Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Hiiro
「The road block between the First and Second Blocks is on fire! We can’t put it out, it won’t last much longer!」
When the messenger barged in and said that, the members of the Knight Corps all froze.
This was like a bell announcing that the fated moment has come, echoing heavily in Ikuta’s heart.
「…… Phew～…」
The youth put both hands on his hips and took a deep breath to calm himself. He looked up at the grey skies, imagining the view from the sky looking down on his position. The fourth day of the defensive battle, a little after 4pm. By last night, three of the blocks to the north had fallen, and the central blocks, including the headquarters, were now open to direct attacks. With the first block having few paths leading outside because of its cliff-like slopes, the enemy had to concentrate their attacks on the Second Block, attempting to break through the barriers between the two blocks.
Of the 2,400 soldiers on the defensive side, there was just a little over a thousand still combat fit. Half of them were assigned to the defence of the Second Block, and he was slowly withdrawing his forces from the fourth and sixth blocks to the south. The objective was to gather their remaining forces and strengthening their defence of the center.
Of the three road barriers, the two to the south, on either side of the Third block were still standing. Even if the enemy attack en masse, they could hold out for quite a while. The problem was the north. Affected by the smoke screen from the Fifth and Seventh Blocks, the enemy had stepped up the intensity of their attacks. That barrier would get destroyed by fire in about ten minutes.
He imagined the development after the barrier falls── Behind the barriers were three layers of defensive cover made from stone. By making use of these covers, their forces could halt the enemy invasion. The available forces were 300 Luminous troops and 20 snipers, as well as support from the two neighboring blocks. The accuracy of the shots would be affected by the smoke screen, but the enemy’s attack corridor was narrowed, even if they broke through the barrier, and if dealt with adequately, holding out for an hour was very possible.
「And of course, she wouldn’t let me do as I wish.」
Ikuta immediately banished any naive assumptions── Assuming that the Remeon faction would be approaching soon, Yatori wouldn’t settle for a drawn out battle, and would strike right for the heart. She would bring as powerful a force as she could manage, and come right for his head.
Which means, for this plan to work, he would need the best frontline commander there was.
「── Ahh──」
He wasn’t faltering or afraid, but his body was trembling for no reason.
「── I’m glad.」
The youth who might not survive the hour muttered to himself.
「Torway, come here.」
With his heart set, Ikuta waved at the jade-eyed youth and Torway walked over with a nod.
With the battle reaching its end, the two of them discussed their plans for the last time.
Feeling uneasy but unable to go outside, Princess Chamille paced around the tent deep inside a shallow cave.
「Ugghh…!」
She groaned, and the index finger she was biting started to bleed.
It was unbearable. The members of the Knight Corp were risking their lives in battle, but she couldn’t do anything aside from waiting. The anxiousness and dizzying feeling of helplessness was driving her insane.
「── Princess.」
A call came from outside the tent. The girl ran to the entrance and pulled up the screen without any hesitation.
「Solork…! I-Is everyone safe? How’s the battle, have we linked up with the Remeon faction──」
She went to Ikuta who had entered the tent and asked a series of questions. The youth shook his head with a stoic face.
「The Knight Corp members are fine, but things aren’t going too well… and the situation is more dire than I imagined, so we have to make preparations, just in case.」
The way he put it felt ominous. Ikuta continued plainly before the Princess who had turned stiff:
「Do you know the procedure to request for clemency from death?」
The girl opened her eyes wide from surprise. Could it be── they were already at the stage where they had to beg for mercy from the enemy?
Realizing that she was mistaken, Ikuta explained:
「It’s not for me or the Princess. If it really comes down to this, they would definitely spare you, a royal, and will find any reason to execute me, the rebel. The problem is our comrades who are on the borderline── how much would they be persecuted for their part as rebels.」
The Princess understood what he meant, and the youth continued:
「First on the list would be Matthew, Haro and Torway. Major Sazarf, Major Melza and other field grade officers couldn’t escape responsibility by saying 『I’m just following orders』. Depending on how the court martial goes, they might all get executed. To avoid that, we have to depend on the Princess to request clemency from death.」
He was talking about tying up loose ends after losing the battle. The girl covered her ears and shook her head.
「Don’t say it… Stop saying it, Solork! I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear about a future that assumes that you will die…!」
「I understand. Sorry for frightening you… But we have to discuss this right now.」
Ikuta said with a serious face, then looked behind him.
「I’m going to meet Yatori.」
「────」
「This is the final battle. I can declare that I will win if it is any other opponent, but I can’t do that against her. Even if it is just a verbal assurance, I can’t promise you that I will win. That’s why… I have to tell you this right now, and think about what to do in the event that I lose.」
She reached her limits after hearing that. The Princess lost all self restraint, and the emotions she had been holding back all this time exploded.
「Then── then don’t go!」
When she realized it, she was shouting out loud. The Princess pounced on him, burying her face into his stomach and pleaded:
「Stop fighting! Just surrender now. I will handle the death clemency and everything else! Even if I have to prostrate and eat mud, I won’t let them execute you…!」
Tears blurred her vision, and her slender arms hurt from her attempt to make the youth stay.
「If── If I hold you tightly like this, then they can’t kill you, right? If I stay with you at all times, then no one can harm you! I will do just that! I won’t let go, let go of your warmth…!」
The Princess clutched the chest of the youth and spilled her guts out. She held on stubbornly, as if she would fall off a cliff if she let go.
After a moment of silence── Ikuta knelt down so they were at eye level, and said quietly:
「… Princess, I’m going to realize my dream later.」
「……! …!」
「Letting her live the life that she wish── that was what I always wanted. So I’m willing to risk my life so she can continue to be Yatorishino, instead of becoming a nameless and generic Igsem.」
After telling the Princess where his conviction lies, the youth continued seriously:
「I can’t promise you that I will survive. But, I will definitely return, and bring her back with me. Because── that is your wish too. For Haro, Matthew and Torway too… A wish all of us have in common.」
He then gently pushed the girl aside, and she didn’t resist. The arms holding on to the youth had lost their strength.
「… I’m going now.」
After saying what he had too, Ikuta patted the girl’s head, then turned and left.
「Solork……!」
Not turning back at her last cry, he kept his eyes forward and walked out of the tent.
His subordinates formed up in the center of the base silently awaited the youth after he finished his last task at hand.
「Sorry for the wait, are the preparations done?」
An officer stepped out of the ranks and answered:
「All the forces available had been gathered to form an overstrength company. Captain Torway’s unit is in place too.」
After saying that, that officer saluted and proffered a crossbow. The youth received it, and installed his partner Luminous sprite onto it with practiced movements.
「Let’s go, Kusu.」
「Yes… We will make it through this, Ikuta.」
Smiling in reply to Kusu’s concern, he took the first step onward to the final battle. The platoons who had their orders hurried to their posts, and the youth followed behind.
「Hold it right there!」
Suddenly, an easy to recognize footsteps chased from behind him. Ikuta turned around with a wry smile, and see the pudgey youth who was bandaged all over standing there with his clutches. As if to show his determination to fight despite his injuries, he had a windgun secured to his shoulders.
「You jerk, don’t decide everything on your own! I said I want to fight too…!」
Matthew wanted to argue angrily, but a pair of arms grabbed him from behind. A female medic taller than him showed up with a determined face.
「What── Hey?」
「Sorry, Matthew-san!」
With that apology, Haro tightened her arms around his neck, cutting off the blood flow to the pudgey youth’s brain.
「── Guahh──!」
The position and pressure she applied was on point, and Matthew couldn’t even scream in pain. He was rendered unconscious without any resistance, and collapsed. Ikuta sighed with relief.
「Thank you, Haro… When he wakes up, tell him that I owe him one.」
Haro took care of the pudgey youth, then looked at the youth who was leaving with uneasy eyes.
「Ikuta-san… Ikuta-san! You… You will come back, right?」
He stopped in the middle of his strides. Ikuta was quiet for a moment, then answered in a slightly stiff tone:
「Clear the map on the table and brew some tea. For six people.」
This was the best answer he could give. Ikuta then left for real this time, and said to his waiting men in the tone of a commander:
「Fourth Luminous troops company, First to Fourth Platoon, deploy in the front of the stronghold, and engage the incoming enemy when the roadblock falls. The Fifth to Eighth Platoon, formed up behind them and prepare for the same thing.」
The overstrength company had 300 odd men. The soldiers went to their posts.
「If you can’t hold the defence line, then fall back to the next position behind. Retreat in as tidy a formation as possible, and don’t do anything rash without my orders.」
With the preparations done, Ikuta cast his gaze to the north. He looked at the roadblock that might fall apart from the fire at any moment, then took a deep breath.
「Okay, it’s time── all units, fix bayonets!」
The entire group fixed a short spear to the end of their crossbows with a clink. The familiar sound and weight in their hands transformed all of them into soldiers.
The Igsem soldiers waited quietly in front of the roadblock that was slowly burning up.
The vermillion haired girl stood in the middle of the group, with both hands on her hilts. Her crimson eyes stared at the enemy formation through the grey and hazy air.
