Chapter 36 (1/2)

Again this is roughly edited and if you find any issues please let us know.

The Girl Who Ate a Death God

Gaiden 1-2 The Bull, the Lion and the Death God

By Veloce’s command, the curtain was lifted to begin the campaign against Cyrus Fortress.

In the past liberation war, it was the small fortress that had fallen in a barbarian attack.

However, Veloce knew that the history recorded in the new kingdom was terribly distorted.

It was Schera who had raised her, forged her, and, until now, led her.

Though she had heard the details that would not be told, Veloce knew that she was a ‘Death God’.

She would joke that she was ‘Schera Zaart II’, but there wasn’t any mistake.

From the time she met her, there had been no change. In fact, it was like time had stopped.

She was the female officer, who led the soldiers of the Black Flag’s White Crow, swinging a large scythe with a petite body.

Since day one, she had watched every battle convinced that, “This person is that of the death god, Schera Zart.”

――And then, she wondered.

Why is it that the people around her were never troubled by the fact that she did not age?

Perhaps it was scary. That is, the ‘heresy’ in the people’s Star Church not aging is.

There was also a chance that she was a real ‘Death God’. Perhaps if one pointed it out directly, they would perhaps have their soul taken.

Although the Pope was a ceremonial position, it was still someone who had been awarded the position of the ‘Star General’. Also, she had a career history in the inquisition panel. It would not be expected that such an excellent model person would be a heretic.

So, the people that were thinking that there might be something about this that was suspicious would silence themselves. This had become something of an indulgence for Schera and no one had impeached her.

Veloce did not care about the possibility that Schera was a Death God, because it was she who had raised her from a state of confinement.

She had made it possible to take revenge on the new kingdom, which had deprived her of family and of her own place. Also, Schera had treated her to delicious food.

Death God or not, it did not matter. Schera was her savior, her leader, the master and the companion.

――And, no one else was as clear as she in being ‘family’. Schera may deny this, but Veloce thought this. If it were just a thought then Schera would not care.

So, in order to overcome the grudges she held, Veloce stood over at the head of the unit and issued the commands.

“Destroy the wall with rocks! Strike the castle soldiers down with arrows! Attack, attack, attack! Fight like the fury of a flame and do not leave them anywhere to rest!”

“Veloce, a little before and we will keep the arrows flowing!”

“Don’t you think that if they land behind the soldiers, the soldiers will just come to you?!”

She roared at the stationary soldiers and swung her halberd around, dispelling the incoming arrows. Staff Officer Dima held a massive shield from the side.

The moat was deep and the drawbridge had been raised. On the castle walls, archers were lining up and standing. The response to the arrows was returned before they began groaning rock attacks on the fortress.

It was not intended that they be overly forceful. The purpose was to continue a heavy attack and lower the morale and energy of the defenders. Switch to a full attack at the moment the enemy’s energy is drained, and then make the fortress fall in one stroke.

It was the Chief of Staff Dima’s opinion that their military power was more than sufficient and that regular tactics were to be used, Veloce also had no objection to this.

On the other side, the newborn kingdom officer, Mizeru Catefu, who was caught in Cyrus Fortress saw that the offensive was without coalition forces and realized that his fate was sealed.

The enemy was still and only its leader was attacking. In any case, the defending soldiers had their own battle. After a few days, the main army would arrive and there would most likely be another attack.

“This is repeating history, but this is so early on. This is not up to name and the way of the lion.”

As Mizeru smiled ironically, he pulled out the map, destroyed it immediately, and threw it away. It was meaningless to look back or turn the battle. This battle was a defeat.

The circumstances of the new kingdom could only be said to be miserable. Under the direction of the Star Church, the churches arose together. Riding this wave, the major powers, who were dissatisfied by the new kingdom, rallied and participated in the war. It went without saying that their real hearts leaned more towards ambition than real faith.

In particular, the Star Church’s Imperial army from the west and the Star Church union army from the south invaded. The reason the various countries dispatched troops was that, other than incurring the wrath of the Star Church, they would be unable to bear the fire at their feet.

The empires would have fear in their hearts. As a result of the continued puppetization of the new kingdom, the sleeping monsters had opened their eyes.

