***Arc 8 One Who Spread Death, Chapter 192 The Stillness of Night***
The target was quickly found.
About 200 Elderant soldiers were making a loud noise, accompanied by more than a dozen won from the village.
It was easy to destroy them with a surprise attack as they were making a lot of noise while camping.
Apparently, it was a unit whose role was to monitor the south, but it seems that they were convinced that it was impossible for Alberan to appear from the south as Gulshan's large army was approaching them.
They were completely unaware of the situation and were enjoying attacking travelers and villages, and that village was the second one.
Originally, the western part of Alberan was based on the strategy of Aurugorn Hilkintos――in short, the land was always ravaged by attracting and repelling the enemy.
For many years, the situation where the people paid taxes but were abandoned by the military had continued, and it was said that there were many people who pay no taxes and live in seclusion deep in the forests.
That village was probably one of them.
They were from tribes in the southeastern part of Elderant, and were familiar with the situation in western Alberan to the extent that even Krische was impressed.
The silver-haired girl was inside the tent, holding the longsword of an Elderant soldier in her hand, and she nodded with an impressed face at their words.
The language spoken in Elderant had a strong accent, but it was basically the sa as Western common language.
The story would be different if they went deeper into the western region, but there was no need to learn the language in this area, the sa went for the invasion force.
Although Krische had learned most of the languages that exist in written form, it was difficult for her to hear and speak them, and she was not very good at conversing in the first place.
It would be more convenient if it were the Western common language, so there’s no discrepancies.
They left behind about ten survivors, including a man who seed to be of relatively high rank.
One of them was cut off in front of the remaining nine, all of his fingers were cut off, his eyes were plucked out, his nose cut off, and both his arms and legs severed――not asking a single question to the man who said that he would tell them anything, setting him as an example.
The purpose of questioning them individually was to scrutinize the information.
A broken soldiers ignoring their military duties indulging in pillage and rape――She didn't think they would lie in this situation, but that kind of logic didn’t work on Krische.
Krische didn't really understand people who enjoy killing people.
She was always "serious", thinking that they might have their own aesthetics in their actions.
"Please…save please save …I-I’ve said, everything I know…"
After the interrogation was over, the commander of the last squad Krische had left behind pleaded.
He was a warrior chief of a small tribe, but he was also a real scoundrel.
At least he was not a "fundantally insane human being" like Krische, and he cannot understand an abnormal person who can dismber humans while enjoying candy without any change in facial expressions.
Although he knew many who took pleasure in killing, what he saw before him was clearly sothing different.
"Hmm, Krische had heard everything Krische wanted to hear, it's all done. Krische keeps her word. You answered Krische honestly, Krische won't cut off your fingers or shave off your nose. "
"Then..."
The man looked relieved, a hopeful look on his face.
"Bald Eagle, it’s over."
"Ha. Take him."
"Fugh!?"
The man was gagged and blindfolded again, and the two soldiers took him out of the tent.
All that was left was to kill him.
Just like the n outside digging their own graves, they had no intention of letting him live.
He had no choice but to either die in pain or speak honestly, and Krische didn't even rember promising to let him live.
Dagra, Aleha, and Dagris were the only ones who watched it from beginning to end.
Others leave feeling sick in the middle of the Krische human dismber show.
"Dagris, give the information we heard to General Keithriton and Skeleton. Then, three days later, on the night of the new moon, crush their right wing and finish it off. And if there’s nothing else after that, you can just go back to the capital."
"Understood. Well then, please excuse first."
Dagris, who had been Krische’s "torture teacher," left the tent.
While seeing him off, Krische traced her lips with her fingertips.
"The soldiers in Elderant are of poor quality. They seem to be a gathering of bandits. Are they all like this?"
"Maybe not all of them... but it's true that their quality is worse than Alberan's army. Many of them use the war as a just cause and just like wild beasts, follow their desires."
Dagra answered.
The bad feeling he felt during the torture had finally subsided.
"This is another aspect of war. In extre situations where death is so close, the true nature that we usually hide is exposed."
"...Guess that's how it is. Krische knew it, but was a little surprised. So there are people who can really enjoy doing sothing like that. Krische village too, it might have turned out like that if Krische made a few mistakes..."
Krische narrowed her eyes as she recalled the bandits who ca to Kalka.
The reason she brutally killed others was because it was her job.
Soone who purely enjoys destroying people was beyond Krische’s understanding.
She knew that in war there was looting.
The Holy Spirit Covenant could be interpreted as conveniently as one like――it would be easy to wipe out an entire village just because it showed an intention to rebel if one wanted to.
There was no explicit prohibition against pillaging villages, and the only text that was written was that civilians who are not resisting may not be intentionally hard or killed.
The argunt that the villagers resisted during the process of stealing supplies and that they had no choice but to kill or execute them would be sufficient if it could be logically explained that it was not a violation of the Holy Spirit Pact.
