Volume 1 Chapter 43 The Battle of Strock Village, Part ①
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Johann, the Chief of Mauer Village, shifted his massive frame as he pored over the tax records. It was December—the month of the Twelve Months of Tax¹—and the weight of the coming winter felt as heavy as the ledgers on his desk.
”Wait, what does a rock salt merchant want with me at this hour?” Johann asked.
His second son, Keirich, had just entered to announce a visitor. While they did business with salt merchants occasionally, it was unheard of for them to drop by during the chaos of the Monthly Market and tax prep.
”He says he’s carrying an urgent message from the Governor himself,” Keirich replied.
It sounded like a tall tale, but Johann knew better than to ignore the name of the Governor of Obernbach. The city was a Viscounty, governed by the Viscount’s men, but because it sat on a major trade route, the Royal Government kept a tight grip on it.
The Governor was a direct appointee from the capital. Normally, a village chief like Johann answered to the Viscount. A direct letter from the Governor usually meant something mundane, like festival logistics.
(Urgent? That makes no sense…)
Johann thought as he made his way to the reception room, a space he had intentionally decorated to overawe anyone who stepped inside.
”I am Hardy Getys Feller, of the Feller Trading Company,” the man said, bowing low.
Johann recognized the name. He’d seen the Feller carriages around, and the man had even come by once for a formal greeting, though Johann had dismissed him as just another merchant at the time.
”It’s been a while,” Johann grunted.
”Forgive my intrusion, but time is of the essence. Please, read this,” Hardy said.
The young merchant knelt and presented a letter. The wax seal bore the unmistakable crest of the Governor of Obernbach. Johann cracked it open, his eyes scanning the lines.
To Mauer Village Chief, Johann Rosen-dono,
This letter comes after a direct consultation with the Chief of Obernbach. We have received intelligence from the Royal Army: ten thousand soldiers from the Kiridal Invasion² are marching on the city.
They are expected to arrive within forty-eight hours. The command has decided to lock down the city for a siege until reinforcements arrive. During this time, the enemy will inevitably raid the surrounding countryside for supplies. You must evacuate Mauer Village immediately. Take your grain and leave. The King’s army will restore order in time, but for now, you must be prepared to abandon your homes. Forgive the lack of formal protocol; the situation is dire.
— Michel von Gross, Governor of Obernbach
The room seemed to tilt. (Abandon the village? They say it as if it were as simple as moving a chess piece…)
”Village Chief,” Hardy said, clearly sensing the old man’s shock. He likely knew exactly what the letter contained. “We’re heading for Strock Village next, but I have another dispatch for Heberich Village in the opposite direction. Could you see it delivered?”
Johann took the second letter, his hands trembling. “Is someone there!?” he roared. A maid scrambled into the room. “Fetch the head servant! Now!”
He turned back to his son. “Keirich, convene the Elders’ Council. And tell every head of household to get here immediately.”
”Everyone, Father?”
”Every single one! Move! We’re out of time!” Johann yelled. Keirich didn’t argue. He saw the look in his father’s eyes and bolted. (If only my eldest were here…) Johann thought bitterly. But his firstborn was away at the academy in the Royal Capital, safe from the coming storm.
”We’ll be taking our leave then,” Hardy said.
”Wait,” Johann stopped him. “Sell me your carriage.”
Hardy blinked. He looked to be in his late twenties, sharp and composed. “A carriage, sir?”
”I’ll give you fifty gold coins for it. Right now,” Johann said.
”You don’t even want to look at it first?”
”I don’t have time to kick the tires. Yes or no?” Johann pulled the heavy coin purse from his safe and slammed it onto the table. Hardy looked at the coins, then at the old man, a flicker of genuine respect in his eyes.
”Two horses and the freight wagon. Fifty gold it is,” Hardy said.
”Good. Park it in the courtyard.”
”You’re a rare breed, Chief. For what it’s worth, my father-in-law is doing the same. He thinks Obernbach will hold, but he’s sending half the household away just in case. I’m taking my family, our senior servants, and the blacksmith’s kin from Strock Village.”
”The Dwarf, Groupa-san’s boy?” Johann asked.
”That’s the one. My name is Hardy Getys Feller… maybe you heard about Denis Getys? The man who died at Linto alongside the Strock Village Chief? He was my brother. I should have gone back to lead the house, but I’ve already married into the Fellers. My sister-in-law, Monica-san… well, she’s a hell-cat. She’ll hold the family together.” Hardy gave a wry smile.
The head servant burst in then, kneeling on the floor.
”Take this to Heberich Village,” Johann commanded, thrusting the letter at him. “Tell the Chief I need an elder here by nightfall. Run!”
