Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume9 Chapter5 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

Just as in Garbera, signs of internal strife were on the rise in Mephius.

The first was the news that greeted Orba when he had just returned to Apta from Taúlia.

He was told that when Nabarl had returned to Solon in lieu of a messenger, Emperor Guhl had curtly refused to recognise this Prince Gil as anything but an impostor and had sent a letter directly to Rogue and Odyne.

“Well now, what pleasure awaits?” The generals crowed that day when an official envoy from Solon arrived in the early afternoon.

Although Gil Mephius specifically offered to meet him, the envoy refused. He met only with the two generals and handed them the letter directly. On the whole, the contents were exactly what Orba had expected.

Seize the impostor Gil and drag him to Solon.

After casting his eyes over it himself, he asked – 

“So what will you do, Generals?”

“Well, I have no idea what His Majesty is talking about.”

“That’s for sure.”

Air carriers were flying today too from Apta port. Recently, the Haman House had been increasing its number of flights.

“Go-o, sky-o,” the crewmember’s sing-song voices could be heard as they sent the ships into the sky with that age-old call that was like a short verse. Apparently, it had originally been a rowing song along the River Yunos.

“Father has made his decision about me.”

Even when he had sent his own letter, Orba had never expected the emperor to view it with favour. It had simply been a signal to inform the emperor, and with him, the entirety of Mephius, of his survival.
He also needed to take the feudal lords and generals into account.

''In order to get them moving'' – the first thing that was needed was to display determination, action, and undeniable ability.

Be it Orba, Rogue, or Odyne, they still all looked calm; but this was based on their understanding that the path ahead would be a truly difficult one.

Back in Solon, capital of the Imperial Dynasty of Mephius, after a few more days had passed. A that time, there was a greater crowd than usual in the palace’s audience hall. The envoy who had been dispatched to Apta had finally returned with the reply in hand.

Everyone had been surprised at the news of an impostor crown prince having appeared, and everyone was curious about it. To be perfectly blunt, they found it entertaining. Quite apart from the tension due to imminent war, the Court at Solon was constantly enshrouded in an oppressive atmosphere, so this situation, which in a way was starting to shake the imperial family’s authority at its very roots, was viewed with amusement by people.

But when they saw that the envoy’s face was as white as paper, most of them realised that this would not end as amusement or as a joke.

“And why have you not brought the villain who calls himself Gil?”

The emperor was as displeased as he could be right from the start.

The retainer Colyne Isphan took the letter from the hands of the envoy, who had respectfully prostrated himself, and passed it to the emperor.

“This is?” Even as he asked that, he spread it open to read.

And every single one of the assembled people came to regret having chosen to go there that day.

Emperor Guhl Mephius’ expression suddenly changed and in the next instant, he had crumpled the letter in his hands.

“Signed with Gil Mephius’ signature, it says that I need to reconsider advancing on the west.” Although his voice was soft and low, it reverberated throughout the wide audience hall. Guhl hurled the crumpled-up letter to the ground at his feet. “And to top it off, Rogue and Odyne’s names are written alongside it. The west’s black magic is truly wonderful! Or maybe they were seduced by Taúlia’s sweet words and plan to use this opportunity to rebel against me?”

Apart from the emperor, nobody in the entire hall was able to utter a single sound anymore. Aggressively trampling on the letter, Guhl Mephius rose from the throne.

“I hereby declare that Folker and the others are to suppress the rebel army which has occupied Apta!”

Two days after Guhl had spoken, armed troops started from Solon. Commanded by Folker, it was originally the second Taúlia capture force but its purpose had now been changed to that of a liberation army.

The townspeople who had come to see it off did not do so with their usual liveliness. There were some who voiced their apprehension that the opponent might well be the real Gil Mephius, but for the most part, the reason was because people could not comprehend this war. Civil war would only weaken the country.

In any case, the force numbered three thousand. Since on Orba’s side, there were currently about a thousand two hundred troops stationed in Apta, this was more than double their amount. If Solon dispatched a second or even a third wave of reinforcements, those numbers might increase another twice over. Since Birac, where the liberation army would be stationed, was Mephius’ centre for foreign trade, it would be able to host a force of this size for an extended period of time.

So when he heard about this troop formation, Orba decided – 

“First, we’ll defeat these three thousand.”

In fact, having arrived at Birac, the commander of the liberation army, Folker Baran, was watching for what move Apta would make while anticipating the arrival of support troops.

They had half a month.

If it took them longer than that, Apta would potentially find itself isolated. As they would not be able to replenish supplies, voices of dissatisfaction would arise among the people and soldiers, and when that happened, the unifying power of the impostor would easily collapse.

The emperor however had set a delay of one month for liberating Apta.

“If we ignore that fool who claims my son’s name, it will only drag the imperial family’s name in the mud.”

