Shatien kept his promise exactly.
“Kiyooooooo-!”
“Take my lance!! For honor!”
“Follow me! Let us teach these fools about the battlefield! Hyah!”
-Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.
-Thump thump thump thump thump.
It was a promise to give them a thrilling job that would resolve their very noble-like complaints about being bored from staying still.
“Son of a biiiiiiiitch!”
“The pointy-ears are coming again!”
“Form the ranks! You bastards, don't scatter-!”
“Lances up! Lances! Do not put down your weapons!”
Looking at the elf knights and their squires lunging at the front, the officer of the pike company who had formed the ranks shouted.
The current pike company consisted of new recruits who had just finished training.
They were not strong enough to withstand the charge of such knights.
“A-Argh!”
-Tremble.
“God dammit! I said hold the lances! Curse it!”
“Uhahahaha! You fledglings. Drop your weapons and grovel immediately!”
“Kiyooooooo-!”
-Thud.
-Scatter.
When the group of elf cavalry arrived at the front of the ranks, the soldiers who were building the pike phalanx threw down their lances and collapsed.
However, fortunately, there were no casualties.
It was because everything that just happened was a training situation.
“Damn it! We lost again.”
“See there, Centurion Jenga. I told you it was still tough. Hehe.”
“Shut up! Miles. Do you think your halberdiers would be any different?”
“My, my. We don't deal with knights, do we? That is a task for His Lordship Centurion Jenga. Hehehe.”
“Ugh.... Curse it. Just watch if I leave these rascals alone.”
Centurion Jenga, who lost a bet on the result, grumbled in a temper.
He had been utterly humiliated in front of Miles, so he felt he had lost face.
Unaware of Centurion Jenga’s seething heart, the elf knights were busy chatting amongst themselves, full of excitement.
“Uhahahaha. This is quite fun indeed.”
“It is perfect for training our guys too. Is it not?”
“True. As expected, Sir Shatien is truly extraordinary. A slight mistake could have led to dozens of people being seriously injured. Is it because he does training like a real battle that his skill is so superior?”
It was true.
Shatien had conducted an utterly ignorant training using the elf knights and the squires under them.
It was a drill where he divided the pike phalanx units and had them block the charge of the elf knights according to their proficiency.
Just as they said, it was a brutal training where dozens of injuries occurred every time, but the results were certainly good.
Especially.
“Group 3! Group 3 is excluded from the meal today. You will receive your rations last after additional training-! Group 6, which showed the most outstanding performance, goes into the meal first and takes a full rest!”
“Uaaargh. Damn it.”
“We have to eat late again? We want to eat plenty of meat too. Dammit.”
“Then you should have done better, right?”
“What? You bastard!”
“Keep your mouth shut won’t you-?!”
By splitting each pike phalanx into groups and starting relative evaluations, they truly began to unite as one with intense fervor.
“Hmm... is the internal competition not becoming too fierce? Shatien.”
“Are they not mercenaries with a low sense of belonging anyway? It is good if they can have a sense of solidarity even in this way. Combat involving infantry, especially using a pike phalanx, requires harmony and trust with the colleague next to me above all else. Centurion Jacri. Was the content you told me last time not precisely about harmony with colleagues?”
“Still, that is a bit... ahem....”
Certainly, Centurion Jacri himself had said such things.
Of course, he questioned whether it was right for that sense of solidarity to form in such a clannish way.
“Hm... since you are the one leading the mercenary company anyway, do as you wish. Both Baron Mordo and I are outsiders now, are we not?”
“Hey. Outsiders, you say. Are you not our spiritual pillars? And I still need the help of Baron Mordo and Centurion Jacri.”
“I am the Head Butler, not a Centurion.”
“Yes, yes. Lord Head Butler.”
Seeing Shatien reply so nonchalantly, Head Butler Jacri shook his head as if he were beyond help.
“The information about the eastern Empire you requested last time.... Your suspicions were certainly correct. According to the words of merchants who have been there, the movements of the eastern Elector are unusual.”
“Unusual in what way?”
“It is said that lately, he frequently summons the barbarian cavalry units under his command in the frontiers. Ostensibly, it is for the suppression of barbarians.... But it is said that Duke Sigismund is actually recruiting siege experts and military engineers.”
“My goodness....”
One had to go to the southeast where the petty kingdoms were to find rugged mountain ranges; the border regions of the east were mostly plains.
And quite naturally, the barbarians living there were all nomadic peoples.
Due to the nature of nomads wandering in search of pastures, they had no main residences, and there was no reason to recruit engineers for sieges if one were to fight them.
The act of building castles was something only settled people like themselves, who did farming, would do.
Thus, the Duke’s actions were clearly preparing for war.
Against settled people.
And the target was....
