and elsewhere for about a year or two, concentrating Lomberto's eyes on the south of Mount Demakar.

The goal here is to attract as many Lombards as possible.

In anticipation of the time, they will detour the main unit southeast of Mount Demakar and invade it from the Guiskull Valley towards Flakis between the mountains that stretch further south than Mount Demakar and Mount Batras.

Lombart, who is (should be) turning his defensive forces around Mount Demakar, is expected to take a long time to realize the invasion from the East, and by the time he does, the villages and cities will have fallen several times.

In the unlikely event that Lomberto's response was unexpectedly quick, there is a good chance that at least two to three places can be occupied.

In that case, it will be possible to use the occupied villages and cities as bridgeheads to give effect to the stare against Flakis.

If you build a bridgehead beyond the Guiskull Valley, it belongs here.

The Lombert side cannot overlook the forces coming from the north beyond Mount Demakar, and will have to counter threats from the east to force Operation Two Fronts.

No one complained about the difficulty of concentrating Lomberto's eyes on Mount Demakar in the context of the military council, but the person who said it did not have much to look at because of the degree of reference opinions.

In fact, this attack from Mount Demakar was largely quite effective.

Until now, the battle between Uncle Junkel and the Kingdom of Lombert began almost with an attack on the village and other villages on the southern hem of Mount Demakar, and if we were able to occupy it successfully, there would have been an attack on the city of Flakis based there.

This comes from the combat doctrine of the Junkel Army, built on common sense in a sense: "Ron Belt Royal Army, which is good at manoeuvre defense and attack by cavalry, does not like mountain warfare".

This time, there has been no change in its combat doctrine (Doctrine), simply that a slightly larger number of new operations have been proposed and that has only been approved.

"Let's go, Wye."

"Us and the others."

Late to the Iron Arm, the Gordola Fighters and Red Wyvern also took up their names.

Viscount Lomli said, "Come on. I'll ask Homa Hanra too," she replied lightly, urging the three groups of mercenaries headed to Fort Pax to move because they had a more detailed explanation in a separate room.

"Hmm. Unmotivated people get in the way."

"Saya."

"If you're a red soldier in a poverty zone, you don't have enough mountain gear, you don't know, but you can't even get to the Orga Regiment."

The mercenary regiment leaders threw up such an abandoned dialogue as they took their seats and left the room.

Dropping off the three of them after the room, Viscount Lomli once again stood diagonally behind the Count and said, "Ohana volunteered, but are you unhappy with anything?" I ask.

"No. I have no complaints whatsoever. However, our Auga Regiment has 50 cavalry cavalry as its central strength. The cavalry is quite a heavy outfit unlike any other regiment... I didn't think it would be possible to demonstrate the true value of our regiment in the mountains..."

"My Red Army cavalry is only ten horsemen, but I'm unfamiliar with mountain warfare. We do specialize in forest warfare and such, but we believe that the terrain at our feet is an important element for soldiers to exert their power. In spite of the opportunity I have received, I apologize, but this time..."

When he saw the two men who replied to the mouth cage, the Count nodded small.

The Count Junkel family, who has ruled the region from generation to generation, also has “eyes” that see people who are just good at the art of sacrifice.

Those “eyes" complained that these two weren't telling the truth.

"Hmm. You both seem to be turning your heads quite a bit..."

The Count nodded contentedly that he had twisted such an excuse in a few moments.

At any rate, it has been confirmed that both the Auga Regiment and the Red Army have sent patrol troops all the time to all over Demakar Mountain, because they also received reports that elements of mountain warfare have been taken into account in mock warfare taking place inside the Auga Regiment and the Red Army.

It was therefore more obvious to the Count than to see fire that he was unfamiliar with mountain warfare or because of the large number of cavalry, which was all an excuse to say no.

First, if you're a "decent” mercenary regiment, you can't miss an opportunity to loot or possibly do it.

This is not a story confined to mercenaries, but in Aus the acts of looting as a result of war are natural, just like on the planet around the tenth century, for which reason they even remain marching regular armies.

Perhaps there is a thirst for plunder on both sides, whether it be the Orga or the Red Army.

I'm missing an opportunity to hang in front of me until I suppress that desire.

