Chapter 296
Side Story – Memories of a Certain Princess (47)
#62 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of Some Soldiers
No matter how I think about it, this wasn’t right.
The bright smile of my superior looking at us was like a nightmare.
“Alright, is everyone gathered?”
Everyone had gathered.
I really didn’t want to, but how could I not come when summoned by an Imperial Order?
I couldn’t. Not coming would be defying the Imperial Order.
That would be a serious crime punishable by immediate execution, and even my family could be executed.So I had no choice.
“Guys, His Majesty has prepared a feast for us because he said we’ve worked hard!”
We were invited to a feast from hell, and we couldn’t even run away.
“Come on, go ahead and eat!”
And the host of that hellish feast acted as if nothing was wrong, tearing into a well-cooked chicken leg with his mouth.
“Urp…”
I suddenly felt something coming up from my stomach.
If I had eaten breakfast, I probably really would have thrown up.
But my empty stomach had been cleaned out days ago so there was nothing left to spill out.
“What’s wrong? Don’t want to eat? There’s a lot of delicious stuff!”
Clearly, it was the ultimate feast.
The aromas of the steaming dishes were so appetizing they stimulated one’s appetite just with their fragrances.
We likely wouldn’t have another chance to eat food of this caliber on the battlefield.
Even in normal life, chances to eat food like this don’t come often.
The dishes were just that outstanding.
But my appetite didn’t come.
“S-Sir, do we have to eat?”
The one speaking in a trembling voice was Maref, a personal attendant to Her Highness the Princess who she had newly chosen, and a junior to that devil-like Sir Ast.
“I…I have no appetite…”
Maref’s wandering eyes avoided Sir Ast’s gaze as he had nowhere to turn.
“It’s an Imperial Order. Eat.”
“Oh…”
Despite Maref’s desperate face, Sir Ast coldly demanded he eat the food.
Sir Ast kindly recommended Maref another dish as if asking ‘Don’t you want to eat this instead?’ since Maref was blankly staring at the chicken leg.
That dish just so happened to be bread.
It was ordinary bread, but it had a distinguishing feature of red jam spread on top.
And at the same time,
‘Crack! Scream!’
As if on cue after Sir Ast handed Maref the bread, a scene of a human head exploding started playing from the video orb showing footage of the previous battle behind Sir Ast’s back.
“Well, I’ll eat well!”
For some reason, the red jam looked oddly like human blood.
So Maref likely only had one choice.
Although his tear-filled face as he tore into the chicken leg looked extremely pathetic, I couldn’t afford to worry about Maref.
“Hmm, it looks delicious. Now, let the others eat their food too. As you know, this feast is courtesy of Her Highness the Princess who asked His Majesty the Emperor! You should all be grateful for His Majesty’s grace and enjoy the food!”
Was it just my mood?
Emphasizing that His Majesty the Emperor had bestowed this feast upon us, Sir Ast poured grape juice into a glass.
“We can’t drink liquor on the battlefield, but grape juice without alcohol should be fine.”
I actually wanted to drink liquor. I wanted to get dead drunk and lose consciousness.
Otherwise I felt like I wouldn’t be able to maintain my sanity.
But what was poured into the glass was red grape juice without any alcohol.
Moreover, it was a very dark red juice…. Looking like human blood.
“Oh…”
Your Highness, why are you testing us like this?
Just what did Sir Ast say to make you permit this behavior?!
What sin have we committed to deserve this!
“What’s wrong? Not gonna eat? It’s an Imperial Order, remember?”
Sir Ast’s icy voice rings in our ears as we sit there, frustrated and blankly staring at the food.
“Ah, yes, Sir.”
Unable to refuse due to the Imperial Order, we place the food into our mouths with trembling hands.
It felt somewhat better if I squeezed my eyes shut.
“How is it? Delicious?”
“Del…icious.”
“Come on now, drink the grape juice too. Look at this red color. It’s top quality!”
“Yes… Yes.”
Handed the dark red grape juice, I tightly shut my eyes and started drinking it.
It’s sweet. And thick.
“Tasty?”
“Yes… It is…”
And so, drinking the dark red grape juice like human blood, we began our tear-filled feast…
“Why so gloomy? This feast was bestowed by His Great Majesty the Emperor and Her Highness the Princess! You should enjoy it happily!”
The moment Sir Ast sternly told us this,
“Huh?”
“Smile.”
Overwhelmed by his icy expression, we eventually,
“Ha…haha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
…Realized that we didn’t even have the freedom to cry.
#63 Their Circumstances: A Certain General’s Horror
Goosebumps ran down my body the entire time reading the report.
“Ha…hah…hah…”
My breath catches reading each page.
It’s scary. Frightening. I don’t want to fight these kinds of people.
And…I don’t want to read this report anymore.
But even with that desire, I had no choice but to turn the pages.
“Gulp!”
Because this was my duty.
It was information gathered by those who had infiltrated the empire at the risk of their lives.
Although it’s said that all spies at officer level and above were dealt with before the war started, there were still quite a few who had survived among the soldier ranks.
Their goal was to investigate rumors among the soldiers and the atmosphere within the army.
While they couldn’t obtain high-level intelligence, by grasping the general situation and atmosphere of the army, they could deduce the nature of the military.
“Oh…”
And I could summarize the traits of the enemy army learned from this report in just two words.
Madness/Insanity.
It was truly an army that could be considered an evil god’s army.
“How can people…”
It was war.
A war where tens and hundreds of thousands of lives disappeared each day.
The very nature of war is that one cannot hesitate over means and methods for their side’s benefit.
So I know that all kinds of inhumane things can happen during war.
