Chapter 14
Chapter 14
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 014
Chapter Title: Chapter 4: Wolf, Fox, Bear, and Me (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Retired soldiers, along with their families.
Roughly a few hundred people, at least.
And all of them had rushed over because of me.
"Attention!"
A retired soldier from the 15th Legion suddenly shouted.
"Salute Lieutenant Yannick!"
There was no time to stop them.
-For Thracia!
With a sharp click, the retired soldiers saluted despite their battered bodies.
My back straightened involuntarily.
I clenched my fist, pressed it to my chest, and lifted my chin high.
"......For Thracia."
At ease.
The retired soldiers, who had saluted with their uncomfortable bodies, relaxed as if collapsing.
"Lieutenant."
"Lieutenant Yannick."
Those whose eyes met mine bowed their heads one by one.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, my son is."
"Thank you for saving my son."
Watching the families express their gratitude one after another, an indescribable emotion welled up from within me.
"Did you see?"
Then, a voice that was both youthful and stern rang out.
"The kind of man the one you tried to use as a pawn in your backroom politics is."
Before I knew it, Princess Yeniche Trakieri stood at the entrance of the headquarters, looking pleased as she watched us. Old generals, who seemed to have aged ten years in that short time from exhaustion, were with her.
"Your Highness! It's dangerous to step forward now!"
The Thracia royal guards, the Redcoats, panicked and surrounded her.
"Dangerous? Is that how it looks to you? All I see are brave warriors who devoted themselves to Thracia."
She pushed the Redcoats back and strode forward.
Then, without warning, she grabbed my hand and raised it high.
The crowd, rolling their eyes in confusion, erupted into cheers without even knowing why.
"In the name of Yeniche Trakieri, I promise! Those who devoted themselves to the kingdom shall receive the treatment they deserve!"
The cheers grew even louder as the crowd finally realized who she was.
The young princess smiled in satisfaction, while the old generals looked like they had just bitten into something bitter.
"Step back! Clear out!"
The Redcoats and sentries were sweating bullets.
And I.
Well, well.
I let out a hollow laugh at the princess's clever little ploy.
Improbably, I was now riding in a royal carriage, heading somewhere.
"Their cheers are still echoing in my ears."
Princess Yeniche Trakieri giggled.
The retired soldiers' cheers and shouts must have left quite an impression, as her cheeks were still flushed.
She looked just like a girl out in the world for the first time.
Only on the surface, though.
With a single gesture and a few words, she had turned cheers directed at me toward herself.
Of course, it could have been a pure act of goodwill, but I caught the scent of a seasoned, cunning politician from her.
As I hid my thoughts and glanced around, my eyes met Langrid Guldiv's.
She provocatively lifted her chin.
She looked exactly like a fierce wolf.
A wolf-like legion commander and a fox-like princess—what an odd pair.
"You look like you're curious about our relationship."
The princess's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Langrid trained me in self-defense. In a way, she's my swordsmanship teacher."
She had read my mind like a ghost and explained before I could even ask. She really was a fox.
"When your messenger arrived, Her Highness and I were discussing various military matters. You could call it your good fortune."
I could roughly guess why they had come together.
"I picked up the 8th Legion commander on the way. The fool was pacing in front of headquarters like a dog in heat, without the brains to just go inside. A bear of a man like that."
Now I understood why the 8th Legion commander was here too.
He must have heard the news somehow and come to help.
True to his self-preserving nature, he wasn't bold enough to kick down the headquarters door.
Anyway.
"Might you be the one overseeing this round of military commendations, Your Highness?"
When I cautiously asked the princess, she proudly puffed out her chest and nodded.
"As I said, you're quite lucky."
Langrid added a word.
No wonder the old generals at headquarters had backed down so easily—the mystery was solved.
They weren't the type to yield so readily, even to royalty.
If she was in charge of the commendations, my fate had been under her jurisdiction from the start.
I had more questions, but I held them back.
