Siege of Italica I
The refugees happily began harvesting the scales off of dead wyverns downhill.
This was better...than the unthinkable! How the hell were these people...and Sawada-chan raised?!
Due to lack of work for obvious reasons, in a bid to provide for their group, Lelei and Tuka seriously considering whoring themselves out for everyone else?! Brrr!
Thank goodness for the wyverns! And standard RPG rule that monster parts can be sold!
Sixteen were children, and only three adults can work. Sage Cato, Lelei and Tuka. The rest were injured adults from the dragon incident.
They harvested the scales, separated based on condition and size, and computed the amount of money each sack would cost when sold, and then they can use that money to buy their own clothes and food. Housing? That'll have to wait till the dragon's OFFICIALLY GONE...thus reliant on Japanese Refugee Housing.
Mages have annual income from Rondel based on rank, and their accomplishments.
Lelei who became a Master at 13, gets 500 sinku annually as opposed to one who became a Master at 16-20 who'd only annually get 100. Intelligence is everything in Rondel and the younger you are, the BETTER as humans have short lives, as opposed to long-lived beings like Elves and Draconians who live the longest while most Beastmen age 3-5 times slower than humans. Cato who was an Archmage who pioneered Explosion and Combustion Magic was worth 5800 sinku a year.
However, that money usually does NOT last long...being the magi they are. Yet they're also the ONLY ones with an actual income source!
Soren who was a Master at 10, was worth 1000 because she has both merits and accomplishment. Hence she was fine with tossing out millions of yen to pay rent. She was also strict with her money and budgeting for that 1000 sinku to last her a year. That, and as a sideline, she and Lelei's sister, Arpeggio function as Xerox-Copy Book Copiers. Famous in Rondel for the quality of their books; neat penmanship, better illustrations, and sturdy book compounding that there's no fear of pages tearing out so easily.
And a book in this world is worth 3 sinku minimum based on quality. But high-quality copies made, are worth ten.
Thus the girls are a favorite of many mages who wants books copied.
But because Lelei joined Cato, she works to copy books selling it in Italica. Soren travels for unseen medical wonders so she's stuck with her basic income, thus Arpeggio runs their sideline alone.
Then the horses left behind by the Coalition Army.
The war horses that lost their owners were rounded up as soon as possible.
It was done out of fear of complaints from animal protection groups, but providing food for such a large number of horses was a problem. The goods left behind by the enemy included horse feed, but it would only be a matter of time before the supply dried up. Alnus Hill was surrounded by barren land, and there was no grass suitable for them to graze on in the forest slightly further away.
Option: sell em'. The JSDF had to help out with that, but they have to scope out how Italica will respond to them, the people from beyond the Gate first.
Thus the mission to escort Lelei, Tuka and Rory who will sell the scales came in handy now.
xxx
Sawada Residence...
'Ehhh?! Soren-chan can't come home yet because she's doctor to a village of pregnant beastwomen?!' Nana squawked as Reborn and the twins turned to look as one at the hallway outside the living room due to her outburst. 'Yes...we understand...I'll inform my husband...yes, thank you...'
'...pregnant...beastwomen?' Soran's eyes were wide, while studying italian with his sister.
'Looks like her career as doctor and pharmacist is booked solid.' said Reborn, amused but with respect. Soren would have been Vongola Decima, if NOT for the Gate randomly kidnapping people around the world and other worlds. But now, Soran is Decimo and she can safely be useful elsewhere without having to deal with countless sexist assholes who weren't worth their seats. The JSDF praised Soren as a family jewel worth 613000 dollars lost to the family if not for sheer dumb luck, that worlds reconnected. 'At least with such a path, should shit happen, your sister will look after you guys.'
Said sister is also very powerful flame user, close-combat specialist and because of an otaku's reference, they were all forced to watch Fate Stay/Night and Fate Apocrypha as Lt. Itami compared the prowess Lelei described to Servants of the show. With a little Kenja no Mago thrown in, by the way to have an idea. But the question was, would she keep her magic should she give up the other world forever for good, thus losing her connection there?
