Northern Reckoning
I slowly lowered my blood-soaked sword.
“Don’t move.”
My voice was low, yet everyone in the ducal castle heard it.
“The moment you run or resist, you die where you stand.”
At my declaration, the soldiers’ swords began clattering to the ground. The servants pressed themselves against the walls, heads bowed, while the remaining knights lowered their blades.
Once I confirmed everything was under control, I climbed the ramparts and cast a signal spell. Before long, Commander Reina and Adjutant Raylin arrived with their troops, having seen the signal.
I looked down at them and spoke.
“From this moment, the North falls under the command of headquarters. I leave the cleanup of the ducal castle to you, Commander.”
“Yes, sir. Leave it to me.”
“Adjutant Raylin, assist the commander in compiling the list of traitors. Categorize them by the severity of their crimes.”
“Understood.”
“I will report to the communication room.”
I turned on my heel and headed straight for headquarters.
#
Two soldiers stood guard before the thick iron door of the headquarters communication room. After a brief greeting, I stepped inside. A communications officer sprang to his feet.
“M-Marshal!”
“Is the communication device operational?”
“Yes, sir. Fully functional.”
“Then connect me directly to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Right away, sir.”
The officer hurriedly operated the device. Moments later, a blue light rippled like water and began to take shape. Beyond the screen appeared the imperial palace’s communication room and the Crown Prince himself. Beside him, as expected, stood Perlin Claire.
“Is the situation resolved, Marshal Arsens?”
“The core figures have been dealt with. Only those under suspicion of treason remain.”
“What of the Northern Duke?”
“I just finished handling him.”
Perlin Claire drew a sharp breath. After a brief silence, she was the first to speak.
“…Handled? What do you mean by that?”
I did not avert my gaze.
“It means I killed him.”
Claire’s face went deathly pale.
“How could you—just like that—”
“Is there something strange about reporting that I eliminated a traitor?”
“How can you say that so casually—”
Her lips trembled. Whether from rage, shock, or both, she could no longer contain her emotions.
“Is this always how Marshal Berhardt operates?”
“What are you implying?”
“Your sword moves before your words. Execution before verification. Do you truly believe everything can be solved by cutting people down?”
Only then did I look at her directly.
“Do traitors require a greater justification before they are removed?”
Her eyes wavered, yet she did not back down.
“That is precisely the problem. You are too dangerous. Did it truly have to come to this?”
“…”
“If you keep settling everything with the blade, all that remains is greater fear.”
A laugh escaped me. I made no effort to hide my scorn.
“Fear?”
“……”
“The Northern Wall was left undermanned, supply lines were cut, the commander was under surveillance, and soldiers were forced to point swords at their own comrades—yet the word ‘fear’ comes from your mouth now?”
Claire clenched her teeth.
“Even so, there is a proper way. Everything has its order and procedure—”
I cut her off.
“Death has no order or procedure.”
I meant every word.
“On the battlefield, the late die. The hesitant die. I stopped that from happening.”
Claire shot back at once.
“If you keep swinging your sword like that, innocent lives will be lost!”
This time I did not laugh. I simply stared at her.
“How amusing.”
“What is so amusing?”
“You stand beside His Highness, offering a few words, inserting yourself into decisions, and allowing the North to fall into ruin without understanding how it operates—yet now you question my blade?”
The Crown Prince spoke in a low voice.
“Marshal Arsens. That is going too far.”
“It is not, Your Highness.”
I looked straight at Perlin Claire.
“Do you believe your hands are clean simply because no blood stains them?”
“……”
“A single wrong decision kills countless people. It seems you still do not understand that.”
Claire’s face turned ashen.
“Are you equating me with the Northern traitors?”
“Of course, it is not solely your fault.”
I continued calmly.
“But it does mean you are not innocent, either.”
Claire bit her lip hard. The Crown Prince, too, found no easy way to intervene.
Finally, some silence.
“Come to think of it, the Northern Duke left a message for you.”
“What is it?”
“He said the North remains cold.”
“…”
At those words, tears welled in Claire’s eyes.
“Edrian…”
What a load of bullshit.
The Crown Prince regarded her with clear displeasure and swiftly changed the subject.
“Where are the secured pieces of evidence?”
“They are being organized at headquarters. I will submit a full report once the work is complete.”
“And the ducal castle?”
“It has been sealed. Commander Reina Noah is overseeing the aftermath.”
I paused for a beat, then added,
“Your Highness, the North’s treatment must be corrected.”
“Treatment?”
“This rebellion was not born solely from the Northern Duke’s delusions.”
“Then what?”
“The North has endured for far too long.”
“…”
“Troops are depleted, supplies arrive late, equipment is outdated, and even compensation payments have been neglected. They exploited the resentment festering in those wretched conditions.”
I pressed on.
“If we pretend not to see why the North crumbled so easily, the same tragedy will repeat.”
The Crown Prince sighed and asked,
“What do you want?”
Good. He is at least willing to listen.
“First, halt all discussions regarding the reduction of Northern garrison forces. Second, prioritize supplies bound for the North.”
The Crown Prince remained silent. I did not stop.
“Third, increase compensation for the families of the fallen and for wounded soldiers. Lastly—”
I met his gaze squarely.
“All property seized from the nobles who died in this rebellion must be used for the North’s restoration. The wealth they accumulated here must be returned to the North.”
“That is… far too significant a decision to make immediately…”
I cut him off.
“That is precisely why I am saying it now.”
His mouth closed.
“The North has always been pushed aside. ‘We will handle it later,’ ‘After winter,’ ‘Once matters in the capital are settled.’”
“…”
“And this is where it led us.”
Concern filled the Crown Prince’s face. I drove the point home.
“Your Highness, the North must no longer be treated as a land that merely endures.”
After a short silence, he spoke.
“…I will review it.”
Review. In the end, it meant delay.
“Do not end it with review. This time, real change is required.”
I exhaled and added one final line.
“I will handle the North. Therefore, Your Highness, stop treating it as expendable.”
With that, I severed the connection.
#
The days that followed were relentless. Cutting off one head was never the end of it.
Knights and soldiers who had sided with the ducal house, nobles who joined the rebellion, officials who waited to see which way the wind blew before switching sides—each and every one had to be identified and removed.
Supply lines had to be reestablished, inspection protocols corrected, and troop deployments along the outer walls, gate cities, and the ducal castle itself had to be reorganized. The North had merely caught its breath; it had not yet come back to life.
“…”
Even amid the chaos, my thoughts kept drifting toward the capital—more precisely, toward Perlin Claire. She continued to grate on me.
She lingered at the Crown Prince’s side, layering emotion over judgment, believing everything would turn out well without ever grasping how the North actually functioned.
This incident was no different. She clung to her personal connection with the Northern Duke and kept clouding decisions. Someone would exploit that gap, and someone else would die because of it. Yet she would insist to the very end that she had not known, that she had meant no harm—convinced of her own cleanliness simply because no blood stained her hands.
That was far more dangerous than open malice.
“Perhaps…”
Once I returned to the capital, I would have to deal with her first. I needed to draw a clear line so she could no longer interfere between civil and military affairs. Her careless words must never become imperial policy. That would be the way to restore both the capital and the empire.
Yet if even after removing Perlin Claire the Crown Prince continued to waver…
“Then the Crown Prince, too, will require a decision.”
I spoke the words aloud in the empty office.