Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume10 Chapter1 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

At first glance, Birac, Mephius’ second city and largest centre for foreign trade, was enveloped in an atmosphere of victory. But if they could see the expressions on a great many people’s faces in the street or observe the groups gathered here and there in the shade, exchanging whispered conversations, even an outsider would easily be able to see that the people of Birac harboured complicated feelings in their hearts, and would wonder – ''what victory?''

Five days earlier, Crown Prince Gil Mephius, leading an army from Apta in the southwest, had clashed with a punitive force dispatched from Solon. Although the number of soldiers in the punitive force far exceeded that of the crown prince’s army, they had been toyed around with by stratagem after stratagem, had been pushed back by their opponent’s dauntless determination, and had fled back to Birac. The lord of Birac, Fedom Aulin, would let them in and, along with the soldiers who had remained in the city, they would fortify their defences and hold out until reinforcements arrived from the capital – or so they thought, until they suddenly found the gates of the city firmly shut and their entrance denied.

With their path cut off both in front and behind them, they could do nothing but prepare for certain defeat, so the commander of the punitive force, Folker Baran, had resigned himself to surrendering.
As a result, when Gil Mephius’ victorious troops appeared within Birac, the populace lined the streets waving and cheering, and the mood on display was one of welcome. 

Just a day before the battle occurred, the populace received a notification from Fedom Aulin. Via the various branch offices of Birac’s merchant guild, they were informed that he would support the crown prince. Going back another half day earlier, the heads of the guild had gathered at Fedom’s residence.

Naturally, the merchants did not just consent without a single word of objection. Supporting the crown prince meant choosing to oppose the current emperor, Guhl Mephius. Which also meant that, in the expanding civil war, Mephius would make Birac a target for attack.

All the leading members of the guild stared at the lord of Birac with – ''Is he serious?'' – written clearly on their faces.

And of course, the populace shared that sentiment.

Take for example Apta in the southwest: being next to Taúlia, it would fear taking direct damage if a war broke out with the West. Birac meanwhile was closer to Solon. So just as the people of Apta felt that they wanted to avoid war with the West as much as possible, the populace of Birac had strong apprehensions when it came to battles with Solon.

Still, even within Birac there was, of course, a variety of opinions.

When news had arrived that a person claiming to be the crown prince had appeared in Apta, practically on the eve of battle, and had openly declared his opposition to the march on the West, many in Birac received a considerable shock.

As previously mentioned, Birac was a commercial city. Compared to other regions, it had from the start had a high sense of self-governance; so when merchants met in the street, they were used to talking together not only about business but also, and quite unreservedly, about politics.

“So basically, was His Majesty going to march on the West even if it meant hiding the fact that the crown prince had survived?”

“Rather than saying that he hid it, there’s that rumour that he was planning to personally do away with his son. Lord Gil might have realised it ahead of time and faked his own death.”

“Nonono, the one who showed up in Apta is an impostor. Probably just someone who admired Gil Mephius’ heroic deeds and who was driven to madness by too much chivalrous spirit.”

“In that case, why are even General Rogue and General Odyne following him?”

“Couldn’t it be that, from the start, those two were at the centre of the uprising? And that they deliberately used the crown prince’s name to garner sympathy from the lords all around Mephius?”

“In any case…”

“Right, in any case, troops will soon be dispatched from Solon.”

“It’ll be decided in one battle.”

''Decided'' – What would be decided would be whether it would end as no more than an uprising in a provincial town or whether it would develop into civil war throughout Mephius, but there was also the meaning that the commercial city of Birac would decide what position to take from there on.

Nevertheless, nobody believed that the troops in Apta would be able to oppose Mephius’ army. And so, when the punitive force led by Folker Baran finally marched towards Apta by way of Birac, as the townspeople saw off the group gallantly arrayed in full armour, what was visible on faces everywhere was the feeling that – ''Well then, that’s that.''

And so it was that, since that was the prevalent mood in Birac, when the leaders of the merchant guild responded to the summons from the lord of Birac and heard him announce that “I wish to support the crown prince, Lord Gil Mephius,” their expressions clearly read – ''Is he serious?''

Sometimes passionately, sometimes calmly, Fedom spoke at length about how he had received a personal letter from the prince prior to this battle and about how Emperor Guhl Mephius was undesirable not only for the future of Birac, but for the future of Mephius as a whole.

