by Dojyomaru
“I see. In a way, what my father said was right,” Carla murmured, her shoulders slumping.
“What Castor said?” I asked.
“The day before you issued your ultimatum, my father said something. ‘I just can’t imagine that Duke Carmine would be driven mad by ambition.’”
Come to think of it... Castor had said something like that when I’d issued my ultimatum, too. He’d said, “I can’t imagine Duke Carmine would oppose you without good reason.”
...He’d been right. There had been nothing wrong about what he’d said. Castor was prone to hasty decisions, but perhaps he had instinctively grasped the true nature of the situation.
“Why...?” Carla asked regretfully after a moment’s silence, still averting her eyes. “Why didn’t he tell my father in advance? If he had just done that...”
“...The more people who knew the secret, the greater the risk of the plan leaking out,” I explained. “He couldn’t afford that. That and, if Castor had known, he absolutely would have tried to stop him, wouldn’t he?”
“That’s...” Carla fell silent.
I clenched my fists tightly under the blanket. “We’ve already spent a lot, including Georg’s life, in order to make this plan happen,” I said. “Now that we can’t turn back, we need to ensure it succeeds. If we don’t, we’ll have spent all of that in vain. That was why I had hoped Castor would choose to side with us of his own free will. Excel and I both kept trying to persuade him to. And yet... Castor said he would die for his friendship, then sided with Georg.”
I ground my teeth in frustration. Why had things gone so poorly?
Everyone had just done as they’d pleased for their own arbitrary reasons. By the time I’d realized it, I was dancing along to a script I didn’t even know the author of. I no longer knew whether my role on the stage of this world was that of a king, or of a jester.
Carla hung her head, unable to say anything. Liscia seemed to want to say something to her, but held herself back.
As I watched the two of them, I let out a small sigh. It really is... an unpleasant role. Having to be king.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Their goal will be to capture the capital of the Principality, Van.”
When they’d heard Souma declare this, the 30,000 Amidonian soldiers laying siege to Altomura beat a hasty retreat.
From on top of the wall, Admiral of the Navy Excel Walter and Lord of Altomura Weist Garreau looked out as the setting sun shone down on the fences and banners that had once surrounded the camps they had left behind.
When Weist turned to the side, there he saw Excel’s face in profile, the setting sun lending it a bewitching beauty.
“...Is it okay not to attack them?” Weist asked, as if trying to cover up the fact he had nearly been entranced by her beauty.
A pursuit battle would be a chance to inflict considerable damage on the enemy.
However, Excel silently shook her head. “There were wyvern cavalry in their rear guard. If a force without wyvern cavalry like ours were to leave the castle and give pursuit, we would suffer a punishing counterattack. Gaius VIII... As you would expect from the man who’s been sharpening his fangs and preparing to strike our country for so long, he gives sound commands. Though I doubt that will be enough to let him escape from the palm of His Majesty’s hand.”
When Excel said that and closed her eyes, Weist opened his eyes wide. For Excel, who treated everyone she met like children, had there ever been a person she’d held in such high esteem before?
“Is His Majesty that resourceful?” Weist asked.
“I think when it comes to plain resourcefulness, he’s not that impressive,” said Excel. “It is rather that, for every scenario he encounters, he comes up with a plan that seems like a prepared answer. Almost like he already knows a similar battle.”
“Hm? What do you mean?” Weist asked.
“...Just maybe, His Majesty comes from a world far worse than this one. A vortex of scheming and trickery.”
Weist shuddered at Excel’s words.
He had heard that Souma was a hero summoned from another world. What if he assumed that this other world had seen the fall of many more countries, and experienced turbulent times that had brought the deaths of many more people?
If, by some chance, that world were to connect with this one, could the people of this world possibly fight back against the people of that one?
From the image he had seen, that young man didn’t look especially suited to fighting, yet he could still come up with such well-developed plans.
Of course, it was probably about as likely to happen as the sky falling...
“That... is dreadful to think of, yes,” said Weist.
“Yes, it really is. ...Now then,” Excel said, clapping her hands as if to signify a change of mood. “Do you suppose our work is done here?”
“...I know it’s a little late to ask now, Duchess Excel, but rather than just buy time, couldn’t you have easily run off the forces of the principality with your magic?”
When Weist pointed that out, Excel chuckled. “Oh, my. You can’t rely on this old woman forever, you know. I think it’s an elder’s duty to watch over the young ones when they’re trying so hard.”
“Indeed...”
Weist wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, but contrary to Excel’s cheerful expression, she was feeling irritated inside.
This time, my role required me to stay in the background. When I consider what will happen to Carla and Castor after the war, I’d like to accomplish as much as I can... but if I stand out too much, it will only harm His Majesty’s impression of me.
She sighed internally, but Excel wasn’t the sort to let it show. “Now then, let’s leave the rest to our young king and his friends while we head south as planned.”
As she said that, Excel’s thoughts turned to the other young one.
◇ ◇ ◇
In the twilight, with the moon hidden behind the clouds, the forces of the principality were running with torches in hand.
