Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 2 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 3===

Richard's visit to Suruga had taken place on the last day of October.

It was November 6 today. Over this period, the Lionheart had fully re-energized, prepared to face the next battle.

Tomorrow&mdash;He was going to attack Tōkaidō's provincial capital.

Richard was scheduled to set off tomorrow afternoon in a grand departure, heading east to take Nagoya.

The first target was Okazaki Castle, a Japanese castle in Nishimikawa and the birthplace of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu<!--katakana and western order is used with the full title Seii Taishogun (Great General of Barbarian Subjugation), but doesn't seem important enough to clutter the sentence-->, featuring ancient Japanese architecture with a central keep and stone walls.

However, like Nijou Castle, its interior had been remodeled.

With Chevaliers and an ifrit stationed, the castle also functioned as a tutelary fort.

After taking Okazaki Castle, only then would one reach the outskirts of Nagoya City. Then penetrating the defensive net formed by the various tutelary forts including Kariya Castle and Kiyosu Castle, one would then march into Nagoya Castle&mdash;

Meanwhile, Kinai was also sending Restoration Alliance knights to attack from the west.

The Anglo-Japanese coalition forces consisted of the "crimson knights," a thousand Escalibors advancing from the east, and the "blue samurai" Kamuys advancing from the west in a simultaneous attack on the prey known as "Nagoya."

From the east were the "crimson knights," a thousand Escalibors. From the west were the "blue samurai,"

"What a spectacular scene."

Richard muttered to himself in ecstasy.

However, there was a matter that pained the merciful and compassionate lion king's heart.

...As a Chevalier, collecting intelligence from various places was exceedingly easy. Since Suruga was the prey that Richard would enjoy last, he had informed the intelligence department in advance that he was to be notified of any movements in Suruga immediately.

Hence, Richard learned of a certain piece of news.

"Who would have thought that the people of Suruga desire me so much..."

Recently, Richard had gone to Suruga City to deliver a passionate speech, venting the frustration in his heart.

Apparently, the passionate performance had moved the people's hearts. The city was beginning to look forward to signs of the Lionheart's arrival.

'The Suruga tutelary fort should surrender to the Restoration Alliance as soon as possible.'

Civilians demanding Suruga officials to surrender were setting food warehouses on fire one after another.

Their goal was to protest against the Suruga tutelary fort's futile resistance.

At first, a fire broke out at one place, but the crimes had spread these few days. Another four warehouses had been torched.

The Suruga police was investigating desperately and had apprehended some arson suspects.

...The suspects were all students. Since they were minors, neither their names nor their school affiliations were released.

The next day after they had successfully burned down the second warehouse, the Suruga branch of Tōkaidō News received an anonymous criminal manifesto.

The manifesto was published in the temporary newspaper in the form of a special report.

Spies lurking in Suruga City had copied the contents and transmitted it to the intelligence department. Richard had read it too. There was a sincere declaration that 'Suruga City's future lies with the Restoration Alliance and Chevalier Richard.'

After reading the eloquent and passionate manifesto, Richard was greatly moved.

However, the Suruga tutelary fort's reaction was stupid beyond belief. They suspected these students of 'secretly colluding with the Restoration Alliance to commit the crime of arson'&mdash;

The Suruga tutelary fort had handed over official protest letters to the various British forces stationed across Shizuoka.

Their main message was that this intentional destruction of civilian facilities was disgraceful behavior contravening the Charter of Chivalry.

Naturally, the British armed forces denied solemnly. The Suruga tutelary fort refused to be convinced and even declared that they were going to conduct further investigations.

They were planning to interrogate the student arsonists to get at the truth.

"I hope these youngsters will not be subjected to torture... No, one cannot expect much from the foolish and unscrupulous Suruga knights. I truly pity these students."

As an extremely chivalrous knight, Richard's heart was very pained.

Well, putting aside the heavy taxation and tough laws he had imposed upon the people under his rule... After all, the domains and the people living in them were his possessions.

Knights, nobles, and martyrs admiring the Lionheart were different.

