Episode 60
“The prince has come?”
“First Prince Ash has…!?”
The nobles gathered in the Roden Territory wore faces stained with shock.
For them, there had been no “hope.”
Because they had been considering “surrender” from now on.
But if Prince Ash were here, it was still worth trying.
Moreover, to have survived a military camp swept by the plague known as Worm Pest?!
It was practically a miracle of the gods.
The nobles began wracking their brains over how to use his tale of adventure.
“Can we gather more soldiers?”
“If we pillage other territories or forcibly conscript the surrounding refugees, we can obtain not only troops but also military funds…!”
They sought a way to achieve “victory.” But it was still insufficient. He was a prince in appearance only, unable to be the one who would bring victory.
“How did His Highness arrive?”
At a noble’s question, the soldier who had just reported wore a bewildered expression.
“He came with a strange group.”
“A strange group? Soldiers?”
Had they been soldiers, he would not have called them a “strange group.”
“They are… strange freaks….”
The soldier trailed off.
“Freaks?”
The nobles tilted their heads.
The nobles, guided by the soldier, headed up to the territory’s castle gate.
The refugee group including Prince Ash was before the gates of Roden Territory, and the nobles looked down upon them from above the gate.
The nobles held a faint hope of what kind of group Ash had brought, but that gaze soon turned to disappointment.
In their eyes, they were literally “freaks.”
Leaving aside the refugee group stained with exhaustion, who were those wearing black armor and strange beast-bone helmets?
“Not only did he lose over a thousand troops, but to bring such unidentified beings…!”
“And look at that! Are they not refugees? I doubt they could even properly hold a single spear.”
“One proper soldier is worth more than ten such useless refugees…!”
They clicked their tongues and shook their heads.
“And His Highness has a request.”
“A request?”
The soldier nodded.
“He asked us to prepare a banquet.”
“A banquet?”
At a time like this?
As if supplies weren’t already scarce, a banquet…!
“Still… don’t they look somewhat useful?”
At one noble’s words, the nobles on the castle walls looked at the Berserk warriors.
To them, the Berserk warriors not only had a fearsome appearance but also looked like they possessed a certain degree of skill.
“Could they be mercenaries?”
“Well, who knows. They might be somewhat useful. For now, it’s the Prince’s order… prepare a banquet! But make it very small and frugal!”
***
The gates opened.
Soldiers lined up and territory residents gathered around them.
The residents cheered Ash’s name, rejoicing at the prince’s return.
“Long live the First Prince!”
“Glory to Eastern Ronia—!”
The residents stretched their hands through the soldiers lined up as if drawing a boundary, sending cheers to the prince.
Ironically, unlike the bright and festive atmosphere, the residents’ faces were awkward and heavy.
Loki closed his eyes and listened intently.
Very small voices flowed out from within the residents’ cheers.
“Damn it, when the hell is this war going to end….”
“I thought the war was over when they said the cursed prince had died!”
“…Now we’ll be used as shields.”
“They took all our food and money, and now they tell us to cheer? We have to cheer for the bastards who starved us… crazy bastards!”
“…….”
The residents were only following because they were “told to.”
It must have been a measure by the nobles of Eastern Ronia.
“The public sentiment here is rather poor too.”
“I see it the same way.”
Aum smiled in agreement.
“But this is a good thing. It means the First Prince never had popular support to begin with.”
Their procession entered the castle.
The refugees were guided elsewhere by Ash’s order, and the Berserk warrior troop including Loki’s party was guided to the banquet hall.
Ash hurried his steps.
His face was dirty and steeped in fatigue, but it contained joy.
He moved his feet without even dressing up to meet the nobles, but the nobles were one step faster.
They managed their expressions upon seeing Ash.
With highly elated faces, they spread their hands and praised the prince.
“Ohh! You’re alive! Your Highness!”
“How gallant you look! You must have gone through much hardship!”
“We heard you encountered the plague! But… what happened to the soldiers?”
The nobles asked the most important requirement.
Namely, troops.
In the thousand-strong army under Ash’s command, not only the prince but also central nobles of the Eastern Ronia battle line had been positioned.
If even a few nobles had survived, it would have helped in gathering troops.
Ash’s face hardened at the nobles’ question.
The nobles who noticed this narrowed their eyes.
“…They were annihilated.”
“…I see. Still, thank goodness Your Highness is safe!”
“It must be thanks to the blessing of the Holy Seat Azellan! Now that Your Highness has returned, we must prepare for a counterattack!”
Though they spoke thus, their inner thoughts were all different.
“…He forcibly took the troops and even took central nobles… annihilated? Trash-like bastard.”
“If it were another noble, we’d hold him responsible, but we can’t hold a prince responsible at a time like this.”
“This is maddening.”
The nobles shook their heads inwardly. But they opened their mouths with a mind to grab even at straws.
“By the way, it seems you came with others… who are they…?”
“Could they be your direct troops?”
“…Direct troops?”
He asked with a nonsensical thought that perhaps there might be replacement forces among the refugees.
The nobles tried hard to hold expectations, but they only became more confused by Ash’s following words.
“Such is not the case.”
‘As expected.’
‘I was a fool to believe in the First Prince. I should have sided with the Second Prince instead….’
They sighed.
Even in the prince’s presence, they didn’t bother hiding it.
