Chapter 411

The Whereabouts of Marquis Morogawarde
Marquis Morogawarde, who wasn't on this main eastern battlefield—his whereabouts had been perfectly tracked down by the Kiblinki Saltas.
Apparently, he was at an encampment even farther east, which had served as the enemy's headquarters.

That said, it seemed he had already been captured.

(I was told they tried to flee the moment they saw the massive ice formation that appeared on the battlefield. The ones monitoring that area captured them. Apparently, Marquis Morogawarde was among them.)

“I see. What do you want to do, Marquis Vardmoi?”

“You were one of his targets too, you know… Well, fine. I’ll send a transport carriage, so I’d like them to keep him in custody until then. Now, what’s the situation in the north and south?”

(The north remained locked in a standoff until the giant ice pillar appeared, at which point the enemy lost their will to fight and surrendered. In the south, the moment the ice pillar appeared, our allies launched an assault and neutralized the enemy without any casualties on our side.)

“So the battle itself ended in complete victory. The only thing left is the post-war cleanup.”

(Indeed. If you want our help with that, you’ll need to negotiate with our Contractor. We’d like to live in peace too, so we’ll lend a hand.)

“Much appreciated.”

So, there are no remaining enemy soldiers unaccounted for.
Alright, that’s a relief.

Now then, what should we do going forward?
Maybe I should ask Marquis Vardmoi.

“Going forward... hmm. Well, since it’ll mostly be political from here on, there won’t be much I’ll need you to do, Lily. But there’s just one thing I’d like to ask of you.”

“One thing? What is it?”

“When we send the prisoners back, I’d like you to accompany them. We’ll return the regular soldiers generously at that time.”

“Ah, so we’ll unfreeze them from within the ice pillars in front of their comrades.”

“That way, no one will ever consider something like this again. As for the nobles who attacked us this time, we’ll hold them for ransom. Would seventy percent of the ransom be enough for you, Lily?”

“Eh? I don’t need that much. I didn’t really do anything.”

“You may not have done much directly, but the ones who achieved the greatest feats in this battle were Talat and the Kiblinki Saltas. The reward should go to you, their master.”

I see, that’s the logic behind it.
Plum told me that if I refused, it would affect future military discipline, so I should just accept it.
If I refused, it would apparently impact how the soldiers got paid too.
Especially in this case, the soldiers compiled the information brought by the Kiblinki Saltas and reported it to Marquis Vardmoi, who then coordinated with me to determine the proper response. After that, the Kiblinki Saltas and Talat finished the job on their own.
The soldiers on the ground only played roles in information transmission and battlefield intimidation.

Yeah, if I turned down the reward, they probably wouldn’t get paid either.
Alright, I’ll donate most of this money somewhere after setting aside some for feeding the Kiblinki Saltas.

What do you think about this chapter?