For a mere officer to pry into royal affairs wasn't proper, and with so many skeletons in my closet, it was wiser to speak less.
Especially when the other side held power over my life and death.
But they didn't seem inclined to let it go.
"From the Hermit Convent?"
The princess asked abruptly.
The timing was too perfect to be coincidence.
"I've heard His Majesty mention the Silent Brotherhood a few times. He said they were among the strongest foes he faced. And that they made even his iron resolve waver more than once—a side of him I never imagined."
Should I try to escape now?
......No, the Redcoats surrounding the carriage wouldn't let me.
Before that, the wolf-like 15th Legion commander would handle me.
"You look lost in thought. Let me ease your worries."
The princess seemed to be enjoying this immensely.
"I won't report these trivial matters to His Majesty and keep him up at night. Nor will I let others do so."
It sounded like a promise to keep my secret, but it was really a threat.
Telling me the king still lost sleep over past events—what else could that be?
"A taciturn man. That's why he caught Langrid's eye."
I had no idea what the 15th Legion commander had told her, but it surely wasn't romantic like she implied.
I knew it, the 15th Legion commander knew it, and the princess knew it.
Yet she teased like any girl her age.
Was it the Trakieri blood? She acted just like her father and uncles.
"We'll talk seriously inside."
The carriage stopped in front of a mansion owned by the royal family in the capital.
"Do you have any specific orders for me, Your Highness?"
I waited for her to sit, then got straight to the point.
There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world. Especially not goodwill from those with Trakieri blood.
"Soon, I will exercise the rights granted to me."
I froze.
Exercising her rights meant jumping into the Power Struggle.
The bill was twice as high as I'd feared.
The worst.
That was why I'd fled my family—to avoid fights over someone else's rice bowl.
"Thracia military oath one: I serve only the royal family. Two: I never interfere in succession matters and devote myself solely to the nation."
I invoked Thracia military law to hold my ground.
"I have no intention of dragging the military into royal affairs."
The princess didn't blink.
"If it were the opposite, maybe."
What did that mean?
"No royal dreams of a strong nation and army without the ability to achieve it."
In short, her brothers lacked the talent.
"On the other side of the continent, iron horses travel between cities, and dragons are tamed to race across the skies like flat plains. The world is changing rapidly. But what of Thracia?"
Thracia's obsession with tradition and the old ways couldn't keep up. The unprecedented losses in this war were proof.
"The military brass are only busy shifting blame, playing politics in dark rooms with eyes and ears shut—they can hardly be called soldiers anymore."
I fully agreed on the rotten leadership, at least.
Thracia had two chances in this war.
We could have cut the Astoria army's supply lines deep in our territory to force their retreat, or launched a full assault on the withdrawing forces to crush their will to reinvade.
But the headquarters old guard, only good for armchair debates, clung to the status quo and missed both.
"With those vultures holding on, we can't even guarantee Thracia's survival tomorrow."
Specifically, she planned to purge the brass starting with the commendations—and install her own people in key positions.
"I plan to bring in young legion commanders like Langrid, who shone in this war, to headquarters en masse. If they work together, a stronger Thracia is no dream."
My expression hardened involuntarily.
I'd refused the ambitious 15th Legion commander's recruitment, fearing a thorny path. But now it looked like a bed of roses.
Could I back out now? As I itched to open my mouth—
"Normally, I'd assign Langrid a frontline stronghold to counter Astoria's ambitions, but at her strong recommendation, I'm passing it to the 8th Legion."
The princess nailed it shut first.
"Langrid doesn't praise lightly. If she speaks so highly of you, you'll surely hold the front with the 8th Legion commander."
I despaired, and so did the 8th Legion commander.
He'd been listening blankly like a scarecrow and now looked ready to cry.
I probably wore a similar expression, though for different reasons.
"I understand."
I forced my expression to steady and spoke.
The princess and 15th Legion commander wanted the 8th Legion and me at the forefront of military reform.
