Chapter 295
Side Story – Memories of a Certain Princess (46)
“Your Highness! I do not have the confidence to continue this task. Please replace me with other personnel!”
“No, I cannot do that.”
“Your Highness! Please!”
I saw the officer being dragged away by the soldiers.
I could understand why he was so terrified.
The battlefield is a place where life and death intersect. Of course it would be so.
Fighting monsters is to protect people, but in this case, they are fighting to kill people.
Monsters and humans.They may seem like small differences, but once you experience it directly, you realize there is an enormous difference.
That’s why I’ve heard that it’s common for soldiers experiencing war for the first time to become overwhelmed with fear and request transfers to other posts.
However,
“What is this?”
I have not heard of this kind of experience.
“Why do the guys in the rear keep asking to get replaced?”
That’s right.
Usually people request transfers due to guilt from killing other humans, but these guys were personnel in the rear.
They weren’t even participating in the war, yet these rear support guys were coming to me terrified.
“What else did they mess up?”
The one thing they had in common was that they were personnel managing the magic tools under Ast.
“Wouldn’t Ast have done something like Ast?”
“That’s probably right. Even with the radiance of Imperial favor, we should still warn Renia, get ready.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Just what did they do in the rear to make them request something like this?
As I got up from my seat to find out, I suddenly felt something was off in the space around me.
“Who would come at this time?”
“I came knowing no one else was here.”
What appeared, distorting the space, was a young man looking to be in his early twenties.
Officially he was supposed to be assisting Ast and supporting me, but his true identity was a dragon sent to monitor Ast.
Yet that dragon,
“I want to punch him! Send me to a department far away from that crazy human!”
He started shrieking the same things as the officer from earlier.
“Is this his ability…?”
To think even a dragon would show such a reaction.
Just what is Ast doing?
“Weren’t you sent to monitor him?”
“I don’t want to. Being with that human, I feel I may go crazy too. Just what kind of human is he doing this? No, is he even human? How can one go so crazy?”
“I know well that Ast is a madman but… What did he do to elicit such a reaction?”
“That is….”
The dragon sighed for a moment, then explained everything that had happened thus far.
“Sir Ast….”
Renia was shaking to the point it looked like she may collapse after hearing the story.
“It’s fortunate the priests aren’t here….”
No matter it being wartime, his actions crossed the line.
Even if Ast were said to be an evil being possessed by demons, it would not be strange to say so.
“Even if there are racial differences, humans aren’t originally such a race, right? No, that can’t be. The other guys are retching at the sight of him! He takes pleasure in such horrid acts to that degree!”
Send me away quickly before I also go crazy being with that guy!
As the dragon whined like that, I let out a sigh.
“You’ll have to tell the Dragon Lord that.”
“I already did but was rejected. The other personnel said they were busy but what could dragons, as a race, be busy with! They just don’t want to come out of laziness!”
Faced with the dragon grinding his teeth, I could only give the same reply as before.
“Impossible.”
“Why, why!”
He had an expression as if the sky was falling.
To make a dragon have such an expression.
Ast really was amazing.
“If even one precedent remains of personnel getting replaced, then we’ll have to replace everyone else too which we don’t have the leeway to do.”
Most of the rear personnel are experts in their fields.
Replacing people with professional knowledge and experience would be extremely difficult.
While personnel handling communications could be replaced, those analyzing and maintaining the magic imaging tools were not personnel that could be easily swapped out.
“Can you really not do it?”
“I really can’t.”
The dragon looking at me with shaking eyes seemed very pitiful.
To think a dragon would feel such emotions.
“Anyway, I was on my way out to meet Ast, so I’ll try to persuade him well not to do anything crazy.”
Of course, whether I’d be able to persuade him was uncertain. He rarely listened to me even in the Imperial Palace.
Would Ast, wielding the Imperial decree even in wartime, actually listen to my words?
“…I will wait for now.”
The dragon who looked like he would kick up a fuss surprisingly withdrew quietly. It seemed he knew his words and actions were merely throwing a tantrum.
“Renia, get ready as fast as possible.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Unlike before, this place was a battlefield.
Preparations were necessary even if we were moving within allied territory.
After about an hour, surrounded by an escort of around 100 personnel, I headed towards the forward area where Ast was located.
And there,
“Ah, you’ve come?”
In the magic imaging tool room, I saw Ast lying down watching the magic imaging tools.
“…Just what are you doing?”
The messy room was filled with all sorts of personal belongings, including a bed.
“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m working, aren’t I.”
Does he still have some politeness left?
Ast, who had been relaxing in a very comfortable position, got up from his seat to greet me.
Well, this place was already completely devoid of etiquette though.
“It looks to me like you’ve set up house here?”
“I set up house in the workspace! When you see a subordinate working this diligently, doesn’t it make you want to raise their salary?”
Just hearing his words made it seem like he really was working hard.
But the images coming from behind him were hellish scenery.
People dying horrifically and their screams echoing could be continuously heard.
“As far as I know, there are no battles occurring right now… Did I misunderstand something?”
“Ah, I’m recording the magic imaging tools showing the tools themselves. I’m looking for any mistakes or ways we can improve.”
If I just listened to his words, he really seemed like a hard working and loyal subject.
But seeing the other personnel in the room bowing their heads, I couldn’t just believe Ast’s words.
They were all looking at Ast like he was a monster.
“Can you spare some time for me?”
“I’m quite busy at the moment, Your Highness….”
“Is that so? Then it’s an order from the Imperial Family. Make some time.”
“Oh my…”
Momentarily at a loss for words, Ast ultimately had no choice but to make some time.
How could he refuse an Imperial Family member’s summons?
“Maref, I’ll leave things to you.”
“Yes, Senior.”
The dragon and other officers in the room let out loud sighs of relief once Ast left, so loud they could be heard from outside.
