Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 24 - Chapter 6

Turning Point

Tuesday, November 30th

With the Type One Revised destroyed, the battle for Fort Charldrissa tapered to its natural conclusion. The Imperial Army soldiers began faltering. The battle wasn’t going their way, and the defeat of the Type One Revised was a big part of that. Alunaya had made quite an impression. The sight of him—complete with a knight in blue armor and a silver-haired maiden on his back—destroying the Type One Revised with overwhelming power was shocking. Alunaya’s decisive victory inspired the Imperial Army soldiers to rethink the situation they were in and reconsider the odds they had against the Reborn Forthorthian Army. As a result, many of them chose to retreat or surrender.

“How?! Why can’t we win?! What is that monster?! Who is that knight?!”

The one having the hardest time accepting the outcome was Vandarion. After learning the results of the battle from his subordinate, he was so infuriated that he smashed his glass of wine on the floor of his private room.

He had deployed a top secret weapon with the intent of forcing everyone’s hand in a bloody battle. But it was all for naught. The Type One Revised had been destroyed, and the casualties were lower than expected. Moreover, with the appearance of a real dragon, the knight in blue armor was a hot topic. His plan to smear Elfaria’s propaganda campaign was backfiring, and once again Vandarion found himself at the hands of defeat and failure.

“However, sir, there’s one thing that’s been made clear with this fight.”

In contrast to the enraged Vandarion, Granado remained calm. He had enough composure to calmly analyze the outcome thoroughly.

“What?!”

“That knight isn’t just a propaganda tactic; he really is strong. Assuming he was a mere puppet was the reason for our defeat. We lost because we were supposed to.”

They had underestimated their enemy, believing him to be a knight in name only. A showpiece of the Reborn Forthorthian Army, more or less, used to curry favor with the public. But that wasn’t the case. Koutarou was strong, and regardless of how little Vandarion wanted to believe it, it was his fault for not recognizing that. No matter the battle, underestimating your enemy was a stepping stone to defeat. Granado could appreciate that much.

“...That may be true,” Vandarion conceded. “I suppose it’s possible I didn’t truly think there was a knight capable of rivaling the legendary Blue Knight.”

Granado’s dispassionate, poignant analysis calmed Vandarion enough to talk, but the fires of anger and hatred that welled deep inside of him still raged strong. Those emotions were originally directed at Elfaria, and although he couldn’t say exactly when it had happened, they were now meant for the knight in blue armor.

“I must admit the same. But it was only reasonable for us to think that way, and it could be argued that such clinging to reason is a fault of man.”

“But now we’re certain. That knight’s blue armor isn’t just for show. He really is strong and clever. We’ll need to overhaul our strategy.”

All of their plans until now had been made under the assumption that the knight in blue armor was a fictional hero created through propaganda. But knowing what they did now, continuing to operate under that assumption would surely only end in further defeat. They needed to rethink how they were going to handle the situation and craft plans in light of their most recent intelligence.

“Of course, my lord. We’ve managed to narrow down our enemy this way.”

“Our enemy is neither Elfaria nor Theiamillis, but rather the knight in blue.”

“Considering his strength, it would now seem that the reports we’ve received of his accomplishments are indeed true. Without him, I imagine the Reborn Forthorthian Army would lose their momentum. In fact, if he had just been a propaganda tactic after all, that would have been less of a liability for them.”

With things how they were, Vandarion’s rage and hatred for the knight in blue seemed justified. He was the reason behind the Reborn Forthorthian Army’s strength. Essentially, he was the real enemy that Vandarion had been fighting against from the start.

“In that case, we should siege the areas where the knight in blue has no presence, then eliminate him using his weak point. What’s the point in attacking the enemy where they’re the strongest?”

“I shall craft a new strategy with that in mind.”

“I’ll leave it to you, Granado.”

The existence of one man had ruined their strategy before. Up until now, Vandarion had denied the possibility that a single person could have that kind of influence and power. But now that one man stood in his way. He was without a doubt an enemy more dangerous than Elfaria. Whether or not the knight in blue armor could be defeated would be key in determining the outcome of Vandarion’s conquest.

“The legends say that a hero will come when the nation faces true crisis... If someone like that has appeared now, that just proves I’m truly a man capable of conquering Forthorthe! Don’t think you can save this country over and over again, Blue Knight! You will crumble before my might!”

Vandarion was intent on defeating the knight in blue armor by any means necessary. He was fueled by the intense loathing and malice inside him, telling him to kill, tear apart, and crush his foe. Not even Vandarion himself understood exactly where those negative feelings had come from. Nor could he foresee the future ahead of him. It lay shrouded in darkness. There was only one thing he knew for sure, and that was that he couldn’t stand that knight in blue armor. A new world would be built upon the corpse of one of them. It was simply a question of whose.

