Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria - Volume 17 - Chapter 1

ACT 1

Hildegard happily hummed a tune as she groomed her beloved horse. She appeared to be thoroughly enjoying this routine task. There was, of course, a good reason for her jolly mood.

“You seem quite pleased with yourself.”

“Heh, of course! I’m about to be a direct vassal to His Majesty!” Hildegard perkily responded as Sigrún called over to her in passing.

Thanks to her immense contributions to the mountain crossing operations during the Steel Clan’s conquest of the Silk Clan, Sigrún, her mentor, had put in the recommendation needed for Hildegard to achieve her long-held ambition.

“Just do me a favor and don’t let your happiness cloud your judgment. Remember that any blunders on your part reflect on all of the Múspells.”

“Yes ma’am, I knooow!”

“I’m not so sure.” Sigrún sighed and pressed her left palm against her forehead. Her right hand was currently bandaged with a medicinal poultice.

“Oh, does that still hurt?”

“Mm? It’s mostly fine now. It only hurts when I try to move it.” Sigrún glared with irritation as she looked upon her bandaged hand. She had injured her right hand in the final battle with the Silk Clan. When facing off against the enemy patriarch, a horse had run amok, catching Sigrún’s hand in the process. Fortunately, it seemed to have only been a strain, rather than a broken bone, but it had still swelled up painfully when she had first injured it.

“Okay. It’s probably best that you get a little more rest then. Oh, such a pity. I feel like I’m going to be out of practice without you to train against, Mother Rún.” In sharp contrast to her words, Hildegard’s tone was light and joyful. She had, after all, suffered a hellishly difficult training regimen under Sigrún over the past year, and because she was an Einherjar, she was forced to spar solely against Sigrún, piling up loss after loss in a humiliating string of defeats.

However, with Sigrún out with an injury, the training regimen had eased up somewhat, and on top of that, she was able to overwhelm her replacement sparring partners. It was a good time to be in Hildegard’s shoes, and that happy period was evidently going to last a while longer. Hildegard was extremely pleased with the combination of a lighter training schedule and the fact she was going to receive Yuuto’s direct Chalice. However...

“I see. Then that’s perfect. Come train with me.”

“Huh? B-But... Mother Rún, you can’t hold a sword with that hand.”

“That’s exactly why I need to train,” Sigrún said with a tone of unshakable conviction and grabbed Hildegard by the collar, dragging her along.

“Wha?! Whaaaaaa?!”

Hildegard’s happy days were short-lived.

“Phew. Seems like we’ve finally gotten things settled.” Yuuto let out a loud sigh as he sat on the throne in the former Tiger Clan capital of Gastropnir.

It had been fortunate that they had captured the Silk Clan patriarch in the recent border battle. Had she escaped and made it back to the Silk Clan’s territory, it would have complicated matters immensely.

“It’d be nice if they’d just surrender now, but...”

In Yggdrasil’s clan system, the Second would assume control of the clan when the patriarch was no longer present. The current Silk Clan patriarch, Utgarda, had garnered a reputation as a tyrannical and cruel leader. He could easily imagine her Second finding a suitable excuse to banish her and assume the reins.

“What do you think? I want your opinion.” Yuuto glanced over at the young woman standing in the corner of the room. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years of age, and she was notable for her blazing crimson hair.

Though she was dressed in the simple garb of a commoner, she had extremely beautiful facial features, and there was a faint air of elegance and refinement to her bearing. However, in stark contrast to that, there was a collar around her neck with a rope attached to it, and there were also iron weighted shackles around both of her ankles to prevent her from escaping or putting up any form of resistance.

This young woman was none other than Utgarda herself, the very same patriarch that the Steel Clan had captured in their recent battle with the Silk Clan.

“None of the leadership of the clan, starting with the Vizier Velde, as well as any of his underlings, have any amount of courage, Your...Majesty. We believe... Pardon... I believe they’ll quickly cave to any demands for their surrender.” Utgarda spoke awkwardly, catching herself as she struggled to maintain a respectful tone. She had been born a princess, so it was rather unlikely that she had ever needed to address someone above her own station. She could, perhaps, be forgiven for her slipup, but her master had other ideas.

