Chapter 3: Ultimatum (last part)

In the end, I hadn't gotten Castor and the Air Force on my side. That was going to

make things a lot harder, but at least most of the Air Force would be remaining

neutral.

Trying to change gears to fight off the disappointment, I turned to the last of the

three, Georg. "Now then, Army General Georg Carmine."

The fierce lion-headed beastman general glared back at me. Even though I was

speaking to him through a monitor, he was incredibly intimidating. If I had been

meeting him in person, my legs would have started to shake, and I would have made

a pathetic show of myself.

"Duke Carmine," I said. "I will not ask whether you will obey me. At the point

when you gave shelter to the nobles under investigation for corruption, it was made

clear that you had no intention of obeying me. Attempting to persuade you is a waste

of my time."

He said nothing.

"So, I would like to ask you one thing," I said. "What is it that drove you to this?"

"My pride as a warrior." That was Georg's response. "Being more than fifty years

of age, my body will only grow weaker from here, but now I have been given the

greatest of opportunities. I will decide the fate of Elfrieden with my own talents.

Once in his lifetime, it is every warrior's wish to accomplish something that will be

remembered by later generations."

"For something as petty as that..." I murmured.

Had he planned all this for reasons as simple as the "Human life lasts only 50

years" line from the Noh play Atsumori? He had known how it would sadden Liscia,

yet still this was the only path he could choose?

"I can't understand it," I said. "You are... an incredible fool."

"It was a silly question," he returned. "One cannot be a warrior without also being

a fool. I will have you bear witness to the way I live."

"Are you sure you don't mean the way you'll die?"

"They are one and the same," he said. "Those who wish to live die; those who

wish to die live. That is what it is to be a warrior."

He spoke in a resolute voice that was reminiscent of a lion's roar. He showed no

sign of wavering.

And so, I could not waver, either.

"If you are to be a great tree blocking my path, I will step over you," I said.

"Rotting though I may be, I am a tree with strong roots," he responded. "You will

not step over me with half-hearted resolve."

"I have resolve!" I had long since found the resolve to stain my hands with this

one-time cruelty. "Georg Carmine and Castor Vargas."

Duke Carmine said nothing.

"What?" Duke Vargas asked.

"As we will soon do battle, I have one proposal," I said. "I doubt any of us want for

this war to drag on endlessly, ensnaring the common people who have nothing to do

with it. That's why I want one rule in place. 'If one of us is struck down or captured,

that person's subordinates will immediately come under the command of the other

side.' This is meant to prevent an army that loses its leader from seeking revenge or

continuing to rebel."

When they heard my proposal, both nodded.

"Very well," Georg said.

"I'm good with that, too," Castor agreed. "I will inform my men that, should I fall,

the entire Air Force is to obey you."

"...Thank you."

"Now, I shall take my leave." Georg rose from his seat, moving to cut the

transmission.

"Wait!" Liscia burst out, after remaining quiet all this time.

Georg narrowed his eyes. "Princess..."

"Duke Carmine..."

Each addressed the other, but neither could find any words beyond that. They

only gazed into each other's eyes in silence.

Liscia and Georg. In the palace, they were princess and vassal. In the army, they

were subordinate and superior. From that alone, they should have been able to find

some way to understand each other.

For some time, the two of them looked at each other in silence, but then, in the

next moment, Liscia drew the rapier she kept at her hip.

While I was still surprised at the suddenness of it, Liscia brought the blade

around to the back of her head, cutting off her platinum blond ponytail.

Wait, whaaaa?!

Her hair, like golden thread, fell to the floor.

It was so sudden that not only I, but the three dukes as well, were left speechless.

Liscia suddenly had a medium-short haircut, but she showed no sign of caring.

Instead, she thrust her rapier out towards the jewel. Then she said: "This is my

resolve. I will walk alongside Souma." She declared this with unwavering eyes.

Georg was dumbfounded like me at first, but soon his eyes took on a sharp glint,

and he smiled like a carnivore that had found its prey. "I have seen your resolve,

princess. However, I will have you show me that resolve on the battlefield."

"Count on it."

The two seemed to have come to an understanding. I couldn't comprehend it

myself, but it was probably just the way warriors communicated. The meeting had

ended with everyone being taken aback by Liscia, but... Anyway, that was the end of

the ultimatum to the three dukes.

"Was that okay... cutting your hair like that?" I asked Liscia once the transmission

to Georg and Castor had ended.

Now that the ultimatum to the three dukes was over and done with, Aisha, who

had come back from the dark elf village, as well as Hakuya, Poncho, and Tomoe, had

come into the Jewel Voice Room. When they had all noticed the change in Liscia's

appearance, everyone's eyes (except for Hakuya's; he didn't show much change in

expression) went wide with surprise.

Liscia played with the ends of her freshly-cut hair, blushing. "I did it to make my

position clear. ...Does the new look not suit me?"

"No, I think it suits you," I said. "Right, guys?"

Everyone nodded.

"You cut a wonderfully gallant figure like that, Princess," said Aisha.

"I do think the short hair is quite fetching for you, too," said Hakuya.

"I-It really suits you, I think, yes," said Poncho.

"It's cute, big sister," said Tomoe.

With all these people complimenting her, Liscia's face flushed with

embarrassment. (Though she didn't seem to entirely mind the attention.)

The atmosphere in the room had softened like that, when...

"Sire..."

...the only one of the three dukes who was still connected, Excel, called out to me.

"...My apologies, Duchess Walter," I said.

"No, I have already sworn my vassalage to you, sire. Please, just call me Excel."

"Excel, then. Sorry," I said. "For not being able to convince Castor."

"There was nothing you could have done. He had made up his own mind." Still,

the corners of Excel's mouth were drawn tight with frustration.

