Chapter 3 – Military Regulations
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Imperial Calendar – Year 431, Beginning of January
Around the time when the night had started to be replaced by dawn, the 1st, 2nd, and 12th Imperial Knight Order as well as eight and a half battalions, more than 11,500 soldiers in total, departed the frontline base. It was the Empire’s first foreign campaign in thirty years. Moreover, despite this being the first campaign of Prince Alfort, they hadn’t held any official ceremony for his departure. That part was somehow weird, but no one had asked any questions about this. The imperial army silently marched on, arriving at the eastern tip of the primeval forest just past noon.
※
Chrono’s unit advanced through the forest in a long column. This primeval forest that separated Cepheus from Argo was vast. But, that didn’t mean it remained untouched since Argo had used it as a shortcut to invade the Erakis March. This time the imperial army used one of its animal trails as the chosen march route. Grass was scarce on that path and it was wide enough for wagons to pass, but――
“Lord Chrono! One of the wheels got stuck on a root!”
“Damn, again!?” Chrono cursed at Horus’s notification from the rear.
“Captain, I’ll head over.”
“No, Mino, you stay here and keep an eye on the situation.”
“Gotcha. I leave Horus to ye.”
Mino nodded and retrieved a magic communicator――a transparent globe――from his pouch. He always carried it with him for the sake of quickly relaying information in case of an enemy attack.
With this it’ll be okay. Having Mino remain here means we’ll be able to flexibly deal with any potential attack by the enemy.
Chrono ran over to Horus’s place.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Argh, I just needed a little more,” Horus said with a pitiful voice when Chrono arrived.
He was pulling on the wagon, trying to get it out of the root, but the wagon slid back behind the root when it needed just a little more to overcome it.
“Guards! Please help out!”
In response to Chrono’s call, minotaurs in crude leather armor went around to the back of the wagon. They weren’t Chrono’s subordinates, but minotaurs belonging to another battalion.
“Let’s go! One, two, threeee!”
Once they pushed in accordance with Horus’s count, the wheel got over the root. The wagon creaked from the impact of the wheel landing on the ground. But, fortunately the wagon didn’t break. With a breath of relief, Chrono looked in the direction of their advance. At this rate, it looked like the wagon would get stuck several more times.
“Guards, please stay behind the wagon until we leave the forest! Arided, Deneb, Leo, you and your units will focus yourself on guarding!”
“””Roger!”””
Upon Arided, Deneb, and Leo’s instruction, the elven archers and beastman infantrymen cautiously watched their surroundings while the minotaurs and lizardmen belonging to other battalions sluggishly moved behind the wagons. The track started to move again and Chrono went back to his former location next to Mino.
“I’m back.”
“Good work.”
Chrono walked up next to Mino.
“We’ve been gettin’ delayed more than expected, huh?”
“Yep. I’d have preferred them choosing the route more carefully.”
“No kiddin’. If the other battalions hadn’t helped us, we’d be stranded by now. By the way, hos did ye get them to help in the first place?”
“Through my natural virtue, of course.”
“Captain, ye shouldn’t lie.”
“Ugh, it’d have been fine for you to just ignore it, you know?” Chrono groaned.
“So, how did ye do it?”
“I borrowed them for one gold per person.”
“That’s way overpaid.”
“Yep, Elena won’t let me hear the end of it, once we get back.”
I’m sure she will be pretty pissed about it.
He gloomily sighed when he imagined what would be awaiting him at that time.
“Come to think of it, captain, ye not goin’ to ride a horse?”
“Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“I’ve never seen ye trainin’ horse-ridin’, so I was kinda curious.”
Chrono walked on in silence. Probably feeling suspicious about that, Mino looked his way.
“Captain, don’t tell me――”
“It’s not that I cannot ride a horse,” interrupted Chrono.
He could ride since he had frantically practiced it at the military academy, but――
“But, combat on a horse would be impossible for me.”
“Ye did well to have graduated from the academy like that.”
“It’s because I went all over the place and bowed my head together with my teacher for the supplementary classes.”
“Argh,” Mino covered his face with a hand.
“Usually, if you graduate from the academy, you can receive a post as knight and thus a warrior’s peerage.”
“Ye can get a warrior’s peerage so easily?” Mino asked in confusion.
“As long as you’re nobility. But well, I couldn’t get one. I was hated by my teachers, my marks in practical lessons were at the rock bottom, and I had defeated Tilia during a military exercise; which do you think became the reason?”
“Ye really were lucky after having done all that.”
Mino gulped audibly.
“That’s why I went all over the place and bowed my head together with my teacher for the supplementary classes.”
“Ye gotta thank that teacher a lot.”
“Seriously, I cannot thank him enough.”
“No, not ye, captain, but us.”
“Why would you guys have to thank him?” Chrono cocked his head, unable to understand the meaning of Mino’s comment.
“I mean, if that teacher hadn’t gone ’round with yet to bow his head, ye wouldn’t have been able to graduate from the academy, and we’d have been killed by Argo last year in May.”
“Ah, that’s what you mean.”
Finally Chrono connected the dots, and nodded.
“For that reason I’m not riding a horse, but can I hope for your understanding on this?”
