CH 374

Malcolm Cammore, King of Alvaland, had his head in his hands. The Alvaland Army, which was attacking Harold of the Kingdom of Wessek at the invitation of the Kingdom of Frasia, had been destroyed by a mysterious attack. The main army of 5,000, including 2,000 elites, was almost completely destroyed in a single battle, and only a small part of them crawled back home on their broken bodies.

Now that the Kingdom of Wessek is in turmoil due to internal strife, let alone advancing south to take advantage of the opportunity, the national defense will not be possible at this rate. The Kingdom of Alvaland no longer has the strength to fight properly, and it will take half a year, no, a year to rebuild the army.

Fortunately, the Kingdom of Wessek being in turmoil still helps. It will take some time before it settles down. As long as other countries and powers don’t realize that the bulk of their strength is devastated, they should be able to endure it somehow if they remain quiet for about a year.

But the resulting meetings were in chaos. They kept dragging each other’s feet about who was responsible, what went wrong, and that the report that their military had been devastated was wrong to begin with.

Neither King Malcolm nor the nobles and ministers understood exactly what had happened. According to reports, while Harold and his Faction were defending their fort, Alvaland was attacked by a huge ship that appeared from the eastern sea, and most of the soldiers were killed or injured, and in their flight they scattered and disappeared, never to be seen again. Only a few soldiers returned.

Because the content of the report was so absurd, the nobles and ministers decided that the commanders were just making excuses to avoid responsibility for the defeat, and simply criticized the other party without even discussing it. There was no way to decide anything in such a situation, and they were just wasting my time in repeated meetings.

“Anyway, now is the time to investigate the cause…”

“What are you talking about?! Do you think people who report such things will speak honestly? It’s a waste of time to question them! Dismiss them all!”

“There, there…”

Again, the usual conversation was repeated, and in the end, nothing was decided. And it’s not Malcolm’s business either.

“It was King Malcolm who decided on this expedition in the first place. In that case, isn’t His Majesty ultimately responsible?”

With a grin and a disgusting smile, he was being pursued. Openly criticizing the king for no reason would be a felony, but if the king is at fault, it’s another matter entirely. It is also the inner circle’s job to point out and do something about his Majesty’s mistakes. Even in Alvaland, even though he is a king, his power is not perfect. He’s in a position where he doesn’t know what to do if something happens.

That’s why the kings are often blamed for leading to such a loss. In some cases, there may be a compulsory replacement. Malcolm had to be cautious, too.

“Today we are dismissed…”

Nothing was decided today, and it ended up just arguing about who was at fault and what was to blame. It will take many more years for Wessek to recover. They should be able to come to a conclusion in the meantime. With that in mind, no one in Alvaland was seriously thinking about their current crisis.

A few days have passed and still nothing has been decided. The usual repetition of meetings goes on… But today, something different happened.

“Me-Messenger! Messenger!”

“What’s going on? You’re so noisy. We’re in the middle of an important meeting right now.”

It’s just a week or 10 days of repeating unimportant conferences, but the people themselves feel like they’re deathly serious about what they’re discussing. Now a messenger rushed into the conference room. The nobles and ministers frowned at the rudeness of the soldier, but the king and the upper echelons of the army sensed something in the unusual atmosphere.

“What is it?” Malcolm asked.

“Sire! A mysterious giant ship has invaded the Firth of Folth! It’s currently invading the royal capital of Aidian!”

“”””-!?”””””

Everyone in the conference room froze at the messenger’s report. No, should we say almost everyone? Only the part of the army that was attacking Harold’s fort just silently closed their eyes. The others still don’t believe what they witnessed did exist.

But there is no way a messenger would tell such a lie. Even if you tell such a lie, the messenger will only be punished, and if you cause a ruckus, your family may be implicated, too. There was no way he would do such a stupid and meaningless thing, so the only answer would be that the news is true.

The Blish Isles are long in the north-south direction. However, rather than being rectangular or oval, it was roughly triangular in shape, wide on the Blish Strait side to the south and narrow on the Alvaland side to the north. However, the triangle is of course not a perfect triangle, and there are uneven and notch-like bays and rivers here and there.