Elexis, Maya, and the five leaders of Darkness Rainbow learned of the defeat under less stressful circumstances. They had escaped the base shortly after it was attacked and were en route to a neighboring town via a private plane. As they waited for it to take off, they got word the Type One Revised had been destroyed. The first report came from an intelligence agent onsite, but it wasn’t long before the media caught on too. While the details of the battle remained unknown, the part about Koutarou and a real dragon taking down the Type One Revised was clear.

“Hahahaha, he won! He actually won! Koutarou-kun actually did it!” Elexis practically shouted.

“My, my... What a surprise,” Maya mused.

“I told you he could do it, Maya!”

“You did indeed. You win this one, El. And while it was hard to judge from the footage, it didn’t look like there were too many casualties. It seems that Vandarion’s strategic aim missed the mark as well.”

“That’s our boy! I knew you could do it, Koutarou-kun!”

Hearing of Koutarou’s victory, Elexis was ecstatic. He looked as if he’d received a letter from a long-lost lover as he frantically gathered all the information he could on Fort Charldrissa from his terminal. He didn’t so much as glance at Maya next to him. While she found that irritating, she was also interested in what had gone down. She reluctantly drew closer to Elexis and peered at the information terminal.

“It seems things went as planned for Vandarion at first. Koutarou-kun and his allies were all fighting separately.”

“It looks like they were completely cornered. But... There. That was the turning point. The descending platoon of fighters changing sides.”

“After that, they took out the commanders and the enemy forces fell into disarray. That gave them some breathing room, and they used that to go after the Type One Revised. And, well, we can see how that worked out.”

On the terminal, video footage of Koutarou fighting the Type One Revised was playing. A knight in blue armor and a silver-haired maiden were riding a red dragon over twenty meters long. With support from their allies, they charged in. Koutarou and Harumi’s sword of light negated the Type One Revised’s magic attack, and the red dragon breathed flames powerful enough to destroy the Type One Revised’s barrier. All that it took after that was a right-handed thrust to break through the shell of the mobile weapon and crush the generator inside.

“My oh my, this is bad...”

Now with a rough grasp of the details, Elexis let out a strained laugh as he shrugged. It was in such stark contrast to his elation just moments ago that Maya curiously leaned forward to look at his face from the side.

“What’s bad? It’s just as you predicted, right?”

“That’s true, but... Koutarou-kun overdid it.”

“Overdid it?”

“Yes. We’re not the only ones onto him now. Now even more citizens will become convinced that their beloved legend has returned.”

The matter was already a hot topic on the network that tied the Forthorthian solar system together. And after watching how this battle had played out, there were indeed even more people than ever before who truly believed that Koutarou carried the blood of the Blue Knight, or at the very least, carried on his duty. A gigantic dragon, a silver-haired maiden, and a knight in blue armor wielding a glowing silver sword... It was like it had been taken from the very pages of the legend every Forthorthian citizen knew. Their profound belief in him now seemed justified.

“So that’s what you mean... Well, like you said, the boy has been too honest about who he really is. But you know, El, this is your fault.”

“I know. And that’s a sore spot. In the end, I overdid it myself. I was too obsessed with revealing Koutarou-kun’s identity.”

The whole purpose of Elexis helping out in this battle was attempting to find out more about Koutarou. He hadn’t thought anything more of it. But as it turned out, he’d been a little too helpful to Vandarion. It was thanks to Elexis’s support that Koutarou was backed into a corner and had to use the ace up his sleeve. Not only did it exceed Elexis’s expectations, it was enough of a showing to greatly sway public opinion. Elexis couldn’t bring himself to celebrate that part.

“Even so, something good has still come out of my overzealousness.”

“You don’t have to make excuses for my sake.”

“No, no. It’s just as you said. I’m honestly happy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The battle’s turning point was without a doubt the fighter platoon changing sides. That part had nothing to do with Koutarou-kun. It was Princess Theiamillis’s doing. Confirming that much was important too.”

Elexis knew about Theia saving an enemy pilot while descending to Alaia, and he believed that was their reason for changing sides. It seemed Theia had the power to move others—the power of a true ruler—and that couldn’t be easily discerned just by looking at her. Being able to confirm it for himself pleased Elexis.

“The power of royalty, huh?”

“It’s hard to quantify, but the Mastir family has the power to upset the outcome of a battle. Ignoring that and just focusing on a legend coming to life would come back to bite us.”

“I wonder about Vandarion and Granado though. Do you think they’ve realized that?”

“Who knows? I can’t intuit that much. At the very least, we just need to make sure we don’t end up getting caught up in the blast.”

“...So are we doing it?”

“Yes. If we just stick with Vandarion, we’ll be deaf to many different threats and opportunities. The time for us to move on our own has finally come.”

