Two swords struck out in a ferocious tune.
The lights of the magic lamps embedded in the ceiling glowed brightly, dispelling the darkness of the night. In the spacious dojo, two men were slashing at each other.
On one side was a man who had replaced his lost arm with a magical artifact that looked like a metal skeleton. In addition to his black hair, which should have been well-groomed but looks stubbly, he was now sporting a full-blown beard. He was Bertil Lagerbeck, the Commander of the Second Order.
Bertil was already nearly forty years old, but the man he was about to face and slash with was in his prime. He was a balding man with a shaved head. Steam was rising from his naked upper body, which was made up of rock-like muscles.
An endless battle of checks and balances ensued, but it ended abruptly.
A slight tremor, which only the fighters themselves would not notice.
Bertil lost his balance. An old man stepped in. Bertil, who had chosen to counterattack rather than regain his footing. Silver light intersecting. And then.
The sword fight ended with a clear “kin” sound.
The sword flew from Bertil’s hand, spun, and slid across the ground, stopping at the feet of Kaya, who was watching the battle from the wall.
The old man laughed lowly at Bertil, who had lost his sword.
“Hmph, you’ve done well with just one arm.”
“Isn’t it the Senior who has declined?”
“Draw your sword! I am determined to wield the sword until the day I die. I will not be weak!”
Wiping his body with a hand towel, the old man laughed heartily.
The old man was Alfio Jairus Aleotti, the previous Commander of the Second Order.
Unlike Lawrence and Bertil, who came from commoner backgrounds, he was the eldest son of a court nobleman, Marquis Aleotti, but he was a very eccentric man who joined the Royal Guard and let his younger brother take over the family, relying solely on his own skills, and after his retirement he opened a swordsmanship dojo in Terra Kaine.
As soon as they meet again, they talk to each other with swords and sit side by side on a bench by the wall.
“Sensei! Tea…”
“Put it there.”
One of Alfio’s disciples brought tea and placed it between the two of them with a look of dread on his face.
The classic process of becoming a knight was, roughly speaking, to start as a child working for another family as a petty paige, learning manners, etc., then as a squire,… or apprentice knight, looking after other knights, and finally being knighted as a full-fledged knight.
However, this was only the case for those born into knightly families who became knights. Those who rose from the ranks of commoners and first-generation knights usually did not receive such education and became knights out of the blue.
At such times, the best place to learn about the culture of knighthood, even if only as a refresher, was in the swordsmanship dojos opened by retired knights in Ciel-Terra.
“Thank you, please step back.”
“Yes!”
The apprentice was a clean-cut boy, just about the age of a pre-adult.
He looked nervous, but he replied cheerfully and moved back. He had apparently been chosen to join the royal knighthood. He seemed to be stumped in front of the current Knight Commander Bertil and former Knight Commander Alfio, whom he admired so much.
“Is there nowhere for that boy to go now?”
“I guess so… You’ve got to fight a little harder!”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
Bertil frowned as he drank the tea, which tasted almost bitter.
Ciel-Terra’s custom was to mix the tea with the desired amount of honey, but Bertil drank the bitter tea in a single gulp.
“I heard about yesterday’s incident. I heard a knight was killed.”
Alfio started to probe.
Right now, the town of Terra Kaine was abuzz with rumors of last night’s incident.
“Yes,… an inn where six of the knights who had assembled at the castle were staying was attacked. All six knights were killed, and the body of one of them was so mutilated that he could not be identified.”
Although he was saying this, Bertil felt uncomfortable.
There was no doubt that René was responsible for this attack. But if so, what for?
Certainly they were knights in the service of the Marquis Edfeldt, who had given his blessing to the coup d’etat. It was not surprising that they were René’s targets…
“‘Yes’ or ‘it seems’, you’re not very clear.”
“I only know the rumors that are circulating in the city.”
“What, are you being used as decoration?”
Bertil could not help but smile at Alfio’s brusque tone.
“What do you think of His Highness Ghislain?”
“Ah, His Highness Ghislain, huh? The other day, Marks was trying to get me to help him convince His Highness. There is a rumor going around that His Highness is going to become the Crown Prince. Most likely, Marks spread the rumor on purpose. Hmm. If His Highness were to rise of his own volition, I would have little to say about it. I don’t like … it.”
As if to express his irritation, Alfio swung his sword in a single motion while sitting down.
The ground of the dojo was covered with thin cracks from the pressure of the sword.
Bertil had some understanding of Alfio’s temperament as the previous Commander.
He was a chivalrous man who respected “what is reasonable”. However, because of this, he has given up on the idea that he would not be able to do anything if he got involved in politics, and had kept his distance from politics by focusing solely on his sword.
Bertil wondered if he could embrace Alfio because of that.
“Senior, would you mind listening to my thoughts for a moment? I’ve been thinking about what I think is the most desirable course of action.”
“Hmph… say it.”
Bertil shared his thoughts with Alfio.
To bring together those who had been anti-coupists and lords with close ties to the Federation, and to appease the centrists.
To have a crown prince who was different from Ghislain.
And to become a vassal state of the Federation.
While listening to him, Alfio cast a sharp, blade-like gaze toward Bertil.
