Chapter 82: Ghost Special Corps (2)

‘Is this how I die?’

Duke Brans sensed his end looming.

But…

‘No, I absolutely can’t meet my end here. There’s a reason that I must return alive.’

The Duke pictured Claudia’s face and steeled himself.

‘If I take care of that guy and capture Siegfried as a hostage… the chances are looking grim, but there’s a way out.’

The Duke resolved on his one path to survival.

“Come as you may. Entertain me until my very last.”

Duke Brans’ lines made it seem as though he was bracing for death, though his inner heart was starkly different. 

Jake assumed his battle stance in response. And next to Jake, Siegfried also drew his blade and assumed a combat stance.

The Duke’s eyebrow twitched.

“Do you intend to throw your lot in as well, boy?”

“Would you label me a coward?”

“Hmph, I never expected you Republican dogs to play fair in the first place.”

Though he gave a prickly answer, the Duke thought to himself that this was an optimal turn of events. 

In a duel between Masters, a weaker person trying to lend a helping hand only became a burden. In fact, Duke Brans believed that his probabilities of holding Siegfried hostage had just increased.

“I do apologize, but I prefer fights in which I will win without a doubt.”

“Very well. Then come-”

The Duke almost let his sword slip out of his hands as he spoke. He had thought there would be no more that could faze him, with all that had happened in this short time. But this could not be anything but a complete blindside.

Because…

“I am repeating myself, but I only choose fights in which I will win.”

A vivid Aura Blade was enveloped around Siegfried’s sword as well.

“……”

In other words, before the Duke were two enemy Masters.

Siegfried readied himself and spoke to the stunned Brans.

“Now then – it is time for you to die, Duke Brans.”

With that, the two of them attacked the Duke from two sides at the same time.

“Ugh… DAMN IT ALL!!”

The Duke met their attack with all the energy he had ever mustered in his life.

There was no logic to this, and nor was there hope.

He was only lashing out for one last time.

***

“That was a considerable pain in the neck.”

Siegfried muttered as he sheathed his sword.

Before him was the head of Duke Derek Brans, who had fought fiercely until the very end with a last hurrah. He had given it his all with two Masters as opponents – but he could not change an outcome that was already decided.

“What’s the damage?”

Jake received a report from his subordinate and relayed it to Siegfried.

“So far, there have been 13 dead from the battle. But it appears 24 more will either die from critical wounds or be permanently discharged as cripples if they survive.”

Siegfried frowned at the report.

“37 men out of 300… that would be over 10 percent. There’s still much room for improvement.”

Siegfried murmured to himself and issued another order to Jake.

“Commence a cleanup of this site. Especially ensure that no hints remain of our losses.”

“Understood. What will you do with Duke Brans’ head?”

“Hang it high atop a flag. We should make the most of this, after all.”

“Yes, as you command.”

With that, Siegfried and his men scrubbed the site and disappeared without a trace.

***

Duke Derek Brans’ death in battle.

The impact of his death was monumental. The death of a commander in war was a large enough matter to single-handedly flip the flow of a battle, but the death of the Duke reverberated beyond that. A cornerstone of the Strabus Kingdom’s practical strength, as well as one of the symbols of its might, had fallen. This was an enormous loss on a national level.

The Strabus Kingdom’s expedition army could not retreat after losing their commander as is.  If they returned home with nothing but the news of losing Duke Brans, all that awaited the command staff was the guillotine. For them to receive mercy, the least they could do was bring the head of Siegfried who had brought about this state of affairs in the first place.

The staff’s decision to commit only brought a greater tragedy. For attempting to foolhardily continue the war with their prime commander gone, the Strabus Kingdom expedition army was exterminated. Not only did they lose the Master that was Derek Brans, but they lost their regular force of 50,000 troops in its entirety. This was an unforeseen catastrophe for the Strabus Kingdom.

And beyond the Strabus Kingdom, things were also looking dire for the Lester Kingdom.

“How will the lot of you take responsibility for this state of affairs?”

“Take responsibility, you say? Why do you ask us to be responsible for the defeat of the Strabus Kingdom’s expedition army?”