As the servant vanished, a new figure stumbled into the house. It was Clemens, one of the men who had recently returned from the front lines. He was gasping for air, his face pale with terror. “They killed Yan! Mercenaries! They butchered him and dragged his wife and daughter off into the woods!”
Hardy didn’t say a word, but his eyes narrowed before he slipped out the door.
”Where are the others?” Johann demanded.
”Getz and Roberto are tracking them,” Clemens wheezed.
Johann bit back a curse. (Tracking them? They’re going to get themselves killed…)
The Elders’ Council was a disaster. Initially, they planned to split the refugees between Strock and Heberich, but that hope was snuffed out when the elder from Heberich, Konrad Linde, arrived only to slam the door in their faces.
Konrad was nursing a NIMBY Grudge³; Mauer Village had been charging Heberich a transit tax for years because their heavy wagons tore up the river road. Now, Konrad was getting his revenge. He claimed they lacked the “capacity,” but it was pure spite.
So, Strock Village was their only hope. Johann didn’t even have permission, but if they were turned away there, they’d keep walking until they hit Seiren Village. The evacuation was a nightmare.
Johann told them to pack grain and gold, but people were trying to load their entire lives onto broken-down carts. One idiot overloaded his wagon so badly the axle snapped before he even cleared his driveway. It was nearly dusk by the time the first group, led by Keirich, finally cleared the village gates.
That was when Getz and Roberto finally came back. They were alone. No Yan’s wife, no daughter. But they were alive.
”They’re at the Dog’s Spring⁴,” Roberto said, his voice tight. “A whole company of them. They’re waiting for the rest of their unit before they hit the village.”
The Dog’s Spring sat in the heart of the woods between the village and the city. “There’s at least a hundred of them,” Getz added. “Cavalry, too.”
”They’re coming here next?” Mar asked as he joined the group.
”Probably,” Getz snapped. “Some of them were bragging about getting first dibs on the ‘loot’ before the main army shows up.”
”We need scouts at the treeline—” Johann’s order was cut off by a piercing scream from the edge of the village.
A family trying to flee with an ox-cart had been intercepted. The father and son lay in the dirt, throats slit. A group of mercenaries was already busy binding the women.
”Look at the tail on this one,” one of the thugs barked with a thick, backwoods drawl. “I’m gonna have me a real good time tonight, I tell ya. Don’t worry, darlin’, I’ll be real gentle with ya.”
The villagers watched from a distance, paralyzed by the sight of the heavy crossbows in the mercenaries’ hands.
”Shit,” Roberto whispered. “Those bolts’ll go right through us.”
Mar and a few others grabbed heavy wooden door panels, bracing them as makeshift shields as they tried to close the gap.
”The hell you think you’re doing, peasants?” the mercenary leader mocked. He didn’t even aim. He just pulled the trigger. Thwack. The bolt punched through the thick oak of the door panel as if it were parchment, burying itself in Roberto’s shoulder. The group scrambled back, dragging the wounded man behind them. The mercenaries laughed, turning back to their prizes.
Then came a sharp whistle.
The mercenary holding the crossbow jerked, a feathered shaft suddenly protruding from his eye socket. He hit the dirt without a sound. His companions didn’t even notice at first—not until the second horseman slumped over, a hole punched clean through his skull.
A stone the size of a man’s fist hurtled through the air, smashing into the dirt in the center of the group with a thunderous crack. As the mercenaries scrambled in confusion, another arrow hissed through the air, dropping a third man.
”Where are they!? Show yourselves, you cowards!” the leader screamed.
An arrow answered him, pinning his throat to the cart behind him. Mar didn’t wait. He dropped his shield and sprinted toward the first downed mercenary, snatching up the dropped crossbow.
Another stone fell from the sky, scattering the remaining thugs. Mar ducked a clumsy swing and buried a boot into a mercenary’s gut. The man doubled over, and Mar cracked him across the head with the butt of the crossbow.
The mercenaries, realizing they were being hunted by something they couldn’t see, finally lost their nerve. They grabbed what they could and bolted back toward the woods. The villagers, finally finding their courage, pelted them with stones until they disappeared into the trees.
”Captain Bours! Ed!” Mar called out as two figures emerged from the shadows of a nearby granary. There was no time for a reunion. “There’s a hundred more of them in the woods,” Mar said.
They huddled together, mapping out a desperate plan. By the time the first light of dawn touched the eaves of the houses, Mauer Village was a ghost town. The last of the refugees had vanished toward Strock Village. The only sound left in the morning air was the lonely mewing of a cat, wandering the empty streets in search of a master who wasn’t coming back.
The real fight was waiting at Strock Village. West of the Danube, people didn’t build walls. They hadn’t seen a real war in centuries. Strock was wide open. But as Bours and Ed raced to catch up, they knew that Celt was already there, turning every rake and every scrap of timber into a defense.
