Chapter 49: To Go to Where He Is…
“I’ll take as many of them with me as I can.”
A girl walked through the night forest, muttering such dangerous things.
That forest was where a part of the Daltone Army, forced to retreat just the other day, still lingered.
It was the planned site for a mountain hunt to be conducted in the near future.
The girl wandered unsteadily through the forest.
“No, I can’t. I want to go to Rui’s side, but not yet.
Not until I’ve at least made Rui’s great deeds echo throughout the world…”
With vacant eyes, like a ghost, she continued walking, a gun in one hand.
After about two hours, the sounds of people finally reached her ears.
Having used Enhanced Hearing in the quiet of the night, she excelled at detection.
She picked up sounds from a place likely a kilometer away and began to move.
Suppressing her presence and making minimal sound, she swiftly dashed through the forest, rustling the trees as if a gust of wind had passed, and lightly landed on the branch of a large tree.
Peeking through her scope at the place where the sound originated, she saw the figure of a soldier, likely a lookout.
From beyond him, she could hear the sounds of several tens of people.
“Rui, I’ll be joining you soon…”
As she muttered this, she pulled the trigger.
A gunshot rang out, the lookout fell, and even before confirming it, she had started running.
“—!?”
As she passed through the trees and the enemy’s main camp came into view, she stopped abruptly and hid herself in the shadow of a tree.
“Huh? A battle has started over there…?”
The sounds reaching her ears were clearly those of combat.
The girl showed hesitation at the unexpected situation, but it quickly turned into a dry laugh.
“Haha… At this point, why am I even hiding…? This is just convenient.”
She dropped lightly to the ground and, keeping her gun pointed forward, advanced.
Judging by the pitched tents, there were likely close to a hundred of them, but she paid it no mind and proceeded into the enemy’s main camp until she reached a position where she could see them with her own eyes.
Approximately a hundred soldiers were clashing with fifty.
The out-of-place girl, standing alone in that spot, shot down the enemy soldiers who had their backs to her.
Her firing rate was a speed not inferior to Rui’s.
She continued to shoot them down without missing a single shot.
The annihilation was swift.
In a matter of tens of seconds, the Daltone Army was wiped out, leaving only the fifty soldiers who had been fighting them.
Not a single one of them was missing; they were clearly elite troops.
All of them had their weapons pointed at her.
“Are you a Razbel soldier?”
A man, his entire body concealed by specialized armor to the point his face couldn’t be seen, asked her.
“I am on Razbel’s side, but it’s a little different… I am the sword of the hero Rui. I am merely fulfilling my promise to him.”
Saying so, she lowered her gun.
Seeing this, most of the soldiers also lowered their weapons, and the man who had stepped forward disengaged his full-body armor and rushed towards the girl.
Reflexively, she aimed her gun at him, and tension filled the air.
“Rui, you say… Don’t tell me, from Oldam? About your age?”
“—!? You know Rui!?”
At the unexpected question, her eyes widened, and for the first time in months, she showed strong emotion.
Overcome by strong agitation, she completely lost control; her gun dissipated into mist, and an explosive Magic Tool fell to the ground.
“Haha, seeing that reaction, there seems to be no mistake.
I see, so he’s grown up properly, huh…”
From his way of speaking, it was clear they had a close relationship. Seeing the man with tears welling in the corners of his eyes, she turned pale and took a step back.
“Tell me about Rui, everything. He’s my son…”
“Eh… Rui’s… father-sama…”
“Yeah. Hey, why are you backing away? I have no intention of doing anything to Rui’s friend.”
The man, who had been smiling gently, slowly lost his expression as he looked at the girl.
“Don’t tell me… Did something happen to Rui?”
The pale-faced girl dropped to her knees and touched her head to the ground.
“I am deeply… sorry. Rui… Rui is…”
“I-I can’t understand anything from that! Tell me!!”
The girl, whose shoulders were grabbed and head forced up, was shedding large tears, but the man was in no state to be concerned about that.
He shook her shoulders, strongly ordering her to tell him everything.
With a hoarse voice, she recounted the events like a confession.
It became a very long story, but the man sat cross-legged on the ground and continued to listen in silence.
“That Listol family brat, out of unrequited love…? Huh? For such a stupid reason…?
Damn iiiiiiiit!!! What the hell was Rudolph doing!!
Why! Why did he send him to the academy without teaching him anything!!
