Chapter 182: The Barrel of Grapes

The Spierzeiks are stuck…… Something, a sure thing?”

Realite, looking doubtful, muttered in a whisper that I and my escort could barely hear.

The information is important: the movement of Spierzeig's army.

However, this matter is not particularly confidential. The escort continued to speak without any particular volume and briefly explained the plan for me and my father to visit Levios, the royal capital.

He did n't seem to think that I, let alone my father, would be going to King's Landing, and Realite's face became even more grim.As if in response, the escort spoke his conclusion his.

The Levios family requested the conclusion of a joint retaliation agreement prior to the social gathering in King's Landing, and the agreement was accepted.

There are not many rules in the Kingdom of Levios.

The birth of the kingdom began when the nobles rose up and formed an alliance to break free from the rule of the priests. I believe that the root of this alliance is a sense of caution that they cannot afford to be ruled by the royal family instead of the priests.

Perhaps this is why most of the rules that exist in the kingdom of Levios are not “Do this” But “Do not do that.

There is a rule that says that the nobles of the kingdom should not fight wars with each other, but there is no rule that says that the nobles of the kingdom should help each other. In the extreme, if the territory of one royal noble suffered a disaster or famine, other royal nobles would not be obligated to send reinforcements or provide food aid.

Of course, there is some sense of obligation, even if there is no obligation. If they do not show at least a modest posture of cooperation, they may be regarded as small-minded or ungrateful, and as a result, they may suffer disadvantages .

The noble school in the royal capital is currently closed due to the great disaster caused by the magical beast Elsinia, but even this admission was voluntary.

The Quardenze family …… Rather than my father's idea, but he didn't oppose me when I said I wanted to study in King's Landing, so it depends on the personality of the head of the family how he judges this area .

Why should we send our child to King's Landing, just because the Levios are a royal family doesn't mean they should order us around! There is a certain segment of the population that thinks ……. The Levios family is a royal family, so don't order us to do anything!

The Levios family made a drastic decision with the joint retaliatory covenant.

That's why the kingdom's aristocracy basically hates being told to do this. .

The most repugnant order to the aristocrats of the kingdom is the order to compel them to participate in wars.

One of the causes of the papal uprising that began in St. Navempos and became a quagmire was that the priests forced the nobles to join the war effort. The political position of the priests as superiors dictated the red and white groups of the nobility.

One day, the priest suddenly handed a white hat to a nobleman, while a nobleman from a neighboring territory, with whom he had been on friendly terms until yesterday, was handed a red hat. To fight, and under the direction of a priest who only looked in the direction of the holy city of Maguaussee, they repeatedly fought endless battles, and the entire continent became exhausted.

To be forced to participate and fight other noble families, it has been a traumatic experience for many of the kingdom's nobles.

And the joint retaliation pact was a promise to impose that obligation to participate in the war.

The content is simple. If a third party commits an act of aggression against the nobles of a kingdom, the nobles of the other kingdoms declare to the world that they will jointly retaliate. In earthly terms, this would be like the right of collective self -defense.

Even if there is a reason for self-defense, it is a duty that is psychologically difficult for the nobles of the Kingdom due to its historical background, and the House of Levios is having a hard time handling it. Stated as a law, it is not applied at all times. Normally, an attack on one of the noble families of the Kingdom would not suddenly turn the entire Kingdom of Levios against them.

The only exception would be an attack by priestly forces.This is not a very strict rule, but the nobles of the Kingdom have an obligation to unite.

When House Levios deems it necessary, it concludes an agreement after consulting with each noble family and issues a warning outside the country, which is the basic operation flow of the joint retaliation agreement.

The agreement has an expiration date attached to it, so when the period expires, the agreement automatically expires and there is no longer any obligation.

This is the seventh time since the founding of Levios that the agreement has been concluded. It is precisely because the prestige of the kingdom is now shaken that they want to unite the kingdom.

