I left the council chamber and headed for the mayor's residence.
My next visit to Nambonan City was scheduled for after the new year.
As I entered the mayor's office, civil servants and staff members came to me one after another with matters that they wanted to take care of before the end of the year.
Most of them were just confirmations, though, so I had very little to do.
After drinking the tea that Odie had prepared, I put down my brush and stretched my arms high.
"I got this information from a merchant......."
The person who said this was a civilian official of the military in Quardenze.
He was sitting on a nearby sofa, organizing his documents, perhaps waiting for me to catch my breath.
"It seems that there are secret purchases of food and weapons all over the old Voistra. There are quite a few of them. There may be a large scale offensive before spring."
Naturally, to start a war, supplies are needed.
As soon as they started buying them, rumors would spread no matter how they were hidden.
The civil servants also have many opportunities to communicate with merchants, so they sometimes hear rumors. If anything, the more the rumors spread, the better for the merchants. The more the rumor spreads, the better it is for the merchant, because it leads to a chance to sell food and weapons.
Some of them would say, "Sir, the neighboring territories are buying up weapons. Maybe they will attack us. Oh, yes, actually, I also deal in weapons and provisions. What do you think? I'll give you a discount for the husband you've been taking care of, okay? Hee hee! There are some merchants who will tip you off to .......
This time, it was not the arms dealer's sales talk, but an oil merchant who frequented the city hall, who told the civil servant, "Oh, by the way, there is a rumor about this."
"What do you mean, "quite a few"?"
"Here's a summary."
One of the civil servants stood up and brought the document to the mayor's desk. It seemed to have been written on a new wooden board, and although the letters were small and crowded, they were clear and easy to read.
"Oh, you've bought a lot."
The estimates of the amount of purchases were listed in a range, but even the lowest estimate seemed to be enough to move a decent-sized army.
"I asked for help from the Nambonan merchants to gather information. I think our accuracy is higher now."
They seemed to have their own ideas, as I heavily favored Rumon for his skillful use of the merchant network.
It seems that the civil servants, with Rumon's guidance and advice, have begun to build a new cooperative relationship with the Nambonan merchants.
There are many merchants in Nambonan who are familiar with the area around the old Voistra, so it was not too difficult to gather this information.
"I'm glad to see that you are making good use of the merchants, as well as the results of this investigation. It was also a good decision to seek the advice of Rumon."
Rumon would be just the right balancer between the civilian and merchant sides.
The civil servants, who looked a little relieved, opened their mouths in unison.
"I've already sent word to your lord and General Galfis. I hope you will take note, young master."
"It's clear to everyone that in the spring, the Quardenze army will be in full swing. It is quite possible that this purchase is in preparation for a siege. But ......"
"As Rumon once said, the economic exhaustion of the former Voistra, including the city of Ocellaria, seems to be more severe than we expected. We have decided that it would be dangerous to conclude that this is a purchase for defense."
The civil servants sitting on the sofa began to explain, as if to say that this was the result of joint research.
After interviewing a number of Nambonan merchants, they discovered that they were buying far more provisions than they had heard about.
Perhaps they saw this as an opportunity to flatter the civilian officials of the Quardenze army, and the Nambonan merchants took the opportunity to disclose valuable information to them.
"Where do you think they'll attack?"
In the past twelve years, I have learned a fair amount about armies and warfare.
But I have memories of my previous life as a commoner in peaceful Japan. I was always afraid of the possibility of making a wrong decision based on unconscious assumptions.
For this reason, I always seek the opinions of those around me when it comes to military, political, and noble matters, and reconcile them with my own thoughts.
"The only important places in this area are the frontline base that General Galfis is building and Nambonan City. If we want to be realistic, we should capture or destroy the frontline base."
"Yes, there's no way we'd be foolish enough to ignore the frontline base and head for Nambonan City. It is inevitable that they will be destroyed by a pincer attack from General Galfis and the Nambonan garrison."
"In addition, a frontline base is like a spear pointed at the Voistra plains, and should be an eyesore for the old Voistra."
"Yes, if the castle falls with the outpost as a foothold, they will never be able to pass the night in peace again.
There are three main types of opponents that the Quardenze family is currently fighting.
The first is the current Imperial Dukes, who used to reign as the royal family of the Kingdom of Voistra. This is the one that my grandfather wants to destroy the most.