Although Koutarou’s origin remained a mystery, it was clear that he had the power of the Blue Knight. The Mastir family was also a force to be reckoned with. After this battle, it seemed that continuing to side with Vandarion would likely not yield the results Elexis had anticipated at first. In fact, the potential outcome of all this was currently drifting further and further away from what he wanted. And so Elexis, Maya, and Darkness Rainbow decided to make their own move in order to change the world for the better and allow the people of Folsaria to return. However, no one yet knew the effect that decision would have on the grand scheme of things.

After returning from yet another press conference, Theia was visibly exhausted. She entered the residential quarters Koutarou and the others were using, headed straight for the sofa, and promptly collapsed on it.

“I can’t take it... I don’t want any more press conferences...” she whined.

“Looks like they really let you have it this time,” Koutarou said smugly.

“Don’t act like you had nothing to do with it! This is all your fault!”

“No way, no how.”

“You’re heartless! A traitor! A blasphemer! A spineless coward!”

The press conference had tried Theia’s patience and stamina. After the battle for Fort Charldrissa hit the news, the citizens’ primary interest was, of course, Koutarou. The entire nation was hungry for more information, which meant the journalists were all hounding Theia for answers about the knight in blue. But there wasn’t much she could say to satisfy them. She stuck to her guns on that, yet it didn’t stop the constant bombardment of questions. That was how the whole press conferences had gone.

“Can’t you give your exhausted lord a kind word or even a pat on the head?!”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. But that’s all I have to do, right?”

“I won’t accept a half-hearted gesture. Put all of your loyalty and love into it.”

“You’re pretty picky for being so needy, you know? Jeez...”

Although Theia was in a poor mood, the other Forthorthians in the room—Theia’s mother and her childhood friend—were in rather high spirits.

“Ah, this tea is delicious. You’ve polished your skills, Ruth,” said Elfaria.

“Thank you very much. I’m happy that I didn’t end up ruining the tea leaves you gave me, Your Majesty,” replied Ruth.

Both girls giggled with glee.

“Oh, that’s right. The base commander presented me with a bountiful gift of edibles, so please deliver some to the Pardomshihas.”

“You are most gracious, Your Majesty. Father and Mother will be overjoyed.”

“Think nothing of it, Ruth. Teeheehee!”

“Heeheehee!”

In fact, Elfaria and Ruth were in such good moods that they almost pitied Theia. They continued to chatter about nothing of great importance, occasionally bursting into giggling as if they’d suddenly remembered a joke between them. While it was clear that the two of them were having fun, the exact reason was a complete mystery to most everyone else in the room.

“Um, Clan-san, why do those two look so happy?” a confused Harumi asked quietly.

Clan, who was sitting next to Harumi as she prepared a tea tray for Theia, set down her own tea and shrugged.

“They’re happy that Veltlion’s identity is being revealed to the public.”

“Oh my...”

“They can’t make an official announcement just yet, but the citizens are starting to identify Veltlion as the Blue Knight. To those two, this situation is ideal.”

The citizens of Forthorthe recognizing Koutarou as the Blue Knight on their own was certainly convenient for Elfaria and Ruth. For Elfaria, Koutarou would be unable to cut ties with the Mastir family once public opinion surged. For Ruth, the Satomi Knights would inevitably be acknowledged as the Blue Knight’s band of knights.

“Teeheehee!”

“Heeheehee!”

Both of them were giddy at the thought of achieving such results without even having to officially acknowledge Koutarou as the Blue Knight.

“I see,” Harumi said quietly and nodded. “I think I can somewhat understand how they feel.”

“It’s over my head.”

“You’re the type that wants to monopolize what’s important to you, aren’t you, Clan-san?”

“Harumi!”

“Heehee... I’m sorry.”

Now that she understood the situation, Harumi smiled happily as she picked up the tray with tea and snacks. She knew how all three of them—Elfaria, Ruth, and Clan—felt, but the difference between their approaches made her giggle too. And happy though she was...

“...Oh my...”

Harumi suddenly felt weak. She quickly lost her balance as the strength left her legs. Though she tried to grab on to something, she didn’t have any strength in her arms either.

The tray in her hands clattered to the floor, but Harumi only heard it. Her vision rapidly grew dark, and she was soon unable to see anything at all. While she was still able to hear, the sounds around her seemed to grow distant with each passing second. There was only a faint thud as she hit the floor, but she barely even felt the impact.

“Harumi! What’s wrong, Harumi?!”

“Sakuraba-senpai!”

“Ruth, get a first-aid kit! Hurry!”

The voices of Clan, Koutarou, and Theia each reached Harumi’s ears, yet she no longer understood what they were saying. They gradually became less and less distinct, and Harumi could no longer tell whose voice was whose as her consciousness sank deep into darkness.