The Battle of Hisphil Castle (1)
Anima organized her forces at once.
Ernandof would take the vanguard. She herself would serve as overall commander.
She would have preferred to ride in the saddle, but for Anima — missing one arm — that was no simple feat. When she had to take the field like this, a carriage was her only option. Ordinarily she avoided the battlefield for that very reason, but—
This is a critical operation. I can't just issue orders from the rear and wait. I have to lead from the front.
Leaving a garrison to hold Lacline Castle, she drew the bulk of her army — fifty thousand in all. With that many, she judged, they could seize Hisphil Castle while its troops were away on campaign.
Just before departure, she sent a messenger to Yuuri at Valharat Castle with word of the plan. It was a decide-first, report-later move, but she was not so low in rank that such a thing was impossible — and she believed results would earn forgiveness. She was not particularly worried.
Ever since she had lost her arm, Anima had lived every moment proving that even in this body she was indispensable — to Yuuri, to the Asius Army. Once a woman whose trade had been the sword and the tempering of flesh, she had driven herself to study until her head ached. She had wrung out schemes and stratagems for every need, lighting the path ahead for Asius.
Her life, reduced to a single line, would read almost like a miracle. But those who had stood beside her and watched her day by day would refuse that word. She had simply worked hard. She had slept less. She had thrown herself into what she could do and what she could not, without sorting one from the other. And in the end, had she not turned a band of outlaws into a nation?
So it would be fine. Yuuri would understand this much. From the day they had lost everything, they had been each other's only true confidants.
We have to succeed. We absolutely have to.
With that thought, she pressed the advance toward Hisphil Castle — until one day the carriage that had been rolling smoothly came to a sudden halt.
What is it?
A soldier riding nearby turned toward her.
"Strategist. Ah — I mean…"
The word strategist had slipped out before he could stop it. He faltered, flustered into silence. She was no longer the state strategist of the Asius Army — yet even ordinary soldiers still thought of her that way.
"I-I'm sorry, Lady Anima."
"It's fine. Titles don't matter. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"A soldier from the vanguard says he has something to report."
Something to report? From the vanguard?
There was no reason he should need to come find her… Unease prickled at the back of her mind, but she pushed it aside and opened the carriage door.
"L-Lady Anima…!"
"Calm down. Explain it clearly."
"Serpina's army…!"
"…?"
Serpina's army? What about them?
In that instant — the soldier's face raw with panic, the air suddenly thick and stifling, a foul sensation hammering deep inside her skull — Anima recognized the feeling. She had known it before. It came when events refused to follow the careful picture he had drawn. Instinctively, she felt it then.
And then—
"Serpina's forces are ahead of us… they've come out to intercept!"
"…What?"
Intercept? That made no sense. Serpina's army had committed everything to Elgaime Castle. Reinforcing troops in the meantime should have been nearly impossible at that distance.
"We can't estimate exact numbers, but… a force roughly our size is advancing on this position!"
…Did they call off the invasion?
Had they abandoned the capture of Elgaime for some reason — then spotted Asius advancing and moved to meet them? If it came to a clash with Serpina's soldiers here, the numbers were even enough that a fight was viable. They might even score a solid field victory… but the real prize, the siege, would almost certainly slip away. Their siege engines, hopelessly vulnerable in open combat, would be Serpina's first targets.
…What do I do?
It was startling, but not a scenario she had failed to consider. The wise move was simply to withdraw. Waste soldiers in fights like this, and the side with the larger population — Serpina's — would always come out ahead.
"…Tell the vanguard to prepare to fall back. If the enemy pursues, post a minimal force to cover the retreat."
"Yes, ma'am!"
If they ran, Serpina would have little reason to chase. They had burned some provisions, but if they could end it without real losses, that was acceptable.
That was what she thought.
"Enemy!!!"
"…!!"
The cry of an allied soldier drove straight into Anima's ears. The enemy had appeared — and the sound was not coming from the front.
…No…!
Yes.
"Attack!"
"Charge! Arrows incoming!"
"Don't panic — return fire!"
"Yellow banners! It's Serpina's army!"
The noise was rising from behind the carriage — from the rear of the column.
What in the world…!
Serpina's army ahead. And Serpina's army behind as well…?
Anima froze where she sat.
How had this happened…?
Turn the clock back — to the royal keep of Hisphil Castle.
