Chapter 349
Side story: Memories of an Imperial Princess(65)
#82 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Villain.
‘Why are they only picking on me? Do they actually know that I’m a spy? Is that why they’re making me solve the problems I created? Normally, they would have just beheaded me, but this was possible because the Imperial Princess was twisted not only in personality but also in character.’
“Why are you looking at me with those eyes?”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. I. am. just. looking. at. Your. Imperial. Highness’. Precious. Body.”
“Lord Ast…”
“If you’re going to lie, couldn’t you put a little more effort into it?”
“I’m a very pure person who can’t lie.”
“…”
“…”
It suddenly felt like a cold wind was blowing. Although there shouldn’t have been any wind inside the tent, it felt that way because of the very cold gazes.
Well, let’s say the Imperial Princess and Sir Ria had their reasons since they were victims.
“Is there a problem?”
Why are the generals attending the meeting looking at me like that? Are we close friends? Huh?
“Well…”
“Wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t forget Her Highness’s words?”
I should say this first, regardless of what might come next.
“What words?”
“Just now, Her Highness said that Lord Ast, who is here, will handle Duke Raisha.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Looking at the generals nodding reluctantly, I gave them a bright smile.
“Would you like to think about what that means?”
“Ah…”
One of the generals who had been silent, presumably thinking about what that meant, let out an exclamation. Soon after, he started shivering as if feeling a chill.
“W-what do you mean?”
Among the generals who were starting to tremble one by one, one who hadn’t grasped the situation asked about the meaning of my words while looking around.
“That means…”
“Means what?”
“It could be interpreted as military authority being transferred to Lord Ast…”
“Aack!”
What’s with the ‘aack’? Such an obvious scream.
“Is there any problem?”
When I smiled brightly at the screaming general, he trembled and avoided my gaze.
“N-no problem, Lord Ast.”
There seemed to be many problems, but I decided to let it go with a generous heart.
“I see.”
“Y-yes.”
I make eye contact with each general one by one. Though they avoid my gaze when our eyes meet, I persistently keep looking.
“I look forward to working with you all.”
“…”
“…”
“A-alright.”
“Your Highness?”
Some lowered their heads without saying anything, while others hastily agreed when my gaze fell on them. Some generals looked at the Imperial Princess with pleading eyes, but…
“Good luck.”
The Imperial Princess only offered words of encouragement to the generals as if it wasn’t her problem.
“You can handle this, right, Ast?”
“Shouldn’t you have asked me that before reporting to His Imperial Majesty?”
“It’s fine. The answer is already decided.”
Was this a predetermined answer situation?
How do you even know about that modern phrase from my previous life about answers being predetermined and just needing a response!
“What happens if I say I can’t do it?”
“You’ll get to see what the imperial underground prison is like?”
The imperial underground prison. A place full of all kinds of rumors, so mysterious that even those working within the imperial palace don’t know if it actually exists. It’s almost an urban legend, or rather an imperial legend. But I knew it actually existed.
“Isn’t that just a legend?”
“Is it?”
Wow, look at that detestable expression. The way she tilts her head as if she really doesn’t know matches her age but doesn’t suit her at all.
A teenage Imperial Princess? Considering everything she’s shown so far, that’s complete nonsense.
“D-do you not know?”
“Nope. So, Ast, would you like to go check it out?”
No way. When I received the mission to infiltrate the imperial palace from the organization, I learned detailed information about the imperial underground prison, and it wasn’t a place for humans.
The organization’s assessment was that even their torture chamber was still amateurish compared to the imperial underground prison.
If it makes even the organization’s torture chamber – where they say anyone will confess everything – look amateurish, then the imperial underground prison must be practically hell on earth.
“Hahaha! It’s fine, Your Highness. If not me, who else would do it?”
I’ll decline politely. If it looks like we’re going to lose fighting against the Merdea army, I can just run away. There’s no need to refuse and end up touring the imperial underground prison unnecessarily.
“I believed Ast would say something like that.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Is that so?”
I told them last time that even a trusted axe can cut your foot, but do they want their foot to be cut? Is that what they want?
“Then I will do my best to repay your trust.”
If that’s what they want, it’s only human nature to fulfill it.
“I will do my utmost to defeat the Merdea army led by Duke Raisha.”
“Yes, good.”
As the Imperial Princess and I smiled with satisfaction,
“……”
“……”
Everyone in the conference room began to tremble with fear.
#83 Their Circumstances: Circumstances of a certain General.
Something is strange. Very strange.
“It’s a great victory, General!”
A great victory, they say, a great victory!
“Haha! Perhaps I have misunderstood the meaning of a great victory…”
Great victory (大勝). It’s a term that means winning by a large margin. It’s used when you win a battle with almost no casualties on your side, or when you inflict damages several times greater than your own losses on the enemy.
“Master…”
Tears flowed from the eyes of the man called General. In his eyes, he could see the face of the late Duke Raisha floating in the air.
“I… I had been doubting your bloodline.”
It must be coincidence. Or perhaps we fell for the enemy’s deception.
When the former Duke Raisha’s retainers were one by one beginning to trust the current Duke Raisha, only Grein de Raika, commander of the 9th Corps, couldn’t bring himself to trust the current Duke Raisha.
Because all his actions did nothing but tarnish the honor of House Raisha.
Because wherever he went, there was only defeat.
He couldn’t trust Religieus Lu Raisha, who took a completely opposite path from House Raisha, which had always been honorable and full of victories.
However,
“Most of the Imperial 12th Corps has been dealt with.”
