Chapter 190 (1/2)

Chapter 190

「Uuggh……」

I sense some light hitting my face and wake up .

This place is…… probably the inside of a tent, where I’ve been carried to after losing consciousness at the end of battle .

I touch here and there on my body and feel pain all over…… my face hurts the most in particular, plus there are b.u.mps covering the surface .

I might be mistaken as some monster with all that swelling on my face .

「Ah! Have you woken up!?」

Celia, who was clinging to my leg, suddenly jerks her head up .

She must have been nursing me this entire time .

「My head and face hurt . Was I beaten up that badly?」

「Yes…… your face looks really beat up . You were asleep for one whole day . 」

As I thought, I can tell my eyes are swollen just by touching it .

I have no time to worry about my face right now though .

「What happened after that?」

Celia answers as she wipes my face with a cool cloth .

「The enemy King and Aegir-sama knocked each other out . The Aless army used that as a signal to retreat . 」

「There should have been a blockade behind them though . If they turned around, they would have been defeated quickly . 」

Even if I’m down, I can’t imagine Leopolt missing his opportunity to strike .

「Three soldiers carried the enemy King away while the others formed a wall of flesh to protect them…… They instantly broke through the detachment behind them and they retreated in a rain of arrows . 」

「I see, and we couldn’t chase after them . 」

「Yes, after they broke through our squad, the ones who weren’t carrying the King stood their ground and fought, buying enough time for the enemy King to escape . They continued fighting until they all died……」

「Alright . I get it . 」

I can easily picture the scene in my mind,

Knowing that musclehead didn’t die makes me smile for some reason .

Of course I would want to kill him if he showed up in front of me, but it would be just a little sad if he was shot to death in some unknown place .

「Um, what are you smiling about…… aah, you can’t! You were hit in the head, so you have to lie down!」

I break free from Celia as she tries to restrain me and then exit the tent .

The corpses have already been cleaned up from the battlefield and separated into ally and enemy .

On the enemy side…… there are 97 corpses, meaning all of them literally fought to the death .

Amongst the corpses, there was a group of three soldiers who died with their arms linked together, with arrows stabbing in various places on their bodies and their swords still tightly gripped in their hands, probably trying their hardest to block the path to their King .

「How should we deal with them?」

If we just leave the mountain of corpses as it is, they will surely be eaten by beasts or birds .

That would be a sad end to the heroic soldiers who fought to the death .

「It will take some time to send the injured back home and reorganize our troops . Have those who aren’t busy bury them . And also, what was the name of this place again?」

「I think it should be the Togor Canyon . 」

Fumu, I see .

「Our allies were roughed up quite a bit too . 」

I want to return as many of the fallen allies’ bodies to their families, but there are just too many of them .

「The death count reached into the thousands . n.o.body would believe this to be the damage done by a mere 100 soldiers……」

The soldiers confirming the lost articles mutter in amazement .

This kind of thing only happens when you think in simple terms .

After hearing that I woke up, Leopolt, Tristan, Myla, Luna, and everyone……no, Irijina is the only one raising her voice and trying to encourage the soldiers .

「The damage is great but it isn’t impossible for us to continue marching forward . The reorganization would be complete by evening, and we should be able to resume our advance tomorrow morning together with the sun rise . 」

As usual, Leopolt doesn’t say anything to me to indicate his concerns for my health .

「Uwaa…… your face looks horrible . Just like an orc…… oww! Stop it, please! Er, it ate more time than I thought so Atoroa has probably regrouped . A hasty march at this time is risky . We should send out scouts and advance carefully . 」

Tristan gets strangled immediately by Celia from behind as soon as he started being rude to me .

I see…… so we can’t clean things up quickly .

「The morale of the soldiers is lacking too . Letting the enemy King escape had a big effect……」

「In addition to the morale, there’s that lingering unease of what we would do if they dispatched several thousand Aless soldiers instead of the hundred . 」

Myla and Luna comment anxiously .

「Several thousand Aless soldiers……」

The struggle we had against them this time was largely due to the terrain .

