Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume6 Chapter5 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

The time had finally come.

Resolve burst from Raswan's brow like sparks struck from a flint. His eyes were stretched open wide and as he marched roughly forward, his usual cold expression replaced by one so different that he seemed like another person.

It was in that state that Raswan, fully armed and with more than twenty soldiers following behind him, appeared before the castle gate. The soldiers too wore helmets and armour. Only one in that group was not carrying a weapon: a lone middle-aged man. His face was pale and he appeared to be considerably agitated.

“What is going on?”

It was no wonder that the soldiers standing guard looked astonished. Incidentally, the soldiers acting as guardsmen for Taúlia’s castle – which could more aptly be called a manor – were subordinates of Toún Bazgan, Raswan’s father.

Without stating his business, Raswan simply said, “I’m going in. Move.”

“I will go and fetch Lord Toún. Please wait a moment,” sensing a somewhat dangerous atmosphere, one of the guards headed away from the gate. The gleam of his sword aimed at that soldier’s back signalled the start of Raswan Bazgan’s uprising.

Blood spurted and screams broke out from the assembled court servants. Raswan expressionlessly stepped over the guard’s corpse. He and the soldiers entered the castle.

The guards there couldn’t hide how shaken they were at facing Toún’s son Raswan. Above all, the vigour with which he strode through the castle was no ordinary thing. He gave the impression that if you approached him he would cut you down. Perhaps because the soldiers were overwhelmed by this, Raswan proceeded unimpeded into the castle.

The guards in front of the massive doors to the audience chamber however held their spears crossways and barred his path.

“Stand back.”

“Stand down!”

They shouted in unison but here again Raswan didn’t waste his breath and resorted to force of arms. In the blink of an eye he cut down his fellow countrymen and soldiers, and wrenched open the imposing door to the throne room.

Within were Queen Jaina and Archduke Hirgo Tedos. They were in the middle of a meeting with the goodwill envoys had been sent from the various western countries. Having of course heard the commotion, they had all risen from their seats and had been on the verge of fleeing. Screams arose from the delegates at the sight of Raswan’s drawn and bloody blade, and even Jaina gasped.

At that point, fifty or so soldiers led by Toún Bazgan belatedly drew up behind Raswan. They glared at his soldiers who were blockading the still open door. Both sides unsheathed their swords simultaneously but Toún was so shaken and confused upon learning of his son’s actions that he was unable to give any orders.

“Raswan!” He called out loudly but Raswan neither answered his father nor even turned to look at him, merely fixing his gaze on the throne with eyes as piercing as a hawk’s.

“Have you gone mad, Raswan?” Archduke Hirgo shouted. He was the adoptive father of Bouwen Tedos, the commander of the Fifth Army Corps, and had served since the time of Ax’s father.

Raswan’s mouth twisted into a sneer.

“Mad? No, I have come to claim my rights as a legitimate descendant of the Bazgan line. Since that throne appears to be empty, won’t you give it to me?”

“What nonsense is this!” A tremor passed through Jaina’s cheeks. Her daughter Esmena greatly resembled her and she was usually a very gentle woman, but her expression now was markedly different from that usual. “This throne belongs to the father of the country, my husband Ax Bazgan. You should know that well!”

“The Bazgan throne is the throne of Zer Tauran. Isn’t that Ax’s favourite phrase?”

“What has that got to do with your behaviour?” Hirgo shouted over Raswan’s head to a point behind him. “Toún, seize this lunatic. For all that he is your son, this is nothing less than rebellion against Taúlia!”
[[Image:Rakuin no Monshou v06 193.jpg|thumb]]
The soldiers on both sides were as tense as a drawn bowstring, keeping watch for any sign of movement. But,

“Now, now. Hang on,” Raswan, the person responsible for this mayhem, spoke with startling nonchalance. “I’ve brought someone with me. Let’s first of all hear what he has to say.”

As he spoke, Raswan drew towards him the middle-aged man who was the only unarmed member of his group. He was a craftsman from the town. His face had been drained of all colour from the sudden bloodshed. His breathing was ragged and he seemed about to collapse at any moment.

But the words spoken by that nondescript man threw the hall into turmoil.

“Ridiculous,” Hirgo groaned but even his face had gone pale.

According to the man, roughly half a year earlier one of Governor-General Ax Bazgan’s subordinates had come to see him and had requested that he make a war fan. Moreover, he had asked that it be made to look the same as the one which usually hung from Ax’s waist. He had described the design of the handle in particularly minute detail. The handle of Ax’s favourite war fan encased the sovereign’s seal of the Magic Dynasty. 

“You all remember it, don’t you?” As though to thoroughly observe the unrest caused by the man’s testimony, Raswan slowly swept his gaze around his surroundings. “Governor-General Ax Bazgan was captured at Apta during the campaign against Mephius. After that, Taúlia and Mephius suddenly made peace. Do you remember what was said at the time when the war fan disappeared for a while from his waist?”

