"Hey, old man, looks like we’re in a fucked up phase, huh?"
"Without you saying so, we’re already fucked up."
The day after the town center of Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard’s territory was attacked by a horde of Undead Dragons, an old man and a young man were clearing the rubble of the destroyed buildings.
Due to their military leader’s mistake in carrying out a reckless invasion attack, the old man and the young man had to pay the price. The town center, which should have been safe from enemy attack, suddenly ca under a counterattack from the enemy, which imdiately destroyed their town center.
Normally, the wars that occurred in the Aurora Kingdom started from small attacks on the border areas of the nobles’ territories, rather than launching counterattacks on the town centers, which were the main residences of the ruling noble families.
The counterattack carried out by Marquess Roml was confird by the old man, a war veteran who served as Chief of Defense in the city center.
"Who ca up with a great idea of launching an invasion attack into the dense forest in the Marquess Roml territories, huh?" the young man asked, still using his hands to pick through the rubble of the collapsed building.
"I don’t know who got that great idea... But I can guess," the old man replied as he set the large boulder aside to break it into smaller pieces.
Ctaakkk...
Cttaaakkk...
"Y-You can guessed it? in that case... I’m sure it ca from a group of fools who were excited to attend the war season between nobles," the young man said while wiping the sweat that was rolling down his forehead.
"There’s no other option but to bla them and suspect them. From the very beginning, the creation of the tar military unit tasked with raising dragon herds and training them into beca a war machines, controlled by tar magic... was their fault."
"They are truly troubleso and irresponsible after making such a rash decision. In the eyes of military law, we were in the wrong one for attacking Marquess Roml’s territory first, and the attack carried out by that monster... was a natural counterattack," the young man’s body paused for a mont after seeing the horror unfolding before his eyes.
The Undead Naga’s counterattack was fraught with a dark irony. Their military, which was developing a unit capable of long-range attacks, was countered with an equally long-range attack.
Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard’s military efforts to develop a Dragon herd unit controlled by tar magic already get blow down before the attacks of the Undead Dragons taken place on their town center. Just like fighting wild dragons with a higher difficulty level, they are already get a full counterattack damage.
"If we look at it from Marquess Roml’s point of view, they are being kind enough to return the herd of dragons that we have trained. Even if they co back in the form of... Undead Dragons."
"W-Well, they shouldn’t have to go to such trouble to return our dragon corpses like that, you know..."
"Haha!! They should be willing to do such troubleso things! Our military has launched an invasion attack on Marquess Roml’s territory. If they don’t retaliate, their dignity as a military noble family will be tarnished."
"M-Military noble family? I thought they were just a neutral noble family."
"Listen to , young man... Even though they are currently a neutral noble family, the Marquess Roml family is a military family in its very nature. We are fortunate enough not to have to face Marquess Roml or Marchioness Amagi directly in this counterattack."
"W-What would happen if Marquess Roml and Marchioness Amagi ca?" the young man asked, continuing to work on clearing the rubble of the destroyed building.
"Destruction or total annihilation, that’s what will happen. The war between Marquess Roml and Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard will not stop until the last of their bloodline dies," said the old man while imagining the endless battlefield in his head.
"Isn’t that a bit much for a war to break out between nobles?"
"Yes, that will be a bit to much... After all, that’s what will happen in the upcoming war between the nobles. A holy war with strange rules set by the previous Kings. I also wonder why those strange rules of war are still in effect today."
"H-Holy war? That’s just so weird tradition that happens once every ten years, right?"
"Oh, right, you are still too young to know this sweet lie," said the old man as he looked up at the sky.
Directly above the city center, near the residence of Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard, the old man gazed at a mysterious wound in the sky—a wound caused by the sacred blessing of the Goddess, known for her destructive nature.
The scar that left a mark on the sky triggered tears in the eyes of the old man, who rembered his life experiences of going through three seasons of war between nobles in the past.
The horrors of the cruel battlefield swirled around in his head, like images of the past forcing their way into his mind.
"Holy war... what kind of ridiculous pretext is that?" the old man grumbled as he looked around.
Several knights of Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard were on duty clearing the rubble alongside civilians, so of whom were helping to clear the streets of dust and dangerous, sharp pieces of wood.
"What’s so ridiculous about a war between nobles claiming it’s a holy war, old man?" the young man continued, impatient to hear his answer.