“Watch your tone!”

Smack!

“Eeep!” The crack of Kristina’s whip against her bottom elicited an oddly cute squeak out of Utgarda.

“Father. I apologize for not properly disciplining my slave.”

“Grr!”

Utgarda bit down on her lip, tears welling in her eyes as she rubbed the mark on her sore rear, as Kristina bowed her head apologetically to Yuuto. By order of the þjóðann, Utgarda had already been stripped of her title of patriarch and been reduced to her current position as Kristina’s slave.

Based on her expression and demeanor, she was clearly not happy with her treatment, but evidently, she really dreaded the notion of being executed, so for the moment she was at least pretending to be a respectful slave.

“Don’t overdo it. Her status as a slave is temporary,” Yuuto surreptitiously whispered to Kristina in a tone too soft for Utgarda to hear. Kristina chuckled at Yuuto’s comment.

“You’re so compassionate, Father. I think this is a worthy punishment for her.”

“Well, yeah, but...” Yuuto shrugged with a dry laugh.

As far as the Steel Clan leadership understood it, Utgarda had often vented her frustrations on her sworn children with her whip at the slightest provocation and even occasionally lashed out at innocent subordinates just to sate her sadistic whims. In that sense, her current status was karmic justice.

Yuuto wasn’t usually a fan of taking measures such as this act of forced servitude, or of slavery in general for that matter, but he made the decision to enslave Utgarda in the hope of reforming her. She was still young, after all. He hoped that by experiencing the life of the very people she had abused and subjected to unjust treatment, she might regret her own excesses and find a sense of humility and compassion.

“Ah! A chance!” Suddenly, Utgarda’s gaze took on a supernatural gleam, and she leaped at Yuuto with cat-like agility. She moved so quickly it was hard to believe she had weighted shackles on her ankles. It was all going so well, until...

With an exasperated look, Kristina yanked at the leash in her hand.

“Guh!” The sudden tug at the collar around her throat killed Utgarda’s momentum, and she croaked like a toad that someone had stepped on.

“Yah!”

“Oof!”

Felicia quickly grabbed Utgarda’s arm, circled behind her, and wrestled her to the ground. It all unfolded in the blink of an eye.

While Felicia ordinarily dealt with paperwork as Yuuto’s adjutant, she was still an Einherjar, and given that she was also tasked with serving as Yuuto’s bodyguard, she maintained a strict training regimen to stay in shape. It was easy to forget about her strength given the sheer quantity of accomplished Einherjars serving the Steel Clan, but Felicia was a powerful warrior in her own right.

“You dare attempt to attack Big Brother. That’s overstepping just a little too much.”

“Aaaaaaagh!”

Utgarda let out a shrill scream of pain as Felicia bent the arm in her grip into an unnatural angle. Felicia seemed unconcerned by Utgarda’s scream, however, and her lips curled into a cold smile.

“Oh boy...” Yuuto covered his face with his hand and sighed.

Felicia was usually calm and friendly, but she was ruthless in dealing with people who insulted or tried to harm Yuuto.

“That reminds me. I’m told you ordered your soldiers to constantly spew insults about Big Brother.”

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Please forgive me! I couldn’t help myself!” Utgarda’s screams continued to echo throughout the office. The screams that rang out from behind the closed door made those who approached the door with matters for the þjóðann turn straight around and wait for a more peaceful moment.

“So, why did you attack Father?” Kristina asked as she knelt in front of the pinned Utgarda. She spoke calmly, but that calmness exuded a cold, mechanical detachment that was unnerving.

“Erm...” Utgarda turned away awkwardly. It was obvious she had acted on little more than a whim, but Kristina wasn’t one to simply let it rest at that.

“Okay then, let me give you the proper motivation. Here.”

“Ahahahahahahahaha! I-It t-tickles! Ahahahahahaha! S-Stop! Please stop!”

