Chapter Twenty "Declaration of War"
A crimson expanse spread before the eyes. It was a barren wasteland, devoid of almost all greenery. Those who waxed poetic called this land of death a field of blood. It was the Katze Plains ― a place where the undead and other monsters wandered, feared as a dangerous place by all. The most fearsome thing was the thin mist that shrouded its monsters no matter the time of the day. This fog produced weak undead reactions. By itself, the mist did nothing to living creatures. It did not drain life energy, nor did it inflict damage. However, because the mist registered as an undead creature to spells, it negated attempts to detect undead beings, and as a result many adventurers had been ambushed by undead while inside it.
However, that mist was absent now. Visibility was excellent, and one could see a long way. It was as though the land was welcoming the combatants of the upcoming war onto itself as future undead. The undead had dispersed with the fog, and none of them could be seen. A silent, lifeless stretch of land spread before them.
Collapsed towers, built hundreds of years ago, jutted out from the earth like scattered tombstones. Of course, none of them was intact. The towers were originally six floors high, but everything above the third floor had collapsed, and the debris was everywhere. Less than half of the thick walls were left. The cause was not so much weathering by time and the wind as battles between monsters. Scenes like these existed right next to normal grass-covered plains, sharply demarcated by an invisible line. This was why the Katze Plains was called a cursed land.
The sun shone on the land which had not seen its light for nearly a year. As though to look down on this unhallowed land, a vast structure loomed high over it from the other side of the boundary ― the world of the living. It was built with huge logs that were nowhere to be found on the surrounding plains, with sturdy walls that seemed to deny passage to everything in its vicinity. It was ringed by a shallow ditch that was nevertheless carefully excavated and filled with sharpened stakes. This was to ward against unintelligent undead.
On the other side of the ditch flew countless flags. Of these, the most numerous were the Empire's flags ― bearing the insignia of the Baharuth Empire. That was only to be expected. After all, this building, this fortress, was the Imperial Army's Katze Plain garrison base. The Empire had mobilized 60'000 knights for this operation. The garrison could house all of them, which itself spoke volumes about the base's size. And this formidable fortress, as mighty as a fortress, was built on a piece of easily defended terrain. It was built on top of a hill. This hill was not native to the Katze Plains but built up entirely through magical landscaping. Even the Baharuth Empire, which had adopted a national strategy of increasing the number of their magic casters, could not complete work like this in a short time. This structure had been built over a period of several years.
Originally, this place was intended to be the starting point of invasions targeting E-Rantel. That was to say, this massive fortress had been built with the intention of withstanding an extended siege by the Kingdom's hundreds of thousands of troops.
The Kingdom had no answer to the creation of this fortress, simply because they had no spare manpower or resources to attack the garrison. Although they would unite when the Empire invaded their own country, when it came to launching their own invasion, they had to discuss things with fellow members of their faction. In addition, deciding who would foot the bill for declaring war despite none of their land being at stake was also an issue. In the end, none of the nobles would bother unless they were in the line of fire.
Three Hippogriffs flew in the skies above that massive fortress. They began with a wide aerial orbit, followed by a slow descent. Any knight would know that this was the ceremonial descent of the Royal Air Guard ― troops under the Emperor's direct command ― which meant that an emissary of the Empire was about to land.
On the surface, there were around 10 mounted knights in a circular formation, each raising the Imperial flag. This was a return salute from the ground ― the ceremony for welcoming an Imperial emissary. The griffins landed in the center of the circle, and the accuracy of the landing was a test of the riders' skills, but all three passed with flying colors, which showed the excellence of their ability.
After landing, the Imperial emissaries mounted on the Hippogriffs revealed themselves. Although these knights were given the honor of carrying out ceremonial duties, they were so surprised that the flags they were holding wavered.
