20. Guregin’s couterattack
“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 a.n.a.lyze 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 reb.u.t.ted 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”
・・・
“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.”