Beyond the Ocean (2)
Beyond the Ocean (2)
"Whenever you go out to fight, you always bring back an enormous trophy."
Marbas, who had come from Haven, was admiring the new stuffed specimen displayed in the Wandering Castle lobby.
The bipedal monster Tyrant, summoned by the orc priest. Set alongside the Gnoll Chieftain, it made for a fine pairing.
Marbas stroked his beard, seeming to savor the otherworldly echo lingering in the Tyrant's hide.
"You've worked hard. There must have been many matters requiring your attention so soon after taking Haven."
For the master to leave his seat when stabilization was still incomplete was a dangerous thing. At worst, a rebellion could break out.
"Thanks to you, Marbas-nim, we were able to eat and drink our fill even in a foreign land. We were also able to save face before the assembled vassals."
"One may retreat from battle if things are unfavorable, but hunger can never be avoided."
Marbas was in charge not only of the territory's administration but also of rear supply.
Generally, when recognizing the meritorious in war, it was always the warriors who displayed their valor on the front lines or struck down enemy commanders who drew attention. In truth, however, the one overseeing the supply lines from the rear was most critical.
King Kruger and Count Edward both kept their eldest sons at their home bases. That was not to protect their heirs, but because rear supply was that weighty an undertaking.
"I marveled that you inquired of the merchants about each vassal's preferred goods and arranged them separately."
"My friends in the Black Hand Tribe are proud, but they lack a feel for this sort of thing. Back when we were a mercenary company, I had to take care of these things myself so the nobles wouldn't resent us."
It was the nature of nobles to enjoy fine dining and entertainments and to indulge in luxury even during war. Only by attending well to such things could the dignity of a great lord who had summoned his vassals be upheld.
Noble loyalty was like a health tonic—it could not be satisfied by a single menu. One had to demonstrate a model of pleasure and extravagance on top of sweeping away enemies on the battlefield.
"I have prepared gifts in gratitude."
At Eugene's gesture, maidservants brought forth the magical spoils. The orc priest's research journal, the heretical scripture that had connected him to the evil god, and the ritual staff passed down through generations.
"I hope they please you."
"Of course they please me!"
Marbas caressed the heretical scripture with trembling hands. Dangerous knowledge always held precious secrets.
"Meat from which the poison has been carved away—that is true delicacy."
"Should any calamity befall you, I will certainly come to your rescue."
"That is reassuring indeed."
Marbas was delighted by words that carried such sincere feeling. That Eugene treated him as a friend, even while reigning as a conqueror who held Britannia in his grasp.
"This scripture shall become excellent nourishment for Goddess Vanas."
"Everything has been neatly transcribed and moved to your quarters, Marbas-nim. I had the research journal bound into a book so it would be easier to read."
"...If you ever take on another squire or godson, be sure to teach them this sort of attention to detail as well. We need more lords like you."
Unlike artifacts such as weapons or ornaments, for books the content was what mattered. The original was not necessarily best.
By the nature of paper and ink, they were often written in harsh conditions, or rotted and torn with the passage of years.
The wealthy Eugene produced a luxurious manuscript using suede covers and coated paper refined by alchemists.
"Ohhh... The faith pursued amid a savage life is truly singular."
There was a distinct pleasure in savoring something right where one received it. Eugene waited while Marbas browsed his share of the spoils.
"I hear you plan an expedition beyond the sea."
Setting the scripture down with a satisfied expression, Marbas brought his nose to the priest's staff.
Fwooh.
The dense otherworldly scent enraptured him more than the finest pipe tobacco.
"Not an expedition, but an exploration. I go with peaceful intent. I mean to gather intelligence on what lies beyond the ocean from the Snow Country."
To uncover the shape of the true new continent, Eugene going in person was the surest way.
"Since we'll be venturing into an unknown world, I'll need you to accompany the campaign too, Marbas-nim. The weather and many other things will be unfamiliar. Will you be all right?"
"Do you stand before a summoner and speak of unknown worlds, thinking I would refuse to go?"
Marbas's eyes sparkled like a boy's, unbefitting his age.
"The Rothschild family's merchants and scribes have taken on many human disciples. Unless some insolent fools come attacking, there will be nothing to worry about."
The patronage system was abolished, and personnel were selected on the basis of ability. Trade goods and customs items were recalibrated, and the tax system reorganized.
This was no undertaking a single outstanding intellectual could shoulder alone. Rothschild, a merchant family, had been of tremendous help.
Marbas's primary role was authority and a shield. He blocked the slander and sabotage of those who suffered losses from the reforms, acting as Eugene's close confidant and summoner.
Now that things were on track, there was no issue with his leaving his seat for a time.
"The Snow Country. I have heard of it by word of mouth, but this will be my first time going there."
Marbas gazed with interest at a landscape painting brought back by an adventurer.