The reason for their brief panic was the man who was dressed in a manner completely unlike the other two people accompanying him. Once he removed his helmet and revealed his handsome features, everyone immediately knew who he was. The wind lightly tossed his blond hair, and his eyes were as blue as the sea. His mouth, which suggested an iron will, was tightly shut. He was the picture of the perfect knight. There was no knight who did not know who this man was. More importantly, there was nobody who did not know about the full plate armor he wore. It was made of the rare metal adamantite, and further enchanted with powerful magic. There were only a few suits of armor like this in the Empire. The wearer of this armor was one of the highest-ranking knights in the Empire. He was one of the Empire's Four Knights, "Violent Gale" Nimble Ark Dale Anock.
"I seek your supreme commander, General Kabein of the Second Legion. Do you know where he is?" Nimble addressed one of the knights in a strident voice that matched the image he projected.
"Sir! General Kabein is in a meeting now to plan the offensive against the Kingdom in a few days' time! I will have you escorted to the General's quarters, Anock-sama!"
"What is the current military readiness of the base?" Nilmble asked as he followed the guards that were escorting him to their commanding officer.
"I am not sure of the exact military readiness that is something that only the high ranked officer could tell you. From my understanding, we are ready to mount an attack or respond with a counter-attack at any given time."
Nimble nodded happily at the news he was hearing. It was expecting of the Baharuth Empire's military was always on high alert as they were not like many other nations that relied greatly on conscripts as a major part of their military. The Empire's military was a purely volunteer force filled with highly trained and disciplined men and women.
The knights brought Nimble to a luxurious tent. It was there the owner of the tent returned in the company of numerous guards. He was an old man whose hair was pure white, and he had a dignified air about him. Although he was armored like all the other knights, he gave off a completely different impression from them. One could say that he looked like a noble, rather than a soldier.
"Welcome, Nimble," said the old man with a broad smile on his face.
The man was Natel Inyem Dale Kabein. He was a noble who had been overshadowed by others, but the previous Emperor had recognized him for his talents and placed him in command of the Second Legion. Although he was not possessed of martial valor as a person, he was famed for his ability to command, with rumors saying that he had never lost a battle. With him in command, the Second Legion enjoyed very high morale. In fact, the knights accompanying Kabein were unable to hide their respect for him in every move they made.
"I do not know how to begin thanking the general, who came all this way to see me even though he is the supreme commander of this expedition." Nimble responded in the approved ceremonial fashion.
"No, no, Nimble. Dispense with the formalities. You're here on his Imperial Majesty's orders, right? You're not under my command. You need only speak to me as an equal."
Nimble politely smiled when it was obvious that was not the case. He might be part of the Empire's Four Knights, its strongest fighters, would often be tasked with carrying out the Emperor's will. In terms of authority, they would be considered equal to a general. However, in terms of age, experience and prestige, none of them were equal to Kabein. It was very difficult for him to treat Kabein as merely an equal unless an outsider were present.
"It itches at me that one of the Four Knights, the Empire's mightiest warriors, should be so stiff and formal around an old man like myself. How about just dispensing with the honorifics?" Kabein continued.
"Understood, General Kabein."
General Kabein nodded, as though to indicate his approval.
"Although, you picked a good time to come. The mist has dispersed, as though welcoming you."
"General Kabein, I will get straight to the point as you are a very busy man with a lot of responsibilities and very little time to carry out your burdensome duties," said Nimble. "The primary objective of this expedition has shifted. I doubt you failed to notice it."
The general nodded his head. It was not his first time leading an expedition force into the Re-estize Kingdom. What he was doing was something of an annual military operation that the Baharuth Empire undertook against the Re-estize Kingdom. A military operation for decades that had aimed at diminishing the economic output of the Kingdom that relied heavily on the conscription of workers and farmers to make the bulk of its military. The past military operation thus had aimed to chip away at the Kingdom's army with as few losses to the Empire military by using as few soldiers and military assets as possible. The number of soldiers and military assets that had been given to him far surpassed what was necessary for him to carry out his usual objective. A shift that the general had sensed as a change of objectives.
"This his Majesty want me to conquer parts or the entirety of the Kingdom?" Kabein inquired.
