Vol 8 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Volume 8 Chapter 1

News of the E

Translator: Skythewood

Editor: Darkdhaos, Ice Phantom, CEObrainz

Empire Year 851, 5th June

Morning

He could see people preparing for breakfast everywhere At this is noticed that some of the soldiers had lined up for some reason

The line had nothing to do with their unit or ranks, just randole line Everyone held weapons, such as swords or pikes in hand

What happened, Regis, as curious, walked to the front of the group to find out the reason behind such a situation

The soldier alked back from the front of the line inspected the weapon in his hand carefully

Regis could hear the sound of ha in the distance

It was a blacksmith

Weapons had certain durability, and would be worn out after using the periods of time So an army over a certain size would hire a blacksmith into their ranks

Regis could empathise with the soldiers anted to repair their weapons during the lull period after a battle But he didn’t expect there to be so many, this h

There were about a hundred blacksmiths attached to the army

Setting up a furnace and sheltering themselves from the sun with canvas, they made an open air workshop

Right now, there were about 130,000 people in the Imperial Fourth Army A blacksh

After all, this expedition was launched in a hurry without complete preparation, and the blacks after its defeat was also a contributing factor There weren’t enough chefs and barbers too

—— We need to recruit such workers e have time, so we can relieve the stress of the soldiers

As he thought about all this, Regis walked ahead and saw a burlythe blacksmiths

“Hmm!?”

Regis hastened his steps

After receiving a weapon fro it was —— Enzo Smith

He was the husband of Regis’ sister Vanessa, a blacksmith from Rouen city

In order to deliver the repaired ‘Grand Tonnerre Quatre’ to Altina, he came all the way to the battlefield

“Brother-in-lahat are you doing!?”

“Oh Regis, I aht now so I came to help out”

“What!? There are blacksement, if someone from outside the army did this…”

“You think so too, Regis?”

Regis just finished saying that when a half naked man walked over from another open air workshop

It was the chief blacksmith Thomas A eneral was still in the capital He was soht if the weapon handed to him was in tatters

“Oh, Sir Strategist!”

“Ah, S-Sorry, Mr Ss work in the army…”

“Mr Sreat!”

“Eh?”

“Ara, without even looking at the original plans, it was ie ‘Grand Tonnerre Quatre’! News that he inal spread, so everyone is here to ask for his help!”

“Hah…”

Regis gave a resigned reply

The atmosphere wasn’t malicious Or rather, it would be terrific if Enzo joined the army and worked seriously as a blacksmith

Enzo shrugged indifferently

“I a normally…”

“Not at all, I heard froood, but you are better than I iined!”

Enzo became more embarrassed by Thomas’ compliments

Enzo’s disciple Lionel chipped in:

“Yes, there are many blacksmiths in Rouen city, butprojects as he is not good ords, but no one could smith metal as smoothly as him”

“Be quiet”

Enzo who looked as if he had bitten on a bitter bug tugged on Lionel’s sleeve

Regis nodded

“If it doesn’t trouble anyone, I have no reason to stop it”

“It’s no trouble at all!”

Thois to see

To be honest, Regis doesn’t use swords, so he couldn’t tell if the repairs were good or bad

But the eyes of the chief blacks

“I can’t believe this is a standard issue sword fro! It is just like a famed sword used by nobles!”

“I see…”

“Just by knocking and sharpening it a little, he could achieve such a standard, this is sorcery!”

The blacksreeic”

Enzo’s embarrassment increased

“Ah, er it if it is dull… Isn’t that normal?”

Lionel said with a wry smile

“Norhten a sith one strike of the ha both sides of a metal equally is no easy task for most people”

“You are really skilled at this”

Thoreement

“Next would be the high salaries It would still take ti a blacks… Please repair it roughly for the sake of speed, it will be easier that way too Hey, would I be beaten up in my sleep if I say that?”

“I don’t think that way…”

“Thank you verytoo?”

“Well, I a him, so it’s fine”

Enzo took the sword from the next soldiers in line and inspected it

“ Hmm… seems like your sword hits are slanted Does it feel a bit off when you hold the hilt?”

The soldier scratched his head, and his cohed out loud

Enzo untied the leather frorip

“As expected, the hilt is crooked, I will haht then”

He removed the hilt fro it on the anvil He straightened it just like that, handed it to his disciple and said:

“Fix the hilt”

“Yes, master!”