“In other words, I want to be behind ‘another crown prince’. Speaking for myself, the only thing I have going for me is my popularity with the people, you see.”
“Hmm…”
When Bertil finished speaking, Alfio drank the remaining tea.
It seemed that he had put too much honey in the cup, and there was a pool of honey at the bottom of the cup.
“Will it really work out that way?”
“I don’t know if it will. But the odds are in our favor. First of all, the Noacurio army will retreat soon.”
Alfio’s eyes widened at Bertil’s confident words.
“……Eh?”
Kaya, who was standing by and listening to the conversation, also let out a small cry of surprise.
“Why is that?”
“Because… someone… is buying up all the supplies for the war effort.”
“…No way, the ‘Rose Princess of Hellrage’?”
As expected, Alfio’s face showed signs of agitation.
Kaya took a small gulp of air.
Everyone already knew the story of the “Princess Rose of Hellrage”‘s fall of the royal capital. Even a child could understand that she possessed that much military power.
However. The fact that the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” wants to cut off logistics in order to drive back Noacurio’s army was news that brought even more despair.
The opponent was not just a bunch of dangerous monsters. They were an army …
“The Noacurio army is fragile on its feet right now. They probably won’t be able to stay here. If I were the Rose Princess of Hellrage, I would attack Terra Kaine as soon as the Noacurio army retreated. If possible, I would aim to kill the Marquis and His Highness, but even if that were not the case, Marquis Edfeldt would be stripped bare as soon as Terra Kaine was considered to be in the offensive. He would lose the power to support His Highness. At that stage, before Noacurio’s army returns with its preparations in place…, if the Gireshtal Federation dispatches an army even in the name of protecting the residents of the country, and if the crown prince with the Federation’s backing rises up, the lords who once sided with the Marquis Edfeldt could start to opportunistically move to his side.”
–And René-chan will let it go if it’s the Gireshtal army, but if the Noacurio army comes back, that one won’t be so forgiven.
Bertil added in his mind.
“It is a dangerous situation to bet on His Highness Ghislain. But I cannot just sit back and wait to die. Therefore, I am going to push the backs of those lords who still have ties to the Federation.”
“Hmm…”
“But even if I were to contact the lords for that purpose, all the communications at the communications station would be leaked to Marquis Edfeldt. It’s not natural for me to leave this city, so it’s difficult for me to contact them from other places. Therefore, I would like to ask Senior to somehow contact them from somewhere else on my behalf. If it is Marquis Berger, I am sure he would listen.”
“Wait.”
Bertil, who had been talking up a storm at once, was stopped, and Alfio called out to the door leading to the back of the building.
” Why don’t you come in?”
Without a footstep, a young girl with aquamarine hair and eyes appeared. It was hard to say what was special about her, but she had the look of a Federation citizen.
Bertil got the impression from her that she was a lump of iron. She was cold, and he did not feel the heat of a living thing. He knew this kind of atmosphere.
“… She’s from Gireshtal?”
“Ha-ha-ha, the daughter of an old friend of mine. I guess there’s no need to hide her now.”
“You are a very bad person to let people eavesdrop on me. You have been in contact with Federation counterintelligence agents for two generations, parent and child, haven’t you?”
In response to Bertil, who revealed his hand, Alfio responded by revealing his hand as well.
Alfio, who would normally dislike “politics in the dark”, which was invisible to the public, was in contact with a spy of the Federation. Half of Bertil was surprised, and half of him thought, ‘Well, that could happen.’
Even if it was a friendly country (vassal state?), spying was a necessity.
To make a submissive more submissive. To squeeze more out of them. And to monitor for changes in national policy. It was important to understand the situation of the country and to conduct counter-espionage activities.
But thanks to the coup d’état, the country had become almost a hostile territory for the Federation.
“I’ll call myself Sherry. Without a name, I’m not much of a conversationalist.”
In a hushed voice, she introduced herself.
Sherry, who had infiltrated Ciel-Terra in order to get a better grasp of the situation there, probably relied on Alfio to help her out.
“Sir Bertil Lagerbeck, second Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Knights of Ciel-Terra. If I may have a moment of your time.”
“This is a fast conversation. Let us talk about the future of this country.”
＊ ＊ ＊
After leaving the dojo, Bertil and Kaya walked back to the inn through the night streets, where the atmosphere was somewhat unsettled.
Kaya looked thoughtful and difficult the whole time.
“What’s wrong, Kaya?”
“Commander. Are you planning to do something bad?”
“I think the current situation in this country is already bad”
Bertil said evasively, and Kaya frowned openly.
“You’re still hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
“Did you think I wasn’t hiding something?”
“That’s…”
Kaya was absolutely mortified.
The “Mere Old Man” effectively confirmed Kaja’s concern that “they might be playing some kind of secret maneuver in order to solve the situation.”
Well, she didn’t think he was doing a deal with the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” herself, did she?
“Let’s save as many people as possible. Let’s save this country. The situation is out of control, but if we give up, even those who should be saved will not be saved. For that reason, I am counting on you.”
“Commander…”
Kaya followed Bertil’s lead, while Bertil returned the gesture in an exasperated tone.
Sponsored Content
