162 Ominous
***[Heroine Oscar]***
Even after the steppe tribes left, Kyle and the Viscounts did not move from their place for a long time.
There were also those who did not hide their resentment and howled.
It’s not that I don’t know the feelings of a person who has lost a family member.
But if the steppes had no wounded to take care of, these people probably wouldn’t have pursued them this far.
I would have missed it before then or died on the contrary.
It is a steppe tribe that shoots arrows containing magical energy and is quick-witted even while riding a horse.
Although their horses are small, they are very fast and live with their owners from birth.
Even before the owner ordered it, it recognized the owner’s will and acted.
The grassland tribes were not riding horses, but were like having an extra four-legged body attached to them.
If they set their mind to it, the people of our kingdom can’t even chase after the steppe tribes.
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Do they really know the meaning of such steppe tribes abandoning all their advantages and transporting the injured?
If they let the injured die, do they know how cruel the steppes can become without the injured to protect?
And if they are all killed here, do you know how many slaughter those who come after will commit?
Even the Red Hawk tribe, which is said to be the most gentle, kills all enemies, women and children, to avenge their family.
Other tribes would add more, not less.
Kyle called me a coward, but the reason I’m not scared is because they’re ignorant.
‘I’ll find out then when I lose all the lives of my remaining family members miserably.’
In fact, after that, the grassland tribes attack the kingdom.
At least if we don’t have the red hawk as an ally, and if we don’t buy a little time to prepare, the annihilation will be instantaneous.
I stared at the steppe people walking away.
The temple healers brought from the duchy were seen chasing after them.
I tried to treat him on the spot, but it seems that the steppe people refused.
Probably, Gorukawa and the grassland tribes decided that they had to leave the kingdom as soon as possible.
‘I’d have to save at least one more person.’
A temple healer is different from a doctor.
They do not determine the cause of the disease or perform surgical treatment such as attaching and amputating a fallen arm.
They only cured diseases by bestowing blessings from the gods.
In their treatment, holy water used in monasteries and temples is used.
Each temple has a slightly different god, but all the water blessed by the gods is called holy water, and if you use that water to make medicine, the effect is incomparably higher than anything else.
Temple healers are those who use the medicine and, in addition, bless it from the gods.
The healer brought from the dukedom was especially skilled.
If they can’t be saved, there will be no hope in this country or anywhere in the grasslands.
The people of the Viscounts couldn’t leave the place even after the steppe people were completely invisible.
Standing there as if nailed, Kyle turned to look at me.
There are thick tear marks in the middle of the dust-stained cheeks.
“I will report this to Your Majesty. Never… I will never let it pass. Even if the duke takes the side of the barbarians, other nobles will be different. Even if they have power and power… This time, the duke’s wishes will not work.”
After saying that, Kyle got on his horse.
“All barbarians must be killed. They are like beasts.”
After leaving that one word like talking to himself, Kyle ran in the opposite direction to the meadow.
The self-made people follow suit.
I let out a small sigh and turned my head.
As Kyle said, the nobility of this country will not leave the steppe people like this.
I don’t know exactly what will happen in front of this, but there is a high probability that an expedition will be dispatched to the grassland.
And there will be quite a few families that will come after them right away.
Kyle, who just left, won’t back down like this, and he’ll definitely appeal to other families here and there.
‘That’s why I brought soldiers.’
At least, the Marquis of Hoven and the Marquis Patrie and other close-knit families should buy time to prepare for war.
They had been induced to prepare for years already, but they were not yet aware of the possibility of a steppe raid.
It will take at least a month or more to announce it and prepare on this side.
The reason I came here now was to buy that time.
If someone invades the grasslands right now, the grassland tribes immediately jump out into the kingdom like a beehive.
Unlike kingdoms that have to prepare supplies and go to war, steppe tribes fight while plundering.
If they wanted to, they could come in right now.
But now, if I press the people of the kingdom here, Goruka and the Red Hawk tribe will convince the other grassland tribes.
The small amount of time the red hawk was holding down the other tribes was probably the preparation period left in the kingdom.
Without realizing it, I took a long breath.
My heart feels heavy, like a stone on my heart.
The captain of the escort looked at me worriedly.
“Duke, are you all right?”
I wonder if he was worried about Kyle’s words about informing the king.
I shrugged my shoulders a little.
“well.”
“…”
“I’m going to get some criticism. I won’t be in a good position for a while.”
The magicians next to me looked at each other.
I don’t know the difficult stories about politics, but they seem to understand that the current situation is going unfavorably.
The youngest magician suddenly opened his mouth.
“Shall we go after them now?”
“What are you going to do after me?”
“…if you lock it up so that it won’t go anywhere for a while.”
Judging by the slight hesitation before speaking, he must have thought about killing him.
He might have thought of disguising himself as a steppe tribe.
Normally, I’m not a kid who would roll my head like that, but when I heard that I was accusing the king, I must have thought I should stop it.
The escort captain let out a small sigh.
A sigh came out of my mouth.
Maybe the character education was a little lacking.
The magician, who was close to the steppes, had a mindset closer to the steppes than the kingdom.
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Distinguish between allies and enemies and judge based on that.
My friends, my family, and the magician brothers I grew up with are precious.
protect it no matter what
But the enemy kills.
Whoever harms the duchy is killed.
simple.
The younger he was, the stronger this tendency was, and perhaps because of the influence of people around him, such as Benno and the captain of the escort, he was also imbued with the idea that the ducal family was the best.
Maybe I was raised wrong.
Magical soldiers are the people who should play an active part in the war against the steppes, so the training may have been biased too much.
‘Still, I tried my best to raise them properly.’
I can’t help it now.
