CH 9

9. Preparation for the first campaign

“It was useless after all!”

Screamed Zabine, the commander of the Second Princess Guard, disappointed.

One of her subordinates replied.

“Well, as expected.”

It was an acceptable answer.

Even if, Valliere-sama agreed, there’s no way the finance bureaucrats will pass the annual fee for a reason like, “the cost of going to the brothel”.

From the beginning, I’ve never thought it to be accepted.

But, what didn’t stop me from trying was a glimmer of hope that… maybe, perhaps…

…The hope of 18-year-old virgins.

I just gambled on that chance.

……Is it a sin?

“But, at the very least, I heard good things. Or should I say I remembered about it? Anyway, Lord Polidoro!” [TN: changed from Polydro -> Polidoro]

“Lord Polidoro?”

The counselor of the Second Princess.

From what Zabine had heard, the counselor, was the man who claimed the greatest achievement in the Willendorf campaign.

A man who, with his bravery, turned the battle situation around when even Duchess Astarte could think of no way out.

And in this country, he was the only male knight.

“What about Lord Polidoro?”

“You all, don’t get it, huh? It’s Lord Polidoro, the holy virgin, the frontier lord, the male knight.”

“Y-yes…”

No one knew what to say.

In this cheap bar frequented by the Second Princess Guard, today, all 15 of them were present.

All had the thought to drink at least some liquor before the first campaign, so each of them rummaged in the bottom of their wallets, exchanged the collected copper coins for silver coins, and bought a barrel of liquor.

Therefore, now, this cheap bar was occupied by these 15 people.

“In this Kingdom of Anhalt, maybe, he’s perhaps the strongest knight, you know.”

“I know.”

They had heard enough, no, more than enough heroic songs about the counselor sung by the bards.

During the Willendorf campaign, the young Duchess Astarte made the only tactical blunder against Willendorf.

The temporary base at the rear collapsed.

More specifically, the base of the First Princess Anastasia, the strategic base, was discovered by the barbarian scouts, and 30 elites then quietly infiltrated the base.

Due to this, the communication――the magic crystal ball temporarily interrupted.

Only the sound of sword fighting and the screams of the dying resounded from the crystal ball.

The turmoil was transmitted to the standing soldiers under her command, leading them to think that First Princess Anastasia had been killed, causing a morale collapse and chaos in the unit.

Taking advantage of the turmoil, a large number of Willendorf soldiers surrounded the army under her command.

In the midst of this situation, Lord Polidoro, the only one who understood the situation, led a small group of 20 people in a rush to stop the 50 knights in order to escape from a complete disaster.

With his sword, he mowed down every common soldier who blocked his way, defeated 9 knights, and killed the commander of the barbarian front line— called “Reckenbell” in a one-on-one battle, and politely left the scene after defeating her.

With the words, “She was a strong woman. I’ll never forget this battle for the rest of my life.”, and with a face dyed red in anger, he ignored the frozen enemy soldier and returned to the base.

A battlefield where the commander of the frontline had fallen and the barbarians were temporarily stiff and stagnant. That was the result of his doing.

In the meantime, communication with First Princess Anastasia, who repelled the enemy at the base, was restored, and the regular soldiers under the command of Duchess Astarte regained their morale.

A man who overturned an absolutely unfavorable battle situation with his bravery.

Of course, such a heroic story would be sung about by many.

In the first place, being a male knight alone was already too great of a subject for a bard.

“But Lord Polidoro is two meters tall, muscular and beefy, isn’t he?”

One of them opened her mouth.

Her words indicated, that he wasn’t to her taste.

“But, Duchess Astarte claims that his ass is the highest peak of quality. Don’t you get it? When it comes to men, the important thing is their ass, their ass.”

Another one opened her mouth.

Her words indicated, that she belonged to the “ass faction”.

That being said, Duchess Astarte couldn’t suppress her desire, and actually rubbed Lord Polidoro’s ass, telling others “Yeah, I rubbed Lord Polidoro’s ass once, it was the best. And my mind, couldn’t stop thinking about that. All right, I guess it’s time, I should go to hell to rub some ass.” afterward. She said this crazy remark while being surrounded by the people under the command of an enraged Lord Polidoro.

Such was a bard’s crazy song, people said.

――But, it was all true.

Anyway, Duchess Astarte managed to escape from “hell” by paying Lord Polidoro an apology fee.

“No, when it comes to men, it’s their d*cks, d*cks. As long as they have d*cks, that’s fine. Anything goes.”

And, another one opened her mouth.

Her words indicated, no she, was definitely belonged to the “d*ck faction”.

In short, the conversation had moved toward obscenity.

It had completely evolved ―― no, it had degenerated into dirty talk.

This person always did this.

Whenever she opened her mouth, she talked something obscene, and when she had free time, she swung her sword and spear around at the training area.

Indeed, she was a muscle-brain.

Indeed, she was a chimpanzee.

No, that would be disrespectful to chimpanzees.

In any case, Zabine and the others didn’t care about public opinion.

They didn’t care about honor.

No, they were just, shameless.

“I’ll say it again, you all. We’re talking about Lord Polidoro, the holy virgin, the frontier lord, the male knight.”

“Like I said, what about it?”

One of them, who had been silent until now, opened her mouth.

Right, they were all wondering what Zabine was going to say.

“If you become Lord Polidoro’s wife, you can escape poverty.”



……..

The bar quieted down.

Fifteen members of the Second Princess Guard were silent.

And each of them had their own thoughts.

A delusion.

Definitely, it was a delusion.

…The lowest rank of the first-generation knight could become a feudal lord in one go!

…More so, with a virgin husband!

That sounded like a dream come true to them.

“Ladies, all 15 of us. We’re the lowest rank, we’re just the first-generation knights!”

