episode_0118

Preparing for war (4)

When Eliza and Lichtenauer began harassing the knights, Juno also came to the soldiers’ training camp and inspected their condition.

Unlike the knights, who were completely undisciplined, the soldiers gathered at the parade ground under the command of the Cheonjangjang, probably anticipating Yuno’s arrival, were all lined up in an orderly manner, and their uniforms were also quite well organized.

“How do you feel? Military training is fully prepared”

Viscount Leverkin spoke while looking at Juno with a confident face, but only an unknown smile was on Juno’s face.

“Hmm…. It’s perfect, right? Then, can I try some tests?”

“Yes! of course. We have trained our soldiers so that they can create any formation in an instant”

“Good. Then, let’s go to the training ground where the soldiers were training. Guide me. He told all the soldiers to follow him”

When we went to the training ground next to the parade ground where the soldiers were gathered, we saw a large plain where 20,000 soldiers could train at once.

“Whew~ That’s amazing? If there was a place like this, I could train on a much larger scale than I thought”

“You can order as much as you want. Because it is a wasteland where it is difficult to grow crops, the terrain is large enough to accommodate 50,000 people for training”

“Good! Then let’s get started right away! Sister, please cast a loudspeaker spell”

“Okay!”

“Ah, I will deliver it to all units. My name is Juno Alexander Windrage von Balkan, and I am assuming the position of commander-in-chief of this army as of today”

It seemed as if the soldiers had already heard the news and showed no particular reaction to the high-ranking person’s visit.

“I heard that Viscount Leverkin next to here trained you guys pretty hard. Because I trust Viscount Toys, I believe that you guys will be able to handle formations and military techniques similar to the imperial army to some extent”

The soldiers, who had been concerned that the young royal family member would come in as commander-in-chief and bother them by giving various orders, sighed and looked relieved.

“But are you guys confident?”

At Yuno’s unexpected question, the 20,000 soldiers simultaneously looked puzzled.

“Are you confident that you can survive against the imperial army that will soon arrive here?”

It was an army made up of private soldiers brought in by nobles from the eastern region, and because they occasionally had the opportunity to see the imperial army fighting against the Kingdom of Leon on the eastern front, they knew well how strong the imperial army was.

Therefore, the soldiers sighed in response to Yuno’s question emphasizing that the opponent was the imperial army.

“I…Your Highness!! You’ve already killed my morale like that…”

Viscount Leverkin next to him tried to dissuade him, but Juno ignored him and continued his speech.

“Of course, you guys have trained a lot so far and have raised your level to a certain level. But the army I lead, the army led by this Yuno! You must not be at a similar level to the enemy. It has to be at a much stronger level! I hereby give orders as Commander-in-Chief! Survive until the end without leaving even a single one of you!! Do you understand!!”

“Yes! Okay!!”

As Iman’s soldier’s shout resounded across the plain, a satisfied smile appeared on Yuno’s face.

“Good! Of course, I don’t think you will become stronger simply by telling me to survive. Commander Bon will not spare any help to strengthen you! Disarm all troops and place them on the ground!”

Although they were taken aback by Yuno’s sudden order to disarm, they obediently disarmed because it was the commander-in-chief’s order.

“I start running now. Running will circle this plain, and the distance covered will be measured in meters in your head”

As instructed by Yuno, Isabella cast distance measurement magic on all troops in advance.

Because it was a very low level basic magic, even though the magic was cast on all 20,000 troops, Isabella still looked fine.

“Commander! So, how far can I run?”

“I decide that! All you have to do is run until I tell you to stop! step! If a soldier in the back is overtaken by a soldier in the forefront, that soldier will immediately end the run and be discarded”

“If I… am a laggard… can I just drop out of the ranks and desert?”

Yuno brought despair to the soldiers who were anxiously asking if they would be able to rest after being left behind.

“The soldier who falls behind puts on all the weapons he had taken off and continues walking until the number above his head reaches 20km. There will be no return or meals provided until the distance is covered, so figure it out!”

“Of course, there are rewards for soldiers who pass~”

Suddenly, a clear and youthful woman’s voice came from behind Yuno, and the soldiers’ attention focused on it.

“Hohoho We, His Highness Yuno’s maids, have prepared a special meal. Those who pass the standard can eat a special meal, and those who fail can eat moderately grilled meat and bread. Of course, there will be no such thing for those who have fallen behind. Still, if you starve, it will become more difficult in the future, so I will give you the Jjambap you usually eat~”

The special meal prepared with the skill of the spirit masters Kurimu, Miruku, and Mari was prepared as a meal that Yuno usually ate.

Then, Isabella floated the image of the prepared meal in the air so that all the soldiers could see it, and when Marie used the spirit of the wind to scatter scents to the soldiers, the soldiers admired it in fascination.

The soldiers’ senses of sight and smell reacted violently to the luxurious meal and scent eaten by the royal family, and saliva began to flow from their mouths.

“Je… Damn it!! If I fail here, I will never dream of eating a meal like that in my life”

“I’d rather starve than eat junk food! Everyone, let’s cheer up and try that special food!”

“How delicious can a dish prepared by such a pretty maid be?… Now… Wait a minute? Elf?”

At some point, a soldier saw Kurimu and Miruku’s ears, and the news spread throughout the army.

“Eh…you can eat the food made by the elf!!”

“That also looks incredibly delicious!!”

“Run unconditionally! Even if I die, I run!”

As Yuno saw the soldiers’ motivation overflowing, the smile on Yuno’s face could not be erased.