With her arm held down by Felicia, Utgarda’s flank was wide open. Kristina mercilessly exploited that opening, and Utgarda began to squirm while letting out a tortured laugh. Evidently, she was extremely ticklish. However, with Felicia pinning her down, she could do nothing to escape the torrent of tickling.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so please stop!”

“Right then. Go ahead and speak.”

“...Y-You won’t be angry if I do?”

“I won’t be angry.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.”

Kristina smiled gently down at Utgarda. People who knew Kristina well could tell at a glance that there wasn’t a trace of sincerity behind that smile, but Utgarda hadn’t known Kristina long enough to see through the facade. It didn’t help that Utgarda was probably desperate to cling to even the faintest glimmer of hope either. She gave in immediately.

“I-I couldn’t handle being a slave anymore... S-So I was going to take him...err, I mean, His Majesty, hostage, and thought that maybe I could use him as a shield to escape. I mean, he was wide open and I’ve heard he goes easy on women, so I thought maybe if I failed, he wouldn’t kill me.”

Utgarda confessed everything. Yuuto let out a breath of admiration. He’d thought that her actions were extremely reckless and rash given how badly she had clung to life, but he was impressed by how well-thought-out her plan had been.

“For such stupid reasons...?!”

“Aaaaaaagh! Y-You said you wouldn’t be mad!”

“I did, yes, but I said nothing about Aunt Felicia.”

“Y-You fooled... Agghaaaaah! It hurts! It hurts! You’re going to break my arm! My arm won’t bend that way!”

“Let’s go ahead and break this naughty arm of yours, shall we?” Felicia said with a cold smile.

Yuuto felt that her expression at that moment resembled that of her brother, Hveðrungr, but Yuuto kept that observation to himself. It was a wise decision.

“Now, now, Aunt Felicia, I understand your anger, but I ask for your forgiveness. Can you let her go? I’ll handle it from here.”

“...Very well.”

Felicia and Kristina exchanged glances, and after a moment, Felicia appeared to have read something in Kristina’s gaze and hesitantly let go of Utgarda.

“Phew. That was awful.” Utgarda let out a sigh of relief and stood up, rubbing her sore arm.

“Now, let’s be off,” Kristina said as she tugged on the leash attached to Utgarda’s collar.

“Huh? To where?”

“To give you a lesson, of course. It’s a master’s duty to discipline her slave.”

“Huh?! B-But you said you wouldn’t be angry...”

“I’m not angry at all. But, see, I need to punish a disobedient slave as an example to the others. Surely you understand this? Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle in disciplining you.”

“Noooo! Please don’t discipline me anymore! Please, no more! I beg you!”

Utgarda trembled in terror. Yuuto was morbidly curious just what disciplining Utgarda would entail, but there were some things that were best left unknown.

“Hehehe. You know, you attacked Father, so ordinarily, the punishment would be death. Do you realize that?”

“Urrgh... But, but... I still don’t want that! Noooooo! Please! Somebody! Help me!”

Utgarda’s screams grew fainter as Kristina dragged her off by her leash. Yuuto put his hands together in prayer as she vanished out of sight. There was a part of him that pitied her ever so slightly.

“She deserves everything she’s getting!”

“Heh. Well, yeah, I guess rehabilitation is still a ways off.”

Felicia was right and Yuuto could only offer a dry laugh in response.

“I doubt that brat can understand the value and depth of your compassion, Big Brother. No doubt she’ll try something like this again. We should execute her and get it over with!” Felicia said as she puffed out her cheeks in frustration. It appeared that she was still rather angry.

“Maybe. But let’s let it play out for a while longer. I know I’m going easy on her, but, well...” Yuuto shrugged with a self-deprecating snort. People don’t change that easily—he was well aware of that. Still, he couldn’t help but see a part of himself in Utgarda, and he wanted to give her a chance to reform. He knew he was simply indulging in sentimentality, but...

“If that’s what you wish, Big Brother.” Felicia finally backed down, albeit with a reluctantly sour look.

