The Tides of Public Sentiment
As Leon's army drew near the river, Internal Affairs Minister Ernst hunted down the major guild leaders of the imperial capital. He didn't have the authority to summon them all. After quickly gathering support from several guild leaders, he headed toward the district where families of soldiers lived together.
“… Hah.”
Ernst sighed. He stepped into an alley to catch his breath, then placed a cigarette in his mouth.
Chick—
A flame sprang from the lighter and set the tip of the cigarette alight.
A pungent cloud of smoke rose into the air. Ernst inhaled the smoke, letting it stimulate the sensitive membranes inside his mouth, and for a moment he forgot reality.
“Hoo.”
He knew it himself. The guild leader he had to meet next was one he could not avoid. …And that guild leader's son had fallen in the Valley Battle.
— Huh, hwaaak…
— Give me back my son, my son…
— The emperor abandoned our husbands and our sons! Why must our husbands and sons become traitors!
Sobs echoed from every house. They blamed themselves, asking what wrong they had done.
“Does this make sense?”
In Ernst's opinion, Emperor Ulyssian had already lost the Mandate of Heaven. Even the empire's greatest supporters—the soldiers and their families—had abandoned the imperial family. Still, he had to do what he could.
Ernst crushed the cigarette butt with his fingers and dropped it into a portable ashtray. He stepped back out into the street and knocked on the door of the most opulent and enormous residence in the district.
Knock—knock—
“Who is it?”
The door opened from inside, and a middle-aged man with deep dark circles under his eyes emerged. It was the guild leader Ernst had come to see.
“Internal Affairs Minister… Your Excellency.”
“Guild Leader Matius.”
Ernst had no face to meet. But the duty had to be done. He still had to protect the empire.
Matius's eyes trembled as he barely managed a smile.
“What brings you here, without even an escort?”
Ernst took Matius's hand tightly.
“I've come to request financial support.”
“… For what reason?”
“The suppression of traitors.”
“… Do they truly deserve that label?”
Matius wiped the smile from his face and glared at Ernst as if he wanted to kill him.
“Have you seen my son?”
“… Yes.”
“I still haven't received the notice of his death.”
“How can you be so certain, Guild Leader?”
“Hah.”
Matius scoffed, utterly incredulous.
“Do I look like a blind man who just woke up?”
“… No.”
“I cannot provide a single coin to the imperial family.”
“Please, don't say that… Not until my son returns alive.”
An old man who had lost his only son began to choke back tears.
“What wrong has my child done? If he did anything wrong, he fought for the empire! Yet you refuse to praise the men who fought for the empire and instead mock them as losers and look down on them!”
“… That is the will of His Majesty.”
“I don't want to hear it.”
Bang—!!
Matius slammed the door shut. From inside he shouted,
“Go to the other houses! Every house has widows and parents who have lost their children sobbing!”
“…”
Ernst rubbed his eyelids with the palm of his hand. He was exhausted. That was why he had dreaded coming here. This was a place where he could read the winds of public sentiment too well.
On the way back to the palace, Ernst had to ride his horse carefully, avoiding the piercing stares of the imperial capital's residents. Their gazes burned. They seemed ready to grab him at any moment and yell,
‘Give me back my son!’
‘Why did my husband die?’
Ernst closed his eyes tightly and entered the palace. Finance Minister Oscar and the commander of the Imperial Guard greeted him.
Ernst looked at Oscar and said,
“Finance Minister. I will resign from this position.”
“… Internal Affairs Minister.”
The commander of the Imperial Guard reported to the Internal Affairs Minister.
“The 2,316 soldiers under the Imperial Guard have completed assembly and are now positioned along the capital's walls.”
“Good work.”
Ernst patted his shoulder and walked on. To the commander, it felt as if his soul had left his body.
He turned to Oscar.
“For now, I will be stationed on the eastern wall. If anything changes, please contact me with the magic device.”
“Yes.”
Oscar stared at the spot where Ernst had left, his face grim. He checked the financial support from the guilds and hired as many mercenaries as quickly as possible to send them to the commander.
Then he went to receive the Emperor.
“What? You plan to sell my jewelry and crown? And the Empress's as well?”
