Zeiland Defense (4)
"What did you just say…?"
Lin stared at Swen, her face contorted with sheer disbelief.
He wasn't offering them gold… he was demanding they hand gold over to him?
"Hey. What the hell did you just say?"
Her voice dropped low and dangerous—but Swen refused to be cowed. He spoke with the same unshakable composure he had maintained from the start.
"I said that if you give us three thousand gold, I will swear that we will never pursue the Brans Army as it withdraws under a ceasefire agreement."
"Do you even know who you're trying to pull a scam on right now?"
At that, Swen bowed his head slightly.
"A scam? Nothing of the sort, Lady Lin. I am here solely for the sake of diplomacy."
"Then why the hell are you asking me for money?!"
Lin lost her composure and shouted at the top of her lungs. Her voice carried past the doors of the audience chamber; there was every chance her waiting officers in the corridor would hear and grow restless—but in that moment, Lin could not spare a thought for such things.
"As I already explained, Your Ladyship rejected a ceasefire under the condition that our side would pay one thousand three hundred gold. Did I not ask you several times to reconsider? And now the situation has changed. Until a moment ago, the greater advantage may have been ours—but now the Brans Army stands to gain far more from a ceasefire. In that case, it is only natural that we should be the ones to receive compensation."
"Don't make me laugh. Even without calling back the Zeiland invasion force, I still have enough troops to stop fifty thousand men."
"Is that so? Well, that would be fortunate… though I must admit, it doesn't look that way to me."
"Ha!"
Lin snorted. She knew full well it was bluster—but if she didn't put on some kind of front, she felt she would lose her mind entirely.
Because, coldly considered, he was right.
The ceasefire had, ironically, become far more advantageous for the Brans Army.
Soldiers in full retreat were inevitably weaker in combat than those who held formation and fought. For the Brans Army, which desperately needed to preserve as many troops as possible, the difference between being pursued and not being pursued could prove far greater than one might imagine.
And this man… from the very beginning, he had been acting as if he had known everything would unfold exactly this way.
As if he had anticipated Serpina's invasion—no.
As if he had been certain of it.
In front of someone like that, she had no choice but to bluff. Otherwise she could not protect her pride after being thoroughly outplayed by some nameless man from a minor power.
"And what will you do if I refuse the ceasefire?"
"What could a lowly man like me possibly do? It would simply be as before. This opportunity will never come again. That is all."
In that instant, Lin Brans seized the ornamental sword resting beside the throne and strode toward the spot where Swen knelt, her boots striking the floor with deliberate force.
Then—
A sharp metallic ring filled the air as she drew the blade from its sheath.
Before he could even process it, the silver edge in Lin's hand was resting precisely against the side of Swen's neck, aimed to kill.
Ornamental or not, it was a real sword with a properly honed edge.
"…"
Swen said nothing. He simply looked up at her.
There was not the faintest trace of fear or alarm in his expression.
That utter, almost serene detachment sent a chill of dread through Lin instead.
What the hell is wrong with this bastard…?!
She bit down hard on her lower lip once more, then poured killing intent into her voice and let it spill out.
"Hey. I think you've got the wrong idea. Fine—I'll admit it. Taking a diplomatic envoy prisoner is the kind of thing only a tyrant like Serpina would do. And cutting that envoy's head off? The moment that news got out, I wouldn't be able to conduct diplomacy with a single other lord. The world would point at me and call me a blood-crazed piece of trash. Even my own subordinates would be deeply disappointed. A few of the more upright ones might even leave my service over it."
She pressed the blade a fraction deeper as she spoke.
"But you know what? I'm not exactly a patient person. I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but when some bastard starts acting like he's hot shit in front of me, I don't care what I have to do to kill him. Ceasefire or no ceasefire—I could just kill you right here. The aftermath would be messy, sure, but I could clean it up. You, on the other hand, would die by my hand. Understand? That's the difference between you and me."
Her voice was cold enough that the genuine murderous intent in it was unmistakable. She tightened her grip on the sword.
