About 200 defeated knights walked the long journey in two lines back to town. The rope was hung on each of their necks while their arms were tied up at the wrist. They looked just like criminals.
If there was one exception, it’d be Mireille. She was walking at the end of the line, and the rope on her neck was not connected to the other knights’. The end of the rope was in Mira’s hands.
Of course, there was a reason for this.
When Mireille was linked to the other knights and needed to relieve herself, Nobuhide panicked and changed the setup of the prisoners. Ever since that, she has been treated like this.
Well, in the first place, the knights of the Kingdom of Sandra were already in a hopeless situation.
It was very painful to march under the harsh sunlight whilst tied up in rough ropes, but after some food entered their stomachs, their power recovered. Also, with their lives guaranteed, life slowly came back to their eyes.
Soon after they got assured of their safety, it changed into their current dissatisfaction.
The knights felt humiliated. They were treated much lower than peasants. Furthermore, those who bound them and forced them to walk were beastmen. At the very least, they would be fine if their captors were humans or demi-humans, but it was “those” beastmen.
As a result, irritation started to sprout inside the knights’ hearts, and it appeared in their attitudes.
For example, they will not stand up after the break is over. For example, their complaints increased. For example, they start cursing at the beastmen when when they’re out of earshot, etc etc.
Because they feared the beastmen who were holding weapons, so it’s alright if it’s only this much. Thus, the other knights also did not cross the line.
Of course, not everyone was like that. While some were ashamed by their own immaturity, some were trying to accept their current situation However, they numbered less than a handful. Most of them indulged themselves in their own self-consolation.
And then, one member of the Cat Tribe finally heard one of knight’s bad mouthing. The catman hit the knight’s head strongly with the short spear in rage.
When the knight cried out and fell down, the other knights were also pulled by the rope, and fell to the side like dominoes.
“What’s wrong?” Nobuhide stopped the car and asked.
The eyes of other beastmen also fell onto that catman. Nobuhide’s eyes, that were covered by orange goggles, were directed at him.
“H-He was saying bad things about us, about the beastmen’s social standing...” The catman defended himself in soft mumbles.
Nobuhide is a human. While he wasn’t lenient when he fought against humans, but after the battle, the beastmen knew that he was somewhat concerned about the humans. Many beastmen thought that that was because Nobuhide was a human.
Nobuhide’s gaze turned towards the knight who was pointed out by the catman. The knight in question seemed to have lost consciousness.
“You... By any chance... Fujiwara... san is a human, right?” A knight different from the one who fainted asked.
There were only a few knights who knew of Nobuhide’s appearance without his helmet, orange goggle and face mask on. But, everyone knew that the leader of the beastmen was a human.
Looking at the response of the beastmen toward Nobuhide.. Even though Nobuhide commanded the beastman till now, the catman showed a slight fear this time.
Upon seeing that it was not the same fear towards the people from the same tribe, the knight concluded the identity of Nobuhide.
“That’s right.” Nobuhide answered to the question simply.
When the knight heard that, his speech became smooth at once.
“Why did you do such thing even though you are a human?! We are from the same race! Are not you the same humans as we are?!”
A human is only a human, and a beastman is only a beastman. Humans should only live for humans, so why was this human supporting other races?
That was the knight’s argument. Other knights also started agreeing loudly.
When one of them started to raise their voice, another also started to voice out saying, “That is right!”
A droplet of water quickly became heavy rain. With so much people roaring the same thing, it sounded just like pouring rain.
“If you are a human, free us!” One of them yelled.
[TL: this guy never learn, human kills another human to live, to expand, to conquer, there is nothing wrong with siding with other side even if it is not human being.]
Nobuhide listened to the knights’ words silently, which further spurred the knights’ momentum.
(Was this what they called mob psychology?)
Their words quickly turned more violent as they tried to convince Nobuhide.
“Traitor!”
“Traitor of humans!”
“Have you forgotten the teachings of god?! This is heresy!”
[TL: I feel like this is what happens in my country right now, In different context, same form.]
[ED: Just the bit about heresy makes me want to burn these knights alive after dousing them in gasoline :)]
The number one religion of this continent was the teachings of Rashia which said that humans were indispensable elements of this continent.
Hence, being called a heretic was regarded as one of the greatest disgrace for a human.
Of course, different continents had different teachings, so Rashia was not the only religion.
“This heretic!”
Eventually, the curses from the knights unified and changed into the word “heretic”.
