Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume5 Chapter6 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

"I object."

When he learned of Orba's plan, those were the first words out of Shique's mouth, but it was clear from the start that he would follow it. He was uneasy though. You could say that he felt nothing but uneasy.

"Will Taúlia even move?"

Taúlia would be in danger if Cherik seized the chance to attack their flank. Thus he worried about whether Ax Bazgan would go along with such a risky bet.

Orba had chosen Shique, Stan and Talcott as messengers to Taúlia. None of them were Zerdians. They had decided to take the carriage used for transporting supplies and to disguise themselves as merchants.

"According to what the dragoons have been saying, the Belgana mountain fortress is currently held by a man called Ebra, one of Greygun's direct subordinates who is as greedy as his master. Because he was deployed away from Helio, he is still lamenting not having taken part in pillaging the city. Probably because he wants a taste of that nectar, he makes unreasonable demands of the people and merchants who pass by the fortress and snatches away their valuables."

"What do we do if we catch the attention of such a dangerous guy?" Talcott frankly hated his given role. "We don't have any money for under-the-table dealings. What if he flies into a rage and seizes us?"

"It's all right, Brother," Stan on the other hand had given his carefree seal of approval, "besides, wasn't it you who said that he didn't want to spend another day here? This is a chance to go back to Taúlia."

In reality, since Talcott was constantly at odds with the dragoons the only question if things remained as they were was whether he would die of starvation first or be killed by the irritated soldiers. So, since there was no other way, he was reluctantly taking part in the plan. And it could also be said that he believed in that intuition of Stan's that allowed him to say that it would be "all right".

At daybreak just before leaving the cave, Shique grasped Orba, who was remaining as hostage, by the shoulders.

"It will definitely return with good news. Until then, don't do anything reckless."

"I get it, geez."

"The same goes for that gentleman," Shique looked towards Gilliam, who was pretending to take a leak but who had in fact come to see them off. With his large build, he truly looked like a mercenary, so he couldn't be sent in the role of a messenger.

"If anything happens, you'd better make use of that huge body of yours to protect Orba. It's for that purpose that you received such a ridiculously large body from your parents."

"If you're not back within a week, I'll tear Orba to shreds," Gilliam bared his fang-like canines.


A few hours later.

The Belgana fortress was what was left of a fort that Zer Tauran had built to keep a tight watch across the mountains, back when the east had been dotted with violent warrior nations. It had been in Helio's possession for many decades and guarded against the powers that schemed to cross the border through the Belgana Summits.

According to the information Orba had obtained, a subordinate of Greygun's called Ebra was currently in command there. As for the soldiers, they numbered about a hundred.

Immediately after the battle at the Coldrin Hills, Ebra had personally led his men from the fortress to hunt for survivors among the defeated army, even though it wasn't part of his duties. As there had been so few enemy soldiers, the mood within the fortress was now thoroughly slack. The soldiers were conspicuous for amusing themselves by gambling, they drank from morning onwards and would occasionally pry high toll taxes out of merchants or people who were fleeing the destruction of war by heading south.

But that morning, gunshots tore apart the stagnant atmosphere. Was it an enemy attack - the soldiers on guard duty lifted themselves heavily up and climbed the watch tower.

What they saw was a covered carriage approaching in a cloud of dust. Behind it, amid an even denser cloud of dust, were men on horseback brandishing axes and guns. From the ornaments that hung from their backs to the hems of their white clothes, they recognised them at a glance as the belligerent herders from the northern grasslands known as the Pinepey tribe.

The watchmen rang the bell and several dozen soldiers armed with rifles and spears rushed to the gate. Somewhat tardily, Ebra also came running up.

"What should we do?"

"Open the gate," Ebra's decision to let the carriage in had nothing to do with his being worried about them. If they made a poor show of impressing the Pinepey tribe then next time, they might attack the fortress. If that happened and they needed to expressly call for reinforcements from Helio, he would be on the receiving end of a harsh rebuke from Greygun.

When he saw the gate open, the driver spurred his horse even more. The gates shut as he glided through and the soldiers lying in wait above showered the Pinepey with gunfire. They were not yet at a distance where it could reach, but it seemed to have been enough of a threat as the nomads immediately turned their horses around and left.

The carriage was almost halfway across the fortress' inner grounds when it finally drew to a stop. Ebra gave the soldiers orders to inspect it and they reported that within there were only a small man and a young woman.
"A woman? Does she look good?" Ebra's nostrils flared.

"No. She has a hoarse voice and no good with makeup. The man is laid flat either from illness or an injury. According to the driver, they’re foreign merchants who have fled from Helio. They don't seem to have anything of value."

As they were not Zerdian soldiers, and also with regards to the woman, Ebra completely lost interest. Still, he didn't forget to squeeze what money he could out of the merchants as a reward. Negotiating in place of his bedridden master, the driver was clearly reluctant.

"Can't you give us more of a discount?"

"Don't get cocky," the soldier thrust the tip of his spear towards him threateningly, "we saved you. You can shell out the cost of the bullets."

Several dozen minutes after the carriage had passed through the open gate at the other side of the fortress,

"Phew."

Turning to look back from inside the carriage, the woman...-ly looking Shique breathed out a sigh. He turned to Talcott who was acting as driver,

"Why didn't you hand over the money at once? We could have ended up staying there too long if they got suspicious."

"It's because I was reluctant back there that we were easily believed. By behaving exactly like merchants, the enemy soldiers didn't think to suspect us."

"True, you were pretty good. You seem at home pretending to be a merchant."

"Brother was originally from a merchant family," said Stan who was lying stretched out next to Shique and who truly looked sick. "Because he was bad at arithmetic, he ran away from home and boarded a pirate ship."

