Chapter 103 - Episode 102: Trouble
"They didn't receive the prescribed amount of food?"
When Frederick asked back, Boreas, the lion beastman who had gone to the supply depot to collect the food, nodded with an apologetic expression.
"The noble in charge of managing the supplies told me. He said there isn't enough food to let beastmen eat their fill... that as long as they have one meal a day, they won't die, so that's all he'll give the beastmen."
As a precaution in case the battle lasted longer than expected, the fortress was supposed to stockpile more than three weeks' worth of food. However, the food brought back by the large beastmen led by Boreas was clearly insufficient when considering 250 people eating over three weeks.
"Frederick-san, is there a shortage of food across the entire army, forcing everyone to economize?"
"No, that shouldn't be the case. Enough should have been secured for everyone to eat for the time being, and supplies are still arriving one after another from the rear via the quartermaster merchants... It's likely personal harassment from the supply manager. He's probably a Southwestern noble."
When Noein asked, Frederick replied with a sigh.
"It was a mistake to let the beastmen go to collect the supplies on their own, just to allocate as many soldiers as possible to the departure preparations..."
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's not your fault... Still, this is troublesome. Preparations are already running late, and as the commander, I cannot leave this place."
"Um, shall I go?"
Noein made the offer to Frederick, who wore a troubled expression.
"You?"
"Yes, I am an active head of a noble house, after all. I don't think there's much worry about me being looked down upon."
"...Understood. I'm sorry, but I'll leave it to you."
After appearing to think for a moment, Frederick nodded to Noein's offer.
"Matilda, Yuri, Pence, come with me."
"Yes."
"Roger that."
"Understood."
"Also, I think I'll bring both golems along."
"Are you going to use them as tools for intimidation if they resist?"
"How mean, I'm not such a violent person, you know? I just thought they'd be convenient for carrying the food... though I can't help it if the opponent gets scared on their own seeing the golems move."
"Hahaha, you're a calculating one."
Exchanging such light banter, Noein walked toward the supply depot in a procession, accompanied by his subordinates and Boreas's fellow beastmen.
.....
The supply depot established at the rear of the camp was a large-scale facility with several tents surrounded by a wooden fence. Under the tents, and even outside, wooden crates and bags containing food were piled high.
The perimeter was guarded by many soldiers. This was likely a measure to prevent the theft of food.
As Noein and the others approached the entrance of the depot, several men standing there glared at them.
"Hey, what are you lot... I already gave the food to those filthy beastmen a moment ago. Get lost."
One of the men, who seemed to be the leader, spat out those words. Looking at the equipment he wore, he was clearly a high-ranking noble. Those around him were likely lower-ranking noble hangers-on.
"I am Knight Bachelor Noein Arqvist. I have come from the northwestern part of the Kingdom to provide assistance and have been assigned to the defense of Barrel Fortress."
"...Tch, I am Baron Varga Delaweld. I have been entrusted with the security of the supply depot by Marquis Galdwin-kakka."
When Noein introduced himself with a clean salute, the other man—Baron Delaweld—returned the salute irritably and stated his name and duty. As expected, he seemed to be a Southwestern noble.
In the Lordberg Kingdom, there is an old custom that if an opponent does not return a salute on the battlefield, they may be cut down as a suspicious person.
Nowadays, while there are almost no people who actually cut someone down just for not returning a salute, the fact that such a custom is still spoken of means that returning a salute is considered the minimum courtesy of a soldier.
Noein had learned the proper way to salute and these battlefield rules in advance from Yuri, a former mercenary leader. It proved useful immediately, succeeding in drawing out the opponent's name and position.
"I sent my conscript subordinates here earlier to receive food, but there seems to have been some misunderstanding... It appears there was an error in the amount of food received."
"There was no error in the amount of supplies handed over on this end. I gave three weeks' worth of three meals a day for your personal army and the Kingdom army soldiers, and I should have given the beastmen enough to not die."
"Not 'enough to not die,' but I would be troubled if I could not receive three meals a day even for the beastmen. That should have been stated in the documents from headquarters presented by my subordinates."
Beyond humanitarian reasons, there is the practical problem that hungry soldiers become weak, and if the soldiers are weak, the fortress falls. There is no way the headquarters, composed of the Kingdom army's legion commanders and faction leaders, would take such an inefficient measure for the sake of beastman discrimination at a time like this.
In other words, this was personal harassment by Baron Delaweld. It was simply that he found it amusing for the beastmen or Noein, a lower-ranking noble from the Northwest, to have a hard time.
And the sad reality of the Lordberg Kingdom, where conflicts between noble factions and beastman discrimination persisted, was that this kind of harassment could occur at the fringes where the eyes of the upper management rarely reached.
