Chapter 134: Three Gifts
As the sunset fell behind me, I stepped outside the carriage and waited for the approaching figure.
From across the makeshift main road that had formed naturally at the campsite, a man appeared.
He left all the soldiers he had brought outside the campsite and approached alone.
Thud, thud—his way of walking was so robust that it seemed the floor would creak or break if it was of poor construction.
The man in armor, with half of his face covered by a beard, walked straight up to me and bowed down with such force that it looked as if he would leap to the ground.
“It has been a long time, my lord. I am Jerry Eisen.”
“Mm, you look well. Has it been about ten years since we last met in person?”
Jerry replied while still bowing, lifting only his face.
“Yes! It’s been roughly ten years since that day when I became a man.”
“I see. You can relax, it must be difficult to talk like that.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Jerry rubbed his forehead against the ground one last time before standing up straight.
His presence was quite substantial.
Upon closer inspection, the armor he wore was worn, and it bore countless small scratches.
Concealed beneath the beard, a scar ran along the side of his cheek, still pink and raw-looking.
It was clear that he was still at the frontlines, evident from that one scar.
Combined with his large stature, he emanated an intimidating aura—no, a sense of overwhelming pressure. I thought a weak-hearted recruit might faint just from his gaze.
“By the way, have you been around here?”
“Yes! I’ve been in the west for three years now.”
“That’s fine, but why are you here? Even without an official title, you are now a general; leaving your post is problematic.”
“I heard you were coming this way, my lord, and I wouldn’t know when I would get another chance if I missed this one, so I brought a few gifts—about three, I think.”
“Gifts?”
“Before that… was it Jerry Eisen?”
Henry stepped forward from behind and, with a frown on his face, questioned Jerry in a displeased tone.
“What is that language you’re using in front of His Majesty?”
“Ah, forgive me, Your Highness. I truly didn’t mean any disrespect.”
Jerry scratched his head and responded with an apologetic expression.
“I’m a former bandit, you see. Ever since my lord took me in, I’ve been sent from one battlefield to another, so I don’t know a thing about manners or etiquette. I know that I have become a general and I should learn about manners. I get it, I do. But if I’ve got time to learn fancy manners, I would be more useful to my lord if I spent that time killing even one more barbarian on the frontier.”
“…There are limits.”
“That’s fine.”
“Your Majesty.”
Henry turned and shot me a glance that seemed to say, “This is too lenient.”
“I allow it. After all, we are in the midst of a campaign; it wouldn’t make sense to be strict about etiquette here.”
“If that is what you say, Your Majesty…”
Henry continued to wear a reluctant expression, despite my words.
Henry had long served as the Minister of Military Affairs.
Being at the head of the military department means he often interacted with generals, many of whom are rough and have little regard for manners. Typically, those who rise to the rank of general tend to have some sort of connection or, as Jerry just said, “learn when becoming a general.”
It is rare to find someone like Jerry who does not care about such things at all. Usually, as one’s rank increases, the stakes get higher, and they become more inclined to learn manners to protect their position, but Jerry did not follow that path at all.
That was somewhat amusing.
“More importantly, what are the gifts you mentioned?”
“Yes! Hey!! Hurry and bring them!”
Jerry shouted loudly toward the troops he had led.
It was a considerable voice, like thunder.
The soldiers around who had been quietly setting up camp nearby stopped and turned in surprise at his outcry.
Naturally, this reached Jerry’s troops, and soon they began to move.
After a short while, nearly ten soldiers arrived, ‘escorting’ five women.
“I apologize for the wait, my lord.”
“What are those people?”
“Yes! I heard you brought a woman, but having only one is rather lonely. So I gathered a selection of decent women from my jurisdiction and brought them along.”
“I see.”
I nodded slightly.
It was sudden, but as the Emperor—no, as a nobleman—this was not surprising.
It was not uncommon for women to be presented as gifts to curry favor; such things happen all year round.
“Oh, of course, they are all willing. For example, these two are from farming families, the one next to them is an apprentice from a brothel, this one is the poster girl from a collapsed town’s diner, and this one is… um, what was it again?”
“I… I was sold because my brother is getting married.”
In a strange scene, Jerry asked, and the girl answered timidly.
“Yeah, exactly that. Since marrying off the youngest son is important, I’ve heard it’s pretty common for the other kids—especially the daughters—to be sold off for that purpose. I don’t get it myself, though.”
