Having acted separately from Liana and Charles, Ardis turns to the lower town, where ordinary people live among the king's capital.
When I contacted the intended person with the pre-specified codes (fu fu) and procedures, I kept waiting for about an hour in the lonely dining room, not sure if it was open.
Eventually it was the informant Cesare who appeared quietly.
Coming by Ardis, who hid his face in the hood, he complains the most about the opening.
"I called you in this busy time, so I guess you'll be treating me to about a cold drink?
"Do you keep cold drinks here?
"You just have to keep me cold."
Even naturally speaking, Cesare orders fruit water from the owner of the store and sits straight at the same table as Ardis.
Cesare pushes each glass of fruit water straight to Ardis, "Magic is convenient," he grins.
Aldis grabbed a glass while lightly tongue-in-cheek, creating about three small pieces of ice into it to float.
"Thank you. It's going to be a treat."
Cesare receives the glass from Ardis.
Slowly melting ice made a noise with Karan.
"Oh, of course this is like a call rent, so you'll get the information fee right with the information fee"
"I'm not asking you to give me information with a glass of that."
Even a glass of cold drinks is sufficient for consideration depending on the content of the information, but the information obtained from it may be sufficient.
Perhaps Cesare will only provide the same level of content as Liana and Charles will get.
"Hehe. No, Mr. Ardis is a good customer. I usually deal with fools who can't handle that much."
"You're welcome. Let's get down to business. You're busy, right?
"So-so."
A good man with a bitter smile switches to "then".
"Naturally, the information you want at this time of year is about war, right?
"Oh. Has the end of the war been opened yet?
Ardis' answer to the question was unexpected.
"Looks like that's still there. Apparently, the two armies are still crossing the border."
"... that's surprising"
"Right, it's definitely surprising. Last time we crossed the border before the kingdom's attitude was ready, but this time we don't have one either. Is there any intention, or is it just a dull move..."
After saying so much, Cesare pays one hand for her luscious (groovy) forehead, which is not unlike the dining room at the end of the day.
"That's it for service to our customers. It's a fee from here on out, but what information would you like?
Slightly darker brown eyes are pointed straight at Aldis.
"The strength of the two armies and the thoughts of the upper echelons, the movements since the beginning of the rift, the information on the Empire's own country, and then the reinforcements that caused the defeat of the kingdom four years ago - is that also the case this time?"
"That's a full course. If so, what about four gold coins?"
Without complaining about the price Cesare put on, Ardis quietly places the four gold coins he takes from his nostalgia on the table.
After checking the weight one by one, Cesare drank the cooler fruit water, moistened her throat and opened her mouth.
"Right. First of all, the number of Imperial troops is roughly six thousand."
"Six thousand? Not much. Last time it was more than 10,000, right?
Aldis questions fewer numbers than he thought.
"Yeah, twelve thousand four years ago. There were 2,000 reinforcements, which is essentially 10,000."
"That reinforcement......, was it indeed the Monarchy of San Rogel? Is he here this time?
It was an army that manipulated an odd horse called a flying horse (Hiba) in the last war and joined it as a reinforcement from the southern continent to the Imperial Army.
He was also the greatest meritor in the war ahead for the Empire, taking over the Third Prince of the General and deciding to win by driving the Royal Army into destruction.
Let's call it an ominous opponent for the hostile Royal Army.
"I don't even seem to see the army confronting me (often) at the border. However, there is no information that the Empire's national traffic with his country has been disrupted, so there is still a chance that it will interfere in some way."
"Is it possible that a separate task force is moving?
If the number of Imperial armies that have emerged on the border is low and the armies of the Monarchy of San Rogel do not show up, naturally we can't help but worry about the trend.
The first thing you can think about is putting on the side back (soku yes) of the Royal Army as a separate task force, or starting the invasion from a different route.
"You can't deny it. There seem to be people in the upper echelons of the kingdom who think so, and the Royal Army doesn't stick to the border with all of them. Sometimes the imperial army on the border is small, and five thousand and five hundred out of about seventy percent of all armies are directed to deal with it, leaving one thousand and two hundred with the protection and reserve of the king's capital. As far as the rear armies have not arrived yet, as in Tria, so together they will gather about two thousand and five hundred soldiers in the king's capital."
The number of two thousand and five hundred is never enough.
But what was missing was no choice but to keep the enemies of the border under control.
"Eight thousand even to fit... I don't know how much power the Empire is hiding, but it's not much."
