Chapter 115 : Chapter 115
Chapter 115. Memorial Service
Daeng.
A bell rang.
People dressed in mourning clothes bowed their heads in a solemn atmosphere.
Daeng.
In time with the bell's toll, Chris held up a torch.
The torch, bathed in sunlight, burned mournfully.
“We will not forget you.”
Following Chris's words, people took a coin each and stood before the deceased.
“You suffered much in this cold and difficult place. Now, may you close your eyes in peace.”
He closed the open eyes of the deceased one by one.
People placed the coins in the mouths of the deceased.
“We’ve packed enough so you won't be short on ferry fare. Don't stop because you have no money, go with a peaceful heart.”
“When you get there, don't be cold, don't be hungry, do everything you want to do and live that way.”
“Go on ahead. I'll be there soon too. When I get there, you must come out to greet me.”
“We will not forget. We will never forget.”
Each person offered a word to the deceased.
Some shed tears, some swallowed their tears, and some collapsed on the spot, pouring out their sorrow.
Everyone mourned for those who had departed, bleeding.
Daeng.
“To the place where the light guides, may you enjoy peace and well-being.”
Finishing his words, Chris set fire to the straw pile where the deceased lay.
The wind blew.
The fire gained momentum, as if to help the deceased depart.
“Father, Mother, behold our march.”
Someone began to sing with a choked voice.
“For we will comfort the wounded, the beaten, the cursed.”
“For we will look upon the world and pray, so please pray for us. Even if we are broken and defeated, we will carry on.”
A sorrowful, yet powerful song, a song that wanted to think of the future, spread out.
Everyone sang.
Those who couldn't sing, those who sang well, all sang their hearts out without distinction.
That they were not heroes, just men, just boys who walk on when they sing.
But for the sake of the world, even from a faraway place, they would watch over and pray.
“Please, be happy in that place.”
The morning sunlight, the blazing flames, the song for the deceased.
Maxim put his hands together and prayed.
To remember yesterday, to live today, and to endure tomorrow.
He shared the heart that cherishes people with everyone.
***
After the memorial service, the Uresra soldiers took their rationed food and moved to the cathedral where they were staying.
Originally, they should have been in the underground prison.
But it was not large enough to hold over 400 people.
So the place they chose was a large cathedral on the outskirts.
That place could accommodate all the Uresra soldiers and still have room.
There was also the method of scattering the 400-plus people here and there, but Maxim opposed it.
He had a plan, so he told them to gather them in one place.
“It’s a Poinus memorial service, so why did they make us watch?”
“I don’t know. Probably to show off how great they are.”
A soldier who had taken his seat grumbled and put food in his mouth.
“But these Poinus bastards seem to be well-off, don’t they?”
“Why?”
“They even give us this kind of food. And it’s winter.”
“……”
In Uresra, criminals were tied up outside and left to freeze to death.
It was no different for prisoners of war.
No, prisoners of war were treated lower than criminals.
“It's probably because of the memorial service or whatever. Since it’s a day of an event.”
“Still, there’s no reason to give food to prisoners, is there?”
“Ah! I don’t know! Just shut up and eat!”
The soldier who got angry shoved food into his mouth as if he didn't want to talk anymore.
And as he chewed, he looked at the others.
Faces more at ease than when they were in Uresra.
They were speaking well of eating warm food, of comforting the comrades who went ahead after fighting together.
He thought he couldn't leave things like this.
“Don’t be fooled! They’re trying to win us over with this kind of thing!”
The soldiers who were eating stopped their hands and looked at the soldier who had shouted.
“So?”
A blunt remark came from among them.
“What?”
“So what? We're as good as dead anyway, so what’s the problem if we’re won over a little?”
“Have you forgotten that you’re a soldier of Uresra? Are you planning to sell out Uresra?”
“Like Uresra is some great place. The bastard who's the captain doesn't even care if people die. No, he pushes them in with his own hands, and you’re applauding that?”