“Ah, I’ve heard that story often from western farming families. It can be said to be a local custom.”
“Oh, my lord, you know about that?”
“Yes. In eastern farming families, when passing down the land, it is divided equally among all sons; that’s the origin of the word ‘tawake[Dividing Fields].’ In contrast, in the west, the youngest child inherits everything, so all the money goes to the youngest.”
“Is that so… But why the youngest? Isn’t it usually the eldest son?”
“The theory is that the youngest is younger and can work longer. Though nowadays, it’s mostly done out of habit.”
“Really… Amazing, my lord, you knew such things?”
“Jerry Eisen, you are quite rude!”
Henry, who had been silent, finally couldn’t hold back and shouted at Jerry.
“Huh? Ah! Certainly! That was bad! It was just that the story was so interesting that I got carried away!”
Jerry, chided by Henry, this time didn’t argue back as he had before. Perhaps he also thought that what he did was wrong, and he dropped to the ground with incredible force, bowing deeply and rubbing his forehead against the earth.
He performed the traditional apology with great enthusiasm, and I found it amusing, unrelated to whether to forgive him or not.
“It’s fine, I’m not bothered by it.”
“Yes, sir!”
Jerry stood up suddenly. He must have rubbed his forehead quite hard, as blood was seeping from it, but he paid no mind to it and continued speaking.
“Ah, of course, I made sure to explain everything properly to all of them, so don’t worry, my lord. If you choose them, that’s great—if not, as long as they serve well during the term, I’ll personally take care of their families and all that for the rest of my life.”
“That’s quite a generous offer.”
“Well, it’s nothing like that—ah! That reminds me! Speaking of generosity, I brought alcohol with me. It’s just not right to have women around without some drinks!”
Saying this, Jerry turned to shout towards his own troops.
I chuckled to myself, imagining that if he shouted, the alcohol would be brought over next.
“Understood, understood. You don’t need to line it all up in front of me. Just hand it over to the staff later.”
“YES!”
“Didn’t it cost quite a bit? I imagine it would have been tough to prepare all this on an unranked general’s salary?”
Upon hearing this, Jerry looked at me with the most serious expression I had seen from him and answered.
“The only reason I’m here and able to behave like a decent human being is because of you, my lord. If you hadn’t given us a way out that day, we’d be rotting as compost somewhere, either at the gallows or in the mountains. Now is finally my chance to repay that favor; it’s time to show my gratitude in whatever way I can, right?”
“I merely gave you a way.”
“Even so! You are still our benefactor, or rather, our god,”
Jerry continued to hold my gaze steadily.
His look was asserting that “this doesn’t feel like enough repayment at all.”
“Hmm, you are quite earnest. Alright, I will accept the alcohol; take the girls home. I already have a good woman.”
“Is that so?”
“She’s the best songstress in the capital—no, in the Empire.”
“I see! Well, that means these guys won’t have a chance.”
Jerry didn’t press on further.
I appreciated his lack of insistence.
“So, what’s the last item?”
Suddenly, Henry spoke up.
Since I had been shielding Jerry throughout the conversation, Henry seemed somewhat sulky as he asked.
It was clear that he wanted to get to the point and finish the conversation quickly.
“…Ah, now that you mention it, I did say there would be three gifts.”
I smiled wryly.
Women, and alcohol.
Jerry’s mention of “three” likely referred to three types of things, meaning there was indeed one item missing.
“Oh, in that case, it’s almost there.”
“Almost?”
“I can’t reach that far with my voice, so… sorry, my lord, just a moment, please—”
It was the moment Jerry spoke those words.
In the distance, there was a noise that sounded like an explosion. We all turned our gazes towards the direction of the sound.
To the north, there were mountains, beyond which the explosions could be heard intermittently. And then—the crimson sky darkened further.
“What’s that?”
“Hehe.”
Jerry grinned with pride.
“Those insolent bastards who dared defy my lord—I had their supply depot swiftly burned to the ground.”
““—! ””
What Jerry said with pride was, in truth, something he could boast about even more.
Henry and Neil, who hadn’t found an opportunity to interject in our conversation, stared in shock at Jerry’s words as the explosions continued and the flames engulfed the northern area.
[Many Thanks to Otaku Hikikomori from discord for the cover pictures]
There is –>discord<— to get update notifications and releases? I am a bit lazy these days.
Thanks for the treat. 👍