The Fall of Viscount Cassiod
"Cassiod! I'm here!!"
Viscount Cassiod stood armed in full plate, sword in hand, braced for his final battle. The murderous killing intent rolling off him and his knights made one thing plain — surrender was not on the table.
I had a reputation for never treating prisoners well in war, so it wasn't a choice I couldn't understand. Among enemy nations, the saying went: better to take your own life than become Eugene Frucus's captive.
"You've been a thorn in my side long enough! Today, I take your head!"
"…Count Frucus! I'll kill you and put an end to the Rapheli Kingdom's ambitions!"
I leapt from my galloping horse and charged straight at Cassiod. He didn't give an inch, gripping his sword in both hands. Crimson aura blazed up along the blade.
The two swords crashed together, sparks flying in every direction. I gave him not a single breath of rest, driving him back without pause. Cassiod's legs slid under the force.
"My lord!!"
Cassiod's knights rushed me. But the Golden Rose Knights at my back weren't about to stand idle. The clash of steel rang out on every side.
I carved a long gash across Cassiod's side.
"Ghhk—?!"
Cassiod groaned and staggered back. The movements that had held firm until now grew sluggish.
Charna.
Charna
Spotting the opening, I used Charna without hesitation. There was no need to drag this fight out. I slipped into his guard and swung for his throat.
A stroke like a bolt of lightning sheared through Cassiod's neck.
I snagged the falling head out of the air. Adrenaline surged through me like a flood as I hoisted Cassiod's head high.
"Cassiod is dead! This battle is ours! Soldiers of Cassiod — throw down your weapons and surrender!"
"Don't make me laugh! There will be no surrender!"
The knight closest to Cassiod bellowed and charged me. The man was worked into a frenzy, more boar than human.
Charna.
In the slowed world I slipped his attack with ease and drove my blade through his throat. His blood pressure must have been sky-high — blood erupted from inside his helm in a spectacular spray.
"I'll say it again. Cassiod is dead. The battle is over, and you have lost! Surrender!"
My voice, laced with mana, rolled out like thunder.
The city of Cassiod was only fully secured around sunset.
Of course, I didn't lift a finger for any of it. I spent the evening drinking and eating meat with beautiful prisoners. Women's bodies lay scattered all around me. A true den of wine and flesh.
Starlight approached through that scene and delivered her report.
"My lord. Our losses are light. Two thousand one hundred twenty-five slave soldiers and four hundred eighty-one regular troops dead. Four hundred eleven wounded have been sent to the rear. Of those, two hundred forty are critically injured. The critically wounded will be… disposed of at a suitable location."
The critically wounded were a nuisance in every way. Treatment cost too much time and money. Hiring mercenaries with that same coin was far more efficient. So the critically wounded were quietly handled.
"Quite a few slave soldiers bought it. Prisoners?"
"Eight thousand four hundred ten prisoners in total. Of those, three thousand five hundred can be put on the front lines immediately."
"Work the old men as slave soldiers too."
"That will bring the slave soldier count up by roughly four thousand two hundred."
"A net gain of two thousand, then. Women and children?"
"Currently being sorted. Old and ugly women will be awarded to soldiers who distinguished themselves. The rest of the women and children will be sent to the rear."
"Set the beauties aside. Though I doubt there'll be even a hundred of them."
For a city, the population was thin. Word was that once the nation started collapsing and life got hard, a portion of the commoners had fled.
"My lord. We captured Cassiod's family as they fled through a secret passage — but their escort knight killed the entire family and then took his own life."
"Tch. I was going to execute them one by one in the square… Can't be helped. Hang their corpses in the plaza where the soldiers can get a good look."
"Yes, my lord. The men will take pride from the sight of the enemy dead."
I ran a hand over the breast of the woman beside me. We would rest for the next three days. Keep an army moving without rest and the grumbling piles up. Proper rest was essential to keep morale intact.
Then the tent flap opened and two knights of the Golden Rose Knights brought in five prisoners — the female knights who had served under Cassiod.
The captives took one look at the women sprawled throughout the tent and their faces twisted in horror.
"How can anyone be this filthy!"
"To defile women…! Have you no restraint at all!"
"A disgrace to the nobility!"
"Obviously he called us here to violate us!"
"If you have even a shred of decency left… don't rape us — kill us!!"
I walked over to the five female knights bound in chains. Prisoners or not, they were fierce. They ground their teeth and poured hatred at me. Spitting was the least of it — they tried to bite.
I backhanded the one who went for my cock. Her teeth scattered like corn kernels.
"I can put up with a lot, but an ugly bitch trying to bite my dick? That I won't stand for!"
Thud! Thwack! Thud!
I beat her with everything I had. I yanked on her nipples until they were a breath from tearing free, and drove my fist into her cunt again and again.
"Ghhhhuuuh…."
The female knight whose hymen my fist had just torn foamed at the mouth.
"A virgin? Figures. Who'd want to hold an ugly thing like you."
I pointed at three of the captive knights and gave the order.
