–Aegir POV–
「To Viscount Hardlett-sama, a messenger from His Majesty calling for an urgent meeting!!」
A loud sound echoes at dawn. The man dashed into the city of Rafen while still on his horse and rode directly to the entrance of my mansion. Normally, it wouldn't be strange for this sort of rude act to be met with a slap, but the man's job is the only one that is permitted to do so... the emergency express messenger sent directly from the king.
「So it's here.」
「Aau...」
I pull my slippery dick out from Irijina's crotch, leave the girl lying face down on the bed, sling on a robe and exit the room. After getting permission from the servants, without even going to the reception room, the messenger walks all the way up to me in the hallway.
「Sorry for intruding this morning!」
「Me too, looking like this.」
The strong smell of semen drifts through the air, and it's clear that I came just after having sex with a woman, but the messenger doesn't mind at all.
「The words from the King! 'Our country has declared war on the kingdom of Treia, and Viscount Hardlett is to commence military action immediately. Show your loyalty to the kingdom.' That's all.」
「I understand. Please reply that I will definitely bring victory to Goldonia.」
「Yessir!! Then I'll take my leave!」
The express messenger gets on his horse and leaves while standing on the stirrups, unlike how he came. I don't think he needs to hurry to deliver my reply, but I guess that's also a part of his job.
「So it's finally come.」
「We'll make preparations immediately.」
Leopolt, Celia and Luna are already awake and lining up. Irijina dons her armor, though my semen is dripping out from her crotch.
「The timing is slightly rushed, but everything is roughly going according to plans. Everyone ready?」
「「「Yessir.」」」
With a whoosh, everyone scatters off to take command of their respective units. Everyone is skilled, so they'll get things ready without me having to check on them.
「Here you go.」
Mel, who once again has a slightly larger stomach1, Nonna and Carla brings me my armor.
「Thanks.」
The three of them help me equip my armor.
In my full-armored state, I open the door and look out from the entrance of my house to see the gathering of the soldiers; I can see soldiers rushing out from the brothels and bars, and the soldiers who own homes are kissing their wives before heading out.
From the simple tenement house built beside my own mansion, where the 150 women who I saved previously live for now...I can also see a few soldiers rushing out half-naked in a panic. For the sake of the women's lifestyle from now on, I told them I didn't mind if they brought men with them there. It seems the soldiers are quite popular with the women since their desire to be protected is strong. The 30 women that slept with me insist not to sleep with other men though.
When the women saw me, they all lowered their heads in a deep bow.
「This is for you.」
Rita leads Schwartz by the reins. Normally, she wouldn't be handling horses, but Schwartz doesn't resist when he gets led by a woman.
I jump on this arrogant horse, who doesn't even bend over for my consideration, and head to the outside of the city. The women never stopped waving their hands to me.
「How are the preparations going?」
「Well, you're talking about 5000 soldiers here. It'll take a bit more time.」
I watch the soldiers gradually gather together outside the city as I listen to Celia's report. I guess that's natural. I can't expect them to be ready immediately when I tell them to go. Then it might have been better to fuck either Nonna or Carla. Not being able to ejaculate in the morning makes my hips feel heavy.
「Uhm...」
I turn back at the sound of the soft voice to see Catherine watching in the tent's shade. She probably came to greet me face-to-face by herself. This is perfect timing.
「Eh? What!? I wasn't going to-...while your armor is still on!? No, it's not that I don't want to...in fact I'm happy- aagh!? I'll masturbate while thinking of you while you're not here too so... be rougher. It's fine even if my asshole tears so fuck me senseless...」
Although we are in the shade, having sex in the garrison allows the other soldiers to peep as well. The scene in which a beauty faints in agony from having a dick penetrate her seems to have helped the unmarried soldiers and those who don't have the money to buy prostitutes empty their balls.
Right when Catherine's asshole started gaping, the soldiers finish their preparations.
「Aegir-sama, the entire unit's preparations are compl-...uwaah!!」
「Alright. Let's depart.」
I entrust Catherine to one of the mansion's servants that came to get me and then stand in front of the army.
「I won't say much. Crush the enemy when you fight them. All troops, advance!!」
「「「「「Oooooooh—!!」」」」」
We depart as the residents of the city see us off. It's been so long since I've battled with a human opponent, I'm looking forward to it.
After that, it takes us a whole day to march directly into Treia, heading south towards the border, and once we confirm that no one can see us and there is nothing around us in the wilderness, we divide the army.
「Then, we'll continue further south from here! I pray for your good fortune!」
「You too, even if you suffer defeat, absolutely don't die.」
I hug Irijina close and when I give her a kiss, I can smell the scent of the large amount of semen I had her drink last night.