"Keep running your mouth without understanding that difference. If your life isn't worth that much to you. I can kill one or two envoys from a weak little country like yours as many times as I want. Reputation? Who gives a damn? Right?"
Lin pushed the blade just a little closer to his throat.
The distance was so narrow now that the slightest slip of her hand would draw blood.
She had pressed him this hard.
By all rights, his resolve should have cracked—
But Swen never once showed a flicker of fear. He simply looked up at her and parted his lips with perfect calm.
"Then do so."
"…What?"
"Kill me."
Lin tried to sound defiant, but she could not hide the tremor in her pupils.
"Are you serious?"
"What else can I do? If Lady Lin is the sort of person who would murder an envoy simply because she is momentarily irritated, then of course she would never agree to a perfectly reasonable ceasefire. What more am I supposed to do? However."
In a steady, unhurried voice, Swen began to drive his words into her ears like nails.
"What you would lose by killing me is not merely your reputation among the other lords, or the loyalty of your vassals. With no troops left to redeploy, you would naturally lose Kelstein Castle. You would be stripped of the very bridgehead that allows you to advance from the north into the central continent, and you would face enormous difficulty maintaining your front lines going forward. Naturally, your ongoing campaign to conquer the central continent and expand into the south would all come to nothing. Once the north is breached, Serpina's forces will keep pouring in."
"…!"
"And is that all? With the Brans Army scrambling just to hold back Serpina's northern forces, would you have any attention left for the lords of the south or any other direction? From that moment on, the Brans Army would become nothing more than a breakwater shielding the other lords from Serpina's northern army. The Aesus Army, which has been unable to grow because of the Brans Army standing in its way, would be delighted. The one nation that had posed a genuine threat to them would now be protecting them from an even greater threat, would it not?"
This… this man… what is he even saying…?
Lin was stunned.
How could some nameless man from a minor power know the continental situation in such precise detail?
"The southern lords would no doubt sing your praises with one voice. While you hold Serpina's army at bay, they would grow and establish their own order. When that day comes, how much will the prestige of a Brans Army that can do nothing but desperately fend off Serpina's grand offensives have fallen compared to what it is now? Are you not curious?"
"Th-that's…"
"Lady Lin. You may kill me if you wish. At the same time, there will be no ceasefire—and every last one of our soldiers will pursue the twenty thousand troops withdrawing to defend Kelstein Castle to the bitter end. The Raven Mercenary Group and the Chilein Mercenary Group, both renowned for their valor, will chase the Brans soldiers—whose rearguard will inevitably be exposed during the retreat—and kill as many as they possibly can. Our lord, Lady Lunarien, shares my thinking exactly."
Swen fixed his gaze on Lin's trembling eyes as he spoke.
She was the one holding the sword to his throat. She was the one in the overwhelmingly superior position—
And yet it was no longer her who controlled this conversation. It was Swen.
"Of course, that does not mean our army would gain anything from it, and we would not succeed in killing all twenty thousand. Our own losses might even be greater. But for a minor power like us, it would simply mean losing troops. What about the Brans Army, however? If you lose a large number of precious soldiers who could have been sent swiftly to Kelstein Castle because of the pursuit, and fail to defend against the enemy in time? If Kelstein Castle falls before the troops stationed on your other borders can even arrive?"
"…!!"
Lin's eyes went wide, the whites showing all around.
By this point, not a shred of a sovereign's dignity remained about her.
She was seized by an emotion she had never once felt before.
Fear.
The fundamental terror of realizing that no matter what she did, she could not defeat this man with words!
"…Lady Lin. You said it yourself, did you not? That you could somehow clean up the mess, but I would lose my life. That is only half true."
Slowly—and in a tone that seemed ready to devour her whole—Swen continued.
"What I would lose is indeed my life. But you, Lady Lin, in exchange for my life… would lose the world."
"!!!"
"The life of a mere envoy from a minor power is worthless beyond comparison to the world the Brans Army might one day conquer. Do you not agree?"
A faint smile touched Swen's lips.