During the social season, the nobles of the kingdom gather in the royal capital, but there are many reclusive noble families who never show their faces from the beginning to the end. They are not forced to attend social gatherings,…… , But rather, they are not allowed to. The Eluo continent is still far from peaceful, so there are areas where the main ancestor, the symbol of power, cannot so casually vacate his territory.

In fact, when my father went to the royal capital, he returned many times for short periods of time, and when he stayed for long periods of time, my mother and others acted as a joint receptionist for the Quardenze, Silopea, and Evenapis families In particular, my mother's family, the Evenapis family, was greatly affected by the disaster of the magical beast Elsinia, and there were not enough relatives left to send the main ancestor to the royal capital.

Because of these circumstances, the opportunity for the nobles of the kingdom to gather together is something that happens only once every few years or even a few decades.

And since so many royal nobles are gathered in the royal capital, there is no choice but to play the trump card of a joint retaliation agreement. Even if something happens while I'm away, we, the royal family, will take the lead and unite the nobles of the kingdom to beat the enemy to a pulp,” He said. So please come to King's Landing with peace of mind. So please come to King's Landing and sign this agreement.

It is a matter of course, but without trust in the Levios family, it would be difficult to conclude the agreement. The Levios family must have put a lot of effort into negotiating with each noble family to make this happen this time.

What's wrong?

The address is …….

The Learite, who had been briefed on the conclusion of the agreement, still did not look convinced.

He expressed his doubts with a troubled look on his face.

He said, “…… But to what extent can the execution of the contract really be trusted? I highly doubt that the current House of Levios, with its declining prestige, will really be able to unite the noble families of the Various regions. Considering the character of the Spierzeig family, it is quite possible that they may dare to attack the kingdom in order to divide it.

Well, that is a reasonable opinion.

The existence of an agreement is meaningless if the nobles of the kingdom do not abide by it. The Quardenzes would simply end up with their unprotected bellies cut open.

In the Zinkaen Empire, the current emperor is unable to send reinforcements to the Spiaseik family for fear of a split in the empire. It is quite natural for them to devise a scheme to put the Kingdom of Levioth in the same situation.

I decided to interject myself into their conversation.

Surely, my father would not have thought of taking me to King's Landing on that basis alone.

In order to make the end of the civil war with the Mirendorva family known both inside and outside the country, the Levios family had originally planned a large scale social gathering in King's Landing. Retaliation agreement and attending the King's Landing social.

Despite this premise, my father kept me as the next head of the family unofficially. In other words, this was the best proof that he was doubtful whether the Levios family could really unite the nobles from all over the country.

The Levios family wanted to show off its royal influence here at any cost.The presence of the Quardenze family, which is regarded as one of the five most important nobles in the kingdom, was an absolutely indispensable condition for the event.If nothing in particular what happened, my father must have thought that he could just leave me behind and go to the royal capital.

But then a new factor arose. Operation Snake Fang.

According to my father's letter, the news of the fall of Raishleif Castle has caused a great shock in the noble circles. He says that it is a fresh topic because the gossip about Grand Duchess Orsian flew in just when it was past its peak.

If so, the aristocrats of the kingdom have high expectations. They are sure that the heir apparent of the Quardenze family will come to the spring social gathering in the royal capital.

Conversely, if I don't show up, it will be a clear indication that the Quardenze family cannot trust the Levios family.

Since there is nothing good about being on bad terms with the Levios family, my father wants to bring me to King's Landing. The Levios family does not want the reputation that the Quardenzes do not trust the Levios family to spread. Quordenze Wilk attends the King's Landing social.

Unfortunately, however, my father was not sure to what extent the commitment of the Levios family could really be trusted. Families to retaliate, and to be honest, it was quite delicate.

My father then began to try and find a better solution, and finally, after much trial and error, he decided to solve the problem and send me to King's Landing.

I confronted the Rialites with the answer.

Lord Aterahan Crone has assured me that he will attend the King's Landing social.

I see.

