–Aegir POV–
Rafen
Right now, the sounds of construction echo in this city, regardless of the time of day. In the middle of the day, there are sounds from the construction of houses and the sound of digging, for the moat that will surround the city. At night, under the brilliant light of the torches, you can hear the sounds from the construction of materials which will be used in the work during the daytime.
After the conflict and accepting a large amount of people, the slow and steady movements of the citizens continued. It seems like there is also a support organization to help the refugees located in the demilitarized buffer zone between us and Treia.
Many people have flowed in, and even though the agricultural pioneers have been dispatched to unexplored lands, there are still many who choose to stay in Rafen. Demand for houses remains high and the funds to build them are still sufficient for the time being. What is lacking is manpower and materials...to be more specific, we have the raw materials but are lacking the ability to process them. Just having the logs won't cause the houses to build themselves.
「The upcoming season is a slack season for farming so there should be more people to apply for the labor, however at the same time, we must hasten the construction of houses to protect the refugees from the cold. We will probably accept those from other territories who are working away from home as well.」
The winter in the central plains is not that severe. Work can still be done in midwinter, and movement is not really hindered. Still, it would be harsh to live in a hut during the winter.
「If it seems like we won't make it in time, then we can build a tenement house and have them stay there. We're letting them stay for free after all, so they can't complain.」
A house is given for free to those who have just recently moved. Of course, the necessary facilities to do work, furniture and all sorts of other things are none of my concern and it is up to them to figure things out. It would have been nice if we could get them to pay taxes as a form of debt on top of that, but they probably wouldn't feel good having to pay off so many debts having just migrated. It would be meaningless if they starved to death inside the house we built for them.
「At this rate, we will run out of capital. The stuff we looted...the importance of the selling off of the spoils is becoming even heavier.」
「Exactly, so if you don't properly do your job, the citizens will starve, you know?」
Adolph laughs, telling me that I'm the feudal lord and that I shouldn't be so irresponsible.
「Well, I have my hands full protecting my women. I'll leave the residents to you.」
「It's the first time I heard a feudal lord say something so terrible. Although there were many who just acted without saying anything...oh right, speaking of women, there are some who hope to migrate from the northern city just recently.」
「Hm? They're coming every day, you don't have to report about every person.」
「I guess, but it seems like a group of prostitutes, and considering the public morals of the town, I just thought to ask your opinion...」
What is he saying? For a body which has gotten tired from physical labor, women are as necessary as water is. I can at least give them a once-over later.
A few days later
There is nothing to be done except to watch over the continued reinforcement and training of the private army as well as the status of construction. Adolph and Leopolt know well that my checking is like a sieve with holes in it, so they are making sure everything is perfect themselves before executing what needs to be done. Because of that, I can sit at my office desk and drink alcohol in the daytime.
「Slowly lick it from the root.」
「Yes, like this right?」
Rita, wearing an apron-dress for maids, is in between the desk and the chair and is servicing me after pulling my pants down a little bit. It's a narrow space so she couldn't do any intense movements, but it's pretty nice feeling the warm sensation when I fill up her mouth. When I extend my arm to fondle her breasts from her shoulder area, Rita opens up the chest area and exposes her breasts. Good, she understands what I want – I wanted to touch them.
「Have you gotten better again?」
「Puha-! Yes, I practiced how to hold a large cock in my mouth. Nbu-」
With just that said, her words get cut off and pleasure runs through me. The stimulation isn't all that strong, so it doesn't make me feel like cumming, but it isn't bad just to enjoy this slowly.
When I just finished refilling my cup with alcohol, the door to my office was swung open. The ones who would come in rudely without knocking are....probably Carla or Pipi.
「Chief! I want to go back to where my friends are.」
「Guh-.... What's wrong, all of a sudden? If you're just going to contact them, I told you that you could go whenever you like.」
Rita, who got surprised by the sound of the opening of the door, accidentally hit my meat rod with her teeth. It wasn't anything serious, it just hurt a little.
「It's not that! I want to stay there for a bit. If possible, I want to bring those who are currently training with me too.」
This is too sudden, is she no longer fond of me? Rita is gently licking the place that she bit, as if to apologize to me. Only my legs are under the desk, so Pipi who is on the other side, can't see Rita when she hid beneath the desk.
「No way! The chief is the best and greatest person. It's not that, I just want to return the warriors to the village since enemies are coming now.」
It will take around two days for them, even if they move in a group, to get from Rafen to the place where the mountain nation live. I normally had them come in groups of 200 to train and have the rest go back to hunt and be nomads. So, to ask that those 200 return as well, it means that something bad has happened.