The second is a noble family that was subordinate to the Kingdom of Voistra, and is now a count, viscount, or baron in the Empire.
The third is the noble families that belonged to the former Voistra faction due to factional strife within the Empire.
Of these, only the second and third were actually ever invaded by my grandfather Galfis. He had never invaded the realm of the hated Imperial Duke, the avenger of his uncle.
He is now a nobleman of the empire, but he used to be powerful enough to call himself a king, and even now he has a high power of land. My grandfather was not so brainless as to make a move without a plan.
The Voistra Plain, which occupies about two-thirds of the Imperial Duke's territory, is one of the continent's leading granary areas, supported by fertile soil and abundant water sources.
The Imperial Duchy, which completely encompasses the Voistra Plains, has a large population of commoners.
If I were to create a city population ranking for the continent of Eruo based on my own prejudices, Ocellaria City would be at the top of the list. The top ten would be a sure thing, but the top five would be difficult.
In addition, there are many fields in the Imperial Duchy. In addition, there are a lot of fields in the Imperial Duchy, and sometimes you can get resources from the fields, such as rock salt from the fields in New Nellie City.
It is said that there are some delicious fields in the Imperial Duchy where you can get high quality stone and mineral resources.
In addition, the fields are spread out from the north to the south of the great river as if they were forts blocking the invasion of the Quardenze family, making them a natural strategic point.
Another characteristic of the Kingdom of Voistra is that the royal power is relatively strong, and other noble families are subordinate to the king, which is a bit unusual in the continent of Eruo.
The noble families that were vassals during the time of the Kingdom of Voistra are now counts, viscounts, and barons of the empire, and nominally the imperial nobles are now on equal footing with each other. However, the hierarchical relationship that existed at that time still remains.
If we were to attack the imperial duke's territory without thinking about it, we would be isolated in the enemy territory as the reinforcements from the former tributary territories would all arrive at once, and we would most likely be beaten back.
That's why my grandfather and father spent 20 years slowly hunting down the imperial duke.
The frontline base that my grandfather spent his time building was the long-awaited bridgehead for the invasion of the Imperial Duke's Voistra Plain.
Originally, it would have been another ten years before the frontline base was built.
It was a long-term plan to overthrow the Imperial Duke in my father's generation, or in my generation if that wasn't possible in time.
Since the plan was already in motion when I was born on the continent of Eruo, I feel like a Japanese who has had his house built on a three-generation mortgage.
The castle mentioned by the civil servants, Raishleaf Castle, is located in the northernmost part of the vast Voistra Plain, and is a castle with excellent defensive capabilities built on top of a small mountain.
From the point of view of the Quardenze family, it is the strongest shield protecting the Voistra Plains and, by extension, the city of Othello.
There are many wide roads in the area where Raishleaf Castle is located, and it is also a key point of transportation that connects to various places, so if the Quardenze army were to take control of the castle, the nobles of the old Voistra would always feel like they had a spoon to their throats.
More than fifty years ago, the then Emperor Zinkhaen, who had unified the western part of the continent during the turbulent times of the warring armies, had led a large army to attack the Kingdom of Voistra.
At that time, he attacked from the area currently controlled by the Quardenze family all the way down to the south, but there is an anecdote that the castle of Raishleaf just barely escaped falling.
Even Emperor Zinkhaen could not defeat the impregnable Raishleaf Castle. Its name is famous even in the Kingdom of Levios.
In this battle, the Voistra royal family, who felt the power of the Zinkhaen emperor firsthand, quickly surrendered before the second invasion came, promised to dismantle the kingdom, and even gave up their daughter.
In fact, the current emperor of the Zinkhaen Empire, Emperor Ferold, is the son of the daughter who was offered to him.
Emperor Zinkhaen chose to take the daughter of the Voistra royal family, who was offered as a hostage, as his own son Arginis' wife, and to acquire the power of the Voistra Kingdom as it was.
A few years later, Emperor Zinkhaen announced the founding of his country to the entire continent.
Looking at the current emperor, who has lost his authority, it is clear that it was a mistake to take in the Kingdom of Voistra.
Emperor Zinkhaen, who has been called the poster child for turbulent times, the hero king, and the dragon of the West Sea, was probably not very good at domestic politics.