Among the soldiers, words of agreement followed, like ‘That's right!’, ‘We couldn’t even eat properly there!’
“Are you saying you’re going to betray your homeland?”
“Don’t talk about betrayal. All we did was watch a memorial service and eat a meal.”
“You were praising those guys!”
“They’re doing well, so I said they’re doing well. What should I say then? You too, you bastard. You’ve enjoyed everything there is to enjoy for the 3 days you’ve been here, so what kind of nonsense are you spouting? You’ve already finished your food too.”
“……”
“And if we die fighting for Uresra, do they offer comfort? Have you ever seen them hold a memorial service? Anyone who has, raise your hand.”
This time again, words like ‘There’s none.’, ‘When we died, we were treated like dog food.’, ‘I heard they were happy because there was one less mouth to feed.’ came from among the soldiers.
“I hope they ask me to come over.”
“That’s right. I think this place is better too.”
“Should we just tell them ourselves instead of waiting?”
As talk of defection came up, the atmosphere among the soldiers was greatly shaken.
“Are you all crazy? We are people of Uresra! Do you think they’ll accept us if we defect? And do you think there will be no discrimination if we go over to Poinus?”
This time, voices from the opposing side emerged, such as ‘That's also true.’, ‘How can we abandon our hometown? Mom and Dad are at home.’, ‘I have a wife and kid.’
The atmosphere among the soldiers subsided.
But among them, a completely different line of sight was forming.
***
“You’ve spread the word, right?”
Adellian nodded.
She was in charge of treating the Uresra soldiers, a job that no one wanted.
“But why are you making me do such a thing?”
“I know, right? There are a lot of complaints among the people right now. They’re asking why we’re taking care of them when we don’t have enough to eat ourselves.”
Adellian and Piontek continued.
I smirked and pointed at Chris.
“It is to sway them and accept defectors. Those who refuse to defect until the end, we plan to send them back.”
At Chris’s words, Adellian and Piontek’s eyes widened.
Not only the two of them, but Perignon, who was in the same space, also blinked his eyes as if dumbfounded.
“Why is that?”
“We even held a memorial service. 23 people. Those bastards killed them. But you’re just going to let them go?”
“We should never do that. Isn’t that just telling them the situation here?”
Saint-Sard also supported Perignon’s words.
“I am of the same opinion. So try to persuade His Highness.”
Receiving it like this is tiring…….
“I understand His Highness's greatness. There would also be the effect of letting them know this. However, it is a matter of revealing our internal situation. We must never let them go.”
“That’s right. It would instill fear by letting them know of His Highness’s power, but we can't.”
There was a point.
To the extent that Adellian, Piontek, and Odekerkh, who had brought food, were nodding their heads.
I also didn’t think their opinions were wrong.
I was just saying that we shouldn’t look at just one place, but at other places as well.
“We’ve stuck them in a corner as soon as they came, so how would they know the internal situation and report it?”
“There is something called an atmosphere, isn’t there? And at the memorial service, all the citizens and soldiers inside the barrier attended, so wouldn't they have grasped the scale?”
“I know.”
“Your Highness, and yet you still think we should let them go?”
“No.”
“We can’t…… Pardon?”
“I have no intention of letting them go. I just intend to let the mood flow.”
Everyone was looking at me as if they had no idea what I was talking about.
“We have to keep shaking them. Make them have only good memories. Accept the defectors as they are and put them into training, and tell the ones who aren't to continue what they were doing.”
There was a fairly wide piece of land in front of the cathedral.
I intended to use that land.
-We'll pitch the tents wide. If we just block the wind, we can plant something. It's also a method to light a fire inside so that heat circulates.
It was a method that Alfred had devised.
Saying it was a way to melt the ground in winter and plant and harvest crops.
It was mostly things like potatoes.
In a place like this, even potatoes were a very precious food.
Especially for the Uresra bastards.
