“Bertil Lagerbeck, commander of the Second Order of Knights. A soldier-type Knight Commander who supported Lawrence Reinhardt, the hero of the Kingdom, in the shadows. The hope of Ciel-Terra, who survived the battle of the Royal Capital despite the loss of both arms, can’t be…”
A girl with long honey-colored hair and white porcelain skin.
A man with the appearance of ….
Squinting his charming sunset-colored eyes in disappointment, Tracy sighed deeply and exaggeratedly.
“Oh, to be in the military of the Princess, ahhhhhhh … “
“Come on, come on, tell me you’re my business partner. I’m surprised, too. Tracy is an adventurer whose name even I know. I can’t believe he’s a puppet in the hands of René-chan.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Bertil dampened his lips with a cup of tea using a steel skeleton-like magic artifact prosthesis.
The room looked at first glance like a furnished apartment before occupancy, with a few simple pieces of furniture. This was a medium grade inn in the city of Terra Kaine. This was the room assigned to Bertil.
Tracy, sitting relative to Bertil, was dressed in the work clothes of a Thief, which showed the lines of his body. He had snuck in here under the cover of night so that no one would notice that Bertil had come in contact with “someone”.
Under René’s direction, Tracy had come to ask for Bertil’s cooperation.
His men were not in this place.
Only Bertil himself and René’s party knew of Bertil’s “decision”.
“Is that why you’re in town? His Highness Ghislain.”
“That’s it. I was only told about it after we got here. Because of the position he holds, as the only candidate for the crown prince, we have no choice but to stick with him.”
“I guess that’s right. The royal security is also the job of the Order of the Knights.”
“Ah …, you know. So the Princess wants His Highness’ head?”
“You are right. Yes. Of course, the Marquis-sama too.”
“Of course”, Bertil muttered to himself.
Soon after Hilbert’s death, they tried again to set up a new king to replace him, and they tried to join hands with Noacurio again without any punishment.
From René’s point of view, it was natural that it was unforgivable.
But that doesn’t mean he would easily sell out Ghislain.
“I’m only willing to help if we determine that it will reduce the number of deaths. I’d be happy if you brought me something I’d be willing to bite.”
“Hmmm, if we could kill the Marquis and His Highness without incident, maybe they’ll refrain from massacring citizens.”
“That was a bargaining chip until Noacurio’s army came out to negotiate. If René-chan loses, so much the better.”
“Dazzling … the glow of freedom is dazzling …”
Tracy sagged; his hair tied in a single strand hanging loose.
“However, I will say what I have to say because dereliction of duty is unforgivable. The Princess is preparing a countermeasure against the holy beasts. And the Noacurio army is…, uh, the first phase of the operation is underway, did you notice?”
Tracy raised his index finger with a serious face.
.
When he, who seemed to be a cerebral and emotionally expressive man, made such a gesture, even the air around him seemed to be painted over at once from such a drop.
As soon as he was told, Bertil thought of an incident.
“… Ah. I thought that was unnatural, but I knew it. I knew it was a development to René-chan’s liking.”
“By the way! It’s not a lie that Mr. Knight was acting in self-defense!”
A knight named Yuin got into a tussle with a Noacurio soldier, killed him, and was executed.
Bertil was completely out of the loop on this one, but he could smell a foul odor, from the unorthodox speed of the execution to the rumors that began circulating soon afterward that it was the Noacurio soldiers who were to blame.
Bertil swallowed a swear word.
If Tracy was right, it was first of all the Noacurio soldiers who caused the scandal and the Marquis who covered it up.
And then, he was amazed at René, who saw an opportunity to take advantage of it and took immediate action. It was just too much.
“And you know what? I’m sure the ‘mystery merchants’ are on the move by now. Mystery merchants who buy food and feed at two or three times the market price.”
“Uhee… In order to maintain the large size of the Noacurio army, it is necessary to buy necessary supplies locally. However, once the food is bought up, it just waits to dry up in the sun. Come to think of it, there must have been a good amount of gold coins and jewels left in the royal castle that was attacked by the army of undead, right? Nah, that’s just a coincidence.”
Any army needs supplies to stay in operation.
Large-scale transportation from the home country by sea and rivers, and transportation overland from there by the Transportation Corps. For powerful countries, mobile airlift using storage magic and airborne cavalry was also an option.
However, transporting heavy cargo was extremely manpower- and money-intensive. It made sense to procure local supplies as much as possible.
Relatively easy to procure locally would be water, food, and fodder for the horses. These would be bought at markets, from farming villages, or looted.
These were absolutely necessary, except in the case of an all-undead army, which was an absolute joke, but they consumed a huge amount and were ridiculously bulky when carried over long distances.
