by Funa
However, the emphasis was on “almost.” They weren’t exactly the armies you would find back on modern-day Earth, and it would take a few days to gather the resources necessary to send out the troops.
“No mounted troops, and 20,000 soldiers... Do they think they can win with just that?” one of the ministers murmured.
“No, there may still be another two or three waves of reinforcements crossing the mountains. Half of their transport troops turned back, after all...”
“True. They may not be preparing for a direct assault on the capital, but planning to gain a stronghold by occupying the western territories before slowly advancing on Grua. There’s also the possibility that they could throw something simple together using the carts and wagons they seize from the territories they invade.”
“In any case, we should be thankful to have Brancott at our backs. We’ll be able to send all our forces west without worrying about what’s behind us. Brancott and Aseed should both know that Aligot will come for them next if we fall, so it’s impossible to think they would betray us.”
“Yes, we can be sure of that at least.”
The meeting continued after deciding what course of action to take. The person in charge of practical operations ran off to put out a call for soldiers and to prepare wagons and supplies for the battle ahead.
And so, the war raged on.
There was no open declaration of hostilities, yet the army of one country had trespassed into another’s borders. It was plain to see they were already at war.
The royal capital was abuzz with talk about it, but no one seemed to be particularly grim on the matter. It was common knowledge that the Aligot Empire devoted most of its efforts into strengthening its military, but it didn’t have much in the way of finance due to the steep mountains that half-isolated the country. Even its population was smaller compared to the other countries around it. Not only that, but crossing the mountains to invade meant the soldiers couldn’t bring horses or any significant amount of weapons with them, so it wouldn’t even be able to put the full might of its military to good use.
There was still a great distance between them and the royal capital. Even if by some chance the enemy succeeded in their advance, there was plenty of time for its citizens to escape. So long as people weren’t around when the actual fighting broke out, they wouldn’t have to fear for their lives.
Now, it wasn’t as if the soldiers were bloodthirsty conquerors who wanted to massacre everyone in the territories they would occupy or anything like that. The invading forces would just treat the people living there as new citizens to collect revenue from. To the residents, it would just seem like they changed tax collectors...so long as their occupiers didn’t ransack them first, that is.
Just days after learning of the enemies plans, the allied soldiers who gathered from the surrounding noble territories joined with the main forces in the royal capital before heading out to battle. They would be meeting with the other troops out on the western front as they advanced on the encroaching army. The question that remained was whether they would meet the enemy while en route, or if they would have to break through the simple fortified encampments the enemy soldiers had thrown together.
It took time relaying messages in this world, so it was near impossible to get an accurate read on what the enemy was doing. Generals were in charge of giving orders to the soldiers on the field, while the king himself would never show up on the front lines. All he had to do was keep himself heavily fortified in the royal castle. If they were to lose the war, however, he would be the one to offer himself up over the lives of the people. That was his job, and the price he paid for the immense power he held.
It had been seven days since the armies left the royal capital to intercept the invading forces. King Serge and his brother Roland were currently in the middle of a meeting with their ministers.
“Considering how many days it took for news of the enemy’s invasion to reach us, the days needed to prepare our soldiers, and the week since we sent out our army...if the enemy didn’t elect to stay put, our forces should be making contact with them right about now,” the king murmured to himself.
“Yes, that’s correct,” one of the king’s advisors responded. “The enemy should be moving at a snail’s pace due to their lack of horses. Even if our forces are avoiding forced marches to avoid exhausting our soldiers, it should only be a matter of time.”
“But it will still take several days for us to know even that...”
Considering the time it took for them to send out their forces, it should have taken the soldiers around six to seven days to finally engage with the enemy. But as it was, there was no way for them to know if that was true or not right now.
The battlefield for this skirmish was far removed from the Aligot Empire’s borders. Even if they used the fastest horses they had, its army still had to deal with the mountain range that separated the empire from everything else. It would take at least ten days before Aligot heard any news about when the fighting had started.
Just as they were about to wrap up the meeting, a messenger came rushing into the room.
“Urgent news! Aligot forces have invaded Balmore through Rueda’s borders, around 20,000 strong!”
“WHAT?!”
The meeting room was in an uproar. It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered the possibility of Aligot invading on multiple fronts, since that was exactly why they’d kept soldiers behind to protect the royal capital. More troops from the easternmost corners of Balmore hadn’t arrived in time to head out with the main force, so the extra soldiers were stationed around the capital to boost their forces near Grua. All together, their numbers totaled around 15,000, less than the soldiers advancing upon them from Rueda.
Having less soldiers wouldn’t be so much of a problem if they were going to be fighting a defensive battle. They’d be in a tight spot if the enemy outnumbered them more than three-to-one, but they should still hold the advantage if it was 20,000 against 15,000. Even then, however, that would mean they’d have to hole up in the capital and fight using siege warfare tactics in order for them to have a chance at winning. If it came down to that, all the towns in the enemy’s path would fall victim to looting and pillaging, and trying to fight a long, drawn out siege would lead to the soldiers taking all sorts of losses as well.
