Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume6 Chapter2 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

“Garda tricked us,” at the meeting set up within Cherik’s castle, King Yamka the Second made his appeal in tears.
Invited there were Ax and several commanders. Representing Helio were Lasvius and his second-in-command from the Dragoon Corps. 

“You were tricked. And you think that explains everything?” If Ravan Dol had been at the meeting, he would have rebuked his master at that point, but unfortunately the elderly strategist was still unconscious. Ax’s stern face was flushed scarlet. “The fact that Cherik joined hands with Garda is a fact proven beyond doubt. Let’s hear your reasons, what kind of sweet promises tempted you and what the hell were you thinking mobilising your soldiers and turning your bayonets against my Taúlia?”

“W-We didn’t think that we would be setting ourselves up against Taúlia. That was, those soldiers at the border were only there to protect the country after we heard that Helio had fallen and…”

“In that case, you sure moved quickly. Your soldiers left Cherik with amazing speed and took up formation by the border before the battle at the Coldrin Hills had even ended.”

Ax jabbed at him with his words. His head down, Yamka passed his hands through his thinning hair over and over again, then, wiping his sweat away,

“Garda’s forces sent me a threatening letter. Attack Helio from behind or you will be the next target. Naturally I didn’t give in to that threat. We mobilised our soldiers to show Garda Cherik’s military might. But that was what they were aiming for. So that they could pretend that Cherik and Garda truly had joined hands and have you, Lord Ax, misunderstand, thus blocking Taúlia’s movements.”

“Oh ho,” Ax scrutinized Yamka the Second’s face which had been pallid when they had entered the room but which had become red as he spoke. The words he had marshalled together seemed reasonable enough but,

''If that was Garda’s plan, it was really crude. He couldn’t have predicted how Cherik would react after he’d simply threatened them''. Ax was aware that without Ravan there, his own personality might play to his disadvantage. ''Dammit. Should I leave it at that? No, if I press on here I should be able to draw out some information about Garda''. 

He was truly poor at detailed negotiations like these. When Ax fell silent, the room, naturally, could only also be wrapped in silence. Sunlight flooded through the window.  Because it was so extremely bright, each and every speck of the dust that enveloped the room was plainly noticeable and Lasvius, who was by nature fastidious about cleanliness, had been making a sour face for some time.

Yamka II desperately scrutinized the two men’s expressions.

Incidentally, the Taúlian soldiers had currently set up camp in the outskirts of Cherik. It couldn’t really be said that they created an oppressive atmosphere. This was an example of Ax’s magnanimous personality. Having sounded Yamka out, he had allowed Cherik to hold a small banquet in welcome to Taúlia’s soldiers. Several people serving in high office in Cherik were also taking part.

Ax guessed that the people of Cherik and the common soldiers probably hadn’t been aware of their country’s connection to Garda. Although power rivalries were constant in the western lands, Cherik, just like Taúlia, was a country that had been born when Zer Tauran split apart. The countries that had handed down Zer Tauran’s customs and traditions still shared a unique bond so that even if they had been at war until just the day before, they would immediately stand shoulder to shoulder against a foreign enemy. As such, Cherik would not easily have accepted the presence of Garda, he who had thrown the West into disarray.

Therefore, just as Yamka had said, was it not likely that the soldiers truly have been given instructions to “Strike at Garda’s army as it comes from Helio”?

From here on, Cherik would become an important base against Garda. Because of that, Ax didn’t want to harm its people or make them feel any warier than necessary. Which also meant that he couldn’t cut the king, Yamka II, too deeply either.

''Tsk'', Ax gave another small click of his tongue and changed the subject by asking Lasvius about the situation in Helio. 

Lasvius gave a matter-of-fact account of the succession of misfortunes that had befallen Helio, from the defeat at Eimen and King Elargon’s death in battle to the civil war that had arisen within the country.

“Were those who rose in rebellion tricked by Garda?”

“At this point in time there’s no way to verify that, but perhaps it’s possible.”

Lasvius then talked about how the mercenary commander called Greygun who had been invited to Helio had been connected to Garda and bout how he had betrayed his allies at the battle at the Coldrin Hills.

“Greygun, huh?”

As Ax gave him a brief look, the king of Cherik coughed violently and turned the other way.