Irijina takes a portion of the army with her – the entirety of the eastern army and the infantry unit of the private army – to go west to collide with Treia's defensive camp. I entrust with her all the siege weapons I got from Erich as well, as she continues westward.
「The rest of the army will change course and head east.」
With only 1000 cavalry left in my squad, we cut off from the infantry and the sluggish siege weapons and head east.
「It wouldn't have been such a hassle if we headed east right from the start.」
「It would seem suspicious if spies are monitoring the city.」
Leopolt reacts honestly.
「You finished cleaning up, right?」
Around the end of summer, a fire broke out during construction and several men died. It was an unfortunate accident, and although many people gathered, it was written off as a natural occurrence so it didn't become anything major. The burnt corpses, that had cuts from a blade, were then buried in a graveyard without anyone knowing.
「There are no guarantees. If there are people who we don't know about, we may have missed an opportunity. ...Actually, I'm more worried about the lives of the women we saved.」
There was a woman among the discovered spies, and after she got punished thoroughly as well as getting fucked until she's crazy about men, she became a prostitute in the city and is now happily serving customers. I sent Christoph to check on her, but it seems she's enjoying her job, becoming a popular prostitute where hardcore play, nettori2 and anything in between is allowed. She cracked due to her desire for my cock, so I was able to eliminate all of the spies, and moreover, I want her to be happy too.
「Even including the part where we disguise an attack in my calculations, it will take two days for us to enter the mountain nation's territory. Luna-san went first, so we should be able to rendezvous with them soon.」
I told the mountain nation of the decisive battle and ordered them to have everyone who can be useful take part. All the warriors from the tribes that I conquered should be coming.
「It's quite busy, running around here and there, but if things go well, it'll become an interesting fight.」
「I'll definitely make it work!」
「I don't plan so that I can fail.」
Taking the occasional gamble isn't bad either.
–Third Person/Irijina POV–
10 days later, Southern Border, Treian Army's Defensive Camp
「Everyone, stop where they are!」
「The large ballista is coming through! If you don't want your head plucked off, duck down!」
The commanders shout and the soldiers crouch down while lowering their heads. Right after that, a giant bolt soars through the air. That thing the ballista releases while positioned in the back strikes and destroys the fence in front and makes a dull sound as it sticks into the ground.
「The fence is broken! Charge through there!」
A rain of arrows pours down on the soldiers eager to rush through the gap. Half of them instantly get wiped out, and the remaining half do their utmost to retreat while propping up shields over their heads.
On the offense, the Goldonian army of 4200 under the command of Irijina is trying to penetrate the border, while the eastern Treian border defense army defends with around 3000. The attacking side has the slight upper hand in terms of military strength, but the defensive encampments dotted around the area erases that advantage.
The Goldonian archers loose their arrows, but none of them seem to have much impact. Sometimes a flaming rock flung by the catapult would fall on the fortress, causing yells and screams, but since it takes time to launch the attacks, the fire is snuffed out quickly, preventing it from being a decisive strike.
「Captain Irijina, our attacks are failing. The only thing we can do is concentrate our attacks on one spot to bring down the enemy camp, while retreating with the readiness to lose a few men.」
「No, there's no need for that. Just try to keep the casualties to a minimum while sporadically targeting the places with fewer people!」
The commander who advised for a solution steps down with an unsatisfied look. That's a natural reaction, since the strategy to aim for the less populated area with their attacks has already failed three times. The enemy camps are highly cooperative with each other and whenever there is an attack, the enemy would concentrate their forces immediately. An attack on horses would give the enemy less time to react, but there are moats and fences everywhere so the cavalry won't be able to move freely.
「But the longspears-!」
Having the cavalry run circles around the Treian Kingdom last time taught them a lesson, and now they're using super long spears that looked around 6 m in length. With those things lined up together, charging at them on horseback is suicidal.
「Have the fatigued soldiers take a break. Switch with the next squad and let them have a turn!」
Seeing the time pass without any progress in the attacks is a situation that would normally make one hold their head in resignation, but Irijina remains composed. In the first place, her objective wasn't to breakthrough the enemy camps in a flashy manner. Of course, if she could, then she would try to, but from the looks of things, the current situation is clearly not a good one. She doesn't even think she has the talent to smoothly lead the large army of 4000.
She only thought about the order received from her master to breakthrough this border line of the enemy and the strict command to limit as many casualties as possible and also not get injured herself.
「Don't worry, the enemy will definitely crumble. We just have to continue attacking.」
The soldiers look anxious but Irijina's face remains filled with confidence.
–Third Person/Treia POV–
Nation of Treia, Most Eastern Region, Pioneer Village
The sun is still high in the sky and the villagers are working hard tending their farms while two men are sitting around a table playing cards. One of them doesn't look much older than 20 and the other one is a middle-aged man who looks close to 40.
