Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume5 Chapter2 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

"Properly speaking," the soldier reminded them at length, "outsiders cannot be brought to the princess' residence without the lord's permission. This is a special case."

Pushing aside a hanging curtain and continuing down a corridor, they arrived at a section that was detached from the main building. There were figures on either side of the path that the mercenaries walked along. But although they certainly noticed Orba's decidedly strange appearance, they didn't obstruct them in any way.

"Princess, I've brought them. The mercenaries who have come from Mephius."

The princess' living room was much simpler than he had expected. When Esmena Bazgan appeared through a door that seemed to lead into her bedroom, a stinging pain stabbed at Orba's chest.

''She's grown thinner'', was the first thing he thought upon seeing the girl he hadn't met in about a month. Her full cheeks were sunken in, her eyes that should have been sparkling with curiosity were clouded, and her skin had turned paler.

The three of them bowed. On the way there, Shique had tied his hair up high. He had previously performed a sword dance in front of Esmena. As at the time he had worn make-up like in his gladiator days, just by changing his hairstyle, the impression he gave now should be completely different. With that, he would avoid any in-depth scrutiny.

"Thank you for taking the trouble to come here." The girl smiled but somehow seemed to have no energy.

The sunny room was always warm and pleasant, but because of the shutters, that atmosphere had completely disappeared.

"Please make yourselves comfortable. Have you finished your meal? I can have my ladies' maids prepare something."

"Please don't go to any trouble over us." Shique answered first so that Gilliam wouldn't be able to say "Some alcohol".

When the soldier who had guided them added "They seem to have been Imperial Guards to the crown prince," Esmena's expression changed.

"Then you have met His Highness Gil?" She asked enthusiastically.

From that moment, Esmena bombarded the mercenaries with questions. As long as it concerned the crown prince, she was curious about even the most trivial detail. The one who mostly dealt with this was of course Shique. Esmena listened with rapt attention, wearing the expression of a little girl whose mother was telling her one-by-one the heroic tales of Gil Mephius. The one which made an especially deep impression on her was the story of how the prince had saved the sword slaves from execution when they were falsely accused of having instigated the uproar at Seirin Valley,

"Ah, what a kind person..."

"Indeed. As he was a man of few words, misunderstandings occasionally arose around him, but he was a truly benevolent person."

"I know. He did not go about like a great hero with many feats of arms to his name but was a kind person with a somewhat bashful smile. I too received kind words from him."
[[Image:Rakuin no Monshou v05 071.jpg|thumb]]

She was about to nod smilingly when Esmena's expression suddenly clouded over. She lowered her eyes which had been so full of life a moment ago and her shoulders drooped dejectedly. Her long hair hung down on either side of her face and she looked for all the world like a puppet who had lost its strings.

"P-Princess, Princess."

The ladies' maids who took care of her rushed towards her. While she was being held by the shoulders, Esmena wiped her eyes.

"I'm alright. Yes, thank you." As the ladies' maids stepped back, Esmena gave a poor, weak smile. "I was praying to the Dragon Gods all along. That that lord couldn't be dead. Surely he was alive and would appear before me. While I was listening to your stories, I thought it was a somewhat childish wish. No, but I believe it. That that lord has surely hidden himself in order to accomplish great deeds somewhere..."

What had interrupted Esmena's words was that she had heard stifled laughter, completely unsuited to the situation.
Startled, Shique and Gilliam turned around. The quiet laughter was coming from Orba who had turned his face downwards. Esmena was taken aback,

"W-What is so funny?"

"Isn't this supposed to be funny? That Prince Gil is alive? He died. At Apta, through a trick of that foolish general, Oubary."

"I-I have heard so. But that lord..."

"No, wasn't that prince equally foolish? Since he wasn't able to see through his vassal's betrayal? As for his being a great hero, let me humbly say that the princess overestimates him."

"O-Orba,"

Ignoring Shique's whispered words, Orba continued,

"And the prince won't have rescued the slaves because he was kind or anything. Or rather, that's just nonsense. He looked down on slaves and their lives were nothing to him; they were bugs who had happened to land on his arm and because by chance he was in a good mood that day, he brushed them off without crushing them. He just did it on that kind of whim."

"Y-You..."

Gasping for breath, Esmena tried to stand up. But it had been a long time since she had put all her strength into her legs and she became dizzy from standing up too fast. She unconsciously shook off the hands of the ladies' maids who were reaching out to support her,

"Y-You are also one of those whom the prince saved. That you should so disdainfully..."

"I hate him. That man known as Mephius' Crown Prince, Gil Mephius. That sly, secretive sophist never showed anyone his inner heart and thoughts. He always seemed to be carrying some shady secret. Begging your pardon, but what does the princess know about the crown prince? He doesn't deserve a single one of your tears. That kind of man should just be forgotten."

