Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume5 Chapter5 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

"Move, move!"

Men clad in red armour were walking along the main streets of Helio. Although they weren't being chased away by especially loud voices, the people had almost all disappeared and the Red Hawks mercenaries haughtily swaggered on.

On the day Helio fell, they had been the ones to lay waste to the city. They had gone into every private house hunting for Helio's regular soldiers who were being sheltered there, but their purpose didn't stop there. The soldiers has snatched everything that caught their eye, had dragged young girls into the open alleyways, had killed any man who opposed them and had wrecked entire houses.

And so the people locked their doors and hid so as not the catch the mercenaries' eye. Only one elderly person watched the soldiers from a second-floor window of a merchant's house, but when they saw that the soldiers were pulling old-fashioned cannons in their midst, they drew back from the window, trembling fearfully, tightly clutching their frightened grandchildren.

The Red Hawks mercenaries were headed towards the Dragon Gods temple.

As could be expected, only men who acknowledged Garda as the high priest of the Dragon Gods were awarded positions as leaders and Garda's army had not once attacked a temple or a shrine. But there was a rumour that Helio's soldiers were hidden within it. The previous day, mercenaries from the Red Hawks had intruded in on it to perform a search, but the priests had driven them out, saying,

"Those bearing swords cannot enter. Besides, today a messenger from Garda is here."

Not so long ago, fear of strife with Garda's army would have made the mercenaries withdraw, but now they had an awareness that Helio was theirs. Drinking and rioting until morning had spurred their hatred.

Then one of them started to talk big.

"Garda's army is just a collection of troops from different countries. They can't stand up to us who are united in ruling one country."

"Right, if they fight back, we'll chase them out of the city," an artillery captain named Wadim added fervently.
And so it had turned into a march in which they pulled out guns. Their purpose was of course to flush out Helio's soldiers, but it seemed that the means had already turned into the end. As though to satisfy their childish desire for revenge, they positioned their guns before the temple.

Wadim was himself a Zerdian but through long association with foreigners in the course of his life as a mercenary, his awe and piety towards the Dragon Gods had completely faded away. There had been from the start a great number of ruffians with guilty consciousness among the Red Hawks. As they now ruled a country, their state of mind was naturally that of men who feared not even the gods.

They began ostentatiously heating the iron cannon balls <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heated_shot Heated] [http://www.hotshotfurnace.com/hotshothistory.html shot] is the practice of heating round shot before firing from muzzle-loading cannons, for the purpose of setting fire to enemy warships, buildings, or equipment.</ref> in front of the temple. It was a declaration of their intention to fire them one by one. Not surprisingly, the priests within the temple turned pale but,

"Please wait."

An unexpected person appeared.

Marilène. Just as for the Zerdian queens of yore, her handmaidens were holding the long, trailing veil that adorned her head. Marilène liked dressing up in this way when she went out during the day. It was a way of showing her own power.

"Well met, our lady queen," Wadim bowed in a fairly courteous manner. However, there was no trace of reverence in the stealthy glance he stole of the queen's sensual figure.

He gave a faint, fleeting sneer,

''A woman who'll switch from one man to another to protect her life and her position''.

It would have been one thing had it have stopped at scorn, but Marilène now drew the people of Helio's hatred even more than she had before. The queen was the only one who had managed to maintain the same political power as before Greygun became king. Most of the soldiers and nobles who had opposed the Red Hawks' insurrection had been killed, and those who were still alive had all been arrested. It was said that they were treated like animals.

''Marilène was the one who ushered in Greygun and Garda's army''.

That rumour was repeated as though it were the truth and it seemed that now, for the people, Marilène was seen as more deserving of their hatred than even Greygun or Garda.

Even Wadim and his ilk referred to her simply as 'the boss' woman'. But for all that, they didn't fear her in the slightest. However,

"Kindly take yourselves away at once," she said slightingly. She gave an aloof tilt of her chin and gazed coldly at Wadim. Her way of talking was exactly as though she were requesting that pebbles be removed from her path as they were obstructing her walk.

Wadim's face turned red.

"I-I do not believe that I will be able to take our lady queen's words into account. King Greygun has ordered that we capture every last one of Helio's soldiers. If you protect those who object to our search, then no matter how much you may be the queen..."

"And what did you mean to say by 'no matter how much I may be the queen'?" Wadim remained silent. Although he was a good head taller than the queen, he felt as though he was being looked down upon from an immensely high place. "I frequently come by here. If the priests and priestesses were sheltering soldiers, I would have noticed. However I have not seen any soldiers here, yourselves excepted."

"B-But..."

At that, the queen brought the back of her hand to her lips and gave a high-pitched laugh.

"But how very excessive of you to come to such a place pulling cannons and wearing full armour. There are none here who carry swords or spears. Who on earth within the Dragon Gods faith could possibly injure you?"

As she said that, Wadim and the others who had come ready and fully armed now felt like they were childishly storming a playground, and the former dignity of their full armour was now nothing but an embarrassment to them.