In a battle on the plains, we would be able to use horses so this kind of thing probably wouldn’t happen .

「Still, if thousands of those guys appeared…… what could be done?」

More than anything, they’ll be unbelievably heated1 .

They aren’t enemies I would want to fight in the summer .

「This case with Aless, it’s an unnatural move when the surrounding Poleis have acknowledged the subjugation of Atoroa . I could understand if a Polis had an alliance with them, but I think it’s better to send an envoy just in case considering their extremely small number of forces . 」

「I’ll leave that to you . If I could avoid fighting with them in the future, I wouldn’t have done all this . 」

Leopolt nods silently and takes his leave .

「Well, the sortie was the next morning, was it? Then it will be one day from now……」

I reach out nearby and grab Luna’s a.s.s .

「Ah……」

Luna bends her body in surprise as if trying to avoid the touch, but as she realizes the hand moving into her crotch, she relaxes and lifts her b.u.t.t to make it easier for me to gain access .

Just when I was about to embrace her and slam the l.u.s.t I built up from the fierce fighting against her .

「You can’t!」

I was stopped by Celia .

「You were punched in the head and remained unconscious for a whole day! You absolutely can’t be f.u.c.king girls left and right . 」

「I’m fine, I don’t feel the pain anymore . 」

Even if I say not to worry, Celia doesn’t listen .

She clings to my right hand, desperately pleading for me to stop .

「It really isn’t good to rock your body too much after you’ve hit your head . Please, Aegir-sama…… listen to me . If anything happened to Aegir-sama, I-…… I-…… I won’t be able to live anymore . 」

Now that tears are starting to flow out from her eyes, I can’t just ignore her warnings .

This small girl always cares so much about my body .

「Alright . Then I’ll listen and go to bed today . But sleeping together is fine, right?」

「If it’s only that, then as much as you want!」

Celia sneaks quietly to the floor where I’m lying down and crawls beside me .

Luna, who lost her chance to get embraced by me, also crawls beside me on the other side .

「Tristan, take care of the rest, ‘kay?」

After saying that, Myla also crawls toward my feet .

Pipi holds herself back from jumping on me and instead quietly grabs my leg .

「Yes, yes…… I’ll work seriously while the feudal lord-sama enjoys himself . 」

After confirming the lamenting Tristan has left the tent, the girls wriggle around like worms, taking off their s.h.i.+rts and underwear in a flash .

Umu, it’s a shame I can’t embrace any of them, but being surrounded by naked women like this will definitely make my wound heal faster .

「Mu-! You’re mean to leave me out! Let me sleep together with you too!」

「Irijina-san, you stink of sweat so go take a bath!」

「I always get all sweaty whenever I get embraced, do I not?」

「It stinks after a while! And Irijina-san has a strong body odor to begin with!」

I fall back asleep as I listen to Celia and Irijina exchange words .

We depart the next morning, leaving behind a stone monument decorated with numerous swords at the exit of the Togor Canyon .

[Here lies the 97 brave men of Aless who fought in the battle of Togor]

A Little Later, City of Atoroa

「All cannons, open fire . 」

Accompanying Leopolt’s emotionless voice are the roar of cannons, followed by the rising smoke and dust from the st.u.r.dy outer walls .

These walls around the city of Atoroa – higher and thicker than the ones around Rafen – didn’t crumble instantly even from the cannons’ onslaught .

Even so, the gunpowder-propelled iron b.a.l.l.s dug into the stone walls and created cracks in various places .

「If we keep this up, it’ll eventually be destroyed . It doesn’t look like the enemy intends to come out though . 」

「Fumu, maybe it’ll be quicker if we shot flaming arrows into the city . 」

The present attacks on the city of Atoroa are only from the cannons angled practically in a straight horizontal line .

Catapults and flaming arrows are available options, but direct damage to the citizens is being avoided if at all possible .

「Is Aless making a move?」

「The scouts have been dispatched but they haven’t reported any abnormalities . 」

Ever since the King ran back home, it’s been quiet .

