The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom: Volume 6 [Parts 1 to 5] by Fudeorca

Author:Fudeorca
Language: eng
Format: epub

III

Two days later, as noon approached, there was a great commotion as a carriage arrived at the residence. I soon realized it was Rook and Suzuya here to visit.

When Rook came alone, he’d normally make the trip in half a day riding an eagle. Since eagles couldn’t carry a pair of adults, though, traveling with Suzuya meant they had to ride in a two-person carriage.

They occasionally visited the royal capital this way when an event required their attendance as husband and wife. Since traveling by carriage was so slow, it would take three days if they rushed, or four if they traveled at a more leisurely pace.

It wasn’t quite a daimyo’s procession, but any carriage carrying someone as important as Rook was escorted by about thirty lightly equipped escorts on plainrunners, plus seventy or so guards on foot.

The reason the mounted guards were only lightly equipped was that plainrunners, having less endurance than horses, wouldn’t be able to travel for several days in a row while carrying people in heavy iron armor.

The question, then, was why they didn’t ride horses instead, but in that respect it really was like a daimyo’s procession—above all else, it had to look the part. It might look like a response to some emergency situation if knights on horseback were dispatched, so having them ride birds was more respectable. I personally thought people had too much faith in plainrunners. After all, another advantage to using horses was that their extra weight gave them more force when charging at groups of foot soldiers. On the other hand, there was historical precedent showing that mounted archers from equestrian tribes couldn’t be countered without plainrunners.

The party escorting Rook and Suzuya were here as part of their regular duties rather than being part of some formal event. Once they’d arrived at the residence, the soldiers only had to line up and hear some brief praise from Rook before they could leave.

Those who’d been serving as escorts would later relieve the guards currently stationed at the residence, taking up positions as gatekeepers and suchlike. Being assigned to guard duty here was a form of reward for soldiers. In recognition of good work, soldiers were given a temporary assignment at the royal capital. Here, they could enjoy everything the city had to offer during their time off, which was every other day. Since there was no daily training here at the residence either, the soldiers weren’t particularly busy. They could even stay somewhere else overnight—such as at one of the royal capital’s brothels—so long as they made it back for the morning roll call.

On the other hand, they were expected to perform their duties efficiently during their limited working hours, and anyone caught slacking would find themselves in trouble. But with so much time to rest, most soldiers did their duty properly.

The soldiers who’d just arrived wouldn’t have to start work for several days, so most of them could immediately head out to explore the city... Or at least, that’s what they’d do normally.

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