The empire isn’t much (2)
Taking my first steps off the royal road, I felt like I would fly away.
The fact that I would soon arrive at the battlefield couldn’t be any better.
“Commander? That’s nice. Do a lot of work behind the scenes. I’ll go to the front.”
It was even more exhilarating when I made fun of Vincent, who had been tied up with his humble position of commander at the Silver Lion Fortress.
It was just that.
Crossing the kingdom’s original border, passing through the kingdom’s new territory ripped from the Third Princeps, and arriving in the newly occupied area, my feelings of endless excitement disappeared like a lie.
Everywhere, there were refugees.
The dead, with their tattered clothes and empty eyes, overflowed both inside and outside the fortresses.
There were countless people who had lost their homes to monsters, and lost their close relatives.“Long live the Leonberg Kingdom.”
Seeing them lined up along the road cheering soullessly made me sick to the stomach.
It wasn’t just this area.
Almost all the regions occupied by our allies were like that.
“Long live the Leonberg Kingdom.”
A flurry of cheers followed.
“Long live Balahard!”
Then I heard a voice say a name that the people here should not have known.
It was quite an enthusiastic voice, completely different from the other cheers.
I immediately ordered my soldiers to summon the man who mentioned the name of Balahard.
“My name is Rouen.”
He introduced himself as a veteran of the war who would have long become monster food if it weren’t for the kingdom’s army.
From him, I heard about the rangers’ ridiculous relief efforts.
It was only then that the sick feeling I had been suffering from ever since I entered the occupied territory eased up a bit.
Not long after that, I heard that the army had become more active in providing assistance due to the rangers’ strong suggestion.
There was even news that the rangers had slowed their advance to clear the area of monsters during their relief operations.
Apparently their justification was it would be difficult for them if monsters went wild in the rear, but I didn’t believe it.
The rangers weren’t the type to use their brains that much.
They would have just acted how they wanted and come up with an appropriate reason afterwards.
“Idiots.”
There were no idiots in the world other than them who would cause such a fuss to save the people of an enemy country during a war.
I was happy with that stupidity, and I liked that honesty very much.
Of course, it was dissatisfying for me to move so tediously without being able to fight because the rangers had cleaned up all the enemy soldiers and monsters.
Still, when I met the rangers, I was going to compliment them.
“Your Highness said you were coming, so we cleaned it up.”
If Jordan hadn’t acted condescendingly with a hateful look on his face, I really intended to do so.
“Just in case, I even went back to check a second, and a third time.”
Whenever I saw this outrageously talkative ranger company commander, whether it be every day or for the first time in a while, he somehow always managed to get my insides in a twist.
So I shouted.
I shouted and the rangers gave me one of the monster clusters.
It was an unexpected gain.
I headed toward the monsters and ran amok.
Only afterwards did I join the vanguard.
Eli was there.
He came running while holding the flag of his family, wearing a bizarre expression on his face that he had never shown before.
A face that was neither laughing nor crying.
This was why Arwen hated him.
“Cough. I heard you were heartbroken.”
Unknowingly, my true feelings came out.
I wasn’t feeling petty about the time he only visited me in the middle of the night and left without saying goodbye.
Definitely not.
“Jordan said I absolutely needed to keep it a secret. I made a mistake.”
The failure to keep a secret was definitely not intentionally done out of spite for Jordan.
At that moment, that bastard Montpellier stuck his head in.
He must have been hiding somewhere to observe the situation, and only now deciding to sneakily show his face.
The moment I saw him, I remembered the occupied territory I had passed through on the way here.
The greedy ate away at the trustworthy, leaving only beasts wearing human skin. And the beasts only took care of their own castles and storerooms, while countless people were slaughtered by monsters.
It was no different from what the empire had done to the kingdom for the past hundred years, and it was the fate the kingdom would have met had we not declared our independence.
A flame ignited within me.
“Ugh!“
When I came to my senses, I was already beating Montpellier.
Unlike usual, he didn’t even make an excuse.
When I kicked, he got kicked, and when I hit, he got beaten.
He wasn’t the type to be this docile. He was the kind of guy who would have already begun to defend himself with his mouth hanging open, spewing all sorts of excuses.
It was clear that something was bothering him.
I thought while fiercely beating him. I deliberated while listening to his screams.
After a long while, I finally came up with the reason.
“Why didn’t you attend my funeral?”
At my words, he laughed blankly as if I was being absurd.
Then he suddenly looked at me.
His face full of resentment and sadness.
For the sake of the kingdom, he had suffered among idiots, risking a miserable death if his identity as a spy was exposed.
He was telling me that with his eyes.
Of course, I was not at all convinced.
“Your eyes are very disrespectful. Those are the eyes of a traitor.”
Montpellier was startled and lowered his gaze.
“Since the cheeky kid who dragged you around by a leash ran wild and died, you probably thought there was no need to return to that barren kingdom.”
Looking at that guy, I said coldly.
“You must have thought that it would be better to start over here than to devote yourself to a country which would inevitably lose its lands after being unable to advance during the war.”
