Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Vladimir's Betrayal
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Vladimir stabbed the king.
It was a completely unexpected situation, but by no means a bad one for me.
"General?"
"Vladimir!"
Instead of panicking, I snatched the sword from Anna's scabbard, bellowed his name as if rage had blinded me, and lurched toward the throne like I was about to charge straight at him.
Not getting angry in this situation would be suspicious in itself.
I could have feigned cold, rational fury, but to an outsider, that might look like I wasn't truly pissed off.
"...No, General!"
"Let go! Let go! Get that bastard now!"
Acting like I couldn't contain my emotions had its downsides, but with Anna there to hold me back, the risk was minimal.
Snatching her sword by force was meant to draw her into the act.
If I'd calmly asked to borrow it, she might have just handed it over, given her usual demeanor.
But what if I acted like I'd lost all reason?
Anna was sharp and quick on the uptake.
She knew it was better to capture these traitors and extract confessions before publicly executing them, rather than killing them outright.
"Come grab me!"
I waited until the soldiers had closed in enough to plausibly restrain me, then tensed my body as if ready to shake them off and slaughter Vladimir on the spot.
"I'll kill them all, every last one!"
"Not now! Take those traitors and tie them up!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Let go!"
While I vented my rage, Anna directed the soldiers to bind Vladimir and the nobles frozen in confusion beside him.
These cowards lacked even the guts to take their own lives, so they were subdued without meaningful resistance.
After a prolonged struggle, I figured it'd been enough and went limp.
"Have you calmed down?"
As I appeared to regain composure, Anna approached quietly, having finished issuing orders to the soldiers.
Looking around, four soldiers had rushed me.
I'd been careful not to hurt them, but they were drenched in sweat from wrestling me down.
"Sorry. I must've looked pathetic."
"...They'll be publicly executed in front of everyone anyway. No need to stain your hands with their filthy blood, General."
"You're right. They don't deserve a clean death after what they've done. Thanks, Anna."
"...Yes, sir."
I watched for a moment as Vladimir, the biggest contributor to this mess, was dragged away in ropes.
The man who'd been closest to real power in the kingdom ended up a traitor.
Watching the symbol of noble authority hauled off by soldiers stirred a strange feeling.
Unlike the other nobles babbling excuses that they had no intention of rebelling, he followed the soldiers quietly, his face oddly relieved.
With the king's blood soaking his clothes, denial was pointless anyway.
A few soldiers, along with attendants, retrieved the king's body from beneath the throne.
Since our justification was rooting out and punishing traitors, we had to treat the corpse with respect.
"Ha..."
Thanks to Vladimir, the king who'd tied me down was gone, and I had solid pretext to purge the nobles I despised.
All that remained was cleanup.
Resolve this incident, trim the forces appropriately, and head to the empire.
Right on cue, my minimap showed massive clusters of red, gray, and green dots approaching the palace.
"I need to talk with the other legion commanders."
"...Understood."
Our justification was ironclad, and we'd secured the palace.
Now I just needed to claim authority legally and wield it properly.
Since Anna was still the 1st Legion's commander, Victor directed the troops under the guise of advising her.
The Royal Guard was fully disarmed and confined to barracks under watch.
They'd cooperated, but Victor insisted they could betray at any moment.
To avoid provoking the approaching 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Legions, the 1st Legion left only a token force at the palace and withdrew its main body to a distance.
In response, the other legions halted their forces slightly away from the 1st Legion's position, seemingly to observe, and sent messengers to the palace.
The messengers delivered orders claiming the 1st Legion had rebelled and needed suppression. Anna showed them the slain king and Vladimir, persuading them.
The messengers were convinced, so Anna explained the full situation and proposed a meeting with the legion commanders.
To avoid making them feel threatened, she set the meeting at the palace square, far from the 1st Legion's main force.
Anna and Victor waited there with a handful of officers.
Victor kept an eye on the minimap, ready to link up with the main body if the other legions moved, but fortunately, the commanders accepted and headed over.
Soon after, the legion commanders arrived with small escorts.
"...Victor. I heard you returned to Zabrinsk, but I didn't expect you here."
