Evade The Hero and Flee! 358

Chapter 358

Side Story – Memories of an Imperial Princess (74)

#94 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances in the Kingdom of Merdea

Rumors spread quickly.

“I heard General Raisha is in danger?”

At a pub in the Kingdom of Merdea.

Everyone’s attention focused on a merchant’s words.

“Nonsense! General Raisha is such a remarkable person! How could he be in danger?”

Another merchant sitting across denied it while drinking, but the first merchant just shook his head.

“My relative supplies weapons to General Raisha’s unit, and they say the General is fighting for his life due to a illness.”

“What? Illness?”

The drinking merchant suddenly shouted.

“Yes. The previous Duke Raisha also passed away from illness.”

“Could it be hereditary…”

“It’s possible.”

If the previous Duke Raisha had heard this, he would have collapsed in the afterlife grabbing his neck.

To think that the previous Duke Raisha, who fought against illness until his death while worrying about the family, would be treated the same as the current Duke Raisha who collapsed from overeating!

“Is General Raisha alright?”

“They say his life isn’t in danger, but participating in battle would be too much.”

“Hmm… Is that okay?”

“General Raisha has such excellent strategy that he can predict the future. He shared all his predictions with the commanders, and as a result, they achieved the feat of defeating two Imperial army corps, but…”

“What do you mean ‘but’! Finish your sentence! Why do you keep stopping in the middle? It’s so frustrating!”

“Well…”

“Come on, just say it clearly!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A loud noise echoed throughout the pub. It was the sound of the man pounding his chest with his fist.

This drew even more attention from the surroundings.

Not just the people around the merchant, but even the serving staff and the pub owner at the counter were focused on them.

Perhaps sensing these gazes, the merchant looked around briefly, bit his lips while holding back his words, and then spoke in a very regretful voice,

“Well… While General Raisha’s foresight led to defeating more than two army corps led by the Imperial Prince, afterward, most of the soldiers died in a surprise attack by the Empire’s First Princess.”

“Is, is that true!”

Everyone in the pub gaped in shock.

“Then, what happens now?”

Currently, Duke Raisha is the general the people of the Kingdom of Merdea trusted most.

Many great generals of the kingdom had died in battles against the Empire, and even after that, many commanders couldn’t overcome the Empire’s wall.

In this situation, there was only one person who kept winning consecutive battles – Duke Raisha!

Though recently they had been alternating between victories and defeats, most people in the Kingdom of Merdea believed that only Duke Raisha could face the Empire, their strongest enemy.

The defeat of Duke Raisha’s forces, their only hope, meant there was no one left who could stop the Empire!

For the Kingdom of Merdea, which shared a border with the Karan Empire, this was like a bolt from the blue.

“General Raisha overcame his illness and regrouped the forces, but very few soldiers survived.”

“How few?”

“I heard it’s not even 30,000.”

“Isn’t the enemy’s number in the hundreds of thousands!”

“That’s right…”

“Oh my… Oh my!”

Perhaps due to the shock, the merchant who kept muttering ‘oh my’ brought his glass to his lips.

“Ugh…”

“Drinking so hastily is bad for your health.”

“If I don’t do this, I’ll burst from anxiety. Is my body important? General Raisha’s body is more important!”

The other merchant started trying to calm down the now shouting merchant.

“Are you drunk?”

“What? Do I look like someone who would get drunk from just one beer?”

“If you’re not drunk, calm down. Everyone is watching.”

“What does that matter! Everyone here must be worried about General Raisha!”

The merchant looked around while shouting loudly.

People who made eye contact with the merchant started speaking up one by one, nodding their heads.

“Of course! General Raisha is like a ray of light for the Kingdom of Merdea!”

“That’s right. If it weren’t for General Raisha, the evil Imperial Army would have advanced to the capital.”

“Who else could have not only reclaimed the border but also captured the enemy fortress of Pesra!”

“It was General Raisha. Yes, indeed.”

When one person spoke up, those who had been hesitating began to praise Duke Raisha loudly.

