The feud between the Kingdom of Naglas and the Armenian Empire runs deep.

　It began with the destruction of a kingdom that once held a vast territory in the land of Caucasus.
　The empire was founded by a small band of Caucasian royalty who fled to Ermenia after the fall of the Caucasus Kingdom two hundred years ago.
　They took advantage of the chaos of the fall of the Caucasus Kingdom to expand their power and influence over the then city-state of Naglas.

　The land in the southeastern part of the Kingdom of Naglas was also originally the territory of the Caucasus Kingdom.
　For the Ermenian Empire, which claimed to be the successor to the Kingdom of Caucasus, it was equivalent to the Kingdom of Naglas illegally occupying its territory.

　On the other hand, for the Kingdom of Naglas, the claim of the Ermenian Empire was a false claim.
　At the time of the destruction of the Kingdom of Caucasus, the people of Naglas, a city-state at the time, begged the local people to station an army there.
　It was a ridiculous idea for the empire, which was unable to even maintain the security of its land, to claim its rights later.

　In the first place, the fact that they are the heirs of the Caucasus Kingdom is just a self-serving claim by the Ermenian Empire, and the Kingdom of Naglas does not acknowledge it.
　It's true that the blood of the Caucasian royal family runs through the Ermenian imperial family, but the blood of a princess who married into the Naglas royal family from the Caucasian royal family also runs through the Naglas royal family.

　Naturally, the arguments of the Kingdom of Naglas and the Ermenian Empire clashed head-on.
　Diplomatic negotiations were so far apart that they tried to resolve the issue by force for several decades.
　After decades of attempts to resolve the conflict by force, the two sides came to regard each other as irreconcilable enemies.

　Just as in the past there had been repeated military clashes and short-lived peace, another clash seemed inevitable, and the Kingdom of Naglas was keeping a close eye on the imperial forces that had been active for several years.
　As the tensions on the borders grew, rumors of war were often circulating, so when the king's people heard the Imperial declaration of war, their only thought was not "no way" but "finally".

　Not long after the declaration of war, the imperial army invades the borders of the kingdom and takes up positions in the wasteland in the southeastern part of the kingdom and waits for the kingdom's troops.
　Surprisingly, there are few areas of open land where large armies can clash with each other, and there are even fewer areas far from human settlements.

　The Royal Army naturally wants to avoid the towns and villages becoming a battlefield, and since the Empire claims its own territory, it is officially forbidden to loot and plunder.
　As a result of the strange coincidence of interests on both sides, the battlefield was concentrated in a very limited area of land.

　Two days late for the imperial army.
　The hastily assembled Royal Army arrives on the battlefield.
　The Royal Army arrived with 2,800 to the Imperial Army's 3,000.
　The Empire has a slight advantage in terms of military strength, but because it is an expeditionary force, the supply lines are long, and from the point of view of logistics, the Kingdom, whose battlefield is in its own territory, has an advantage.

　The upper echelons of the Royal Army judged that the forces of theirs and mine were at odds with each other.
　First of all, the standing army would take care of all the battles, and the real battles would be fought after the militia and mercenaries had been called up.
　The Imperial side also has a standing army, which does not include militias and mercenaries.
　If the call-up had taken place, it would naturally have fallen on the ears of the kingdom, allowing it to detect any movement before declaring war.
　In order to control the preoccupation, the Empire also thought that the first battle was composed solely of its standing army.

　For this reason, the upper echelons of the Royal Army saw this battle as a prelude to a full-scale battle to see how the other side would fare and to estimate each other's war potential.
　However, the Kingdom learns a painful lesson from this naive outlook.

　A few days later, the people of King's Landing, still reeling from the sudden declaration of war and the subsequent advance of the Royal Army, received the news of the defeat of the Royal Army.



　It was not yet 10 o'clock in the afternoon when the two armies clashed on the wilderness, as they had planned.

　In the foreseeable wilderness, an ambush is useless.
　Both armies deployed their forces to fill the battlefield, and the two spearheads came into contact with each other from the front.

　Since this was the first battle between the two sides, both sides were waiting for the other to make a move.
　Each unit did not show any bold action, and the battle unfolded in accordance with the theory that wounded soldiers in the front line were sent back and reserve forces were deployed instead.

　The situation suddenly changed around 14:00, four hours after the war began.
　The number of casualties exceeded a hundred, and the tension that had enveloped the soldiers at the beginning of the war began to loosen with fatigue, when the group suddenly broke into the battlefield.

　The armed group, straddling an unfamiliar beast, raised the imperial army's flag and launched a surprise attack on the main camp of the kingdom's troops, who were unable to comprehend the situation and were confused.
　The Royal Army, which had been fighting for four hours, did not have the power to repel it.