"Long time no see, Aleksandrov Kalichin. Coincidentally, I was staying with the 1st Legion when we were attacked. I got permission from their commander to join them. Rebellion? I couldn't just sit idle."
"I see..."
The 4th Legion commander, who'd always been friendly toward Victor, chatted briefly and dropped his suspicions.
The other commanders also knew Victor had been with the 1st Legion, so they didn't find it odd that he was there with its commander, Anna.
"A rebellion? What the hell happened?"
"Vladimir Savinkov rebelled and assassinated His Majesty the King."
Once all the commanders arrived, Anna detailed the rebellion, starting from the Royal Guard's assault.
"...No way."
To erase any lingering doubts, she had the nobles, including Vladimir, dragged out as proof of the treason.
"Vladimir, you really...?"
"..."
Even Yuri Igorev, the 2nd Legion commander who'd been the most skeptical, gave up his doubts upon seeing Vladimir—clothes drenched in blood—silently bow his head.
"Unbelievable..."
"This is a mess. No proper heir in sight."
As the other commanders reeled from the unprecedented treason, Anna stepped forward.
"The reason I called you here for talks is to propose forming a provisional council to prevent further chaos and root out all the traitors."
"...A council."
"Who would be on it?"
"Vladimir confessed that most nobles remaining in the capital were involved. For now, we—who are clearly untainted—must stabilize things."
They'd quashed Vladimir's rebellion, but the king was dead, and the nobles couldn't govern.
By law, until a proper leader was chosen, a council of legion commanders should lead Ruth Kingdom, Anna argued.
"Once the court stabilizes, this provisional council will disband."
Following Victor's advice, Anna conducted the meeting with the poise befitting a legion commander, even if provisional.
"Agreed."
"I consent."
Though the 1st Legion had pulled back some forces, it had responded first to the rebellion.
When its powerful commander proposed the council, the others—who'd worried about the 1st monopolizing power—quickly agreed.
After consensus, Yuri Igorev of the 2nd raised his hand.
"Who should lead the council?"
All eyes turned to him.
The council leader.
With members being legion commanders, their leader could command Ruth Kingdom's main forces.
This key position would shape civilian and military support, and the kingdom's future direction.
Ambitious Yuri and Pavel couldn't casually nominate themselves.
"...I have a nominee."
As everyone pondered, Aleksandrov stood first.
"Someone who can unify the military, whom all Ruth Kingdom's people would support."
"...No way."
He nodded at Anna's gaze and spoke.
"I nominate Victor, former acting supreme commander, as council chairman."
"Victor?"
"I agree."
Anna voiced consent immediately, and none of the accompanying officers objected.
It was possible due to wartime circumstances, but he'd commanded all legions as supreme commander.
His leadership, ability, and reputation were proven; few could top him.
Yuri and Pavel hesitated.
They didn't want to stop at provisional stabilization.
With ambitions, they eyed power long-term, even after stability.
"I agree too."
"Let's reinstate him with council authority and appoint him chairman."
After deliberation, the commanders agreed to name Victor chairman.
Provisional or not, with many nobles implicated, the council would fill the void for a while.
No other voices around, the chairman would wield near-kingly power.
Crucially, Victor was set to return to the empire soon.
Ruth Kingdom was in utter chaos.
If he stayed, the empire might attack, citing broken negotiations. Everyone knew the risk.
High chance he'd leave voluntarily; if not, they could force him out using the empire threat.
Yuri and Pavel figured they'd use his name to stabilize roughly, then take the chair after he left.
They lacked confidence to sway other legions now anyway.
Anna, the 1st commander, was ultimately a commoner; as remaining high nobles, claiming the seat later seemed easy.
Unaware of Victor's thoughts, they decided on him as chairman.
"All in agreement, so we reinstate General Victor as supreme commander and elect him council chairman."
"Fine."
Without uttering a word, Victor became provisional council chairman, gaining command of nearly 30,000 Ruth Kingdom troops.
Hiding a bursting laugh, he'd humbly demurred that he wasn't suited, but relented to the pleas of commanders and officers, taking the baton.
"I'll declare a state of emergency and deploy troops in Zabrinsk to hunt remaining traitors."
With that, the final steps toward Ruth Kingdom's downfall began.