“We must rescue General Raisha!”

“Yes! Indeed! Who else could stop the evil Imperial Army if not for him!”

“What are the kingdom’s soldiers doing? Why aren’t they sending reinforcements quickly to save General Raisha!”

Everyone in the tavern raised their voices saying that Duke Raisha must be rescued.

This phenomenon wasn’t occurring only in the tavern.

“Your Highness! We must send reinforcements to Duke Raisha immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“You must not forsake the will of the people!”

Inside the royal palace of the Merdea Kingdom.

Many nobles were telling the Crown Prince of the Merdea Kingdom, Vaeis Ral Merdea, that reinforcements must be sent to Duke Raisha.

“I know that too. The royal family is currently gathering troops…”

“Time is of the essence, Your Highness. If we combine our private armies with some of the forces guarding the royal palace, we can put out this urgent fire, Your Highness.”

“Indeed. Even at this moment, General Raisha’s life is exposed to the Imperial Army.”

“We must dispatch troops as quickly as possible. Please lend us some of the forces defending the royal palace.”

At the nobles’ request, Vaeis bit his lip.

‘Damn it! Finally, Duke Raisha has been defeated!’

How long had he waited for this news.

All the plans that Crown Prince Vaeis had prepared until now had failed, and Duke Raisha had been continuously victorious, raising their status throughout the kingdom.

This time they would lose.

Surely they couldn’t win this time!

He had waited and waited and waited, but Duke Raisha did not lose.

Just as Vaeis was about to give up everything! Suddenly news of Duke Raisha’s defeat arrived.

Although it was said he couldn’t command directly due to severe illness, a defeat was still a defeat.

And a major one at that!

Now he planned to use this major defeat as a pretext to strip away the position of General, and place Viscount Ragrasha, who was his ally, in that position.

Now all he had to do was wait.

If he just stalled for time, Duke Raisha would die at the hands of the Imperial Army.

While Vaeis thought he could then cry for revenge against the Empire and give the General’s position to Viscount Ragrasha to attack the Empire.

“Your Highness! Please grant us permission!”

‘What is that fool thinking!’

Things were not progressing easily.

The nobles who usually moved slowly with various excuses were moving quickly.

Not only that?

Somehow stories about Duke Raisha were spreading throughout the royal palace.

At this rate, news about Duke Raisha would spread throughout the kingdom in just a few days.

Even now, many citizens were voluntarily stepping forward to become soldiers to support Duke Raisha.

While he thought time was on his side, Crown Prince Vaeis felt like an invisible hand was choking him as he sensed time increasingly becoming Duke Raisha’s ally.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

Now the nobles’ and people’s trust in Duke Raisha was surpassing that of the royal family.

The situation was becoming increasingly suffocating.

“Crown Prince Vaeis!”

“What is it.”

A palace servant rushed in urgently beside Vaeis, whose mind was full of various thoughts.

“His Majesty the King is coming!”

“Father?”

Bang!

Before he could finish speaking, the massive conference hall doors burst open.

“The, the Great King of Merdea Kingdom! Graide…”

“Not necessary.”

As the flustered doorkeeper tried to announce the king’s arrival, the King of Merdea Kingdom, Graide Ral Merdea, extended his hand and cut off the words.

“We greet the great light of the kingdom, Your Majesty Graide.”

When the noble at the front knelt down and sat on the floor, the nobles behind him began to kneel like a wave.

Step, step.

“We greet His Majesty the King.”

As Graide quickly walked past where the lower nobles were, the upper nobles who had not knelt bowed their waists to show respect.

“Your Majesty.”

“Viscount, I will accept greetings later.”

King Graide, who rejected the greetings of the Viscounts who held the highest positions among the current nobles, quickly moved to where Crown Prince Vaeis was in his seat.

“Your Majesty the King, what brings you here?”

“What brings me?”

“I heard that you shouldn’t be pushing yourself yet. If you move so suddenly… Cough!”