They were unaware that by being imprisoned by their fears and lending power to the astrologists, they were shortening their own lives.

After the collapse of the new kingdom, it was expected that, under the management of the Star Church, divisional governance between the princes would occur. It was an era of competition and arrogance over hegemony. This only went to propagate empires and commonwealths. Because the members participating in this battle could unfortunately remember the taste of victory.

Troubled times would return again. Mizeru was sure of this.

“Mizeru. We are not defeated. The castle soldiers are still in high spirits and we will boldly take a stand. We shall not give up!”

While looking at the responsible staff officers, Mizeru spoke, deriding himself.

“It is true. You also understand, right? It is now impossible to recover. There wouldn’t be any difficulty if you could win a battle with only enthusiasm and spirit..”

Of course, the gates of the fortress had not been toppled just yet. But this was only a matter of time. There would be not reinforcements here, only enemies. It was a joke that they had not already been defeated and yet not one to laugh about.

Pride did not even allow talking of defeat. His heroic father would not allow this. But in the first place, it was unknown whether Mizeru would be allowed to surrender.

“…………”

“The former liberation war was the completely opposite of this. Just how will this be painted in the histories? If I can help it, I will not allow myself to be mentioned as a coward.”

The victors write the histories. The victors are always right. All of the blemishes are taken on by those who were defeated. This time, it would they, themselves, who would taste this.

Sweet liqueur for the victors, and sour acid for the losers. It may be fortunate that his father could taste this once in a lifetime, in some sense.

To think about it, the 28 years of Mizeru’s life was as his father said it would be. Because he thought it is natural. The words of a hero were the truth. His foolish self should have acted accordingly.

Thinking of death, Mizeru wanted to try to out himself. He thought that it would be better to do as he wished at the very end.

He was not scared of death, but it was somehow unacceptable to be crushed meaninglessly.

According to the information of the scouts,Veloce Gale led the attacking side. The bloodline of the general Yaruda who had taken the name ‘Indomitable’ in the past kingdom. As an opponent, there was nothing lacking.

“Staff officer. Take this scroll to the enemy for me. Ahh, father’s endorsement is not necessary now.”

After the quick writing by the general Yaruda, he handed the scroll to the staff officer.

“However, if his Honor Finn does not agree with this….”

“The commander of this fortress is me! The commander of the lion’s calvary is myself! …. I am not my father’s puppet. Surely, there is no care about letting me through at the very end?”

“…………”

“A first and last request.”

“…. Affirmative! I will deliver this right away.”

Bowing his head reverently, the staff officer took leave. In the room, only Mizeru remained.

As expected, he was realizing that there was nothing he could do. As expected, the contents of the scroll was confirmed. It did not matter either way how he would fall. There was no chance of it being handed over to his father.

“Alright, I would be happy to ride, but… either way, is this the end?”

Mizeru leaned deeply into the chair and looked at the ceiling, and as if to expel his burdens, he sighed heavily.

At the Star Church Union Army headquarters, Dima, who received the messenger’s report, was visiting. His expression was unusually severe.

It was because the person in front of him had made a less than optimum choice.

He wanted to scrunch up the report, but that would be an unauthorized conduct. It was not a good thing for a staff officer to do.

After a little while, he began to speak with Veloce, who was watching at the front face of the fortress with a stern gaze.

“….Veloce.”

“What is it, Dima?”

“A scroll has arrived from the commander of Cyrus Fortress, General Mizeru. Would you like to examine it?”

‘“An offer of surrender? If it is unconditional then, I do not mind, we can accept. If it is anything other than that then, rebuff it.”

“Ah, it is not that. …it is a request for a duel with your Honour Veloce.”

Veloce took the scroll away from Dima and ran her eyes up and down over the contents to confirm it.

As if to show excitement, her face gradually began to redden.

The letter was as followed.

――The general Mizeru of the new kingdom, in charge of the defense of the Cyrus fortress, had challenged Lord Veloce Geru to a duel.

A fair and square, one on one battle was requested. Betting on the honor of the family name and swearing not to use any sneaky tricks or traps.

In the event of Veloce’s victory, the fortress would be surrendered, but also that, for a moment, all of the soldiers other than himself would be allowed to leave the fortress.

