Genjitsushugisha no Oukokukaizouki - Volume 18 - Chapter 10.2

Along the invasion route towards Parnam, an old fort and a fortress city were burning.

In every city and castle the Great Tiger Empire’s forces had come across—with the exception of Red Dragon City—the defenders had either surrendered without meaningful resistance or quickly left. At first, the invaders expected things to be the same with these two, but it was clear that the old fort was an impromptu fortification that had been hastily restored. As for the city, it was small, and the residents had already left.

Once the defenders departed, the Empire’s forces should only have needed to leave some troops, and then the main force would have pushed straight on towards the capital. However, after the bulk of the enemy defenders left, a portion stayed behind, shutting themselves up inside the bases. They numbered in the hundreds, so the Empire’s forces tried to convince them not to resist in vain, but these remnants were stubborn and refused to listen. Because of that, Fuuga ordered the two bases to be taken by force.

However, since his wild instincts told him there was something unsettling about the two bases, he kept his best troops out of the fight, instead letting the mercenaries and newcomers handle the assault. Everyone assumed the battle would be finished in less than an hour, even if the small enemy force holed themselves up behind these not particularly solid fortifications. But the two bases put up a stubborn resistance.

There was a major difference in morale between the Kingdom’s forces, who were quite literally prepared to fight to the last man, and the Empire’s, who were confident of their victory but knew if they got hurt here, they’d lose the chance to distinguish themselves in the main battle. As a result, they faced a harder fight than expected, and the Empire’s forces were forced to stop acting arrogant and get serious.

Then, just as the imperial forces managed to force their way into the fortress...

Kaboom!!! Both bases went up in a pillar of flames and black smoke almost simultaneously, sending tremors even as far as Fuuga’s main camp. The remnants had packed the bases full of explosives, and once they felt that the end had come, they blew themselves up along with the swarming imperial forces.

Fuuga shot to his feet as he saw the sky alight with flames.

“No way! They blew themselves up to take our forces with them?!”

“That certainly does appear to be the case...” Hashim’s reply was calm, but the expression was as if he’d just bitten into something unpleasant. “It’s rather unexpected...to see the Kingdom using their own soldiers as sacrificial pawns. We will need to make haste in checking that none of the other cities we felled have traps in them.”

In preparing for this campaign, Fuuga’s camp had thoroughly analyzed the kind of ruler Souma was, along with Fuuga’s own view of him as a person. They concluded that Souma would prioritize minimizing casualties and reducing the damage done by the conflict. Moves like throwing away his men as sacrificial pawns, breaking dams to cause floods that also put a burden on his people, and scorched-earth tactics like destroying cities were unlikely from him.

That’d held true until this point along the invasion route, as Souma had kept making choices that preserved the people and their cities. However, now he’d sacrificed his own men and destroyed a city. It was a wild move—one that overturned all their presumptions and forced a reevaluation of the entire strategy.

Fuuga and his people couldn’t guess it was Souma’s subordinates acting on their own initiative. Once Hashim had hurried out of the main camp to confirm things for himself, Mutsumi approached Fuuga.

“Do you think...this strategy was really Sir Souma’s orders?”

“Yeah, no... Probably not. Souma hates this kind of stuff. It was probably the soldiers who stayed behind in these bases making the decisions for themselves.”

“So the retainers went and acted on their own, risking their lives without any commands from their ruler?” asked Mutsumi.

Fuuga crossed his arms and nodded.

“Yeah. I think it’s a brilliant display of loyalty, and Souma drawing it out of them shows he’s doing a good job as king. Probably better than he thinks too.”

“I’m sure...he’s regretting that right now.”

Souma being a good ruler to his retainers had resulted in their deaths. When he heard of this, he would be filled with sadness and regret.

However, for these two, Souma was someone they needed to defeat in order to accomplish their ambitions. They held no personal enmity towards him because he was also looking after Yuriga and Ichiha. Fuuga and Mutsumi felt bad for the suffering that Souma would no doubt go through after this.

Because the Great Tiger Empire was forced to double-check the cities that had submitted to them for any sign of traps, they were delayed for two days.

◇ ◇ ◇

Fuuga Haan was the favored child of this era.

Perhaps, in the same way that people refer to the period during which Napoleon performed his incredible feats as the “Napoleonic era,” this would be called the “Fuuga Haanic era.” It was a time of dreams and adventure, when one great man’s grand ambition shook the entire continent.

As hinted many times before, the only way to defeat Fuuga—the one protected by this era—was to change the times themselves.

No matter how much he lost to Xiang Ji (Xiang Yu), Liu Bang tried relentlessly until he finally turned things around and emerged victorious. Even though a third of all the battles ended in defeat or a tie, Nobunaga almost managed to unite the country under him.

During times of national crisis, France produced great people like Bertrand du Guesclin, Jeanne d’Arc, and Arthur de Richemont during the Hundred Years’ War. Until the era decides such people have served their purpose, they seem immortal, rising up again and again. That is because the people supporting them want these great people to keep fighting, and will approve of their actions no matter how cruel they may be.