"His Majesty wants a small territory of the Kingdom to be conquered in the name of the Empire." Nimble replied.
Kabein's eyes widened after hearing the objective of his military expedition. He didn't know what he was exactly supposed to conquer but the Emperor most want the small proportion of territory belonging to the Kingdom incredibly badly if he was willingly to devote six legions (each legion of 10,000 soldiers strong with their support staff). Six legions were not a significant part of the Empire's military of 25 legions but it was still largest concentration of military forces against the Kingdom in more than a century.
The general folded his arms and closed his eyes as he processed the information. That was only for a brief period.
"I understand. If this is his Imperial Majesty's desire, then I shall carry it out. What I request is disclosure to why so many lives and military resources are being devoted to capturing this objective. I must know what to tell my soldiers to justify their lives are being used for."
"His Majesty has given me permission for full disclosure," said Nimble as he nodded to Kabein's request. "I warn you that this information is a state secret, warranting life imprisonment or execution if leaked." Nimble carefully looked into the eyes of Kabein to let him know how important the information was. "Do you know about the innovations of unknown origins that have been appearing on the market lately?"
The general frowned for a moment as he didn't know what Nimble was referring to. That was until he remembered ice cold beer not too long ago. Something that wouldn't have been viable because how remote the fortress was to gain access to ice or waste the precious time and effort of a mage for something so trivial. The ice-cold beer had only been made possible by an expensive luxury item of unknown design and origin that he had recently brought. Kabein recalled the item that had allowed him to drink the ice-cold beer being called a refrigerator. An item that was very similar to many objects of unknown design and origin that had been flooding the market at ridiculous prices.
"Yes, I do," Kabein nodded his head. "You are talking about the unknowns. The marvelous and exotic objects of unknown design and origin that have been the latest fuss. No one knows how they are made or where they come from. Only that it is ridiculously expensive. Are you suggesting that his Majesty knows who and where these objects are being produced?"
Nimble fell silent. Unknowns that was the commonly used term to refer to objects of unknown design and origin that had been recently flooding the market. They ranged from incredible useful objects such as the "iceboxes" and "refrigerator" to luxurious items like the toilet. Objects that were in incredible high demand and high price tag that people were racing to figure out how they worked or built in attempt to reverse engineer the objects for their own purposes and production. Some even placing huge bounties worth entire mansions for even the faintest hint to the origin of the producer of the Unknown.
"His Majesty has been able to learn of the Unknown's inventor(s) and the maker(s) thanks to the aid of Fluder-sama, and the Empire's intelligence network." Nimble affirmed. "The mission objective of this military expedition is here as followed: you are to annihilate the Kingdom's army to the point that they will not be able to mount resistance in interfering with our seizure of the inventor(s) and maker(s) of the Unknowns."
Kabein glanced to Nimble. The general was not looking at him, but the objective pinned to his breast pocket. The object (a highly decorated badge) Nimble carried was symbol of an imperial decree that invested the bearer was empowered to act with the full authority of the Emperor. It was a symbol that he acted directly as a representative of Emperor. Normally, Nimble would be equals to Kabein, where only under special circumstances that interfered with the Emperor's direct orders that Nimble outranked Kabein. With the royal badge, Nimble outranked Kabein if he carried it.
"Tell me general, everything about your army right now. Do you think that what you already have is sufficient for the task at hand? Request for more troops or resources? I will do everything in my power to get what you require for this military expedition as it is the future of the Baharuth Empire at stake here…"
- O -
The meeting was convened within the Valencia Palace of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Gazef Stronoff had been standing motionless beside King Ranpossa III, who was seated on his throne. He surveyed the serried ranks of nobles before him, and his eyes widened slightly as he picked out the forms of the Six Great Nobles among them.
The six of them gathered together was a rare occurrence. The heads of these six families controlled almost as much land as the King, and between them their military power surpassed that of the King himself. Because of this, they frequently found reasons to excuse themselves from the King's summons. This was especially true for the leader of the anti-royalty faction ― the Noble faction ― Marquis Bowlorobe, who did not even bother to hide his disdain for the King. It was bad enough that for a while, people thought the Kingdom might fall apart from within.