"Will you protect your pride and lose the world—or will you set your pride aside and continue to pursue the chance to claim it…? As a sovereign, which path you choose rests entirely on your decision, Lady Lin."
Lin froze where she stood.
As if the world itself had stopped.
Would she take this man's life and forfeit the world?
Or would she swiftly conclude a ceasefire and plan for another day?
Lin Brans was a woman who had proven her own ability and climbed all the way to the very top of the Brans Army.
What she would choose was all too obvious.
With a clatter, Lin hurled the sword she had been clutching far across the chamber.
Her face flushed crimson. The rims of her eyes grew redder by the second. She desperately swallowed back the tears of pure rage that threatened to spill over.
Then she looked at Swen, who still had not so much as flinched… and spoke in a trembling voice.
"You. What's your name?"
"Swen."
"Right. Swen. Swen…"
She rolled the name around on her tongue again and again.
Only then did her tone settle into something a little calmer.
"I will never forget you for as long as I live. Swen."
Then she barked at the guard who had been standing behind her, carefully managing his expression.
"Hey, you!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
"Prepare three thousand gold. Right now."
"Three thousand gold… my lady?"
Lin snapped at the soldier who dared to question her, her voice booming.
"What are you waiting for? Get it ready!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
"…"
Lin let out a long, heavy sigh.
Somehow she managed to swallow the tears still rising in her throat.
At last she slowly turned her head and looked Swen straight in the eyes.
"…I'll have it prepared outside the castle."
Only then did Swen nod and rise slowly to his feet.
"On behalf of our lord, Lady Lunarien, I thank you for your wise decision, Lady Lin. As promised, we will not so much as touch a single hair on the heads of the withdrawing Brans Army. Then."
He walked unhurriedly out of the audience chamber.
After he was gone, Lin trudged back to the throne and collapsed onto it.
Swen… Swen. Swen…
Swen.
A name she had never heard before.
A name that, until this very day, had never once appeared at any moment of historical significance.
And yet that unknown man—a mere subordinate of a minor power—had thoroughly and completely made a fool of her, the sovereign of the Brans Army.
So the Lunarien Army had a man like that…?
The pieces began to fall into place in Lin's mind, one by one.
The unexpected ambush by the mercenary groups.
She was now certain that the man—Swen—stood behind every recent move the Lunarien Army had made.
And somehow, by whatever means, he had clearly already known that Serpina's army would invade the Brans Army.
Only that could explain the unwavering confidence he had displayed from start to finish.
She had no idea how an unremarkable lord like Lunarien had managed to discover a man like him—
But in a way, it was a relief.
That a man of that caliber was serving someone as insignificant as Lunarien Iniang.
Swen.
The method by which the Brans Army had grown its power on the central continent was not merely absorbing every minor power in reach on the strength of its overwhelming background. Among those, it had prioritized the minor powers that possessed exceptional talent, collecting them before anyone else could snatch them away—and that practice had contributed enormously to the foundation of the state.
Gurupa of the Walnut Army had been one of their highest-priority recruitment targets not long ago.
They had failed to secure Gurupa, but her instincts told her something now.
Compared to this man called Swen, Gurupa was nothing more than an ordinary man of no particular distinction.
Lin recalled the way Swen had looked straight at her even with a blade at his throat.
The absolute certainty filling the eyes of that handsome, almost pretty man.
In the moment, shock and fear had dominated her—
But looking back on it now, she could not imagine a more appetizing man.
She wanted to paint that expression… in her own colors.
Swen. I wonder what kind of face you'll make when you finally end up under me… Heh heh…♡
Yes.
The conquest of Zeiland Castle could wait.
First she would hold Kelstein Castle, clean up any other trouble that might arise elsewhere, and only then turn to Zeiland Castle… no.
What she truly wanted was not some meaningless scrap of land like Zeiland Castle.
The prize Lin truly intended to conquer was the man named Swen.
I'll make sure you submit to me like a dog. Swen…♡
Her face flushed red once more.
But this time, it meant something different.
Not anger or hatred, but something more primal and clinging than either.
The subtle desire to stand over the head of the opponent who had bested her.
This was obsession.