The King's Return (2)
"However, my lord. Lunarien Iniang is—"
Vanessa began, her voice trembling, but Karelia raised a hand and cut her off.
"I know. I know exactly what you mean to say, and everything you fear."
Her emerald eyes, green as deep forest, shone as she spoke.
"She is an outsider, yes. She was once one of the lords who raised her banner as a sovereign in her own right. And there are no small number within our own ranks who follow her with particular devotion. I am aware of all of it. And yet—"
"I do not consider it just to demote a capable person who has not yet committed the crime of treason, solely on the grounds that she 'might' do so."
"It is not a matter of mere possibility—"
"Forgive me, Vanessa, but I have no intention of changing my mind. Know that."
Vanessa closed her mouth. There was nothing more she could say. However much trust she enjoyed as Karelia's confidante, overturning the will of her sovereign was all but impossible. Even if it were possible, pressing her own opinion further before so many witnesses would only undermine Karelia's authority.
"I remember the look in Lady Luna's eyes when she came to us," Karelia continued, her voice firm. "In those clear eyes was a genuine concern for every soul under her care. That heart is no different from the ideal our Karelia Army holds. So long as we share the same ideal, she is one of us. If I, of all people, refuse to trust her simply because she was once a rival lord and still harbors ambition—then who among us will? And how lonely must it be to bear the office of castle lord with no one's faith behind her?"
She addressed the resigned Vanessa with unwavering resolve.
"Vanessa. I respect you. Did I not place the full command of our armies in your hands before every campaign? I wish to trust every person who works for me as deeply as I trust you. And to make them trust me, I must first extend that trust myself. What is strange about that? Whatever their origins, so long as they pour their sweat into the service of our army, they are talents who deserve my confidence."
"……"
"You need not worry," Cecil said quietly. "Lady Luna is an honest woman. No matter what authority she is given, she is not the sort to plant a knife in our backs by underhanded means."
Karelia nodded at Cecil's words and rose from her seat.
"Very well. From this moment, we shall organize the Ohana invasion force with Lady Lunarien as supreme commander. How many troops can we field?"
"……Excluding the soldiers stationed along the Roland border and the bare minimum required to defend the capital, we should be able to assemble roughly one hundred and twenty thousand."
One hundred and twenty thousand. A vast host Vanessa had scraped together through months of relentless conscription.
"Understood. Cecil, make every preparation necessary to move those forces."
"Yes, my lord."
"And all of you—absolute silence. This must not leak."
In this age, preparations for war could hardly be kept entirely secret—but saying so still made a difference from saying nothing at all. Those gathered were mid-ranking officers and above, all stationed in the capital. The information would not escape.
"Yes!!"
Then Karelia drew the sword at her hip and raised it high.
"It will be our Karelia Army that conquers the southern continent! For the people of this land who suffer under a fractured, incompetent empire—the legacy of the Aingard family's failed rule—lend me your strength! We can do this!"
At her resolute will, every vassal bowed as one. The Karelia Army was, at last, beginning to stretch its limbs across the continent.
After the emergency council—convened, in truth, at Vanessa's urging—had ended, and everyone else had filed out of the audience chamber, Karelia spoke to the still-bowed Vanessa in a far gentler tone than before.
"Raise your head, Vanessa."
"……"
"Are you still angry with me?"
"Angry? Never, my lord. How could I dare…"
"You still dislike my decision, don't you?"
"……"
Vanessa could only keep her head lowered. Karelia watched her and laughed, amused.
"I like that honesty of yours, Vanessa. You have always been honest with me."
"……My lord."
"As I said earlier, I understand perfectly well what you fear. But if I, as sovereign, cannot place my trust in Lady Luna, how am I to face her while she carries out her duties for our army?"
"These are chaotic times. The value of such personal virtue is dead."
"And yet—is it not precisely that virtue that raised me to this seat?"
"……"
Like gathers like. Those who gathered around Karelia were of her kind: warm-hearted people who cherished their subjects above all else, who longed to end the world's turmoil and open a peaceful age once more. In a broad sense, Lunarien herself could be counted among them. And Vanessa—had she not devoted herself to Karelia precisely because she had been moved by that same ideal?
