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Chapter 99: Arrival at the Great Demon Forest part4

 

「W-where did you hear that…?」

「Lord Leister, does the name ‘Erwin’ ring a bell?」

「…The head of the Belta intelligence service under the prime minister.」

「Erwin’s clan has broken with Marquis Burke and now serve under me.」

Strictly speaking, they aren’t officially under me yet until they secure the Guinea Alchemint and complete their penance for attacking me.

「Technically they’re provisional hires; once we secure a certain item, I’ll welcome the whole clan to our lands.」

「Alan—that’s news to me.」

「To steal away those men who have always been so loyal—how did you…」

「Alan-sama, how in the world…」

Voices rose at once. Hm. Perhaps I mistimed that reveal.

「I’m sorry I couldn’t say earlier. But until I verified their status with Lord Leister and gained his assent, I couldn’t formally accept them. His and Erwin’s stories matched, so the matter is settled—yep.」

The air suggested that was not the point.

「It was the day we were corner—ah, lured out in the capital. Remember when I refused Adjutant Dhalsim’s escort and went to dine with just Serena and Sharon? That time.」

「Ah—the runaway horse incident.」

「We were lur—we lured them into an alley without their realization. We were only three, so they fully surrounded us—but that was our plan.」

「Alan, why did you do something so reckless!?」

「Ria, did you never feel eyes on you in the capital? We were under watch the whole time.」

「I… didn’t notice at all.」

「Since the dragon affair, Prime Minister Burke deemed us dangerous and set surveillance. The spymaster had noticed your resemblance to the king and suspected Starveek. We couldn’t risk your identity being reported; I wanted it settled quickly.」

「…So you risked your life for my sake.」

「I already said this during the incident with Gloria, but you don’t have to worry about me—I’m not so easy to kill. Serena and Sharon were with me as well, and we were never in real danger. We nearly killed them all, but they offered their lives in atonement. I accepted their repentance and spared them.」

Serena and Sharon nodded vigorously.

「As a result, they sent us those Iririka-made swords and daggers.」

「Ah—so that was the price for their lives. Fitting, for pieces of such quality. But to think Alan-sama wagered his life for them…」

「Adjutant Dalshim, the blades were as good as ours either way. So I set a different price for their lives.」

「More precious than those?」

「Their skills are special. To prove it, I had them steal a national treasure. The price for their lives is this country’s Guinea Alchemint.」

「So that’s why you mentioned the Guinea Alchemint at that time…」

「Guinea Alchemint… If we secure it indeed, founding a nation ceases to be a dream.」

Leister’s eyes widened.

「We can’t avoid a confrontation with Prime Minister Burke. That means civil war. Civil war isn’t all bad—if we’ve enough strength to defeat our enemy, then it’s a great opportunity to take the whole country at once. For a casus belli, it’s a little thin, though. What do you think, Lord Leister?」

「You are a baron, Lord Corinth. Even with Lady Cleria as banner, support inside Belta Kingdom would be hard to muster. If—hypothetically—His Majesty Amado were to die, then nobles related to the royal house would flock to Lady Cleria. All the more with a dragon-slaying hero at her back.」

「If possible, I’d rather not kill King Amado. I’d prefer to win him over.」

「Is that even possible, Alan? Wouldn’t he be an obstacle?」

「Here’s the thing—King Amado looks exactly like you, Ria.」

「What!? 」

「I recognized Her Highness Cleria as soon as I saw her because I had seen her face before. But I only thought of her because she resembled His Majesty Amado so much.」

Leister supplied.

「I’d rather not subject someone who looks like Ria to a cruel fate—and he’s blood to her besides. Provoking those loyal to the king is a poor strategy when we aim to pacify Belta.」

「Indeed—there is no need to spill royal blood tied to Cleria-sama.」

Good. It seems that the Starveek folk, thanks to his blood relationship to Ria, will show Amado some consideration.

「Our enemy is Marquis Burke. He and his cronies cannot be allowed to live. If King Amado surrenders, we will treat him as Ria’s kin.」

「If Ria-sama and Alan-sama so will it, we have no objection.」

Dhalsim spoke, and assent followed on all sides.