"Y-You... You!"

The ladies' maids were astounded to the core when Esmena grabbed a vase from the table top and threw it with all her strength at Orba.

The vase shattered with a loud crash.

"Princess!"

"Y-You hateful person! Leave, get out of here right now. O-One as insolent as you will no longer be tolerated in Esmena Bazgan's chambers!"

"Princess, Princess. This is bad for your health. Please, please calm yourself. Oh Millie, please call the doctor."

"There is nothing wrong with me! This person is... This. Person is...!"

Esmena's face was flushed so red it was hard to believe that it had been so pale just a moment earlier, and her steel grey eyes that had been blurred with tears now burned in anger.

"Honestly, what a difficult princess. Because you said to tell you about Gil, I spoke honestly..."

"Orba, you stop it too! Alright, this way."

Shique rushed to escape from the room which had suddenly erupted into noise. The guards at the door were standing open-mouthed.

"What is it that made the princess raise her voice like that?"

"Just a little excitement. Right, let's go, Orba. It's past curfew and we'll be getting a good scolding from the Head of Barracks."

After the three Mephians had hurriedly left, Esmena clung to one of her maids and wept loudly. While tightly hugging her shoulders, the ladies' maids exchanged glances,

''At last,''  

''At last, she is crying''.

During the time Esmena had secluded herself in her room, she had sat alone without crying, nor of course without laughing. Not eating properly, barely moving within the room, she had seemed to become part of the furniture. Since Esmena always lavished her smiles on everyone without discrimination, when its mistress' heart appeared to have died, it felt as though the room itself had lost its liveliness and had been cast under an ominous shadow, and it had been heart-breaking for the ladies' maids who looked after her.

But now, Esmena's feelings had erupted and she was crying like a baby.

As they held her shoulders and rubbed her back, the ladies' maids also let their tears flow.


"You really are an absolute idiot!"

Gilliam gave Orba's shoulders a shove. Walking in front of him, Orba staggered but continued on without turning around.

"If the princess had remembered us favourably and if we'd stood out during the coming campaign, we would've gotten a much better offer than being mere mercenaries. Shique, it was a mistake to invite this guy along as a companion. Cut ties with him right now!"

"Stop screaming complaints, shut up."

"What? Then before cutting ties, how about I cut you through the neck?"

"Now, now. As for the princess remembering us favourably – Gilliam, you were so tense you didn't speak a single word. If you had stayed there any longer you would have suffocated."

"S-Shut up!"

"Orba," Shique called out to Orba from behind in a changed tone of voice. Orba merely turned his head around. "You, to Princess Esmena..."

"What?"

"Ah, no. Nothing."

Orba frowned suspiciously but then immediately turned back around.

While observing the boy's back, Shique wondered about something.

Seeing Princess Esmena's emaciated form, then seeing how she happily lost herself in listening to stories about the prince, of course Orba wouldn't be able to remain indifferent.

''Orba might have been superimposing someone's else's image on top of hers'', thought Shique.

In Taúlia once the sun went down, the day's heat dissipated surprisingly quickly and although the places were the same as they were at noon, they became unpleasantly chilly. On either side of the street, shops offering food and drink had started to hang up their lights.

Gilliam continued to complain for a long time.


At about the same time, Ax called his various commanding officers for a conference.

The formation of the reinforcements to Helio had finally been confirmed. The one who would be leading them was Bouwen Tedos. The mercenary force attached to the Fifth Army Corps would also be travelling with them.

"Although Helio is preparing to borrow reinforcements from all over, its political situation is unstable," said Ax. Bouwen stood to attention as he received his orders. "It's so brittle that it could collapse all at once if so much as a seam gets torn. Don't make any mistakes in reading the situation, Bouwen. If you need to retreat, retreat. This isn't yet the time to fight to the bitter end."

"Yes, Sir."

It was the first time Bouwen was appointed commander of as many as about six hundred soldiers. His young face was flushed and it seemed that within his breast, the drums of war were already resounding.

After the commanders had left, Ax's hand reached for his waist then stopped. When he was excited, it was his long-time habit to bang the war fan that hung at his waist against the palm of his hand.

"Now," Ax growled with an expression as ferocious as though the enemy were before his eyes while the strategist Ravan waited within the room. "That damn impostor pretending to be Garda. Even if he can deceive the other kings, he can't deceive me. I'll definitely tear off his mask."

Ravan didn't reply. On the table which had been used for the council of war were letters which had been received from each of the city-states. Requests for reinforcements and calls for a joint struggle – each country was taking steps against Garda's army. But among them, there was still no word from Cherik.