The Battle of Hisphil Castle (2)
"I see… So that was your meaning all along."
"Exactly. Drawing the garrison out of the castle and cutting them down is far easier than trying to take them in a siege."
Serpina did not bother scolding Yuan, who had only just managed to grasp the plan after several explanations.
Whatever life she had lived before, the Serpina who now sat as sovereign was an absolute being — one who walked the path of hegemony and would not tolerate anything standing beside her as an equal.
Those who hated her as a tyrant were by no means few. Countless people regarded her as a devil or a witch and despised her for it. And yet, surprisingly, she was not the sort of ruler who enforced a reign of terror within her own borders.
With her reputation abroad already so poor, she had no choice but to secure the loyalty of those who served her. Even if she was the sole surviving monarch of the fallen Aingart Imperial bloodline, the heir the old imperial retainers had expected was not her — it was the eldest son, Algot von Aingart, who was already dead and gone from this world.
There was no reason for the empire's vassals to warm to a woman who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and who was widely known for acts of extreme cruelty.
Of course, fear could make them obey for a time. She could have ruled her subordinates with harsh punishments, purging anyone who so much as hinted at challenging her authority without question or trial, and the state would still have functioned more or less. After all, the Serpina Army had swallowed the entire northern continent along with the infrastructure of the imperial capital itself.
But that would never build a unified empire.
A sovereign whose soldiers could not give her their heartfelt loyalty would collapse at the critical moment. That was the conclusion she had reached after reading the famous treatises on rulership again and again.
Those who followed her, at least, she would never treat with contempt — no matter what. That was the iron rule Serpina herself had set for binding people to her cause.
And so she did not govern those who served her as their sole sovereign through fear. She held strictly to the principle of reward and punishment. If someone failed to understand her orders, she explained them again and again. Even when they made mistakes, so long as the error was not fatal and they had not risen in rebellion, she treated them with as much leniency as she could.
The contrast became even sharper when set against Lin, lord of the Brans Army, whose system of rule most closely resembled her own.
Lin, for her part, was not a stupid woman. She had begun making unforced errors of late, but until then she had been a wise enough sovereign to earn a solid passing grade. Even with the solid foundation of the Brans Army she had inherited, expanding her territory by several more domains and rising to something close to hegemony over the central continent was no easy feat.
But she was emotional. For a ruler, she had a petty streak, and when she handed down punishment she weighed not the severity of the offense but the kind of person standing before her. Worse still, the moment she decided someone would not obey her, she cast them aside with ruthless cruelty. She ruled her subordinates through fear.
Before her wretched collapse, praise for that very style of leadership could be heard in many quarters. At least the domains of the central continent, once they submitted, never rose in rebellion the way the north once had.
Take, for example, a figure named Airen Juliette — someone Lin personally found distasteful. Lin Brans was the sort of person who would have taken Airen's life with her own hands. Serpina von Aingart was the sort who would promote her, so long as Airen proved her worth. She might never form a personal bond with someone she disliked, but if that person earned their keep as a vassal, she would give them treatment to match.
In the end, the woman known as a tyrant proved surprisingly attentive to her own people — and the loyalty of the generals who served under her ran remarkably high. Those who did rebel were mostly men who had held high office in the old empire, or who had thrown in with another heir's faction, like Algot's.
A politics of terror ran with great stability so long as the ruler's authority remained absolute. The moment that authority was scratched, the moment it began to rust, the system became extremely unstable. Serpina understood this by instinct. That was why she refused the easy path and deliberately chose the harder one.
Given that the Brans Army was even now beginning to crumble because of Lin's temperament, it was a judgment that could only be called correct.
Her purpose was the unification of the continent. The more time she spent thinking of nothing but becoming the ideal sovereign — all to keep a certain promise — the denser her aura as an absolute being became.
"However, my lord."
Serpina glanced down at Yuan. Sensing that the look meant speak, he asked carefully,
"I believe the operation itself is outstanding… but is it not an operation that only works if the forces at Lacline Castle actually launch an invasion this way?"
"It is."
"If the enemy does not come… what then?"
"…"
Serpina was silent for a moment, then slowly parted her gleaming lips. The sight of talk of war spilling from a mouth as beautiful as a statue's made her look for all the world like a goddess of the battlefield.
"True. It would waste provisions, and since nothing on the battlefield is ever absolute, the Brans Army might move, or some other variable might arise. Simply sitting here waiting for the bait to be taken could, in a sense, be called inefficient. Even so — I am certain the Asius Army will snap at the bait."
"May I ask why?"
Serpina answered in a flat, matter-of-fact tone.
"It is obvious. They hate Us."
"…"
Yuan said nothing, turning her words over in his mind. The truth was that on this continent, listing the people who liked Serpina would take far less time than listing those who hated her. Yuan deeply respected and followed the sovereign he served, but he was not so foolish as to ignore objective reality.
Yes. The reason Serpina had gone out of her way to draft this operation was that she had learned the Asius Army hated her.
