Volume 2 Chapter 15 (1/2)
Editors: Arekusu & Tan.
Chapter 2 Episode 15
(Wavering People)
Day 130 after being summoned to another world :(Wavering people 4)
“I look forward to your future loyal service.”
During the audience, when Princess Lupis made such a statement, all five n.o.bles in front of her lowered their heads in silent consent.
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“It’s going well, huh…”
Earl Bergston and Earl Zerev nodded their heads at Ryouma, agreeing with what he had said.
After the meeting with Princess Lupis ended they gathered in another of the castle’s many rooms
“This is the result of Mikos.h.i.+ba-dono’s work.”
Earl Bergston lowered his head toward Ryouma.
Almost a month had pa.s.sed since the Earl had joined the princess' faction.
During that time, a bond of trust had begun to form between Ryouma, Earl Bergston, and Earl Zerev.
“No, no, this is all thanks to the Earls’ a.s.sistance. After all, I'm nothing more than an outsider.”
This was not modesty.
No matter how good of an argument you could come up with, it is not an easy thing for people to disregard each other’s social statuses in this world.
One could say it was very fortunate for Ryouma that Earl Bergston was willing to hear him out and even became his friend afterward.
Understanding all of this, Ryouma had put his trust in Earl Bergston and Earl Zerev, enabling the two brothers-in-law to persuade other neutral faction members, that they judged would have a high probability of joining the Princess’ faction.
Initially, Meltina opposed him by asking: ”Did you promise them some important positions to turn them over to our side?!”. However, Ryouma managed to persuade her in the end.
As a consequence of all of this, Earl Bergston and Earl Zerev were showing more results than he had expected of them.
In just half a month, both men had successfully turned some of the neutral faction members throughout the kingdom to the princess' faction.
Of course, that was due to the ability and the influence of the Earls, but it was Ryouma's explanation and his a.s.sessment of the current situation which played the biggest role in making both the invitation and negotiation successful.
That's why Earl Bergston and Earl Zerev had never shown any disrespect despite the fact that Ryouma is a commoner.
On the other hand, Ryouma also never grew arrogant just because of his achievements.
“As a matter of fact, there will be even more n.o.bles who will probably swear their allegiance to the princess.”
“Indeed. Just like Earl Zerev said, there are many members of the neutral faction who hold their own grudges against the n.o.ble faction!”
The grudges that the neutral faction members held against the n.o.ble faction were very strong, because they were centered around the fact that they had been alienated from the central politics by that very faction.
After being told that they will be entrusted with policy-making after the war is over, many n.o.bles came forward to pledge their allegiance to the princess with utmost devotion.
“Well it's good that our numbers are increasing, but…”
Ryouma was smiling bitterly, the exact opposite of the two Earls, who were grinning happily.
From the start Ryouma held the opinion that their current situation means that they should not allow themselves to grow too optimistic.
“Is there something that’s bothering you, Mikos.h.i.+ba-dono?”
Earl Zerev asked Ryouma after seeing Ryouma's expression.
“No…, it's just, although I know that it is unavoidable that we will have to confront the n.o.ble faction in a decisive battle, I am still worried as to how we should deal with it, when the time comes.”
After pondering the problem for a while, Earl Bergston responded to the issue Ryouma had pointed out.
“Hou…, is it the decisive battle against the n.o.ble faction itself, or rather its aftermath that Mikos.h.i.+ba-dono is worried about?”
(Fuu~..., as expected of him, he understood so much from the few words I said... )
“Earl Bergston, as expected, are you talking about a different fight than the one against the n.o.ble faction?” - Earl Zerev suddenly asked.
Earl Bergston and Earl Zerev are great politicians, but of the two of them Bergston is definitely the superior in terms of having a mind for strategy.
Earl Bergson, as if chiding the simple Earl Zerev for only being able to solve problems that are right in front of his eyes, spoke his mind.
“No, that’s not it. Originally the Princess, who has the Knight faction on her side, was lacking as far as the number of soldiers she could muster, but if you take into account her soldiers’ superior fighting ability, then you could say that both sides were nearly equal…, but now that we have recruited a large part of the neutral faction, even if we were to fight against the n.o.ble faction we should have a significant advantage over them…, if that is the case, then, as expected…”
Struggling to finish his response, Earl Bergston turned his gaze towards Ryouma.
Saying so little, the Earl had not given a definitive answer.
Ryouma wanted him to say more than he had managed to.
However, looking at Earl Bergston’s face, he gave up on the idea.
Ryouma could see that the Earl could not understand the cause for his concern.
He decided to give the two brothers-in-law an explanation of the main problem they were all facing.