While the pair were ordinarily polar opposites in terms of personality, Felicia and Sigrún were similar in that respect. Sigrún, too, had been enraged at the insults hurled at Yuuto by the Silk Clan.

“Let’s leave Utgarda to Kris and get back to the subject at hand.” With that, Yuuto returned his attention to the map in front of him. He was focused on the shoreline that made up the Silk Clan’s eastern border.

“Our real objective isn’t the absorption or conquest of the Silk Clan in particular, but rather to secure this area in general.”

Yuuto needed ports on the eastern coast of Yggdrasil to successfully execute his Europe Emigration Plan. Winning the war, capturing the enemy patriarch, and expanding his territories were all meaningless if he couldn’t secure that coast.

“Utgarda made it sound like they’ll accept our calls for surrender, but considering the threat of the Flame Clan, even the slightest delay can be costly.”

“Yes, true.” Felicia nodded with a tense expression. Given that she had served alongside Yuuto as his adjutant in their battles against the Flame Clan, she understood the threat posed by them.

“I want to advance as quickly as possible. It’ll put more pressure on the Silk Clan leadership. I know it’ll be more work for you, but can I leave it in your hands?”

“For your sake, Big Brother, I would happily do so.” Felicia pressed her hand to her chest and smiled. Her expression said it all. There was no trace of reluctance in her features, just happiness that she could be of use to Yuuto.

“Oh, but...” Felicia pressed her index finger to her lips and paused as if in thought.

“Mm, what?” Yuuto tensed as he wondered if there were obstacles he hadn’t foreseen. Every minute was precious. He was willing to make whatever concessions he needed to accomplish his task.

“You will reward me later, yes?” With that, Felicia gave Yuuto a suggestive gaze. Yuuto knew full well what she meant, which was why he decided to make that concession right then and there.

“We’ve gotten word from the spy we sent to investigate the Jötunheimr region. The Steel Clan Army has resumed its eastward advance.”

“I see.” Upon hearing the report from his Second, Ran, the man nodded while resting his head in his palm. He was a rather rare specimen in Yggdrasil—a man with black hair and black eyes. The countless scars that crisscrossed his body spoke of the battlefields he had seen throughout his life. Despite being over sixty years of age, his voice and his gaze were full of life, and a casual observer would be forgiven for thinking he was still in his mid-forties.

The man’s name was Oda Nobunaga. This was the very same revolutionary hero who had blazed a trail of conquest during Japan’s Warring States Period, and after arriving in Yggdrasil through a strange twist of fate, had risen to become the patriarch of the Flame Clan, a clan that under his leadership had grown into a mighty behemoth that was rivaled only by the Steel Clan in size and influence.

“So it would appear that he’ll be occupied over there for quite some time.”

“Yes. No doubt he believes we cannot act until our autumn harvest.”

“That’s a reasonable stance to take. Ordinarily, that would be the case.” With that comment, Nobunaga quirked his lips into a grin. After all, he had already figured out how to resolve his issues surrounding supplies. Of course, it wasn’t due to his own cunning, but rather thanks to his daughter Homura’s abilities. No matter how strange the idea, how supernatural the concept, or how unnerving the source, Nobunaga would take advantage of it if it was useful. That flexible mind lay at the very core of who Oda Nobunaga was.

“Then we move. We’ll start by taking down the lightly defended western regions of their territory.” Nobunaga slapped his folded fan against a point on the map. The runic script on the map described the location as Gimlé—the capital of the Steel Clan.

“Heh. Sure, that young lad’s known for being as quick as lightning, but will he make it back in time, I wonder...?”

A foundational pillar of military strategy was to make certain to exploit an opponent’s weaknesses. Ordinarily, it would take at least two months to bring an army from Jötunheimr back to Álfheimr. There was no reason for the Flame Clan to wait for Yuuto to do so. If Yuuto couldn’t make it back in time, then Nobunaga fully intended to take that opportunity to conquer Gimlé.

