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Vol 01 Chapter 24: Military Power

「Phew! We managed to pull it off!」

A wave of relief washed over me.

I was surprised when King Ferme cringed at the mention of exposing the bodies of the bandits.

I thought he would do the same. Perhaps he isn’t as ruthless as the rumors make him. Well, it worked out in the end, so it’s fine. However, it appears his impression of me has worsened.

As I was relaxing inside the house with Tetra. Ron, Roswald, Gram, Soyon, and Lulu entered.

「So, leader, let’s continue our earlier conversation. Why did you suddenly decide to marry?」

「What? Did you want to marry me?」

「No, not at all!」

Ron shook his head vigorously.

That’s a relief. I was worried his love for me had twisted his preferences.

「We decided on it before returning to the village.」

「As expected, you are the bride, huh…so what, you just decided to marry just like that?」

「When you put it like that, it seems weird.」

Tetra looked at me, seemingly unable to refute Ron.

Well, I don’t really know how to explain it, either.

「Well, it just happened.」

It was decided just like that. Perhaps I was unknowingly brainwashed by Tetra. Oddly, the thought of refusing to marry Tetra never even crossed my mind.

「Is it really okay to decide on marriage so easily?」

Soyon asked, looking as if she wasn’t completely convinced.

Could it be that Soyon imagines an ideal proposal as being called to a place with a beautiful night view, a bouquet of flowers in hand, and hearing ‘Will you marry me’?

Indeed, I also believed that was how a proposal was supposed to be…

I’m not sure. My last romantic relationship was back in the third grade of elementary school. Since then, I haven’t been in love. Love is a mystery to me. Am I idealizing love too much, and as a result, failing to realize when I’m actually in love?

Is it possible that I’m in love with both Tetra and Julia? To be in love with both of them… This makes me the worst, doesn’t it?

Perhaps I didn’t have any doubts about marrying Tetra because it was the normal progression in our relationship, lately, we’ve been sleeping in the same house, and before I knew it, we were even sleeping in the same bed. So, a de facto couple ended up becoming fiancés. It’s not really strange if you think like that.

Wait, could all of this have been Tetra’s strategy?

「Ugh… My image of love is…」

Lulu held her head in her hands, overwhelmed.

I understand completely, I feel the same way.

「Well, it’s certainly a happy occasion… Congratulations.」

When Roswald said that with a somewhat conflicted expression, everyone else also congratulated me one after another.

How embarrassing

Hearing the others congratulate us made me feel it for real.

So, I’m really going to marry Tetra, huh? It’s a little embarrassing…

「Almus… it’s a little too late to get embarrassed…」

Tetra remarked, her face flushing red.

「Um… I haven’t heard the details of how you decided to get married…」

Gram shyly asked.

「As for that, Tetra will explain.」

When I said that, Tetra stepped forward.

「There’s something I need to tell all of you.」

Tetra began to explain her circumstances.

◇

「Hmm.」

The reactions from everyone were quite lukewarm. It was anticlimactic. I had anticipated more surprised reactions, something along the lines of, ‘What! Really?’

「It’s not really surprising. Tetra was too smart to be a normal kid.」

「Besides, when we first met, Tetra-chan’s hands didn’t look like those of someone who had done farm work.」

「And she was scared of bugs too.」

It seems everyone had figured it out. I had my doubts as well.

「Gununu… So, I didn’t manage to fool anyone?」

「Tetra-san, you always bathed alone, right? On the few occasions I saw you without clothes, you were always more concerned with covering your back than your chest or lower body. It was quite obvious.」

Lulu laughed as she spoke.

「Besides, it’s been five years. How could anyone not notice?」

Roswald said with an exasperated look.

「Well, Tetra, despite her intelligence, can be slow on the uptake sometimes.」

Ron teased Tetra, and everyone else joined in with the teasing. Tetra puffed her cheeks in frustration.

「Don’t sulk, Tetra-chan. By the way, Almus-san, is your marriage to Tetra-chan politically motivated? I believe it’s wrong to marry for such reasons.」

「The benefits were what made me take the plunge. But no matter the benefit, I wouldn’t marry someone I didn’t love.」

Tetra’s background merely prompted me to take the first step. I had always thought that I needed to confront her feelings someday.

「I only want to marry Almus, I don’t care if it’s a political arrangement or anything else.」

Tetra said that as she clung to me.

Hmm, maybe it was her relentless effort to win my heart that led me to fall in love with her.

「When will you celebrate the wedding?」

「After we settle things with King Ferme, I suppose.」

Things are a bit messy right now. There’s a lot that needs to be prepared.

