Chapter 100: 56.2

Chapter 56-2: Diverging Paths (2)

Shortly thereafter, he carried his cup and made his way out of the hall so that he could be alone and appreciate the scenery outside. Right as he was leaving the hall, he just so happened to catch a glimpse of Larwood and his father, Duke Nandoon, out of the corner of his eye. The two of them were making their way into a room on the second floor.

Judging from the look on Larwood's face, it looks like he's about to cop an earful from his father, Erwin thought to himself as an amused smile played on his lips.

However, what the two of them were actually discussing in secret was something that Erwin completely failed to anticipate.

"Why has Her Highness appeared here?" Duke Nandoon asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"How was I supposed to know that Erwin would suddenly decide to bring her with us? By the time I found out, it was already too late to turn back," Larwood replied with a resigned expression.

"Make sure to be on your guard and don't let Erwin notice anything. He's always been a very observant child," Nandoon cautioned. "Of course, make sure Her Highness doesn't find out, either."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Larwood had become noticeably agitated upon hearing his father mention Erwin.

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Nandoon asked in a stern voice.

"I get it. I'll make sure that they don't notice anything," Larwood replied in a disgruntled voice.

"Also, why did you decide to venture into the mountain ranges? What does Her Highness's life have to do with you? What if something had happened to you back there?" Nandoon was starting to grow a little angry as he spoke. "Where are your wits and craftiness now? Why are you making such stupid decisions at such an important time?"

"At the time, everyone decided to go together, so I couldn't just refuse to go with them," Larwood argued.

"Don't give me that! You could've easily made up some excuse. Erwin may be completely head over heels for Her Highness, but have you fallen for her as well?" Nandoon asked with a stern look in his eyes. "Prior to your departure, I told you to lead your mercenary legion along the coastline of the Joffan Sea so that you'd be relatively safer, but here you are, running into the mountain ranges to fight magic beasts, then coming to Xeto of all places! Do you think you're invincible or do you have a death wish?"

"Well, I'm still alive, aren't I?" Larwood countered with a resigned expression in the face of Duke Nandoon's line of questioning.

Nandoon's demeanor softened slightly at the sight of his son's dejected expression, and he said, "If you like fighting in battles that much, then I'll get Prince Lazaar to arrange a job for you in the military."

"Fine, it's up to you."

...

By the time the afternoon arrived, many of the generals were already completely drunk and were snoring in the main hall while lying in lopsided positions.

Erwin could see that Onean's face was slightly red, so it was clear that she had also had a few drinks. Thus, he helped her up from her seat and accompanied her out of the manor to get some fresh air, and so that the cool sea breeze could help her recover from the effects of the alcohol. All of the generals had sufficient self-awareness to refrain from proposing toasts to the princess. After all, there was a massive gap in status between them. Even if some of them were drunk and approached Onean with drinks, they would be ushered away by Francis and the two dukes. Thus, Erwin could only presume that Onean had had a few drinks voluntarily as there was something on her mind.

Meanwhile, in a certain room on the second floor, Larwood and Chase were seated across from one another with grim expressions. The two of them had barely had anything to drink during the banquet. On the table in front of Chase sat an opened envelope that contained a letter from Duke Renshaw, which had been given to Chase on his father's behalf by Larwood's father.

"What did the letter say?" Larwood asked as he cast his gaze toward Chase.

"What else could it possibly say? My old man's just telling me to be safe," Chase replied in a low voice.

"Does that mean this is the end for our Four Winds mercenary legion?" Larwood asked with a wry smile.

"There's still Erwin and Kaiba left, isn't there?" Even though Chase was trying to make himself sound lighthearted, there was a hint of sorrow in his smile.

"That's true," Larwood replied in an absentminded manner.

The two of them exchanged a glance, and neither of them said anything else as an oppressive atmosphere settled upon the room.

"You've made up your mind not to tell them?" Chase asked.

"If we tell Erwin, he'll rush to the front lines right away to inform his father," Larwood replied as he looked at Erwin. "If that happens, our entire plan would be ruined."

"Then what about Kaiba? Are you not going to tell him, either?" Chase asked.

"You know what Kaiba's like. If you tell him, he'll definitely tell Erwin," Larwood sighed. "Unlike us, he's a person who values relationships and cherishes friendships."

"That's true," Chase sighed as a self-deprecating look appeared on his face.

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"In the letter your father sent you, did he not suggest that you should be careful with what you say?"

"Of course he did."

"Well, there you go."