"That’s absolutely ridiculous, you should know that."
"Huh?! H-How should I know if I don’t know!" the young man grumbled with an annoyed expression on his face after being played by the old man.
"You are smart in organizing things, but stupid in understanding the current situation."
"HUUHH?!!" With a low growl, the young man stopped what he was doing.
Baaammm...
Large chunks of the building wall fell to the ground and spread dust that covered the old man and the young man.
"Stupid! What have you done! Cough! Cough!"
"It’s your own fault for suddenly not explaining those ambiguous words of yours, old man!"
"At least don’t throw away that big chunk of rock. It’ll spread dust everywhere, you idiot! Cough!"
The old man and the young man imdiately rushed away from the dusty place, moving to a place filled with various kinds of plants bearing abundant fruit.
At the sa ti, several of Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard’s knights, who were picking fruit, had finished. This coincided with the chi of the bell that echoed through the afternoon, signaling their lunch hour.
Teeenngg...
Teennngg...
The old man and the young man made good use of the right ti for lunch. They took the lunch that had been prepared by the knight who was in charge of picking the fruit that grew abundantly in the center of the ruined town center.
After receiving their lunch rations of fruit, the old man and the young man imdiately went into the building that was still standing strong to enjoy their lunch.
"So, what’s the aning of this holy war you’re talking about?" asked the young man, not letting this golden opportunity to gain information slip away.
"Are you really curious about that?"
"Of course I’m curious, because this has sothing to do with the noble war season that will occur in a few months, right? With our territory in such a devastated state, I’m sure it will only increase Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard’s desire to win the noble war season."
"You are not wrong about that. Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard will certainly try to recover the losses caused by Marquess Roml’s counterattack."
"This is going to be a long war, huh?"
"I think so."
The old man stopped his words and cut the fruit that would be his lunch.
With his strong, hard fist, the old man managed to cut the soft fruit in half, revealing the succulent flesh and the large, hard seed in the center.
Splash...
The splashes of juice squeezed out of his grip hand, dirtied the old man’s sweaty face.
"Gosh, this Saintess is too much to give such a luxurious dish. This fresh and sweet fruit should be an expensive food ingredient that I can’t consu freely like this," the old man grumbled while licking the fruit juice that stuck to his face.
The fruit he was holding was a fruit that had received blessings from the Goddess of Nature through her Saintess. A fruit filled with magical energy that can make a person full for one day just by eating the skin of one ripe fruit.
"Hey, old man, please don’t change the subject. You still haven’t explained the holy war that’s being used as a pretext for the warring seasons between the nobles!" the young man exclaid, glaring at the old man and slowly enjoying his lunch.
Slurp...
Slurp...
The young man sucked on the juice of the sliced fruit, savoring every sweet taste that passed through his throat. His thirst and fatigue, after working from morning to noon, were repaid by eating the pieces of fruit filled with the blessings of the Goddess of Nature.
"Hmmm... I still can’t believe that this sweet taste is actually so delicious. Lily-sama really beca a Saintess, huh? I hope Madam Estelle is okay after chasing Lily-sama into that mysterious hole," said the young man while closing his eyes.
"I’m sure Madam Estelle will be fine, she’s not a weak female knight to lose so easily."
"Even if she can’t beat Lily-sama?"
"E-Even if she can’t defeat Lily-sama... S-She’ll be fine."
"Why does your tone sound hesitant, old man?"
"I’m just not used to the sweet taste of high-quality fruit. My tongue is still not used to the delicious taste after drinking the sweet and fresh fruit juice."
"Is that so?"
"Y-Yes, how could I be worried about Madam Estelle’s, who is away chasing the Saintess. If we have to be worried about sothing, it would be better if we worry about our own safety after this. The situation in Marquess Arisawa Von Bloomgard’s territory is not going well."
"I already know that without you saying it. By the way, don’t try to change the topic about the holy war, who beca an excuse for the war season between nobles in the Aurora Kingdom."
"That’s quite a long story."
"I could hear it all through lunch."
"Y-You just want to skip work, right?"
"Not really, I can hear it while I’m working too."
"No need, it’s too much trouble to recount past events. The story of the holy war being used as a pretext for war between nobles... it stems from the corruption and nepotism of noble families, to the point of disregard for civilians," the old man said in a deep, hoarse voice. He recalled the bitter events of the horrific past.
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