If it wasn’t for that, he would have abandoned everything he was doing and returned.
If he was going to live as a noble of the kingdom in the future, it would have been normal to at least check on what the kingdom would do after I died.
But he didn’t return, and he didn’t send anyone else to observe the situation in the kingdom.
“All the capable ones must have died, and the ones remaining were chaff that couldn’t even nip at your heels. You must have thought it was your golden opportunity.”
His intentions were obvious.
“What, were you going to establish a Montpellier dynasty here?”
At my words, the guy flinched.
“Couillon de Montpellier.”
Montpellier’s body began to tremble.
“Maybe I don’t know you.”
“Y-your Highness!”
And at that moment, Montpellier went on his knees and crawled over to me, grabbing onto my pant legs.
“W-wait a minute! I just imagined for a second! I swear I didn’t do anything against your will!”
He said that he had just gone out of his mind for a moment, that it was just a fanciful delusion. Montpellier begged me desperately.
Swoop.
I bent over. I met the eyes of the guy who begged while clinging onto the hems of my pants.
And reached out to pat him on the cheek.
“I believe you.”
I smiled brightly.
The guy who had been whining incessantly shut his mouth.
“Because otherwise, your throat would have been slit long ago.”
I glanced past Montpellier’s extremely pale face.
That guy turned his head to follow my gaze, and then he froze.
Behind him were three grass-colored shadows that had appeared like ghosts.
Of the half-eves I had assigned to keep an eye on this guy in case he did something stupid, there were only four left, including Gunn.
“Jonah. Harun. Ivir.”
When I called their names, they strode over and stood in front of me.
“H-hiik!“
Montpellier landed on his ass with a thump.
Ignoring him, I looked at the half-elves and said softly.
“The surveillance mission is over. You’ve worked hard.”
The red-haired Jonah laughed silently. Harun, with her light brown hair, nodded her head slightly. The blond Ivir pursed her lips and asked about the next mission.
But there was no next mission.
“You are free now.”
The freedom that I mentioned was not simply the freedom to do as they wished, but the complete liberation from the fate that persecuted and oppressed the half-elves.
“Ahhh.“
The half-elves shook their heads, making a noise resembling that of a wounded beast.
Poor half-elves who have lost their way of living without orders.
But I believed.
Just as Gunn had overcome her fate by stepping out at the last moment and stabbing Sigrun in the back, they too will one day be able to overcome their own destiny.
All they needed was a little time and a small opportunity.
“I won’t force you to leave, so don’t be anxious.”
Only then did the half-elves who were whimpering like abandoned puppies go back to normal.
All the while, Montpellier was sitting on the floor with a face of bewilderment.
“Montpellier.”
“Yes? Yes! Your Highness!”
The guy who suddenly sat up once again fell flat in front of me.
“This is your last chance.”
“Th-thank you! Your Highness!”
He thumped his head on the floor.
“Thank you! Thank you so much! Your Highness! From now on this Montpellier won’t even dare to dream!”
He thanked me over and over again until his forehead was wet with blood.
Having finished my business with Montpellier and the half-elves, I saw my dear knights.
Eli and Arwen were looking at me with blank faces.
“Let’s go. There are a lot of stories I want to hear.”
* * *
That day, I talked with my knights until the sun went down.
To be precise, I one-sidedly listened to Eli’s story.
That guy’s mouth never stopped moving because he had so much to talk about.
Most of the stories were about his accomplishments in the war, and the rest were stories about the Eli family.
Usually, I would have made him shut his talkative mouth several times over as he spoke.
But today I didn’t.
I let that kid Eli talk without stopping.
So, around the time I heard the same story for the fifth time.
“Anyway, that’s how it happened.”
Eli’s chattering finally came to an end.
The guy who finished his story stared at me.
“Yeah? Well done. Great job.”
As if he had been waiting for my praise, his nose and mouth twitched when I said some words.
Then his face suddenly hardened.
Like there was something he wanted to ask but didn’t dare to, so he was hesitant.
It was obvious what Eli wanted to ask me.
“Well, are you better now?”
As expected, the question Eli brought up after a while was regarding my physical condition.
“I’m fine.”
I proudly drew my sword and swung it around.
Eli looked at me with wide eyes and jumped up from his seat.
“I suddenly remembered something I needed to do.”
Then, as if running away, he disappeared from the barracks.
“Childish. That kid. He can’t speak honestly.”
I clicked my tongue as I looked in the direction he ran off in, when I suddenly felt a gaze on me.
Arwen was staring at me.
“Why? What. Does Arwen want to boast of her achievements as well?”
She shook her head slightly at my words, and then knelt down abruptly.
And begged me to punish her.
As a corps commander, she did not listen to the advice of her staff and endangered others because she was stubborn. That was her reason for pleading guilty.
“Not this again.”
On the way back, I had already heard about the general situation from Jordan, so I ignored Arwen’s apology.
But she begged me to punish her even more severely.