Greygun, the commander of the Red Hawks mercenary group, had originally been a man employed by Cherik. Trouble had arisen between him and Yamka, and he had been expelled from the country. The whole sequence of events of how he and his seven hundred soldiers had then been hired by Helio was unnatural. Considering the connection between Yamka and Garda, it was more plausible to suppose that rather than them falling out, Yamka had sent Greygun to destroy Helio from inside.

Even though Lasvius’ feelings towards Yamka were anything but kind, not a hint of those emotions coloured the commander of Helio’s dragoons’ sharp features. He too probably realised the importance of Cherik’s role in the future. He kept an iron self-control over himself. 

''There’s no helping it, we’ll have to put off dealing with Cherik until later'', Ax decided, feeling unamused. Everything would have to wait until after they had gotten rid of Garda’s army. It wasn’t too bad if he thought that after this, he would hold the means to gain the upper hand in negotiations with Cherik. Perhaps he would be able to seize some of the management rights to the rich granary region around Lake Soma.

“Garda's army that we fought today. They were the units stationed at Helio. What was their actual condition?” 

“Bluntly, they were a mish-mashed troop. Just like in Helio, they all seemed to obey Garda because their people have been taken hostage.”

“A strange tale. With that way of doing things, even if they were to annihilate all enemy powers, they wouldn't be able to govern. What is Garda thinking?”

“Well who knows. But...”

“But?”

“Isn't that precisely Garda's weak point?”

As he quietly made that assertion, Lasvius’ expression, which had until then been as cold as ice, thawed as though from the intensity of his emotions and changed into something that was yet neither anger nor joy.

“For the people, even if their home country is overthrown, even if the ruler changes, as long as their living conditions improve afterwards, they will adapt to the new system and the new country name. But since there is no government, the people’s hearts remain constantly wrapped in anger. They yearn for their country’s name, they await the day when their true royal family will reclaim the throne, and if they can’t bear to wait, they raise their fists themselves. There’s no doubt that Kadyne, Eimen and the others in Garda’s power are just as we in Helio were. So if today’s military accomplishments of ours were to spread throughout the West, it could become our one great opportunity.”

“To topple Garda’s army?”

“Yes.”

Only Yamka II seemed uneasy at hearing the vigorous conversation between them and stayed apart from the two who had immediately started talking about defeating Garda. So the demon fell, he thought to himself as though it was someone else’s business.

What he had told Ax was of course complete nonsense. He had most certainly forged a connection with Garda. But now, he was not entirely sure about his motives for linking himself to the sorcerer.

One reason why Yamka had concealed the truth from Ax was of course because he had been thinking of Cherik’s future, but the true reason why he couldn’t openly admit to it was because,

''If I tell others, they’ll mock me for a fool''.

One night, more than half a year ago, Yamka II had seen a dancing girl in a dream. With her elegant dancing and her somewhat strong beauty, she fit Yamka’s tastes more than any woman he had ever seen before and so perfectly matched his ideal feminine image that he believed their meeting was surely ordained by the Dragon Gods.

After she had finished performing her dance, Yamka had sex with her within his dream. 

“You my lord will one day be the one to rule the southern half of Tauran,” the dancing girl had whispered in his ear. He heard more such idle talk after their intimate liaison. But when he awoke from the dream and as he was savouring the vivid memory of it, the dancing girl’s whispered words reawakened Yamka II’s half-forgotten desire for supremacy.

''Could it be a prophetic dream sent by the Dragon Gods?'' Just as he was wondering that, a troupe with a certain dancing girl had visited Cherik.

“I received an invitation from his lordship,” she had announced when she appeared at the castle gate. Yamka had summoned her before him with uncontrollable curiosity and expectation. And sure enough, she and the dancing girl in his dream were like two peas in a pod. 

The dancing girl gave her name as Tahī. What happened after that was like a continuation of the dream for Yamka and he only had a hazy memory of it. Tahī herself had vanished just before Yamka launched his military operation, leaving only the words, “I will visit again later,” behind her.

''Was she just an illusion?'' He wondered, now that the entire plan had collapsed as it had.

“But there’s no explaining it,” the discussion that Cherik’s king had stopped paying attention to continued. Ax groaned, his arms crossed. “Those guys advanced their army after us, who were headed to capture Cherik, and not towards Taúlia which was empty. It’s hard to imagine that they could have seen through Ravan’s plan so easily. You could always say that at about the same time as the troops left Taúlia, spies lurking in the city sent them that information, but even then…”

“The information travelled fast.”

