The ceremony at the Great Temple of the Gods. The game didn’t show any stills of the ceremony, but it is indeed a great temple. The atmosphere is majestic, the stained glass is beautiful, and even the placement of the lights seems to have been carefully calculated.
A victory ceremony in the great chapel of the great temple is in some ways rarer than a royal court. The Duke of Gründing and General Seyffert are on the platform along with the High Septon and Laura, the Princess. It’s a grand place to be outside the castle. I can’t help feeling I’m in the wrong place.
On the other hand… it’s a bit bleak because at this very moment they’re still removing the demon stones from the corpses of the demons and incinerating the corpses. The servicemen and soldiers won’t be able to rest until a little later.
Maybe I feel sorry for them because I’m a commoner at heart. I can’t now that supplies are running low but I’d like to serve the soldiers of Zehrfeldt’s army some cheap booze when we get back to King’s Landing.
By the way, you can eat a crocodile soldier, Alligator Warrior, for example. But I’m physiologically incapable of eating a man who may have eaten the people and soldiers of the kingdom. I hear they don’t taste very good, so I’ll just have to make do with my dwindling supply.
And leather is supposed to be used for armor and shields. It’s tougher than normal leather armour, but it looks bad, so it’s usually used by adventurers or mercenaries. It looks like a stuffed crocodile when made into armour. It’s not bad if you’re just trying to survive.
If you get a drop item from the battlefield, you have to submit it to your boss and then hand it over to him or her. Sometimes the boss will buy the item, but the price must be fair. The person who got the item can ask for it to be bought.
Your boss can try to buy them at a discount or even refuse to buy them, but if word gets out that you’ve done so, your reputation will suffer and you’ll usually get what you want.
Come to think of it, one of the swords of the Corpse Swordsman Dead Swordsman was a rare item at this point. I don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky. I’ll have to buy it and give Neurath and the others a monetary bonus. But what to do with the sword?
It doesn’t matter if I have a sword, Mazel and the others are better than this. Maybe I’ll give it to my father.
“… Order of Merit number one, Mazel Hulting, forward.”
“Ha.”
The ceremony is going on while I’m thinking about something completely unrelated. Mazel steps forward at the Duke’s call and kneels at the foot of the steps, bowing. Why do I look like that if I’m not a knight? I wonder if this is what they call the hero’s attribute.
His skill in defeating the demon general is unparalleled on this battlefield. You have done well. For this I will reward you with a prize from the kingdom. Is there hope?
“Then I have a favor to ask of you.”
It’s more the nobles around here who have an indescribable air about them. They’re wondering what you’re going to say.
“Yes, you may.”
“I come from a commoner’s background and my family is not very rich. That’s why I’ve felt so distressed that I couldn’t do anything about the devastation in and around this great temple that has now become a battleground.”
You’ve got a lot of conviction in your voice because you mean it. As the one who advised him on the reward, I’m not so sure.
“Therefore, we respectfully request that the full amount of the reward be donated to the Temple and to relief for the victims.”
If there was a murmur earlier, there’s now a near-throb in the air. I guess they didn’t expect me to say that.
“That’s a beautiful thing to think about. Yes. I will make a budget from my dukedom and in your name I will work to restore the Great Temple and its environs.”
Thank you for hearing me out.
The duke is also very solid when he casually mentions the duke’s family first. I had a little trouble keeping a poker face. That’s about as close as you can get.
If we complain about Mazel’s achievements, we’ll be making enemies of both the dukes who approved the reward and the temple whose reconstruction funds will be donated in Mazel’s name. It would be suicide in this country.
And he didn’t mention the amount of the reward at all. The duke has his pride too… but the point is that Mazel didn’t specify the amount. There’s no way to call it extravagant or selfish. The least you can do is call me a hypocrite. And if you try to say that you’ll be told you’re jealous of a hero who conquered a demon general. You should be ashamed of yourself.
“Then Order of the Companions of Merit No. 2. Werner van Zierfeldt. Before…”
“Ha ha.”
I’m getting nervous. I try not to show it as I walk up to him and bow. but I’m a nobleman. I only kneel at battle ceremonies when you’re present. This is the world of discrimination.
I looked at him and he looked at me and he smiled at me. It’s fine that you don’t care about the difference in how you’re treated, but you could care a little bit.
“Baron Werner van Zierfeldt. “You have performed a brilliant service in this battle and have helped to destroy the enemy. I find no fault with your desertion and reward you for your service.”
“Thank God.”
