Zeiland Defense (5)
Having safely concluded the agreement with Lin, I left the royal castle, scanned my surroundings, and—once certain no one was watching—let out a short breath.
I made it…
I could feel cold sweat running down my back.
I had been confident in my prediction. Once the outcome of a "ceasefire agreement" had been derived, I knew the deal would be struck no matter what. Even so, the moment a blade was pressed to my throat, I was afraid. Imagining death at your doorstep and actually facing it were two very different things.
Still, I could not afford to let my momentum break. If it did, I would lose control of the negotiations. Having already placed my bet, I clung to my composure with a do-or-die resolve—and somehow, it had worked.
Envoys operate under far more pressure than I ever realized.
In the game, diplomacy was nothing more than a simple mechanism—Diplomacy button, then Execute. But every single envoy was, in truth, a home-team player thrown alone into an away match. And an envoy from a hostile nation at war would feel that pressure all the more keenly. Just as I had a moment ago.
Then a soldier approached me.
"Are you the envoy from the Lunarien Army?"
"I am."
The soldier held out a pouch. It was quite heavy in my hand. I had no trouble guessing it held three thousand gold.
"Ordinarily we would transport this by carriage… but both you and I need to deliver word as quickly as possible. Would you mind traveling on horseback?"
"Mind? That's exactly what I want."
I needed to get back as fast as I could myself.
"Then come this way. We leave at once."
I followed after the soldier.
Everyone, just hold on a little longer. I'll be there soon.
It was time to end this war.
Zeiland Castle.
Before the eastern gate, Tifa and Airen were locked in a bloody struggle. By this point, the victor was already clear.
"Hah… hngh…!"
Blood dripped from wounds all over Tifa's body as she somehow kept her feet planted, leaning on the axe she had driven into the ground. She had already been thrown from her horse. If she had simply fallen back after realizing she was not badly hurt, she might have been fine—but she had stubbornly insisted on facing Airen to the end.
Airen, of course, showed her no mercy. From horseback she pressed a one-sided fight. In skill and in circumstance, Airen held every advantage.
Looking down at Tifa from the saddle, Airen spoke.
"Listen. I'm saying this for your own good. If you don't want to die, you'd best give up soon."
"…Shut up… you bitch…!"
Tifa spat the curse, but Airen did not so much as flinch. She merely shook her head and offered a single remark.
"Recklessness is not courage, friend. A pity. If you'd been on our side, I could have taught you so much more."
Tifa dragged in a ragged breath, forced her breathing under control as best she could, spat a mouthful of blood to the side, and barely managed to center herself. Raising her axe toward Airen, she forced the words out.
"Why… are you… so damn talkative…? Come on, you bastard…!"
Airen surveyed the field. Arrows still rained down from the enemy walls, and one catapult had been destroyed—but the soldiers who had sortied with Tifa appeared to have been almost entirely dealt with.
The battle is going our way.
Even if this duel cost them a little time, she doubted the Lunarien Army could reverse the situation. In that case, taking the enemy commander's head—to crush their morale—was well worth doing.
With that thought, Airen looked at Tifa and spoke in a solemn tone.
"…I'll give you everything I have, right to the end."
"Bring it…!"
The very instant Tifa was about to charge—
"…?!"
Sensing a presence, Airen spun her horse's head around and blocked the incoming strike.
Clang!
…Strong!
The clash of blades alone was enough to tell her. This was a powerful fighter. Realizing that someone stronger than Tifa—with whom she had been trading blows until moments ago—had just charged her, Airen quickly assessed her attacker.
Before her eyes stood a woman with cream-colored bobbed hair and vivid crimson eyes. The lord of Zeiland Castle, sovereign of the minor power known as the Lunarien Army—
Luna, mounted, her sword leveled.
Airen recognized her at once. She had heard the rumors, but seeing those ruby-bright red eyes for herself made it real.
"So you are Lady Lunarien Iniang?"
"Lu…na…!"
"…Tifa. Get inside the castle. I'm sorry I was late. I wanted to come sooner, but the situation wouldn't allow it."
"B-but—"
"That's an order! Go!"
"…!"
After sending Tifa away, Luna slowly turned her head to face Airen.
Airen regarded her and spoke.
"I am Airen Juliette, Lady Lunarien. As a leader yourself, you must understand—there are times when one must lower the banner one has raised, to prevent greater harm. You don't truly wish to go down in history as the incompetent lord who let Zeiland Castle be trampled under the flames of war, do you?"
"Zeiland Castle will not fall. You cannot defeat us."
"Hoh. I will grant that baseless bravado can be a virtue in a leader. But perhaps now is the time to seriously consider cultivating a different virtue?"
Airen's tone grew deeply earnest.
"Surrender to us. Then the harm to your people will be minimized. If you are a leader, make the decision."
