Chapter 234: The Die is Cast
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 234: The Die is Cast
Yerien Grandiomor was born a princess, but she was raised as an ordinary citizen of the Military State. During the height of the State’s efforts to hunt down the remnants of the old kingdom, while lords across the land continued their sporadic resistance, the princess was too young to be their rallying point.
Her young guardian knight and a tenacious wet nurse wandered the kingdom, searching for allies, but the provincial lords, to their audacity, only sought to use the royal bloodline for their own gain. Some even brazenly attempted to arrange a political marriage with the princess, who was still little more than an infant.
Unlike the central authorities, these provincial lords reigned like kings over their own territories. As such, their blind loyalty to the royal family was thin.
The guardian knight, seething with rage, fled with the princess. Had it not been for the help and devotion of a few loyal knights who had not forgotten their chivalry, the young guardian knight would never have been able to protect the princess on his own...
Now fugitives, the princess and her guardian knight committed the sacrilege of disguising themselves as brother and sister and returned to the lands ruled by the military. At the time, the Military State was a chaotic assembly of soldiers who had stumbled into a successful revolution, possessing next to no administrative power. Amidst the confusion, the guardian knight and the princess lived on, pretending to be ordinary citizens.
Some people appeared who knew their true identities, but most of them were individuals who would rather die than open their mouths. In this precarious peace, the princess grew up strong.
The princess grew up under the rule of the Military State. She had a brother who seemed ready to give her his own heart and an old mother who would sometimes well up with tears, and she was surrounded by adults who were suspiciously kind. She was showered with love and attention, wanting for nothing.
But at some point, the princess realized something.
This kind world that surrounded her had not been given without a price.
At first, she was lost. She struggled against her cruel fate. The knowledge that she had to risk her life to fight for an already fallen kingdom made her want to run away.
Even if she fled… her guardian knight would respect her decision. A few of her retainers might even agree.
But there was only one reason they were so lenient with her: because she was the princess. Even in flight, the shackles of being a princess would remain.
The princess accepted her duty out of a sense of obligation. She wore the crown of thorns given to her at birth and offered her body upon the altar, so that the remnants of the old guard might burn brighter with her as their sacrifice.
And then, one day.
While investigating the bizarre incident in Hamelin as a representative of the Resistance, she received a strange visit. Boys and girls her own age. Children who were broken in some way, burning with hatred.
The offered sacrifice took the hand of a forsaken friend, stood up, and began to walk on her own.
A brief flicker of turmoil passed through her, but the princess possessed a will strong enough to conceal her innermost thoughts. Composing her expression and posture, she looked at the Regressor.
“Now that we have formally introduced ourselves, shall we talk…?”
Though her heart was in turmoil, she was a princess, after all. Despite her unsteady resolve, her outward demeanor was impeccable.
However, our Regressor… well, her resolve is admirable, but…
“There’s not much to discuss. I’ll get straight to the point. Listen carefully.”
Her demeanor… sigh. I’m at a loss for words…
“We didn’t contact you to seek refuge or find an escape route.”
“Then why?”
“We’re going to hit the Command Center. To be honest, there’s almost nothing you can do to help.”
The Regressor stated her business, short and sharp. So sharp, in fact, that question marks bloomed all over the princess’s face, but the Regressor continued as if even an explanation was a waste of breath.
“Our forces are more than enough. We have the Progenitor, me, and the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The Beast King is also with us for the time being.”
Why am I included?
“We’re going to strike fast and pull out. It’ll be a problem if a bunch of weaklings get in the way, and it’ll be a real pain if you just hold us back. If possible, I’d prefer you select only your elite.”
“One moment, sir. You’re speaking a bit too fast.”
What is she saying? An attack? No matter how strong they are, to think they can take on the Military State’s Command Center…?
I understood her confusion. When the Regressor first proposed attacking the Command Center, we too failed to grasp for a moment why we had to smash it. We even thought it was absurd.
But reading her thoughts, I found that, surprisingly, the Regressor had a plan.
“You’ve been tracking our movements, so you should know. We faced no interference on our way to Amitengrad. They just kept actively avoiding engagement.”
“Yes. Our spies reported as much.”
Active Engagement Avoidance. Basically, running away. We do it a lot ourselves, so we know it well…
“But when we left Amitengrad, the loose encirclement gradually tightened, their numbers swelled, and they united the entire Southern Corps to pursue us. Then, they engaged in sporadic battles as they converged on the east.”
“That’s incredible. I heard the Six Generals had gathered, but I never imagined you fought the entire Southern Corps…”
The princess naturally praised the Regressor, but it was lost on her, a born rebel.
