Looking to the Next Regime
"Lucille."
"Yes, Brother."
"If a civil war breaks out…"
Lucille, who had been reading, looked up at me. I went on.
"Our side will join Lord Henrik."
"What?"
"I said we'll join Lord Henrik."
"Are you serious?"
Of course I was. I might enjoy a joke, but I wouldn't joke about something like this.
"I'm serious."
"…"
"Will you trust me and follow?"
"…If it's the path you take, Brother, I'm always ready to trust and follow you. But—is there a chance of winning?"
"No."
"Th-then why on earth…!"
"I'm going to lose this civil war."
"Why?"
"Because…"
After hearing my explanation, Lucille's face went blank with shock.
It felt good—like I'd landed a clean hit on the kid who was usually so expressionless.
"Did Andeln send you?"
The setting sun. At Henrik's question, I shook my head firmly.
"I came of my own accord."
"Have you come to kill me?"
"I've come to join you."
"What? Me?"
"Lord Henrik is my liege and I am your vassal. Joining you is hardly strange, is it?"
"That's true, but…"
"Or is joining Lord Henrik the strange part?"
"By common sense, yes. My forces number a mere eight thousand. Andeln has twenty thousand. How am I supposed to win against double the numbers?"
"With the Meyer family's four thousand joining, that makes twelve thousand. A little less than double."
"Even so, the disadvantage remains."
"Yes. Our side will lose, and Lord Andeln will take Torgenberg."
"Knowing that, why on earth…"
"My lord, do you know the saying about a three-day reign under heaven?"
There were countless theories about its origin. And for good reason—it was a rather common occurrence.
"You… don't tell me…"
"Yes. I'm looking not at Lord Andeln, but at the regime that comes after."
"…"
Henrik stared blankly at my face, blinking. Then—
"Hahaha! Cough! Cough! Hahahahaha!!!"
He laughed hard, as if he found it truly amusing.
"You. You think Andeln will die soon, don't you?"
"Yes. Frankly speaking, Lord Andeln is an ordinary man. I don't believe his regime will last long."
"If Andeln dies, Adel will become duke, and Adel will be more favorably disposed toward me than Andeln ever was—so you believe a loyal retainer who sided with the setting sun won't be forgotten, and will be treated well."
"Yes. That's correct."
"You…"
He looked at my face and kept laughing, as if he could barely hold it in. Then he said:
"Franz Meyer. If only you had been my son…"
"I'm grateful for the words, but I respect my current father."
"Even that. You're a good son. Unlike my own boy."
"Thank you."
"Very well. In recognition of that extraordinary mind of yours, I'll give you a gift."
"A gift…?"
"Attend me!"
"Yes!"
"Have the defense captain enter!"
"Yes!"
Soon the defense captain came in. Henrik spoke to him.
"Melton."
"Yes, my lord."
"Send a letter of surrender to Andeln. Tell him I will yield."
"What? My lord! Are you serious?"
"I am serious. Send it at once."
"…If that is your will."
Only then did I understand what his gift was. It was the preservation of our forces. If battle broke out as things stood, the Meyer family's troops would take heavy losses. By deliberately surrendering, my lord had kept the Meyer family's military strength intact.
He had entrusted the future to a man who would rise again someday—and for that future, he had abandoned the present.
"Franz Meyer."
"Yes, my lord."
"If ever Adel and Andeln come to blows…"
"I will stand with Lord Adel without fail."
I never saw Lord Henrik again after that. He was locked in an underground dungeon and never came out for the rest of his life, dying without anyone knowing when. For the death of a hero who had dominated an era, it was a wretched end.
"Franz Meyer."
An aristocratic yet arrogant voice filled the hall.
"Franz Meyer, Franz Meyer. Oh! Franz Meyer."
"Lord Andeln."
"I clearly extended my hand to you. Told you to join my side. That I was watching you."
"You did."
"And yet you brushed my hand aside and clung to my father. Why did you do such a thing?"
Everyone's eyes were on me, wondering what words would leave my mouth. And—
"Because Lord Henrik was my liege."
