Reincarnation into the Barrier Master

"No, Rico. No, Rico. Look at this, it\'s a silver world.

I take Rico\'s hand and pull him up off the bed and hold him by the shoulder as I carry him to the window.

"Oh, it\'s so beautiful..."

"It\'s already winter, isn\'t it?"

"Yes, it is."

Then we get dressed and I take Rico\'s hand and we go downstairs to the dining room.

It\'s halfway through December. The year will soon be over. Then Rico will finally give birth. I have to admit that I am half-excited and half-anxious about it. In this world, nobles usually hire nannies for their newborn children, but it seems that Rico will be breastfed. I agree with you on that.

I am worried about Rico, but I have not forgotten about my new wives. I will be staying with them on a rotating basis. Here\'s how it\'s going so far.

Monday: Rico or May

Tuesday: Considie

Wednesday: Rico or May

Thursday: Soleil

Friday: Rico or May

Saturday: Matocal

Sunday: Rico or May

Well, it may change from time to time, but we generally spend our time like this. Even though we are newlyweds? I know some people may say, "I\'m not sure what to do," but Rico in particular is anxious when he is not with me.

As for Mei, she does not want to sleep alone with Riko, perhaps because she is reserved. Knowing this, Rico always arranges for me to sleep with May at least once a week. Incidentally, both Mei and Rico sleep alone in the room on the first floor, which was originally used by Mei as a library. They put a big bed in the room where all the books had been moved out and made it their bedroom. Loni\'s checkups are also held here, and the room will be used as a delivery room.

Whenever they sleep in that room, a member of the family always sleeps with them. At first, it was just because they were worried about the baby, but it has turned into a consultation room for Riko and Mei, where they listen to their problems. Naturally, Gon is not in the room, and I can\'t help but feel that the sense of solidarity among the women is growing.

Meanwhile, Agartha has a visitor. Three men, sharp-eyed and dressed like hunters, came to see me. They said they were representatives of a village in the kingdom of Lamaron. I accompanied Knogen and some of his men to a room in the guest house to see the men.

I am Jimbi, chief of the village of Daitus in the Kingdom of Ramallon. This is Izira and Donsei, two young men from the village. I have brought them here as my personal guard. Thank you for allowing us to visit you."

"I\'m glad you came in all this snow. Well, I hope this warms you up."

I offered them amazake (sweet sake). They hesitated for a while, then looked at each other and slowly drank it.

"It\'s a little peculiar, so it may not be to your taste. So, what do you want from me?"

The sharp-eyed man who calls himself Jimbi looks at the young men he has brought with him. The young men nod slowly in response.

"So you are the King of Agartha himself. I mean... how can I put it... you are very friendly..."

"Oh, you know my face. That\'s nice to hear. You guys came here to talk to me, right? Well, I\'ll listen to you. So, what do you want?"

The jimbis slowly get down on one knee, put their right hand on their chest and bow their heads.

"King Agartha! We, the village of Daitus, request that I, the village chief, and 150 others be added to your army."

May I ask why?"

"Because if we follow the Lamarong Empire, we will die."

I hear that this year\'s autumn harvest in the Lamarong Kingdom was rather poor. It was obvious to all that a famine would occur if nothing was done. Therefore, the Imperial Government has provided food aid to each town and village. So far, so good.

However, the amount of food given was not enough to keep us alive.

The amount delivered to the village was apparently less than half of what the village head, Jimbi, had requested. The village of Daitas is located in the middle of the mountains and is covered with snow in winter, making it difficult to secure food. In addition, the young men were taken away by the soldiers in the last war, and the village is mostly made up of old people and women and children.

"As the village head, I must protect the villagers. I must find a way to live rather than just sit and wait to die.

"Is that how you want us to follow you?"

I look Jimbi straight in the eye. He looks me in the eye and nods slowly without looking away.

"In the last battle, the Imperial Army came back from Agartha. Some of the soldiers attacked the village and robbed it of its food. We could have made it through this winter... They are not soldiers. They were bandits dressed as soldiers. An army that turns into robbers like that is no army at all.

Jimbi spits out.

