Chapter 66: Red Sunset

When I went up to the 4th floor, the color of the setting sun dyed the area.

Her Highness goes out to the corridor and crosses the rampart. She never looked back and just kept on walking –then she stopped on the rampart located at the east of the fortress. It was a place where you could see the town where people live in.

Flock of white birds fly in the sky from the opposite direction then get past the fortress. Beyond that is Zirconia’s territory.

“…Up until today, I thought that if I just endured, that if I don’t fight for the throne, I would be able to solve my worries one day.”

A rectangular window for shooting a bow. I wonder how many arrows were shot from here to shoot the knights led by General Alejandro the other day.

With the sky cut into square at her back, Her Highness turned around and looked at me.

―It’s as if she’s not a person. It’s a beauty that God created without making any mistakes. The deep sorrow in her eyes had the magical power that froze my body in place. I can’t move even one fingertip. I almost forget how to breathe normally.

“My real mother… Amneria, the first queen, wasn’t strong when she was young. The first prince… my brother, also tend to stay in bed from an early age. Then before I knew it, His Majesty said that he wanted a “strong successor” from the Royals around him.”

One of the most important things that a King needs to do is to make a heir. In the Kingdom of Lezenia, the Royals with the lineage of the founding King has always inherited the throne. If the first prince, whose body is said to be weak, becomes a king, his cohesive power will easily be weakened. It is inevitable that a stronger heir will be required to solidify the Royal’s power.Translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“…But then, all three who were born after turned to be princesses. Although we princesses also have the right to succeed the throne, in this kingdom only the son, the prince, has succeeded the throne, and since the first Prince holds the highest succession order, he was supposed to be the next king.”

“The situation has changed… the Second Queen became His Majesty’s concubine.”

Her Highness nods back when I continued what she was saying.

But at the same time I was thinking of another possibility. Is it possible that Astina-denka has made meritorious services as a military personnel because she has eyed the throne’s succession? –In fact, she contributes to the kingdom so much that it would not be strange if that would be the case.

“His Majesty did not want to exacerbate the position of the First Queen. Even after accepting the Second Queen, His Majesty showed compassion for Her Royal Highness Amneria. In order to protect my mother, my brother and sisters, I volunteered to enter the Knight’s Academy and received an education as an officer. And that is also because I wanted to relieve His Majesty’s heart who is concerned about us.”

Then, Astina-denka became popular at the Knight’s Academy with her unique swordsmanship.Translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

―There is one thing I’m concerned about. It is with the fact that Her Highness was interrupted when she’s having her “Spirit Selection Ceremony” when she was a child.

Astina-denka did not become a “magician”, but she became a “magic warrior” without realizing it and gained unreasonable strength –However, it was in such unstable state as she constantly consumes a large amount of magic power.

“I became a knight and I was even unconsciously utilizing my magical power to exert my power as a magical warrior… To protect the kingdom, I continued to fight at the front line in the Eastern border. At first, I was a platoon leader who holds and direct five knights… then I went to countless battlefields until I was appointed as the Attack Captain in half a year.”

Her Highness puts her hands on the sword on her waist. Rather than gripping the handle, she wraps her hands around the handle, closed her eyes for a moment without saying anything. When I realized that she’s praying, I too closed my eyes. She is praying for the many enemy soldiers she has killed with her sword.

“…It was the second spring when I went to the Eastern border. When the General who was commanding the army died from the enemy’s arrow, I took over the title of “General” from that time. Raquel has been my subordinate for a long time, and I’ve walked with her all the way from Knight’s Academy.”

Her Highness looks at her hands. She continued to speak as she watched her hands then she gazed at the sunset.

“I thought I don’t have such thing as human emotions. No matter how strong a Knight is, if you kill someone, you’ll have a nightmare and wear your heart out… It was not the case for me. I was able to kill anyone as much as I needed, and I just thought that I could scare the people around me.”

“…That’s not the case for Raquel-san.”