Enzo took the pike fro’ and grinded it with a file The blade on the pike regained its glimmer in no time

There weren’t any flashy movements, just quick and accurate repair work

The blacks Thomas

“Ais’ brother-in-law!”

“Eh!? It has nothing to do with me!”

Regis didn’t expect to hear his name, and shook his head frantically

However, ruo in the direction that was the

The strategist was a wizard, so his brother-in-law is one too —— And so, a new legend was born

8th June,——

The day after the an

A large tent was erected at the center of the encampment

There was a very long table in the center of the tent, with lots of chairs placed on the side

The commander Altina was seated all the way in

On her right was Regis’ seat

To her left was Brigadier General Jerohts

On the opposite side of Altina was Lieutenant General Benjamin Emmanuel Beaumarchais, his brother Jansen Gabriel was seated beside him

Clarisse stood at the corner of the tent When outsiders were present, she wouldn’t move, smile or talk, just like a doll

Regis laid out a map on the table

“We will leave the defences of the west to the local noble army We have two captured Princess class battleshi+p that we seized froh Britannians in the sea, crewed by sailors who surrendered and are familiar with the controls It could be operated smoothly, so they won’t lose so easily Also ——“

Regis opened a letter

“—— News from Bertram The contraption in Princess Class vessel nuineers will be despatched to pull it apart for analysis Belgaria will definitely be able to build similar battleshi+ps in the future”

“How long would that take?”

Jerois took out another letter

“The engineers esti thethe replica would take about two years”

“So in the meantime, the two battleshi+ps would be their only defences How bold”

“They will prioritize the production of the cannons If they are fast, there will be Empire-made Elswick cannons next month

“Hmm… We want to try it too, so prepare some for us”

“Understood, I will prepare it”

Jeroer, that’s why he illing to negotiate He was already plenty strong, but he still wanted to be more powerful

The ine was more complicated, so it was hard to reproduce them, but the structure of the cannons were e of the cannons could match their adversary, they wouldn’t be attacked one-sidedly by the High Britannian battleshi+ps

If High Britannia commited more battleshi+ps to the war effort ih battle…

They learnt froy was rather pessimistic

Forced by the orders of the new queen Margaret Steelart and the strategist Oswald Coulthard, they took a cautious approach

—— Judging from the testiht if they lose was very high

Anyway, Margaret and Osho directed this war appeared to be outside their home country

The possibility that the High Britannia Navy would abandon their national defence and coe number of warshi+ps into the as slim

“By the way, if the words of the captives could be trusted, Margaret, the new queen of High Britannia took part in their expedition force But I never heard any news of her being skilled in martial arts…”

This was hard to fathoest arerous for the queen to join the expedition?

Was it confidence in their new rifles and cannons, trust in the commander Oswald, or was she just an optimist?

Regis saw her once before, she was riding in a black carriage She didn’t look like she was proficient in swordsmanshi+p or horsemanshi+p

He had never spoken to her before, and she was a newly coronated queen, so inforis couldn’t work out the true intentions of the new queen

Jerome sneered

“Hah! That da moron!”

Nors about a national leader would offend others

If they could capture her, they would be able to ask for a queen’s ransom

If they don’t pay themoney over their lord’

“If it is up to me, I would take the queen away from the ar her home… But ould Colonel Oswald Coulthard do?”

“Hah! If they do that, they shouldn’t have let her follow along in the beginning!”

“Ah, true…”

Regis turned towards Altina and Jerome did the same

Altina pouted

“What? Am I that witless!?”

“There isn’tthe invulnerable fortress”

Regis shrugged

Altina wanted to refute hirit her teeth as she couldn’t think of anything to say

“You you you…”

But such reckless action was a thing of the past

Altina learned a lot of things recently too, and could finally stay in the headquarters cale towards the frontline like she used to

She had really grown

Well then —— Regis suddenly changed the topic

“According to the diagnosis of the lady doctor, the red wrist fracture of the former Balzac duke will take three months to heal”

“Because Eddie and Auguste escaped froht?”

“ He didn’t have a choice and is ele Let him stay with the unit until his wounds heal”

“When we return to Fort Volks, Eddie would be there too!”

Altina said loudly and Regis nodded

Then —— the next item

“How should we deal with the Mercenary King?”

Altina showed a troubled face while Jerome turned silent with his arms crossed

Benjamin said firmly:

“We hang him of course”

“No!”

