Fish Caught in the Net (2)
The sight of an enormous army dying at terrifying speed before weapons of a form no one had ever seen before was more than enough to leave a severe trauma on everyone who witnessed it.
The Iron Vanguard stood alongside the Northern Slayers who battled the monsters of the North Sea, and the Imperial Rose Knights, as one of the most renowned units for sheer skill.
They were numerous. Every member had to pass grueling trials and training just to be selected. Clad in heavy armor, they possessed the overwhelming physical strength to swing weapons freely even while mounted. Add the speed of their horses, and they were an elite force whose valor was famous not only throughout the Empire but in foreign lands as well.
If the Rose Knights ever had to face the Iron Vanguard in a full frontal clash, they would eventually win—but only at the cost of catastrophic losses. That was how strong the Iron Vanguard was.
And yet that same Iron Vanguard—the unmistakable elite unit flying its banners—was collapsing in heaps without even managing to close the distance on the “barbarians,” cut down from an absurdly far range.
Every time those fire-spitting weapons swept from left to right, the Southern army’s front ranks toppled as if some murderous sorcery had been invoked. Dozens of operators swung the weapons left to right, right to left, leaving no blind spots and no survivors in sight.
“Don’t tell me… the reason the South never resisted wasn’t because they chose not to, but because their army was annihilated so thoroughly they never even had the chance…”
“You saw it correctly. There is no Iron Vanguard here. No Southern army either. All of them became meat in front of the weapons I ordered developed. When ninety-nine percent of a region’s military force vanishes, who knows what chaos would erupt if an occupation force like ours didn’t at least maintain minimal public order? We’re here for the South’s sake.”
“How… how could you commit such madness… How can there not be even a speck of respect for the enemy in something like this…”
What filled Michelle with unbearable rage was not so much the raw power of the weapons she had just seen, but the scene those weapons had created.
The Iron Vanguard and the Southern army had not died honorably, facing their foes, sword against sword. The slaughter had been so merciless and overwhelming that even cattle or pigs dragged into a slaughterhouse would have died more humanely.
There was no interest whatsoever in who the opponent was, what their face looked like, what their name was, how fine a sword they wielded, what level of mastery they had reached as knights, or whether they were worthy opponents whose defeat would bring honor. That was the nature of the combat.
Those weapons held neither courtesy nor respect for the other side. They seemed forged for one purpose alone: to kill large numbers of people easily and conveniently.
How could a human being create something like that? Do those things truly exist? If I cut this man down right here, could I stop more of those horrors from being made?
Michelle wanted nothing more than to draw her aura and cut Isaac down on the spot, yet the memory of the crystal orb she had seen earlier refused to leave her mind.
What if it was fabricated? A bluff staged for intimidation?
But what if it wasn’t? If she tried to cut Isaac down here, could she actually succeed?
While Michelle wrestled with that fierce internal conflict, Isaac casually crossed his legs and issued an order to Eleanor.
“You’ve already heard my answer to the Imperial mediation proposal. From now on, I’ll tell you the reply Eleanor will send to the Imperial Court.”
“Wh… what? You’re going to tell me what reply I should send to the Imperial Court?”
“That’s right. From this moment, you will write the following...”
At the forced reply, Eleanor nearly leapt out of her seat.
Sending a report like that would be no different from declaring, “I’ve happily accepted all the gifts you people gave me until now, so I’m settling down somewhere I actually like.”
Eleanor had lingered in the Imperial Court precisely because she loved all those privileges and benefits, never giving anyone a clear answer. Now all of it stood to vanish—and worse, the entire Empire might turn hostile toward her.
“That’s impossible! I cannot follow that!”
“Oh, you will.”
When Eleanor resisted, Isaac pulled a terminal from his pocket and transmitted an order somewhere.
“This is Isaac. Our precious envoy still fails to grasp her position and has rejected my proposal. Team One, move.”
—Understood, Great Chieftain.
A deep orc voice answered through the terminal. Eleanor, Michelle, and every Rose Knight instantly fixed their attention on it.
“What are you planning?”
“Look at the window behind you.”
Eleanor and the Rose Knights turned naturally toward the large window at their backs.
On the ground, Western troops were herding more than a hundred people bound like dried fish across the street. They were the Southerners who had been visible only at a distance on the way here.
Michelle muttered as she realized where they were headed.
“Wait—that direction is…”
The shooting range where the thunderous noise had been coming from.
A moment later the orc’s voice returned through the terminal.
—Ready, Great Chieftain.
Guessing what was about to happen, Michelle went pale with horror.
“I-Isaac! What in the world are you—”
“Execute.”
Dududududududu!
