A Brief Peace (2)
At the place they had come to visit, the people of the territory were gathered in small clusters, sharing food among themselves.
It seemed to be some kind of harvest festival.
A few of the residents recognized Luna's face as she approached and bowed in greeting.
"Is that not Lady Lunarien?"
At the voice of the man who had stepped forward, the lively atmosphere quickly grew solemn. Not that the mood had turned cold, exactly—more that people had tensed slightly at the unexpected appearance of someone so high-ranking. Even so, there was no trace of rejection. If anything, Luna was being welcomed by her people.
"Lady Lunarien, welcome."
"We greet our lord!"
"If it please you, try some of this!"
In an instant the residents had crowded around them, and Luna raised a hand with practiced ease, nodding.
"Please, everyone—be at ease."
……
I had told her as often as I could not to use honorifics with those beneath her, but old habits, it seemed, died hard.
If this world had possessed a political system like the one I came from—one in which ordinary people held the right to vote—then treating them this way would have been only natural. But in the absence of any such thing, a superior was better served by projecting authority.
I considered giving her another subtle hint, then thought better of it.
Well…… even in this era, having a leader like her around isn't necessarily a bad thing.
This wasn't the court of her subordinate officers. These were the people of her territory. From the standpoint of public sentiment, her approach might well have been the wiser one. Of course, the truly remarkable thing about her was that none of this was the product of cold calculation the way it would have been for me—every gesture simply came from the heart.
"Thanks to Lady Lunarien, peace has returned to our Zeiland Castle once more. No lord ever so much as glanced our way before…… and yet you've cared for us this much. We are truly grateful."
A middle-aged woman nodded again and again, half in tears. Luna stepped close, took both of the woman's hands in her own, and spoke.
"It is not thanks to me. It is because all of you refused to give up—because you kept working. Please never forget that."
"Lady Lunarien……!"
"Lady Lunarien! Please—you must unify this war-torn continent!"
"How could we entrust the nation to a tyrant like Serpina?! Am I right, everyone?"
Hear, hear! Hear, hear!
Testimonies to Lunarien were breaking out left and right. Well—she had poured six thousand gold into relief for her people and patrolled the territory with remarkable frequency. It was no wonder she had the people's hearts firmly in hand. That was why, when the time came for conscription, so many soldiers had volunteered of their own free will. Even excluding the mercenary companies, our forces now numbered roughly ten thousand. Zeiland Castle was a small place; had it been a more populous stronghold, we might have raised even more.
After finishing her conversation with the residents and wrapping things up so the festival could continue, Lunarien came over to me.
"Lord Swen."
"Yes, my lord?"
"Um……"
Luna pointed somewhere with her finger. Looking that way, I saw a great bonfire burning, and around it several pairs of men and women dancing. A few bards were plucking at lutes—the whole scene looked for all the world like an illustration from the loading screen of some medieval fantasy game.
"It's peaceful. All thanks to you, my lord."
"N-no. That's not…… what I……"
"?"
I looked at Luna's face. Flushed and fidgeting, she let out a quiet sigh, as if steeling herself for something—
"……Never mind."
What?
Why stop halfway?
What had she been trying to say?
……Don't tell me.
A suspicion forming, I asked her.
"Do you want to dance?"
"Ah? Ah, yes—I, well……"
The way she couldn't give a clear answer told me I'd hit the mark.
So that was it, roughly? She wanted to join in and dance with everyone—but because I was always going on about how "maintaining a sovereign's dignity is a virtue essential to a unifier of the continent," she hadn't been able to bring herself to ask. A lord who mixed freely with the people at a harvest festival might win hearts easily enough, but it was a far cry from the dignified image of a continental unifier.
But so what?
She was still the ruler of a minor power. There was no need to fret over such things this early. Knowing how to adapt flexibly to circumstances was a skill in its own right.
"It's fine. Go ahead."
"Pardon?"
"You may forget what I said for the moment. Mix with your people as much as you like."
Luna was a lord whose affection for her people ran especially deep. Having played this game often, I had assumed that sort of concept—caring for the common folk, loving peace—belonged to Karelia alone. Clearly that wasn't the case. So the right thing here was to give her free rein to enjoy herself.
And yet.
I had expected her to set off at once. She did not. Instead she turned back to me, fidgeting once more.
"W-well……"
"?"
"I-if it wouldn't trouble you, Lord Swen…… would you come dance with me?"
When I didn't answer right away, her face went scarlet and her eyes went round; she launched into a frantic explanation.
"I-I mean! Everyone's paired off as couples, and going alone would be a bit awkward, and I-I'm the lord, so…… it might put a burden on the people in all sorts of ways, so—"
"You're asking me to dance with you?"
"Ah……"
Only then did she hang her head. Her face was even redder than before—practically the color of a beet.
"……Yes……"
"……"
This game had far more events than I had ever imagined. If one could even call something like this an event.
In the months I had spent in this world, growing fond of the members of the Lunarien Army, feeling a faint pride beginning to take root in this territory—I had been on guard against all of it. After all, I had a place I needed to return to, and so long as this was a world inside a game, letting sentiment cloud my judgment could have consequences I couldn't afford.