“I’ve understood the reasons, but it’d be better if ye rode a horse at least durin’ our march.”
“It’d look totally uncool if I fell off my horse after trying the unreasonable.”
“Sure, it might be preferable getting covered in dirt and mud, if the alternative amounts to fallin’ off a horse,” Mino laughed while looking at Chrono’s feet.
His boots and pants were mud-caked. But, the same applied to Mino’s too. Because of that, he didn’t seem to mind it.
“Ye don’t look like a noble at all, so the enemy soldier are goin’ to overlook ye, too.”
“It’d be nice if you’re right about this.”
Chrono looked down at himself with a wry smile. Just like his men, he was wearing a breast protector and chain mail made by Goldi’s workshop underneath his cloak. His weapons were a longsword and a dagger. Medical supplies and forty pieces of hard bread, and twenty pieces of candy were stored in his waist pouch. His men were overjoyed when they got provided with candies.
Chrono wanted to spread the sugar beet cultivation, making it someday possible for children to buy candy from their pocket money, once he got back to his territory.
But, first I have to survive, Chrono assessed while touching the scabbard of his dagger.
※
Suddenly the view opened up, resulting in Chrono being assailed by an intense gleam of madder red forcing him to squint his eyes. It had become evening without him having noticed inside the forest. Now he checked his vicinity.
They hadn’t left the primeval forest. Apparently they had simply arrived at an open patch of land within the forest. There was a pond nearby, but the water was murky. It was clear that you’d spoil your stomach if you drank from that cesspool.
“Knight Captains and battalion commanders, assemble!” Bertil shouted while making the neck of his horse turn.
Right next to him was a palanquin that was shouldered by imperial knights. Alfort was lounging within.
“Okay, I’m off then.”
“Aight, ye can leave the rest to me, Captain.”
Chrono headed over to Bertil. Less than a few minutes had passed since his yell, yet Leonhart, Taur, and eight battalion commanders had already gathered.
“You’re late, Marquis Erakis.”
“It cannot be helped. I mean, look, he’s walking.”
“Walking alongside the likes of demihumans; what a complete failure as a noble.”
“This is why I’ve been telling you that upstarts are a bad joke.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know how to ride a horse?”
Four of the battalion commanders commented in a servile manner in response to Bertil’s initial reprimand. The other four remained silent, but they were smirking quite obviously.
Quite the nasty folk. Even my classmates at the academy had more discretion than these people.
“Please forgive me.”
“S-Sure. We will act swiftly from here on,” Bertil said while stroking his handlebar mustache.
He probably hadn’t expected Chrono to be on the receiving end of ridicule due to his own words. Now he looked somewhat awkward.
“Today we’re going to pitch camp in the place.”
“Then I shall present myself to His Highne――”
“Don’t try stealing a march on us!”
“Right! As if anyone would entrust such an important task to someone like you!”
“I shall take care of His Highness!”
The battalion commanders immediately started to quarrel once Bertil informed them of their camping place.
“My family has a long history of――”
“As if anyone cares!”
“Want to have a go!?”
A certain battalion commander interrupted the speech of another and nudged his comrade’s shoulder. In response, the attacked side returned the favor. It immediately developed into a scuffle.
Bertil looked clearly fed up with this whole mess. Chrono could understand his feelings. Things would become quite a pain further down the line as they’d likely fight while camping here for the night.
“Can you people give it a rest?”
“…Understood.”
“…If you ask so, Lord Taur.”
The two squabblers immediately stopped as soon as Taur called out to them.
“Let’s resolve problems through discussion so that they don’t turn into breeding grounds for future problems, okay? You think so as well, don’t you, Deputy Corps Commander Bertil?”
“Y-Yeah, of course,” Bertil generously agreed to Taur’s question.
Chrono thought that this would allow the conversation to proceed smoothly, but it remained at a standstill. The battalion commanders started to quarrel many times over and each time Taur forced them apart.
When they finally decided that the imperial knight orders would protect Alfort’s tent on three sides with the eight battalions defending the surroundings, the sun had already sunken beyond the horizon.
“Very well. This settles it. All of you, hasten your camp preparations.”
“Thanks for your effort.”
After Bertil announced the meeting to be over, Chrono bowed his head curtly before heading back to his men. Once he considered that he’d need to set up the camp for the night starting now, he felt his heart slump. With his head hanging, he made his way back to his unit.
“Captain, thanks for yer hard work.”
“Yeah, it was a chore,” Chrono answered Mino while lifting his head.
Immediately following, he widened his eyes lightly. That was owed to the tents having already been put up and dinner being heated just now.
“This is?”
“Sorry. Ye were late, Captain, so I took the liberty to go ahead with the preparations.”
“Thanks, Mino.”
“Ain’t nothin’ that requires praise. It’s gonna take a bit longer for dinner t’be ready, so please sit down somewhere and wait a tad longer, Captain.”
“Thanks.”
Chrono expressed his thanks once more and sat down cross-legged on a nearby rock. He rested his chin on his hands which he propped up with his thighs. Probably because he’d been walking all day long since early morning, Chrono quickly became sleepy. And just when he allowed a big yawn to escape him――
“Sorry for disturbing you while you’re tired, but I could request another small assistance from you?”
