”――Are you suggesting the Holy Kingdom was involved in this engagement, General!?” Duke Inselm exclaimed.
Duke Inselm’s shocked voice echoed through one of the command post’s rooms.
The camp where the Selseta Army had been stationed until yesterday was now completely in the hands of the Urgalia Army. In one of the rooms of the command post set up in the center of the camp, the three of us-me, Duke Inselm, and General Oswald-were talking things over.
Looking annoyed, General Oswald placed a crossbow2 and three arrows on the table, saying, “These were deployed by Selseta forces. Both weapon and projectiles differ markedly from northern manufacture. The steel arrowheads pierced our shields effortlessly.”
No wonder the General was in a bad mood. If you think about how over a thousand of his men were killed or wounded because of these, you can’t blame him for being irritated.
The reason the General pulled his troops back so quickly at the start of the battle was because he’d noticed how powerful these crossbows were.
While I was quietly impressed, the General kept talking.
”Only the Holy Kingdom possesses the capacity to produce such arms. Including damaged units, we have captured over one thousand crossbows. Total supply provided likely reaches two to three thousand units, with ammunition scaled tenfold or more.”
”Hmm… Thus the Selseta Army possessed at least two thousand crossbows and twenty thousand steel projectiles. I can scarcely fathom Selseta commanding the treasury for such an acquisition…” Duke Inselm mused.
”Crossbow manufacturing processes remain strictly classified across all nations. Sale to a foreign power for simple currency is out of the question.”
Hearing the General’s words, Duke Inselm frowned and looked at him.
”Yet the weapons remain before us. If not acquired through gold, pray tell what concessions the Holy Kingdom exacted from Selseta in exchange?” Duke Inselm countered.
”As stated previously, the Holy Kingdom is actively involved in this engagement. That is the conclusion.”
First, they funnel crossbows to the Selseta Army, and in return, they make them fight the Urgalia Army. They don’t need to win. They just need to use the crossbows to pin the Urgalia Army down here.
While the Selseta Army keeps the Urgalia Army busy in the west, they get Cassia in the east and Arsguute in the south to raise troops and invade the Empire’s borders. Naturally, those two countries probably got crossbows too.
After making that guess, General Oswald glared at the crossbow on the table with pure hatred.
”The Holy Kingdom harbors no illusions of Urgalia falling to this scheme, but intends to draw blood. From their vantage, all casualties are borne by Selseta, Cassia, and Arsguute. Inflicting damage on Urgalia without risking native troops renders a few thousand weapons a negligible expenditure. Wily foxes.”
The General spat that out with a harsh tone, then looked at me-who hadn’t changed expression once this whole time, just listening-and raised his right eyebrow in displeasure.
Well, the Urgalia Empire and the Holy Kingdom-the Holy Kingdom of Liberias-really don’t get along. The Urgal people call the Liberians “dirty swindlers who’d do anything for profit,” and the Liberians mock the Urgal people as “barbarians who don’t know anything.”
So it’s only natural the General would be unhappy to see the Emperor show no anger after hearing about the Holy Kingdom’s scheming.
But I’m sorry, General-on this one, you’ll just have to let it go. I have memories from my past life, so I don’t have a strong sense of being one of the Urgal people, and I don’t have the hatred toward Liberians that most Urgal people carry.
So even when someone tells me “The Holy Kingdom was behind this battle!” all I can think is “Huh, really?”
Anyway, let me explain a bit about the Holy Kingdom of Liberias.
I mentioned this before, but the Northern Continent is made up of about three hundred states, and the Urgalia Empire rules a hundred and twenty of them, standing as the ruler of the Northern Continent.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with the Urgalia Empire are the great powers known as the Five Great Powers of the Continent.
The Holy Kingdom of Liberias-commonly called the “Holy Kingdom”-was one of those Five Great Powers. Its territory in the central part of the continent covers over a hundred and fifty states, exceeding the Urgalia Empire in sheer size.
And not just size. The central part of the continent has several fertile breadbaskets, plus rich underground resources like salt mines and silver mines. Trade also flourishes because goods from all four directions-east, west, north, and south-gather there, and the commercial taxes flowing into the treasury every day are enormous.
Looking at overall national power, you could say there’s an even bigger gap between the Urgalia Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Liberias than just territory.