Shortly after── from where she could see, the roadblock that had been holding up adamantly, started falling apart as if its strength had given up. The pioneers demolishing the roadblock under the smoke screen turned their backs to the blackening ruins and shouted the signal loudly.
A gust of wind blew from the side, seemingly on cue, and they could see the enemy formation clearly for a moment.
Before her eyes were a fort piled up with stones, and crossbowmen hiding behind cover. Further behind them was a young commander standing boldly on the fort.
For that instant, the two of them locked gaze.
「── Charge!」
The girl ordered as she drew her blades. The soldiers on the front ranks charged in unison at the direction the blade was pointed. The sound of the air whistling erupted, and numerous bolts came flying. The unlucky tens of soldiers were wounded, but the others quickened their pace and persevere on.
「「「「「Wooahhh!」」」」」
They charged towards the fort and return fire. As the battlefield was a close range combat with poor visibility, neither side had many windgunners. In their place, the Luminous troops and Fire troops clashed head on.
Bolts, light, bullets and howls. All these criss-crossed madly as both sides clashed in an intense battle.
「First platoon, shift more to the left! The enemy is targeting that side!」
Observing the enemy movements carefully, Ikuta made minute adjustment to the troops deployment. Since their forces available were limited, the vermillion haired girl wouldn’t launch such a simple offensive. Her goal was to break through on a single point between feints and real attacks.
Which part of the fort was attacked, and where was the opponent trying to force an opening── the accuracy of the information and his analysis couldn’t even be a second late or a tiny bit off. Just one misstep would lead to defeat, that was what fighting her was like.
「Fourth platoon, decrease your firing coverage on the sides, and increase your intensity of fire! Give support fire from your flanks! The enemy is charging from the front, we can’t hold out with the frontal defences alone!」
Every instruction was like walking on thin wire. His bold and accurate mobile defences were built on thin ice, and both the commanders and men shouldered equally heavy burden. They could hold out by deploying troops equally along all fronts── how relaxing it would be, if the enemy was so easy.
「Second platoon, engage in hand to hand combat! On your lights!」
As the sun was bright and the smoke screen lingered, using searchlight to blind them was ineffective. It wouldn’t be entirely meaningless, but all the veterans knew that creating a moment of opening at close range might be the difference between life and death.
「Third platoon, watch the right of the fort! Don’t let them infiltrate under the cover of the smoke!」
From the perspective of the Ikuta, the commander, the terrible visibility was a big pain. He could grasp the movement of large groups, but it was hard to track small teams with his naked eyes. He had to predict the parts he couldn’t see, and leave the final decision to his subordinates. The condition was the same for the vermillion haired girl, as both sides pushed their imaginations to the limits in order to read the move made by the other.
「Shyaa──!」
Aside from the harshness of the battle, the soldiers fighting desperately on the frontlines faced another type of pain. After impaling the enemy with his short spear, one soldier realized that.
「K-Kuft… You…」
He called out to the man coughing up blood before him── they were friends.
The two had ate, drank, and entrusted their lives to each other on the battlefield, a friendship forged through wars. The wound was obviously fatal to anyone, and he couldn’t extract the spear carelessly.
「Hey, that hurts, Remarga……」
With that dying words, Fire trooper Private First Class Kuft Hosa fell over limbly. Witnessing the death of his friend in his hands, Luminous trooper Private First Class Remarga Kaitsuru was too shocked to move── before he could snap out of it, he was stabbed in the back by another soldier, and died. The two corpses laid down side by side on a blood stained boulder.
Similar situations were happening all over the place. This wasn’t the first civil war between Imperial forces, but the units clashing this time were the direct subordinates of the dark haired youth and vermillion haired girl. The two understood and trust each other more than anyone else, and this was reflected in the intimate relationship between their subordinates. Which means── They were pointing their blades at their irreplaceable battle buddies.
「U-Uwahh──」「Hiee… Ahh…!」
The soldiers groaned in pain. Half of it from fear of death, and the other from the fear of hurting their comrades. But they had to retaliate when attacked, so casualties continued piling on both sides.
「「「「「「「「Uwahhhh──!」」」」」」」」
Killing was hell, being killed was hell too. The civil war cumulate in this final battle, and they clashed with each other in tears.
Ikuta’s men were fully committed to defence, but even with their valiant efforts, their defence line was still gradually pushed back. After abandoning the first defences, the situation became more dire. The Igsem faction started using the cover instead, and pushed the starting point of their charge forward.
「……」
As she looked sternly at the enemy formation that was constricting slowly, Yatori took out her pocket watch to check. Almost forty minutes had passed since the scouts reported sighting of the Remeon faction, there was just a little over twenty minutes left.
In that instant, she made up her mind── the battle had to be decided now.
「Send in all the forces── We will break through the center of the enemy defences, and subjugate their headquarters.」
The men showed determined faces. They had been waiting for this order.
「First, Second and Third platoon, move out with me in the first wave. Fourth and Fifth platoon, don’t leave any gap and follow right behind.」
She increased the grip on her blades, set her eyes forward, then leaned to the front and prepared to sprint.
With all the preparations done, the girl took in a deep breath, and──
「── Charge!」
Like an arrow loose from a bow, her men sprinted madly. Even in this uneven grounds, her strides remained steady. They charged through the peltering hail of bullets and reached the enemy’s foremost defence line. Without missing a beat, they rushed up the slope and assailed the enemy’s second defence line that was just starting to withdraw.
「「「「「「「「Waaarrrggghhhhhh!」」」」」」」」
The charge started at impeccable timing. The remaining soldiers in the line couldn’t muster their forces to fend off the charge, and those retreating to the third defence line were run down without any resistance.
「Stop the charge! Form up with the comrades around you!」
After sweeping the area, she waited a few seconds to link up with the leading elements. When her men recognized the situation, the Igsem girl didn’t hesitate launching another charge towards the third defence line.
「──Incoming!」
Because of the smoke screen, Ikuta who had retreated further back couldn’t see what his opponent was doing directly. But he sensed it. From the panic of the soldiers falling back, the intense sound of fighting from the second line and the imposing silence that followed immediately── These were all signs that the vermillion haired girl was coming.
「The four platoons behind, spread out and prepare to pincer attack from the sides! Don’t block their charge! Lay out the red carpet for her!」
The youth issued his instructions, then turned and ran in the opposite direction of the enemy charge. With his back turned towards her, he fled together with the platoon under his direct command, and headed towards the hazy destination.
「Tch──!」
The flash of her blades took another life. In the last defence line, the three soldiers she cut down collapsed onto the floor. She twisted her body to dodge the bolts flying from the side, and cut down the crossbowman immediately.
「Leave the suppression of this place to our comrades! We will head directly──」
She stopped mid sentence. When she stepped over the boulder and looked, she saw an unexpected sight.
She was expecting a fierce counterattack by the enemy forming a horizontal line, and was prepared to charge into the enemy from the front. But the reality was different. There wasn’t a horizontal defence line blocking their advance, but two vertical columns to the side, with Luminous troops armed with crossbows targeting the Igsem soldiers.
It was clear their deployment was made to surround the attackers. At the deepest end of the formation, there was only one unit spread out horizontally in front of the Igsem. It was the platoon under the direct command of the dark haired youth── and he was standing at their fore personally.
It was obvious. He was using this situation to send a clear message.
If you want my head, then get over here.
「── Found the enemy commander.」
After grasping the situation, the vermillion haired girl didn’t hesitate for a single second:
「Continue the charge!」
「「「「「「「「Warrrggghhh!」」」」」」」」
The elite soldiers sprinted with a howl, running straight for the enemy commander. Their goal was to break through the center, and didn’t even consider the round about way of breaking through the sides instead.
Massed windgunners aside, the Luminous troops armed with crossbows had insignificant firing rate. Even if they were attacked from both sides, they wouldn’t suffer serious casualties, so they just needed to charge right through.
「All platoons, forward! Grit your teeth, engage～～!」
And of course, the Luminous troops also knew that. They had no expectations of their bolts stopping the fierce attack of the enemy, and had to throw their entire body into completing this arduous task. The two columns clamped in from the sides when the charge began, like an alligator closing its jaws, and they engaged in melee combat. The moment they clashed, sparks flew as their weapons collided.
「Full speed ahead! Don’t stop!」
The vermillion haired girl wasn’t fazed. It was only natural for the enemy to encircle them, and she chose to break through from the front despite that. Close quarter combat was the Igsem’s forte. In the face of an enemy that equalled them in numbers, they had no reason to stop.
「Ughhh──!」「Arrgghh!」「Damn it, get lost!」
However── Even though they didn’t stop their feet, the inertia of their charge were still affected. The ones who had to engage the enemy attacking from the sides, and those who forged on ahead, had a difference in their speed. The platoon under the vermillion haired girl’s direct command were even more isolated as they sped on ahead. They fended off the enemy’s harassment efficiently, and was well ahead of the rest.