"Possessing the Wandering Castle makes things wonderfully convenient. Had we prepared a transport fleet by the usual methods, there would have been many hardships indeed."
"First and foremost, we would have had to leave all the warhorses behind."
The horse was the reaper of the battlefield, yet in some respects a creature as delicate as a babe. Had they made a long sea voyage exposed to the blade-like winds of the North Sea, the horses would have died in droves aboard the ships.
"Prepare plenty of fur garments as well. The Black Hand tribe friends are weak to the cold."
Unlike the human nomadic peoples who lived on the cold steppes of the northeastern continent, the dark elves lived crowded together in Roman. Accustomed to a mild climate, they were vulnerable to operations in bitter cold.
"For that reason, I intend to use the Hammer Brotherhood as the main force in this operation."
Dwarf warriors possessed the most robust endurance among the intelligent races. They withstood heat and cold with ease, and in a state of heavy armor they did not die from a single blow of a troll's club.
The Snow Country, where warhorses could not properly maneuver, was a stage made for dwarves.
"Have you prepared gifts for the local lords? Goods in kind will be better than gold coin."
"I have stockpiled mostly southern trade goods that cannot be obtained in the tundra regions. I have also loaded plenty of liquor."
"A fine choice. Fruit is scarce there, so if you bring them Roman wine, they'll go wild for it."
If Varda had dealt with nobles primarily by selling magic, Marbas had engaged with them through his social standing as a summoner.
With his years of experience added, there was no better advisor for encounters with unfamiliar powers. He reviewed Eugene's visitation plan in detail.
"The Snow Country will scarcely know the legends of the Ancient Kingdom or the Wandering Castle. If a vast fortress and an army of thousands suddenly descend upon their land, chaos will erupt."
"Is there a way to ease their wariness? Separate from the gifts."
"Would it not do to do what you do best? I speak of monster hunting."
Marbas pointed to the stuffed specimens displayed in the lobby.
Because this was not a world where a single faith had spread, strength of religious devotion did not particularly aid diplomatic relations.
In contrast, the honor of having slain many monsters transcended culture and language and carried weight everywhere.
That was why fledgling knights with no connections or wealth to serve as backing took up a single sword and hurled themselves at dangerous monsters.
If fortune favored them, a single battle could make them a vassal of a famous noble. Or they might become a son-in-law adopted into a small manor of a few dozen households and see their life prosper.
"There are many places where, after slaying a monster, taking its head serves in place of an identity card. It allows a stranger to enter a local lord's banquet with dignity."
"A curious custom. Is it because those regions have difficulty hiring mercenary companies or fielding powerful knights?"
"It is a culture, in effect, that increases the number of warriors who step forward out of chivalrous spirit. In such regions, it is regarded as being as important as the custom of hospitality. I believe I have heard that it holds in the Snow Country as well."
Even if things did not go according to plan, it was fine. Whether battle, exploration, or trade, if things were unfavorable even after committing military force, they could simply withdraw at once.
The ability to enjoy the advantages of Lanchester's Law at all times, in both military and commercial aspects—that was the driving force behind Eugene's swift rise.
* * *
"Please, just look the other way this once! I did not know the weapons-carrying ordinance had been lifted!"
"You're telling me you didn't know, when notices the size of a barn door are posted at the city gates and in the square?"
"I was laid up in an inn with injuries, that's why I didn't know!"
A mercenary was being dragged away by the city watch, protesting his innocence. He had been caught wearing weapons in Haven.
In ordinary times as well, the only ones permitted to go armed within a city were the watch and knights, who were quasi-nobility.
During wartime, however, to rapidly reinforce military strength, mercenaries were allowed to carry weapons. If it were illegal in one's own city but legal in a hostile one, the mercenaries would all flock there.
It was a common sight, a mercenary arrested for foolishly carrying weapons even after the war's end.
"It's unfair enough that I got fired without even touching any loot!"
"I understand your circumstances are pitiable, but our lord has commanded us to pay special attention to public order. He ordered us to judge fairly, so your situation will be taken into consideration."
Eugene was managing things to prevent the troublemaking that had escalated so sharply during the civil war.
These were men who might, at the slightest provocation, turn into bands of thieves and torment the roads and villages. The mercenary companies of high renown needed to be met in person.
"It is an honor to meet you! I shall never forget the sight of even the berserkers fleeing in premature terror from Your Excellency's axe blade!"
Mercenary captains who had been pacing anxiously as work vanished rushed to greet him, each trying to get there first. They might swagger like kings within their own companies, but out of sight they were salesmen constantly chasing results.
"Are you by chance preparing a new military operation? We heard you were purchasing vast quantities of provisions and munitions."
A capable salesman did not sit and wait. By watching where logistics moved and in which direction, he stepped out ahead in search of work.
