108 (IN) Chapter 29 - Duke's First Military Order

It was quiet for a while after Benjamin's departure.

Vivian busily continued checking and approving the documents and reports regarding Maine and the Commoners Merchant's Guild on her desk without any complaints from the mountain of paperwork on her desk.

Duke left Vivian in charge of fief management and its development after all as well as the management and development of their many businesses.

Benjamin on the other hand was left in charge of bookkeeping their finances. And also upholding the financial and bureaucratic integrity of Maine.

Vivian was the one who decided where and when to spend, whilst Benjamin told her how much they could spend as he kept an inventory of everything.

But now that Benjamin was out on a short mission, Vivian had to do all of today's work alone, and so she was busier than usual.

Vivian continued to quietly work, once and a while wondering: [I wonder where Anna went? She's been gone for a while now-]

But just before she could finish her thoughts, a loud thud resounded throughout the study as Anna barged in, shouting:

"M-Milady! Milady! It's grave news! Lord Duke and our men are trapped!" Anna cried, handing Vivian a letter from the Imperial Palace.

Vivian's eyes grew darker and darker as her worries began raging in her heart the more she read the letter sent by the Emperor, notifying Maine of Duke's current situation and the defeat of the Reinforcement Army at the hands of the Northmen Horde.

Vivian's hands started shaking as she read the events that had transpired...

[W-Wasn't this supposed to be a simple Barbarian raid?! What the hell happened?! How did the Elder Magi Council even fall to likes of them?! No, more importantly, how did Duke-!]

Vivian became paralyzed at how quickly everything became so real after hearing that Duke, someone that was precious to her, and all of the other men of Maine were part of the army that was now trapped in the North and was actually in danger of dying.

Because of this, Vivian realized that war wasn't just some fun game about honor and glory like how it was frequently depicted in War Reports back at the Imperial Palace, where the complex lives of men and women suddenly turn into simple numbers and digits as if those people didn't have dreams, thoughts, and aspirations of their own.

Just as Vivian was about to have a small panic attack from the sudden thoughts rushing towards her, Nuir suddenly barged into the study with Jugurta next to her, saying: "Vivian, we need to talk!"

Nuir quickly dragged Vivian outside and into a black carriage where only she and Vivian entered, leaving Jugurta outside to guard them as Nuir discussed in detail the events that had transpired in the Northern Region.

"So that's what happened... Then what do we do now?" Vivian grimly asked Nuir after hearing from her the full details of how Duke decided to stay with the Reinforcement Army, believing it was the best way to minimize the casualties within his men and for the Pendragon Platoon to survive as a group.

"Duke, he needs our help! Or some form of reinforcement at least! How could a soft and plump kid like Duke even survive a war in that cold and dangerous place!" Nuir answered in great distress, her eyes frantically darting from left to right as her mind was filled to the brim with thoughts that she was currently contemplating all at once, very out of character from Nuir's usually elegant and cool attitude.

"How would WE be able to help him?! We're half an empire away! By the time the troops reach there, it might already be too late!" Vivian's negativity started to seep in as she started calculating how long it would take to send Maine's militia out as a proper army and the massive cost that would come with it.

Maine already had a 5000-strong emergency militia that was ready to protect it at any time if ever Maine was attacked. This emergency militia was established by Duke just before he left for the Northman Invasion where he mandated every male citizen of his territory to join in military training whenever they had time.

But the cost of converting a local part-time militia that could return home at any time to work and farm after a few battles and to turn that into a temporary full-time army that could be sent outside of their territory would be huge, too huge of a cost for the current still developing Maine to feasibly bear, that and the subsequent drop in productivity caused by the lack of labor would severely hurt Maine who was still in a dangerous balancing act between its barely enough income and the massive deficits needed to fuel its development.

"And if we don't arm or supply them properly enough, the militia we'll be sending would just be marching towards their graves anyway!" Vivian explained Maine's current situation to Nuir.

"Then let's just send the men we can send now and worry about the rest later..." Nuir suggested as she ordered the carriage to begin moving, finally regaining her calm confidence as if she had found an answer to their current problem.

"Where are we going?!" Vivian asked.

