Defense of the Valharat Western Fortress (1)
Several days earlier, at Anel Castle.
"My lord. Chel Brans has just arrived at the royal palace of Anel Castle."
Chel, Brans' First Sword and the elder brother who had been holding the southern front, dropped to one knee before Rin as she sat upon the throne.
"Welcome, big brother. It's the first time I've seen your face since we took Jeiland Castle, isn't it?"
"……."
Chel offered no reply to her words. Even while stationed on the southern front, he still had ears and eyes. He had heard every last detail—the man who had been the objective at Jeiland Castle, the utterly unbelievable events on the northern front, and the rebellion that followed. And the starting point of it all had been the very assault on Jeiland Castle where he and Airen—now a traitor—had led the vanguard.
Yes. Airen Juliette's betrayal.
To Chel Brans, that news had been nothing short of a shock.
Back when he was still young, his late father had always told his eldest son the same thing.
"Chel. One day you will be the pillar that leads House Brans. And just as I have Kafka, Airen will serve that role for you."
Of course, things had never gone the way his father predicted. As the years passed and Chel showed far more interest in swinging a sword all day than in studying politics or diplomacy, his father had quietly removed him from the line of succession. To Chel himself that had never mattered. He was far better suited to dismounting and cutting men down with his own hands than to sitting on a throne and issuing orders. One of a ruler's virtues was knowing when not to charge into the front ranks; if the head of state got himself killed leading a charge, the nation would collapse soon enough. Besides, the complicated political calculations a sovereign had to make every day would be handled far better by his sly little sister.
The problem was Airen.
His father, Orland Brans, had held her in extraordinarily high regard—and Chel had felt the same. In all the sparring matches of their youth, she was the only woman whose skill had ever come close to matching his own. Even for a man as reluctant to acknowledge others as Chel, Airen was someone he simply could not dismiss. Of course Orland's high evaluation had not been based on strength alone. It had been her absolute, unshakable loyalty to House Brans. Kafka Juliette had spent a lifetime raising and forging her into a faithful retainer who lived for House Brans and nothing else. That was Airen Juliette. Whenever Chel watched her, he had felt certain that no matter what happened, she would never betray them.
That was why the news of her defection had hit him so hard. Of all people—Airen Juliette? Why?
Having spent so long away from central politics while holding the front, he could not even begin to guess what disaster could have driven events this far. His younger brother Kalintz was under house arrest for a colossal blunder, and his younger sister—now his lord—had been betrayed by the most loyal of her retainers… In that state of utter ignorance he had suddenly found himself signing three-month cease-fires with the two nations bordering the southern frontier, and then been summoned here.
"You've heard the story, right, brother? Roughly what happened."
"I have."
"Good!"
Rin smiled brightly.
"There's only one goal. Wipe the Asius Army off the map forever. And capture Airen Juliette alive."
"Capture her, you say?"
"Yes. I don't want her killed on the battlefield. Bring her to me with her life still intact."
"Why?"
He could not imagine she intended to reinstate Airen now. If anything, she ought to be killed without question. The woman had betrayed their army—and taken thirty thousand soldiers with her. Killing her if the chance arose was only natural.
"I know. You don't understand why I'm saying not to kill her, do you? I understand exactly how you feel, brother."
Rin lightly touched her lips with a finger.
"But if the price of betrayal is nothing more than that worthless life of hers… don't you think we're getting a raw deal?"
"…What?"
"Despair."
She rolled the word around on her tongue, then let out a low, chilling laugh that filled the royal hall.
"I'll make that damnable traitorous bitch feel the deepest despair she can possibly feel… and then I'll kill her. And it won't be a clean death. One finger at a time—what kind of scream do you think she'll make? Writhing in agony, knowing no one can help her, begging someone she can never reach to save her… until finally she looks at me and begs for her life…!"
"……!"
"And right in front of her eyes while she suffers… I'll devour the Swen she seduced…♥"
A chill ran down Chel's spine. Absurdly enough, he found himself unable to answer, crushed by the sheer presence of his own younger sister.
Swen… that white-haired man they had recruited during the Jeiland Castle campaign. The one who had supposedly used something like magic at the northern fortress. That man had seduced Airen? He wanted to ask what on earth she meant, but the words would not come. Something dark, sticky, and obsessive was leaking from Rin's blue eyes.
"Fufufu… How will it feel for her to watch the man she tried to steal from me be stolen right back…? What face will Airen make then? Aren't you curious too, brother? Kuhuhuhuhu…♥"
She twisted her body for a moment, laughing that unreadable laugh, then—as if nothing had happened—put on a fresh, sunny smile.
"So, big brother. I'm giving you fifty-three thousand troops. Clean up the Asius Army as fast as you can. Understood?"
Fifty-three thousand?