The Igsem girl already knew this was the youth’s intention. Her platoon was allowed passage, and the youth set a trap for them once they were isolated── But despite knowing that, she didn’t slow down. It would be a waste of time to wait for her comrades to catch up, and the enemy commander might flee to another block. There wasn’t much time before the Remeon faction reaches, so they had to end this quickly.
If there was a trap, they just need to smash through it. The vermillion haired girl ran through the enemy grounds without any hesitation.
「Pull back! Keep up with me!」
In the rank formed by the soldiers at the very end, Ikuta was moving with the platoon under his direct command too. He moved to the south, and kept a distance from the leading elements of the pursuing enemy.
「Hah! Hah! Hah…!」
He kept running with ragged breath. He didn’t run that far, but the accumulated fatigue and the smoke filled air made the limbs of the youth feel really heavy. He was supposed to reach the foot of the 3rd Block in one shot, but a strong sense of vertigo hit him midway, making him stagger.
「Commandant, get a hold of yourself!」
Ikuta almost fell over, and a Sergeant braced him up. Realizing he almost lost conscious, Ikuta quickly raised his head.
「Ah, sorry, I’m fine now──」
Bam! The moment he said that, he felt an impact on the lower half of his body.
「── Shyaa!」
With that strange impact, a scorching heat started to spread from his left leg. Ikuta whizzed as his leg felt as if he had stepped into a pit of fire.
「──W-What……」
The youth looked down, and understood everything.
A bolt had pierced his thigh.
「Ikuta──!」「Commander?」
Kusu turned on the crossbow, and the sergeant who realized what happened turned pale. Ikuta steadied himself by grabbing on to the shoulder of the sergeant, and attempted to sort out the situation through the intense pain── A bolt had hit the back of his thigh and got embedded inside. Blood started to stained his pants.
「── A stray bolt…」
He mumbled hoarsely. If it didn’t hurt so much, the youth would want to laugh. The enemy was still far behind them, so that was definitely not an aimed shot. Someone fired the bolt at a high angle, and it miraculously hit him after drawing a high arc through the sky.
His forehead broke out in a cold sweat. I’m not favored by the heavens after all, Ikuta thought to himself─ refusing aid from the medic, he started walking again.
「Commander? Please wait, your wound…!」
「No need. From the blood flow, it didn’t hit the artery. It is obvious that the bolt can’t be pulled out quickly.」
The youth answered plainly, and continued walking as he leaned on the Sergeant's shoulder. With every step, the bolt bit deeper into his flesh, and the searing pain crawled up his spine.
「……!」
Ikuta gritted his teeth and endured it, but forgot to breath── When he realized it, his conscious was fading into the darkness.
「── Hey, Ikuta. Promise your mother── four, things.」
A gentle voice entered my ears. In the dim charcoal making house, my mother laid on a make-shift bed.
She was too weak to get up, and her limbs were as frail as twigs── But even so, she still smiled for me.
「First── Don’t, join the army.」
Mother pleaded in a trembling voice.
「Don’t throw your life away… for the country, for justice, for those big things you can’t see with your eyes. Don’t, be like your father.」
I held her icy hands and tried to say something, but could only moan.
「Second── Don’t, seek revenge. Don’t ever think of avenging your father. The more you think about it, the further away you will drift from happiness.」
I shook my head, not daring to agree to this. I feared that the life would drain away from my mother the moment I nodded.
「Third── Slack off as much as you can. Given how hard your father had worked, it’s fine for you to relax. From now on, your life has to be filled with joy.」
I couldn’t accept this and stamp my feet. Then why couldn’t the reward of that hard work be transferred to the woman before me instead? Why did it have to be me alone?
「Fourth── I need to ask, you, before that.」
Mother stared at me with her dark eyes. I understood that this was an important question, and straightened my back on reflex.
「In this few years, out of the people you had not met, who, do you want to meet the most?」
Aside from your father, mother added. I didn’t have to think about this at all. I suppressed the sobbing in my throat, and stated a name.
As I expected── Mother muttered, and nodded with satisfaction.
「Go see her then. After you leave this place, it doesn’t matter how much time it takes, you must see her. That is the first step towards your happiness.」
Mother said with a firm smile. Her light overwhelmed me. When mother showed such a face, whatever she said was always right.
「However── if, if that forthright child wandered too far down a thorny path, and gets trapped by the bounds of fate…」
Worry flashed across her eyes for an instant. She strengthened her grip onto my fingers, and said with her last bits of strength:
「If that time comes, then Ikuta, you have to stop her. Take that girl’s hand, and guide her towards happiness.
If you walk together hand in hand, you will find the most important thing to you at the very end──」
His mother’s words woke him up.
「── Ahhh!」
Ikuta exerted force on his legs. The intense pain from his thigh performed the task of an alarm clock, and Ikuta walked away from his subordinate who was propping him up.
「C-Commandant!」
When he regained consciousness, Ikuta looked to his back on reflex. The leading elements headed by the vermillion haired girl── was still some distance away. He blacked out for a very short time, and his subordinates had been dragging him all this while.
「… Let’s go.」
The youth turned and walked forth. There was tens of meters to the destination. He used his last bit of strength and stamina and pushed his body that was as heavy as lead forward.
He staggered forth as he mumbled repeatedly── Wait over there. Think about her, and wait.
「Tch──!」
After cutting down the eighth man, the girl’s field of vision cleared up suddenly.
They had cleared the last row of the enemy’s column. No one was blocking their way, and in her blurred field of vision, there was only the enemy commander and his platoon of 40 men left.
In terms of numbers, she wasn’t too different from them. The other platoons were still fighting valiantly behind, and they had only penetrated this deep despite knowing they would be cut off from the rest.
The last group of enemy was just a hundred meters away.
Once she close this distance, she could reach the end of this war. And kill the enemy commander who was standing with his back to the rocky hill ──Ikuta Sankrei.
「────」
Her throat was parched. Her limbs went numb. Her lips wouldn’t move all of a sudden.
Deciding that all this was because she was thirsty, the vermillion haired girl shouted at the top of her lungs:
「── Charge!」
With that order, she started running with her men holding crossbow armed with spears. Their goal was to close in on the enemy and kill them, so their actions were ordered and disciplined.
The vermillion haired girl went ahead with two sections, and three sections followed behind. She adopted this formation because she was certain there was a trap ahead. She didn’t forget that her own platoon charging on ahead was the result guided by the enemy commander.
As for the trap, the girl had a good guess. Snipers. Since they started fighting here, the snipers had not showed up at all. Even if most of them were committed to the fight in the other blocks, it didn’t make sense for Ikuta to not keep a small number behind in case of emergencies like this.
She was sure that the snipers would fire upon her when she closed in on the hundred meter mark. The girl was very certain as she watched her surroundings as she sprinted── Where would the snipers take aim from?
It couldn’t be above the rocky hills on the sides. The smoke screen was thicker higher up, and their vision from above would be completely obscured. Even if the snipers were posted there, they wouldn’t be able to aim because of the smoke screen.
All other high vantage point could be eliminated for the same reason, and not many possibilities were left. The next most obvious would be the blind spots of rocks scattered all over the place. There wasn’t any prominent large boulders around, but there were plenty that could hide one person. There was a good chance the sniper was deployed there.
However, that wasn’t a threat to the vermillion haired girl. Shooting to kill her as she ran in the middle of a charging unit with a precise shot── that was impossible. First, there wasn’t much chance for such a clear shot to arise. Even if they managed such a shot with miraculous skills, the girl could dodge it with her prediction. Even with Torway Remeon’s skills, the best he could do was to cut down the number of soldiers running on the flanks.
With that in mind, there was just one place she needs to be wary of── above the steep rocky hill behind the enemy unit, which the Rising Sun Regiment referred to as the Third Block. The smoke had obscured the view, and snipers might have been posted on that slope. A big difference of that slope from the blocks on either side, was that her unit was going towards that place. As they get closer, the smoke would grow fainter, and it would be easier to fire upon them.
When they approach the block, getting attacked by snipers on the slope, and the units on the ground attacking while her unit was flinching── that was the worst situation the vermillion haired girl could think of. And her countermeasure to this was to move together with the two leading sections.
If the snipers were deployed in the block, then they would fire immediately once her unit was in range. Considering the poor visibility due to the smoke screen, she gauge their range to be less than 40 meters. That was a distance right before the ground units clash with each other, and the two forces would be in a chaotic battle right after the shots. In other words── if they didn’t falter from the first volley, they would gain the initiative in the melee battle. What should they do then?
There was only one answer. After the vanguard gets hit, the people behind just need to attack from a different angle before the sniper could reload.
「「「「「「「Wooahhhh!」」」」」」」
The two sections in front were the vanguards to bait the snipers to shoot. After they get hit, the three sections behind would go in to attack── that would be the plan if things went as expected. But there was no guarantee that this would happen, so the vermillion haired girl personally joined the two vanguard sections. There was a possibility that the snipers might see through their plan to 「bait out a shot and then attack」, and target the three sections behind instead. If that happens, then the two sections in front would be responsible for attacking. And of course, the girl was confident that she could dodge the first shots.
