Chapter 131

* * *

Just a moment, let’s rewind the clock—

The capital of the Aishias Army, located to the east of central region: Falaharte Castle.

“……”

Yuri gazed out the window of the Audience Chamber with an empty look in her eyes.

How much time had passed?

Footsteps approached from somewhere nearby.

“Yuri.”

“……”

The owner of that voice— Ingram Anima.

She was the woman Yuri had wanted to save, even if it meant taking on all the blame herself.

“Anima. You’re here early. How’s Ern’s condition?”

“Looks like he’s completely recovered. Lucky break, huh? That kid never had anything going for him but toughness.”

Anima’s words brought a smile to Yuri’s face as she responded.

“Really, that’s such a relief… I was so worried.”

“……”

Anima looked at her like that and— unable to return the smile, let out a short sigh.

“Yuri.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you understand the situation we’re in right now?”

“……Yeah.”

Just yesterday, the ninth armed commander resigned.

Including Jinoru, a total of nine commanders had left the Aishias Army.

For the small nation of Aishias, where every single person was invaluable, this departure of nine key figures was undoubtedly a major blow, no matter how much their power had grown.

Sending their own general as a hostage to retrieve prisoners— an unprecedented situation no ruler could have foreseen. Epinal barely managed to calm the boiling situation, but some things simply can’t be hidden under your hand.

“Epinal really worked hard in my place. Honestly, maybe I wasn’t cut out to be monarch after all— all I’ve got is the lineage of House Aishias running through my veins….”

“That’s not why I came here to hear you cry, Yuri.”

Watching Yuri sheepishly smile, Anima felt her heart ache.

No matter what… This woman did all this solely for her sake. Now wasn’t the time to say “it wasn’t asked for” or think about backing down. Since the day of the Oath, Anima had decided that Yuri would be the only sun she’d ever serve.

“So, what are you planning to do from here on out?”

“Hmm. I don’t know. Luckily, Serpina Army hasn’t made any moves yet… but the movements in the south don’t seem good either. Looks like things will get chaotic again soon. Anyway, we should focus on strengthening our internal foundations first, right? We’ve gained three new territories after all.”

Falaharte Castle, Raclaine Castle, Jestrom Castle, and Zeta Castle.

By seizing the domains of Charan Army and Alepel Army, plus one castle from Brance Army, the Aishias Army had significantly expanded its territory.

“I have a plan, Yuri.”

“A plan?”

Yuri looked directly into Anima’s eyes and spoke.

“What do you think we need most right now?”

“Uh… Well, first we need to weather the storm, right?”

“Exactly. The storm needs to pass… We need unity within our ranks more than ever.”

“Unity… I see.”

The instability caused by the unprecedented betrayal of selling off their own commanders needed to be calmed. To do that, something big enough to sweep everyone away was necessary.

“Right. And for that… We need to start a war.”

At the word ‘war,’ Yuri’s expression showed a slight surprise.

“War? So… You mean we should launch a preemptive strike?”

“Yes.”

“But… We can only attack Serpina Army right now, right? Are you suggesting we retake Hisfil Castle?”

Yuri frowned as she spoke.

“That’s too risky. With three territories near the border, launching another invasion would be difficult… Don’t you agree, Anima?”

“You’re right. It’s definitely tough right now, especially Hisfil Castle. My poor decision-making has made it almost impossible.”

“No, I… That is, it’s not that I’m blaming you—”

“Don’t worry about it, Yuri. I won’t get upset over something trivial like that. …Would you come over here?”

Anima spread out a map on a nearby desk.

“Look. Clearly, the only army we can invade right now is Serpina Army to the west. We could try heading south toward the Southern Continent, but getting ambushed along the way would be disastrous.”

“…Yeah.”

“Of course, we will attack Serpina Army.”

Yuri silently stared at Anima.

Anima easily understood that this was Yuri’s silent gesture signaling her to continue.

“But… Attacking Serpina Army doesn’t necessarily mean attacking the fortress near the border. There’s more than one route to reach them.”

“Huh? What do you mean? I’m not following…”

“Don’t you get it? We don’t just have three castles.”

Anima said this while pointing to a castle located at the farthest eastern edge of the continent.

Zeta Castle.

“But… Isn’t Zeta Castle surrounded entirely by our own territory?”

“No, Yuri. Try shifting your perspective. You’ll figure it out.”

Hearing those words, Yuri stared at the map for a long time.

Given that Anima had mentioned it, there must be something significant… Thinking this, Yuri suddenly realized something.

“Wait… Are you talking about the river?”

“Exactly.”

Near Zeta Castle flowed a large river.

If you followed the river upstream against its flow, you’d eventually reach Amire Castle, located in the corner of the Northern Continent.

“We’ll invade Amire Castle. They probably don’t have many troops stationed there since it’s not near the border. If we bring as many forces as possible, we’ll surely win. We’ll plant the red flag of Aishias on the Northern Continent! They’ll never see it coming.”

Certainly.

It would be extremely difficult to predict such an outrageous plan ahead of time since Aishias wouldn’t gain much from it.

“But… Even if we gain new territories, maintaining them will be impossible, right? Wouldn’t that make it meaningless?”

“I told you already, Yuri. What we need isn’t just a couple more territories. We need something to quell this situation. We need a massive wave to counter the incoming tide.”

Yuri easily understood the underlying meaning in Anima’s words.

Cover up the incident involving sacrificing Commander Swoen with an unexpected move of planting our flag on the Northern Continent.

