Chapter 37：Sea on Fire

To say that Rodriguez De Espanosa was having a bad day would be an understatement.

To say that he was having a bad week would still be an understatement.

Even saying that he was having a bad month or even two months was still a major understatement.

And the cause of all this was a particular Drussian noble family.

"Those damn Dunnwals!"

Again and again, the Drussian noble family, the 'House of Dunnwal' has caused Rodriguez agony on a daily basis.

When he glanced at the pillow on his bed, it wasn't hard to spot brown hairs that should have instead been attached to Rodriguez's head.

Of course the sight of this only enraged Rodriguez even more.

"I'm going to lose all my hair before I even reach old age!"

After calming down for a brief moment, Rodriguez slowly walked over to his bed before he once again screamed.

"It's all their fault!

As he shouted this, he flung his fist at his bed with all of his might.

And then he flung another fist.

And another.

And another.

With each and every punch Rodriguez screamed with all of his strength.

"Their fault! Their fault! Their fault!"

Eventually Rodriguez's fists began to slow down and his voice started to quieten down.

"Their fault... Their fault... Their... fault..."

Soon his rage was soon replaced with deep sorrow. Instead of unleashing his anger he instead sorrowfully lamented on his fate.

"Why me?.. I just don't understand... Everything was going so smoothly... Just when did everything go so wrong?"

"My lord! We have something urgent to present to you!"

Rodriguez wasn't even given time to lament in his sorrow before he was interrupted by one of his own knights.

"What is it?"

The knight walked into Rodriguez's room nervously as he answered.

"Lord Julio Del Pieto has sent this package back to us."

The knight revealed a fairly sized box as he said this.

"Apparently while he was overseeing the wall, the Drussians have made a request to him that he ensures that we receive this. It looks like they might be appeasing us before they sue for peace."

[Sue for peace? How utterly ridiculous.] There was no way that Rodriguez can back down now.

Especially now that he convinced the Panish royalty to send over another expeditionary force of 15,000 men after guaranteeing them a complete victory thanks to the aid of the Ostrians.

If they were to fail now, the Panish Empire will either into fall to a state of stagnation or instead attempt invading the Fench Empire; risking not only a costly campaign but also excommunication by the Pope. Neither of these outcomes were desirable by the Panish Empire.

They will either turn everything around or die trying.

As such, peace with the Drussians was not an option.

With a scornful on his face, Rodriguez gave an order to the knight.

"Well... Let's at least see what's inside."

With a nod the knight moved to open the box before revealing the contents inside it.

To Rodriguez's shock the contents of the box was a human head.

A head that used to be attached to the body of the princess of Ostria.

Her head seemed to be resting on a 'pillow' of her own fiery-red hair while her lifeless eyes gazed at nothing. Both around and inside her gaping mouth , one could see the dried blood that she no doubt choked on.

"N-no... no... That's... that's impossible."

Rodriguez stuttered to himself as he staggered backwards.

"T-that's... that's a fake... T-this can't... no... this shouldn't... shouldn't be possible."

A sort of concerned look grew on the knight's face as he started questioning Rodriguez's well being.

"My lord? You do not seem to be well. Do you require-"

"Not possible. Can't be possible. Shouldn't be possible."

However, none of the knight's words registered into Rodriguez's mind.

As Rodriguez continued speaking to himself, another thought flashed in his mind.

"That... That's right... the Panish reinforcements should be arriving next morning."

Once Rodriguez said this, he turned to face the knight.

"Arm every man, woman and child who are able to wield... no even just hold a weapon."

"What? But why?"

Mixed looks of both confusion and concern grew on the knight's face as he questioned Rodriguez. On the other hand, Rodriguez explained himself to the knight.

"When the fleet arrives, the docks will not be sufficient to disembark the entire fleet quickly in one go. With those extra numbers we can guarantee control of the coasts to quickly disembark our reinforcements."

Although Rodriguez explained himself, the knight still seemed doubtful of Rodriguez's plans.

"Are you sure abou-"

"JUST DO IT!"

The knight almost jumped in fear when he heard Rodriguez's shout.

Within a few short seconds, the knight only nodded in silence before rushing off to complete Rodriguez's orders.

Soon enough Rodriguez was once again left alone in his room.

As the silence settled into the room, Rodriguez felt his eyelids starting to get heavy.

Although the sun wasn't even setting yet Rodriguez felt like having an early sleep.

With a sigh, Rodriguez fell onto his bed with a sigh before he finally fell asleep.

On the next morning, as Rodriguez expected, the Panish fleet carrying the 15,000 reinforcements has finally arrived.