Next, Gazef's eyes went to the King's three children. The most eye-catching of them all was the King's third daughter, the "Golden Princess", Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself. After that was his second son, the Second Prince, Zanack Valurean Igana Ryle Vaiself. Last was the eldest son, the First Prince Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself. He had a strong body and a neatly trimmed haircut.
Any meeting attended by Marquis Bowlorobe of the Noble Faction was sure to be an intense one. Gazef averted his eyes from the heavy atmosphere, which seemed to loom overhead like gathering storm clouds and looked at the rest of the nobles.
Of the three men present, who belonged to the Royal faction, the first to catch Gazef's eye was Marquis Brumerush, the most luxuriously dressed person in the court.
Marquis Brumerush with handsome features was approaching his forties. His domain contained gold and mithril mines, whose bounty of precious metals made him the wealthiest man in the Kingdom. However, dark whispers circulated that he was extremely greedy, to the point where he would even betray his own family for a gold coin. There were also rumors that he had betrayed the Kingdom and was selling information to the Empire. However, because of a lack of concrete evidence, nothing could be done about him. After all, beheading Marquis Brumerush ―a prominent supporter of the Royal faction― without any proof would cause all the nobles who followed him to switch to the anti-Royal faction. If he was aware of this fact and took advantage of it to keep selling off information, then he would truly be the most despicable person present.
Next, Gazef's eyes turned to the youngest and most handsome of the Great Nobles, Marquis Pespeya. He was married to the King's eldest daughter and became the head of his household at the same time as his marriage. Although little was known about his abilities and personality, his father possessed an excellent personality and was a competent man, so Gazef felt that the young Pespeya might take after his sire.
In contrast, the eldest among the Six Nobles was Margrave Urovarna. His hair was white, and so little of it remained that there might as well have not been any at all. Though his body and limbs looked like gnarled wood, he still retained the gravitas expected of an elder. Urovarna was the most persuasive of the Great Nobles.
Arrayed against them were the three members of the Noble Faction.
First was the core of the Noble Faction, Marquis Bowlorobe, who controlled the most territory among the Great Nobles. His face was heavily scarred, a lord who looked like a warrior. As he was already in his fifties, his once-stout body which had been perfected through unrelenting training was little more than a memory of the past, but his voice and predator's gaze made people think that there must have been more than a little bit of his warrior-self left in him. Although he ―as a warrior― had lost much of his strength to age, as a commander, he was a better commander than even Gazef, which made him just as indispensable to the Kingdom as the Royal Guard Captain.
Beside Bowlorobe was Count Ritton. He was a man whose appearance called to mind the image of a fox, and one of the lower-ranked members of the Six. As such, he resorted to ways and means to raise his status. However, his personality of not caring about others' suffering if it meant he could expand his power was not well received by other nobles. Allying himself to Marquis Bowlorobe must have been a strategic move to escape his enemies.
The final man of the Noble Faction had slicked-back blonde hair and narrow blue eyes. His face was pale and unhealthy-looking, with little sign that it had seen much sunlight. He was tall and skinny. Combined with his sallow complexion, he gave off the impression of a snake. He was not yet forty but looked older because of his unhealthy pallor. With mixed emotions churning in his heart, Gazef looked away from him ― from Marquis Raeven.
The impending succession of the next monarch had only intensified the power struggles.
Marquis Bowlorobe and Count Ritton of the Noble Faction, as well as Margrave Urovarna of the Royal Faction, all backed First Prince Barbro, while most of the unaffiliated nobles supported Marquis Pespeya, who had married the First Princess. Raeven was on the side of Second Prince Zanack, while Marquis Brumerush did not seem to be concerned with matters of succession.
For all these reasons, the King sat on his throne without making a fuss. If he pointed a finger at anyone, there was a danger of civil war breaking out.