「Lord Leister, I’ll ask you to rally nobles in Belta to our side. Keep Ria’s presence secret for now, but make it known we’re well disposed toward His Majesty Amado. Even if he steps down, we guarantee him a duke’s dignity.」

「No objection.」

「Though cast aside by His Majesty, I was entrusted by the late king. Your proposal is a mercy.」

「Forgive the digression—please continue.」

「Yes. As I said, the banner is ready—but there is a concern. A baronial fief is narrow; finances are tight. Even if we pay nobles with future advancement, the army’s upkeep demands we shoulder some cost. We must secure provisions for a large host. If word spreads that you have succeeded in pioneering and obtained a Guinea Alchemint, the economic balance tilts to us. For now, however, we must build our strength.」

「So both banner and purse are still lacking.」

「I hear His Majesty Amado promised to make Alan a Margrave when the frontier is developed. Many nobles heard it. As a Margrave house, we could counter Marquis Burke.」

Serena asked Leister. That point bothered me as well: if I could be Margrave, wouldn’t that draw near the marquis’s power?

「That is uncertain.」

Leister sounded doubtful.

「The capital is the Prime Minister Burke’s domain. Though Lord Corinth may fulfill the conditions to become Margrave, if it comes to civil war, I cannot imagine the formalities in the capital proceeding smoothly.」

「And while preparing for a civil war, making time to go back to the capital for investiture is… wasteful.」

「Then perhaps like this?」

Sharon, who had been whispering with Serena, spoke up.

「Let Marquis Burke send his private army against us. We rout them utterly, annihilate the force, and take its commander prisoner as a witness. Make it impossible for Burke to talk his way out. Swiftly deliver testimony to the king. If Alan reaches the king ahead of news of the defeat—and reports the fief’s development—then elevation to Margrave could be possible.」

「Assuming we can defeat the prime minister’s troops—how do we get Lord Corinth to the capital faster than the news of their defeat?」

「We have Gloria.」Serena cut in.

「The dragon that startled the capital can fly with people on her back—six seats. Even with Alan and two attendants, we can carry three witnesses. Flying, we can reach the capital in under a day—faster than any courier.」

「On one side, a man with the strength to crush the prime minister’s private army, who commands a dragon, and becomes Margrave—who even holds a Guinea Alchemint. On the other, a prime minister who fattens himself by puppeteering the king and murdering inconvenient royals. Even nobles ignorant of details will see where advantage lies.」

Leister fell silent, thinking.

「If we defeat Burke’s army in the Great Demon Forest—and reach the capital first—Margraviate is not impossible. But then the banner for taking the realm grows complicated.」

「Then we should take our time.」

Roberto offered.

「Even if pioneering has ‘succeeded,’ settlers are still arriving. It will take time to build strength and show the nobles our prosperity.」

「True. Developing the land will take more time; even with an army formed, we can muster only a few hundred for now.」

「Decided then. Crushing Burke’s private army is easy. We bring the commander and witnesses to the capital on Gloria; if the testimony is accepted, we gather strength as Margrave. If not, we raise the standard behind Cleria immediately.」

「After he dispatches troops to the Great Demon Forest, Burke will be weaker at home. Beaten, he cannot refuse your elevation. He will accept it, then—leaning on his authority—scrape up forces across the kingdom to raise a punitive host. ‘An upstart Margrave has neither prestige nor backing’—that is how he will think.」

「Which is when we set Cleria-sama at the fore. The soaring Lord Corinth, newly made Margrave, pacifies Belta with the Princess of Starveek as his banner—then marches on Alois. Which stirs a noble’s blood more: leeching off a decaying old order, or seizing fortune at the thunderhead?」

「With the broad course set, there is one more critical matter. Roberto—if you would.」

「Yes, Alan-sama.」

Roberto strode to the chamber’s center and raised his voice. We were only twenty or so, but he made himself heard to the whole hall. As Ares’s overseer, he was in his element.

「Entrusted by Cleria-sama and Alan-sama, I handle internal affairs within Ares. Our pressing concern is food.」

Faces tightened. In the Great Demon Forest, beyond fish and monster meat, nothing was available locally. Until autumn’s harvest, tension would remain.

