When I returned to my pavilion, the city of Ivalice, I ordered Sati to bring me the Yuuzuke.

'Yuzuke?　Is it?

　Sati is puzzled.
　Well, there's no way the otherworldly people can understand, right?
　Well, modern people wouldn't understand either.

　Yuzuke is, as the name implies, just rice with hot water poured over it.

　Modern people may not understand it, but the food called rice seems to be preserved, but it is not.

　In today's world, we can eat warm and fluffy rice in an electric jar forever, but that is not possible in the world without electricity.

　Usually, the rice is cooked first thing in the morning and then used all day long.
　Then we have to eat dry and bad rice at night.

　Of course, common people also want to eat good food to some extent.
　That's why the food called "yuzuke" was made.

　They poured hot water on the dry rice to regain its moisture.
　Of course, we can't get back the chewy texture of freshly cooked rice, but it is still much better than eating dry rice.

If it's rice, can I cook it right now?

　Satie looks at me with a curious look on her face.

'No, that's fine.'

　I reply.

　I don't think it's out of concern for Satie or a waste of firewood to cook rice," he said.

　It's just that I wanted to have a go at it for the sake of my own experience.

　I heard that Oda Nobunaga ate hot water before Okehazama, and there are similar anecdotes about other warlords.

　It's not that I admire them, but it is true that I wanted to imitate them.

'Besides, rice is very hungry.

　I said to Sati and poured some of the hot water into my mouth with my chopsticks.
　By the way, I made these chopsticks by myself.

　The long-grained variety was not very tasty, but eating rice with chopsticks made me feel at home, which is probably an ingrained trait in Japanese people.

　It may be that they want to feel at ease before getting ready for battle.
　When we finished eating the hot water, we said to Satie that the food was delicious and walked out of the building.

　All of the Immortal Brigade's elite were lined up to greet me.

　I grabbed my Ouroboros staff and held it in my hand.

Let's go!

　He raised his voice.

　The brigade members were.

Oh!

　We left the city of Ivalice with a shout of


　　†


　Deputy Commander of the 7th Division--

　Jace, who is also known as the One-Eyed Goblin, is in charge of ruling the city of Loire in eastern Rosalia.

　The city of Loire is bordered by the Demon King's Army's original territory, and since ancient times, fierce battles have been fought over its control.

　In the first place, from the moment Loire's city fell to the Demon King's army, the Demon King's army's furious march began.

　This Lowerle city was such an important base of operations.

　Therefore, it was natural for Jiron, the Orcs' chief of staff, to be worried.

'Oh, Ike-sama. Are you sure it's really all right?

　What's that?　I know your intentions, but I dare to ask.

''No, isn't Lowerle famous for its solid fortified city? Isn't it too reckless to ask me to drop it with just one brigade?

'It would be absurd or even impossible. It's just not possible.

What...?

　Giron makes a dumb noise.

'So, we're going to fight a losing battle then?

No way.

　I wanted to tell him that he was right.
　But can I tell this guy about it?

　I'm not sure.

　I stare at Giron's goofy face for a long time.

'Are you the tight-lipped one?'

No, he talks.

　Quick answer.

　........Honest guy. Well, this guy wasn't much help, but I trusted him for this kind of backhandedness.

　I told him up front that if he spoke to anyone, I would turn him into a roast pork.

　'Giron will never speak to anyone,' he said, covering his mouth with his hands.

'We're going into this fight with the intention of losing.
..........
What's up?　No surprises this time.

No, no, I mean, I thought I heard wrong. Could you just, uh, pop your ear buds out and say it again?

　I repeat the same words as before.

'We're going to fight like we're going to lose.'
'What?　You're going to challenge me to a game you plan to lose!
Idiots, keep your voice down.

But I've never heard of anyone going to fight a losing battle. Morale would be ruined if the brigade members found out about it.

'Well. That's why I kept it a secret. But you're the one I have to tell.

But how are you going to lose?
That's easy. In the middle of a battle, I'll give you instructions.

'Ha, but wouldn't that kill the guy in my brigade?　It's pathetic indeed.

I don't give a shit. They're demons.

　I wanted to say that, but as expected, I can't.
　In the first place, demons have at least some compassion.
　Few of them would go to the place of death and say, "Go to death.

　No, if they were the ones in the Second Legion, which is a crybaby, they might die if the leader told them to die.

　However, unfortunately, our Immortal Brigade is famous for being lenient.

　We get a nifty name like the Immortal Brigade, but the Immortal Brigade is often made fun of by the other demonic tribes.

You just don't die because you don't fight well, that's why you are the Immortal Brigade. That's why it's an immortal brigade.
　And--.

　The reason is that the brigade leader there is a sweetheart.
　You could say it's because he's human.

　But in exchange, he also has a "cheat" of knowledge of his previous life.
　I was planning to use that "cheat" guy to my heart's content in this battle.




　When we arrived in the vicinity of the city of Loire, a scout, Kobold, arrived.

　His name was Taro.
　He is still a boy, or rather a puppy.

　When he becomes an adult, he will probably become a great soldier, but he is still very young, so he is being used as a scout.

　The Kobold race is not a very smart race, but their sense of sight, hearing, and smell was outstanding even among the demons.

　Hence, there is no better demon than them to be entrusted with this kind of reconnaissance mission.

''Master Ike, it seems that the enemy is going to strike out in the field.
You will, won't you?

　I blurt out.

'Yes. But why would they bother to come outside the castle?

　The Kobold boy asks, his tail twitching.
　It's a sign of nervousness.

　The Kobold race is a dog demon.

　They are similar to werewolves, but the main difference between them is that kobolds always remain in dog form, while werewolves can also take on human form.

　They both have one thing in common: they are both canine demons.
　Their biology is strongly reflected in their bodies.

　When they are tense, they twitch their tails, and when they are happy, they twitch their tails.

　Normally, Taro would twitch its tail when he is tense, but I wonder if it is because of the tension of battle.

　That state of mind was well reflected in his tail.
　I stroke his head to ease Taro's tension.

　It's also a characteristic of dog demons that they enjoy being stroked on the head.

'I guess the only reason they're outside the castle is because they're licking us immortal brigands.

'What?　Are you going to lick us?

"...not in the literal sense of the word.

　Kobold's intelligence is low.

　Some say that dogs are about 5 years old, but it's similar in this world. It's not very smart.

　I explained to him simply so that Taro could understand.

'They think we're small fry,' he said. "They think we're small fry," he said, "and that's why they're not going to stay in the castle, they're going to play hardball in the field.

But we're the undefeated Immortal Brigade.　Why would you do that? I can't believe you're treating me like such a small fry.

'Well, in case you're holed up in Lowerle, it's Jace, the one-eyed imp, the deputy commander of the Seventh Legion, who has the right to lick us.

　The size of our Immortal Brigade is about 300 people.

　Jace, on the other hand, has only a deputy commander, and has twice as many demons and monsters as that.

　Furthermore, according to the information that was brought to me just now, one other brigade has also joined up with Jace.

　It seems that they had orchestrated in advance to betray the 7th Legion.

　It's quite an accomplishment to draw out the other brigade commanders from my 7th Corps, which has a reputation for being a cohesive force.

　I was honestly impressed, but at the same time I felt sorry for them.

(I don't know which idiot betrayed us, but we did a foolish thing.

　If you're going to take sides anyway, take the winning side.
　With that in mind, I headed towards the plains where I was sure to collide with Jace.