"We always have troops on the lookout at important points. When we confirm the invasion of the old Voistra, we can immediately send a fast horse to New Nelly City. Please rest assured."
I heard that there are a number of soldiers monitoring the area between Nambonan City and the frontline base, as well as in the vicinity of Raishleaf Castle.
If they were to move the army, word would get out in the neighborhood, and no matter how fast they hurried, it would take some time to gather the troops. It's unlikely that the guards will miss it.
The knight's army marches at a fairly high speed because of the magic power that boosts its strength, but there is a good amount of time between the time the army is raised and the time it leaves.
"...... No, even if you don't get confirmation of an invasion, the first thing you should do is send out an early horse at the first sign of disturbance. I don't care if it costs a little. This is the most important time of the year. There's no better time than now to be cautious. I will advise your father to do the same."
The armies led by knights march fast, but there is one army that moves even faster than that. That is the army led by the noble lord, the Patriarch.
With his overwhelming magical power, the founder can increase the speed of his army by strengthening his men with powerful magic.
If the old Voistra is truly in dire straits, it is conceivable that a nobleman could lead the army.
Ordinary nobles are generally defensive and will often go to war in their own territory, but they rarely come all the way to enemy territory.
However, considering the investigations of the civil servants and Rumon's advice, I was somewhat worried.
We need to respond quickly to the movements of the army led by the nobleman. The confirmation process is important, but if there are any disturbing movements, I want to get the first report anyway.
"Yes! Well, we'll let the army know."
My grandfather and father started this war, so I hope they will be able to clean it up by the time my generation comes along.
I don't want to leave a burden on the next generation.
After finishing my work, I returned to the pervert house.
Lately, I've been staying at the pervert's house.
"Welcome back, Master."
When I entered Rave's room, I was greeted by a beautiful woman with a smile on her face.
She seemed to have finished bathing a long time ago, and although she was dressed in her nightgown, her body was not burning.
I took Rave's hand and sat down on the sofa while we exchanged pleasantries.
Normally, we would have kissed and mated, but today I had something to say first.
"I need to talk to Rave."
"Yes?"
As I touched Rave's body, I explained that I was going back to New Nellie City.
As the son of a nobleman, I have a lot to do during the holiday season.
I'm not taking Rave to New Nellie City.
The best way to hide her existence from Eve is to leave her in Nambonan City.
No matter how much you try to keep your mouth shut, there's no guarantee that two beautiful elves in the same city won't bring some kind of information to Eve's ears.
"Yeah, ......."
When I told her that I would be away, Rave's face turned pale. The color of her face changed and her expression darkened.
I squeezed her shaking hand tightly and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'm not abandoning you Rave."
"But, but ......"
"New Nellie City will be a different environment than here. It will be hard for Rave."
"...... Still, I prefer to be with my master."
It's so cute to see Rave looking down at me with a sigh.
I wondered if she was doing it on purpose when she casually pulled my arm and pressed it against her chest.
The softness of it made my cock twitch.
"I think it would be better for Rave to stay with the girls in the compound. It's a place full of ...... strangers, you know?"
"Ugh ......."
Rave blended in well with the circle of protected girls, and the servants were all women, except for Tesh.
It's a place where she feels safe.
"And besides, I'm really busy over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I don't know if I'll be able to see you at night. If I do, Rave will be alone."
Yeah, that's .......
"I care about Rave very much. I care about Rave a lot, and I don't want her to have a hard time. Trust me, ......."
I smiled at her and hugged her as tightly as I could.
Her breasts are squeezed and pressed against my chest. It was a very comfortable feeling.
Rave gulped a few times as she listened to my words. She may have been trying to argue, but in the end, she remained silent.
"Rave."
I put my hand around the back of Rave's head, squinted my eyes and brought my lips close to hers.
"Master, ......."
Our lips met, and our tongues extended to intertwine.
We exchanged saliva, feeling each other's breath, the softness and warmth of each other's lips. My balls were almost at the limit, desperately producing semen.
"I won't see you for a while. We won't see each other for a while. I'm going to plant my seed in Rave tonight."
In the end, I ejaculated inside Rave three times that night.
Today's results were one shot in Rave in the early morning, two in Anna in the afternoon, and three in Rave at night.
