I will appraise the prisoners of war.

　There are about fifty prisoners of war.
　My eyes were somewhat tired, but I managed to finish for all of them.

　As a result, none of them had ridiculous abilities like Reetz and Charlotte, but there were five who were reasonably good at what they did.

　Among them, there were three who had no desire to pledge allegiance to the Clan.
　These three were tied up and transported to Crumpless Castle, where there was a hard prison.
　It seems that those who pledge allegiance will be incorporated as one of the guards of Fort Waxmacro as it is.

　There were twenty who did not swear allegiance and, on top of that, were not very good at it.

　At first, thirty of them were unwilling to pledge allegiance, but by persuading them, they were able to change the minds of the ten. The remaining twenty were so firmly anti-clan attitudes that it was impossible to persuade them, and it was decided that they would be executed.

　The twenty are lined up with their heads on a platform.
　Then the executioner with an axe is also holding it near the twenty captives.

　I am not particularly blameless for not seeing these executions, but I have decided to watch them.

　For I could not look away from the death of those who were dying because I did not select them.

　I'd seen executions before, but that was just one. It was a criminal who had committed a crime that was also executed.
　You could say that the people we're executing this time are honest people who are loyal to their allies.
　It was honestly painful.

'Do it,'

　At the Klan's signal, the executioner swung his axe down on the heads of the captives.

　The heads fell off and fresh blood splattered around them, turning the ground red.

　I continued to watch, not looking away from the scene.
　I didn't feel nauseated this time. It was partly because I was getting used to it.

　I just felt sorry for my captors as they died.
　Some of the young men were not even twenty years old yet.
　They may have been prepared to die in battle, but the thought that they might still have had a future filled me with sadness.

　I prayed that at least they could be reincarnated as I was and given a second life.


00


　After clearing out the bodies, the Clan gathered the major players.
　It seems that they are going to have a military discussion as soon as possible.

'Now that we've taken down Fort Wakumacro, we'll use this momentum to take down Samuk Castle. As long as we can take Samuk Castle, we'll have conquered Samuk County.
Do you have a minute?

　I raise my hand.

"Speak up.
The next castle... may I suggest you use some of the most secretive mercenaries I know?　If we craft in advance, we might be able to take down the castle easily. Since we still need to fight our way to Bertsd, I think it's better to conserve a few men and resources and take down Samuk Castle.
''Huh. The clandestine mercenaries you know are the ones who previously stole the letter from Perena County?　I'm sure it's a terrific move, and it's not a bad strategy.
''Yes, but the request fee is quite a bit, and I may need two hundred gold coins. I can't pay it, so I was wondering if you could be flexible with Mr. Clan...
I have no problem with you giving them that much. They have a good track record and I trust the way you look at them. I'm sure they will get results.

　I'm going to be paid for my gold.

　Now we can get some help from The Shadow.
　I haven't heard anything about Samuk Castle yet, but it's probably harder to drop than Fort Waxmacro.

'I would like to bring you to a military council to hear from you what kind of maneuvering you will be doing, would you be able to do that?
'Well, he doesn't want his identity known as much as possible, so it may be difficult to invite him to a military council meeting.
The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of these things, but I'll leave the negotiations to you. As for me, if you open the gates of Samuk Castle, and then disarm the magic traps in the castle and destroy the storehouse where the magic water is collected, it will be a lot easier to lose.
''Is it okay to destroy the magical water stores?　The supplies can be used by my army once the castle is taken down, though.
'We have plenty of supplies, so it doesn't matter. It's more important to reduce the difficulty of dropping them.
"Okay. Then I'll negotiate.
''That's all for the military discussion. Now we need to hear the information about when the mercenary secret agents will complete their operations and so on, and then we will decide when to go into battle.

　The military council ends and we disband.
　Then I began negotiations with Pham about the request.