Yuan, the middle-aged man who governed the fortress, knelt before the queen who rightfully stood above him.
"You have arrived, my lord."
She stood directly before the place where he knelt. The golden hair and distinctive hairpin were the same as always, but her attire was different. She wore the formal dress once favored by noble sons preparing for knighthood in the empire's better days — the same clothes she had used long ago when she briefly trained in the sword. With a figure so markedly feminine that few garments fit her well, it was one of the rare tailored pieces she could wear in true comfort.
At the capital she endured more ornate, heavily decorated robes; when she traveled in person, the formal dress was her own iron rule. In this age of chaos, when noble rank had lost half its meaning, it was a garment anyone might wear — yet on her it overflowed with a nobility no one else could approach.
Serpina acknowledged the greeting with a light glance around the chamber.
"Spare the formalities. Report the situation."
"As ordered, of the sixty-one thousand soldiers stationed here, some fifty-five thousand stand ready to march at any moment."
"Is that so? Most satisfactory."
"We have done as you commanded, but… what do you intend?"
"If the troops are prepared to march, then march they should, should they not?"
"But the preparations have taken so long that… the information has almost certainly leaked. The enemy may well be ready for us…"
Serpina's voice turned cold.
"It does not matter. That is precisely what I intended."
"…Pardon?"
"It is simple. That word of our march preparations should leak was more important than anything else."
She fixed Yuan with a peculiar question.
"Yuan. Rise."
She unfurled a map of the lands around Hisphil Castle and held it out to him.
"I will ask you this. If we must send the soldiers garrisoned in this castle somewhere, where do you believe they should go?"
"My lord? That is…"
The sudden question threw him, but he had not risen to castle lord for nothing. A plausible answer came soon enough.
"…I would choose Elgaime Castle, the Brans holding to our southwest."
"Why?"
"Their strength is only some twenty-three thousand, and with Chel Brans gone as supreme commander, their morale will have plummeted. Even after considerable time they have received no reinforcements — which suggests Brans has already written them off while defending the capital at Anel Castle…"
"Correct, Yuan. Sound reasoning. Anyone would think the same."
"Yes…"
Even then Yuan did not grasp her meaning. Serpina did not rebuke him. So long as he did not defy her, failing to reach the place she had reached was no crime.
"We will invade Brans' Elgaime Castle. But in truth, we will not send our forces there."
"My lord? What do you mean…?"
"I mean to place the troops in ambush elsewhere."
"Would that not leave the castle exposed?"
Serpina shook her head.
"If Brans still had the will to fight, yes. As things stand, even if we strip the garrison, they will not come here. Their own numbers are far too thin; moving at all would be a burden."
"Well… that is true enough…"
Yuan himself did not believe Brans would strike this place. And if they did, he was confident he could hold them.
Serpina pointed at the map.
"Between Elgaime Castle and Hisphil here lies a mountain range. Take the peak of the central mountain, and the southern approaches to Hisphil lie open to the naked eye. That has already been verified."
"…?"
Yuan stared at the map again and again without understanding. Serpina explained without a trace of anger, slowly and carefully.
"It is simple. Think of casting a fishing line and waiting for someone to take the bait. And what I am after is…"
She indicated the castle south of Hisphil.
"…this place."
The fortress she named was Lacline Castle.
Yes. That much he understood. But what did it have to do with ambushing troops? If she meant to strike Lacline, why not simply send the army there without this elaborate theater?
Serpina looked at Yuan's blank expression — then seemed to realize something.
"Ah. I see. You still lack the necessary information."
"…?"
"Yuan, do you remember? Before I arrived here, I asked you to deliver a letter."
"A letter… You mean the one you ordered sent to the captain of the Astron Mercenary Corps?"
"You remember. Then I ask again. Do you still not see my intent?"
"…Ah."
At last Yuan understood. He nodded slowly. Watching him, Serpina smiled — a smile of pure, captivating allure.
"Yes. Atop that mountain… the full strength of the Astron Mercenary Corps — twenty thousand men — lies in ambush."
The moment the prey took the bait of an empty castle — Serpina's own forces would strike from the front, and the mercenaries, reading the situation, would close from the rear. Encirclement. Annihilation.
Draw the garrison of Lacline Castle out into the open and destroy it.
That was the true design of Serpina, Hegemon of the North.