Chapter 143 – War Prayer Rite

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The next day, His Majesty addressed the troops, saying it was to raise the soldiers’ morale before they went off to battle.

When His Majesty gave a speech in a way like, O brave knights of the kingdom, and I watched especially the rank-and-file soldiers steadily getting more and more fired up, I understood that this is what charisma means.

Well, it didn’t really reach me, since all I want is to hole up in my territory.

“Everything will be ready by today! Elite warriors! Today, restore your vigor and prepare for departure! Tomorrow we’ll punch Yerinetta in the side of the face!”

At the very end, His Majesty deliberately encouraged them in a crude way and flashed a ferocious grin with his teeth showing. The soldiers answered that with loud voices as well. Since he has expanded his territory through war, he is thoroughly used to handling soldiers.

“All right! Then, Till. Please.”

“Yes!”

When I gave the signal after timing it, Till gave a loud response and stepped forward. Behind Till stood girls wearing the same maid uniforms, and they began moving about in pairs.

There were ignition stands lined up along the road beforehand, and one after another, flames were lit on them. Red fire at regular intervals illuminated the road in the evening as the sun was about to set, creating a somehow fantastical scene.

His Majesty and the nobles, who knew what was about to be done, watched silently, but the soldiers, who had not been told anything, wore confused expressions.

In the Kingdom of Scuderia, there is a custom called the War Prayer Rite, where a lavish meal is eaten before going into battle. The method is quite different, but perhaps it is something like part of a send-off ceremony.

That said, because it is held immediately before going to battle, usually it seems to be no more than a simple meal that can be done in a fortress or campsite, plus one cup of alcohol per person.

In that case, since they had come all the way to Seat Village, I figured Van-kun should cooperate and help make some memories. Thinking that, I personally proposed to His Majesty that I provide the food for the War Prayer Rite.

“…Can a territory this small really prepare satisfactory meals for tens of thousands of soldiers?”

Jalpha said that to me, but I answered only, “Leave it to me.”

After all, there is so much surplus magic-beast meat that I would have to dispose of it otherwise. There is a limit to how much can be dried for long-term storage. This can even be called a chance to boldly clear out the inventory all at once.

Since we had done it dozens of times already, the barbecue preparations were completed without a hitch. After checking that, I next gave instructions to Kamushin.

“Meat prep!”

“Yes!”

Like Till, Kamushin gave a good reply and stepped forward. Behind him were members of the Seat Village Knight Order pulling carts piled high with magic-beast meat.

Carts loaded with meat raced one after another down both sides of the road. The soldiers watched that sight with wide eyes.

Once everyone was in place, meat was placed on the barbecue stands one after another, and a delicious smell began drifting through the air.

This would make it difficult not only for the soldiers but even for the nobles to keep themselves from drooling. After all, what was being grilled was nothing but rare meat from large magic beasts that could not even be eaten in the royal capital.

On top of that, for seasoning there were expensive salt and pepper, and even Van-kun’s special yakiniku sauce. It’s a shame it was bread instead of rice, but since there was alcohol too, that should not be a problem. I was providing huge amounts of the whisky under development, wine, and beer. There was also plenty of alcohol from the Mary Company and the Commercial Guild.

By the way, Van-kun’s yakiniku sauce is made by adjusting the flavor of the original meat sauce with wine, garlic, an apple-like fruit, black pepper, an onion-like vegetable, salt, and so on. I think it turned into pretty good yakiniku sauce in my own way.

While everyone was transfixed by the steadily progressing barbecue preparations, I received reports from Till and Kamushin that everything was ready.

“Your Majesty, preparations are complete.”

When I called out like that, His Majesty nodded deeply and opened his mouth toward everyone.

“My knights! Today is a War Prayer Rite more special than usual! Ordinarily, we can do no more than distribute extra preserved rations, but today Baron Van has provided us with rare foodstuffs! I want you to eat your fill!”

When His Majesty called out like that, the other nobles told their respective knight orders that the feast was beginning.

The very next moment, tens of thousands of soldiers rushed in.

With a force that made one think this truly was war, the soldiers bit into the meat.

“Please eat slowly!”

“Please have some of Lord Van’s sauce too!”

“This Lord Van sauce is delicious!?”

“No, the meat itself is insanely good too!”

And everyone noisily kept polishing off the meat. Well, I had kept back the delicious magic-beast meat. It was nice that it also cleared out the inventory.

“Now then, let’s go eat some delicious meat too.”

Saying that and turning around, I saw His Majesty watching the soldiers with a puzzled expression.

“Baron Van. What kind of magic beast is this meat? The way those soldiers are rejoicing is abnormal.”

At those words, Jalpha and the others lined up behind His Majesty showed attitudes of agreement as well.

“Umm, if I remember right… Scalewolf, Armored Lizard, Black Boar… ah, there were also a few Red Devil Tigers.”

I answered while recalling them. At that, astonished voices rose from the nobles.

“Red Devil Tigers…!?”

“Impossible. Across the entire kingdom, one only appears perhaps once every twenty years…”

“They’re said to be powerful magic beasts comparable to dragons…”

Hearing those voices, I nodded in understanding.

“It does seem like Red Devil Tigers are rare. We’ve only subjugated about five so far. Still, since they were around ten meters long, they were easy to target with the ballistas. I was surprised when I first saw one, though.”

With a wry smile, I answered like that. What they thought of my answer, I don’t know, but not only the nobles behind him, even His Majesty himself stared in dumbfounded silence.

“…A Red Devil Tiger caused enough damage to leave half a town in ruins, and it took a thousand elite men of the Royal Capital Knight Order together with two top-class four-element mages to finally subjugate it.”

When His Majesty said that, he let out an exasperated laugh.