Episode 158. Invasion (6)

Purrrr-

The horse, exhausted from the continuous charges, snorted. Blood and flesh stuck to the armor and lance fell off in clumps. Looking back, the corpse of a barbarian giant ‘warrior,’ his body stiff as if he had tried to resist the lance charge, was rolling on the ground. At the same time, the barbarians, having lost their commander, scattered in panic.

‘Why are there so many?’

They’re usually not this organized. I was too tired to even think about chasing the stragglers. It’s much more important to conserve my and my horse’s stamina than to catch a few of those small fries. The cavalry’s condition was similar….

Usually, driving out the barbarians mostly involved driving the cavalry in and stirring them up a few times like this. Barbarians, with their infantry-focused forces, might be difficult for a few hundred guards or defenders, but they could be easily dealt with by just a few dozen cavalry. But the problem was that they kept attacking, as if there was a definite center of gravity.

After a few charges like this, about 20% of the total force can be eliminated. Those with poor cohesion are annihilated with that level of loss, scattering to wait for next year or find another way. In the first place, the various barbarian tribes don’t integrate well with each other, so they each come down sporadically when there’s nothing to eat. I’ve even reduced the damage by catching one, giving him some food, and asking him to defend instead.

But the current situation is definitely different from my memories, where that was mostly the case. Troops that regroup even after running away, as if receiving organized orders. Not on the battlefield I can see, but inside. It seemed like there was a more powerful presence in command than I thought in the base camp area.

“Haa… where’s next?”

“It’s Peterson Barony, east of the County.”

“Hmm… wasn’t that where we went a week ago?”

The gathering cycle is getting shorter and shorter. The troops that used to last comfortably without support for about fifteen days are now making desperate requests much sooner. Haa… well, what can I do. Both sides are getting exhausted from the continuous battles, so we can barely hold on. If completely new troops were replenished, we would have been breached already.

“Let’s go right away.”

“…Are you really not going to stop by the territory, -nim?”

Johnson said with a worried expression. That bastard, he’s just saying that because he wants to rest. And see the face of the woman he likes back in the territory. Seriously, he has no grit, no grit. When I was his age as a page…. I’ve been letting him off easy just because he’s the Count Family’s young master, huh.

Well, still, Johnson is growing at a remarkable rate. Maybe it’s because I know he’s growing into a pretty decent knight, or maybe it’s because of my wishful thinking. Every time he tempers himself with the blood of the enemy through battle, his skills visibly improve. Until now, I’ve been taking care of all the commander-level guys the barbarians call ‘warriors.’ Soon, he’ll be able to handle one easily.

“Going that way will be too late.”

“But we need to resupply food too….”

“We’re not going out into the wilderness, we’re going to another barony, why bother?”

We can eat when we get there. Besides, Peterson Barony is relatively close from here. It’s a bit much to go back and forth twice the distance just to stop by once…. Moreover, a lot of time has passed since the news delivered to Monica was relayed back to me, and I could fully expect that it might already be a dangerous situation.

Squeak- Squeak-

Thud-

“Kkeueueueu, eueueulgeueg.”

Winnie made a strange groan. Her whole body was itching from taking on paperwork after so long. Edward should be doing this, but he went off to fight, so it can’t be helped…. I don’t like what I don’t like. Still, it’s something her friend asked her to do. She felt a pang of guilt, so Winnie came out to help out of conscience.

‘I don’t want to do it alone….’

Monica, who actually called her, went out with Vera unni to take care of other business. Just like she did a few months ago, Winnie was guarding the office alone in Monica’s place. She wanted to go with them, but… someone had to guard the office. And it wasn’t something a pregnant woman should do, so it couldn’t be helped. Vera unni’s belly hasn’t swollen much yet… Still, well, she’s not alone anymore….

“Heuheum….”