Now he had to believe.
It was the Imperial 12th Corps that had won every battle except for a single defeat.
This was no ordinary corps. It was one of the units where princes and princesses had deployed early to build up military achievements in consideration of the imperial succession.
An army moved by imperial family members.
Numerous nobles supported them, and countless knights moved to protect these nobles. Though it was a single corps, in terms of combat power, it was comparable to two corps.
Even though our forces were numerous, the Imperial 12th Corps launched surprise attacks during two battles.
Night, and surprise attacks. These two factors make it impossible to know the exact number of enemies. He himself had experienced several times watching helplessly as his forces were one-sidedly beaten by a small number of enemies and could only watch their retreating backs.
But Duke Raisha was different.
The current Duke Raisha, whom he had dismissed, quickly determined that the enemy’s numbers were few and ordered the entire army to charge, crushing the enemy’s attack with our firepower.
The best defense is offense. As if proving this saying, our casualties were few, and instead, most of the attacking enemy forces died miserably.
“To think you possessed a path of supremacy that even the previous generation didn’t have.”
His temperament was completely opposite to his father’s.
The former Duke Raisha embraced his allies with kindness and faced enemies with caution. But the current Duke Raisha was different. Though eccentric, he captivated others with his ability, and while he might lack prudence, he made up for it with boldness. And in these times of war, the current Duke Raisha’s path of supremacy suited better than the former Duke’s.
“Though I shouldn’t say this… I don’t think we could have achieved such a great victory if the former master were here.”
If it had been the former Duke Raisha, he would have ordered a retreat while defending as much as possible when faced with a surprise attack.
Because the former Duke Raisha cherished and respected every single soldier.
Because he was someone who couldn’t make the decision to boldly commit his forces based on uncertain information.
“And that’s why we would have suffered greater losses.”
The previous Duke Raisha was an exceptional person. However, in these times of war, perhaps the current Duke Raisha, who was known as a ruffian, might be more suitable?
“Is this the wind of change……”
Times were changing.
With the new winds of change, the ruffian Duke Raisha became General Raisha. His actions were unprecedented, and victory followed wherever he went.
The soldiers who initially trembled in fear were now filled with morale that reached the sky due to continuous victories, and the generals and commanders who didn’t trust him began to believe in Duke Raisha one by one. Even Grein de Raika, who had doubted him, was beginning to develop trust in the current Duke Raisha.
“General! We have eliminated all enemies in the surrounding area.”
“Since we have separate pursuit teams, our priority is equipment inspection.”
“Understood!”
The new magic bombardment staff was crucial for this battle. Since it was essential equipment when facing the Empire, he ordered its maintenance first.
“To use everything that can be used……”
This was a judgment the previous Duke Raisha would never have made.
The previous Duke Raisha had viewed evil organizations like Howling as parasites feeding off the citizens and hated them. However, the current Duke Raisha was different. Advocating the use of all available resources, he joined hands with Howling to steal this staff, which was the Empire’s confidential weapon.
“Huh……”
To think he would keep comparing the previous Duke Raisha with the current one.
Grein felt an inexplicable bitterness lingering in his mouth.
“It can’t be helped.”
Grein closed his eyes.
He erased the face of the previous Duke Raisha that had appeared in the air.
“What you wanted was a world where citizens could live comfortably.”
For that to happen, he said the kingdom, which was the root, needed to be solid, and the nobles, who were the channels, needed to be healthy. Unlike those who commonly said the citizens were the roots.
The kingdom is the root, and the nobles are its pillars.
“Good trees bear good fruit.”
That fruit represents the citizens.
Just as the previous Duke Raisha held the belief that a good country produces good citizens,
“From now on, my master is Duke Raisha, former lord.”
Grein changed his allegiance because he respected the previous lord and wanted to follow his will.
“Everyone, gather the staffs as quickly as possible! Collect the broken ones too and prepare to send them to the kingdom!”
The Empire’s new magic bombardment, which had even taken the life of the undefeated General Arisetias. They would send the staff that neutralized it to the kingdom for research.
If successful, there would be no need to rely on Howling. As Duke Raisha said, they only needed to use Howling until then.
Grein’s judgment was swift. Like black ink spreading across white paper.
Grein, the commander of the Merdea Kingdom’s 9th Corps who had changed his master, began rapidly adopting Religieus Lu Raisha’s tendencies.
And one month later,
“Is this everything?”
“Yes, General.”
Now as the frontline commander operating within the Empire, he had more frequent contact with Howling than even Duke Raisha.
“Hmm, I see.”
The staffs were consumables. While they made focusing magic power easier, excessive magic power would cause them to break.
Unbreakable staffs were the finest of the finest. Only those made from naturally fallen World Tree branches or lightning-struck oak wands were of such quality. It was impossible to supply such staffs, which even nobles and great magicians struggled to obtain, to regular soldiers.
Many staffs had broken due to the Empire’s recent continuous magic bombardments, and Grein needed to replenish them.
“Good. Here’s the payment.”
“Thank you.”
General Grein, after delivering the funds prepared by the kingdom, ordered his soldiers to transport the staffs.
“This should last at least a week.”
General Grein, smiling brightly at the hundreds of staffs, didn’t know. That night, his skull would be shattered by the Empire’s magic bombardment falling from above.
“Hahaha!”
If a certain butler from the Empire had seen this, he would have said that trusted axes can cut one’s foot, or rather, crack one’s skull!
“Hahaha!”
General Grein, intoxicated by victory, remained completely unaware.
