The Branded Female Fencer

What was Rhine and Dance Slave doing when the Alphilis and the others were facing such a crisis in the prairie?

"Rhine, did you grab any information?

"Oh, there's been a harvest. After all, Romeo doesn't seem to exist. I tried to hit the address that was registered to the guild, but it was just obsolete. I felt bad about it, but I didn't go in there. One or two of the traps, they're set up anyway."

"Hmm. So who was the guy who set up the example request?"

"Come on. But I'm sure he's not even Locke. The question is what to do with this information. I left a report for the guild."

"Does anybody know anyone in power?

"... there's no such connection."

Dance slaves uncomfortable during odd times, but I could easily imagine being lazy about the line anyway, so I didn't pursue it.

Now the Rhines are in the town near the border of the Principality of Krums, in the liquor store of Trimedo. Reports of the deaths of mercenaries who died in Zea were made to the Alliance, and those whose addresses and origins were apparent, the line took its own feet. There was originally a system in which guilds reported death in action, but Rhine was not convinced of a system in which he was reported in a single letter on the death of his own family. For this reason, he took himself to report his own death in battle, and the last thing he followed was Trimedo.

Each one of them gathers information, and supper gathers information from each other. Appropriate liquor and snacks are served for two in front of you.

It should be noted that Krums and Zamwed are at present in a state of war, but they are still at peace in Trimed, opposite the capital of Krums, Seimlid.

Since Trimedo has a strong atmosphere of free cities and also actively cooperates with large cities in other countries, such as Meesia, it is Krums territory but is not very affected by its economic situation. In other Krums territory towns, on the other hand, the towns are exhausted by the levying in repeated wars and the security is disturbed. Near the border where the war is taking place, that seems miserable.

In the wake of that situation, Trimedo was actively accepting refugees from other towns. Only those who have reached Trimedo on their own, of course, have not loaned tents and other things to the outer periphery of the town and refused to accept them. At least for now.

However, according to the information obtained by the line, the number of refugees has already exceeded 10,000, and the same is true of Trimedo, who has received a special levy for the war, which meant that the limits of reception will soon be met. Still, the refugees who visit Trimedo continue to follow. Yesterday more than 500 refugees were also said to have reached Trimedo.

"This isn't a normal war..."

"Oh, that's obviously weird"

"Do dancers think so, too?

"Whatever. I collect information, too."

These two men earned their journeys. Rhine found a suitable job in the guild, and Dance Slave earned his journey as a dancer in the form of finding musicians and bards to match their sounds and perform dances.

Information is indispensable, as dance slaves often dance in taverns. And because of the bard's vocation to accompany him on his journey, there were many who were informed. Well, it was also true that there were a lot of gasenetas, so it was necessary to know as much as possible to sort the information. In the meantime, Dance Slave is telling the line the information he sorted.

"It seems true that Krums is pushing in this war. Several cities in Zamwed are now falling. But..."

"But?"

"Apparently Krums is unwilling to rule the city he took. Let no one manage, and few soldiers are left behind after the occupation. On the contrary, they're going around slaughtering the residents of the city they dropped. So the rebellion in every city in Zamwed is getting tougher and tougher, and the war is getting worse?"

"If we do that, Zamwed's allies won't shut up either."

"Oh, in fact, it seems that Gruzaldo has already decided to troop out. Besides, the 12 beast generals, the ones at the top, are coming out. Rumor has it that Krums' loss will be decisive if that happens."

"Sure. Krums has no allies."

This war was weird from the beginning in the first place. The beginning of the war was that the soldiers of Zamwed acted in retaliation for the murder of the inhabitants of Krums, but in the first place the borders of the kingdom of the beast and man are so tightly guarded that one son of Ali cannot pass. Although Krums lays a relatively loose guard for the convenience of the deal, it's still not sweet enough to make him break the border. It was difficult to think, not least, of Zamwed's soldiers entering Krums territory, and Zamwed initially tried to disprove it, but it inevitably became a war on Krums's attitude, which went into a state of war without saying whether or not there was a declaration of war.

There are still suspicions. If Zamwed's inaccuracies are true, it is normal to skip the statement against neighbouring countries and claim the legitimacy of war. Doing so will prevent the intervention of other countries, and most importantly, the reinforcements of Guru-Zardo. It is said that the country currently able to compete head-on alone with Groussard is about Romansland, the northern power. It was supposed to be a sine qua non condition for Krums' victory that Gruzard not be allowed to create an excuse to intervene.

Besides, war is not much to fight until it destroys the country, and at best it ends by dropping a fort sometime and claiming possession of the occupied territories and compensation in a peace treaty. If you fight as hard as you destroy your country, you won't be safe. Because if other countries aim there, there won't be a single one. There will be resentment if we win too much again, and internal affairs won't stand up if we occupy it.

In other words, we can only assume that the way Krums fought was going in a straight line towards ruin. It was also a strange story that the king tolerated such a war.