But.
I was still certain of one thing.
Lunarien Iniang would become the unifier of the continent.
Which meant that, in the end, I had to remain at this woman's side if I ever wanted to return to my original world.
So perhaps this much was all right.
"Shall we?"
"Ah?!"
"As you wish. I'll be your partner."
I took her hand. She started in surprise, but she didn't pull away. Instead she gave my hand a light squeeze…… and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Y-yes! Thank you very much!"
And so, before the bonfire, I danced a light dance with her.
Her pale skin, lit by the firelight. Her cream-colored hair, swaying gently with every small movement. The ruby eyes that looked up at me…… all of it burned itself into my mind with perfect clarity.
This was the royal palace of Anel Castle.
Lin Brans sat upon the throne, receiving a report from her envoys.
"We have returned, Lady Lin. We successfully concluded a three-week ceasefire agreement with the Aesius Army."
"Good work. And the south?"
The other envoy, standing beside the first man, spoke up.
"The ceasefire with the Roland Army, whose borders adjoin ours, was also successfully concluded…… though we were forced to settle for a term of one month."
"One month? Wasn't that side supposed to be three months?"
At Lin's words, the envoy bowed his head, looking thoroughly ashamed.
"I-I apologize. The Roland Army insisted three months was impossible and put forward a counterproposal…… so we had no choice but to adjust it down to one month."
Those Roland bastards. You can practically smell how eager they are to jump on any opening they can find. I was hoping I wouldn't have to think about the south for a while. Still—one month is enough.
With that thought, Lin smiled and spoke.
"It's fine. Honestly, one month doesn't really matter. I told you from the start that even if it came down to one month, as long as we got a ceasefire, it was okay, didn't I?"
"B-but still—"
"Enough. That subject is closed. You both worked hard! Rest up for a while. If I still haven't summoned you after a week, you can both start working the markets from then on. Got it?"
"Yes! As you command!"
After the envoys had left, a soldier waiting at her side spoke up.
"My lord. General Chel's army has just arrived."
Lin's expression brightened at once.
"Oh, really? That's big brother for you♡ He got here so fast!"
"Shall I show him in?"
"Yes. Right away."
"At once!"
Before long, a man with short blue hair—powerfully built at a single glance—came striding in, clad in plate armor. An overwhelmingly massive frame, deep-set eyes, scars scattered across his face. Even with the scars, he was a strikingly handsome man.
Behind him walked a woman with short purple hair and violet eyes, radiating an intensely alluring presence.
The two of them arrived before Lin and dropped to one knee.
First, the man: Chel Brans. The man known as the First Sword of the Brans Army.
"Chel Brans. As ordered, I have just arrived from Saintica Castle in the south."
And the woman: Parfalle. Strategist of the Brans Army—a prodigy who had been called "the most brilliant woman in the central regions" since childhood, and who had caught Lin Brans's eye at a very young age. She had temporarily left Lin's side to support Chel Brans as strategist on the southern front, where he served as supreme commander, and had only just returned.
"Parfalle. As my lord commanded, I have just arrived from Saintica Castle in the south."
"Mm-hm. Welcome back, both of you!"
Lin spread her arms wide in greeting. Chel regarded her with a puzzled look and asked a question.
"For what reason have you summoned us to Anel Castle? As far as I know, the northern front has gone quiet."
"That's right. I have no intention of sending big brother up north at this point. Little brother is already holding that line, after all."
After somehow managing to hold off the advance force of some fifty-five thousand, Serpina's Army had continued to launch invasions with forces of twenty and thirty thousand. The cost in lives had been considerable, but they had successfully defended Kelstein Castle through three successive assaults—and in doing so, had managed to quench Serpina's ambitions of pushing into the central regions. Whether the enemy had merely withdrawn for now or given up entirely was unclear, but for the moment, Serpina's Army was no longer pressing the attack.
Under those circumstances, excluding the forces needed to hold the north, stabilizing the remaining fronts was essential if they were to raise troops quickly. The two ceasefire agreements had been for precisely that purpose.
"And I hear you concluded a ceasefire with the Roland Army as well…… is that correct?"
"Yes. So you don't need to worry about the southern front for a while."
"I see……"
Chel still couldn't grasp what she was thinking. His tone remained puzzled. They had made agreements with the Aesius Army in the east and the Roland Army in the south. She had no intention of sending him north. That left only the west—and the west was nothing more than a cluster of minor powers, none of them remotely threatening. And yet she had summoned the great army that had been holding the south, himself included, all the way to Anel Castle.
Lin seemed to read his thoughts. She nodded and spoke.
"You're right, big brother. We don't need you just to tidy up the west. But what we're going to take…… isn't some scrap of land belonging to a minor power."
"Meaning……?"
As Lin answered, her blue eyes flashed for an instant. Chel knew that look well. That was the look of his little sister when she had set her sights on a talent hunt.
"From this moment on, we're going to claim a piece we need to take the world!"