To attack with a joint retaliatory pact in place is an act that will fuck with everyone in attendance. You think I'm going to be intimidated by you? Come at us all together, you bastards! Provocation.

The host, the Levios family's reputation was shattered, and the nobles in attendance must have been angry.

The Levios family would be furious at such an outrage and would seriously consider retaliation, but it is by no means the same for the other noble families.

For example, the current head of the Aterahan family, the Marquis of Aterahan, would not feel anything if the Levios family's reputation was destroyed. The kingdom will probably send out some troops in step with the kingdom, but at most they should only send out a single knight or so, a level of reinforcement that can be said to be not in violation of the agreement.

“…… Certainly, then,…… The Spierzeiks can't move their army.”

However, if the Croune were to be nabbed, the story would be completely different.

If he meddles in King's Landing socializing in this state, it would be a disgrace to his face.He would be stigmatized for having been “Taken for a fool” With his destiny in sight.

Croune was the de facto founder of the Aterahan family, which had established itself in a time of upheaval, and could be called the hero of the Aterahan region.

The Marquis of Aterahan could not, or would not, allow his greatest hero to be taunted. If the Aterahan family, which is said to have a certain amount of power in its branch families, were to play such a neglectful game, it would be impossible to restrain the members of the family.As the head of the main family, he needs to show that he will do his utmost to participate in the war of retaliation.

However, considering the rumored temperament of the Marquis of Aterahan, it is likely that he will lose his temper and lead all of the Falcons in his territory to reinforce the Quordenze territory without being told by his relatives.

Realite, who must have a good understanding of the situation, showed a convincing expression.

The escort further added.

The Milendorva family, as well as Prince Croune, will not be happy to have the unveiling of Princess Orsian spoiled.

This year's King's Landing social was also the first appearance of Mirendorva Orcian in the world of nobility, so it attracted a lot of attention. The Mirendorva family must be furious that their debut at a social event was interrupted.

Although the aristocrats reign supreme over the people as noble beings, they are essentially like yakuza.

Mentz is very important.

The Spiaseiks would not be foolish enough to attack in this situation.

It would be extremely inconvenient for the Spierzeiks to launch a counterattack against the Kuordentse during the King's Landing social event.

If they were to invade, the Levios, Aterahan, and Millendorva families, and of course the Quardenzes, would be furious.

At this point, we are already four out of the five great nobles of the kingdom. If this happens, the remaining one, the Zeldmitra family, will have no choice but to join the others and send out reinforcements on a considerable scale.

In other words, the Spiaseiks would face retaliation for opposing the combined forces of the Quardentze, Levios, Aterahan, Millendorva, and Zel'Domitra. This is the start of the worst joint military version I can think of.

If this were a game, the objective might be to collect bad endings. Something like “Bad End 19_Joint Retaliation Agreement. Well, in reality, it would be an impossible choice.

Father was happy that we were able to pull Lord Croune out of the game,” He said. Besides, it was a great way for the Levios family to gain authority in the capital, and I'm sure we were able to sell our debt to him somewhat.

My father was involved in a variety of activities, such as giving the Aterahan emissaries who came to see the castle, and spreading rumors among the commoners using his secret organization, the Mimiji.

He must have been very happy with the decision to attend the meeting, for the handwriting in the letter he received from his father he was very light.

He must have been very happy about Claune's decision to attend the meeting, because the handwriting in the letter from his father was very light.Is there anything else you want to ask me?

Realite seemed finally relieved by this and straightened his posture.

He was now in a good position to ask the question. I would like to go back to the city and work on my training from the waist up.

I was satisfied with Learight's declaration that he would do his best.

I don't know how far the Nambonan soldiers can go, but I still think it's a good idea to raise some money. For the time being, I'll start by procuring equipment and weapons that won't be subject to too many complaints from the other military officers.

I glanced at the Nambonan soldiers who remained at the side.

They were wearing simple protective gear and carrying spears and shields that were probably supplied by the Quardentse army.

'Oh, yes.

'What is it?'

No, nothing.

