Porta Wilderness was a plot of land near the western border of the Natra Kingdom.
It was a barren area covered with sand and rocks. There was no snow because right now it was early spring, but if currently in midwinter, the land would change into a world of silver.
And right now, Madren Army which consists of 7,000 men, had marched through such wilderness.
The commander of the Marden army was General Urgio. It was a manly middle-aged man, he had a dignified face and a sharp gaze that was like a bird aiming for its prey.
“Fuuuh… I do hear some story, but, it"s true, there"s nothing here…”
Looking around from his horse"s back, Urgo muttered those words while looking bored.
“Those incompetent pigs at the royal court. Even if we get this land, there"s nothing here…”
“They are desperately tried to divert the populace attention from their blunder…”
The adjutant responded with a strained laugh. While Urgio snorted his nose…
“In that case, it would"ve been better if they spread the cost of this expeditions to the people instead. Having those who don"t understand that handle the politics, it will become more difficult for the people to follow…”
“If they really do that, I would energetically distribute rice…”
“At that time, I will bring some roasted pork. Though the appearance might make you don"t want to eat…”
The two people laughed, then one horse-man come over…
“Reporting! We saw Natra Kingdom army 40 kilometers east! They are marching toward here!”
“Hmm…”
Urgo"s eyes flashed for a moment…
“Their movement is faster than expected…”
“Fuuuh… Here they come, the northern chicken. I guess, their only ability is their fast movement, huh? In the first place, those chicken only has fast movement, I hope because they move so fast, they also forgot to bring their weapon…”
“However, General, I heard they"ve been trained by the Empire recently. We might be caught off guard if we underestimate them too much…”
“Don"t worry. Even if chicken tries to learn to fly from a hawk, in the end, they are still chickens, they themselves should know this… Accelerate our marching"s speed. Our prey has come to offer their own neck, let us finish this quickly…”
“Yes, sir!”
After his adjutant leave with his order, Urgio turned his gaze toward the east.
Regardless of the circ.u.mstance, he was being appointed as the General who lead their army in this war. Even if the Natra Kingdom was an unworthy opponent, in the end, what important was the merit. He thought at least with this war, he could raise himself more…
“Let us have some fun, weak-soldiers of Natra…”
Convinced that the land would be dyed with Natra army"s blood, Urgio had a ferocious smile on his face.
On the other hand, the report of the Marden army had also been discovered reached Natra Kingdom army.
“I guess, nothing deviates from our prediction…”
“Yes. Let us head for the hill ahead as planned…”
The one who nodded his head while listening to Wayne who spread a map on his horseback was an old-fashioned General who rides beside him. The name of the Natra General was Hagar.
Currently, Wayne leads the Natra Army as the supreme commander. He himself had no interest in military exploits, and on the contrary, he didn"t want to this if possible, since he might take the merits to mean for the military officers.
However, this was their first war in a while… No one knew what kind of unexpected things would happen. He decided it would be better if he comes personally to respond quickly if there was some problem arise…
However, for him who had no experience leading an army in an actual battlefield, it might cause anxiousness among the soldiers. Thus it was General Hagar duty to take command on his behalf in this war. He was initially a military commander from another country, who had experienced in many famous wars.
He was originally not from Natra, but a few decades ago, he had predicted that due to his popularity, his life would be in danger. He ended up in Natra at the end of his runaway. Although it had been a while since he leads in a war, no one should complain about his command.
(But still, the saying that the military is money eater is true huh…)
Because the command had been entrusted to Hagar, and Wayne was practically just being there in case of emergency, thanks to that he had the time to check the military supplies consumptions. And what he got was, even by just moving the army, they were losing money.
Of course, there was soldiers salary, but other than that, they had to pay for the water and foods the soldiers use… Fodder to feed the horses. Armors and weapons. And other miscellaneous daily goods. When he thinks of the day he needed to make a settlement for all of that, he involuntary leaked ‘Uwah~…” voice…
“Is there something wrong, your Highness?”
“Nn? Oh, nothing… I just wondered how long this war is going to last…”
If they finished early, the less money they would spend. He had heard many kings love war, but he thought those kings must be bad at arithmetic.
“What do you think, Hagar?”
“That is a difficult question. Because it is hard to understand the result unless the battle has started. … Does your highness want this war to end faster?”
“I think it is better to end the war early. But, I don"t want that to cause us to forgo victory. In that sense, let see, that"s right, this is what I want. I want this war to end with the best result possible even if it would take time. How about that? Hagar.”
“Leave it to me, your Highness…”
The old man bowed his head with respect toward the boy who was as young as his grandson.
“I will make sure to show your Highness a satisfying war.”
“Very good, I will expect the result then… Now, it is about time…”
Before Wayne"s eyes stood a small hill…