“――gh!”
Chrono tumbled off the rock when he was suddenly addressed from behind. Right after, he got back up while rubbing his waist and whining about the pain.
He quickly spotted Leonhart standing on the other side of the rock.
“Sir Leonhart, did something happen?”
“My scouts discovered an elven village. We tried to get in contact with them in order to obtain information about watering places, but I lack the confidence to build a friendly relationship with demihumans in the same way as you do, Lord Chrono. Accordingly, I thought I’d ask you to hold the negotiations with them.”
“Okay, I understand,” Chrono nodded.
Chrono took the story of him not having any confidence in building a friendly relationship with a grain of salt, but he owed a debt to Leonhart for having told his allies to not use Chrono’s men as target dummies. And since he wouldn’t be much of use during combat, Chrono wanted to repay that debt early on, if possible.
“Minooo! I’m going to step out for a bit, so watch things for me over here!”
“Gotcha, Captain!” Mino answered Chrono’s yell loudly.
“Arided, Deneb, Lizad! …I’m in your hands.”
Once Chrono whispered so, Arided and Deneb fell over. As always, they had good ears.
After a short while, the three arrived next to Chrono.
“We’d been enjoying our meal! You handle your subordinates too roughly!”
“In any other situation I’d kinda demand candy now.”
“…Affirmative.”
Arided and Deneb were full of complaints, but Lizad went with his usual pace.
“Okay. With that out of they, we discovered an elven village ahead of here, so――”
“”No way, we’re going to raid it!?””
Arided and Deneb’s eyes immediately shot up, their bodies trembling violently.
“We’re going to gather information.”
“It’s kinda a principle to basically pillage and rape at such occasions.”
“It’d be hard on us to commit such deeds on other elves like us! It’d be kinda unbearable!”
The two apparently didn’t believe Chrono. It made him wonder where all the trust, which he’d built so painstakingly over all this time, had vanished to.
“We won’t do anything that would buy us the animosity of the locals. It’s also possible that they’ll become imperial citizens in the future.”
“I see. It’s kinda possible to adopt that sort of thinking.”
“You should have kinda told us all of this from the very start.”
“Hmm, Lord Chrono is always keeping the future in sight.”
Arided, Deneb, and Leonhart commented full of admiration. But, Chrono harbored different feelings on the matter. He feared that they’d likely get attacked during their escape, if they got on the bad side of the locals here.
“Please take care of it for me.”
“I shall use my meager abilities to the utmost.”
Chrono saluted, followed by the three others imitating him. With a slight delay Leonhart returned the salute. It was such a superb salute that it almost made the other four sigh in praise.
※
Around ten minutes after being seen off by Leonhart as they departed the camp ――
“It’d have been a good idea to have prepared some sort of illumination beforehand.”
“At this point it’s like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.”
“We’ll be in a huge predicament, if the enemy spots us.”
Chrono proceeded through the darkness while having Arided and Deneb lead him by hand. The moon and stars were out, but their light didn’t reach the ground thanks to the trees and their branches. As he’d be immediately lost when they let go of his hands, he put further strength into his grip.
“Your feelings are being passed on through your hand. I’m kinda troubled if you desire me so much.”
“The pressure that you’ll die if I let go of your hand is quite obvious.”
Unfortunately, Chrono’s true feelings were apparently only passed on to one of the twins ―― Deneb.
“Still, you three can see well in this darkness, I must say.”
“This is normal for us.”
“It’s kinda like frequently having illumination that’s unnecessary since it freaks you out when on nightwatch duty.”
“…Normal.”
“That’s incredible.”
“Humans are more incredible.”
“Rather, they’re scary.”
“I’m currently in a situation where I won’t be able to walk if I don’t have you girls pull me along, you know?”
“It’s kinda dreadful when they’re in a group.”
“As a matter of fact, we were born in this area.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.”
Chrono felt like he could understand, albeit only faintly, the reason why they asked about raiding the village.
“When you mentioned that we wouldn’t raid the village, I felt somewhat relieved, Lord Chrono.”
“We aren’t acquainted with them, but I kinda don’t want to see the elves there getting killed and raped.”
Arided and Deneb squeezed Chrono’s hands.
“That’s why there are also some parts where I pin some hopes on you.”
“In regards to what?” Chrono asked.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts about whether he Arided or Deneb had just talked to him. In this darkness he wouldn’t be able to check it anyway.
“That thing when you held back Layla, umm…”
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
“Yeah, that. I’m kinda expecting that you might do that for us, Lord Chrono.”
“…I’d love to, but…,” Chrono hesitated to speak up.
He wanted to say that he’d make such a declaration of human rights, but then he considered that it’d earn him enemies if he held up such ideals. And he wondered whether the current him would have the power to fight against those enemies.
“I want to do it, so it’ll be plenty with you just believing a bit in me.”
“Just as Leo said, if I fee――hmm? Oh, we’ve kinda arrived.”
Arided and Deneb slowed down their pace, just as Chrono’s view suddenly opened up. They had left the forest. Around ten slanted huts were scattered in a place several steps away. Chrono separated from Arided and Deneb, walking towards the settlement. He thrust a hand into his pouch and retrieved a golden ring――a magic translator.