“At first, I thought it was because of the Pied Piper of Hamelin… but it’s strange, isn’t it? An enemy that went as far as avoiding engagement to prevent losses suddenly decides to face us head-on just because the Pied Piper joined us? It makes no sense.”
Raising an army costs money. This is especially true for the Military State. The bullets they use, the alchemic steel, the Clothing Packets, even their food—every single item consumes a significant alchemic cost or resources.
Had the Regressor or the Progenitor committed some act of irreparable destruction, it might have been different, but aside from poking a few bases here and there, they hadn't caused any real harm. The Military State had little reason to expend so many resources.
But they did. An inefficiently large number of corps were dispatched to capture a mere handful of people.
The princess’s expression turned serious as she asked, “If what you say is true… does that mean the army was mobilized for a reason other than to attack you?”
“That’s what I think.”
“Oh, then why?”
The Military State raised an army for a reason other than capturing them…? Then why did they move the Southern Corps?
To hunt, one needs extensive knowledge of the prey. The princess, once a member of the Military State and now a hunter herself, understood the State far more deeply than any of the other kingdom remnants.
No, I need to change my perspective. The Military State isn't ruled by a king. There's a Command Center, but I've never heard of them moving the army based on personal feelings. I shouldn't explain their actions by guessing their intentions; I need to deduce their intentions from their actions.
There, the simplest answer is the correct one. What reason is there to put the Southern Corps on the Meta Conveyor Belt?
For transportation, obviously. The Meta Conveyor Belt was a mode of transport. That led to a new question. To where?
The princess’s mind raced. And in an instant, all the puzzle pieces clicked into place. A gasp of realization escaped her lips.
“…It’s a war against the North! It must be the Fallen Dominion!”
The Regressor nodded.
“That’s right. They weren’t organizing an army to chase us. They pretended to chase us in order to organize an army.”
“My goodness…!”
“Well, they probably did want to capture or expel us. The presence of the Progenitor, Tyrkanzyaka, would give the Duchy of Mist an excuse to intervene. And if they left the Dog King alone, the Wolf King would come looking.”
There is rarely only one strategic objective. And there was probably more to it than that.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the princess forgot her decorum and shot to her feet.
“Wait a moment. Our main base is near the northern border! If a war breaks out, we’ll be the first to be ‘stabilized’! I have to let them know at once…! Aah!”
In her haste, the princess tripped on the leg of her chair and nearly fell. Her guardian knight rushed to catch her, but the Regressor was much faster.
The Regressor was a master of the Heavenly Counter Domain, and regardless of what others thought, she felt no psychological hesitation in touching another woman. The fact that she had gotten to know the princess in previous timelines also played a part.
As if they had rehearsed it, the Regressor caught the princess in a smooth, natural motion. The princess, who found herself clinging to the Regressor to stay upright, froze for a moment as if electrocuted, then jumped back. Though it wasn't very noticeable due to her light pink hair, a faint blush colored the princess's cheeks.
“Oh, oh! Thank you, sir…! I was so startled, I made a fool of myself!”
“Be careful.”
The Regressor, however, had simply acted on reflex and thought nothing of it.
Startled by the contact with a stranger, the princess grabbed a handful of her own hair and mumbled from behind it.
“Sir Knight. Inform everyone. Tell them to prepare for immediate evacuation.”
“Understood.”
The guardian knight took out a piece of pure white stone slab he had hidden in his tunic.
The Great White Wall of Rakion. A piece of one of the Sanctum's miracles, the pure white wall that surrounded the Sacred Site.
The inner wall of a shrine built using a part of that wall was whole and connected. Even a broken fragment was part of that whole. If someone wrote on the slab, the same words would appear on the inner wall of the shrine.
Thus, the shrine served as a bulletin board, conveying not only the will of the gods but also the king's commands. It was one of the reasons the Sanctum could spread so widely across the world, closely tied to power.
…Though it was useless to the Military State, which had created the moving Great White Wall, the Signallers.
Just as the guardian knight was about to reveal the fragment, the princess stopped him urgently.
“Sir! Not here!”
This is a space where the Progenitor is present! We can't reveal the Great White Wall!
Remembering why the fragment had been so carefully concealed, the guardian knight excused himself and stepped outside the container.
Of course, Tyr, who had recognized its identity, was displeased, but she wasn't so petty as to get angry over something that wasn't even brandished in her face. The princess had, at least, shown a minimum of courtesy.
“Hmph. I’m feeling a bit displeased. Come here for a moment and cheer me up.”
Or maybe not? She’s using her displeasure as an excuse to use me.
