Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume4 Chapter5 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

Guided by Bane, Oubary Bilan and the hundred and fifty from the Black Armoured Division drew near the bandits' hideout just before daylight faded.
  
Naturally they lit neither fire nor lamps. As they marched, they were careful to make as little noise as possible. There was only the snorting and clip-clopping footsteps of the horses, as well as the clanging of armour and helmets, as they slowly weaved their way through the trees. A while ago, several people had been sent out on reconnaissance. Lights shone from every house in the village and a number of men and women seemed to be drinking and dancing. There were people who appeared to be lookouts carrying guns but by going along the old beaten track that was the route chosen for their march, they should avoid running into them.

Stylishly dressed in dignified light armour, as he jolted along atop of his horse, Oubary's eyes shone with excitement as they drew nearer to battle and to its reward.

They started down a narrow path hedged in by cliffs. On Oubary's instructions, they all dismounted. With Bane as their guide, they advanced inwards while hiding themselves behind trees. Oubary beckoned them then gave the command to draw their swords.

"Right, go."

When soldiers had destroyed the fence with mallets, the gun corps, lined up side-by-side, opened fire all at once. The plan was to lure the villagers and to seize the advantage through further gunfire and arrows. Some of the soldiers had been sent on a roundabout route, taking a mountain trail that led behind the village; when they judged the timing to be right, the arrangement was for both sides to attack at the same time. However,

"Wait!"

Oubary temporarily halted the shooting. There was absolutely no reaction from within the village.

''Don't tell me they were able to flee''.

Oubary bit the edge of his thin lips. They must have abandoned their hideout when they noticed that Bane had disappeared. And yet, a little while earlier when they had sent out scouts, they had seen the shapes of people. That being the case, there hadn't been enough time for them to escape. Or it was also possible that they had gotten rid of the prince who had become nothing but a burden.

"Search every house. Don't miss even a single one."

Oubary ordered as he crossed through the wrecked fence. As each lit flames for their torches, the area was illuminated by the hazy light of fire.
There were a number of the sod-thatched huts standing in rows. The vestiges of evening meals still wafted from smoke-filled pits. There were also traces of open-air fires here and there, which clearly hinted at there having been people there until just a while ago.

Oubary considered the situation while soldiers investigated the environs, when:

"General!"

A soldier called out loudly. His face was flushed with excitement.

"We found the prince!"

"What?"

Oubary's face brightened with greedy delight. It was a shame that he hadn't gotten to fight but at least he would have achieved his outstanding feat.

Near a vacant plot of land with a well, there was a building that looked as though it could house several tens of people. It was probably used to hold gatherings.

Accompanied by soldiers to his right and to his left, Oubary entered the building. "Oh ho", he narrowed his eyes.

Deep inside the wide hall, there was definitely the shape of a person. He seemed to be tied to a chair. His head was drooping as though he were asleep.

"Prince, Prince Gil!"

Oubary took a torch and strode towards the figure, raising it as he went.

The person who was tied up slowly lifted his head. The light from the flames fell upon his face and there was no mistaking it. It was Gil Mephius.


"It's very quiet."

Urging her horse to advance, Vileena spoke as she considered their surroundings. Low cliffs rose on either side of them.

At the front was the Baian and behind it Hou Ran rode on the Tengo. All around them, it had grown completely dark. As the Baian that was in the lead sometimes stopped as though sniffing a scent to find a way, their progress was slow.

"Are you afraid?"

"Certainly not."

Vileena said, as though telling Ran not to underestimate her. Ran smiled faintly.

"It's quiet but there are signs of life. This child seems to getting wind of a rather large number of smells."

"When did you talk with it?"

"Constantly."

Even though Ran's answer was clear, the meaning was still unintelligible. Somehow or another, Vileena was able to grasp her personality and they had simply reached an understanding without needing to talk.

The road the two of them were following was exactly the same as the one Orba had brought Bane along the previous evening. About an hour earlier, they had stopped to let the dragons and the horse have a drink at the riverside. Although she had spoken in that way for Ran's benefit, Vileena felt vaguely uneasy about the stillness and darkness of their surroundings. However, she silently followed Ran, who was being led by the Baian, without revealing those feelings.

When, carried by the wind, something sounded faintly in Vileena's ears. The sound of a great many people firing guns. The two of them looked at each other and slowed their steeds.

"That was..."

Vileena had immediately halted her horse and signalled to Ran to stop as well. There were a number of armed soldiers along the winding road ahead. Their backs were turned towards them and their attention seemed to be focused on something further down the path.

The flames from the torches they held illuminated their Black Armoureds and armour, and Vileena realised that they were Oubary Bilan's Black Armoured Division.

"Have they also located him?"

"Wait."

This time it was Ran who stopped the mounts. The Baian that the two had at some point overtaken also stopped when she turned around. Or rather, although it appeared to want to go forward, it pawed at the air with its foreleg without ever advancing. It was behaving as though facing something it absolutely loathed.

"What is the matter?"

"It seems to smell something it hates. There's no doubt that the prince is down there but its instincts are preventing it from doing what it wants. A dragon's instinct isn't only something that is ingrained through experience. Among them and throughout the generations, ether endows them with something like precognition."

"Precog..." Vileena considered for a short while, then, "It can't be... Something along the lines of someone having set a trap to capture the prince?"

"It might be. This child is particularly sharp for that sort of thing. - Wait, where are you going?"

"I am going to inform Oubary. Please stay here."

It was no sooner said than done, and Vileena had already spurred her horse on with a kick to its flank. "Princess!?" Ran heard the soldiers exclaim in astonishment. Ran was about to follow after the princess when the Tengo stood bolt upright, forcing her to a sudden stop.