“Please let me fight as a regular knight to wash away my sins.”
At the end, she even requested to resign from her position as corps commander and fight at the vanguard as a single knight.
I straightened up and looked at her.
“The one who sent Arwen to the front was the Grand Marshal. Didn’t that serpent-like old man foresee this situation? He’s someone who knows everything.”
No, to be precise, he seemed to have set this up intentionally.
“Right now it is possible for us to forcefully suppress our opponents because their resistance is still low, but it will definitely be impossible for us to keep doing this as the war progresses.”
Different from the previous war.
At that time we were on the defending side, so we did not show any tolerance to the enemy. For them, other than fighting to the death, they still had the option to retreat to their homeland.
If we could slow their advance through fear, our allies would gain time.
“If the only option we leave the enemy is death, then they would have no choice but to stand in our way and fight for their lives.”
Fighting against those who were prepared to die was never easy.
Even if we win, we would suffer damages. And we had no way to replenish our lost troops.
No matter how much we squeezed, our maximum number of forces would only be 20 legions. Realistically, 10 to 15 legions would be the limit.
In this war, we had to focus our efforts on the necessary battles.
Otherwise, we would lose most of our army before we could even reach the emperor.
The enemy needed to have at least one hole through which they could escape. So that they wouldn’t feel the need to risk their lives.
“Although it didn’t come to fruition here, when the fighting really begins, Arwen’s choice will come back with great results.”
It didn’t matter that the negotiations had failed. The important part was that the kingdom had shown it was not just a ferocious army that would kill everyone even if they surrendered. It could also be tolerant sometimes.
It was something Vincent and the other corps commanders, including me, could not do.
We were the type of people who couldn’t endure clumsy negotiations and would gladly rather fight to the death.
Only Arwen was different.
The Grand Marshal knew this, and I knew it too.
“However, even Sir Eli was in danger because of me…”
“At least!”
I cut off Arwen’s repeated pleas for punishment.
“The Arwen Kirgayen I know is by no means a reckless knight.”
At my words, Arwen flinched.
“I heard that there were five Paladins standing in your way that day.”
I stared at Arwen and asked.
“How did you feel after facing them? Was it really something you were unable to handle?”
Arwen hesitated for a while before opening her mouth.
“… This is just pointless speculation, but to be honest, I didn’t think I would lose.”
Her tone was quite cautious because she didn’t want to come across as arrogant, but it was an unfounded worry.
Because I had known from the start.
The fact that the first of my knights to reach perfection had taken another step forward.
I couldn’t tell exactly when she had taken that step.
I could only guess.
The day my uncle and I competed with our swords, she had seen something, and gained something.
It was just a guess based on my intuition.
However, the power she possessed was not a guess but reality.
Arwen was already the head of the Rosethorn Knights, and she was no weaker than the strongest knight in the west.
Right now, Arwen Kirgayen was the strongest of my knights.
I stroked my beardless chin and asked as if I had just remembered.
“Did you say that the number of remaining enemies in the Briand base was about 1 legion and 1 knight?”
“Although they can’t be called elites, the size of the force is accurate.”
Arwen nodded.
“That’s fine.”
I laughed.
“I’ll give you one hundred knights.”
And ordered.
“Use them to take down the castle of Briand.”
Her eyes widened at the sudden order.
In that moment, countless emotions passed through her eyes that twinkled like stars.
Eventually, when that had all disappeared, she answered.
“I will obey your orders.”
Her voice was calm.
* * *
Early in the morning, I climbed a hill that rose out of the plains and looked at the Briand Duchy.
On top of the walls above the tightly closed gates, archers were sticking their heads out.
In front of them, one hundred and one of our knights were there.
For now, the enemies only stared at the knights.
Since there was no sign of movement from our camp, they seemed to not be very wary of us.
While I was watching the uninteresting confrontation, I heard a dying voice from below me.
“Y-your Highness.”
It was Montpellier.
The guy, who was sweating profusely with both arms on the floor, was already exhausted from working as my chair.
“Is it hard?”
He nodded desperately and said in a strained voice.
“D-didn’t you say you would definitely forgive me and give me another change?”
At his words, I turned my gaze back to the duchy and replied indifferently.
“I am giving you a chance.”
In truth, I had no intention of going back on my words.
However, before forgiveness, I had to fix that rotten spirit of his that contemplated betrayal at every opportunity.
So that his thoughts would never waver again.
I only had one condition.
He would be my chair until the castle falls. If he could hold on, his sins would be forgiven, and he would be generously rewarded for his past achievements.
“At least take off your armor…”
“You want me to take off my armor and stay on the battlefield naked?”
“Not that…”
“Don’t try to negotiate with me. If you have the energy, you might as well put it into your arms and hold on.”
After that, Montpellier didn’t bother me anymore.
Whether or not it was because he listened to my advice.
Regardless, I rather liked it.
I squinted my eyes and looked toward the wall.
It was the moment when the knight standing at the head of our 101 ally knights started walking towards the castle gate alone.
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