"……I have no intention of overturning your will, as I said a moment ago. If my lord commands, I obey. However… there is one last request I would make."
"What is it?"
"Reduce the force you send from one hundred and twenty thousand to ninety thousand. Even ninety thousand is a considerable number for an invasion of the Ohana Army."
"……You will listen to me, and yet to the end you cannot bring yourself to trust Lady Luna. Is that it, Vanessa?"
"I am ashamed to say so."
"……"
Karelia nodded slowly.
"Very well. Ninety thousand should be enough for her to accomplish a great deal. We will also assign as many capable officers as we can. But I want you to understand that reinforcements may be sent depending on the situation on the field."
"That is fine. Reinforcements would only prove that my worries were groundless."
Karelia laughed lightly at that. Vanessa bowed her head once more.
Her sovereign had declared she would trust Lunarien… but Vanessa herself never could.
I'll prepare whatever I can, as quietly as possible.
It would amount to little more than thrashing about—but she would ready something, anything, against the day Lunarien might entertain dangerous thoughts. Under a sovereign too upright for these chaotic times, that was all Vanessa could do.
A few days later, at Teppelo Castle.
"Hah… hah… G-General, a moment to… rest…!"
Thud.
Francis—a handsome young man with golden hair whose looks, once fully grown, would surely leave any number of women in tears—dropped to his knees, gasping, his spear slipping from his grip.
Beside him, the red-haired warrior Tifa looked as fresh as if she had barely begun. She snorted.
"Already wiped out? I told you! If you train while sensing the energy in the air, you recover in no time!"
"Th-that is… I beg your pardon, Master, but… I still don't understand what this 'energy in the air' you speak of actually is…"
"You don't get it? With this much of it pouring around us? Hey—close your eyes and feel it again. You seriously can't tell?"
"I've tried any number of times. It's always the same."
Tifa clicked her tongue.
"Tsk. All that height and build, and for what. Fine. Take a break. I don't want Luna chewing me out for working you into the ground again. I'll keep training on my own."
So Francis finished Tifa's brutal regimen and stood cooling the sweat from his brow, gazing up at the sky, when—
"Brother Francis!"
His younger sister's voice carried from far off. That voice… the youngest, Violet.
"What's going on, Violet?"
"Lady Luna is looking for you urgently. Ah—Lady Tifa. Good day."
"Luna wants us?"
"Yes. She asked that Lady Tifa come to the manor as well."
"What's this about? Hey, Francis—any idea?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you. You live with Luna, don't you?"
"Ah—living together is…"
Francis's face went scarlet.
"We merely reside under the same roof, and whether one can truly call that living together is… somewhat… Lady Luna is always so occupied with her duties as castle lord that I scarcely see her face most days…"
"Ugh, enough with the whining. Just answer the question. Do you know or not?"
"I don't. I have no idea what this might be about."
"That so?"
Tifa slung her weapon across her back with a note of regret.
"I felt like I was this close to something—like a real breakthrough—if I just kept going a little longer. Shame."
For some time now, Tifa had begun to sense, faintly, that something unusual existed in the air—something different from the ordinary. She still didn't know exactly what it was… but she had a feeling that if she could learn to use it, she might take a genuine step forward as a warrior.
If I can just master this, I'll finally be able to get proper revenge.
She had never once forgotten that moment. The red-haired knight who had so thoroughly dominated her—Airen Juliette, the woman who had forced her to her knees when Tifa had still believed no one on the continent could match her. From that instant on, the sole thought of wiping away that humiliation had carried Tifa through every grueling training session.
Is she stronger than Luna…? No—wait. Luna might still have the edge…
She sank into thought for a moment, then scratched her head.
"Ah, forget it. My head's a mess. Hey, Violet—lead the way."
"Yes. Understood."
And so Francis and Tifa followed Violet toward the manor where Luna resided—their de facto stronghold.