The horde of 30,000 men carrying torches moved like a snake slithering across the ground. From a distance, it must have seemed like a fantastical sight. However, for the men themselves, they were just being forced to run while covered in sweat and dirt.
Towards the front of that line of troops, the Prince of Amidonia, Gaius VIII, was in the center of the cavalry unit that was leading the way. Surrounded by five bodyguards who each carried a torch, he was driving his horse onward like a man possessed.
His expression was grim. All of this was the fault of that young king.
That king had baited Gaius and his men by using the lands they’d lost, the fertile grain-producing region. That had exposed the capital Van, their soft flank which would normally have been protected by hard armor. Elfrieden had then taken their chance to stab at it.
Georg Carmine had been blocking the route to the capital, but he had capitulated a mere two days after the ultimatum. Now Gaius had heard that Souma’s forces, the Forbidden Army and Army, were advancing on Van with a force 55,000 men strong.
Van had been built to block incursions from the Kingdom and to give them a foothold to serve as a front-line base in any invasion of Elfrieden. Because of that, there were no fortresses between the Elfrieden Kingdom’s army and Van.
Due to how passive the former king, Albert, had been, Gaius had let his guard down. He had grown prideful, taking the Elfrieden Kingdom lightly in the belief that they lacked the courage to invade another country.
Now that it had come this far, Gaius realized he’d been tricked by Souma and Georg.
Too much scheming can spell the end of a schemer. All too often, a schemer forgets that he, too, may fall victim to the schemes of another. That was what had happened to Gaius.
This is terrible! To think that that nation of weaklings, Elfrieden, could make me taste such hardship! Gaius thought bitterly.
As he made his horse race along, he cursed his own carel
essness.
When they’d found themselves on the receiving end of the Elfrieden’s expansionism two generations ago, the King of Amidonia had lost half of his lands and died in despair. To ensure they never forgot that mortifying defeat, Gaius’s father had renamed the country from the Kingdom of Amidonia to the Principality of Amidonia. It had been a show of determination, as the man had felt that they couldn’t call themselves a kingdom with half of their lands stolen from them.
He’d named himself the Sovereign Prince, and from then on, Amidonia had made the restoration of its lost lands a national policy, always watching closely for any chance to realize that goal.
When the King of Elfrieden from two generations ago had died, Albert had taken the throne. (Or, more accurately, he had married the former king’s daughter, who had inherited the right of succession.) When he did, Amidonia had taken advantage of his passiveness to extend a scheming hand to Elfrieden’s nobles and support the growth of dissident groups within the kingdom.
That had continued even after Gaius’s father had died and Gaius had taken the throne as Gaius VIII.
The majority of those nobles had been crushed by Georg and Excel, but the remaining nobles who had been in on the scheme had gone underground, slowly exhausting the kingdom. That was good.
Albert hadn’t had much potential as a king, but the difference in strength between the kingdom and principality had still been great.
Being the less powerful nation, Amidonia had only been able to wait patiently for their opportunity to come.
And then, at last, the chance they had long waited for had arrived. The Demon Realm had appeared, and the food crisis and financial crisis it had caused had exhausted the kingdom. Then, with the sudden change of rulers, the three dukes who were supposed to protect the kingdom had rebelled against the new king.
The principality had gathered their strength for a renewed attack. Right now, they knew, the kingdom wouldn’t be able to move freely. The time had come at last for the Principality of Amidonia to realize her dream... Yes, that was what Gaius had been convinced of.
However, on closer inspection, had that really been the case? Was it not the Principality of Amidonia that was being driven into a corner now?
If we lose Van now, Amidonia will never recover, Gaius thought frantically. I couldn’t face the ghosts of my ancestors if I let that happen!
Gaius VIII’s face was distorted with frustration.
However, that hasn’t happened yet! We’re not finished yet! Van is a solid fortress. I’ve left it in the hands of 5,000 elite troops. Even if the enemy come in great numbers, they should be able to hold out for two or three days. If we can reach Van in that time, then catch the kingdom’s forces in a surprise pincer attack with the troops inside the castle, we’ll have a chance of victory!
That was what Gaius thought to try to encourage himself. But, as he was thinking that...
“Father!” Julius brought his horse up alongside Gaius. “We’re advancing too quickly! At this rate we won’t only leave the wagons behind, we’ll start to see our infantry dropping off, as well! I suggest that we lessen the pace slightly, and...”
“Silence!” Gaius bellowed. He completely disregarded Julius’s advice by shouting his son down. “If Van falls, we will never rise again! No matter what, we must arrive at Van before it falls! Then we will catch the kingdom’s forces in a pincer attack with the soldiers in the castle!”
A Gaius ranted, Julius felt slightly uneasy. It seemed to him that, right now, Gaius was too fixated on the capital, and he was getting a little too worked up.
“Father, even if we did lose Van, our army would still be intact,” Julius said. “Could we not enter another secure city and seek help from the Empire? Unlike the Elfrieden Kingdom, we’ve signed the Mankind Declaration, after all.”
