Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume11 Chapter6 (section)

=== Part 3 ===

At around the same time as Prince Eric of Ende was leaving Dairan behind him, Gil Mephius was heading north to that very land.

Also around the same period, Mephius’ capital, Solon, was about to be rocked by a disturbance for the nth time that year.
That day, Ineli Mephius had invited her close friends, as well as those she was planning on becoming close with from here on, to take tea with her. A stack of presents had already piled up.

“Princess, given your position, I’m sure you know how much I have always dedicated myself for His Imperial Highness, the crown prince.”

“When that despicable Zaat rose in rebellion and I watched how His Highness bravely chased him down, I became convinced that he was indeed the one worthy of carrying Mephius into its next era.”

“Ha ha, you only realised it that late? As for me, I’ve thought since before even his brilliant first campaign that he has, after all, fully inherited the blood of the imperial family, and that he is greatly different from the norm.”

“Oh my, is that so? But when you saw His Highness going out to have fun with his friends, you whispered to me that he was truly deplorable.”

“T-That’s not what I meant, Princess. That is… That wasn’t…”

Surrounded by her entourage, Ineli was at the peak of her glory.

“Now, now, everyone. If you all talk like this at once, I won’t know who said what, or what messages I should be transmitting to His Highness.”

All around, people were laughing merrily while they pushed others out of the way so as to get even just one step closer to her and hopefully impress themselves on the imperial princess’ memory.

The tea party was taking place in the gardens of a mansion belonging to a lady whom Ineli had long been friendly with. However, if there had been any sharp-eyed people among those present, they might have noticed that among the serving boys waiting at the table, among the slaves busy maintaining the gardens, and amid the master gardeners pruning the various trees, there were a number of men who clearly seemed different from the rest. Their eyes were sharp within their suntanned faces, and they kept a surreptitious watch on the movements of the nobles who crowded around Ineli.

“Princess, did His Highness… did His Highness, Crown Prince Gil, not say anything about me?”

“Hmm, well now, did he…” Ineli placed a finger to her plump lips. “You see, Brother has a very strong sense of duty and never forgets those who have helped him. Just look at how he appointed the gladiators who protected him in Seirin Valley to the position of Imperial Guards.”

“R-Right.”

“Indeed, I see.”

“I know that everyone can’t help but be interested in Brother, but if you want to become closer to the crown prince, it’s enough to simply support him even more than before. Since he never forgets favours…”

At that moment, there was a sound like something being ferociously smashed apart, and a woman’s high-pitched scream loudly rang out.

Startled, everyone simultaneously turned their gaze towards the garden’s entrance. A serving girl had collapsed to the ground. She had been carrying a tray, and the white porcelain teapots and cups that had been on it had shattered into a thousand pieces.

It was not to her, however, that everyone’s eyes were nailed. Rather, it was the men who had probably thrust her aside, soldiers whose ferocious appearance were completely out of place in that setting. Everyone held their breath.

Leading them was Zaas Sidious.

He stepped forward, several dozen of his men following behind him.

The clear blue sky, the white shine of the tea set, the sweetly blooming blossoms – they were all coated in the colour of violence as Zaas walked towards Ineli.

“What business do you have?” Although her eyes betrayed her agitation, Ineli stepped forward, brushing past the nobles who were poised to to start running away. “I do not recall having invited any louts such as you.”

“Nor do I recall having received any invitation,” barked Zaas, his face carrying a touch of bestial ferocity. “This is an order from Empress Melissa. Imperial Princess Ineli Mephius, I am to apprehend you at once.”

“From Mother?” Increasingly astonished, Ineli went pale.

Properly speaking, an empress could not arbitrarily make use of armed force. However, as the emperor was no longer appearing in public, his influence was dwindling day-by-day and the power balance in Solon had suddenly been thrown into disarray.

In a way, it was Ineli herself who had helped bring about this situation.