“You, what are you trying to say?” Jaina asked, her face ashen. Raswan chuckled softly.
“Are further words necessary? Governor-General Ax had the fan, and thus the sovereign’s seal of the Magic Dynasty, stolen from him by Gil Mephius. It was then used to threaten him into binding us in alliance with Mephius. As a member of the Bazgan House, no as a Zerdian, to have lost the sovereign’s seal is a dishonour. Yet Ax went further and in order to deceive those around him, he had this man make a substitute fan.”

The hall erupted into a furore. As Toún’s men looked at each other, Raswan alone listened coldly to his own words. The middle-aged man he had brought along was certainly a craftsman but he had in reality received no request from Ax to make a war fan. As Ax certainly understood that this was a situation which could influence the entire country, Raswan had not immediately been able to uncover any evidence. Ax had probably commissioned it abroad where he could conceal his identity. Or perhaps he had sealed the mouth of the craftsman who made the fan by having him killed in secret?

If he had a little more time, he would have investigated in more detail but he was in a hurry to press on. He had reluctantly and at great cost hired this man who was well-known within Taúlia. Naturally, since he would become a hindrance in the future, Raswan intended to kill him quickly and pretend that he had gotten caught up in the drama of the rebellion.

However that may be, the hall was pulsing with agitation. Raswan took the opportunity to raise his voice.

“That damn Ax no longer has the right to be the head of the Bazgan House. Don’t you agree? I will take back the war fan with my own hands. Don’t we need a new ruler who will push anew for the revival of Zer Tauran?”

“D-Don’t be absurd,” sensing that the mood within the hall was turning, Hirgo also spoke in a deliberately loud voice as he inched his way towards Raswan. “Enough of your speculations. We should verify all this when his lordship returns. Since you deliberately chose a time when he was away, your schemes are as clear as day. Pull back here, Raswan. No matter what the circumstances, your actions are inexcusable.”

“You still don’t get it? If his lordship returns, then what? Do you think that Ax, who has had the sovereign’s seal snatched away from him and who has lost the right to be governor-general, will be able to overcome Garda? Now that the threat is closing in on the whole of the west, Taúlia needs a new leader.”

“I told you to pull back. Stand down now before it is too late.”

Even at the best of times, Raswan was an irascible man. When things didn’t go the way he wanted, creases would wrinkle his brow. He was filled with ample resolve and his nerves were stretched to breaking point for this grand, once-in-a-lifetime performance.

As the distance was short, Hirgo was unable to see it coming. At that moment, Raswan’s right arm swept upwards and brandished his sword, still dripping with blood, over his shoulder.

“Archduke!”

Jaina’s cry was too late. In one strike, Raswan’s blade tore through Archduke Hirgo Tedos from his right shoulder to his chest. Hirgo staggered, a bloody froth dribbled from his mouth then he collapsed backwards. For a moment, there was complete silence.

“S-Seize him!”

Now that it had come to this point, even Toún was forced to make a decision. He waved his right hand and gave his men the order to attack.

A bunch of spears gleamed within the hall. But the spearheads pointed towards Raswan amounted to no more than twenty. Of the remainder, twenty were turned against their comrades and ten were pointed at Toún himself who had just given that order. He had been about to draw his sword and personally charge forward but was stopped in his tracks.

“You bastards,” he muttered in blank surprise as he stared at his subordinates’ faces. He didn’t know of course. That his men who were supposed to come rushing in reinforcement were all being held back in front of the castle gate. More than fifty of the soldiers who followed Raswan were there with their weapons at the ready.

“These are Lord Toún’s orders,” they announced and allowed nobody to pass inside. To make matters worse, the one who was leading them was the vice-commander and Toún’s right-hand man. No one except Toún Bazgan had the authority to countermand his orders, and Toún was inside the castle. Thus the soldiers who came running from elsewhere were disposed of.

Raswan didn’t spare a single glance for his father who was faced with those spears. He looked down at Hirgo’s remains at his feet and, his eyes dark, he muttered:

“I’ll declare war on Mephius and definitely take back the sovereign’s seal with my own hands. And then, Zer Tauran will be restored.”



At that moment, Ax’s daughter Esmena Bazgan had only just returned to her chambers. She had come back from paying a get-well visit to Bouwen who had been moved to a room inside the palace.

Esmena was relieved that her childhood friend’s health seemed to be improving steadily. It was just that having lost so many of his men, he couldn’t help but feel depressed.

“I wonder if there is some way of cheering Bouwen up.”

“You should go and visit him every day, Princess. Lord Bouwen will feel better from that alone.”

“Is that right?”

“That it is.”

“You are all smiling very strangely.”