You may think that’s all there is to it, but this is because the situation has become quite complicated as a result of the war.
I guess you could call it strategic evaluation and tactical evaluation, but in short, there’s a rather complicated mix of what can be evaluated here and what can’t be evaluated here. I know it’s more than half my fault.
If tactical strategy is the one that covers the battlefield, strategy is the one that covers a wider area of military actions. Roughly speaking, if we compare it to professional sports, the strategy is the strategy to win the championship throughout the year, and the tactics is the strategy for each game.
In this case, you can’t just say, “Well, you played well yesterday, so you’re the MVP of today’s game, too.” In this case, it’s not like I can say, “I played well yesterday, so I’m the MVP of today’s game, too. If you look at it that way, you have to consider the achievements in the Finoy area and the ones in other places, in my case the village of Arlea, separately. Otherwise there will be those who say “I’m the most meritorious in this battle too because I captured that castle even though it’s irrelevant to the battle. Someone will say “I’m the best in this battle too.
And whatever the actual situation may be… the merits of the Zehrfeldt family such as successfully breaking through the center are only the family’s achievements and it’s my father who gets the credit. It’s the same as when the demons ran amok.
On the other hand, the donation is understood and accepted as my own personal achievement. And since you understand what I’ve done, including my command, I’m not going to reward you here, but I’m going to give you points for it.
The commander of the army can give out rewards and punishments for the battlefield, but strategic achievements are evaluated and rewarded by a higher level, such as His Majesty. In the Warring States period, there are two kinds of rewards, one is given on the battlefield and the other is given after returning to your country.
When you praise me or Mazel, you say, “This battlefield…” “This battle…” It’s the same way. So here they’re only giving me credit for the donation and for fighting bravely on the battlefield. “In praise of the Duke’s service.” It’s an aristocrat’s expression.
But sometimes, people who don’t understand what you’re saying… “I told you so. This may be a matter of being good or bad at belly tricks.
I’m not going to say anything because I know why I can’t praise him here, even though I appreciate his achievements.
When you get to the second rank or so, the reward is usually a proposal or an order from the other side to do this or that. And the person in charge of the reward accepts it gratefully and that’s the end of it, but this time there’s a bit of conversation or acting going on because of Laura’s case.
We discussed this yesterday, including Mazel’s request for a reward.
“Let’s hear your special request. What do you want?”
I have a favor to ask of you. I’m currently in King’s Landing working on a proposal to counter the Demon Army. I’d like to ask for the Duke’s help in this matter.
“What is a proposal?”
“I would like to show you the real thing in King’s Landing. Therefore, there is no need to pay me on the spot. I hope you will be able to find a budget and skilled craftsmen to do the job.
Actually, I need a good craftsman. I’m serious. So I’m gonna say it now. You can say what you want.
“Is that all right with you, Sir?”
“It is my hope that the demon army can be defeated for the good of the kingdom.”
Your Highness, please hold your laughter. I’m a bad actor myself. I wonder if being a bad actor is acceptable in this world. I’m not sure. Actors are basically in the service of the nobility… and it’s not a world where an actor who can’t get a hit can call himself an actor.
“Very well. I’d like to see it in person at King’s Landing. Then I’ll arrange a budget and write a letter of recommendation. And I will reward Count Zehrfeldt upon his return to King’s Landing.”
“Thank God.”
Bow. That’s all. The first place in the Order of Merit wants to restore the temple and help the victims. The second place in the Order of Merit wants a budget and men to fight the evil army. The Counts will be rewarded separately… but there’s nothing we can ask them to do. The third rank and below can’t afford such luxuries.
However, it’s not a good idea to be too stingy with rewards in terms of morale and loyalty, so I’m sure we can work something out to address it to Count Zehrfeldt’s family instead of to me. The royal family will discuss this matter with Mazel at a later date.
I mean, the Duke’s behind all this, but I’m his accomplice.
It’s a ceremony in a war zone, albeit inside the Great Temple. There won’t be parties or anything like that, but there will be ceremonies. You can’t neglect the thank-you’s and the thank-you’s and the thank-you’s. I don’t believe in God myself, but some of the soldiers do. The morale of the soldiers will be affected if it’s rumored that the Count’s commanders don’t believe in God.
In prehistoric Japan, but in this world we’re more familiar with the miracles of God… so I guess I’m the heretic in that sense. I’m sure there’s a God, but I don’t believe in him. But if I rely on God too much… then I’ll have other problems. It’s hard to find a balance.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot and it’s making my shoulders stiff. I can’t wait to finish.