“I’ve thought that something like this could happen, so I bought a magic translator ahead of time.”
“They’ll understand your words even without something like that.
“But it’s kinda wasteful to let Lord Chrono’s effort go to waste.”
“They understand my language? It’s my first time in another country, so I got all fired up and bought it, you see?”
“No point in telling us.”
“Your first time in another country; I don’t know whether that sounds amazing or not so much.”
‘Even though it was quite expensive,’ Chrono thought while staring at the ring in his hand.
Now that he thought about it, he was able to understand the language of Argo’s soldiers back when he fought them in May.
“Oh well, whatever. It’s not…like it’s that much…of a blunder.”
“Lord Chrono! It’s kinda like you’re deceiving yourself even more!”
“Regret is oozing out of your words!”
“…Man up.”
Chrono tightly grasped the ring――
“Umm, sorry for the trouble! I am called Chrono. I serve as battalion commander in Cepheus Imperial Army! I wish to speak with the representative of this settlement! Excuse me, but could your representative come out!?” He announced loudly.
In response, several elves peeked their faces out of their huts. Then again, they quickly pulled their heads back inside, though.
“Maybe it would be kinda better to talk to them a bit more aggressively.”
“Somehow it feels like we’re being looked down upon.”
“Frightening them would be bad.”
In addition to them getting attacked during a possible escape, Chrono would hate to be made responsible for not being able to build a friendly relationship.
“I am Chrono! I am here as battalion commander of Cepheus Imperial Army! I want to speak with the representative of this settlement! Please do not worry! We do not have any intention to harm any of you! Could you please come out!?” Chrono raised his voice once more.
Thereupon, an elf looking like the representative came out of one of the huts. A man with one eye. Half of his left ear was gone and tattered rags barely covered his terribly thin body. The scar of a cut was visible on his arm and traces of burns still remained on his chest. Yet, the light dwelling in his remaining eye was strong. That alone told Chrono of the tragic experiences this man had suffered.
“What sort of business does an imperial soldier have with us?”
“I came over for a greeting since we’ll be marching past close-by. We do not plan to harm you in any wa――”
“Do as you please,” the man spat out, interrupting Chrono’s words.
“Please listen to the end. We do not plan to harm you in any way, but since it’s possible that some people get silly ideas, I would like to ask you to hide.”
“Got it. There’s no way we could fight against soldiers anyway.”
“Also, there is one more thing I would like to ask.”
“What?”
“Please tell us all you know about the watering places and roads to the town of Marcab.”
“That wasn’t just one question, was it?”
“It’s what you call a figure of speech.”
“Tsk,” the man unhappily clicked his tongue.
“Holy Kingdom Argo has many wetlands. So you shouldn’t have any problem with water.”
“…So the Military Department’s intelligence was correct, huh?” Chrono mumbled under his breath.
The problem is the water quality, but during my elementary school days I’ve also used stills based on charcoal. If you distill it several times over and sterilize the water by boiling, you can secure drinking water.
“Thanks.”
“If you got it, hurry up and leave.”
Without waiting for a response, the man turned around.
“Please wait.”
“There’s still more!?”
The man looked back, clearly annoyed. Chrono tossed him the ring in his hand. The ring drew a parabola before the man easily caught it. He looked down at what he held, and immediately gasped.
“What are you planning here?”
“It’s the pay for the information you provided. It’s a magic translator, but since it seems to be made out of gold, I think you can fetch quite a price for it. I won’t mind it, even if you accept it as funds for getting through the winter or for escaping this place.”
“Where are you telling us to go after escaping this place?”
‘He has a point,’ Chrono agreed. ‘They’d have likely run away long ago, if they got a place to go to.
“How about my territory?”
“Are you telling us to become slaves?”
“No way. I’m known as a lord who imposes a fair rule.”
“I don’t know what to say about him saying so himself, but that’s mostly the evaluation he enjoys.”
“He doesn’t really understand women’s hearts, but he’s not a bad person.”
“Both of you, how about you back me up a bit here?”
Unable to gain Arided and Deneb’s backing, Chrono sighed deeply.
“…Who are those elves?”
“Those two are――”
“”Kinda his lovers!””
“You’re taking elves as lovers?”
“Well, yeah, I do,” Chrono confirmed the man’s question.
Denying it at this point would only make him a suspicious guy here.
“Please come to the Erakis March if you feel like it. We will welcome you as residents.”
Chrono turned around and started to walk away.
“Let me tell you, but this is a huge chance!”
“Kinda like you might not get even once in your whole life!”
“…Chance.”
Arided, Deneb, and Lizad said to the man and then chased after Chrono.
“Welcoming them as residents was kinda serious?”
“You kinda think the people of this settlement will come to the Erakis March?”
“I was serious, but they’ll be quite troubled about the offer, won’t they?”
“Staying here will just lead to the situation gradually becoming worse.”
“They’ll kinda be slaughtered on a whim of Argo.”
Arided and Deneb muttered while looking unhappy.
“Because it’s something affecting their lives, they’ll worry about it until the very last moment, I think.”