''Sh-Shit!''

Although no one other than Marilène was laughing, Wadim felt as though the people of Helio were peeping out from every nook and cranny, and that their faces all wore scornful smiles.

"T-This," even so, Wadim gave Marilène his best glare and said, "I have no choice but to report this to the king."

"Do as you please. Now then, have you done with your business? If so, you should leave."

Marilène's expression didn't change in the slightest. Her plump lips still curved into a smile and she entered the temple before Wadim's eyes.


It was not long since the sun had sunk over the horizon.

After she had taken a bath and as her handmaidens were combing out her hair, the clatter of Greygun's violent footsteps was heard approaching Marilène's room. As Marilène had not yet finished getting ready, there was a slight altercation at the door but as there was currently no one who could oppose Greygun, it was roughly flung open.

As Greygun advanced with long strides, it was as though a wild beast had been smuggled into the Court. However,

"Well, my dear lord," Marilène called out with the same cool smile she had shown Wadim. She had called him this since the day of her becoming Greygun's wife had first drawn near. Neither her voice nor her expression were those of a woman who had been toyed with by fate and hurled into cruel misfortune. Instead she gave the impression of having grown used to dealing with men who sought to obtain her.

Perhaps because of that, it stocked the fire of Greygun's anger.

"It seems you got in the soldiers' way," Helio's new king hurled out angrily.

The handmaidens silently shrank back. It was no wonder. What Greygun had done on the day he was proclaimed king was known throughout Helio. At daybreak, he had summoned the captive nobles to his presence and had them swear loyalty to himself.

He beheaded those who refused.

"Disloyal," he had called them.

He also beheaded those who pledged their loyalty.

"Those who easily switch allegiance aren't worthy of trust," he had smiled.

Even his barred teeth were stained with the blood that had spurted from his victims. Tens of corpses rolled at Greygun's feet, and it was said that they had been left where they were during the feast for his coronation.

Marilène had her handmaidens, who had quite lost their voices from fear, withdraw from her room.

"It was the temple that the sorcerer from Garda's army was visiting. If even a single soldier lay concealed there, he would have been noticed immediately and long since been captured. Was that not rather a fool's errand?"

She spoke as though completely indifferent to Greygun's anger. Naturally, Greygun was fully aware of what she had pointed out. Furthermore, if the soldiers had attacked the temple and caused him to incur the displeasure of Garda's army, it would be awkward for him. He was aware that Marilène's actions had safeguarded his own position.

Whispered slander and malicious gossip notwithstanding, Marilène was a queen of noble lineage. To make such a queen his wife, Greygun had worked his utmost to become a 'king', but it was difficult for he who had come from the lowest social layer to rid himself of his inferiority complex. Marilène had understood that and in her outward behaviour towards him, she always raised him up to the standing of a 'king', such as how she had just now called to him 'my dear lord'. And yet, it was irritating. ''It appears that someone like you can't even stop your own soldiers from acting according as they please''  – how long would it be before she openly spoke her scorn?
"This is my country. I will take charge of everything."

"Would you say the same thing to the sorcerer, Garda?"

"What?"

An enigmatic smile broke over Marilène's face. Greygun's eyes blazed.

''Is this vixen reading my thoughts?''

In truth, Greygun had trouble dealing with the sorcerers who called themselves Garda's direct subordinates. These were the men who handed down direct orders to Moldorf and the other officers. No sooner had their forces entered Helio than they demanded a hundred sacrifices. And thus they announced that from here on, once every two days, he would offer up ten young men and women. At first, Greygun had thought it was a joke. If a tiny city-state was to do that, it would very soon perish. But when he received the sorcerers' icy glares from beneath their hoods, it felt like his own body temperature dropped.
[[Image:Rakuin no Monshou v05 193.jpg|thumb]]

Besides which, it was said that new troops from Eimen would soon be sent to Helio as reinforcements for Garda's army. If their numbers increased, then no matter how much he might call himself 'king', Greygun didn't think that he would be able to control them.

The kingdom that Greygun had finally obtained after being born on a battlefield and having gone through countless battles was already giving off the stench of death and ruin.

Swallowing these various thoughts, Greygun put force into his voice,

"Anyway, don't just act as you please from now on."

"Even so," Marilène laughed in her rich voice, "As there is already a rumour that you, my dear lord, are being henpecked by the queen, your position can't be said that be that of an imposing king..."

Her chin was suddenly jerked upwards and Marilène stopped talking.

Greygun's glaring eyes were right next to hers. And yet, her smile was unperturbed.

The eyes that scorned him were like those of a witch and like those of a young girl's.

After her chin, Greygun seized Marilène's arm and forcibly made her stand, then threw her down on the canopied bed.

Then immediately was on top of her.

"Don't say anything more," he sealed her lips. Holding her down, he wished to waste no time in confirming that Marilène was entirely his. The woman who had three times been queen did not fight him. But Greygun couldn't help but feel her icy, scornful gaze as she allowed him to stroke her skin.