Chapter 487: Celestinas Tears (1/2)

「You don’t have to work so hard to add gravity to your words. ――but asking to borrow soldiers, that’s quite a violent request.」

I pull the tablecloth toward me so it covers my crotch.

The bulge is incredibly noticeable and makes me rather uncomfortable.

「F-funyaa……I can’t?」

Celestina kneads her cheeks a few times after they stiffened from the use of difficult words, then gazes up at me.

Of course, it’s not a good idea. The bow cavalry who were gathered on short notice, aside from a portion of them, returned home after receiving their food and reward money, and the militia was also disbanded. At this time, Leopolt should be proceeding with the reorganization.

We’re maintaining enough forces to respond if the enemy attacks us, but we’re in no position to mount an attack ourselves.

Furthermore, in the soldiers’ eyes, this is a moment they can finally return home after the end of a long battle.

If they’re asked to sortie without any chance to catch their breaths, not only will their morale drop, I’m sure some will abandon their duties.

But that’s not the important part. Celestina shouldn’t know a thing about the military.

The problem is why she requested to borrow soldiers in the first place.

「Actually, about 10 days ago a messenger came from……no, a person ran to see Her Majesty from a village near Biado, the capital of Malt.」

Monica explains in the young girl’s stead.

She is similarly dressed in travel attire with a headband, indicating her readiness to depart, but unlike Celestina, her eyes are darting around between my groin and all the mostly naked girls.

Mel slips in between my legs and tries to remove the vase, but the edge of the glans gets caught on the opening.

I have to say the tip is pretty sinful.

「According to the man, South Yuguria’s rule was initially peaceful and the citizens of the cities and villages were able to live decently without experiencing the horrors of war.」

That’s to be expected. South Yuguria Empire is an ent.i.ty that tries to govern rather than bandits or other ethnic groups who attempt to pillage and plunder.

As long as the territory that comes under their rule does not cause rebellion, they have no reason to commit heinous acts like ma.s.s killing.

「However, with the tides of battle s.h.i.+fting in the enemy’s favor, they were collecting a.s.sets from the ma.s.ses and recruiting young men as reinforcements――although they stopped due to the increasing number of unqualified people who didn’t have the will or guts to fight, but were later put to work manual labor and exhausted……」

Malt is a stable agricultural country whose residents don’t fight much, so many men don’t have the disposition for war after all.

Because their spirits are weak, they easily become frightened at the smallest signs of violence and run immediately when things get chaotic.

Forcibly recruiting them won’t even help pad numbers, they’d honestly drag the other soldiers down.

Carla also tries her hand at removing the vase, but gives up after a failing and tickles the base of my d.i.c.k instead, worsening the situation.

「Funyuu……making people work against their will……」

Tears well up in Celestina’s eyes. Well, it’s possible if that’s the extent of the crisis.

However, an attack by two amateurs and a bunch of borrowed soldiers is ill-advised and weak.

「……things changed with the liberation of Torotent and the uprising of all the Libatis citizens. Until then, I don’t think there were any restrictions aside from taxes and labor, but since those events, under the pretense of fostering loyalty towards the Empire――there have been a lot of propaganda spread throughout Malt, denouncing the royal family of Malt, especially Her Majesty Celestina who is well-liked.」

Celestina is still heavily supported by her people despite not being able to return to her country.

Those strong feelings are based more so on her existence as everyone’s cute little sister rather than a great respected king, but South Yuguria is afraid that kind of support will lead to a ma.s.s rebellion nevertheless.

Nonna’s b.o.o.bs bounce as a result of her sneezing.

My c.o.c.k swells, and both Carla and Mel give up trying to pull the vase.

「I suppose it’s a part of their plan. They announced the destruction of Celestina Garden, the centre of Biado bearing Her Majesty’s name. Angered by that, over ten thousand citizens rose up and protested in the garden!」

The people of Malt are not the type to defy statesmen.

For them to congregate and rebel must mean the situation is far from normal.

Even now, Celestina is adored by the citizens of Malt.

「I see where you’re going. Those citizens are still barricading themselves in that park. And you want to save them, right?」

South Yuguria is currently receding remarkably.

Malt probably can’t mobilize a large military force.

Even so, a group of mostly unarmed citizens isn’t a problem for the army.

South Yuguria can scrounge up two or three thousand soldiers from nearby and it will be nothing less than a ma.s.sacre.

