Chapter 2 (1/2)

Last Edit: 16 July 16

While walking in town, she found people gazing at her fixedly.

Anyone would feel their chests tightened upon seeing her, Meriela Lily Lindovorum’s, facial expression.

This is the Duke City <lindovorum>.

The Imperial Capital xceed> and the Holy City where the Emperor is brought forth <theotocos> (セオトコス).

Similarly to those two, it was a prominent city of the old Empire.

She was the focus of the city and also the only daughter of Carl von Lindovorum, feudal lord of the Duke territory <lindovorum>.

「Hime-sama, I’ll be troubled if you go out by yourself」

Hearing a voice from behind, Meriela spun around. Her silver hair, a special trait of the White Dragon clan, fluttered along with the breeze.

「Vilia. But…」

Over there was Meriela’s childhood friend whom she thought of as a sister. However, the maid understood Meriela’s status as being her master’s daughter.

「This is a public place. For my important people to inflict harm on me, that is…」

Though Meriela said that to ease the other party’s concern, the maid with long blue hair, Vilia, did not nod her head in a.s.sent.

With her hazel pupils, Vilia fixed her gaze upon Meriela’s golden eyes and shook her head. Thus while pulling Meriela’s hand, she led her till the nearest tract of green land. Their relations.h.i.+p was whereby such behaviour is allowed.

Leading Meriela to a nearby tree along the road, she spoke with her voice lowered.

「Hime-sama, a lot of people still think of you as important. However, it’s a fact that there’re countless people from other territories streaming in here knowing that this place is safe. There may be some who harbours a grudge against the Duke among them.」

After a slight hesitation, Vilia took upon herself to rebuke Meriela in a strong one.

She was loyal to the Duke, and harboured affection for Meriela who was brought up like a sister. But those were words which had to be said no matter what.

「The invasion of our country by the alliance, the break-down of war since the Emperor’s death and the encirclement of the capital. So many country-shaking events have happened. Please take into consideration that people’s hearts too, are greatly shaken」

「――Um, that’s right」

Realizing Vilia’s voice was trembling, Meriela nodded. Since the words came from her sisterly and beloved Vilia, it shouldn’t be a mistake. It was unthinkable of Vilia to have low opinion of her country’s people who were lacking in beliefs.

「Though just a little, I wanted to see their state of affairs until father returns, but this seems to be difficult」

「Yes」

Vilia shared the information she had collected by herself with Meriela.

Even now, the capital was still occupied by the n.o.bles supporting the contemporary tyrant king, with the alliance troops encircling its surrounding.

Furthermore, the alliance troops continued their stare-down with this country’s Origin n.o.bles.

As a consequence, the public order in various places worsened.

Though none of these events was something new, there was no doubt the situation was becoming worse.

「Um, thank you」

Though Meriela said so, they were not the information which she truly wanted (to hear).

Deep down her heart, she hoped that there would be good news even if it was just one piece of it.

However, it wasn't Vilia's fault just because it wasn’t fulfilled.

「――The truth was, I wanted to say something to rea.s.sure Hime-sama’s mind even if there’s one but」

Once again, Vilia understood what was necessary for Meriela. However, even though she understood, there was nothing she could do.

「It’s alright. I’m fine」

Grasping Vilia’s hand, Meriela rea.s.sured her repeatedly.

Though it seemed like pretending to be strong, she wasn’t able to say anything more than that.

◊◊◊

The upheaval in the country began when the previous Emperor, Enenfaube (エーネンファウベ) pa.s.sed away without a successor.

This country emulated the founding Emperor, no matter where, as long as someone possessing white hair appeared, he would be called a <white> and pushed to be crowned as Emperor.

However, during Enenfaube’s reign, unable to see the figure of the <white> who should have originally appeared before him, perhaps in the midst of anxiety and despair, he pa.s.sed away.

Thus his son, although without the rights to, took the throne. He was recognized temporarily until the true Emperor, a <white>, was discovered, though in the end as people had feared, he was a foolish ruler.

