Chapter 144

Translator: Willia

Valencia had fertile land spreading widely and was one of Sinatria’s representative port cities.

Trade was active and food production was abundant, enough to make it suitable as the capital of a country, but it had one fatal drawback, which was that it was not terrain advantageous for defense.

“......Since very long ago, Valencia has had a history of being occupied by various forces. Sticking to this side then that side is an ancient tradition of this place. That is why everyone calls this place the ‘Land of Treason’. You must never trust the Amir, Senor El Cid.”

One knight belonging to the army that King Santonio had assigned said this to Ricardt.

Ricardt stationed the army outside the city and, mounted on a red horse, was looking around the port at length. There were an unusually large number of cats at the port, and they did not run away even when they saw people.

One yellow cat was even stretched out lazily under the warm sunlight, taking a nap.

Looking at that cat, Ricardt replied.

“I will keep it in mind.”

The people at the port did not seem particularly interested in whether Ricardt had brought an army or not.

Loading or unloading cargo onto ships, checking goods against ledgers, sending ships out or bringing them in. That was all.

The sea breeze was as refreshing as its blue color. The seagulls crying “kkirook kkirook” were annoying, but they were not a threat.

“Amir has sent someone.”

As Ricardt was looking at the sea, Raimund approached and delivered the message. Now that he was the commander of the army, he could not speak directly to Ricardt without going through intermediaries. Even though they were not that far apart.

When Ricardt immediately turned his head, the person said to have been sent by Amir was surrounded by knights of the Order of the Flame Knights.

They were not particularly threatening him or anything like that, but just the fact that the knights were staring at him from close by seemed to be a great threat, and he was completely cowed.

Ricardt did not tell him to come closer and instead looked down from his horse and asked.

“If I wish to see Amir, where should I go?”

“Pardon? Ah, I will guide you.”

“No. I asked where I should go.”

Ricardt had come as an occupying force, not as a guest. Courtesy should be shown to those who surrendered, but boundaries still had to be clearly drawn.

In short, it was not a matter of going because Amir told him to come, but that he would go if he wanted to.

The person who had come as a messenger quickly understood the meaning of those words.

“......If you head toward the West Gate, there is an orchard not far away. Amir is there.”

“I understand. Go.”

As Ricardt’s words fell, one knight roughly grabbed the back of his neck, dragged him out, and shoved him away.

It was somewhat violent, but it clearly conveyed that they were not people who had come to enjoy leisure or relaxation.

Amir’s messenger left the place miserably, like a dog caught in the rain.

Watching him leave, Raimund spoke to Ricardt.

“Even so, he is someone who surrendered. Would it not be better to appease him a little?”

“No. If we treat him strictly, he will be more satisfied.”

“Why is that?”

“There must be a reason he suddenly surrendered, but if we just grin and exchange pleasantries, he will think we are weak.”

“Do you know the reason he surrendered?”

“It is obvious. People who stick to this side then that side eventually provoke the patience of kings. No matter how much of a goose that lays golden eggs it is, a beast cannot toy with people. Rather than handing the goose over to a neighbor, it might be better to kill it and eat it.”

In other words, it meant that he had brought in King Santonio’s army to block an enemy. And that enemy was none other than the sultan he had previously served, named Yusuf.

“......Did he hire mercenaries by offering up the entire city?”

“No. If he had hired mercenaries, it would have cost an enormous amount of money. But now, did it cost money? He brought in the king’s army without spending a single coin.”

Raimund had been active in this area for a long time, but since he belonged to the closed Order of the Flame Knights, he did not properly understand their ways of thinking or how the whole game operated.

In truth, surrendering even to the point of conversion was somewhat exceptional. Until now he had not gone as far as conversion, but in order to draw in the suspicious King Santonio, the Amir of Valencia had made a decisive move of his own.

In any case, Ricardt slowly looked around the port, and only after the sun in the sky had moved somewhat did he head toward the western gate of the city.

He had seen it on the way in as well, but the farmland near the city truly stretched on endlessly. It was all wheat fields, broader than the territories of most empires.

When the wind blew, the green wheat that had not yet fully ripened swayed just like waves.

After passing through the farmland and reaching a low hill, a short stone wall ran all the way around the hill, and beyond it trees were planted in rows. However, the orange-colored fruit hanging from the trees was unfamiliar.

Ricardt dismounted and entered the orchard that was the personal property of the Amir. The attendant knights kept watch around the hill from atop their horses.

As he walked between the orchard trees, a fresh fragrance he had never smelled in his life instantly captivated Ricardt.

Piercing through all the comforting scents of soil, wood, leaves, and flowers, the refreshing scent of the fruit burst forth and seized Ricardt’s attention. Ricardt could not help but stop walking and stare at the tree.

He suddenly thought that this might be what it would be like if sunlight turned into fragrance. The scent of the unfamiliar fruit was like sunlight.

"It's an orange. Different from a lemon."

Someone spoke. When he turned his head, it seemed to be the Amir of Valencia, but instead of fine clothes he was dressed in shabby work clothes with his sleeves rolled up. Judging by his appearance alone, he seemed closer to the Franken side than a Salaman.

He stretched out his arm and plucked an orange fruit, then used a dagger to make a cut and peeled off the thick rind. Then he split the flesh in half and handed one piece to Ricardt.

Ricardt sniffed it once, observed it from side to side, and then put it into his mouth. As the juice burst out, a perfectly harmonized sweetness and sourness struck him intensely. It was shocking.

“I personally improved and cultivated it. Even the Salaman failed at cultivating it, but I succeeded. Do you not think it was worth doing?”