Then I thought of something. I thought, “Since I'm going to go through all this trouble, I might as well get a military uniform.

As is the case with the Quardenze soldiers, the clothes they wear under their armor are appropriate. Most of them are made of a plain color like dull brown or beige, but there is no sense of uniformity. Even these are not uniform.

I would like to see the military march in neatly dressed uniforms. I had a clothing company in New Nellie City make me a maid's uniform in the past, and I think I should ask them to make me a military uniform. Out on the Nambonan soldiers and if it is well received, I'll spread the word.

…… In the visit, let's also make cool military uniforms for women, dress them up and have cosplay sex with Rosé.

I can see myself grinning a little.

Then, as if to nail her, the escort interrupted her, wondering what she had misunderstood.

Don't get your hopes up for the young man, Realite.

I wonder if it is because I am a former earthling that I don't have to say such dreamy and hopeless things in front of the eyes of the commoners.

It is by no means zero.

Even though they are the soldiers of the ancestors, there must be some well-known units.”

'Most of the proven slave ancestor troops in the Bu are made up of slave ancestors from knight families. That Rearight is talking about are really practical.

Certainly, the proven slave ancestor units that came to my mind were almost all composed of slave ancestor soldiers from knightly families.

But that doesn't mean there aren't exceptions.”

“…… Hate.”

I don't remember there being such a thing,” The escorts seemed to be seriously worried. The escorts made eye contact and checked with each other, but no answers were forthcoming.

I'm not going to waste my time, so I'm going to say it.

The barrels of the Millendorva family, for example, are probably just commoners.

'Barrels……? Ruotad?

Ruotad.

That's a bit of an old expression, but it means “Grape barrel” In Eluo. In Japanese, it would be similar to describing a baby stroller as a baby carriage. Would not use.

In the past, there was a culture on Earth where grapes were gathered and put into barrels for wine making and maidens would dip them in the barrels, and similar events can be found on the continent of Eluo.

For example, in the territory of Quardenze, where good grapes are harvested, there is a festival where small children and unmarried village girls make wine by huffing the first grapes of the year.

To begin with, one of the rituals of the Zethusian High Priory is the making of wine. The priest gives thanks to the spirits, and the young maidens dip their hands in the grapes. I believe that this is a culture that has completely taken root as a custom because it was practiced throughout the continent throughout the time of the priests.

A luotad is a tub-like instrument used to hold the grapes during the wine-making process.

As I have heard before on the banks of the Amelia River, Princess Orsian, the pride of the Millendorva family, is called a grape-stomping maiden or a saint in commoner circles.

Although the image of the princess happily enjoying her grape stomping her comes to mind, the actual origin of the name is rather disturbing.

Princess Orcian was very strong in war. She would trample down enemy arms as if she were treading on grapes, staining the earth with blood like red wine. Yes, to her, grapes are people.

When you say “Grape barrels,” You must be referring to the saintly guardian Luotad, right?

Yes, “She said. You have heard rumors about her.

And Princess Orcian possesses a very powerful direct force. It is said that most of them are made up of her local commoners and the volunteer soldiers who accompanied her during the recapture of Millendorva.

These commoners are said to be so enamored with Princess Orsian that they are willing to risk their lives in battle to show their valor and valor.

They refer to themselves as being luotad …… “Barrels”.

They loudly claim that they are the tools that Princess Orsian uses to trample the grapes.

And they have achieved many military successes as the SS of Princess Orsian, and are now known as the Saint's Guard Ruotad.

'I have heard of the grape barrels,' she said.

The guard with the difficult face made a peace sign toward me.

There are two kinds of strong soldiers, young master. The one you are aiming for is the first one.

With that, the guard closed his middle finger and held up only his index finger in a peace sign.

The strength of the saint's guard Luo Tad's is the second one.

Once again, the middle finger was raised and returned to the peace sign.

I didn't need to be told, I knew the two categories.

According to the knights and military officers, among the commoners, there are useful and useless commoners, and there are some characteristics among them.

