BXBX NOVEL Volume 4, Epilogue: The Light of Dawn
Volume 4, Epilogue: The Light of Dawn
Fort Gallia
To prepare for the upcoming battle, an unprecedented large number of soldiers were garrisoned in Fort Gallia. On the walls of the fort, two men watched the morning sun shining through the Seratonis mountain.
One of them was the leader of the Royal Army, Field Marshal Cornelius Wym Curling. The other was the number two man of the military, based on the achievements in the Battle of Carnac, General Paul von Barza.
「— You are really blatant about this, Field Marshal Sir. Separating the old from the young.」
「That might be so.」
Seeing Cornelius’ cheerful smile, Paul couldn’t help smiling wryly.
Olivia and Brad who would be attacking the Imperial Capital Orsted had a combined age of 50. In contrast, the average age of Paul and Cornelius who would be sieging Fort Kiel was 65. Paul alone was older then the two of them added together, which reminded him how old he was.
「But is your judgement correct, Field Marshal? They have to believe our siege on Fort Kiel isn’t a feint. Major General Olivia might be fine, but the careless Lieutenant General Brad— correction, General Brad, this might be too heavy a burden?」
「The only one who evaluates General Brad, known for seizing victories through surprising tactics, in such a way is you, Paul.」
「His carelessness is still a fact.」
「Fufu, no matter what happens, he will always be a student to you… And you still have deep faith in Major General Olivia as always.」
「Not as much faith as you who appointed her the Commander of the Eighth Army, but Major General Olivia had never disappointed me since her days in the Seventh Army.」
Paul puffed out his chest proudly, and Cornelius nodded.
「Indeed. If not for that girl, you and I would be dining in Hell right now.」
「I won’t go that far…」
Cornelius turned his eyes to the banner flying on a spire. It was a red banner with a lion and grail. Paul followed his gaze.
「There’s no one else around, so speak freely.」
「……」
「God didn’t abandon us— didn’t abandon the Farnesse Kingdom. Because He sent us a girl on par with a Goddess of War.」
「… For this campaign, what’s your take on our chances of success, Field Marshal Sir?」
After he spoke, Paul realized he shouldn’t have asked.
But he still asked, probably because of the uneasiness he felt deep down. Their armies had been depleted greatly, but the Crimson and Sun Knights still survived. And the Imperial Capital was guarded by the strongest elites of the Empire, the Azure Knights.
Sensing Paul’s unease, Cornelius said with confidence.
「We will win. If we don’t, there won’t be any future for the Kingdom. And this time, the Holy Nation of Mekia is on our side.」
「Speaking of the Holy Nation of Mekia, Field Marshal, do you trust her— Sofitia Hel Mekia? To be honest, I can’t read her at all…」
Sofitia had two demands.
Ten thousand gold coins.
And ceding a part of the Kingdom’s territory to the Holy Nation of Mekia.
Neither demands were meek, but considering the fate of the Farnesse Kingdom hung in the balance, it wasn’t too much either. Their demand for gold seemed to suggest they knew the limits of the Kingdom’s treasure vault, and Alphonse agreed to these terms in the end.
「I don’t trust her at all.」
Cornelius answered nonchalantly.
「Not one bit?」
「Yes, the gold and territory is just a distraction. They might look calm on the surface, but there’s a bright light deep in her eyes. Sofitia Hel Mekia is definitely scheming something, she has the eyes of a warrior who was about to do something big.」
「If you knew that, why didn’t you warn His Majesty, Field Marshal Sir?」
「Unfortunately, that woman has His Majesty under his thumb. He won’t listen to anything I say, the best I could do is to criticize this decision a little.」
Cornelius said with a bitter smile and Paul recalled Alphonse’s face as he fawned all over Sofitia.
Paul understood that not just Alphonse, most of the attendees that night were looking at Sofitia with eyes of admiration. At this era’s turning point, a person with natural charm appeared — in short, a person with the true qualities of a ruler had shown up. Sofitia was the most typical example.
「We are low on soldiers too, while the Holy Nation of Mekia was strong enough to repel the Stonia army with half their numbers. Even if Sofitia Hel Mekia is plotting something, we can only take the hand they are offering.」
The Holy Nation of Mekia would supposedly commit 30,000 men. If the reports were true, that would be a great help.
「That army is really tempting.」
「In the end, this is just a fragile alliance where our goals just happen to align. It will crumble the moment our mutual benefits disappears, so don’t let down your guard.」
「I will be careful— on a side note, I heard the Holy Nation of Mekia has officially invited Major General Olivia over as a guest. I think it’s unlikely, but are we really letting her go?」
Cornelius’s dark blue eyes wavered slightly.
「… Regrettably, before I could stop him, His Majesty already granted their request. According to the schedule, she would be setting off today.」
He knew it wasn’t Cornelius’ fault, but Paul couldn’t help sighing heavily. Cornelius said with an apologetic face.
「Sorry about that. I’m not sure what caused His Majesty’s change of heart, but recently, he had been making prompt and wise decisions.」
「Indeed, his delegation of authority over the military came as a surprise. If the First Army didn’t deploy, the Central War Theatre would be overrun.」
Cornelius cleared his throat.
「His Majesty said he accepted this request to strengthen the alliance between the two nations, and there isn’t much issues with that line of thinking.」
「But we will need to keep our guards up, especially towards that Sofitia Hel Mekia who invited Major General Olivia.」
The Holy Nation of Mekia was located far in the west of the continent. It was hard to imagine Olivia’s fame reaching that far, but they could just claim they heard the rumours during their stay in the Capital.
It was natural for Sofitia to be curious about Olivia.
(I can’t stop worrying about it though.)
Since they were allies, they probably wouldn’t harm Olivia. However, being a veteran of countless battles, Paul could smell something with his keen nose.
「And of course, I urged Major General Olivia to stay on her guard. It would be bad if she goes there with the attitude of playing around.」
「Oh, that’s a good move.」
「To be frank, there was no need for me to remind her.」
「Why is that?」
「Even without me reminding her, Major General Olivia already understood the risk. As expected of her. Lieutenant Colonel Claudia always said she would protect Major General Olivia, but she might be overdoing it. This would be a good check against the Holy Nation of Mekia— Look, Major General Olivia is setting off.」
Paul turned and saw Olivia riding on her dark horse and waving at them.
「Fufu, she actually sensed us from so far away.」
Paul said as he waved back with a smile, while Cornelius waved as he stroked his beard. Olivia then waved even harder.
「… We can’t let that girl die.」
「Of course. Since ancient times, the old should always go before the young.」
「Since ancient times, huh. Then the first ones to die would be us two.」
Cornelius laughed heartily.
「Well, you are the one who told me to speak freely… it has been a long time since I saw you show such a face, Field Marshal.」
Cornelius who was calmly concealing his fighting spirit reminded Paul of their younger days on the battlefield together.
Cornelius smiled.
「The same goes for you too, Paul. This is literally the final battle, maybe I can catch a glimpse of the prowess of a 『demon』 that had laid dormant for so long.」
The horn announcing the departure of Olivia sounded out.
With his back to the rising sun, the sneering Paul looked very much like a Demon God.