CH 125

Chapter 125 – Royal Capital Again

The capital of the Kingdom of Saliant, which claims to be the largest and most powerful in the world. It was named Kehiminia after the first king who ruled the land thousands of years ago.

Today, it is known only as the “royal capital.”

In the course of its long history, the royal bloodline has been severed many times, and the result has been that those who inherited the lineage, either as collateral descendants or as relatives with outside blood, have covered up and falsified the past but no one knows this anymore.

“It is a foolish thing. There is no future for those who have forgotten the past. Isn’t that so, King of Saliant?”

The upper floor of the castle. In the deserted audience chamber, a tall, thin figure dressed in a black military uniform looked back at the king sitting on his throne.

“…Lord Kehim. …What are you talking about?”

The man called Kehim let out a small breath at the king’s frightened and flirtatious words.

“Don’t you see? It is the story of the rebirth of the holy city of Kehiminia. It is a story of reconquest. We must take back the blessed land, blessed by the gods, from the barbarians and transform it into a fertile paradise overflowing with light. The first step is about to begin!”

Next to the throne where the king sat, the queen and princess stood like ghosts. Their faces were bloodless, their once-fattened flesh was thinning, and their eyes were glazed over.

They showed no reaction to Kehim’s words but simply stared blankly into the air.

“…Did the empire… send reinforcements?”

“Reinforcements? No way.”

The king cannot hide his disappointment at the words of Kehim, who smiles brightly with his hands outstretched. However, the man in military uniform, showing no interest in this attitude, declared in a loud voice.

“They are the army of God. They are invincible soldiers who embody the miracles of God, who fear nothing, are never frightened, never tired, and never disobey orders!”

The king let out a small sigh as Kehim continued to speak alone as if intoxicated by his own words.

“That invincible… soldier… defeated the Demon King…?”

“The news will come sooner or later. There is no need to be hasty. The treacherous will be sent to eternal purgatory and the pious to the presence of God. It is all a matter of course.”

“Report to His Majesty the King!”

Kehim nodded with satisfaction as the guards rushed in.

“Behold, O King of Saliant. Behold the results of the war brought by the soldiers of God. The empire is already blinded by greed and gain. It does not have the intelligence or the capacity to properly appreciate my achievements. What does it matter if the mounted puppet army has been crushed? Aren’t they upstart nobles of lowly barbarian or commoner origins?”

The king and his guards looked anxiously at Kehim, who was losing himself in excitement.

Although he usually acts as an intelligent, calm, and generous man, General Kehim, former Supreme Commander of the Empire’s armed forces, is becoming less and less stable with each passing day.

Was this from when he was ousted and denounced in his home country, from when he was nearly assassinated by his trusted subordinate and went into exile in the Kingdom, or from the very beginning?

No one knows anymore.

All that is known is that the time is near when the last thin thread will break.

“I- I would like to make a report.”

At the guard’s words, Kehim opened his hands and smiled theatrically.

“Fine. Let’s get this over with. You are reporting that you have completed the task of defeating the Demon King, are you not?”

“No, that’s the thing. …The Demon King has asked His Majesty the King and the General to surrender.”

With a shudder, Kehim’s cheeks twitched. His eyes widen, and madness glows in them. His lips quiver in an arc that resembles a smile, and frothy spit sprays out.

“Kill them, wrap them up, slaughter them all. The use of magical weapons is permitted. And the military messenger! Soldiers! Generals! All of them! Every last demon and barbarian who enters the Holy City! Turn them into pieces of meat!”

A sound like distant thunder rang out, and outside the window, which Kehim had turned away from, lit up.

◇ ◇

“Forward!”

From the captain’s seat of the second T-55 (the white one), the dwarf Caretta-ojiisan waves his hand.

The main gate of the royal capital had already been blown off by tank shells, and the tank’s crawlers trampled the wreckage. The soldiers who apparently tried to resist were instantly incapacitated by Myrril’s .45, and the rest lost their will to fight just by seeing the huge body pushing forward.

From behind, in the captain’s seat of T-55 No. 1 (green), Heimann-jiisan was issuing a notice to the new operator of the T-55, who was also driving awkwardly.

“What are you doing, Fallon? Follow the second T-55! We’re falling behind. You better step on it!”

“Y-yes, sir”

It seems that a new driver had been selected because a veteran dwarf operator had suddenly taken over for the Tiran (a sand-beige armored personnel carrier type), a converted T-55 named for convenience as tank No. 3.

The young man is also a dwarf, and the crew members of all three vehicles are related to each other, including distant relatives.

I wonder if they have similar interests.

Incidentally, the machine gunner in the shield installed in the turret of the No. 3 tank is Minya the elf.

So I’m just standing here as a decoration this time. Myrril is standing next to me with her UZI as my escort.

“Triumphant return to the capital, isn’t it?”

“Ah. We’ve become a surprisingly large group, though.”

When we left, we had planned to return to the royal capital on our own, but Minya easily discovered our plan to visit the royal capital, and in no time at all, we had become a large group of 12 people.

Since we were going to meet the enemy’s leader, we had no choice but to show off our best forces, and I was forced to take out the T-55s early on. Since we could not drive tanks the 3,000 km from Casemaian, we took the school bus “Torajima-go” for the round trip. Yadar, the tiger girl who served as the driver, is a loader of the general-purpose machine gun, MAG, which also serves as the escort for the third tank, Tiran, after the switch to a tank.

“We are in the “Holy City” now. Whoever it is, they’re just talking nonsense. There is not the slightest bit of sanctity in this cold city.”

In fact, the impression was quite different from what I had heard. Yes, there were magical lights burning, but the streets were deserted.

“Stop!”

As previously arranged, three tanks stop at the central square of the Royal Capital: the second tank faces left toward the Parliament of the Nobility, the first tank faces right toward the headquarters of the National Army, and the third tank, Tiran, has its body facing the Royal Castle in front of it.

Some people show up to see what is going on, but no one approaches, either because they are aware of the threat of the tanks or because they are taken in by the atmosphere of the unusual situation.

“The threat is eliminated. Do not touch them.”

“””Understood.”””

“Yoshua, wait.”

Myrril-san handed me the binoculars and pointed to the royal castle a few hundred meters away. On the terrace on the upper floor of the castle, I saw a man standing there—a thin man wearing a black military uniform.

“That must be the general of the empire.”

“Hey, hey, isn’t the royal castle a place where the king and royal family live?　Bringing in a general from an invading country for a non-ceremonial occasion is a sign of collusion, isn’t it?”

“Either the king trusts him that much, or he is taken lightly. In all probability, it is the latter.”

We knew we were wrong on both counts when we saw what slithered up behind the general.

“What… is that?”