"Shut up," wiping off his cold sweat, Talcott sprung the horse into a gallop. "And of all the things for you to disguise yourself as. Since it's you, I thought you'd look better than that in women's clothing."

"Of course," Shique puffed out his chest in pride over something strange, "Someone who understands their own face can transform it with nothing but makeup."

At any rate, the first hurdle had been cleared. Greygun and Ebra didn't know that Lasvius' unit had survived, so their level of caution was low. As such, stealthily passing by the fortress in the dead of night might instead have attracted attention, whereas they had readily believed in foreigners being attacked by nomads.

Shique urged the horse onwards and they managed to arrive in Taúlia before nightfall of the second day.

Since they were messengers from Bouwen, even Ax hurried to meet them. As did Esmena.

"Is Bouwen, is Bouwen alive?" Her pallid face became flushed. Although she appeared surprised that the messenger was Shique, whom she had previously invited to the women's quarters, his own face betrayed nothing and he maintained his role as a messenger before the Bazgan father and daughter.

"Sir Bouwen was injured but as is to be expected from one who is fit and well-trained, he is recovering well. He apologises deeply for having worried and troubled his lordship and the princess, and for having lost his precious subordinates..."

"It's fine."

Ax's face also reflected strong emotions, but when he received the letter from Shique, his expression immediately returned to that of the governor-general.

After Esmena and the messengers had left, he invited Ravan Dol to his living room and, together with the strategist, went through the letter. Ax's always stern eyes grew sterner.

"Enemy reinforcements?"

"First they performed a large-scale march in order to lure the majority of their enemies into the Coldrin Hills, then they send reinforcements after Helio has fallen. That accursed Garda has not only studied sorcery, he is also rather proficient in the military arts."

"Are you praising the enemy here? However..." Ax nodded then turned his eyes once more to the letter. That this Lasvius person was lying low with three hundred subordinates on the outskirts of Helio, and that more of his men within the city had made preparations to rise up in arms was not bad information to receive. But the request that they leave Taúlia forthwith and march on Helio to perform a pincer attack was not something he could regard with any immediate favour.

Cherik's forces had taken up position within a stone's throw of the border and he couldn't leave Taúlia defenceless.

"We have three thousand left at hand. If we mobilise the elite guards, the militia and the remaining mercenaries, that gives us at best four thousand. Should we divide that in half and have them march under Raswan's command?"

"My lord," Raswan Bazgan, whom he had just been talking about had appeared. His young face was full of vigour.

"What is it? I gave orders for everyone to leave, didn't I?"

"Is it true that messengers have arrived from Bouwen? What is the state of affairs?"

"That's..."

Just as Ax was about to explain, Ravan Dol interpolated,

"The contents of the missive were vague," he said respectfully. "We will now be examining it to ascertain its authenticity."

''Oh?
''
Ax felt sceptical of Ravan’s words. The dagger that the messengers had brought to prove their identity undoubtedly belonged to Bouwen. There was no mistaking it since Ax himself had handed it to him when he had first obtained a rank of command. None other than Ravan had declared that while one could suppose that the enemy might have stolen it to serve their purposes, neither were there any difference between Bouwen's own handwriting and the one in the letter.

Raswan looked dissatisfied but as he was before the governor-general, he left without protest.

Ax gave the elderly strategist a sidelong glance.

"...What are you thinking, Ravan?"

"It would be best for now to disclose your plans to nobody. Since we hired mercenaries extensively, we must consider the possibility that spies of Garda's or Cherik's have slipped in among them. We should continue our preparations in secret then move in a single breath. "
[[Image:Rakuin no Monshou v05 225.jpg|thumb]]

"In a single breath. But, to do what in a single breath?"

"Move the entire army."

"The entire army?" Ax was dumbfounded. To have all four thousand soldiers leave Taúlia. "Cer-Certainly Cherik can be beaten if we suddenly move the entire army although we'll have to be sure to end it before enemy reinforcements arrive."

"No. Using all of our military might, we will seize Cherik."

"What?"

As his lord was once more left dumbfounded, Ravan casually continued,

"Even though Cherik has a connection to Garda's army, all they can do is keep us in check from a safe position after all. The mission they will have been told to perform will simply be to block Taúlia's movements. They couldn't possibly imagine that we would go directly to them."

"But..."

"With that, the castle will be empty and Garda's forces, seeing a good opportunity, will also make their move. It will be easy for Lasvius' unit to take Helio and this time, we will be able to perform a pincer movement from there. With that as our aim, we will need to force Cherik to surrender quickly. That is all."

"Using all of our military might, was it?"

"Yes."

Ax had been staring wide-eyed, but he soon started gazing fixedly at Ravan's face.

"What is it?"

"No, you just feel like an assassin sent by Garda's army. If we encounter even the smallest setback while capturing Cherik, Taúlia will fall in that time."

"It's fine, isn't it my lord," Ravan's tone of voice was exactly that of someone persuading a child, "this is our best and last chance. If we act slowly, we will be the ones driven into a corner. If the worst were to happen as we are about to return, we can always fight Cherik with our backs to the wall. At that point, we can take position in Cherik as we aim to take back Taúlia."

"You're very bold. Have you been influenced by that youngster who bombed Apta himself?"

"Don't be ridiculous," unusually for the elder, Ravan turned his gaze aside for a moment. "At any rate, let us hope for a good opportunity and have our scouts keep a close watch on the passage between Cherik and Helio. We must grasp things at the root. First of all, we must cut them off here."

There would be no mistakes. Ax too had more than half resigned himself.