''This is ridiculous'' – was what most people thought. No matter how splendid his sentiments may be, the crown prince could not win. Yet at that moment, an unexpected voice rose in support of Fedom.
Zaj Haman. He had been the guildmaster up until a few years ago and, even now that he had resigned from the position, he was still a wealthy merchant with enormous influence within the guild.

Contrary to expectations, instead of flatly refuting Fedom’s position, this extremely pragmatic man said, “There might be connections to be had with the West through the crown prince.”

In support of that, he pointed to the return of a ship sent by the Haman firm to the West. It had happened immediately after Taúlia and Mephius had clashed near the outskirts of Apta. Normally, there would be nothing surprising about ship and cargo both being seized and never returned.

And yet, “I also received a verbal message from the merchants of Taúlia that they wished to continue doing business with us. Under normal circumstances, that is impossible. But if we are talking about the relationship between Taúlia and Apta... In other words, in spite of the war occurring and of His Majesty the Emperor, there is a person who could conclude a relationship of mutual trust.”

Zaj cut his words short and lapsed into silence for a while.

The leaders of the guild also simultaneously fell silent. In all honesty, it did not matter to them whether it was the real Gil Mephius who had appeared in Apta. Well, no, the current state of things inside Mephius was not something that they were unconcerned about, but neither was it something that urgently needed worrying about.

The question now was could the Gil who had appeared in Apta win? And crucially, could he use his influence to overturn the emperor’s decision?

''If he has strong personal connections to the West and can drive away Folker’s army'' – the same thought crossed the minds of the guild leaders.

In fact, contrary to their predictions about how things would unfold, the West did not lead soldiers to assist Gil.

But even though Zaj had dangled the prospect of the West, the members of the guild did not simply jump at Fedom’s proposal.

Still, they gradually came to realize that the proposal was not a passing thought but something that Fedom had been inwardly preparing for a long time.

Moreover, business with the West was currently almost entirely handled by Zaj himself and the profits from those dealings were monopolised by the Haman firm. If the entire country could openly trade with the West, then there was a chance that all of Birac’s merchants would be able to partake of that honey.

They had gathered in the evening but it was not until dawn of the next day that they reached a consensus.

“So then, we’re doing it?”
 


Gil Mephius had unquestionably achieved victory.

Most of the people of Birac had also thought – ''his lordship is being ridiculous'' – when they received the notification of support to the prince from the guild, so this miraculous victory sent them into a frenzy.

But only temporarily.

Once their wild enthusiasm over the victory cooled down, anxiety over the future gradually started to weigh on their shoulders like an invisible stone weight.

With Apta and Birac in his hands, Gil Mephius certainly appeared to have conquered half of Mephius but it was not easy to make up for the difference in numbers compared to the emperor’s side. Because of the need to face Ende and Garbera, most of Mephius’ soldiers had always been distributed throughout the east of the country. Even if they gathered soldiers to their harbour town, there was still the threat that a large army from Solon might descend on them tomorrow.

The bold said, “what, if worse comes to the worse,” they pointed at the cannons bought from the north that gleamed darkly beneath the eaves, “we can just line a few of those up and threaten Lord Aulin and Gil Mephius. His Majesty won’t harm Birac if its citizens were the ones to rise to action and drive away the impostor.”

Certainly, if the trade city of Birac were to receive damage it would have an impact on the whole of Mephius, so the emperor would not recklessly use armed force.

In the sense that they were dauntless and could calculate things realistically, the merchants of Birac were  truly formidable.
 


Amidst the various emotions and expectations that were swaying the city, a corner of Lord Fedom Aulin’s residence was wrapped in a gloomy atmosphere.

In a parlour on the second floor that overlooked the garden, breakfast had been laid out on a table covered in a white tablecloth. In terms of quantity and quality, the things laid out were excellent, but not a single one of the people around the table stretched out their hand to take them.

The general of the Black Steel Sword Division, Folker Baran. The General of the Bow of Gathering Clouds Division Yuriah Mattah. And the general of the Spear of Flames Division, Zaas Sidious. Namely, the defeated generals of the army that Crown Prince Gil Mephius had beaten in the recent battle.

Additionally, the battalion commander Walt was also there. He had been in charge of defending Jozu Fortress, situated between Apta and Birac, but had been driven out of Jozu after having fallen into Gil’s trap; although he had been given the chance to actually cross swords with him on the battlefield, he had eventually been captured without having been able to kill him.