The Noacurio army should also be buying and collecting them within Ciel-Terra…
“I think the consensus of the citizens is that they don’t want the Noacurio army to return to the country as long as the Princess is here. So there is a possibility that they will cooperate with them even if it’s a little bit too much. So… if you have any doubts about the Noacurio Army here…”
“You want to hold on to your money for the future, even if it’s just for yourself. I hate it when people pay well. If René-chan had gone through with the scorched earth strategy, the remaining people would be more and more eager to put their trust in Noacurio, but not if it’s done quietly. Haha, when the buyout is over and they can’t replenish their supplies, will the raid on the supply depot finally be the end of the story?”
“I’m sorry to hear that. It’s tough when a living army needs food.”
“Damn! I hate enemy armies that don’t need food!”
Bertil slammed his empty teacup down on the desk in half desperation.
“But Noacurio is next door, and I’m sure they can send some food from their home country… No, I don’t know what will happen. If René-chan herself moves to destroy the transport lines, there’s nothing to be done. The transport convoys will not be able to keep up with the escorts. If it is possible to easily send out a transport convoy that can fight her without a position, it’s not hard at all. No, but Noacurio can also provide mobile transport using storage magic and airborn cavalry… No, there will be more zombies!”
Bertil shook his head.
The battle over the capital was still fresh in his mind. If anyone flew poorly, there would only be more undead cavalrymen in René’s army.
Bertil wondered if there was anything to be optimistic about, but the more he thought about it, the worse he felt.
“The Noacurio army came out without much preparation, thinking, “Well, it’s right next door, so we’ll be able to handle it”. It was an opportunity to seize the Glacelum deposits, so it was natural for them to push hard to get out here. … Damn it, even a winter war is reckless. If morale drops even a little bit due to supply disruptions or whatever, it will be a disaster. It’s nice, isn’t it? Skeletons don’t need to keep warm, they don’t complain when forced to walk endlessly in the snow, and they don’t get frostbite from their metal equipment!”
Tracy looked at Bertil, who was scratching his head, and was also pained.
“When I say morale, I think the Noacurio army is more interested in exterminating monsters than fighting a war. The atmosphere and the tension don’t feel like they’re ‘taking on an army’. Honestly, aren’t they just licking their lips?”
“You mean to tell me that … the Noacurio Army is barely in shape right now, supported by a ‘carefree’ attitude?”
Tracy was convinced.
One had to wonder how and when he had grasped such a thing.
“You don’t fight wars in the winter, but you do exterminate monsters all year round, don’t you? That kind of thing. I think the fact that the Princess escaped without much of a fight when we arrived also adds to the ease of the situation. When each soldier realizes, “This is war”, I don’t think there is any guarantee that the army won’t fall apart. No one wants to go to war in the winter.”
Bertil thought it was possible.
Bertil knew firsthand that the undead who attacked the city were not a “horde” that rampaged through the city with brute force, but an “army” that conducted a serious siege and used strategy to bring the city down.
Bertil also informed the Noacurio army about the circumstances of the battle of the capital.
However, the higher-ups in the Noacurio army would not go out of their way to tell their soldiers about the threat of the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”. It was possible that only the upper echelons of the army understood the situation accurately. Or, if they were not, even the upper echelons may not have been aware of the situation at all…
An army that cannot maintain morale easily loses control and collapses.
The Noacurio army could be shaken to pieces just by René’s efforts, not to mention losing the battle.
“If the Noacurio army retreated or even temporarily crippled them, the Princess would get it all done in the meantime.”
“…I know enough to know that it’s going to be bad. The question is where it goes from here.”
The conversation up to this point had already led Bertil to almost give up on the idea of rebuilding Ciel-Terra with Ghislain and Noacurio as the pillars.
But if so, what should he do?
“People will slowly die if the country is not rebuilt. Marquis Edfeldt’s motive may have been a desire for power, but in the end, it led to the protection of the people. He was able to unite the disparate lords in such a short period of time, and he was able to talk to Noacurio and even drag His Highness out. “
“I know. I’ve known the Marquis for a long time, so I’m also very sorry for him. The Marquis doesn’t care about the woes of the people below him, but he loves them as a “number”, and he makes his domain prosper with his merciless, one-kill, one-life approach. If only he didn’t fight with the Princess over this…”
“That’s it. If I make a wrong move, I’ll be in the Princess’s displeasure. Now, how can I save the people in a good way without offending René-chan?”
Bertil’s goal was to save his country and his people.
If all he could do was to watch his people die because René smashed him every time he tried to rebuild the country, then he would have to…
There was no reason to make a deal with René. No matter how hopeless it was, Bertil must fight.