“Ast.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
I called out Ast separately from the others around.
It was just me, Renia, and Ast.
In that space, I sighed and rebuked Ast.
“Just what are you doing? Have you really gone crazy?”
They say war drives people mad. Does a madman going to war become even crazier?
Ast’s appearance from earlier truly seemed the epitome of madness.
“Why would you say such distressing things? I’m just working very diligently.”
“Isn’t that something a person happily licking up the blood spraying from footage and even passing it around to others shouldn’t say?”
“Oh… Who squealed?”
“Everyone did. Saying they want to punch you so much they barged in all the way to Pesra Castle where I am.”
Our military forces were currently largely divided into three groups.
One was Pesra Castle where I was located. We were placed furthest in the rear, responsible for supplying the military’s goods.
The second was the rear area where Ast was. Being quite a distance from the warzone, they controlled the allied forces through magic imaging tools.
You could think of this area as where most of the grand strategy and tactics came from. It was also currently managed by Ast.
Finally, the troops fighting at the very front.
Over 90 percent of regular soldiers and mages were here. They had built fortifications to maintain the first line of defense, while the magicians were also on the offensive.
The forces here fighting at the very front were being led by generals under General Pelstein, who was familiar with this territory. Their role was to inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible.
“For them to come barging all the way from the front lines to Pesra Castle quite a distance away to report…”
I briefly clicked my tongue as I looked at Ast. A headache was starting to come on.
“Why… Why are you really doing this?”
If there was no particular reason, I was seriously considering whether I should isolate him.
“This is also part of our strategy. Would I be happily laughing while people’s heads explode, putting jam on bread to eat, if I didn’t have a reason?”
Although Ast spoke seriously, I could immediately respond.
“Yes.”
“Oh… Just what is my image?”
Ast momentarily flustered turned to look at Renia, but the instant his gaze met hers, Renia immediately averted her eyes.
“Wait a moment, Lady Renia? What is with that reaction? Could you really think I did such crazy things without any thought?”
“…….”
“When people are talking, it’s polite not to look away, Lady Renia!”
It seemed Ast was very taken aback to be confronted with this cold reality.
“Or rather, just what kind of human have you thought me to be all this time?”
“Would it be alright for me to answer honestly?”
“No. I think it’d be best not to say it, as I may end up deeply hurt, Your Highness.”
It was an accurate judgement.
“Just what kind of strategy requires you to do crazy stuff like that?”
“Obviously it’s to deceive the enemy, no? No matter how well managed, it’s definite there are enemy spies within.”
“That’s true.”
It’s commonly thought it would be difficult to sneak spies into the enemy, but finding enemy spies was an even more difficult task.
While it may be different for high ranking positions, if well-trained spies were embedded among common soldiers, it would be hard to identify who the spies were.
“The enemy’s heads must hurt. Their command was blown away in the first bombing, and they’ve continued to lose many troops in the subsequent attacks.”
It’s estimated this bombing resulted in around 10,000 to 20,000 enemy deaths.
Around 60,000 troops survived, but the first bombardment targeted the enemy command.
Marquis Arisetias, the enemy’s supreme commander as well as the commander of the Merdeah forces, pathetically lost his life in that attack.
For the enemy, the death of Marquis Arisetias, who held more meaning than even General Pelstein, was critical.
No matter how mighty the army, morale was bound to fall once their mental pillar was shattered.
“Well, it’s regrettable we couldn’t reduce more numbers due to the limits of magic power, but the results were still satisfactory. Though for the enemy, it must have been a nightmare.”
“Certainly.”
“It must have been terrifying. They probably hadn’t even considered the possibility of unstoppable magic.”
“So the spies began moving? To obtain information about the magical bombardment?”
“Yes, that’s right. Well, the core magicians are being handled separately, so there shouldn’t be much risk of information leakage.”
“Naturally. But what does that have to do with your crazy antics?”
The most important thing right now was why Ast was engaging in those maddened actions. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand Ast’s insane notions with my normal reasoning.
“The enemy will try to gather as much information about our army as possible. They’ve probably obtained quite a bit about me as well.”
“That makes sense.”
With Ast’s meteoric promotion, he had become a hot topic within military leadership.
There were even rumors at one point that he had devised some astonishing new tactics within the military. From the standpoint of those investigating the magical bombardment, he would certainly be a person of interest.
“Not all information is beneficial. There’s a saying, Ignorance is bliss, for a reason.”
“Could it be… You’re acting crazy to instill fear in the enemy?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
It sounded absurd but when I calmly thought about it, it didn’t seem like the effects would be completely nil.
What if I received a report that an important enemy general had gone crazy?
That he laughs while people’s heads explode and licks jam off bread?
No matter who I was, I’d get chills down my spine.
I’d be at a loss as to how to fight such a madman.
If this was my degree of reaction, how would other people feel?
“Those actions were for that?”
“Yes. No matter who I am, I do have limits to my patience. I was just enduring it and working diligently, Your Highness.”
While Renia’s and my gazes still held doubt, his wasn’t avoiding our eyes like before.
“Is it… Really something like that?”
“Are you still doubting me?”
Yes.
I wanted to say that but seeing Ast’s serious expression, it did seem possible it was truly so, thus I didn’t voice my thoughts.
“Hmm… Well, I guess that’s how it is. That’s what it must be. No matter it being Ast, there’s no way you’d be doing such crazy things nonchalantly.”
“…While I’m thankful you believe me, why are you averting your eyes, Your Highness?”
“…….”
As I remained silent, Ast deeply sighed.
“Well, now that I’ve told you all this, would it be alright for me to expand on the plan a bit more?”
“Expand? On what? How could you here–”
As he told me with an evil grin, Renia’s complexion grew pale.
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