Aidian, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Alvaland, moves further north along the coast from the northeastern fort of Wessek where Harold was holed up, to the coast of the large Firth of Folth, which runs east and west as if the island had been torn apart.

If it was a ship that came out to fight in the firth in question, it would probably arrive at the royal capital Aidian just by going north along the Blish Isles.

“Huge this, huge that, you say, how big is it? How many ships do they have to begin with?”

“There are several times the number of ships in our country! Eight ships! The enemy fleet, which was heading north, entered the Firth of Folth and changed its course to the west! It will soon invade Aidian!”

The messenger’s report immediately filled the conference room with tension. However, these are the people who haven’t been able to decide anything in the past week or so for about 10 days. Even in this emergency, they couldn’t decide anything, and they were just wasting time.

A short while after the report was made, when they looked at the Firth of Folth from the royal castle, there were many unbelievably huge ships lined up there.

“Hmph, just because their ships are bigger doesn’t mean they’re better!”

“That’s right! And no matter how many people land, if it’s that many of them, it should be manageable!”

Even though the main army, including the elite, has been lost, the royal capital still has some defensive force left. No matter how big a ship is, there will be a limit to the number of soldiers it can carry. In that case, if they devote themselves to defense, or if they do their best to prevent the landing, they can still fight. The ordinary people thought so.

“As I reported… that ship breathes fire and casts an incredible amount of magic. If we were to go to war with that ship now… Aidian would be a heap of rubble…”

One of the commanders who participated in attacking Harold said that while trembling. The people around him swallowed their spit at his unusual appearance.

“What are you so timid about?! That’s why even though it was a joint operation with the kingdom of Frasia, you fled in fear! What in the hell is that thing, anyway?!”

But should they be saying that? Among them, there were many who shouted such things without seeing the threat of the enemy. In particular, high-ranking nobles and ministers who had not been on the battlefield for a long time were too accustomed to living in the royal palace. They are so busy with court power struggles that they forget the realities of the battlefield.

“There was very little time between the arrival of the messenger from the Firth of Folth and the arrival of the ships…The performance of that ship must have been unbelievable… It seems to me these men are more likely to be correct…”

“You lot are just covering for each other in the military!”

Even if the other upper military commanders expressed their honest opinions, it would be meaningless to say that they were just protecting the defeated general, or that the messenger was just delayed and that the military still failed. However, such barren talk was soon ended.

“We’ve received a warning from the enemy ships invading the firth! They wanted to send a messenger ashore! How should we proceed?”

The next messenger flies in and makes such a report. Apparently, the enemy had already landed a small boat before they came out to view the bay from the royal castle. Of course, they can’t refuse the messenger in the current situation.

Is the report of the military correct, or is the expectation of the nobles and ministers correct? They don’t know, but they don’t want to fight right now if possible. In that case, if they sent a reply and negotiations could somehow work out, they would sit down at the negotiation table.

The messenger who came from the huge ship was very well-dressed. If they go so far as to murder this person here and now and take away all he wears, they might make a fortune. And with the messenger’s first speech, the upper echelons of Alvaland instantly froze.

“We came as a messenger of King Karruzer of the Kingdom of Angheland. This message is for Alvaland. Surrender. Otherwise, the same turmoil that ravages the lands in the south will erupt here, as well.”

There was no giving of names yet, and the messenger suddenly stated briefly what he wanted to say. The content was just a threat, urging them to surrender without question. Some of the nobles get angry, but King Malcolm controls them and speaks out.

“That’s quite a lot to demand upfront and so suddenly. And this… Kingdom of Angheland? Is that who you represent?”

First of all, look at the situation to find out what the other party is doing. It’s easy to kill this messenger and send him back to his ship, but it’s also possible that that’s what they’re aiming for. Killing a messenger is a very heavy rule-breaking act, and it would not be surprising if it suddenly turned into an all-out war.

If the other party intentionally angers you and intends their messenger harmed, you can nod and allow such an attitude. In fact, it’s not uncommon to use such a tactic and literally shoot the messenger. At this level, if you easily buy into the provocation and kill the messenger, you won’t be able to sit down at the negotiating table.

