“Wonderful work, Viscount Zehrfeld.”
“Sorry for all the trouble, Baron Zabel.”
Baron Zabel had only just turned thirty. While that might have earned him some criticism for being too young to serve as deputy, Werner’s existence drew attention away from him.
But what stood out more than the man himself was his halberd. It was three meters tall, and he had a skill that let him swing it about with ease. This combined with his build gave him quite an intimidating air. He was so large that he had even been scouted by the Adventurers’ Guild while walking through town undercover, and as a knight, he preferred to fight one-on-one. It was safe to assume he preferred military affairs to governance.
Amongst the three men who served in the former fiefdom of Marquess Kneipp, Viscount Gröllmann had held the most authority, while the other two were equal in position. Werner was of a higher title, but Baron Zabel surpassed him in terms of age and experience. Given both this and their personalities, Baron Zabel spoke more casually.
When they had first met, Werner had been asked to battle. It was a pain, far as Werner was concerned, but it paid off with Baron Zabel recognizing his skills. The baron treated him kindly, and they could be considered friends with a bit of an age gap.
“It’s no trouble. I just had the easy job of stamping out the ones who ran. I’m sure your work has yet to end.”
“The one group that’s left has few fighters, but they’re positioned in quite the tough spot.” In his mind, Werner added, though they’re not going anywhere, so they shouldn’t pose any trouble.
“Shall I lend you some men?”
“No, but thank you for your concern. How have things been for you?”
“We’ve gathered provisions, arrows, and horses just as planned. We should have no shortage of supplies, even if the knight brigade from the capital comes emptyhanded.”
“I’m relieved to hear that. How are your forces?”
“We’ve been able to put together squads of nobles and soldiers who managed to escape Triot. Viscount Gröllmann should be making similar preparations. Still…” He looked at Werner as if to try to judge what he was thinking.
Werner managed to maintain a smile. “You are the one who will end up on the front lines. You’ll need the soldiers. Are things really fine?”
“Of course. We won’t be participating in any maneuver warfare.”
If he had veterans of Triot in his ranks, he wouldn’t have had to spend as much time training them. Werner had also considered forming a force comprising nobles and soldiers who had come as refugees, but adding nobles to an army under siege could interrupt the line of command, even if they were from foreign nations. He had therefore decided against it. He wanted to avoid anyone ignoring his orders and acting on their own since it could cause the whole formation to collapse. To put it bluntly, anyone who was likely to be a liability, he’d thrown into the second unit, under Viscount Gröllman and Baron Zabel’s command.
Afterwards, they filled each other in regarding a few more matters. Keeping in contact with Viscount Gröllmann, who oversaw the former base of operations of the Kneipps, would prove important later. They made sure the basic plans hadn’t changed and discussed how to distribute the supplies since they were somewhat lacking.
Regarding Rafed, the baron had simply laughed it off, saying, “I understand, but make sure he doesn’t kill you in your sleep.”
Werner forced a smile. Then, he handed off the letter he had prepared for Baron Zabel and asked him to deliver it to the capital. “I hope I’ve finished ridding Anheim of its filth, but I can’t be certain yet.”
“So you don’t want them to know you’ve delivered a report,” Baron Zabel said. “Understood. I’ll have it delivered to the capital.”
“You have my deepest thanks.”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff like this,” Baron Zabel responded with a hearty laugh. Once his chuckles had subsided, he lowered his voice to a whisper. “That map you made is truly excellent. I’d like to hear about it from you, if I could.”
“You’ll have to wait a bit longer for that,” Werner said, dismissing the inquiry with a wry grin. It was actually just a copy of the map that had been made earlier, but it was still quite the excellent product by this world’s standards. Werner knew that if he said too much, it could cause trouble for him.
The baron nodded. “Then I’ll head back and take care of some of the bandits on the way. Be careful on your return trip, Viscount Werner.”
“You too, Baron Zabel.”
With that, the baron returned to the head of his army. Seeing that their discussions had concluded, Neurath and Schünzel approached. Neurath watched the baron’s troops move into the distance with perfect form and muttered, “What brilliant leadership.”
“They’ll be our reinforcements if we need them,” responded Werner, but he secretly thought it was more likely that they would be waiting as a secondary force should they fail to buy enough time in Anheim. Werner couldn’t help but shrug.
The kingdom probably wasn’t so optimistic as to assume that everything would turn out fine as long as Werner was there. Or rather, they simply weren’t foolish enough to think that way. It was safe to assume that they had prepared another force or two to handle any contingencies. Of course, Werner planned on stopping the Demon army before they could move on to the others.
“Right, then. Once we’re rested, we’ll move and take care of the bodies.”
While no one had ever witnessed a corpse turning into a zombie firsthand, it was commonly believed that abandoned bodies would turn into such a monster. Even if that wasn’t the case, there was no guarantee that monsters wouldn’t be lured by the scent of a body if it was just left to rot. It could also spread pestilence.
Since a pursuit and multiple battles had followed their initial assault, the bandits’ corpses littered a fairly large area. And they would have to deal with it. Unlike in Werner’s previous life, monsters roamed the land, so it wasn’t a job that could be left to those who couldn’t defend themselves. Cleaning up after a battle was another job for the army.
“Gather up any metal equipment. Only collect armor if it’s in good shape, though I doubt there’s much of that. And get as much as you can of anything that’s well-maintained. Once we’ve accounted for all the bandit’s property, we’ll divide it amongst the soldiers as an award. The rest can be burned along with the bodies.”
“Yessir.”
Cleaning up would be harder than the battle itself had been, especially mentally. Werner heaved a heavy sigh before heading over to pitch in.