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Summary:
Johann initiates a village-wide evacuation after receiving a dire warning about an approaching army of ten thousand soldiers. Mercenary scouts attack the fleeing villagers, resulting in a skirmish where the veterans demonstrate their combat prowess. The survivors retreat toward Strock Village as the enemy continues to congregate in the nearby woods
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Trivia:
- The specific transit tax dispute between Mauer and Heberich
- Hardy’s relation to the fallen Denis Getys
- The historical lack of fortification in the Danube west region
- The blacksmith’s son being a Dwarf, suggesting mixed-race village demographic
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Character Insight:
Johann shifts from a bureaucrat focused on taxes to a decisive military-adjacent leader. Mar displays unexpected tactical agility, likely from his recent campaign experience.
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Glossary:
Notes:
• Johann – Chief of Mauer Village, a massive-framed man and Larry’s father, bears the weight of leadership and tax season. Stern and pragmatic, he enforces harsh military realities while protecting his people as war looms.
• Mauer – A stout man from the Rosen family with thin, downy white hair. He wears a beige dalmatica.
• Keirich – The second son of Johann. He assists his father with village administrative duties and acts as a messenger during the mobilization.
• Mar – A battle‑hardened veteran, clad in worn armor, uses door panels as shields and captures enemy crossbows; Larry’s comrade who teases him about his sister‑in‑law’s pampering, known as Martin to his companion Edmond.
• Feller – The Feller family name, representing a prominent trading company. Hardy married into this lineage.
• Getys – The Getys family name, shared by Hardy and his late brother Denis. The family has a history of combat and trade.
• Hardy – A young rock salt merchant of the Feller Trading Company. He is sharp, composed, and carries himself with a professional air that earns Johann’s respect.
• Rosen – The Rosen family name, carried by Johann. The lineage holds the position of leadership within Mauer Village.
• Michel – A First Lieutenant in the military and the son of Bours. He arrives with reinforcements after the primary battle has concluded and reveals he is expecting a child with a Golem Battalion commander.
• Monica – Sun‑tanned, tomboyish fifteen‑year‑old widow, childhood friend of Larry, missing a front tooth. She raises her twin children while caring for infant niece Maria, serving as her wet nurse. Bitter over Larry’s neglect, she shows how war’s danger reaches even non‑combat villagers.
• Denis – A yeoman farmer who was killed alongside Iffens.
• Clemens – A pale, terrified man recently returned from the front lines, he brings news of mercenary violence to the village. Recruited from Mauer Village, he appears nervous and trembles before authority such as Bours, speaks little, constantly worries about the Charlemagne Empire, and as the lone survivor bursts into tears when reuniting with his companions after battle.
• Roberto – A scar‑lined recruit, face marked by last night’s turmoil, sits beside Larry — a fellow trainee and spearman — in the grove, trembling yet celebrating their survival; as a nervous militia member wary of snipers, he bravely tracks mercenaries despite a crossbow wound.
• Getz – Rugged militiaman of Mauer Village, short unkempt hair, scar across left cheek, wears a worn leather jacket over a faded uniform; keeps distance but shares a quiet bond with Larry and respects Bours’ authority. Observant and tactical, he accompanies Roberto in tracking enemy forces, providing critical intelligence on mercenary movements. Scouts and gossips, he questions the army’s looting and rules—his confusion masks stubborn integrity. Though frustrated as a spearman, he stands firm, his quiet resolve rooted in loyalty to his village and its people.
• Konrad – Elder of Rudy’s village with some knowledge of history.
• Bours – Tall, scarred, in a faded Royal Army uniform, Sullen Bours is a former military academy master, senior to the royal family, and leader of the 303rd Militia on the Elders’ Council. A Western Front veteran who commanded cavalry and infantry during the Kiridal attack, defended Strock Village, and expertly saved Larry and Rudy. Married to Sheeta‑san, father of a son conscripted on the Imperial border, originally from Larry’s village; he leads with cold, pragmatic command and quiet grief.
• Ed – A lanky refugee youth in simple farmer’s garb, Larry’s close friend and soon-to-be conscript, now a militia member training spear-walls; he witnessed the initial skirmish at Mauer Village as part of the group seeking safety in Strock Village, was an associate of Captain Bours, and participated in the ambush of the mercenaries—fiercely protective of Larry, remembered for his quiet resolve to survive the battlefield.
• Celt – In his twenties, he now works as a yeoman and leads the Second Squad, overseeing Strock Village’s fortifications. Dressed in simple work clothes, he’s a calm, kind sandal‑maker and translator of Bours’s jargon, quietly admiring Teressa‑san’s skill. Once a militia squad leader in the 303rd Unit, he earned his land with reward money and remains the village’s trusted gossip source.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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