Otoko Nara Ikkokuichijou no Aruji o Mezasa Nakya, ne?

August 15, 7451

Jerez, Duke of Stalls, Kingdom of Daybus.

It's been almost three months since the Knights of the White Phoenix started garrisoning in this city.

In the meantime, they didn't spend a lot of time out of nowhere.

Frequent reconnaissance missions were sent to the village of Muse in the Lombard Kingdom and its surroundings to gain a thorough understanding of the current situation.

In addition, efforts are being made to secure contact and gather information with villages in the Daybus Kingdom that remain north of the Raster Mountains, including the village of Finuto.

In addition to sending the information obtained from such activities to the Minister of the Military Department of the King's Capital, he also sent it to the Duke of Stalls, who was the chief of the Knights' House and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom.

However, the garrison, with a total of 12,000 troops, was secretly camping in the woods without even carrying out deployment training.

This was not the intention of the leader of the White Phoenix Knights, Count Sikilak Stoles, but the orders of the Minister of the Army and the Duke of Stalls.

However, this cramped garrison was already at its limit.

The garrison is roughly made up of 2,000 Knights of the White Phoenix and 3,000 men in a row of heavy steps connected to the Knights of the White Phoenix, as well as 1,000 men belonging to the Knights of the Duke of Stalls and 6,000 men who are private soldiers of the Commander of the Knights of the Knights.

Of these, less than 10% of the total number can be called a full regular.

For example, even if it is called the Knights of the White Phoenix in a bite, the number of people who really belong to the Knights of the White Phoenix is about 200 out of 2,000 who are stationed here.

These 200 knights are real knights who have received official knightships in the Knights Corps, or official servants who are training to become knights in the future.

The remaining 90% were personal servants or combat slaves serving such people, and slaves entrusted to take care of their surroundings.

The same holds true for the 1,000 members of the Knights of the Duke of Stalls.

In addition, of the 3,000 people in the "heavy" row, about 20% are employed by the military, and most of them are merchants temporarily employed by the White Phoenix Knights.

Of course, there weren't really any formal servicemen, but there were probably about 20 who held the knighthood.

Most of the rest is still made up of legs and slaves employed by knights and merchants.

And it's even worse when it comes to the 6,000 men who are private soldiers of the Commander of the Knights.

Count Siquillac Stoles, the Commander of the Knights, had no more than 500 soldiers in his personal possession.

Even so, the majority of them, about 400 people, are combat slaves owned by the Commander of the Knights Regiment, and there are also 100 people who hold the rank of knights in the rank of civilians and noble classes.

The rest were those who were better than the Langs and Servitors that those knights had gathered, most of them were mere slaves who had not even received combat training, people who had eaten and flowed around, and outlaws who were temporarily blinded by money and disturbances.

The fact that a small number of knights were able to manage such a group to this point was an indication of the high commanding ability of the knight commander and the management and management ability of the organization, but there are limits to what can be said.

In any case, there are more than 1,000 people who have not even received a busy education.

There is no way we can live in peace.

Although it was quiet at the beginning of the garrison, fighting, theft, and rape began to occur inside the garrison within a few days.

Two weeks later, it starts to happen in the neighboring city of Jerez.

In addition to the crimes mentioned above, we also have eating, drinking, robbery, property damage, and murder.

The planned garrison period was about a month, and Viscount Zaraide Stoles, who ruled the city of Jerez and the surrounding area, was prepared to do so.

The Knight Commander was a relative of the same Stoles family, and the viscount was also quite considerate, which was why he had to endure.

However, the frequency of disturbances and crimes is increasing, and complaints to the Knight Commander, who was initially about once a week, have to be made every day.

Of course, the Commander of the Knights wasn't just looking at his fingers.

We have taken appropriate measures after listening to the arguments of both parties, judged crimes according to their degree without complaints from anyone, and thoroughly compensated the victims.

In the case of felonious crimes such as murder and robbery, he was relentlessly sentenced to extraordinary public executions after going around the city.

However, the number of disturbances and crimes continues to increase rather than decrease.

The reason for this is simple.

The vast majority of the troops that make up the garrison are, quite frankly, the hungry, to a lesser extent than in Auschwitz.

And it is common sense that military action is linked to plunder with equals.