「No, the uprising itself was apparently broken up by the guards that rushed to the scene.」

「……」

The city guards only number a few hundred, yet they were able to rout a group of 10 000?

「Due to how simply the fight was settled, the citizens weren’t slaughtered, but a couple hundred people designated as the masterminds of the rebellion were chosen to be publicly executed on a later date to set an example……」

Monica retells the story with a grim expression and Celestina’s tears overflow from her eyes.

「My people died because of me again……and also……Mary from the clothes store……Mary-」

The rest of the story was told by Celestina after she wiped her tears with her sleeve.

In summary, the words of the sniffling girl are as follows:

A girl from a clothing store was captured as one of the ringleaders of the rebellion.

Mary was Celestina’s purveyor and also good friend, thus she was seen as a leader of the plot.

The one who ran all the way to Rafen was Mary’s brother, who was very close to her.

She could not let the other people besides Mary, who stood up for their own sakes, die either.

A messenger was dispatched to South Yuguria to ask for clemency, but the request was ignored.

And now that it’s come to this, she felt there was no other choice than to borrow soldiers and save them herself.

Those are the main points from what I can gather.

「I’m going to save them even if I die!」

「She has quite the strong spirit……」

My eyes meet with Myla, who is in the corner of the room with Nonna and the others to respect Celestina’s privacy.

She closes her eyes tightly and shakes her head furiously.

It’s impossible to send soldiers out right away.

「To begin with, deploying troops without permission during an order of confinement is a form of rebellion……」

What Nonna says is true, now that I consider it.

I can’t send my soldiers because of military and political reasons.

「It’s like pouring salt in the wound……」

The quiet voice came from the tiny Marta, acting as a server.

She was originally sent from the palace to spy on me, but I tamed her by awakening her love for big d.i.c.ks, and now she sends the doc.u.ments written by Adolph and Leopolt to the king to maintain regular communication.

I totally forgot about her.

「You’re awful!! Anyway, this is hard to say, but……」

Marta excitedly hands me a doc.u.ment.

As usual, she is dressed in a typical office uniform, however the hem of her clothes is trimmed short enough for her thighs and the borderline of her a.s.s to be seen.

「According to Adolph-sama’s calculations, the cost of deploying troops and reconstruction has put us far in the red……not only is the safe empty, we even have to take out a loan from a merchant family to cover the maintenance cost of the mansion.」

The restoration of the city walls, compensation to bereaved families, purchase of food, and the acquisition of a down quilt made with the feathers of a rare bird adds up to a tremendous amount of spending.

It looks like I’m prevented from sending soldiers financially too. As for Nonna, I’ll talk to her later.

I understand the situation and I also sympathize with Celestina.

「It’s hard for me to lend you any soldiers……no, it’s impossible.」

I don’t want to give her hope just to let her down.

Celestina’s adorable face wilts.

「Ah, it’s off.」

The vase is pulled off with a pop.

「There isn’t much I can do, but the ring I received from my father on my tenth birthday should be worth a little bit of money……is it not enough?」

Celestina offers me a ring with a red jewel embedded on it.

I’m sure she has many memories a.s.sociated with the ring, her hand is shaking.

Nonna extends her head to peek at the jewel, but quickly retracts it once she realized how small the stone was.

「I will give you anything as thanks for the soldiers you lend us afterward, and I mean anything. That includes myself.」

Monica looks at me with a face filled with determination.

「That’s not all, I’m included too!」

Celestina chimes in.

When I see her hands holding her body, she seems to willing to go as far as becoming a plaything. I won’t let that happen and that’s not the issue.

「I have no money. I can’t mobilize my army. And I’m also in confinement.」

I fold my arms and ponder the possibilities.

「Your Majesty, let’s think of another method! Please, I beg you not to do that!」

「No. In fact, I shouldn’t have turned to my dear brother……this is my responsibility as the king. I will go to Biado and personally request for everyone to be spared. If I subst.i.tute myself in place of everyone, I’m sure South Yuguria will pardon the others.」

I can’t just say “sorry, I can’t help” and push her away after hearing her say that.

「When is the appointed day of execution?」

「It’s one week from today. They have to gather the people from the area in order to set an example.」

One week means that we won’t make it in time if we don’t act immediately.

「Alright, leave it to me. It’ll take three days for preparations to be complete. Until then, eat well, sleep well and wait patiently.」

「B-but――」