Altina slammed the table and stood up, which made Benjamin open his eyes wide

“Why not? This is the tradition for the Eht, we could still treat him with the same level of respect as a retainer But once a battle breaks out, even if the commander surrenders early, they must be executed”

“Because, it would be a waste!”

“The lowly Mercenary King?!”

“Be itHe will be a reliable force if he becomes our ally”

“What!? Ally!? Please don’t joke about this, Princess!”

Not just him, even Jansen besides him was speechless It seemed that Altina’s opinion was beyond common sense for the empire

Fufufu, Jero

“That hts in the capital”

“But the character of a person is i in an opponent that should be executed just because he is strong… I object!”

“Haha! You are even lower than him”

“I-Is that Mercenary King ranked higher compared to me!?”

Benjae

Hmmp, Jerome sneered

“Of course You think you can dodge ht protect you in the courts, but a commoner is the same as a Marquis on the battlefield”

“Insolent! A rave dare mock me!?”

“That’s exactly it That’s hoeak you are, using your peerage to threaten others if sohtly irks you”

“Being humiliated before the Princess… I won’t stand for this…!!”

“You picked the wrong opponent if you want to throw temper that doesn’t ret it when your head rolls”

“Curses! Curses!”

Benjae of exploding

Regis sighed

They had put aside their difference so far before a common powerful adversary, but it was an uneasy truce Benjarew up in the courts, and it was only natural that he wouldn’t respect soe than him

However, Jeroant nobles ere mediocre in terms of ability

They were incompatible like water and fire

—— If this was a story, the two of them would be able to resolve their difference a one problem

In Jerome’s eyes, there were only ‘those who can be used’ and ‘those that can’t be used’

On the other hand, Benjamin was heavily influenced by the values of the courts The Second Ar time

The first arh Britannian forces was the Second Army, which was a coincidence They were deployed here because of political reasons during the Founding day festival, they wouldn’t be in the west otherwise

Originally, the Second Arether with the First Army, and lacked battle experience

Benjae and rank, he himself had no accoesthis youth

Co… His honour as a knight was just a vanity

Most nobles who spend a lot of time in courts had such a teis served in before

They get emotional easily

Born in a wealthy fa up without worries, they would becoant and conceited, as if they were the rulers of the world

Even if they gain knowledge and learn the etiquette of the courts, it was difficult for them to nurture their character to know self restraint

When they get emotional, they would be as stubborn as a child

—— However, it would be troublesome if this developed into a duel

The Fourth Aruards froiment and the soldiers from the former Second Army already had some friction

They could only wait for Benjamin to cool down and consider the consequences carefully After that, Regis could stir the matter in a peaceful direction in a way that wouldn’t hurt his dignity

As he was considering all that, Altina leaned forward

“Sir Benjah to defeat Jerome?”

“Your Highness…!?”

When he saw Altina’s serious expression, Benjamin’s face turned white

Regis grabbed his head

—— Isn’t that adding fuel to the fire!?

Altina was probably just curious

“If you can defeat hiht Jerome in a close quarter duel in the past, but if he rode a horse and used his lance, I think he would be aand Latreille”

“Then, cohness… Could it be…”

“Latreille was careless when the Mercenary King Gilbert aht all three of theer with a sword, Gilbert is better with polear on horseback Sir Benjamin, which field do you excel in?”

“Ugghhh…!”

Latreille was fa Altina to a corner Although Latreille did ht in a cramped place

But no hout the continent

Benjamin came from a martial family too and practiced eapons a lot in his youth, but his opponent was too strong Realizing this problem, sweat appeared on his forehead

Regis coughed

“Ahem… Erm, everyone here are allies on the sah Britannians are still unknown Instead of co in personal matches, please help to divide the workload on hand”

“Yes, right! The strategist has a point! Now is not the time for the Empire to turn on each other!”

Benjamin said as he wiped the sweat from his brow

“Hmmp…”

Seeing that his opponent had lost the will to fight, Jerome crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair

Altina finally realized that Benjaretful expression

“Anyway, I will negotiate with Gilbert about this The more powerful allies we have, the better it is”

“That’s true…”

Regis nodded, and concluded that there wouldn’t be a fight today

Of course, there was no telling ould happen in the future After all, the invasion of the High Britannian Army was an unexpected incident, and all the losses suffered by the Empire so far were unexpected

It was true the more powerful allies they have, the better

But they would still need to fit it within their budget

Altina didn’t have a territory of her own Herfor her was a commoner, her assets was just a house in Sanc Joel city that was beside the capital

The budget for the Fourth Ariment

For an aret for about 13000 men

But if they include the hiring fee for the strongest Mercenary in the continent, they couldn’t raise thethe ashes in the stoves

—— Unlike subordinates who fight for their lord, how should they deal with the Mercenary King who fights for money?

