196 It’s okay, Oscar-sama is back safely.
***[Chief of Silvermoon]***
An arrow was stuck in the son’s throat.
It is thicker than those used by the grassland tribes.
It’s probably specially designed to fly long distances.
Blood flowed from under the thick arrow hole, soaking the whole body.
Her face, which had once shown her teeth and grinned, had lost its vitality like a doll made of flour.
He had the appearance of a son, but it felt like he wasn’t a son.
“My God… my son…”
He was the strongest and bravest son.
Even if he was a bit hasty or violent, he acknowledged his mistakes and tried to correct them if given a little time.
The ability to use the energy of the earth was also excellent.
He shot arrows farther than anyone in the silver moon, and hit all 100 of them.
He is a proud son who has been raised as an heir since childhood.
I thought he would make a good chieftain.
why is that son
The Silvermoon Chief fell to his knees.
My legs are weak and I can’t stand up.
Kneeling, he approaches the corpse of his son and touches his face.
There was no body heat left on the lifeless skin.
“What happened? Why did my son, who went out with a smile on his face, come back like this!”
While shouting at his subordinates, the chief of another tribe who was standing in the back came forward.
“What about our tribal warriors? Did I say annihilation earlier?”
It was an angry voice.
‘ah.’
Among the warriors he gave to his son, there was also the son of that chief.
Sometimes I remembered him bragging about his son at a drinking party.
He is not the heir, but he is the youngest son, and I heard that the chief as well as other children above him love him very much.
When he thought so, he finally realized his mistake.
The son disobeyed the order and went out and attacked not only the village but also the castle, and lost a warrior from another tribe.
That’s a bigger problem than losing a successor.
My heart, which had been mourning a moment ago, froze in an instant.
Most of the warriors I attached to my son this time are young.
He deliberately selected and sent such people in order to create a bond of his own in his son’s generation.
It was aimed at various benefits for him, but it became poison.
The young warrior is the hope of the tribe, the strength of the future.
‘I killed them all.’
oh my god.
It was not the time to mourn the death of his son.
If it goes wrong, it becomes a problem for the entire Silvermoon Clan.
From nob le mt l dot com
Death for death, grace for grace.
That is the law of the meadow.
If the warriors who died this time were just one or two tribes, he could crush them with force, but he chose warriors from as many tribes as possible, thinking that they were the cornerstone for the future.
You can’t simply press down with force.
In the grassland, everything is connected by blood, and the anger of one tribe is passed on to the other tribe.
“…”
How will the other tribes react to the disaster caused by their son’s disobedience?
My heart seems to freeze.
The Silvermoon Chief stood up with a stiff face.
The faces of the other tribesmen were terribly distorted.
“What kind of situation is this!”
“Something must be wrong.”
“Isn’t it something you know from experiencing the kingdom guys’ skills many times. There must have been something different.”
Everyone is loud.
It seems that a few people ran out as soon as they learned of the situation.
Some of the people who were with me earlier were missing.
The 15th son, who was silently shedding tears, opened his mouth.
“I heard a story from a warrior who survived. It is said that the nobles of the kingdom who had exchanges with the Red Hawk tribe killed our warriors.”
“How can you be sure of that? Since you have nothing to say, aren’t you attracting the red hawk? It’s not your trick!”
One of the rough-hewn chieftains grabbed the fifteenth son by the collar.
The first son’s body fell to the floor in the wind.
But nobody cared about that.
The 15th son continued with tears wet his cheeks.
“One of the surviving warriors is said to have recognized the flag.”
At that time, the chieftain who ran away returned.
“He’s right. I think it’s the guy who called Oscar in Red Hawk.”
“Red Hawk.”
someone muttered.
It was a voice that blazed with hate.
This is probably the first time since the Red Hawk turned enemy that another tribe has been genuinely outraged.
you have to use this
The Silvermoon Chief made a momentary decision and raised his voice.
“Weren’t there red hawks there? Their tribe should be with the kingdom by now.”
The subordinate who brought his dead son to this place shook his head.
“There were no grasslands. But…”
The subordinate swallowed sobs and let out a hoarse voice.
“They were using the way of the plains, they. It wasn’t just those called dukes. The kingdoms that first attacked us handled arrows the way we shot them. Perhaps the red hawk taught them.”
“…”
“Especially the kingdoms that appeared later were strong. They shoot arrows from a distance as far as we do. Even while riding a horse. If their skills were better than ours, it wasn’t bad.”
Even the Silvermoon Chief was surprised by those words.
None of the Kingdom soldiers encountered so far use the grassland method.
It was completely unexpected.
Even as strong as the steppe warriors, maybe even stronger than us?
There could be such nonsense.
