A Sword to Cut the Throne 36
After riding for a while, we finally reached Jade. The manor was so close to the coast that losing a battle here would have been devastating.
Mathias dismounted from his horse and led Jeanne closer to the shoreline.
The sea before us was so peaceful and tranquil that it seemed impossible it had just seen a fierce battle.
“This is the sea, isn’t it.”
It was the first time she had ever seen the ocean.
Her eyes, the color of the sea, sparkled like sunlight dancing on the surface.
“It’s truly beautiful.”
She finally understood why he called it Jade.
The sea was a shade of turquoise.
The endless horizon stretched out, reflecting the clean sky above it in vibrant blue.
The sunlight pouring down, trembling on the waves, was more precious than any gemstone.
The waves crashed against the rocks.
Mathias gazed at the sea with eyes brimming with emotion.
“If you knew how many things the sea holds, you would be even more amazed.”
“Your eyes… they’ve changed a lot from before. You must love the sea.”
“I like the blue of the sea.”
The salty air mixed with the sea breeze carried a pleasant fragrance. The sea had been his life.
The sun was slowly setting.
The sea dyed red by the burning sunset was beautiful beyond words.
But was it only Jeanne who thought that?
A shadow fell across Mathias’s face. Whether it was from the setting sun or from his own darkening expression, it was hard to tell.
The sea was red, beautiful, yet it reminded her of the sea filled with the blood of enemies after a cruel battle.
“Even if the sea turns completely blood-red, I will keep killing more enemies.”
Jeanne fell silent at the heavy resolve that came from Mathias.
The burning desire to win while accepting that her most precious thing would be stained made her heart ache.
“You think we will win this war?”
“No.”
Jeanne was secretly surprised by the unexpected answer.
How could someone fighting this desperately not expect victory?
“…You’re firm. Why fight so desperately when you think you can’t win?”
Mathias, who had been quietly pondering, turned the question back to Jeanne.
“Do you believe you can win, Lord Captain Jeanne?”
“Of course. I will make it so.”
Mathias fell silent for a moment. Again bowing his head, he looked deep in thought. Then he met Jeanne’s eyes as he found his answer.
“You speak like a dreamer.”
“As expected from friends, you also speak like a divine being.”
“That’s the way of the realists, though. But I like such dreams.”
A faint smile touched the face of Mathias, who rarely showed any expression.
“If I were to express the possibility of victory as a number, it would be extremely low. That is why I don’t believe my allies will win. But if even one person in this country believes in victory, I hope that dream will not be shattered by me.”
Thus, Mathias threw himself into the battle with all his might.
Mathias stood up.
“The seaside will be dark soon.”
The night sea held another beauty, yet Jeanne swallowed her regret and rose. She believed she would get a chance to see the night sea.
As they returned to the manor, Mathias told Jeanne, “A great battle is coming soon. How long do you plan to stay here?”
“I came here to fight the enemies, so I must stay until the battle ends.”
“Sailors don’t let women board their ships.”
No matter how large the ship appeared, once it sailed far into the ocean, it would become tiny and insignificant.
In the face of the great nature, relying only on wooden planks made one unable to bear anything else.
Therefore, those who boarded ships believed in superstitions almost to the point of fanaticism.
“You too?”
“I am also a sailor, Captain Jeanne.”
Jeanne had refused to board the ship in turn.
“It’s quite coincidental. I knew you would come to meet the enemies at Tranquil Island in four days. You arrived right at the end of our training.”
“I took your time. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Rather, I had come to take a day’s rest before fighting the enemies. That way, I could run with even more strength.”
Mathias fell silent for a moment and quietly looked at Jeanne.
Her words about coming to fight deeply touched his heart. He could not treat her as an foolish princess who had come to play at the sea.
Mathias cautiously opened his mouth.
“Then, if you wish, would you like to board the ship?”
Jeanne stared fixedly at Mathias’s face.
“What if I board and lose?”
“If you lose to the enemies, it will be my fault for not preparing properly, not yours, Captain Jeanne.”
He had no intention of forcibly breaking a sailor’s superstition. However, Mathias trusted human strength more than unpredictable supernatural power.
“But don’t worry. My legion will not lose.”
“You have quite a lot of confidence. Isn’t the outcome of war something no one can promise?”
“I only fight battles I will win.”
Ah. Jeanne let out a small exclamation.
According to what he said, Mathias had fought the enemies dozens of times before the final battle and won all of them.
The undefeated general.
What kind of heart did a person like that, knowing defeat was certain yet going to such a battle that he would lose, feel?
Would he feel sorry for his subordinates who pushed him to death?
Would he blame the upper echelons of a foolish country?
