Chapter 95: Northern Disturbance ① Outbreak of War (2/2)
「Don’t be ridiculous…… how do we do that in this situation?」
The cavalry pass by the village from both sides and continue westward.
「Hey, hey, you’ve got to be kidding me…… look at that.」
The middle-aged soldier points and the youngster’s jaw drops to the ground. The mass army of cavalry thought to be barbarians are waving the black flag of the Goldonian nation.
「Those guys…… they came from beyond the mountain nation’s territory.」
「There’s no way! Those are the subhumans who fuck women and eat men, aren’t they!?」
「Didn’t they just come from the east just now?! There’s nobody else but barbarians to the east of this village!」
The middle-aged soldier picks up his spear momentarily, but throws it to the floor soon after.
「This is going to be bad……all the armies are around the border. There’s nobody left from here all the way to the west……」
The pioneer village is located at the absolute far east, but in terms of north-south, it’s located in the middle. If these guys appeared here, that means they’re separated from their allies who are sticking around the northern border.
「……Radov……What do we do?」
The young soldier unusually calls the old man by his name. His voice is clearly showing signs of fear.
「You’re asking what we should do? Well-」
Radov takes the spear from the young soldier and drops it to the floor, handing him a cup filled with alcohol instead.
「There’s nothing we can do. In order to survive, we can only lay here and sleep, hoping we don’t agitate those guys.」
Radov gathers the scattered cards.
–Aegir POV–
「We passed by a pioneer village. Is it fine to ignore it?」
「We don’t have time to worry about it. If they have horses, we’ll steal them, since it’ll be too late for them to make a report on foot.」
The number of soldiers following Celia and I reach 7000. There are 1000 cavalry from the private army and 6000 bow cavalry.
「In this way, they won’t be able to tell where our main force is.」
「Pipi and the others are one with the chief. His hands and feet.」
It’s exactly as Pipi says, since the mountain nation didn’t complain a single time when I asked them to mobilize nearly all of their units. I did tell them if they run out of food, they could let Adolph know though.
「In any case, it really is unmanned here. There are no soldiers here at all.」
「They probably didn’t expect us to pass through the mountain nation’s territory.」
It’s mostly barren and arid land, and not really a place where you could march through. What made it possible for us is that we stored fodder and water at predetermined points beforehand and scouted the area several times to plot the most suitable route for marching.
It wouldn’t have been possible for us without the premise of no interference from the mountain nation and also having them guide us, so naturally Treia would be unable to do this either.
「Leopolt, Irijina seems to be struggling. Take some troops with you and beat their asses.」
「Then, I’ll borrow 1000 bow cavalry.」
Just that little is fine? The enemy stopped Irijina who had 4000.
「When we suddenly appear behind them, they will crumble. It’s sufficient to take an amount capable of threatening pursuit.」
「I see…… Pipi, go with Leopolt.」
As soon as the mountain nation separates from me, their obedience to orders will decrease. My women, Pipi and Luna, needs to be with me.
「And also……absolutely don’t make this village into a battlefield.」
It goes without saying that it’s Mireille’s village. Her village is close to the place where Irijina is fighting, so we can’t rough up that area.
「Is it a woman?」
「A woman, is it……?」
「A woman!?」
「Is it a local mistress?」
They’re annoying, just hurry up and get out of here.
And so, my army marches west to invade the nation of Treia without any hindrance of the enemy’s line of defense.
Side Story – Military Flag (before the outbreak of war)
「A flag, huh……?」
The one who starts off the discussion is Celia.
「During the training exercise, the other nobles had their own flags. And the private army is getting larger too, so why don’t we try and make our own?」
It’s not like a flag makes us capable of fighting in a war, but if it’s something that raises morale, then it might be worth considering.
「Swords and spears are common so it might be hard to recognize your own flag.」
「Well, most nobles who participate in battle have flags like that.」
「Have you thought of anything, Celia?」
「If you don’t mind……how about something like this……」
The picture that Celia drew on the piece of paper is one of a spear-wielding warrior; it’s so well-drawn that I could tell at first glance that it’s me. I think she’s skilled enough to make a living if she went to the city to draw…….