“Thanks to Your Highness, I’ve spent quite a bit of money.”
Chris shook his head.
Since I told him to build three tents where 100 people could go in and do something at the same time, it was inevitable that it would cost money.
Still, it was better than starving to death in the extreme cold.
“But I don't know if this is the right way to handle the prisoners.”
Perignon expressed his displeasure.
“Why?”
“If they are prisoners, it is right to lock them up and restrain them from doing anything.”
“This one doesn’t know the value of labor.”
“Pardon?”
“We let them sleep and feed them. Are you telling me to do it all for free?”
“No, that’s not it……”
“They should earn their keep. We should work them like dogs to get something out of them.
You said you couldn't do anything because there’s not enough labor.”
One of the things Chris had been worried about was labor.
‘Because there was really no one to put to work.’
So it was good to use whatever we could.
“Then how long do you plan to use the prisoners? Keeping the prisoners like that is to harbor a problem that could explode at any time.”
“When the Uresra bastards come to the barrier. At that time, we’ll have to think about how to use them.”
If Uresra’s main force had come to the front of the barrier, they would be facing supply problems.
I planned to make it so.
When that time came, the prisoners could be used advantageously.
Because if the guys who had been eating their fill were released and then starved, it would cause problems.
That aside.
“We didn't gather today because of the prisoner issue, did we? So let's end that issue here.”
Chris smiled and nodded.
As expected, those mages are sinister.
He could have sorted out the prisoner issue himself, but he passed it on to me.
I knew what he meant by that.
A problem he brought himself, he had to suppress the complaints himself so that the talk wouldn't spread.
“Then let’s start the really, really important thing.”
Chris spread out a map.
On it, two places were marked.
The downstream of the Billien River, where we fought Uresra's advance party.
And the entrance to the Akal Corridor.
“These are the paths they can enter through. We must decide which of these to focus on blocking.”
The advance party was annihilated.
So the Uresra fellows would be having a headache.
The problem was that we were having as much of a headache as they were.
“If our forces were sufficient, we could block both, but as you all know, it is difficult to properly block even one place. Of course, this time, His Highness was active and we were able to achieve a great victory. Once again, I express my gratitude to His Highness.”
Everyone nodded their heads vigorously and sent me looks filled with respect.
So I presented a bright smile with a proud face.
What’s the big deal?
“Ehehehe.”
“Oh, for goodness sake.”
Adellian poked me in the side.
Did she say it doesn't look good to show off when you're happy?
When you're happy, you show it, but she's so concerned with appearances, just like the daughter of a ducal family she is.
“Coming back. Since our forces are not sufficient, it is difficult to block both. The currently estimated number of enemies is about 4,000. Of course, it probably won't be the main force.
Where they will come from……”
“Why are you worrying about that? It’s obviously here.”
It was plain to see.
It was the Billien River.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Would it be more convenient to transport supplies by cart? Or by ship? Think about drinking water too.”
Chris’s brow furrowed deeply.
Since he had no experience in large-scale battles, it seemed he had missed that part.
“Then is no one coming through the Akal Corridor?”
Perignon, also lacking experience, was thinking simply.
“They’ll come. Because they have to shake us. If they get lucky and break through the Akal Corridor, they could strike our rear.”
“I-I see. Then how many will come?”
“At most, about 800?”
They would have to establish a camp and clear a path to draw the blueprint of the battlefield.
They would place most of their forces at the Billien River.
“We should be able to block them with about 200 men.”
Chris placed the two smallest pieces among the ones on the map at the Akal Corridor.
The remaining pieces were one medium-sized piece and three small pieces.
He was thinking of using half of the forces he had for this battle.
It was rational.
But there was one more thing he was missing.
“400 have to go.”
“If it’s about 800, we should be able to block them using an ambush.”
“I know. But a really difficult one will come.”
They messed up the first operation they considered important.
So they would make a strong move to recover from it.
With an even more bizarre fellow as the commander than before.