Inside the knights’ minds, words like ‘is it already good?’ ‘did you repent a little bit?’ surfaced with glee.
“Are you done with your cursing?” Nobuhide finally spoke.
The knights were surprised that Nobuhide didn’t seem affected by their words at all.
“Then, on the next break, you won’t get any meals. As for the beastmen... If the prisoners don’t obey, don’t hesitate to hit them.” Nobuhide continued speaking calmly.
And thus, the knights’ complaints were forcibly shut down by further blows from the beastmen.
Four days later...
The party finally arrived at the town. The reason why the march took so long despite consisting of only a small number of people was probably because the movements of the knights were hindered by ropes.
The color of the ground around the town looked different after the mountain of corpses were removed. According to Nobuhide’s instructions, all the people from town buried the corpses inside holes. Of course, it was because he was afraid of plague.
The knights breathed in relief after they finally reached the town. Many of the knights knew about the treatment received by their former colleague Romatto. Therefore, even with the humiliating position of a prisoner of war, there was a little sense of security and happiness.
But, that kind of thinking was naive.
After taking a break outside the town, Mireille and the knights departed once again. They passed through the brick house beside the town that was used as a temporary shelter for those who were wounded, and walked further south.
“O-Oi! Are we not there yet?!” The knight who raised the question was silenced by a strike from the spear shortly thereafter.
The march began once more. Because the destination of the march was unknown this time, the knights’ minds and bodies started to decline again.
Two days passed, and the party finally reached their destination which was 40 km further south from the town.
There were a stone wall about 10 meters high enclosing 100 meter square of land.
Even the beastmen did not know that there was such a thing in this place. Of course, that was because it was something Nobuhide [Purchased] in a hurry.
During this march, Nobuhide had sped up his vehicle and went to the south alone many times. One of the reasons why was to [Purchase] these stone walls.
“Is this our final destination..?” The leading knight muttered.
One could see that the bolts surrounding castle gate of the stone walls were on the outside. There was no one who did not know what that meant.
The knights quickly realized that this was the prison that will keep them confined.
There was only a dilapidated house inside. Afterwards, the knights will live there under the beastmen’s supervision.
◆
“What did you say?! Say that again!” In the royal palace situated in the imperial city of Sandoria, the angry voice of the king echoed.
The one receiving the anger was the knight kneeling in front of the throne. Before Nobuhide’s night attack, Mireille had sent a messenger to her country. Bringing 4 horses in tow, he advanced the distance of 80 km a day while changing horses, and finally arrived at Sandoria today.
“T-Then I will say it again!” The knight gulped in fear. “The army that went to attack to the south was annihilated by strange attacks from the enemy! The leader of the Yellow Dragon Knight Order, Barbarodem, and the vice leader of the Red Dragon Knight Order were killed! The number of allies were reduced to around one thousand and a few hundred, and will retreat back to our country as soon as possible!”
Upon hearing the report from the messenger once again, the king trembled as he collapsed bonelessly onto the throne. Wrinkles formed between his eyebrows.
“T-The number of remaining enemy soldiers... How many have you killed?” His mouth that was trembling with anger was finally able to squeeze his words out.
“Ze... Zero..!” The messenger did not dare to look up at his ruler.
At that moment, the sound of the crown hitting the ground next to the messenger echoed.
The king let anger swallow him, his eyes burning bright as he stood up.
“Do... Don’t joke around!! 5000 soldiers couldn’t even kill a single one, and was completely annihilated?! Even with two of our strongest knight orders gathered, they couldn’t even kill a single one?! Kill him! Behead this messenger! He’s spouting lies!” The king thundered.
A scream leaked out from the messenger’s mouth as he trembled like a frail leaf in the wind.
But, there was someone who tried to dissuade the king. It was the Chief Adviser, usually standing next to the king, who did so.
“Your Majesty, there is no reason for this person to lie. We should dispatch soldiers to the south immediately to investigate.” He stated calmly.
The king glared at the Chief Adviser. The king also knew that the messenger was not lying. But, even if he was aware of it, he couldn’t admit it. Thus, the king’s anger turned to his chief adviser.
“In the first place, it was because you bastard said to attack the south..!” He pointed at his adviser fiercely.
In the first place, the king was against of the conquest of the south.
Unknown magic...
He had anxiety which he could not get rid of regarding this. However, he was pressed by the surrounding opinion, and finally passed the Royal Decree to do so, especially because of the well-reasoned report from the Chief Advisor which broke his indecisiveness.
“That’s right. But, was His Majesty not the one who approved of it?” The elderly man replied sternly.