Nobunaga already considered the young man his equal; a powerful rival that he couldn’t afford to underestimate in the slightest. Nobunaga bared his canines in a predatory grin. “No holds barred this time. I’ll crush you beneath the weight of my armies, Yuuto!”

The city of Bilskírnir was once the thriving capital of the Lightning Clan. Now, however, the city was home to the Flame Clan’s Fifth Division. The head of this garrison was Kuuga, a man who occupied the fifth-highest ranked position within the Flame Clan.

“Father! We’ve received a letter from the Great Lord!”

“...I see.”

Facing the letter brought by his child, Kuuga furrowed his brow and felt his stomach twist into knots. The sight of the rolled-up correspondence before him reminded him of the blisteringly angry letter he had received after the recent Battle of Glaðsheimr.

Summarized, the letter read:

Why did you not attack the western territories of the Steel Clan, starting with their capital of Gimlé, even though their forces had been sent to reinforce Glaðsheimr?!

As commander of the Fifth Division, you should have the ability to judge the situation appropriately!

Just what in the blazes were you doing? Were you blind?!

The sheer rage that radiated from the page in front of him was enough to make Kuuga tremble in his boots. “I hope it’s not another dressing down...”

With a sigh, Kuuga took the letter and opened it. To him, Nobunaga was a figure of dread. He constantly demanded the highest standards from his generals, and if the general failed to produce the desired results, he was quick to demote the offending general. Even in the meritocratic society of Yggdrasil, Nobunaga prized ability and results above all else.

In the Flame Clan’s recent campaign against the Steel Clan, Kuuga had only been following his strict orders to protect the Vanaheimr region at all costs, but that had resulted in him being chastised for his inaction. However, he couldn’t move his forces as he was deathly afraid of disobeying Nobunaga’s strict orders. Despite that, Nobunaga demanded the flexibility to adapt to a situation as it unfolded. For Kuuga, who sought nothing more than stability and peace of mind, Nobunaga was a difficult father who kept him in a constant state of tension.

“What word comes from the Great Lord?” Kuuga’s child asked after his father had read through the letter.

Kuuga shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said, “We’ve been ordered to attack Gimlé in concert with Shiba.”

“I see. So the time is finally here!”

“Yes... So it seems,” Kuuga said with a nod, but he appeared less than enthusiastic about the demand. He had already been given advance notice of the invasion of Gimlé and his forces were ready. Despite this, though, Kuuga felt responsibility weighing heavily on his shoulders. Upon noticing his downcast demeanor, his child offered a dry laugh.

“Father, let’s consider this a fresh start. If anything, it’s a great chance to rebuild your reputation.”

“True. But the thought of fighting alongside him just...” Kuuga spat out bitterly.

“Oh, right...” his child responded, following up with a nod of understanding.

The second-ranked Flame Clan general and Assistant Second, Shiba, was Kuuga’s younger brother by blood. In terms of their position as sworn children of Nobunaga, Shiba, the younger brother by ten years, was ranked above Kuuga, and as a result, Kuuga had to treat him as the older sibling. It was well known within the Flame Clan that Kuuga found the arrangement uncomfortable and depressing.

“The mere thought of having to bow my head to him and follow his orders...! Ugh, it makes me sick to my stomach!” Kuuga’s voice was filled with bitterness as his face twisted into a scowl. He then began to chew on his thumbnail.

“I certainly understand how you feel, Father, but we don’t exactly have any real choice in the matter since it comes as an order from the Great Lord himself.”

“I know that! But I still don’t want to do it! Damn it all! I despise serving under him!”

“In that case... Why not just finish things before Uncle Shiba even gets here?” the sworn child suggested.

“Wait... What did you just say?!” Kuuga turned back to his child with an expression of shock, as though the idea hadn’t occurred to him. “D-Don’t be ridiculous. The Great Lord ordered us to attack alongside Shiba...”

“But you were chastised by him for following his orders to the letter and focusing solely on defense, right?”

“Well, that’s...”

“I’ve never met the Great Lord myself, but it’s said that so long as you produce results, he’ll overlook most things.”

