CH 113

Chapter 113

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : Flames Of War In The Central Plains, Part 1 — Suspicious War

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

＊＊＊

What were Rhine and Dance Slave doing while Alfiris’ group were facing such a crisis on the Prairie?

「Rhine, have you been able to get any information?」

「Yeah, we got our money’s worth. It seems there is no such existence as Romeo after all. I hit the address that was registered with the guild, only to find it abandoned. I had a bad feeling about it, though, so I didn’t go inside. They probably set a trap or two anyway.」

「Hmm. Then I wonder who the guy was who put together the request in the example.」

「Who knows? But I can be sure he’s a rogue. The question is what to do with this information. I’ve reported it to the guild.」

「Do you know anyone in authority?」

「………I don’t see that kind of connection.」

Dance Slave felt a strange pause, but it was easy to imagine that she would be dodged by Rhine anyway, so she didn’t pursue the matter.

The group is now at a bar in Trimedo, a town near the border of the Duchy of Krummus. The mercenaries who died in Zea were reported to the guild for their deaths, and those whose addresses and origins were known were personally visited by Rhine. Originally, the guild had a system for reporting deaths in battle, but Rhine was not satisfied with a system in which he was required to report the death of one’s own family members with a single letter. Therefore, he went there himself to report their own deaths in battle, and the last place he reached was Trimedo.

The two people are gathering information, and after dinner, they are comparing what they have learned with each other. There were drinks and snacks for both of them.

Krummus and Zamwed are currently at war, but there is still peace in Trimedo, which is located on the opposite side of the Krummus capital, Seimridd, from the war zone.

Trimedo has a strong free city atmosphere and actively cooperates with other large cities in other countries, such as Mysia, and is not much affected by its economic situation, even though it’s a Krummus territory. On the other hand, in other Krummus towns, towns are exhausted from repeated war collections, and public order is in disorder. In the border areas where wars are taking place, it is said that the situation is disastrous.

Trimedo was actively accepting refugees from other towns in response to such a situation. Of course, only those who have made it to Trimedo on their own will be accepted, but we are not refusing to accept them by renting tents and other facilities on the outskirts of town. At least for now.

However, information obtained by Rhine indicated that the number of refugees had already exceeded 10,000 and that Trimedo would soon reach the limit of accepting refugees, as it was also receiving special levies for the war effort. Still, there is no end to the number of refugees visiting Trimedo. Yesterday, more than 500 refugees were said to have arrived in Trimedo.

「This is no ordinary war…」

「Yes, obviously something is wrong.」

「Do you think so, too, Dancer?」

「Of course. I am also gathering information.」

These two people found suitable jobs in the guild for the sake of Rhine’s travel wages, while Dance Slave earned her traveling wages as a dancer by finding musicians and bards and dancing to their music.

There was no shortage of information, since it was often in the taverns where Dance Slave danced. Bards were also often well-informed because of their profession as traveling companions. Well, it was true that there were a lot of gossipy stories, so it took a lot of insight to be able to sort through the information. In the midst of all this, Dance Slave is talking to Rhine about the information she has sorted out.

「It seems to be true that Krummus is pushing in this war. In fact, several cities in Zamwed have fallen. But…」

「But?」

「Apparently, Krummus has no intention of governing the cities they have taken. They don’t let anyone manage it, and they have few soldiers left after they occupy it. On the contrary, they are going around slaughtering the inhabitants of the cities they have dropped. So the defiance of the cities of Zamwed is becoming more and more stubborn, and the war is only intensifying.」

「If they go that far, Zamwed’s allies won’t shut up about it.」

「Yes, in fact, Gruzald has already decided to go to war. And the 12 Beast Generals, the top of the line, are going to ride out. If that happens, it’s rumored that Krummus will lose decisively.」

「Indeed. Because Krummus has no allies.」

The war was strange from its inception. The war was said to have started as an act of retaliation for the murder of a resident of Krummus by Zamwed soldiers, but to begin with, the border between the beastmen and human nations is so heavily guarded that not even an ant child can pass through. Although Krummus is on a relatively lax alert for trade reasons, it’s still not so lenient as to allow the border to be breached. It was difficult to imagine Zamwed’s soldiers entering Krummus’ territory, and Zamwed initially tried to refute the idea, but Krummus’ attitude of entering a state of war without saying anything and without a declaration of war forced war upon them.

There are still some suspicious points. If Zamwed’s disapproval is true, it’s normal for them to fly a statement to the neighboring countries, justifying the war. This would prevent other countries from intervening and, most importantly, would prevent Gruzald’s reinforcements. It’s said that the only country capable of going head-to-head with Gruzald in terms of military power is the great northern power of Romansland. It was supposed to be a prerequisite for Krummus’ victory that Gruzald not be given an excuse to intervene.

Wars are rarely fought to the point of national annihilation. At best, they are fought to the end by dropping a few forts and then claiming ownership of the occupied land and reparations in a peace treaty. If you fight to the point of destroying your country, the victor will not be safe. If another country were to target them, there would be no way to stop them. Winning too much will leave resentment, and occupying too much will not help the internal affairs of the country.

