Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume10 Chapter3 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

The force that had left from Birac numbered about seven hundred. Three hundred infantry, a hundred and fifty cavalry. There were fifty dragoons on the fleet-footed, small-sized Tengo dragons, and the remaining two hundred were riflemen.

The one in command was the general of the Silver Axe Division, Odyne Lorgo.

Gilliam was part of a platoon of infantrymen.

Just in case, General Rogue also had troops organised and on standby inside and outside of Birac.

Orba himself, after watching his troops leave in the dead of night, was not in his bedroom but in his office. He could not command from the front lines in every battle from now on. Thinking of the ‘afterwards’, of the battles that would lead to victory against the Emperor, he would need to get used to sitting alone in his office like this, motionless and with his arms crossed.

''Afterwards… afterwards?''

A map was spread out on the office desk but Orba’s eyes had been shut for a while now. He had still not found a clear answer to the challenge that Folker Baran had thrust forward.

Inside the room, along with Orba, were three guards that Pashir had forcibly pushed onto him.

Princess Vileena, who had presented herself during the conversation with Raymond, had not afterwards interfered with anything to do with the battle.

“I leave this to you, Prince.” He had been hearing words to that effect earlier.

''Will we take Nedain today? If we take it, what will come ‘afterwards’?  The remaining major cities are Solon, Kilro and Idoro. If what Fedom says is true, Kilro’s lord, Indolph, will support us. In that case, Emperor Guhl will definitely send for the entire army to gather in Solon.''

Actually, they had received information that the troops of the twelve generals, scattered throughout the country, were already moving along the highways.

Solon being the capital city, military ships and army corps other than the one’s assigned to defend it were not originally allowed to enter. Which meant that they intended to put the entire army to use in protecting the capital.

''Well, whatever.''

Orba opened his eyes and stopped thinking about the far-off future. Outside the window, it was pitch black. The wind seemed to have risen since earlier.

The seven hundred troops led by Odyne were marching through that wind.

Since the bridge over the River Zwimm, which separated Birac from Nedain, would naturally be under watch, they did what Raymond had done when he was coming to Birac and travelled north while keeping an eye on the highways.

Raymond was leading the way. Just like a fully-fledged warrior, a sword was hanging at his waist and he was carrying a gun on his back. And of course, his sister’s paper flower was an unobtrusive splash of white decorating his breast.

They marched while sending scouts to investigate their surroundings and check that there were no soldiers lying in ambush along the highway. Three times they hailed the sunrise.

When there was less than half a day to the appointed time, the soldiers on guard had vanished from along the road.

Scouts disguised as pedlars went flying to the relay station towns to gather information; there they heard rumors of some kind of disturbance within the town, and that the soldiers had hurriedly been called back. Upon receiving that news, Odyne and Raymond exchanged looks on horseback.

“Right!”

Odyne set his resolve, crossed along the highway and left it when they were at the north of Nedain.

The sun set once more.

They arrived at the quarry less than an hour afterwards. Odyne halted his warhorse and sent three riders in reconnaissance.

They soon returned and reported that there were many lights around the quarry.

The Abigoal troops, no doubt. They had succeeded in luring them out, just as planned.

Sitting on horseback, Raymond could feel his blood simmer and seethe. He wondered if this was what it was like, the atmosphere on the battlefield. He had no experience of war itself but he felt as though if he abandoned his consciousness to the torrent of blood currently coursing throughout his entire body, he would be able to hunt the heads of ten, or even a hundred enemy soldiers.

Odyne gave the order to advance once more.

He had the riflemen go ahead so that they could fire a first volley. The enemy lights would make good targets. After that round of shooting, there would be no more need for caution. They would close the distance in one swoop and descend upon the enemy from the rear.

Raymond realised that he was unsheathing his sword without even being aware that he was doing so. Actually, for the past two hours or more, he had been grasping the hilt so strongly it hurt. Because his tension was at its height.

''Boyce, you bastard, are you somewhere within this net?''

He believed that he must be. If possible, he wanted to strike him down with his own hands.

For Raymond, who had lived a life unrelated to warfare, it was a dangerous thing to believe that victory was already theirs.

He calmly whipped his horse and drove it forward.

At that moment, a furious peel of thunder rolled overhead. Or at least, that was the illusion that assailed Raymond, so violent was what happened.

The thunder rolled, and rolled, and with each thunderbolt, soldiers were shaken off their horses. The previous quiet was utterly transformed, and the surroundings were filled with blood, the neighing of horses, and the bellows of soldiers.