"Your Excellency! Our mercenary company boasts no fewer than twenty men of hunter origin. Are there not always many looters who harbor ill intent and hide themselves away in the forests and mountains at such times? Set us loose as hunting hounds, and we shall drag out every last one and set them upon the gallows."
"Our Marathon Mercenary Company is famed for maintaining fighting strength even after marching fifty kilometers a day. We are confident in road patrol work!"
Opportunities to meet directly with a great lord of Eugene's stature were rare. All the more so when the other party was the wealthiest and most trusted figure in present-day Britannia.
-Hey, I never knew you ate better meat during wartime than in peacetime.
-His Excellency even paid us extra for sentry duty. In all my time as a mercenary, I'd never seen men competing to volunteer for night watch. Though I nearly pissed myself when the man caught dozing was hauled off after fifty strokes.
Thanks to the trust he had so generously earned during the civil war, Eugene was a highly popular employer.
Eugene also visited for public order purposes, picked out a few useful men, and contracted them on the spot.
"The mercenary captains all had bloodshot eyes. It seems they were flustered by the civil war ending so abruptly when they'd expected it to drag on for years."
Haind, who had accompanied him as an escort, clicked his tongue.
"I've heard that once a mercenary captain leads a few hundred men, he gets stabbed by his own side more often than by the enemy."
"Is it that bad? They're still captains, name and all."
"A noble withholding your wages is an act of God, but if a fellow mercenary falls behind on pay, you can stab him right away."
Haind paid his respects to a liege lord who had never once fallen behind on wages.
"The Wandering Castle has plenty of empty chambers. Why not hire more mercenaries?"
The mercenaries Eugene had hired were serving as guards managing the security of Haven and its surroundings.
Only his direct, standing troops whom he had always led would accompany the expeditions to the Snow Country or the unknown continent across the sea.
"With Your Excellency's wealth and renown, you could easily command a far larger army. It would suit you, besides."
After the invasion of Sicily, Eugene's army had been vastly strengthened in equipment and supply.
On the other hand, it had seen little numerical growth. The only additions were dark elf youths who enlisted as soldiers upon coming of age.
"I have no intention of taking in mercenary companies as new family. Allies who can't keep pace are every bit as dangerous as the enemy. Our army has simply grown too heterogeneous."
Weight training, unit organization, command structure, challenge-and-password usage, weapon techniques, field fortification construction, sentry duty procedures, and so on.
The force had been rebuilt in countless ways over two years to meet Eugene's standards.
Every soldier except the dwarves had to be capable of riding and managing a horse at a basic level. For local foraging, they also had to be proficient in archery as well as simple tracking.
Outside mercenaries simply could not function within this system.
"Besides, in some ways, doesn't our army feel like a great big family gathering?"
"We see each other every day, and we keep running into each other even on days off and in our free time."
"If we took in a new mercenary company, do you think they would mingle well with the existing residents in castle life?"
"...No."
Fights would break out every single day.
Apart from skill or tactical capability, compatibility in daily life had to be considered. In effect, it was an extremely strict standard for accepting additional troops.
"To gain one thing, you must discard another."
Haind, who had been yearning for a larger army, let out a sigh of regret.
"Don't be too disappointed. There are, after all, thirty-one new recruits who enlisted just this month."
"I had no idea elves were so prolific."
The sharply rising standard of living and sharply falling infant mortality had translated into a higher birth rate. It was a remarkable surge that surpassed even the Haredi in Eugene's memory.
Moreover, unlike the Haredi, who were little more than useless mouths, every one of these people functioned as a soldier or an artisan.
"Right now, empty chambers abound, but they'll fill up quickly. There's no need to hurry."
And there were yet more candidates scheduled to fill the castle.
-If the opportunity arises, we ask to be teleported to the southern Roman mountains.
-We wish to bring our families from our kingdom.
This was a request from the Hammer Brotherhood, from Rampage down, who had sworn oaths of fealty as vassals.
The crying of babies and the laughter of children would swiftly fill the Wandering Castle from here on.
* * *
After all preparations were complete, Eugene passed through the corridor behind the audience chamber.
"Let's go. To the Snow Country."
The core, receiving its master's will, let out a fierce shout.
The mass and information contained within the Wandering Castle were coated in lightning and plunged into the shallowest otherworld.
A place touching the mortal world yet not of it. It slid through a realm where only the plane existed.
Crackle!
To outsiders, it looked as though a colossal lightning bolt was soaring into the sky.
Since the departure date had not been kept secret, countless onlookers watched the spectacle from a distance.
"Good heavens! That enormous castle, in a single moment..."
Because their astonishment would soon become Eugene's authority.
"You must not approach yet! The aftershock will come rolling in soon!"
As the mercenary company Eugene had hired took charge of crowd control, there were no unfortunate accidents of anyone drawing too close and coming to harm.