"I must find a way to save them personally."

After that, Richard's thoughts began to accelerate in a certain direction.

He was very talented at letting his imagination roam free, to find justification for what he wanted to do. In the process, he would set his heart ablaze by igniting sparks of passion, thus drawing the conclusion he wanted&mdash;

"Upon my honor as a knight, I must rescue those students as quickly as possible. This is a matter of life and death."

As a side note...

Richard was currently not wearing his British military officer's uniform.

He was wearing a set of khaki combat attire&mdash;in other words, he had disguised himself as a common soldier. In fact, since a long time ago, he had always enjoyed traveling "incognito."

He often disguised himself as a pilgrim or a nameless knight to go traveling.

Right now, he had sneaked into a transport vessel sailing in Suruga Bay for a sea journey.

"Kukukuku. By this point, it is as though all preparations are complete."

The ship was about to enter the port of Tagonoura.

This was the port of Fuji City, the same city the Fuji tutelary fort, which is also the closest tutelary fort to Suruga&mdash;

It was currently 15:30 on November 6th.

Richard's plan was to establish a tutelary pact at Fuji's water shrine to make it his stronghold.

He was going to mobilize all of his Chevalier Strength to summon Escalibors to take Suruga. According to his reasoning, he could succeed in one go before the scheduled attack on Nagoya tomorrow.

"Those people sent by Edward to monitor me... Such naivete. Do they really believe that the Lionheart would wait obediently when there is still half a day before the next battle?"

Richard had noticed surveillants in his surroundings recently.

Pretending to be a napping lion, he had been looking for a chance to get these people off his trail.


Masatsugu's usual residence was the boys dorm of Rinzai High.

After becoming a Chevalier, he continued to live in his single room at the dorm.

However, he visited the princess' personal dorm every day and often had his meals there too. Still, it was the residence of Princess Shiori and her lady-in-waiting Hatsune, a ladies' domain, after all.

Normally, he left at 9pm to return to the boys dorm.

"It's time."

On the night of November 6th, around 11pm, Masatsugu left his dorm room.

Dressed in his student uniform, he walked confidently out of the boys dorm and came to the Black Lily Dorm where the princess lived. The two dorms were situated in the same area.

This dorm was a western mansion rich in Rokumeikan style.

Using a key only held by a select few, Masatsugu unlocked the entrance and tiptoed into the dorm.

He was very careful to avoid being seen by others. Finally, he arrived in front of a certain room on the second floor. The door to this room was not locked.

Turning the handle, Masatsugu swiftly entered the room.

"Excuse me."

"I have been waiting for you, Masatsugu-sama."

This was the princess' bedroom.

The room's decor and furniture were simple and elegant without any air of excess.

The well-learned Shiori loved to read but there were no bookshelves in her bedroom. She kept the vast majority of her books in the reading lounge. Consequently, her room was very clean and tidy without the mountains of books that often plagued bibliophiles.

"Hatsune did not see you... right?"

"Don't worry. I don't make mistakes."

It was just before bedtime and the princess was dressed rather casually.

She had untied her usual ponytail to let down her platinum blonde hair and was dressed in just a white yukata.

The two of them were alone in a girl's bedroom in the middle of the night. Furthermore, the other party was a princess of Imperial Japan.

If they were to be discovered, Masatsugu would be condemned in all kinds of ways. However, their secret late night meetings had already gone on for many days.

Indeed, it had started the day they set up bait to lure the Lionheart into their trap.

"It is almost time for Richard to set off for Nagoya."

"Yes, probably tomorrow or the day after."

"However, there is still no news of him coming to Suruga."

Shiori sighed in disappointment.

"We burned our own warehouses in the city and handed protest letters to the British forces, claiming 'the Restoration Alliance recruited youngsters to commit crimes.' We caused a highly controversial case of serial arson with the perpetrators being young male students who went out of control..."

The Rinzai High student culprits were currently detained at the Suruga tutelary fort.

Masatsugu and his group had prepared an 'arrested student organization' in advance to deceive the British spies lurking in the city. Naturally, these students were being hosted as honored guests inside the tutelary fort.