We have no intention of living under the same sky as you…
In diplomacy, it was rare for a weaker state to use language that strong against a greater power. Even among the other nations that had refused her calls to surrender until now, none had ever expressed such naked hatred.
Baranga Yuuri Asius.
Just what is the source of your grudge? At what point did I paint your heart over with hatred?
…
Useless sentiment. Thoughts a sovereign named Serpina von Aingart must not entertain. She swiftly wiped them from her mind.
If they hated her… she would simply make thorough use of that hatred.
…
Come to think of it, she suddenly recalled something Jena had told her. That a young man with white hair was currently with the Asius Army.
If this war continued, would she one day see his face? The odds that the man was the same one from her dreams were vanishingly small. And precisely because of that, she wanted to make contact with him as soon as possible — to confirm with her own eyes that he was not the same person, and so put her restless heart back in order.
In any case, seeing his face would settle the matter.
Just as she was thinking that, a young man's voice reached her ears.
"My lord!"
She turned. A strikingly handsome young general with black hair approached the place where Serpina stood and dropped to one knee in salute.
"Irian Al Kaski. Hearing that my lord had arrived, I came at once."
Irian Al Kaski. Son of the late great general Kremton Al Kaski, and top graduate of the Aingart Academy. A promising young talent who had not appeared in the Serpina Army for some time — and who had distinguished himself brilliantly in the conquest of Kelstein Castle and the pacification of the central continent.
"Yes. I have heard. You performed quite well."
"It was only possible because Lady Serpina trusted me with the task. I am grateful merely to have been able to repay that trust."
Serpina answered with nothing but a captivating smile as she looked down at the kneeling Irian. That smile made him feel once more that she alone possessed the dignity and the right to lead him, and he bowed his head and pleaded,
"My lord. Place me at the vanguard of this operation. I will surely win glory for you."
"Are you not pushing yourself?"
"No. I am deeply grateful for your concern, but I, Irian, am still more than capable of—"
"That is not what I mean."
Serpina cut him off coldly. Her voice was so sharp it seemed it might cut flesh.
"If you force yourself into the field when you are not in perfect condition and then fail, the responsibility for that choice will fall not on anyone else, but on Us. So answer Us clearly. Can you surely win glory?"
"…I can. Entrust it to me. If I commit any error, you may take my head."
…
Serpina looked down at him in silence. She had heard that the man Ernandof Arisian was at Lacline Castle. It was worth testing just what kind of man Irian was.
"Very well. We shall make use of you once more. See that you produce a result that does not shame the crest of Aingart."
"Yes! Leave it to me!"
After sending Irian away, Serpina left the royal castle deep in thought. Even while she was dealing with the Asius Army, her eyes and ears had to remain open at all times.
I should start looking into how the Brans Army will move as well.
It would be convenient if they moved according to her wishes too…
With that thought, she continued her steady conquest of the central continent.
"Do not panic! Hold the formation!"
Anima was doing everything she could to control the soldiers at the rear. But giving orders from inside a palanquin rather than from a saddle made true control all but impossible.
The forward ranks seemed to have already engaged the Serpina Army on that side; the center of the column had grown even more disordered. That alone might have been manageable. But for some reason… the enemy soldiers striking the rear felt unnaturally strong. Their own forces were clearly being pushed back.
It was because the attackers were not regular troops but mercenaries from a company specialized in ambushes — though Anima had no way of knowing that now.
I should have left at least one reliable general at the rear…!
Besides Anima herself, there were two more officers at the rear, but neither was the type with outstanding martial prowess. They had been chosen less for battlefield glory than for their ability to keep the troops in order. Looking back, that had been an elementary mistake.
If she had thought just a little more carefully about the possibility of an attack from behind — no matter how low the odds — she would surely have accounted for it. The impatience of not wanting to miss this chance had driven her into a death trap of her own making.
"Aaaagh!"
"Come on, you bastard!"
In the midst of that hellish chaos, she wanted to go forward and see how the front was faring — but for now she had to stay here, hold the formation by any means, and keep the army from being crushed in a sandwich.
Ern… I'm leaving the front to you. Please stay safe…!
And at the front — just as Anima had imagined — Ernandof, leading the vanguard, stood face to face with Irian, vanguard commander of the Serpina Army.
"So you're Ernandof Arisian?"
"…"
Ernandof gave no answer to Irian's words. But identifying him was no difficult task. The massive frame, the distinctive weapon, the taciturn nature — he was exactly as he had been described.
"I am Irian Al Kaski of the Serpina Army! I'll be the last man you meet before you take the road to the underworld, so you'd do well to remember the name!"
Irian tossed out a light provocation, but Ernandof only stared at him in silence. Then he adjusted his grip on his weapon and spoke in a low, almost muttered tone.
"You talk too much. Come at me, brat."
"…"
No point saying anything more.
Irian thrust his hand forward.
"All of you — charge!"
Waaaaaaaaah!
The soldiers of the Serpina Army and the soldiers of the Asius Army crashed into one another.