With her partaking in the battle, they wouldn’t lose even if she charged into enemy grounds with a small number of troops── with this unwavering conviction, the vanguard charged towards the enemy, towards the hail of bullets raining down on them.
「────」
Forty two meters to the Block, then thirty meters. When they reach twenty five meters, the Luminous troops attacked. The girl judged at this point that her intention to bait out a shot had been seen through, and the attack would be directed at the three trailing sections. The two unharmed leading sections were now responsible for the main attack, and she charged right into the enemy from the front.
「Tch──!」
With two flashes, she used her 「deflect bolts」 technique to cut down the bolts flying her way, and slashed at an enemy soldier blocking her way. Blood splattered, and the Luminous troops couldn’t fight on even ground against this small elite unit.
The girl cut open a gap in their ranks with every slash── and that gap quickly lead to the final destination where the youth was waiting.
「…… Hi.」
Leaning on a rocky hill, the youth greeted her warmly for the first time in a while.
Her face was devoid of any emotions. Her crimson eyes were like glass balls without any feelings. Her dual blades were stained with the blood of her colleagues. Her body was dyed red after countless battles.
The youth narrowed his eyes. He wondered how intense the pain was that turned her into this miserable sight.
She didn’t respond, close the distance in an instance, and swung her blades without hesitation.
Like the answer he gave in the past── Ikuta was just thinking about her.
Lop off the head with one strike. When the girl expel all her thoughts except for that, and was about to finish her swing── her body was hit by an impact, along with the familiar sound of air exploding.
「──?」
I’m dead, she thought. The girl’s instinct told her so. The only thing that flew with that sound was a gunshot, and she felt her arms, knees, thighs and chest being hit. That could only spell death.
Clink, the sound of hard objects falling came from the girl’s feet.
「────?」
She looked down on reflex── and what she saw made her gasp.
Seven to eight bullets that should have pierced her body was rolling on the rock.
「How’s that, Yatori?」
With a cheerful expression that didn’t match his pale face, Ikuta pointed above him.
「You thought the snipers were above us? Incorrect.」
He pointed in the opposite direction this time. The girl finally noticed── the sharp gazes of hunters were cast her way from the uneven sized rocks buried at the foot of the rocky hill.
「Welcome to the end of your VIP lane. Your gift for making it here── is our ambush.」
「── H-Hide here? Really?」
In the second afternoon of the defence battle, Torway opened his eyes wide at the ditch dug at the foot of the Third Block.
「Move the rocks away, set up a frame with planks, then cover it back with rocks. This is a delicate design that completely ignored the terrain. A lot of effort was put into this, so please make do even if it is a little squeezy.」
Ikuta boldly made an unreasonable request. In this dark space where he could only squirm forward, the youth tried his best to find the good points of this spot. There were several spaces to rest their guns, and could fit ten or so windgunners.
「But this place… has a narrow angle of fire. The peek hole is too small and deep, and can only aim at an enemy who arrive at just the right spot…?」
「That’s what’s so good about this. If you aim at Yatori, she would notice.」
The youth crossed his arms and grunted, then continued:
「I’m thinking about it the other way. Instead of aiming the muzzle at the target, we will bring the target to the muzzle. By reversing this aiming order, it will render the superhuman attack detection of the Igsem useless.」
Torway who was under the rock didn’t know what to say, and Ikuta smirked:
「I got the idea from your experiences! When you shot Yorunzaf Igsem, you kept your eyes close until the second before you fired to stop him from predicting your firing path. Since that method works, then masking the presence of the shooter will work too. In any case, just don’t let the target know that someone is aiming at her.」
After hearing that explanation, the youth finally accepted this method. The youth then continued with a sigh:
「However, setting an ambush is a classic trick. It will fail if the opponent realize something seems off before detecting the presence of the sniper. Luring Yatori here would take a lot of effort.」
Ikuta said as he looked to the north, and tried to accurately imagine the battle that would occur in this terrain in the near future.
「Even so, it can be done if several conditions line up. As time runs short and the fight has become more frequent, she will definitely lead the charge here personally. Considering the constraint of the terrain, she will probably attempt a breakthrough from the front with a battalion. And once, me, the enemy commander shows himself, she will not have the luxury of altering her plans.
When that battalion breaks through the defenses, we will tie down part of their forces with a pincer attack. It will be easier to understand by saying that Yatori’s platoon will be granted free passage. That should bait out a platoon isolated from the battalion, and if we worked a little harder, and made use of her expectation of the deployment of the snipers, we can further split her forces into sections. When she concludes that the snipers are on the slope of the Third Block, she would split the sections into the leading and trailing elements. Since she can deflect bullets, she will follow the vanguard. If a melee battle breaks out here, with the difference in abilities between her and the other soldiers, she will be the first to reach me even if we leave her alone.」
After leaning his face close to the deep peephole, Ikuta locked eyes with Torway who was inside the trench.
「Yatori’s wariness against the top of the block would become a cover for the ambush from underground. Even she won’t expect us to spend so much effort on this trick.
And of course, she will see through 90% of our plan and intention. She will immediately know that we are luring her in, and snipers will be hiding somewhere in the battlefield. But that works just fine. If she isn’t an opponent who can see through everything except the secret of this ambush, this plan won’t work.」
His voice reverberated in the cramped space. Inside the equipment set up just for the vermillion haired girl, the two of them exchanged opinions on how to make the best use of it──
「Stop the battle! All Luminous troops, lay down your weapons and raise your hands high!」
The youth ordered with his voice raised high, and the sound of his subordinates dropping their crossbows erupted. The vermillion haired girl could feel the air of fighting fading behind her through her faint sense of reality.
「── You can come out now, Torway.」
The snipers crawled out from under the rock. The fire troopers who caught up with the girl opened their eyes wide at that sight, and they were even more baffled at the sight of her standing still. The vermillion haired commander stood stiffly before the battered enemy commandant, and they couldn’t tell immediately what all this meant.
「There isn’t enough space from shifting the rocks alone, and we ended up creating a slight bump, and looks a little unnatural on close inspection. But the smoke made visibility poor, and I also covered it with our bodies. I knew how sharp you can be in seeing through traps, so I was worried until the very end.」
Ikuta scratched his head bashfully, and suddenly looked at the girl with a serious face.
「… How’s that? Is this my win?」
He asked her directly. And gave his due respect to the dual blades that had persisted for the past centuries.
「We defeated the Igsem in our own way── can we agree with that?」
He didn’t declare victory, and let the other party decide the answer.
The moment she heard the answer── the vermillion haired girl finally realized the reason why she couldn’t move.
The bullets fired with low pressure didn’t pierce her body, and it rolled onto the ground to emphasize that fact. She didn’t need to check to know that she wasn’t bleeding anywhere under her uniform.
However── the bullets still hit her.
「────」
It hit the Igsem within her. The crimson destiny that had been driving the girl all this time.
With her steel-like fortitude built on top of the conviction that she was the strongest, she couldn’t dispute this result.
This was her loss.
The end of the dual blade’s history after countless nonstop battles.
The future of the battlefield── would no longer depend on her, but would rest on the shoulders of these people in front of her.
「……」
The Igsem was silent, as if she was mimicking the formality of accepting the loss that wasn’t accompanied by death.
On the other hand── Aside from keeping still, the girl couldn’t think of what else to do.
There was only Igsem left in her heart. Everything else had been cut off and discarded by her. She had burned her humanity to ashes before coming here.
If the Igsem part of her fell silent── then what drives the body that’s left?
「……」
The wind from the side made her vermillion hair flutter. The wind had just started changing, and the smoke lingering above them drifted swiftly to the west, and grew thinner.
At that moment, the girl realized someone was 「aiming」 at her, and raised her eyes on reflex. Four windgunners appeared at the top of the block above── After the smoke was cleared, they aimed their windguns with the open field of vision.
So there was an ambush above, she acknowledged without being fazed.
「──」
Something was wrong.
The muzzles── half of them were pointed at her, that was clear. But the other half? The angle was too steep if it was aimed at her subordinates. They were almost aiming right below, towards──
Before her brain reached a conclusion, her body moved.
「── Huh?」
She let go of her dual blades, and pushed off the ground. She reached for the youth’s shoulder with her right arm and pulled him down. At the same time, she shielded the dumbstruck falling youth with her back, then extend her arms fully and stood still.
The sound of compressed air exploding echoed.
The four bullets fired downwards all hit the body of the girl.
The fabric of her uniform was shattered, and the girl unconsciously chased every broken piece.
「── Ah─」
As the shot that hit her lifecore shook her, she realized what she had done, and curled her lips in resignation.
「─ Ahh─ What is this.」
The girl smiled awkwardly from surprise─ really now, just how stubborn was she?
It should have been completely destroyed. That soul had been grounded to powder, and tossed into the flames.
Not a bit of scrap of it was left, not even ashes── that should be so.
「─ How stubborn, Yatorishino (me)──」
When she realized it, she found herself right there, as if it was only natural.
And protected her other half, as if it were as natural as breathing.
It took them four seconds to react and deal with the situation.
