Chapter 348
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 348
Chapter Title: It Doesn't Matter.
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"......I'm so flabbergasted right now that words aren't coming easy, but I'll ask anyway."
The sub-peak towering higher than any spot in Africa.
The summit of Kilimanjaro.
Just a minute ago, he'd been in the sweltering heat of Egypt, and now here he was, standing before a snow-covered cabin, gazing out over the continent.
The blond, tanned boy who looked it.
But in truth, a veteran of the martial world with centuries under his belt.
Rimon pressed hard on his temples against a headache unlike any he'd ever known in his life.
And then he asked.
"What the hell did you do?"
"I came to rescue you."
"Rescue my ass! You know damn well I didn't need saving, sis."
He'd tried to keep his cool as much as possible.
Even so, his tone had slipped into outright reproach.
All because the situation was just that ridiculous.
The only reason Rimon had agreed to become Hasneti's consort was to track down the Seven-Colored Bird.
He could've bailed anytime he wanted.
But Rose, who knew that full well, had stormed in swinging her sword at Hasneti and dragged him out like some kidnapping victim.
For Rimon, whose infiltration was now thoroughly botched, it was beyond exasperating.
But Rose didn't so much as flinch.
She simply gazed at him with that faint smile she always wore.
"Do you really think it wasn't necessary?"
"Of course it wasn't."
"Even though if I hadn't stepped in, who knows what Hasneti might've done to you?"
"That's......"
Rimon was at a loss for words.
No matter what Hasneti tried, he had no intention of letting it happen by force.
But rejecting her proposal outright and resisting on the spot would've put him in a pretty awkward position.
In that sense, Rose's intervention had been perfectly timed.
"......That doesn't mean you had to blow everything up even worse."
The problem was one thing.
Thanks to Rose butting in, the situation had gone from bad to catastrophic.
No princess could stomach a surprise attack from another, let alone having her intended consort snatched away.
Especially not the Red Dragon Princess.
Rimon, who knew that better than anyone, could only let out a heavy sigh.
"We'll resume the war."
"Pardon?"
Nadia's eyes went wide.
She'd already been scrambling to handle postwar cleanup after the war had ended so abruptly.
And now, just days after declaring a truce, this order?
Even for the Red Dragon Clan, and no matter how revered the princess was, as her close aide, she would've normally urged reconsideration.
"Any issues?"
"......N-No, none."
But in the end, Nadia bowed her head without a peep.
Hasneti had always had a fierce aura, but this was on another level entirely.
Her expression was several degrees colder.
Her eyes gleamed with a bloody light.
And that psionic energy crackling around her.
Even Nadia, her closest aide, had never seen her this furious.
Which was why she knew.
One wrong word, and aide or not, she might end up as ashes herself.
The farm incinerated just for being too close to her rage was proof enough.
So what choice did she have?
She'd follow orders.
'No legions are ready to deploy right now, but if I rush minimal prep on the quickest ones...... Urrgh.'
"Give me a week, and even if it's short-handed......"
"Right now."
"......Pardon?"
"I said start the war immediately."
"Eek! T-Today?!"
"Yes."
"That's impossible!"
Forgetting her resolve from moments ago, Nadia blurted out her objection.
Even moving a mere company required prepping rations, ammo, and more.
Let alone dispatching tens of thousands on a whim.
Impossible, even for a military state like Egypt.
Especially now, with legions still reorganizing from the front lines.
"Impossible or not, do it."
"Even if you say that...... Gahk!"
Snap.
How had she closed the distance so fast?
In the blink of an eye, Hasneti had seized Nadia's throat with one hand and hoisted her up.
Staring into the eyes of the girl dangling in midair, kicking futilely, she growled.
"Do it."
"Guhk, Pri... Princess."
"Understood?"
Crunch.
To demand an answer, or perhaps unable to contain her boiling rage.
Hasneti squeezed harder, turning Nadia's face purple.
Her neck bones could snap before she even suffocated.
"......It... won't... work."
And yet.
Nadia refused to yield.
Wringing out her fading breath, she forced the words.
"A war... meant to... hngh, lose... can't... be done."
Victory and defeat were matters of the battlefield.
So they could lose a war.
But charging into battle without supplies or prep was forfeiting victory from the start.
Even for the Red Dragon Clan, who never shied from a fight......
No, precisely because she was the Red Dragon Princess's aide, Nadia couldn't accept this order.
For the princess's sake, it was her duty—and her right—to speak up, even at the cost of her life.
"......"
Her face turning blue from asphyxiation.
Her flailing legs going limp.
Her eyes losing focus.
Finally, after glaring at the slack-uniformed girl who refused to give the answer she wanted.