Riflemen had been lying concealed in the forest to their left. Because their attention had been focused on the lights in front of them, they had completely failed to notice their presence. Odyne’s side, which should have been the one launching a surprise attack, was suddenly caught in a fusillade.

The corpse of a cavalryman collapsed towards Raymond. A bullet had pierced through his head and, seeing his tongue hang loosely from his mouth, Raymond’s mind went blank. He shook him off in a panic and the soldier fell from his horse. Because his foot was caught in the stirrup, the body was dragged along as the horse broke into a run.

In that same interval, bullets rattled and more soldiers fell.

When he wondered whether the thunder had finally stopped, this time it was from in front of them that voices echoed.

A group cavalrymen led by Boyce Abigoal.

The riflemen that Odyne had sent ahead collapsed without any resistance.

“General!”

Gilliam, bending down, did not need to urge him.

“Retreat, retreat, retreat!” From horseback, Odyne repeatedly yelled the same word.

One after another, the horses turned around and galloped back along the way they had come. For a moment, Raymond was almost left behind.

“What are you doing? This way, hurry!”

Gilliam, who had been at the end of the column, rushed over and forcibly led him away. Raymond followed him, all but unconscious. Sweat, tears, and mucus flowed across his entire face. Within his narrow chest, his heart was drumming so fast that it might burst out at any moment.

He was already far away from that warrior-like state of mind in which he had believed that he could defeat any number of enemies. Now, he just wanted to flee into a silence with neither gunshots nor war cries.

“Are you there, Raymond?” Boyce’s voice sounded like it was just behind him. “You escaping, you coward? I’ve got your little sister.”

It would be a long time before Raymond would be able to decide whether that was an auditory hallucination born of fear or a real voice.

Odyne’s troops fled for dear life along the road to Birac. Among the infantrymen, some deliberately chose to stop and fight so as to halt their pursuers. Were the screams that echoed at Raymond’s back their shouts as they released fire, or were they their death throes?

It was an utter rout.

They ran south of Nedain for several dozen kilometres. They stopped once on the banks of the Zwimm. They had somehow managed to shake off pursuit, but many had fallen by the wayside. Now, less than half of them remained.

“We need to send a messenger to His Highness,” said Odyne as he was organising formation.

Raymond volunteered.

Although he had managed to free himself from the panic that had gripped him during their escape, with the return of sanity, Raymond felt as though he were being strangled by bitter regrets and self-condemnation.

''I was under suspicion.''

He had tried to act with the utmost caution. But because he was not used to these kinds of things, he must surely have committed any number of serious mistakes. He had fallen into the enemy trap, laid right before his nose.

For a brief while, Odyne stared into Raymond’s eyes. The general’s face was plastered in mud and clotted blood.

“Alright, go,” he gave his permission in only few words.

Raymond set his expression firmly and once again galloped on horseback towards Birac.

Three days later, he was kneeling before Gil and reporting their defeat.

“I am deeply sorry. Because of my incompetence…”

The dam that had been holding back his feelings burst. Teardrops fell one after another onto the back of his hands which were pressed against the floor. Most of the labourers who were supposed to stage the uprising had probably lost their lives. No, perhaps they had all been massacred. Moreover –

“My estate will surely also have been attacked. There were children that we were looking after there. What’s happened to them? M-My sister, Louise, too... what’s happened to her? Boyce has been infatuated with her for a long time now…”

He continued helplessly prattling on to the prince. Louise was a follower of the Badyne faith in which suicide was prohibited. He did not know whether that was lucky or unlucky, considering the calamity which must have befallen her. And anyway, women of the Badyne faith were obliged to marry the one they had given their chastity to. Violently assaulted, torn between doctrine and despair, how could he begin to imagine his little sister’s suffering?

Vileena was also present and listened with a sorrowful expression to his tearful reminiscences.

“Y-Your Highness,” Raymond Peacelow clung to Gil’s cloak, “Please lend me two hundred, no, even just a hundred soldiers. In exchange for my life, I will definitely, definitely show you how I’ll kill Jairus and Boye. Your Highness, please!”

“Your Highness!” Vileena cried, momentarily startled.

Gil seemed to stoop for a second, grabbed Raymond by the nape of his neck and yanked him up. Then he hit him hard across the side of the face. Raymond tumble to the office’s floor.

Gil walked up to him, almost trampling on his head.

“If I assign soldiers to you, those hundred or two hundred men will die in vain.