In short, Krummus’s warfare can only be thought of as a straight line toward ruin. It was also strange that the king would approve of such a war.

「Why does the King of Krummus condone this?」

Dance Slave’s question is also valid.

「It is said, that the king, collapsed from exhaustion. So, the third prince is in charge. This is the guy who is leading the war.」

「The third? What happened to the 1st and 2nd?」

「The 1st died of illness, the 2nd was murdered.」

「At this time of year? This is the most suspicious thing I’ve ever heard.」

「Yeah. And the third prince was known for his foolishness, but I don’t know what’s going on. Krummus itself is a peaceful country, good in trade and resources but weak in military. It shouldn’t be a country that could fight Zamwed and win.」

Rhine’s doubts were understandable. Besides, the main military and civilian officials were supposed to be purged by the third prince. The military should not be able to operate as an army…

「I’m curious.」

「Well, that’s curious, but why is Rhine exploring such a thing? It’s none of your business, is it?」

Dance Slave points out the obvious. Certainly, it’s none of Rhine’s business, as he is just a mercenary. But Rhine outright rejected Dance Slave’s opinion.

「Don’t be silly. For mercenaries, the battlefield is the best place to make money. If the battlefield is safe and profitable, I’ll join; if it looks bad, I’ll leave. And if you go into a country that’s going to lose, you’re just going to die. Being well-informed is the basis of being a mercenary.」

「That may be true, but…」

Dance Slave looked at Rhine suspiciously. It certainly sounds like a good argument, but she wondered if it’s necessary to know so much about it. Rhine was too well versed in the situation for a mere mercenary.

However, he didn’t seem to care about such like Dance Slave did, and continued.

「I have a one more point of concern.」

「What’s that?」

「It seems that the main force of Krummus in this war is a group of mercenaries called『Hecatoncheires.』That’s what’s pushing the Beasts of Zamwed with their valiant work.」

「What does it matter?」

「I’ve never heard of such a mercenary group, you know.」

Rhine gulped down the liquor in front of him.

「There are some mercenary groups that can push the beastkins around. Blackhawk is one, and a few others. But all of them are so famous that no one who is a mercenary knows their names. There is no way that such a powerful and unknown mercenary group could suddenly pop up out of nowhere.」

「Hmmm… Well, it seems to be a different era from the one in which I was active. I guess so.」

This was something that Dance Slave did not understand. When Dance Slave was active, human forces were not yet as strong as they are today, and the distribution of information was more limited. Therefore, it was not uncommon for those who were considered heroes and human nations to suddenly appear in various parts of the country.

While Dance Slave was thinking, Rhine was shoveling his dinner into his mouth. Dance Slave can also eat food, but it has little effect on her vital activities. However, after imitating humans for a long time, she inevitably needed to「eat」and were also interested in human eaters, so she eat within her interest rather than her appetite. But only liquor tastes good, she thought. But being a sword, she never gets drunk.

Rhine finished his meal and tossed his spoon into the dish with a clatter.

「We’re done eating, let’s go.」

「Don’t you ever sleep?」

「It’s still early at night, so I’m going to go play a little gambling. After that, I’ll go to the brothel and have some fun.」

「How dare you declare that you are going to a brothel with a woman named me? If you want, I can clear it up for you. Aww!」

Dance Slave made a glamorous gesture and expression and showed it, but Rhine slapped her on the head.

「I’m not letting the sword say creepy things. It gives me the chills.」

「In front of such a beautiful woman… You’re a member of those male homosexual, aren’t you?」

「I’m not interested in you! But I’d still rather be a male prostitute than sleep with a sword in my hand.」

「You’re going to tell me that much?」

Dance Slave nodded slightly, feeling her pride hurt. She honestly felt pretty good about her appearance, but this was the first time she had ever met a man who didn’t look at her like others did. However, she may be quite human in wanting to attract the attention of such a man.

Rhine and Dance Slave leave the bar after a short argument. They have no intention of doing so, but to the rest of people it looks like a lovers’ quarrel. If Rhine heard such a thing, he would surely be outraged.

Many lights are still on in the town. The streets are still bustling with people. The streets are lined with stalls and delicious smells are everywhere. Although not as large as Mysia, Trimed is no less vibrant, with a population of 500,000.

And then, there is a boy running through the crowd. He is in such a hurry that he doesn’t seem to be looking ahead at all, and is getting angry when he bumps into people because he is always looking behind him. He also bumped into Rhine, but he drove off without any sign of apology.

「What the, that brat.」

「…Isn’t he being chased?」

Indeed, a group of suspicious-looking people clad in robes were running through the crowd. There were five or six of them.

「You’re not going to help him?」

「You think I’m on the side of justice or something? A man is never too close to danger.」

「You lowlife… but what if Alfiris was in the same position?」

「Why are you citing Alfiris there?」

Rhine looked at Dance Slave as if she were heartbroken, but she just grinned.

「Well, if Rhine is not willing to do so, I will help them on my own. But…」

「?」

「If I tell Alfiris that Rhine has abandoned those young children… she may not even talk to you anymore.」

After saying that much, Dance Slave leaves the scene without giving Rhine a chance to respond. But Rhine,

「…Have it your way.」

He spat at her and left the place.