Chapter 9
After finishing my negotiations with Selbek, I decided to change clothes first in the room assigned to me.
I discarded my dress and slipped my arms into the clothes I had recently had tailored.
It was a black jacket with a large collar. It was a style I had never seen three years ago, and apparently it had recently been created and become fashionable in the western great power of Huryon. Gold embroidery adorned the cuffs and collar, giving it a rather striking appearance.
White lily-of-the-valley embroidery adorned the chest.
I wore white trousers below. They clung tightly to my skin, revealing the shape of my legs, but they would not get in the way when riding. I also put on black knee-high boots and equipped myself with a light, slender sword at my waist. That completed the outfit, more or less. Everything had been custom-made. Since there was no such thing as a woman's military uniform, I had no choice but to have it made from scratch.
I planned to wear custom-made chainmail and a breastplate over this when going onto the battlefield, but this would do for today.
When I went outside in full military attire, the soldiers the governor had prepared were lined up in the square.
After a highly amicable discussion, Governor Selbek promptly granted my wishes, providing twenty soldiers, three warhorses, one wagon, and three explosive magic stones imbued with magical power.
However, one look at the soldiers told me what the governor was thinking.
Every one of the soldiers he had given me was young and poorly built. They were all recruits collected this year.
That said, I had no intention of using his misconduct as an excuse to complain. I had threatened him, after all. I had never expected him to willingly lend me an elite unit.
Besides, this was fine in its own way. They were raw recruits, not yet set in their ways. My job was to train them and turn them into proper soldiers.
First, I needed to give them some motivation.
"As you have probably heard, we are going to form a subjugation force to wipe out the monsters running rampant throughout the domain. I expect you to give it your all."
When I spoke first, derisive chuckles escaped from each of them.
"Why should we do any such thing? Your prince—or rather, the prince who abandoned you—will take care of them, won't he?"
A young man with an insolent expression spoke, and laughter rippled through the ranks.
Laughing at a noble was asking for trouble, but I had no intention of flaunting some cheap pride.
"What is your name?"
"I'm Al, my lady?"
The young man, who was barely twenty, answered.
"Al, is it? You certainly seem at ease."
I was a little taken aback that living on the frontier could make someone so complacent.
"Pardon?"
"You say a subjugation force led by the prince is coming. When exactly will that be?"
"What?"
"I asked when they are coming. Exactly when will they arrive?"
"Well..."
When Al faltered, I answered for him.
"The answer is: never. The royal capital's soldiers are not going to march out to defend some remote frontier like this."
There was no doubt that the royal capital would form a subjugation force, but it would be assigned to defend trade routes and major cities. There was no chance it would be sent to a remote region like Kashu.
"You will be laughed at for being so out of touch with the world."
Being called out of touch with the world by a younger girl finally made Al frown, and the soldiers grew irritated as well. But they ought to have been much more alarmed.
"I may be younger than you, but I believe I know more about the terror of the Demon King's army than anyone here. I traveled with the prince and saw it for myself. Villages and towns destroyed by the Demon King's army are utterly horrific."
Even remembering those scenes made my heart ache.
"People lose their homes and fields, and the survivors flee and flee, wandering the wastelands. With no money, they cannot enter the cities, leaving them with only three choices: freezing to death, dying of disease, or starving. Yet one might still call them fortunate. The fate of those killed by the Demon King's army or monsters is beyond words. The Demon King's army either enslaves captured humans or tortures them to death. Monsters eat humans alive. The way they die... The cry of a burly man shouting, 'Stop! Don't eat me!' still echoes in my ears."
As I spoke of the hell I had witnessed on the battlefields, the soldiers were struck speechless.
It may have been a little harsh for recruits gathered this year to hear. When I first saw those scenes, I could not sleep for days, and I vowed to defeat the Demon King as soon as possible.
The only reason I had followed that hopeless prince and his women was my concern for those who had been killed and those who might be killed in the future.
"Just as Al said, the prince will probably form a subjugation force before long. But what do you think will happen as a result?"
I could hardly imagine that prince fighting effectively.
However, once the Demon King was defeated and the supply lines were severed, the Demon King's army would be unable to maintain its strength. No matter how long it took, the subjugation force should eventually manage to claim victory.
"Their homeland lies across the sea on the Demon Continent, and they have no ships to take them home. The remnants of the Demon King's army, routed by the subjugation force, will be unable to flee back to their homeland. They will spread in every direction all at once, form warlord factions in various regions, and try to establish countries of their own. Naturally, frontier lands like this will be prime targets. You may have suffered little damage so far, but they will certainly come eventually. No one can say that your homeland will not be next."
Confronted with the reality that was sure to arrive in the near future, the soldiers lowered their heads.
Their families and sweethearts back home were surely passing through their minds.
"I am not telling you to fight for the kingdom or for me. You should fight for your own homes."
The expressions of several soldiers changed. A fire had been lit within them: they would have to defend their homes themselves. But most still kept their heads bowed. As inexperienced recruits with no combat experience, they probably did not believe they could fight and defeat the Demon King's army or monsters.
Considering their survival instincts, that was only natural. So I would have to appeal to those instincts.
"Even if you are fighting to protect your homes, I have no intention of using you for free. I have a proper reward in mind."
I took out the leather pouch I had brought and held up a single coin.
With a small cheer, all forty eyes were drawn to my fingertips as if sucked toward them.
The golden object I held between my fingers was a gold coin polished until it gleamed.
They were coins Father had given me as start-up money for settling here. I had specifically asked for large-denomination gold coins of the sort nobles used when paying taxes to the state.
"With this one coin, you could live without working for three full years."
I heard the soldiers swallow hard amid their cries of astonishment.
The twenty soldiers stared at the gold with single-minded intensity.
"I will reward you according to your efforts. If you accomplish something truly outstanding, this coin will be yours."
My words set the soldiers abuzz.
Gold was a strange thing. It was nothing more than a beautiful metal, yet it captivated so many people's hearts.
I waved the coin from side to side ostentatiously, and everyone's gaze moved in unison.
Then I grabbed as many coins as I could hold from the pouch and displayed them. To make sure they could see them clearly, I went from one soldier to the next, bringing the coins right up to each person's nose.
Apparently, this allowed them to smell gold.
Of course, gold had no scent, but what mattered was making them smell it in their hearts.
It was a trick used by a merchant I had met during my travels.
He had been the lowest sort of merchant, willing to do anything for money, but he had been exceptionally skilled at manipulating people.
According to him, no one could resist being moved by money and threats.
Those were the words of a man obsessed with gold, but they were probably true to some extent. In fact, the look in the soldiers' eyes had clearly changed.
The noble cause of protecting their homes, combined with the magic of gold.
People cannot be moved by justice alone, and those driven by greed are weak at the crucial moment. Together, the two became a single force.
At last, I had brought the soldiers together. This was the second step. Next came actual combat.
Everything up to this point had been planned in advance, but from here on, things probably would not go as I wished.
I did not know whether I could pull it off myself.
But I had no choice but to do it. There was no other way to save the people.