Volume 10 Chapter 3 (1/2)

The force that had left from Birac numbered about seven hundred. Three hundred infantry, a hundred and fifty cavalry. There were fifty dragoons on the fleet-footed, small-sized Tengo dragons, and the remaining two hundred were riflemen.

The one in command was the general of the Silver Axe Division, Odyne Lorgo.

Gilliam was part of a platoon of infantrymen.

Just in case, General Rogue also had troops organised and on standby inside and outside of Birac.

Orba himself, after watching his troops leave in the dead of night, was not in his bedroom but in his office. He could not command from the front lines in every battle from now on. Thinking of the 'afterwards', of the battles that would lead to victory against the Emperor, he would need to get used to sitting alone in his office like this, motionless and with his arms crossed.

Afterwards… afterwards?

A map was spread out on the office desk but Orba's eyes had been shut for a while now. He had still not found a clear answer to the challenge that Folker Baran had thrust forward.

Inside the room, along with Orba, were three guards that Pas.h.i.+r had forcibly pushed onto him.

Princess Vileena, who had presented herself during the conversation with Raymond, had not afterwards interfered with anything to do with the battle.

”I leave this to you, Prince.” He had been hearing words to that effect earlier.

Will we take Nedain today? If we take it, what will come 'afterwards'? The remaining major cities are Solon, Kilro and Idoro. If what Fedom says is true, Kilro's lord, Indolph, will support us. In that case, Emperor Guhl will definitely send for the entire army to gather in Solon.

Actually, they had received information that the troops of the twelve generals, scattered throughout the country, were already moving along the highways.

Solon being the capital city, military s.h.i.+ps and army corps other than the one's a.s.signed to defend it were not originally allowed to enter. Which meant that they intended to put the entire army to use in protecting the capital.

Well, whatever.

Orba opened his eyes and stopped thinking about the far-off future. Outside the window, it was pitch black. The wind seemed to have risen since earlier.

The seven hundred troops led by Odyne were marching through that wind.

Since the bridge over the River Zwimm, which separated Birac from Nedain, would naturally be under watch, they did what Raymond had done when he was coming to Birac and travelled north while keeping an eye on the highways.

Raymond was leading the way. Just like a fully-fledged warrior, a sword was hanging at his waist and he was carrying a gun on his back. And of course, his sister's paper flower was an un.o.btrusive splash of white decorating his breast.

They marched while sending scouts to investigate their surroundings and check that there were no soldiers lying in ambush along the highway. Three times they hailed the sunrise.

When there was less than half a day to the appointed time, the soldiers on guard had vanished from along the road.

Scouts disguised as pedlars went flying to the relay station towns to gather information; there they heard rumors of some kind of disturbance within the town, and that the soldiers had hurriedly been called back. Upon receiving that news, Odyne and Raymond exchanged looks on horseback.

”Right!”

Odyne set his resolve, crossed along the highway and left it when they were at the north of Nedain.

The sun set once more.

They arrived at the quarry less than an hour afterwards. Odyne halted his warhorse and sent three riders in reconnaissance.

They soon returned and reported that there were many lights around the quarry.

The Abigoal troops, no doubt. They had succeeded in luring them out, just as planned.

Sitting on horseback, Raymond could feel his blood simmer and seethe. He wondered if this was what it was like, the atmosphere on the battlefield. He had no experience of war itself but he felt as though if he abandoned his consciousness to the torrent of blood currently coursing throughout his entire body, he would be able to hunt the heads of ten, or even a hundred enemy soldiers.

Odyne gave the order to advance once more.

He had the riflemen go ahead so that they could fire a first volley. The enemy lights would make good targets. After that round of shooting, there would be no more need for caution. They would close the distance in one swoop and descend upon the enemy from the rear.

Raymond realised that he was unsheathing his sword without even being aware that he was doing so. Actually, for the past two hours or more, he had been grasping the hilt so strongly it hurt. Because his tension was at its height.

Boyce, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, are you somewhere within this net?