“It is a heavenly scent and taste, but this too will eventually become tiresome. Humans are such creatures.”

“Then how about giving it to those who are tasting it for the first time, rather than to those who have grown tired of it? For example, to a beloved person.”

When people sometimes experience something good or eat something delicious, they often think of their parents, their lovers, or their children.

The taste of the fruit called orange was intense, sweet, and a harmless experience. To the extent that one would want a beloved person, a precious person, to experience it at least once.

However, it seemed like too leisurely a hobby to survive in this harsh world.

“Your words are correct, Amir of Valencia. But one cannot live always immersed in sentiment.”

“That is true...... I am Ahmad. You are probably El Cid, correct?”

Ricardt nodded his head.

“Have you heard the term ‘Land of Treason’?”

Once again, Ricardt nodded. People often referred to Valencia as the Land of Treason.

“To those who value honor, we may be hard to understand, but from another perspective it is merely one of the ways to survive. A hero who roared like thunder, an emperor who once had the whole world beneath his feet, and a dynasty that boasted powerful authority all eventually fade before the passage of time. In the end, this orange may remain the longest, that is what I am saying. And it will present this happy taste to people, perhaps later even to commoners rather than nobles.”

Ricardt could understand, comprehend, and accept what Amir Ahmad was saying. However, it was far removed from what Ricardt pursued.

That kind of thought could be read clearly from Ricardt’s expressionless face. It was a feeling as if to say that he understood everything and respected it, but that he personally had little interest.

So Amir Ahmad put the remaining half of the orange he was holding into his mouth and spoke while crunching it.

“Twenty thousand, they say. From what I have heard. I tried various bold proposals, but the sultan seems to have already made up his mind. He will arrive before the wheat ripens this year and sweep everything away. There is no telling how many people he will kill and plunder. I can escape, of course. But even so, I remain here. Because I love this city. That is the only thing to which I give my loyalty.”

Twenty thousand. If it was twenty thousand purely combat troops excluding supply units, it was truly an enormous number. It was a force that could even try crossing swords with the Empire.

From that number, one could feel the sultan’s strong will. That rather than giving it to someone else, he would simply destroy it.

One might think that in that case he should not side with King Santonio and should just stay put, but there was no way to know how many complicated matters and incidents had occurred beneath the surface until now.

Even so, despite clearly hearing that enormous number, Ricardt did not show even the slightest agitation. Amir Ahmad quietly watched Ricardt, observing him carefully in his own way. Whether he was merely putting on an act, or whether he truly had the caliber.

Ricardt’s forces, combining the Order of the Flame Knights and King Santonio’s army, amounted to a little over six thousand. Compared to Sultan Yusuf, it was a difference of more than three times.

"Distance?"

Ricardt asked only this.

“They should be setting up their camp about now. If you ride alone, it would take about two days. If you lead an army, it would take three to four days.”

It was closer than expected. An enormous force was bearing down right in front of them.

Whether he was thinking of it as someone else’s problem or was simply unafraid, Ricardt showed no change in expression. He merely looked around the orchard and then said this.

“Harvest all these fruits and give them to the soldiers. If you divide them in half, everyone will be able to eat without exception.”

At that, Amir Ahmad of Valencia stared at Ricardt silently for a moment. He had expected unreasonable demands, but instead received a surprisingly romantic request.

“......Is that all? What about military funds?”

“The weekly pay and the reward for victory. Prepare those.”

“Is there nothing you need for yourself?”

“Hmm...... Once a year, send people to deliver this fruit to Adeloron.”

No matter how Ahmad thought about it, it was strange. Ricardt did not demand beautiful women or treasures of an ancient empire.

Military commanders were usually arrogant and self centered, but Ricardt was not like that.

“I will be going.”

As if the business was finished, Ricardt turned around and left the orchard. Before leaving, he picked an entire basket of oranges and took them with him. He needed to eat some himself as well.

After leaving the orchard, he told Raimund and the others what kind of conversation he had with the Amir, and one knight asked.

“Leaving aside the numerical disadvantage, can we trust him? What if we go out to fight and the Amir strikes us from behind? What if he shuts the city gates when we retreat?”

“If you think about every such possibility, you cannot fight a battle. He will decide whom to side with while watching the outcome anyway. So all we need to think about is winning.”

From the beginning, Ricardt did not trust Ahmad. He merely confirmed that their interests aligned, and thought that was sufficient.

“Still, twenty thousand......”

“If we fight relying on the terrain, it is more than doable.”

When one knight worried, Raimund said confidently.

However, just as when he had once been accused of being a braggart, Ricardt once again brought up something out of the ordinary.

“No. We will meet them in open battle and crush them.”

“......”

Everyone had decided in common to trust and follow Ricardt, but they were already starting to think that this was going a bit too far.

Is he lacking a sense of military command because he himself is too strong? Does he think others are like him too? Those kinds of worries arose.

In any case, the oranges Ricardt distributed to the soldiers tasted incredible. Whether they tasted so good that one would have no regrets even if they died in battle was another matter.

It was natural that family and friends were precious, and to Ricardt now, the most precious people were the soldiers.

Ricardt did not treat soldiers like livestock or tools, but genuinely respected and treated them as people to people.

It was because of what he had experienced in his previous life. Becoming a military commander now was also a way of releasing the resentment that had once been deeply etched into him.

Then and now alike, soldiers were people full of sins, and at the same time pitiable ones. Ricardt, at least, could understand that hardship.

That was the meaning contained within the orange.

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