“H-however, I have brought good people! Those with mighty strength!”
“…Mighty strength?”
The nobles recalled the strange group that had accompanied Ash.
“Them?”
“Who are they?”
Ash smiled and said.
“They are our hope!”
“Hope?”
“Them?”
“…He’s finally lost his mind.”
Someone secretly muttered under his breath.
Ash flinched and tried to find that voice, but all he could find were the nobles’ smiles.
Exaggerated smiles with stiff faces.
“I see! Who are they?”
“Huh? Ah, well….”
Ash looked at the nobles with a bewildered face.
It was a “formal” question with a smile but without any expectation.
As if they acknowledged his position, but that was all.
They were people who did not value human worth highly but judged only by status.
Ash closed his mouth. And smiled faintly, opening his mouth with difficulty.
“They’re… uh….”
An appearance that had lost confidence.
The anxiety that perhaps he might be shunned even by them pressed down on Ash.
“…Th-the Nod tribe.”
“The Nod… tribe?”
“…Roughly about a hundred. Are they all horses?”
Ash nodded without confidence.
Then the nobles’ faces brightened.
“The Nod tribe!”
“Did you say that warrior tribe?”
“Ha! It’s hard to see Nod these days… to appear suddenly in such a group!”
“I’ve heard. One Nod can take on two well-trained knights, yes?”
“Then it’s an incredible force!”
Ash’s face brightened at the nobles’ hopeful voices.
“Y-yes! Moreover, their skills are different from ordinary Nod! They are from something called New Asgard….”
“Then we must recruit them.”
“I see. Are they for hire?”
“How much money must we pay?”
“If they’re a group, there must be a commander among them.”
“Then we just need to recruit him. Give him money, status, and so on appropriately.”
At some point, the nobles were busy talking amongst themselves, leaving Ash behind.
Above all, the direction of the conversation was gradually flowing in a strange direction.
Ash cautiously interrupted the conversation with a strange sense of unease.
“…W-wait!”
“……?”
When everyone looked at Ash, he didn’t know how to explain them.
Their terrifying power, the unidentified nation that has them as its people.
Their martial might was something Ash had seen himself, but the country behind them was something he had never seen and could not know.
Could he explain it with his own mouth?
No, even if he explained, would they believe him?
They would not.
“Then….”
“F-for now, how about meeting them? Let’s decide after meeting them.”
He had no choice but to make them meet face-to-face and see for themselves.
At Ash’s words, the nobles looked at each other and nodded.
“I see.”
“If we act too hastily, things could go wrong even more….”
Ash let out a sigh of relief.
“Then… let us go to the banquet hall.”
“Yes, we shall. But before that….”
“……?”
The nobles pointed at Ash’s attire with their fingers.
“It would be better to tidy up a bit.”
“…I suppose so.”
Ash nodded heavily, turned around, and walked away.
There was no crowd following behind such a prince.
They merely sent ridicule at the prince’s appearance.
Not only the nobles, but even maids and servants did not attend to him.
This was what a prince who was not acknowledged… looked like.
***
“I expected much, hearing it was a banquet….”
“What is this? What…?”
The Berserk warrior troop that had entered the castle arrived at the banquet hall.
But for a banquet, there were simple foods placed on a large table.
And as for alcohol, there was nothing but cheap beer sold at an inn.
That was all.
Even a low-ranking noble’s child would have extravagant decorations, fine food, dancers, musicians, and poets as basics, but this now was merely supplies dressed up as cooking. It was far too lacking to be called a “banquet.”
The Berserk warrior troop smacked their lips and removed their helmets one by one.
“Don’t complain so much.”
At Aum’s words, the Berserk warrior troop looked at him.
“Of course, compared to the food I make, these are trash….”
‘…Isn’t it the opposite?’
The Berserk warrior troop all thought the same but couldn’t bring themselves to say it.
“Still, they prepared it with effort, didn’t they? Enjoy it to your heart’s content. Or shall I cook? I brought some ingredients….”
“…We shall enjoy this banquet.”
‘…That’s what he said, but….’
The Berserk warrior troop stealthily glanced at Loki.
The healer, Hoon.
The power-holder next to the Holy Seat.
And unofficially, a human referred to as the King of Nod among the elders.
…That was the perception the Berserk warrior troop held.
Could they so freely show behavior before such a person?
No, before that, it was questionable whether it was acceptable to feed His Majesty such miserable food.
While the Berserk warriors were distressed, Loki reached out and picked up the food.
Though there were things one could grab and eat with bare hands, most were foods made to be eaten with knife and fork.
There was no need to speak of the sauce-covered steak in particular.
Loki grabbed the steak with his bare hand and lifted it.
He put the steak into his mouth.
One bite, two bites, three bites, he tore off huge mouthfuls ravenously, chewing vigorously and swallowing.
He even licked the sauce off his fingers clean with his tongue.
“Mm, it’s edible. But it’s greasy. As expected, I like spicy food.”
He had no dignity.
For a power-holder of a nation, one could say his eating appearance was ordinary.
But seeing that appearance, the Berserk warrior troop’s hearts felt much lighter.
Though he didn’t say it directly, they could pick up on the meaning to enjoy themselves with light hearts.
“Then….”
“Let’s eat!”
“Let’s drink!”
“Cheers!”
Everyone clinked their glasses.