「I’m not so shameless as to put a picture of myself on my flag.」
「Right……」
Celia becomes dejected. Nevertheless, the drawing is quite pretty. Is this how Celia sees me?
「What are you talking about?」
Nonna comes over as she must have heard us chatting about something.
「Oh my, a military flag!? How wonderful. It’s not just for battle, but you could hang it up in different places too, so please allow me to draw something.」
And all of us are frozen when she finishes her drawing.
「How is it? With its large, elegant wings, this winged lion is a legendary mythical beast that symbolizes beauty and strength……and its name is-」
「What’s that?」
Hearing Nonna’s voice get loud, Carla also comes over.
「Grif-……」
「Cockroach? Those things are nasty in summer; they have wings and fly all over the place.」
Nonna hits her head against the desk.
「Please don’t associate it together with something so disgusting! This is a beautiful mythical beast!!」
「What!? It’s your fault that the drawing is so ugly! Besides, it has nothing to do with Aegir!」
Oh, it isn’t a caterpillar with wings? ……if I say that out loud, Nonna will pout again.
「I’ll draw an appropriate flag for Aegir. If this is on the flag, everyone will be surprised for sure~」
The thing Carla draws quickly and smoothly certainly has a deep connection with me and I remember seeing it before. I saw it pretty recently actually. Yep, everyone will be beyond surprised.
「…………Carla-san.」
「Stupid Carla……」
「Hm? What? It’s well-drawn, right?」
The thing Carla drew is a fully erect cock pointing up towards the sky. If I march with this on my flag, it will definitely attract the most attention.
「If you put something like this on the flag, you will bring shame to him forever!!」
「It’s better than that cockroach!」
「……Both of them are no good.」
Celia has gotten tired of their antics and sighs. Mel comes over while watching the two of the fight, holding her belly and having Miu suck on her tits.
「What’s going on? Oh, a flag.」
Celia urges Mel to take a brush as well, after becoming unconcerned, saying how anything she drew would be better than those drawings the other two did.
「It’s finished. What do you think? I’m not that artistic so it might look awful.」
It is a picture of a plains bathed in the warm rays of the sun with several pigeons flying. Just as she said, it isn’t the best looking, but it is a picture that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and soothes your heart.
「……So, are you going take this flag with you when you go out and kill people?」
She’s right, this picture isn’t suitable for a military flag at all.
After that, more squabbling happened and nothing could be decided on. Just when I thought it’s fine not having a stupid flag, Nonna and Carla rubbed some black dye on the paper.
「It’s fine like this, isn’t it?」
The paper is entirely black on one side and there is no pattern or design on it. It saves effort and time this way too.
「Eeeh, this is boring. Let’s make it a dick.」
「A cockroach is better than such a frightening flag.」
「Rejected, I’m going with this. Celia, I’ll leave the rest to you.」
「Yes, I’ll draw it right away!」
Mel is disinterested in the flag already and after showing the picture to her baby, she rocks her to sleep. And also, Nonna……you admitted in the middle there that what you drew is actually a cockroach.
And that is how the flag of the Hardlett army became a pure black flag.
A little while later, I bring up the topic of the flag when I’m talking with Adolph.
「Isn’t red better than black? It stands out.」
「A red flag……? I don’t have the authority to speak about military flags, but I’m not really fond of red. When I see red, it makes me feel unsettling.」
Hmm, it’s also the color of blood. For a guy who isn’t good with violence, I guess he wouldn’t like it.
Aegir Hardlett. 21 years old. Late summer. Wartime.
Subordinate Units
Irijina (4200)
Cavalry: 500, Archers: 800, Infantry: 2700, Combat Engineers: 200
Directly Controlled Troops (7000)
Cavalry: 1000, Bow Cavalry: 6000
Subordinates: Leopolt (Chief of Staff and Deputy General Commander), Celia (Adjutant), Irijina (Captain), Luna (Bow Cavalry Commander), Pipi (Bow Cavalry Commander)
Current Location: Treian Nation, Eastern Region
Accomplishments: None