The Declaration of Mankind’s Common Front Against the Demon Race (also known as the Mankind Declaration) was a policy that had been proposed by the largest, most powerful empire on the continent, the Gran Chaos Empire, in order to resist the advance of the demons.
First, the acquisition of territory by force between the nations of mankind would be deemed inadmissible.
Second, the right of all peoples to equality and self-determination would be respected.
Third, countries that were distant from the Demon Lord’s Domain would provide support to those nations which were adjacent to it and were acting as a defensive wall.
These were the three main articles of the Mankind Declaration.
Amidonia had signed the Mankind Declaration, but even after Souma had taken the throne, Elfrieden had not. Because of that, if Amidonia approached the Empire saying their land had been seized, as the leading power behind the Mankind Declaration and therefore Amidonia’s ally, the Empire would likely push Elfrieden to return the seized lands. (Though the territory lost before the Mankind Declaration wouldn’t be affected.)
First they invaded a country, then they complained when the same happened to them. It would be a specious argument, just like the Minister of Finance, Colbert, had said before they left for the front, but that was Elfrieden’s own fault for not signing the Mankind Declaration. Julius thought it was a good idea. However...
“You fool! The Empire isn’t the soft-hearted country you take them for!” Gaius mercilessly shot it down. “This invasion took advantage of a loophole in the declaration. Yes, if we send the request, the Empire will have to act, but after we’ve gone against the grain like this, they can’t have a positive opinion of us. They would like to use what’s happened here as a pretext to remove both of us, then turn our country into a puppet state.”
Julius fell silent.
Once he was told that, Julius could say no more.
Gaius looked at him, snorting, then raised his voice and ordered loudly, “If you understand that, then make haste! We must arrive before Van falls!”
However, their forced march ran into an obstacle.
It was in the Ursula Mountains which separate the Elfrieden Kingdom and Principality of Amidonia along the south of their border. When they came close to Goldoa Valley, which was the path through those mountains, men and horses got caught in the muddy ground one after another.
“Wh-What?! Where did this mud come from?!” a soldier shouted.
“Damn! My horse is stuck in the mire! Someone, pull him out for me!” another one howled.
“Oh, come on! There wasn’t any place like this on our way here, was there?!” yelled a third.
There were horses stuck in the mud everywhere, with people struggling with their feet stuck in the mud, too.
When Gaius saw this fiasco, he was astonished.
They had come through the Goldoa Valley on their way here. The ground hadn’t been muddy then like it was now, and no one had gotten their feet stuck like this.
“Why...?” he muttered. “It can’t have rained. Why is the road so bad?”
As if in response to Gaius’ mutterings, a single soldier called out:
“E-Enemy attack!”
The next moment, there was the sound of arrows swishing through the darkness, then the sound of something violently smashing. Each time that sound rang out, the Amidonian soldiers fell, one by one. When one of the soldiers carrying a torch near him fell from his horse with a muffled scream, Gaius felt an unease stirring inside him.
“What?! What is happening?!” he shouted.
A soldier rushed over to give him his report. “It’s an enemy ambush! It seems the kingdom had troops lying in wait for us in this valley! The enemy are hidden in among the trees, shooting arrows and ice at us!”
“Ice, you say?” Gaius blustered.
“We suspect there are ice mages mixed in with the enemy!”
“Mages... Of course! Curse them, this bad footing must be their work, too!” Gaius burst out.
Seeing that Gaius’s face was now a mask of rage, Julius desperately tried to get his father to stop. “Please, calm yourself, Father! The main force of the
Kingdom’s army is headed towards Van. There can’t be many soldiers lying in wait. Also, it’s impossible to maneuver a large force on this narrow path. Right now, our best course of action is to get through the valley as quickly as possible.”
“Urgh, but with the road this bad...” Gaius muttered.
“...Let’s send the soldiers through first,” said Julius. “Our path will be wherever they don’t get stuck in the mud.”
Gaius’ eyes widened at the heartless suggestion. “You would have me throw away my soldiers like sacrificial pawns?”
“...There is little choice,” said Julius. “If the worst were to happen, if you were to be cut down, Father, the armies of the principality would break. Then we would no longer be able to fight the kingdom at all. Please, make the decision.”
“...I suppose there is no choice,” Gaius said.
Sacrificing his soldiers to find an escape route. If their positions had been reversed, it would have distressed Souma greatly to choose such an option, yet Gaius made the choice instantly.
For the Principality of Amidonia, their desire for revenge against the Elfrieden Kingdom had become a part of their identity by this point. It was fair to say that, even though they were surrounded by powerful nations and they had fallen into a food crisis and financial crisis, Amidonia had been able to continue on with an unbroken will thanks to their desire for revenge against Elfrieden. They didn’t care if they suffered, so long as Elfrieden suffered more.
In fact, even the suffering citizens blamed their woes not on the overzealous elites who had spent too much on the military, but on the kingdom which had robbed them of their prosperity long ago.
Even though 50 years had now passed.
With even the common citizens that far gone, the elites had begun to think it was okay to sacrifice anything in order to fight against the kingdom. In this country, those like Roroa and Colbert, who thought about trying to get by the best that they could with what they had, were outliers.