「Seems like we've waged war against Goldonia.」
「Eeeh...the large nation of Goldonia, huh? Ain't that bad?」
「Yeah, I agree, I travelled to the capital of Goldonia once when I was young and it was seriously cool. The path is all paved with stone and the houses are two-storey buildings so you can't even see the dirt.」
「There it is again. That thing where you talk about the time you were young, like several decades ago, it has no relevance now.」
「Tch- this cheeky brat has learned how to talk...how's this, my win!」
The middle-aged man throws his cards out and pockets the copper coins on the table.
「Damn! Again? You better not be cheating.」
「That's what you call a sage's wisdom, kid.」
This area is as remote as you can get where it's near the mountain nation and only about 50 people live, and these two guards don't even have to deal with barbarians and thieves. Their job consists of settling disputes between villagers, protecting the village from lone wolves and monsters, and when things get out of hand, all they need to do is seek help.
「Shit, it's almost harvest time. I might go help out somewhere and earn a little change.」
「Oooh, go get 'em. Do it for my alcohol too.」
The youngster grumbles as he exits the watchtower, and the idle middle-aged soldier lays sideways to try and nap. War is the last thing on their minds and when the enemy reaches such a remote place as this, the outcome would have already been decided.
「Go work your hardest. I'm going to sleep.」
Just as the man mumbles to himself and stretches his arms to lie in the shape of the '大' character, the door swings violently open.
「This is baaad!! Wake up, old man! The barbarians are coming down here!!」
The middle-aged soldier springs up. The most frightening thing in this area is flood, followed by barbarians. He rushes over to the window and sticks his body over the ledge to look over at the mountains. After one long glance, he rubs his eyes, and when he looks a second time, the image didn't change.
It isn't several hundreds.
It isn't a thousand either.
A large group of cavalry easily exceeding 5000 is charging forward as if they're coming to swallow the village.
Both of them stare dumbfoundedly at the scene unfolding before their eyes. There's pretty much nothing left they can do. That is what they're thinking in their hearts.
「Old man...what do we do? Do we contact someone?」
「Don't be ridiculous... how do we do that in this situation?」
The cavalry pass by the village from both sides and continue westward.
「Hey, hey, you've got to be kidding me... look at that.」
The middle-aged soldier points and the youngster's jaw drops to the ground. The mass army of cavalry thought to be barbarians are waving the black flag of the Goldonian nation.
「Those guys... they came from beyond the mountain nation's territory.」
「There's no way! Those are the subhumans who fuck women and eat men, aren't they!?」
「Didn't they just come from the east just now?! There's nobody else but barbarians to the east of this village!」
The middle-aged soldier picks up his spear momentarily, but throws it to the floor soon after.
「This is going to be bad...all the armies are around the border. There's nobody left from here all the way to the west...」
The pioneer village is located at the absolute far east, but in terms of north-south, it's located in the middle. If these guys appeared here, that means they're separated from their allies who are sticking around the northern border.
「...Radov...What do we do?」
The young soldier unusually calls the old man by his name. His voice is clearly showing signs of fear.
「You're asking what we should do? Well-」
Radov takes the spear from the young soldier and drops it to the floor, handing him a cup filled with alcohol instead.
「There's nothing we can do. In order to survive, we can only lay here and sleep, hoping we don't agitate those guys.」
Radov gathers the scattered cards.
–Aegir POV–
「We passed by a pioneer village. Is it fine to ignore it?」
「We don't have time to worry about it. If they have horses, we'll steal them, since it'll be too late for them to make a report on foot.」
The number of soldiers following Celia and I reach 7000. There are 1000 cavalry from the private army and 6000 bow cavalry.
「In this way, they won't be able to tell where our main force is.」
「Pipi and the others are one with the chief. His hands and feet.」
It's exactly as Pipi says, since the mountain nation didn't complain a single time when I asked them to mobilize nearly all of their units. I did tell them if they run out of food, they could let Adolph know though.
「In any case, it really is unmanned here. There are no soldiers here at all.」
「They probably didn't expect us to pass through the mountain nation's territory.」
It's mostly barren and arid land, and not really a place where you could march through. What made it possible for us is that we stored fodder and water at predetermined points beforehand and scouted the area several times to plot the most suitable route for marching.
It wouldn't have been possible for us without the premise of no interference from the mountain nation and also having them guide us, so naturally Treia would be unable to do this either.
「Leopolt, Irijina seems to be struggling. Take some troops with you and beat their asses.」
「Then, I'll borrow 1000 bow cavalry.」
Just that little is fine? The enemy stopped Irijina who had 4000.
