Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume9 Chapter3 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

“First of all, we have to send a messenger to Solon.”
 


In their outline, Rogue and Odyne’s opinions coincided with Gil Mephius’.

Rogue insisted on carrying out the role of messenger himself, but Gil brushed the offer aside. Of course, although  the veteran general did not say so, Orba understood that he had family connections there. He could obtain a personal audience with the emperor and would appeal to him directly in the spirit of a warrior. He was a military man through and through, and had no fear of death. And it was because Orba knew it well that he did not nod his consent.

Orba’s chosen messenger was the general of the Blue Zenith Division, Nabarl Metti.

“General Metti?” Odyne tilted his head dubiously when he heard the choice of person. “I cannot possibly imagine him petitioning His Majesty for friendship with the west.”

He seemed to be saying that Nabarl was more likely to be full of boastful talk and ardent complaints about how unfairly he had been treated.

Orba laughed.

“I doubt Father would be moved. In that case, the most suitable one to be the messenger would be me.”

“Y-Your Highness…”

“I know. First we’ll wait and see what the reaction from Solon is. When I go, it will be after that.”

Upon receiving the order, Nabarl immediately left for Solon with the soldiers under his command. Since he had been torn between the Emperor and the Crown Prince, this was a stroke of luck for him.

Rogue and Odyne took that opportunity to reorganise their troops. Depending on the situation, after this they might be taking on the entire country of Mephius as their opponent. Rather than gathering a large number of soldiers with low morale, it was better to have a small armed force that was united in their resolve.

The two generals allowed their men to choose their own course of action.

Odyne, who had mobilised almost all of his reserve troops, started by dissolving the mercenary unit that was attached to the Silver Axe Division. About twenty percent of the regular soldiers also left. The remaining strength of the Division stood at a mere seven hundred.

Rogue’s Dawnlight Wings Division, on the other hand, did not have any mercenaries and he had originally brought about five hundred to Apta. Perhaps because the Winged Dragon officers and airship pilots were mostly young men in their twenties, only about fifty left.

Finally, all of Orba’s Imperial Guards stayed. Although they numbered less than a hundred, they were a precious fighting force in the current circumstances.

In a room in the castle, pouring over the paper on which this battle troop line-up was recorded, Orba crossed his arms. Very understandably, it was completely impossible to attack Solon with this level of military strength. It was doubtful whether they would even be able to repulse a single troop from the attack forces that would be dispatched.

Rogue’s air force and Odyne’s riflemen and artillery force were formidable, but –

''There’s no main force.''

The cavalry and infantry troops were severely lacking. If they scraped together everyone possible from both divisions, would they even reach four hundred?

Orba gazed back and forth between the paper on which the battle array was written and the map of Apta’s surroundings that was spread out on the desk. After having spent nearly half a day that way, he started writing a letter. Because he was imitating Gil Mephius’ handwriting, it took a considerable amount of time.

When it was almost evening, his page Dinn brought in some tea.

“You’ve come at the right time.” When Orba looked over his shoulder with a slight smile, Dinn fleetingly wore a horrified expression, then settled into resignation.

“You are going to ask me for some troublesome favour or another, aren’t you?”

“Troublesome is going too far.”

“The prince has not changed,” the page sighed in spite of himself.

Orba ignored him. “There’s somewhere I want you to take this letter.”

He pointed to a spot on the map. Even though he was supposed to have resigned himself earlier, the blood instantly drained from Dinn’s face.

“I-Impossible,” he shrank back. “If I go, I will be killed.”

“Yeah. At the very least, you won’t be ignored.” Orba kept smiling. The page felt more terrified than ever. “Thinking about it, he’s a bold man. He won’t let a good opportunity slip by before his eyes. So, since it’s fine, hurry up and get ready.”

There was no room for agreement or dissent.

''He really hasn’t changed'' – was written all over Dinn’s face.

“I also want to ask you to get some things ready for me. Are there any clothes fit for a prince left in Apta? If there aren’t, I’ll need you to arrange what you can for me.”

Dinn looked surprised at that order. In Apta, the Prince almost invariably wore casual clothes. He wasn’t going to turn into a dandy  at this point in time, was he?

“Are you going to be going somewhere, Your Highness?” he enquired, and Orba answered casually,

“Yeah. To Taúlia.”

“T- Taúlia?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be staying for long this time. There’s just some business I want to finish.”

Orba looked at the letter that he had just finished writing. Dinn sighed inwardly once again.