「── Above──!」
Torway returned fire the moment he detected them. Shots peppered the top of the block, and Luminous troops charged up the slope shortly after. They couldn’t see from the ground what happened next. Long live the royals, long live Katjvarna Empire── the death throes of those puppets echoed out. But nothing entered Ikuta’s ears. He leapt up from the ground, while the girl fell forward.
「Yatori──!」
Ikuta cried, and wrapped the girl with both arms. He forgot the pain of his leg wound and knelt on the ground to check her entire body── and his mind turned blank. One on the left arm, two on the stomach, and one in the middle of the chest. Crimson blood were bleeding from the four small holes on her body.
「Ahh── Ahh──!」
Ikuta applied pressure to the wound on her chest in half craze. His palm could feel her erratic heartbeat, and blood splurt out from between the youth’s fingers. His hands were immediately dyed red up to his wrist.
「Medic! Medic──!」
The medics from both camps rushed over when they heard the youth’s woeful cry. On the other hand, Torway and his men turned and waved a white flag that meant they had no intention to fight, and rushed to headquarters to find Haro.
Ikuta snatched the bandages from the medics, and wrapped the wounds he could see. He pressed the bandage on her upper abdomen and chest, then secured it. He constricted her upper arm to stem the blood flow from the artery.
「Hah! Hah…!」
This wasn’t any respite at all. He tossed aside his reason, and did everything he could to save the life that was fading away.
「── Your face looks terrible, Ikuta.」
The girl said in a tone that definitely belonged to Yatori.
The warmth had returned to her crimson eyes, and that she had regained her humanity, but the youth didn’t feel happy at all.
「You can tease my face however you like! So, so don’t close your eyes! I’m stopping your bleeding, I will take care of this wound…!」
Ikuta was driven by panic and kept moving his hands, and Yatori shook her head slowly at him.
「It’s fine. This time, it’s my turn.」
「Your turn for what?」
「We promised, didn’t we? We have to take turns. So── this is fine.」
With that, she reached out for the youth’s hand that was covering her chest:
「Stop. Look at me, and talk to me.」
Her eyes stared at the youth. Her gaze calmed the youth down, and he looked to the side… he then accepted the fact that he couldn’t do anything before the stretcher came.
「… If talking can keep you conscious, then I can talk as much as you want. But I won’t stop my hand, because I’m great at multitasking. So, what do you want to talk about?」
Ikuta continued applying pressure to the wound through the bandage and looked at the girl’s face from close up. Yatori said with a smile:
「Thank you for meeting me.」
She bared her true feelings.
「On the first day of the exchange study── I still remember clearly how you all created that rainbow to welcome me. When I want to pass under it, it disappeared, then appeared again when I backed away. It was so fascinating, anxious and beautiful── and it’s funny how everyone is drenched.」
That memorable image appeared in their minds. Ikuta remembered that he was completely drenched too.
「And also how we stole ingredients from the kitchen. That was the first bad thing I did, and my heart was pounding out of fear of Grandma Mari finding me out. It’s all because you told me that we will get turned into breakfast if we failed.」
The girl smiled. The youth still remember her stiff manner of speech when they first met.
「I still remember joining your family for lunch. I said the soup taste great, and Aunt Yuka praised me for discerning the taste of the dried fish stock. After dinner, we all made pumpkin paste cake. A dessert that tasted sweet and soothing.」
The youth recalled too. He blew on the freshly baked paste cake and eat it, and end up burning is tongue.
「I remember clearly how we argued over a difference in opinions. Uncle Bada then started assigning missions to us, and in the beginning, we keep on failing. But we slowly got hold of the trick behind it, and when the mission went as planned, it felt so interesting──」
Clashes of opinion. Stubbornly going at odds at each other, and the growth we experienced behind it.
「That time when we defended a cabin and fought with wolves, it is all so vivid to me. I thought I might die, but when I made the declaration that I would definitely get you back alive, you called me stupid and got mad. We promised back then that we would become two parts of a while and fight together.」
There were no expiry date on the promises between children. From that day on, this was a contract that would never end.
「I also remember you attempting to abduct me and take me away from the Empire. In order to tempt me into depravity, we played all sorts of dangerous games. Tricking con artists, setting up traps for tricksters. It was like an extension of the adventures we had when we were young, and it made me really happy.」
Their student days which they devoted entirely to playing with fire. Bright days that were filled with worries.
「And that time you picked out clothes for me in Sheui-san’s shop too. That Sari was so beautiful, and it hurt you so much when it was ruined on the same day.」
He was at his wits’ end and descending into madness, while she accepted this end calmly. From that moment on, the youth reviewed his attitude towards Yatorishino Igsem in a fundamental way.
「The incidents after the formation of the 『Knight Corp』 was unforgettable… Escaping from the Kioka territory back to our borders, and saving Princess Chamille who almost got kidnapped── The Shinnack unrest in the Northern Territories, and serving as rearguard to fend off the Aldera Holy Army and the 『Phantom Unit』… Fufu, and that’s just half of our exploits──」
Yatori’s eyes were losing focus as she kept talking, and Ikuta forcefully interjected:
「I know, Yatori. I know all that. Because I was with you throughout all that.」
The girl’s eyes that were looking at the past was dragged back to the youth.
「── That’s right. You have always been by my side. You joined the army you didn’t want any part of, and was made a hero against your wishes. But you still stayed by my side.」
「Isn’t that only natural? You are my other half.」
When she heard Ikuta say those words with a tremble, Yatori nodded deeply── and looked towards the dual blades on the ground.
「You are right. So── before it disappears, take all of this with you.」
The girl unbuckled her belt, took out the short sword sheath on her right waist and proffered it to the youth.
「I’m giving you the short sword as a weapon for self defense. You can do whatever you want with the saber, keep it or give it away. And also──」
She opened the button on the pouch on her waist. Her partner sprite Shia fell onto the ground, and looked worriedly at her mistress that was in the youth’s arms.
「I will leave Shia in your hands, and if she is willing… Let Princess Chamille become its next mistress.」
「Stop, Yatori! It will be a long time before a next mistress needs to be chosen, it will be troubling for Shia if you bring this up now!」
The youth spoke over her to refute the girl. Yatori said with a strong gleam in her crimson eyes:
「Ikuta── please. From now on and in the future, please protect that girl.」
「────」
「You don’t have to protect the country. Nor the Third Princess. But that girl── that girl named Chamille, you have to keep her safe. Cherish her on my behalf too.
And… If possible, give her happiness, and have plenty of sweet dreams. Because she had been forced to see nightmares she didn’t want to see all this while…」
The girl’s voice slowly lost its strength. As he gripped her hand and tried to pull her back from the darkness, the youth shook his head violently. He tossed aside all reason and wailed like a child throwing a tantrum:
「Don’t wanna, don’t wanna! Didn’t I tell you before!? If I’m not with you, I can’t do it…!」
Gripping his hand with a force weaker than a baby, Yatori shook her head.
「You and I are two in one. Intertwined and merged together, without any boundaries. We will be together in the future too. Won’t you say that── this isn’t scientific?」
The youth stubbornly refused her gentle conclusion. His face was covered in tears, but he still kept talking to her.
「I promised── Mama. When you are trapped by the bounds of fate, I will stop you. I will take your hand and lead you towards happiness.
Please, Yatori. Live on with me. Don’t make me break anymore promises…」
The girl desperately searched for the words to respond to his request── and many scenes flashed across Yatori’s fading consciousness.
Part of her childhood spent in the Rising Sun Regiment. Her interaction with the white robed Scientist. The dining table in the Sankrei house. Haro’s smile. Matthew’s poker face. Torway’s timid smile. Princess Chamille’s pouting face. The bright days she spent together with her companions in the Knight Corp.
And in the center of it all, the dark haired youth trying to act dumb.
「… You can hold your head up high, Ikuta.」
At the end of her vivid memories, Yatori smiled confidently and told him── the answer was right here.
She met important companions, trustworthy superiors, cute friends and built bonds with them.
Until the end of her life, she spent it with her other half who shared her soul.
There was no reason to hesitate. She only had experiences to be proud of. Right now, she could puff up her chest, and rebuke the pity Lucika Krukk showed her that night.
「You kept your promise.」
The girl assured him. She told him there was nothing he needed to regret, and he had completed his objective.
Staying by the youth’s side, Yatorishino Igsem lived more happily than anyone else.
「────!」
Ikuta said something, but it didn’t reach her.
Her five senses ceased to work one after another. In the looming darkness, she let go of her boundary and relaxed her entire body.
Melt into him── and continue dreaming there, Yatori thought.
After raising the white flag and telling the soldiers to ceasefire, Torway sprinted to the headquarters. The shallow cave wasn’t too far away, but it wasn’t easy to meander through the chaotic battle between friend and foe── when he reached, he raised his voice and called for Haro.
With the receding frontlines, the important personnel had to move too, and they had already made the preparations. Princess Chamille was present too, and after spending a few seconds to think about the situation, Torway decided to take the girl along with him.
The third line of defence was barely holding, but since the Igsem soldiers had broken through from the middle, the area around the cave was no longer safe. The only safe retreat route was to the top of the First Block where the Emperor and Chancellor were, or the side of the Third Block. Since not returning to Ikuta and Yatori wasn’t an option, the youth decided to escort the Princess over.