　The main camp, which had been on its feet, was overrun and the imperial army, which had gone on an all-out offensive, was overwhelmed and the Royal Army collapsed.
　The commanding general was defeated and the chain of command collapsed, and with the exception of a few units, there was no longer any systematic resistance.

　The soldiers tried to leave the battlefield, but were blocked by the unidentified troops who overran the main camp, and were pursued by the main body of the Imperial Guard.
　In the end, less than 2,000 of them succeeded in escaping from the battlefield.

　The total number of dead and missing was more than 1,000. The total number of dead and missing is more than one thousand and fifteen hundred wounded, a defeat so great that it can only be described as devastation.



Therefore, the air in King's Landing is as heavy as a funeral parlor.

　It is Kirill who speaks to Nere at Aldis' house.

　It had been about ten days since the defeat of the royal army.
　In preparation for the next battle, territorial armies from all over the world are gathering in the royal capital, militias are being summoned and mercenaries are being asked to fight in the war, so there will be a lot of noise sooner or later.
　But for now, the impact of the previous defeat is still lingering. The military, in particular, is in a state of depression, and they seem unable to recover from their defeat.

'It was another terrible loss,'

　After listening to the series of stories, Nayle expressed his thoughts as if they were someone else's.

'It's good to say that the standing army in the royal capital is completely wiped out ....... If we can scrape together local territorial armies, militias, and mercenaries, there's still plenty of spare strength left, but I'm sure it's the same for the empire.''

　The Empire, which gained a one-sided victory in the first battle, remained in the wilderness and was joining up with the rearranged troops from the home country.
　There may be some soldiers who deserted the front lines in the last battle, but compared to the kingdom, their number is an order of magnitude less.
　In addition to the standing army, there are about two thousand unidentified cavalry groups.
　If you add the rearranged troops to that, the number of troops is expected to exceed twelve thousand.
　This battle, the Empire seems to have a serious plan to settle the score with the kingdom, that was the strong view.

　In contrast, the troops on the opposing side of the kingdom's army were small.
　Even if you gather up the territorial armies and militias from all over the region, it's still only 8,000.
　Moreover, the standing army in the capital, which should play a central role, has been destroyed.
　Currently, reorganization is underway at a rapid pace, but even if the lightly injured are included, it's doubtful that the number of men will exceed a thousand.

''Will Aldis-san be okay?''

　Kirill feared for Aldis, who was currently on his way to the Empire.

　It was difficult to imagine a situation where someone with that bullshit strength would be forced into a predicament.
　But even so, it is easy to predict that the enemy country in times of war is far more dangerous than in normal times.

''There is no problem. By nature, mercenaries do not belong to any country. It's not unusual for them to fight against the country they are usually based in,

'What ......?　Don't tell me you're not in the Imperial Army's mercenary unit, Aldis-san?

　Kirill's face instantly turned blue.
　Kirill hadn't thought of making an enemy of Aldis.

''There is that possibility. It's not that my master doesn't serve this country. It's just that he happens to have a place to live within the kingdom.

'That's ......, yes,'

The only thing you need to worry about is the fact that you have no obligations to the kingdom. It's true that you have no obligations to the kingdom, but that doesn't mean you have to join the Empire. It's my master. It doesn't matter if we are at war or in the middle of a hostile country, we will do what we want to do.

'Ah, well, sure. He'd probably come through the battlefield with a kelp on his face.

　In fact, Kirill's understanding of Ardis seems to be deepening as I can imagine that it's more easily that way.

Hm. "You say, 'If you talk about it--'

　Turning his gaze away from Kirill's satisfied face, Nere turns his sky-blue eyes to the south.

''Eh?　What do you mean?

　Kirill asks, unsure of the meaning.
　A little later, Filia and Liana shout out happily.

''Here it comes, Kirillou!

It's Aldis and Rona!

'What?　What came?　Mr. Aldis and Rona?

　The twins were all looking in a different direction.
　When their gazes shifted from south to east and then to the door of the house, Kirill finally understood the significance of this.

　It was because he could sense the presence of someone on the other side of the door.

'Oh ......, could it be?'

　Nayle gets up and walks to the entrance and softly opens the door.

　Few people know about this place located in the middle of a dangerous forest.
　In addition, it is also the home of the twins, who are not allowed to be exposed to the public eye.
　Naturally, strangers don't come to visit you out of the blue, and Nere wouldn't allow an unknown person to approach you.

　It's the person that Nere welcomes with a reverent head bow.
　There is only one person that Kirill knows about.

I'm glad you're here, Kirill. It's just as well. I'm glad I didn't have to go out and give you a souvenir.

　Behind an open door.
　It had been three months since I had seen the boy standing with the golden-furred beast in tow.

'Welcome back, Ardis!'

　With a shout of joy, the twins jumped to the dark-haired boy.