The East, and Biraf (3)
“First of all, Count Wint-Hafen served as vice-commander of the Eastern Knight Order in his youth before retiring on account of his age. He’s approaching his later years now, so I’m not sure how much of that strength remains, but I’ve heard he was a top-tier Sword Expert back in the day.”
A monster with a sword, too.
I’ve been marked by a monster like that? My life is seriously fucked…
“It’s probably no coincidence that the Eastern Knight Order sided with the 2nd Prince. He himself is a former member, and he’s one of the East’s greatest nobles.”
Yeah, I get the picture. So he’d hooked up one of the East’s most powerful nobles with the 2nd Prince.
“Why did you introduce Count Wint-Hafen to the 2nd Prince?”
“To make him start a rebellion, obviously.”
“Excuse me?”
Wait, didn’t he just claim he hadn’t done anything? Then why the hell was the reason something like that?
Anyone hearing that would think he was straight-up confessing, I’m the traitor here.
“I’ll say it again—I never wanted the current situation. I knew the East harbored enormous resentment toward the central government, so my plan was to use him to either expose or thwart the 2nd Prince’s rebellion plot and thereby solidify my eldest brother’s position.”
“So you’re saying you had no personal ambition?”
“…I can’t claim I had none, even if I’m lying through my teeth. I intended to earn merit by revealing the plot and claim a ducal title along with the position of chancellor.”
So he did have ambitions after all.
The 2nd Prince had always coveted the throne but lacked the ability to seize it. Getting Count Wint-Hafen to help him build a faction had gone exactly according to the 3rd Prince’s design.
Perhaps recalling the situation at the time, the 3rd Prince let out a heavy sigh and continued.
“But events moved far more rapidly than I anticipated. The conspiracy progressed at a pace well beyond my predictions.”
It really had been strange. That was how the 3rd Prince put it.
And it was strange.
If the 3rd Prince had been the one to connect the 2nd Prince with Count Wint-Hafen, shouldn’t he already have a solid grasp of both men?
Yet the actual events had clearly spiraled far beyond his control.
The 3rd Prince paused to catch his breath, then spoke again.
“My second brother lacks the capacity for such a thing, and while Count Wint-Hafen is certainly competent, the financial power and organizational strength he wielded far exceeded what a mere count should possess. When I grew suspicious and investigated him, what emerged from the shadows was——”
“The Biraf Coalition Kingdom.”
“Correct. Biraf was supplying funds and operatives from behind the scenes. The personnel you encountered in the dungeon were also part of the force Biraf provided.”
Ah, so those knights and the single mage I’d met in the dungeon near my territory had been part of that.
Because they’d operated with Count Wint-Hafen as their backer within the kingdom, they’d been able to penetrate so deeply without detection.
“When you first connected Count Wint-Hafen to the 2nd Prince, did you truly not know about Biraf’s involvement?”
“Absolutely not. In fact, they weren’t involved yet. If my information is accurate, Biraf had not yet approached them at the time I introduced the count to my second brother.”
That meant Biraf had reached out after seeing Count Wint-Hafen attach himself to the 2nd Prince.
In other words, the very outbreak of this civil war carried Biraf’s deliberate intent.
“…Why in the world did Biraf instigate a civil war?”
“I don’t know. I still haven’t figured out their reason. Events moved too quickly for me to investigate properly.”
It seemed the 3rd Prince was equally in the dark about their motives.
It felt like being lost in thick fog. Unable to read the opponent’s intentions, we were simply being dragged along.
…It was incredibly unpleasant.
“Do you believe Biraf will eventually join the war themselves, Your Highness?”
“I do. Since they engineered this civil war, they have no reason not to strike at our moment of weakness. And because they orchestrated it, they’ve surely prepared thoroughly.”
“In what form do you expect their participation? Do you think they’ll intervene directly in the civil war?”
“Probably not. The 2nd Prince’s forces have withdrawn to the East, and this region has no direct land connection to Biraf. Transporting supplies by sea would be difficult even for them, so they’re more likely focusing on their specialty—overland logistics.”
Hmm. In that case, they would enter through the southern provinces connected by land routes.
“That’s why you believe my father cannot participate. Because there’s no telling when Biraf might invade.”
“Exactly. As long as the timing of Biraf’s invasion remains unclear, we cannot afford to move the kingdom’s greatest southern asset—the Southern Knight Order—and its Sword Master, Baron Rosfel.”
And they might not invade at all. The 3rd Prince added that remark as he finished speaking.
“They might not invade?”
“Biraf is a coalition even more fractured than our own kingdom. We have frequent regional conflicts, and this civil war itself originated from such tensions when viewed broadly. But that’s nothing compared to Biraf.”
Think about what their name actually means, the 3rd Prince added.
Biraf. Biraf Coalition Kingdom… Ah.