If so, her fighting power would be halved. Or left to 1/4, but surely she's prepared if that were to be the case? Judging by Lelei's tales, she was super-reliable.
'Assuming she even becomes a you-know-what.' Mizora drawled. 'She now has Japanese Government Protection as she is valuable, worth more than being 'that'. She'll bring home medicinal species for our world's benefit and she'll work as scientist for the government!'
'Her life won't be that easy either as she'll be a target of foreign countries, so she really has to be strong and sharp.' Reborn reminded the twins who gulped as suddenly, being mafioso seems tame to what their sister is out for...in the end, they get the lesser evil?!
This is messed up!
xxx
Italica...
It was a mess, to say the least.
How it began?
It started out as a peaceful trip.
Rory and Tuka were talking about something.
They were talking relatively fast in their own language, so Itami and the others couldn't understand. However, they could still tell that Rory was teasing Tuka. In the end, Tuka kept quiet with puffed cheeks. Rory had a mischievous smile as she looked at Kurokawa. Itami was wondering what she wanted to say when Tuka's face and long ears blushed red.
There was clearly something out of place.
Rory laughed heartily, enjoying how Tuka was panicking. Lelei said that Rory was 'Very, very old', but to see Tuka who was 165 years old being treated like a child was odd by a goth loli who Lelei claims to be 'very old'...
'Commander Itami, smoke ahead, to the right.' Kurata who was driving pointed to the front right.
The exact same report was received via radio, the vehicle ahead also noticed the same thing.
Itami observed the origin of the smoke with binoculars, but couldn't confirm anything as it was quite some distance away. Itami stopped the convoy and asked Kurata, 'Hey, will this road lead somewhere near the source of that smoke?'
'The road is heading right towards it.'
'Damn. This is the second time that smoke has appeared right in front of us. I have a bad feeling about this.'
Itami then asked Kuwahara for his opinion.
Referencing the map, Kuwahara found the city labelled as Italica near the source of the smoke. This convoy heading for Tipilica was moving towards Italica.
Itami handed the binoculars to Lelei and asked for her opinion.
Lelei held it backwards, but changed it after realizing her mistake immediately.
'That is smoke.'
Lelei said in Japanese.
'The reason for the smoke?'
The smart Lelei understood Itami's question immediately.
'Farmland, burn, no smoke. Season, wrong. Caused by man. Flier? But too big.'
'Not 'flier', it's fire.'
After correcting the mistake, Itami issued his orders.
'Watch our surroundings carefully, we are approaching the city. Keep an eye on the sky. We better not see a dragon again or we're screwed!'
'Don't jinx us!'
Kuwahara and Kurokawa picked up their rifles, covering the left and right respectively. Tuka joined Kurokawa and Lelei helped Kuwahara in observing the surroundings. The convoy moved off once again.
Rory squeezed between Itami and Kurata as she mumbled 'Fresh blood~' with a lusty smile.
On the first hour past Alnus, Lelei told them about where they're going.
Italica city was founded two hundred years ago by gathering the merchants in the region to construct a fortress city.
Politically speaking, this place was the cross road of the Dressia and Appian highways, and developed as a border city between the nations. But with the expansion of the Empire's borders, its political importance had declined significantly, and it was just a mid sized local market now. It doesn't have any local specialties, but the crops, livestock and handmade products such as cloth would be sent to the capital, so it served as a collection base.
Right now, this was the territory of the Empire's noble family, the clan of Count Formal.
Colt, the head of clan Formal had three daughters, Elle, Loui, and Myui. Aside from the youngest Myui, the other two had been married off to other clans. Colt was planning to find someone to marry into the clan after his youngest grew up to take over the family estate as designated heiress.
Myui was still single, and after Colt and his wife died because of an accident, misfortune started to befall the city.
The eldest daughter Elle and the second daughter Loui married into the Count Roen clan and the Count Missna clan respectively, so Myui had the right of succession over them. This was the law of the Empire and there were no grounds for them to dispute. However, the youngest Myui was only eleven, so whoever became her guardian...would become the de facto leader. And so, the power struggle began.