“Was it not the First Prince and his faction that requested the expedition troops?”

“His Highness the First Prince has already passed away. And besides, it was His Royal Majesty  the King who decreed that the expedition army could operate inside our nation. Yet you are asking us to take responsibility?”

“Then who shall we ask, you incompetent, treasonous fools?!”

“Come again?! How dare the likes of you…”

The nobles shouted at each other at this urgently called assembly, half-stricken with panic.

The shock of the Strabus army’s total extinction was too much to bear for the nobles, who had thought their victory was assured.

As the Strabus Kingdom’s army stepped in, the First Prince’s faction that had crashed and burned at one time had been revived ever so slightly. Though they fell to the bottom after shouldering the massive responsibility of their defeat in the civil war, the main culprit that was the First Prince had thankfully (?) committed suicide. They believed that if the Strabus Kingdom army – who had been requested in the name of the First Prince – was able to take back the North for the Lester Kingdom, the burden on their shoulders for their past failures would be substantially lifted.

Yet no one imagined in their wildest dreams that the Strabus army would be defeated. The expedition army consisted of as many as 50,000 troops, with the Master and Duke Derek Brans personally participating. But no defeat could be as complete as this one.

The only option left for the First Prince’s faction was to thoroughly deny all responsibility to avoid the consequences. The lines that they went along were that the final approval for the expedition army’s activities was given by the current king, and that they had no say in this matter.

Of course, the other nobles were occupied with accusatory attacks on the nobles of the First Prince’s faction.

Princess Leila, who was still temporarily overseeing state affairs as a stand-in, observed the unfolding scene from the throne.

‘What a bunch of terrific men.’

Even if the country were to fall to ruins tomorrow, before her were people that would still bicker on with their politicking for what they could gain today. With her current temperament, she wished to drag them all to the palace square and hang them by the neck.

‘Though it’s not like this situation would become any better if I do that.’

Concluding that there was no one in this royal hall that was reliable, Princess Leila left the fools in front of her to their squabbling and fell into her own thoughts.

‘Siegfried, huh… who knew there would be such a monster.’

To tell the truth, Princess Leila herself did not anticipate that the expedition army would be defeated.

She had based her future plans for this war on the premise that the Strabus Kingdom’s army would emerge victorious. Now all those plans had become a tangled mess, and a million complex thoughts ran through her mind.

The defeat of the expedition army had most certainly been outside her calculations. However, there were two things that were a compensatory relief.

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The first was that the Southern army which Milton was commanding had perfectly routed the Hildess troops that were facing them.

The second was that during this time, Duke Palan and a force of 20,000 soldiers had been stationed at the Capital to prepare for the miniscule chance that something went terribly wrong.

“We must recall Count Forrest immediately to defend the Capital.”

“Indeed. Above all else, we must bolster the Capital’s defenses with the Southern army as Siegfried could invade at any moment.”

The nobles too were well aware of the facts. In unison, they advised that Milton needed to fall back to the Capital and focus on defense with Duke Palan. Though they had previously treated Milton as a country bumpkin from the South who had only been at the right place at the right time, they were now desperately requesting that he swoop in and rescue them.

“Mmm…”

Princess Leila leaned her forehead on one hand in deep thought. 

They would certainly be able to defend the Capital if they did that, but was that the right path forward?

‘If I was in Siegfried’s shoes…’

Princess Leila felt a chill down her spine just thinking about the ways Siegfried could react, if they called Milton and the Southern army back to the Capital. But would it be possible to defend the Capital without Milton and his men if Siegfried came knocking?

‘It would be a tall order even if we’re on the defense. Though Duke Palan’s a Master, he’s not exactly adept at warfare.’

Princess Leila was exceedingly troubled, properly checkmated and unable to do this or that.

Ultimately, the royal hall assembly concluded with nothing but a heated, meaningless back and forth between the nobles.

***

After the conference, a maid approached the exhausted Princess Leila.

“Princess, one man is requesting an audience with you.”

“Who is it?”

At present, she was far too tired to meet just anyone.