“Too fast. What kind of method did they use?”

He gave another quick glance towards Yamka, silently asking if he didn’t have any information about Garda relating to that. Actually, Ax had been seized by the thought of asking him directly: ''Hey, how did you contact Garda'' but seeing that Yamka’s face had gone pale again and that he was shaking his head, he probably hadn’t been informed about it in any detail.

''You worthless excuse of a man. How could you trust a guy without knowing his real intentions, the arts he uses or his real nature?'', he wanted to yell. He swallowed back his emotions however.

“Those bastards don’t use flames and whirlwinds to destroy armies like in the legends, but it’s worth thinking that they might use some even more terrifying techniques,” he said.

Since each of their movements were in danger of being seen through, at the very least they could say that it wouldn’t be a war in which they could overwhelm their opponent with superior force of numbers.

''Given our victory in this fight, how will the other Tauran countries move?'' They would need time to ascertain that.


After that and once he had left Cherik castle, Ax, along with Lasvius, went to show his face at the banquet.

The soldiers from Cherik who were acting as their escorts stood to attention. For their part, they probably had the feeling that the misunderstanding with Taúlia had been resolved. But even if they were to hold official peace negotiations sometime soon, Ax, was not exactly happy. He had after all almost been driven into a truly desperate situation.

“This way,”

After chatting with the soldiers for a while, Lasvius led Ax to a different place. He had chosen several soldiers beforehand from those who had raced in reinforcement with him and had invited them to a bar in Cherik. He had a governmental official from Cherik prepare a carriage and headed there with Ax.

The sun was almost at its zenith, but the sky had gone grey, clouds had appeared and an unpleasant wind was blowing.

The carriage, with a dozen brawny soldiers following behind it, pulled up in front of a large bar on Cherik's main street.

There were very few places where women could work in Cherik so unlike other countries, there were no women waiting at the tables. As he walked into a rather squalid room where the paint was chipped, a crease appeared between Ax's brows. 

Regardless, the soldiers that Lasvius had chosen were in a secluded part of the shop. They were the mercenaries that included Orba.


''Ax Bazgan''.

From behind his mask, Orba observed the man who approached towards them. As the mercenaries rose from their seats one by one, he lowered his eyes a little. There was no need to speak of it again now, but Orba had been the body double of the Mephian empire's crown prince and had himself commanded soldiers. Where the southwest of Mephius bordered Taúlia, the countries had crossed swords and he had met Ax Bazgan face to face at that time.
Because of that, now that he had taken off the 'mask' of Gil Mephius, he didn’t really want to talk too closely with him. And so, he had intended to remain silent there, but –

“I didn't have much time earlier, but I forgot to give my thanks for saving Bouwen, huh? You rendered great efforts for Taúlia’s sake. And you played a key part in our victory this time too.”

“We didn't do anything.”

Opening his mouth, Orba was vexed at his own timing. Any way you looked at his attitude, he was being arrogant for a mercenary.

Having drawn everyone's attention to himself and while ignoring Gilliam, whose face was scowling ''Again'', Orba spoke.

“The ones who saved General Bouwen, as well as ourselves, were Captain Duncan and Taúlia’s soldiers.”

“This fellow's attitude is sometimes somewhat misguided. Please try to forgive him,” Lasvius smothered a smile.

“What? You were originally a mercenary hired by Taúlia. You don't need to stand on ceremony,” Ax looked at the masked man with displeasure stamped across his features but then he gave a single nod. “Is that right? Duncan, huh.” 

Naturally, Ax had also been informed of the death of Duncan, who had been attached to the Fifth Army Corps as commander of the mercenaries.

“He was a good man. Eventually I was planning to have him command regular soldiers rather than mercenaries.”

“He was a splendid warrior,” Shique lowered his head as he spoke. “Captain Duncan entrusted his last wish to the likes of we mercenaries, that we protect General Bouwen to the end.”

Ax closed his eyes for a moment for Duncan and those killed in the war.

“In these wretched times we live in, we can't even stop to mourn the dead. First of all, I need to think of someone to replace him. And also, we want every capable man we can get.” 