The talks between the two elder sisters started as a calm discussion and turned into ugly quarrels, pulling each others' hair in scuffles, and even went so far as involving their husbands. The soldiers of Count Roen and Count Missna fought a small scale war as a result.
But their fight did not escalate further. They had limited forces after all, and the husbands weren't blind with rage like their wives were.
The security within the territory was maintained by the vassals of Count Formal and the soldiers of Count Roen and Count Missna, so there wasn't any threat to the livelihood of the merchants and residents. The value of Italica lay with its trade, there would be nothing to gain if it was laid to waste.
And so, the situation became a stalemate.
The dispute of the sisters shifted into the courts of the capital, and Myui's guardian would soon be decided by the deliberation of the Emperor.
However, the situation worsened after the empire's campaign against the other world.
The heads of the Roen and Missna clans died in battle. Elle and Loui couldn't spare the effort to take care of the Formal territory anymore and withdrew their forces, leaving Myui with the vassals of Count Formal.
The young Myui couldn't control her vassals and the running of the territory became ineffective from neglect. There weren't many loyal vassals left, but there were plenty who had ulterior motives. Before she realized it, corruption and injustice were running rampant. Soren who had heard of the chaos from mainland took Birika the Medusa with her, and acted as assassins, making Birika hunt for her while Soren does the killing as Birika was no fighter to help Countess Formal out. However, as she needs occasional Life Energy to suck away, she allows Birika to feed before Soren slits throats.
Loose bands of soldiers turned to banditry and started attacking caravans, grinding trade to a halt and stagnating the movement of resources. Soren killed them all too that because of her, trouble steered clear for now. While peace reigned, Princess Pina Co Lada was able to muster up a good force, so Soren can go back to her original job in the mountains, unaware that Birika delivered a report meant ONLY for Countess Formal as the Formal Family is still in a weak position that Pina cannot know family secrets.
But two months later...
Bandits and trolls formed a group together and numbered in the hundreds. Finally, Italica city itself was attacked.
xxx
Standing over the city gate, Pina loosed a few arrows at the retreating bandits and took a deep breath.
Wounded soldiers staggered around or collapsed from blood loss. Arrows were shot into the stone walls and the surrounding area was a mess. She spotted several citizens holding farm tools and sticks with a glance.
Outside the wall, the corpses of bandits and carcasses of horses were scattered all over the ground.
'Norma! Hamilton! Are you alright?'
Inside the broken gate, Norma was defending a barricade. He supported his body by putting his weight on a sword, his shoulders rising up and down as he panted. He lifted a hand to signal that he was well, but his armor was covered with arrows and signs of being hit by a sword.
His surroundings showed evidence of an intense battle, with bodies from the attacking bandits and defending soldiers everywhere.
As for Hamilton, she was already sitting on the ground.
Her legs were straightened with her palms supporting her body, barely keeping herself from keeling over. Her grip on her sword was loose.
'Anyway, hah hah, I am, hah hah, alive.'
'What about me, princess? How cold!'
'Grey! Of course you will be fine, that's why I didn't ask.'
'Should I be happy? Or sad?'
Grey, a man who looked about forty with a stout build, showed no hint of fatigue as he rested his sword on his shoulders.
There wasn't any blood on him. If there wasn't any blood on his sword, he had probably been hiding somewhere, which would explain why he still looked so energetic. He was the Knight Grey Co Aldo, a veteran of the battlefield who rose through the ranks.
In Pina's knight order, most of the knights were nobles. Since the knight order didn't have any real battle experience, such veterans were the real core of the unit.
The path to knighthood was narrow for soldiers. However, they would be treated like normal officers after they made it through.
Hamilton said with a complaining tone, 'Princess, why are we fighting with marauders here?'
It was a bit rude, but she had to say it out loud.
'It can't be helped! I thought the army from the other world would attack Italica! Don't you all agree?'