"Some of the young men from the village were among the imperial troops who went to war. But they did not return for days. I had given up hope that they had been killed in battle, but then, out of the blue, five young men, including these two, came back. And they came back with more food than they could carry. They told us that the king of Agartha had given them to us. It was an unprecedented thing to free soldiers who had invaded our territory, and to send them to the border with food... but at that time, I thought to myself, "This is a great thing. With this king, we will not starve."

"Well, the country of Agartha is based on the principle of feeding, clothing, and sheltering its people. They knew that they didn\'t want to go to war either. They had families at home, so I just thought I\'d send them home with food."

"Thank you. I really appreciated it."

Jimbi bows deeply at the waist. The men in the back also bowed their heads in thanks.

Jimbi continues to speak in a calm voice.

"In the past few years, the harvest has been poor. We, too, have suffered from higher taxes. Even so, we have managed to survive while on the verge of starvation for the sake of the empire. I despair of the imperial government that deprives us of food and does not even try to save our villages. Now we must starve to death. But before I do so, I thought I would put my trust in the king of Agartha. Will you save us from starvation?

I liked Jimbi\'s attitude. He was willing to put aside his pride and everything else to save the villagers. I knew in my gut that I could trust this man.

"Okay. Let me think about it for now. I won\'t take up too much of your time. Give me three hours. Hey, go get Lafayence and Mato."

Knogen takes the three of them and leaves the room. Thirty minutes later, Lafayence, Knogen, and Matkal arrived in the room. I tell them about Jimbi\'s story.

"What do you think?"

Lafayence grins.

"I think you\'ve already made up your mind."

"That\'s the General. I\'d like to help.

"But the Lamaran army won\'t be so quiet. It\'s going to be all-out war.

Knogen sighs as he crosses his arms.

"Hey Mato, where is the village of Daitas where Jimbi is the village chief?"

The village of Daitas is a short distance beyond the Banzavi Mountains. It is somewhere around here.

Matocal draws me a simple map.

"Yes. The last time we were in a standoff with the army of the Heedat ... uh ... the mountains on the other side of the Irbezi River, aren\'t they? I see, the Lamarons were stationed just behind the village."

I put my hand on my chin and look at the map Matkal drew for me.

"But a village this deep in the mountains doesn\'t offer much in the way of military advantages."

Lafayence wrinkles his brow as he continues.

"If we occupy all of these mountains, they could serve as a logistics base, but we don\'t have the power to hold all of these mountains. If we do that, we will need reinforcements from Heedata, but I doubt that the Empire will move..."

I look at the map for a while and ponder. Then I look at Matkal.

"Hey Mat, where does this Irbezi River lead to?

Matkal draws the map further.

This river empties into the Ramallon Sea. Near its mouth is the large city of Garbee. From Garbee to Mount Banzavi, where the village of Daitas is located, and where Jimbi is the chief of the village, there is a series of high mountains.

"Are there any towns or villages in the mountains in between?"

"There is only the village of Suyerebo."

"Where?"

"It\'s about here, west of the village of Dytas."

"That\'s pretty far. It\'s at the foot of the mountain. How far is it from the village of Suyerebo to the village of Dytas?

"If you go up the mountain, it takes two days. If you go from Dytas village, it takes one day.

I see.

"What is the matter with this village in the mountains, Mister Linos?"

Lafayence asks me with a quizzical look on his face. I grin.

"Mato, if the village of Dytas turns on Agartha, do you think Lamaron will immediately take them down?"

"...I wouldn\'t do it right now. Well, unless the enemy comes to occupy this village with a large army, this one village will not be able to do anything. If we should defeat them, it will be at the time of tribute collection. We will go there then and rob them of their harvest. In any case, once the village of Dytas is attached to Agartha, it will not be defeated immediately.

"Okay. How about this?

I tell the three of them about the plan I came up with.

"Ha-ha-ha! That\'s funny. That\'s funny!"

Lafayence is happy to slap his knee.

"I\'m sure the enemy will be surprised."

Knogen nodded with a smile.

"Ri... Rinos-sama has a crazy idea..."

Matkal is stunned with his mouth gaping open.

"Matkal, the master you married is a god of war, is he not?

Lafayence gives Matkal a grin. She shakes her head from side to side in exasperation.

"Lamaron made a big mistake. One was not taking Matkal back. And they\'re about to make another big mistake. Now, will you notice?"

With a mean look on my face, I looked down again at the map drawn by Matkal.