The moment the chaotic gunfire erupted through the terminal, Eleanor, Michelle, and the entire Rose Knights froze solid.
After several seconds the gunfire ceased, and the same dry orc voice spoke again.
—Team One, execution complete.
“Good work. Next—Team Two, stand by.”
Isaac paused the transmission briefly and turned back to Eleanor.
“Have you decided what reply to send, Eleanor?”
“Th-this… how could you… Y-you will burn in hell…”
“Team Two, execute.”
Dududududududu!
“Team Three, stand by.”
“S-stop it! Stop this right now! Those people have nothing to do with this negotiation!”
“Isaac! Have you truly abandoned being human?! I’ll take your head this instant—”
Enraged, Michelle fully raised her aura and swung at Isaac.
Bang! Bang!
The instant she moved, the Glocks in the elves’ hands spat fire. The rounds punched straight through the mithril armor the Rose Knights prided themselves on and struck Michelle’s legs.
“Ghk… Aaaagh!”
Overwhelming pain dropped Michelle, blood pouring from both legs. The elves immediately closed in and pressed their muzzles to her head.
“If you don’t want to die, don’t move a muscle, human.”
“C-Commander!”
“Commander! These barbarians dare—”
Seeing Michelle fall, the Rose Knights surged up in fury—only to freeze solid at a single word from Isaac.
“I used only weak weapons that leave wounds easily treatable. Yet it seems you all want to be buried beside the Iron Vanguard’s corpses along with your commander. Do you think I left you alive because I lack the power to wipe you out right here? Orcs—from this moment, the instant any one of them so much as twitches a finger, turn this place into their grave.”
“Gladly.”
“Kh…!”
The orcs initiated primary minigun spin-up. The barrels began to vibrate at a dangerous pitch—the exact motion everyone had seen in the crystal-orb memory just before the Iron Vanguard was annihilated.
The thought that a reckless move could truly kill their still-living commander, combined with the fact that their commander had just been dropped by a few rounds from guns that looked far weaker than the miniguns, kept every Rose Knight rooted in place.
“I’ll ask again, Eleanor. Have you decided what answer to send the Imperial Court?”
“You… you’re insane… How can a human being do something like…”
“Team Three, execute.”
Dududududududu!
“Team Four, stand by.”
“S-stop! Please stop! I’ll do whatever you say! I’ll write exactly the reply you want—just stop!”
Eleanor finally screamed and raised the white flag.
“So you’ll write the letter of your own free will, then?”
“…Yes. Entirely of my own free will… I’ll write it.”
Right in front of Isaac, Eleanor wrote the letter to the Imperial Court. Only after he personally read every line was she finally released from that hell.
Having come to the South and examined the situation, I found none of the concerns the Imperial Court feared. The demi-humans of the West and the Southern citizens coexist in excellent harmony. In fact, the Southern people praise Lord Isaac for ending the tyranny of the former Southern Archduke.
However, as Lord Isaac must oversee both the West and the South simultaneously, considerable budget is being consumed. For the time being, Western revenues will be used solely for Western administration and Southern reconstruction. I, Eleanor, have personally inspected and confirmed all of the above, and thus report that there is no room for doubt.
P.S. Lord Isaac has shown me great care, and I myself have grown fond of life here in the South under his presence. I therefore intend to remain here for a while with the Rose Knights and stay at Lord Isaac’s side.
— Eleanor
“Lumina, send this letter to the Imperial Court in three days.”
“Yes, Lord Isaac.”
“And good work on your end as well. Cuff everyone from Team One onward, load them onto the train, and send them to the West. Have them work the Aoz Mine according to the classification standards I gave you.”
—Understood, Great Chieftain. All right, everyone follow! From this moment you board the westbound train!
At the orc’s voice through the terminal, Eleanor, the bleeding Michelle, and every Rose Knight snapped their heads around.
“What was that just now…?”
“Ah, nothing much. I simply gathered everyone who violated the laws I proclaimed and am loading them onto the westbound train, Team One first. They’ll be doing some rather hard labor from now on.”
“But you clearly… ordered them executed…”
“I never said ‘kill them.’ I only said ‘execute.’ Meaning the lawful transfer of criminals to the West, according to regulations.”
“But… that sound earlier…”
“The gunfire? The criminal transfer site happens to be close to the training grounds, so radio chatter picking up gunshots is common enough. Ah—did the overlapping sounds make you think I had ordered a mass execution? What an absurd misunderstanding. I merely raised an army to protest the South’s injustices; I’m not the sort who enjoys massacring civilians. Hahaha!”
Only then did Eleanor, Michelle, and the Rose Knights realize they had been completely played on Isaac’s board—yet the letter Eleanor had written was already in his hands.