After completing her investigation of the areas around Alnus, Pina heard some news as she was planning to infiltrate Alnus Hill.
'A large armed group appeared in Count Formal's territory, and is planning to attack Italica.'
After hearing this news, Pina thought the army from the other world had finally started their invasion. 'Are they sending out forces to suppress the surrounding territories before laying siege to the imperial capital?', she thought.
She had to take countermeasures then. For Pina, instead of meaningless reconnaissance, an elegant battle suited her better. She pulled out of Alnus, ordered her knights to head for Italica, while she and her group rushed there in advance.
No matter what kind of battle it was, not knowing the scale and battle potential of the enemy would be useless. If the enemy forces were limited, she would defend Italica and attack with a pincer attack with her knights that would arrive later.
However, she soon realized the ones attacking Italica were a marauding band. Most of the members were remnants of the former Coalition Army.
In contrast, the head of clan Formal in charge of the city's defenses was just eleven.
She couldn't command in battle, and morale was at its lowest.
Pina was disheartened, but she couldn't stand idle and watch the bandits ravage the city. So she forcefully took over command of the Countess' soldiers in defense of Italica.
'If we can hold for three days, my knights will be here.'
To be honest, they might arrive even later than that.
But the citizens and the countess' troops believed in Pina and fought with all they had. The enemy might be the remnants of a defeated army, but they were former soldiers and proficient in attacking fortresses.
The city didn't fall, but the gate that was supposed to be solid was destroyed, granting the enemy entry. With the help of the citizens and militia fighting with their farm tools, they survived the first day, but it felt like a defeat.
They had lost too much.
The small number of troops decreased, and the courageous ones of the militia fell in battle. What remained were casualties and exhausted soldiers. Just one day was enough to plummet the morale of the soldiers and citizens to rock bottom. Piña couldn't think of anything to raise their spirits.
That was how her first battle ended.
"Sigh, I wonder if I can call Soren again?" she thought tiredly.
Soren handled the mess left behind when the coalition forces lost against the invaders from the other world. Much of Countess Formal's vessels were there while those left behind, weren't worth keeping! When trouble began, Countess Myui called Soren for help, and Soren took the assigned maid with her and undertook 'dirty work'. Efficient but it goes against Pina's codes, but stuff had to be done or public morale and safety will worsen as the 'right way', will take time and time is what they don't have!
But she's handling pregnancy sicknesses right now from the weekly reports! This is the worst timing possible~!
She had gone back to the mansion, tired and weary. The maids of Clan Formal are handing out cooked food in the form of vegetable and egg soups. Light, but nourishing when normally, food for conflicts like this were less wholesome.
It was a recipe taught by Soren.
'In war conflicts, light meals are important for fatigued people indeed, but take nutrition into account for recovery too.' she taught them after assassinating the troublesome deadweights. 'Beans and eggs in soup in place of meat. Diced vegetables to be easy to swallow and spices for medicinal benefits, not just for flavor. Soup is also crucial as all fighting will cause dehydration. We eat and drink at the same time with soup. Porridge is too heavy and sweet, unappealing for a fatigued person that even if you want to eat it, you can't actually stomach it but forced to.'
So yeah, this was a lot better. The large cauldrons of soups handed out were a great relief to the hungry folk, as well as a thick slice of rye bread. That was already a light, but complete meal and a drink.
'Phew...'
'This is the best war ration we ever had since training days!' Hamilton comically sobbed over her soup. 'Light, but delicious!'
'This feels a lot better actually!' Grey agreed, delighted. 'Master Soren knows her ideas indeed! This is easier to swallow!'
'I'd like this for breakfast in the morning!' Norma sighed in bliss.
'For now, even if we want to rest, we can't after a meal.' said Pina. 'We have to rebuild what we can, resharpen our weapons and gather usable arrows from outside. I'll return to the mansion and see if we can call Soren over again before the worst comes. What we lack, are mages! A formidable force our enemy sadly has! We need to even our odds.' and she left for the mansion to send a summons using a draconian maid.