Thud.
"Kuhk, hack, cough cough!"
Hasneti dropped Nadia like trash.
And in a hoarse voice, told the coughing girl.
"You have three days."
"Th-That's......"
Her pallor hadn't even returned yet.
But Nadia couldn't answer right away.
It was far more realistic than "today," but still an impossible demand.
Especially for a full-scale conquest war, not some skirmish.
So as Nadia steeled herself for whatever punishment, opening her mouth again—
"One or two legions will suffice."
"Pardon?"
"No half-assed troops. Focus on readying the clan's elite forces to max capacity."
"That much is doable, but...... cough. You won't conquer many countries that way."
"Doesn't matter."
Hasneti murmured low.
She had no intention of conquest to begin with.
Her goal was one country......
No, one woman.
"It's more than enough to burn that vile hypocrite bitch's nation to the ground."
It was rare, thanks only to her upright nature,
But catching a fleeing Blue Dragon Princess was, in some ways, harder than capturing the White Dragon Princess.
In that light, Hasneti's plan was obvious.
Instead of chasing Rose, make her come to her.
And luckily, Hasneti had the perfect bait.
"The Pharaoh will destroy this country now."
The Kilimanjaro Autonomous Government.
The peaceful nation Rose had built piece by piece on this African soil.
To Hasneti, who knew that, this military regime looked like nothing but bait to lure her out.
"As thoroughly and brutally as possible."
Size-wise, it was a powerhouse in the east, but in truth, a newborn state not even a month old.
A ragtag bunch held together only by Rose's power—that was the Kilimanjaro Autonomous Government.
If war broke out with Egypt, it wouldn't last days before crumbling.
And after that?
Ruthless pillaging.
To provoke Rose, Hasneti would unleash every atrocity she could.
The bigger issue was that it might not stop there.
"If sis doesn't show, she might even go to war with the British Empire."
An absurd notion.
Invading this African upstart was worlds apart from attacking Europe's overlord, the British Empire.
It could spark a world war without surprise.
Yet Rimon couldn't dismiss the possibility just because she was the Red Dragon Princess.
He'd seen it.
Her eyes, evaporating rainwater.
Burning hot enough to incinerate the world.
He knew, from long life's hard lessons, what eyes like that could unleash.
So Rimon racked his brain over how to fix this mess.
"That part's fine."
"Fine?...... Got some ace up your sleeve?"
"Yes."
"Really? What is it?"
Rimon blinked at Rose's unexpectedly calm reply.
He saw no answers himself.
How could she be so composed? What secret plan did she have?
At least it was good news.
If Rose had a countermeasure, they could avoid the worst-case......
"If she wants war, we'll give it to her."
"......?"
That moment.
Rimon blinked.
What had he just heard?
What did it mean?
He couldn't process it for a moment.
A Sword Master’s ears didn’t fail, and he knew it best, yet he found himself asking blankly anyway.
"Sis? I must’ve misheard, ‘cause could you repeat that?"
"We'll go to war with Hasneti."
"......???"
If you can't avoid it, fight—that simple logic.
So obvious, her staggering answer left Rimon dumbfounded.
"War...... with the Red Dragon Clan?"
"Yes."
"That'll spark civil war in the Seven Dragon Society?"
"I know."
"It could escalate to world war and catastrophe?"
"Doesn't matter."
Tens of thousands dead.
Hundreds of millions dead.
Not her problem.
The Seven Dragon Society's most merciful and just princess said it flatly, then smiled softly at the frozen Rimon.
"That's not what's important."
"......"
Even when Rose appeared...... no, even ambushing Hasneti, he'd only been stunned.
Even being all but kidnapped away, he'd chalked it up to absurdity.
But this moment.
Hearing her dismiss world war as "not important," Rimon realized.
Rose had never intended a quiet resolution.
From showing up undisguised to confront Hasneti, she'd planned war.
Rescuing him was her declaration.
"Sis...... no, Countess. What the hell are you thinking?"
If it were another princess.
Even Aynsha doing this, he'd be baffled but get it.
But Rose of the Blue Dragon Clan—the most diligent, merciful Blue Dragon Princess in history—waging war?
If he'd heard it from someone else, he'd call bullshit. Even now, it was unbelievable.
To her stunned self.
Rose said calmly.
"If you want my answer, explain something first."
"Explain what?"
"What's your real goal?"
Rimon's face twisted in confusion.
"What're you talking about? You know it's the Seven-Colored Bird."
"Yes."
Her usual gentle smile.
But those deep, sunken blue eyes stared straight at him.
The princess who'd resolved to war just to get one answer from him alone added quietly.
"On the surface, that is."