"Why does the king of Krums tolerate this?

Dance Slave questions in particular.

"If that's the king, he's fallen because of his hard work. So, it's the third prince who holds the real power. He's the one leading the war."

"What happened to the third? 1 and 2"

"1 killed sick, 2 killed"

"At this time of year? Don't be a jerk."

"Oh. And the third prince was famous for his stupidity, but I wonder what's going on. Krums itself is a peaceful country, good at trade and resources but weak in the military. It's not supposed to be a country where you can fight Zamwed and win."

There was only one question about the line. Besides, the main martial officer/civilian should have the third prince solemnizing. I'm not supposed to have a body that allows the army to move as an army already, but...

"Don't worry about it"

"Well that bothers me, but why is the line exploring that? It's irrelevant, isn't it?

Dance Slave points out all the time. Surely it would have nothing to do with Rhine, a mercenary in one place. But Rhine denied Dance Slave's opinion outright.

"Say stupid. A battlefield is the best place to earn money for mercenaries. If it's a safe place to earn money, I'll join you, and if it looks bad, I'll leave. You're just going to die about a country that's going to lose. It's the basics of mercenary intelligence."

"That's true, though."

Dance Slave looked at the line with suspicious eyes. It does sound like an honest argument, but I doubt we need to be so familiar with it. Rhine was just too familiar with the circumstances for a mercenary.

But there's no way to worry about such a dance slave, and the line goes on.

"There's one more thing that bothers me"

"What?

"It seems that the main force in this war for Krums is a group of mercenaries called 'Hekatonkail'. You think that's how brave and courageous it is to push the beasts of Zamwed."

"What's wrong with that?

"I've never heard of such a mercenary regiment."

Rhine sipped the liquor in front of him.

"If it's a mercenary regiment that pushes and defeats the Beast Man, there is. So is Blackhawk, and a few others. But all of this is so famous that no one knows its name if they are mercenaries. Such a powerful group of unnamed mercenaries comes out of nowhere."

"Hmm... well, it doesn't seem like the same time I was active. I don't know."

This was something Dance Slaves didn't know. Where the dance slaves were active, human forces were not as good as they are now, and the distribution of information was more limited. For this reason, people such as those who are said to be heroes and the kingdom of man suddenly appeared everywhere.

Even while Dance Slave is doing his thinking, Rhine hangs out and puts dinner in his mouth. Dance Slaves can eat food too, but they don't have much effect on life activities. However, after a long period of imitation of humans, they really needed the action of "eating" or were also interested in those whom humans eat, so they eat to the extent of their interest rather than their appetite. But she thinks alcohol is delicious. Though she will never get drunk, the most sword.

When Rhine flattened his meal, he threw a tease and a spoon at the dish.

"Dinner's over, and you want to go"

"You're not going to sleep?

"It's still early at night, I'm going to do a little beating. Then I'll play proper at the whorehouse."

"I had no idea there was a woman named me who would make a grand declaration to go to the whorehouse. What do you want me to refresh you? Oops!"

The dance slave gave it a glossy modus operandi and expression, but a line that punches and taps its head.

"Don't say the sword is disgusting. I'm even cold."

"In front of such a beautiful woman... you, it's not the public road."

"I don't feel that way! But it would still be better for a man to fall asleep with his sword."

"You say that much?"

A little dance slave nodded feeling like he had been hurt in his pride. She honestly had quite a bit of herself in her appearance, but it was the first time she had ever been a man who didn't even look at her. But I'd like to distract such a man a little, and she's probably a lot more human.

Line and dance slave after the tavern with a few words. I don't care about them in person, but the others just look like lovers' crazy talking fights. If Rhine hears about that, he's bound to get mad.

There are still lots of lights in town. There are plenty of people in the streets, too, and they are showing a bit of buzz. The streets are lined with stores, where you can smell delicious. Not as much as Meesia, Trimedo also counts 500,000 inhabitants, making no difference to a vibrant town.

And there's a boy in there who runs to spark the crowd. You're in too much of a hurry, you don't seem to have seen it before at all, and you're pissed at people for hitting you because you just care behind you. I also hit the line, but I ran away with no way to apologize.

"What, that kid"

"... aren't you being chased?

Indeed, a suspicious group of people dressed in robes run to sew the crowd. Did you go with 5-6 people?

"You're not gonna help?

"Don't you think I'm on the side of justice or something? You stay away from the danger, son."

"Bastards... but what if Alphilis were in the same position?

"Why are you putting Alphilis out there to pick him up?"

Rhine looked at the dance slave like she was heartbroken, but she was just nibbling.

"Well, if you don't feel like it on the line, I can help you. But"

"If you tell Alphilis that Rhine has abandoned a young child... he may not even listen to you anymore"

To put it that far, a dance slave who leaves the scene without giving the line a chance to respond to his mouth. But the line,

"... on your own"

And I told him to throw it away, and I left the spot behind.

Continued