“It is certainly clear that he has formed a pact with the Holy Roman Emperor, just as you said. It is certain looking at the current situation. According to what a merchant saw while returning, knights are being withdrawn from the disputed lands between the Emperor’s family fiefs and the eastern Elector. That very family of the Holy Roman Emperor who keeps the eastern Elector in check more than anyone else.”
The Holy Empire.
A land of fragile nobles split into countless small fiefs.
There was only this place.
* * *
“Sigh.... Then it is not easy. If two powerful great lords have joined hands, it will be difficult to block the Holy Roman Emperor with the current alliance alone.”
In the past, the alliance of lords under the Holy Roman Emperor alone had to conduct a civil war for over ten long years.
But now, the eastern Elector, who possessed military power as strong as the Holy Roman Emperor, was joining.
This was a serious matter that could rapidly change the aspect of the war.
Especially to the point that the information Shatien knew would become useless in the increasingly deviating future.
‘I am extremely fatigued.’
Shatien was anxious.
He felt like he was walking a path in the vast darkness because of the fact that he could not know the future.
But that was only for a moment.
‘No, rather it is for the best. In any case, the information I know is very shallow and in a way useless.’
How valuable would the information known by Shatien, who was merely a third-rate mercenary, be?
The rumors of this era were exaggerated and lacked accuracy even after passing through just one person.
Could one not tell just by looking at Shatien himself?
‘The Knight of Miracles they say. Good grief....’
Because he obtained an impossible reputation and knew the process of it becoming materialized, the accuracy of information spreading among the masses was already very low in reliability.
Of course....
‘The results and processes of some major battlefields might be quite significant.’
Recalling the various ancient tactical theories he learned from his master, the results of the battlefield ultimately used to be greatly influenced by the tendencies of the participating commanders.
It would be sufficient if he analyzed and responded to the opponent based on past memories and separately meticulously prepared information.
Once his thoughts reached this point, the darkness in Shatien’s mind faded and confidence returned.
“Shatien?”
“Ah-! It is nothing. Jacri. I just had something to think about for a moment. Haha.”
“Hmm, then that is a relief. I thought you were trying to run away because it was too overwhelming now. Haha.”
“Of course not.”
Once he had come this far, there was no way to retreat.
Was it not said that one had mounted the back of an ogre?
Now was not the time to get off.
He had no choice but to ride this bizarre ogre and enjoy the era until it collapsed from exhaustion.
“I must convey this news to our friends.”
“Right. They probably have their own information networks, but it would certainly be good to help. I should probably deal with Count Bellua, right?”
“Yes. Please go with Baron Mordo and persuade His Excellency Count Bellua. In particular, we need the help of the Kingdom of Ellang.”
“It just so happens that the Dauphin of Ellang is a person with a very strong desire for conquest, so he might respond. I will try to talk with the Baron and devise a plan.”
As expected.
Shatien did not need to say any other unnecessary words to Jacri.
He did things perfectly once the subject was brought up.
“Good. Then I will take charge of Viscount Ragnarsson in the north and the Holy See.”
“Hmm? I can understand Viscount Ragnarsson in the north. But the Holy See?”
“Yes. Is it not better to have more allies? Anyway, Viscount Ragnarsson will believe me even if I only send a messenger. A relationship of trust has been built to that extent.”
“There is nothing bad about utilizing the Holy See, which is already an enemy of the Holy Roman Emperor.... But will it be possible?”
“I must try my best. We cannot just sit and get hit, can we?”
At those words, Jacri nodded.
Indeed, it was better to keep expanding the board than to just sit and do nothing.
“Understood. Then let us try to do well.”
* * *
“I might not be able to come back soon. In the meantime, I leave Sauerland to you.”
Jacri managed to drag the reluctant Baron Mordo and left Sauerland to meet Count Bellua.
Shatien sent the contents containing the information so far to Viscount Ragnarsson via a messenger, while at the same time, he put effort into gathering information about the Holy See along with the training of the mercenary company.
If the peak of secular monarchs was the Emperor of the Holy Empire, the peak of faith was the Holy See.
It directly ruled the prime lands of the peninsula that inherited the legacy of the ancient empire, along with immense wealth coming from the churches and bishops’ fiefs spread throughout the continent.
It was at a level where getting a line to the Holy See was more difficult than having an audience with a typical king.
Therefore, he had to approach step by step from the bottom to reach the Cardinals.
Consequently, Shatien was gathering various information about the Holy See through the connections he had established, while at the same time stockpiling appropriate sincerity (?) for a contact.
Was a donation not the most honest testimony of faith?
Just as he was preparing while thinking so, a guest visited Shatien.
“I have moved my steps like this upon hearing the news that my foolish disciple is doing nonsense again. You rascal.”
“Ugh. I told you not to say such things, did I not? Elder? Have you been well, Sir Shatien? I heard you need information regarding the Holy See, so I came personally like this. Hoho.”
Master Joachim and Branch Manager Marhen.
Very welcome guests from Free City Loren arrived.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter