Chapter 10 – Even Remnants Can Be Tasty Prey

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Imperial Calendar, Year 260 – Moon of the Rose Quartz (October)

My side business was developing nicely and just as I was busy dealing with governmental work, a summons from His Majesty the Demon King arrived. The ones mentioned in the letter were Malida, Liese, and I.

As for the reason, there are just too many things that come into question with this personnel selection. I’m sure the demon king must have heard about Malida having led the whole army to the mountain folk’s territory while making Liese defend our stronghold, Castle Ashley, by herself.

Then again, I didn’t expect that it’d escape the demon king’s eyes and ears anyway. But, since there were some circumstances I wanted to explain, we boarded the carriage that had been prepared in a hurry.

“Haaaah, my waist feels sore…”

I stretched myself inside the carriage while feeling waist pain. I always feel pain in my waists whenever I travel in a carriage, but my current ailing has another reason besides that ―― my punishment of Malida.

I’ve been forgetting it because of my busy schedule, but I’ve constantly punished Malida in the name of educational guidance for having entrusted Liese with the castle while making the whole army do a forced march. Thanks to that, my waist feels sore now.

Malida is the family head and commander of the army, but the troops under my control until they reach the battlefield. Therefore I had to teach her the demerits of going against orders.

But, as I worked too hard on that, Malida might have awoken to a weird fetish…

My body is still young, so my libido is wild and I’ve got plenty of energy left. My fellow travel companion Liese and our guard Luminas had to take the bullet for me, becoming secondary victims of my hustle time.

Malida complained with an artificial sniffing, “Albert, you’re too hard on me who managed to get the enemy commander’s head. Liese-tan, Luminas-tan, I’d like you to give me some soothing please!”

Malida, who had Luminas give her a lap pillow inside the carriage, had become contrary due to my educational measures.

“I haven’t asked anything overly challenging from you. If you hadn’t left everything back at home to Liese, provoked the enemies on the battlefield as supreme commander, and forced our troops into a grueling march, I’d have even praised you.”

“There’s no way that I could be held back in any way by such shitty small-fry soldiers. You worry too much, Albert. Luminas-tan, clean my ears.”

“Ah, yes. Right away.”

“Liese-tan, I’d like you to massage my hips. After all, they got quite extremely strained thanks to a certain someone.”

“Okaaay, over here, Malida-ane-sama?”

“Yep, yep. Ah, that’s the spot. Perfect.”

Liese started to massage Malida’s hips and back.

“Please excuse me then, Malida-sama,” Luminas blew into Malida’s ear as she cleaned it, causing Malida to tremble.

“Unngh, that tickles.”

As I watched them going at it for a while while easing the pain of my waists, I noticed Malida, who had become bored, fixing her eyes on Luminas’s tail.

In the next moment, Malida’s hand reached for Luminas’s tail.

“Malida-onee-sama, it’s dangerous to play around with Luminas-chan’s tail while she’s cleaning your ears.”

“It’s okay. No problem. Come on, how about this place, Luminas-tan? You’re twitching quite a bit. Here? Or here?”

Malida immersed herself in enjoying Lumina’s tail. Her appearance was totally that of a normal, middle-aged pervert getting it off from sexually harassing others, but…if the one doing it is a beautiful woman, it’s being regarded as a wonderful act of lesbianism. That’s one of the strange parts in this and my previous world. Personally, I don’t dislike women flirting around with each other, so I don’t feel like cautioning her or anything, though.

“Hauu! Luminas-tan, you stabbed it too deeply. Ah, ah, aah, naaawww!”

“Hyaaa! S-Sorry. Because you’ve been playing around with my tail, my hand… Sorry, please forgive me!”

Because of Malida’s sexual harassment, Luminas apparently stabbed the earpick too deeply into Malida’s ear. Malida’s body twitched repeatedly from all the pain with drool running out of her mouth.

But, given that Malida simply reaped what she sowed, I shifted my eyes outside the window, brooding about what to do from now on.

But, well, since we were summoned for a private audience, and not an official one, I don’t want to believe that we’ll be harshly scolded. Besides, now that the matter, which I had been preparing, has reached a certain stage, the summons is actually a windfall.

■

Once we arrived at the imperial palace after one week of traveling in our carriage, Malida headed towards the private room of His Majesty the Demon King with the usual haughty look on her face. Liese and I followed her.

“I-I have been definitely called to the totally wrong place, haven’t I? So far as it goes, I’m holding a baron peerage, but I’ve never had an official audience with His Majesty.”

Come to think of it, when Liese became aware of the things around her, the Alkor family had already left Elancia’s sphere of influence. Given that she was on Alexa’s side, it makes sense that she never met the demon king.

“Oh right, Liese-tan, it’s your first time meeting Brother. He’s not really scary or anything. Since you’re my lover, you don’t need to act reserved around him.”

That’s not the point, is it? Malida should get scolded for having left the castle to Liese for sure. Well, the demon king likely won’t say much since he’s doting on her, but I can already see that he’ll unload his frustration on me instead.

I guess I’ll have to do my best at negotiating.

“Brother, it’s me. Forgive me for not being able to come lately. I’ve been busy.”

Once Malida opened the door without waiting for a reply, my eyes met with the demon king’s who had examined some documents on his desk beforehand.

“It’s great of you to visit. Come on in. I also wanted to see you after such a long time, Malida. I’ll have the wine prepared, so wait for a moment.”

“Nothing less of you, Brother! I want to drink the tasty wine of the capital. Also, this here is a souvenir. It’s a fruit wine we got from the mountain folk. It’s got its own quirk, but it’s pretty decent, once you get used to it.”

“I see. If you say so, it must be quite good.”

The demon king rang the ball lying near his hand and ordered the maid, who showed up in response, to prepare some wine.

“Also, today I’m wearing the balm which Albert created most recently. It smells nicely, doesn’t it?”

The demon king brought his face close to the hand Malida held out to him.

“Hmm, it smells nice indeed. Of course, I can have some of it as a souvenir as well, yes?”

“Of course. We brought plenty with us, so please use it freely.”

“It’s probably Albert’s suggestion, but I’ll take you up on the offer anyway.”

The demon king shifted his eyes towards us and beckoned us over.”

Albert, Liese von Alkor, you may enter as well. Let’s enjoy the wine you brought together. We’ll talk afterwards.”

“O-Okay, please excuse me then.”

“Excuse me.”

I have already told the demon king about Liese being a female family head, but she was officially being treated as a male family head. Because of that, she was dressing as a guy today.

We entered the demon king’s room and sat down on the sofa offered to us.

“It seems like you have been quite flashy in the territory of the mountain folk, Albert. The ones acting as my eyes and ears kicked up quite a racket about it.”

Maids entered the room and placed wine cups in front of us. Afterwards they poured Malida’s fruit wine into the cups.

“Even the mountain folk with their high desire for autonomy got cold feet when faced with Albert’s ingenuity. They’ll immediately gather once Albert tells them to.”

“Hooh, that’s interesting. Did you become the king of the mountain folk, Albert?”

The demon king pointed a sharp stare at me.

“Please allow me to correct that the mountain folk aren’t obeying me personally, but the Erwin family.”

Since I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of the demon king’s suspicions, I emphasized that the mountain folk had become the power of the Erwin family.

“Does that mean the mountain folk obey the Erwin family?” The demon king asked to make sure.