But while the Holy Kingdom is rich, its military doesn’t have a great reputation. It’s fine while a battle is going their way, but the moment things turn bad, they can’t hold their ground and immediately start looking to run.
So when it comes to military strength, the Urgalia Empire completely outmatched the Holy Kingdom.
If you turned the two countries into people, the Holy Kingdom of Liberias would be “a central bureaucrat who values trade,” and the Urgalia Empire would be “a local military officer who values force,” No wonder there’s bad blood between them-that was the kind of relationship they had.
――Anyway, enough with the comparisons. If the Holy Kingdom is making moves, we need to hurry and let the imperial capital know what’s going on. Of course, the eastern and southern borders too.
When I said that, General Oswald’s cold eyes, which had been fixed on me, seemed to warm up just a little.
”Understood. I have dispatched messengers to the imperial capital and frontier positions on my own authority,” General Oswald responded.
”Just like you, General Oswald. Always on top of things,” I remarked.
As I showed my admiration, Duke Inselm, who had been listening nearby, cut in.
”General, independent action during active combat is understandable, but proceeding without authorization post-engagement is hardly proper. A matter of such gravity surely warrants His Majesty’s explicit approval prior to dispatch,” Duke Inselm interjected.
Hearing Duke Inselm’s words, General Oswald furrowed his brow and started to open his mouth.
I quickly raised one hand and stopped the argument before it started.
”It’s fine. True, the battle is over, but a single moment spent waiting for my permission could lead to fatal results. I have no intention of blaming General Oswald. Of course, I also have no intention of blaming Duke Inselm for speaking up out of concern for me. I am truly satisfied with both of your efforts in this battle-“
”Reporting immediately!” a soldier shouted.
Before I could finish, a soldier with flushed cheeks burst into the room.
”Pursuit units have successfully apprehended the enemy commander, Mito Selsetia!” the soldier announced.
Half a quarter-hour (one hour)1 after the report of the enemy commander’s capture.
The enemy commander Mito entered the room, surrounded by several soldiers.
Seeing the younger sister of Selseta’s king for the first time, I couldn’t help but let out a surprised “Oh!”
The reason was simple.
――An elf. There’s an elf.
Along the way, Duke Inselm had told me that Selseta’s king’s sister had Silku blood, but I hadn’t heard the details of her appearance. Maybe Duke Inselm had explained it, but I was so worn out from the forced march that I didn’t remember any of it.
Anyway, the Mito Selsetia in front of me was exactly an elf.
Golden hair with lake-blue eyes. White skin, long ears, and even in armor, her body was thin like a cypress.
Judging by the bulge in the chest area of her armor, her chest seemed decent too-the fact that I thought that reflexively probably means my sex drive is coming back now that the battle is over.
Since she’s royalty, I can’t just do whatever I want with her, which is a shame.
Maybe she sensed my improper thoughts, because Mito glared at me sharply.
Just looking at her appearance, Mito seemed about seventeen or eighteen. Her face was covered in sweat, mud, and blood, but even so, I thought the king’s sister staring at me was beautiful.
”…Are you the Emperor of Urgalia?” Mito demanded.
Mito spoke while standing.
Right after, angry shouts rose from the soldiers surrounding Mito.
”Silence! Mind your tongue!” a soldier barked.
With that, the soldiers struck Mito’s shoulder with the sticks they were holding and forced her to her knees.
Mito seemed to try to resist, but couldn’t, and knelt on both knees right there.
Another soldier raised his stick to strike Mito again, so I hurriedly called for a stop.
”Stop! There’s no need for any more beating,” I commanded.
”Understood!” the soldier replied.
After stopping the soldiers, I looked Mito over again and spoke to her.
”I am Arses Urgulius, Emperor of Urgalia. This is our first meeting, Lady,” I introduced myself.
”…I am Mito Selsetia, sister to Roland, King of Selseta. Pray tell, what disposition do you intend for me?” Mito stated.
The one who decides that isn’t me-it’s the Chancellor.
But even I know it would be bad to say something like “The Chancellor will decide, so I can’t answer,” So after thinking for a moment, I gave a safe, noncommittal answer.
”If you had captured me on the battlefield, Lady, how would you have treated me? That would be your answer,” I countered.
”…Ngh.”
