Encounter: Serpina's Army (5)
"Serpina's army has invaded Gelstrom Castle?"
"…Yes."
Anima sank into thought at Ernandof's report.
They're hitting Gelstrom first instead of Lacline? At a time like this?
She had been certain that if they came at all, it would be Lacline. From a strategic standpoint, Lacline was the prize Serpina's forces would covet most. Seize it, and they would share a border with the Hesna Army to the south while effectively boxing in the Brans Army.
Anima kept turning it over in her mind.
Why Gelstrom instead of Lacline?
Don't tell me…
It didn't take long to arrive at the answer.
Has Serpina shifted her target from the Brans Army to us—to the Asius Army?
Once she fitted that assumption into place, everything else fell into line. If they meant to set the Brans Army aside and dismantle Asius first, Gelstrom Castle—the fortress hardest for Asius to defend—would leap out at them at once. What was difficult for them to hold was, by definition, easy for the enemy to take.
So were they simply supposed to sit still and let themselves be drawn into the picture Serpina had painted?
A familiar male voice cut through her brooding.
"…What are you going to do now?"
Ernandof's massive frame came thudding across the floor toward Anima, who sat in the lord's seat.
"Ern. What do you want me to do?"
"…I—"
Ernandof lowered his head before her. His enormous gaze looked down on Anima—and yet, in truth, it would have been more accurate to say he was looking up at her.
"Anima, I'll do whatever you tell me. You've always been right."
"I don't think I've always been right."
"Doesn't matter. Even if you're wrong, I'll make it right."
Anima allowed herself a faint smile.
"That's kind of you."
When he spoke to her, and when he listened—Ernandof's face never changed. But in the blunt expression that settled after he heard her words, one fragment of feeling was unmistakably caught: sorrow.
"I never understood Yuuri's thinking from the start. No matter how brilliant someone is, there was no reason to remove you from the post of State Strategist when you were already doing the job so well."
"We've talked enough about that. Objectively speaking, Lord Zinor is an extraordinary man, and placing the right talent in the right place is a virtue of a sovereign. Besides, back then the Empire was simply our motherland. The idea of accepting only people who had never drawn an imperial stipend was childish."
"…Are you really all right with it?"
Anima had no trouble reading the meaning behind Ernandof's question.
Are you truly fine with a man who once ate the Empire's salt holding a key post in the Asius Army?
That was what he was asking her without words—or so she believed.
"I hereby appoint Zinor Nighthart as the new State Strategist."
The man standing before her had been more furious at those words of Yuuri's than Anima herself. He had originally been a vassal of the Asius family—a warrior of tremendous strength, but not the sort whose mind turned quickly. Perhaps that was why. Of everyone who had followed her strategies without a single question, he had been the most steadfast.
"…Yeah."
Anima nodded slowly.
Ernandof watched her in silence for a long moment. Then he took two steps back, dropped to one knee before her, and spoke in a tone of absolute gravity.
"Command me however you like. I will win. Without fail."
"…"
Anima looked at him and sank back into thought.
If a force of some seventy thousand was currently marching on Gelstrom Castle, that force had almost certainly set out from the nearest stronghold—Hisphil Castle. According to the latest intelligence, the rest of Serpina's troops were still deployed along the Brans border.
Then couldn't they use this opening to strike at Hisphil?
Should I send a spy first? …No. It would take too long.
In an operation that amounted to a surprise attack, speed was everything. Wait until you had the full picture, and you risked missing the critical window entirely.
What should I do?
Anima wanted results—real, tangible results. Even after being removed from the post of State Strategist, she needed somehow to prove she was still useful. Her heart was impatient… but she could not move without a scrap of information either.
…Even if it costs us the decisive moment, I should send a spy to watch Hisphil Castle first.
If she charged Hisphil under the banner of a surprise attack only to find it packed with soldiers, that alone would be a catastrophe. They would lose troops for nothing—and that would mean losing Lacline Castle, the foothold they had only just secured. Advancing into the heart of the continent had been the Asius Army's long-cherished ambition. She could not destroy the trust Yuuri had shown by entrusting her with the castle lordship simply because she was in a hurry.
Even if the chance slipped away, she would act with care.
Having decided, Anima finally looked down at Ern, still kneeling before her.
"Ern."
"Yeah."
