3
Chapter 3
As the door opened, the adjutant entered carrying a stack of documents.
"General. Here is the latest report from the North."
I took the papers from the adjutant and began flipping through them from the first page.
Combat reports. Remnant subjugation status. Supply consumption. Border redeployment plans.
I flipped through a few more pages before stopping.
"What is this?"
The adjutant looked up.
"Which part are you referring to, sir?"
Without a word, I pressed my finger against a section of the document.
Return schedule for the Northern Expeditionary Force. Phased withdrawal following victory. Priority unit list. Supply wagon redeployment. Estimated time of return to the capital.
I remained silent for a moment.
These were documents that could only have been drafted by people who believed the war was completely over.
"General?"
I turned to the next page.
Damage reports from the outer settlements. Delayed return of the scouts. Subjugation of remnants still ongoing.
It was brief. Far too brief.
I scoffed.
"They're insane."
The adjutant's expression stiffened.
"Is there a problem, sir?"
"It's riddled with problems."
I set the documents down.
"The remnants haven't been fully cleared and the settlements aren't settled yet, but they're pulling troops."
"The return schedule had already been set. It was a proposal submitted before the victory banquet..."
"That's exactly why it's a problem."
I stood up from my seat.
"If the war were over, that would be one thing, but pulling troops from an active front isn't a withdrawal—it's leaving a hole in the line."
The adjutant fell silent.
I picked up the papers again.
This was nonsensical.
I pulled a blank sheet of paper toward me and wrote a brief note.
Full suspension of the Northern Expeditionary Force's return.
No troop movements until further notice.
The adjutant held his breath.
"General. That would require the Crown Prince's permission."
"I know."
I pushed the document toward him.
"Submit it immediately."
The adjutant took the paper right away.
"Yes, sir."
"Tell the communications room to stand by. We contact the North the moment permission is granted."
The adjutant bowed and quickly left the office.
Once the door closed, I looked back at the map.
Pulling troops while remnants still remain?
I don't know who made this call, but if it's approved, the North will be left wide open.
I pressed a hand to my forehead in frustration.
It was the same in the original story.
They had collapsed the moment they thought it was over. I had to stop that from happening.
How much time had passed?
The adjutant entered again.
"General."
I looked up.
"The permission."
She hesitated for a moment.
"Not yet, sir."
"Not yet?"
"His Highness said he would review it shortly..."
I tapped the desk silently with my finger.
Once is understandable.
It was right after the banquet; the Crown Prince likely had things to organize.
"Check again."
The adjutant bowed her head immediately.
"Yes, sir."
The door closed once more.
I sat there, counting the time.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours.
I was growing increasingly restless.
A troop withdrawal isn't triggered by a single piece of paper alone.
Packing gear, gathering men, prepping horses, diverting supply lines—once that momentum is set, it's hard to stop.
The longer the permission was delayed, the wider the gap would become.
The door opened again.
This time, the adjutant's expression was even more rigid than before.
I didn't even ask. She spoke first.
"His Highness is said to be away from his desk."
I couldn't even bring myself to laugh.
"Where is he?"
The adjutant couldn't answer immediately.
That reaction alone told me everything.
I slowly rose from my seat.
"Speak."
The adjutant spoke quietly.
"He is said to be in the private room."
The private room. I picked up the documents.
"I'm going."
"General."
The adjutant hurried to keep up.
"Perhaps you should wait a little longer..."
I didn't stop.
"The enemy doesn't wait."
I strode quickly through the hallway.
The palace was quiet given the late hour, but that silence only irritated me more.
While the North remained unsettled, the capital was already exhaling, thinking the night was deep.
An attendant flinched, startled by our presence.
"Lord Beharrt."
"Is His Highness inside?"
The attendant hesitated to answer. Seeing that, I didn't bother asking further.
I walked straight to the door of the private room.
The two knights guarding the door looked at each other tentatively.
"His Highness is currently—"
I ignored them and pushed the door open.
Inside, it was quieter than I expected.
The Crown Prince was there, and sitting opposite him was Perlin Claire.
It seemed they had been engaged in some serious conversation.
A long time had passed since I sent the urgent report.
This was the moment the Northern Expeditionary Force's return had to be stopped. Yet, the Crown Prince was here.
With that woman.
My mind went cold.
The Crown Prince stood up first.