That’s why defeating Fuuga wouldn’t be enough to put out the fire. Even if he was fed a bitter defeat and forced to withdraw, his supporters would still demand a rematch. With their voices pushing him onward, Fuuga would start another world war. That wouldn’t change even if he was cut down in this battle. In fact, that might be an even worse outcome.

With Fuuga dead, leaving only the people enraptured by his ambition, how would they act? First, they would resent me and my country, start a war for revenge, and maybe resort to terrorism or guerrilla tactics. Also, without Fuuga, they couldn’t maintain such a vast domain and would likely fracture into competing states. The northern part of the continent would be laid to waste. Refugees would rush in from the north, and we’d be back to the same place we were when the Demon Lord’s Domain was expanding.

The only way to stop it would be to launch an intervention, but as I already mentioned, they would resent us. A Maritime Alliance intervention would generate resistance, and it would take a long time to subjugate it. For these reasons, in this war, we were pushing forward a plan that would bring an end not so much to Fuuga personally, but to this era supporting him.

On this night, Liscia and I were in the governmental affairs office, listening as Mao reported that the setup that gave our plan the final push it needed was complete.

“All tasks are complete, Master Souma.”

“Oh, yeah? So we made it in time, then...” I murmured to myself, half relieved, half full of chagrin.

I was grateful to have the plan ready before my direct showdown with Fuuga. But what had bought us this time was Owen, Herman, and the other volunteers risking their lives. If only it’d been finished two days sooner.

The two old men’s faces flashed through my mind. As I remembered them, anger and hatred for Fuuga coursed through me. If only he hadn’t started this stupid war for his dreams and ambitions. I wanted to really let loose on him. Despite considering the drawbacks of killing Fuuga in this war, even though I understood it logically, it was hard to deny my emotions.

“Souma...” Liscia spoke softly as she put her hand on my shoulder.

“Huh?!” I snapped back to my senses and turned to see her with a slight smile.

“The look on your face was getting scary. I don’t think Owen or Herman would have wanted that,” she chided me.

“Yeah, you’re right...” I said, nodding meekly. We weren’t in a situation where I needed to go into king mode yet.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, then turned to Mao.

“Thank you for your assistance, Mao. And sorry. Normally, you’re not supposed to get involved in a battle between people, but I made you push yourself.”

Mao smiled at my apology and shook her head. “No. This matter had nothing to do with the war, so don’t be concerned... If anything, I’m frustrated that this is all that I could do. I hear you had losses because of how long production took on my end.”

“No, you’ve all handled it well. Better than I could have expected. I really am grateful. Thanks, Mao.”

“And I thank you too, Madam Mao,” Liscia joined in.

“May Landians and Seadians find a future you can work towards together,” Mao said, smiling.

With that wish, her image vanished. Everything was all set up now.

“Liscia, how is deployment going?”

“It’s all done. The military and everyone else are in position and ready to fend off the Great Tiger Empire’s forces at any time. But the enemy has been marching slower since the delay they incurred, so I’m told that we don’t expect them to arrive until after tomorrow morning.”

Knowing Fuuga, I thought it was possible he would charge in recklessly once he checked his rear, but it didn’t seem to be happening. This was probably thanks to Owen and Herman risking their lives to stake him down.

Once he got the impression that my forces included guys who would defy me in order to launch suicide attacks, caution would be mandated.

Sighing, I looked at Liscia.

“The final battle’s tomorrow, then.”

“Yes. Everything will be decided tomorrow... Are you feeling tense?”

“Well, yeah. But not as tense as when we fought the Principality of Amidonia. We have more people on our side than back then, and none of our allies are at risk of betraying us. Unlike before, when we blindly grasped for solutions, everyone has coalesced around one idea, and we’re pretty calm.”

“Yes... Things were a mess back then.”

In the Amidonian War, we’d found ourselves caught at the intersection of so many people’s intentions—mine, Gaius and Julius’s, Georg’s, Castor’s, Roroa’s, those of the corrupt nobles who rebelled, those of the fence-sitting nobles I later executed, and finally Albert and Elisha’s.

Looking back on it now, it’s amazing I was able to stay calm. Compared to back then, everyone was now concentrated on one goal: protect the country from Fuuga and his men.

It wasn’t just something we were feeling in this country. The Republic, the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Kingdom, secretly the Dragon Knight Kingdom and Star Dragon Mountain Range, and the Seadians felt it too. It was no wonder I could stay so much calmer this time... Not that I didn’t have some misgivings.

“Although, my intentions haven’t changed from what they were then,” Liscia said before leaning in close, pressing her lips against mine.

I responded in kind as we each explored the soft sensation. Liscia blushed, smiling as she brushed her hair back behind her ear with one hand.

“Then, now, and forever more... I will walk by your side, Souma.”

“You know...I don’t think you were quite so forward back then.”

“I was waiting for you to make a move on me at the time.”

“Well, sorry,” I said teasingly, then stood up and hugged Liscia tight. She was surprised, but her body relaxed, and she entrusted herself to me.

“You too, Souma... You’ve gotten more proactive, wouldn’t you say?”

“Well, yeah, I have more experience under my belt now, after all.”