Shit! I’ll do it! That damn Lestall!!”
An old soldier knelt before him, whose face had turned red like a demon’s, prostrated himself, and pleaded.
“Royce-sama, please compose yourself! For now, just for now, please endure it!”
“Endure, you say!? Do you understand how I feel, having my child killed by you…!
—! No, I’m sorry. It’s not just me, is it… My bad.”
He had almost flown into a rage, but his face twisted in anguish, and he calmed himself.
“…I will absolutely crush the Listol family.
But that’s after we retake Belfast. Is that alright?”
“Thank you very much. At that time, I shall be honored to lead the charge with you.”
To the old soldier’s voice, the soldiers behind him also saluted in unison, their voices following with, “Naturally, we too.”
The girl couldn’t hide her bewilderment at this scene.
Overcome with guilt for not being able to protect him, she couldn’t bring herself to interject, but Royce, after a deep sigh, threw a question at her: “So, why did you become Rui’s sword, young lady?”
“I swore to fight Daltone alongside Rui, and he bestowed this Maso upon me.”
She materialized the gun and showed it to Royce.
“That thing from before… Young lady, were you in love with Rui?”
To that question, she replied, sounding slightly displeased.
“He is still my everything. I will fulfill my promise as soon as possible and follow him.”
Royce looked at the girl with a sorrowful expression.
He could see her firm resolve and let out a small sigh.
“I see… Then come with us. Our objective is the same, right?”
“If I distinguish myself, will you ensure Rui’s name is remembered as a hero?”
“Yeah, of course. If you wish, I’ll even take you along when we crush the Listol family.”
To his words, she immediately replied, “Please do.”
It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of revenge.
More than taking revenge, she just wanted to see a world where Rui was praised by everyone as a hero.
Because perhaps they could see it together in the world after death.
She had thought about striking down Julian Ristol if she were lucky enough to survive, but the chances of surviving while continuously fighting on the front lines in a war were considerably low.
So this invitation was a godsend.
“Right, young lady, what’s your name?”
“It’s Yurishia. Yurishia von Rasbel.”
“Huh? Razbel? The general’s daughter! Whoa, that’s not good.”
“I declared I was abandoning my family name and left home. Are you still afraid of my father-sama?
If so, I will act alone…”
“No, it’s not a matter of being scared or not.
Well, I suppose it’s better than leaving you alone, but…”
Even as he was saying that, she gave a bow and was about to leave.
The old soldier stopped her, and Royce said with a resigned look, “Alright, alright.”
“I can’t promise to protect you, but are you really sure about this?”
“To pass away midway would be regrettable, but if that happens, I will accept it as my own failing.”
And so, Yurishia joined the remnants of the Belfast Army.
Without realizing that Royce was His Majesty, the former king.
◇◆◇◆◇
A week passed after that, and news of the scars left by Yurishia and the former Belfast Army reached Daltone.
“What!? The scout unit was wiped out!?”
Ivec Daltone, Prime Minister and Duke of the Mildrad Kingdom, despite having a visitor, shot an astonished look at the army commander who brought the urgent report and rose to his feet.
“Yes, sir! According to a report from those who had left the camp to observe Razbel’s movements, the only survivors were those who had left the camp on surveillance duty. Only ten of them…”
“Why were the scouts sent out to probe enemy movements ambushed!
What were those fools doing! Where is the Razbel Army now!”
He raised his voice, urging for immediate countermeasures, but the commander shook his head, saying they hadn’t moved yet.
At those words, he regained his composure and sat back down in his chair.
“Oh my, don’t tell me you’re falling behind?”
The voice of a man, likely in his late twenties, seemed to mock Duke Daltone, but the Duke quickly put on a smile and feigned composure.
“Of course not, of course not! My apologies. However, war is an unpredictable thing, you see.
I simply thought an urgent war council might be necessary. Hahaha.”
“That is true. However, His Majesty is waiting.
We’d be troubled if you keep waiting for the enemy’s movements indefinitely, you know?”
“His Imperial Majesty is…” the Duke’s lips tightened.
“If you intend to keep observing the situation indefinitely…”
“!? I understand! I shall lead seventeen thousand elite troops and advance immediately!”
“Therefore, please look upon us favorably,” he said, bowing his head.
“Oh? Over seventy percent of your forces. That’s undoubtedly your entire army. I’m glad you seem to understand.