Tracy crossed his arms and wriggled as if to physically squeeze an idea out of him.
“Hmmm… In short, the Princess can’t stand the fact that the people who sent her to her death are getting rewarded for their actions. It’s the same with the old Hilbert faction gaining power, and the four major powers that supported the coup gaining mining interests. So in the end, if it comes down to something like, “All the people have fled the land of Ciel-Terra and it has become a country of death!” If it turns out like that, those who were able to escape will be safe for the time being. The place to escape to would preferably be a small or medium-sized country that has nothing to do with Ciel-Terra or the Federation. The four great powers would not be safe.”
“Do you think René-chan will eventually destroy the four great powers?”
“I think it’s possible. I can’t tell you why in detail.”
“… I see. Is there something that makes you go out of your way to keep your mouth shut?”
“Nyaha.”
Tracy stuck out his tongue.
He is reportedly bound in his words and actions by a magic item of servitude, but he is also tasked with gathering information, so he is said to have a great deal of discretion.
Perhaps that was a last-minute “insinuation” within the limits of what Tracy was allowed to do.
It was a warning and an offer of information.
“If not, maybe if Ciel-Terra becomes a part of the Federation, that would be one thing. At least, once this country is part of the Federation, the other four powers won’t be able to interfere.”
“After all, no matter what we do, it’s the Federation…”
The Federation of Gireshtal.
It was a country with which Ciel-Terra had close ties.
René was not close to the Federation, but unlike the other powers that supported the coup, the Federation did not “matter” to René.
There was too much of a difference between “resenting” and “not caring”.
“I believe the Federation is in contact with the anti-coup lords.”
“Of course they are. Between you and me, there is the Ciel-Terra Initiative within the Federation.”
“Do you mean to bring in a Duke from somewhere like the Kingdom of Lacrima on the eastern edge of the Federation by presenting him as interim head of state over here?”
“You get the idea. We have lost our government function, so we are asking Lacrima’s government to fill in for us. But that would mean that Lacrima would have all the rights of Ciel-Terra to itself, and it would be a very lucrative business for Lacrima, wouldn’t it? I hear there’s a lot of opposition within the Federation to this, so it’s going to be tough to make it happen.”
“That’s true.”
“If I want to avoid fighting with René-chan, I think we have to somehow become part of the Federation while maintaining the appearance of a nation. To do that, we need to rebuild the government and have a king that everyone can agree on.”
Bertil lowered his voice a little, even though they probably weren’t being overheard.
That was not a phrase that could be uttered in Bertil’s position.
“… Actually, I think we have a chance if the current developments are crushed. After that, while the old Hilbert faction is still in limbo, the opposing lords will collude to put up a pro-Federation crown prince, and if they can unite the country, even if it takes a few rough steps…”
“If we can push through to the conclusion of a treaty with the Federation, then the government can rebuild slowly and the Federation can take its hands off the table with confidence.”
“I’m basically just going to work my way through it. I’d be happy to do it if René-chan would just let it go.”
“Okay, I’ll ask her.”
Tracy’s light-hearted undertaking made Bertil wonder.
How could he ask the intentions of a mighty monster who was now pushing for the destruction of his country?
–Well, I still have a hard time believing … that it’s monster, by any means.
“I’ll be in touch later to tell you exactly what we’re going to do.”
“But, I’m sorry to bother you with this, but I don’t think I can do much more than punch a hole in my own security now.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Bertil nodded with some bitterness.
“To put it bluntly, they don’t trust us, or… probably Marquis Edfeldt thinks … we don’t ‘care’. The Marquis is just using us as a foil for His Highness as the survivors of the collapsed Royal Order of the Knights. The Marquis has a ‘do as you’re told’ attitude, and we don’t get any military secrets. We didn’t actively cooperate in the coup d’etat either, so there’s a certain amount of caution.”
It was important to have the survivors of the Royal Order on Ghislain’s side.
They would not let him go any further, and they were not expecting it from the start.
“Well, that’s fine. That’s that, and it’s up to the Princess to decide how she wants to use it.”
Tracy didn’t seem particularly bothered.
Tracy was only obeying her. If he could survive, he didn’t care if René lost.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it.”
“Back to René-chan’s again, I see. I can’t say … it’s going to be hard for you, but hang in there.”
“Yeah… pray for me so that the world doesn’t die…
“Haha, the world…”
Leaning out the window, Tracy danced in the darkness of the night.
His honey-colored hair fluttered in the air as he waved goodbye.
After a pause to watch his back, a coldness invaded Bertil’s chest.
“Really… is the world in danger?”
The sound of gulping and swallowing seemed strangely loud.
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