Even in the territory of Kuordenze, there are areas where strong commoners can be recruited, and there are areas where only weak commoners are recruited.

The difference between the two is quite simple: the soldiers in areas where there are more commoners with serious personalities are stronger. Commoners in such regions follow the instructions of their knights and military officers, and many of them are able to move with relative calmness even when their bodies are strengthened by magic.

On the other hand, it is difficult to move commoners from areas where many of them are lazy, or where many of them are in high spirits as a result of being strengthened, and they become an uneven unit, strong when strong but weak when weak .

Troops with many earnest and patient commoners are more stable. And a stable, physically strengthened unit is strong enough on its own.

Just because they are from the Kuordenze territory does not mean that they all have similar personalities.

In Japan in the past, there were words such as “Prefectural character” And “Regional character,” But on the Eruo continent, which is feudalistic and where people do not move around much, the differences in character between regions are quite noticeable, even in a single village.

The type of unit you want, young master, would be the combat-focused engineering soldiers that the realites are talking about.

Yes, that is correct.

The top of the line of the earnest commoner soldier is the slave ancestor soldier from the knight family.

Because of their pride in being from a knightly family, they do not often run away even if they are outnumbered.

However, in the case of the Quordenze territory, slaves born into knightly families tend to study hard and aim for civilian positions, and those who aim for military positions are more like dropouts. You may say, “I'm defective anyway, I have no magic power and no wisdom. It is not so uncommon for them to be rotten, and they may not be that trustworthy. Of course, not all of them will be like that .

On the other hand, there are also aristocratic domains of culture where slave ancestors from knightly families aspire to become military officers.

The famous Atellahan family's Takekitai is a perfect example of this type of unit.

According to what I have heard, the boys born into the knight families of the Aterahan domain are said to have a yearning to become strong men and train hard. They dreamed of joining the Utaki cavalry, which was under the direct control of the Aterahan family , so they worked hard to train their bodies and acquire military knowledge, even though they had no magical powers.

Naturally, not everyone who wishes to join the cavalry can do so, and competition is fierce. In other words, they are elite warriors who have passed through a narrow gate even though they are slave ancestors.

Naturally, the male followers who were born with magical powers also long to train in the Utaki cavalry, and as a result, the Utaki cavalry, which is directly under the Aterahan family, is full of followers and the best of the best of the slave ancestors.

Just by hearing this, one can tell how highly trained the unit is. Each soldier is highly capable, the chain of command is clear and unwavering, and above all, they have the pride of being the best warriors in the territory. Broken so easily.

A force of commoners drafted yesterday and today would be no match for them.

This is the first of the strong units that the guards mentioned, and the form I am aiming for is also in this category.

It is a strength that has been created through training and discipline.

What is important in building a strong unit is to maintain it. From what I have heard, the unit that Princess Orsian has is wicked, and not of a quality that can be sustained.

And the strength that exists in some contrast to this is a troop that uses elements such as faith and dependence.

Body-enhancing magic is very luscious, he says.

It is said to give one a sense of elation and all-around satisfaction that cannot be experienced in everyday life, and an ecstasy like receiving an oracle when one receives direct instructions from an overwhelmingly superior person, the Lord Ancestor. Of narcotic-like effect.It is said that not a small number of people become addicted to the pleasures of war without proper treatment.

If one's mind is taken over by the “Magical power” Of the ancestors, he or she will eventually lose the fear of death and devolve into a maniac whose only purpose in life is to fight.

No matter how much training he has received, an ordinary human being cannot erase his or her fear of death.However, these mad soldiers fear nothing, and as long as their lives last, they will rise up and attack.

The mad soldier, strengthened by magic, is like a zombie that will continue to move as long as its body is not completely destroyed. They are not only dangerous on their own, but also when confronted with them, soldiers instinctively feel fear when they see the madness and lose the will to fight.

It is said that the commoners' unit led by Princess Orsian, the Lootad, the Guardians of the Saints, have defeated the Levios' army with the strength of their fanaticism.