Adding more to the pile of issues they already had to deal with, the new problem was if Rueda had become their enemy as well. The only way Aligot’s forces could invade Rueda was through the northwestern coastline, which meant Rueda should have been able to send a report to Balmore about the invading forces immediately.
With Rueda’s neutrality trampled on, Rueda should have done everything it could to stop Aligot while requesting aid from the other countries—and yet, Balmore had received no such request.
Only one conclusion could be drawn from that realization: Rueda had aligned itself with the Aligot Empire.
“Any orders we send to our main forces now won’t make it in time. Even if they manage to repel the enemy in front of them, they’ll end up taking massive losses if they’re attacked from behind. Our only choice now is to send a messenger to let them know of the situation and have them come back immediately after fending off the enemy forces they’re currently dealing with. We will wall ourselves off in the capital and have our main forces attack them from the rear when they return.”
“But if their goal is to distract our main forces so their armies can simply avoid fighting and retreat, this conflict will never get resolved, wouldn’t you agree?”
The ministers all voiced their opinions one after the other. They all made valid points, but the choices currently available to them were limited.
In the end, they decided upon reporting the situation to their main forces and ordering a retreat, then having the soldiers in the capital prepare for siege warfare.
The next day, an envoy from Rueda arrived at the palace. They introduced themselves as a cardinal, riding in an extra
vagant coach along with their attendants. They came bearing a handwritten letter from the pope, expressing his desire to take the girl who received the blessing of the Goddess under his care before the town was engulfed in war.
It was all one grand farce, and the king and everyone else knew it. The ministers were firmly expressing their desire to reject him and show the cardinal the door, but Roland had other plans.
“No, let’s have them meet with Kaoru and have her persuade them instead.”
The ministers were shocked, vehemently voicing their opposition to the idea. King Serge, on the other hand, knew his brother well, and, for some reason, a smile was playing on his lips.
“But,” Roland continued, “that’s only after we make sure to explain precisely what’s going on to her—and you can be sure we’ll tell her everything.”
As the ministers thought back on what Kaoru had done and the verbal thrashings she had given in the past, grins slowly crept across their features. It was unanimously decided that they would go along with Roland’s proposition.
After receiving a message from Francette, Kaoru found herself going to the Adan residence for the first time in a while. The fact they weren’t meeting at the Lyodart household meant that this wasn’t a public gathering.
When she arrived, Roland proceeded to fill her in on all sorts of matters: the situation between the countries, how the empire had been driven into a corner, the war, and even what Rueda had been plotting.
“So does that mean...this war is my fault?” Kaoru asked Roland.
“No, it’s not,” came his ready reply. “From a geopolitical standpoint, Aligot had to invade other countries due to being trapped in the corner of the peninsula. They then focused too much on developing their military prowess on top of that. Wars aren’t something you can be ready for with just a few months of preparations, after all, which is exactly why they’ve been preparing all this time. At most, they may have just decided to include you on their long list of reasons for starting this war.”
Kaoru was a little relieved to hear Roland say that. The thought of starting a war over her had twisted her stomach in knots... But more than that, she was pissed about what Rueda was doing.
“All right, I got it,” Kaoru answered. “Then we’ll speak with them here tomorrow afternoon.”
“Understood. We’ll leave it in your capable hands.”
As they wrapped things up, the corners of their mouths had turned up slightly...all because of the two devilish grins they now wore on their faces.
When Kaoru got back to the workshop, she pored over everything she’d just heard in her head. This time, however, it wasn’t to find a way out of this situation. She wanted to hit the enemy with everything she had, and she’d squeeze out every last drop of what she knew to make it happen.
She wasn’t going to hold back on using her powers anymore. There were already so many people out there who thought she was some sort of goddess already, and plenty more thought she’d earned the favor of Celes, so nothing would really change from her gaining a few more mysterious powers. It was far more important now to ensure that anyone besides the bad guys and soldiers wouldn’t lose their lives in vain.
...That’s right, even the soldiers, good or bad. It was their job, and they had chosen that path of their own volition.
She continued thinking things over as she prepared dinner for everyone at the workshop, and even while she cleaned everything up afterward. When she finally decided on her next course of action, Kaoru headed off to bed to prepare herself for the next day.
The next day, at the Adan residence, Earl Adan, Roland, Francette, Kaoru, and the group from Rueda were all gathered in the same room. There were guards posted outside the room and around the perimeter of the mansion.
“It’s an honor to meet with you, Lady Angel!” Cardinal whatever-his-name-was greeted Kaoru, a smile on his face. He was accompanied by two bishops and several priests as well.
