Chapter 73
1)
In fact, Seina already knew.
When the dwarves stayed here before, Arel got involved in the dwarf drinking without Asha\'s knowledge.
.... At that time, Seina received a bottle of moderately good alcohol, and even after knowing it, she kept her mouth shut.
Other than that, the three of them spend time talking about nonsensical things.
“Come to think of it, did Seina have experience participating in war?”
Asha suddenly asks.
As expected, the problem can\'t leave my mind.
Although he doesn\'t show it, now it\'s because of the alcohol.
Asha has no experience participating in war.
It is common that there is no
“Once... no, maybe twice.”
Seina raised her hand and answered casually.
Having traveled only in the frontline danger zone, she has been deployed on the border and has experience of jumping into small-scale conflicts.
“… I see.”
Asha was a little surprised, as if she knew she would answer, saying that of course there would be no answer.
There is not much difference in age, so what is the difference in this experience?
Should I admire or comfort him before that?
Sensing that Yasa was in trouble, Seina shook her head as if it was nothing.
“It is in the past anyway. And isn’t it fortunate that you have some experience?”
Since it was clear that the future direction of the knights would flow to the point of preparing for war, as Seina said, experienced people were needed.
“And it\'s not yet decided that there will be a war. Wouldn’t it be better to prepare more calmly?”
This fact has not yet been announced within the territory.
Excluding Arel and Kania, all I knew was at most a few people close to me.
“Come to think of it, is Asha a sword that doesn’t have to go back and forth?”
The reason Seina suddenly brought up this story was because Asha\'s younger brother entered the academy in the capital this year.
Arel asked if I could go see it for a day or two, but I declined.
“I don’t know what will happen now. Even if you go later, you will understand.”
The story of the war came out, and although it is said to be considerate, it is not easily accepted.
“Even Yasa should not be so stubborn.”
“Seina is too rough. Come to think of it, Seina hasn’t changed much since the beginning.”
“Compared to Asha.”
haha At first, Asha, who had just been assigned as an escort by Arell, showed a more rigid attitude than now.
Even Seina, who was a classmate in particular, showed a sharp attitude at first.
“Certainly, compared to that time, Asha has improved a little. At that time, he treated me just as well.”
Seina grinned as she recalled the conversation she had just had when she became an escort knight.
“I admit I was a little bit nervous at the time.”
She sighed lightly. When do you bring up the story of the enemy?
“More than that, I know that Seina kept postponing her vacation even before that.”
“Ah... that\'s what I mean...
Seina, too, had to postpone Arel\'s suggestion that she should go back to her hometown at least once, using a suitable excuse.
Seeing that point pointed out, Seina averted her gaze in embarrassment.
“It’s a bit difficult right now.”
“huh?”
Asha felt uncomfortable with her evasive attitude, which was rare for her.
“ah. It\'s nothing, so I shouldn\'t drink today? .... huh? Where is the bottle that was here before?”
“If that\'s the case, Dia just drank it all.”
“As expected, this stuff doesn’t fill my stomach.”
“...You don\'t drink it to be full in the first place, do you?”
In the end, I wondered if I should bring an extra bottle, but I decided to stop for today.
After all, even for the sake of tomorrow, it is difficult to do more than this.
After agreeing to do so, they agreed to end the meeting.
* * *
I checked the documents in the office again and my brain was spinning.
I said it was a possibility, but I moderated it.....
I guess, war will happen unconditionally.
‘That\'s not too far off.\'
No matter how short it is, there is a possibility that it will happen in a year.
Worst of all, you\'re going to spend next year\'s birthday on a battlefield.
Oops... all the swear words come out.
I don\'t usually say bad things out of my mouth.
Anyway, war happens.
Of course, Father guessed that, so he sent an official document so quickly to alert the lords.
There will probably be no exceptions.
It\'s best to miss your expectations.
But in my experience so far, that has never happened.
Because reality always works for the worst.
‘Then it means that I have to assume a war and move on
.
It\'s like a triple alliance.
It\'s called 1 to 3.
cowardly bastards.
Can\'t we just come out and fight fair and square?
Let\'s just come down, take off our rank insignia, and stick together with our fists.
Will my sister deal with it?
me? You can\'t be weak.
I want to complain, but even if I were in their position, I would have liked to have taken a better way than that, not less.
‘How many chances are you going to win?\'
I imagined it roughly assuming that the Three Kingdoms Alliance would come into full swing.
Based on the previous self-taught study, I assumed the troops of the three countries in case of aggression.
‘Approximately 600,000? It must be 700,000.\'
Only the forces that can be turned to the invasion are the end.