The four of them had been sitting in silence at the rectangular table for a while now. They were being kept in lenient confinement here in Birac. Early that morning, they had received summons from the crown prince, but said crown prince had yet to show up.

Perhaps an hour had passed.

Zaas Sidious could no longer endure the gloomy silence. He had a stern appearance and the look of a general of long-standing, but in fact he was the youngest of those present. He had been irritably clearing his throat for a while now.

“You, Walt, or whatever it was,” he turned the brunt of that irritation towards the battalion commander. He criticised him sharply about how, despite having volunteered to be part of the defence of their headquarters in the battle, he had disgracefully been captured after not only easily letting Gil’s forces through, but not even charging them from the rear.

“You, are you even a Mephian warrior? You should have stopped the enemy even if it meant holding on to them by the dragon’s ass.”

“Allow me to return those words to you.”

Walt was a man who had formerly survived death as a sword slave and who had splendidly won the gladiatorial tournament held for the country’s Founding Festival. Both of his cheeks were swollen due to the aftereffects of having been peppered with bullets but, contrary to his humorous appearance, he was subject to strong feelings.

“General Sidious, you also made mistakes. Simply because you wanted to fight Crown Prince Gil in single combat, you abandoned your Spear of Flames Division, allowing order in the ranks to collapse and letting the crown prince’s troops tear through them like paper.”

“What!” Zaas’ eyes flared monstrously. “You dare speak like that to me, one of the twelve generals? Fucking sword slave, looks like you didn’t receive a human education.”

“From the looks of it, one such as you, General Sidious, does not follow common courtesy either. If you are going to brag about being one of the twelve generals, I would appreciate it if you did so after having learned to wear the dignity of a general and especially after you earned the actual achievements of a general.”

The two of them kicked back their chairs.

Naturally, they did not carry any weapons but even so, they were warriors forged in actual combat. Now that they ended up grappling barehanded, things could well develop into their killing each other.

Looking as though he found it tiresome, Yuriah shifted his chair out of the way. In both physical appearance and mannerisms, he always looked younger than he actually was. On the other hand, Folker Baran, who was was now waiting motionlessly with his arms folded, was about to perfunctorily tell them to ''stop it'', as he had once held the position of commander, but in part because he also recoiled from pointless fights.

“You seem to have more than enough energy,” accompanying that cheerful voice, a new face appeared.

A strained expression appeared on each of their faces, including even Folker. Zaas glared at the newcomer with all the hatred he had failed to vent at Walt.

Gil Mephius.

Needless to say, the crown prince of Mephius. A man who was once believed to have died but who suddenly appeared to have resurrected in Apta; and who had then openly opposed the emperor’s advance on the West, which was why he and the forces led by Folker and the others had clashed. Having taken Birac, he now held the Western half of Mephius.

According to what Folker had heard since being put under lenient arrest, the troops stationed in Apta were currently being transferred to Birac. It seemed like something quite nondescript – ''but that too'' – thought Folker, directly displayed Gil Mephius’ skill.

In the past, ‘when he was still alive’, Gil Mephius had almost arbitrarily decided on friendship with the West. This last battle had also been for the sake of protecting the western region. Therefore, he must have been linked in promise with the West, and mainly with the city-state of Taúlia. Since he had no need to defend against the west, he could simply move the troops gathered in Apta to the east.

“What is this, not eating?”

While looking around at the untouched breakfast, Gil sat in his chair. He snapped his fingers to call a page. An extravagant breakfast soon started to be laid out before him. Unlike the generals’ food, which had already completely cooled, hot steam rose from it, and for a while, he wolfed it down in silence.

The crown prince had always hated formalities but having summoned the generals himself, he did not pay the slightest attention to them. When it looked like he was finally looking up, he snapped his fingers again and gave the page an order for a second helping of the egg dish. Having for the time being returned to his seat, Zaas’ face once more became suffused with irritation. Just when he was obviously about to start yelling something,

“Let’s get right to the point,” Gil began to speak as he wiped the edge of his mouth with a handkerchief. He swept his gaze around the faces of Walt and the assembled generals, including Zaas who had been taken aback in spite of himself. 

“Won’t you lend me your strength?” Gil Mephius asked.