He probably had the impression that the mountain folk could very likely become a potential enemy due to the issue with Hero’s Sword.

“Yes, they will become important retainers of the Erwin family someday.”

“The daughter of the great clan chief, Luminas, is cute. I’ve taken a liking to her. Of course, Albert too. If she becomes pregnant with his child, we plan to take it in as my retainer.”

The demon king’s sharp stare relaxed thanks to Malida’s explanation.

“Is that so? Then I have no choice but to abandon the plan to eradicate the mountain folk. Otherwise I’d be scolded by Malida.”

So he had planned to wipe them out after all! If I didn’t manage to successfully rally the mountain folk under our banner, we’d have gotten dragged into a draining guerrilla-warfare in the mountains.

“You did well to bring the mountain folk together and win them over for our side. Nothing less of you, Albert. That resourcefulness of yours will make the Erwin family many times stronger.”

“Thank you for your kind words. I feel deeply grateful, Your Majesty. I shall keep exercising my ingenuity to the utmost for the sake of Elancia and the Erwin family.”

“Mmh, I’ll depend on your resourcefulness as well.”

The demon king personally poured some more wine into my cup. It looks like he’s trusting me somewhat after I distinguished myself with a series of achievements.

Since I’m the husband of Malida, I won’t become his direct follower, but I feel like he’s got a better opinion of me as someone who can handle that wild horse Malida skillfully.

“The matter with the mountain folk was resolved outstandingly, but I heard a problem, which I cannot ignore, occurred in the middle of it――”

Once I drank the wine the demon king poured for me, he suddenly broached the topic for which he had summoned us.

Wait, I still haven’t prepared my heart for this――

I placed the cup on the table, immediately went down on my knees and lowered my head.

“It was my mistake to allow Liese von Alkor-dono to be entrusted with the defense of Castle Ashley while Malida-sama departed to the front, so please show your mercy to them!”

“What are you talking about, Albert? I’ve told you many times that Brother knows the character of us oni. Besides, he understands me quite well too.”

That’s true. It’s no problem to have entrusted Liese von Alkor with the defense of Castle Ashley. Even if she had betrayed us, Malida would have taken back the castle in no time.”

“I’d never betray Malida-sama. She’s the person who has saved my people.”

Lieze was startled by the talk having suddenly turned to be about her. Just like me, she knelt down on the floor and lowered her head.

As I thought, going by his words just now, the demon king doesn’t trust Liese at all. He just allowed it because Malida said she wanted to shelter, but he was planning to crush her right away, if she ever showed any signs of treachery.

This is going to become an issue, if I don’t let Liese score some points with him as soon as possible. Besides, if Liese’s matter isn’t the reason for the summons, the real reason must be about that other matter.

“If you say the matter with Liese-dono is no problem, did you call us here because I instigated the remnants, who broke away from Hero’s Sword due to the internal conflicts, to head over to a certain noble?”

“Indeed. What are you scheming, Albert? Tell me now and here.”

So I was right. I had planned to bring it up from my side, but it seems like the demon king has already found out about my movements.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! Please allow me to explain from the beginning then. My intelligence agency has obtained information that the head of the Floyger family, Glyze Floyger, is preparing to defect to Alexa with his territory of Bavst. He has had secret talks with a messenger from Marquis Brolish who is reorganizing Alexa’s royal army in Tiana. I hear their plan is to have the royal army attack the fief of the Alkor family. At the same time, the Floyger family will collude with Alexa and attack our Castle Ashley after we depart to reinforce the Slat fief.”

The demon king silently listened to my words while nodding. I’m sure he’s mentally comparing the information with what he’s heard from his own intelligence agency.

“Accordingly I worked out a counterplan. I made the remnants of Hero’s Sword head to Bavst by spreading rumors about the Floyger family sheltering believers of Hero’s Sword. The Floyger family needs soldiers suited for battle too, so they took in the remnants of Hero’s Sword who are eager to fight against Elancia.”

“So, what do you plan to do? Tell me the plan.”

The demon king had apparently grasped the situation to an extent from just hearing my explanation. Without demanding more details, he directly asked me for my plan.

“I have been thinking about carrying out a sudden, compulsory inspection of the Floyger family who is sheltering the remnants of Hero’s Sword. We will arrest those standing against the empire who lend a helping hand in the sheltering of the remnants, punish them for hiding members of an illegal organization, capture the family head Glyze, and crush the Floyger family. The territory itself will be turned into imperial land under Your Majesty’s direct control.”

Hearing the plan, a grin formed on the demon king’s lips.

“That’s vicious. A plan that allows to discontinue the family and to punish them legally for another crime without even allowing them to betray the empire. I hear the Floyger family was very upset about not receiving any rewards for the recent battles against Alexa. But, I hate incompetent people. And the same applies to traitors. Alright. Albert, we will use your plan.”

“Please appoint Liese von Alkor to be the inspector for the compulsory inspection of the Floyger family then. She will properly carry out her duty as imperial noble.”

“Very well. Liese von Alkor, I appoint you as inspector who is to perform a compulsory inspection of the Floyger family. Since I will attach Malida to you as vice-inspector, make sure to succeed by consulting with her.”

“Eh? Ah, okay! I shall do my utmost for the sake of Elancia!”

Judging that it’d be hard for the young Liese to carry out an inspection by herself, the demon king attached Malida to her as vice-inspector. It looks like the demon king wants to crush the Floyger after preparing everything perfectly.

I’ll support Liese, but since she’s supposed to show that she can get jobs done properly this time, I plan to have the Alkor family work hard on that inspection of the Floygers.

“Okay, Your Majesty, would you be as kind as to bestow us with your personal permission to carry out the investigation?”

“Sure. Wait a moment.”

The demon king stood up from his sofa and swiftly jotted something down on a blank parchment placed on his desk. After his quill stopped moving, he handed two letters to Liese.

“These her are the permission for the inspection and a writ to prove your appointment as inspector. I grant you the right to investigate the Floyger family as my representative. You may slay anyone not obeying those orders.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Thank you very much. We will definitely crush the Floyger family and offer their territory to you, Your Majesty.”

For the time being, I was apparently spared of the rebuke I had been fearing. We got permission for Liese to earn some points. All that’s left now is to thoroughly trash the Floyger family.”

“Can we go to war!? I’m itching to put my skills to use! Those weaklings from Hero’s Sword had no backbone whatsoever! Cutting down around 300 people is far too little.”

“Malida, there won’t be any wars. It’s an inspection. I-n-s-p-e-c-t-i-o-n. You cannot just go and cut them down all of a sudden. However, if you thrust the evidence at them and they resist, you are free to do as you please.”

“I understand. Brother, Albert has been making me handle governmental work every day, so I have grown as well. I can simply pretend that the other party resisted when I showed them something akin to proof. I’ve become smart as well.

Wrong! That’s not how it works, Malida-san! You’re talking about forging evidence! Please don’t accumulate unneeded wit.

“Albert, Liese von Alkor, make sure to properly supervise Malida so the she doesn’t go berserk.”

“”Yes!””

“Why, Brother!? I don’t think I said anything wrong there!”

Afterwards we enjoyed a little party in the demon king’s chamber, but for the most part, it felt more like the demon king was listening to Malida talking about the women she made her lovers.

Eventually the party came to an end. On the next day we left the capital early in the morning, returning to Castle Ashley.