No way, the whole army charged without any defense!
I wouldn\'t do something stupid like that.
Wouldn\'t that be the right level?
This is the number assuming a minimum.
If war is a matter of life and death for them, their numbers will increase.
On the other hand, how many troops could be mobilized if the kingdom of Ernesia went back to thorough defense?
‘It must be 600,000 at most.\'
Of course, this will be a number that will be mobilized and will be mobilized within a narrow limit.
If I squeeze out more than this, even if I survive the war safely, the aftereffects won\'t be a joke.
Assuming defense, 600,000 can be said to be a strong enough military force.
The important thing is whose hand the goddess of victory will raise in the end.
‘... It\'s hard for me to be sure of this.\'
If only one empire invades, the invasion will fail.
But what if it\'s 3 to 1?
You can never say that there is no chance of losing.
In the first place, since they also have a possibility, wouldn\'t they be sharpening their spears and swords to form an alliance and attack?
There is no meaning simply looking at the war of attrition.
There are wizards here, and knights with monstrous skills like my sister.
Any factor can produce results that exceed expectations.
‘In the worst case, I can secretly use my hands.\'
If you don\'t want to see it, I just have to overturn the plate.
In fact, the calculations so far have assumed the case where I do not exist.
What if I
I\'m sorry, but there\'s no chance for you to win.
Of course, please don\'t misunderstand.
It\'s not that I\'m going to beat all 700,000.
What monster am I?
But isn\'t war supposed to end when only soldiers are wiped out?
There is a way to intervene by force.
But that\'s the worst case ever.
It should never come to that point.
If so, even if the kingdom is protected, I wonder if my peace will be intact.
The important thing is my honey sucking life.
My goal is to protect my precious daily life.
The loss caused by the war should not interfere with my cozy daily life.
‘As expected, wouldn\'t it be better to prepare?\'
If possible, we hope to deal with it with only the power of our territory.
For that reason, we trained female knights and continued to invest.
‘In that sense, this farming environment modification was right.\'
In fact, the farming environment was reorganized so that the people of the territory could be self-sufficient, and thanks to that, the food situation in our territory was somewhat surplus, which can be said to be fortunate this time.
One of the most important things in the current situation is the food issue, including military rice.
I already have room enough to start selling to some extent in the west and east, but I need to work on this quickly.
It is much more important to stock up on surplus food now than trade.
Maybe some lords have already taken action, so I\'ll have to deal with it quickly.
In particular, the food situation in the West is quite bad right now.
Perhaps there is a possibility that a letter will come to the South and to our side seeking help.
If you can benefit from it, you should have the means to prepare in advance.
The fight between the lords may be more annoying than the enemy right now.
Deciding to be careful, I then remembered the important issue.
‘The next step is to protect our bodies.\'
What should a common frail and good boy lord do to survive a war that might break out soon?
There is only one answer.
We need to increase our armaments.
strong army! strong manor!
You dare to come in?
Then, if you don\'t let a single ant come in, that\'s it.
Things needed for war (1)
First of all, I decided to visit the dwarves\' smithy, which finally opened a chain store in our territory a few months ago.
Because there are items that need to be delivered first.
“Arken? Aren\'t you busy right now?”
If you\'re not busy, why don\'t we chat quietly?
As I entered the forge, I called Aken, the Dwarf blacksmith, and the answer came right away.
okay.
the hammer is
A hammer the size of my head passed by me and was hammered into the wall.
Hmmm....
The answer is bloody.
“Looks like a hammer is free.”
Dwarf Archen walked out, looking very upset.
Seeing this, the soldiers accompanying me were taken aback.
Oh, it\'s the first time I\'ve seen these guys.
Don\'t worry. That\'s his own way of saying hello.
I know better that it\'s a trajectory that won\'t fit anyway.
For your reference, throwing one hammer means you\'re not in a good mood today, and throwing two hammers means you\'re in a good mood.
What hammer do you use instead of a knock?
source? A man named Ben, a disciple of Aken.
.... What a pity.
“what\'s the matter? Is there anything you don\'t like?”
I know that the 14 dwarves and their apprentices who have come to Pahilia, including Aken, have been busy for the past six months.
It\'s because I half-forced them to make a branch here through mouth-watering bait.
Originally, they should have set up a smithy in our territory with a margin of about a year, but they were quick-tempered, and thanks to the bait I threw, they came up in a month.
Therefore, almost half a year after setting up the blacksmith shop, he is still busy with various things, such as dealing with overdue work or problems with adapting to the place.
It means that there is still a mountain of work to be done before the fire in their blacksmith\'s hearth can be lit in earnest.