It was a call to surrender—and there was not a shred of mockery in it. This was Airen's sincere wish. She was not the sort of general who crushed a clearly defeated foe to the bitter end. She took no pleasure in tormenting the weak. So she truly hoped Luna would yield here. Continuing to fight would only swell the casualty lists; the outcome—Zeiland Castle falling and the Lunarien nation destroyed—would not change. In her own way, she was offering a rational choice.
But—
"Lady Airen. I thank you for your words, but I can never give up."
"May I ask why?"
Luna answered with a heavy expression.
"…Because I do not believe the world can be entrusted to Serpina von Aingart."
"Hoh."
"And."
Luna looked straight into Airen's eyes.
"I do not believe the world can be entrusted to Lin Brans either."
"…!"
Airen was startled. From that small frame, something like overwhelming presence radiated outward. The aura of a sovereign—something only a warrior who had reached a certain height would even notice. The same aura that existed in her own lord, Lin Brans… existed in the ruler of this minor power as well?
"It is the same for every other ruler. I cannot entrust this world to any of them. I will bring peace to the continent. And that… is something I must do myself."
It was strange. The woman before her certainly possessed martial power far beyond what her stature suggested—but in the end, she was only the leader of a minor nation making a last stand in a hopeless situation. And yet, for some reason, there was not a trace of arrogance in her words. She spoke with such absolute composure, as if conquering the continent and claiming the world had been decided from the very beginning…
For a moment Airen nearly found herself overpowered by that presence—but she quickly shook it off, drew her blade, and leveled it at Luna.
"…I respect that spirit. But the world belongs to our lord, Lady Lin Brans. It is not a matter for you to concern yourself with."
"…"
After the briefest silence, Airen charged first, sword raised.
"…!!!"
Clang!
Their blades met once—and just as their true duel was about to begin—
"Lady Airen!!!!!!"
From far off, a mounted soldier came racing toward her at full speed.
"This place is dangerous! Fall back!"
Despite Airen's shout, the soldier did not withdraw. A crueler general might have flown into a rage and punished the man for disobeying—but instead, Airen checked the surroundings, wondering if something had forced him to defy her orders.
The enemy's numbers had dwindled noticeably. Her own side had taken losses as well, but they still held an overwhelming advantage.
The battle… is clearly going our way. A little more time, and Zeiland Castle will be ours.
So why? Why was he racing toward her, calling so desperately, in a situation like this?
"What is it?!"
The moment the soldier reached her, his face deathly pale, he cried out.
"Retreat, General! The entire army must retreat!"
"…What?"
"!!"
At the word retreat, both Airen and Luna stared at the soldier in shock. Their gazes might have been intimidating, but the soldier who had ridden all the way from Anel Castle to deliver this news needed to convey the newly issued orders as quickly as possible.
"It is an order from our lord! The war with the Lunarien Army is to cease immediately! We must move our forces north to Kelstein Castle as soon as possible!"
"Kelstein Castle?"
Was Kelstein Castle in danger?
It can't be…!
From that single phrase, Airen pieced together the entire situation. There was only one nation that shared a border with Kelstein Castle.
The Serpina Army… has moved?!
"General! Please issue the retreat order at once!"
…Damn it!
Just a few more days. No—even one more day, and they could have taken the castle! But if trouble had broken out in the north, she knew full well they could not afford to waste any more time here.
Airen looked at Luna and said,
"…Lady Luna. Fortune favors you."
"…!"
Without waiting for a reply, Airen turned her horse. Before long, the Brans Army's relentless offensive—which had seemed as though it would never stop—fell silent in an instant.
Luna dismounted and slowly took stock of the situation.
"Is it over?"
"Those Brans bastards… look like they're running."
Soldiers of the Lunarien Army were murmuring all around, sensing the change. And only then did the words the Brans soldier had spoken surface in her mind.
Wait. If the war has been stopped…!
At that moment, from the same direction the soldier had come, a man approached on horseback. A white-haired man in shabby clothes. The first person who had answered the recruitment call no one else would take. The man who had asked them to hold on, promising he would stop this war—Swen—was riding toward them.
"Lord Swen…!!"
Reaching Luna, Swen dismounted and came to her. With a serious expression, he said,
"My lord. There is no need to form a pursuit force. Let them all withdraw as they are. They will not trouble us further."
"L-Lord Swen… does that mean…!"
"Yes."
Swen nodded, then spoke with a confident smile.
"I succeeded in concluding a ceasefire agreement."
"………!!"
"Did I not tell you? That I would stop this war no matter what—so please hold on just a little longer."
At those words, tears spilled from Luna's eyes. And then—
"…!"
—she threw herself into Swen's arms with all her strength.
"…Thank you… thank you, Lord Swen… thank you so much…"
"…"
Perhaps the seat of a leader had never truly fit her. Even so, she wanted to bring peace to the continent. So she would stand in this place somehow, and never turn her back on the duty given to her—
That was what Luna believed. And yet even she needed someone to lean on.
Whether he understood her circumstances or simply felt pity, Swen said nothing. He looked down at the woman clinging to him, then slowly placed a hand on her back.
"This is our victory, Lady Luna."