A chill slowly rose from deep inside his body.
I suddenly remembered what Goruka had said.
[The child of the moon comes down to the meadow, in times of trouble in the world. Because he is a child of God, sent by the moon for us and bestowed for human beings. Think carefully of the danger of thrusting a blade at the child of the moon.]
What Goruka said didn’t mean this.
It doesn’t fit the context.
But Goruka’s voice seems to be stuck in the back of my head.
It doesn’t go away.
It didn’t feel right.
Something went wrong.
Sometimes you feel that way when you’ve just fired an arrow.
Oh, it was rare to know intuitively that it was a miss.
In that case, the arrow doesn’t actually hit the target.
It went as far as I could say for sure.
That’s exactly how I feel right now.
I had a wrong start, I was standing in the wrong place, that kind of feeling.
‘I can’t go back already.’
Even he, who did not believe in the child of the moon, remembered Goruka’s words.
Perhaps other tribes had similar thoughts.
‘no. I have to stop thinking like that.’
I must hurry up and turn my thoughts into anger against the Red Hawk.
The Silvermoon Chief clenched his fists the moment he thought so.
He slams the floor hard and shouts.
“The red hawks!”
He said a few more words, but the other tribesmen did not follow the Silvermoon chief’s words.
There was an atmosphere in the tent, as if my heart had left this place for some reason.
Then there was a commotion outside and a warrior rushed in.
The warrior shouts as if embarrassed.
“The red hawk! The red hawk has attacked.”
“What!”
“They!”
The atmosphere inside the tent changed instantly.
The air that had been strange for a moment was pushed away, and anger filled the place again.
Seeing the other tribesmen run away, the Silvermoon Chief also took his ax and bow.
Just before leaving, he saw the face of the eldest still in the arms of his 15th son.
After patting his son’s head once, the Silvermoon Chief corrected his expression and moved on.
***[Catherine, Duchess]***
“Currently, the Duke is moving with the Marquis of Hoven. We plan to move here from now on.”
Benno and the captain of the guard point to the map and explain.
Catherine glared intently at the map and nodded.
I know very little about war.
But the king continued to send messengers.
It is not a request for discharge.
When he learned that the duchy had moved, he wanted to seek information.
What they plan to do in the future, where the steppe people are, it seems that the royal family has not been able to get proper information at all.
And whenever I had a chance, I was making requests close to pleading.
They wanted to have the kingdom army with Prince Emil as its commander join the dukedom army.
That seems to be the main point rather than information.
Anyway, when the king’s envoy arrives, Benno or another military officer explains the battle situation and details, but Catherine herself hosts the reception.
Katrin desperately crumpled Benno’s explanation into her head, as she needed to know something.
But I don’t even know war, so I can’t understand it properly.
Catherine grunted and opened her mouth.
“Then, from now on, do you know where all the steppe tribes are? Is that why you can drive them in… But until now, they said it was too fast to properly track their whereabouts.”
“…”
It may have been too basic or an absurd question.
The captain of the guard and the military officer looked at each other as if they didn’t know how to explain.
sorry.
But I really don’t understand.
Aren’t you a steppe tribe that was said to be totally unpredictable not long ago?
They said it was so fast that it was difficult for the investigator to make out its tracks, but it’s not like they suddenly slowed down, and I don’t understand.
In addition, until now, most of the soldiers had been confined to the castle for a sit-in, but now, calls are coming in one after another from other families to request magic soldiers.
From nob le mt l dot com
Did the sit-in suddenly become unnecessary?
sorry. I really don’t understand.
Benno came up to her and opened his mouth.
“Good question, madam. Be sure to ask me anything you don’t understand, no matter how trivial. There’s nothing worse than meeting the King’s messenger without knowing it.”
After saying that, Benno pointed to the map.
“Originally, the steppes had no guides or maps, so you couldn’t predict where you were going. The worst thing in war is to never anticipate your opponent’s actions. But now you can be sure they have a map. It’s done.”
“huh.”
It was understandable up to that point.
Benno smiled and pointed the way on the map with a long stick.
“This is the path the Steppe Tribes have taken so far. It is a collection of their appearances here and there. The most important goal of any war is the enemy’s captain. From the Steppe Tribe’s point of view, the enemy’s leader must be the king. In fact, this road is known as the Royal Road. will follow.”
Catherine nodded.
“But the road to the royal road might be faster this way…”
a bit unsure
But looking at the map, there were several better routes to the capital.
Benno nodded and said something to the attendant.
A moment later, the attendant brought out another map and unfolded it.
“The maps you’ve seen so far are very detailed, which is one of only a few in this country. But the maps obtained by the steppe tribes are probably like this.”
The newly unfolded map was small.
There are only a few roads drawn and it is very simple.