“Yes… she’s a nobler and stronger woman than I am. She said that she admires me. That she wants to be a knight like me.”

For Raquel-san, Her Highness’ very existence is far from being someone to be proud of. Not just her, everyone in this fortress thinks so. Even I, who just arrived here, can say that without any hesitation. We revered Astina-denka.

“I’ve been killing a lot of enemy soldiers, so it would be presumptuous of me to say this, Grass… for the knights in this fortress you are… No. From the moment I saw you treating the ranch owner who got hit by the goblin’s arrow, I had thought that if it is possible, I wanted a power like yours.”

“…I… For Your Highness to tell me that…”

It has never been needed. Only spirits that are useful in war are valued. Even in the Academy… I vowed that I would never lose my heart like my fellow “flop” students. It’s not a “flop”, it should be worth something. Even if it is not recognized now, someday―

It’s something that I wanted so much. To be needed by someone…

Though not for combat, I was finally seen for healing people. I initially thought that Her Highness was not looking at me but she remembered me from our very first encounter. If I say something now, it feels like a pathetic voice will come out. While looking at me, Her Highness laughed faintly-the wind blew and shook her hair for a very short time.

“I have to question His Majesty’s will. Vaiseck did not mind the deaths caused by Zirconia’s attack and was even enthusiastic with his provocation to overthrow me. He has not buried dead people with his own hand or prayed for them. And those who have died for this Kingdom was not even rewarded.”

I thought that the one who was most angry was Presha-san and Raquel-san… But I was wrong. Her Highness, as a General who went on the front line and defends with the Knights could not forgive Vaiseck’s insults.

“The Capital is not willing to help in defending against Zirconia’s attacks. If they want to kill the Knights of this order, I won’t just accept it.”

“Going against the Capital… you’re saying like that, right?”

“No… I’m not yet openly expressing that resolve. After this, we will release the prisoners but we won’t just free them. Grass… With your strength, it may be possible to get a clue as to who is trying to do this.”

Make the prisoners carry a plant that would be a medium of a spirit. I was thinking about that as well –I’m now able to materialize Arlaune in remote areas, so if it’s done well, I can collect information via the prisoners of war.

“Moreover, Zirconia doesn’t think that we’re going to attack. We’ll take their base across the river and use it as a material for negotiation with the prisoners of war. To make them think that it’s not a good idea to oppose us, we must shake them on a grand scale.”

In order to do that, the water magician who made Zirconia’s raid possible –Noin, we should defeat her in some way.

“I already have a spy to follow Vaiseck. He is not trying to get straight out of the Western territory… If he has been ordered to observe the situation in the Western territories, he should not have reported to me. In my case, I have the authority to punish even those military personnel who are not under my command once they did unauthorized intelligence activity within my territory.”

If that regulation was disregarded, even if Vaiseck pleads, he must explain why he acted against the rules. Perhaps he will remain silent. But at that time, I just have to perform the magical “interrogation”, as I’ve done so far.

“…Everything depends on your power. I was once told that I was good at strategy, but it was nothing but logical reasoning, such as feeling the signs and directions that the enemy would attack.”Translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“No… that power will always help the Knights. Now that Your Highness has been connected to the sacred tree, your power to read things ahead was even superior from before, right?”

“Yes… You’re right. The feeling that the sacred tree whispers to me, I certainly felt those. There will come a time where I will ask for an “oracle”, right?”

The things that we definitely need to know… That is the whereabouts of the key figures in the enemy forces, such as General Alejandro and Noin. We’ll have Zirconia reach a conclusion that they should no longer fight us. It’s not easy, but we should not conclude that it’s impossible from the start.

Before the enemy sends a large army again, we should change the war situation. When should we make a move for that? –The sooner we go, the better, seeing me considering such thing, Her Highness said,

“We’ll infiltrate the enemy’s base tonight. We will do it at midnight when their vigilance is at its lowest.”

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