Those words probably represented his real thoughts on the matter, but to Folker’s mind, the emperor had one other consideration – ''he might be thinking that he cannot afford to ignore the effects this might have.''

The news of the crown prince's survival had spread with the speed of the wind, not only within Solon, but to every town in Mephius.

There was also the fact that the long-serving generals Rogue and Odyne were following him. Then there was also the feudal lords who were starting to think that maybe...

The unrest among the officers was especially marked. Emperor Guhl Mephius had branded it a rebellion of the two generals', but the military men who were well-acquainted with their personalities could not easily accept that.

Furthermore, they had received reports that as an example to others, the emperor had their families detained. If their families were executed, and Rogue and Odyne demonstrated their respect for Crown Prince Gil to the bitter end, Mephius would find itself confronted with the fires of civil war.

Previously, Zaat Quark, one of the twelve generals, had plotted to take over Mephius, and it was Gil who had prevented it. Ironically, the ringleader this time was calling himself by that very name, 'Gil Mephius'.

Certainly, we can't let this go on for long.

Folker felt that he could understand the impatience swirling in the emperor's heart. If they met with any delays, the confusion and unrest that were hanging over Mephius would pour oil on the fires of rebellion.

"Failure will not be tolerated.”

But for all that he felt that way, Folker also undeniably wanted to take more time so as to play a sure hand, and he was having a hard time because of this contradiction.

On the other hand, Yuriah and Zaas, who were under his command, were optimistic.

"General Saian and General Lorgo are both commanders to be respected, but in the end, they only have a very small force."

"General Baran, should we start with a single swift strike to show them that we're serious about this? Wouldn't the enemy collapse from within without us even having to encircle them?" They enthused.
 


"I see, Folker Baran, is it?" Rogue groaned during the council of war.

It was the day after the Apta Liberation Army had arrived in Birac, to their north.

"My Prince, do you know him?"

"Well, maybe I do." Orba prevaricated.

Although he had intended to memorise the names of all of Mephius' key figures during his time as a body-double in Solon, he could not recall at all the names of the three generals who had been chosen for the liberation army.

"To be sure, he is not a commander who stands out if one were merely to list instances of distinguished service," Odyne was the one to speak but both generals were in agreement.

"You can't let your guard down around him," they said in unison.

"Yuriah and Zaas are newcomers among the twelve generals but both of them are skilled. Zaas especially. Not only is he a formidable swordsman himself, but his spirit on the battlefield is so fierce that it transforms even his men into demons of war.”

"That kind of opponent tends to be rather easy to deal with."

Orba was even terser than usual. But when the two generals had all but started to wrap things up, he called their names again.

"General Rogue, General Odyne."

"Aye," the two respectfully answered.

"It goes without saying that from here on, the enemy is Mephius."

"Aye."

"The ones your swords will be slicing through and your guns will be aimed at will be Mephians."

"..."

''Can you do it? He was going to ask.''

But no further words were spoken. Not because he had turned timid. With the two before him, he did not think that ne needed to check their resolve at this point in time.

In the end, Orba did not say anything and, with a nod, they left.

Shique, from the Imperial Guards, had also been attending the council of war.

“I was expecting you to question them much more thoroughly,” he said after the generals had gone and the two of them were alone. He was not talking about their readiness to fight against their own country, “usually, you’re frantic about gathering information about the enemy.”

“The enemy currently has twice our numbers. There’s no point using excessive measures to try and smash them. Thinking about our own procedures is more important right now.”

Orba replied while dropping his eyes to a map. It showed the outskirts of Apta as well as the fortress’ interior. Within the forest that stretched out between Apta and Birac, there was a small fortress called Jozu. When he had previously been stationed in Apta, it had been no more than a air carrier supply base. After Taúlia’s surprise attack, he had expanded the base out of necessity.

The fortress itself was newly-built, but Orba had the surrounding terrain fixed in his mind, that was because he had intended to gather woodcutters in that area and have them organised as a group. At the time, Orba had entrusted the management of the woodcutters to Kalgan, an administrative official that he had brought with him from Solon.

Kalgan was the third son of the lord of Idoro, Julius. Orba had only recently heard that he had refused his father’s insistent invitation to move to Idoro and was currently still in Apta, and had called for him earlier.

“I see, so that means that you’ve already traced the path to victory in your head.”

“You shouldn’t be worrying about me but about your own health. You're still not fit to walk about much, are you?”

“Your concern makes me so happy, I might even cry. But I can’t go and sleep when the fighting is so close. I’ve said it before, but you can’t do anything without me.”

“So you say.”

It was the same frivolous exchange as ever, but Shique looked as though he still had something to say. He closed his mouth however as though he changed his mind.

Orba’s eyes did not move from the map. Although this was the same attitude that he always had before a fight, Shique found it difficult to shake his uncomfortable feeling.