They said this beautiful woman, who looked to only be in her mid-twenties, was,

in fact, five hundred years old, that Castor was her son-in-law, and that her

granddaughter was also with Castor. Her family were split between opposite sides of

the conflict, so it was perfectly natural for her to think it regrettable.

Oh, right. Speaking of Excel's family...

"Excel. Is she there with you?" I asked.

Excel drew in her breath sharply. "...Yes. She is."

"You called, Your Majesty?" Another blue-haired beauty appeared, standing

beside Excel on the screen. She had a face that anyone would fall in love with,

impeccable style, and an air about her that seemed more mature than her age. Yes,

she was the lorelei songstress whose popularity was surging across the Elfrieden

Kingdom, Ms. Juna Doma herself.

"Thank you, Juna," I said. "Because we had you tying us to her, we didn't have to

fight with Excel."

"No. I only did as ordered," she said. "Besides, I was investigating you and

reporting back to Grandmother at one point. I beg your forgiveness for my rudeness

then."

Yes, Juna had been a spy dispatched by Duchess Walter.

With her foresight, Excel had known that if Liscia's father, the former king Albert,

had ceded the throne to me, something must have been going on, and so she had

begun looking into it immediately.

The spy she had chosen to dispatch for that was Juna, who was actually the

commander of the Marine Corps.

On top of that, Juna was apparently Excel's granddaughter. One of Excel's sons

had married into the Doma family, who were a merchant family in Lagoon City with

loreleis among their ancestors, and that was how Juna had been born. That beautiful

face of hers came from Excel's side of the family, it seemed.

When Juna had used the Gift Proclamation event as an opportunity to make

contact with me, it had been to investigate whether I had what it took to be king.

Then, when she had deemed me fit to be king, she had reported those thoughts back

to Excel, and finally chosen to reveal herself to us on her own.

I'd been surprised when I'd first heard, but between the maturity that belied her

young age and the swift movements she had displayed during the argument with

Hal, it had made some things suddenly make a lot of sense, so I'd been able to accept

it fairly quickly.

After that, Juna had become the pipe connecting us to Excel. In other words, Excel

had been the only one to swear loyalty to me before the ultimatum.

However, in order to monitor Georg's disquieting movements and to try to

convince Castor up until the very last moment, we had concealed that fact, and, for a

time, she had gone along with the other dukes.

As Juna bowed apologetically, I said to her, "No. Because of you, we were able to

coordinate with Excel. You took my side, so I have every reason to be grateful, and I

have no intention of faulting you for what you did."

"It's just like I told you that day," she said. "'I, too, am on your side.'"

"...You did say that, didn't you?"

On that night when I couldn't sleep, Juna had told me that and then sung for me

until I fell asleep. Afterward, I had heard from Juna that Liscia had arranged the

whole thing.

Liscia was always looking after me. True to her words on that day, Juna had

stayed on my side. Even Aisha, scatterbrained as she could be most of the time, could

be counted on to defend me if it came to it.

I was able to be the king because of all these people supporting me. And so I

wanted to do right by them, too.

"Hakuya, how are the preparations?" I looked over at him.

Hakuya put his hands together and bowed. "All is as planned. Sir Ludwin and the

10,000 soldiers that make up the directly-controlled portion of the Forbidden Army

can mobilize immediately."

"What movements have we seen from the Amidonian army?" I asked.

"They already appear to have assembled on the border," he said. "It is as we

anticipated."

Having heard Hakuya's report, I turned to everyone with a nod, thrusting my fist

into the air. "Let's go! Now it's a battle against time! We'll brush away the falling

sparks and show Georg what he's up against! Let him see the power that will

support this country from here on!"

"""Yes, sir!"""

Everyone responded to my command. The time was ripe.

I spoke. "Now, let the subjugation war begin."

◇ ◇ ◇

—30th Day, 9th Month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar.

Souma, King of Elfrieden, had raised an army to subjugate Georg.

A message bearing this information was delivered to the armies of the Duchy of

Amidonia massed near the border.

When Gaius VIII heard this report he said, "The time is come! Now, we shall

achieve our long-held desire!"

With that declaration, he finally led the 30,000 strong army of the principality to

begin the invasion of Elfrieden.

There were two routes into Elfrieden from Amidonia.

One was the route passing through the Carmine Duchy in the northwest. It was

an open plain, easy to traverse, but Gaius did not use this route.

That was because this route was entirely blocked by the Carmine Duchy. Even if

it was purely for appearances, Gaius had claimed that he was aiding both the king

and Georg, so he needed to avoid any route that made it look like he was in league

with Georg. Furthermore, the Carmine Duchy was where the king's and Georg's

forces would collide, so if the principality's army appeared there, there was the risk

that the war would be stopped. The principality wanted the conflict between the

king and Georg to last as long as possible.

Because of that, the principality's army chose to advance along the other route,

the one that passed through the mountainous region to the south. The Ursula

Mountains stood along the southern half of the border between the Principality of

Amidonia and the Elfrieden Kingdom. This route passed through the Goldoa Valley

in the mountains.

While the path was steep, once they crossed the valley, they would come to the

city of Altomura. Fed by the mountain streams coming out of the Ursula Mountains,

this was one of Elfrieden's few grain-producing regions. What was more, it had also

once been part of Amidonia.

As he rode his horse among the 30,000 soldiers of the principality's army, Gaius

VII had a glint in his eye and a bold smile on his face.

"Heh heh heh. Souma and Georg can fight as hard as they want. While they do, we

will reclaim our lost lands."

As he passed through the shadows of the valley, Gaius VIII had no doubt that his

dearest wish was about to be granted.