Evening of December 22, 2813 in the western continental calendar


　Soldiers dressed in black dyed armor formed a long line and headed south along the road.
　Following behind them is a group of wagons loaded with overflowing supplies from their carts.
　They were advancing against the backdrop of the bright red sunset coming from between the distant mountain ranges, making the viewer imagine a group of blood-soaked demons.


''Hey!　What kind of nobleman's soldiers are those?

　A middle-aged man, who was making ridges in a field along the road, took his hand off the plow and called out to his wife, who was holding a whip.
　It was quite hard work to fix the plow, which was pulled by the horse, and I suppose that's why he wanted to talk to his wife, to take a break.
　The man rubbed his palms together, which were beginning to go numb, and turned his gaze again to the street.
　An inexplicable fire of disgust swirled in his eyes.
(Open or dusk, war........war......... Totally, no matter what the nobleman-sama does, it's none of our business.
　A man's heart was filled with these thoughts as his life became more and more difficult every day.
　For an ordinary farmer, it doesn't matter who pays the tax, as long as they guarantee their safety and stability.
　After all, as long as they can guarantee a safe and stable life for themselves, that's all that matters.
　Now this kingdom of Zaruda is on the verge of being invaded by the Altomere Empire and is on the verge of losing its country.
　The northeastern part of the Kingdom of Zaruda has been fortunate enough to still be able to escape the ravages of war, but the sparks of the war will soon reach this land as well.
　Moreover, even though the northeastern part of the country has been able to escape the direct damage of war, it is not without its effects.
　Over the past year, prices in the country have continued to rise sharply, and under the guise of wartime, the country has been subjected to a considerable amount of temporary tax collection from the lords.
　Life is only getting harder.
(Well, I'm still better than that........)
　A man's house owns his own land.
　The tax to be paid is only on the lord.
　In comparison, those who rent land from the landowner to do farming have to pay a land use fee to the landowner apart from the tax to the lord.
　In the man's mind, the face of the man who lives in the neighborhood who sold his only daughter to a slaver the other day to pay the tax comes to mind.
(She must still be eight or so... d*mn it.)
　She was quite a pretty chestnut girl with attractive clear blue eyes.
　Her parents were so cute that it didn't even hurt to get it in their eyes.　
　If things had gone as usual, she wouldn't have been sold to the slavers.
(Totally, I say end it now. We don't have anything to do with it anyway.
　If they are going to be destroyed quickly, they should be destroyed.
　The cost of the war is growing because they are resisting forever, and they will be forced to pay for it.
　But he doesn't think that logically.
　He simply doesn't like the taxes that are putting a strain on his daily life.

'Oh?　What are you skipping? Just go ahead and finish it quickly!　　

　The wife, noticing that the ridges began to snake because the husband's hand had left the plow, shouted out when she stopped whipping the two horses.
　She seems to be a pretty strong-minded woman.
　I guess she's the type to put her husband on his ass.
　But even as she said that, she too turned her face to the street, as if she was worried about her husband's gaze.

''What........you're quite a creepy soldier.......''

　Black-black.
　From a distance, it looks like it's all black from the top of his head to his toes.

Yeah, do you have any idea what kind of soldier you are?

I've never seen people like that before.

Yeah, me too. You're not a nobleman in this neighborhood.

　Nodding silently to his wife, who replied with a shudder, the man muttered as he returned his gaze to the street.　
　It's rare for an army to be so distinctive and memorable.
　It seems that there are not many of them, but even so, there are few noblemen who spend money and make them all wear armor that is dyed in the same color.
　That's exactly what should be limited to the kinsmen and pro-guard knights whose loyalty and ability are outstanding, even among the kingdom's knights, or large nobles.

''And that banner........''

Is that a snake?　It's weird with your red eyes.

　A black dyed flag that flutters in the wind.
　There is a gold two-headed serpent entwined with a sword sewn on it.
　It is quite a peculiar design.
　Once you see it, you'll never forget it.

You had better talk to the village chief and inform the lord, don't you think?

　The wife's eyes wavered anxiously as she stared at her husband.

'The village chief....'

　Indeed, my wife's words had a point.
　Even though it has still been spared the ravages of direct warfare, this Zaruda is in the middle of a war right now.
　It's too dangerous to leave the country with an army of unknown affiliation on the march.

If our village were to be looted, that is...

　The man gulps at his wife's words with a frightened expression on her face.
　It is because these are words that he tried to avoid thinking about as much as possible.
　A fire was set.
　The village was filled with black smoke.
　The river of red blood flowing from the villagers who fall down on the ground.
　And the women and children who were tied to the collar as slaves.
(d*mn!　I thought the battlefield was further west.　(I'm not supposed to be here ... no, but really?)　　
　A few families of exiles who fled the war have streamed into the village, relying on their relatives.
　According to what they told me, the battlefield must have been further southwest, near the border of Oltmere.
　It is widely rumored that they have been outnumbered lately, but there is no way that they would suddenly show up on this northeastern road.
　But the scene in front of me was neither a dream nor an illusion.