"Send me a general. I have work for him."
"…"
Ernandof answered with a nod, rose, and strode out of the audience chamber with heavy steps.
Alone in the empty hall, Anima propped her remaining arm under her chin and chewed at the nail of her thumb.
Somehow… I have to produce something visible. Somehow…!
The greatest enemy of her life stood before her: Serpina von Aingart. If she could land even one blow against that woman, she could prove her own worth. That desire was the force driving her now.
She sent the spy. Days passed.
While she was absorbed in the internal affairs of Lacline Castle and the training of her soldiers, a messenger arrived from the spy she had dispatched to Hisphil.
The report read as follows:
The castle holds approximately sixty-one thousand troops, currently preparing to march.
So they still had forces left after all.
It was only to be expected of Serpina's army, which had absorbed the entire population of the North. Even after committing a confirmed seventy thousand, more than sixty thousand remained inside the walls.
That she had nearly launched a blind surprise attack without checking was bad enough—but one phrase in the report nagged at her far more.
Preparing to march?
Which meant… they were sending troops toward Lacline? A diversion?
But Lacline Castle held roughly sixty-nine thousand soldiers. And the general holding the vanguard was Ernandof Arisian—a commander of no small renown. In other words, from Serpina's perspective, throwing that force at this place would be little short of suicide.
Hurl troops at a castle you cannot take?
If that force did in fact assault Lacline, there were only two possibilities. First: the commander of Serpina's army was someone of extraordinary ability. Second: they could afford to lose every last one of those soldiers in a total offensive.
The first was vanishingly unlikely. Serpina's army was without question the strongest power on the continent—and yet, strangely, it possessed almost no famous generals or strategists. When she had been consolidating the northern lords, every commander who refused to surrender had been reduced to dew on the executioner's blade. The ones bold enough to refuse had, by definition, been the capable ones; the outcome was almost inevitable. Even if she had inherited the Empire's entire infrastructure, the vassals who had made their names under the Empire had all scattered and become warlords themselves.
What propped up Serpina's army was a great many ordinary officers and an even greater mass of soldiers. If the Asius Army relied on a handful of exceptional commanders, the other side was simply drowning its enemies in numbers. That was roughly the shape of it.
So the second possibility was more likely… and yet the picture still refused to resolve cleanly in her mind. If you had that many soldiers, the rational move was not to fritter them away in repeated meaningless thrusts, but to gather them once and send them all.
The moment she reached that point, another possibility flashed through her thoughts.
What if they're not coming for us at all—what if they're invading Brans territory?
Northwest of Lacline Castle—southwest of Hisphil—stood Elgaim Castle. From Elgaim, through a few smaller fortresses, it was only a short push to Anel Castle, the capital of the Brans Army.
Ah.
At last the picture Serpina was drawing began to come into focus. The Brans Army was currently starved for troops; they would be far easier to take than Asius. Morale, after a string of defeats, was already at rock bottom.
If that's true… we might even be able to take Hisphil Castle.
One last sticking point remained. If they were truly aiming at Brans, why send a force against Gelstrom at all? She could not be certain—but the most likely purpose was to split Asius's attention. Once Gelstrom was under attack, Asius would have no choice but to pour its focus into the defense.
It still doesn't click perfectly into place…
Fine. She would be careful. Send another spy and watch the movements. Once the information was confirmed one way or the other, she would know what to do.
Keep the army ready to march… and wait for the next messenger.
If the troops never left Hisphil, she could simply abandon the idea of taking it. Caution above all. No mistakes.
With that resolve, Anima began to sketch her own plan—never doubting for a moment that it would become the wings that would let Yuuri soar.
Not long after.
"Is that so? They've marched out, then?"
"Yes, my lady. I confirmed it with my own eyes."
Word reached Anima that the force preparing to depart from Hisphil Castle had left through the western gate beneath yellow banners. March due west from the castle, and the destination was Elgaim Castle—Brans territory.
It seems my prediction was correct.
Anima had been granted a degree of autonomy unusual even for a castle lord. She could act independently on most major matters without Yuuri's approval. Only recently she had concluded a one-month ceasefire with the Hesna Army.
It was time to move.
"Summon General Ernandof."
"Yes, my lady!"
After the messenger left, Anima pictured Yuuri's face.
I'll be your wings.
That promise was still very much in force.