In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 300

Chapter 300: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Crest

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What awaited us after finishing our break was an enormous amount of work. After all, we suddenly had to take care of more than a thousand people. Just managing them alone was a major task. On top of that, we had to set out for Liseben, so preparations for that were also necessary.

“If we keep acting separately, we’ll repeat last night.”

At the joint high-level meeting between the “New,” the “Legitimate,” and the Liseben forces, that was the first thing I said. Last night’s battle had truly been terrible. Even combining my past life and this one, it was the first time I had fought so disgracefully. Honestly, it had hit me pretty hard. We could not afford to repeat something like that again.

“A night battle in the forest… well, of course no one can move as they want. But what we had yesterday was a disgrace equivalent to defeat, both tactically and strategically. Before we depart, we should at least settle on a basic direction for our future operations.”

In last night’s battle, we had technically achieved our objective of securing and protecting non-combatants. Still, I deliberately used shocking words to describe it. After all, it seemed Vanka had planned from the beginning to dump the non-combatants on us. We had been dancing in the palm of that widowed elf’s hand. Not an amusing situation at all.

“I agree. If we keep fighting such disgraceful battles, no amount of troops will be enough. …N-no, I’m not criticizing your command, Albert-dono?”

Orphan-dono nodded, then hurriedly tried to clarify. After all, I had been the one commanding the battle yesterday. Calling it disgraceful would naturally sound like criticism of my leadership.

“No, it’s a fact that it was a disgraceful battle. …We’ll likely continue fighting Vanka, and if we don’t take some kind of countermeasure, I’ll end up being branded incompetent.”

I let out a small sigh and sipped my herbal tea. Of course, there were plenty of excuses. The sudden outbreak of battle, the need to command multiple uncoordinated organizations at once… honestly, it was a fight that was never going to go well. But taking responsibility for all of that was the job of a commander. I had my pride as a soldier. I couldn’t just hide behind convenient excuses.

“Hm… countermeasures, you say.”

Stroking his slender chin, Dalaiya-dono groaned thoughtfully. From here, we had to return to the city of Carrera while manually hauling the Michael Collins. On top of that, we had to escort over a hundred non-combatants, including civilians from both the “New” and the “Legitimate.”

This would be a rather difficult operation. Our route would be fixed, and even if combat broke out, we would not be able to maneuver freely. Vanka’s forces were not particularly large, but if they committed to guerrilla tactics, they would have a significant advantage.

“As I see it, there were two major problems in last night’s battle.”

Sonia spoke up. She looked around at the leaders of the “New” and the “Legitimate” with a stern gaze as she continued.

“First, there was almost no coordination between units. Second, we couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe. …In such a state, there’s no way a proper operation can function.”

“That’s exactly right. Just recklessly biting at the enemy in front of you… that kind of deployment can’t be called a strategy. If the matriarch of the Orphan family saw yesterday’s performance, she’d be furious.”

Orphan-dono, arms crossed, agreed with Sonia. She clearly wasn’t satisfied with yesterday’s battle either. Her expression was quite severe.

“The latter aside, the former will be difficult to resolve.”

I sighed quietly and picked up a piece of dried sweet potato from the plate on the table. Taking a bite, its simple sweetness spread in my mouth. As a snack, it wasn’t bad at all.

“To properly coordinate between units, you need optimized organization and steady training. It’s not something that can be fixed overnight.”

“Well, we were enemies to begin with. Even if you suddenly tell us to fight together, that’s no easy thing.”

One of the elders of the “New” said that with a sigh. The elders of the Dalaiya faction had accepted peace with the “Legitimate,” but only to solve the famine problem. Emotionally, cooperating in joint operations was likely hard to accept.

“In any case, our priority right now is to reach the city of Carrera safely. Matters that don’t contribute to that should be put on hold.”

“That makes sense.”

I nodded. More than anything, I wanted to return to Carrera as soon as possible. The reason was simple: the area around the city had been completely cleared of forest. As long as we remained in the woods, it would be extremely difficult to gain an advantage over the elves, but on open plains, that would change.

The Elven Bow was certainly a powerful weapon, but in terms of range and accuracy, our rifles were far superior. If we added artillery support on top of that, I was confident we could crush the Vanka faction outright. …Of course, if they retreated into the forest, pursuing them would be difficult, so achieving a strategic victory wouldn’t be so simple.

“In that case, our countermeasure should focus on making it easier to distinguish friend from foe. Fortunately, this can be solved with a simple method.”

Saying that, Sonia pointed to the surcoat she was wearing. Embroidered on it was a blue rose crest. …The blue rose was the crest of the Blondin family. Normally, one would use their own family crest, but Sonia was estranged from her birth family, so she used the Blondin crest instead.

“A crest, huh… well, there’s really no other option. It’s the easiest to recognize.”

Although there were no formal war conventions in this world, it was common practice in the western regions of the central continent, including the Kingdom of Galea, to display a crest indicating one’s affiliation. The idea was to have the elves follow that custom as well.

“So we should all wear that blue rose crest?”

At Orphan-dono’s words, my face twitched. An image flashed through my mind of elf flamethrower soldiers bearing the blue rose crest… in other words, the Blondin family crest… setting fire to villages. It was a nightmare scenario, but one that could realistically happen. If that happened, the damage to the Blondin family’s reputation would be catastrophic.

“The blue rose is exclusively the crest of the Blondin family. Sonia is an exception, but I cannot allow others to use it.”

I quickly denied it, and Sonia gave a strangely sticky smile. It was an unusual expression for someone usually so cool-headed. Still, I didn’t have the luxury to dwell on it. I absolutely had to prevent the elves from using the Blondin crest…

“Besides, blue pigment is rare. It would be impossible to prepare a large amount on short notice.”

“Hmm, that’s true. If we’re departing today, we have no time to spare. We’ll have to have each soldier draw their own crest. But not everyone has artistic skill. It can’t be too complicated.”

Dalaiya-dono was right. The short preparation time was a major constraint. It had to be a simple design that even amateurs could draw quickly, and it couldn’t be colorful either. …As for pigments that could be prepared in large quantities quickly, the only option was black ink made by dissolving charcoal powder in water. Hmm, just black… this was quite difficult.

“Hmm…”

I groaned and took another bite of dried sweet potato. Yeah, it was good. Maybe the sugar would help me think of something… hm? Sweet potato…?

“…I just thought of something. How about a design like this?”

Saying that, I took out a sheet of paper and quickly sketched the idea. It was a simple mark made by combining a circle and a cross…

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