The time goes back about a month.

　Bartolo and Tonino (and, as a bonus, Carlo and Rene), who had been badly defeated by the kingdom of Roselle, were meeting in the palace of King Domorgal's country.

　'Jerkass!　Roselle's army has beaten us. What can I do?　Countermeasure meeting, the beginning begins!

　In case you're wondering, Carlo Domorgal, the greatest of them all, declared that.
　Except for Carlo, the other members of the team have dark expressions on their faces.

　It's no wonder, since it's after a heavy defeat.
　Carlo, who is very excited, is strange.

　The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that there is currently only one move that we can take. A siege.''
　Bartolo cut him off from the opener.
　Carlo asks Bartolo.

　'But the numbers stay the same, right?　Can't you fight back, Mister Bartolo?
　'It's impossible. Morale has been visibly diminished.

　Instead of Bartolo, Tonino answered Carlo's question.
　Now that morale is extremely low, the odds are high that they will lose if they want to engage in a battle. Therefore, both Bartolo and Tonino opted for a siege.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what to expect.

　The problem is food. René-dono, how much food was stored in the royal capital?
　We were going to start with two months' worth. Now I'm collecting them from the surrounding villages and merchants. It is fortunate that the gold that was in the capital was left untouched. I thought we could have enough for five months before Roselle came.

　Rene Blouse replied.
　Rene was useless in battle, but he was moderately good at managing food and other things.

　He was currently in charge of managing the arms and rations of the Allied forces.

　''Buy all the liquor you can get, too.
　I can't spend my precious war chest on your hobby.
　'No!　Well, it's true I want a drink but I need it to boost my morale.

　The only thing they enjoy in battle is food.
　In a siege, food must be conserved but in return, liquor and other delicacies must be rationed from time to time to boost the morale of the soldiers.

　Otherwise the castle wouldn't last.

　''It would be nice to have some smoked meat if possible.
　''Huh ... let's buy some more when we can afford it.

　Rene takes out a piece of parchment and makes a note of it.

　'Can I ask you one thing?'
　Excuse me?
　'We'd be better off consuming less food, wouldn't we?　Wouldn't it be better if the residents were kicked out?　They don't want to be involved in a battle either.

　Carlo asks Tonino and Bartolo.
　The peculiarity of a siege is that there are civilians behind it.

　They have their own lives and homes. Even if you kick them out, they have nowhere to go.

　Tonino replies.
　The people who live in the cities are the ones who earn their living through commerce and handicrafts.

　If you kick them out, they will have no way to make a living.
　Even during a siege, they can sell things to soldiers, so it's better than going out.

　'And it's not necessarily a bad idea to hold the civilians in. We can ask the residents to help with the logistics.''

　For example, you could have the residents nurse the injured.
　That would free up soldiers' hands and give them an advantage.

　"And there is no battle that is as easy for amateurs to participate in as a siege battle. After all, you can kill a man just by throwing a stone from above.

　To the extent of throwing stones, even women and children can do it.

　''On the contrary, the success of the siege war depends on the cooperation of the residents of King's Landing. ''Carlo-sama, I'm looking forward to working with you.''
　I'm in charge!

　Carlo puffed out his chest.

　Basically, most commoners are not aware of kings.
　The most important people in their lives are the great families of the region, since they rarely go outside the village.

　It's impossible to imagine a being greater than the wealthy.

　But this is the royal capital.
　For better or worse, the king's capital is greatly influenced by the king.

　His predecessor, King Domorgal, was not particularly badly mismanaged, so the residents were pleased with him.
　His eldest son, Carlo, was also not badly impressed.

　By the way, Aldo Domorgal's impression is not so good.
　Adelnians don't like to kill their own kin.

　However, in the case of Aldo, since he ruled over the royal capital for only a short time, the residents' impression of him stops at 'not well thought of'.

　''Well, since the Gauls don't seem to be hesitant to plunder, I think it's easy to get their cooperation.
　Bartolo cowered his shoulders.　

　Adelnian tycoons and kings don't let them plunder (as much as possible).
　This is because they are friends who share the same language, culture, and blood, and it will remain as a lump when they rule later.

　But the Gauls don't care.
　Gauls are foreigners who speak a different language and have a different culture than Adelnians.
　Therefore, they don't care about looting.

　Besides, the Gauls live by hunting and herding rather than farming.
　For them, war is an act of robbery, and robbery is the right of the victor.

　The nature of the people leading the army is also a factor.
　This time, the supreme commander of Roselle's army was General Clue. His aide-de-camp is Merlin.

　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're looking for it.
　But the supreme commander, General Clue, is a different story.