“The fact that it’s a coalition kingdom means each member is essentially independent?”
“To elaborate, each city in Biraf functions practically as its own sovereign state. The current civil war was likely planned by one city, or perhaps a coalition of several.”
“So when you say they might not invade, you mean they’ll conserve strength to avoid internal checks and pressure from rival factions?”
“Precisely. They may have calculated that once our kingdom is sufficiently weakened by civil war, whichever side wins would be easy to overwhelm with military force.”
But even in that scenario, Baron Rosfel still couldn’t move—not if it meant leaving the South vulnerable to Biraf.
The 3rd Prince finished with a bitter smile.
Whichever way you looked at it, he’d been put in checkmate. No wonder he looked so sour.
In the end, whether Biraf invaded or not, my father was stuck in the South with no room to maneuver.
“So only the East will enjoy the strategic advantage of a Sword Master.”
“It can’t be helped. This rebellion was probably planned with exactly that in mind.”
There was no way the 2nd Prince had come up with it himself. This had to be Count Wint-Hafen’s idea—he was the real player behind the 2nd Prince’s faction.
…The more the truth comes out, the higher that count’s stats seem to climb. Is this accurate?
Life’s difficulty level is no joke.
After the meeting with the 3rd Prince ended, I returned to the barracks assigned outside the castle and decided to rest.
Sir Grautal seemed genuinely delighted to see the 3rd Prince after so long. The moment my audience ended, he went straight in and started laughing boisterously.
Even though he’d been left out of such a long conversation, he didn’t seem to mind at all. The man really was consistent.
On the way back, I’d considered stopping by the 1st Prince to relay the news, but—
The 1st Prince most likely already knows how the 3rd Prince has been acting.
No, it’s not just likely. He definitely knows.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spoken so vaguely about Biraf when we first met.
It wasn’t mere intuition. He must have already learned through the 3rd Prince that the 2nd Prince and Biraf were connected.
Whether it had been intentional or Biraf had simply wormed their way in by coincidence.
Either way, the 3rd Prince was undeniably one of the root causes.
In the end, the 1st Prince’s ambiguous attitude must have been an attempt to protect the 3rd Prince.
What a good man. So good he’s practically a pushover.
His military talent, his own abilities, and his character are all excellent, but that good character of his can’t always be maintained.
A monarch must be utterly cold when the situation demands coldness.
Whether it’s familial affection or simple pity—when something needs to be cut off, it must be severed without hesitation.
That very personality is probably what drew people to him in the first place.
It’s ironic.
Well, there’s no point in me worrying about it any further. It’s something the people involved will have to resolve themselves.
Anyway, the 3rd Prince’s shocking confession was over. The remaining problem was…
A Sword Master, after all.
…How the hell am I supposed to deal with this?
It felt like I’d wallpapered a room only to find an air bubble trapped underneath that refused to disappear no matter what. Press one spot and another bulge pops up elsewhere.
…Is that metaphor too grotesque?
Still, the fact that the only real solution is to rip everything out and start over from the beginning makes it strangely fitting.
In the end, the only answer is to expand the mage unit.
The current mage unit wouldn’t stand a chance. The next battle would clearly be a total war involving the East and the rest of the kingdom.
The scale would be completely different. We’d probably be talking units of ten thousand soldiers as the baseline.
How am I supposed to handle that with just six people including myself? I’d die of overwork before the battle even started.
Expanding the mage unit was essential. The question was how to expand it.
Fortunately, we have both time and personnel.
The 1st and 3rd Princes had promised to gather people, and the next decisive battle wouldn’t happen until after winter, sometime in early spring.
The 3rd Prince said that recruiting large numbers would take time for both sides. Since we have plenty of time until the final battle, we have sufficient preparation time.
But would simple preparation be enough?
…Can we really defeat a Sword Master with ordinary preparations?
It didn’t seem likely.
Let’s be honest—if a Sword Master decided to ignore everything else and hunt down the mage unit, could we even survive?
They were basically human-shaped tanks that ran at a hundred kilometers per hour.
No horse could exceed sixty kilometers per hour, and while mages could fly faster than that…
That only applies to 5-circle mages. Even if we recruit more people, there’s no way we’ll find additional 5-circle mages.
Which meant no one except me could escape.
Besides, the hundred kilometers per hour I mentioned was only an average. They could accelerate beyond that.
In short bursts of speed, they could easily catch up to a mage’s Fly spell.
Maybe it’s because I grew up watching my father, but even though I’ve never seen it with my own eyes, my gut tells me it’s entirely possible.
And my gut feelings are usually right.
They’re formed from accumulated subconscious experience, so they’re probably accurate.
Therefore, ordinary preparation alone cannot defeat a Sword Master. I need to find some kind of method…
Just what the hell should I do?