The Coup
The number of deserters had only grown as dawn broke.
With this many, it was no joke. They could almost form an entire regular battalion.
As long as their condition remained decent, of course.
I sipped my coffee while I watched their sorry state.
“This is a complete mess.”
“Yes, sir. A complete mess.”
Their uniforms looked like they hadn’t been washed in ages. Many soldiers were wrapped in bandages all over.
And quite a few had lost one or two limbs.
Something in my chest flared up as I looked at them.
I’m not really Leon Eisen anymore.
But the remnants of Leon Eisen still remain.
What he truly loved wasn’t Elysiss, but his own soldiers.
And that part I could empathize with too.
Honestly, what sin did these defeated soldiers even commit?
All they did was answer their country’s call, become soldiers, and fight with everything they had.
It was all because that idiot Ulyssian botched the command so badly.
I called Theresia and the other four into the study.
“Starting today, we’re taking action.”
“What action, sir?”
Theresia asked, looking at me as if I was ignoring her.
I ignored her and looked at Maribel instead.
“Can you cook food to feed them?”
“Impossible,” Maribel answered awkwardly, scratching her head.
“Five thousand of them? How am I supposed to cook for that?”
“Natalia, Celine.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Can you use magic?”
“…… Yes?”
Both of them looked at me with blank expressions at the same time, but I already knew.
They were talented mages.
“Don’t hold back. You two are good with magic.”
“Haha, how did you know that……”
“There’s a way to find out,” I said.
It was simple. I had just read it in the original story.
“Maribel. Let me ask again. If one 6th-circle mage and one 7th-circle mage help, can you cook for all of them?”
“Huh.”
“Oh.”
Natalia and Celine gasped at the same time, their identities exposed.
Maribel glanced at them and answered confidently.
“Leave it to me!”
“Okay. The three of you head to the kitchen and start cooking.”
Maribel grabbed Natalia and Celine’s hands, excited, and dashed off to the kitchen.
Theresia and Katarina were left behind.
“Katarina.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Can you treat the wounded?”
“Yes.”
“Go ahead.”
“What about medical supplies?”
“Take as much as you want from my safe.”
“Yes, sir.”
Katarina left too. Only Theresia remained.
“Sir, what about me……?”
“You’re my aide. You should be by my side.”
“Ugh…… but you said I’m not a general.”
“Even if I’m not a general, I’m still a knight. Knights need aides too.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Your tone’s a mess, tsk.”
I ruffled her hair once. Her face turned bright red.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Just giving you some healing.”
I smiled at her gently.
“It was a joke. You go to the market and buy bulk supplies and medicine.”
“Huh?”
“Can’t you do it?”
“I’ll go right away.”
“Good.”
Theresia left too.
I grabbed gum, a pipe, tobacco leaves, and matches, and headed to the top of the estate.
Smoke rose from the chimney connected to the kitchen.
Food was being cooked in the dining hall as well, judging by the steam pouring out the open kitchen window.
A delicious aroma filled the air.
The soldiers smelled it and started to hope.
“I smell something delicious coming from General Eisen’s estate!”
“Could it be food for us?”
“Wake up, it’s a dream.”
It wasn’t a dream.
That was all for you.
* * *
A week had passed.
The soldiers’ bodies, which had been wasted, were finally recovering.
With Katarina’s treatment, the wounded were starting to heal.
Only now did I stand before them.
“General!”
“General Leon Eisen!”
I waved my hand at those who called me general.
“I’m not a general. Don’t you want to retire too? I already retired.”
“Uuu.”
The soldiers burst into laughter, but there was no hatred in their eyes.
After playing around with the soldiers for a while, a carriage suddenly came riding from somewhere.
Claudia, the Minister of Military Affairs, stepped out.
I had known she was coming and had already met with the soldiers.
“General Leon!”
Claudia’s face went pale the moment she saw me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the estate.
“What’s the rush, Minister?”
“What the hell are you doing?!”
She glared at me as if she wanted to kill me and screamed.
This would definitely reach the soldiers.
“This is treason against His Majesty the Emperor!”
“They just came to get food. Their wounds are being treated.”
“Still!”
“Did the empire do anything for them?”
I erased my smile and shot her a cold glare.
“Did we receive their pay? Were we paid their rewards? The truth is, you even tried to execute them for refusing orders?”
“…… It wasn’t my order. It was His Majesty the Emperor’s.”
“Hah.”
The anger pouring out wasn’t smoke. It wrapped around my body.
“That bastard Ulyssian.”
“General! Are you really planning to arrest yourself for treason against the imperial family?!”
“Arrest me.”
I pointed at the soldiers while looking at Claudia.
They were glaring at her with murderous eyes.
“You can try to arrest me.”
“……”
She gulped and ran to the carriage in a hurry, then left for somewhere else.
The imperial palace, probably.
‘Leon Eisen has finally started his rebellion.’
I was pretty sure that was who she was rushing to report to.
But she was right.
What I was about to do was treason.
I went back to the soldiers and put on a serious expression.
I approached their representative.
Sergeant Major Martin stood before me and gave a salute like a blade, then said,
“The empire, the emperor has abandoned us.”
“I know.”
“You can be branded as traitors.”
“We’ve already been abandoned. We can do anything.”
“Gather the soldiers.”
I headed back into the estate and climbed to the top.
Standing there, I declared,
“I will not save the Nicator Empire!”
“Leon Eisen! Leon Eisen! Leon Eisen!”
“I will not fight for the emperor! I will not fulfill the empress’s requests! But I will never abandon the soldiers who came under me!”
The soldiers cheered my name.
“We are now marching toward the capital.”
“……”
The soldiers fell silent.
“Only those who want to live stay here. Those who want to return to the emperor can leave now. I won’t behead deserters.”
My words exploded with cheers once more.
They saluted me.
I waved my hand, and they lowered theirs.
With that, I had my own private army.
From the empire’s finest standing army of fifty thousand, roughly five thousand remained in my hands.
With this force, taking the capital was no problem.
“Departure is tomorrow. Everyone prepare!”
“Yes!”
Hearing their loud reply, I descended to the study.
Only Theresia was there.
The others were busy cooking and treating the soldiers.
She was also organizing documents.
Looking at her, I said,
“You heard everything, right?”
“…… How could I not hear it?”
She looked at me with concern.
“Are you really okay? This is treason.”
“Treason? It’s a coup.”
I laughed coldly and snatched the coffee she was drinking and drank it.
Theresia stared at it blankly.
“Are you planning to become emperor?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? I’m restoring the Nicator to a monarchy.”
“A monarchy……”
“Yes. The empire was only named after I absorbed two empires and three kingdoms. Those five nations have been independent for a long time now.”
“That makes sense.”
Actually, I had memories of the original story as well as Leon Eisen’s memories.
Had he not fallen in love with Elysiss, he would have acted like me now.
The reason he was abandoned by Elysiss wasn’t just because he wasn’t the most noble.
So he thought.
If I became the crown prince.
If I became emperor.
If I became the ruler of a nation.
Couldn’t I get the heart of the person I love?
He had held such delusions many times.
All the fighting on the battlefield had been for that reason.
Destroying the Lishumark Kingdom with his own hands was also for that reason.
So he thought he could become a marquess king.
The late emperor discarded his expectations and made the gained territories direct imperial domains.
But Leon Eisen.
I’ll fulfill your dream.
Of course, Elysiss Floren won’t be by my side.