And the reason for that was that the look on my face when I showed you the map earlier told the story.

"Don't look so scared. Unlike those three, I understand that they are cautious. As bad as it sounds, I'm relieved."

That being said, the Count confessed that the troops based at Fort Pax, which will increase the first three, intend to use it in the positive motion of this operation, Operation Invasion into the Kingdom of Lomberto...

And after a scattered talk, he said, "It's time to buzz. But what do we do?," he said, cutting off the recital.

Therefore, bububuzuke is wheat porridge made of green tea.

"Hey. You got a minute?

Leaving Bisign Castle, the leader of the Auga Regiment, Zaboin Nephil, spoke to Vasco.

Apparently, I'd like to talk to the Count about what he told me.

Naturally, other than these two are still forbidden to talk about the content, there's only one another if we're going to talk about it.

"Oh, I don't mind"

The two settled into a slightly upscale restaurant private room that Zavoyn knew.

"But listening to that way of talking is kind of frustrating."

You tried to soothe the atmosphere, Zavoyn comes up with a light topic.

"... Indeed"

Basco answered if he smiled bitterly too.

Vasco spent some time in the Kingdom of Romberto until just before he became an adult, and grew up with the incense of his father, a Romberto nobleman, not to mention a generation, and Zavoyn is a nobleman of the Kingdom of Cambit in Zavoyn.

I don't know that fact with both sides, but I had predictions from the fact that I had been face-to-face many times before as a representative of a mercenary regiment.

From around here, the dialect called Granan Valve is also used in Lagdarios to the north.

In particular, if you ask the people of Granan, many people think that the Granan valve is the old-fashioned authentic Lagdarios language, and that the standard Lagdarios language, which speaks more in the South than in the land, is a "strangely cold way of speaking," and even despise that it is “the language spoken by the barbarians of the South”.

Among them, the Count himself prefers a slightly different word than the Granan valve.

Anything, sounds like a word or intonation used around the capital of the Empire of Granan.

Neither Vasco nor Zavoyn are incompetent, so it's possible to talk about the Granan valve if you want to.

Not to mention Vasco's spending years in the north of the Orad continent already, and he can talk pretty well if he wants to.

but the language within their own mercenary regiment was uniform in standard Lagdarios.

The reason is that you may not communicate well when you have to have different intonations, etc. depending on the individual, and you considered that.

The Auga Regiment is dominated by people from the Cambit kingdom, just like Zaboin, and the Red Army was originally founded in the Romberto kingdom, and the founder, Vasco's father, made up the entire team.

"Well, I'm convinced they talk Granan valves around here. But when you get here with those guys, why doesn't anybody go south and start speaking normal language?

Zavoyn drank up a glass of wine when he told him to throw it away.

"Oh, if you ask me…" Vasco said, recalling that few people from the North change the Granan valve even when they move to the South, such as the Kingdom of Romberto.

Conversely, many people who have migrated from the South to the Empire of Granan and elsewhere will stain the Granan valve in a few years.

They talked about the Granan valve.

"By the way, about today, what do you think?

Zavoyn turns off his mouth fire as he pours wine into the cup of Vasco.

"What do you mean?

Vasco replied cautiously as he poured it back into Zavoyn's cup.

"Well, that's what I found out. The Count did say we were different from those three. But that's why I didn't say I wouldn't use it this way."

Vasco moves his expression slightly to Zavoyn's words.

Vasco was just as worried about the matter as Zavoyn was.

"I still can't say anything, I don't think. If Fort Pax joins those who are now stationed, their group will move to about 500 people. I don't think it would be that easy to crush with all that power..."

Says Vasco as he pokes his cup together.

"Well. If that invasion operation is true - well, maybe it's true because there's no point in telling us only about a lie invasion operation - Fort Pax needs to hold out for quite a while too. Certainly it makes sense to send in some mercenary regiments in numbers that can easily be rubbed off."

Tilt the cup with Gubili, then Zavoyn said.

"... right. But that's odd."

Vasco also replied that the cup would be empty, but the voice is as small as if it represented Vasco's own suspicions.

