Chapter 525 Shinji Observes the Training
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After embracing Flair and Freri, Shinji exited the room and left the guest house. He then heads for the training ground where Kuroumaru and the others are training.
In order for Kuroumaru to become Tsubaki’s husband, he must take the credit. If Kuroumaru, a military officer, is to take credit, he must do so mostly through warfare.
(The trouble is that it is not enough to simply eliminate the competitors.)
The first thing that comes to Shinji’s mind is to eliminate the competitors, but after discussing this idea with Tsubaki, he has concluded that it is better not to do so.
Garoumaru is a capable man who is considered to be the most likely candidate for Tsubaki’s husband, and is also the head of his own faction. The fact that he has defeated the clones, albeit at a high cost, is proof of the quality of the forces that follow him.
He is a person whom Shinji would like to keep for Soukai Country if he fights against Tenshou Country, except that his character is not suitable to be Tsubaki’s husband. At least as long as the war with Tenshou Country continues, it would be a bad idea to eliminate Garoumaru.
If Garoumaru were eliminated, the group under his control would lose its leadership, and the prolonged chaos that would occur would give Tenshou Country an opportunity to take advantage of it. If the internal strife reduces the power of the country too much, the country will be at a disadvantage.
(If Tsubaki’s husband is confirmed as Kuroumaru, his character will revolt. If that happens, it will be a good reason to eliminate him, and until then, let’s not physically remove him.)
Shinji was not optimistic enough to believe that the man who wants to treat Tsubaki as his own would accept the future with Kuroumaru without a moment’s hesitation.
For this reason, Shinji has planted wiretap flowers here and there in Garoumaru’s area of activity, so that he can keep a watchful eye on Garoumaru to respond immediately to any disturbing activity. Even if he can’t be physically eliminated, Shinji is willing to do some manipulation if he can get some information that can damage his opponent’s reputation.
As Shinji walks along, thinking, the men’s voices become louder as he approaches the training ground. On a leveled ground, soldiers with mock battle spears made of cloth wrapped around wooden sticks resembling spears were beating each other with the mock spears in two groups.
(Is this the battle in this world?)
A platoon consists of 50 men, and the sight of 50-50 platoons fighting each other is completely unfamiliar to Shinji.
In a party of adventurers fighting against monsters, each member of the party has a role to play, and each plays his or her part well. But there is also a bond between the members of the party, who follow each other to ensure that no one is left out.
But in the battle that unfolds before him, the roles are played by the group, not the individual. The soldiers with imitation spears follow a single commander, and from a distance they fight in a way that is exhausting, from the wall of attackers in the front, to the attackers thrusting their spears from the second line, to the replacements filling in the missing positions.
It is obvious that a soldier who is hit by a fake spear and leaves the group is considered to have lost the battle. Looking at the number of soldiers leaving one after another, it was obvious that the healing magic would not be able to keep up with the number of soldiers in a real battle.
Meanwhile, the two platoons plunged into a final melee with only the commander and a few soldiers remaining. Every soldier was trying his best to protect his commander and defeat the other commander, and the way the soldiers stood as if they were using themselves as shields, even though they were in training, seemed foreign to Shinji.
(What can I say… this training explains why so many people die. Actually, they’re supposed to be real weapons, aren’t they? The crowd is so dense that there is no way to avoid them, and there is no healer in sight. Maybe they could be trampled by their comrades when they fall down?)
The training, which is difficult for Shinji to understand, ends when the commander on one side is surrounded by soldiers and held at arms length. After watching the training, his impression is that he should try to avoid direct involvement in the war.
(It seems that there will be more people on the battlefield, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I must stay away from dangerous places. First of all, let’s start with the places that are easy to get rid of.)
In order for Kuroumaru to take credit in the war, his corps must be strengthened, and Shinji had already come up with several areas that could be improved by his hands in the current training.
”Shinji-dono! Something wrong?”
Kuroumaru noticed Shinji who was observing the exercise and ran to him alone. Many of the soldiers under Kuroumaru’s command looked at Shinji, but Shinji did not hesitate to talk to Kuroumaru.
”Kuroumaru-san, thank you for your hard work. I’m sorry for coming on such short notice. I heard from the princess that you were in the middle of a training, and I thought I would show myself.”
”I see. Then please take your time. I’m sorry but you’ll have to wait until my platoon is next.”
Shinji watched Kuroumaru run off to his friends, and decided to continue watching the game. The battle of the platoon led by Kuroumaru was a spectacular one.
First of all, Kuroumaru is very skilled. He was the first to lead his men into the fray, and he handled his spear better than anyone else, cutting through the enemy line in no time at all.
At that point, the game is over, but the soldiers following him slightly behind push in further from the broken position, spreading the damage further. It was clear that Kuroumaru’s platoon was elite, clearly better trained than those who had been in the previous battle.
Shinji looks around at the other platoons waiting for their turn to participate in the training, and is impressed to see that they are all staring at Kuroumaru’s platoon with eager eyes, and that he is winning the hearts and minds of the soldiers. In no time at all, the game is won, and the victorious Kuroumaru returns to Shinji after giving his orders for the next training.
”Thanks for waiting. How was it? How was our training?”
”Well, don’t mind me, I’m the one who came on such short notice. Besides, I just came to see how you fight, so there’s nothing I can tell you. However, I have an opinion about the quality of the equipment, not the training itself.”
”Equipment, huh…? We’ll talk about it there.”
Shinji heads for the rest area with Kuroumaru, who instructs others to continue the training as planned even after he leaves. Shinji’s point was also Kuroumaru’s concern.
The soldiers’ equipment is supplied by the government and borrowed. Kuroumaru, a military officer, uses his salary to buy good quality weapons, but the soldiers recruited by recruitment are former peasants who cannot afford to buy them on their own.
Kuroumaru, a former commoner, does not have enough money to distribute arms to all of his men, but Garoumaru, who was born into one of the most prominent merchant families in the castle town, uses his own money to buy good quality arms for his men. This was not all, but the difference in equipment was certainly one of the reasons why Kuroumaru was lagging behind Garoumaru.
(I guess this is what they mean when they say to “be saved by an unexpected solution”)
Shinji listens to Kuroumaru’s bitter words and chuckles inwardly. Shinji, who had originally intended to sell the armor and was thinking about how to lead Kuroumaru to it, opens his mouth with a gentle smile on his face.
”Kuroumaru-san, if you would like to try the weapons of my country. I think I can provide you with a better armor than the one you are using now.”
”…I would like to hear more about it.”
It is no surprise that Kuroumaru, who has seen the equipment owned by Shinji and the others before, is immediately interested. In his mind, he actually saw what Shinji and the others were wearing when they met in the abandoned village.
In order to gain further “loan”, Shinji makes a move on Kuroumaru.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.