■

“I will mobilize the retainers and peasant soldiers of the Alkor family as an inspection unit. They’ll number 250 in total. They’ll be completely armed.

“Yeah, please do. The Alkor family must do its best for the upcoming inspection.”

Luminas accepted a letter written up by Liese.

“Luminas-chan, deliver this letter to the governor of Slat. It informs him to mobilize the troops as I’ll officially do a joint combat practice with the Erwin family in the Ashley fief. We have to avoid the enemy finding out anything about our plans.”

Liese was restricting the information even to her allies in order to carry out the forced inspection as suddenly and unexpectedly as possible.

“Okay! It will be delivered right away.”

Luminas quickly exited my office while carrying the letter. Because the Goshoot clan could move faster than ordinary people thanks to their secret skill, it should be delivered to the Slat fief by tomorrow.

“It should take around five days for the troops to arrive in the designated place after the mobilization is done. My family can’t move as quickly as Malida-sama’s. Sorry.”

“It’s no problem as long as the information about the forced inspection isn’t leaked. The Floyger is still only preparing to betray us, too. We can easily take the initiative, even if we need to wait another five days.”

“Albert, will I be waiting in vain?”

Given the ruse of doing a joint combat exercise, the Erwin family will mobilize as well, but only Malida will be allowed to accompany Liese to the compulsory inspection of the Floyger family.

The real enemy, which the mobilized oni will be fighting, is Alexa’s royal army which will likely close in on the Alkor family in concert with the betrayal of the Floyger family.

Based on the outcome of last year’s war, I believe that Alexa’s royal army is still instilled with a deep fear towards the Erwin family.

“Don’t worry. Albert-sama will prepare a delicious treat for you as well.”

Hearing Lichere’s words, Malida’s face bloomed into a bright smile.

“Is that treat really going to be tasty? I don’t want some half-cooked crap like the one from last time.”

“Yes, I think they will possess quite a bit of backbone.”

“I see. In that case Uncle and Lator will probably be satisfied as well. I’m looking forward to the day of the exercise.”

After this, we sent notifications to all related places that we would carry out a joint combat exercise on the 20th day of the Moon of the Rose Quartz.

■

On the day of the joint combat exercise, the oni and Alkor family’s forces had gathered on a plain near the territorial border with the Floyger family’s fief. The oni were raising some weird battle cries.

“As always, the oni are being quite noisy, aren’t they?”

Warid, whom I had entrusted with the investigation of the Hero’s Sword remnants, had appeared in order to give me his report.

“Oh, Warid, it’s you. Sorry for all the noise. By the way, what are the remnants of Hero’s Sword at the Floyger family up to?”

“Those who split away from Hero’s Sword due to the rumors you spread, have mostly been sheltered and hidden away by the Floyger family.”

“Were you able to pin down their hiding place?”

“Yeah. The renegades are being hidden by the village chiefs, who are close to Alexa, in the southern region of Bavst. The northern village chiefs didn’t accept the secessionists.”

“Hmm, I see. Just as expected… In that case, let’s ignore the north and suddenly investigate the southern farm villages.”

“I have confirmed a place where many renegades are sheltered in a southern village. If we raid the place right away, we should be able to obtain plenty of evidence.”

If we fly the flag of an inspector, sent by Elancia’s authorities, people should believe that we’re doing regular inspection work and leave us alone, even if we move around within the territory of the Floyger family.

In the meantime, we’ll catch the village chiefs and the renegades hiding out in the southern villages. Let’s quickly offer the head of Glyze to the demon king for the crime of hiding an illegal organization.

“The preparations for the punishment of the Floyger family seem to be going well. What about Alexa’s royal army?”

“They have concluded the negotiations with the Floyger family. Around a thousand soldiers have already departed Tiana. On the way, they have gathered another thousand soldiers from the surrounding lords and are now heading for the Slat fief with around 2,000 soldiers.”

Nice, nice, it sounds like we also managed to drag in a treat for the warriors of the Erwin family.

“If it’s that sort of combat force, the Erwin family won’t lose. Especially not while attacking them in a surprise attack. Anyway, you were able to prepare a person who’s going to pretend to be the messenger of the Floyger family, right?”

“Yep, that’s done. A letter informing Marquis Brolish of a fake timing for the betrayal should be delivered today. Even if they’re very slow, you can consider them to arrive near the Slat territory in five days.”

That means we have to take down Glyze, chop off his head, and get Liese to take full control of the Bavst fief within three days.

I asked Liese, who was standing nearby, to order the start of our operation.

“S-Sure, got it. There has been a change in our plans. We have received a direct order from His Majesty, the Emperor of Elancia. We’ll start a compulsory inspection of the Floyger family who is suspected to shelter the remnants of Hero’s Sword. Everyone of the Alkor family, follow me!”

Liese had the flag, which is exclusive to inspectors and can only be used by those appointed by the Emperor, raised and advanced towards the Floyger family’s fief while leading her army.

“The soldiers of the Erwin family are to follow the orders of my uncle and hide at the location designated by Albert. You will wait there for Alexa’s royal army to arrive! Uncle, Lator, you are not to launch the attack until instructed to do so by Albert. Breaking that order will lead you directly to the special reflection room!”

Brest and Lator, who had been accused of acting against orders at the battle in the mountain folk’s territory, were sentenced to five days of special reflection room, so they now nodded obediently, apparently having reflected on their previous transgressions a bit.

“I, fight, Albert, order, roger.”

“I also, roger.”

Them replying like robots made me feel somewhat worried, but since Warid will also be with them as my liaison, I’d like to believe that they won’t go berserk.

“Warid, please take care of those two.”

“As you command. I shall keep in close contact with Luminas.”

Brest took Warid with him and after making the noisy oni quiet down, he started to run towards the area indicated by me together with his son.

“Alright. With this I’ll be able to rampage at the Floyger family and then fight against Alexa’s royal army. Uhihi, I’m itching for battle!”

The person, who seems the most probable candidate for going berserk, should be fine since I’m holding her reins.

“Now then, Malida-sama, Luminas, we got to catch up with Liese.

“Yahoooo! Battle! It’s time for battle!”

Malida jumped on her horse and chased after Liese while brandishing her greatsword.

“Albert-sama, please get into the carriage.”

“Sure, let’s go.”

Luminas and I climbed on the carriage and followed Malida.

■

“Hellooo, I’m Imperial Inspector Liese von Alkor. Hey, you over there, don’t move. Any weird movements will be met by Malida-ane-sama’s sword! Stay still!”

When I opened the door, several men and women were sitting around a fireplace, eating a meal. Seeing how all age groups from children to elderly were represented, this must be a happy family get-together.

Inspector Liese stomped into the house of a village chief, who was close to Alexa according to Warid, while leading her soldiers.

“Sorry for dropping by so late at night, but you see, His Majesty the Emperor is worried about a bad rumor he heard about this village. I’ve received an imperial decree to investigate it in his stead. Could I have your cooperation on this?”

“Eh? Huh? An inspector from Elancia!? Eh? Why!?”

While the inhabitants of the house were confused, Alkor’s armed soldiers secured the entrance so that there would be no suspicious movements by the village chief’s family.”

“Seriously, I’m sorry to do this while you’re eating. White bread, cow steak, and a fresh salad as garnish. You even have high-quality wine. Mmh, you’re eating some very nice stuff there.”