He just did not expect the fleet to be set on fire.

...

The wind blew against Michelle's face as she stood on the upper deck of her ship. She held her hands together behind her back as she watched the battle unfold in front of her.

As of right now, the Panish fleet has engaged in deep naval battle with the Breetish fleet.

Although it was true that the title of the world power belonged to the Panish Empire, their naval power was actually not concentrated in this area but instead spread out among the continent.

The Panish fleet that was carrying the 15,000 strong army actually only composed of very small fraction of the entire Panish navy.

As such, the Panish 'fleet' was completely ill-prepared to deal with the sudden Breetish ambush.

Within a few moments the Breetish navy obliterated the smaller Panish escort ships before focusing all their fire on the transport ships themselves.

It wasn't even a contest.

Michelle was sure that she could have won the naval battle even with her eyes closed.

Michelle's prized ship, the highly personalised warship; the 'Dragonhawk' didn't even need to participate in the battle as the Breetish ships sailed parallel to the Panish fleet before they bombarded the completely helpless bastards.

All that Michelle could do was watch the Panish ships burn in flames as they desperately tried to escape.

"This is all that the so-called world power can offer? What a joke."

Michelle didn't even know if the fight that the Paniards tried to put up should be called 'resistance.'

Even though this was only a fraction of their navy, she still expected some or at least any resistance.

However, to her dismay, she was once again disappointed by the lack of challenge that the Panish navy put up.

Soon Michelle was overcome with that feeling of boredom

In truth, she really wanted this battle to be over.

However, it was not because of the sake of ending the battle and reaping the rewards of the victory that she wanted this battle to end.

Instead, it was because this battle was getting really stale and boring.

If Michelle had to describe it, it was like how anything and everything can become tedious and boring once it overstays its welcome. This was especially true for something but not only became tedious but was horribly predictable as well.

Just what fun is there to be had?

In the end Michelle could only sigh to herself before she turned around and made her way for her cabin.

"My lady aren't you going to supervise the battle?"

Michelle didn't even bother to look at her lieutenant when she answered him.

"What's the point? We already going to win anyway."

...

With a glass of wine in his hands, Maxwell was watching the entire battle unfold in front of him in his 'v.i.p.' seat on the cliffside of the coast.

And of course, who else would be accompanying Maxwell on his 'v.i.p.' seat other than his own sister?

With a smile, Sicilia enjoyed the 'show' as the Panish fleet burned in flames together with her brother. With a slightly snarky voice, Sicilia complimented the person responsible for this show.

"I... have to admit... That Michelle girl sure seems to be quite the tactical and military genius..."

Sicilia gazed at Michelle's warship as she said this. A massive four-masted ship with the figurehead of a black hawk with golden outlines which was spreading its wings out. On each mast was a large black sail with the insignia of a diving golden hawk at the centre.

With a smile Sicilia commented on Michelle's stratagems.

"Her tactics take fully advantage of her ships by making them form up into a 'line' so that they could continually perform broadsides on the Paniards."

As Sicilia said this a sudden revelation flashed in her mind. In fact the revelation was so obvious that she was surprised that she somehow didn't think of it earlier.

"Now that I think about it... she's just like-"

"Me."

Maxwell stopped drinking his wine to interrupt her. Unlike before, he had a slightly smug smile on his face as he spoke.

"Oh you have no idea..."

Although Maxwell still spoke in his casual, nonchalant voice, Sicilia can't help but feel that there was something different about his voice. It was as if there was something that only Maxwell knew about Michelle.

"Why do I have the feeling that you're hiding something from me?"

Maxwell only shrugged when he replied.

"If I really am hiding something from you... would you even care in the first place?"

Sicilia couldn't stop herself from chuckling before she responded.

"I don't see why not?"

Maxwell turned to face Sicilia before he continued.

"You wouldn't even believe me if I told you the truth... heh... I doubt that you'll even understand."

Like before, although Maxwell spoke in his casual, nonchalant voice, Sicilia still felt that there was something different about it. However, try as she might, Sicilia can't place her finger on what it was.

"I'll just say that we both share what you could call an 'otherworldly' connection."

When Sicilia heard Maxwell's answer, she found that she understood even less than before.

"Otherworldly connection? What do you mean by that?"

Maxwell smirked as he sipped his wine before he continued.

"I told you that you wouldn't understand."

Maxwell once again casually shrugged before he returned his gaze to the naval battle. That slightly smug smile was still ever-present on his face as he spoke.

"For now let us just enjoy this sea on fire."