Saying so, Chrono stopped his feet.
“”Is something kinda wrong?””
“Sorry, please hold my hands.”
As soon as Chrono requested that, Lizad stepped forward, planted himself in front of Chrono and crouched down.
“Lizad is saying that he’ll carry you.”
“I think it’s the right call.”
“Really? Please then.”
Chrono climbed on Lizad’s back.
“Lizad, you do have a broad back.”
“…Stand,” Lizad murmured before getting up.
The line of sight suddenly became high for Chrono.
“With this we’ll kinda be able to get back quickly.”
“I’d like you to do your best so you’re not thrown off.”
“What do y――”
“…Go,” Lizard started to run right after muttering that.
It was such a smooth movement that you wouldn’t have anticipated it from his big frame. The vertical shaking was weak, and yet he was moving fast. Too fast.
“S-Scary! It’s fast, dark, and scary!”
“At this rate, we’ll arrive at the camp in no time!”
“Please make kinda sure to not fall off!”
That evening――Chrono became the wind.
※
“Is something the matter, Sir Chrono?”
Leonhart came out to meet them when Chrono’s group came back. But he was looking rather puzzled because Chrono was being carried by Lizad.
“N-No, it’s just that I couldn’t see well since it’s so dark out there.”
“I see. I was worried that you might have gotten injured.”
“Once Chrono got off Lizad and stood on his own feet, Leonhart felt relieved.
“So, how did it go?”
“I’m not very confident that I was able to build a friendly relationship with them since they’ve been wary of us. But, at least, they weren’t hostile to us.”
“I’d say that is about the best outcome we could hope for.”
“However, that only applies as long as we don’t act brutal towards them.”
“Got it. I will make it known so that our soldiers will act in a way befitting the imperial army.”
“Please do. Also, I got confirmation that Argo has many wetlands.”
“Wetlands, huh? Those probably won’t be usable as a source for drinking water.”
“As for that, I can build a simple still, if I have charcoal and soil.”
“Hoh,” Leonhart’s eyes widened somewhat.
“Is it alright for me to rely on you when required?”
“Yes, of course,” nodded Chrono lightly.
“Very well, please get some good rest.”
“Roger.”
Leonhart turned around and headed to the tent of his 1st Imperial Knight Order.
“Arided, Deneb, Lizad, good work you three.”
“”You too, Lord Chrono!””
Arided and Deneb energetically bowed and then ran off. The direction of their dash was Shaela. Noticing them, Shaela acted totally surprised.
“Landlady, please kinda give us a meal!”
“We kinda missed dinner because we accompanied Lord Chrono!”
“Sure, sure, I kept your share, so no need to make such a racket about it,” Shaela responded to the two with a sigh.
“…Excuse me.”
“Rest up well, Lizad.”
Lizad headed over to Shaela, just to be replaced by Mino’s arrival moments later.
“Captain, good work out there.”
“Good work to watch things over here as well. You handled the matter with dinner, Mino?”
“Aye, I ordered ’em to keep yer share aside. Also, it might be somewhat intrusive, but I provided wine and dried meat to the guy who helped us out.”
“Thanks. You’re a big help, Mino.”
Mino awkwardly scratched his head when Chrono thanked him.
“I’ve had yer dinner carried to yer tent, so captain, go ahead and get some rest first.”
“Gotcha. I leave the rest to you.”
“Aye, count on me. Yer tent’s over there.”
Mino pointed at a specific tent and Chrono walked up to it. After entering, he scanned its interior. Besides a table, chairs, and a bed, it came with several wooden boxes. Chrono took off his cloak, chest protector, chain mail, and tunic, placing them on one of the boxes.
At that moment, Shaela entered his tent.
“I brought your food.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Once Chrono took a seat, Shaela placed a wooden try in front of him. The menu consisted of naan-like flatbread, bean soup, and several slices of dried meat.
“Sorry for the humble meal.”
“We’re in the middle of a war, so it can’t be helped.”
“It’s a big help to have a reasonable employer,” Shaela spat out with a sigh, before sitting down opposite Chrono.
Resting her chin on a hand, she cast a wry smile at him. Chrono was slightly worried by her state, but he still scooped up soup with his soup and put it into his mouth. The beans were cooked properly, but the taste was thin. Putting down the spoon, he picked up the bread. He tore off a slightly bigger piece and stuffed it into his mouth. It was somewhat floury.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious.”
“Really?” Shaela looked doubtful.
“The taste hasn’t permeated the soup and the bread is kind of like flour, but…” Chrono picked up a slice of jerky and bit into it. It was salty, but tasty. Probably because he’d been walking around so much. “It’s alright. It tastes good.”
“I wonder whether you can call that delicious,” Shaela smiled while saying so with a sigh.
Chrono kept tearing off pieces of bread and eating them while looking with upturned eyes at Shaela.
Suddenly he noticed something.
“Come to think of it…”
“What is it?”
“You often sit down opposite of me when I’m eating, but is there some reason for that?”
“It’s because you’re eating my food while enjoying it. That’s all there is to it. Hehe,” chuckled Shaela.
It was a smile as cute as you wouldn’t expect from a widow.