"To the Central Region. We're not the only ones currently in trouble, right?... Maybe we can try to lobby for some additional troops there" Nuir slowly smiled at Vivian as she fixed herself up.

"Consider it your second test after the Grain Consulate" Nuir added.

Hearing this, Vivian made a deep breath as she collected herself, smiling back at Nuir as she said: "Then... if we're going there, then let's go fetch Benjamin first! Oh, and maybe the Knights too... If we are going to do something, might as well do it my way!" Vivian expressed a confident smile as she finally regained her bearing, putting on a brave front after finding a solution of her own.

Seeing the spark of confidence within the young woman's eyes in front of her, Nuir had no choice but to agree to Vivian's suggestion, won over by the assertiveness she had displayed as they headed to fetch the old man (Benjamin) who was currently running around fighting crime and corruption like some superhero.

Staring out towards the wide blue sky through the carriage's window, Vivian silently mumbled to herself: "So that's why you stopped sending letters back then..."

[How could I think he simply forgot about me... What?! You thought Duke was out there enjoying himself?!] Vivian lambasted herself for thinking that Duke was out there enjoying himself fighting against the Northman Horde.

"If only I knew, I would've sent more than 200 men..." Vivian mumbled to herself as she sincerely pleaded within her heart:

[Duke... please stay safe]

Meanwhile in the Northern Region of Brune:

"Woohoo~! We're eating BIG today, aren't we guys?!" Duke shouted as if a party had just started, currently enjoying himself with fighting in the war.

"BAHAHAHA! Not as big as 'our' Lord Commander, eh boys?!" Alexei cracked a joke as everybody started laughing like a bunch of idiots. Byran, Galleo, and Bran riding next to Duke included.

"""GAHAHAHA!"""

The soldiers too were filled with high spirits and morale, merrily marching forward as if the previous ambush never happened.

Even Titus, Servian, and the other Veteran Commanders that stayed in the army couldn't help but be giddy, smiling alongside everyone else.

It would've been hard to imagine that this was the same army just 19 days ago where almost half of their numbers fled from service.

That day when Duke was announced by Alexei as Lord Commander:

Duke, with a stumped expression on his face, asked: "Me?..."

"Yes, you..." The old man Alexei smiled a trollish smile as if he was messing with Duke.

"W-Wait a minute, you didn't even give us time to object! I object! I object!" Servian shouted at Alexei who suddenly announced Duke's new position without even consulting with the other commanders.

It wasn't that he disliked Duke, it was just that Alexei's way of doing things was far too sudden for him, and so his objection was a way for him to demand an explanation from Alexei.

"Ah~, fine fine, I get what you're all thinking, but you can all relax in knowing that every decision Duke will make must get my approval first, ok? There, you good now?" The old man shooed away their concerns nonchalantly as everybody gathered there thought to themselves:

[[[WAIT?! HOW DOES THAT CHANGE ANYTHING!!! Aren't you still the one making the decisions then?!]]]

But none of them voiced out their concern as they all knew or at least somewhat understood that Alexei was planning to put Duke under his wing during this campaign.

This wasn't the first time Alexei did this, in fact, he also once did it for both Varhys and William for their first campaigns when they were still starting out...

Both the two were unwanted children in their respective families, and so on the very first chance their families got, the two were immediately sent out on suicidal missions so they could hopefully die there as quickly and as quietly as possible.

One thing their families failed to consider, however, was the fact that the person Brune usually sent to lead these suicide missions was none other than the Great Bastard himself, inevitably leading to the two forming a teacher-student relationship with Alexei.

Instead of killing them, their families basically gave the two the strongest lifeline in surviving one could possibly get!

And since the first one became Emperor of you know, the whole fucking Empire of Brune, and the other one became the Archduke of the whole Northern Region, it was safe to assume that Alexei also saw potential in this fat lump of meat they called Duke.

And with that, Duke suddenly found himself the one responsible for giving orders.

And the very first order Duke gave was quite a surprising one too, even baffling the old and experienced Alexei himself.

Duke ordered that the Army should rest for 2 whole days...

Just so all of them could take a bath!

At that moment, everybody thought to themselves:

[[[Did we really smell THAT bad?!]]]