He believed that he must be. If possible, he wanted to strike him down with his own hands.

For Raymond, who had lived a life unrelated to warfare, it was a dangerous thing to believe that victory was already theirs.

He calmly whipped his horse and drove it forward.

At that moment, a furious peel of thunder rolled overhead. Or at least, that was the illusion that a.s.sailed Raymond, so violent was what happened.

The thunder rolled, and rolled, and with each thunderbolt, soldiers were shaken off their horses. The previous quiet was utterly transformed, and the surroundings were filled with blood, the neighing of horses, and the bellows of soldiers.

Riflemen had been lying concealed in the forest to their left. Because their attention had been focused on the lights in front of them, they had completely failed to notice their presence. Odyne's side, which should have been the one launching a surprise attack, was suddenly caught in a fusillade.

The corpse of a cavalryman collapsed towards Raymond. A bullet had pierced through his head and, seeing his tongue hang loosely from his mouth, Raymond's mind went blank. He shook him off in a panic and the soldier fell from his horse. Because his foot was caught in the stirrup, the body was dragged along as the horse broke into a run.

In that same interval, bullets rattled and more soldiers fell.

When he wondered whether the thunder had finally stopped, this time it was from in front of them that voices echoed.

A group cavalrymen led by Boyce Abigoal.

The riflemen that Odyne had sent ahead collapsed without any resistance.

”General!”

Gilliam, bending down, did not need to urge him.

”Retreat, retreat, retreat!” From horseback, Odyne repeatedly yelled the same word.

One after another, the horses turned around and galloped back along the way they had come. For a moment, Raymond was almost left behind.

”What are you doing? This way, hurry!”

Gilliam, who had been at the end of the column, rushed over and forcibly led him away. Raymond followed him, all but unconscious. Sweat, tears, and mucus flowed across his entire face. Within his narrow chest, his heart was drumming so fast that it might burst out at any moment.

He was already far away from that warrior-like state of mind in which he had believed that he could defeat any number of enemies. Now, he just wanted to flee into a silence with neither gunshots nor war cries.

”Are you there, Raymond?” Boyce's voice sounded like it was just behind him. ”You escaping, you coward? I've got your little sister.”

It would be a long time before Raymond would be able to decide whether that was an auditory hallucination born of fear or a real voice.

Odyne's troops fled for dear life along the road to Birac. Among the infantrymen, some deliberately chose to stop and fight so as to halt their pursuers. Were the screams that echoed at Raymond's back their shouts as they released fire, or were they their death throes?

It was an utter rout.

They ran south of Nedain for several dozen kilometres. They stopped once on the banks of the Zwimm. They had somehow managed to shake off pursuit, but many had fallen by the wayside. Now, less than half of them remained.

”We need to send a messenger to His Highness,” said Odyne as he was organising formation.

Raymond volunteered.

Although he had managed to free himself from the panic that had gripped him during their escape, with the return of sanity, Raymond felt as though he were being strangled by bitter regrets and self-condemnation.

I was under suspicion.

He had tried to act with the utmost caution. But because he was not used to these kinds of things, he must surely have committed any number of serious mistakes. He had fallen into the enemy trap, laid right before his nose.

For a brief while, Odyne stared into Raymond's eyes. The general's face was plastered in mud and clotted blood.

”Alright, go,” he gave his permission in only few words.

Raymond set his expression firmly and once again galloped on horseback towards Birac.

Three days later, he was kneeling before Gil and reporting their defeat.

”I am deeply sorry. Because of my incompetence…”

The dam that had been holding back his feelings burst. Teardrops fell one after another onto the back of his hands which were pressed against the floor. Most of the labourers who were supposed to stage the uprising had probably lost their lives. No, perhaps they had all been ma.s.sacred. Moreover -

”My estate will surely also have been attacked. There were children that we were looking after there. What's happened to them? M-My sister, Louise, too... what's happened to her? Boyce has been infatuated with her for a long time now…”

He continued helplessly prattling on to the prince. Louise was a follower of the Badyne faith in which suicide was prohibited. He did not know whether that was lucky or unlucky, considering the calamity which must have befallen her. And anyway, women of the Badyne faith were obliged to marry the one they had given their chast.i.ty to. Violently a.s.saulted, torn between doctrine and despair, how could he begin to imagine his little sister's suffering?