In the event of Veloce being defeated, it was promised that the gates of the fortress would be opened immediately and the soldiers would surrender and disarm.

He was aware that there really was no benefit for the dominant party in this, but he expected a positive reply from the perspective of a soldier.

It was actually a completely unreasonable proposal. So much so that Dima was thinking about destroying it the minute he read it.

The idea knew no higher level of stupidity; that is, with two large armies facing on against each other, the two leaders settle the fight by doing battle with one another.

Furthermore, there were the dominant party, and in circumstances they were expected to have a victory anyway, it was not necessary to entertain this invitation.

…that is, from the perspective of an average person’s thoughts.

They are had known each other for 10 years. It was easy to predict what this woman would say next.

“I want to accept these terms.”

“…I could not hear you properly. Excuse me, can you please repeat that one more time?”

“I said I want to accept the challenge to a duel. Whether I win or lose, the fortress will fall. There is no problem. There’s no need to spill any further blood needlessly.”

Dima rubbed his eyes without thinking and looked up at the sky. He had been thinking this was stupid, but this was just crazy.

There was not any guarantee that the opponent would stick to the promises made.

In the case of Veloce being vanquished, the morale of the enemy would be increased. In the event that the promises were not kept then, there would be added labor and time toppling the fortress.

On the other hand, even if Mizeru were to be vanquished, it would be of no significance if the enemy simply closed the gates to the fortress.

Because the hero, Finn from the liberation war, was in the fortress. That he would simply surrender was unthinkable.

“Please explain to me. There appears to be no guarantee that the enemy shall keep to the expectations. We must ignore this and continue the assault. We have ten times the strength of their troops. And, at any moment, we will be able to attack.”

“Therefore, I must accept this. In order to avoid dishonoring the name of ‘the Indomitable’ we can only do battle now.”

While he was self-confident and assertive, Dima was not able to understand at all. He knew that Veloce held her family name’s honore.

But that was different from this. If he stated his opinion as the Staff Officer, it would only be foolish and foolhardy. But he could understand that if he was an officer, he would possibly feel the same.

In any case, it would be impossible to change her mind. There was no stopping this woman; when she said something once she would do it. Like a bull which has just seen something red, she would charge through no matter where it was.

It was her charm but also her biggest weakness. Because of this, Dima served Veloce.

“… Is there any room for you to reconsider this?”

“None. Specify the date and time here. At noon on the following day, take this to the front of the fortress and convey the message.”

“…………”

“What is the reply, Dima?”

“Affirmative. Leave everything to me.”

With the sound of her armor rubbing against itself, Veloce left. She was likely going to go prepare for the soon to be held duel.

In the event that the best case proposal was rejected, the Staff Officer need to implement the next best course of action.

Dima shook his head, and with heavy footsteps, he headed for the magician with the ‘bad complexion’.

If it was for Veloce, he would use anything. That was Dima’s fundamental policy.

――The next day.

Katarina, who had received Dima’s report, appeared before Veloce.

When the hood-wearing pink magician shuffled in, she slapped Veloce across the face with a flash of light.

A dry sound reverberated and, for a moment, the usually straight standing Veloce’s knees quivered. She had lost consciousness a bit with the strike.

“Wha-what the hell!?”

“That is for taking a unilateral decision! A whip would be more effective for a bull than words would be, right? If it is useless to use words then from the beginning it would be better to make you understand by the body.”

“Ka- Sgt. Katarina! Do not treat a human as a beast!”

She powerfully grabbed Veloce’s chin and drew her face nearer.

One would expect that Veloce would surpass her in strength, but she could not move. It was like a frog being caught by a snake, she could not move her limbs.

The blue face was issued a command from Katarina’s strangely glossy lips.

“Hey, bullhead. It can’t be helped it if it’s like this. If you break the promises, this will reverberate back to the morale of our army. You must win! Even if you die, you must win! You do not need to worry about being vanquished. We will raise your body for eternity until it decays. Okay? You must not dirty Schera’s name.”

Katarina was murmuring terrible things with her tongue lashing out like a snake. This woman was really capable of doing anything. Since childhood during the training, she had been killed.