“What’s the idea with that compulsory inspection by Elancia? This is a village belonging to the Floyger family… Does Glyze-dono know about this?”

The village chief was obviously shaken after hearing Liese introducing herself as imperial inspector. Weird sweat started to run down his face. No matter how you look at it, he’s clearly hiding something condemnable in his heart.

Well, it’s only natural for him to get panicked. After all, it means the death sentence, if it’s found out that he’s hiding renegades of Hero’s Sword, an organization labeled as illegal in Elancia.

Twelve people are inside the house. According to the information gathered by Warid’s subordinate, this family has four members. In other words, eight renegades are being hidden inside this place.

“Alright, you eight people over there. Stay still and don’t move. Could you answer some…of my questions for a bit? Well, you don’t have any right to refuse either way. If you do, your head will go flying, so be nice and do as you’re told.”

Liese pointed at the eight renegades and once she asked them for a “talk” in another room, the village chief’s face went stiff.

“T-These people are distant relatives of mine… They’re just staying the night here today…”

As soon as Liese snapped her fingers, the renegades were seized by her retainers.

“Village Chief-san, I’m sorry to inform you, but the truth has already been exposed. If you shelter people related to Hero’s Sword, it’ll result in a death penalty. There’s no way you don’t know that, is there?”

Liese looked at the village chief with a sharp glint in her eyes. At this moment, she truly looked like a gallant, young knight.

“Hiii!”

Being told that the cat’s out of the bag, the village chief crumbled to the ground without even trying to resist.

“It looks like we got you to understand. It’d also be fine if you resist. That way I’d be able to get some fun out of this, too.”

Malida was using her greatsword as a substitute cane while watching Alkor’s armed soldiers tying the renegades with ropes. The eight people, who had been constrained as renegades remained silent all the time, still trying to play dumb.

“Playing innocent is pointless, too. We have already grasped that this village is sheltering members of the Feral Clan of the mountain folk. Of course, as we speak, armed soldiers are heading to all the other places to capture the other clan members.”

The captives started to tremble. I was holding a list of remnants which the Goshoot and Warihara clans had compiled for us through a thorough investigation. In front of me were some of the diehards who had run away. For the sake of a final confirmation, we had them lined up in front of a Warihara clan spy whom we brought with us.

He nodded, deciding their guilt and fate.

“Take them away.”

After we made sure that the bound renegades had left the house, Liese and I slowly turned back to the village chief. Liese drew her sword and pressed the blade against his neck.

“Now then, Village Chief-dono, I’ll have you arrested on the charge of sheltering the renegades.”

“Ugh! That’s… Is this something acknowledged by Lord Glyze as well?”

“Allow me to ask you something: Is Lord Glyze or His Majesty the Emperor more important? How about it? Answer me.”

“T-That’s…”

The village chief had worked hard to prepare the revolt after being instigated by his lord, so now he didn’t feel comfortable in his skin.

“Liese-sama, we found it. A gold coin with the Hero Sword’s seal and a letter with Lord Glyze’s signature.”

One of the soldiers, who had searched the whole house, discovered the evidence we were looking for.

“T-That’s…!? Wrong, you’re wrong!”

The letter, which was composed very politely, talked about the plan to use the renegades of Hero’s Sword and collude with Alexia’s royal army to steal land from Elancia.

“My goodness! Not only did you hide renegades of Hero’s Sword, but we even found proof for a rebellion. Albert, what does imperial law say about criminals who planned to stage a rebellion again?”

“Regardless of age and gender, their entire family will be put to death.”

“Hiii…you’re wrong. That’s not true. We simply sheltered the remnants of Hero’s Sword because Lord Glyze has been so nagging about assisting him. We haven’t considered starting a rebellion or anything like that at all!”

“We got the proof, so we can cut them all down, right?”

Malida thrust her beloved greatsword at the neck of the village chief.

“Hiiiiii! Nooooooo!

Having pissed his pants out of fear, the village chief sank to the floor and began to beg for his life while rubbing his forehead against the hard ground.

I lightly tapped his shoulder.

“There exists a correct way to handle evil deeds, you know? It’s called sincerity. Could you show us some of it? Your feelings will do just fine. Just show it with your feelings.”

I had grasped that a part of the treasures, which the renegades brought with them, had been passed on to the village chief. As part of the inspector’s duty, we also must confiscate all the money and food they received from the illegal organization.

Well, even if he demonstrates his sincerity, it’ll just delay the time until he’s cut down here or beheaded alongside Glyze. It’d be his own fault for going along with my sugar coated words.

“So, how much sincerity do you possess, Village Chief-dono? Our Vice-Inspector has a short temper, you see.”

“O-Of course. I’ll offer you half. Please let me off with this much.”

The village chief was prostrating himself on the ground while pressing his forehead against the ground, but the amount of money was lacking as display of sincerity ¹.

“Half, you say? In that case, I guess we should only spare half of you, right?”

Malida felt dissatisfied by the offered amount of money and placed the blades of her sword on the top of his head.

“I-I will give you e-everything! I will offer all of it! So, please spare my life! Please!”

“So you can show your sincerity, if you try hard, eh? That’s great. It looks like you’re not going to lose half of your body for the time being.”

I tapped the trembling man’s shoulder once more.

“Thank you kindly for your generous treatment.”

The exposure of the enemy went down without a hitch. The village chief and his whole family were arrested and 100 renegades, who had been hiding out in the village, were captured before they could run away.

The villagers worriedly watched the train of wagons taking away their chief and his family.

“Ah, sorry for causing such a ruckus. We have arrested the village chief on the charge of plotting a rebellion against Elancia. We also captured the renegades of Hero’s Sword.”

The anxiety on the faces of the villagers deepened as they talked among each other.

“Oh, please don’t worry. If you follow our orders, you won’t be seen as involved in the crime.”

“Plotting a rebellion…our village chief has done that?”

“Yes, indeed. You people don’t need to worry about anything?”

“Really?”

“Yes. But…,” my face suddenly tightened after I had been smiling up until now.

After gathering the villagers’ attention, I deliberately remained silent for a bit to accelerate their worries. You could actually hear someone swallowing hard. At the same time, I started to talk.

“There are no people here, who plot to start a rebellion against Elancia, besides the village chief, right?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Then you don’t need to worry.”

Sighs of relief spread among the villagers.

“Also, just as before, you’ll be guaranteed a freedom of choice when it comes to religion, but Hero’s Sword has been judged to be an illegal organization. You aren’t allowed to believe their teachings. Please make sure to closely observe this, okay?”

The villagers responded by vigorously shaking their heads up and down. So far as it goes, I’ve alienated the village chiefs and his conspirators from the rest of the village. One must thoroughly pluck out all sprouts of insurrectionist feelings in farm villages.

Given that I told the gathered villagers everything I could, I headed to the person who contributed to the success of this time’s compulsory blitz inspection.

“Now then, you sold out your father, but did you think you could evade the capital crime of your family with that?”

The village chief’s son deeply lowered his head upon my question. He already had his own family, living at another place. He was the ringleader who had noticed his father’s complicity in the planned rebellion and provided Warid with the necessary internal information.

Apparently he couldn’t forgive his own father for going along with the lord’s cajolery, inviting an illegal organization, which planned to carry out a rebellion, into the village, and thus putting the whole family in danger.