“It would be best if you followed us quietly. If you do not, I’ve been ordered to haul you off by force. Now then…”

Zaas stretched out his arm and caught Ineli’s slender shoulder.

“L-Let go!”

Ineli struggled but Zaas’ grip was like an iron vice as it bit into her wrist without letting go. She swept her gaze around, pleading for help; but those who moments earlier had been trying to get closer to her, now looked away, increased the distance between them, and tried to look uninvolved.

Zaas drew in his arm; Ineli looked as though she were lightly being pulled into an embrace against his chest. The princess’ scream echoed through the blue sky.

It was then that…

“Wait!”

“This is outrageous, General Sidious!”

Voices rose from all around the garden, as their owners simultaneously rushed over. These were the sharp-eyed men who had slipped into Ineli’s tea party. They were soldiers serving under Rogue Saian and Odyne Lorgo.

Currently, in Solon, Imperial Princess Ineli had turned into the leading figure of the crown prince’s faction. And it was not only her mother who considered that attitude to be dangerous. When Rogue Saian had left Solon, he had left several of his men to watch over her, giving them instructions to “keep a close eye on the imperial princess.”

This had been out of concern that she might be plotting something by driving the crown prince’s faction forward, but they could not possibly have imagined a situation in which her own mother would bring out the use of force. Even so, they could not simply leave it be. Ineli was undoubtedly a problematic presence; but right now, when people were milling about in confusion over whether to follow the crown prince, Princess Ineli was also a example for them to follow.

Zaas’ glared for a second at the unexpected obstacle, but –

“Hah, the crown prince’s damn dogs. Wretched mongrels at that, who pretend not to know even when they’re aware he’s a fake so that they get their feed!” He yelled and gave his men the order to get rid of them by force.

Since things had come to that, Rogue and Odyne’s subordinates could only prepare to put up a determined fight. They grabbed the weapons that they had concealed in various places around the garden, and all at once, it turned into a battlefield.

They were equal in numbers, but those on Zaas’ side were fully armed. The first to fall in a gush of blood was one of Rogue’s soldiers. The noblemen and ladies were screaming and running around, trying to escape, and Ineli was shrieking as loudly as any of them, begging for help, but Zaas continued to drag her out from the garden.

Suddenly, there was someone standing right before him. And very close.

Irritated, Zaas swung his greatsword. The blade was stopped halfway through its movement.
Zaas glared again.

“You?”

The one blocking his way was a swordsman with strangely swollen cheeks. Battalion Commander Walt, who had once been in charge of Jozu Fortress. Given his physical appearance, he could not have stealthily crept into Ineli’s tea party, but then, in the first place, he was one of her officially invited guests.

His distinguishing feature had been a subject of conversation since the ten-year war, besides which, he had joined Gil’s side after having fought directly against the crown prince; so his heroic life-story had caught Ineli’s interest, and she had invited him so that everyone could listen to his tales.

“Damned dog!” Zaas’ spittle flew as he launched a second attack.

“Which one of us is the dog, General Zaas?” Retorted Walt, dodging left and right with an agility that did not seem possible with his large build. “You don’t look see anything and only act on instinct – what right do you have to call others dogs?”

Incidentally, Walt was not wearing armour but had been provided with formal wear. It had been at Ineli’s direction, as she was probably aiming for a discrepancy in his appearance. Despite the difference in their weaponry, Zaas could not bring Walt down while also holding the princess close.

Whereupon, Walt started to boldly fight back. He swiped at the arm that was holding the princess. Faced with his opponent’s unexpected move, Zaas hesitated for a second then, thrusting Ineli to the ground, he moved back. Or rather, he was forced back. Walt’s sword suddenly halted in mid-air then changed trajectory and almost smashed into Zaas’ face.
“Tch!” Zaas instantly raised his own sword and struck down the attack.

Amid the shower of sparks, Ineli escaped, crawling along the ground on her hands and knees, very much like a dog. Zaas was instinctively going to chase after her, but Walt was already before him.