「The Great Demon Forest has abundant monster meat, but for campaigns you need shelf-stable grain. All our grain is imported. The enemy will recognize this as our weak point.」

「So that’s what Lord Leister meant by ‘economics’—provisions.」

Dhalsim, as the military lead, leaned forward.

「No matter how much coin you have, you cannot buy grain that isn’t on the market. Nobles with fiefs stock their own provisions, but small lords sell them off—sacking small domains won’t yield much.」

「To secure provisions, we must take cities—yet taking cities requires provisions.」

Walter—once a front-line commander for the Margrave—was, unsurprisingly, focused on logistics.

「Even if we win over nobles opposed to Burke, we cannot sustain them without food.」

「In short, we need durable rations. Solve that, and destitute nobles will flock to us in the coming war.」

I found myself chiming in, swept up in Roberto’s cadence.

「But even with magic, the food problem doesn’t go away. It’s every ruler’s eternal headache.」

Dhalsim is right. But I’ve already thought of something.

「Roberto—let’s have everyone taste it.」

「Yes, Alan-sama.」

He drew a metal can from his breast.

「This is a prototype that I had Roberto’s craftsmen create: ham sealed in a can. In Starveek you preserve meat as ham or bacon, yes?」

「Yes, though bacon’s only common in some regions. The army uses it, but many don’t know it well—and it doesn’t keep that long.」

「Remember how we bottled dragon blood after the dissection? We adapted that idea to meat.」

「I wondered—why did the bottled blood keep?」

Elna asked the obvious.

「The key is sealing the vessel and boiling it. Fill the gap between lid and jar with something like slime to seal it. Potions made from dragon blood carry magic and keep a bit even unboiled—but for food, you heat the jar in hot water several times to kill off mold sources inside. Do that, and it keeps at room temperature for half a year to a year. Quality varies, so you still need to check for mold or discoloration before eating.」

I took the can, drew my knife, and opened it. All eyes watched my hands.

「This is a prototype. Glass jars and slime are too costly—we dropped them. Glass also breaks too easily. We’ll use these metal cans instead. Once opened, you eat it all, so there’s no lid. That’s good—no ‘snitching.’ You pry up the thin rim with a knife. Any soldier can handle that, right?」

Ria’s attendant portioned the contents. I’d asked them to prepare dishes beforehand.

「「Delicious.」」

Serena and Sharon breathed as one. Today’s can was ham—easy to love.

「This will revolutionize campaigning.」

Dhalsim tasted and nodded, satisfied.

「We’ll process monster meat by cut. Today is ham, but scraps are better as stew. We’ll start with ham and stew. Eventually, we’ll can bread, rice, fish—expand the menu.」

An army can’t always carry fresh food. Shelf-stable foods are hard to gather in quantity; transport capacity is limited. Most staples assume cooking; once you factor in water, fuel, cookware, and cooks, the burden grows. Supply columns become targets. Food and war are bound together.

But if you can stockpile large quantities that you can eat on opening, the picture changes.

「Transport will need reform, but wagons can do for now. More importantly, with cans we can turn the Great Demon Forest’ excess monster meat into rations without spoilage. The benefit is immeasurable.」

Requisitioning food from enemy—and even allied—lands is common, but if we can operate without plunder, the political risk plummets. In new territories, resistance to regime change will be far lower.

「How long do these ‘cans’ keep?」Elna asked.

「We cook them under heat and drive out air—two to three years without flavor loss.」

「That long!?」

Her eyes sharpened as she studied the can.

「Shipping Ares-made rations to the front is pointless if they expire en route. With that much shelf life, we’ll still have a year’s margin in theater. We can also buy locally and eventually build plants in rich farmlands.」

「It is… a staggering thought.」

Our goal is continental unification. I mean to bring down Alois and recover your country while you are still young enough to enjoy it. To feed the people and raise armies, food had to be priority one.

「Splendid work, Alan. Roberto—you’ve done well. With Ares as our base to feed soldiers and gather food, our long-cherished wish nears.」

Ria brought the session to a close like a true princess.

「We have Ares. The settlers are settling. After the first harvest, I propose we send envoys to the capital to report our success. Any objections?」

「「None!」」

Confident in the success of the pioneer venture, we adjourned for the day.