The commoners, who had been conscripted by the Levios family and were enjoying the invasion of Millendorva in a carefree manner, panicked when they saw the Luotad soldiers who attacked them without any concern for whether they were hit by arrows all over their bodies or had their arms torn off, and their morale collapsed, with many of them running away.

When they fought against the highly skilled Aterahan army, there was no collapse of morale, and Princess Orsian, the general-in-chief, was unable to move her army satisfactorily because she was tossed about, so she was unable to achieve victory. , It is also said that in a head-on clash, the Aterahan Utaki cavalry and the saint's guard, Luotad, were evenly matched.

It seems to be a very good news for the commoners that the Lootad soldiers, who are just commoners, had a good match against the Utaki cavalry, which is composed of the elite from knight families, even though they are the ancestors of slaves.

The Atherakhan Yak cavalry, trained by loyalty, and the saintly guardian Luotad, who has lost his fear because of his fanaticism toward Princess Orsian, are two completely different sides of the same coin.

The operational method of the luotad, which only cripples commoners unnecessarily, is by no means praiseworthy.

Perhaps they are applying powerful enhancement magic to the commoners without any restrictions at all. Rumor has it that the Princess of Orcian is said to possess powerful magical powers. End of those who derive pleasure only from fighting will be disastrous.”

Even though they were cornered by the Levios family, I thought this was the worst method, for one wrong move and the territory itself would be destroyed. Think about what she does, she is just a witch. The commoners themselves are the ones who suffer the most in the end when they are used in such a way. …… And since they don't understand that, it's not worth talking about at all.”

This is also my father's philosophy, but the basic policy of the Quardenze family is to increase the number of commoners efficiently and use them for a long time.

The guards had a very bad opinion of Princess Orcian, who seemed to be operating in such a way as to continuously expose her to the strengthening magic of her ancestors and create a large number of cripples.

However, this is probably related to the fact that the Quardenze and Millendorva families do not get along very well.

There is no evidence that Princess Orcian is actually mass-producing cripples.Nevertheless, the reason why they are treating it as if it were a confirmed fact is probably due to the underlying bad impression they have of her.

I know what I'm talking about,” He said. I don't want to go to the trouble of turning the troops we train into cripples.

I don't want to see the Nambonan soldiers who come up to me with unfocused eyes and drooling, saying things like, “Ahi ahi ahi~ young master~ please give me more reinforcement magic~ guhihihihihihihihihihi.

The form we're aiming for is the Aterahan style.

“Yes.

I had made sure of it, but there was no way Rear Light could be wrong.

I just allow him to mention the name of Loutad as a good adversary.

Unfortunately, however, the reality is that the Saint's Guard Luotad has an extremely high reputation among the commoners, and the Nambonan soldiers were no exception to this rule.

It is a dream come true for the Nambonan soldiers to be a mere commoner unit that went toe-to-toe with the elite units of the knightly families.Since it was convenient, I would like them to become rivals of the Nambonan soldiers.

I spoke to the Nambonan soldiers, who remained in a prone position.

The Guard of the Holy Women has made a name for itself in the battle against the House of Levios. Then it is our turn. Now that we have dropped the Reischliefe, we will be cutting our way into Spierzeig territory in earnest.

Of course, this is still a long way off. The Quardenze side cannot attack until the King's Town social gathering is over.

I told them in simple, clear expressions to train their bodies and prepare their troops for the invasion that would eventually come.

Each time I repeated my words, the Nambonan soldiers' faces lifted. The expressions on their faces were shining as if to say, “I'm going to do it!

The Nambonan soldiers were looking at me and saying, “We have a lot of opportunities to make a name for ourselves at ……. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good time. Each of you should work hard.

He must have been imitating the military commander's gestures. The Nambonan soldiers speak with a certain air of dignity. But because he was not used to it, it was uneven and sounded like mere noise.

However, I thought I felt his passionate desire to live up to my expectations.