They left the cave, and ran together with the medics carrying a stretcher. Matthew whose right leg was fractured was carried on the back of a burly subordinate, Princess Chamille also took Haro’s hand and ran. The ominous feeling was pushing everyone, and they kept moving as if to refute this feeling. The short distance seemed ten times as long.
「Ik-kun! Yatori-sa──」
The instant they reached their destination, everyone understood it was all over.
────────────────!
Ikuta was screaming. He was crying woefully with the body of the vermillion haired girl in his arms. He cried out her name in a hoarse voice amidst sobs.
The blood pooled around them was enough to end a person’s life.
The girl who was lying down with eyes closed felt so peaceful that they couldn’t sense any life from her.
「──」
Torway dropped his windgun onto the ground.
Haro covered her mouth with both hands.
Matthew stopped breathing.
Chamille collapsed onto her knees.
「── Ahh──」
The hundred lines of apologies she had prepared were forever lost in her heart.
She couldn’t apologize anymore, or be forgiven ever again.
Those hands── would never comb her hair anymore.
The wind direction changed, and the smoke lingering in the air drifted westwards.
In the clear evening sky, the youth kept crying out the name of his other half.
Epilogue
In the end, it was Major Nudakka Megu who issued the retreat order.
The vermillion haired girl didn’t return, and he lost all hope. Deciding not to fight anymore, the Major withdrew all the forces in the blocks, set up camp some distance away from the Remeon force, and relayed the intention of a ceasefire and willingness to negotiate with the other two units.
After that, no one took different sides like before. Tending and moving the wounded became the top priority, and the groups pooled together their supplies and manpower, tired of the infighting and deception. The soldiers were relieved that they could render aid to the wounded without needing to differentiate between friend and foe.
Torway took command of the Rising Sun Regiment search team. Ikuta was in no condition to lead, so his comrade took over his post, planned for the return to central, and executed it.
A problem arose between them and the Igsem, about what to do with the girl’s body in Torway and company’s custody. Major Megu wished to return her to the Field Marshal in the Hunger Castle, but Ikuta refused to hand over the body. Despite the confrontation, Major Megu was too exhausted to fight again, and compromised after saying: 「Promise me that you will treat the body with respect.」 Even without that reminder, Torway’s group took great care in preserving the corpse with the ice from many water Sprites.
After continuously leaving the wounded in towns and villages along the way back, all the forces started heading north. As the three forces coordinated with each other, the return trip was uneventful. It remained so after leaving the Dafuma Province, and the search teams went straight for central.
The Remeon faction went to the capital Banhataal, the Igsem forces headed for Zalulu Hunger Castle, and the Rising Sun Regiment returned to their base in the Miogaroki Province.
「What happened to the commandant?」
After welcoming Torway’s group in the Rising Sun Regiment’s home base, the first thing Major General Saba asked was for the person that should be here.
「Because of an arrow wound to his leg, Ik-kun had fallen ill. It’s not life threatening, but his fatigue that accumulated from his lack of sleep had caught up with him. Let’s take care of the regiment while he is recuperating.」
Torway pretended to be calm as he explained. He was barely putting up this front.
Everything would crumble with a momentary lapse── the youth knew that, and sealed his emotions as he led his comrades… No one else but him could do so in the Knight Corp.
Hearing Torway avoiding the most important bits in his explanation, Major General Saba crossed his arms and groaned:
「… Hmm, that’s true. It’s fine for him to rest for now, the situation is now set.」
After learning that the Emperor and the Chancellor were in their hands, the Major General decided on the next course of action.
「We march on the capital.」
He concluded firmly and wisely. Marching into the capital with their army and return the Emperor to the throne── this process was a ceremony in itself, and gave legitimacy to their actions. An edict issued from the palace held much more weight than an edict issued from some dubious location.
The Remeon faction had seized control of the palace right now, but they lacked the decisive King in a chess set. Major General Saba plans to give them this missing piece of the puzzle in exchange for favorable terms.
<TL: Raw uses Shogi instead of chess.>
「The General will definitely accept this, the Empire is out of options now.」
Torway and the others nodded stiffly. Ending this in a draw with the Remeon faction having the upper hand was their goal for this coup. Given their current position, they had a good chance to realize this goal. Even with Ikuta incapacitated, they would still push steadily towards this goal.
「……」
Princess Chamille stared blankly at the group, as if she was looking at the scene from a faraway nation.
「Here, Princess…」
She didn’t leave her seat after the meeting ended, and only started walking when Haro took her hand. She had no other way of staying sane other than to stop thinking like this.
After negotiating with the Remeon faction, the matter of the Rising Sun Regiment entering the capital was settled in no time. Four thousand soldiers marched into the capital, and half of them set garrisoned in the palace. In order to maintain balance with the Remeon faction in the palace, this was a necessary measure.
「… To think that you would be the ones to return with His Majesty…」
In a corner of the courtyard where the territory of the two forces overlap, General Remeon said to Major General Saba and the officers of the Rising Sun Regiment. He looked half bitter and half resigned. Ever since Lucika Krukk died in battle, the wrinkles from exertion had grown on his face.
「── To be honest, I can’t tell if this is the result of the obstruction we faced or the help we got. But I do know that this situation was beyond what I could handle.」
The General said with complicated feelings. After accepting the cooperation framework with the Rising Sun Regiment, they had settled the matter of sending forces to the borders that might get invaded by Kioka. And with that, the Igsem faction garrisoned in the Hunger Castle couldn’t continue their forceful attitude. The situation was finally stabilizing.
「That’s all in the past, father. The important thing is, how we will work together from this point forward?」
The youth answered after looking at his father straight on. His determined attitude gave the jade eyed general the illusion that their position had been reversed, and he shook his head with a bitter smile.
「You don’t have to tell me that, righting the policies in the Empire is my goal too. However…」
General Remeon clenched his fists and lowered his head.
「My only regret is that I didn’t eliminate Trisnai Izanma with this chance. I am shocked by what you told me… To think he had such a trump card.」
Major General Saba agreed with his frustration.
「Stopping all the Sprites in the Empire, huh. When the other ministers were still alive, he probably didn’t reveal it to avoid any confrontation. And of course, there’s a high chance that this is just a bluff.」
The two generals shared the same feeling of outrage, as if a bone was caught in his throat. General Remeon looked around him, and suddenly sighed deeply:
「… Even though we are sullying the palace with our presence right now, it doesn’t change the fact that we are soldiers. I don’t plan to indulge in political struggle in the future, and devote myself to my duty of national defence.」
Half that was to keep the other party in check, and the other was his sincere wishes. He then turned around:
「In conclusion, what we need now is an edict. You guys think of a way to make that fox issue an edict too.」
There were many manors in the palace for royals and grand nobles to stay in. Most of these residences had lost their owners after the coup, but remain in perfect condition with almost no damages. That was proof that the Remeon soldiers didn’t pillage the place, proving what they did was purely out of concern for the nation.
Ever since the Rising Sun Regiment entered the capital, Princess Chamille was placed under tight protection and stayed in one of those manors. She was assigned a room that was far too large for one person to stay in.
「How are you feeling today, Your Highness?」
Haro who was taking care of Chamille combed her bed hair and asked her. The Princess kept her peace. Her eyes stared into space, devoid of any emotions.
「We spent quite a number of days without any change of clothes, so I’m really glad that we don’t have to worry about that after returning to the capital. There are plenty of clothes in this house, and all the clothes for both men and women are incredibly luxurious. I want to try them on, but I have to hold back since I’m still on duty.」
Even though the Princess didn’t say anything, Haro still kept talking. She couldn’t just ignore this silence that must not remain empty.
「Even if I want to try them all, I don’t think many of them are my size. You see, I’m really tall, right? I would always trouble the tailors when I visit their shops.」
Haro kept talking for the sake of the girl before her, and also to deceive herself. Because she didn’t need to think when she was talking, so Haro fled in that sense with all her might.
「… Where is, Solork?」
Her efforts were mercilessly blocked by what the Princess said. Her mindless chatter stopped, and Haro put on a farce cheerful attitude and replied:
「It seems── he can’t move freely yet. Because he took an arrow to his leg.」
The Princess knew that the injury wasn’t the problem. Haro observed the girl’s face, and asked gently:
「Do you… want to see him?」
Princess Chamille turned pale at that question, then held her head and shook it violently. Haro quickly hugged her from behind, and the girl’s shivering didn’t stop for a long while.
After ten or so minutes, the Princess who was seated on the edge of her bed manage to stop her trembling, and stood up. Seeing her stare out the window blankly, Haro realized that she wasn’t of any help at all. She also realized that the girl wishes to be alone.
「… I will make tea, be back in 30 minutes.」
She couldn’t leave that girl alone, but it would be pointless if the Princess alienate her. As a compromise to this dilemma, Haro left and entered the girl’s room multiple times. When she said thirty minutes, she would return in half an hour with tea she had brewed. Stubbornly keeping her words were all that Haro could do for the girl now.