“No, as his son, I’m fully expecting to be charged with capital crime for being involved in this.”

I thought he might be a normal farmer, but a guy, who doesn’t even blink with his life on the line, might actually be usable in real combat.

“I have one condition for saving you from sharing your family’s fate. Lead the villagers and enter under the command of Inspector Liese von Alkor in order to arrest the other village chiefs and Lord Glyze of the Floyger family. If you help us with arresting those trying to stage a revolt, we will pardon your crimes. But, you’re going to have to hold your father and siblings accountable.”

“Understood. I will enter under Liese-sama’s command and capture the insurgents in the Bavst territory.”

The village chief’s son seems to have a lot of guts. He doesn’t even blink when I suggest he charges his father and siblings with the death penalty. He seems to have calmly analyzed the situation affecting his family and chosen the option to keep his family alive by cooperating with us over the lives of his father and siblings.

“Only death awaits if you betray me. You should probably know as much since you have experienced our intelligence network first hand.”

“Yes! If I should ever plan to betray you, I will end up being a corpse on the next day.”

“Indeed. Hence, work hard to hunt down all the insurgents.”

Malida entered the house and whispered into my ear, “You’re too soft on him. He’s the son of a rebel. Wouldn’t it be better to punish him a lot harder?”

“I don’t mind. If I’m betrayed by someone who I trusted, it just means that I failed to discern their real character.”

Hearing my words, the village chief’s son suddenly lifted his face and tears started to trickle down. Winning over a person’s heart and mind is always best when it comes to employing new personnel. What wins a person’s heart and mind, you ask?

Well, that’s obviously trust and praise. 『I’m counting on you. I’ll take responsibility, so act as you see fit』 or 『It was good that I left things in your hands』 were phrases I never got to hear from my bosses during my time as company employee.

Based on that lesson, I made sure to give the village chief’s son some hope. Of course, I would also prepare some measures against a potential betrayal in a way that wouldn’t be noticed.

“Albert-sama! Thank you very much. I shall devote my whole heart to get the work done.”

The village chief’s son left the house, immediately gathered the villagers, had them arms themselves, and entered under Liese’s command.

The compulsory inspection of the Floyger family by the Alkor family was carried out at a quick pace. On the next day, we had already arrested 100 Bavst residents such as village chiefs and their families, who had been planning to stage a rebellion, and 300 renegades of Hero’s Sword.

The reason why we could arrest all these people so quickly could be traced back to the village chief’s son being an extremely capable commander. Once I told him to work hard at hunting down the insurgents, he did just that.

Because he was a talent I met in an unexpected place, I decided that I’d give him a job interview once we were done dealing with the aftermath.

We left the Bavst territory to Inspector Liese, who accomplished the compulsory inspection in no time, and chased after Glyze Floyger who ran away with a few of his closest retainers.

“Hey, give it a rest! You won’t be able to escape!”

Malida, who had gone ahead, was riding further ahead as a lone horsewoman. She continued to lop off the heads of Glyze’s retainers who were fleeing on horseback. Her movements reminded one of a sheepdog who was herding a flock of sheep.

“Don’t pay any attention to Bloody Oni! Once we enter Alexa, the pursuit will stop!”

Without even trying to look back at the retainers he already lost, Glyze raised the speed in order to shake off Malida. Luminas and I were watching that from inside the carriage. Including our guards, our pursuit unit numbered ten people, but since we had Malida, we wouldn’t lose to the roughly twenty retainers of Glyze.

The speed of the carriage increased and we pulled up next to Malida.

I called out to her, “Malida-sama, we don’t have any time to play around, so please hurry up and take them down. Otherwise you won’t be in time to participate in the feast.”

Because we had to finish the matter with Glyze until Alexa’s royal army would arrive, we didn’t have any time to spend much longer on this.

“You’re right. There’s no time to mess around here!”

Malida retrieved a rod-shaped piece of iron with a sharp end from her pocket. Because she had taken a liking to the throwing weapon, which Warid’s Goshoot clan used for self-defense, she had them make some for her own use.

If my memory serves me right, it’s exactly the same as the throwing knife used by ninja.

Once she took aim, Malida threw the kunai. It lodged itself in the back of a retainer, who then fell off his horse, tumbling across the ground.

“Don’t stick together! You’ll be taken down from behind! Spread out!”

Realizing that one of his retainers had fallen victim to a throwing knife, Glyze ordered his men to disperse, but it was already too late.

“I will never forgive anyone who betrays Brother!”

“Gahaaa!”

One of Malida’s kunai stabbed into the back of Glyze’s head. He was thrown off his horse and rolled across the ground. The remaining retainers tried to challenge Malida to take revenge for their dead lord, but they all fell victim to her greatsword.

“Pheew, it’s done.”

A guard of the Goshoot clan caught up with her, chopped off the head of Glyze, and put it into a head bucket.

“Not yet. The next treat is heading this way, so let’s hurry to not be late.”

“According to a message by my father, Alexa’s royal army seems to close in on the ambush location without even sending out any scouts.”

“We mustn’t be late to the battlefield! We will hurry without any breaks! Just leave the heads of Glyze’s retainers here!”

After just having collected Glyze’s head, we headed for the spot where the soldiers of the Erwin family were hiding.

■

“Gehehe, delicious prey is walking over there so obliviously. Can I gobble them down?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Please eradicate them once and for all. If there’s no Alexa’s royal army stationed in Tiana anymore, the surrounding lords should stop meddling with Elancia.”

We had defeated Glyze and then joined up with the Erwin forces which had gone ahead to the Slat fief. Currently the royal army was advancing along the main road towards the Slat fief while we were hidden on top of a mountain allowing us to overlook their march.

The enemy army believed that the soldiers of the Alkor family weren’t present in the Slat fief and that the soldiers of the Erwin family were preoccupied with the subjugation of Glyze, thanks to the fake messenger dispatched by Warid.

Because of that, they didn’t even show a trace of caution by sending out scouts as they were passing through a narrow part of the road which was passing through a ravine.

“Haa, haa, Albert, can I attack them now? If I wait too long, that dumb father of mine will become too impertinent.”

Having overcome the lingering symptoms of the Special Reflection Room, Lator was eager to attack the enemy below us, his eyes bloodshot.

“It’s just as Lator says. I can clearly picture Uncle, who’s encamped on the other side’s mountain foot, talking down Warid after spotting such tasty prey.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Very well, let us start the first phase of the strategy!”

“Alright! Drop the rocks! Divide the enemy!”

In response to Malida’s loud and clear order, the mighty oni pushed heavy rocks towards the edge of the ravine. The rocks then dropped down while loudly crashing against the wall, succeeding to split the army below in five groups.

“E-Enemy attack! The enemy is hiding! Be on your guard! Get the ranks in order!”

“Our unit cannot fall back as the way behind us is blocked by rocks!”

“Rocks are blocking our front! Where should we go!?”

Alexa’s royal army became unable to move about as both sides were now blocked by rocks.

“Luminas, please contact Warid through the mirror.”

“Yes, I will get on it right away.”

Luminas sent a light signal to start the operation to Brest’s group, which was hiding on the opposite mountain, by reflecting the sunlight with a mirror.

Brest’s troops started to deploy at once and threw several jars filled with petroleum (burning water) towards Alexa’s royal army and at the same time, they let a barrage of fire arrows rain down on the enemy.