Until recently, Gazef had no opinion on who should become the next King. But now, his heart was leaning toward Zanack. Either that, or Princess Renner as a dark horse, but the Kingdom, in all its long history, had never been ruled by a queen, so that was probably out of the question.
"Now then, let us begin." The King's tone seemed slightly different than usual. Those with sensitive ears might have guessed the reason for today's gathering and showed it with curious suspicion. "Read out the proclamation delivered by the Imperial emissary."
In accordance with the King's orders, the vassals flanking him on both sides began reading the contents of the parchment. It had a lot of flowery and official language that was normally associated with official statements. Simply, the contents translated into:
The Baharuth Empire demands that the Re-Estize Kingdom peacefully hand over the area known as Carne Village, which is rightfully owned and claimed by the Empire. If the Kingdom does not comply with this demand, the Empire will use military force to retake what is rightfully its own territory. This will be a just war, fought to end unjust occupation.
After the contents were read out, the room exploded into a discussion.
"For those of who don't know," said the King. "Carne Village is a small agricultural village in the hotly contested zone which is in the borders of our kingdom and the Empire."
"This makes absolutely no sense?! Why would the Empire commit six legions for just one village? The largest military force sent by the Empire in more than a century!"
"The Empire couldn't figure out a proper war justification this time, so they got desperate and made this feeble claim!" Marquis Bowlorobe's boisterous cry rang throughout the hall. His formidable presence ― a testament to his former glory as a warrior ― seemed to give the other nobles courage, and they returned his shout with their own approval.
"Although it's been delayed, isn't this just the same old Imperial invasion they announce every year? They always find some stupid reason to declare war, so this time round, they must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel to throw up this farming village." Count Ritton's words were followed by the derisive laughter of the massed nobles. "However…" The count turned his foxlike eyes ―filled with disdain― toward Gazef. "I believe we've heard of this village before, haven't we, oh Royal Guard Captain Stronoff?"
"...Indeed, that is where I fought members of the Sunlight Scripture at the outskirts of E-Rantel, several months ago." Gazef replied.
"The report was unbelievable. You claim that a single man fought the Sunlight Scripture. A man that you claim was also a member of the Black Scripture. Why would members of the Slane Theocracy fight amongst each other? You also claimed that all the villagers and your soldiers that had been killed were resurrected back to life. Such a claim is impossible. Not even the most skilled of priests could use resurrections on dozens of people in rapid succession. What you reported is a story to justify how were forced to run with your tail between your legs!" Count Ritton laughed mockingly.
The scornful laughter of the nobles could be heard all around, yet nobody stopped it, because Gazef, who was born a commoner, as hated by many members of the Noble faction.
If it had been a member of the Royal faction, the King would have intervened, but since Count Ritton belonged to the opposition, the King could only furrow his brow.
Just as the court was about to fall into squabbling, a voice of aid rang out from Ritton's side.
"The justification is irrelevant as it has been for decades. What we need to decide on is how to respond to the false Emperor, isn't that so, your Majesty?" Marquis Bowlorobe spoke up.
"It is as Marquis Bowlorobe says. We need to decide what the Kingdom's answer will be."
"I beg your permission to speak," Marquis Pespeya said and he continued after receiving a nod from the King. "Accepting the Emperor's terms will be very difficult. Our only recourse is war."
The mention of war sparked activity amongst the serried ranks of the nobility.
"Oh! Now is the time to crush them once and for all, and then take the fight to the Empire's doorstep."
"You're absolutely right, I'm tired of the constant Imperial invasions."
"It's time to let the fools in the Empire know how fearsome we can be!"
"Exactly, just as the Marquis says."
These words, sandwiched by scattered laughter and repeated throughout the throng of nobles, grated unbearably on Gazef's ears. The last few years, they had regularly met the Empire on the field of battle at Katze Plains. For the most part, they had simply drawn up battle lines and confronted each other or skirmished briefly with minor losses to the Kingdom. This year would probably be more of the same, and the nobles took on an air of laxity as they imagined the same old events playing out again. However, Gazef felt things would end differently this time.