'Hey, let's go back to the village and tell them what's going on.

　Grasping his trembling wife's hand, the man threw out his farm tools and horse and started walking south.
　He bent down as much as possible to hide from the soldiers who were advancing on the road, and then plowed through the fields.
　The ridges we had made since this morning were trampled, but we didn't have time to worry about that.
　The best chance of survival is for the two of them to hide somewhere alone, but they live in a small village a little off the road.
　All of the villagers are family, if you can call them that.
　The man speeds toward the village, tugging on his wife's hand as she chases after him.
　He couldn't leave his family behind...


Liangma-sama the peasant.

　Laura pulled her horse up and pointed to a corner of farmland on either side of the road.
　Sure enough, a black figure trampled over the farmland as if bending down at the point she was pointing at.
(Aah, I can't believe we've ravaged the fields like that. Indeed, I'm on the side of good intentions, but...)
　Ryoma sighed deeply as he watched the scene that had unfolded many times since he left Ipylos.

''Oh, don't be lazy.......that's just the kind of thing I can't stand when people misunderstand me as an enemy and attack me.

　Even a farmer would be a great threat if they attacked you with a plow in their hands.
　I'm sure that if they were to surprise you, you would still lose, but you would still suffer a little bit of damage.
　I'm not sure how many times I've been attacked, but it would be meaningless to come all the way here if I hurt the people of the country that I was going to reinforce.
　It's a matter of headache for me to stop caring about the occasional painful scrape of my buttocks from swinging my horse for so long.
　I'm not suggesting that we should welcome ourselves as a village, but I'm honestly asking for a little more thought on how to handle this.
　It would be better if they could create an advance unit and send out advance warning, but the farmers would be more likely to run away as soon as the soldiers got close to them.
　Besides, if you divide up the troops too much, there is a chance that each one of them will be destroyed.
　It is true that the northeastern part of Zaruda should be relatively safe, but you never know what will happen on the battlefield.
　A few days ago, for example, they nearly opened up a war with a mixed army gathered by the lords.
　They apparently mistook Ryojin and the others for the enemy's raiding force.
　Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared up before they exchanged contradictions, so we were able to get away with it, but to be honest, I don't feel good about it.

'How many days to go?'

I'd say we have about ten days left in terms of distance, but...

　It's about the number of days to Peripheria, the royal capital of the Zaruda Kingdom.
　The map borrowed from Elena is for military use, so it's reasonably accurate.
　Of course, we don't have any satellites, so it's only on the level of this world, but compared to the maps used in the civilian world, there's a marked difference.　
　The face of Laura, who dexterously unfolded the map while swinging her horse, is cloudy.　

''If we proceed to the royal capital from here, the small fiefdoms of the weak nobles will be intricately intertwined.

Some of the communications have been compromised...

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.
　I've been asking for a message from the Roserian kingdom that they are reinforcements because of the other day's incident, but perhaps due to the fact that we are in wartime, there are some noblemen who are short on manpower and have not gotten the word out.
　And this tendency is stronger for small nobles.
　There are also noblemen who use the rural areas outside of the roads as their fiefdoms.
　It's been five days since we left the fortified city of Ipiros.
　We've already traveled nearly two hundred kilometers.
　They have been forced to march over 40 kilometers a day.
　They were advancing at a speed of just over four kilometers per hour.
　The infantry units were in formation and the Transportation Transportation Department was carrying foodstuffs.
　That's pretty fast for a march.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time in the event of a misunderstanding with the enemy and lose your precious soldiers.

You can't blame me for this, but let them chase those guys on horseback. Listen, don't let them hurt you, okay?

　They couldn't just come here and cause a strange quarrel.
　After receiving Ryouma's order, a few of the cavalry knights who were guarding the surroundings followed the figures moving away.
(Even if it took some time, it would have been better to go with Elena-san...)
　For her part, the advance troops sent from the Kingdom of Zaruda have gone ahead to the villages and towns to make sure there is no confusion.
　This would have led to a different response if Ryoma had made a name for himself in the countries, but if a group of black-dyed troops with a family crest known only to a limited number of people in the Roselia Kingdom were marching through the territory, it might be inevitable that the nobles of Zaruda, who had not been informed, would misidentify Ryoma and the others as enemies.
　There is only one letter given by Lupis for proof of identity.
　There are only a limited number of moves that can be made.
(I can't imagine what's ahead of me...)
　Ryoma sighed heavily again.