Chapter 265

(265)

I was the Bandit Duke of the Empire, Crown Prince Valenccius.

I couldn’t dissuade Helena from wanting to repel the invading army, nor could I ignore Eric’s plea to at least allow a retreat.

Still, I did what I could to hold my head high before Jeilliris and the God of Radiance.

These invaders were likely still heading east.

I had just received a report that the support units dispatched to secure the supply route had disobeyed orders and begun to defend.

Brnoa would likely want to retreat if he didn’t want to starve to death.

…Then it should be okay for me to relax a little.

I sank deep into the ornate chair I had left in my tent.

“Lord Valen, I have prepared tea.”

“Tea?”

Rudi brought me a mulled wine called vin chaud, which included various spices like cinnamon, apples, and grapes.

The rich aroma made my mouth water.

“Yes, Your Highness. It’s a liquid that relaxes the mind and invigorates the body, so it must surely be tea.”

“Right. That makes sense.”

Rudi smiled sweetly yet playfully as he handed me a large tin cup, and I immediately took a sip.

The warm heat spread through my chest.

After brewing the vin chaud to my liking, I added a stronger port wine to enhance both the sweetness and the potency.

It was a consideration that made life all the more enjoyable.

Rudi reported brightly.

“Lady Trentia is currently holding a hunting tournament with the machine knights, and Princess Sererassie is discussing the operation of the comprehensive workshop within Nibelungen with Duke Marcus.”

“Where is Count Rudi, and what is he doing?”

“I am currently reporting to Your Highness.”

“Tell him to sit beside me and report.”

Rudi nodded and brought a chair to sit beside me.

“And Princess Helena wishes to see you.”

“Oh, right. She’s probably really angry by now. Bring me another glass of vin chaud. …With just a drop of the potion for stability.”

I said the last part quietly enough that it wouldn’t be heard outside.

As soon as Rudi stepped outside the tent, Helena entered as if she had been waiting.

I couldn’t tell if it was a sign of courtesy not to scold her lord in front of the maid, or if it meant she didn’t care about her subordinates and was prepared to unleash her anger freely.

“Valenciaunos!”

She was tying her blonde hair down, as if she had just taken off her helmet.

Due to the cloth cap worn inside the helmet, static electricity seemed to have caused stray hairs to stick out, making her look somewhat comical.

Yet her red eyes blazed like coal.

“Why on earth didn’t you permit the attack that dawn? Did I need to ask for your permission in the first place? I was also ordered by Her Majesty Jeilliris to repel the traitors invading the Empire!”

I chuckled softly and tried to soothe her.

Her anger was entirely understandable, and, in fact, she was right.

“Permission? What do you mean by that? I asked you, didn’t I? I thought they would turn back, so we probably didn’t need to attack.”

“It takes just one day from their encampment to our imperial village. You can’t know when they might attack our citizens.”

“If we deploy Nibelungen, it won’t even take an hour to reach their encampment. Sister, you have left the main force there, monitoring them with the scouting party. If they try something bizarre, I’ll deal with it myself then.”

Regardless of the gratitude I felt for being reborn from a useless state, it was better if less blood was shed.

Even if they were benefactors, I couldn’t afford to allow them to fight like mad cocks.

* * *

I chose my words carefully.

“I’m sorry, sister. It would have been the first battle for the soldiers you trained, and they must have prepared themselves with great determination, but it was all in vain.”

Telling them to prepare for an attack and then asking them to turn back would be shameful.

There was no position where appearance mattered more than that of a commander.

Helena’s pride would have taken quite a hit.

Of course, it would be foolish to directly mention that.

“Still, it’s fortunate that no one got hurt.”

“Even knowing all that…!”

Realizing I was concerned for her pride softened Helena’s tone.

I stated firmly.

“I’ll stab the military budget from Signain in the side for you. And I’ll have Her Majesty hold a victory ceremony as well.”

Helena seemed still to have regrets, grinding her teeth.

“You could have dealt a critical blow to Lanzo. If you had sent those intruders to sweep through the eastern part of Lanzo, and I had wiped out the supply-deprived soldiers, Lanzo would never have been able to lift its head again!”

I attempted to cut off that sense of regret.

“And in the midst of that chaos, the Infiltrator forces would have grown exponentially. You know they are getting stronger by the day. The situation in the capital is also a result of their backhand work. Killing one by one would be endless. We need to strive for stability in the world.”

“Tsk!”

Helena clicked her tongue.

It was a sign of understanding.

“Like you know, post-war stability is more important than war. Winning a battle doesn’t mean the war is over. The Republic would generate a massive militia in the aftermath.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s not just about changing the lords who pay taxes in the territories of the Empire.”

“It’s better not to touch things if you can’t fully control them. Even the old remains rise as undead. Unless you intend to kill everyone in the village and burn their bones, it’s better to refrain from invasion. It has simply become that kind of era.”

Yes, it had simply become that kind of era.

Helena tilted her head back, combed her hair down with her fingers, and tied it back tightly.

Some stray hairs had escaped onto her white nape where the sun didn’t reach.

She seized the glass of vin chaud I was drinking and downed it.

“Ah. This is nice. Your maid cooks well.”

“Of course. Naturally.”

“What’s your secret? I want to have our cooks do the same.”

“You wouldn’t be able to replicate it even if I told you.”

“Don’t say that.”

“If you offer three times the pay in the same industry, promote them to count, and buy a mansion in the capital.”

Helena’s eyes widened.