“Fire! A fire is going! At this rate, we will be enveloped by the flames!”

“The flames are all over the place! Where should we run to!?”

“Retreat! Fall back!”

“Idiot, don’t move backwards! Advance! We have no other way than moving forward!”

With their way blocked by rocks and fire, Alexa’s royal army couldn’t advance nor retreat and thus they were moving about in confusion.

“They sure are burning nicely! That black water from the mountain folk is quite useful.”

The petroleum, which was currently burning vigorously, naturally gushed out of the ground at some places in the mountains of the mountain folk. They used it for fuel and lighting. After learning about its existence from Warid, I had it used for our present operation.

“Albert, Malida-nee-san! It’s fine for us to hunt down the soldiers at the end of the line, right!?”

Seeing that out plan had worked out, Lator pointed at the last separated group, the sole group with a way out, and begged us to let him sally forth.”

“Yeah, go for it. Malida-sama will take on the soldiers trying to run away, so feel free to kill as many as you can.”

“YAHOOOOOOOOO! Let’s go, you lazy bums!”

“Lator, everyone, it’s first come, first served with the enemy heads! I’m going ahead~!”

“How unfair, Malida-nee-san! Don’t fall behind! Otherwise, everything will be snatched away from us!”

“””YEEEAH!”””

Leading the oni soldiers, Lator followed Malida, running down the cliff.

“We will snipe the enemy from up here. Everyone, pick up your bows and let them arrows fly!”

Luminas and the members of the Goshoot clan, who have been following me as guards, readied their bows and poured arrows down on the enemies who had escaped the fire. I too picked up a bow and shot arrows at the fleeing enemy soldiers.

After having unleashed the fire, Brest’s group had apparently started to attack the unit at the very front.

The ravine was filled with anguished screams of the soldiers who were burned to death, and the stench released by the soldiers who were cut apart by the oni’s weapons.

“Alexa is going to realize the dreadfulness of Erwin’s oni anew thanks to this battle,” I commented

“Yes. At least the lords of the Satzbalm region will likely fear the power of the Erwin family after hearing of this outcome,” Luminas added.

“We must spread rumors that this defeat was caused by Orgus to open up a chance for the anti-Orgus faction.”

“Yep. The Alexa team of the Malji Company is already on the move according to Lichere-san’s instructions,” reported Luminas.

As might be expected of Lichere. She has fully grasped my aim of splitting Alexa in two in order to weaken the country.

“I see, I see, that’s great news,” I praised Lichere’s foresight after stopping to shoot arrows and turning my eyes towards Alexa’s army which was currently being assaulted by the oni.

■

※ Malida’s Point of View ※

“Now then, I must secure the delicious treat all for myself. This greatsword still hasn’t drawn enough blood by far.”

Preceding the soldiers, I rushed down the cliff while avoiding the arrows fired by Albert’s group. Spotting a group of enemy soldiers running towards the end of the narrow path, I licked my lips.

“Yahooo! I can hunt to my heart’s content! Anyone wanting to challenge my sword, step forward!”

“Malida-nee-san, leave something for me as well!”

Lator, who had come down the cliff with a slight delay, had strayed from his troops. He was staring at the enemy with bloodshot eyes. Going by his state, he seems to have forgotten that Albert told him to take command of the soldiers.

Albert mentioned that he wishes to train Lator as a commander and there’s no way I can let him get in my way.

“Lator, you’ve been told by Albert to lead the soldiers, haven’t you? If you skip on that, you’ll be going straight into the Special Reflection Room!”

“Ugh! I can’t ignore Albert’s order! You guys, we’ll leave this place to Malida-nee-san and block the enemy’s escape route ahead of us!”

Lator must have had his fill of the Special Reflection Room to back down here. He ordered his excited soldiers to start blocking the escape route while looking pale.

“That’s a good call! I will herd them towards you, so wait for me!”

I shouldered my greatsword and dashed in front of the fleeing soldiers.

“I’m Elancia’s Baroness Malida von Erwin! If any of you have confidence in their skill, they shall step forward!”

“Bloody Oni Malida! Bloody Oni Malida is over here!”

“If that thing’s here, we won’t be able to get away from here, you know!?”

“S-Search for another route! Idiots! Don’t push! Bloody Oni is here! Fall back!”

Having seen me, the enemy soldiers stopped running away and stared at me in fear. Alexa’s men really don’t have any balls. They’re all guys who plan to run away before the battle even starts. With this, it looks like this time won’t give me much satisfaction either.

I sighed deeply, “Only shitty small-fry. I was told that it’d be a treat and hurried here from far away, just to be disappointed in such a way. Can you understand my ―― feelings!?

I jumped at a knight who had stopped after trying to escape through a different path, and swung my sword down from above my head. The knight was cut in half, armor and all.

I kicked a half of the dead knight towards his comrades after bisecting him while he was unable to do anything. Once I swung the blood on my blade off, I thrust it at the enemy soldiers.

“I’m very disappointed! Are you people soldiers who gathered in order to fight!? If so, it’s outrageous to try fleeing out of fear towards your enemy! I’ll teach you a lesson so that you understand what it means to be a soldier!”

I readied my sword, bated my breath, and started to run, drawing close to an enemy group of 20 – 30 soldiers in no time. And just like that, I let my sword’s blade cut apart the torsos of all soldiers within its range.

A stifling stench of blood and feces engulfed the area.

“Hiii! An oni! A devil has appeared!”

“Please don’t kill me! Please! I have family back home!”

“You’re kidding! It’s a lie! No way! How is it okay for such a creature to actually exist!?”

Watching their comrades being chopped apart and falling to the ground in front of their eyes, the other enemy soldiers continued to step back while screaming pathetic nonsense.

“Who’s going to become my next prey?”

As I let my eyes wander, all enemy soldiers shook their heads.

They’ve all got no backbone! The quality of Alexa’s soldiers has dropped quite a bit.

“You’re so boring! Aren’t there any brave warriors who will make my senses tingle!?”

A soldier with an exceedingly big frame came forward while pushing his way to the scared soldiers.

“You’re Bloody Oni, eh!? I finally managed to meet you on the battlefield.”

The giant of a man holding a huge metallic hammer was a demihuman. Judging by the size of his body, he must originate from the giant race who inhabits Elancia’s north. He might have fled the empire after causing problems and hired with Alexa as a mercenary.

“I’m definitely Bloody Oni Malida von Erwin.”

“If I get your head, I will be immediately promoted to nobility! That head of yours shall fall prey to my hammer Dohnma!”

Although he might originate from the same country as me, it’d be rude to hold back in the battle, if he faces me as an enemy. Going by his conduct, he appears to be somewhat capable.

My lips curved into a smile upon the arrival of an opponent who looked like he had some backbone.

“Your skills are slightly too lacking to take my head, but I’ll play a bit with you. Umm, Norma, was it?”

“It’s Dohnma!”

Dohnma swung his huge hammer down, demonstrating his anger. The swing itself was reasonably fast, but because he simply swung it down in a straight line, I could dodge it easily.

“That’s a sharp swing, but you won’t be able to hit me like that. Come on, give it your best shot.”

I leaned against my greatsword, which I had stabbed into the ground, to provoke my opponent. Enraged, Dohnma brandished his hammer once more.

“Don’t screw with me! You bastard!”

“I’m a woman, not a bastard! Watch your language!”