Winnie stroked her belly, which had noticeably swollen. They say that if a mother studies while the baby is in her womb, the baby’s brain will be good. Reading a lot of texts while doing paperwork is studying, right…? She encouraged her learning motivation by comforting herself like that, but there were limits to that method.

“Heueeek.”

Winnie made a strange noise and collapsed onto the desk. She won’t be able to lie down like this when her belly gets bigger. Feeling the cool touch of the wood on her cheek, Winnie slacked off.

‘I should rest a little….’

Winnie, who had completely lost the will to work, sat down on the large office chair-the one where Edward and Monica sat together and mated in front of Daria-and started rummaging through the drawers on both sides of the desk to see what was inside. It would be nice if something fun came out.

First drawer. Full of documents. Hmm, nothing has changed from before. Next.

Second drawer. Again… documents. Looking at the contents that are slightly visible, it seemed like the composition hadn’t changed much either. They said that the ones with a lot of time left were at the bottom… that makes sense. After confirming that the left side was all documents, Winnie checked the inside of the third drawer and moved to the right side.

“Okay….”

In the first drawer on the right, various writing instruments were organized. Among them was the fancy feather pen she had gifted to Monica….

“What!”

Monica’s feather pen, who always manages her belongings thoroughly. And only the one Winnie gave her, while the rest were all fine! It was wrinkled as if it had been soaked in water and not dried properly, and the feathers were split. It looked like it was in very bad condition.

“Hing….”

No wonder, she wondered why it wasn’t in the container that was always most visible in the office. It would be difficult to write with it in this state. She was upset. Of course, she didn’t think Monica did it on purpose, but at least she should have told her… No, it’s not Winnie’s place to say, but. After putting the items back in order, Winnie moved on to the second drawer.

Here… let’s see. Mostly medicine? Simple ointments. A few medicines that are good for health and… a box with a plain design. It felt like she remembered it… Winnie, curious, opened the box and exclaimed, ‘Ah.’

‘This… she hasn’t finished eating it yet.’

It already feels like a distant memory. Before Winnie even had a child. She had asked Edward to put in artificial semen to impregnate Monica, and it was a mushroom that she had worked hard to obtain. Back then, Winnie couldn’t have imagined that she would get pregnant first…. No, she didn’t even think that she would cling to a man like this.

Of course, the artificial semen she made in the first place had a wrong recipe, so there was no way to confirm the effect of this mushroom. It’s dried, so you just pour hot water on it and drink it like tea…. As always, she must have said she didn’t want to eat it and left it here, then forgot about it. The smell is a bit strange, but…

‘I hope Monica has a baby soon too.’

That’s the only way she can feel less sorry. She’ll eat it if I take it out. Winnie, who was looking around Monica’s drawer like that, discovered that one thing was missing. All the medicines going to Count Yulstein passed through her hands as Baroness Melbourne, so there were no items that she didn’t remember. If there was something she remembered but was missing, it was possible if she had eaten it all… but since she made that one thing the most, it was almost impossible.

‘Did she store it separately because there were so many?’

She thought that might be the case and opened the last drawer. Winnie couldn’t help but be surprised by the contents of the drawer. The medicine she made the most was all inside. All empty bottles.

‘Sh-she used all of this?’

She and Vera unni had both achieved their goals, so they hadn’t needed to use it for almost a year, so they gave it all to Monica. This tonic. There were more than ten bottles, and she used them all. Unlike aphrodisiacs, it can be used by both men and women, so it can be consumed quickly, but to use all of this… No, Edward has a lot of stamina. Monica must have used it all by herself.

The image of Monica panting and receiving Edward while taking medicine, and Edward shaking his hips with endless stamina, was easily drawn. Imagining those two, her body trembled as she thought about what had happened with the man she loved a few days ago.

‘It’s already past the time he should be back.’

No matter how far away the territory was, he had never taken more than five days to go and come back. Winnie put her hand between her legs and recalled the morning she spent with Edward four days ago.