A fist from King Graide flew into Vaeis’s face as he was looking at the King with a worried expression.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“What’s happening!”

The knights and nobles were shocked as they watched the Crown Prince flying backward from the powerful strike.

“Y-Your Highness!”

Crown Prince Vaeis looked up at King Graide while holding his swelling cheek.

After silently watching the Crown Prince, King Graide spoke in an extremely cold voice.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“W-What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you know your crime!”

Crown Prince Vaeis could only shut his mouth at King Graide’s words, which were infused with magical power.

“Ha! My eyes must have been wrong. I thought I could trust you with this kingdom.”

“Y-Your Highness.”

“I know everything. Although my health may not be good, I am the King of this kingdom. Do you think I wouldn’t know what’s happening in my country!”

At King Graide’s thundering voice, Vaeis spoke with an expression of genuine injustice.

“What exactly are you talking about, Your Majesty!”

“I’m talking about how you could have saved Duke Raisha but chose not to!”

At King Graide’s words, Crown Prince Vaeis felt his breath catch.

‘H-How!’

“Viscount Ragrasha, is a loyal subject of this country before being your subordinate. A loyal subject who does his best for the nation!”

He’d been caught. The person he trusted most had betrayed him.

“You still haven’t come to your senses!”

Seeing Crown Prince Vaeis’s expression clearly showing this, King Graide raised his fist again.

“Viscount Ragrasha simply knows what he needs to do! Unlike you who’s blinded by something as petty as power, he knew and acted on something greater by reporting to me!”

Bang!

King Graide swung his magic-infused fist at a pillar.

Even though his body had weakened, King Graide was once renowned as a warrior.

Though he never reached Swordmaster, his body had reached the level just below it.

Looking at the easily shattered pillar, King Graide gritted his teeth.

“I’d like to make you like that, but in these dangerous times for the kingdom, we must use whatever we can.”

Ignoring Crown Prince Vaeis who was blankly looking up at him, King Graide shouted at the nobles who were watching cautiously.

“The Kingdom of Merdea is in crisis. In this situation, Crown Prince Vaeis Ral Merdea didn’t send reinforcements to Duke Raisha not for the kingdom, but for his own power.”

After briefly looking at Crown Prince Vaeis, King Graide declared in an even louder voice to the nobles.

“For this crime, I will strip Vaeis Ral Merdea of his position as Crown Prince and assign him as a lowest-ranking officer in the rescue force being sent to Duke Raisha. Does anyone have any objections!”

“F-Father!”

Though Vaeis called out urgently, King Graide ignored his words.

“N-No, Your Highness!”

“It’s the right decision, Your Highness!”

Not only stripping him of his Crown Prince position but sending him to war as a lowest-ranking officer.

A lowest-ranking officer was an officer in name only, more of a position for relaying orders from above to soldiers rather than commanding battles.

It was essentially falling from Crown Prince to rock bottom in an instant.

“70,000 troops led by Viscount Ragrasha have already departed to save Duke Raisha. The second force, including Vaeis, will be sent afterward, so all nobles should gather their forces to provide support! This is a royal decree.”

The nobles’ spirits were crushed by this extremely drastic measure.

Normally, these nobles would have attacked Vaeis for not sending reinforcements and tried to reduce royal authority, but they had no choice but to bow their heads to King Graide who was asserting his will even using magical power.

“Our ally, the Pernes Empire, is also dealing with all surrounding kingdoms. Soon they will share a border with the Karan Empire. We just need to hold out until then. Even the Karan Empire cannot face both the Pernes Empire and our Kingdom of Merdea simultaneously. We just need to hold out until then.”

Nodding at the nobles who followed his opinion without opposition, King Graide declared in a very serious voice.

“Until then, I will entrust all military forces and military authority to Duke Raisha, the Grand General of this country. This is a declaration staking the honor of the Merdea royal family, and it will never disappear until the royal family perishes. So trust in Duke Raisha!”

A declaration that will last until the Kingdom of Merdea falls!