‘Good… Very good… After all, there’s nothing like a good meal to boost the morale of soldiers… But I wonder how many of you can eat special food… Tsk tsk tsk.’

“Have you all seen the rewards I prepared?”

“Yes! That’s right!!”

“Good. I’ll see how much you can eat of the meal prepared by those beautiful elf girls! Start!!”

With Yuno’s command, the soldiers rushed out. And Yuno also took off his top and started running to keep up with the pace of the soldiers.

The front runners, who had been adjusting their pace to some extent because they did not know what Yuno’s standard would be, gradually increased their pace when Yuno began to pounce next to them.

“What are you doing! Can you only achieve this speed?”

“Hohoho Is this all you can do for those who say they are quite confident after receiving training? I guess I’ll have to take off all the things hanging below and throw them away!!”

In addition, the magicians and spirits Isabella and Marie joined in their sportswear and ran with Yuno to provoke them, so the soldiers gritted their teeth and started running towards them.

“Damn!!! Aaaaa!!”

“No, why do the princesses who are said to be wizards and spiritists run so fast!!”

‘Giggles. I don’t have the stamina I gained from working out while being dragged around by Yuno every morning since I was little.’

‘I forced myself to exercise because I didn’t want to be separated from my brother, but it’s a good thing because it allows me to last longer when having sex with my brother. Hehehe’

Isabella and Marie, who had been guided by Juno’s physical training every morning for over seven years, had a running speed and stamina that soldiers could not dare to approach.

Eventually, after 7km, about a third of the way, the soldiers at the back of the procession began to be overtaken by Yuno and the front runners.

“Fallout!!”

“Okay~ If you are left behind, please move to the side~!!”

The number of distances they had covered so far turned red in the heads of those who had fallen behind, and in desperation, they moved towards the weapons they had taken off and began to slowly walk across the plain with their weapons on.

“Now! I will speed up from now on! Run faster!!”

As Yuno increased his speed slightly, more and more people fell behind.

In the end, Yuno ran 20 km that day at a speed of 1 and a half hours. Although he ran more than twice as slowly as he normally runs, many soldiers fell behind, and Yuno only passed those who came in 10 minutes longer than him, so only about 1,000 people were able to eat the special meal prepared by Yuno.

“Gentlemen! Thank you for your hard work! Those who passed will have a blue light on their heads, so they can enjoy the special meal!”

“Thank you! Your Majesty!!”

“For those who failed, don’t be too disappointed! If you work hard tomorrow, you too will be able to eat special food! Still, we prepared meat and bread, so the meal will be better than usual”

Although it was less than Yuno’s standard of 1 hour and 40 minutes, the soldiers who completed the race without falling behind sighed as they looked at their shiny yellow hair.

It was definitely much better than the barracks food, which was similar to the dog food they usually ate, so they were able to eat with some satisfaction, but they couldn’t hide their envious faces as they looked at the successful applicants who were being given special meals by the beautiful elf maid next to them.

But they were a hundred times better than the stragglers.

“Aaaaa!! I thought I was going to die!!”

“Damn it… 20km fully armed… gasp ”

The stragglers who returned to the barracks, smelling of sweat and without being able to disarm themselves, ate their usual military service food and looked at the successful candidates with venomous eyes, burning with determination that they would never be left behind again.

And Juno, who had planned this, was looking at those soldiers along with Viscount Leverkin and other nobles under Prinz.

“Your Majesty. Does this make sense? If we continue to provide such high-quality food to so many soldiers, the budget…”

“Huh~ My brother has entrusted this to me, so please don’t hesitate. And if the budget is tight, wouldn’t it be okay to lower the level of food eaten by nobles to that of soldiers?”

“Ha…but how can we nobles eat the meals that soldiers eat…”

“That’s right. It’s noisy. What’s different about people’s mouths? You are asking if you will die if you eat what the soldiers eat!”

“That’s not it…”

“It is those soldiers who are sacrificing their lives to fight for you and me!! Why are you talking about correcting the justice of the empire when you can’t even feed those soldiers a single delicious meal?!”

“!!!”

“And this is pretty good to eat… Aren’t my sister and Mari worth eating too?”

Juno brought the military service meal that the stragglers were eating and started eating with Isabella and Marie as if the nobles were watching, and the nobles looked at Juno with blank faces.

“Hmm, it’s been so long since I ate it, so it’s delicious?”

“If you’re hungry, everything tastes good”

At Isabella and Marie’s reaction, Juno looked at Viscount Leverkin and the nobles with an expression as if he had seen them.

match!!

“True! That will do it!”

When Juno suddenly stopped eating and slapped his palm, Viscount Leverkin asked as if he didn’t understand what was happening.

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“You guys can run together starting tomorrow! Then you’ll get hungry too, so you’ll eat anything delicious, and won’t your food budget also decrease?”

“Well…Your Highness! The work we used to do…”

“Ehey!! It takes hours to run this thing! This is a military order issued by the commander-in-chief! Starting tomorrow, we will be running here from 3 PM, so everyone except nobles who have work outside the country should come here and do physical training with the soldiers!!”

According to imperial law, the nobles’ faces turned blue because they had nothing to say even if they were beheaded if they refused military orders.

In the end, from the next day, the nobles had to start running with the soldiers, and the soldiers ran faster with even more venom, thinking that they would cause trouble by letting down the high-ranking people who were usually against them.

In this way, the soldiers under Yuno quickly became stronger.

Yuno gradually increased the speed of running, and later on, he made the soldiers run while equipped with weapons, so the number of people who passed did not increase significantly, but on the last day of training a month later, none of the 20,000 soldiers failed.

*Isabella Running Uniform