Chapter 146
A few days after I became Prince Zeland's direct retainer.
As usual, Prince Zeland came to my room often, where Lufa would humor him while he sat there grinning.
One of the few changes was that, now that I had become his tutor, Prince Zeland would also attend the Roa Unit's war councils.
Incidentally, with Raiz-sama's permission, the prince could attend the Tenth Knight Order's war councils as well.
We were summoned by Raiz-sama, with Prince Zeland in tow.
This time, we were told to bring the main members of the Roa Unit, so Wickhart, Ryuzel, Frein, Dick, and Lufa came along. For some reason, Nelfia, who was in my room, asked to join us, too.
Since Nelfia wasn't part of the Tenth Knight Order, I wondered if it was appropriate for her to come, but, well, if it wasn't, Raiz-sama would ask her to leave.
We weren't meeting in Raiz-sama's usual room. And we weren't the only ones who'd been summoned.
The war room used when I was first summoned to the Tenth Knight Order was filled with the order's senior commanders.
“Thank you all for coming.”
When Raiz-sama spoke solemnly, the atmosphere in the room instantly grew tense.
“First, I'd like you to take a look at these.”
Raiz-sama produced four letters.
“What are those?” Beclad-san, one of the older unit commanders, asked on behalf of the group.
“Requests for joint training.”
Only one of the letters was thick. I guessed that one was probably from Lord Beckstatt of the Fifth Knight Order. Who could the others be from?
“All four of them?” Beclad-san tilted his head slightly. It did seem like a lot to receive four requests at the same time.
“Yes. From the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Knight Orders. We've also received a verbal request from the Sixth Knight Order.”
“Good heavens, five knight orders...” Everyone in the room exclaimed in surprise. Having so many requests at once was certainly unusual.
“Though the Third and Fourth Knight Orders' letters are closer to personal missives than formal requests. And the one from the Fourth Knight Order didn't even come from its commander.”
In that case, I could say with certainty that the letter from the Fourth Knight Order was from those twins. As for the Third Knight Order, Zackhart-sama probably just wanted to see Lufa.
“That's quite a lot,” Juno-san murmured.
“Yes, there are a few reasons. First, some knight orders have approached us because they're interested in the Ten Knight Bows, crossbows, and modular polearms we've introduced in the Tenth Knight Order. The Fifth and Seventh Knight Orders heard about Zetta and asked if they could put them to use, too.”
That made sense. Both were knight orders responsible for defending the front lines. New weapons could only be a good thing.
“Second, the timing is a major factor. The snow hasn't completely melted yet, and neither Golbel nor the Empire is making any major moves, so they can spare some soldiers for training.”
“Indeed. If we're going to hold large-scale maneuvers, there couldn't be a better time,” Beclad-san said, nodding deeply.
“And lastly, I imagine they've timed it to coincide with the new recruits' training.”
At Hakusha, the Sixth Knight Order had suffered considerable losses, while at Zetta, the Fourth and Tenth Knight Orders had taken heavy casualties. They'd urgently recruited new soldiers to fill the vacancies, and training that would also serve as their induction ceremony was scheduled to take place soon.
It seemed every knight order had come to the same idea: why not hold joint training to coincide with the new recruits' training? That was how this pile of requests had come about.
“So, which knight orders will we train with?”
When Beclad-san asked again, an amused expression crossed Raiz-sama's face. It was the look Raiz-sama wore when enjoying the situation.
“That's why I've gathered you all. This is a good opportunity, so I'm thinking we should hold joint training with every knight order that's requested it. What do you think? Does anyone object?”
That was a fairly outrageous proposal.
Raiz-sama figured that none of the knight orders would bring their entire forces. At most, each might send a thousand soldiers, though realistically, probably around five hundred. That would be manageable for us, and explaining the new weapons all at once would save us the trouble of doing it repeatedly.
Well, I didn't think it was a bad idea.
It seemed everyone else felt the same way, since no major objections were raised.
However, Wickhart asked,
“Is the First Knight Order not participating?” The room took on an awkward atmosphere.
“I doubt the First Knight Order would ever participate,” Lapiria-sama replied.
“Is that so?”
“Wickhart might not know this, but the First Knight Order hates us. They'd never ask the Tenth Knight Order for instruction.”
“I see... I'm sorry for speaking without thinking.”
“It's no wonder Wickhart didn't know. Those people are so underhanded that they pretend we're on good terms in public.”
At Lapiria-sama's words, everyone gave a small nod.
That was when I caught a glimpse of the feud between the Tenth Knight Order and the First Knight Order—a feud even I hadn't known about.