Hearing that, Mito bit her lip in frustration. Whether you’re an Emperor or a king’s sister, once you fall into enemy hands, you’re in for a bad time-that much is the same for everyone.
Mito seemed to realize that all over again. Since she’s a young woman, she must be worried about being violated too.
But the Chancellor isn’t like me-he’s all about practical gain, so he won’t do anything pointless like torture or abuse. Probably. In the end, Mito will likely be able to return to the Kingdom of Selseta.
In exchange, the Kingdom of Selseta will be forced to pay a truly brutal price, but that’s not my problem.
And then, that’s when it happened.
”…Your Imperial Majesty. I have one petition,” Mito spoke up.
Mito, who had been biting her lip, spoke to me as if she’d made up her mind.
I stayed cautious inside, but responded to the king’s sister’s words.
”Hmm. I can’t promise I’ll grant it, but I’ll at least hear it,” I replied.
”…You have my gratitude. My petition concerns the Kino Clan. They harbored no intention of defying the Empire; they acted solely under my coercion,” Mito explained.
Hearing that, I figured out what Mito was getting at and nodded.
”I see. The Kino Clan was just forced to cooperate by the Selseta Army and didn’t actually raise a banner against the Empire. So you’re asking me not to punish them?” I summarized.
”Indeed. I entreat Your Majesty for clemency,” Mito confirmed.
”…Very well. The Horned Cavalry (Rongāra)3 are warriors, not bandits. They wouldn’t harm innocent people,” I noted.
When I answered that, Mito’s expression softened for the first time.
Then she started to say her thanks.
”Thank you-” Mito began.
”That is, only if they really are innocent,” I added.
Cutting off her thanks, I slowly continued.
”I’ll be taking the Kino chieftain and his family to the imperial capital. If, as you say, they only followed the Selseta Army against their will, then they’ll return home safely. But if that’s not the case, the chieftain and his family will receive the punishment for defying the Empire.”
”That, is… ngh.”
”What, no need to worry. If your words are true, there’s no problem at all. If you tried to trick me, Lady, then the chieftain and the others might meet an unfortunate end, but that’s not my responsibility. Isn’t that right, Lady?”
When I said that with a nasty tone, Mito went pale and fell silent.
Just to be clear, the Kino chieftain is Ney’s father, and his family, of course, means Ney.
Even without Mito’s words, I’d planned to bring the two of them to the imperial capital, but now Mito must be feeling guilty, thinking “I dragged them into this by saying too much.”
With this, I can set things up for the whole “If you want me to save Ney and the others, do what I say, hehehe” routine.
Well, like I said before, the Chancellor decides what happens to Mito herself, so the odds of her becoming mine are extremely low-but still, better safe than sorry.
Oh, right. There was one more thing.
”Duke Inselm, I’d like some of your men who’ve been taking care of me to guard the Lady. It wouldn’t be right to assign male soldiers to a member of the royal family, after all,” I instructed.
”Understood. However, Your Majesty would be ill-served without proper personal attendance. Allow me to assign an attendant to your side,” Duke Inselm replied.
”Got it. I’ll leave it to you,” I agreed.
After saying that, I ordered the soldiers to take Mito away.
Watching the king’s sister’s back as she left the room with her head hanging, I secretly prayed to Mother Urga, hoping for a miracle where Mito becomes mine.
Trivia:
- The General instantly recognized the crossbows as foreign because their craftsmanship differed from northern make, meaning the Empire had already been studying Selseta’s equipment long before this battle.
- The Emperor’s emotional detachment from the anti-Liberian grudge is a direct consequence of his past-life memories, quietly flagging that his loyalties may never fully belong to Urgalia.
- The Emperor’s inner thought about Mito becoming his is framed as a joke, but his private prayer to Mother Urga shows he half-means it, hinting at future schemes around the captured princess.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A traditional Japanese time unit roughly equal to one hour. Kept with the parenthetical clarification to preserve the archaic flavor of the setting.
2 ↩ Here it refers to a specific military-grade crossbow capable of piercing shields, distinct from common hunting crossbows. The term is kept plain to match the General’s blunt report.
3 ↩ The Kino Clan’s warriors. The name suggests a beast-mounted or beast-themed cavalry unit, and Mito invokes it to argue that they are honorable fighters rather than bandits.