“Yes.”
“Nonsense.”
“Understood.”
His blunt advice was not accepted. Oscar resigned today as well. The imperial family began to collapse from within.
Yet Ulyssian continued to smile, listening to the chamberlain's flattery. He believed everything would be resolved. After all, the Nicator Empire had always been like this.
* * *
It took a long time riding a warhorse. The river was close enough that he could almost reach out and touch it. Ernst stared blankly at the great river. Its width was roughly three kilometers. In the middle of it, multiple bridges stood.
Honestly, this wasn't a river at all—it was more like a sea. That was why it had been named the Great River.
As he considered calling Celine to use her freeze magic, Natalia arrived beside him on her warhorse, just as he had.
“My lord. Information from the capital.”
“What is it?”
“Finance Minister Oscar and Internal Affairs Minister Ernst have both resigned.”
“The number of troops and their state of readiness?”
“The 2,316 soldiers under the Imperial Guard, and roughly three thousand mercenaries near the capital.”
“Hmm.”
The number of troops itself seemed matched to theirs. But it meant nothing.
“The Mage Tower is maintaining neutrality.”
“It's over.”
“Yes.”
Could an army without mages exist? What use was an army made only of foot soldiers?
On the other hand, Leon's army—having exchanged their exhausted soldiers for fresh revolutionary troops—had countless high-ranking mages ready to be deployed. In addition, there was a clear distinction between magic usable in battle and pure magic. Even with the Mage Tower's support, Ulyssian's position would be extremely difficult. Yet the Mage Tower was staying neutral? There was no doubt left. Ulyssian was finished.
“Celine.”
“Yes.”
“Freeze the Great River.”
“Yes.”
Celine began channeling mana toward the river, assessing the best route. There were two bridges in the middle. He pointed them out.
“Celine. There’s no need to freeze the entire river.”
“I understand, my lord.”
Celine replied and created a path of ice leading to the two bridges.
“Forward march!”
His voice was transmitted to the soldiers through a sound-amplification spell.
Dong— dong— dong— dong—
A bell sounded. The soldiers began crossing the frozen river water, trampling it with their boots. The imperial capital's army seemed to have no intention of stopping them. There was no sign of them at all. It was clear the commanders of the main gates and fortresses had also refused to send troops to the capital.
It made sense. Removing troops from there would mean civil war, not the end of the empire. Especially with the five nations that hated Nicator the most. They had shown their patriotism.
Anyway, Leon had no intention of completely destroying Nicator. He wouldn't abandon the people who had sacrificed for the country. That was all.
* * *
Soldier Hans walked across the frozen river. He thought back to the Valley Battle. He had crossed a frozen river then too. Compared to this Great River, it was embarrassingly narrow, but it was just because the Great River was special. Ordinary rivers were that wide.
A nearby soldier spoke to Hans.
“That time… it reminds me.”
“When?”
“The Valley Battle.”
“But it's different now.”
Hans gripped his spear and shield tightly with both hands and kept moving his feet.
“Right now we are under the command of General Leon Eisen.”
“And there's no Witch either, right?”
“… Yeah.”
Hans remembered the Witch of Eper who had crushed them in the Valley Battle. The Nicator people called her a witch because the Eper people called her the Saint. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.
“Anyway, right now all we have to do is think about the enemies in front of us.”
“… Yeah. We'll end the imperial family that abandoned us with our own hands.”
As their conversation wound down, Hans could step on soft dirt instead of ice. The revolutionary army had completed the crossing. In the distance, the white walls of the imperial capital rose. A flag bearing the imperial family's emblem fluttered in the wind.
Dong— dong— dong— dong—
The bell rang again.
“Forward march! Forward march!”
The voice of General Leon rang out. The revolutionary army began to sing from start to finish. The lyrics were different from before, but everyone sang along with the modified version. The chorus stayed in Hans's mind.
“We are going. We are going. To topple the imperial family that abandoned us. For the legitimate Mandate of Heaven, for our king—!!”
He didn't need to say the king's name; everyone already knew.
Like that, Leon Eisen's army, the revolutionary army, reached the very gates of the imperial capital.