　He is a born and bred military man, not a politician.
　He is a genuine soldier and not a politician, so he doesn't think for a minute about ruling later.

　Merlin, who is an aide-de-camp, is a sorceress to begin with. Military and politics are both out of the question.
　And she is the wife and s*x slave of the former chief of the Flat Face tribe, Etzel the Great.

　I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. I'm not going to tell you what to do. "My property is mine" and "If you see a woman, take her. You will be able to find out what is going on in the world by learning the common sense of this world from the flat-faced tribe, which is based on the principle that "married women are to be robbed", there is no way that Merlin would prohibit robbery and rape.


　Few would throw their hands up in the air and surrender, even though it was obvious that they would be unhappy if they were dominated.
　The harmony of the land and the people was in the allied forces.

　Carlo, Tonino, and Rene, however, had a complicated look on their faces.
　Even now, their own people are being killed, so they can't be honestly happy.

　''Now we just have to keep the sorcerer down.......''
　Good luck with your choice. A sorcerer from King Domorgal's country would be easier to hide in.

　In a siege battle, the enemy surrounds you, so no information can come in from the outside.
　However, if you get a sorcerer to lie low in the surrounding villages in advance, you can use owl flights to exchange information.

　However, it's not so easy as the enemy is also wary of that.



　''I'm sorry!　May I come in?!
　Yeah, yeah. Get in.

　As Carlo answered that, the door opened and a large man entered the room.
　He is a member of a powerful and wealthy family of the Carlo faction, and he is the man who is currently in temporary charge of commanding the troops.

　''The residents of the surrounding villages have asked to be let in...''
　Hmm, I see...

　Carlo looked over at Tonino and Bartolo.
　Tonino and Bartolo nodded quietly and lightly.

　'Let them in,'
　Yes!

　The great tribe happily replied and ran off.
　Now the residents of the surrounding villages would not be killed.

　''Rene. Make sure you have more food for your troops.''
　I know, sir.

　Rene sighed.
　But we can't abandon them, so it can't be helped.

　''Now it's up to Lord Lettis and King Rosais' reinforcements...''

　Tonino muttered.
　I've already received a text from King Rosais that he'll be rushing in as soon as possible.

　But it's after the Equus tribe, Belvedil, and Evil have been brought to their knees, so it's likely to be at least a month away.
　Rene's brother, Lettis Braus, has been working hard to keep the local Aldo faction in check.
　They had turned to the Carlo faction for a while, but now they were leaning towards the Aldo faction again.......or rather the Roselle faction.

　In fact, there were some great families that remained as Carlo's faction because of their antipathy to Aldo Domorgal, who was borrowing power from the Gauls.

　It was expected to take at least a month to orchestrate and conquer the local Aldo faction as well.

　That means it must last at least a month.


　'Well, I'm sure they'll last a month. Beyond that, though, I really doubt it will last more than that.

　Bartolo cowered his shoulders.
　In fact, Bartolo had no experience with long term sieges.

　The battle of the Terrier Fortress lasted only three days, and there weren't many soldiers in each other's ranks.
　But this time, we are fighting a siege of a few months against each other.

　There are unknown numbers.



　"But we must win. If Roselle falls here, there will be a major Gallic stronghold in southern Adelunia...

　It will mean an acceleration of Gaul's domination of the Adelian peninsula, a factor that will lead to a future in which the Adelians will become slaves of the Gauls.

　It must be stopped here for sure.

　'But I guess we should be prepared to take some of our territory with the peace with Roselle. We'll have to cede it to Rosais and... haha, why on my behalf...''

　Carlo grumbled.
　'Carlo will be the hardest-working king of all the Domorgal kings of all time.

　'And after that, will you send letters of intent to both Fardham and Gilbed? It's obvious that if our country falls, the pressure on Roselle will increase in both countries. Even if we can't expect any reinforcements, we can at least threaten Roselle's borders.

　Tonino concluded, and the day's meeting came to an end.




　In this war, the most important battlefield is the siege war.
　Defeat to Evil, Belvedil, and Equus would only result in a cession of territory.

　But the defeat of the allied forces in the siege meant the disappearance of King Domorgal's kingdom and the vassalization of King Rosais' kingdom.

　Even if they won other battles, a defeat in this siege would end everything.

　On the other hand, if they won this siege battle, they would be able to reel it back in even if they had lost on other battlefields.
　The siege is truly the key battle that holds the key to this siege.

　The battle for the fate of King Domorgal's kingdom and King Rosais' kingdom, or rather the fate of the Adelunian Peninsula, was about to begin.