Chapter 181 - Episode 175: Interrogation ②
"Are you the only scouting party?"
"No, there was another squad besides us. That squad should have advanced further north than we did."
Hearing this, Yuri turned toward Noein once again. The direction where Radley had captured Jeremy and the others was northwest from the capital city of Noeina. If another scouting party had gone even further north, it meant they were heading toward the mining village of Kilde.
When Noein nodded, Yuri turned his face back to Jeremy.
"There is another village to the north of this capital. If that scouting party noticed the village, is there a possibility that the Lancel Kingdom army's invasion will be accelerated?"
"...I don't think they will notice it in the first place. They shouldn't even reach that village. This scouting mission wasn't planned to go very far from the camp. If we hadn't been discovered by your soldiers, we would have turned back without even reaching this capital."
If what Jeremy said was true, it meant the Lancel Kingdom army still did not know that the scale of the Arqvist territory was larger than they had assumed.
"That's quite a lax reconnaissance, isn't it? For preparations before invading an enemy nation."
Noein interjected there.
"...As I mentioned before, this territory is viewed as an insignificant small domain. Our understanding is that there is no need to go through the trouble of meticulous information gathering; we can simply crush it all at once with the main force. We were merely sent out for reconnaissance around the camp. I never imagined there would be patrol soldiers out that deep in the forest..."
"...It helped us that you all underestimated us."
It seemed that both the breadth of Radley's patrol range and the military strength of the Arqvist territory, which could perform such wide-range patrols on a daily basis, were unexpected for the Lancel Kingdom army.
"In the event that your squad does not return to the camp, how much time is there before a search is conducted on the assumption that something abnormal happened?"
Yuri asked again.
"...They probably won't search. I think we'll be abandoned. In the process of creating an invasion route through the Bezel Great Forest, it happened frequently that scouting soldiers did not return. Whether they were eaten by monsters in the forest, or got lost and died in the wild... the main force no longer bothers to look for them one by one."
Seeing Jeremy answer in a voice that sounded like he had given up, Noein spoke next.
"So a few missing persons aren't even a concern... How many casualties have there been so far in the creation of that invasion route? I imagine a considerable sacrifice was necessary to carve a path right through the middle of the Bezel Great Forest."
"...I don't think a thousand would be enough. I believe several thousand have died."
Both Noein and Yuri were speechless at a number that exceeded all reason for the sacrifice of creating a single invasion route.
"That's... appalling."
"At first, criminals and slaves were thrown in as labor. When they became insufficient, the Royal Family claimed that 'those who participate in the forest reclamation can become independent farmers' to gather poor peasants from the vicinity and used them up. To prevent information about the invasion route from leaking outside the forest, even those who grew weak were forced to work until they died."
Jeremy spoke in a dark voice, recounting the overly cruel background of the invasion route's creation.
"When carving through the depths of the forest, there were countless encounters with powerful monsters, so soldiers like me, and sometimes even precious mages, were used as pawns if necessary. We were told it was a noble sacrifice for the great personal expedition of His Majesty Cadne..."
As he said this—Jeremy actually began to shed tears.
"...It's not just the direct sacrifices. Because His Majesty Cadne continued the war in the south and the reclamation of the Bezel Great Forest invasion route without regard for the domestic situation, society has been devastated and many sacrifices have been made among the people. No, they are still being made now."
Jeremy continued to speak while sobbing. At his mentally precarious state, Noein and Yuri looked at each other in slight surprise.
"...Is the reason you're spitting out information so honestly because you're disgusted with the Lancel Kingdom and King Cadne?"
When Noein asked, Jeremy looked up and gazed at Noein with swollen eyes.
"That... might be it. Yes, come to think of it, I no longer have any reason to swear loyalty to His Majesty Cadne. To the point of losing my family, why should I serve such a king..."
"Family?"
"...I had a wife I had just married back in my hometown. She was pregnant. While I was serving in the army for the invasion route creation, my wife gave birth—and she died then because the bleeding was too much. The child born also died immediately. It was a daughter."
Jeremy spoke of his own circumstances this time. He had said "I swear upon my wife and daughter" at first, but it seemed those were deceased persons.
"I heard later from my wife's parents that both would have been saved if there had been a doctor. At that time, many doctors were being drafted to the battlefields and the invasion route sites, and the town doctor in my hometown was the same. If not for the ambition of His Majesty Cadne... that man's ambition, my wife and daughter would be alive!"
Jeremy let out a grief-stricken scream. A heavy silence flowed before his painful figure.
"...Rest for a while. I will hear more from you later."
Saying so, Yuri glanced at Noein and left the cell. Noein also nodded and exited the room accompanied by Matilda.
.....
"...There's no way he's lying with that, right? If so, he could become a great actor."
"They wouldn't need the petty trick of deliberately sending someone capable of such acting to pose as a scouting party to deceive us. We can assume it's the truth."
In a room of the territorial army barracks, Noein exchanged these words with Yuri.