In essence, accept headquarters'—likely the 15th Legion commander's—experimental, radical reorganization plan that other legions would reject.
Not the worst, since it didn't drag me into the Power Struggle.
"Hm......"
Military experiments cost a fortune—which meant the 8th Legion's budget would boom.
And from the looks of it, our opinions didn't matter from the start.
Like it or not, we'd have to accept.
So I thought.
"If so, what will the 8th Legion gain?"
Might as well get something out of it.
"Truly a tough opponent."
Princess Yeniche Trakieri leaned back on the sofa, glancing at the door where the guests had left.
"Quick with calculations but without greed, dreaming of change yet seeking stability. No ambition, yet accomplishments beyond compare. A type I've never encountered."
She'd never seen such a bundle of contradictions.
"One thing's certain: money and status won't move him."
Langrid Guldiv looked amused watching the puzzled princess.
"You're right. If we hadn't leaked his past exploits to the old generals, pulling him in wouldn't have been this easy."
"Push too hard, and he might bolt anywhere. Keeping boundaries is key."
"I saw the same."
The princess nodded once and sighed.
"I'd love to make him a legion commander right now to succeed you."
"He's already under too much scrutiny. After the commendations, it'll worsen. We need to pace it."
"Invest time and effort to groom him."
"He's worth it."
She was confident he'd become one of the princess's top cards.
"We should bolster the 8th Legion commander appropriately too. A winter bear of a man, but he doesn't covet subordinates' merits or burn with jealousy."
"I'll keep that in mind."
The 15th Legion commander seemed accustomed to tutoring the princess, who accepted her lessons without awkwardness.
This wasn't their first such exchange.
"Langrid, despite our age gap, I support you."
"Out of the question. Well, if you reach my level, maybe I'd consider it."
"Harsh standards. Equal to someone who'll be Grand Marshal."
"Exactly—ten years too early."
"In ten years, the gap will still be ten."
They traded playful jabs effortlessly, as if routine.
"More worrying is whether drawing him in will incur His Majesty's wrath."
The princess shook her head.
"Harboring the strong foe that troubled you? He'd praise it as commendable, not criticize."
"True, that's His Majesty."
"Yes, he is."
Despite coming all the way to the capital, I was stuck in an inn the whole time.
Thanks to the princess, I had my freedom, so I'd planned to roam freely.
First, I headed to the royal bank.
"You really went all out back there."
"That spread already?"
"By tomorrow, the whole capital will know. Reporters won't miss a scoop like that."
"This is troublesome."
The clerk who'd always handled my pay laughed at my expression.
"I heard you got promoted. So what's your rank now......?"
"Lieutenant."
"My goodness, already? You started as a lowly private. At this rate, you'll roll up as a general next time."
"No way. A non-academy general? Thracia's military isn't that open."
I answered lightly and got to business.
"Do it like always, but increase the amount."
"How much......?"
"Use it all."
"That's a hefty sum. What about you, Lieutenant? You always saved for retirement."
The clerk double-checked.
"It's fine. I've got a big influx coming."
"Something good happened? Congratulations, whatever it is."
I just smiled at her question about a new patron.
Treating the princess like a sugar mama might get us both hauled off.
"As usual: half to families of the fallen, half to war orphans. Disburse monthly over a year. Right?"
"Yes."
"Sign here on the donation receipt...... Lieutenant?"
"......Ugh. Done."
"Thank you. Thanks for using Thracia Royal Bank today!"
As I turned to leave, my heart felt empty somehow.
To shake it off, I wandered the capital aimlessly.
The war had ended not long ago, but the capital buzzed as if the aftershocks were gone.
To those who hadn't seen battle, maybe.
But I couldn't miss the scars: one-handed apple sellers, one-legged barkers on crutches, coachmen with bandaged burns and matted hair.
They were vivid to my eyes, even without looking.
The walk lost its appeal.
I headed straight to the inn the princess had arranged—free—and holed up until the commendation ceremony.
And the day arrived.