BAM!!

Zabine, the Commander, hit the table.

Ale dripped slightly from its container.

“But, But! We all have burning desires. I know you’re all lustful battle maidens who fantasize, who wish, that you were the mighty warrior.”

Saying this, Zabine realized she had spilled some ale.

Well, that was just the way she was.

Even now, as she tried to lick the spilled ale on the table――she realized that she was still a woman of blue blood even if she was in the lowest rank, so she stopped.

And, she thought that she should finish the ale so that no more would spill when she hit the table next time.

GULP!!

And, Zabine burped.

That was the price of drinking in one go.

After burping, she spoke again.

“In that case, the fifteen of us are enemies. In fact, we should start hating each other now!”

Lord Polidoro could only be married to one person.

Naturally, the fifteen of them were already enemies, fighting for that place beside him.

Die, woman who was once my friend. With this thought, they glared at each other.

“But! But! There’s one more option.”

Zabine spat this word to calm the others, and then made a proposal.

“Let’s go down to our knees and ask Lord Polidoro to let us lose our virginity. If you do that, your wish to lose your virginity before your first battle may come true.”

“I don’t like that.”

The answer was immediately spoken by one of them.

In fact, this was the consensus of everyone except Zabine.

And at this moment, a thought that she would definitely be killed by the f*cking sweet Second Princess Valliere, crossed her mind.

Thus, the consensus of their talk was reached.

Anyway, soon the first battle would come.

In the first battle, I must show my good side to our Second Princess Valliere and her future husband, Lord Polidoro.

Let’s temporarily “hide our claws”.

Though, I don’t know if I can.

To be honest, I’m not even sure myself.

No, wait, what if Lord Polidoro preferred me instead……?

――While embracing such a selfish delusion, the 15 members of the Second Princess Guard finished the party and left the cheap bar.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Valliere had a big problem with her older sister.

In short, her older sister, unlike her beauty, her serpentine, reptile-like glare made Valliere unable to move.

Or rather, perhaps everyone.

Even Faust didn’t seem to be so good at handling her older sister.

“Valliere.”

First Princess Anastasia, Valliere’s older sister, opened her mouth.

“What is it, my dear sister?”

Valliere answered without making eye contact.

For some reason, she was summoned to the room reserved for the First Princess, now sitting silently on the couch.

No way… I wouldn’t be killed all of a sudden, right?

If she wanted to kill me, she would have done it earlier.

While thinking about such things, Valliere still couldn’t control her shaky state of mind.

“Now, I will teach you the preparation for the first campaign. Listen carefully.”

“Yes.”

Preparation for the first campaign?

No way, she shows kindness to her younger sister like this is just…

…No way.

When Valliere was a child, she was always frightened by her older sister’s gaze, and she would hide in her father’s shadow to run away.

Now that she thought about it, that must have made her older sister even angrier.

It was after her father passed away and the conversation between the sisters decreased, did she realize this fact.

“You never know what will happen on the battlefield. Information obtained in advance can be inconsistent, and just a few hours later it can be all wrong. Just when you think you’re in a safe zone, behind you, the enemy’s elite suddenly appear. They could then attack you. ――And…”

Anastasia closed her eyes and muttered in a low voice as if remembering something.

“The person you love, can even die at that moment.”

“……”

Valliere was silent

Did she lose someone she loved?

I thought that Father was the only person in this world that she loved,…?

“Valliere, you, do you think that my emotions are made of wood and stone? There are other people I love besides Father.”

It was easy to see through Valliere’s heart.

That was why she hated talking to her older sister.

Anyway, she asked her older sister a question in confusion.

“My dear sister, have you ever lost someone you love on the battlefield?”

“The Willendorf campaign. There, 30 enemy elite soldiers infiltrated my base, and 10 of the 30 talented elite guards of mine were lost… Even though they were all useful people.”

Wait, can you call them someone you love?

Even from her remarks, I still can’t feel anything called “affection”.

So, can you call them someone you really loved?

Even though Valliere had her doubts, it was still a valuable experience of someone who had experienced the first campaign.

She heard the story of Faust too. At his first battle, out of 30 enemy bandits, he killed 20 of them by himself. But that sounded like a heroic tale that she couldn’t imagine herself doing so.

After that, he told her about how he tortured the village chief of a suspicious village who seemed to be connected to bandits and made the chief talk.

Right. It might be useful this time, but in truth, she didn’t want that kind of knowledge.

Well, Faust is a serious and honest person, but I feel like there’s something a little wrong with his brain sometimes.

“Well, I’m glad that I could replenish it during the last two years after the Willendorf campaign.”

Ignoring Valliere’s thoughts that began to wander, her older sister’s words continued.

…I still can’t feel it.

Has she ever truly loved anyone other than Father?

I don’t know…

Right now, she seems to have her eye on my counselor, Faust, but unlike me―― she’s searching for someone who resembles Father.

I’m sure, there’s no other reason than that…

If there’s any… right, it’s probably because she wants to put the strongest knight in our kingdom, the “Knight of Wrath,” under her command.

That’s what I think…

“Valliere”

Once again, Valliere’s name was called.

“Can you calmly deal with a situation where your loved one is dying right in front of you?”

“……”

Combined with her older sister’s gaze, it was almost like an interrogation.

Someone I love?

Who could that be?

The chimpanzees, my guards?

Or Faust von Polidoro?

I don’t know…

Valliere didn’t really understand what her older sister was trying to say.

“――That’s all for the preparation training for the first campaign.”

“eh?”

It’s over already?

I thought there would be more…

Surprised, Valliere looked at her older sister’s face.

As usual, she’s a scary person.

“Valliere. You should get out of here. And go back to your room.”

“Yes.”

Valliere, who made eye contact with her older sister, could only nod silently as she left.