The Old Woman with Two Guns

"More than a hundred of our men fell in this battle. We took two thousand enemy heads and captured twenty-three thousand prisoners. It was a great victory! Ireland no longer had the strength to resist. We can conquer the whole island with a single proclamation."

"However, we didn't capture many weapons or suits of armor, and the provisions were pitifully scarce."

After the battlefield had been cleared and the spoils counted, Leon got a rough tally of what they had won.

He calculated it again. Even if they converted all the supplies captured on this campaign into food, it still wouldn't amount to half the provisions the army had consumed!

They had taken a staggering loss.

There was no helping it. Ireland was too barren. The local noble lords were so poor their teeth were chattering. The island was nothing but hills and mountains, with very little arable land. Aside from growing potatoes, Leon couldn't think of any other use for it.

If not for his strategic plans—if he hadn't needed to remove this thorn in his side before advancing onto the Europa Continent—he wouldn't have bothered with such a poor land. The cost of the army's journey there and back was more than it was worth.

"There's one more matter to report, Your Majesty. Commander Leish was struck by a stray arrow and died."

"What? Leish is dead?"

Leish had been Luther's friend, and Leon had addressed him as uncle. After drawing the Sword in the Stone, Leish had been among the first to pledge his allegiance to Leon, committing men and resources to help him march on the capital and claim the rightful mandate.

He had fought in many battles and was experienced. In today's battle, Leon had trusted his steadiness and seniority, assigning him a thousand-man unit to follow behind and keep the enemy formation divided while they expanded their gains.

It was a post where he could simply stand by and collect credit. Now, hearing that he had died on the battlefield, Leon froze.

When he saw the body, he found no other injuries. The armor was intact; only an arrow, slipped through a gap in the gorget, had pierced his throat.

He could only say that Leish had been terribly unlucky.

Leon fell silent for a long moment, then said, "The old commander is dead. Under the new system, his son will inherit a title one rank lower, along with his estate. Now that the battle is won, we can return to Britain early. Hold the funeral according to the rites for the rank above his."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Leish's son was bent over the body. Hearing Leon's words, he immediately knelt to thank him, tears streaming down his face.

"Alas, I'm sorry for your loss."

After offering a few words of comfort to his childhood friend, Leon hurried away.

They had only just won the battle, and there was much to handle in its aftermath. Leon had no time to dwell on a personal matter.

"Your Majesty, what should we do with the old commander's personal guards?"

At the question, Leon replied impassively, "Follow military law."

"...Understood."

Leon watched the messenger leave. He knew that his order would result in the deaths of more than a hundred well-trained knights.

But there was no helping it. Military law was merciless, and Leon wouldn't break the rules he himself had established.

Under military law, if a commander died in battle, his personal guards were executed without question.

With Leish's death, the hundred-man unit of personal guards under his command would all be executed. Their deaths wouldn't count as casualties in battle, and their families wouldn't receive compensation.

Those poor knights... As a result, more men would die under military law than had fallen to the enemy.

Leon temporarily put Lancelot in charge of Leish's thousand-man unit. Having distinguished himself by slaying a general and seizing his banner, Lancelot should be capable of bringing those soldiers to heel.

The specific rewards would be granted after they returned to Camelot.

Most of Ireland's lords had been captured. A few hadn't been there, but they couldn't cause much trouble. Once word of Leon's great victory spread, they likely wouldn't dare resist.

Leon wanted to keep all these prisoners, but his own resources were too meager to support them, so he had no choice but to release most of them.

When he met with the captured lords, Leon promised not to touch their lands or property. Then he appointed Kay governor-general of Ireland to administer the territory, and selected some of the prisoners' able-bodied men to form auxiliary troops and help maintain his rule.

Leon also established two thousand-man units and had the armed nobles fill their ranks with their own men. He brought their sons into his personal guard as well, to keep them close and secure their loyalty.

As for future taxes, those were only to be expected. They couldn't escape them.

With Leon holding the knife and the Irish lords at his mercy, they didn't dare refuse his demands.

Besides, Leon's terms weren't especially harsh. They had kept their lives and property; all they had to do was serve in the army and pay the Blood Tithe.

Late that night, Leon summoned Kay and laid out all his plans for Ireland.

"I have only two demands. First, stability. Ireland must never become a thorn in Britain's side. Second, assimilation. The locals must come to identify with Britain and support Camelot's rule."

Stability would ensure that Ireland didn't cause trouble at his rear when he marched east to conquer Europa.

Assimilation would secure Ireland's population. After all, the people shared a similar ethnic and cultural background, and the island could become a source of recruits in the future.

He couldn't occupy Ireland only to end up facing a wave of IRA terrorist attacks like Britain in his previous life. Otherwise, what would have been the point of coming here?

"You'll need to conscript laborers to build a large city, so you can suppress and govern the island. Keep the locals hungry, but not starving to death, and make sure they're always exhausted from labor."

That was much like the political secret Tokugawa Ieyasu had proposed: keep the peasants half-dead. That way, they could still be taxed, and their ability to rebel would be weakened.

Leon deeply agreed.

"I'll leave Agravain with you. He's shown himself capable these past few days, and he can help you handle the paperwork and assist with administration."

"As for the local forces, I'll take those two thousand-man units back to Britain. I'll leave one unit here as well. That should be enough to help you suppress any unrest."

Leon planned to take the two Irish units back to Britain, keeping them far from Ireland to weaken the local armed forces as much as possible and make Kay's job easier.

Once in Britain, the two Irish units could also help balance Scotland and the Saxons, making the kingdom's internal order more stable.

"Understood."

Kay's abilities were plain to see. With Artoria by his side, Leon could also safely entrust him with an entire island.

As for how Kay would govern Ireland in the future, Leon didn't much care. Even if Kay wanted to emulate the famous Queen Victoria of Britain, Leon would accept it as long as he kept the island stable.

After he had sorted out the general arrangements, Leon led the army to the coastal camp where they had first landed and had the men rest. Seeing that Kay had handled the island's affairs well over the past few days, he began thinking about returning home.

Before he could make up his mind, one of his personal guards entered the tent to report.

"Your Majesty, someone has charged straight into the camp. Commander Lancelot is currently holding them off."

Were there really people on this barren island whose martial skills could match Lancelot's?

As Leon walked out, he asked what the intruder looked like. When he heard it was a purple-haired woman holding a crimson spear, he immediately guessed her identity.

Seriously, was that old woman really this reckless?

She had actually dared to charge alone into a camp of four or five thousand men. Was she so eager to die that she'd lost her mind?

When he reached the camp entrance, Lancelot was fighting the enemy. White flashes of swordlight tangled with crimson spear arcs, killing intent spilling everywhere. Faced with such a high-level clash, the surrounding soldiers couldn't intervene at all.

They had been fighting for a while, and the woman had already figured out Lancelot's patterns and habits. He was now in a perilous position, and it wouldn't be long before he lost.

The two fighters caught sight of Leon's massive figure and immediately disengaged.

Lancelot stood before Leon with his sword raised, watching the woman warily. Knowing that his liege also enjoyed fighting, he hurriedly cautioned him, "Your Majesty, please be careful. This person's martial skill is peerless."

"I already know. For her to fight you to a standstill is truly terrifying."

Looking at the woman standing before him with her spear, her aura fierce, Leon's interest was thoroughly piqued. Though he already knew the answer, he asked, "Woman, state your name."