"Oh. Weird. If you have the number of people you need at Fort Pax, I won't bother to show you the map. But you can order a defense without saying anything. And all you have to do is lay down a new life at the same time as the time comes. In the first place, there's supposed to be a Knights Commander in the fort, so I'm pretty sure they've already told us everything about that operation."

"Mm-hmm. Now there's no need to reveal it with mercenaries like us at this time. Well, it makes sense to tell them those three are consumables... I don't know."

Zavoyn and Vasco exchanged words with a bitter look.

"For that matter, can't you think of this? The Count said he tried us mercenaries."

"Try it?"

Questioning Zavoyn's words, Vasco pours wine into Zavoyn's cup.

"That's right. Now the Count's army is approaching 3000 beyond 2500 fighters alone, he said. We're hiring mercenaries to add 700 people."

"Oh."

Vasco rushed to mouth the glass as the wine Zavoyn poured back was about to overflow from Vasco's cup.

"Oops, I'm sorry.... blah blah, if you're really going to occupy it all the way around Flakis, you don't know when you're going to betray it. The percentage of mercenaries should be reduced."

"That's right...... the Knights of the Count totals more than 5000. If you conscript a young member of the territory, you can increase it temporarily by about two to three times, but at the same time, that means that it will be harder to replenish if a soldier is lost, and the cost of maintaining it will also increase. You have to train, and you can't be as good as us."

Vasco replied, chewing on the fine smoked meat he had ordered as a dish.

"That's why I'm trying."

……

"I don't know what to say, but we mercenaries don't have to go as far as the regular Knights on the battlefield, but we do a lot of work. Didn't I?"

"No, you're not. There's no guy in the Red Army who butts in on the battlefield like a new American soldier, and they all follow my life exactly. It's more useful than those soldiers there."

"We're with you. That's why the Count wants us to be veterans."

"Taking it in... Well, it doesn't really change as a cost of maintaining your power"

"Mm-hmm. But it saves me a lot of trouble to plant it."

"That's right. You have to hang and plant archers for years, and so does the sword. It's like a spear, how short you have to be. Otherwise, you wouldn't be a mercenary."

The first reason mercenaries are used is the simplicity that a certain amount of combat power is readily available as long as money is given.

It is unlikely that it will contain anyone who would disrupt it on the battlefield, and if it is no longer necessary, the cost of maintaining it will be minimal by terminating the contract.

Risk is like betrayal by being bought backwards, or escaping quite easily because the flag color is too bad to match the reward amount, which in turn means that if you can promise even rewards, you will not betray them, and you will fight against disadvantages or stickiness.

Consequently, rewards other than minimal costs, such as maintaining the strength and living expenses of a mercenary regiment, are often promised for each end of the battle.

Of course, there are employers and mercenaries who rely on the payment of remuneration or flee despite being in the middle of the contract period.

In some cases, there are even groups of mercenaries demanding half of the full expected remuneration, etc.

However, if such a thing is done, the place will soon become widespread, and such employers will be estranged, and no one will contract with such a mercenary corps.

"Right. And if you can, it's the humans who want to keep those forces at hand."

……

"Benditz, you're the baron for once, aren't you? Actually, I'm a baron, too. Almost all the heads of other mercenary regiments are barons. But as we all know, it's just a decoration."

……

"I don't have a land to rule."

Vasco responded by clamping his shoulders to Zavoyn's words.

"But if this invasion goes well... no, even if it doesn't, you'll get some of Lomberto's villages and cities. Naturally, there will be rewards for the Regular Army..."

If the number of villages and cities that could have been occupied was greater, it would not only be on boulders, but as a reward for mercenaries if their zero, no, land near the front line...

In some cases, if you are a land-held nobleman ruled by a rewarded person, you may also set up deputies to rule a newly acquired territory.

In such cases, we are not going to leave it to the unthinkable in boulders.

Especially not even unthinkable mercenaries. That is valuable as a force of war, so they will use it where it can be used.

- Can you hold territory?

For a moment, I was a basco thinking of a rosy life, but I didn't make that promise, and so far I've come to think that everything is just Zavoyn's imagination.

"Is that going to work?

"Let him go."

Vasco became as eye-catching as he had seen even in frigid objects.

But you thought you could listen and do as much as you talked about it, and at some point you re-poured the wine into the cup of Zavoyn, which was empty.