'Now, how do we get rid of King Domorgal's forces? Let the meeting begin.
　Julia declares to the great families gathered here, "These are the men who already know that I will succeed to the throne.
　They are the ones who already know and agree that I will succeed to the throne.

　King Rosais has a sudden change in health, so Julia will take over the proceedings.

　I brought Boros and Tetra with me.
　I had hoped to bring Ron and the others as well, but due to their status, they couldn't come with me.

　"There are 15,000 of them. Let's assume that there are seven thousand and five hundred here. Do you have any opinions on this?

　The great tribesmen look at the map spread out in front of Julia and the pieces on it.

　One of the great tribesmen takes King Rosais' side of the map and places it on top of the terrier fortress - the fortress on the border between the Ath territory and King Domorgal's country, which is currently under construction.

　'After all, if we're going to defend it with a small army, wouldn't a siege war be the best way to do it?　When King Belvedil's country attacked, I was able to fight a foe with three times as many men as I had by standing in my fortress and forcing them to retreat.
　That's what they say is a great family with the family name of Ordovis.
　The Ordovis family is a branch of the As family, and they are also intermarried with the Royal Family of Lossies.

　The Ordovis territory is located on the border of King Belvedere's country.
　Although there has never been a direct war with King Belvedere's country, skirmishes have occurred many times, so they have plenty of experience in warfare.

　It's true that in a siege, even a few can't lose. But you can't win it either. If it's only a skirmish, your opponent won't want to continue for a long time, so they'll retreat, but this time, King Domorgal is taking a serious step southward. They won't retreat.
　'So it's a field battle that can't be defeated by Lord Bartolo's oblique formation?

　That's what I heard, a great family with the surname of Perum.
　The Perum family is also related to the As family.

　The Perum territory borders the Dibel territory, so if a civil war breaks out, it will be dependable.
　It seems that although there are small-scale mines of rock salt in the territory, they have considerable economic power.

　However, they have little experience in warfare.

　''That oblique formation can't be used without repeated training. Last time it was only King Rosais' army and my private army, so we could manage it, but.......this time?

　There are more of them this time, but it's hard to say they're breathing well.
　The slanting line formation will be difficult.

　''The enemy is a large army of over ten thousand. If that's the case, they consume a lot of food, and what we brought with us will soon run out. In the first place, the enemy would have to bring siege weapons for the siege, so they would not be able to transport many supplies. Therefore, food can only be procured locally or brought in later. You will drag the enemy troops deep inside and wait for them to be exhausted while adopting scorched earth tactics. Then we will cut off the supply lines with the troops that were lying down.

　Tetra has come up with a very specific strategy.
　But that's going to scorch the territory inside, isn't it?

　We've just come back from recovery and you're going to put it back in scorched earth?

　'Wouldn't that hurt the morale of the soldiers drafted from Ath territory?
　Julia says the biggest flaw in Tetra's idea.
　Scorched earth tactics means that they would have to burn the fields themselves and throw poison and filth into the wells.

　If we're not good at it, we'll be in charge of our own village.......and morale will be greatly diminished.

　'Do you have an opinion, Alms?'
　You're going to dump me here...
　I'm the Supreme Commander, so it's only natural.

　Hmm, opinions.
　The best is a field battle, but it's impossible considering the force difference.
　You can fight a siege war to your advantage, but siege warfare is a tactic designed to buy time.

　If they don't have any reinforcements....
　Hmm?　Speaking of which....

　'As I recall, the two countries that signed the truce were King Domorgal's country and King Gilbed's country, right?　

　Wouldn't they retreat too if they were attacked from behind?
　Until then, we could buy time by fighting a siege battle.

　''I'm sure King Domorgal has left a good amount of troops behind, so I don't think that they will immediately retreat from our country if they are attacked from behind. Besides, the Kingdom of Roselle and King Fardham's country are at war right now.

　It's not gonna work.

　Is there any other way to...

　'Honestly, I think cutting off the supply lines would be a good idea. If only we could reverse the shortcoming of soldier morale.
　Bartolo says.

　I don't think cutting off the supply line is a bad option either.
　That's right.
　It's a problem because of the scorched earth tactics in our territory. Can't we do it in the enemy's territory?

　Hmm?　Well we can do it in the enemy's territory.

　How about this kind of thing?
　I tell them the plan I've come up with.
　The eyes of the great tribesmen rolled up.

　''It's haunting ... is something you wouldn't have to worry about. I think the surprise attack will be successful enough.''
　Raimondo agreed with me.

　'I see. All that's left is to chase down the retreating target and then pinch him in front and behind. Not bad. But if you're too slow, you'll get killed very quickly.
　Bartolo shows his approval, but says the flaws.

　That's it.
　The biggest obstacle to this operation is mobility.

　'I believe we can do it with the mobility of cavalry. It's not impossible to do it with light infantry, but.......King Domorgal's country has cavalry. If they are attacked by cavalry sent from the center, there won't be a pause. If it's cavalry, we can scramble them thoroughly.

　The problem is that I only have a hundred cavalrymen.
　I think King Loseys has 50.

　That's too few.

　How many do you guys have?
　The great tribesmen say the number of cavalrymen in their mouths.

　The total number of cavalry was fifty.
　That is, the number of horsemen in King Rosais' country was two hundred.
　That's not much, after all.

　To begin with, riding a horse is a special skill, and one can't gather a large number of them.
　That's why they can't become the main force of war.

