AWDC Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Toriholi Village Defense Force

Prince Charles arrived in Milona Town with 3,000 soldiers. Gathering the soldiers from the southern region, the force numbered nearly 5,000.

Here, he was making a show of thoroughly opposing the Crown Prince.

Almost all of the southern region lined up near the Milona castle gates to welcome Prince Charles. It was undeniable that this overshadowed the lord of Toriholi Village, who had arrived in Milona first.

This showed just how absolute Earl Milona’s authority was in the southern region, and that the nobles of this area were almost entirely submitting to him.

The southern lords were gathered at Earl Milona’s residence and ordered to assemble as many soldiers as possible at Milona Castle immediately.

The lord of Toriholi Village could only return to his village with a gloomy expression at that order.

Meanwhile, we had started military training under John.

Besides John and me, the brothers George and Jim Keene, Sulke, Kent, and many familiar faces like Ricardo, Peck, and Eric showed up. Even more pleasing was that young craftsmen from the village’s paper workshop, blacksmith, and glass workshop had answered the call. Many were from the village, but some craftsmen who had moved from the capital were mixed in. They were all young people brought by Labos, and I thought we were truly fortunate to have such good people thanks to his scouting abilities. They had gathered out of concern that the village would be in serious trouble if war broke out. The number of people who gathered exceeded 40, which was honestly more than we could handle, so we excluded those under 15 and over 40, selecting 23 people. Tom’s eldest son also wanted to join, but he was only 13, so we told him to wait until he was a little older.

“Thank you all for gathering.”

John stood before everyone as the captain.

“As you know, in the capital, Prince Charles has occupied the royal palace, and his younger brother, objecting to this, has entered Milona Town. This village has long been peaceful, with no quarrels or disturbances.

But now that the royals have started fighting, this village may also be caught up in the war. Soldiers wounded in battle may come to this village and commit violence. Refugees fleeing the war may rush into the village and try to steal food.

I don’t think our village alone can remain peaceful forever.

We have gathered to protect the villagers from the approaching conflict. We are here to protect our parents, siblings, wives, sons, and daughters.

We must train, become strong, and protect the village.

It will be hard and painful training, but please do your best to protect the village!” John declared powerfully.

“I would like to decide on a name for the unit here. How about the Toriholi Village Defense Force?”

With everyone’s approval, the name of the unit was decided.

John started the training with group activities.

None of the people who gathered had ever done military training. When they started walking in formation, everyone fell apart.

It took a long time for everyone to be able to march in formation with their arms and legs aligned.

“One, two. One, two.” When everyone could say it in unison and walk in formation, the training was over.

“Brother, no, Captain. Will we become stronger by doing this?”

Jim asked without hesitation. Those who had gathered naturally expected to train with swords.

“Armies are strong because they are a group. If individuals act on their own, they won’t become strong. I won’t let you hold swords until everyone can walk with their arms and legs aligned.”

John’s answer was absolutely correct. I was Japanese, so I could listen to this idea honestly, but it was surprising for those who had no military experience in this world.

It is said that the army of the Flandreuk Kingdom was also uncoordinated in the past. The founding king created a modern army, which is why it was said to be the strongest, even though it had less national power and fewer soldiers than neighboring countries.

A long time has passed since the time of the founding king, but that tradition still lives on in the national army and remains in the Imperial Guard.

It was also because of this tradition that the hero Robertson was able to lead the Imperial Guard and achieve numerous military exploits.

Now, John was trying to pass on that tradition to the Toriholi Defense Force. I thought I would cooperate at least a little.

I told John about the rules of the unit.

“One, build trust with fellow unit members.

One, don’t cause trouble for the villagers.

One, don’t fight with fellow unit members.

…”

Etc., extremely obvious rules.

“We cannot protect the village unless we build a relationship of trust between the villagers and the unit members. To do that, it is important to create and enforce the rules of the unit.” I explained the rules to John.

“I think that’s good. By the way, I want a deputy who can assist me in the unit. I want you to be it.”

I was about to refuse, saying, “No, that’s…”, but I reconsidered, thinking that I was the one who brought it up.

I still have things I can’t neglect: desert development, organizing the government office, town building, and school operations. I’m sure I’ll be busy, but everyone who gathered here, including John, has other jobs. I’m not the only one who’s busy.

I accepted.

Then, representing the unit members, I decided to negotiate with William Robertson.

“The members of the Defense Force all have jobs. By participating in the Defense Force, they may lose income or get injured. Please guarantee the status of the Defense Force.”

“I understand. I will guarantee their status. But this involves money. The budget for this year has already been decided, so you need to figure out where to get it from.”

That’s right. I was in a position to request a budget and also to scrutinize and cut the requested budget.

I think my request is natural, but I have to suppress the expanding village budget. I realized once again that it was becoming difficult.

I need to acquire more people and have them bear my responsibilities. I had to change this conflicting state, and I felt it again.

I was sorry for the unit members, but the amount of money I squeezed out of the budget was only a small amount compared to their heavy responsibilities. However, everyone was happy that the status of the Defense Force was guaranteed in some form or another.

“Do your best.”

“I’m counting on you.”

After they had practiced forming a line to a certain extent and it was no longer disturbed, John started training by running around the village.

The villagers welcomed us with goodwill.

The village was about to have its peace threatened. The Defense Force was there to protect it. That feeling was being conveyed.

Every member of the unit had come to take pride in the training of forming a line.

I could understand that feeling as if I could pick it up, and John and I began to feel a response.

“From now on, we will divide into teams of 10 and form platoons. I will command one platoon, and Toma will command another.

And we will continue to recruit members. Everyone here has done a basic set of training. Eventually, you will also become platoon leaders and command units.

I want you to work hard in training with that in mind.”

John, as captain, gave a pep talk.