Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 239: Moral weight

How many provisions could a simple soldier of the medieval-like age carry around while deployed?

This answer was both simple and complicated at the same time, for there was no single, all-encompassing answer to the question I asked.

From the corpses of the enemies we killed on our way to Madam's camp, I could tell that some could operate on their own for maybe a week… But most would have to really scrape by just to survive two days.

Just like in was back in all the wars that happened on earth, while officers could get by, foot soldiers were screwed to the point of eating the bark off the trees just to get by. And while there was no other place as abundant in treebark as… well, a forest, how long would a soldier remain battle-ready with such a diet?

"If they run out of food, they can hunt or scavenge," Madam shook her shoulders. "And before they starve, more humans will invade."

Hearing those words, I couldn't stop myself from shaking my head.

"Humans will do what they always do," I repeated the verse that was quickly becoming the theme of the exchange. "And once they run out of food, they will look for ways to go back to the camp and resupply."

I took a deep breath.

"And sure, a handful of them have a lot of supplies. Some might be proficient at surviving off the bounties that are aplenty in the forest. But not all. And not on this scale."

This time, it was the intensity of Makary's stare that made me look over Madam's shoulder and back at him.

"So I'm telling you, once they run out of supplies, they will all try to head back home to get more. They are not going to run around the forest hunting your kin for long with an empty stomach, after all!"

My smile grew.

And Makary picked this very moment to join in.

"I think I can see where you are going," he spoke out as he approached. "You know we don't have enough ammo to kill them all, so you are trying to be more efficient with how we use it by funneling all the enemies into one place."

Makary shook his head… But I had no doubt.

The one emotion I saw flashing in his eyes was for sure a hint of pride!

"That's… a nice, humane thought," I admitted, replying in a way I could bet Makary didn't expect.

Because sure, the plan he suggested was sound. I came up with it even before I brought Fay away and escaped to indulge in the activities that were to remain a secret known only to the two of us and the tent where we partook in each other.

And I've long since improved on this primitive design so that my plan wouldn't just fit the purpose of cutting down as many invaders as we could…

To one that would bring us a lot more benefit from every kill.

"All in all, that's a nice plan," I smiled, raising my chin as I alternated my eyes between Makary and Madam's faces. "We could split our forces to protect the weak and old, hunt the humans roaming the forest, and then leave the majority of our warriors at the edge of the forest, to stop anyone from leaving."

I nodded my head as I started pacing around the area.

Whenever I would step closer to the fire, the air would grow warmer. Whenever I would stop away, it would get colder.

The world was simple. It was a politician's domain to make it so complex, that ordinary folk would lose sight of what is what. And that's exactly what I needed to do right now.

"If our goal was to simply kill all the invaders, we could retreat deep into the forest, wait two days, and then let Makary's army do the job. Am I wrong?"

I stopped my stroll and locked my eyes on my sponsor, patron, and supporter.

"I had some doubts before, but those shields you mentioned are not as annoying as you made them to be," Makary went on a short tangent before shaking his head and returning my gaze. "So yeah, even if only a quarter will answer the summons, it will take us two, three days at most to kill all the invaders."

As he spoke, Makary couldn't stop his mouth from twitching a little.

After all, it had to be a funny feeling to call local humans invaders while actively seeking to bring some modern democracy to the local oil fields.

"But it's not our goal, isn't it?" Madam muttered, closing her hands over her chest and rolling her eyes around.

Just like I was learning, mostly through my interactions with Fay, how to read and deal with Madam, she was all in her right to do the same when it came to me.

'And from the looks of things, she already learned to recognize when I actually have an idea of what I'm doing,' I thought… Only to feel a strange yet familiar sense of warmth spread in my stomach.

A feeling I last got so long ago, that I nearly forgot it. But now that it returned…

"As Makary said, it would be the most efficient to funnel those invaders right under their barrels. But save for putting a dent in their number, doing so would achieve nothing."

I shook my head and pressed my lips together.

"Right now, our one and only concern is to survive the next two and a half days first, and then…" my lips twitched, "either convince the princess she can't win this war. Or…"

Pausing my words, I stretched my arms out, unable to spare everyone yet another dramatic moment. And as I lowered my hands, I smiled.

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"Or to convince her soldiers that they want no part in this war."

Madam's face twisted in a slight confusion. For all the processing power of her brain given her rank and thus attributes, she lacked the necessary understanding of human bloody nature to figure out what I meant.

And judging by how Makary's face, for the very first time, turned blank…

He already guessed what I wanted to do.

"You can't be…" he muttered, his lips trembling as he imagined the scenario and then felt the sudden burden of its moral weight.

Still, he shook his head and pressed his lips together before giving me a deadly stare.

"You spoke of dividing our forces into three groups and leaving one to lock the forest out," Makary muttered, taking his time to pick the right words that carried the exact meaning he had in mind. "Tell me, your real plan…"

Contrary to my acted pause, Makary stopped speaking to take a deep, deep breath, as if to prepare himself for what he was about to say. As he raised his eyes, I could no longer see all those different emotions that started to show on his face ever since he stepped foot in this world.

The old Makary returned… Or maybe it was his face from long before he turned into a gang boss, from back when…

"Only two details will change," I replied, this time speaking out right away instead of bidding my time to build up the atmosphere and tension. "First, your firing spots will be hidden, so that the enemy will pass by your positions unnoticed."

And this time, for the very first time, my own smile trembled a little under the moral weight of the last detail that changed everything.

"And you will point your guns away from the forest, shooting them as they run away, but not before they think they might've been spared."