※
Second day of the march――around the time when night’s darkness started to fade, Joseph slipped out of the camp. For the sake of heading to the elven village. They had been ordered by their battalion commander to not harm the elves under any circumstances, but that was of no concern to him. In the first place, he didn’t deem his battalion commander qualified to talk about something like that.
Back when they had suppressed bandits several years ago, he almost croaked thanks to a shitty order by his battalion commander. And in reality, some of their battalion did die then and there. And yet, he had been obeying that man.
No, right now the commander doesn’t matter jack. It’s the elves. I wanna fuck elves.
Joseph stopped, hiding in the shadow of a tree. Something had moved. Carefully peeking out beyond the trunk, he sighed. The true identity of that something was an elf. A woman, but still a brat. He felt like having wasted all his time and efforts to come all the way out here. At first he thought about going back to camp in order to go to sleep again, but then he changed his view as a woman remained a woman, even as a brat.
Besides, he hadn’t had any sex at all ever since coming to the frontline base. It wasn’t as though there were no women on the base, but they weren’t the type of women who would spread their legs for money. Thus he had been forced into celibacy. Hunger was the best spice, and he guessed that the same applied to sexual desire, too.
In that case, even a brat should do. She might be unexpectedly fun to fuck.
With that set, he decided to strike while the iron was hot. Suppressing his impatience he crept up on the brat from behind. A cracking could be heard as he stepped on a branch.
The brat tried to look back, but it was already too late. Joseph grabbed her by the nape and slapped her against a tree. Probably because he had put too much power into it, her body bounced off, and she struck the ground.
A pitiful nosebleeding could be seen dyeing her lips. The brat was choking terribly, crawling across the ground in an attempt to flee from Joseph. As she did, she cutely wiggled her butt.
As if inviting me. No, it’s clear that she’s inviting me over. Wait for me.
Just when he placed a hand on his belt――
“I’d like you to abstain from exposing that foul thing.”
“I’d kinda like you to stop trying to copulate with a child.”
Something cold was pressed against his neck alongside those frosty, female voices. Joseph immediately knew what it was.
A blade.
Any recruit with no combat experience would probably piss their pants. But, Joseph was a veteran. He was able to overcome this much trouble.
“We’ll forgive you if you obediently go back to the camp.”
“Hurry up and kinda go to bed.”
“I got it, I got it! But, could you put away that dangerous poker before that?”
As soon as the blade left his neck, Joseph took a big step forward. In order to make his opponents misunderstand it as him trying to run away. And then he punched with all his might while turning around.
But, his fist only cut through air. In the next moment, a cold sensation passed by the tip of his nose, and something fell down.
When he reflexively looked downwards――
“M-My nose is…aaaaaaaahhh!” Joseph screamed.
His nose was now lying on the ground.
Impossible. A nose is part of the face. It’s nothing that can lie on the ground like that. But, this heat――this seething pain in the center of my face is the real deal. Fuck. Why must I experience something like that?’ Joseph wondered as he saw the offenders, two elves who looked exactly the same.
Both were staring his way as if looking at trash.
“Get lost.”
“If it’s now, you can kinda stick it back on.”
“――gh!”
Joseph picked up his fallen nose and ran back to the camp.
What cruel girls. Even though I just tried to rape some elven brat――
Rage welled up within him.
Right! I just tried to rape some elven brat. In the first place, there should be no reason for me getting blamed over raping demihumans in enemy territory. And yet, those women cut off my nose. I’ll never forgive them for that. I must settle that debt with them.
Joseph rushed into the camp, and appealed to his battalion commander just what intolerable act of brutality had been enacted on a poor lad like him.
※
“Captain, we’ve got a huge problem!”
“――ng!”
Chrono jumped up on his bed due to the tone in Mino’s voice.
“What happened?”
“Whatever, please hurry and come with me!”
“Gotcha! But…let me at least put on some pants!”
As soon as Chrono put on his pants, Mino started to walk in silence. Chrono followed him in a hurry. And soon he spotted a crowd of people.
Mino pushed his way through the throng of people, Chrono in tow. Once they got through, they were close to Alfort’s tent. For some reason, Arided and Deneb were bound over there, forced to sit.
Chrono asked Mino once more, “What happened?”
“I don’t know either. When we were preparin’ breakfast, a bunch of imperial knights suddenly took Arided and Deneb away.”
Chrono let his eyes wander, looking for someone knowing about the circumstances. Spotting Leonhart, he ran up to the knight captain.
“What happened here?”
“Things have become slightly bad,” Leonhart answered while furrowing his eyebrows into a complicated expression.
Just when Chrono was about to speak up in order to get the full account――
“Everyone, please listen! The elves over there cut up my face!”
A voice loudly proclaimed.
When he looked in the direction of the voice, Chrono saw a soldier, whose face was bandaged, standing there together with a battalion commander. The officer frowned as if being annoyed by all of this.
Oh shit, if I let that man yap on like this, things will become disadvantageous for Arided and Deneb.
Instinctively sensing as much, Chrono opened his mouth, but the timing was bed as Alfort came out from his tent just then. His eyes were darting around as if he was scared.
