CH 14

Sardelia is a provincial city located straight north of the pioneer city of Raid.

A battalion sent from the royal capital is stationed in the town, which is the centre of logistics in the south of the Kingdom of Zain.

The battalion commanders, who had rented a room from the Sardelia’s lord’s, listened to the report of the knight who had returned from Raid. Inside the room had a bunch of drawings, which had become a makeshift command centre.

“……hurm, as I expected.” 

When the knight’s report was finished, the man who commanded the battalion sighed deeply.

The knight, who had returned to see his superior holding his forehead as if he had a headache, hurriedly bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, we were unable to protect Lady Mertina!　This blame can be laid at….!” 

“No, that’s all right. It was to be expected that she would not come back.”

The commander speaks in a polite tone that one would not expect to hear from an ordinary knight.

For the knights not being able to fulfil the duties given them and for not being able to bring Raidorl to this place. There was no punishment for the failure, and the commander’s voice sounded unnaturally gentle.

“Eh? Wha?”

“You can go back now. Thank you for your hard work. Get some rest and relax.”

“Huh, huh?”

The commander scratches his chin and asks the two knights to leave.

The knights nodded their heads at their superior’s words. However, they had no reason to complain about the lack of punishment and meekly followed the order to leave the command room.

As the two knights walked out of the room, their footsteps fading into the distance, the commander crossed his arms with a sorrowful look on his face.

“I didn’t expect his highness to agree to fight the Empire……. This is unexpected.”

“If His Royal Highness is coming back on his own free will, there is nothing wrong with that, is there, Master Daren?”

The name of the commander who sits in his chair and ponders is Darren Garst.

He is the son of General Bazel Garst, one of the men who once banished Raidorl from the capital and is commanding a thousand-horsemen in the Royal Army.

Darren is only 25 years old, but his father’s connections are not the only reason why he is in the position of commanding a thousand horsemen. This is because Darren’s bravery and commanding ability are exceptional, and he is an indispensable asset to the Royal Army.

For the moment, the town where Darren and a thousand of his troops live can be considered as his home.

The purpose of having a battalion here, despite the war with the Empire, is to capture and forcibly take Raidorl away if he refuses to return to the capital.

“hm …… I should be happy about this……”

Darren murmurs in a polite tone that contradicts his position, his brow furrowed in thought.

His second-in-command, the female knight Saara Leifet, doesn’t understand why Darren is so worried and lowers her eyebrows in frustration.

He didn’t pay any attention to the worried look on her face and sank deeper into his thoughts.

“I didn’t think that His Highness would agree to join the war ……, but what was his intention in detaining the outrageous Miss Mertina and returning only the knight ……?” 

By royal decree, King Granard sent a messenger to his brother Raidorl to ask him to return to the capital.

In reality, however, he was not at all sure that Raidorl would agree to return to the capital.

It’s not as if Granard, the king, or Lockwood, the vizier, were so naive as to think that the exiled prince would not hold a grudge against them. 

(TL: vizier a high official in some Muslim countries, especially in Turkey under Ottoman rule.) 

He had chosen Mertina as his emissary not because he thought she could persuade him, as a childhood friend, but rather to incite Raidorl’s anger.

The first step is to send Mertina as a messenger, and if she can persuade Raidorl, that is all that is needed. If the persuasion fails, the curse of restraint, woven by more than a dozen court magicians, will be invoked to capture Raidorl. 

And if the curse fails, Darren will lead an army to besiege the frontier city and detain Raidorl on the charge of  ‘murdering the vizier’s daughter’.

“Even though it is the king’s order, there is no good reason to detain royalty who have not committed any crime. That’s why Miss Mertina was chosen as the sacrifice……”

To the horror of many, it was Mertina’s father, Lockwood, who devised the ruse.

If the curse succeeds, Mertina will be punished for having arbitrarily placed a curse on the royal family; if it fails, she will be murdered by Raidorl and used as a banner to capture her royal brother.

Darren was chilled to the bone by Lockwood’s cold-heartedness in sacrificing even his own daughter for his country.

However, the outcome was unexpected, Raidorl agreed to return to the royal capital, and Mertina was captured without being killed.

The result was different from the development Darren had expected beforehand.

“hurm, it seems that…… Miss Mertina was not killed, so let’s be happy with this result for now. We did not need to capture His Royal Highness Raidorl.”

Darren shook his head, not unlike his rocky-faced father.

Although there were some unexpected incidents, the end result was not so bad. 

It is a pity that Mertina has been captured, but it is far better than being killed as planned. If the Prime Minister can negotiate with him, he should be able to get her back alive.

Darren was unsure what Raidorl’s intentions are, but Darren’s mission is to get his king’s royal brother, the holder of the Holy Sword, to the capital. Leave it to the king or the vizier to find out what’s in Raidorl’s heart. 

And although…… Darren was ordered to capture Raidorl, he never harboured any animosity or ill will towards the poor prince who was banished to the frontier.

On the contrary, he even felt pity for Raidorl, who was being forced to do something unreasonable for the convenience of his country.

“I thought that I would have to cross swords for the sake of the king and the country, but I was glad that I did not have to fight.” 

“….let’s get ready to go and pick up His Royal Highness Raidorl. Before he changes his mind”.

“All right, sir. I’ll be ready to go at once!”

She breathed a sigh of relief to her superior, whose expression brightened, and walked out of the command centre in high spirits.

As he watched her go, Darren held his hand to his chest, trying to suppress the uneasiness that was growing inside him.