Pax Kpelleofenica - 1
Whether the battle between the two armies had already ended or not, the rescue party arrived with remarkable speed. It was only natural, really—if one exaggerated a little, it had been a fight of three hundred thousand against ten thousand. On top of that, the nomads' chieftain Dorgon had broken away, and the warriors under him had sought not victory but death. They must have collided head-on and fallen just as quickly.
And that expectation proved correct.
"We took no small losses colliding with a full ten thousand nomads, but that was the extent of it. They didn't fight with anything that could rightly be called tactics or strategy."
"I see."
The Northern Theater Army Commander, who had personally led the rescue party at a run, confirmed that I was alive and let out a breath of relief before explaining everything that had happened in my absence.
Just as expected, the nomads had not fought by deploying any extraordinary schemes for victory. They had simply fought crudely and fallen, all to prove that they could not coexist with the Empire—to reach the ending of dying in battle.
Of course, as the commander said, more than ten thousand nomads had charged them, so even that crude fighting had inflicted damage that could not be ignored. But that was all.
They really were all the same sort.
Not a single one had fled, nor had any been taken prisoner; every last one of them had died fighting. Just as Dorgon had said—the most stubborn bastards remaining right up to the very end.
If any tribal chiefs or clan leaders had surrendered, I had planned to grant them titles at the very least. Instead of titles, every one of them had volunteered to be Dorgon's companions on the road to the afterlife. At least the path he took would not be lonely.
"The war is over now. Those who raised arms against the Empire, and their ringleader, are all dead. Only the postwar settlement remains."
"You've worked hard."
"That's an embarrassing thing to say. The Inspector's labors far exceeded mine."
Having said so, the commander lifted his head and gazed at the sky. The sky, still torn open in the shape of a cross, seemed to leave a deep impression; he stared for a long while.
"...It rather seems the gods themselves have blessed the Empire."
At those words I merely smiled in silence. Coincidentally, the cross in this world also carried religious meaning, just as it had in the world before my possession. Enough meaning that a sky torn into a cross would make one think of the divine.
The fact that the cross itself was something humans had invented was a problem, but this victory too was one achieved by human hands, so it hardly mattered.
"I've talked too long. When your body feels a little better, say the word. We'll return by teleport."
"Ah, yes."
I watched the commander walk away with his knights, then moved my arms this way and that. Unlike the wounds I had taken from Kagan, this time I had recovered without issue.
Thank goodness.
A wound on the torso could at least be hidden, but a severed arm that would not move could not be concealed at all. If I appeared one-armed before the people who had firmly believed I would never take part in combat and pulled the "I left it in the new era" routine, what sort of resentment would I earn?
...Unfortunately, I would have to endure the resentment of exactly one person.
"Department Head."
Once the commander had withdrawn, Penelia approached with tears brimming in her eyes and dropped to her knees before me. There were others nearby, so she called me Department Head—yet the fact that she was barely clinging to her last shred of reason made it all the more frightening.
"Everything—everything happened because I was lacking..."
In other words, she was in her right mind and blaming herself rather than resenting me.
Penelia had already voiced her worry and concern simply at the prospect of me fighting Dorgon at the front. I had barely managed to persuade her and Mukgwangdae before taking the line—only to go beyond fighting on the front and vanish entirely. It must have felt as though the sky itself had collapsed.
Fortunately, my survival had been confirmed not long after, but I had been found gravely wounded with my right arm severed and my left arm immobile. The shock and guilt Penelia must have felt would have been beyond imagination.
"Back then, I should have been the one to vanish in the Department Head's place. My arm should have been the one that was cut—"
"Enough."
I cut off Penelia as she trembled and blamed herself. What had happened to me was not her fault.
I had stood at the front because of my own stubbornness, and I had been flung to that place because of Dorgon. If Penelia had any sin at all, it was only that she had met a superior—and lover—who was far too stubborn.
"This was a method that even the Heaven-Defier once suffered. It was a method that could not be opposed, so it is no one's sin."
"B-but still..."
I gently drew the still-trembling Penelia into my arms.
She buried her face in my shoulder and shed silent tears.
"I'm sorry for making you worry. There won't be anything like this from now on."
I patted her back in comfort, yet Penelia's trembling did not stop.
This body isn't mine alone anymore.
I had already known it in my head, but experiencing it directly drove the truth home even harder. From now on, this body was not something I could move by my will alone; it was a body many people were waiting for.
Still, just as I had comforted her a moment ago, there would be no more incidents like this.
The reason I had needed to step onto the battlefield was gone now.
Once the blood and mana seemed to be circulating through my body well enough, I returned to headquarters.
"You've done well."
And the Duke of Victory, who had already received the report of Dorgon's death through a communication orb, came out in person to welcome me despite being in the middle of his duties.
The merit of facing the enemy's ringleader one-on-one and emerging victorious was something the supreme commander of the expeditionary force was fully justified in praising. All the more so when that ringleader was the special-class rebel the Empire had spent three years hunting.
"At last order has been restored to the North, and peace has come to the Empire. His Majesty was well pleased with the Inspector's merit, so rest easy now."
"I am grateful for your consideration, Your Excellency."
I bowed my head and withdrew from the Duke of Victory, who kept patting my shoulder in commendation. It was only natural—he could hardly work a man who had suffered wounds severe enough to lose an arm, and an inspector had no real justification for taking part in the postwar settlement in the first place.