He dissolved the parliament which gave him advice on state of affairs, and placed his own supporters at the top departments of the troops. Regarding the opposing n.o.bles, he forcefully exiled them one by one while displaying a confrontation stance against the four Dukes who were uniquely, out of the Emperor’s jurisdiction.

Meriela’s father, Carl, was among the four Dukes.

In response to the Emperor’s conduct, the other three Dukes besides Carl withdrew their allegiance towards the royal family, and became an independent power from within the Empire. They rejected all interference from the royal family, taking the standpoint of affiliating only to the country.

A state of civil war broke out between the pro-Emperor and anti-Emperor factions.

And in response, the western democratic country raised an army. With the betrayal of the western n.o.bles, their war potential pa.s.sed through the Empire’s territories, drawing close to the capital xceed> in one breath.

Overlooking the alliance troops’ transit were ten people with the reputation of being the impetus of founding the country, the Origin n.o.bles chosen based on loyalty to the fatherland and their contribution. It was one of them who understood that the country’s foundation would be shaken from a glimpse of thing.

Nonetheless, a situation which would shake the country once again occurred.

The demise of the Emperor who usurped the throne.

The alliance troops lost the justification of 「defeating the deceiving tyrant who oppressed citizens of a friendly nation 」. In that case, the raw materials attained from various negotiations of post-war period would be meagre. Concurrent with the purpose of not burdening the compensation for war expenditures, they remained behind in the empire’s territory.

The pro-Emperor n.o.bles who barricaded themselves in the capital pretended to protect the empire’s public order, while in actual fact, were taking the citizens as hostages.

At this point of time, the Origin n.o.bles, who were opposing the Emperor, could no longer tolerate the rampancy of the alliance troops.

This resulted in a confrontation between the Origin n.o.bles’ troops, composed of three Origin n.o.bles as the core, and the alliance troops at Mira plains, northwest of the capital.

Without the Emperor leading the country, in a circ.u.mstance where politics and economics were in the midst of an impending outbreak of war at the outskirts of the capital, the country was unable to function as per normal.

When migration of refugees from each lord’s territory began, with the exception of those under the Emperor’s control, the downfall of the organisation in charge of public order led to bandits jeopardizing everyone’s livelihood.

The four big dukedoms began accepting nearby refugees, and moved to break the current deadlock of affairs. However, they were too powerful, and without a doubt, large amount of blood would be spilled.

However, no matter how much blood was spilled, without any other choices available, they would not hesitate to do so.

Indeed, that was if there weren’t any other choices.

◊◊◊

He was alive.

Yet, he continued living aimlessly.

Among the innumerable people, he existed as just a merely single gear.

And thus, he lost his life.

The world continued moving even after losing one of its gears.

Its continued movement meant to say that was worth of the gear.

It was probably right since many people believed that to be so.

However, there might be hope existing somewhere within his mind.

The he who had given up recognizing people, himself, and finally his last raison d’etre, it is unbeknownst to anyone whether he even held onto a small desire.

Therefore, he is alive.

Prior to isolating himself with multiple mental walls1, he wanted to recognize people, recognize himself, and to live on despite being tired of living. That is, at least until he finished his role.

◊◊◊

Bordering the corner of Duke Lindovurum’s castle acting as the White Dragon imperial residence, there existed a water spirit lake called <undine lake=”” (ウンディーヌレイク)=””>. Usually powered boats would be floating within the vicinity of the lake, however their figures could not be seen now.

Several small boats were pulled into the s.h.i.+p depot, and the pier used by the castle, which could be noisy due to the unloading of daily necessities depending on the day, was quiet.

At the foot of the small lighthouse in front of the pier, Meriela crouched down hugging her knees.

Grasped tightly in her hands was a letter corresponding from an officer working in the capital’s air base.

The details of the capital's status quo were written inside the letter, crushed to the point of being crumpled.

『The mercenaries a.s.sembled by the pro-Emperor n.o.bles were walking around the main street acting as if they owned the place, and looting shops’ articles outside the sights of the palace guards.