「……」
The Princess spent time meaninglessly alone in her room. She focused on not thinking and keeping her mind blank, that was the only means of self defence she could manage.
「You seem to be upset.」
The malicious Fox cut off her last way of retreat.
「──?」
When she turned back, her mouth was covered by someone. The eerily cold palm made her break out in goosebumps.
Pressing her against the wall, Trisnai smiled.
「That won’t do, they didn’t perform a proper check. Secret passages are a must for the manors of grand nobles after all. Without Ikuta Sankrei and Yatorishino Igsem, even if everything looks fine on the surface, there would be flaws in the minute detail.」
When she heard those names, the Princess shivered── and hatred started burning within her. The girl knew why she was in this situation. She knew whose minions attacked those two at the closing moments of the final battle.
「Mmm──! Mmmm──!」
Her mouth was covered and she couldn’t speak. Seeing the rage in the girl’s eyes, Trisnai sighed depressedly.
「Don’t blame me. This is a painful decision for me, and ended fruitlessly too.」
The Fox said without missing a beat. His unreasonable logic made the Princess struggle.
「Why are you making that face? Yes, that’s right. Yatorishino Igsem aside, I have no reason to kill Ikuta Sankrei. Because he is useful, and it is only natural to want the son of Bada Sankrei to be the mental pillar of the army after the Igsem’s downfall. In fact, I had been planning to do so all this while. You liking him played a part too. I was so eager on doing that too, since I failed to convince the father, then I have to recruit the son.」
Trisnai shrugged with a face of self mockery, and lamented with disappointment.
「But, he won’t do. He is an excellent soldier, but he is incredibly insolent. A watchdog masquerading as your guardian, he doesn't know his place at all. How arrogant, a mere tool of violence lecturing the Princess who descended from 900 years of Katjvarna royal bloodline!」
Naked fury burned in his grey eyes, and the two of them stared at each other with rage.
「Mortals have their places, and rulers have theirs. That insolent man attempted to teach you the happiness of mediocrity, and had no intention of guiding you towards the throne. He was using sophistry to claim that living as a normal girl is the greatest happiness. That should be punishable by death── I deeply regret my failure to eliminate him.」
The Fox twitched his lips and snorted. The sight of him humiliating the dark haired youth made the anger in the girl reach its peak. She felt despair over the fact that she couldn’t spit out fire from her mouth, and kept flailing around.
「Mmm──! Mmmm! Mnnn──!」
「Since they noticed my intention to kill, the next chance won’t come so easily. I thought there would be a chance when the unit was on the move, but he is protected like an iron wall, so my pawns can’t go near. Coming to you is much simpler, how ironic.」
「── Mmmmm────!!」
The Princess groaned, and tried to push away his arms. The force bordering on madness made the Fox ask baffledly:
「Ara, please wait, Your Highness. It’s fine to hate me, but you have no reason to do so, right? The results are contrary to my expectations, but leaving one dead and one alive should match your wishes, correct!」
The girl stopped moving suddenly, and the rage in her eyes slowly turned into fear. Trisnai didn’t hold back and fished out her real thoughts, that she had stubbornly refused to face.
「You hate Yatorishino Igsem. Isn’t that so?」
「────」
「That’s right, I know. Just like me in the past, you crave for Ikuta Sankrei. Getting hold of the heroic figure that would be the next watchdog is a move that befits a ruler. I’m impressed by all this, including your eye for talent.」
After lavishing the Princess with praise, the Fox sighed deeply.
「However, your methods are too lenient. It was fine up to the point of approaching and getting him to your side, but you should eliminate any people in your way immediately. She had placed complete trust in you, so there were tons of ways for you to do so. Why didn’t you put them into action?」
The Princess couldn’t answer, her body still stiff. Even though she was free to speak, she still feared the dark side of her heart.
「No── of course I understand why. You have not awakened yet, the mysterious bloodline passed down the royal Katjvarna has not shown itself truly. How disheartening. The centuries of rot had tarnished the luster of the bloodline of kings.」
Trisnai lamented exaggeratedly, and the next moment, and the light returned to his eyes.
「But there are flashes of them showing. You have definitely shown the tip of a ruler’s prowess. That is the reason why I split the army and created this catastrophe, which is the strong medicine needed to awaken you.
Oh right, do you know the result of the coup? The Remeon faction is teaming up with the Rising Sun Regiment to suppress the Igsem and declare themselves the official Imperial Army. Unfortunately, I have no interest in keeping mongrels as watchdogs. I have to dismantle this collusion of theirs── hmm, I wonder what scheme I should use?」
The Fox said cheerfully, like a child planning a field trip. The gulf between his facial expressions and his words sent a chill down the girl’s back.
Sensing that the other party was reeling, Trisnai smiled.
「Do you understand? ── That’s right, if you won’t awaken, I will do this again, and at a bigger scale. Splitting the army behind the scenes, and drawing in threats from overseas. The entire nation will be sent into turmoil, and I will present the most terrible scene for your viewing pleasure.
You might not notice, but I held back this time. Why do you think Kioka had not taken action for so long?」
Whenever Trisnai’s words entered her ears, the girl felt a stir in her heart like rumbling lava── she must kill him. Kill this man. Not just a villain in the court, but a disaster on humanity. An extremist born out of the rotten blood purged from the royal bloodline. Before he satisfy his twisted desire, no one could stop his violent treachery.
「Who should I propped up as the enemy next? Ikuta Sankrei fought valiantly, but from how he is now, it’s unlikely for him to rise up again. It will be great if a hero that can replace him appears, but it will be terribly one sided otherwise… Hmm, I’m not so confident about the Empire surviving next time though?」
Princess Chamille roared inside her heart── Alright then.
They were started as lies within this bloodline. Unwanted children born from corruption and rot.
If you insist, game on then.
「It seems── you intend to awaken.」
Seeing the resolve in Princess Chamille, the Fox smiled gleefully. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and stuff it into the girl’s hand.
「Listen well── leave your room at midnight, and move through the palace as per the instructions on the paper. Don’t take anyone with you, you have to go alone.
Walk to the end, and you will know what you need to do.」
With that, Trisnai removed his hand from the girl’s mouth. He looked at the girl who was coughing violently with sparkling eyes:
「I’m looking forward to this, my dear Chamille. I’m looking forward to see the moment when you truly shine.」
The Fox slipped into a gap between the furniture, and disappeared into the darkness.
Later that day, at midnight.
Sensing from the moonlight that it was time, the Princess opened her eyes on her bed.
「……」
She was already dressed. The girl took care to be quiet as she got off her bed, and walked to a corner of the room with her soles sticking close to the floor. Her goal was the gap between the furniture. She leaned in and looked at the darkness that the Fox disappeared into, and stepped in timidly.
When she almost reached the wall, an opening appeared to her left. The wardrobe that looked like a rectangle actually had an opening at the back, leading into a passageway. There was a squarish hole inside, that lead into a stairs downstairs.
The girl walked down the hole, and felt something like a ladder on her shoes. She groped her way down, and soon reached the bottom. She looked around the dark and found the spot where moonlight was shining through a gap.
The girl pushed hard, and could feel the wind coming in. She carefully walked out from the small gap.
「── Okay.」
The girl walked into the courtyard lit by moonlight. She recalled the map that she had burned, and continued advancing.
The Princess climbed down a nearby well and entered a hole that lead into an underground corridor. Whenever she encounters a ladder or stairs, she would move between the ground level and below ground, hiding between the trees in the courtyard to evade the searchlight of the patrolling Luminous troops, and crawl through the hole at the corner of the walls.
After passing through the last underground passageway, the girl noticed the familiar decor.
This was the restricted zone.
It didn’t take long for her to reach the Emperor’s chambers through the secret passageways.
「────」
When she realized it, she was already standing before the Emperor’s bed.
Things were going scarily smoothly. It wasn’t because the soldiers were slacking off, but the route here was just too good. There were many places that could only be traversed because of her petite stature, even boys her age would have difficulty passing through. The path from the restricted zone to the chamber was so cramped that it might as well be meant for cats.
Maybe I went through the escape path for children in reverse── the girl thought as she looked towards the table by the bed.
A knife was placed there carelessly.
It was true. She knew what she needs to do with one glance.
「……」
The girl looked at the bed again. The bedridden Emperor was there, but his personal Sprite was gone.
It wasn’t clear what trickery he used, but this was probably arranged by Trisnai. Right now, the Emperor was as defenceless as a newborn babe.
He really went out of his way to set this up── the Princess thought as she trembled dumbfoundedly.
「……」
She looked at the Emperor before her again. Aside from his frail chest rising and falling, he was not too different from being dead.
Before he was turned in both body and soul into a puppet, he was an ugly man. Lecherous and foolish, and had a terrible temper.
She knew he was her father. But she never thought of him as one.
If she had to describe it── the girl thought that body was part of the rot.
How refreshing it would be if she could cut off this rot.
「……」
The girl thought about what she was about to do.
For example, fratricide. Or maybe, regicide.
She shook her head. Both weren’t wrong, but was far from the core essence.
