CH 49

Translated by SoundOfDestiny

The battle for Blaine Fortress was won by the Kingdom of Zain with the help of Raidorl and the holy sword Dáinsleif.

As a result, the westward invading army of the Alsatian  Empire retreated to the border fortress of Balmes, and the Kingdom of Zain overcame the threat of destruction for the time being.

The armies of the Kingdom of Zain scored a major coup by capturing the Imperial Princess, Célia Von Althlein, as a prisoner of war.

The news spread quickly through the capital. The inhabitants of the capital, who until then had been in a gloomy mood of defeat, were in a festive mood at the news of the victory that had come their way.

“Hahahaha, look at you, Empire!”

“Long live the Kingdom of Zain! Long live Granard!”

“No, no, no, this is the work of His Highness Prince Raidorl! The Hero of the Holy Sword!

The name of Raidorl Zain, the keeper of the holy sword, was on the lips of the jubilant people of the capital.

When Granard received the report of the victory of the royal army, he tried to conceal the existence of Raidorl, saying that the success of his brother had been hushed up.

The victory of the kingdom was due to the efforts of General Bazel Garst and, more importantly, to the leadership of his lord, King Granard Zain. He tried to manipulate information in this way. 

But the soldiers who actually fought on the battlefield could not remain silent.

They have witnessed the clash of two holy swords, the Dáinsleif and the Claíomh Solas. And they have become witnesses to a myth. There was no way they could hide the living legend that they had witnessed.

Within a few days, the story of Raidorl’s exploits was known throughout the kingdom, even though he prefaced it with the words “This is between us” and “Don’t tell anyone”.

And while the whole of Royal Capital rejoiced at the arrival of a new hero, there came a time when the two men, Raidorl and Granard, met again. 

And so, as the whole Royal Capital rejoiced in the arrival of a new hero, the opportunity arose for Raidorl and Granard to meet again.

“…..It was a truly brilliant battle. I commend you.”

“Ha, I am honoured, my brother.” 

With a stern expression on his face, Granard tells the kneeling Raidorl. Raidorl, too, responded to his brother’s words with a mocking smile.

“I have already heard of your exploits. I also heard that you have defeated a great army of the enemy and captured a wielder of Claíomh Solas?”

“Yes, all this is due to your authority. My achievement is not significant.”

The admiring Granard and the humbled Raidorl both look at each other in a way that is the opposite of words, as if to check each other.

The prime minister, Lockwood Marcell, and the general, Bazel Garst, sighed side by side as they watched the two men.

“These two are ……”

“There’s no point now. Give it up, Lockwood.”

Bazel murmured to Lockwood, who was holding his forehead as if he had a headache.

“But……we can’t let them stay like this forever, can we? If they can support each other, this country will be……”

“There are uncontrollable currents. If we wanted to reconcile the two of them, we should have acted sooner.” 

They had been involved in the expulsion of Raidorl, but they hoped to bring him back to the Capital eventually. 

When the previous king was ill, they had to sacrifice Raidorl in order to avoid a succession struggle, but once Granard had established himself as king, there was no one left to topple him. 

If Granard has proven himself as a king, he will be able to put aside his feelings of inferiority towards Raidorl and treat him as a brother, as he once did.

“That’s what I was planning……” 

“But…Raidorl was ordered to wiped out the Imperial invasion” 

The invasion of the Empire forced Raidorl to come back and fight unilaterally, without any reconciliation.

The rift between the two is now so great that they will never be able to return to being brothers.

“Those two will have to fight sooner or later. …… You better be prepared.”

“……General Garst, you’re not going to join His Highness Raidorl, are you?”

The general looked strangely enlightened, as Lockwood questioned him with suspicion.

Garst stroked his white beard and nodded, “mmm.”

“Whichever of the two wins, I will remain loyal as a warrior. However, if His Highness Raidorl wins, I will leave that to my son. ……”

“…… Isn’t a warrior’s loyalty to his king?”

“It pains me to hear you say it, though.”

Garst laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

“This problem would have been better dealt with during peacetime, we do not believe that the Empire will give up after one defeat. We should not interfere in political disputes to avoid the loss of morale for the troops.”

“……………”

“Don’t look at me like that. The die has already been cast. There is not much you or I can do about it.”

Garst turned away from Lockwood, who was glaring at him sideways, and turned his attention to his master.

“Don’t be modest. You have been chosen by the Holy Sword, and everyone knows your good at fighting”

“The throne suits you very well, don’t you think?　It would be easy for you to overthrow the Empire without doing anything, just by sitting there. No, IT IS indeed a good thing to be a king, to have nothing to do with the affairs of state.” 

The two royal brothers were still exchanging sarcastic remarks with the same expression on their faces as if they were using a noh mask .

Watching the exchange, which was too insidious to be a sibling quarrel, the general closed his eyes softly.