Kuuga fell into a troubled silence as the words struck a chord with him. His brother Shiba, for example, would often address Nobunaga as though he was his equal, and there were plenty of times in which Shiba was late for war council meetings because he was so caught up in his training. In response, Nobunaga simply laughed off Shiba’s seeming disrespect and even gave him the position of Assistant Second. Following this, he ordered Kuuga, the one who had always acted respectfully around Nobunaga, to accept Shiba as his superior and sworn older brother. The reason for that was because Shiba was the most decorated of the Flame Clan’s generals.

“Most of the Steel Clan’s army and their best commanders are off in the east, right? Then by all accounts, we don’t need any assistance from Uncle Shiba’s forces. We can handle this ourselves.”

“...You’re right.” Kuuga rubbed his chin and fell into thought.

The Flame Clan’s Fifth Division stationed in Bilskírnir numbered about thirteen thousand, so he could spare perhaps ten thousand for an offensive. That would be enough to take down Gimlé if he played his cards right.

“I probably need to show some results soon, or I might be in trouble.” Kuuga’s expression twitched and he murmured to himself with a tense voice. Kuuga had yet to produce any worthwhile results on the battlefield. In the campaign against the Lightning Clan, he had been forced to retreat in the face of Steinþórr’s powerful assault. Then, during the Glaðsheimr campaign, he had been ordered to protect the home front, and by focusing entirely on defense, he had earned Nobunaga’s displeasure.

It bore repeating that Nobunaga put results above all else. He had no hesitation about getting rid of those who couldn’t produce them.

If Kuuga simply waited for Shiba’s arrival like in his orders, then Shiba, the so-called Berserker General, was likely to take all of the credit for any success. In that case, Kuuga’s position as army commander would be at risk. There was a strong chance that he’d be recalled due to his lack of accomplishments as a commander. In truth, there had been plenty of Flame Clan generals who had been relieved under those circumstances, having been judged incompetent. Kuuga swallowed to get rid of the lump that had formed in his throat.

“The Great Lord has always said that in war, reckless haste is all-important. This may be the moment of truth for me.”

Yes, Kuuga couldn’t help but think that this was the exact situation that called for that sort of judgment. After all, they needed to settle the matter before the Steel Clan Army’s main body arrived. If anything, the faster they took Gimlé, the better. Kuuga had made his decision.

“Very well! The Fifth Division will advance! We’ll finish this before Shiba even gets here!”

“...So what Father dreaded has come to pass,” Linnea murmured to herself, folding her hands together in front of her mouth.

While she was only seventeen years old and still had traces of girlish youth to her appearance, she had been groomed in the ways of governing by her birth father from a young age, and she was reputed as a master of the art of politics with few equals. Yuuto had valued her talents to the point where he had appointed her as the Second of the Steel Clan, and she was currently governing the Steel Clan territories from the capital of Gimlé in his stead.

“The Flame Clan was supposed to be short on food. Just how did they get around that shortage?” Linnea sighed as she gazed down at a single sheet of paper on her desk. The report sitting there noted that a Flame Clan Army force of around ten thousand had set off from Bilskírnir and began its march eastward.

The Flame Clan Army had suffered a massive loss of foodstuffs during the Glaðsheimr campaign thanks to the Múspell Unit, led by Sigrún, taking the Flame Clan capital of Blíkjanda-Böl in a blitzkrieg and making off with their recent harvest. They shouldn’t have been able to conduct any sort of large-scale military operations.

“Perhaps they’ve attacked out of desperation and in the hope of pillaging for supplies?” the older man sitting across from her on the other side of the desk answered. His name was Rasmus. He was a man who had once served as the Horn Clan’s Second, and now, after retiring from the frontlines due to his age and accumulated injuries, supported Linnea as her Leader of Subordinates and senior adviser.

“It would be nice if that were the case,” Linnea said with a dry laugh.