That was Anima’s true intention.

We might lose the castle quickly after gaining it, but it would certainly help settle this chaotic situation… Probably.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. Since it’s ultimately my fault, I feel responsible for fixing it. I racked my brain endlessly. Sure, it’s reckless and we won’t gain much from it… But precisely because of that, it’ll be completely unpredictable. This is our chance to catch them off guard, Yuri. Trust me one more time.”

Anima couldn’t avoid the burden weighing on Yuri’s heart either.

After all, this whole mess happened because of Anima Ingram.

Thus, she thought hard about how to help Yuri who had lost so much due to her. Visible achievements— achieving them would surely help stabilize the turbulent atmosphere within the country— her eyes sparkled brightly with conviction.

Yuri looked into Anima’s sparkling eyes.

Even when she lost an arm and still insisted without showing any pain, saying “we can do it” and offering to become Yuri’s wings… Her eyes always shone like this.

But…

Because of that, Yuri slowly shook her head.

“No, Anima. We can’t sacrifice the present or future to cover up the past.”

“WHY?! The enemy will never notice. This way, we can secure new territories, even if temporarily. Except for Serpina Army, this is the golden opportunity for us, Aishias Army, to plant our flag on the Northern Continent!”

Yuri agreed with that statement.

She agreed, but… There was something more important.

“Yuri-sama. Once spilled water cannot be gathered back. Whether the decision was right or wrong… No one can truly know that.”

“Accept the results of your decisions and actions. Only by accepting the results can you move forward. This is the final advice I can offer as someone who once served as a strategist.”

With her eyes closed, Yuri recalled the last words of the towering figure who had stood by her side during these chaotic times.

Though she eventually had to let him go… Those final words continued to support a corner of her heart.

“Anima. We can’t sacrifice the present or future to cover up the past.”

“…”

“This has already happened. True, creating a great achievement might calm the situation for now. But that would just be throwing our future away to resolve this situation. Sorry, but I can’t do it.”

In fact…

Anima had faintly realized.

The reason she could be confident the enemy wouldn’t detect this plan was because it wouldn’t benefit Aishias much.

Would any strategist expect their allies to execute a plan where they’d lose more than they’d gain?

Temporarily planting Aishias’ flag in the north…

Beyond that, everything would be lost.

All the soldiers sent to capture this castle, the funds and supplies consumed in the process— all would vanish just for a fleeting impact.

Still, she had no choice but to push forward.

For Yuri, who had taken on everything due to her and lost so much.

She wanted Yuri to shake off this burden and rise again as soon as possible.

“But… Even so, if we keep things like this, won’t you… Won’t you be too stressed? Because of me. Because you tried to save me—”

“Anima.”

Yuri patted the dejected Anima’s shoulder with her head bowed.

“It’s fine. It was a decision I made. …We’re family, aren’t we?”

“…”

Anima swallowed back her rising tears.

And once again, she swore.

Even if the day came when everyone turned their backs on her because of a wrong decision…

She would remain until the end, sharing the burden of all the filth with her.

And—

Anima had no way of knowing that Yuri recalling Jinoru’s critical advice at this moment was an incredible stroke of luck for her.

* * *

“You’ve worked hard, Lady Iren.”

“Hmm. Thank you for your efforts. Go rest now.”

After dismissing the soldiers who had accompanied her on patrol, Iren changed her clothes and headed toward her quarters.

Her mission was to strengthen the public order in the capital city of Einhardt.

Nothing special— patrolling the interior and exterior territories of Einhardt Castle.

Though it already belonged to one of the better-kept areas, this was thanks to the continuous patrols conducted in shifts by a certain number of law enforcement officers.

Even the capital city could deteriorate rapidly in terms of safety if they took even a single day off. After all, these were chaotic times.

Moreover, since the patrol team from Amire Castle recently uncovered a major case, orders from higher-ups demanded even stricter patrols, doubling her workload.

Of course, Iren found fulfillment in having work to do.

When she thought about times when no one sought her out, she was the type who could find strength simply knowing that someone needed her.

“…”

Walking home like this— it reminded her of the days spent in Falaharte Castle.

Back then, after finishing her duties and returning home, Swen always greeted her.

What made her journey home so enjoyable was undoubtedly the presence of the white-haired man who always waited for her with a smile, someone she wanted to protect and who protected her in return.

“…I miss you.”

She missed Swen.

Not that she could just show up where he was staying.

Making conspicuous moves shortly after being assigned to her post wouldn’t be wise.

Especially since it could involve Swen unnecessarily, she absolutely couldn’t act recklessly.

“If only there was some natural way to meet Swen…”

Then she could naturally request a meeting, but nothing suitable came to mind.

Iren briefly imagined herself saying “Swen, I missed you so I came,”

and immediately felt her face heat up as she lowered her head.

There was no way she could casually say such embarrassing things, even if she were dying.

How did Swen manage to express such awkward feelings so easily?

“If only I could convey my feelings as effortlessly as Swen does…”

While lightly berating herself for this,

“…Hmm?”

She noticed a lively commotion nearby and naturally turned her gaze in that direction.

There was a shop selling desserts.

Apparently, they were hosting some kind of event.

Lifting her head, Iren checked the banner hanging above.

[Only 3 days until Saint Valentine’s Day! Get ready early!]

“Saint Valentine’s Day, huh?”

Curious about this unfamiliar commemorative day, a woman wearing an apron approached with a friendly smile and spoke.

“Hello, Knight! Would you like to try our store’s new chocolate?”