But this report was different.
“They laughed hysterically watching our soldiers die, enjoying their feast. The grape juice they drank while watching our blood flow was like drinking our blood.”
This was not something that happened during battle.
It was after the battle ended when they watched the footage and enjoyed a bloody feast.
It was not a means to win. It was a means to simply enjoy watching the Merdeah army die.
“My God, how can such people exist…?”
The dead soldiers of our army won’t be able to go to God’s side in peace.
It’s already unfair enough that they died, but for the enemy to enjoy a feast watching footage of their death!
It was humiliating. No matter if it’s war, this should never happen.
“What should be done…?”
If I followed my heart, I’d gather all the forces of the kingdom to kill off the entire enemy army.
I wanted to kill the enemy to comfort the spirits of our soldiers.
But I couldn’t do that. Because we didn’t have the capacity to.
“Ah… If only General Arisetias was still alive…”
Our army was dealt a crushing defeat.
Unable to block magic that couldn’t be blocked by magic – such nonsense – General Arisetias, who could be considered the pillar of our army, died.
The morale of the army had already fallen due to the defeat. And now the pillar, the very General himself, had died.
The army’s morale fell to a depth that couldn’t fall any further.
“Demonic magic…”
The soldiers feared that seeing the empire’s magic that couldn’t be stopped, the Karan Empire must have sold their souls to the devil to learn the devil’s magic.
It was a preposterous rumor.
It could only be a rumor created by the soldiers’ fear.
As someone who handled intelligence, how could I not know that all kinds of rumors spread among defeated troops?!
Certainly, that was what I had thought. Until I read this report.
“Could it be…”
Did they really learn magic by selling their souls to the devil?
Every single one of the enemy’s actions were so insane that such doubts arose.
“It’s…possible.”
Perhaps it was because of the huge shock I felt seeing them enjoy a feast watching footage of our soldiers. But I couldn’t disregard the other things written in the report either.
<Strange laughter could be heard from some of the barracks at night.>
<While I can’t say for certain due to the dim lighting, I have seen something that looks like a human figure getting torn apart and eaten inside some of the barracks.>
<The words ‘devil’ can occasionally be heard among the officers.>
<[Additional intel] I have heard tales of the existence of demons from high-ranking military officials. It’s presumed the enemy has summoners who can summon demons.>
“Could it truly be demonic magic…?”
Currently, the kingdom had no choice but to take a defensive stance.
Magic that couldn’t be blocked by magic.
Until we understood more about that magic, we had no choice but to cower.
In a situation of not knowing thus being unable to block attacks, there was no way foolish actions would be taken…
“…Or not.”
I got goosebumps again. A different kind of chills from when I checked intel on the empire.
It was extremely terrifying. Extremely frightening. Extremely scary…
I wanted to list every similar word I could think of to describe it.
It was assessed the same as the empire’s.
But the contents were completely different.
“They attacked… Again.”
As various headaches assaulted me, I grabbed my head upon reading another report.
How many times already?
“Just what kind of plan would let us fight and defeat the enemy with three times our numbers?”
I would understand if the opponent was defending behind city walls.
Or if it was a sudden ambush attack, I could think that it might happen.
But,
“They weren’t ambushed first and failed either, so how could they lose?”
This was a terrifying level of incompetence.
Ignoring the military’s overall defensive stance, they attacked alone.
The enemy carelessly revealed a gap allowing the ambush. But the enemy commander gathered his forces and began blocking them.
They inflicted over 4,000 casualties on the enemy, but nearly 10,000 were lost on our side.
“And they call this a contribution…”
And they proudly submitted this military contribution to headquarters.
“Why must someone like this be born to the House of Marquis Laiasha?!”
I could only lament.
Fundamentally, the Merdeah Kingdom was smaller than the Karan Empire. With less territory, population, and military might.
Proportionally by population, the number of Merdeah soldiers was quite high. But they couldn’t surpass the massive territory and population of the empire.
Yet the reason they received the assessment of rivaling the empire’s military power was thanks to the outstanding abilities of Merdeah.
However, that pillar, Marquis Arisetias, had died. From a single defeat.
“Why hasn’t a guy like him died yet…”
It was General Laiasha, who had nearly ten defeats yet still survived.
Compared to previous generations of General Laiasha who even General Arisetias respected, one had to wonder where all that bloodline had gone.
A being lacking any real skill, full of greed and desire.
And yet…Somehow excellently surviving every time despite it all.
“If they suffer another defeat there, our defenses will collapse.”
The defensive line had already been worn thin after repeated defeats.
Like before, if the retreating General Laiasha used his status and influence to seize command from the territorial lord defending the castle, the path into the kingdom’s capital could open up to the enemy.
“I have no choice.”
In an already disadvantageous situation, if the capital was invaded by the enemy, it would be the end for the Merdeah Kingdom.
So General Laiasha’s forces had to be deployed elsewhere but…
“General Laiasha isn’t so stupid that he’d do something foolish.”
No matter how stupid, he must know about the existence of magic that couldn’t be blocked.
He shouldn’t be so stupid as to recklessly charge an opponent with such magic first.
“Right…?”
A moment of doubt flashed through me but still believing he was human after all, I sent word up the chain of command that it would be best to deploy General Laiasha’s forces to face Her First Imperial Highness.
Unlike General Laiasha, the forces protecting him consisted of members who could be called the best of the best.
So…They’d take care of it well?
…A month after I thought this.
“We received an urgent message from headquarters! General Laiasha engaged Her First Imperial Highness’ forces in battle!”
“Ah f–k.”
I realized General Laiasha’s head was just there for decoration.
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