I punched Dohnma, who had become defenseless as he was holding up his hammer, into the face.

“Ghphh!”

Alongside a sensation of his jaw bones being broken, I could see him losing his balance.

“It’s still too early to collapse! Hey, stand firm!”

I grabbed Dohnma by the neck as he was about to fall and drew him to myself, before sinking my knee into his abdomen.

“Ghaa!”

Huge quantities of blood and stomach juices rushed out of his mouth.

“You won’t be able to become a lord if you don’t get my head, right? You gotta work harder!”

“Yoo pish o’ sht! I well getch yoo!”

Dohnma expressed his fury, his eyes bloodshot. He swung his hammer sideways to hit me for sure.

“It looks like you can’t properly talk anymore, but that just now must have been insults. I always make sure to punish those insulting me with death!”

I easily blocked Dohnma’s full-power swing with my bare hand.

“Wiff wone hand!?”

“Such a weak attack won’t work on me! You fool!”

I snatched the hammer out of my opponent’s hands, crushed it into a ball of steel, and kicked it with all my might. The metallic ball opened a new hole in Dohnma’s body, stole the lives of several soldiers behind him, and eventually buried itself in the cliff’s wall.

“T-That’s no person! Inhuman! Oni! She must be a familiar of the evil god! Run away! Don’t fight her!”

“Marquis Brolish-sama has apparently gathered the fleeing soldiers over there! We should be safe, if we join up with them! Hurry! Ignore Bloody Oni!”

The one calling out to Alexa’s soldiers, who had become unable to move out of fear, was a man who seemed to be a border lord. The general banner of Alexa’s royal army could be seen flying in the direction where he was pointing.

Because the soldiers led by Lator were blocking the escape route ahead, Alexa’s royal army couldn’t withdraw.

“Hoh, so that is where the general is hiding, huh? Very well, then I’ll get his head by charging his camp all by myself! If I obtain the general’s head, Albert and Brother will likely be delighted!”

I drew the greatsword out of the ground and headed towards the general’s banner while avoiding falling rocks and killing enemy soldiers who were getting in my way. As I drew closer to the general’s banner while mowing down the fleeing enemy soldiers, I spotted a guy in pompous armor sitting on a horse.

“I am Elancia’s Baroness Malida von Erwin! I request a duel against the knight over there!”

I threw an iron rod, which had drawn from my thigh, at a guard knight who tried to stop me. The rod with its sharp end pierced the neck of the knight, causing him to collapse to the ground in a fountain of blood.

“The enemy general is attacking! Protect Marquis Brolish-sama! Don’t let her get any closer! Drive her awaY!”

Following the instructions by the guard knights, the surrounding soldiers came at me with their weapons. As might be expected, the skill of the soldiers close to the general was fairly high. They challenged me without fleeing, trying to protect their commander.

My body reacted to the bloodlust which I could finally perceive and I felt how my cheeks started to blush.

“Yahoooo! This is what you call battle! Come at me! If you don’t stop me, your beloved general will lose his head! Once that happens, this war will end with Alexa’s loss!”

The bloodlust emitted by the enemy increased thanks to my words, making my skin tingle.

“That’s how a battlefield has to be! Now, try to get me!”

I readjusted my hold of the sword and swept it sideways at the approaching enemy soldiers. One swing blew away several of them. As their entrails got splattered all over the place, they tumbled across the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the air was filled with the stench of blood and filth I was so used to by now.

“I love battle!!!! Let me cut you up more!”

Each time I got closer to the general’s banner, fountains of blood went up to the air alongside the screams of enemy soldiers.

“Ugh! Hurry up and stop her! If I’m defeated, it’ll spell the destruction of the royal army!”

The mounted knight, who seemed to be Marquis Brolish, was looking for a good opportunity to get away while ordering his soldiers. But, there’s no way I’d let that yummy general’s head get away, is there?

I used the body of an approaching enemy as a foothold, jumped into the air, and rushed in front of MArquis Brolish in one breath.

“I won’t let you get away! I will get that head of youuuuuurs!!!”

“Hiii! Hurry and drive her away! If I die here――”

Before his guards could get close, I held my greatsword above my head and then bisected the head of his horse just like that. With his horse dead, Marquis Brolish was thrown on the ground. I used that chance to thrust my sword at his neck.

“Don’t move! If you do, his head goes flying!”

As their supreme commander had been taken hostage, Alexa’s soldiers stopped moving.

Somehow it seems like my body isn’t in top condition. I intended to cut Marquis Brolish alongside his horse, but my slash veered off. Everything was fine before the battle, but don’t tell me I got food poisoning…

In this case I must take his head before I become unable to move.

I suppose Lator, who’s blocking the escape route is too far away, and I can’t see Uncle’s troops because they’re blocked by the fire.

“P-Please s-spare me! You will also get ransom! Please――”

“If you don’t want Marquis Brolish to be killed, open a path!”

I made the marquis stand up and walked through the enemy soldiers while holding my sword against his neck.

“If you do anything strange, your supreme commander’s head will be lopped off right away!”

“Do as you’re told by Malida-dono! Stay still! My life is on the line here!”

My hostage ordered the soldiers to not move with his heart fully set on being saved. At this rate, things will be somehow fine as long as I head to Lator and join up with him. While casting fleeting glances at the enemy around me, I continued to escape through the mass of soldiers together with my hostage.

Feeling bloodlust from behind me, I turned around together with my hostage, resulting in an arrow piercing Marquis Brolish’s body.

“Oomph.”

Looks like his heart was penetrated. For him to get finished off by an ally sure is unexpected. Marquis Brolish’s body quickly lost all power before he passed away moments later.

“For there to exist soldiers who would kill the supreme commander of their own army is truly disappointing.”

I cut off only his head after the marquis lost all utility to me, tossed the now useless body at the enemies and started to run through the enemy soldiers.

“A-After her! Get back Marquis Brolish’s head!”

A guard knight came to his senses and ordered the soldiers to pursue.

I guess they won’t allow me to get away that easily. My body’s movements have suddenly slowed down a lot. I must hurry back.

Occasionally facing the enemy soldiers chasing after me, I threw my metal stakes to slow down their pursuit. Each time I resumed running, my body’s movements worsened and soon I started to feel like throwing up.

My health was as bad as I’ve never experienced it before. Did I catch some sort of disease…?

For the first time in my life, I felt impatient and anxious thanks to my reeling body and my distorted visual field. Just a bit more, and I’ll be able to meet up with Lator. If I reach that place――

Where’s the flag of my family!?

While repelling my pursuers, I continued to run. Suddenly the flag of the Erwin family came into sight. Probably because I felt relieved after seeing the flag, I tripped over my own feet.

“Because I was told to focus on the escape route to block the way out, I watched you from a distance without interfering, but your movements are way too sloppy compared to normal, Malida-nee-san!”

I saw Lator run up to me while scattering the enemy soldiers. At this point my body felt as heavy as lead and it took me all effort to merely remain standing.

“It looks like I’ve become too high-spirited thanks to having the chance to participate in a real battle for the first time in a while! I’m slightly exhausted, so I’ll leave the rest to you, Lator.”

“For real!? You won’t fight on the battlefield any longer, Malida-nee-san!? Is it really okay for me to kill all those enemies!?”

Once we entered an area under the Erwin family’s control, I flopped down on the ground as I sensed that I had reached the limit of my stamina.