Benno places several stones on top of it, indicating the path of the steppes.
“Ah,” Catherine said softly.
Benno chuckled.
“Did you know?”
“I don’t know that other roads are better with this map.”
“Yes. It’s a simple map, but it’s not accurate because it’s been made for a long time. There are only a few routes they can go because of this map. Thanks to dispatching investigators focused on that route, we can track the steppe tribes’ movements a little easier. I came to know.”
Not knowing where they will appear increases the number of soldiers needed for a sit-in.
However, if you can anticipate their path and use it to drive them to a specific place, you will be able to use the soldiers except for the minimum number of people required for the sit-in.
“That’s why the duke requested soldiers. You can’t drive out the grassland tribes simply by holding a sit-in, so it was a matter of timing anyway to run into them. Other families are aware of this.”
“Then why don’t you join the kingdom army? Isn’t it better to have more soldiers. It will help Oscar-sama as well.”
When Katrin spoke nervously, Benno spoke again.
“The duke’s request for soldiers this time is limited to magic soldiers. I honestly don’t need normal soldiers. First of all, I need to be able to use magic bombs, and above all, normal soldiers are too slow. They just get in the way.”
Still, the higher the number, the better.
I think I knew Catherine’s thoughts.
Benno spoke again.
“Accepting the kingdom forces also creates a command problem. The king will probably want Prince Emil to be the commander-in-chief. .”
“That’s a thief symbol!”
Katrin clenched her fists, and Benno laughed.
“But at the last moment, I’m going to accept Prince Emile. Just keep that in mind.”
“Why? Oscar-sama is fighting, why do you accept Prince Emile at the last minute? Will you allow such an immodest thing!”
that’s really nonsense
Benno lowered his head slightly as Katrin gasped with excitement.
“It’s not good to have fancy flowers only in the duke’s family. We need to save the royal family’s face. That way there’s less backlash. Besides, the duke is Prince Emile’s patron, so we need to give him some credit.”
“…But isn’t it too unfair?”
It’s too much to just take out the fruit at the end without doing anything.
Benno shrugged his shoulders slightly and smiled.
“But even if the royal family doesn’t get in the way or give strange orders, it’s helpful on this side. Anyway, it can’t be left alone, and we have to deal with it. I don’t know if I’m lucky or not.”
“…”
It’s annoying even now.
Originally, Katrin, who didn’t need to know these things, was just wrapping her head and studying.
I thought it was very, very annoying.
But could it have been more troublesome than this?
Catherine thought for a moment and then her shoulders drooped.
“It’s better than bullying Oscar. It can’t be helped.”
If Oscar-sama, who is standing on the battlefield, can feel even a little bit more comfortable, then I’ll have to sacrifice my body.
Katrin sighed lightly, but Benno and the captain of the guards smiled.
Katrin studied for another hour or so and then went back to her room.
Tomorrow you have to meet the king’s messenger.
It’s already the 6th meeting.
ha.
Catherine sighed and opened the box next to the bed.
Inside, the letters from Oscar were piled up.
I have everything from what I received when I was young, so I look at it whenever I have time.
At the top was a letter I received a few days ago.
When I opened it, pretty letters were lined up.
This is a letter that Oscar sent during his busy time.
After stroking Oscar’s letter with her finger for a moment, Catherine pulled out another letter.
It was sent by the Marquis of Hoven.
As I was reading it, Anne came inside.
“Are you reading that again?”
“Yes. Do you want to read together?”
“I think I’ve read it sixteen times already.”
“…”
“But the duke’s amazing achievements are amazing to look at.”
As if Anne had no choice, she came and sat down next to him.
Together, we look at the Marquis Hoven’s letter.
In it, it was written that Oscar had shot the enemy’s captain.
How the hell do you hit enemies from so far away that you can’t even see them?
I don’t know, but the contents of this letter are true.
Benno, the captain of the guards, and other military officers were all talking in unison.
The duke said he could shoot enemies out of sight.
“… isn’t that great?”
As Catherine muttered as she read the letter, Anne hugged her tightly on the shoulder.
“You’re really amazing, Duke.”
Anne whispered softly in her ear, holding her tightly.
“So I’m sure you’ll be all right. It’s okay, young lady.”
“…”
“You don’t have to act strong like you do in front of other people. You can cry in front of me.”
“… huh.”
Catherine buried her face in Anne’s chest.
It seems that the anxious mind is going away a little.
“No, my breasts have grown.”
“Huh-huh-huh. I think the young lady has grown a little too.”
Catherine smiled as she hugged Anne.
are you okay.
Oscar will return safely.
Whether it’s wolf-herding or sheep-herding, it’s done really well and will definitely come back safely.