Rumble.
Rrrrumble.
The dark clouds and thunder forming in the sky where the castle had vanished were not natural phenomena. Those who saw them felt wonder and fear.
'Nobles are different creatures from us, wearing only the same outward appearance.'
That was the belief of the commoners and serfs. Nobles were agents blessed by God!
For that reason, many adults believed that defying a noble would bring divine punishment.
The nobles, too, thoroughly exploited such superstitions to solidify their dominion.
Yet no splendid ceremony or fabricated tale could ever be more extraordinary than the Magic Castle ascending into the heavens upon lightning.
Crack!
When the Wandering Castle appeared on the ground once more, it was different from its descents thus far. There were no grass fields to flatten, no pebbles or dirt mounds to roll away.
Fwoooosh!
A pure white blizzard surged outward like a tidal wave. Birds caught in the snowstorm plummeted, and vapor melted by the lightning's heat billowed up.
Ruuuumble—.
As the castle gate opened, the warriors shivered in a chill wind unlike any they had felt in their lives.
"I-is this the end of the world?"
Wherever they looked was a pure white snowfield, and the dark elves fastened their cold-weather coats.
"How will you manage if you're shivering in this little cold?"
"This time, we shall attend His Excellency. You all rest comfortably in the castle."
The Hammer Brotherhood dwarves took the lead and set foot into the new snowfield.
In the pitched battle against King Kruger, the Hammer Brotherhood had amply proven their renown. Even against the charge of berserkers who had entered a trance state, they had held firm without yielding an inch.
Yet the chiliarch Rampage was still full of discontent.
-Damn it.
-Commander. His Excellency himself named us the top contributors and bestowed rewards. Why do you sigh on a day of celebration?
While the other dwarves were cheerfully downing beer in the Wandering Castle's banquet hall, Rampage alone wore a grim expression.
-This time as well, it was those pointy-eared bastards' arrows that killed the most enemies, wasn't it!
-What can be done about that? They shot arrows over our heads while we fought on the front line.
Thanks to the dwarven warriors' short stature, the dark elf archers in the rear rank could project firepower without risk of friendly fire.
The Central Army, already struggling against the iron wall of shields and savage hammer blows, had no choice but to take the arrows.
-His Excellency himself praised us, saying it was as good as if we had planted the arrows with our own hands.
-A warrior's worth is proven in the end by felling the enemy. Don't you understand that being content as a meat shield makes us second-rate?
No matter how sturdy and strong they were, dwarves could not overcome the limitations of infantry. Under Eugene, who favored mobile warfare, their opportunities to shine were limited.
They were already feeling self-conscious about plans to bring large numbers of their families into the Wandering Castle.
"I shall look forward to your service in the Snow Country as well."
"Your Excellency! We are still hungry!"
So the prospect of an operation in the snow-covered tundra made Rampage tremble with delight.
'Ah, I must hold back my laughter.'
With the dwarves puffing white breaths on all sides, hundreds of plumes of steam rose from below his sightline. It was as if a batch of warm steamed buns were bustling about.
"Kyahahaha!"
The dark elf children, thoroughly excited, dashed out into the snowfield.
Poof!
Poomph!
As small bodies dove into the snowfield, soft flurries of snow sprayed up.
There was one grown-up who joined in their play, and that was Homi. As a squire who had maintained her composure through many teleports, this time, it seemed, she could not resist.
"Pahaa!"
Springing to her feet, the young snow-leopard woman spat out snow and white puffs of breath. Her beautiful face was full of happiness.
"It's cold!"
"Lady Homi!"
As the children, having shaken off the snow, rushed at her from all sides, she scooped them up in armfuls.
Watching the scene with satisfaction, Eugene asked the adventurer who had accompanied them.
"You said you could track yetis, right?"
"Leave it to me, Your Excellency!"
The dog beastkin adventurer, a native of the Snow Country, wagged his tail fiercely. His nose, still moist despite the freezing weather, twitched constantly.
The yeti, a medium-sized monster that inhabited only the polar regions, was the nightmare of woodcutters and hunters.
Many people were devoured by them each year, and at times they invaded human territory and inflicted heavy damage on livestock.
They were one of the many obstacles preventing the people of the Snow Country from expanding their range of activity.
"A yeti can never evade my nose and eyes! I'll stake my life on finding one!"
This was the dog beastkin adventurer's homeland. Apart from the generous reward, it was a mission on which the safety of his family and friends rested. His eyes burned with the determination to succeed at all costs.
'A yeti's head is something like a civil-service exam for the knights around here, or so I heard?'
So long as you carried a yeti's head, you would not be turned away at the door wherever you went. It served as a guarantee that would help Eugene, who had come leading a mighty host, be received with gratitude rather than fear.
End
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