Vol 16 Chapter 320 (1/2)
The Winning Horse
… A village a little ways fro
The adults holed the that nothing would happen
The scene a young boy who’d taken flight froe witnessed wasn’t that of any army he’d ever seen before
“What the hell’s that…”
It was as if a fortress wasAround it the soldiers preceded without rest in the direction of Centralle, the coolair a little different than usual
His reat army he’d never seen before, the boy looked up at the blue hairedatop the fortress Atop the ra with a blue circle in its center Around the circle sprawled orna under which the army marched
But he had never seen that flag before
Until his fa hiht in awe…
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Looking over the soldiers proceeding down the road, I felt the coolair on my Skin
“The air’s no good When the soil’s dry the dust clouds are terrible But even so, when it rains it robs our stamina away”
Looking around fro froe around somewhere
We had entered the area under the Bahnseim House’s direct control, and continued on with our march There was no resistance you could call resistance, and there weren’t any signs of forces leaving Centralle
Invaded by surrounding countries, there was no way they wouldn’t be able to gather the troops It wasto tempt the capital
But even so, in order to fight Celes, we’d have to aiardless
To the roof rose Vera in an overcoat
“Is it really alright for our leader to go out without any guards?”
As she said that and stepped onto the roof, the wind blew to shake her black hair Her angel wings flowed in the breeze Containing them in her hands, she looked towards the smokestacks visible from the roof
Watching the white smoke rise fro her face to face me
“I heard the others were heading for Centralle as well There’s no doubt that’ll be the site of the decisive battle, right? They won’t try to take us out one by one?”
In regards to her worry, I shook my head
“That’s not going to happen I’ve considered the possibility they’d leave Centralle open to target one of our forces It’s unthinkable they’d leave themselves short-staffed for defense, and if it’s Celes, she’ll make Centralle the battlefield”
“It doesn’t see that because you understand your sister’s personalities”
Observing that my expression wasn’t the best, Vera hit h I explained it to her
“She’ll definitely sit and wait Based on how she went about it, she could send dead men in the truest sense of the term to aim for one of our crucial points, but she won’t do it because that’s a pain”
Rather than a pain, the current Celes didn’t give a da as she could live a life of luxury, she didn’t care how many of those below her died off
No, she would even watch it and laugh
“You can win, right?”
On Vera’s question, I looked straight ahead
“We’ll win the war There’s no doubt about it We’ve h preparations for that And with the arained even more leisure”
There were many feudal lords who’d offered their assistance On the other hands, while there were Lords who said they wouldn’t cooperate, there were many cases where their populace did join our side
If it could get them out of the current Centralle… the current Bahnsei with our forces who held the food stock they needed to survive
“The war, huh? Then what about the most important part?”
She was likely indicating the direct confrontation with Celes I nodded
“That’s precisely e’ve launched this offensive Sorry, but I’ve no intent to start a fight even if I can’t win I decided to march because our current war potential was as complete as we could make it”
That was true
With Novem at the lead, my comrades who had travelled with me as adventurers And Gracia, Elza, Ludmilla… our war potential was in order If it were one on one, the probability ofin a one-on-one battle
“It doesn’t irl We’ll surround her and beat her down”
Vera showed a shrug of her shoulders
“That’s the worst line I’ve heard all day, but that’s the safest option I’ relations or your pride as a man”
Vera seemed to approve of my decision But as an individual, I have to say it was quite a deplorable thing Because I couldn’t win againstup on her with
“Personally, I’d liked to have been able to solve this on my own”
To speak to my personal opinion, with my own hands… my hands alone, I wanted to stop Celes But ability-wise that was impossible
“If you say so like that and lose, I’ll curse you for the rest ofa winnable battle from personal sentiment is what an idiot does Well, I don’t hate that sort of thing either”
But she’d definitely hate it if I was in that position, said Vera
“If you don’t win there’s no tos are to go on like this, there’s not a single good thing in letting your sister live I’d feel more if you just ended it in an instant”
This was likely Vera’s way of encouraging me
“… That’s ot promises to keep”
As I gripped the Jewel, Vera looked between it and me
“You could hear your ancestors’ voices, was it? They’re all gone? Come to think of it, I heard them before on the shi+p”
“Ah, come to think of it, you did hear them”
Thinking back to when she could have heard their voices, I ended up re
“I never noticed they were your ancestors’ voices So is it a promise to them?”
There was that too But the number one was someone else
“No, to sonize that”
Letting go of the Jewel, I turned my eyes towards Centralle
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… Lyle’s army approached the capital
There were strea horse Those aiht from Centralle
Those anted to be recognized as nobles
They came to seek audiences with Lyle But Lyle fundamentally didn’t want any more troops than he already had
Dressing up si
Within all of that, Ralph Circry had cohter Miranda
Bringing his feet to a tent nearby thefortress, he had called Miranda out
So diseuards to enter and greeted her father
“It’s been a while, Miranda”
“That’s right Not since back at the storehouse, perhaps? Back when I was abandoned by a certain so mistaken it for a Gryphon”