“The Kingdom of Angheland is a new country founded by King Karruzer, our King who brought together the Kingdoms of Essek and Wessek. These isles have already been united by the Kingdom of Angheland, with the exception of Welez and Alvaland. And our King has indicated that Alvaland and Welez will also be unified with Angheland. Therefore, you have no choice but to surrender, Alvaland, or be destroyed by war.”

“…………”

King Malcolm ponders for a moment. The information is confusing and he doesn’t understand. It is likely that the power that called itself the Kingdom of Essek was the one who supported Harold and the others and defeated the main Alvaland Army that was invading the south. The Kingdom of Essek took over the Kingdom of Wessek and established the new Kingdom of Angheland.

Furthermore, this power is planning to unify the Blish Isles, and is also trying to invade Alvaland and Welez. So far they know nothing else.

Even if it’s true that they were able to liberate the Kingdom of Wessek, which had been invaded by Frasia, or that they took over Wessek and built the Kingdom of Angheland. There are still things that they don’t understand.

“Hmm… Then why did you send a messenger? We are already in a state of war. No one will complain if they attack without saying anything?”

That’s it. At the fort south of here, the two countries are already at odds. If so, there is no need to declare war now. No matter how much the name of the country changes, if it calls itself a nation, the continuity of history cannot be denied. In that case, the war with the country that is already officially declared will only continue as it is. There is absolutely no need to declare a new state of war.

“Our King doesn’t want unnecessary casualties,” the messenger replied. “We would hope you leave your current positions and not drag Alvaland into a needless war. Otherwise, the army is already assembled at the border and we will launch an invasion of Alvaland alongside the navy in the firth. For our part, we don’t care whichever you choose.”

Neither side wants to fight right after the war in the South ends. That’s why they thought that they were trying to settle things through negotiations, but the answer that came back was too cruel.

“If we surrender, our nobility will not be recognized, won’t they? Then what’s the point in surrendering?”

The messenger made it clear that if they surrendered, all of Alvaland’s upper echelons would be eliminated. Then you shouldn’t surrender. Who would bother to throw it away even though they have the status and rights they have now? If their current status is guaranteed, they may temporarily surrender or subordinate themselves to a major power, but no one will listen to them if they are told that they will be stripped of everything.

“Until now, the Kingdom of Alvaland has surrendered to the Kingdom of Wessek countless times and has betrayed them countless times more. It’s just a matter of choosing whether to drag the country into the ravages of war, or just let a handful of corrupt nobles return to being commoners and not let the country fall into ruin.”

“Bastards! This mockery has been going on for far too long!”

“Hold!”

One of the nobles finally reached the limit of his patience and raised his voice. But King Malcolm stops and quiets him down. It’s no surprise that they already have an army on the border. If you’ve been preparing from the beginning with the intention of going to war, then if they refuse the surrender, the invasion will start immediately.

Certainly, as the messenger said, the Kingdom of Alvaland has fought many wars with the Kingdom of Wessek, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, surrendering, and obeying. However, when time passes and the moment is right, Alvaland will start attacking again and repeats the war many times. That’s why King Karruzer of Angheland seems to have no intention of accepting the current system even if they surrender or obey him.

“Unfortunately, there are things even the king cannot decide on his own. And my subordinates cannot accept such conditions,” Malcolm said. That is our answer.”

“Understood. Then we will forcefully erase the Kingdom of Alvaland from this world and put an end to this farce of a system,” the messenger said. “We will start attacking in an hour. Enjoy your last moments to their fullest.”

After saying that, the messenger quickly returned to the ship. Dissatisfaction leaked out from the nobility and ministers all at once. But there is no blame on the king because he refused the request to surrender. Criticism gathers for the rudeness of the messenger and the absurdity of the conditions.

After a while, Aidian, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Alvaland, quickly turned into a mountain of rubble. In addition, the inland towns were taken one after another by the army that started the invasion from the southern border. After destroying Aidian, the navy continued to attack the coast, and in just three days, the Kingdom of Alvaland disappeared from the map.