The Royal Army, devastated by the last war, is still in the process of rebuilding.
It would have been a long time compared to the tragic situation immediately after the war, but there were still limits to what could be done in the short period of four years.
Far from being fully fledged, this was the situation in which the present Royal Army was placed.
The Imperial Army against should have done not so much damage to one soldier.
"The empire would have done less damage than the kingdom, and it wouldn't be strange to be mobilizing the equivalent of four years ago, would it?
"Sometimes that's another country and you don't have accurate information... Just..."
"Just?"
Cesare brings up a different view than Aldis thought.
"Since the battle four years ago, it hasn't even gone as far as civil unrest in the Empire, but the leading aristocracy has been much more solemnized. Maybe that's why we're losing mobility."
That's Ardis's fault in a nutshell.
The war ahead, Ardis raging around at the end of the battle, had resulted in the death of a large number of nobles and their younger brothers.
The death of the Duke of Tangram (Chakushi), who is also the head of the largest faction of imperial nobility, in particular, led the Duke to distrust of the Emperor, involving other nobles, to a state of civil unrest one step ahead of him.
But it seems that the Emperor's side waved Daiju (oops) at a paperweight time.
Although civil unrest was avoided as a result, a significant number of nobles appeared to have been cut off.
Make it a kingdom, make it an empire, a leading soldier under noble command makes up the bulk of the force.
Lower aristocracy also meant fewer troops.
"You think six thousand is the greatest force the Empire can mobilize?
"Sounds like very few people are optimistic about that. Even if you're not that optimistic, there seems to be an opinion that 'Isn't this an imperial demonstration?' In fact, the Imperial Army hasn't crossed the border yet, so technically, we're not in a state of war."
The melted ice in Cesare's glass made a cool noise.
"They say the Imperial Army facing each other at the border is also a big deal. They don't build positions, they don't act provocative, they don't have much sense of urgency. And it looks like some officers have decided they're not seriously going to attack us."
When his mouth is dampened with cold fruit water, Yoshio continues the conversation.
"It makes sense that because it's a demonstration, we mobilize less troops. That's the claim that it makes sense to explore the Royal Army's ability to respond to a full-scale invasion to come. And of course, it's a minority idea, so it's actually taking us to a distant army just in case we go into battle."
"The leadership is in trouble, too. If it's true that it's a demonstration, it means the kingdom will just be swept away by the empire."
He shrugs his shoulders at the words of Aldis like that, and Cesare mocks himself, "It's not just the kingdom that's swinging around," he said.
In fact, the Kingdom is not the only one who is causing trouble in this matter.
Even if in Cesare's case it's a busy business that leads to profit, it's a busy business that has bigger disadvantages than advantages for Aldis and Michelle.
"Well still, it would be better than there actually being a war. Even though it is recovering from its defeat four years ago, the Royal Army has not yet recovered to its original size either. For the kingdom, clashes should be a send ahead. Of course, the opposite can be said for the Empire."
In the end, it will depend on the empire's chest count.
"Honestly, I don't know a lot about things inside the Empire because I don't have much information. Rather, if you have useful information, you want to buy it at a high price."
With that much mouth, Cesare only rides out a little and asks Ardis.
"What do you say, aren't you going to dive into the empire and explore it yourself?
"I'm sorry, but I'm still pretty busy with this. You can't be away from home for long."
The answer to Ardis is no better.
"Well, I'm just saying. Anyway, even if we go to the Empire now, given the round-trip dates, we can assume that when we bring the information back, it's settled."
If Ardis cares about that, he'll be able to make it back and forth in two days to the Imperial City.
But naturally, not knowing it, Cesare withdrew his own proposal just to say it was a joke.
"If you're staying in King's Capital for a while, we can continue to provide you with new information. It's a different fee, of course."
"No, I'm going to be out of the King's Capital in a minute. Even if it looks like this, it's popular."
"Sounds like it. Not for a while, but sometimes you still want to know where you are. Of course, I don't know where you live."
"Right. That's the smart choice. Me and you happened to be in this dining room today, and I just happened to have some fruit water. So, while you were drinking fruit water, you just spent your spare time talking to me."
"Right. For some reason after a public conversation, there seems to be a few more gold coins in my pocket, but it's my fault, isn't it?"
"Oh, it's my fault"
As Ardis and Cesare grinned at each other, they left the store and each walked in a different direction.