It’s nice when it’s quiet and all, but getting no response even after an envoy was sent doesn’t make me happy .

「If we can make Atoroa fall and defeat those Orthodox Magrado guys, they won’t mess with us . 」

A messenger was sent to the surrounding Poleis as well, but they were also surprised with Aless’s actions and have turned their eyes to the Council .

It looks like they’ll be sending a messenger to confirm the situation immediately .

「Perhaps that was an arbitrary decision made by the King . 」

I nod in response to Tristan’s comment .

「That’s why he deliberately said he was taking a walk…… and took only 100 soldiers with him . 」

In that case, Gildress might be in bad standing .

「It would be easier if he couldn’t make a move . 」

Speaking of the devil, reports come in saying several human-shaped figures can be seen approaching from the direction of Aless .

「Messengers?」

After seeing their valor, naturally Leopolt couldn’t let them enter the headquarters, so he led them to a place further away .

As expected, many bows were aimed and ready to be fired if necessary .

「So, what do you want?」

「Because of yesterday’s incident, we would like for you to come to the council of Aless to discuss further details . 」

Fumu, if the greatest decision-making body is the Council, then this will be the fastest way to settle things .

It will be dangerous, so I wonder who I should send as a messenger .

「They said they would like to invite Lord Hardlett himself . 」

「Haah! Are they f.u.c.king serious!?」

Myla and Celia raise their voices .

「I also don’t want to head straight into the middle of the enemy who I just finished battling . 」

This isn’t about being a coward or whatever .

There isn’t a single element I can trust .

「Of course, I answered as such, but-……」

Before Leopolt could finish his sentence, a familiar loud voice makes our ears ring .

「Hardlett! In the name of the King of Aless, Gildress, I swear that there is nothing related to conspiracies and such!」

「There he is again!」

Celia shouts out unexpectedly .

My head is starting to hurt .

「Uuumu…… at least make it a point in between the two sides……」

「I also had a reason to invite you . Believe me! Look, I’m unarmed, if you judge I have an ulterior motive, then kill me where I stand!」

Gildress lightly flips up his long red mantle and shows me he has no weapons of any kind…… .

「Gyaaaaa!」

「You idiot! You’re not only unarmed, you’re fully naked!」

Her eyes were concentrating on his lower half to check if he was actually unarmed, but Celia shouted after she saw what wasn’t there . I also unconsciously let my voice out without minding my manners .

That idiotic Gildress was completely naked under his mantle .

He wasn’t even wearing his usual leather pants and the ‘thing’ I didn’t want to see was being waved around .

「I-it’s big……」

「No, Hardlett-dono’s is…… mu, I can’t tell . 」

Myla and Irijina also blush as they automatically direct their gazes to the dangling c.o.c.k .

It’s true that this guy is big .

It’s big enough that I honestly don’t know if his or mine is larger .

「As you can see, I came to the enemy headquarters unarmed! It’s because I trust you won’t harm me . You should trust that I’m not plotting anything against you and follow me!」

Gildress doesn’t let the spears and bowguns pointed at him affect his actions as he spreads his arms open and lumbers towards me in his naked mantle-wearing appearance .

「I can tell you’re unarmed, you don’t have to come over here!」

「Well I won’t go back until I bring you back with me! Bring your spears or bows or whatever and come with me!」

Now that I look, he didn’t ride his horse over here .

He must have ran all the way here from Aless, since as I approach Gildress, his entire body is dripping sweat like a waterfall and the intense stench of a man’s body starts wafting into my nose .

「Come with me! You’re a brave man and Aless welcomes brave men! Come on! C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!」

「Alright! I get it, so don’t come any closer! At least put some pants on!」

And so, I accepted Gildress’s invitation and paid Aless a visit .

「……」

Celia and I ride Schwartz and follow Gildress .

For appearance sake, we took a few soldiers from the escort unit with us, but they probably won’t act as proper escorts .

If Aless was to try and kill me now, they couldn’t do anything to stop them .

