Chapter 140: The Forgotten Existence
“Ah! What on earth is happening?!”
“Hm?”
I turned my eyes toward the entrance of the room.
Jerry had called his subordinates and was shouting angrily with his eyes wide open.
“Not again! Those guys really never learn.”
“Y-Yes. So… what do you want to do?”
“Tch. Well, let’s see—”
“What happened?”
I approached and asked Jerry.
The young subordinate who had just been reporting to Jerry looked at me with a puzzled expression, but I decided to ignore that.
Jerry waved his hand to dismiss the subordinate and then answered my question.
“Soldiers got into a fight again.”
“Isn’t that an everyday occurrence?”
I tilted my head.
Having been under Henry’s command since childhood and working at the Ministry of Military Affairs, I thought I knew a bit more about this than other princes.
Armies are groups that often have disputes among the soldiers every day.
Fights among soldiers—it seemed to me like a trivial part of daily life, but Jerry, who had more contact with soldiers on a daily basis than I did, didn’t take it lightly and was quite heated about it.
“That’s true, but when certain groups get involved, it always escalates.”
“Escalates?”
“It’s the homosexuals.”
“Oh.”
I nodded, understanding.
Homosexuals aren’t particularly rare.
There are quite a few among the nobility.
Among the nobility, as long as they fulfill their duty to procreate—ensuring bloodlines—they seem to have a nonchalant attitude toward homosexuality.
Originally, for the nobility, marriage is a duty, and the prevailing idea is that true love exists outside of marriage. Thus, the perspective that homosexuality is acceptable also exists to some extent.
So, I wasn’t particularly surprised to hear about homosexuality.
“I have to judge this situation, but… it’s quite troublesome.”
“Why is it troublesome?”
“Most homosexuals often have partners in the same unit. And when they get into fights with others, it usually happens right in front of their partners. They want to show off in front of their lovers, so they often go overboard.”
“I see, so sometimes it even leads to fatal outcomes.”
“Exactly… It’s such a hassle. Not that I have anything against homosexuality.”
“Is that so?”
“No, you see, there are benefits to it. In terms of sexual needs.”
“…Ah, I see.”
After thinking for a moment, I understood what he meant.
Seeing me like that, Jerry nodded.
“If you don’t properly address the lower needs of the soldiers, when you conquer a city, no matter how much you instruct them, they’ll go on a rampage. But if you manage those needs well, you can keep it under control.”
“That’s true, excessive plundering makes governing afterward difficult. It’s an important matter.”
“Exactly. That’s why I exempted all taxes on the brothels in this town. Normally, it’s to allow soldiers to relieve themselves freely.”
“Hahaha, you handled that well.”
I genuinely praised Jerry.
The lower bodily needs of the military have historically been a headache for rulers.
Some impose strict restrictions before an attack, allowing a few days of looting after victory, but considering subsequent occupation governance, it’s generally better to avoid looting as much as possible.
It’s not uncommon to take along units made up solely of courtesans, much like a supply corps.
However, that’s essentially equivalent to taking along many “non-combatants,” which, despite the costs in food and other supplies, does not increase combat power in appearance or reality, making it problematic.
This kind of issue has been faced by various rulers and generals throughout history, and I thought about the difficulties Jerry must face.
“…Hmm.”
“Is something the matter, my lord?”
“Are there many homosexual soldiers?”
“Roughly speaking, I’d say so. Perhaps around two to three hundred.”
“How about gathering those individuals to form a separate unit?”
“Huh?”
“You said earlier, right? They want to put on a show when their lovers are watching.”
“……You mean to channel that eagerness against the enemy?”
“Exactly.”
I nodded slightly.
Jerry looked shocked, his eyes wide open.
He looked like someone who had never thought of such a thing before.
“Plus, if we create an environment where others are the same, it should reduce fights, right? Though, well, it might lead to romantic entanglements.”
“…………”
I said this jokingly, but Jerry was deep in thought, his face serious.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, no, it’s just that my lord is amazing. Yes, I’ll try that.”
Returning to his senses, Jerry had a seriously focused expression on his face.
He looked genuinely considering my proposal.
“At least the fighting will decrease. That alone makes it worth doing.”
“I see.”
“No, it’s really amazing. I wouldn’t have thought of anything like this.”
“Do you know that the cavalry of the Parwar Empire rampaged across the world?”
“Huh?”
Jerry looks puzzled, with a face that seems to be asking what this is about all of a sudden.
“What do you think?”
“Yeah, well. I know that the origins of the Parwar Empire lie in the northern nomadic tribes, so I understand that the elite at the core were all cavalry soldiers.”
I smiled lightly.
Given the history of the Parwar Empire, and considering Jerry’s background and usual behavior, it wouldn’t be strange if he hadn’t studied it at all—but it turned out Jerry knew quite a lot.
I thought that, after all, his behavior was somewhat of an act and that he had studied various things properly.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Do you know why the Parwar cavalry was so strong?”
“Um, well, it’s because they being nomadic people had horses from birth—”
“That’s part of it, but there’s another reason.”
“Huh? What is it…?”
“The horses of the Parwar were not just weapons; they also served as food and for transportation.”
“Huh?”
“I think they were each supplied with five horses.”
I was recalling knowledge I had gained when I researched history a little while ago.
“They usually rode horses into battle. If one horse got tired or injured, they could ride another. And those horses could carry supplies during a march.”
“Oh…”
“In times of emergency, they could kill a horse for blood to drink and meat to eat.”
“Walking food!”
“Combat, transportation, and supply—all could be done with horses, which is why they managed to be elite with a small number.”
“So that was it…”
“That’s the association I came up with.”
“Huh?”
“It might be better to group lovers together in the same unit rather than walk with prostitutes for sexual services. Well, they’re not as versatile as the horses of Parwar, though.”
“Wow, that’s amazing, my lord. That you could draw that association.”
☆
After leaving the room once, Jerry returned in less than thirty minutes.
When he came back, he had an excited look on his face, like a child who had just gotten a new toy.
“How did it go?”
“We should be able to gather all 300 in one place.”
“That’s good.”
“Brilliant, my lord! Now we can finally unleash all those forces we’ve been keeping idle or holding back—right against the enemy army!”
“Hmm… Wait, what?”
“What is it, my lord?”
“…………”
Jerry waited for my response. I raised my palm in a “hold on” gesture and fell deep into thought.
Something felt… off.
When I tried to pinpoint what was bothering me—
“‘Keeping idle,’ you said?”
“Eh?”
What exactly about “keeping idle” was nagging at me? I pondered further.
There was something there.
This wasn’t just my imagination—the phrase “keeping idle” was tugging at some buried thought.
And not just recently… something I’d been subconsciously questioning for a long time.
“—!!”
After pondering for a while, I suddenly realized.
“Monsters…”
“Huh?”
“The Empire has been letting monsters idle.”
“……—!! Is that even possible!?”
Jerry immediately understood what I meant and looked just as shocked as I was.
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