Perhaps there were facts and plans that Rishe hadn’t been told, but had been told only to Rovine.

Count Rovine had once joined His Highness Arnold’s command.

How did Arnold behave in the previous war?

Curious about this, Rishe asked, “Rovine-saman, if you don’t mind, I’d love to hear some stories about the war effort for later study… For example, the defense of Siutena, Fritz’s hometown.”

“Oh! I’d love to hear that, too. Especially about His Highness Arnold!”

Fritz, who was a fan of Arnold, took flight in the expected direction.

“I see… If you want to hear only the surface in a short time, that could always be arranged.”

Rovine, who seemed keen on educating the youngsters, preambled and started, “In the battle for the defense of Siutena, the Garkhain Army had 7,000 men. The enemy attacked by ships with a force of 15,000.”

“Wow. That’s almost double the difference in power.”

“In fact, the difference in strength was even greater than that. After all, His Majesty only entrusted 3,000 soldiers to His Highness Arnold on the front line.”

“What? Why did he reduce the number of soldiers when they were already lacking in numbers?”

Rovine replied to Fritz’s question: “The remaining 4,000 were young knights who were trained at a fast pace, and peasants, who were forced to carry weapons. His Highness Arnold mobilized those 4,000 into less dangerous tasks, such as diversion, evacuation of the population and logistical support. And then he faced the enemy with only those soldiers who were of some strength.”

“Still, His Highness won, didn’t he?”

“Yes. We took advantage of that day’s weather, the heavy rains, the terrain of the port city of Siutena, and fought by leveraging on the opponent’s situation. – That one strategy overturned the difference in force strength and minimized our casualties to the extreme.”

Fritz’s eyes were shining; he gulped and cleared his throat.

“Around the same time, there was a battlefield under similar circumstances. Garkhain won the war, but thousands of people died. Most of the dead were inexperienced soldiers.”

“Does that mean… having more soldiers isn’t always better?”

“Not exactly. The more soldiers you have, the better, of course – but there’s no point in having a huge army with poor skills ss His Highness Arnolt has proven on the battlefield.”

Rovine spun quietly.

“His Highness has no interest in the weak. He won’t give the weak a chance to stand on the battlefield and earn meritorious deeds. – But that is how he reduces the number of people who lose their lives unnecessarily.”

His Highness Arnold…

Rishe looked down and pondered.

Arnold would never let the weak fight.

Instead, he aimed for a country where every knight was a force to be reckoned with.

The Garkhain Kingdom would prove this in five year’s time.

Does he want to be strong so that he can wage war against the world one day?

“The world is at peace now. But it won’t bring back the lives lost in the last war.”

Rovine smiled softly.

It was stiff, but very gentle.

“Countless young men died in the last war. I have to atone for that at least.”

Ahh…

Once upon a time, Rishe has heard those same lines.

[“In that war, young men not much older than me lost their lives. I couldn’t even go near the battlefield.”]

She could still remember vividly.

Rishe, who was then a pharmacist, called out to a man.

[“Prince Kyle, haven’t my mentor told you? Survival is an important part of your royal duties.”

[“I can’t for the life of me see that this is something that should be accomplished at the expense of my people.”]

Rishe unconsciously turned her gaze towards the main castle.