"But... as I'm sure you already know, they're most likely not going to be able to come back alive if we don't say anything," Chase said as he turned to Larwood.

Larwood lowered his head and heaved a long sigh. "Who knows? Maybe they'll be able to survive."

"It's not like you to be trying to fool yourself like this," Chase said with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

In the main hall of the mayor's manor, all of the mess left behind from the banquet the day before had already been cleaned up, thereby restoring the hall to its original state.

The following day, the morning was quite overcast and rainy, so the lighting in the hall was rather dim and gloomy.

Onean and the two dukes were seated in front of a parchment map, discussing the best route to take to reach the front lines, while Francis was seated next to them, listening in silence.

"According to His Majesty's orders, our troops should be stationed at Xeto, but we can't allow you to travel to the front lines without being accompanied by any soldiers, Your Highness," Duke Nandoon said with tightly furrowed brows. "It would be far too dangerous to entrust you to those ragtag mercenary legions."

"Indeed, Your Highness, you must take your own safety more seriously," Duke Shreesan said in a concerned voice, then turned to Nandoon as he continued, 

"How about this? We came here with 10,000 troops, so why don't we split half of them to Her Highness to protect her on her journey to the front lines? The remaining 5,000 troops will be enough to protect the city."

"I think that's a good idea," Nandoon replied with a nod, then cast his gaze toward Francis. "Francis also has 5,000 soldiers under his command, so we'll still have 10,000 troops in total guarding the city. As long as we're not attacked by the Skycourt Kingdom's regular army, there's no way that any other enemy forces will be able to conquer Xeto in a short time."

"The final showdown is going to take place in two days. I don't think Gilgen is going to split up his troops and send some of them southward to attack Xeto. Hence, I think 10,000 soldiers will be more than enough to protect the city," Shreesan said.

Francis nodded in agreement with this proposal.

The two dukes were being very insistent and sincere, so Onean didn't want to reject their offer. In addition to that, she was also of the opinion that it would be overkill to have 15,000 troops stationed in Xeto. With that in mind, she replied, "Alright. In that case, I'll be traveling to the front lines in Illingburn Fort with 5,000 troops. I'll leave everything here in Xeto to the three of you."

"We'll be sure to defend Xeto with our lives," the trio replied in unison.

Onean nodded in response, then turned back to look at the map with a thoughtful expression.

"Your Highness, I know that you're very eager to be on your way, but there's something that I must speak to you about," Nandoon said as he cast his gaze toward Onean.

"Go right ahead, Uncle Nandoon," Onean prompted as she turned her gaze away from the map.

"These royal cavaliers have already been traveling non-stop for a day and a night, and they had to endure a battle upon arriving yesterday, so all of our men and horses are already quite exhausted. Even though they've already had a night to rest, I'm worried that they won't have fully recovered. If we force them to march again too soon, I'm concerned that the workload will be too much for them," Nandoon cautioned.

"That is indeed a factor that needs to be considered. Ideally, we should be allowing them to rest for a day or two before setting off again, but time is of the essence right now," Onean said with tightly furrowed brows.

"I have a way to cut the length of the journey by half a day, Your Highness," Shreesan said.

"Oh? Please do tell, Uncle Shreesan," Onean prompted as an intrigued look appeared in her eyes.

Shreesan pointed at the map as he said, "Please look here, Your Highness. If you retrace the path we took to get here, then you'd follow the provincial road northward from Xeto for a while, then diverge onto this small road here, which leads to the provincial road that connects Newen to Illingburn Fort. Taking this route will get you to Illingburn Fort in a day and a night, provided you don't take any breaks in between. However, if you go toward the northeast along the coast instead, you'll be able to directly reach the southern side of the Marrod Plain, and in doing so, you'll be able to save about half a day."

Onean stared at the map in deep thought for a while, then replied, "That looks like the only shortcut we can take. If we take this route, we should have more than enough time to reach Illingburn Fort before the two days are up, so we'll be able to make the journey at a more leisurely pace."

"I'm sure you'll be able to make it in time, Your Highness," Duke Shreesan said with a benevolent smile. "With you by His Majesty's side, I'm sure the invasion from the Skycourt Kingdom will be quelled in no time."

"Indeed. With Her Highness and Master Piro both present on the front lines, I'm certain that the Skycourt Kingdom's troops won't have any chances," Duke Nandoon chimed in with an amicable smile of his own.

Meanwhile, Francis remained silent as he nodded mechanically in agreement. He cast his gaze toward the earnest, smiling faces of the two dukes beside him, and a sense of genuine disgust suddenly welled up in his heart.

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