Honestly, it was nothing but surprises with this master.
 


Meanwhile, Vileena was going to pay a get-well visit to the injured who were being taken care of at the fortress.

According to a physician that she spoke to, for the first day or two it had been as noisy as a battlefield.

Since there had, in fact, only just been a battle along the border, there were a great many injured soldiers within the fortress. Because the medical facilities were full to the brim with them, the great hall in the barracks had been thrown open for the villagers to sleep in.

When Gil Mephius had heard that there were not enough doctors, he had said “have them brought in from the villages on horseback or by airship,” and had summoned anyone with even the slightest medical knowledge.

Fortunately, medicinal herbs with antibacterial and sterilization properties could be gathered in abundance from the forest around Apta. Gil had also sent soldiers with instructions from the physicians to gather those herbs.

Vileena stepped into the large hall.

There were faces there that she knew. Young men who had helped her carry water from the communal well. The lady from the marketplace who had asked her, who was a foreigner, “Are you the girl from Rone’s place?” and sold her vegetables for cheap. There were boys from those who had crowded around the house to take a peek at her.

In the village, everyone had called out to her with a smile when they caught sight of her. Here, they all averted their gazes. They knew now that she was a princess.

Even so, unable to simply ignore them, she came to visit. But, thinking about how the villagers’ feelings had changed, she never stayed for too long.

It gave her some sense of relief that many of their lives had been saved.

As she was about to leave the hall, a voice called out from behind her –

“Princess.”

Turning around, it was Layla. She ran up to Vileena and curtsied.

The timing and speed were almost those of a surprise attack, even so Vileena opened her mouth to speak out of reflex but did not know what to say.

“Thankfully, my father has regained consciousness. It was only a little, but yesterday he was able to eat… According to the doctor, he should be able to move in a month’s time.”

“Thank goodness.” Even though she had mixed feelings about Layla calling her “Princess”, Vileena spontaneously broke into a smile upon hearing that Rone was doing well.

“It’s all thanks to you, Princess, and the good people of the fortress. Even we, who once gave up on Mephius, were so well received and…”

Overcome by emotion as she was speaking, the end of Layla’s sentence became indistinct and, one after another, tears spilled and fell from her eyes. After which, she fell to one knee as though having completely broken down in tears.

“Layla,” Vileena instinctively leaned forward and was about to hold out her hand, but –

“Princess, please forgive my rudeness up until now. Moreover, I have no words to express my gratitude for the help we have received from you. Those such as the likes of us, in our position, we have no way to ever return your favour.”

“What are you saying?” driven by an ardent impulse, Vileena crouched down herself without thinking and took Layla’s limp hand. “I was the one to receive help. Instead of repaying that favour, I brought calamity to your village. I deserve to be hated and blamed rather than having you lower your head like this, Layla.”

Holding hands, the two young women warmly gazed at one another. A while passed.

“Princess… In truth, although it is shameless of me, I called out to you because I have request to make.”

“What is it?”

“As I said before, I have nothing. With my father in that state, it will take a long time before he can work again. Therefore, could you please let me work at the fortress? Of course, I do not mind what kind of work it is.” She spoke with her forehead pressed against the floor.

The back of Vileena’s eyelids grew hot. This was a girl who had once called her ‘Luna’ and cared for her like a little sister. While promising to do everything to grant her desperate request, Vileena left the hall, hiding her tears behind her hand.
 


The next day, Layla received a visit of a messenger from the princess. 

It was while she was paying a sickbed call to her father, Rone. The hall had been divided with white cloth and Lennus was in the next bed. The boy who had lived next-door to them and had his right arm cut off during the disturbance. His face had grown gaunt from pain and fever but the medicine had now taken effect and they were abating.

The messenger informed Layla that she would be working as Vileena’s lady’s maid starting the next day. Layla bowed repeatedly to the messenger, as though they had been the princess herself.

Once they had left, Layla looked down at her father’s sleeping form. The doctors had removed everything that the injured had worn and these were all placed at the patients’ feet. Among them, there was a dagger in a scarlet sheath. It was part of the equipment which had been given to her father when he had been selected to be part of the Emperor’s Imperial Guards.

Layla stealthily picked it up.

She drew it about halfway out.

Even though her father was supposed to have thrown away the past, it was obvious that he maintained it regularly.

Her lips were reflected in the blade as a name fell from them.

''Gil Mephius''.