If you move quickly, we shall lend our assistance as well.”
“We shall dispatch two thousand elite soldiers as reinforcements. They are the Empire’s finest, so you can expect great things.”
“Th-that is most welcome! With this, we can swiftly deliver good tidings to His Majesty the Emperor!”
The Duke shot up from his seat and extended his hand for a handshake, but the man merely returned a smile.
The Duke withdrew his offered hand with a sour expression.
Ignoring him, the man stood up.
“Well now, it’s been a while since the last battle.
In terms of being a preliminary skirmish before taking Lestall, Razbel is a good opponent for a warm-up…
No, it was the Belfast Army, wasn’t it? We have to keep up appearances!”
Perhaps because the Empire still hadn’t recognized the annexation of Belfast, he corrected himself despite it being a soliloquy, and without addressing the Duke, he left with a cheerful voice.
After seeing him off, Duke Daltone glared at the door.
“That Estoc, making me lose face!
Don’t Imperial nobles know any manners! So impudent for a mere Count…
However, if this succeeds, all of Mildrad will be mine.
I am dissatisfied that I cannot become king, but if I oppose the Berkoud Empire, I will only lose everything.
Mmm, this was for the best. Daltone will be secure with this…”
Having reconsidered, the Duke stood up, summoned his men, and called for a war council.
Thus, it was decided that the Daltone Army and the Berkoud Imperial Army, a total of nineteen thousand soldiers, would march on Razbel in two months.
Estoc, having left the Duke’s mansion, found himself with too much time on his hands.
A messenger from the Duke visited him and informed him that since it would take two months to gather the troops, the war was scheduled to begin in two months.
Estoc had no choice but to accept this.
In fact, he reluctantly showed understanding, thinking that two months was rather good for gathering that many soldiers.
However, unable to accept just sitting and waiting, he turned his gaze to the messenger.
“But, you see, I’m bored…
I’m the type who can’t rest until I do something once I’ve decided on it.
Aren’t there any guys I can go cut down somewhere? Ones who can actually fight, I mean.”
Estoc was making an unreasonable demand of the messenger from Duke Daltone’s house, but the messenger responded without changing his expression.
“In that case, how about hunting the remnants of the former Belfast Army? They have become bandits, and we are quite troubled by them, so we would be grateful if you could subjugate them.”
“Huh? Remnants of the former Belfast Army… You don’t mean to say you haven’t been able to subjugate them for fifteen years?”
Since they were suggesting it to him, they must be within reach. Yet, he raised his voice in surprise at the current situation where they had been left unchecked for fifteen long years.
“It is embarrassing to admit…
They move around constantly, so by the time an incident occurs, they’ve already gone elsewhere.
However, if Razbel becomes a battlefield, they won’t be able to stay hidden.
It is likely that those remnants were the ones who defeated our scouts.”
“I see. It’s been a year since the war started; if they could have returned, they would have by now. Yet, if they are participating in the war, it’s highly likely they are hiding somewhere between Razbel and Daltone, huh?”
The messenger nodded once at his words, bowed, and said, “This is not a formal request, so please do as you wish, Count-sama,” before leaving.
“Hmm. No reward, but I can do as I please, huh? Just my style.
Remnants that have survived for fifteen years must be strong… Alright! Let’s go!”
“Your Excellency, why don’t you just relax and embrace a woman or something? Are you seriously going?”
The Count’s aide stared into the distance, thinking, “Here we go again.”
Count Estoc glared sharply at him.
“Huh? Tsutomu-kun, are you, of all people, giving me your opinion?”
“No, that wasn’t my intention at all! We’ll go right away! How many men do you need, sir?”
He snapped to attention and moved to fulfill his master’s wish with all his might.
“Hmm… They said there were a hundred scouts, so… let’s go with fifty.
Let’s show them the difference, shall we?”
“I see. You’re going to teach those Daltone bastards their place, aren’t you?
Understood. I’ll gather the top fifty!”
He snorted as the aide practically fled the room, and then began his own preparations.
“Hehe, I’m looking forward to this. The Belfast Army, which even the previous Emperor feared, eh?”
After leisurely finishing his preparations, he left the prepared mansion and boarded the carriage with light steps.
“Ah, His Excellency has gone ahead again!
R-run! Don’t you dare lose sight of him!”
Hearing Tsutomu’s voice from behind, Estoc let out an amused laugh.