The 14th Regiment of the Lichten Garrison (1)
To summarize the place called Lichten in a single word, it is like the northern frontier of a fantasy world.
That is not to say that dragons, wyverns, or cockatrices roam the land, but...
It is home to terrifying beasts like tigers that could tear a man to shreds without a second thought, bears, and reindeer with massive, jagged antlers.
It is also a place where, much like the people of Mongolia, there is hardly a soul who cannot ride a horse.
“I never imagined I’d be able to come to Lichten with you, Colonel. And to think my posting is right near the ancestral lands of my Dorothea clan.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So, how about you spend your next leave at our family estate? I’ll treat you to everything Lichten has to offer.”
“My next leave is in a month, so shall we go then?”
Monica curled one corner of her lips into a smirk.
She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Lina.
Under any other circumstances, Lina would have reacted with a look full of jealousy, but...
Lina’s face remained remarkably calm.
It was as if her expression were saying, Bark all you want; it doesn’t matter to me anyway.
“Monica.”
“Why?”
“I am already engaged to the Colonel. My father has acknowledged this relationship. You know exactly what that means, don’t you?”
“...... I’m planning to introduce the Colonel to my parents this time, too.”
Lina stepped closer to where I was standing and pulled me toward her.
As a man, I was dragged along without much resistance.
Why is a woman’s grip so strong?
Will my lower back even survive in the bedroom later...
‘I have no experience, but I’m starting to get nervous.’
“You and I have promised each other a future, haven’t we?”
I nodded at her words.
Lina and I would eventually get married once the timing was right, and we would sleep in the same bed.
Which is to say, we would be intimate.
The day would eventually come when she would carry my child, too.
Monica puffed out her cheeks and snapped her head away.
“I was promoted to Captain this time too, so if I announce that I’m going to marry the Colonel, my whole family will celebrate!”
“Sure, but I was a bit faster.”
The two of them continued their childish, elementary-school-level squabble.
Looking back, Jurgen, who was standing behind me, was staring at me with an expression of pity.
“Lieutenant Jurgen, do you have something you’d like to say?”
Jurgen gave me a bitter smile.
“You should be grateful to me, sir.”
If it weren’t for Jurgen, I would still be stuck in this situation.
Lina and Monica like me?
That’s impossible.
We are just superior and subordinate; what kind of nonsense is that?
If I kept repeating this pattern indefinitely, eventually one of them would snap, throw me onto a bed, and...
I might end up being kidnapped for a forced, albeit romantic, consummation.
“I already miss my wife, Colonel.”
I could see moisture beginning to well up in Jurgen’s eyes.
That is definitely not tears; it’s just humidity.
“Don’t be too heartbroken.”
“Even though she can’t come because she’s pregnant with my child... seeing you, Colonel, makes me miss my wife.”
If I were your typical, rugged Imperial man, I would have said this:
If you don’t have a wife, just make another one here. Why not just pick a local woman you like and relieve your loneliness? That’s what a man does.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say such a thing.
“When we return, I’ll buy you a sable fur coat to give to your wife as a gift.”
“Are you serious... Colonel!”
Lichten is not a region where dragons roam like the northern reaches of a fantasy world.
However, it is a mountainous wilderness where beasts as terrifying as dragons walk the earth...
Just as I was reaching for my pistol to counterattack...
With a sharp ‘Bang!’, the beast that had been targeting me—a bear—collapsed.
A hole had been punched right through the center of the bear’s head.
“Hey, I caught the bear!”
“Damn, Chieftain Czeslaw! That’s incredible!”
“Let’s roast this bear and eat it today!”
The chieftain, called Czeslaw, approached me with a wide grin.
“A young officer, are you? Seeing as you’re traveling with two beauties...”
The chieftain looked at me, then shifted his gaze elsewhere.
“Monica? You’ve arrived already.”
“Yes, Father. You seem to be in good health.”
“If you want to survive in this barren land, you have to farm rye in the morning and go out hunting in the afternoon; when would I have time to be sick? So, I heard you were promoted to Captain?”
“Yes.”
“Monica, you’re better than your brothers. One well-raised daughter is worth more than ten sons.”
Monica’s father—in other words, my father-in-law.
Thinking of it that way, I suddenly felt my entire body freeze.
I like the harem, but the cold, chilling sensation I feel every time I gain another father-in-law...
I’ve experienced it twice now, and I still can’t get used to it.
‘I wonder if he’ll stop at just drinking me half to death, like Lieutenant General Zeppelin.’
Monica hugged me tightly in front of her father on purpose.
Then, she introduced me with a bright smile.