“With that money, I could train a hundred elite soldiers. Yeah, I can’t replicate it. Ugh. I guess I’ll have to live on porridge made with biscuits and salted meat from now on.”

Rudi entered through the opposite door of the tent.

When she saw Helena drinking my vin chaud, she briefly wore a serious expression that didn’t suit her, then came back a moment later.

“Lord Valen, here it is.”

“Thanks. I just took a sip and it got snatched away.”

Looking at the cup, the scratch had vanished near the handle compared to the original, indicating it was completely replaced. I wouldn’t bother to inquire how many drops of the potion for stability had gone into the first cup.

* * *

Helena emptied her glass and asked.

“So, are those guys retreating now? I’m really curious.”

I sipped the vin chaud and smiled bitterly.

Though it was very sweet, the aftertaste was bitter.

“As much as it’s hope, it’s unavoidable. If they advance like this, the eastern part of the Republic will be shattered, and then the supply lines will vanish alongside. A hundred thousand troops will just become a burden.”

“The Republic, which cherishes equality for all, won’t resort to pillaging either. This is why justification and identity are so terrifying.”

“Those currently stopping the advance are the rear units and supply units. They won’t hold out for long. They’ve likely placed powerful artifacts or prayer users at the front.”

“If the holy water being transported by the supply units falls, it’s game over. They’ll retreat before then.”

Helena laughed as if relieved.

While she wasn’t silver-haired or golden-eyed, it was the most Solletarass-like laugh among the remaining Solletarass royalty.

“Right. Valenciaunos. Just as you said, we won without swinging a sword. It’s surprising we could humiliate them like this. Not bad at all.”

I swallowed the words that had just come to my mind along with the wine.

“Yeah. It’s not bad.”

There would inevitably be ‘collateral’ damage.

Many villages would burn, and many refugees would freeze to death this winter.

There would be ranchers forced to leave their livestock behind, farmers witnessing their barley fields burn, and husbands looking for carts to carry their pregnant wives.

I had seen such scenes to the point of being sickened over the past 40 years.

There were reasons why I held magnificent victory ceremonies for the soldiers, barely distributed tobacco that didn’t fall into the category of drugs, brought along military priests spending lavishly, and held banquets at every opportunity to get them drunk.

They were not superhumans like us.

“……”

Yet, I couldn’t incinerate all one hundred thousand troops of the Lanzo Republic, nor could I shoot them down or stab them, leading to an all-out war between the two nations.

I couldn’t bear to see about sixty thousand of them rise as undead, roaming to seek the living.

I couldn’t listen to our imperial citizens claiming to be ‘liberated from the lord’s oppression,’ or to the knights who had safeguarded their territories being captured and burned alive by the soldiers of Lanzo, or to the knight who barely escaped arriving in the capital in rags, pleading for his family’s revenge.

I didn’t want to see the maddened Jeilliris invoking meteors, turning an entire nation into a lake overnight.

I worked on maintaining a smile.

“Right. Not bad at all.”

Just then, my tent door flung open.

“Urgent news!”

“Count?”

It was a machine knight who had been under Marcus and was now my soldier.

He had presumably been out hunting with Lady Trentia, as he wore leather armor closer to casual clothing than the usual heavy mechanical armor.

“Troops from the Lanzo Republic are moving to the front. The units at the very front, commanded by General Brnoa, are also going into battle formation.”

I couldn’t catch the following words.

The scent of vin chaud rose in my throat.

It tasted maddeningly bitter.

* * *

I briefly thought that Eric might be betraying me.

Was he just using me to buy time while passing through the border areas, planning to surge into the interior immediately after?

Of course, if that was his plan, he would be met with slaps; it was more likely that my astonishment was creating the illusions to rationalize this situation.

“Lord Valenciaunos!”

Eric rushed into my tent as if it were the most natural thing.

“Who’s this rebel calling out names?”

Helena grabbed his collar with her armored left hand and drew her dagger with her right.

“Thanks to you, I had to watch those traitorous scum almost completely cross the border! Since you’ve betrayed me, you’ll taste the blade!”

She looked ready to pierce Eric’s throat at any moment.

Gold hair cascaded down, mingling with Eric’s blonde locks.

I had to team up with Marcus, who came rushing in, to barely restrain Helena.

Princess Sererassie was thrown across to the opposite sofa at Helena’s gesture.

I offered a chair to the released Eric as I chuckled.

“Well, things haven’t been flowing the way we thought.”

For a moment, I regretted doubting him.

He looked pale, as if he would faint at any moment.

“I-I can’t believe this. The anti-war faction in the council won’t stay quiet. If the pro-war faction gets crushed in the next election, the military won’t be safe…”

Lanzo was a republic, and its council held significantly more power than our council in the capital.

The people who had suffered due to the incursions would be enraged by the military’s failure to assist them.

Then they would end up voting for the anti-war faction instead of the pro-war faction connected with the military.

If the council became filled with the anti-war faction, military supplies would cut in half in the next election.

Thus, Brnoa had no choice but to retreat to maintain his position.

While Eric and I wore blank expressions, Helena tied her hair back, donned a thick gambeson cap made from layers of tough cloth, and pulled on an elegantly jeweled imperial helm.

“Valenciaunos.”

A smile akin to a fighting chicken seemed visible even beyond her helmet.

“It seems I’m going to need to be useful now. This time, I would appreciate it if you didn’t make any requests.”

I could only nod in response.

“Sure.”

Eric wore a face like the sky was falling.