"Enough! These supplies are precious items that we Southwestern nobles gathered through the connections of local merchants amidst hardship. Why must they be used to fill the bellies of beastmen!"
"But that is what the army has decreed. Please respond with sincerity..."
Having said that much, Noein cut his words short and instinctively closed his eyes. This was because one of Baron Delaweld's hangers-on stepped forward and raised a fist toward Noein.
The blow aimed at Noein's face, however, was blocked just before it hit by Matilda.
A dull sound echoed as the bare fist struck the gauntlet on Matilda's arm, and the hanger-on, who had punched the iron gauntlet directly, groaned in pain, "Guh!"
"What is this woman! Both I and my subordinates are legitimate nobles! For a beastman slave to..."
"She is my guard. Besides, that person simply punched a gauntlet of their own accord; she has done nothing."
"Shut up! Damn it, this is why Northern nobles are... bringing a pet all the way to a place like this, and even letting it protect them. Do you have no noble pride? Why did you come to the battlefield? To shake your hips for a rabbit inside the fortress?"
Noein narrowed his eyes and glared at Baron Delaweld, who spoke with eyes full of contempt.
"For someone who insults my guard like that, your own hangers-on seem quite unreliable. I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You there, does the hand that failed to hit me still hurt?"
The Baron, who had his provocation returned with another provocation, turned red in the face to the point where it seemed a vein might burst, and placed his hand on the sword at his waist.
"You dare say such things, you bastard!"
Following the Baron, the hangers-on also attempted to draw their swords. In response, Noein's golems raised both arms as if to intimidate.
Because the golems, which should have been sluggish, suddenly showed swift movement, the Baron and his hangers-on were caught off guard and flinched.
At the explosive tension, those around them turned their eyes to see what was happening.
"...For the time being, I shall report this matter directly to Marquis Bechtolsheim-kakka. I will return here with His Excellency, so please wait until then."
"W-what nonsense! There is no way the leader of the Northwestern faction would bother with a mere Knight Bachelor like you!"
"But he will bother with it."
To Baron Delaweld, who shouted while remaining wary of the golems, Noein declared with a flippant smile.
"There is a new type of bow-like weapon that the Northwestern nobles' army possesses, right? That was developed in my territory and spread through the Northwest. In that process, Bechtolsheim-kakka took a special interest in me."
When he brought up the Crossbow, Baron Delaweld's expression changed as if he remembered seeing it.
"The reason I was allocated over 200 conscripts despite being a mere Knight Bachelor is because Bechtolsheim-kakka personally gave his disposition. If you were to act on your own whim in a way that disregards His Excellency's disposition, I wonder what would happen. Oh, and I am the son-in-law of Viscount Koenitz-kakka, who is a heavyweight of the Northwest."
The more Noein spoke calmly, the paler Baron Delaweld's face became.
He seemed to have understood that Noein was not just some bottom-tier weak noble, but was deeply connected to the big shots of the Northwestern faction. And at the same time, he seemed to realize that Noein was trying to develop this dispute into a structure of "Northwestern Faction vs. Baron Delaweld."
"And so, I'll go tell Bechtolsheim-kakka."
"W-wait!"
"I won't wait. Farewell."
"Wait! Wait... Fine! I admit there was an error in the handover of food! I will give you the missing food, so please wait! I beg you!"
Noein looked up at Baron Delaweld, who was pleading with a pathetic face as if his previous arrogance had been a lie, as if he were looking at a large piece of trash. Matilda, Yuri, and Pence, who surrounded Noein, also glared at the Baron and his hangers-on in the same way.
"You should have just said so from the start. We're in a hurry too, so please bring it out quickly."
.....
Frederick greeted Noein and the others, who returned carrying a sufficient amount of food, with a slightly surprised expression.
"I'm glad you were able to receive the food safely... They gave it to you quite readily. I was a little worried."
"It was surprisingly easy. When I asked them to please consider that it would save face for Bechtolsheim-kakka and Koenitz-kakka, whom I am on good terms with, they gave in instantly."
"...I see, in other words, you threatened them by flashing the names of the faction heavyweights. You're unexpectedly shrewd."
To Noein, who spoke with a beaming smile, Frederick returned a wry smile.
"Alright, then let's hurry and load the food onto the wagons. Boreas and the others, I'm counting on you."
"Understood... Knight Bachelor-sama, thank you for doing this for beastmen like us."
"It's fine. You are comrades who will fight together from now on."
The loading of the food ended without issue, and Noein and the others departed for Barrel Fortress shortly after noon.