Would he feel sorry for his homeland about to be destroyed?
Jeanne wondered what thoughts he had while fighting his final battle.
‘No. If it were him, even at that moment he would have scolded himself for not being perfect enough and boarded the ship without showing any emotion outwardly, just like now.’
Mathias La Rochelle, the last fortress of Bluisol, was a man of utter uprightness, more like a person than a human.
“I’m sorry I can’t show you many places now because time is short. After this battle ends, I will personally guide you through La Rochelle.”
Since he hadn’t anticipated defeat, Mathias spoke calmly about the aftermath of the battle.
“Is there a place you want to see?”
He immediately regretted asking such a pointless question.
Jeanne, who had never even set foot in La Rochelle and had never seen the sea before, would have no idea where she was.
Surprisingly, Jeanne immediately gave one answer.
“Can you take me to Hraesley?”
Hraesley was the island where Mathias would meet his end.
Jeanne wanted to know why he had chosen that island as the place to meet his end when death was imminent.
“It’s hard to reach because of the rough waves and many reefs around it. It’s impossible to reach with a large ship.”
“Isn’t a larger ship safer?”
“If you think of narrow alleys, you’ll understand. There are too many reefs, so even large ships get stuck.”
Therefore, one had to weave through the reefs in a very small fishing boat, making it extremely dangerous.
“There is the Temple of the Sea Goddess Raan there. There is a legend that the knight of King Charles the Great, Izole, served as a priest there in his later years.”
It was not properly recorded in the history books, but a legend known only to the people of La Rochelle.
Despite believing in people more, when defeat was imminent, he had gone to the island with only a speck of hope.
It was probably because he wanted to borrow the power of the goddess in his heart that still longed for victory until the end. Jeanne summarized him in one word.
“You are also a sailor, as expected.”
***
Nael, who had been walking around with a bottle of liquor in his hand, stopped upon seeing a bear-like massive body.
Under the night sky where stars were pouring down by the harbor, the night sea spread out, dark as if it would swallow everything, like the entrance to hell.
It was a night sea that was terrifying yet more beautiful, which Dane had been enjoying. Nael came next to him and sat down heavily.
“Hey, Dane. What do you think?”
“What?”
“Princess Jeanne… I mean, Captain.”
“What? She seemed like a fine person.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
Nael still hadn’t decided his judgment on Jeanne. She was clearly different from other nobles who flaunted authority, yet it was strange how someone who had lived as royalty their whole life had blended so naturally into the Second Knight Order.
“Ah, good. Is there really someone you don’t like?”
“People have their own strengths and weaknesses, and I only look at the good points.”
Nael put the bottle to his mouth and gulped down the liquor. The cheap rum that was only bitter was better for Nael’s taste than the high-class wine in the capital.
“Heh, good. I’m bored. Play something, a song or whatever.”
“This isn’t a flute, it’s a harmonica.”
“Whatever.”
Dane, smiling, took a harmonica out of his pocket.
He loved music and poetry like art so much that he had the nickname of troubadour. He didn’t seem like a knight at all.
Nael, sipping liquor to the rhythm of the mournful harmonica melody, muttered one word.
“Geez. Play a fun song.”
Dane took the harmonica out of his mouth and laughed out loud. Nael continued.
“What do your family members say when they hear you?”
“Until recently, I received letters telling me to come home.”
“Why did you ignore them?”
“Well… I didn’t really want to go back, did I?”
“The thing I can’t understand the most is you. You’re not someone whose family doesn’t get along like me, and you have no siblings, so why are you doing this when you could inherit the whole fortune?”
“Hearing it from you sounds strangely odd.”
Nael, who was far removed from such a life, saying such words didn’t suit him at all.
However, he might have been guessing that he had wanted a normal, peaceful family on the inside.
Dane set the harmonica down and picked up the sword placed beside him. The large sword contained his passion more than others’.
“But there’s no special reason. I wanted to become a knight because being a knight was my dream. That’s all.”
“Strange guy.”
He said that, but Nael wasn’t that different. He had held onto the sword until the end without wanting to be compared to his brother, and when his brother entered the First Knight Order, he joined the Second. He was also clinging to the title of knight.
‘A knight….’
What was a knight? What was knighthood?
What made someone knightly?
Even as a knight, he still didn’t quite know.
Was Ethan a knight? Then was he not a knight?
Perhaps because he was drunk, trivial questions followed one after another.
In the end, Nael concluded with ‘Who cares, I don’t know’ and offered the bottle to Dane. Dane, without hesitation, poured the liquor he had been drinking into his own mouth.
Nael and Dane spent the night drinking and enjoying music, not the knightly act of drinking while playing music.