"Sir Arsen?"
Instead of answering, I simply held up the document in my hand.
"Your Highness. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I sent that urgent report?"
The air froze.
The Crown Prince's expression stiffened.
"What is this insolence—"
"It is the proposal to suspend the return of the Northern Expeditionary Force."
I took a step inside.
"The subjugation of the remnants isn't even finished, yet troops in the North are already being diverted back to the capital."
The Crown Prince frowned as he took the document, but he read it with complete indifference.
He skimmed a few lines, flipped a page, and then looked up again.
"Is this all?"
For a moment, I couldn't even bring myself to laugh.
"What do you mean, 'all'?"
"The scouts' return is delayed, and the remnant subjugation isn't complete. There are some damages to the settlements as well."
The Crown Prince lightly folded the document in his hand.
"Are these not common occurrences immediately following a victory?"
My jaw tightened.
"Your Highness."
"Lord Beharrt!"
That was when it happened.
Claire, who had been silent until then, spoke up.
"I was the one who suggested the Expeditionary Force return."
I slowly turned my gaze toward her.
Claire didn't back down, just as she hadn't at the banquet. Instead, she looked me straight in the eye.
"I told His Highness that the troops in the North must be returned to the capital."
For a moment, I was speechless. This woman? Seeing my reaction, Claire didn't stop.
"His Majesty is currently confined to his bed, is he not?"
"......."
"If all of His Majesty's Royal Knights and direct soldiers are out in the North, then who is left to protect the capital?"
I said nothing.
Claire continued, as if she had taken my silence as agreement.
"The General holds the greatest military power in the Empire. If His Majesty's forces remain tied up in the North, the Imperial Palace can't help but feel uneasy."
"Uneasy?"
My voice dropped to a low, cold tone.
Claire nodded.
"Yes. The imperial authority must be stabilized. If the capital is shaken, the North and everything else becomes meaningless. Withdrawing the troops is the only logical decision."
Ah, I see now.
To this woman, the Emperor's direct knight order and soldiers stationed in the North were simply tools to protect her power.
And from whom exactly was she protecting that power?
'From me.'
The moment I realized this, rage surged from deep within me. Yet, Arsen's body refined that anger into something calm and controlled.
I spat out the words, chewing on that refined fury.
"So. You diverted the Northern troops."
Claire's eyebrows twitched.
"Diverted? That's a bit excessive. Why do you keep trying to block the direct knight order and the soldiers from returning to the capital?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, I don't know if you're truly doing this for the North, or if you have some other motive!"
"Another motive?"
Claire hesitated for a moment before finally letting the words slip.
"That you might be planning a rebellion..."
"Hahaha!"
The rage that had reached its breaking point transformed into laughter.
I laughed like a madman. It truly was hilarious. It was absolutely absurd that this crazy woman didn't understand the situation and kept running her mouth.
"Why are you laughing?"
"How could I not?"
I stopped laughing and fixed my gaze on the Crown Prince and Claire.
Then, I spoke quietly, as if spitting out venom.
"A mere whore acting as if she's already the Crown Princess..."
"Arsen!"
The Crown Prince was the first to react.
Perhaps feeling that he had to do something since his lover had been insulted, he drew the sword at his waist and pointed it at me.
"I will not tolerate any more insolence!"
How ridiculous.
"Crown Prince Leon. No, just Leon."
I grabbed the blade pointed at me.
"Was I wrong?"
With a sharp snap, the Crown Prince's sword shattered.
Mana and Aura surged throughout my body, emitting a dark blue energy.
"A rebellion? Do you think His Majesty sent his own soldiers to the North because he was unaware of such a possibility?"
"That's...!"
"Shut your mouth, Perlin Claire. I wasn't talking to you."
In this world, Mana and Aura are powers that transcend humanity. The rage of one who has reached the pinnacle of both evokes a primal fear.
Claire could no longer speak and bowed her head.
I looked at the Crown Prince, who was frozen in a mix of rage and terror.
"His Majesty was not unaware. He fully considered the possibility of my rebellion. But after that deliberation, he reached one conclusion."
I compressed the Mana and Aura in my body over and over, forging them into a single, sharp force. Then, I showed those two precisely what that meant.
"That whether it's the Royal Knights or anyone else, no one in the capital can stop me."
This is what the Empire's War Hero truly is.