Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume5 Chapter5 (section)

=== Part 3 ===

Bouwen regained consciousness on the fourth day after Orba's group had joined with Lasvius'.

He had wept where he lay when he heard that Duncan and the others had made a stand and prepared to fight to the death in order to allow him to escape.

That very evening, a war council was held in a secluded part of the cavern and for some reason, Orba was summoned to it.

"I heard from Kurun. About how you displayed quick-wits during the retreat from the Coldrins. If you have any scheme for turning things around, speak."

It was something that had long been true for the man called Orba that if there were people that he felt he couldn't stomach, many among those people would also find Orba disagreeable and hateful. Lasvius was another such.
Orba had originally known little about Helio's circumstances. But now anger against Greygun was smouldering in his chest and he advocated gathering the best men and having them infiltrate Helio to kill him.

"Quite the hero," Lasvius sneered, "but if we do as you say and the operation fails, our survival will be suspected and we'll be destroyed. It seems you're a little overrated."

"What?"

Blood rushed to Orba's head and Shique, who had gone with him, had to calm him down.

Naturally Lasvius wasn't simply bidding for time. Via his men who had snuck into the city since before the battle at the Coldrin Hills, he was making arrangements for an uprising to be staged within Helio. Things such as where the captured soldiers were being held and how they were being guarded had been thoroughly investigated, and once they had been rescued, they would aim for Greygun.

But the two thousand of Garda's troops stationed there were a problem. First of all, they would need to move those troops out of Helio.

"When the time comes," Lasvius said while looking sharply at a map of Helio's surroundings, "we will launch a full surprise attack on Helio and we should be able to draw out the enemy."

His subordinates nodded, their faces grim and resolved.

''Ha'', Orba scoffed.

Considering the scale of the enemy numbers, making a surprise attack and luring them out with just three hundred soldiers wasn't worth much. Say they succeeded in retaking Helio, would they be able to defend it against an attack from Garda's army?

Realising that any moment now Orba was going to open his mouth to say something sarcastic, Shique had to struggle to hold him in check.

"Don't be childish," Shique said after the war council was over. The nearby Gilliam shrugged,

"Why say that at this point in time? He's always been a brat."

"No, back when he was prince, he still had a clear head. Whereas the problem with you is that your limbs are just too strong."

"My limbs?"

"You first start by thoughtlessly sorting things out through brute strength. Unless your hands and feet are bound, not once will you use your head to think."

Still seething with anger, Orba ignored them.

"What Lasvius said is reasonable. If we attack Greygun from the shadows at this point, Garda's forces won't care. Regardless of how he got the throne or what he is doing now that he has it, Greygun is currently king. If Helio loses its king again, it will be at the mercy of Garda's army. And if that happens, every last person in the city will be as good as already sacrificed."

"Where are you going, Orba?"

Gilliam asked as Orba suddenly stood up. "Nowhere," he answered and walked out of the cavern. Hunger had made Gilliam irritable. Orba's brusque attitude was about to make him sullenly stand up when,

"Wa-Wait."

"What? You always take his side you bastard, but this time..."

"Didn't you see his face just now? He's thinking of something. At times like these, don't Orba's eyes truly make you shiver?"

Even if he was asked, Gilliam could hardly sympathise. But anyhow, he realised that fighting was a waste of energy and lowered himself back down again.

As for Orba,

"Don't go too far," while acknowledging the warning from the soldier on guard duty, he walked beneath the night sky.

''A king?''

It was as Shique said. If he cut down Greygun who had become king, other than satisfying his current desire for revenge, it would lead to nothing.

''Lead to nothing... For who would it lead to nothing?''

He had lost his position as prince, so for who on earth did he need to hesitate for, he wondered. But Orba now remembered the time when they passed through the gate on the way to fight.

It had been a proud scene for the soldiers, that moment when they were being seen off by the people. But it had had nothing to do with Orba himself. Helio not being his hometown, he had almost no acquaintances there. Still, among all those there, there had been two faces, those of Kay and Niels... Their eyes had been following him until he was out of sight.

''The soldier seen off by his family or lover holds on to that instant as he goes to face death.''

It might have been the same for Roan. Perhaps being seen off by the large crowd of villagers – including Orba himself, their mother and Alice – had made him feel just a little proud. Had he thought to himself that he would protect them?

Orba had stopped walking without realising it and stared up defiantly at the night sky. His anger hadn't cooled down. Quite the opposite, it had reached boiling point. But it wasn't his personal feelings towards Greygun. Greygun had betrayed and killed soldiers who had left with the same expression as Roan had, with the same pride at going to protect their city and families.

Garda was plunging the entire west into fear. Following the same path as Alice and his mother, the people were merely being toyed with by power and violence.

He could now understand why he had flared up in anger when Shique had informed him about Helio's current situation.

It hadn't only been anger against Greygun. More than anything, Orba was angry at himself.

Why hadn't he been able to see through Greygun's betrayal? He should have foreseen that there might have been a trap. If he had been able to show that it was through definite words or actions, something like that might not have happened.

Ever since defeating Oubary, he had been listless about everything and that Helio - that Kay and Niels might have landed in a fix because of it was something that he had regretted without realising it.

''Tsk.''

Naturally he didn't believe that he could have turned around that battle at the Coldrins simply through his own conclusions.

He had experience of a number of battlegrounds. That Helio had been forced to rely on a man like Greygun, that Garda's mysterious army was being allowed to run rampant meant that darkness had taken root in the very world of western Tauran.