However, they were in the act of abducting and assaulting the won in the village――they were in a situation where there was no way they could get away with it, so it was convenient for Krische.
However, Krische was confused by what she had heard.
She understood that the looting of an occupied village would naturally be violent, yet their actions were distinctly different.
The killing and violence itself, rather than the necessity of military action, was the goal.
Again and again she asked them for what purpose they had done such a thing, and their answer was that it was for entertainnt.
The complete opposite of Krische’s idea of goodness――they were a completely different species of human.
"It's not a good idea to leave sothing like that unchecked. It's a good opportunity to think about the future, so as expected we should wipe them out at this ti."
Clearly.
The two n did not differ in the aning of the words.
They knew her words were not taphorical.
A scream was heard outside. The n from earlier were probably killed.
"This is quite a painful story to hear. In the Holy Empire, sothing like this was done on purpose after all."
"Purposely?"
"If people were satisfied under the law, there would not be many people who would commit cris. However, the reality is that socially vulnerable people do exist. It seems to be convenient for them to plunder other countries in order to relieve their frustration of not being satisfied within their own country."
Aleha was smiling bitterly, but his eyes didn't smile.
"Also to thin out the unscrupulous elents. If you invade an enemy country, you can rampage in that land. It's a good excuse to boost the morale of soldiers who have no real cause. The logic is no different this ti."
He said and turned his gaze outside the tent.
"……I see"
"Logistics is probably a big reason why Alberan's soldiers seem to be excellent and disciplined. Alberan always places emphasis on bringing rchants with the military, satisfying the needs of their soldiers. ...Maybe it’s also because there are so many female soldiers, but it's a good system."
No matter what, Alberan was affluent and stable.
And it was only when people were affluent that they could remain human.
The financial costs involved were enormous, but this was probably the source of Alberan soldier's strength.
By satisfying their animalistic desires, they transform humans into military components who sacrifice their lives for a noble mission.
Soldiers embraced by formless dreams and ideals――that's why they were known as strong soldiers who never lost control.
Differences in thodology.
No one can say which one was right, and it wasn’t like Elderant or Elsren’s way were completely wrong, but if it’s preference then it’s different.
At least the one Aleha preferred was Alberan’s.
"Hmm...Selene also told Krische to be careful about that. Telling Krische to listen to the opinions of Ojii-sama and Keith. Krische, don’t quite understand it, so Krische will leave that to you."
"Kuku, that's fine. All of your commanders are excellent."
Cliché thought about it for a bit, then said, ‘Well, it's fine’, and imdiately threw it away.
She didn't think she could fully understand the soldiers' reasoning, and that's not Krische’s role, it's the role of the people below her.
"Well, in any case, our plans went a bit awry in Gulshan, and it seems true that the quality of the Elderant army is poor."
Krische just said that and,
"Now Krische can eliminate them without any worry .Let's use this as an opportunity to completely crush them, so that they never attack Alberan again."
She smiled and nodded.
――The day after the battle.
Ledo was walking through the camp when he heard a scream and stopped.
The destination he headed to was Kirs, a tribe affiliated with Veeze.
"...Aaron, what are you doing?"
"Huh? What are you complaining about?"
The one who pulls up his pants with a satisfied look on his face is Aron-Chirus――the chief warrior of Kirs.
Although he was slender, he was tall――with a smile on his frivolous face, he looked at Ledo with amusent.
The tent was a temporary camp for prisoners of war, and the people inside were female soldiers of the kingdom.
"It's just an interrogation. It's my freedom to do whatever I want with the prisoners captured by my unit."
"Don't be silly! What part of what you're doing is an interrogation, you bastard?"
"Hey, stop it, Ledo, are you trying to sow internal discord?"
Ledo, who was about to pull out his sword, was stopped by a man in his pri――his adjutant, Bez, and Aron, who was watching, laughed.
"Oh, that's scary. Are you really trying to pick a fight with Kirs for Alberan's captivity?"
"...You're violating the Holy Spirit Covenant, you bastard. Do you really think I can't replace your head?"
"I think so. If you think about it calmly, you'll understand."
Aron looks at the man beside him with amusent.
Aron's follower――the ugly at Daruma laughed like a pig.
"...Internal quarrels on the battlefield are the worst cri of all, Chief Warrior Ledo. Kirs has sent out 7,000 soldiers this ti, so there's no benefit to either of us if we quarrel over sothing as trivial as this."
"It's a question of logic. There's no reason to play with non-resisting prisoners."
"That's a child's logic. Well, you may be legitimately having fun with Shelna-sama every night, but we don't even have a woman to fall in love with. Or will you bless us with Shelna-sama instead of that prisoner? "
"...I'm seriously going to kill you."
He shook off Bez and pulled out the giant sword from his back.
Aron spread his hand, exasperated.
"I'm not making fun of you, you know? I'm just asking what's obvious. If we don't start sourcing locally, what are we actually going to do about it?"
Then Aaron drew from his waist――a great curved sword, which had been bent into
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