There were beggars wearing rags and lying down at the back alley, and a young girl laughing madly while being semi-nude after seemingly injected with some medicine.

Mercenaries occupying the house during the husband’s absence, raping both the wife and daughter, and though the palace guards came rus.h.i.+ng, the wife had to turn them away due to her daughter being held hostage.

However, due to the palace guards, soldiers and mercenaries disliking disputes, nothing was done. If they were to go wild now, the capital would be further hit by storm of outrage. To prevent that from happening, though annoying, it could not be helped that a few unlucky victims had to be sacrificed.

Though the upper stratum of military departments, controlled by the pro-Emperor n.o.bles, ordered the capital defence unit, it was rejected due to the absence of a person with supreme authority, the Emperor. Conversely, it means we are unable to take any actions.

The capital defence unit did not fall into their hands. It may be one of the few fortunes in this current situation that the gigantic fort cannon is not facing the Mira plains where the alliance and friendly troops are.

If it’s you, you may know what will become of the supporting-n.o.bles’ territories.

They disregarded the taxation law established by the successive Emperors to increase their own profits, imposing heavy tax on the citizens.  And now, that gold is entering the mercenaries' pockets.

The gold acquired from the act of imposing heavy taxes on the citizens, killed and oppressed them.

Meriela, princess of the prideful White Dragon.

You must never come to the capital.

I understand. If you were in my position, you may have pierced through your own throat by holding a fountain pen. That’s why, you cannot come to the capital, and you cannot see the figures of the citizens.

But if you are to come here, I want it to be the time when you can save this place.

The time when we see your figure in the sky, we will discard our soldiers’ equipment and stand up as just citizens.

We are waiting. We will continue waiting, without fail.』

◊◊◊

That list of words was enough to tear apart Meriela’s heart.

Although she understood that people were being oppressed, the letters received from friends of various places increased her new misery.

If this continued on, the country would fall apart. But, Meriela wasn’t able to do anything.

Being a n.o.ble, she received education. It included fostering of love for both the country and citizens.

And because of that love, she couldn’t help not suffering.

「Uu……」

She bit on her own lips to inflict harm onto herself and a pain coursed through her body which was oozing blood.

「Bu……」

She clenched her fist, and with her nails digging into her palms, blood trickled out.

「Not yet……」

Gathering magic, she cut her back of her hand with a thin blade.

She did not truly understand the meaning of what she just did.

She reasoned that by wounding herself, she could share the people’s pain.

Though whether that really is the reason, would it not been seen as merely escaping from a third-person view?

「Gomennasai, gomennasai」

Drawing her knees strongly to herself, and hiding her face downwards, Meriela’s beautiful clothing was stained by her tears.

It was painful not being able to do anything, and that pain might somehow turned in real pain.

「Gomennasai… gomennasai…」

At this moment, she might have known someone else was wounded.

Thinking this way, she felt an enormous sense of bitterness just from her own existence.

Like a child, Meriela curled up her body. Nothing less from a dragon tribe, she wouldn’t die even if she flung herself into the lake in front of her.

The fact that she wasn’t able to do anything, she could only continue moaning about it.

Until that moment.

◊◊◊

*Bashan*, there was the sound of water.

Meriela raised her head, surveying the surrounding. She had thought waterfowls were feeding on baits but there wasn’t a single one in the vicinity.

Due to Meriela of the dragon tribe possessing unstable and strong power, wild birds avoided her.

So what could it be, Meriela thought as such and stood up.

While returning to the castle, she glanced about restlessly, trying to ascertain the ident.i.ty of the sound. At the moment her vision came across a foreign body, she stopped.

At the stairways connecting the castle’s landing area and the pier, something seems to be caught in the pillar beneath the pier.

There were a person's clothes swaying slowly.

「Eh？」

Meriela opened her big eyes, her breathing coming to a stop.

Her heart beat such that she could even hear her pulsation clearly.

「Some…Someone…」

It was a miracle that she could speak.