"Throw these ugly bitches to the soldiers. Getting to fuck female knights doesn't happen often — they'll be thrilled. The other two… they're decent enough looking. I'll keep them as my toys. Bind their arms and legs and load them into a carriage. Building a female knight collection while I'm at it doesn't sound half bad."
"Yes, my lord."
I took a drink and threw myself among the women strewn across the floor.
The sweet rest came to an end.
The expedition force rearmed and resumed its march. Before long a single knight appeared — the one I had previously sent to Marquis Daycurd. His face was haggard, but his eyes burned bright as he approached and handed over a reply.
I broke the seal, read it, and snorted a laugh.
"My lord. May I ask what it says?"
Starlight asked.
"Nothing special. Mostly just insults aimed at me. And if I don't want to die, I'm to get the hell out of the Solfmed Kingdom immediately."
"Mm. As expected."
"Yeah. Exactly as expected."
I gave Floy a slight nod. Shiiing. Floy drew her sword and cut the messenger knight down in a single stroke.
"Starlight. Floy. We're changing course. Destination: the Daycurd marquisate. We take the marquisate, then drive straight for the capital of the Solfmed Kingdom. While we're at it, I'll conquer the whole damn country."
"Yes, my lord."
"Yes, my lord."
The first problem any army has to solve is supply. In this world especially, more wars were lost to logistics than almost anything else. But the army under my command never had a supply problem at all.
Through Yuria's warp gates, provisions could be brought up from the rear whenever we needed them. And if it came to it, I could simply fetch supplies from another world myself. On top of that, my army plundered the enemy without restraint.
Every city in sight, we stormed and took. Villages were no exception.
"Peaceful little village. I'm out here working this hard, and they're living like this… Doesn't sit right. Loot everything. Bring the beauties to me. All the men become slave soldiers!"
"Uwaaaaaaaah!"
The soldiers went wild with joy every time they found a village. The villagers, barely armed, couldn't even put up a proper fight. They just dropped to their knees and prayed for mercy to fall from the sky.
My mercy fell only on the beautiful ones.
Whether some ugly bitch got gang-raped by the soldiers was none of my concern.
"Looking at those green fields is pissing me off. Burn them all."
"…This is land you've already conquered, my lord."
Starlight echoed the order as if she couldn't make sense of it.
"Watch your words. Just because I conquered it doesn't make it my territory. When the war's over… it all gets divided among the investors."
The army I led had been raised with the Rapheli Kingdom's backing. It wasn't only my own forces. When the work was done, there would be a reckoning.
"I see. But it could cause a food shortage."
Starlight didn't know the full extent of my supply capabilities. If she had, she wouldn't have said that.
"If there's a food shortage, I'll make a killing."
"…I didn't realize your lordship's wealth ran that deep. Understood. I'll have the soldiers burn the fields."
The wheat fields went up in roaring flames.
I stared blankly at the burning fields, then looked back over the army. Soldiers were raping village women in plain sight. For a moment I genuinely couldn't tell whether this was an army or a bandit horde.
Behind the ranks, women hung from poles — arms and legs cut off, still alive. The female knights I had awarded the soldiers not long ago. Around them clustered slave women in states too wretched to describe.
I frowned at the soldiers. Thinking it over carefully, these bastards had the gall to look at my Golden Rose Knights with lecherous eyes.
They say cook the hound once the hunt is over. Once the hunting dogs have done their job, you boil them… Later, I'll kill the lot of them and call it an accident.
Drown them in a convenient lake and boil the water with magic. Report to the Rapheli Kingdom that they fell into a demon's trap.
Killing every last one would look too strange, so maybe leave about twenty thousand.
The soldiers were growing vicious. A little viciousness was one thing. Let it go further and they would start causing troublesome problems for certain.
The best way to solve a problem is to eliminate the cause.
And as a bonus, I'd plunder the soldiers' own loot.
If I take the precious metals those bastards already plundered… Mm. Pure profit.
Cook the hound after the hunt.
Whoever coined that phrase was clearly a master of extreme self-interest.
I was already looking forward to harvest day.
"My lord."
Starlight approached with a grave expression.
I swallowed without meaning to. That look only appeared when something serious had gone wrong.
"The slave soldiers have mutinied. My apologies. This is a failure of my management."
"That's not your fault. With this many slave soldiers, a revolt was always possible. How large?"
"Around five thousand."
"The ones we captured recently, then."
"Yes. Watching their wives and children get violated must have driven them over the edge. They're also demanding food — meat and liquor."
"Is that so? Then boil their wives and children and feed them that."
"That would be far too cruel. It would also crush the morale of the other slave soldiers."
"These slave bastards are becoming a real pain. The ones who mutinied are clearly possessed by demons. Order the Golden Rose Knights and the Flun Knights to suppress the rebels."
"…Will you show them mercy?"
"You look displeased."
"It's a mutiny. It must be dealt with severely."
"Mercy won't come from me. The goddess Serion will grant it."
"Pardon?"
"Have the suppressed slave soldiers roll dice. Odd — they burn. Even — they get to keep breathing."
I looked up at the darkening sky and shouted.
"Goddess Serion! Behold how faithful I am!"
"……."