It’s already spilled water.
The magician next to me saw my expression and quickly punched the talking guy in the head.
“You idiot! This is a political situation. It’s not going to be resolved by force.”
Even if you say it yourself, you probably don’t understand its meaning.
I beckoned the young magician to come to my side and talked for a while about how precious human life is.
And that I didn’t come here to kill people.
A young magician heard my story and asked abruptly.
“Um… then what are we doing here?”
If it wasn’t hunting monsters or killing people, he seemed curious about why he came here with a bunch of armed soldiers.
It seems to be the same with other magicians.
He looked at me with a strange expression.
“To put it plainly… we’re here to stare.”
“uh….”
“To stare?”
The magicians tilted their heads.
Looking at each other, you ask with your eyes if you know the meaning.
But as if no one knew, everyone tilted their heads again.
I pointed my hand over the hill.
“How would you feel if those soldiers were from another family?”
“I have to kill him.”
“We have to fight.”
“Even if the enemy is strong, I never back down.”
The magicians each answered.
“…”
You got the question wrong.
Seeing the reaction of the magicians, the escort captain smiled.
This time, the captain of the escort asked the magician.
“If I were your enemy, what would you think of that army?”
“You’ll be scared.”
“Because the duke’s army is the best.”
“There’s no one who doesn’t back down when he sees us.”
“Because our activity has already spread to the capital.”
“There’s no one who doesn’t know about magic bombs… Ah!”
Magicians face each other.
I guess I only noticed it now.
We are not here to fight.
I have come to scare people away from entering the meadow without permission.
“We just need to stare at it like tigers in this spot.”
When I said that, the magician who first came out to pursue Kyle asked.
“What is a tiger?”
“…”
yes.
There are no tigers around here.
After thinking for a while, I answered.
“Big cat.”
“That’s not scary at all.”
As the magician speaks with a blank face like a deflated balloon, the others laugh.
Leaving behind the softened magician, I climbed up the hill and stopped my horse.
The Duke’s flag flutters in the wind.
Standing under it and waiting for a while, the healer who followed the Red Hawk tribe returned.
“How is it?”
The therapist bowed her head at my question.
“I don’t think you need to worry too much. There were a lot of people in critical condition, but most of them were weak, and there were very few serious injuries. God bless them especially well. Most of them will survive.”
“Yes, I’m glad.”
“But driving people to that point is really disastrous. If you lose even a little bit of marketability as a slave, I don’t think you’ve paid me a meal.”
If a therapist who has seen every single one of them could say that, it must be that people were really terrible.
“Slave traders are really cruel.”
The therapist said softly and shook his head.
*
A few hours later, another steppe tribe led the wounded out of the area.
At first, he was embarrassed and hostile to the army, but when he learned that we were Goruka’s friends, he did not refuse the healer.
The fact that we shoot arrows in the same way as the steppe tribes did a great job in disarming them.
Unlike simply knowing words and customs, the way the grassland tribes shoot arrows is unknown to the enemy.
***[Catherine, Duchess]***
Right before Oscar left for the border, the inside and outside of the castle were very busy.
The head of the butler, Benno, and the head of the guard gave orders to the people every day, and the grain stored in the warehouse was loaded onto a large cart and left the castle.
I don’t know, but it seems Oscar’s letters have been sent all over the place.
I don’t know what it’s about, but it seems serious anyway.
I received letters from my father, mother and aunt.
Catherine put the three letters side by side and thought about it.
“Ma’am, why is that?”
Curious about Anne, she asked, stretching her neck toward the letter.
“It’s because I got a strange letter.”
“What is it about?”
“Do you want to read it?”
“yes.”
If there are family secrets written on it or if it is a huge secret, it cannot be shown to Anne.
But there’s no way my parents or aunt would send me such a letter, no, no? won’t it be? Anyway, I share most of the letters with Anne.
Even the letter from Anne’s fiancée, we were passing it on to each other.
Of course, in that case, most of it meant that Anne was bragging to Catherine.
After reading the letter, Anne tilted her head.
“Isn’t it strange?”
Anne tilts her head again at Catherine’s question.
“It’s more out of the blue than strange.”
“…”
“Why did you suddenly write a letter about the attitude of the sit-in, or the way you support your husband as a wife?”
“Strange.”
“Besides, the Countess speaks to the smallest detail. Just like someone who has really experienced it.”
If father and mother’s letters were written about a woman’s mindset, Auntie focused on how to behave.
In particular, it has been repeatedly requested that you learn about the secret passage of the castle in advance.
“Will there be a war?”
“But with where?”
“…”
That’s the problem.
There was no sign of going to war with anyone at this time.
The same goes for kingdoms and dukes.
maybe.
“But I’m sure there was a letter from Mrs. Oscar to my father.”
My father didn’t say that directly, but the atmosphere is like that.
Yesterday someone came from the Hoven Marquess.
After that, her mother’s behavior also became suspicious.
Together with Benno, I started checking the items in the warehouse in the castle.
It seems that a list of things to buy in the future is being made.
The two of them were thinking about it, but the butler came to visit.
“Ma’am, the dame wants to see you. Is that all right?”
This too is out of the ordinary.
Usually, another attendant comes and asks, but today the butler came personally.
Katrin jumped up, and Benno bowed his head.
“The godfather is currently out of the warehouse. I’m sorry, but I’ll take you there.”
“great.”
When Anne tried to go with her, the butler quietly opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry. This time you said that only your wife would come alone.”
“…”
it’s also weird
Katrin met Anne’s gaze and turned her head away.
Anne holds her hand behind her back.
I don’t know why, but it’s strange.
My heart trembled with an ominous foreboding.