Chapter 20

“The ambush location is here”

Ishhi said, in the matter of the homunculus girl’s king .

Surrounding him are the six people Premier, Arge, Nacht, Amarillo, Mallon, and Claire .

Marigold, is acting on another task .

Isshi had a map of the city opened on the desk, and was pointing at one location .

The place is a large square located five minutes on foot from the government office .

It could be said that this place wasn’t a bad place to hold a battle .

“However, a large number of enemies might appear here . In that case we could hold a siege war, going by the information that I received from Salem, but…”

When Premier voiced her input Isshi responded, “There is also such a way”, and shaking his head, followed with, “but it is now useless”

“When you analyze war potential, having a large force is not always advantageous . Agre’s scythe and Mallon and Claire’s magic would be difficult to use inside, and it would be hard to swing my sword . So it is necessary that the battle be outside . ”

“It is necessary?”

Nodding at him, Premier asked so .

“So Coercion will be used then” he muttered .

At those words Premier nodded saying “I see”, while the other girls had a puzzled look on their faces .

But, without minding Isshi continued to speak .

“It’s coercion . Intimidation, you might say . Premier, in the future, it will be absolutely necessary to advance in our war, a daunting challenge to say the least . Do you understand that?”

She answers “Yes . ” without hesitation .

“It would be difficult to gather solders for those situations . We are Homunculi . We were declared wicked existences by the church’s doctrine . So of course there will be few willing to lend a hand, and even mercenaries might refuse us . ”

I nodded at the correct answer .

“We’ll most likely have to keep winning this war by ourselves with only 1000 . So, surely in the future there will be enemies that out number us . ”

War is numerical violence and numerical theory .

At least that is the knowledge implanted in Premier .

Then, in the battles to come will there be not time in which we have the superior numbers?

The girls stared to look a each other, with unease clouding their expressions .

But, in the face of such a vexing problem, the king’s voice blows away the unease .

“But, the outcome will depend on the strategy . So numbers are not that big a problem . ”

“Hun?”

The girls uttered a cry unconsciously, but without minding, Isshi continued .

“I’m saying lack of forces is a problem that can be made up for . What I mean is, since we can’t control the town secretly, we will use a spectacle to take control .

“I see”, Mallon utters a cry while folding her arms .

“In other words, by skillfully knocking down the opponent in pubic, our strength will be idolized throughout the town . As expected, of master”

“Mallon, sit straight . We no longer need to hear that remark . It is impossibly obviously . Presumption is a grieve mistake . So please restrain making unnecessary actions .

The younger sister Clare rebutted her older sister, “That’s right”, saying that while patting her head .

Could it be that she is not particularly responsive?

“We’ll instill fear into the townspeople to prevent them from making unruly behavior . Otherwise it could interfere with the next battle . Frankly, it is something that can only be done now . The re-education of the people, to treat you all fairly, will require a lot of time . But that is talk for after we win this war with the kingdom .

“Oh”, Isshi then added one more thing .

“I’d like to make this building a new base . The main fort is not bad, but this building is wastefully large and luxurious . It will end up heavily damaged if we were to resort to siege warfare . That’s a little wasteful . The building was literally built off the backs of the taxpayers . So lets use it to the utmost ability . ”

As he said so, the door suddenly opened by itself, and then closed .

There was no one to be seen .

However, a smell vaguely like nectar, tickled Isshi’s noise .

“Have you returned?”

At his words, the air moved slightly, and Marigold appeared before Isshi .

“How was it? The state of the town?

Marigold was under special orders from Isshi, to go and investigate the condition of the town and its people .

“Yes, at the mercenary office towards the south end of town, I found Guregin . He appears to be pooling his fighting forces downtown . So are we to take the field soon?”

“Oh, I’m not against this” “Let us take up arms” In reply, Arge and Nacht gleefully prepared themselves .

“Can the number of enemies be confirmed?”

To Premier’s question, Marigold nodded “of course” .

“Approximately 200 people . It’s about 30 times our forces”

・・・

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・

“Hehe, I think we gathered enough”

Around 200 men have been gathered by the mercenary office .

It is the fact of the town under Mayor Deanne, violence controlled all, so many answered the urgent summons of 100 executioner, Guregin .

Since he ran the mercenary office in town, no one could ignore his orders .

“You’ve gathered well . First of all, I thank you . For the enemy this time is tough to beat . You cannot afford carelessness!!”

To the raised voice of Guregin, one of the gathered men asked,

“From the urgent summons, we knew it would be a tough enemy . So don’t be pretentious, and tell us what monster it is and how many of them there are?

The other men voiced their agreement with the statement .

“chi” Guregin clicked his tongue for being interrupted, and said,

“They are Homunculi, the evil dolls . ”