''Betrayal and strife.''

As the west was now, that chain continued on. Although those from the same origin were gathered here, all they did was fight in this wide land.

''Tauran has no king.''

Ax Bazgan insisted that he himself was by blood the successor to the former Zer Tauran. But it was not thought that Taúlia currently had the strength needed to unify the whole land.  And so the various powers all believed that they had a chance of becoming king and continued to fight. The mysterious Garda had taken advantage of that...

"Yeah."

Unexpectedly hearing someone speak, Orba strained his ears. It seemed that the soldiers who had gone out to keep watch were on their way back. So as not to be disturbed while he was thinking, he concealed himself off to one side.

Orba hadn't intended to listen in on their conversation, but as he heard it, he went pale under his mask.

It appeared that Lasvius’ group had summoned those from within the nomadic herders who conducted transactions with the outside for the next day and where intending to exchange weapons and food. But in order to prevent their identities and hiding place from leaking out, Lasvius planned to attack them once they had received the food.

The pride of dragoons is great indeed, Orba snickered beneath his mask. Lasvius was someone he couldn't stomach and now that his intuition had been vindicated, he could loathe him to his heart’s content.

Orba blinked suddenly and started to indulge in a different thought.

Orba could feel something welling up within him. It no longer had anything to do with his personal feelings for Lasvius.

It wasn't a change that he himself was conscious of, but as he looked up at the sky, Orba's eyes were the same as when he had worn the 'mask' of Gil Mephius.


Late that night.

News had reached Lasvius from an ally who was keeping watch on Helio. It was not good news.

"Reinforcements for Garda's forces?"

The report stated that reinforcements a thousand strong would soon arrive from Eimen. They were just waiting for a further five hundred rear-guard troops to arrive at Eimen. According to estimates, it would be in about a week's time.

''One thousand in reinforcements''.

They had probably brought them to invade Taúlia. Even though he guessed that there would be more opportunities for moving his unit than during the deadlock, the increased numbers would no doubt also mean tighter defences in Helio.

Feeling increasingly driven into a corner, Lasvius ground his teeth.



In Taúlia was southeast of Helio. News of the defeat at the Coldrin Hills and of the fall of Helio had of course reached there as well.

"Father !" Upon hearing of it, Esmena had come flying out of the chambers in which she had locked herself and was clinging to her father Ax. "Is Bouwen... What happened to Bouwen?"

"He's not the kind of man to kick the bucket that easily. Now calm down in case those attacks of yours flare up again."

Despite his remonstrations to his daughter, Ax Bazgan's own thoughts were anything but calm.

''Damn Cherik, joining forces with that sorcerer''.

At about the halfway point between Taúlia and Cherik, an encampment of seven hundred of the latter's army stretched out. As they were right at their border, they couldn't make any careless moves.

"If it comes to that, it will be a short and decisive battle. Can we tear all the way to Cherik in one go?"

"We could do that, however..." Ravan Dol had not relaxed his cautious stance. Indeed, it was because he had foreseen the possibility of Cherik joining forces with Garda that he had until now being urging his lord to act prudently. "If the enemy withdraws into the town and holds siege, unless we have our entire army, it will cost us time. Taúlia would be completely empty and if Garda's army make their move from Helio at that time, it will fall."

"Don't answer so seriously and do you take me for a fool? I was just caught up in the mood."

"Hmm, no wonder since it's you, my lord."

''And here I thought that he'd actually had a good idea...'' He added the second half in an inaudible voice.

"What?" Ax said irritably. Without his war fan, he was unable to calm down. "If you want to say something, say it. I hear you've sent out a number of spies so do you have a plan? At this rate, we're going to be encircled by every power in Tauran."

"Leave it to me. My lord, you most uphold appearances and calmly remain the lord that the people and soldiers rely on."

"Remain calm," said Ax, half in despair. It was of course not in his nature to helplessly wait for ruin. Be it soldiers, dragons or bullets, his preparations were flawless and he had purchased a large new air carrier equipped for handling major combat. Although their existence hadn't been made public, he had hired a number of people skilled at handling ships. When the time came, he would have soldiers loaded into the new ship to attack the enemy from behind.

Taúlia was tense with the strain of constantly wondering if war was finally at hand.

"They weren't able to finish Bouwen off?"

A man asked upon hearing that there were no reports from the battlefield about that one person.

Raswan Bazgan.

"Well, fine. All he can do now is a die a dog's death in the wilds he escaped to. All according to plan. Next is to not make any mistakes with the preparations here," he muttered, turning his dark eyes to what was outside the window.

Several years ago, there had been a skirmish with a clan of nomads living in Taúlia and, without his uncle's permission, he had captured and slaughtered about thirty of them within their own territory. Raswan had been in command during that fight, but as his numerous services had otherwise been distinguished, Ax had given him a severe reprimand then forgotten all about it. Despite the appearance of merit, there were no women within the castle to lavish praise on him as his dark eyes seemed to say that he had not carried that massacre out against his will but had done so calmly, on a whim.

And so, while the matter of the candidates to be Taúlia's next successor had yet to be settled, there were very few voices raised in favour of Raswan.

"Our numbers are increasing. Next will be our turn. Whatever you do, don't make any mistakes."

"No."

The voice that responded to Raswan’s mutter was like the threatening hiss of a snake.