"Don't think that this battle will end in a small skirmish like it always has!" Gazef shouted.
The nobles looked like they had been splashed with a basin of cold water and turned reproachful looks on him.
"I see. This is what our Royal Guard Captain believes. Can you give us a reason for that?" The King asked.
"Yes, your Majesty, that is…" Gazef suddenly had the image of a certain person set alarm bells ringing through his heart. "…That is to say, it is because of Shirou Emiya."
The room became silent. Despite their disdain or apathy for commoners, none of the nobles could ignore someone such as Shirou Emiya. He and his team, Chaldea, had become something of a reputable individual that had solved many of the Kingdom's issues regarding monsters and even left some of the nobles indebt to him for fixing problems that they would like kept secret.
"What does Shirou Emiya have to do with this discussion?" A noble asked and many other nobles too nodded their heads as they looked for further information.
"That is because of Shirou Emiya's hometown is said to be Carne Village," said the King.
"Your Majesty, are you saying that Carne Village has large importance because it is the hometown of Shirou Emiya?"
"Yes," Gazef nodded. "I believe that since Shirou has emotional attachment to his hometown, it can be used as a leverage against him. It is open secret that he knows the secrets of many in this room. He has not revealed any of those secrets so far as he takes oaths of secrecy seriously but that might change if his hometown is used as a hostage."
Many of the nobles shivered. Some of them had skeletons in the closest that could potentially damage them or their families beyond repair or take incredible long time to recover from. A secret that they would do just about anything to protect and even turn traitor against their country if pressed. The thought that the Shirou Emiya might be forced to spill their secrets to the Empire made the image of possible civil war splitting the Kingdom didn't seem to farfetched as that was how far they were willingly to protect some of their secrets hidden.
"My King," said Gazef as he addressed his king. "I suggest that we hand over Carne Village."
After a moment's silence, angry shouts flew.
"You, craven coward! How shameless can you get, you chicken-heart?!"
Similar sentiments were soon shouted from the nobles of the Royal faction.
"After his Majesty showed you such kindness, you turn around and tell him to surrender his demesne to outsiders? When did you start serving the false Emperor?! Not to mention, you haven't even answered his Majesty's question!"
In the face of such deserved castigation, Gazef could not answer. Had he been in their position, he would probably have done the same thing.
"Enough!" The king shouted as he reached a helping hand out to Gazef in his hour of need.
"But, your Majesty!"
"I am deeply grateful that my subjects would be so moved on my behalf. It is because of that reason that I ask you to remember that my Royal Guard Captain would never betray me. He has fearlessly thrust himself into danger countless times for me. Someone like that would never do anything which would harm me."
The nobles who had shouted at Gazef bowed to the King.
"Royal Guard Captain, whom I trust like my right hand. Even if you are the one who puts forth that proposal, I cannot agree to it. Giving up one's domain without a fight is not befitting of a ruler. Such an act cannot be allowed for the sake of those who live upon it. It would ruin their peaceful lives," the King continued. "There must be a reason why you presented your idea. Tell me what led to you make such a suggestion."
"I am suggesting that we relocate those individuals that Shirou has emotional ties to. This way we can hand over Carne Village without bloodshed while still be able to protect many of the Kingdom's secrets." Gazef replied.
The King scratched his chin and thought about Gazef's reasonable explanation. If those that Shirou had emotional ties were moved than there was no way that the Empire could use them as leverage to make the Kingdom nobles' secrets. He looked around and many other nobles in the room seemed to agree. That was until someone spoke up.
"What if he has sentimental ties to not just a few people but everyone on the village. Maybe he might be attached to the village itself? What will we do if any of these scenarios are the case?" Princess Renner refuted.
"I…" Gazef spoke up but left speechless as he could not think up of any argument to the Princess' point.
"We have been given a month to respond," said the King. "I suggest we deploy our troops and ready them for potential war while looking for possible resolution before the war breaks out. These are my list of ideas…"
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