「……」
When she bore hatred towards her father, she would always hate herself too.
When hating the Emperor, she would hate the Third Princess.
It was the same in her hatred for Trisnai Izanma. With her uncle that inherited the same blood as her mirror, she could see how difficult it was for her to salvage this rot.
Her endless hate towards her bloodline, was also boundless grudge towards herself.
「…… Ahhh.」
There was no point in being troubled, the girl concluded. She realized the essence of what she was about to do.
This was suicide. Or self harm.
The only way of cleansing herself, for someone who was born filthy.
「……!…」
A youth once said this answer was wrong.
But Ikuta Solork was always accompanied by Yatorishino Igsem.
Ikuta’s heart belongs to Yatori. Yatori’s heart belongs to Ikuta.
She felt the way they lived was very precious. And she shouldn’t touch them with her grubby hands.
However── when realized it, she was absolutely bent on taking the youth.
「── Ahh─」
She couldn’t cry. She didn’t have the right to cry.
Because she was the one who wanted to take him away. Since her wish came true, she had to be elated.
How foolish. How despicable. How unsightly.
As the descendent of the rotten bloodline, this way of existence suited her just right.
「──」
With a heart filled with hatred, she grabbed the hilt of the knife tightly with her right hand.
The girl vowed that her path from now on wouldn’t have any justice.
Kill her father. Kill her uncle. End the bloodline of the Eternal Sprite Tree. All this was fueled by hatred. She had no rights to fight, to defend or salvage anything.
Because she had already trampled over the most precious thing in the world.
「────!──」
She couldn’t cry. She couldn’t. No tears. The expression that befit you wasn’t a crying face.
The girl raised the knife high in a reverse grip. Her left hand resting on top of the hilt gripped by her right hand.
It would end once she stabbed it down. It would begin. She would forever lose the reason to hesitate.
So laugh, laugh heartily. A laughter more cruel than the Fox. More than anyone in the world.
Laugh!
「── Ahhh!」
Two in the morning. It all began with a sudden Jewel Voice Broadcast.
「Announcement, the Emperor has passed on.」
Those asleep woke with a start, those awake opened their eyes wide in surprise. All the soldiers in the palace were in an uproar.
「The 27th Emperor Arshankrut Kitra Katjvanmaninik has passed on.
All citizens of the Empire, please mourn for His Majesty who have returned to the Maker.」
Why now── there were many doubts. It wasn’t during the period he went missing, or when captured by the third forces, why did the Emperor passed away, now that he was back in the palace?
「At the same time, in accordance to the rules set by the Imperial law, the next Emperor will be announced.」
The soldiers grew tense, ready to accept the coronation of their new lord.
「The 28th Empress, is the Third Princess Chamille Kitra Katjvanmaninik.」
Everyone wondered if they were mistaken. No one expected that name.
Not the First Prince, Third Prince, or First Princess── but the Third Princess.
「I repeat. The 28th Empress, is the Third Princess Chamille Kitra Katjvanmaninik.」
With no regards to the strange content of the broadcast, the Sprites continued speaking calmly. They spoke as one together in the capital shrouded in the darkness of the night.
「The ceremony to congratulate the coronation of the new Empress will begin now. All those in the palace are to report to the White Saint Hall.」
After the coronation at 2 am in the morning. Was the celebratory ceremony at 2 am in the morning, it would be more difficult to find anything normal about this. Despite the confusion in their hearts, the soldiers started moving. They tried to follow the protocol in this unusual situation, and after some thought, it was decided that the commander level officers from both factions should report to the White Saint Hall.
No one knew if this was the right protocol, there had never been a coronation celebration ceremony attended only by soldiers.
「… We seek an audience with the Empress.」
After announcing that stiffly, General Remeon walked through the doors of the White Saint Hall. The first thing he saw was the red carpet leading to the throne. Torches were lit on either side of the carpet, and the flickering flames added an air of mystery to the dim and wide space.
「C-Can we come in…?」
Matthew who had clutches in both hands entered timidly, then Torway, Haro, Sazarf and Major General Saba followed behind. To them, this wasn’t the time to be bothered by ceremony.
「Princess…? Are you here…?」
Haro looked into the darkness and asked. Torway and Sazarf stood to the side with tense faces, they could only see the outline of the throne in the dim passageway.
「What is troubling you?」
A voice echoed in the passageway for the first time. Those who recognize this voice grew stiff.
It might sound a little different, but that was definitely her. A crucial difference.
「Come closer. All those in the palace── that was my order.」
The tone she used to address the soldiers had the dignity of a ruler, like a king that had ruled for dozens of years. She had never shown this side of her before. The intelligence that didn’t match her age, and a childishness expected of someone as old as her── These should be the traits of the Princess.
「Princess Chamille……?」
Torway waved aside his dissonance and walked forth to look carefully. That figure on the throne slowly came into view:
「Not Princess. Correct yourself right now, Torway Remeon.」
The youth stopped in his tracks. A few seconds later, the soldiers behind him also opened their eyes wide in surprise.
The blonde girl on the throne was wearing all black without a single trace of any other color. Her blouse was as dark as the feathers of a crow, her dress was like the embodiment of the night, and her coat was as dark as the abyss of the void. For the celebration of the new Empress’ coronation, this looked too out of place.
「… Your style of dress is astounding, Empress Chamille.」
He was baffled, but General Remeon still followed her wishes and addressed her by her title. The girl leaned against the hand rest of the throne, and nodded with her lips curled.
「Be it dusk or dawn, death comes to all who are due. Even the Emperor.」
Her dangerous words made the soldiers gasped. She was obviously implying something with that.
「Let us celebrate then, and resist the night. All lives would come to an end, so let us celebrate the funeral in advance.」
The girl said as if she was singing, and rest her hands on her black clothes. She had no intention of flaunting it, and declared this as her formal attire.
「Forgive my insolence, but I beg to differ. Your Majesty’s brilliance will last for eternity.」
A voice came from behind the soldiers. They turned around, and the strangely pale smile of the Fox appeared before them.
「So you have awaken. Fuhu── I am truly blessed. In the forty years of this Trisnai’s life, there has been no better day than this.」
Trisnai seemed mesmerized as he said that, and genuflect before the throne. The girl was still all smiles.
「Your congratulatory words might be cliche, but it isn’t bad. Fox, come here for your reward.」
Trisnai responded to his summons and approached the throne. The girl looked down casually at the Fox prostrating before her:
「Your nails are really long.」
She stated out of the blue, and took one of his hands.
「I will shorten them for you.」
The girl pinched the nail on Trisnai’s index finger, and peeled it off
「～～～～?」
The Fox exhaled soundlessly. The girl nonchalantly pinched the second nail.
「What a troublesome vassal. Can’t you even groom yourself?」
Rip! A line appeared on his torn skin, and Trisnai threw his head back in pain.
「Hmm? What’s the matter, why aren’t you saying anything? I’m trimming your nails personally, you know? You should be filled with joy, so why aren’t you lavishing me with praise?」
She peeled off the third and fourth, tossing them to the floor. The Fox was foaming at the mouth.
「Still keeping quiet, huh. How insolent… How insolent!」
The girl peeled off the fifth nail with her thumb, flicking it straight onto Trisnai’s face. When she let go of his hand, Trisnai collapsed with his palms on the floor. His fingertips on right hand that lost all its nails were pink and bleeding profusely.
「── Hah! Whizz! Hah……!」
When the intense pain in his numbed brain subsided a little, Trisnai wiped his drool away with his sleeves, and slowly stood up with a smile.
「It is, my great honor.」
He said with sweat all over his face. The girl smiled again and said:
「Begone. You have the stench of a despicable critter on you, it irks me.」
He was completely humiliated. As the soldiers watched on in shock, the fox threw his head back with his hand on his forehead, and didn’t look angry at all.
「Fufufu! Fuhahaha…! I beg your pardon, I will cleanse myself carefully before meeting Your Majesty next time!」
Trisnai bowed gracefully, turned, and left the White Saint Hall. Matthew, Torway, Haro and Sazarf could only watch speechless as all that unfolded.
「Okay, the sideshow is over. Let me hear what you have to say.」
The girl shifted her gaze back nonchalantly, sweeping her gaze across all of the soldiers. Seeing that no one had answered her, she snorted arrogantly:
「The era of the puppet-like Emperors is over. I order you to speak your mind without any reservation. That is the gift that I want. General Remeon, Major General Saba, give me what I wish.」
The two of them who were named looked at each other. The girl raised her voice at the two confused men:
「I’m telling you to report on the problems that I need to solve. Come on, don’t waste time!」
With that shout, the officers started racking their brains. The series of strange turn of events gave the girl control of the situation. The ceremony turned into a war council, and the soldiers spoke timidly to the newly crowned Empress in black.
「────Fu.」
The girl scrowled the corner of her lips in a smile. That terrible smile came naturally to her.
Imperial Year 907, Third Princess Chamille Kitra Katjvanmaninik was coronated as Empress.
When future historians discuss the first Empress in 180 years, they would always include the term 「destruction」──
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