In fact, the ladies’ maid found it heart-warming and lovely how Esmena was busying herself over Bouwen. As for being in low spirits recently, it was the same for Esmena. While worrying about her childhood friend’s health, the princess’ body and mind were gradually recovering and that made the ladies’ maids happier than anything.

The sunlight was warm; it was just another peaceful day.

Moments later, the atmosphere inside the palace changed completely.

The soldiers guarding the inner quarters thought that they could hear violent footsteps running.

“It seems like there is some kind of disturbance inside the castle. Princess, please don’t set a foot outside of here.” Having said that, they ran off with the same energy that they had arrived with.

Esmena’s heart started pounding.

After that, the ladies’ maids went out in turn and brought back the information they had received from the guards. When Esmena heard that soldiers led by Raswan Bazgan were attempting to seize control in the audience chamber, she felt as though reality was crashing down. She did not have a particularly good impression of Raswan but she would naturally never have imagined that he would plot a rebellion.

It went on. News flew that even Archduke Hirgo Tedos had been cut down. It also seemed that the castle gates were being blockaded and that the other soldiers would not be able to rush in to help. Which meant that the castle’s military strength amounted to the thirty men who were guarding the inner quarters. They had held a discussion behind the locked doors and had apparently agreed that when the time came, they would go and cross swords with the soldiers who were holding the gates.

The ladies’ maids were also thrown into a furore. At the head maid’s instructions, they were piling up sofas and desks in front of the door to build a temporary barricade.

''Lord Gil''. Amidst the flurry of her surroundings, Esmena felt like she wanted to collapse on her bed. Now when her father was away on the battlefield, the only one she could rely on was but a memory.

“Lord Bouwen has left his room,” the lady’s maid who had volunteered to act as liaison with the outside informed them through a gap at the door. “The overseer for the pageboys wanted to stop him but he was carrying a sword and glaring so fiercely it sent him running.”

A sound caught in Esmena’s throat. Archduke Hirgo Tedos was Bouwen’s adoptive father. He must want revenge. Even though he was recovering, he had been badly injured in battle. Could Bouwen really stand up to Raswan alone?

Ah, as Esmena rubbed her shoulders, she felt as though everything she knew was crumbling away. Her father wasn’t here, Archduke Hirgo had been slain, even Bouwen was hurrying towards the jaws of death. Even though the sun had risen on what should have been a normal day like all the others. Thinking about how the world had changed completely in so short a time caused her to feel almost dizzy and Esmena unsteadily sat down on her bed.

Unconsciously she reached for a packet that was leaning beside the bed and hugged it close. Simply from that, she felt as though it were transmitting warmth to her.

''This is the proof of Mephius' alliance with Taúlia''.

She would never be able to forget that voice with which the parcel was handed over.

Originally, it had been a gift from Gil Mephius to her father, Ax Bazgan. However, having brought it back, Esmena did not immediately hand it over to her father nor did she check its no doubt valuable contents, but instead hung on to it for a while. That was unusual for the docile Esmena. She had wanted to bask in the lingering scent of her one encounter with Prince Gil at Apta and for that she was prepared to afterwards face her father’s wrath.

A few days later, she had finally been about to deliver it to him when news of Prince Gil’s death had struck her ears like the toll of a bell announcing the end of the world. Gil’s death and these events happening now all seemed like a bad dream.

''A nightmare. Yes, a nightmare. I have been tormented for so long by a nightmare''.

From the depths of darkness, the sorcerer who claimed to be Garda was calling Esmena’s name. From the other side of those piled up shadows, hands stretched out to grab her hair and shoulders. Esmena felt that these current events were all a continuation of the nightmare that had once afflicted her. 

''Lord Gil, please come quickly. Dispel the demons that have taken hold of Taúlia. Dispel my bad dreams. Please''.

As Esmena shut her eyes and held the parcel tight, taking refuge in the warmth of her memories, an eerie laugh crossed her mind.

Startled, her eyes flew wide open. For a moment, it had sounded like Garda’s loud laughter which has terrified her so many times in her nightmares.

''Isn't this supposed to be funny? That Prince Gil is alive?''

But it was a laugh that had been uttered by the Mephian gladiator that she had invited to her chambers previously.

''Gil is dead''.

''Begging your pardon, but what does the princess know about the crown prince? That kind of man should just be forgotten''.

Esmena’s shoulders trembled. Now, the words of that insolent gladiator sounded to her like a rebuke from Gil himself.

She certainly knew nothing about Prince Gil. She didn’t have the right to cry and indulge in sentiment. But… But even so, she felt like she understood. Crown Prince Gil Mephius would certainly scold her if he could see her now.

How would she appear to him, this woman who was crying and frightened, who could only beg for help when the country was in danger?

Esmena Bazgan’s steel-grey eyes were clouded with tears, but determination flickered within them. And when she once more picked up the parcel, she understood its meaning for the first time.