「What do you mean by enemy? There shouldn't be any bandits in that area though...」
「The course we take and the clan we usually don't meet has overlapped with each other. We have less numbers, so we're at a slight disadvantage...」
They are nomads who move continuously to places that have water. Since we hunted them during the war, we messed up their moving cycle, so it seems they met up with the other clan.
「It's the first time I've heard of clans other than you guys.」
「Hm? I didn't talk about it. Pipi and the others are the closest ones to the plains people so you probably haven't met them before. Actually, Pipi and the others are the biggest and the strongest but...」
It appears that the barbarians who came down to plunder from us is Pipi's clan and her companions. But the effect of losing several hundred warriors in the suppression battle was big. I'll have to think about this a little. I shove my dick deep into Rita's mouth and hold her head down.
「I understand. The ones that are training can go. But I have a little idea so Pipi should wait for me in the town.」
「Aye. I'll let everyone know! Oh yeah, that gloomy guy was looking for the chief. I saw him in the brothel area.」
That gloomy guy, must be Leopolt. But why would he look near the brothel area first when he wants to find me? There is no other legitimate place for a feudal lord to be besides inside the office in his own mansion.
Pipi leaves the room. I have to talk to Leopolt, but it's not like I can go with my rock hard dick. When it gets this big, it won't fit in my pants.
I have Rita come up from under the desk and hold her head with both hands. She nods to signal that I can be rough with her.
「Uggho! Nboh-! Gabo-!!」
I grab her head and shake my hips vigorously, thrusting my meat rod deep into her throat, almost as if trying to reach her stomach. Rita is getting teary-eyed and she's making strained noises but she isn't shaking me off and the hand rubbing my ass isn't stopping either. For a while, I continue to forcefully fuck her throat and mouth and finally reach my limit.
「Uoo-!」
「Nbboohh-!!」
It might seem like cruel treatment to a woman if I ejaculate deep in her throat, but this is what Rita likes. When I asked her, she said that she couldn't get enough of the feeling of my huge dick bouncing around in the back of her throat.
When I finished firing my semen in her mouth and pulling my dick from Rita's throat, she collapses to the floor. When she gives me oral sex by taking it up to the root, she can't breathe when I ejaculate, so it always turns out like this.
「As always, are you alright? I could ejaculate at a shallower place and it would feel just as good.」
「Haa, haa, it's fine like this. The feeling of when this huge cock is about to take away my life is irresistible.」
To prove it, Rita shows me her crotch. Rita was wet there, as if she had sprinkled water on it. Rita, with her amorous gaze, rubbed her cheek lovingly against my meat rod and licked it gently all over, cleaning up the mess.
「It was good.」
I pet her head and was about to leave the room, but when I opened the door.
「Kyaa!」
「Hiih!」
「Wah!」
When I opened the door, the three maids jumped back. It seems like they were trying to press their ears against the door to listen. All of them were young women, not even reaching the age of 20 yet.
Even though there was a lack of manpower in Rafen, there aren't many jobs that powerless women, who aren't particularly skilled, can do. If they don't have anyone to rely on, the best they could do is to be a waitress for workers or do simple sewing jobs, or they could also embrace defiant men. For these women, the work at the mansion isn't hard or dirty, so it's quite popular.
Finally, they can also act as my lover, but Rita, as the maid with many years of experience, acts as a leader figure for them. It might have been obvious that those young women had some curiosity to seeing their leader get disheveled.
「...You girls, what do you think you're doing?」
「Well, that is...」
「Looking for Rita-san...」
「I thought I heard your voice come from here so...」
Everyone averts their eyes. Rita wipes her mouth, with semen dripping from it, while she lectures the girls with breath that smelled like my seed. It reminded me of the fact that Leopolt was still looking for me too, so I smiled at this comical scene.
「Did you want to show this to me?」
「Yes, I thought it would be faster to show it to you once.」
We are on the plains, a little distance away from Rafen, and in front of us is the mass of iron which Claudia gave us a while ago. It is pointing slightly upward and has a stake stabbed in the ground to secure it in place.
「This is a weapon, right?」
At the very least, it's not a club that you use to swing around and beat enemies with.
「That's right. I will demonstrate it to you now.」
Several soldiers started moving and poured the black sand in, rolling in an iron ball inside as well.
「The target will be that.」
Rocks have been piled about 100 m in front of us, acting as a pseudo-wall of sorts. If you were to imagine this pile of rocks to stretch out endlessly, the thickness made it seem like a relatively sturdy wall.
「Fire.」
At Leopolt's small order, a flame was brought close to the iron tube.
In that moment, a sound that was almost like thunder resounded.
「What was that!?」
A billow of smoke is emitting from the iron tube and instantly covered my field of view. The wind carries the smoke away to reveal the stone wall, which has been blown apart and the rocks have been thoroughly scattered into many pieces.