「First of all, increasing our military strength is a must. We’re fine for now since we’ve just paid tribute, but next year they will come again, if they continue to take our reserves every year it’ll be tough. We might even starve to death if a famine occurs.」

「Are we going to fight them?」

「That’s uncertain. But we can’t negotiate without weapons.」

Conflicts arise only among equals. Because if the difference in power is too great, there’s only domination and subjugation.

They have the power to enslave us, wipe us out, and seize our food.

「Additionally, in the event of a famine, they might attempt to resolve it by seizing all our food.」

「What will we do specifically?」

Tetra inquired, lifting her head from where it was buried against my body.

「Do we have enough iron spears for everyone? Let’s start by adjusting their lengths. That’ll be our main weapon. Then there’s the bow. How many in our village can handle a bow?」

「Only ten are proficient enough to hit their target consistently. There are another five who show promise.」

Gram answered.

So, fifteen in total. This isn’t a bad fighting force at all. Hunting regularly has paid off.

「Hey, Iarl. How many men aged between twelve and sixty are in your group? And do you have any magicians?」

「Let’s see… ten men. As for magicians… we don’t have anyone capable of high-level magic like possessing animals, but there are two who can use basic spells.」

I see. So, combining them with the forty we already have in our village makes fifty. In addition, we have three magicians in our village capable of possessing animals.

But apart from those three, there are ten other magicians in our village. That makes a total of twelve.

Still, only two sorcerers among thirty people? Our village has thirteen out of a hundred, and most of them are children.

「Actually, having two among thirty people is quite significant. It’s normal to have only one magician in a village of a hundred people. Our village simply boasts an unusually high number of them.」

「Why are there so many?」

「I don’t know. Perhaps Julia’s teaching method is effective… but that seems unlikely. Magic is ninety percent talent.」

Hmm, it seems too coincidental.

「If my memory serves me right, there are about nine sorcerers under King Ferme who can possess animals.」

We have three…

A village with a population of one hundred and thirty has three talented high-level magicians, while a country with a population of just under thirty thousand has nine.

…That’s definitely strange.

「Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s probably just a coincidence. But maybe it has something to do with Griffon-sama.」

I see, Griffon, huh? If his influence is at play, then it’s certainly possible. Everything is possible with that guy.

「Anyway, it’s good news. The fact that we aren’t overwhelmed on the magic side is a good thing.」

Let’s not worry about the details for now.

「Fifteen archers and thirty-five infantrymen. Not bad.」

「No, there are thirty infantrymen. The other five will be cavalry.」

With stirrups and saddles, they should manage to ride well enough after some training. Everyone is athletically gifted, so it should be fine.

I don’t plan to train them in something advanced like shooting bows while mounted. Simply moving about and hurling stones will be threat enough.

If they can flank and charge, they might be able to disrupt enemy formations too.

「We must not forget about the village’s defenses.」

「Fences and ditches are necessary, right?」

「I think we also need watchtowers. They would allow us to shoot arrows.」

「I believe stone walls would be the best, but that might be impossible…」

Ron, Gram, and Roswald contributed these ideas, one after the other.

Well, that’s something we can slowly build over time. We also need to study the most effective way to set them up.

「We also need to get weapons for everyone.」

Should I make that thing…? I learned how to make it during a spell of youthful curiosity back in middle school.

But that’s too dangerous.

I surveyed everyone. Each of them appeared ready to risk their lives in battle.

Naturally, we will avoid conflict as much as possible… but if it comes to a fight, there might be casualties. No, unless we’re extremely lucky, there will be casualties.

I shouldn’t hold back here. Let’s make it.

Gunpowder.

 

AN: Please note that this map is provisional and subject to change. Be aware that it may differ from the descriptions within the story.

The countries of King Evile and King Belvedire are primarily featured in chapter three, but as they hold some importance in chapter one as well, I’ve included them here. I will add the names of other countries as needed. On this map, thick lines indicate national borders, while thin lines mark territorial divisions. The area marked in green represents Romalia Forest.

As Julia mentioned, the Northern Kingdom of Rozel is the orchestrator behind the curses. It has two different ethnic groups living in it. The Adernians, belonging to the same ethnic group as Almus, are subjugated by the Galians, an ethnic group living further north than the Adernian Peninsula.

Incidentally, owing to the influence of Kirisian colonial cities, the southern part of the Adernian Peninsula is culturally richer. However, the invention of ironware by the northern tribes means it originated and spread from the north.