In addition, the fake arson case had only burned a small fraction of food.

The vast majority had been transported away before the fires and remained intact.

"We have prepared all kinds of factors to appeal to the Lionheart's preferences... But unfortunately, we seem to have failed."

The princess who had devised the plan shrugged helplessly.

Masatsugu asked, "Using students on purpose was part of the plan too?"

"Yes, indeed. It is said that the Lionheart was especially kind to young males. There are even some who suspect him of being homo... homosexual."

"Oh?"

More than this unexpected information, Masatsugu was more interested in Shiori herself while she was talking about the Lionheart's sexual preferences.

Her embarrassed look was truly adorable. In any case, the princess continued, "The British ignored our protests, which was expected. And to think I really anticipated Richard to fall for it, but in the end, our efforts were for naught."

"It is still early to say. A man prone to indulging in narcissism like him usually lacks self-control," said Masatsugu quietly.

"The chance of any single trap catching him is definitely not low."

"I would hope so."

"By the way, Princess, it's time we begin tonight."

"I-I understand. Even if the plan fails, it is best to be prepared as a precaution."

Hearing her knight's request, the lady agreed shyly.

She was sitting on her personal bed. Masatsugu took a seat beside her. They were very close together, almost touching.

"So this strategem was inspired by the method I mentioned last time, with a modern spin applied to it?"

"Yes... You are correct. Torturing hostages in front of a castle to taunt angry enemies into rushing out to fight. My guess was that such a method might prove effective against someone like Richard..."

Shiori's voice instantly turned very quiet, because Masatsugu had held her hand.

"Princess."

"P-Please proceed... You may start."

After after repeating the same act over consecutive nights, Shiori was still very nervous.

Her innocent reaction was very endearing. Holding Shiori's hand, Masatsugu pushed her down onto the soft bed, covering her with his body.

"Masatsugu-sama..."

"Still not used to it?"

"No... It is very embarrassing for me. A-And this is my own room&mdash;A man and a woman of our age, alone in a room, so lightly dressed, I really..."

Normally eloquent, Shiori was stuttering.

The warmth of the blood coursing through the princess' noble body was the essence of ectoplasmic fluid. To enable Masatsugu to steal ectoplasmic fluid more efficiently, Shiori was wearing just a light yukata on purpose.

Ever since the day of the war council, they had been doing the same thing every night.

This was the reason.

"Sorry, it's my fault for imposing a burden on your health, Princess."

"Pay no mind to it. As your liege, it is only right for me to go through hardship in order to assist my knight&mdash;to assist the one who is laying his life on the line for my sake."

For the past half a month, Masatsugu had been obtaining ectoplasmic fluid from Shiori.

However, this ultimately was an act of extracting "something" from blood, the source of life. For the past few days, Shiori had experienced frequent dizzy spells.

Furthermore, her physical strength had clearly declined, causing her to be out of breath especially easily.

Even so, she still insisted on their ''secret meetings'' to give her ectoplasmic fluid to Masatsugu.

"M-Masatsugu-sama, please do not keep staring at me..."

"That would be a tall order, Princess. Right now, you are too beautiful."

"Goodness gracious... Here you go again."

Masatsugu was carefully examining the princess pinned under him.

In contrast, Shiori did not dare look Masatsugu in the eye. With her head turned away shyly, she looked so cute and alluring.

When he pushed her down on the bed, the collar of Shiori's yukata had almost opened up.

The princess' willfully maturing bust had almost popped out. The sheltered princess endured her embarrassment and bravely accepted Masatsugu's embrace.

"Masatsugu-sama, please absorb from me as much as you can..."

Shiori finally directed her passionate gaze straight at Masatsugu.

"My grandfather's power within me&mdash;Absorb the source of ectoplasmic fluid."

Their faces were in close proximity. Masatsugu could feel her exhalation from her whispers. If he ventured forward slightly, a deep kiss of passion would be easily in reach.