“He says he is Viscount Randol Sabian.”

“Viscount Sabian?”

Princess Leila frowned. She recognized the name.

Though he accompanied the First Prince’s army as a commander, he found himself on the First Prince’s bad side and was unable to raise satisfactory results in the war. The one time he contributed meaningfully was when he joined the Southern army afterwards.

However, that contribution was substantially encouraging. Using a superb diversion tactic, he lured out the turtling Second Prince’s army so they may be decimated on the open field. Princess Leila had been observing the battlefield at the time.

Milton also judged Viscount Sabian very highly when mentioning him to Princess Leila.

[He is, without a doubt, the greatest strategist of our nation.]

Personally, Princess Leila likewise understood where Milton was coming from.

Milton had invited the Viscount to join his command in this war, but he declined in order to carry out the funeral rite of his teacher, Marquis Trauss.

‘Come to think of it, his existence slipped my mind after that.’

Princess Leila momentarily reproached herself before speaking to the maid.

“Tell him to enter.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Before long, a somewhat emaciated Viscount Sabian came face-to-face with Princess Leila.

“I, Viscount Randol Sabian, a loyal subject of the kingdom, appear before Your Highness Princess Leila von Lester.”

“Enough with the formalities. Have a seat.”

Princess Leila offered him a seat on the table in front of her.

“Thank you.”

Viscount Sabian sat down and cut straight to the chase.

“I have heard that the Capital’s nobles insist on recalling Count Forrest.”

“They do.”

“I have also heard, Princess, that you have deferred this request for now rather than accepting it at once.”

“That too is correct.”

“If I may ask, Your Highness, what is your reasoning behind the deferment?”

Princess Leila smirked.

‘He’s testing me. Is that how it is?’

She was a little insulted, but answered without restraint.

“We would certainly be able to defend the Capital if I summon Viscount Forrest.”

“Indeed we would.”

“Yet what of the districts outside the Capital? If we consolidate all of the country’s forces in the Capital, Siegfried would be free to infringe on our soil entirely unchecked. I cannot so gladly summon Viscount Forrest while conscious of this fact.”

Viscount Sabian inwardly nodded.

‘They may be siblings, but she and the First Prince are different. There might actually be a brain in there somewhere.’

To Viscount Sabian, the First Prince had long been perceived as a fascinating creature who possessed no brain inside that skull of his.

However, he was not yet done with his testing.

“That may be so, but our nation’s very core will collapse if we cannot protect the Capital. Is it not true that the people of the kingdom are already bound to suffer in times of war?”

Princess Leila made a rather displeased expression.

“One time, I can look over – but do I appear so unaware of the way of things that I must be tested twice?”

“I’m sorry? What do you…”

“If we were to only protect the Capital and allow the rest of our lands to be trampled on, the nation’s infrastructure would undoubtedly collapse – and more importantly, national sentiment of the royal family would plummet to the earth. If that were to happen, there would be no meaning in defending the Capital. In a worst-case scenario, socio-political think tanks who support Republicanism could incite the people into completely destroying the nation.”

“…….”

“Was that a satisfactory enough answer for your tests?”

At Princess Leila’s words, Viscount Sabian stood up from his seat and respectfully kowtowed to her.

“I must deeply apologize for daring to commit the sin of testing Your Highness. I humbly ask that you release your anger.”

Viscount Sabian sincerely apologized, and Princess Leila relaxed.

“Rise.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

The Viscount sat back down, and they faced one another once more. 

And although it had only been a short while since they had met, they started forming an assessment of each other.

‘She’s not a woman who’s found herself with power merely through luck or by twirling the good Count Forrest under her thumb with her beauty. She’s definitely got the wisdom and cast of mind fit for a royal.”

‘Never mind his cleverness – he’s got guts as well. I thought there wouldn’t be a single noble in the royal Capital who would test me at this point, but who knew there would be such a bold man.’

And the two of them reached the same conclusion.

‘I see that this woman isn’t a bad influence for the good Count Forrest.’

‘This man won’t be a bad influence for Count Forrest.’

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