This is whether the army wins or loses.

In some cases, villages and cities that are not guilty of any crime may even be subject to sabotage for the sole reason that they are completely unrelated to the opponent who fights and are just nearby.

In addition, whether the targeted village or village belongs to the enemy or is friendly is a trivial issue.

If resupply is delayed, it is still better. It is not uncommon for some people who command the army to intend to cover it with local procurement without even thinking about resupplying it from the beginning.

In particular, the Kingdom of Daybus is still entrenched in feudalism, and there is often even a battle between nobles in the country.

In that sense, in the Daybus Kingdom, armies with proper weight rows are more of a minority.

The few exceptions are the regular armies of the kingdom engaged in the operations decided upon at the Royal Palace.

It is not uncommon for an army of regional lords to work rough and lonely in a village that just happens to be passing by when they leave the ranks of the army in order to waste money on their way to and from the battlefield.

Of course, the villagers weren't just captured in silence.

Battle force is not comparable to the army, but vigilantes like the squadron organized by village lords resist as vigilantes.

However, even though the number of people is small, there are enough heads to attack a village that is trained, organized, and guarded by a battle force that usually has actual combat experience against monsters.

A small group of about 10 people headed for the looting, but how many of them would be able to return to their original ranks unharmed.

It would be nice if we could get a lot of casualties and achieve some of our goals.

Most of the time, it fits back, or at most, it's Mt. Kanono who can only work as much as mud.

If you see this as an army, it will only lead to the reduction of the fighting force in vain, and if the looting fails, naturally, even if they succeed, those who did not participate will have nothing to gain, so their morale as a army will be lowered, so it is nothing but negative.

Those who command the army understand well, so when working in the plunder named the collection of food and supplies, they may really allocate 100 units of troops.

In such a case, the cultivated land of the village that was the target of success will be razed, the harvest will be taken away, and there will certainly be many dead people. Especially if the target of the plunder is the allied side, the army will of course lose quite a bit of its reputation as a morale aristocrat and the lord who controls the territory.

In a territory village, instead of turning to the superior aristocrats who rule the neighboring territory, they may ask for protection.

In that case, you will not be able to get the tax from there, and the population under the sphere of influence will also decrease by that amount, so it is not preferred, but there are still many people in the world who do not understand the reasoning of that degree.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the commander of King Daybus's army is most concerned with "not subjecting allies to plunder".

To come back to it, the Army, with the White Phoenix Knights at its core, led by Count Siquillac Stoles, would have already attacked Rombert's side and would have plundered the area as much as they wanted.

As a result, they should have been able to obtain an incomparable amount of money, goods, and slaves, such as a small salary paid by the military.

If you're going to pull your hand out of the way to Rombert, you should pull yourself together and lower your troops.

The count knows that.

But what brings you here, spending a lot of food and money and desperately putting up with your army?

This is what the Commander of the Knights thought.

As a result of scouting, Muse Castle could not be attacked.

A dozen villages, including the village of Finuto, were left behind north of the Raster Mountains in the form of blocked east and west by the Ronbelt.

Even if there is no other way to conquer Muse, it is only a matter of time before those villages descend on Lombert's side if we can't at least break through the siege of Lombert and secure a line of communication with the ten villages.

--Should we take all the troops to recapture the streets...?

Based on the reconnaissance situation, it is probably possible to re-establish the road that leads to the village of Finuto and the remaining Kuke Village.

But then there was the problem.

No matter how large an army of 12,000 people is, such as securing roads, it cannot help but be arranged elongated.

"I don't know how much fighting power lurks in Muse Castle, but I crossed such a dangerous bridge..."

My lord, I am glad that you have returned.

My men report that scouts have returned to Muse Castle.

In response, the Count decided to listen to the reconnaissance.

In any case, this time it will be the same as usual, "The walls are high and the internal appearance is unknown".

But.

"What!? That stupid big castle doesn't have a total of 1,000 people!?"

Moreover, more than half of them are villagers who lived in Muse Village before the castle was built.

― ― In this case, the strength of the castle was less than 500. Still, given the walls, it was too damaging to simply push them down with force. But I don't think we're going to get out of the castle.

Even if the road to Finuto Village was re-established, there was little fear of being poked.