Deeply relieved, the princess now looked at the Regressor with a gaze of pure admiration.
“In-incredible… You seem younger than I, yet you possess martial prowess comparable to Sunderspear and such profound insight… If you had led the rebellion, not even Sunderspear would have been needed to bring down the kingdom!”
It was truly high praise, and considering she was the last princess, it was an ambiguous compliment to know how to react to.
The Regressor, however, felt awkward for a different reason.
Insight? What insight… I've seen the future, of course I know. No, I should have known a little sooner.
The Abyss collapses.
The power of the earth returns to the curse-free land.
Nations compete for the newly fertile land.
A war breaks out. The Seven Day War, where all battles ended in just seven days.
The Regressor had known this for a long time. Because that’s what happened in a previous timeline.
She didn't know if the Military State had intended to destroy the Abyss with that in mind, but the war itself was an event she had already foreseen.
But in the midst of the intense chase, she had forgotten. She had truly believed the Military State was after them and had responded with all her might.
Come to think of it, both Sunderspear and the Mage Marshal were holding back a little until they captured the Gunmaster. The only one with a real reason to fight us was the Gunmaster. And in her case, her target was that Hughes fellow from the start… It seems the Command Center doesn't even tell the Six Generals the true nature of their operations. Tch, those bastards at the Command Center, what is their deal?
In any case, because we fled all the way through the south, the Southern Corps gathered in the Far East along the Meta Conveyor Belt. If they just move north from here… their deployment will be complete in an instant.
The war will begin with the Military State's occupation of the wasteland.
Whatever. Let's stop it while we can. There's no reason not to. If we escape to the Fallen Dominion, it will only become a pretext for war.
War was not what the Regressor wanted. To be precise, it was better for the world not to be thrown into chaos by war before she could stop the King of Sins.
Therefore, they would strike the Command Center.
“S-sir?”
It may not have been her intention, but the Regressor had been lost in thought, her eyes incredibly complex and sunken. She looked serious, as if she were contemplating a much more distant future and a bigger picture.
How that must have looked in the princess’s eyes… ugh, it gives me the creeps just imagining it.
…Isn’t she just… too perfect! Her skills are outstanding, her insight is profound! She knows how to read the political situation, and on top of that, she has the looks of a handsome nobleman that would put any woman to shame…! How could such a person even exist!
I really didn't want to, but I read her mind anyway. Ah, I wish I could just turn off my mind-reading. Won't someone please knock me out?
The Regressor finally responded to the princess’s call.
“Uh… hmm, it’s nothing. We’ve just gathered a lot of information by fighting the Military State. It’s only natural that we know more.”
“Too much modesty can be a poison.”
“It’s not really modesty…”
She meant it literally, but the message didn't get through to the princess. She just gazed at the Regressor with eyes full of adoration. My god, to think the day would come when the Regressor would be looked up to like that.
It’s the end of the world. Or maybe regression is just that much of a cheat.
As I was nodding to myself, I noticed Shiati giving me a smile filled with ecstasy. The story so far had given her a great inspiration.
Shiati spun around and knelt before the princess. Thud. Her knees echoed on the container's floor.
“Your Highness. Your orders.”
“Shiati? You never do this. Why are you kneeling? It’s making me uncomfortable…”
As the princess looked on, puzzled, Shiati bowed her head even lower and pleaded.
“Please give the order for an all-out attack. It’s now or never.”
“What? Shiati, what are you talking about?”
Shiati continued her explanation, quick and concise.
“If the Military State is preparing for war, they will first secure their domestic situation. Remaining in the north, where their corps will gather, is a dog’s death. We must evacuate. But with their forces already gathered in the east, if we, including the civilians, set off at a leisurely pace, we’ll just be tracked down and picked off one by one. We’ll suffer near-total annihilation.”
The princess was sharp enough to deduce the coming war from just a few clues. As Shiati continued to speak, her proposal became clearer and clearer.
“To prevent that, we must also attack the Command Center and throw them into chaos. Making it so they have no capacity to look elsewhere is the only chance for them to survive. Your Highness, you must decide.”
The princess fell silent.
This opinion was Shiati’s. It was a plan proposed by a vengeful soul who would gladly burn herself to death if it meant scarring the Military State. It was filled with personal desire.
The problem was, it was the right course of action.
They were suddenly faced with an unprepared, all-out war. Biting her lip, the princess asked the Regressor, just in case.
“Don’t tell me, sir. You were aiming for this from the very beginning…?”
“Huh? I was just thinking of borrowing some of your spies.”
Even the Regressor, who hadn't anticipated things going this far, waved her hand in denial, but the die had already been cast.