While in the carriage on their way there, Ax had heard the details of Helio's recapture from Lasvius. Fixing his gaze on the masked swordsman once more, Taúlia’s governor-general said something that made every one of the mercenaries doubt their ears:

“You said your name was Orba, right? How about it, will you take over the platoon?”

Lasvius stifled a laugh again as even Orba blinked behind his mask. 

“Me... No, I <ref> Orba switches from his usual “ore” and casual way of speaking to the far politer “watashi” and a more formal speech pattern. Lasvius and Shique on the other hand have been speaking politely and respectfully to Ax from the start.</ref>, you mean?”

“That's right. Fifty mercenaries. It's not much but we'll gather more. We should be able to prepare ten of the new model riffles. We'll also round up as many horses as possible.”

“Wh-Why me?”

“You can think of it as a reward for one thing, but that’s not all. You can’t lead mercenaries by enticing them with honour and prestige. Nor can you encourage them to all be reckless heroes only interested in increasing their wages. What you need above all else is someone who can act as a unifying force for them.”

Ax’s words were a lot like what Duncan used to say. It had been a way for Duncan to sell his own abilities as someone who could do that, but ever since back then, Ax had thought that it was something that made sense. 

“Even if we quit being mercenaries now, we’ll be rolling in money from this time’s work. But if we earn feats leading a mercenary unit, we can double, no triple, those funds,” the one who was rejoicing the most was Talcott. Overhearing what was being said from where he was drinking a little apart from Ax, he whispered, “Taúlia’s general is generous. How about it, Stan, can you see a bright future ahead?”

“It’s no good for this, Brother. Unless I’m looking straight at a battlefield, I don’t get any premonitions.”

Orba on the other hand dropped his gaze to the table. When he had been the Mephian crown prince’s replacement, he had routinely given orders to large numbers of people and he had experience in leading soldiers. But that was already like something from long ago.

''Thinking about it, I was naïve''. 

If someone were to hear him, they would probably laugh at him for indulging in such an insolent daydream. But those were Orba’s true feelings. He had been given soldiers, he had gotten drunk on the power to move them around and he had meddled with wars as he wanted. But –

''Brother''.

Even now, he was haunted by the feeling of how his heart had seemed to stop when, bathed in the light of the setting sun in Apta, he had gazed at an engraving on sword. Carved onto the blade which was thrust into the ground in place of a grave-marker was the name ‘Roan’.

Roan had been conscripted from the village as a soldier and had breathed his last on the battlefield. The officers in charge of the operation probably hadn’t even known his name. 

To those who employed soldiers, the rank-and-file troops were known only by numbers. But each of them had a family. They had lived life until then.  At some point, wearing the mask of Prince Gil, Orba had almost come to forget something so obvious.

He who should have hated those in power had almost become like them. When he achieved his personal revenge against Oubary Bilan, from the bottom of his heart, Orba grew disgusted at the self-contradiction/paradox he was caught in. And so, he abandoned his future as crown prince and his feet carried him here, west to Tauran.

Now, even if he were in a position to manage soldiers again, he wouldn’t turn into the same as then, would he? He wouldn’t be deliberately picking up the mask he was supposed to have thrown away and be awkwardly filled with contradictions, would he?

“How about it?” Ax asked once more. Orba lifted his gaze. There was another arrogant pause. Orba looked straight into Ax’s face. 

He was a descendant of Yasch Bazgan, who had once founded Zer Tauran in these western lands. Looking up at him like this gave him a different impression of his features than when he had met him as the prince. 

''Taúlia’s king. A king?''

The uncomfortable silence continued. Ax’s eyebrows twitched convulsively. Just as Shique was about to start saying something,

“I gladly accept,” Orba agreed to the proposal with those few words. Ax grinned and personally poured wine into Orba’s cup.

While taking it with a respectful attitude, he thought,

''I’ll defeat Garda and bring this battle to a close. Isn’t that what I’ve already decided?''

With his own eyes he had seen death coming for Duncan, the captain of the mercenaries, and he had witnessed Queen Marilène of Helio’s determination and her fate. There had been many “Roans” on the battlefield where he himself had fought. And also, there was the youth from Garda’s army who had been forced to fight because his family had been taken hostage.

Orba’s eyes, which were apt to hold a dark gleam, now shone with a secret and fierce new light.