In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 340

Chapter 340: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Village

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A full week had passed since the fighting ended. It was a relief that we managed to bring the battle to a close in a relatively moderate fashion, but everything from that point onward was quite an ordeal. After all, the combined casualties on both sides exceeded three hundred, hitting a staggering damage rate. We had to bury and mourn the dead, and properly treat the wounded. That alone was a massive undertaking.

Furthermore, dealing with the former enemy soldiers who had surrendered to us was quite a struggle. They were, so to speak, a faction that had defected, so they couldn’t be treated like ordinary prisoners of war. If possible, I wanted to disarm them, but things wouldn’t go that smoothly. Consequently, troubles of all sizes—including incidents involving blades—sprang up like mushrooms after rain, grinding our nerves down like a millstone. It was a complete mess.

Nevertheless, we managed to finish the minimum post-war processing, struck camp, and marched the army—which had ballooned to over two thousand people including non-combatants (it is surprising that so many remain despite such heavy casualties). It was around noon today that we finally reached civilization.

“So, as expected, the village chief doesn’t want to let us into the village.”

However, we were being held up just before the farming village. No matter how much it was my own territory, I couldn’t simply thrust an army into a settlement without warning. For the time being, we set up camp on the highway to take a short break while sending an envoy into the village…

“Yes.”

Lenael, the fox hunter, nodded while flattening her large fox ears. This was Adda Village, a farming community at the southernmost tip of the Liseben territory. It was Lenael’s hometown. Naturally, she was acquainted with the village mayor, which was why I had entrusted her as the envoy… but the reply she brought back was utterly heartless.

Entry denied. What a sensible judgment. I looked around at the soldiers surrounding me. There were plenty of barbarians who looked like nothing more than defeated troops, covered in a sludge of blood and sweat. Well, as a village chief, there was no way she could let a bunch like this into the village. I would make the same decision if I were in her shoes.

“And here I thought I could finally sleep under a roof for the first time in a while…”

A tattered beastman Liseben soldier muttered those words under her breath. …I understood the chief’s feelings, but I also understood the soldiers’ feelings. Just when they thought a crappy, endless war of attrition was over, the hellish post-war processing began. Just when they thought they had cleared that up, they had to march through primordial forests indefinitely… Anyone who didn’t get fed up would have to be crazy.

Everyone from the top commander (namely, me) down to the uncounted chore women was exhausted and in need of proper rest. To achieve that, we had shelved every single problem and performed a forced march back to civilization, only to be met with this treatment. It was no wonder they wanted to complain.

“Of course, she said the Lord and the Knights are welcome. However, um…”

Glancing briefly at the group of barbarians, Lenael sighed. 

Well, yeah… I mean, to begin with, the act of accommodating over two thousand soldiers in this tiny farming village is quite impossible… 

In the end, there was no choice but to build a camp on the outskirts.

That said, the discipline of the entire army was already reaching its limit. In fact, it was surprising that an army consisting of people who had been fighting on opposite sides, gathered together so crudely, had held together for a week without bursting. If I didn’t let them vent their frustrations a little soon, something terrible was going to happen.

“I don’t really care about myself. Regardless, I want to find a way to let them rest, but…”

If even a farming village was like this, the treatment would likely be the same once we returned to Carrera City. As I thought, was there no choice but to construct a full-scale encampment somewhere and have them live there for a while…?

No, I didn’t have the luxury of thinking about that right now. At any rate, I had to think about where the soldiers were going to sleep today. The season was less like late autumn and more like early winter, and even in the temperate Liseben, it got terribly cold in the mornings and evenings. Between malnutrition and the worsening sanitary conditions from battle, the barbarians’ physical strength must have dropped considerably. I really needed to stop making them sleep in simple camps that couldn’t block the cold.

“…Anyway, shall I negotiate directly with the village chief? It will be a problem if she won’t at least let the injured and the sick into the village.”

After all that effort, I had succeeded in disposing of a bomb that was on the verge of detonating. I wanted the barbarians to blend into Liseben in a peaceful manner. However, if things continued like this, the command structure would collapse, and the soldiers would turn into a massive band of bandits. I had to avoid that at all costs.

Ah, damn, this was really troublesome. As Lady Vanka had said, would it have been better to just wipe out the barbarians altogether? …I didn’t want to think that way. Sigh, it was a tremendous ordeal, but since I took them under my wing, I had a duty to provide for them. I was at my limit both mentally and physically, but I had to give it one more push…

“In the first place, why has the village chief not even come out to greet us? With this attitude toward her Lord, she couldn’t complain even if her head were lopped off…”

Sonia spat those words out with a dark light in her eyes. Her aura was terrifyingly intense. Karina, who was behind me, cried out “Pyah!?” and clung to me.

“If you lop off the head, please give me the body. It would be a waste otherwise.”

“You may not…”

I gave Nael, who had literally poked her head into the conversation, a flick to the forehead.

“Ufufu, Mantis joke, Mantis joke…”

As Nael retracted her head while letting out an eerie laugh, the surrounding soldiers turned their eyes toward her as if to say,’You were definitely being serious just now…’

“Ah… um, of course, the village chief apologized for being unable to greet the Lord. It’s just that the villagers are feeling rather anxious.”

Lenael spoke while glaring toward the barbarians. …According to what I heard before, this village apparently fell into an uproar over an attack by just a few elves. Now that two thousand barbarians had suddenly appeared, it was inevitable that it would cause a stir. The villagers must be incredibly scared. If this group of barbarians seriously attacked the village, it would fall in an instant and be left in a state where not a single blade of grass remained.

“…That is also a problem in its own right. It is also the Lord’s job to remove the anxieties of his people. I’ll try speaking to them myself so that they can feel at ease.”

Oh, come on, there’s so much… so much work! I hate this, I want to go back to my parents’ house, drink, and sleep for a whole day! But a feudal lord doesn’t have that kind of freedom! Hoaaaaah!!

I was on the verge of snapping, but I managed to suppress it within my heart through sheer willpower. My patience was worn to tatters, but everyone else was suffering just the same. I couldn’t just throw away my work.

“Um, my lord.”

While I was thinking about that, Gilberto called out to me in a hesitant manner.

“If you are going to meet with the Village Chief, could you also please request the procurement of food? Our covered wagon beds are starting to look a bit lonely…”

“…Got it.”

The Liseben army was a group that emphasized logistics to an extreme degree for an army in this world, but even so, there was a limit to its transport capacity. In the first place, the organization was not designed with the assumption that it would have to feed two thousand people. We were continuing shuttle transport via carts and riverboats, but even then, the food situation had not improved at all.

Since our own provisions were insufficient, there was no choice but to requisition from the civilians. I didn’t want to do that either, but it couldn’t be helped. Of course, I would provide payment… Well, the farmers probably wouldn’t be very happy about it. Sigh…

“Lenael, sorry, but could you guide me to the village chief?”

“U-Understood…”

Looking at me with eyes full of pity, the fox hunter nodded. 

…What’s the world coming to when a noble is pitied by a commoner? Honestly…

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