"...Even so, an enemy army of 3,000 attacking in three days at the earliest. It's not a laughing matter,"
Pence muttered with an expression that was half-appalled. Radley, Dant, Rick, and Gustav had also been called to this room. This meant that almost all the executives of the territorial army were gathered.
"Thinking about it now, the conflicts in the southwest and the war the year before last were probably diversions to divert our eyes from the creation of the Bezel Great Forest invasion route."
"Right. If they fight flashily in the southwest, our spies will be fully occupied with gathering that information, and even if the Lancel Kingdom's economy is devastated, it can be explained by the war. No one would think they're making a road inside the Bezel Great Forest while being prepared for the country to collapse."
"So the reason the conflict suddenly settled last year was that the preparations for the invasion through the Bezel Great Forest were complete, and there was no longer a reason to fight?"
"If this personal expedition succeeds, they'll achieve a complete turnaround. That would wipe out the defeat of the war the year before last, and support for King Cadne from the nobles other than the military cliques will surely increase. It's quite a gamble, but honestly, it's a clever move."
Noein, Yuri, and Pence looked at each other, circulating their analysis.
"Our military strength is... about 500 if we scrape together the territorial army soldiers and the men of the territory?"
"That's about it if we gather everyone down to minors and the elderly. Those who can properly fight are probably just over 300,"
Yuri answered Radley with a bitter face.
"A ten-fold difference in strength... if we overturn this and win, it could become the subject of a war chronicle."
"That would be great. Does that mean my name will be told by bards too?"
Contrary to the positive words, Dant and Rick spoke with stiff faces. Perhaps the light talk was to ease their inner tension.
"We Claymores have the power of dozens of people each. We will significantly close the gap in strength."
The one who declared this was Gustav, who had now become the captain of the golem squad.
Incidentally, "Claymore" was the common name for the puppet mage unit. There was a history where the flighty Alain had started using the name of the legendary greatsword from old stories at some point, the other golem users liked it, and Noein, who knew the original source, found it amusing and recognized it as the unit name.
"True, if all the Claymores and my two golems are combined, we might have the power of about 300 soldiers... even so, the difference in strength with the enemy is five-fold. We can't win with a conventional approach."
In the capital city of Noeina, which was still half-finished as a fortress city, there were 300 people gathered including farmers, and the golems. Against them were 3,000 elites, including the Royal Guard and the royal court mages. Even if they focused purely on defense, how many days could they endure?
"...But, wouldn't it be slightly better if reinforcements from other territories were added?"
The one who spoke was Dant.
"If the enemy invasion is in three days at the earliest, the only ones who would make it in time are likely the Viscount Koenitz territorial army and their subordinates. At most, about 200 could come with proper equipment."
"If it's five days at the longest, couldn't more northwestern nobles gather? Besides, if Viscount Koenitz were to mobilize the territorial people and organize an army..."
Following Yuri's answer, Rick continued to offer his opinion.
"True, if it takes five days for the enemy to assemble, perhaps the Marquis Bechtolsheim territorial army might make it in time... but the conscripts of the Koenitz territory wouldn't make it even with five days. In the first place, we can't devise a defense plan by gambling on the enemy being slow."
"Besides, if Arnold-sama were to mobilize even the territorial people, he wouldn't bother sending them here; he'd prepare to intercept them at Retovik. Given the situation, the Arqvist territory will be cut off for the sake of the entire northwest. Fortunately or unfortunately, Clara, Arnold-sama's daughter, is outside the territory on government business."
Having their proposals easily overturned by Yuri and Noein, Dant and Rick fell silent.
"If we all abandon our homes and lands and flee to the Koenitz territory right now, Arnold-sama would probably accept us as refugees... do you want to do that?"
When Noein asked somewhat provocatively,
"I'll pass on that."
"Heh, no way."
"Fleeing without even resisting..."
"I can't abandon my new home."
"This is where we belong."
Pence, Radley, Dant, Rick, and Gustav answered all at once without hesitation.
"Well said. That's exactly what I expect from my subordinates."
Seeing their reaction, Noein nodded with satisfaction.
"...I feel the same, and the other retainers and the territorial people would all say the same. However, this isn't a battle that can be won with stubbornness alone. We need a tactic with a chance of victory."
The one who said this was Yuri. It was the duty of the chief retainer to intentionally say realistic things and throw cold water on emotional excitement.
"True... let's think about it conversely. What if we think that we can prepare for at least another two days to launch a surprise attack without being noticed by the enemy?"
"Are you planning to take the offensive?"
Yuri, sensing Noein's intention, asked back with raised eyebrows. The others also wore surprised expressions.
"The enemy doesn't know the invasion has been leaked, and they completely underestimate us. It's easy to take advantage of that negligence and launch a surprise attack instead, and I think that's better than fighting a defensive war with no chance of winning. Over there, there's also a very obvious general's head called King Cadne. Besides... we have a cooperative informant, don't we?"
Noein said with a fearless smile.