“Y-Your Highness…”

“Do you think that this defeat is your responsibility? Don’t be so full of yourself. I made the decision. And I let the soldiers die helplessly.”

“…”

“Call Rogue,” Orba ordered the page to summon Rogue Saian.

After quickly explaining the situation, all he asked was, “Can you leave?”

“Aye,” the veteran general clicked his heels together. His preparations were set so that they were ready for whenever the order came to head for the front.

“The enemy only consisted of the Abigoal House’s troops, which means that reinforcements haven’t arrived from Solon yet. Leave at once and join up with Odyne. Subjugate the soldiers posted along the highway.”

“Aye.”

“But if the enemy draws back into Nedain city, avoid pursuing after them. Set up formation in the surrounding area. As to where…” Orba pointed to a place on the map spread out on the table. “The cannons and airships go by carrier, the soldiers over land.”

This defeat was naturally a hard blow for Orba. He had, from the start, been walking the path of warfare because he detested those in power and hated tyrants. He felt nothing but seething anger towards Jairus and Boyce. And because of that, it was necessary to make his second move calmly and accurately.

''To simply accept defeat'' – that would be a disgrace for the crown prince’s army. They risked losing in one go the momentum that had seized Birac and it would be bad if the surroundings heard about it. It would influence the attitude of the lords and generals. There was absolutely no sense in wasting time now.

“Raymond.”

“A-Aye.”

Raymond, who had still been stretched out on the floor just as when he had been hit, hurriedly scrambled to his knees.

“Accompany General Rogue. You’re familiar with the area. Guide them to set up camp.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Since Jairus knew about the insurrection, the villages might also have come to harm. Rogue, when defending the villages, try to add to our forces by encouraging the people to join. If it goes well, we might be able to threaten Jairus from within Nedain as well.”

Rogue bowed his head deeply.

In any case, it was probably widely known in Solon and Nedain that the crown prince had narrowed down his target to that city. It would have an effect. The significance would be especially huge for the people who had been enduring Jairus’ oppression.

Without wasting any time, Rogue Saian departed with five hundred soldiers and two air carriers loaded with supplies.

Around the same time, Boyce Abigoal, greatly puffed up at having personally driven away the army of the Impostor Crown Prince – the same which had seized Birac – started raiding the area’s villages as violently as though they had been an enemy nation, all in the name of ‘hunting the remnants’ of the insurrection.

He would come up with some pretext to snatch away money and goods, then murder the men and rape the women. As far as Boyce was concerned, there was no need to concern himself over the Nedain territory anymore. Since a nomination to the twelve generals awaited him in the near future.

And it was for that reason that he was in a village barn and almost leapt out of his skin when Rogue and Odyne’s combined military forces started advancing to the roar of cannon fire.

“What are the lookouts doing?” He yelled while separating himself from the girl he had just been pinning down, but it was already too late.

Compared to Raymond, who frequently visited the villages and who was thoroughly acquainted with the local topography, the arrangement of guards that Boyce had spread out was full of holes. And of course, Rogue and Odyne far surpassed him in leading soldiers.

There was some fighting but it was a completely hopeless situation and, in the end, Boyce Abigoal had no choice but to flee to Nedain without even having the time to straighten his clothes.

And just as Orba had predicted, the effect on the villages surrounding the city was huge. They gathered about five hundred young men who volunteered “to join as a soldier”.

This was not only because of their resentment against Jairus and Boyce. It was because they feared that if the Abigoal family was not driven from the territory, every village in the area would be set alight.

Afterwards, following Gil’s orders, Rogue and Odyne set up camp at a location some thirty kilometres west of Nedain.

Raymond Peacelow guided the two generals through the area and, putting his knowledge of the terrain to good use, recommended where to deploy their soldiers. One day, at dusk, he and a few soldiers headed for the northern quarry.

The corpses had cruelly been left scattered around. Dolph’s was among them. His eyes were open wide, as though in regret.

Raymond wept uncontrollably as he buried them.

When he afterwards went into the man-made cave where the labourers had been staying, he noticed the artificial flower that was still fastened to the wall. Although it should have been glimmering a gentle white, it was steeped in the colour of dark red blood.

Raymond plucked it from the wall and, along with the one which had been decorating his breast, he gently laid them down at the top of the hill on which they had all been buried.

''I swear.''

Raymond murmured within his heart. He knew that if he opened his mouth now, all that would escape from it would be cowardly weeping.

''Right now, all I can offer you are paper flowers, but I will, without fail, bring you the heads of the Abigoal father and son, Jairus and Boyce. Without fail.''