That was the combined total of the southern-front forces and the capital garrison—essentially every soldier they could spare once the western front (still being reorganized) and the northern front facing Serpina's army were excluded. If things went well it would be fine, but a failure here could shake the entire balance they had barely managed to maintain. Still—
That should be enough.
From what he had heard, the Asius fortress held a little over forty thousand troops including the former Brans soldiers who had defected with Airen, and Valharat Castle itself held a similar number. Conveniently, the forces at Valharat Castle were currently locked in battle with the Alefel Army. And the first target was not even a castle but a fortress. With this many men and enough siege engines, the odds looked good. Especially with Chel himself leading the charge.
The only real worry was the presence of the traitor Swen… but if he could just neutralize those strange tricks of his, Chel was confident of victory.
"Once the western front is cleaned up I'll send more troops, so make sure this campaign takes Valharat Castle as well. Got it?"
With the western troops added he would command well over ninety thousand. That ought to be enough to crush Asius.
"Yes! I accept your command."
Chel answered and steeled his heart. What did it matter what was going on behind the scenes? If he was ordered to war, he went to war. If this sword needed to be stained with blood, it would be stained. That was how Chel Brans lived in these chaotic times.
When we arrived at the royal castle with quick steps, Yuuri sat on the throne wearing a grave expression and greeted us.
"Airen Juliette, having received your command, I have just arrived at the royal castle."
"Airen, you're here. Swen as well."
She offered a light greeting to us as we knelt, then went straight to the point.
"You've heard, right? It looks like the Brans bastards are on the move."
"…I am sorry."
At Airen's words Yuuri shook her head.
"No… I'm not blaming you or holding you responsible. Taking you in was a decision I made of my own free will. First we have to deal with what's already happened."
"Do you intend to fight it out?"
Zinor, standing to the side, asked with a serious face.
"Epinel seems to think so, at least."
"But… if we choose to resist and lose the troops, it will bring great disaster. For now it would be better to abandon the fortress, gather everyone at Valharat Castle, and hold a siege with those forces—"
"…Zinor. I'm really sorry, but I'd like you to go to where Epinel is. If you're going to try to persuade someone, persuade her directly rather than talking to me."
"……."
Zinor could not reply.
So that's it.
Only now could I see the real problem with the Asius Army. Epinel, Emma, and Ernandof—the so-called "Three Heroes of Asius"—and the other founding retainers. In this country those founding retainers wielded far too much influence. If Rin and Serpina ruled as absolute sovereigns standing high above their subordinates, Yuuri and Lunarien were closer to the leaders of somewhat horizontal groups. Right or wrong aside, that was simply the difference between the two types.
But while Lunarien, for all her gentle nature, still knew how to push her own will through, Yuuri felt more like she was being pulled around by her founding retainers. That also explained the outcome of the last council. Emma had been one of the founding heroes; of course Zinor, who had joined later, had been overruled.
I had lived inside exactly this kind of group before my possession. The military. That mysterious organization where everything ran solely on "how long have you been here." In the Asius Army the highest value was not individual ability but how long you had stayed and contributed—in other words, pure seniority.
A lord who cherished her comrades, treated everyone like family, and led them with genuine leadership… ironically, that very quality hid a weakness: the inability to reign absolutely over them. After all, you could hardly trample the comrades you loved just to climb higher. It was an excellent virtue for the leader of a band of outlaws, but she was the ruler of a nation. Acting like a tyrant was bad, yet being constantly swayed like this was no better.
There was no need for Zinor to persuade Epinel in the first place. If the sovereign simply ordered "Return," the subordinate Epinel would have no choice but to obey. Yet Yuuri did not do that. She was asking one of her retainers to "please persuade" another retainer. And she was the lord!
Is that why Yuuri cannot unify the continent?
While I was thinking that, Yuuri seemed to reach some decision. She rose from her seat and spoke.
"Airen. I'll give you three thousand additional troops. Take the vanguard and join Epinel at the fortress. I'd like to give you more, but they've already marched. Once you arrive at the fortress, treat her orders as my own and follow them."
"Yes, understood!"
"Zinor. Join Airen's army and head for the fortress. Clear?"
"…Yes, I understand."
"And you too, Swen."
Only then did Yuuri look at me.
"I have high expectations of you, Swen. If there's any way you can make a difference, I want you to. The details will come from Epinel. Got it?"
High expectations, she said. She was probably hoping for another miracle like the one at the northern fortress… Naturally I had no ability to conjure such things on command. Still, if the prediction results came out the same way they had then… I was sure I would find a method.
"Yes, I understand."
And so, together with Zinor and a few unnamed Asius officers, the three thousand troops led by Airen set out for the fortress that lay west of Valharat Castle—once part of Brans territory.