Blaming the failure on the king was usually something impossible for a vassal. But, the aged Chief Advisor had served since the generation of current king’s grandfather, and had been a loyal retainer till now. He also served as the official in charge of the king’s education since he was a child, so this remark seemed more like a teacher admonishing his student than anything.
Then, the king hit the armrest of his throne and clenched his right hand into a tight fist. The messenger trembled, but as expected, the Chief Advisor did not even twitch.
The king heaved a loud sigh. The throbbing pain of his right hand calmed his anger.
“..... Alright, I understand. About what to do from now on, we will think about it from scratch.” After saying that, the King listened to the messenger’s report about the war in detail, especially about the unknown attack that was carried out by the opponent.
After listening to all this, the King let the soldier withdraw and began talking calmly.
“First, about the annihilation of the knight orders... This is bad. Even though there’s no outside disturbance, there might be a revolt.”
The Kingdom of Sandra was established with the feudal system. Each lord was able to govern their own territory to certain a degree. In other words, it was not exaggerated to say that the kingdom was just an alliance of small countries. Therefore, to show authority over the other lords, he held control of the Knight Order of the Four Dragons and 2,000 reserve soldiers in the Imperial City of Sandoria.
But, amongst the four knight orders, two were already on the brink of collapse. This meant that his “influence” on other lords would be weakened.
“Gather the farmer soldiers in the territory under our direct control and train them. With this, those lords with bad thoughts should rethink their plans.” The Senior Advisor suggested.
There were numerous areas under the king’s direct control. To enrich the King’s territory, there was no draft even during wartime, so the number of people increased during this peaceful time.
By recruiting the farmer soldiers and training them, it would show off the king’s military power. Although it would cost a lot of money, it was the best possible idea to deter those lords with numbers.
“However...” The king was once again indecisive about the idea.
Even though the territory under his direct control had not been attacked by enemies, to recruit people... Even if it was for the drill, it would be clear that there would be war in the future.
Because these people had been pampered since their location was far from the war zone, they would be dissatisfied, which could lead to rebellion.
“If it was known that half of the Four Dragon Knight Orders had been destroyed, I don’t know how other countries would react. If one of the countries decides to invade our country, the enemy will first try to entice each lord away. So, I think that it is necessary to start the drill early.” The old man further explained.
“Uurghh... Alright. There is no choice in this case. The people will need to endure it. Then, what of the south?” The king gritted his teeth and asked.
“We should send soldiers to investigate as soon as possible. At the same time, let’s send people to conclude a cease-fire agreement and ensure stability in the south.” The advisor stated.
“Will they respond?” The king felt hesitant.
“Since the number of beastmen currently living there is small, I do not think that Fujiwara has any ambition to move towards the north. So, I think that it is possible.” The older man postulated.
“Who should we send? Braunitze is absent now.” The king frowned.
“We don’t have time to wait because we need to prepare before other countries know about our defeat. Let’s appoint the merchant who’s acquainted with them as the special envoy and send them. We do not need other people.” The Chief Advisor suggested.
“A merchant as the envoy, you say? They do not have much loyalty towards the country. Is it going to be alright?” The king worried.
“You don’t need to worry. The merchant opened her store in our country after all. The occupation of a merchant is not easy, so they will understand our meaning.” The aged man nodded firmly.
“But, will Fujiwara agree to it?” The king continued to fret.
“I think that Fujiwara is slightly different from normal people.” The advisor began.
“I know. Otherwise, he would not have led the beastmen to fight against humans.” The king cut in impatiently.
“For Fujiwara, whether they are beastmen or not is not important. Perhaps, he looks at this world with his personal eyes. Who is evil or good?
He seems to choose to associate with people using that standard.” The advisor continued, as if he had not been interrupted at all.
“...Hmm. Alright, I understand. This is urgent. So let’s begin immediately.” The king wave his hand and quickly gave the order.
But, there was one thing he had not touched upon yet, so the Chief Advisor decided to ask.
“...What should we do about Mireille-sama?”
“It is the path that she chose herself.” The king replied quietly.
“Is that so.” After giving a bow, the Chief Advisor left the throne room.
“Fuu...” There was no one speaking at the throne room as the king let out a
small breath. Although there were imperial guards, the king didn’t mind their presence. “Mireille... I hope that you are safe.”
This was his feelings as a father. But, after all, this was only his feelings as a father. Even if his daughter was killed, he needed to refrain from acting rashly, and act as a king would.