"Ah, Inspector."
Just as I was about to slip away, the Duke of Victory spoke again.
"His Majesty has granted the Inspector's petition."
I flinched for a moment at the unexpectedly swift result. I had mentioned it in passing when the Northern Theater Army Commander reported to the Duke of Victory, but I had not expected a favorable answer to return on the very same day.
"His Majesty's mercy is truly like the heavens."
I answered with genuine feeling.
The petition I had submitted was to have Dorgon cremated in the North. Giving up the body of a ringleader that could have been used for any number of purposes truly was the Emperor's mercy.
Whether that mercy was of the same sort as a reward given to one who had earned merit, or whether his authority already stood firm enough that he could afford to be merciful, I could not say.
After confirming that young Karl had returned to his own tent, I returned to mine as well. I had left my post to greet him, but there were many matters that required urgent handling.
Fortunately, the battlefield cleanup and the affairs of the tribes that had joined the fighting could be left to the marshals and the corps commanders. That alone cut my workload by more than half. Conversely, the matters that could not be resolved at their level had to be handled by me alone.
And before I had gone to greet young Karl, I had been wrestling with the most troublesome issue of all.
The garrison.
There was no longer any force on this land that opposed the Empire; only nobles who followed His Majesty's will remained. They had acclaimed His Majesty as Khan, and the North had become, in both name and substance, Imperial territory.
For that reason, central army forces had to be stationed in the North as well. Not merely the private soldiers of the chieftains who had received titles, but His Majesty's own army.
This is a first for me.
A sigh escaped me of its own accord. If it had been a simple occupation garrison for security and defense, that would be one thing—but establishing a garrison for newly incorporated Imperial territory was something I had never done. The last time the Empire's borders had changed was the war in the East where the Iron Blood Duke had made his name.
Moreover, the territory gained this time was incomparable to what had been gained in the past. In terms of sheer area alone, had we not acquired land on a scale similar to Armain or Juven?
The one consolation amid all this was that the North's population was small. Even a relatively modest force would have no trouble maintaining public order.
Yet a sparse population relative to the land also meant that the region was undeveloped. It was a poor environment for an army to be stationed in, and even if they were stationed there, facilities for the soldiers simply did not exist.
...I'll have to keep the numbers to a minimum.
Even so, we could not simply withdraw without leaving a garrison. Keep the forces remaining in the North as small as possible, and quickly decide on the permanent garrison that would replace the temporary one.
For now, the temporary garrison would be drawn primarily from my private troops and the Northern Theater Army. They had already been dragged into a war; remaining in the North would not sit well with them, but if I made certain to secure proper compensation and promised a swift return, I could soothe them somehow. They had earned merit as well, so there was ample justification for rewards.
Furthermore, the permanent garrison would need as high a proportion of Northerners as possible. If it were composed solely of mainlanders, even adapting would be a problem. Therefore I would have to incorporate the wandering clans into the central army or seek cooperation from the chieftains who had received titles.
I'll have to at least mention it when the chieftains gather.
The chieftains had agreed to join the expeditionary force's return march. At the triumph they would kneel before His Majesty the Emperor, acclaim him as Khan, and receive their titles.
Yes—it would be best to speak of it when their spirits were at their peak.
...This will not be easy.
I leaned back against the chair and let out a sigh. As always, the aftermath of a war was more troublesome than the war itself.
Even so, my mood was not particularly foul. Worrying about when a war might break out was far worse than fretting over the disposition of troops.
Penelia, who had already been glued to me as close escort, escalated to an absolute, unbreakable close escort, yet I could not bring myself to push her away. Outside the tent Mukgwangdae stood packed shoulder to shoulder, but I said nothing. Those fellows had surely suffered no less than Penelia.
Toward evening, however, I heard the Mukgwangdae outside beginning to murmur among themselves. Strange—those were not the sort of people who chattered while on guard.
"Karl."
The moment I saw the person who entered next, I understood the reason for the murmuring.
"My lord."
"No need to get up. Stay lying down."
If Father had appeared, it was only natural for Mukgwangdae to grow restless. As my own father, he would have felt like the superior of their superior.
"You were here as well."
"Yes, Father."
Father nodded to Penelia as she bowed her head with perfect formality, then looked me over from head to toe.
"I am glad the treatment appears to have finished safely."
"Ah, yes. There's no problem moving around now."
"Even so, remain still for a while. The vanishing of a wound does not mean the shock has vanished with it."
Having said that, Father closed his mouth and simply stared at my face. I could feel Penelia growing flustered by the strange standoff, yet I myself felt nothing under that silent gaze. Strangely, there was no sense of pressure at all.
"Did you finish it with your own hand?"
When Father broke the silence with those words, I allowed myself a small smile.
"Yes. I finished it."
"Have you fulfilled your duty?"
"I have no regrets left."
At my unhesitating answer, Father too wore a faint smile.
"Then that is enough."
And he turned away, as if hearing those words was all he had needed.
"...Father."
When I carefully opened my mouth toward his retreating back, Father paused for a moment.
"Thank you for worrying about me."
"...Yes."
Father's footsteps quickened, but I deliberately paid it no mind.
I was a little embarrassed myself.