Vileena was also present and listened with a sorrowful expression to his tearful reminiscences.

”Y-Your Highness,” Raymond Peacelow clung to Gil's cloak, ”Please lend me two hundred, no, even just a hundred soldiers. In exchange for my life, I will definitely, definitely show you how I'll kill Jairus and Boye. Your Highness, please!”

”Your Highness!” Vileena cried, momentarily startled.

Gil seemed to stoop for a second, grabbed Raymond by the nape of his neck and yanked him up. Then he hit him hard across the side of the face. Raymond tumble to the office's floor.

Gil walked up to him, almost trampling on his head.

”If I a.s.sign soldiers to you, those hundred or two hundred men will die in vain.

”Y-Your Highness…”

”Do you think that this defeat is your responsibility? Don't be so full of yourself. I made the decision. And I let the soldiers die helplessly.”

”Call Rogue,” Orba ordered the page to summon Rogue Saian.

After quickly explaining the situation, all he asked was, ”Can you leave?”

”Aye,” the veteran general clicked his heels together. His preparations were set so that they were ready for whenever the order came to head for the front.

”The enemy only consisted of the Abigoal House's troops, which means that reinforcements haven't arrived from Solon yet. Leave at once and join up with Odyne. Subjugate the soldiers posted along the highway.”

”Aye.”

”But if the enemy draws back into Nedain city, avoid pursuing after them. Set up formation in the surrounding area. As to where…” Orba pointed to a place on the map spread out on the table. ”The cannons and airs.h.i.+ps go by carrier, the soldiers over land.”

This defeat was naturally a hard blow for Orba. He had, from the start, been walking the path of warfare because he detested those in power and hated tyrants. He felt nothing but seething anger towards Jairus and Boyce. And because of that, it was necessary to make his second move calmly and accurately.

To simply accept defeat - that would be a disgrace for the crown prince's army. They risked losing in one go the momentum that had seized Birac and it would be bad if the surroundings heard about it. It would influence the att.i.tude of the lords and generals. There was absolutely no sense in wasting time now.

”Raymond.”

”A-Aye.”

Raymond, who had still been stretched out on the floor just as when he had been hit, hurriedly scrambled to his knees.

”Accompany General Rogue. You're familiar with the area. Guide them to set up camp.”

”Y-Yes.”

”Since Jairus knew about the insurrection, the villages might also have come to harm. Rogue, when defending the villages, try to add to our forces by encouraging the people to join. If it goes well, we might be able to threaten Jairus from within Nedain as well.”

Rogue bowed his head deeply.

In any case, it was probably widely known in Solon and Nedain that the crown prince had narrowed down his target to that city. It would have an effect. The significance would be especially huge for the people who had been enduring Jairus' oppression.

Without wasting any time, Rogue Saian departed with five hundred soldiers and two air carriers loaded with supplies.

Around the same time, Boyce Abigoal, greatly puffed up at having personally driven away the army of the Impostor Crown Prince - the same which had seized Birac - started raiding the area's villages as violently as though they had been an enemy nation, all in the name of 'hunting the remnants' of the insurrection.

He would come up with some pretext to s.n.a.t.c.h away money and goods, then murder the men and rape the women. As far as Boyce was concerned, there was no need to concern himself over the Nedain territory anymore. Since a nomination to the twelve generals awaited him in the near future.

And it was for that reason that he was in a village barn and almost leapt out of his skin when Rogue and Odyne's combined military forces started advancing to the roar of cannon fire.

”What are the lookouts doing?” He yelled while separating himself from the girl he had just been pinning down, but it was already too late.