“Hee hee, of course you do. You have so many cute wives,” she said, putting on a menacing smile.

“That smile’s scary! Whoa, don’t jab me in the ribs.”

After playing around like that for a bit, Liscia gently pushed me away.

“With all that experience, you know, right? Whose side should you be by? I think...she’s hurting more than any of us right now. So go be with her.”

Seeing the look of sincerity on Liscia’s face, I nodded.

I visited Yuriga’s room, where Aisha was guarding the door.

Because of Yuriga’s position, with the decisive battle approaching, I had Aisha stay with her as bodyguard and watcher. Yuriga was cooperating with us, but someone who didn’t understand that might try to get in touch with her with bad intentions, and she needed someone to watch her so that she didn’t get overcome by her sense of responsibility and do something desperate.

If Tomoe were still in the castle, I would’ve had her support Yuriga, but if anything happened to Tomoe in the conflict, that would be a huge blow not just to the Kingdom but to mankind as a whole. It would also leave Yuriga with a deep emotional scar, so having Tomoe evacuate along with Ichiha had been the right move.

“How is Yuriga?” I asked Aisha.

“Calm,” she answered, glancing at the door. “We were just talking normally up until the evening.”

“I see... Thanks for looking after her, Aisha.”

“No. I’ve been worried about Yuriga too... But despite the strong face she’s been putting on, I am sure she must have her own thoughts about what’s happening. Your Majesty, please take care of Yuriga...”

“I know.”

I knocked lightly on the door before entering Yuriga’s room. She was sitting on the bed, facing me, holding a fluffy pillow in front of her face. Was she trying to be some kind of monster—the pillow-faced woman?

“What’re you doing...?”

“I can’t possibly face you, so I’m covering my face,” Yuriga said, her voice somewhat muffled by the pillow.

Erm... This isn’t the reaction I expected. I was thinking about how to comfort her if she was depressed, crying, or hiding her feelings to put on a strong face like Maria did when she was empress. But...I wasn’t expecting to meet her in the guise of a pillow-faced woman.

I sat on a chair next to the bed as I considered what to do. Yuriga continued to bury her face in the pillow’s soft confines.

“Huh? We’re seriously going to talk with that pillow in between us?”

“Well, I have no right to look you in the face.”

Yuriga was still saying the same thing.

“I heard...about Sir Owen and Sir Herman...” she continued. “I’d been prepared for this kind of thing to happen if you and my brother fought... But not for people whose names I knew to be among those who died.”

“It’s nothing for you to feel bad about... Though, I guess saying that doesn’t help.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t. It’s a bit much to ask me not to feel something about it,” Yuriga said through the pillow.

What kind of look did she have on her face?

“Do you mind if I sit next to you...?”

I couldn’t tell whether it was better to leave her alone or be by her side.

“Go ahead,” she answered, patting the spot beside her on the bed.

Even as she patted the bed with one hand, her other arm still kept her face covered. It was a surreal sight, but I sat down next to her.

“What should you do when there’s nothing you can do?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know if I can explain it very well. There’s all these emotions swirling inside of me...but I can’t do a thing about them... I can’t handle any of it... What should I do at a time like that? Have you ever felt the same way in your time as king, Souma?”

“Yeah... Multiple times,” I told her honestly. “After a war, and after executing my enemies... When my orders necessitated the ending of people’s lives, I always felt conflicted about it, and it would keep me up at night. In my case, I had Liscia and the others to comfort me. Pathetic as that sounds, it’s reassuring to have someone at my side.”

“I see...”

“But I think it’s the same for everyone. After Maria made the decision that split her country, she cried like a child. That’s why I stayed by her side the whole time like Liscia and the others did for me.”

“The Maria did that? I can’t even imagine...”

“I spoiled her so rotten that, by the end of it, she had turned into a kitten.”

“What does that even mean?” she asked, stifling a small laugh.

Maybe I’d lightened her mood a bit.

“Well, I want you to not push yourself and let us spoil you... Or rather, if you act too sullen, we’ll spoil you whether you like it or not.”

“Huh?! I don’t even get a say in it?”

“If even one member of the family looks gloomy, all of us worry.”

“Even if it’s me?”

“You did marry into the family, missus.”

“My position’s been so delicate that we’ve all been so reserved around each other, so it just hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Having said that, Yuriga moved a little closer, letting our shoulders touch.

As we sat side by side, she asked me through the pillow, “Okay, if I ask you to comfort me... How are you going to do it?”

“How about something like this...?”

“Whuh... Mmph!”

I hugged her close and pushed my face against the pillow from the other side. If it weren’t in the way, we’d have been kissing.

Yuriga seemed surprised for a moment, but then the tension melted out of her shoulders.

After a little longer in that position, I said, “Well...what do you think?”

When I asked that with my face pressed into the pillow, Yuriga moved away slowly, lowering the pillow. Her exposed face was redder than a boiled octopus.

I could see the traces of tears in the corners of her eyes, which were dewy even now, but she still had the presence of mind to glare up at me.

After some time, she finally answered my question.

“It’d be better without the pillow...”

And so we did it again, without the pillow this time.