Behind her, the Baian turned around. Ran pursed her lips; there were signs that a large number of people were approaching from that direction.


"Oubary?" Gil spoke in a raspy voice. "Thankfully you came. Bane seems to have done his job."

"Your safety is more important than anything, Your Highness. Nevertheless, to be outdone by the likes of those bandits is unlike Mephius' heroic and celebrated prince."

Oubary had long hated the prince. Being thus in a position to look down on him, the general smiled mockingly. Tied to the chair, Gil said weakly,

"I'm sorry. ... However, it seems they weren't originally that kind of group. They said that their village was burned down and they were reduced to banditry out of necessity."

"That would be at the time when Apta was occupied by those savages from Garbera. Although it may be that your kind heart holds some sympathy for them, I have no interest in the circumstances surrounding bandits. Now then, which way did they flee? Not a single one of their necks will be sparred, those curs who kidnapped the Crown Prince of our revered imperial dynasty."

"It was not Garbera that burned down the village." Gil Mephius raised heavy-looking eyelids and stared Oubary in the eyes. "I heard all about it, Oubary. What happened in this village was entirely your doing."

"No, that - What are you talking about?"

For an instant, Oubary could be seen to back away but, in the end, he had nerve. He was confident that here and now, he could certainly overwhelm the prince.

"The one who set fire to this village, no, to all the villages in this entire area was you, Oubary."

"...."

The subordinates that were behind Oubary looked at each other. They remembered what they had done. As they were turning pale, Oubary silently ordered them out with a wave of his hand.

"Why did you do something like that? It goes without saying that they were people of Mephius. You who are part of Mephius' military, why did you..."

"Deplorable."

"What?"

"It is deplorable, Your Highness. Could it be, Your Highness, that you believe what can only be called nonsense spouted by the likes of bandits more than you believe in a commander who has faithfully served the imperial family? I, Oubary Bilan, swear by the Dragon God Mephius that I have never done such a thing."

"..."

"And, even if... ah, this is speaking hypothetically. Even if I had done so..."

Feeling increasingly superior towards the prince who was remaining silent, Oubary grew greedy. This princeling was oblivious to the ways of the world. Oubary felt like explaining what he had done – and of course he remembered personally setting fire to the area's villages – then using that to tear through the prince’s utter ignorance so that he could look down on him more and more.

"Say it wasn't me but some other commander who was stationed at Apta at the time and who had done that same thing, I wouldn't consider it a crime in the slightest."

"Why is that?" Gil asked, his entire countenance expressing bewilderment. "What kind of reason could there be for needing to burn down the people's villages?"

"Forgive me if I appear to be speaking above my position, but as unworthy as I, Oubary, am, if nothing else, I have more experience than Your Highness and that is simply another facet of war."

"..."

"Your Highness is still young. And until now, you have always gained victory through heroic actions. However various things can happen in war and the outcome of a battle is not always clear-cut. I was indeed unable to protect Apta from Garbera. Nor did I receive sufficient aid from my country. However if I had merely fled and thus allowed Garbera to grow over-confident, then it would also have occupied the villages in the surrounding area and, as a result, it would have been easy for it to march towards our country's centre."


At the same time.

''I see''.

Tied to the chair, Gil Mephius – which is to say, Orba – felt that the time he had eagerly been waiting for had finally arrived.

There was no hesitating. He had already steeled his resolve. Because he would not come by a second chance to snatch away his mortal enemy's life without letting go of his mask, Orba would not falter.

However, at the very end, Orba desperately wanted to hear from Oubary about setting the village on fire. If you were to ask him why, Orba himself still didn't clearly understand the reason. He harboured a seething hatred towards the man and even though he would not simply attack him from behind, nor simply take his life, Orba had decided that when the time came, he would point his blade towards Oubary.  

''If I don't, six years of stored up hatred would be completely wasted''.

He was possessed by the gruesome demon of revenge.

"In this thing we call war, in one way or another, there will always be a price to pay in victims and sacrifices to be made."

Oubary triumphantly carried on talking. Naturally he was unware that 'Gil Mephius' had a sword grasped in his hands that were tied behind his back, just as he was unware that 'Gil Mephius' could free himself in an instant of the ropes that bound him.

"In order to protect the people from an even greater sacrifice and to reap benefits for the country, one needs the resolve to be able to throw everything to the flames."

"I understand."

Orba's face was positively radiant as he spoke. Truthfully, his heart and mind were perfectly clear.

And with it, he was overflowing with willpower and energy.

"Oubary, it is thanks to the veterans of a thousand battles such as yourself that Mephius can know peace. That you also saved my life is something I will be sure to explain to Father. Now then, come and untie these ropes."

"Yes, certainly."

Having heard what he wanted, Oubary was beaming with joy. He walked up to Orba and was about to lean down closer.

''He's here.''

Orba grasped the sword ever more tightly. He found that the muscles in his shoulders and back were so strained they were rigid. When Oubary was so close that he could almost feel his body heat, Orba would knock back his chair with a kick and leap up.

Then, without pausing for breath, he would swing to hit Oubary who would go down without being able to utter a sound.

"Prince, are you there?"

He heard that voice from outside.

''Vileena!''

Startled, Orba stopped halfway as he was moving his waist. Oubary had been about to lean over him but seeing the rope drop loose from the prince's torso by itself, he too stopped.

And in his surprise, Orba, who had put too much strength in his movement, dropped his sword.

The sound of the blade hitting the floor with a crash resounded uncannily loud.