The cardinal was completely bald and sported a lengthy mustache, and the roundness of his gut told everything one needed to know about the lavish lifestyle he lived. Kaoru had made it clear she didn’t want to be called an “angel” or anything of the sort, so either the cardinal hadn’t done his research beforehand, or he was doing it on purpose to try and put her on a pedestal.
“No, I’m not Celes’s errand girl or anything, and everyone around here knows that. You don’t actually know one thing about me, do you?”
The cardinal began sweating a little at Kaoru’s chilly response.
“But anyone who delivers the word of Lady Celestine must be an angel sent by the Goddess herself!” It seemed the cardinal was fully set on making Kaoru out to be a messenger of the Goddess.
“Hmph, I see... So, why did you ask to see me?”
The cardinal launched into his explanation, doing everything he could to persuade Kaoru after the less than lukewarm reaction she gave him. “Well, as you may already be aware, the armies of the Aligot Empire are currently on their way here to Grua. That is why we wanted to take you to safety before they arrived. There is no place safer than the Holy Land of Rueda, where we wish to offer you protection at our Grand Temple...”
“But isn’t that because Rueda allowed this to happen in the first place?”
“Huh...?” The cardinal found himself at a sudden loss for words.
“Rueda was invaded from the northwest, so why didn’t they send word to Balmore? How come you’ve shown up here in your gaudy carriage, and there haven’t been any express horses sent to warn this town about what happened? Considering you must have left immediately after the invasion, don’t you think you arrived here a little too fast? The fact that the Aligot army invaded this quickly means Rueda didn’t even lift a finger to stop it, so why did they let them through without any resistance? And why haven’t they tried contacting any other countries to ask them for aid?”
“W-Well... Th-That’s...” The cardinal couldn’t seem to get an answer out after Kaoru’s unexpected verbal lashing.
“...In short, that means Rueda is working with Aligot forces.”
“Ngh...”
Ignoring the now cowed cardinal, Kaoru turned to Roland. “Sir Roland, do you think you could send out a message to the other countries? It should read something like, ‘Rueda has betrayed the Goddess Celestine and violated their neutrality by allying with the Aligot Empire.’”
“Wh-What falsehoods! Lies! Deception and slander!” the cardinal shouted, his face turning red.
“Oh? But aren’t I supposed to be a holy angel who delivers the word of the Goddess herself?” was Kaoru’s cold reply.
“Going against the Holy Land means facing excommunication!” the cardinal frantically screamed back. “Are you saying you’re fine with the Kingdom of Balmore being banned from the religion of the Goddess?!”
“The only place in danger of that would be Rueda,” Kaoru said coolly. “The Goddess Celestine said herself that she’d never forgive any corrupt country committing evil deeds in her name. She’s fed up with it, so she doesn’t want you using her name anymore.”
A look of terror crossed the cardinal’s face. “Th-That can’t be... Rueda is a holy land blessed by the Goddess! It is a country of those who have directly received the Goddess’s miracles!”
“No, you’ve got that part wrong actually.”
“““Huh?”””
The group from Rueda stared blankly back at Kaoru.
“There just happened to be a distortion there and Celes took care of it. It’s not that the country is blessed or anything; she just took something that had been corrupted and turned it back to normal. It wasn’t like she was blessing that particular area more than the other lands. The ancestors of the people from the temple didn’t receive anything, miracles or otherwise. Celes had told them they were getting in the way of her cleaning up the mess there, but they didn’t listen. They only stuck around and watched her work from a distance. Celes complained to me about how hard that made it for h
er to get everything done.”
“N-No... That can’t be right...”
Kaoru ignored the dumbfounded cardinal and turned to Roland again.
“Sir Roland, do you think you could go ahead and pass a few things along to the other countries? Mainly about what Rueda has been plotting, how they were never a country blessed by anyone in the first place, and are merely the descendants of a group who caused nothing but trouble for the Goddess. Oh, and be sure to let the citizens of Rueda know as well.”
“Done and done. I’ll send out our fastest messengers on the double.”
“W-Wait! Stop it, I beg you! If you do that, then...”
“You did this to yourselves, no?” Kaoru replied, bluntly refusing the cardinal. “Oh, what would you call it here when you invade another country and spread false information before trying to drag away someone who’s supposed to be a key figure... Espionage? Sabotage? Either way, I suppose the most appropriate course of action would be to arrest you and have you spill everything you know, wouldn’t you agree?”
At Roland’s orders, the guards waiting outside the room came in and restrained the envoys from Rueda before hauling them off to the palace.
“I know I’m the one who told you all that, but you really didn’t hold back on them, did you...” Roland remarked, impressed.
“Oh no, don’t be silly... I’m only just getting started.” Kaoru wore a wicked grin on her face.
Why do evil smiles seem to fit her so perfectly... Roland thought to himself.
“Then I’ll be counting on you to get the message out to those other countries. I’ve got a little errand I need to take care of right now.”
“Wait, what are you going to do?” Roland had a bad feeling about where this was going...