That was my answer. I had simply kept my loyalty and my contract with my lord. And that single sentence shamed the other vassals. Every one of them had broken their contracts and betrayed him.
"Hahaha!"
Andeln laughed loudly. Then he placed a hand on my shoulder.
"While everyone else had eyes only for betrayal, you alone monopolized loyalty."
"…"
"You are a true loyal retainer."
"…"
"However!"
Right. Here comes the real point.
I'd been wondering when he'd get to it.
"My father always told me: reward and punishment are the foundation of military discipline. You opposed me, and my subordinates—traitors though they may be—took my side. Therefore I cannot reward you."
"I understand."
"Franz Meyer."
"Yes."
"I will reduce the Meyer family's territory by half. Consider it the price of a wrong choice, and reflect."
I bowed my head instead of answering. At Andeln's words, the heads of the Four Great Houses breathed sighs of relief. They were thinking that if they had sided with Henrik, they would have been standing where I stood now.
The Meyer family had held power no less than the Four Great Houses. But once the territory was halved, that would change. The Meyer family had been pushed out of the center of politics—with a single choice.
"Lord Meyer."
The one who spoke was the head of the Giesel family—the father of the bastard I'd dumped wine on last time.
"Yes, Lord Giesel."
"Don't take it too hard. You made the right choice."
I'd thought he might pick a fight, but sure enough, he was offering comfort.
The other heads of the Four Great Houses were the same. They cleared their throats, each offered a word of consolation, and disappeared.
What the hell is this farce?
For a moment I wondered what they were playing at, but I soon understood. They had regarded the Meyer family as a rival. But with a single mistake, the Meyer family had been completely pushed out of the center of politics—so half relief, half satisfaction. And a shred of sympathy for a knight who had kept his loyalty led them to offer even a single word.
"Haa…"
They wouldn't know. That before long, the positions would be reversed.
"Enjoy your brief sense of victory. It won't last long."
Of course it wouldn't—because that was a fact only I, who knew the future, was aware of.
And after half the territory had been cut away, when I returned home…
"Brother."
Lucille greeted me. Yet strangely, her expression wasn't all that bad—even though she must have heard the news of the territorial reduction.
"Lucille."
"Things will be easier from now on. The territory's been cut in half, after all."
"I suppose so?"
"Then let's live a little more leisurely. Enjoy some hobbies, read books, and…"
"Throw the occasional party."
"Sounds good."
Lucille and I looked at each other and smiled. Fortunately, she seemed to understand my thinking. Or maybe she was simply a kind person—I couldn't say for sure.
And so half the territory was gone, and in proportion to the reduced lands, the family's capacity to field four thousand troops was cut to half—two thousand.
But I didn't consider this affair a loss.
I simply thought of it as one step back for two steps forward.
Meanwhile, while the Setia family was embroiled in civil war, a major battle had also taken place in the south.
The Battle of Endora. A clash between Leona von Kruzenstein's six thousand troops and Clozel von Kruzenstein's fourteen thousand.
By numbers alone, Clozel should have won. But the result? An overwhelming victory for Leona.
Leona's forces crushed Clozel's army—more than twice their size—with almost no losses of their own, and with that, hegemony over the south fell into Leona's hands.
And the moment Clozel's army collapsed, Andeln decided this was his chance and marched south with his entire force.
It was only natural. Clozel had lost his main army. So while they had no troops, he meant to raid the empty house and gobble up as much territory as possible.
Leona would take Clozel's southern lands, so they would take the northern ones—that was the idea.
This wasn't actually Andeln's idea. From the moment Henrik had decided to support Leona, the plan had already been laid out; Andeln was simply putting his spoon on the table Henrik had set.
But failing to eat from a prepared table would make you a fool as well. In that sense, Andeln's choice wasn't wrong.
And so thirty thousand troops gathered. A great host of thirty thousand marched south toward the Kruzenstein family.
Five years earlier, when the Setia family had been unilaterally invaded—this was the exact reverse of that position.
And the Meyer family also took part in that campaign. With two thousand troops.