“I got the general’s head after all!”

I showed Marquis Brolish’s head, which I had safely carried all the way here with me, to Lator so as to hinder him from questioning me about my bad health.

“Uuuughh! That’s the supreme commander’s head, isn’t it!? I could have reaped it as well, if only I had charged in!”

“I’ll acknowledge that I was able to obtain this head because you and your men blocked the escape route. Thus, I’ll command the soldiers from now on. You can sally forth and collect heads on the battlefield, Lator!”

“Seriously!? It’s your order, so it’s cool for me to do that, correct?”

“Yes, you have my permission.”

“Yaaahooooooo! Alright, I’m off to hunt heads then! Please take care of the command!”

Holding his battleax with both hands, Lator charged into a group of enemy soldiers which was wandering around, looking for an exit.

Phew, it looks like he didn’t notice my bad shape. If he’d reported back to Albert, I’d have been forbidden to head out into battle.

“You over there, lend me your shoulder.”

I called out to a nearby soldier, stood up while lending his shoulder, and moved to a place with a good overview in order to command the soldiers.

■

※ Albert’s Point of View ※

The battle was over before sunset. Alexa’s royal army had pried open a way out and retreated, albeit under heavy losses. The enemy losses amounted to 659 dead and 312 prisoners of war. We obtained the heads of three noble lords, eight serf soldier captains, and also Marquis Brolish who led the army as supreme commander.

As more than half of the 2,000 mobilized troops died or became our prisoners, you could basically call this an annihilation.

As for our side, we didn’t lose a single person. Three were wounded seriously while another fifteen suffered minor injuries.

With their escape routes cut off, many of the enemy soldiers were killed by the oni or shot to death by the arrows raining down on them from above the cliff, but half of the casualties were caused by the fires.

Thanks to the end of the war through an annihilation of Alexa’s army, the rebels and renegades of Hero’s Sword were completely eliminated in Elancia.

Below follows a financial report on the costs and income of the battle against Hero’s Sword.

Accounting Report of the Anti-Hero’s Sword Operation:

Expenses: – Souvenirs for the mountain folk -> 250 gold.
– Warid’s Information Manipulation -> 2,980 gold
– Temple Head Sander’s Manipulation -> 4,580 gold
– Wages of the Malji Company’s employees -> 3,420 gold
– Support for the mountain folk -> 25,000 gold
– Troop dispatch -> 3,670 gold
– Replenishment of Used/Broken Equipment and Goods -> 1,240 gold

Income: + Confiscated assets of Hero’s Sword and the Floyger family -> 53,423 gold
+ Sale of items seized from Alexa’s royal army -> 3,280 gold

Total: + 15,563 gold

Well, as you can see, we had a lot of expenses, but in the end we made a profit of more than 15k gold.

If we had left Hero’s Sword alone and fought against the mountain folk, we would not only have made a huge minus, but the Erwin family might have been overtaken. But, thanks to catching wind of the information ahead of time, we were able to form deep ties with the mountain folk.

And because of those bonds, we managed to create a new industry which should make the Erwin family even more powerful.

“Albert, I’m back.”

Returning from the battlefield, Malida was bright red from all the enemy blood on her.

“Good work out there. Thanks to your strength, our allies――”

Right after coming back, Malida covered her mouth with a hand, just to fall to her knees and throw up.

“Malida-sama!? What’s wrong!? Hey! We need help over here! Malida-sama’s condition is strange!”

“I just feel bad…”

As far as I can tell, she doesn’t have any external wounds. In that case, is it some sort of sickness!? Did she get infected with something!? What should I do!? SHIT!

“Please, we need help here right away!”

Completely shaken, I held onto Malida while shouting for help at the top of my lungs.

■

※ Orgus’s Point of View ※

I left the capital in order to get away from the voice calling my qualification as next king into question and headed to Tiana to give instructions for the foreign campaign. But, the city was wrapped up in an uproarious atmosphere.

The royal army should have attacked the Slat fief in concert with the betrayal by the Floyger family, but they came back all beaten up.

“W-What has happened…? That’s different from what I was told!”

“According to those who managed to return, they were ambushed by the Erwin family at the ravine right after entering the Slat fief. The road was cut off by rocks and they suffered a surprise attack that included a massive fire attack. Marquis Brolish’s safety is unknown and several of the Satzbalm lords have gone missing. More than half the soldiers are dead, have been captured, or deserted…”

“More than half the soldiers, you say… Isn’t that basically an annihilation…?”

“I am truly sorry to admit, but it seems like our plan has been leaked to the Erwin family. We have heard rumors that the head of the Floyger family has already been executed on charges of treason.”

As I thought, the likes of border lords are useless dunces… We should have ignored his idea.

Zazan reporting about it as if it’s someone else’s problem pisses me off even more, but even worse is the trembling of my feet which I cannot stop out of fear that Elancia might attack us.

Attendants rushed into the room of the lodging I was currently using, carrying a head bucket.

“I-It’s terrible! We have found a head bucked addressed to you, Your Highness!”

“A head bucket!?”

“Should we open it?”

I got a bad feeling about this, but I feel like things will just become more troublesome if I ignore it.

“Open it carefully.”

I had the attendants open the lid. Inside we saw the golden helmet worn by Bleach,m the self-alleged Hero of the Oracle, and a letter.

“Damn it! So they went out of their way to send this to us in order to threaten us, eh!?”

Once I kicked the bucket, the blood-smeared helmet rolled across the room.

“Are you going to read the letter?”

Zazan picked up the letter and held it out to me. I snatched it out of his hands, broke the seal, and unfolded it.

If I had to summarize the contents, I’d die out of shame. It was a letter from Crown Jewel of Wisdom Albert, whom I had driven into exile. He even thanked me for that in the letter. And in addition, he announced that he’d lead the oni of the Erwin family to soon take this land of Tiana, declaring that it’d be my blood-smeared golden helmet on the ground next time.

“FUUUUUUUUUUCK!”

“W-What does it say――”

“Shut up! There’s a mountain of things I want to say about the foreign campaign, but right now we have to focus on reinforcing the defenses of Tiana! Have the lords of the southern Kolshy region mobilize their soldiers for the defense of Tiana.”

“Even the southern lords!? Won’t the opposition against you become even fiercer, if we do that, Your Highness!?”

“We don’t have enough soldiers to defend Tiana, do we!? You should know that much! Or do you plan to kill me!?”

“In that case, I think it would be best for you to return to the capital, Your Highness. I shall carry out the defense of Tiana while putting my life on the line.”

Zazan rubbed his head against the floor, volunteering to take charge over here, but it should be pretty clear that I couldn’t go back to the capital after having suffered a crushing defeat two times in a row. If I do, that bastard will run his mouth again while smirking at me and the nobles will take his side, too.

If I were to then talk about the failure of the campaign, which contradicts the previous questioning, I’d very likely get disinherited by my father. Therefore, I cannot go back to the capital until I produce some results!

“Shut it! As if I could leave the defense of Tiana to the likes of you! Do as I told and hurry up with the letters for the southern nobles! Add that those, who don’t comply by sending troops until a set date, will be punished as rebels!”

“O-Okay. I shall write up the letters right away!”

I tore Albert’s letter apart and threw it away, and then struck my arbitrarily trembling legs with my own fists.

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Translation Notes:

1. Word play as 額 can be read as amount of money or forehead