Alfort came to a halt in a place around five meters away from Arided and Deneb. Beltil put down a chair and whispered something into Alfort’s ear.
Chrono had a bad feeling about this.
After the two exchanged a few words, Alfort shallowly sat down on the chair.
“D-Deputy Corps Commander Beltil.”
“We are going to hold a simple trial from now on.”
Alfort sent Beltil an imploring look. In response, Beltil made that solemn announcement and faced the guy with the bandaged face.
“Joseph, you say you were attacked by these two and had your face cut up when being on patrol, but is that true? If you are lying here, you will have to face dire consequences…”
“It is just as you say. Even though I was just doing my rounds, those girls cut up my face,” Joseph, the man with his face in bandages, answered while smirking.
I cannot believe any of it. In the first place Arided and Deneb wouldn’t cut someone for no reason.
“Joseph is making such a claim, but――”
“Please wait a moment!”
Just when Beltil tried to address Arided and Deneb, Joseph got in the way. Beltil looked at him in annoyance.
“What?”
“I’m telling you they cut me. So it’s fair to punish them right away, right?”
“This is a trial.”
“But, the other party are elves.”
“Without a doubt, right?”
Ignoring Joseph, Beltil asked Arided and Deneb. In response――
“We just stopped him because he was about to rape an elven child.”
“The order was that no harm should befall the elves.”
Arided and Deneb said with sulky voices.
“You heard them. What’s your reply?”
“…Ugh.”
Joseph groaned upon Beltil’s remark. Chrono breathed out in relief. He thought that it’d result in Arided and Deneb being punished, but it didn’t seem like this would happen.
But, if they aren’t going to be one-sidedly punished, why has Leonhart said that this is bad?
“Your Highness, what do you think?”
“T-The points of both parties are――”
“T-They’re obviously just screwing around, aren’t they!?” Joseph shouted, interrupting Alfort.
The young boy yelped in fright. Probably having noticed that, Joseph grinned broadly.
“Even though I was just doing my rounds, those girls cut up my face! There’s no way that it’s fine for demihumans to injure humans! Right, everyone!?”
“Yeah! That’s right!”
“If we allow for such things, it’ll become impossible to uphold order!”
As soon as Joseph asked that leading question, folks, who seemed to be his buddies, raised their voices in response. Alfort started to tremble violently.
‘That’s really bad. He’s getting totally swallowed up by the atmosphere.
“What is it going to be, Your Highness Alfort-sama!?”
“W-We will punish the elves harshly!”
As soon as Joseph shouted his provocative question, Alfort made his verdict. Chrono felt dizzy. In a situation where other people’s lives were on the line, Alfort had gone along with an unjust demand to escape the pressure. At this point, Chrono felt like he could finally understand Leonhart’s true worry. Alfort lacked the backbone to stand at the top.
“Deputy Corps Commander Beltil!”
“……At your will.”
After looking somehow hesitant, Beltil agreed. Chrono almost yelled, “Why!?” And then he suddenly understood. Beltil had called it a simple trial, but he didn’t have any intention to uncover the truth from the very start. He had just been planning to use this situation to tighten the discipline among the soldiers. And that didn’t come to pass either because of Alfort.
Beltil calmly drew his sword and walked up to Arided and Deneb.
Shit, this is bad. I must save Arided and Deneb somehow.
Chrono frantically wracked his brain, but no idea to salvage the situation came to mind. Far from it, his head went completely blank.
“Marquis Erakis, step back from there.”
Eh? Chrono stared at Beltil. For some reason Beltil was standing in front of him. And once Chrono looked over his shoulder, he found the twins behind him.
I don’t understand.
He didn’t understand while he was standing there as if to cover for those two.
“If it’s right now, I’ll overlook this, but…,” Beltil’s eyes narrowed down.
I have to say something.
And yet, Chrono was unable to speak up properly, only flapping his mouth open and closed like a fish on land.
“It looks like Marquis Erakis has taken a liking to elves!”
“How were they? Tell me if you get an opportunity.”
The soldiers guffawed, causing Chrono’s body to suddenly heat up. Yet, this lasted but an instant. He felt like he made his resolve during that instant.
Yep, I have taken a liking to Arided and Deneb. Isn’t that more than enough reason to risk my life?
“Please wait! I cannot accept the earlier verdict! Arided and Deneb are very excellent soldiers. Besides, they said they saved the elven child because it was almost raped, didn’t they!?”
“…Ugh,” Beltil groaned.
He was showing an expression that made it clear how he was aware of this himself.
“Deputy Corps Commander Beltil!”
“Withdraw. You still have time to correct your behavior.”
Alfort screamed hysterically while Beltil thrust his sword at Chrono. Chrono’s legs trembled violently and his intestines felt like they were being tossed in a mixer. It seemed as though his stomach was starting a revolution.
How pathetic despite me having made up my mind just now. It’d be great if I got some good ideas, but my head is completely blank.
“…I-I…”
I? I what? What do I want to say?
“…I love the Empire.”
Huh? Chrono wondered. The place fell silent. Very likely none of those present has understood my words. But that’s only logical since even I don’t know what I’m saying.