「When we suddenly appear behind them, they will crumble. It's sufficient to take an amount capable of threatening pursuit.」
「I see... Pipi, go with Leopolt.」
As soon as the mountain nation separates from me, their obedience to orders will decrease. My women, Pipi and Luna, needs to be with me.
「And also...absolutely don't make this village into a battlefield.」
It goes without saying that it's Mireille's village. Her village is close to the place where Irijina is fighting, so we can't rough up that area.
「Is it a woman?」
「A woman, is it...?」
「A woman!?」
「Is it a local mistress?」
They're annoying, just hurry up and get out of here.
And so, my army marches west to invade the nation of Treia without any hindrance of the enemy's line of defense.
Side Story – Military Flag (before the outbreak of war)
「A flag, huh...?」
The one who starts off the discussion is Celia.
「During the training exercise, the other nobles had their own flags. And the private army is getting larger too, so why don't we try and make our own?」
It's not like a flag makes us capable of fighting in a war, but if it's something that raises morale, then it might be worth considering.
「Swords and spears are common so it might be hard to recognize your own flag.」
「Well, most nobles who participate in battle have flags like that.」
「Have you thought of anything, Celia?」
「If you don't mind...how about something like this...」
The picture that Celia drew on the piece of paper is one of a spear-wielding warrior; it's so well-drawn that I could tell at first glance that it's me. I think she's skilled enough to make a living if she went to the city to draw....
「I'm not so shameless as to put a picture of myself on my flag.」
「Right...」
Celia becomes dejected. Nevertheless, the drawing is quite pretty. Is this how Celia sees me?
「What are you talking about?」
Nonna comes over as she must have heard us chatting about something.
「Oh my, a military flag!? How wonderful. It's not just for battle, but you could hang it up in different places too, so please allow me to draw something.」
And all of us are frozen when she finishes her drawing.
「How is it? With its large, elegant wings, this winged lion is a legendary mythical beast that symbolizes beauty and strength...and its name is-」
「What's that?」
Hearing Nonna's voice get loud, Carla also comes over.
「Grif-...」
「Cockroach? Those things are nasty in summer; they have wings and fly all over the place.」
Nonna hits her head against the desk.
「Please don't associate it together with something so disgusting! This is a beautiful mythical beast!!」
「What!? It's your fault that the drawing is so ugly! Besides, it has nothing to do with Aegir!」
Oh, it isn't a caterpillar with wings? ...if I say that out loud, Nonna will pout again.
「I'll draw an appropriate flag for Aegir. If this is on the flag, everyone will be surprised for sure~」
The thing Carla draws quickly and smoothly certainly has a deep connection with me and I remember seeing it before. I saw it pretty recently actually. Yep, everyone will be beyond surprised.
「...Carla-san.」
「Stupid Carla...」
「Hm? What? It's well-drawn, right?」
The thing Carla drew is a fully erect cock pointing up towards the sky. If I march with this on my flag, it will definitely attract the most attention.
「If you put something like this on the flag, you will bring shame to him forever!!」
「It's better than that cockroach!」
「...Both of them are no good.」
Celia has gotten tired of their antics and sighs. Mel comes over while watching the two of the fight, holding her belly and having Miu suck on her tits.
「What's going on? Oh, a flag.」
Celia urges Mel to take a brush as well, after becoming unconcerned, saying how anything she drew would be better than those drawings the other two did.
「It's finished. What do you think? I'm not that artistic so it might look awful.」
It is a picture of a plains bathed in the warm rays of the sun with several pigeons flying. Just as she said, it isn't the best looking, but it is a picture that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and soothes your heart.
「...So, are you going take this flag with you when you go out and kill people?」
She's right, this picture isn't suitable for a military flag at all.
After that, more squabbling happened and nothing could be decided on. Just when I thought it's fine not having a stupid flag, Nonna and Carla rubbed some black dye on the paper.
「It's fine like this, isn't it?」
The paper is entirely black on one side and there is no pattern or design on it. It saves effort and time this way too.
「Eeeh, this is boring. Let's make it a dick.」
「A cockroach is better than such a frightening flag.」
「Rejected, I'm going with this. Celia, I'll leave the rest to you.」
「Yes, I'll draw it right away!」
Mel is disinterested in the flag already and after showing the picture to her baby, she rocks her to sleep. And also, Nonna...you admitted in the middle there that what you drew is actually a cockroach.
And that is how the flag of the Hardlett army became a pure black flag.
A little while later, I bring up the topic of the flag when I'm talking with Adolph.
「Isn't red better than black? It stands out.」
「A red flag...? I don't have the authority to speak about military flags, but I'm not really fond of red. When I see red, it makes me feel unsettling.」
Hmm, it's also the color of blood. For a guy who isn't good with violence, I guess he wouldn't like it.