Published: January 4, 2026
“Ahh! What is it!?”
“Hm?”
I turned my eyes toward the entrance of the room.
Jerry, who was about to call his subordinates to give orders, was glaring and shouting angrily.
“Again? Those guys really don’t learn.”
“Y-yes. So... what should we do?”
“Tch. Well, let’s see—”
“What happened? What’s wrong?”
I approached and asked Jerry.
The young subordinate who had been reporting to Jerry just moments ago looked at me with a puzzled expression, but I decided to ignore that.
Jerry waved his hand dismissively to his subordinate, telling him to step back first, then answered my question.
“The soldiers got into another fight.”
“Isn’t that an everyday occurrence?”
I tilted my head slightly.
Having served under Henry since childhood and been stationed at the Ministry of Military Affairs, I thought I knew a bit more about these things than other princes.
The military is a group where soldiers quarrel about something almost daily.
I considered soldier fights to be trivial, everyday scenes, but Jerry, who interacts with the soldiers more regularly than I do, didn’t see it as commonplace and was quite agitated.
“That’s true, but whenever certain groups get involved, it always turns serious.”
“Serious?”
“They’re the homosexual groups.”
“Oh?”
I nodded in understanding.
Homosexuality isn’t at all uncommon.
There are plenty within the nobility as well.
Among the nobles, as long as the duty of procreation—connecting the bloodline—is properly fulfilled, there’s a tendency not to mind if someone is homosexual.
In fact, for nobles, marriage is an obligation, and true love is generally thought to exist outside of marriage, so there’s even a certain perspective that sees homosexuality as... well, not a problem.
So hearing about homosexuals didn’t surprise me.
“We have to judge them, but... it’s a real hassle.”
“Why is it such a hassle?”
“Most of the homosexual soldiers have lovers in the same unit. And when they fight with others, it’s often right in front of their lovers. Because they want to impress them, they tend to get too aggressive.”
“I see, so it’s common that they get carried away and sometimes even kill each other.”
“Exactly... it’s really troublesome. I don’t mind homosexuality itself.”
“You don’t?”
“No, there are benefits too. In terms of sexual needs.”
“...Ah, I see.”
I thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Seeing my reaction, Jerry nodded as well.
“If you don’t properly address the soldiers’ lower-body needs, no matter how much you order them when capturing a city, they’ll run off to looting. But if you handle it properly on a daily basis, you can mostly keep it under control.”
“True, too much looting makes later governance difficult. It’s important.”
“Exactly. That’s why I exempted all the taxes on the city’s brothels. Usually, it’s so the soldiers can resolve things themselves.”
“Hahaha, that was a smart move.”
I genuinely praised Jerry.
The issue of soldiers’ lower-body matters has been a headache for rulers since ancient times.
Some limit it strictly before battle and allow a few days of looting afterward, but considering occupying and governing the area later, it’s best to avoid looting as much as possible.
It isn’t rare to bring a unit of only prostitutes, just like the logistics team, when deploying troops.
However, it’s akin to bringing many “non-combatants,” which requires extra food and doesn’t increase actual fighting strength, which is a downside.
Many rulers and generals throughout history have faced this issue but couldn’t solve it, so I felt for Jerry’s troubles.
“...Hmm.”
“What is it, Lord?”
“Are there many homosexual soldiers?”
“About so-so. Maybe two or three hundred.”
“How about gathering them and forming a separate unit?”
“Huh?”
“You said it yourself, right? They want to impress their lovers who are watching.”
“...You mean channel that enthusiasm against the enemy?”