“Oh right, the sister of the Mercenary King, Franziska, and the ‘Sorcerer’ Jessica are nowhere to be found, they are probably on the run”

Altina’s face turned serious

In a night battle in the past, Franziska who uses a crossbow dauard Eric was also injured by an arrow

“ I see… So they are still alive…”

“They ht come back to break their brother out”

“I really envy such faht”

“Yes, let’s increase the patrols”

Last would be reporting the internal affairs of the Fourth Army In short, they were short on men and funds

It was decided that the problem would be adjourned until they head back to the capital

After finishi+ng the War Council, Altina stood up in high spirits

“Alright, let’s go!”

“ Erm… Go where? The unit is about to set off”

“Didn’t I already say that I will be negotiating with Gilbert, and make him work for me!”

“Eh!? Your Highness, do you have to do this personally!?”

“This is not a question of whether I need to I a it because I want to”

The captives’ hands were tied to their head

About 1500 High Britannian soldiers were taken prisoners, 3000 of them were killed in battle, and the rest fled A lot of the

An estimated 5000 soldiers ran away, so the Empire had to be ready to pursue the remnants of the enemy

Three hundredEmpire headquarters

150 of theht be unariven extra heavy shackles and have three tiuards on watch

On top of that, Gilbert was isolated and tied up in another place If they execute the leader of the captives, it would fan their emotions

Jerootiations and returned to his Knight Corps

Benjarand nobles, it would be a humiliation to talk to imprisoned mercenaries Normally, the nobles would only talk to prisoners ere nobles themselves

Clarisse returned to attend to her chores too

And so, only Regis and Altina went to the place where Gilbert was held

“ Altina, it is fine to less if the point of the negotiation is not about the remuneration”

When no one was around, Regis would speak in a normal tone

There wouldn’t be any ain Altina didn’t stand on ceremony either

“I know, but if he doesn't becoht?”

“ There’s no other choice We can’t set such a dangerous fellow free”

“Wouldn’t that be strange for a negotiation? I don’t want the negotiation to become like that I really want him to work for me”

“Hmm… Let’s think about this possibility then”

It was hard to gain their loyalty

When they reached the tent where the prisoners were held, the guards on duty knelt frantically when they saw Altina

“P-Princess!? What brings you here!?”

It was expected for the soldiers to be stunned There has never been a precedence of royals seeing a prisoner Even if the prisoner was the fa

But Altina didn’t seem to care

“Thank you for your hard work I want to talk to Gilbert, let me in”

“B-But… He is the Mercenary King…”

“What? Can’t a royal meet a mercenary?”

“Ah, no! This way please”

“Alright I’ in”

She pulled the curtain at the entrance

And went in

It was dark They had only taken in the prisoners for just a few days, but the place reeked of wild animals

The Mercenary King was tied to a tall pillar

Several chains rapped around his body, as if he was a beast Because his wounds from the battle weren’t taken care of, the chains were dyed black from his wound’s blood

His sharp eyes looked their way

Regis shuddered Had he been alone, he would have run away already

Altina put her hands on her waist and puffed her chest out

“You looked lively, Gilbert!”

“”

“I willmy subordinate?”

His eyes closed

His lips that were cut by knives opened

“Kill me”

“Hhtforward”

“Ied… I know at least that much”

He didn’t seeotiate

Regis suggested:

“ Her Highness ad the Iuarantee the safety of your subordinates”

At this moment, Gilbert’s stone like expression softened

“I heard the strategist Regis d’Auric is a dangerous man Known as the Wizard… For you, I am probably a monster huh”

“Eh!?”

Altina furrowed her brows

“That’s right, Regis You are turning it into a hostage negotiation, what are you thinking?”

“Your Highness!? It is a proper right to propose a ransom for prisoners Or do so in an equivalent manner, conscription is also…”

“If that is so, then they won’t be true allies, right?”

“No no…”

It is iht to the death with us just four days ago to acknowledge us as coht

However, Altina seemed to be serious