Throughout the ages, it had been common for a starving country to invade a neighbor to try to plunder enough food to survive. The Steel Clan had already assigned troops to the fortresses along the Flame Clan border and had reinforced those fortresses to ward off any raiding Flame Clan forces. Of course, given that the bulk of the Steel Clan Army was currently in Jötunheimr, the garrisons currently stationed in the forts were hardly ideal. Even so, they were prepared enough to withstand a Flame Clan attack for at least a month if they focused entirely upon defense. If Rasmus was correct, the enemy would run out of food during their assault, and their soldiers would either start dying of starvation or desert, and their army would quickly collapse under its own weight.

“But the enemy, like Father, is a man from the land beyond the heavens. Underestimating him is a very dangerous thing to do.”

“And by that, you mean to say that you believe they also have a significant stockpile of food themselves.”

“Yeah. I don’t think we lose anything with that assumption.” Linnea nodded with a tense expression.

Overestimating their enemy might lead to wasted effort and money, and sure, that would be a costly mistake to make in itself. After all, those resources could have been spent more efficiently elsewhere. However, the damage from underestimating the enemy could be catastrophic by comparison. They were facing an opponent who had repelled Suoh-Yuuto, the god of war. If it turned out that they ended up overestimating the enemy’s forces and wasted their effort and money as a result, it was a low price to pay to buy some peace of mind.

“Heh. You’ve certainly grown into the role,” Rasmus said with a pleased smile. His gaze was gentle, as though he were looking at a young relative.

“Hrmph. Flattery won’t get you anything.” Linnea snorted and turned her eyes back to her paperwork. One could, however, notice a faint blush to her cheeks.

Rasmus had known Linnea since she was still growing in her mother’s womb, and after the death of her father Hrungnir, he had been her caretaker and guardian. She appreciated, trusted, and respected him from the bottom of her heart. Having someone like him praise her growth was something that made Linnea’s heart almost burst with joy, but she was a bit too shy to honestly say that aloud.

“There is certainly no point in offering you flattery, Princess. It’s how I honestly feel. You’ve truly grown into a great leader.”

“If you really think that, then maybe you can stop calling me ‘Princess’?” Linnea said as she glared at Rasmus.

In the past, she had resented him for addressing her in that way. It made her feel as though he was treating her like a child. She knew he meant it lovingly, but that didn’t change the fact that she found it irritating.

“Hahaha. I’m afraid this is something I cannot change.”

“Why are you all so stubborn about this one thing?! You and Haugspori both!”

“Well, I’m afraid it’s because you are our princess, Princess.”

“What does that even mean...?” Linnea slumped her shoulders with a sigh. She couldn’t understand their fixation with calling her that.

“Heh, very well. Once your child is born, we’ll think of a new way of addressing you, Princess. After all, calling your daughter ‘Princess’ as well would be quite confusing.”

“Hold on! Does that mean if I have a son, you’ll still call me ‘Princess’?!”

Upon hearing Linnea’s comment, Rasmus burst into rambunctious laughter.

“At least deny it!”

“Well, that just means you should have many children,” Rasmus retorted.

“You make it sound so simple. I mean, sure, I’d like to have lots of children with Father, but...”

“Hahaha, it’s good to see that you have such a loving relationship. Then, for the sake of you having more children, we’ll have to do something about this Flame Clan invasion, won’t we?”

“Certainly.” Linnea nodded in agreement.

The future Rasmus wanted was also one that Linnea hoped for. But that future wouldn’t arrive until the current crisis was averted.

“However, with so many of our clan’s troops occupied in the east, things here could get rather difficult.”

“Well, Father left behind a contingency plan just in case. We’ll use that,” Linnea said tensely after swallowing the lump in her throat.

Rasmus widened his eyes. “Oh? From His Majesty? Well, that is like him. It comes as no surprise he would have foreseen this possibility. Well, based on your expression, Princess, it would seem it’s another wild scheme like when we dealt with Steinþórr.”

“Yeah, Father’s plans are always ridiculous, but this one is even more so than usual.” Linnea nodded with a dry laugh and began describing the contingency plan. The contents of the contingency plan were such that even with Linnea’s warning, Rasmus found himself in complete, shocked silence upon hearing it.