“Yes, just like you said. I’m worried about the things that come after the crucial battle…, well, I hope we can settle everything before we even have that decisive battle…”
Being prepared ahead of time is an important part of warfare.
It can be said that whether you are victorious or suffer defeat is determined based on how well you have prepared in advance.
Ryouma clearly understood this principle.
And he was not the first person who had thought in such a way.
If he were to read famous 20th century j.a.panese books, he would have seen many references from ancient military books, both Eastern and Western.
And nowadays there are even people who study Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and apply it to the field of business.
Apart from being used for warfare, it is also being used in politics.
A present day j.a.panese person should have knowledge comparable to that of medieval j.a.pan’s politicians.
Compared to Earth’s wartime era, this world’s current era was a lot less chaotic.
And not to mention a situation where one nation concentrates too much on building up its military power and forsakes obtaining knowledge. That country would find itself lagging behind in terms of education, culture, and technology.
<tln: a=”” good=”” example=”” would=”” be=”” north=”” korea=”” and=”” its=”” military-first=”” policy.=””>
If you think about it, there is a very extreme difference in the standard of living and upbringing of the different social cla.s.ses.
It is not uncommon for farmers, living in rural areas far away from the capital, to be unable to even write their own names.
And most of the soldiers that the n.o.ble families have a.s.sembled are mostly made up of such farmers, albeit former ones.
None of them have gone through military training of any sort.
While the soldiers that Earl Bergston brings with him number a thousand, the truth is that they are just an amateur group of “soldiers”.
Of course, the ones who led this militia were people hired by Earl Bergston’s family.
They are individuals who have studied the military arts, or former mercenaries, which separates them from the rest of Bergston’s amateur army.
However, one cannot expect much as far as fighting ability from all of them, soldiers and leaders combined, since the soldiers are mostly amateurs.
But then, the n.o.ble faction has exactly the same problem.
They have gathered the same type of inexperienced people for soldiers from within their own territories.
Having said all of that, there is one exception - the Knight faction.
They are genuine soldiers and even the lower ranked ones are capable of using the magic arts.
They are people hired by the country and their wages are paid by the king.
If somebody wants to join the army, they have to pa.s.s a test of skill. Hence not everyone can join and become a proper soldier.
Originally their existence was to act as a last line of defence that protects the royal family.
But now, they have fallen almost completely under General Hodram’s influence and he would not think twice about using them to further his own agenda.
Thus, the army that everyone was supposed to trust had instead turned into their enemy.
Because he had had to prepare for the fight against the Knight faction, Ryouma had left the task of recruiting n.o.bles from the neutral faction to Earl Bergston and Earl Zerev.
Although gathering information from the Knight faction was problematic, there is a much bigger problem troubling Ryouma.
Speaking of soldiers, he wanted to minimise the number of casualties as much as possible.
Since it is a profession, the number of skilled people is very limited.
This is one of the main reasons why most monarchs are not strangers to hiring mercenaries.
However, enlisting the services of mercenaries can also be viewed as a last-ditch measure.
In addition to the fact that their ability varies, their loyalty is far worse than a Knight’s.
Plus, acquiring capable mercenaries costs a lot of money.
On average, one has to pay five times the annual salary of a knight per mercenary.
On the other hand, unlike the knights that one has to maintain at all times, one can just fire these hired soldiers as soon as they are no longer needed.
To put it simply, one can say the knights are the regular soldiers, while the mercenaries are the irregulars you use when you have no other choice.
Taking all of this into account, the problem that is pestering Ryouma is how they are going to preserve the kingdom after they have replaced General Hodram.
After they win against the n.o.ble faction, there will definitely be a struggle for power between the princess' faction against the Knight faction.
This information is common knowledge for the people who both belong to the Princess’ faction and have her unwavering trust.
Princess Lupis can take control of the national government if she defeats the n.o.ble faction.
This is why they have been courting n.o.bles from the neutral faction.
However, no matter how well the n.o.bles controlled the kingdom’s internal affairs, they would not be able to overcome the military power of the knights.
If you take into account the number and types of soldiers each side has, then the Knight faction would be ten times stronger than the Princess and her supporters.
One might ask “If Ryouma doesn’t think that’s the problem, then what does he think it is?”.
The problem is that after they defeat the Knight faction, there won’t be anybody left to defend Princess Lupis and preserve the kingdom.
If that was to happen, only chaos would ensue.
The neighboring countries, the ones that were already eyeing the Rozeria Kingdom, would surely unite.
If the Knight faction disappears, the starving wolves would not hesitate to turn their hungry gazes towards the kingdom - unless there's an alternative army ready to take the place of the knights.
And one should not forget that knights are professional soldiers.
You can't just simply hire a farmer, not to mention it takes a lot of time to train them.