Compared to Raymond, who frequently visited the villages and who was thoroughly acquainted with the local topography, the arrangement of guards that Boyce had spread out was full of holes. And of course, Rogue and Odyne far surpa.s.sed him in leading soldiers.

There was some fighting but it was a completely hopeless situation and, in the end, Boyce Abigoal had no choice but to flee to Nedain without even having the time to straighten his clothes.

And just as...o...b.. had predicted, the effect on the villages surrounding the city was huge. They gathered about five hundred young men who volunteered ”to join as a soldier”.

This was not only because of their resentment against Jairus and Boyce. It was because they feared that if the Abigoal family was not driven from the territory, every village in the area would be set alight.

Afterwards, following Gil's orders, Rogue and Odyne set up camp at a location some thirty kilometres west of Nedain.

Raymond Peacelow guided the two generals through the area and, putting his knowledge of the terrain to good use, recommended where to deploy their soldiers. One day, at dusk, he and a few soldiers headed for the northern quarry.

The corpses had cruelly been left scattered around. Dolph's was among them. His eyes were open wide, as though in regret.

Raymond wept uncontrollably as he buried them.

When he afterwards went into the man-made cave where the labourers had been staying, he noticed the artificial flower that was still fastened to the wall. Although it should have been glimmering a gentle white, it was steeped in the colour of dark red blood.

Raymond plucked it from the wall and, along with the one which had been decorating his breast, he gently laid them down at the top of the hill on which they had all been buried.

I swear.

Raymond murmured within his heart. He knew that if he opened his mouth now, all that would escape from it would be cowardly weeping.

Right now, all I can offer you are paper flowers, but I will, without fail, bring you the heads of the Abigoal father and son, Jairus and Boyce. Without fail.

Reinforcements a thousand strong were hurrying from Solon to Nedain when, as though crossing them along the way, the results of the first battle in there reached the capital

the emperor decided to follow up by sending a further one thousand five hundred soldiers. Now that things had come to this, Guhl Mephius also realised that 'time' was finally moving again.

However, unlike the trade-rich Birac, Nedain did not have enough surplus to provide food to a large armed force. Naturally, a large number of supplies also had to be transported, and for that, time and money was needed.

In terms of not having enough surplus, Solon had the same issue. In order to consolidate its defensive line, troops from all over the country were ama.s.sing in the capital. For now, everything was still fine, but would they really be able to put up the soldiers for several months now that they had lost Birac, the linchpin of the economy?

So even though 'time' had started to move, it was still inevitable for him to be hoping for an early decisive battle.

Maybe -

The people, military, and n.o.bles of Mephius all surrept.i.tiously gossiped about the same thing -

Maybe His Majesty Emperor Guhl will personally take command in this coming battle and head towards Nedain?

The troops in Nedain would soon be increased, at which point the crown prince's side would also start ama.s.sing the troops that it had stationed at Apta and Birac.

In other words -

Nedain, mocked as a rural backwater, would be the stage of the final battle in a civil war which had begun in a way that no one could have imagined.

Immediately after Jairus Abigoal had returned to Nedain with his troop of reinforcements, Emperor Guhl Mephius finalized his decision.

From now on, they would need to launch large-scale military manoeuvres. And for that, it was necessary to first ensure safety at the rear. The 'rear' in this case was not their neighbouring countries, Garbera and Ende, but those who should have been Mephius' trustworthy va.s.sals and generals. In order to prevent any further dissension, Guhl had decided to clamp down on the internal situation.

”Cancel all scheduled gladiator fights at Solon's central arena tomorrow. The Saian and Lorgo families are to be hauled there and executed,” he ordered.

The arena would be opened free of charge and all the n.o.bles and soldiers currently in Solon, and did not have urgent military matters to see to, would be obliged to attend.

It would serve as an example to others.

Even though they had expected this to come sooner or later, everyone was shaken.

Rogue was, needless to say, a long-serving general while Odyne was widely known as a strict but capable officer. They were loved by many. Moreover, their respective son and daughter had only just gone through the ceremony for coming of age.

”I saw it with my own eyes.”