“Damn you!”

From Zaas’ standpoint, those like Folker, Yuriah or Walt, who had been sent, like him, from Solon to subjugate the Impostor Crown Prince, and who had then nonchalantly chosen to follow that fraud – in other words, those who had once been his comrades who shared the same goal as him – were opponents that he could never forgive.

He swung his sword with the force of a fire. Facing him, it had to be admitted that, for all that his opponent was one of the twelve generals, there was a part of Walt that was thinking – ''what a child''.

In truth, however, Zaas was so skilled that it made Walt, who had once won the gladiatorial tournament at the country’s Founding Festival, wonder ''should I focus on stalling for time?'' 

Even though his swordsmanship and tactics in a fight were unpolished, he compensated for it in sheer energy. If he allowed himself to be overwhelmed by that for even a second, Walt might easily lose a limb.

Still, that he could so calmly make the decision to focus on defence vividly demonstrated the current difference between Walt and Zaas.

“General!” Amidst that, Zaas’ men called out to him as they came rushing up, covered in blood from their opponents and from their own injuries.

They had not come as reinforcements for him, but to persuade him that dragging things on like this was dangerous. In fact, one of the soldiers from the Silver Axe Division had already hurried from the garden to go and inform General Odyne of what was happening.

Zaas once again clicked his tongue furiously.

“I’ll remember this!” He bellowed before exiting the garden like a gust of wind, his men following behind.

Walt did not chase after them. He too had heard that General Odyne would soon be here, so he would leave the decision of what to do next to him.

“Princess, are you unharmed?”

Walt moved towards Ineli and was going to help her up, but she stood by herself. Her pale cheeks were trembling and she was quivering all over from fear.

She looked around at the attendees, who had scattered as they fled, as she would at enemies who had tried to cut her down. Not a single one could answer her gaze.

“I am going to Odyne,” she announced to Walt, as though pronouncing a verdict against them. “Accompany me. We must punish the fools who are still trying to bring civil war to Mephius!”

Solon, which had been shaken by the dispute between the emperor and the crown prince, was this time rocked as though by a major earthquake by the crack that had appeared between the empress and the princess.

And naturally, Ineli’s rage was beyond anything that Walt and Odyne could assuage. She ordered the soldiers from the inner palace to capture the empress and Zaas.

Exactly as with her mother, Ineli did not properly have the right to mobilise military forces. However, as she refused to listen to Odyne and arbitrarily decided that these were rebels against herself – and, consequently, against the crown prince – and as there were many who hoped to buy Ineli’s gratitude, Odyne was worried that they might take the initiative of lending soldiers to the princess.

''If she is allowed to move as she pleases…'' Odyne came to a decision: so as to prevent Ineli from acting recklessly and unchecked, he took his own soldiers and went to the inner palace.

By that time however, the empress, Colyne, Zaas and several other members of the “Emperor’s faction” had already left the court. As for where to: they had headed towards the Dragon Gods’ temple.

Needless to say, it was the self-same temple that the emperor had personally ordered built. Living there were the elders who were rumoured to be the pillars of his politics, and it was territory in which Odyne absolutely could not set foot.

An even bitterer pill for Odyne to swallow was the fact that Melissa’s faction had travelled to the temple with Emperor Guhl himself. Had he voluntarily gone with them or had the emperor, who was said to be in a weakened condition, been taken there against his will? Given that, a day after the tragedy at the garden, there had still been no official statement from him, it was probably the latter.

The areas in Solon surrounding the palace and the temple abruptly came under complete lockdown. Even at night, watchfires were lit in braziers around the temple and columns of armed soldiers came and went, their blades and spearheads gleaming from the flames.

Seeing the signs of another civil war, the townspeople of Solon fell into a feeling of gloom.

Last time, even though secret feuds were everywhere quietly being played out while the emperor and the crown prince fought, order was not noticeably disturbed, at least within the capital. That however was – somewhat paradoxically considering what had caused it all – thanks to the fact that the emperor was the absolute ruler in control of it.