「......So it's that kind of weapon?」
「Yes, if you add this sand inside this iron tube...the gunpowder will explode and fling out the iron ball. You just saw how powerful it can be.」
The wall that was probably built for this demonstration is short and narrow, but if this thing is used against a castle wall of the same thickness, it will undoubtedly open up a large hole. Not only that, it is capable of such a destructive power at such long range, unlike the battering ram. It seems like it can be used in some very interesting ways.
「The weakness is that it's heavy. It's pretty much impossible for a soldier to carry it and move, so it will occupy one large wagon, and will also take a considerable amount of time to set up.」
「We can't do anything about the carriage. Still, it is smaller than the battering ram and easier to move with. How interesting.」
「Yes, it's not like we can't make the iron balls ourselves, but I don't know how to make the gunpowder or whether it needs to be collected. Let's use this only in critical situations.」
「It's true that I've never seen that sand before. We might be able to get it in the Federation though.」
「Please ask that madam. If we have several of these, it would expand the range of tactics I can use.」
「...if I write something strange she might come again.」
「Isn't that a good thing? It would be convenient for us if she were to come and bring it to us.」
Leopolt is saying whatever he likes because it doesn't concern him.
The next time Claudia comes, I'll leave this guy to take care of the angry Nonna and Mel. And I forgot something important.
「You know about the issue with the bow cavalry, right?」
「Yes, the issue where the permission for them to return was given immediately and selfishly, without even a single notice to me, right?」
I purposely ignore him and continue.
「It appears that the mountain nation have some conflict to deal with. What do you think about intervening in this?」
Leopolt replies without the slightest bit of hesitation.
「It would be pointless for us, territorially speaking. Their land, excluding the mine, is barren, so it would be sufficient to construct a stronghold to protect the important places only. Rather, it would be a problem if the bow cavalry loses some of their numbers in this conflict. If possible, I would want to abandon that land and have everyone be brought here.」
Pipi and the others will definitely not agree with that. But Leopolt changes the tone of his voice.
「However, at this point, there may be some meaning to it. Not in the sense of ruling over the land, but to create a safe passage.」
It must be a strategy for when Treia kingdom becomes our enemy. Then, it's decided. Then I will back them up, as the feudal lord and also due to my personal feelings.
「Get together all the cavalry we have on hand and make preparations. I will personally lead them.」
「I understand. But are you using only cavalry again? Are you giving them preferential treatment, or did you get the short end of the stick?」
Even if he says that, it would be difficult for the infantry to keep up with us while we gallop around the vast lands of the mountain nation. Pipi and company, as well as the enemy, will also definitely be on horses.
「It's nothing like that, but when it eventually becomes a full-scale war, the infantry will also get their turn to hold fate in their hands. Leave them here to train properly.」
「Then godspeed, and please don't die.」
This guy always has to get in the last word.
The prepared military force consists of 700 spear cavalry (lightly equipped cavalry) and 300 heavy cavalry. We also brought large wagons packed with water and fodder, given by Erich, to follow us. After all, the mountain nation is a wasteland which continues on for a while and we don't know when we will be able to resupply water or food.
In any case, it would be out of the question to traverse the wide area of my territory if we didn't have cavalry, so the similarities in composition to the central army are quite high. I tried to make the formation with bow cavalry but it ended with a bloody result. Firing arrows and galloping at the same time is like setting a blade on fire – pretty much impossible – so by the time three people got knocked off their horse and died, I gave up. In the end, I had one in every few people carry a bowgun as a test, but I don't know how useful it will be.
「Then, shall we depart?」
「Aye! If the chief is coming with us, it's like we have the strength of a hundred more people!」
「Leave it to me!」
The ones accompanying me are Irijina and Pipi. Pipi is obvious but when I thought about it, Irijina would need to stay for the training of the private army…
「That woman? It won't be a problem if she's here or not.」
That's what Leopolt said, so I took her along with me. He needs to be a little more considerate, and Irijina, who is overjoyed that I brought her along with me, needs to get a little wiser.
By the way, Celia, who usually sticks with me, got food poisoning the day before yesterday. It seems that the meat she ate with Irijina from the food stalls were rotten. Although Irijina looks as if nothing happened. I had a doctor look at Celia and it doesn't appear to be anything life-threatening, but she will just be having diarrhea for the next few days.
「I...am also...going with you...aauuu!!」
After she said that, Celia ran off to the toilet, and without even listening to what sound was made, we departed just like that. I told the other girls in the house to catch Celia so that she doesn't chase after us too, so it should be alright. She should rest her body for a while.
「Chief, you're not going to wear that sparkly armor? Even though it looks cool..」
I ignore that noise as we set off.