In a dingy tavern at the end of a tortuous and unpaved road, a plump man sat, his shoulders quivering. The man had a store near an avenue lined with the mansions of n.o.bles and military officers.

What he had seen was how, soon after the army of the Impostor Crown Prince had taken Birac, the families of Rogue Saian and Odyne Lorgo had been dragged from their residences and led away by soldiers.

”General Lorgo's daughter was so pale it looked like she might collapse at any moment. Because of that, General Saian's even younger son was shouting encouragements to her. 'It's alright, the Heavens know that our fathers have done nothing to be ashamed of, so it's alright, they'll definitely come and save us', he said…”

Rogue Saian's son, Romus, and Odyne Lorgo's second daughter, Lannie, had both taken part in the old ceremony of riding a dragon's back at that year's Founding Festival, so the townspeople knew their names and faces.

”I thought they'd only been arrested as a warning.”

”They can't really be going to execute them…”

”Nah, won't the crown prince come racing up at the last minute. He's like the main character in a heroic tale, so I'm sure he'll create a miracle this time too.”

”Idiot, don't talk without thinking. Do you want to be executed as well?”

”And in the first place, it's all because of that scoundrel who calls himself the crown prince that the generals' fates have veered off course.”

The liquor flowed but the guests' faces remained gloomy.

That night, the same scene and the same conversation were playing out throughout Mephius. Not only among the people but also among the chief retainers serving the imperial family. Although they avoided gathering or dining together as much as possible. Because if they did, they might receive unwanted enquiries from the emperor about secretly gathering and sneakily plotting.

Not a single n.o.ble or officer had appealed to the emperor to halt the executions. There had, however, been an incident in which long-time servants of both families had thronged before the palace gates in tears, but they had quickly been sent away by the guards.

It turned into a long night for many of those living in Solon.

Including for Simon Rodloom.

He was the emperor's longest-serving retainer and was currently confined to his residence, accused of having remonstrated His Majesty about the crown prince when the latter was 'still alive'.

The inside of the mansion was as silent as a grave.

Which might seem perfectly natural as it was the dead of night, but there was no hint of human presence.

Simon was alone at his desk in his study, reading quietly. His only light was a candle placed near him.

He continued reading in silence for a long time, before finally giving a single sigh and closing his book. Looking behind him, there was a pile of other books.

They were all the ones that he had been interested in but had never had time to read until now, only instructing his pages to collect them for him.

He had read them all now.

Simon stood up from his chair and stretched. He went to stand near the window and looked up at the night sky. Judging by the stars, he guessed that there was another three hours until dawn.

It was a long night.

Although he appeared to be fully concentrated on chasing the words on the page, intrusive thoughts tended to pop into his head one after another, hindering his reading and difficult to drive away.

I've still got a long way to go - every time it happened, he reflected on his own immaturity. Because of that, he had found it surprisingly difficult to finish the last three books.

Simon left the side of the window and returned to the middle of the room.

”Well then,” murmuring absentmindedly, he picked up the candle from the desk.

And tilted it across the top of the pile of books. He brought it closer and closer, without paying any attention to how the melted wax was dripping down.

He did the same with every one of the heaps of books piled throughout the room.

Finally, he returned to the centre of the room and nonchalantly tossed the candlestick to the floor.

He closed his eyes.

Acrid smoke filled his mouth and nostrils.

Even with his eyelids closed, the light of the fire intruded on his retinas.

When this moment came, what would he think, what would he feel? Simon had been wondering about that for a long time. It was an interesting question.

But now that the time had finally arrived, not a single word formed in his mind.

Simon smiled unintentionally. There had been so much turmoil and hesitation, so much reminiscing and dredging up of what seemed like every one of his memories between the time when he had formulated this plan and today. Perhaps he had already used up all of his words somewhere along that way.

Except...

I would have liked to see him.

A thought suddenly came to his mind.

The Gil Mephius of rumours.

The crown prince who now stood at a height, and with power great enough, to cross weapons with the current emperor, Guhl Mephius.

