CH 119

Chapter 119 – Light of The Holy City

On the second day, we slowed down a bit and took more breaks, so the distance traveled was about 250 km.

Just to be safe, we left the highway and took a large detour west of the royal capital, and returned directly to the western route of the highway.

Although the well-developed eastern route is easier to drive, that is the road to the imperial capital. It would be safer to avoid this route now that the Imperial Army is expected to interfere.

The sun began to set when we were less than 300 km from Casemaian. We were still only about 100 km from the royal capital. With the king naming us as his enemies, we wondered whether we should camp out or go ahead, even if it was a little too much.

“Owe-san, are there any enemies along the road?”

“No confirmation. At present, only those who appear to be refugees can be seen up to forty miles north of the position where Your Majesty and the others are now located.”

“Have there been any changes in the capital?”

“From the air, nothing in particular… but there seemed to be more lights than before.”

“Strange, isn’t it?”

Myrril looked at me. I also find it puzzling that there are more lights in the royal capital, where the number of people should be decreasing, but is there a problem with that?

“Usually, when there are more lights in a village, it means that people have become able to survive. Wouldn’t that be strange in the royal capital today?”

“Owe-san, is the source of the light a flame?”

“The torches and bonfires on the outer edges and on the city walls, but the light in the castle and in the center of the city seemed to be mixed with magical light.”

“There were few magical lights in the royal capital when I was there. If they are bringing in so many magical tools that can be seen from the sky, it is a testament to the backing of the imperial power.”

I don’t know what the hell is going on, but in any case, I’m not going to bother to get involved in such a troublesome situation, especially since I have a hundred refugees with me.

“Thank you, Owe-san. The sun is setting, so please return here.”

“Yes, sir.”

I recall the inner workings of the Imperial Guard that Rinko had predicted after we had eliminated the mounted golem squad.

“The generals who have been insisting on foreign expeditions will lose their voice, and the prime minister’s faction, which advocates the expansion of domestic politics, will rise to power,” was it?

That prediction may have been correct.

The people in power in the kingdom today are not the type of politicians who would seek to expand the domestic affairs of their own country. It is unclear whether they are generals or not, but they are the martial and reactionary faction of the imperial government that insists on foreign expeditions.

They have given up the domestic power struggle and are trying to make King Saliant their puppet, or it seems they have already accomplished that.

“What is the goal of the empire? To make the kingdom a puppet? I have a feeling that for all the money, people, and supplies they’re going to spend and all the trouble they’re going to go through… they’re not going to get much out of it.”

“Yes, the problem is what comes after that.”

Whether it is to manipulate the foolish king to extract profits from the kingdom, to set up a new national government, or to wage an all-out war against the prime ministerial faction of the empire’s mainland.　

“The location of Casemaian is too bad. With a military force that can defeat all the neighboring countries between the imperial capital and the royal capital, they will not leave it alone sooner or later.”

“I suppose they will… Shall we move Casemaian to the Dark Forest or something?　Or would we relocate the royal capital or the imperial capital or both?”

Or to heaven or hell.

“The Queen must obey the decision of the Demon King.”

“Eh.”

“I know this is a cowardly thing to say, but I want to see your choice, Yoshua. I won’t question the consequences. I won’t question the pros and cons, and I don’t necessarily want everyone to be happy. I want to know your will, and I want to know where it will lead.”

I was asked for a vision of the future that I could not see, or rather, that I had turned away from.

I guess I will have to make a decision soon. If we continue to eliminate military threats, the surrounding countries will eventually fail, and the Casemaian will become the largest and most powerful force.

Those who once had power and were robbed of it will not sit idly by.

◇ ◇

After securing an encampment and setting up a patrol, we remained on high alert that night and waited for dawn to break.

The refugees are tired, but their faces are cheerful, perhaps because they have heard that we will arrive in Casemaian tomorrow.

Our meal is the last of the soup and flatbread we have stocked up on. Then, we had a special dish of fried wyvern. The meal was received with far more enthusiasm than expected, and we had run out of cooked food. The rest of the food would consist mainly of emergency rations and portable rations, but we would be able to arrive before daylight tomorrow, so we should be fine.

“Well, Yoshua. How about sending a word to Casemaian to pick us up with the “Humvee” and the “Torajima-go” if it is another two hundred miles?”

“I thought about that, too. But, I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t want to draw as much strength as possible from the other side.”

“A feeling. That is something that is not to be underestimated. The worse it is, the more often it comes true.”

Yes. I’m glad she believed me, but I’m afraid that her confident statement is like a flag.

I was laughing about it like that when I was awakened at dawn by Myrril-san, and I realized how naive I was.

The enemy had moved.