"Fuaaah." "Haahu."

When I stretched my body a little, Sekrit yawned emphatically, which then triggered Mirai to stifle a yawn.

Myla, who normally interjected with a comment about how lax I was, was quietly taking a drink of water from her canteen.

"You can’t really help loosening up."

We’d crossed the Kosora border and been walking for a while now.

It was unthinkable for enemies to chase us this far.

There’s no reason to hurry so we returned to the Leiria at an easy pace.

"It has gone down, huh."

We started with close to 3,500 soldiers and were left with less than 3,000 including over 100 from Kosora who were mostly family members of knights and lower nobles under Count Ambroise.

Although I didn't lose any reinforcement from Hezri Kingdom, about 500 soldiers from Marquis were killed. Moreover, we failed to defend Kosora.

It was enough to make the Marquis angry.

"It’s not Hiro-sama’s fault! In that situation, nothing could be done without reinforcements! In fact, we’re able to come back with this much alive in large part because of Hiro-sama’s strength!"

Mirai was on my side as usual.

"I’ve compiled the loss report. Please use it when you inform the Marquis."

As usual, Leonhardt ruined the warm and fuzzy atmosphere.

I took Leonheardt’s document and handed it off to Demia.

We still have some time before reaching the Leiria. I would think of an excuse for Marquis by then. Probably Gabriel would explain it to his father though.

"Ah."

Lucy happened to be where my wandering eyes landed.

Her cheeks turn red when she catched me watching.

How cute…… I would gobble her up sometime soon.

She felt slightly unworthy of being the only one to not fight, however she was relieved when we somehow escaped.

"Ah!"

My eyes landed on Malty this time.

As soon as I looked at her, she blushed and started breathing heavier.

Furthermore, her eyes became moist and she embraced her own body.

"Aah, master Hiro…… so lovely…… too dreamy…"

Apparently, she fell in love with me after I saved her from danger.

"Fuuh."

I got caught up in the moment and made a striking expression.

"Haau!?"

Her face turned red like an apple and squirmed restlessly.

She’s madly in love. If I said I wanted to see her body, she would certainly not hesitate to strip on the spot.

Oh right, there was something I wanted to say.

"We lost a lot of local armies this battle. I’ll be meeting with the Montfort faction leaders later so come with me."

"Y-yes, of course……"

I gave her ear a playful bite and blew softly into it.

"Ah! Aaaah――!!"

She trembled and collapsed to the ground, her face becoming slovenly.

"L-……let me go and change my underwear."

Cutie.

"Hey now, doing obscenities in front of soldiers is not a very king-like thing to do."

Reina appeared with her high pitched voice.

She’s smiling so I didn’t think she’s seriously rebuking me.

"……I have something I want to ask you again."

Did something happen?

Everybody goes quiet, their attention focused on the golden haired girl.

Myla hesitated, then gathered courage to say what she had in mind.

"You and your women…… your voices at night are too loud!"

I quickly supported Mirai before she fell off her horse.

"Day after day, all the way until dawn! I’m not telling you not to do it, but you could at least try to keep it down!"

Myla, who was red from embarrassment, was very cute when she yelled.

"Be considerate of me who has to hear it every night! What’s with the “Oh yes!” or the “Come on! Sweet heart”!? I’m not even able to be with you due to my injury!"

Oh, come to think about it, I refrained myself from having sex with Myla due to her not fully recovered.

"You..rocking the carriage  during the day!"

Irijina couldn’t read the mood and tempted me, so I went along.

Then Sekrit overheard and made it a threesome.

Both of them had strong bodies and were pent up, meaning the sex would naturally be rough enough to shake the carriage.

Myla stared daggers at me.

I put some distance between us.

"After you told me so much not to do it! You refused me!"

Mirai went around and cut in. Her face was full of jealousy. I didn't have sex with her as she was exhausted from using too much magic for during recent battles.

Mirai Celia and Myla pressed me.

"Tonight I―― no, you’re not allowed any women until your injury heals!" Both girls spoke at the same time.

***

Several days later in Leiria.

Count Auclair saluted and left.

Sorry, I forgot you were even here.

"Him and his army look somewhat unhappy."

"Well of course they would."

Despite escaping with their lives, it didn’t get rid of the taste of countless defeats.

I took a rough look and see that the number of soldiers who had their complete set of equipment could be counted. Most of them were missing helmets, had torn their arm guards, and picked up swords from the enemy after losing their own.

"They were complaining about how Montfort faction didn’t send more troops the whole way back, saying how they would have won if more troops came."

My squad ultimately didn’t collapse once.

Nobody felt like they would lose irrespective of how many allies fell around them.

We entered Marquis Cyril’s office, bowed so slightly it was almost unnoticeable, and then gave my report.

My posture was straight and my expression was as unhappy as possible.

The silence lasted for a while.

Gabriel was staring at his father just like I was.

Was he waiting until I said something?

Marquis Cyril de Montfort flipped through the report documents quietly, sighed and opened up his arms.

"I understand what you want to say. I’ll explain so please take a seat…… having you two stares makes me uneasy."

After I sat down, a small smile emerged on Marquis Cyril’s face.

"I’m sorry. You did well to come back. I was prepared to lose Count Ambroise. Most importantly, I’m glad you’re safe."

Marquis Cyril and I exchanged a handshake.

Looking closer, I noticed Marquis was extremely fatigued and was running on fumes.

"Did something happen?"

"An attempted assassination on the King of Fanoss."

Wow, that kind of thing happened?

The king didn’t have it easy either.

"That is what’s being told in public, but the reality is different. King Alfonso’s new concubine was targeted…… apparently she was killed. Probably was done by ones who disagreed on unity between Fanoss and Saxon. The king went mad with anger and intended to kill everyone related to the incident."

He sighed.

"The bad news is Fanoss soldiers shall get involved in our civil war. Until now, we only faced Saxon's local soldiers and the ones imported from the former Olga Federation. But now, we have to face Fanoss original soldiers."

Gabriel's expression turned gloomy. He continued,

"Even without Fanoss' interference, we were continuously beaten by Saxon."

It seemed I have to take this civil war more seriously. At first, I brought 50 men with me from Hinterland. Then, 500 reinforcements with Mithra, Demia and Curtis Blackwell. My third reinforcement should be coming.