　Although there are uses for it, such as messenger and reconnaissance, there are hawks in this world that are upwardly compatible with it.
　Where a horse would take hours to fly, a hawk can fly in the blink of an eye, and the value of a horse is low.

　The value of a horse is low.

　''I'd like at least two hundred more. I don't feel safe.''
　Ordovis says.

　So, what's this idea of hiring an Alvah?
　Julia suggested.
　'Who are the Alvans?

　''Eh ... the Alvans ... aren't they barbarians?''
　Pelum looks like he's polished off a bitter bug.
　'I don't want to have anything to do with that one,'
　Ordovis looks disgusted, too.

　So who's that, Alvahs, you know.
　Explanation please.

　'The Alvans are the descendants of a flat-faced tribe that moved into Germanis, Gaul, and the Adelian peninsula a long time ago I think five hundred years ago. They live beyond the mountains to the east of King Rosais' country. They are now fully assimilated with the local Adelnians.

　According to Tetra's description.

　Five hundred years ago, the Flat-faced tribe invaded the Adelian peninsula on horseback and conquered almost all of Adelmania.
　It is said that the Flat-faced tribe created a great empire that stretched across Germanis, Gaul and the Adelian peninsula.

　But after the death of the Great King, the Flat-faced tribe was divided into dozens of clans, and they moved into the Adelian Peninsula.
　The Cilicians and Pophenians, who were advancing on the Adelian peninsula at the time, were driven out of the peninsula by the Adelians, who revolted against the Flat-faced people's rule.

　Afterwards, the flat-faced tribes could no longer maintain Gaul and Germanis and returned to the east.
　It is said that the flat-faced tribes brought horsemanship to the west.

　But not all the flat-faced tribes returned to the West.
　Some of them settled on the other side of the Alva Mountains in the Alva region, east of the country of King Rosais.
　They assimilated with the local Adelnians and became the Alva people.

　The Arva region is one of the driest places on the Adelian peninsula, where it doesn't rain. It is a dry land of the Adelian peninsula, with no rainfall. So it would have been easier for them to assimilate with the flat-skinned people.

　I see. So it's hard to rain because it's on the east side of the mountain range.

　I don't know if there is a prevailing westerly wind in this world, but I assume there is.
　Rain is caused by the moist winds coming from the west.
　But it doesn't rain because the Alva Mountains block that wind.

　Something like this.
　Well, there are so many other factors in the climate that it's hard to say for sure.

　"But why the flat faces?
　Is that why you have a short nose or something?

　'That's partly true. But the fundamental reason is that they had the custom of tying their noses together and crushing them when they were young.
　Is it real flat....
　That's no wonder you're being treated like a barbarian.

　'But you're assimilating the Adelnians now, aren't you?　Then I can speak Adelian. Doesn't seem to be a problem, does it?
　'Yeah, yeah. I heard they don't do nose crushing anymore. And I heard that the flat-faced tribe was not so numerous. There were only about a thousand of them left in the Alva region. It's all Adelnians now. It's true that the language is different and the lifestyle is different, but it's okay. I think it's fine.

　Both Julia and I agree with the idea of hiring an Alvaman.

　We've been trading with the Alvans for wool and other goods on a small scale. "We've been trading with the Alvans on a small scale, trading in wool and other goods, but we've never fought a war with them since we were separated from them by the Alva Mountains. If we can be friendly to them, there will be no problem.
　'Yes. With the Alvah's cavalry, there's nothing to be afraid of, and I'm sure those guys think King Domorgal's policy of moving southward in his country is troubling. I think it's a good idea.

　Tetra and Bartolo seem to agree.

　''Mm ... it's true that the Alva cavalry may be reliable ... but we don't have formal diplomatic relations with them and ...''
　They are nomads. They have a different concept of the state than we do. Where's the head...
　There's also the question of who to negotiate with.

　Raimondo, Ordovis, and Perum seem to be against it on the grounds that it's difficult.

　Well, we need a bridge to negotiate.
　You know of one person who would do just that?

　There's a Cilician merchant, a man named Ainz. When I bought a horse from Ainz, he said he bought one from the Adelian Peninsula. Perhaps he bought them from the Alvans.
　'Surely he'd know, wouldn't he? Shall I call him up and ask him?

　Thus ended the day's meeting.





　'Are you an Alvah?　I know.
　A week later, Mr. Ains was called in for another meeting.

　This time, King Rosais was also present.
　By the way, I didn't tell him about my succession to the throne.

　''That place is divided into three kingdoms. It's divided into three kingdoms: the Equus, the Arias, and the Lupus. Of these, the Ariace are weak, and are ruled by the Lupus tribe. It's like the Equus tribe and the Lupus tribe are the two major forces.

　Well, two forces.
　Two forces.

　A small tribe cannot negotiate with a large number of tribes.

　"Which of these tribes can negotiate a mercenary contract?
　The Equus. The Lupus are reluctant to interact with the outside world. The Equus, on the other hand, are very active. Some of the Equus are also involved in agriculture.

　Even though it doesn't rain easily, we have a river.
　We can farm enough in those places.

　It is only natural that farming is more productive than nomadic farming. So it's only natural that they would try to switch to agriculture, but they are usually too afraid to change their lifestyle all of a sudden.

　The Equus tribe must have a very advanced way of thinking.

　"Could you help me with the negotiations?
　When I asked, Ains-san nodded with a smile.

　''That's about as cheap as it gets.


　Thus it was decided to send an envoy to the Alva region.