At the same time, in the fortress of Hiyama, Rinos and his men were taking prisoners of the Kingdom of Burial.
"...... I see. You were ordered to go out without knowing why, weren't you?"
It is Matkal who speaks in a calm voice. She is flanked by Linos, Knogen, and Rufana. In front of them are two men in awe. They identified themselves as Kupi, the commander who had been guarding the fort, and Tomai, his second in command. They answered Matkal's questions in a matter-of-fact manner.
"Very well. I am amazed that you were able to defend this fort with only 500 men. You did a good job.
"I am honored by your compliments. But we did nothing.
No, you obeyed our advice to surrender and gave up the fort. You saved the lives of 500 soldiers. You should be proud of your decision.
At Matkal's words, the two men bowed their heads with indescribable expressions on their faces.
"By the way, can I ask you something?"
It was Linos who called out to him. His face was covered with a cloth as usual, so we could not see his expression, but his good-humored voice was enough to make both of us relax our guard.
"Yes, anything we can answer."
"What kind of person is protecting Dorga?"
"His Highness the Duke of Ersatz. Brother of His Majesty the King. What kind of a man are you, ......?"
They looked at each other, and then Kupi opened his mouth, choosing his words carefully.
"In a word, he is a gentle man. He sometimes scolds his subordinates over trivial matters, but he is also a tearful and compassionate person.
"I see. I see. I wonder if it is because of his compassion that His Royal Highness the King's younger brother has been able to remain in the position of Commander-in-Chief.
Rinos laughs as he says this. Then he turns to Kupi and the others again.
"What else? Is there no such thing as a military leader? That is, someone who would advise on military command and operations."
"It's ......."
"You're here?"
We don't really know.
"You don't know?"
"Yes. During the Dorga campaign, two commanders were suddenly attached by order of the king. I heard that they are the best in the world and have never lost a battle in other countries. ....... However, these two men have almost nothing to do with us. ....... They always served close to Master Ersatzak."
Maybe that's what those two are.
"What?"
"No, I'm talking about this one."
Linos gave a small nod toward Matkal as he said this. With that, she turned to Kupi and Tomai again.
"Okay. First of all, thank you for your hard work. We may call on you again if we need anything else, but first, you need to get some rest.
With these words, she asks them to leave.
"Oh, I'll serve curry for lunch, you can look forward to it. Don't you know curry? It's a specialty of Agartha. It's delicious. Eat as much as you can."
At Linos' words, the two men bowed their heads in confusion.
At that moment, one of the soldiers approached them and kneeled down on one knee. Sensing the situation, Kupi and Tomai left the place together with the soldiers of Agartha.
"What is it?"
"Yes, sir. There is a woman by the name of Sheeva, deputy commander-in-chief of the Warlovian Imperial Army, outside the fort right now. There are four others here to see you. And ......"
"Surely, you have come to receive this fortress, ...... Mr. Linos?"
Unresponsive to Matkal's voice, Linos looks up to the heavens. Eventually, he turns his gaze to the soldier and mutters in a low voice, "Let me through.
"Well, now the real star of the show is about to appear. What's going to happen?"
He nodded his head in small increments, folding his arms as he said this.
Soon after, Shiwa and the others from the Warlovian Imperial Army entered the room, escorted by a soldier. The Shewa took one look at Matkal, bowed her head slightly with a blank expression, and sat down right in front of her. As if on cue, Gigi and Toits sat down next to her. Chan and Worker were standing behind her.
"Why don't you sit down instead of standing there?"
Suddenly, Linos calls out to him. For a moment, the two men look at each other with a shocked expression, but then they turn their gazes to Siwa. She does not look at them at all, but sighs a small sigh of unhappiness.
"You two are the ones who are responsible for the downfall of this fort. Don't just stand there, please!
Rinos then looks to Knogen. He orders a soldier to prepare new chairs and places them beside Rinos. He beckoned them to sit down.
"So, what can I do for you?"
Without any preamble, Linos opens his mouth. In his voice, I could clearly hear a negative emotion that could neither be described as anger nor displeasure. Perhaps annoyed by the situation, Sheeva opens her mouth without any emotion in her voice.
"Thank you very much for your hard work in recapturing the fort. First of all, I would like to thank you. I apologize for the rudeness of both Chan and Worker and have come to receive the fort.
"Rude? What are you talking about?"
Chan and Worker have returned to their camp without receiving the fort, even though your country has occupied it. We apologize for the trouble we have caused you during the time we have occupied this fort. I apologize for that."
"No, I'm not having a hard time. No, it was not a hardship. It's a great inconvenience for us to have them come here right after the occupation. Right?"
Linos looks at Matkal and the others. They nod slowly.
"That was just a coincidence. Normally, we would have received the fort as soon as it was occupied, since we have our own men standing by.
"Normally, yes. But we are in the middle of a battle. We must be flexible and adapt to the situation.
"I don't understand what you mean."
Linos jerked his body and looked at Chan, who was standing nearby.
"Why is it that I can't understand what you're saying?"
"I ...... no ......"
"In the first place, we told you that we didn't need any kind of reinforcements. It was because we thought that we should do our utmost to retake Durga rather than to devote Warlov's army to this fortress. I was told that if the Agarthans dared to attack, the entire army, including Warlov's, would launch an all-out assault on Durga. But when we dared to charge, no one moved. If we had dared to assault right after this fort was recaptured, we would have had some success. ....... No doubt, the enemy would have been upset. Wouldn't that have been the perfect opportunity to take advantage of it?"
"It's a technicality."
"What?"
"In the first place, the Agartha side is violating the agreement, you know. We are trying to make all of this a moot point, but if you are going to use sophistry like that, we have to change our minds, don't we?"
"Breach of contract? What are you talking about?"
We had requested your country to attack the dolga. But you did not dare to attack Durga, but went to Hiyama. Is this violation of the agreement also considered as a flexible response on the battlefield? If so, it would be a terrible thing. It is good that we were able to capture this fort by chance this time, but if we had failed to capture it, or if other armies had dared to assault it, there would have been many more casualties, including those at Agartha. We owe our soldiers our lives. Your selfishness will result in the loss of many lives. Or are we told that in Agartha, soldiers are just pawns, with no thought for their lives? If so, Agartha's reputation will fall. I do not want that to happen. I want Agartha to be a wonderful country.
Excuse me.
A woman entered the room, interrupting Siwa's conversation. It was Vieille.
......Another complicated time, this guy....
Linos clucked his tongue while thinking such a thing in his mind. .......