“This is Colonel Michael Schumacher, who has come to serve as the commander of the 14th Regiment of the Lichten Front. He’s the person I was planning to introduce to you next month.”
Monica’s father, Chieftain Czeslaw, looked at me and clicked his tongue.
“...... This scrawny, dried-pollack-looking man is that Colonel Schumacher?”
“Father, you’re the one who told me that while strength is important for a man, there are things more important than just physical power.”
“When they said he was a hero who saved the nation, I thought he was a man with monstrous strength who could crush a man’s skull with his left hand. To think he’s a man who can’t even catch a bear...”
No, you people are the strange ones for catching bears with nothing but a matchlock and a single sword.
I am a perfectly ordinary person.
And Monica, why on earth are you not denying that I look weak, and instead only talking about strengths other than physical prowess?
“Colonel, why don’t you stay at the Dorothea family estate nearby for today?”
“It will delay our schedule a bit, but if it’s just for one night, it shouldn’t be a major problem.”
I have to persuade my father-in-law no matter what happens today.
“Come to where our tribe lives. As it happens, there is a serious matter I need to discuss with a high-ranking official of the Imperial Army.”
We arrived at the place where the Dorothea tribe resides.
I had expected him to stuff his daughter’s thief into a barrel and pickle him in alcohol, but...
Chieftain Czeslaw handed me a cup of warm mare’s milk instead of alcohol and began to speak.
“If I had my way, I would have liked to thoroughly vet the ‘daughter-thief’ who is taking my daughter away—especially a Colonel who is already keeping another woman on the side—but... we are not in a situation where we can afford that right now.”
“What kind of situation are you in?”
“I don’t even know where to begin explaining...”
Chieftain Czeslaw emptied his cup of warm mare’s milk and let out a sigh.
“You must have heard Monica talk a lot about what kind of place our Lichten is. A place where even young children can ride horses, and where the traditions of tribal society are still alive.”
“Yes, that’s why there is a special provision in this region that allows for the hereditary succession of mayoral positions in cities with a population of 30,000 or less.”
Traditions still remain here where tribal warriors gather to hunt together.
As I just witnessed, it is an everyday occurrence for the chieftain to lead his warriors out to catch bears or deer.
Of course, maintaining an organized army is strictly forbidden, so all military forces within the cities are managed by personnel from the outside.
“Since becoming Imperial territory, we have enjoyed a more prosperous life than before, but there are still ungrateful pieces of trash who are not satisfied.”
“Are you saying there are people trying to betray the Empire?”
“Yes. Our Dorothea tribe will remain loyal to the Empire, but the tribes around here are looking to defect to the Kingdom of Ruski.”
“What on earth did the Kingdom of Ruski offer them...”
The chieftain shrugged his shoulders and gave a wry laugh.
“In the Empire, titles are nothing more than symbols of honor, but isn’t the Kingdom of Ruski still a barbaric nation where nobles own their own fiefdoms?”
“It is indeed a nation where feudalism has not been abolished.”
Even in the history of Earth, Russia maintained feudalism until just before the nation collapsed.
Even Tolstoy, whom we know well, was a lord of the Tolstoy estate.
It is true that in the eastern part of this continent, feudalism tends to linger for a long time.
“They want to defect over there so they can lead their tribal armies just like in the old days.”
This is not a problem I can solve on my own.
I obviously have to report this to my superiors, but the problem is...
‘Should I request reinforcements?’
“Do we have any time to spare?”
“The chieftain of the Colchis tribe, who dominates western Lichten, is secretly meeting with officers and administrators from the Kingdom of Ruski. He’s even been offering up the women of his own tribe.”
Hmm... in a word, they’ve already gone too far.
It looks like I’ll have to hurry quite a bit.
“I understand.”
The chieftain tilted his head as he looked at me.
“Are you not bewildered? Even though this is a crisis where, if things go wrong, the Lichten garrison, including you, Colonel, could be isolated.”
Of course I am bewildered and worried.
However, if you just stand there sucking your thumb, asking, ‘What do I do? What do I do?’ in the face of a crisis, you lose the opportunity to solve even the problems that could be resolved.
I have to keep my wits about me and find a way to solve it.
“If you face a problem, you must first find a way to solve it. Otherwise, you’re bound to be wiped out.”
A smile spread across the chieftain’s face.
“Even if your body is weak, you possess the soul of a wolf.”
The soul of a wolf...?
“In our Lichten, the title given to the greatest warrior is ‘One who possesses the soul of a wolf.’ Even if one’s body is a bit weak, isn’t the one who protects their family and the subordinates they are responsible for the greatest warrior of all?”
With that conversation concluded, I spent the night at the estate and headed toward the 14th Regiment’s garrison.