And Shiori was willing too&mdash;

Masatsugu could read an air of acceptance from her eyes. However, he did not put this notion into action.

Such behavior should wait until their relationship transitioned into a different form.

Hence, Masatsugu made close contact with Shiori's neck instead, opening his mouth to suck.

"Princess."

"Masatsugu-sama, your face is still so cold..."

"Doesn't matter. The warmth you give me is enough."

"Th-Then feel free to go harder&mdash;Mmmm."

The instant Masatsugu kissed her pale neck, forcefully sucking the warmth from her tender skin, Shiori moaned.

Shiori had inherited the blood of the sacred beast Lord Tenryuu. The warmth of her blood was precisely the essence giving rise to ectoplasmic fluid as well as the nourishment needed by Masatsugu, who was unable to resupply the normal way.

The stolen heat flowed into Masatsugu's body and soul, resulting in a feeling of union.

The sensation was making Shiori ecstatic, slowly putting her into a trance.

Oddly enough, today&mdash;The princess smiled.

"What is it, Princess?"

"Nothing... I have been quite happy lately."

"Happy?"

"In the past, I felt no affection for my bloodline, but now, the blood I inherited from my grandfather has become your nourishment and energy for battle, Masatsugu-sama... It fills me with an indescribable bliss, apparently bringing fulfillment to my heart."

Saying that, Shiori showed a smile of happiness again.

"Fufufufu, I must be acting a little odd."

Masatsugu smiled too. This princess was really too adorable.

His smile was very natural, not the twitch of the cheek he usually displayed. Interacting with Shiori's deep emotions must have warmed up his heart.

"Princess."

Masatsugu called to Shiori. Usually, she was the heroic lady, intelligent and sharp, but it was during times like these when she was particularly prone to showing her innocent side. One would be hard pressed to find a woman more lovable.

Filled with affection for her, Masatsugu sucked on her neck again. He sucked forcefully, tracing his tongue over her.

"Masatsugu-sama! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

"Princess."

"Masatsugu-sama!"

They called out to each other involuntarily, but this was fine. It was part of deepening their bond.

Shiori was clad in only a light yukata and Masatsugu could feel her body's elevated temperature. Simply lying on the bed, embracing each other, her warmth was spreading to his body.

Shiori's emotions were extremely aroused.

Under Masatsugu's weight, she hugged him tightly too.

Her pale legs were also wrapped firmly around Masatsugu's left leg. Her posture was as though she was embracing Masatsugu with all her heart and soul.

Shiori cried out just like that.

"Ah&mdash;Mmmm! Masatsugu-sama... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Masatsugu's absorption of the stolen warmth was generating an intimate sense of connection.

This feeling reached a climax and Shiori fainted. Her entire body went limp and Masatsugu inadvertently did something impertinent.

He gently caressed the cheek of the princess who had bravely given her all.


"I-I can't believe the princess and Onii-sama are doing something like that&mdash;?"

Outside Princess Shiori's bedroom, Hatsune was shocked.

She had brewed some ginger tea with honey added, thinking of serving it to the princess. Recently, the princess' health had been poor, so she wanted her to sleep well.

The bedroom's door was slightly ajar.

The last person to enter must have failed to close it properly. Hatsune accidentally heard voices coming from the door's gap.

Just as Hatsune was panicking, the princess fainted inside.

However, she could not forget Princess Shiori's final moan before losing consciousness. The impression was too striking.
[[image:ChronicleLegion 02 BW07.jpg|thumb]]

"W... W-W-What on earth is going on?"

The flustered Hatsune almost barged into the room.

Fortunately, she instantly came to her senses and suppressed her impulse. What kind of excuse would she use to appear in this kind of situation?

However, Hatsune could not ignore the princess' state of health.

After agonizing for a while, Hatsune heard a sound.

Ring. Something like a bell had sounded inside the princess' room.

"A message?"

She also heard her Onii-sama's whispers inside the room.

It was a pipe fox used by Imperial Japan's military for emergency communications. The marmot-like animal had used its teleportation abilities to serve as the princess' messenger.