The world called him an impostor. They said that Rogue and Odyne simply craved power and had set up a different person who happened to look like the prince so that they could rebel.

But if he had to say... Gil had started to behave like a different person long ago, when he was 'still alive'.

One only had to think about how he had saved the princess in Seirin Valley and slain Ryucown at Zaim Fortress, about how he had put down Zaat's rebellion in Solon before it even happened, or again about the time when he had gone to Apta and repelled a surprise attack from the Taúlian army.

The same Crown Prince who had been mocked as a 'fool' not only by his father but also by the retainers.

It was not that Simon had not also found it strange. Compared to the other retainers, he had been somewhat closer to the prince, since he had been acting as his guardian. For that reason alone, Simon should have been having serious misgivings, yet he had solved all of his doubts with only a few words.

He resembles him.

More than the prince changing, it seemed to Simon that day by day, he was becoming more like a certain someone. In which case, he reasoned, it was normal since they were father and son.

When he had heard that Gil, who was supposed to be dead, was actually alive and was fighting against the emperor, he had simply thought that - You would probably have done the same thing.

In other words, when he was young and still the crown prince, and if his father had behaved like the current emperor was now, wouldn't Guhl Mephius also have led the warhorses to fight against him?

Simon Rodloom believed he would have.

And because of that, right now, he felt a strong desire to see Gil Mephius one more time.

And if that wish were to be granted, he thought that he would want to serve and support that Crown Prince Gil. It would feel as though the ideal nation, the ideal future, that he and his friend used to talk of together throughout the night were there before him.

But -

Simon did not have that right. Or at least, he himself did not believe that he did.

He had not been able to support his friend.

As time had pa.s.sed and they had aged, had it not perhaps been he himself who had first abandoned the ideals of their youth?

If and when Gil Mephius brought about a new future for Mephius, there would be no role for him in that future. If the old was going to be defeated, better to leave by oneself.

And a new future will start to be spun, rising from the corpses of the defeated and the ashes of burned down palaces.

Simon remembered how just the other day, the Garberan princess had come to visit this room which was now filled with smoke and heat.

Gil and Vileena.

From the budding signs, both might be in love with the one before them.

In which case, there's nothing more.

There was nothing more that he needed to think about, hope for, or worry about.

Simon's shoulders relaxed.

In that moment, it was as though he could feel the wind in the wilderness.

Oh!

Although he had believed that there was no longer anything left for him to look back on again, right now, Simon was being buffeted by a strong wind as he galloped his cherished horse through a barren ravine.

Mephius had very few wild horses. There were only narrow strips of land in which emaciated horses could graze, so Simon was proud of his mount which he had only just bought from Garbera.

He remembered that that childhood acquaintance of his, who was likewise riding beside him, had been envious of it.

”Sell it to me, Simon.”

”Hmm, what to do…”

”Not just for money. For the daughter of the Evee House that you're so infatuated with. Shall I write a letter on your behalf, since you're so incompetent with a pen? No, wait, I can just use the imperial family's authority to order your marriage.”

”They're already rumours of how you're extending your evil influence.”

”Don't be stupid.”

”Oh, look over there. Do you see that rocky mountain like the horn of a dragon on this side of the ravine? If you can get there faster than me, I'll think about it.”

”I want your horse for its speed. So aren't you getting the order wrong?”

”You never know till you try. Well then, let's go!”

”Wait, you insolent cur. You'd better prepare yourself because when I become emperor, I'll have you locked up somewhere where the light doesn't s.h.i.+ne. Dammit, wait.”

The two of them galloped on, laughing.

In the present, his eyes shut, Simon Rodloom was also laughing. He opened his mouth a little too wide and smoke got in, making him cough violently.

But even so, Simon continued to laugh.

Early the following morning, Guhl Mephius suddenly sat bolt upright in his bed.

These past few days, the emperor had been sleeping lightly. He had barely gone to sleep when he was already getting up and heading for his study or his office. Because of that, those who served him closely all tended to be sleep-deprived.