「I told you wait for me, didn’t I?」

「No way . I want to be with Aegir-sama, in life and in death . 」

Celia clings to my back, swearing she won’t ever separate herself from me .

「Fumu, as expected of a man of valor like you to make women fall for you…… then I have something to look forward to in our match . 」

What is he talking about?

Before I could get a response from Gildress, a large set of castle walls appeared in front of us .

「Welcome to our city of Aless!」

We get past the city walls and see the place filled with an unusual energy .

For a city state, the population of their city is usually concentrated in the capital and the population density should be higher in there than in the other provincial cities . Aless has a population of about 40,000, nearly double the amount of Rafen’s population .

However, it isn’t the population density that is abnormal .

In Rafen, it is typical for the noise from the hustle and bustle from the marketplace or the working laborers to dominate the atmosphere of the city . In this city, the liveliness from the sound of men fighting stands out the most .

Perhaps they might be doing military training, but their upper halves are bare…… there are even some fully naked men grappling with each other further inside .

「It’s a mock battle . The men of Aless from ages 10 to 45 train diligently every day . 」

「From 10 years old……」

Celia is also taken aback .

Taking a look around, I can see a boy of a very young age holding a piece of wood and striking a man as old as the King, and then that man catching the boy’s attack and mercilessly throwing him aside .

「This is Aless’s strength, Aless’s soul . 」

Gildress puffs out his chest with pride .

「Your nation, Goldonia, was it? Its soldiers are soft and weak-willed! If they were in Aless, I would personally train them for five straight years……」

I wouldn’t be able to bear it if it was with this guy .

「But Hardlett, you’re a different story . It is really a shame that you have such courage, yet you weren’t born here in Aless, which is why I and this city of Aless welcomes you!」

When Gildress raises his hand, the several thousand soldiers who were in the middle of training stop moving all together and they collectively move from the gates to the heart of the city, lining up on both sides of the main street which runs through the center, where the building which houses the Council is located .

「Give praise to the brave!」

「Uooooooh—!!」

What a ferocious roar, I wonder if they mind that we were the ones who killed their companions .

「Warriors alike fought magnificently and then perished in battle . What is there to hold a grudge against? Besides-」

Gildress bows deeply to me .

「I saw what was at the canyon . I just thought it would be pitiful for the birds to peck at the remains of our fallen comrades . ……it was us who picked a fight in the first place, but you didn’t let that bother you and gave them a proper burial . 」

It makes me feel kind of uncomfortable when this muscle-head bows his head like that .

「Alright, I’m done bowing . Now, let’s go to the Council . 」

Gildress quickly lifts his head and stomps forward, with me following not far behind, however…… .

「Aegir-samaa……waaah」

Celia crawls under my mantle with tears in her eyes .

I don’t blame her, unbelievably muscular men are lined up on both sides of the street, men who were training not too long ago and have worked up a great sweat, plus many of them were fully naked and their dangling d.i.c.ks in plain sight .

「This kind of thing is just weird! And it really stinks!」

There, there, you don’t have to look at another man’s d.i.c.k .

Just hide under my cloak .

「Aless does not intend to go up against Goldonia . Of course, Aless does not support Atorora either . 」

That was the first thing the Council said when we arrived in front of them .

But I can’t just say “Oh, is that so? Good . ” and let it slide so simply .

「So blocking the path was an accidental incident?」

「That was the King taking a walk . We acknowledge that it was an inappropriate act but it was ultimately his own personal decision . The Council makes Aless’s decisions, not the King . 」

The man who appears to be the head of the Council glares at Gildress .

「The Council is extremely angry with the unnecessary conflict and sacrifices caused by the King . Thus, all the Council members unanimously support the decision to suspend the King’s authority for a reasonable duration of time . Are there any objections to that?」

This is surprising .

The King loses his power just from the decision of the Council? Aless’s political system is interesting .

「I have no objections . I shamelessly returned while letting my companions die . I have no choice but to accept the punishment . 」

The head of the Council nods .