The emperor’s presence had now become insignificant.

Disturbances broke out throughout Solon.

One such case was when, because of an increase in robbery and arson, soldiers misunderstood the situation as having been caused by those of the emperor’s faction, and moved of their own accord, escalating the amount of bloodshed. Another even larger one was when an influential noble showed a hesitant attitude, and another aristocrat, perhaps seeing a chance to please the crown prince’s faction, unilaterally declared that he too must be plotting a rebellion; and so arbitrarily sent in soldiers to make the arrest, which then developed into a small-scale battle involving both families. Bloody incidents occurred one after another, so that it was almost impossible to believe that this was the same land that had been rejoicing at the return of peace only a few days earlier.

A silhouette was looking down upon it.

Oubary Bilan quietly peeped out from behind a bulky, parted curtain.

He would never open that curtain in broad daylight. He seemed to believe that it was an impregnable defence that would keep at a distance the light of day, or in other words, that would keep at bay the very world which had rejected and excluded him. However, when the sun set and the world had adapted to the black of those curtains, Oubary’s feelings seemed to calm down, and he would sometimes peek through the window to the outside.

Something must have happened again somewhere as the people from the neighbourhood and the soldiers were shouting to one another as they rushed along.

He caught sight of the glow of flames appearing over the shadowy streets of Solon. Panicking, he tried to close the curtains, but his hand slipped. Having been almost falling forward in his agitation, he now instead gazed fixedly at the flames.

Oubary stopped moving.

It felt like a hot wind was blowing. As though the flames reflected in his eyes had wrapped around his body, his limbs were suddenly burning hot. Unable to endure the pain, he crouched down. Perhaps trying to block out the flames as quickly as possible, he closed his eyes.

It had the opposite effect however. With his field of vision shut down, his memories resurfaced all the more clearly, and the flames burned brighter than ever.

''You too can all die in the flames''.

A voice, shouting angrily, suddenly echoed piercingly through his mind. His own voice.

''Then perish. You damned fools. When that time comes, it'll be too late to realise that I was right. It'll be too late!''

Those were the words that Oubary, having been arrested for the crown prince’s assassination, had once asserted before one of the emperor’s retainers.

''You see, you see, you see'', Oubary inwardly chanted like a curse. ''It’s just as I said. Isn’t Solon burning, just as I prophesised? And the fools are perishing in the flames!''

His entire body heaved as he trembled, sweat flying from it to the same rhythm, as Oubary stood up. The muscles bulged on the huge arms he had wrapped around himself.

''I was right after all. I was right''.

Oubary’s eyes slowly opened. His pupils, which once more reflected the flames, were no longer ruled by the same kind of terror as earlier. He had been right – and with that conviction, the entire nightmare of the past transformed into hatred towards the demon-like man who had wrapped himself in the crown prince’s skin.

''That bastard… The one who’ll cut that bastard down… Will be me''.

One day, the flames that were constantly burning within his memories would consume his body and soul, leaving nothing but ash that would be scattered in the wind…

Oubary Bilan suddenly felt like screaming. Unlike before, this was not, however, a fit brought about by his nightmares. Whatever the reason, he felt the urge to raise a shout worthy of a warrior and release the energy that was boiling and seething within him.

He wanted steel in his hand.

He wanted to feel the heavy weight of a sword.

At that very moment, there was a violent knock on his door. Oubary turned a sharp gaze towards it.

“What is it?” His voice was a little hoarse, but it was already regaining its former acerbity.

“I have been sent by the empress,” the person behind the door answered in a clearly-projecting voice. “She dearly hopes for General Oubary Bilan’s assistance. The empress has sent for you in the hope that you, the general who once lost so many of his men to a foul trap laid by the Impostor Crown Prince, will surely rise to fight bravely for the emperor, even now that Solon had been engulfed in his evil influence.”