Schera did not care, but she was fundamentally gentle. Even if one failed at something, she would forgive you. But this girl was different. She was really a demon.

Veloce was recollecting the trauma, but was just holding on. For she was now the commander. She was not allowed to be afraid.

“Of-of course! Ey- I will win!”

“Bullheads have a difficult time understanding difficult things so just do one thing.”

“Whatever happens concentrate on the fight. Do not take your eyes off the enemy. Right so, do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Your voice is too low! Say it from the bottom of your gut loudly!”

“Affirmative! I will not take my eyes off the enemy!!”

“Okay good. And do your best. Schera also said this.”

“Yes. I will give it all my might.”

Veloce breathed out of both cheeks and tried to set her mood back to normal.

Seeing this, Katarina wrung her neck and left through the awning.

The actual duel would take place at the halfway mark.

But, there was the possibility of a spear entering from the side. From the fortress, they would be easy targets for a well-aimed bow.

Fortunately, there was a mountain of fresh bodies within the fortress.

Katarina, with a casual gesture, plucked out some cane from the grasses, when she cast the eye’s spell, the bodies just buried in the fortress reacted.

Although they were a far distance away, it was easy to operate it even with 100 proxies.

As the necromancer distorted her mouth, in slow motion, they began to walk.

It was three hours until the battle.

――Front of the Cyrus Fortress Gates.

Both armies were watching as Veloce of the Star Church and Mizeru of the New Kingdom faced off.

Riding a horse and closing the distance between them, Mizeru began speaking.

“My sincere gratitude for accepting my selfish offer. I have given the order that in the event of myself falling, the soldiers will lay down their weapons and surrender. This promise will without fail be executed.”

“… And if you win, is it okay? We give no guarantee that we will unfold* the siege.”

“Wanting that much is greedy. I am already satisfied with having had enjoyed such a sunny stage for this battle. With all of the public watching on, I can fight as a warrior. For a warrior, there is surely no greater stage.”

“Certainly, that must be so. …Shall we begin?”

As Veloce spoke, Mizeru nodded.

“I am Mizeru Catefu! I have received the lion’s power from my father, I am about to show this to you!”

He raised a spear high to make the fortress behind him tremble with pride and screamed his name. The defending soldiers of the New Kingdom were screaming out.

Veloce responded to this, continuing.

“I am Veloce Gale. I am Veloce of the ‘Red Bull**’. Let us begin!!”

With the horse kicking, Veloce rushed towards Mizeru, clutching her weapon. The red feathers of the helmet she wore were streaming in the wind.

Mizeru, who was meeting her, rotated his spear and raised his anticipation. The momentum driven spear and the halberd crossed paths and there was a dull noise that reverberated.

The fierce abilities of both sides had begun their battle.

The defense was back and forth. The horse was driven, counting dozens. The place where this would be won could not be seen.

When a spear was thrust forward, it was meet with a forceful throw off. The halberd was thrust up and driven down in a groaning attack.

Mizeru dodged with the spear missing by a paper-thin distance, and the fierce battle began again.

The fight of all fights between two great military names unfolded with the two armies looking on.

Ten soldiers watched their battle coldly from the castle walls. It was not Mizeru, it were the soldiers who reported directly to Finn.

They were selected as the guard specifically because of their excellence in archery. Their loyalty was unshakeable and they were excellent soldiers who would execute whatever the command of Finn fully.

They had one order from Finn. “Close the gap, and shoot the enemy general.” They were told that even if Mizeru was involved, he did not care.

Finn had decided that Mizeru’s proposal to do battle was foolish and, in the end, opposed.

But when Mizeru went forward with it, he coldly told him to do whatever he wanted and directed the soldiers to take up defensive positions.

At the same time, although Finn had decided to forsake his own legitimate child, Mizeru had not noticed.

The only one that Finn loved was his wife, Mira. After she had left this world, Mizeru was less like a son and more like an underling; he consciously put space between them. They had not talked of family matters in many years.

It was impossible to admit that Mizeru, who was inferior to himself in every respect, was his ‘heir’. This was because of a strong sense of confidence that the lion general’s glory was something which had been built up by himself.