Even while not comprehending what he wanted to say, Chrono passionately talked about his love of the empire and how deeply grateful he felt towards Ramal the Fifth. On top of all that, he managed to pull off the stunt of laughing while crying. As might be expected, at that point he ran out of breath and his speech cut off then and there. But then anger welled up within him.
“I love the Empire! I do! That’s why…that’s why I held back the invasion of Argo at the cost of my own right eye and 350 of my men! No one among those present here should have contributed to the Empire as much as I…no, as much as we! But what about the man over there!? You lie in front of His Highness and push your own crimes on my patriotic subordinates! If you say that this has become of my beloved Empire…then hurry up and kill me before you kill Arided and Deneb!”
Chrono resolutely walked up to Beltil who immediately thrust the point of his sword at Chrono’s chest.
“Stop! Marquis Erakis!”
“Just hurry up and kill him! Can’t you get rid of this bastard!?”
Once Chrono took another step forward, Beltil drew his sword back.
“…Your Highness Alfort.”
“W-What?” Alfort squeaked with a shrill voice when Beltil looked at him.
“About this matter――”
“Hey, hey, wait a sec! That can’t be, right!? His Highness Alfort told you to punish them, didn’t he!?”
“Now, did he?”
Beltil closed the distance in a breath, followed by a flash of his sword. In the next instant, blood gushed out of Joseph’s neck. When Beltil sheathed his sword, Joseph collapsed on the spot.
“Your Highness, please forgive me. I had intended to receive your permission to deliberate this once more on another day, but I had no choice but to punish him right now and here in order to uphold military regulations.”
“T-That’s fine. You have my permission. It was a just reason.”
“You have my deepest gratitude.”
Beltil saluted and Alfort stood up, heading back to his tent. Completely opposite of his earlier, cowering attitude, his behavior now felt dignified. As soon as Alfort vanished inside his tent, Chrono breathed out in relief.
“Deputy Corps Commander Beltil, is it alright for us to go back now?”
“…Do as you see fit,” Beltil said with a sigh.
Chrono turned around, walked up to the twins, and removed the ropes binding them.
“Lord Chrono, I’m kinda very thankful!”
“Lord Chrono I kinda love you!”
“…Let’s go,” Chrono muttered and started to walk away.
With a slight delay, the two elves followed him. The soldiers, who appeared to be Joseph’s friends, glared at the three, but didn’t pick any fights. But rather than that, Chrono gave getting away from here the first priority. He headed to his own tent at a quick pace.
Once he entered the tent, he heard a flapping and the interior became dark. He guessed that Arided and Deneb had closed the entrance flap.
“I-I thought I’d die there.”
“”Are you kinda okay?””
As soon as Chrono sat down on the spot, the two elves sat down next to him and peered into his face. He put an arm around the shoulder of each and drew them into a hug. It allowed him to strongly feel that they were still alive.
“F-Finally it’s our turn!”
“We’re going to march in a while, but a bit should be kinda OK!”
“No, that’s not it.”
“”How evil!!””
When Chrono thrust both lightly away, they fell backwards, but immediately drew back close again. Chrono sighed deeply once again.
Somehow we got through the situation this time, but――
“Both of you, don’t do anything unreasonable.”
“We know that.”
“But, we kinda couldn’t ignore it.”
The two acted meek. In reality, Chrono didn’t want to scold them, but he had to give them a warning so that such a situation wouldn’t repeat itself.
“I know. But, you must strictly adhere to the rules of reporting, contacting, and consultation to avoid events like this one to occur.”
“Okay, I will kinda bear it in my mind.”
“Lord Chrono, forgive us for allowing you to get injured.”
“Injured?”
Chrono cocked his head in confusion, touching his chest. He felt something moist from his uniform. He looked down at his hand while having a bad feeling about this. His hand was stick with blood.
“W-What the hell is this!?” He yelled reflexively.
Probably because he shouted all of a sudden or the bleeding, Chrono felt sick. He became unable to sit up any longer and thus lied down.
“Lord Chrono has collapsed! A-A-At such a time――”
“We have to kinda pressure his wound to stop the bleeding!”
“Oh, right! That!”
Arided and Deneb retrieved cloths from their pouches and pushed them against Chrono’s chest. Their cloths got dyed crimson in no time. Once he saw that, Chrono felt dizzy even while lying down. But, although he was in such a state, both elves looked somehow happy.
“Why are you smiling?”
“We were kinda happy about you covering for us.”
“We were able to see your cool side, Lord Chrono.”
“I see,” Chrono sighed lightly.
He clearly understood the risk of army corps due to this time’s case. Alfort has no authority to lead the corps as its corps commander. Moreover, the morale and lawfulness of the normal soldiers was low. If you didn’t tie them down with fear, that mish-mash army would fall apart faster than a house of cards.
“”Ehehehe, Lord Chrono.””
Arided and Deneb laughed like children and snuggled up to Chrono.
“We’re going to march soon, you know?”
“I just feel like wanting to be pampered a bit.”
“I’d like you to caress my ears.”
Once Chrono stroked their tapered ears, Arided giggled, obviously feeling ticklish, while Deneb’s eyes became moist.
“”We’re going to protect you, Lord Chrono.””
The two laughed after saying that.
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Translation Notes: