Chronicle Legion:Volume 1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Knights and Feats of Arms

Part 1

The water shrine was located deep underground of the Suruga tutelary fort.

Inside the vast space built from stone was a pool of marine-blue holy water. With dozens of giant pillars standing inside it, there was a solemnity reminiscent of ancient Greek temples.

The water shrine was an important military facility as well as a quiet sanctuary.

"It has been so long since I last visited Suruga's water shrine."

Akigase Rikka was walking alone in the water shrine. This place's abundant body of blue water was criss-crossed by a thread-like network of paths three meters wide, allowing people to walk without getting wet.

Only personnel involved with mystic powers or Legions were allowed to enter water shrines.

Most representative of them were the Chevaliers, followed by noetic masters, monks, priests, shrine maidens, alchemist guilds, researchers at noetic associations, as well as genies and retainer beasts, etc—

Rikka walked over to the "bath" in the back of the water shrine. There was no door. Inside a space roughly the size of a basketball court, there was a round pool filled with a marine-blue liquid. At the center of the pool was a fountain supplying the blue liquid.

"Let's begin..."

Rikka unfastened her clothing and removed her black military uniform as an officer of the Imperial Army.

As the princess of the Tōkaidō Fiefdom, Rikka had trained in all kinds of etiquette but never had the meticulous inclination to put her clothing away properly. Her removed garments were scattered all over the floor in a demonstration of a bold warrior's nature, roaming battlefields without concern for trivial details.

However, she did carefully set down the Japanese sword hanging at her waist.

Completely naked, Rikka entered the pool—namely, the vat of ectoplasmic fluid used for bathing.

The marine-blue liquid filling the water shrine was artificial ectoplasmic fluid. This liquid had the same composition as the blood flowing in the veins of Legions.

The vat of ectoplasmic fluid was not deep. One could sit down in the vat and the fluid would not reach the top of one's shoulders.

Rikka stretched out her limbs in the vat. There was very little flab on her well-trained body, although the soft curves of her bust and hip regions fully expressed her womanly beauty.

The cold ectoplasmic fluid was mercilessly chilling her flawless nude body.

Rikka endured the cold of soaking herself in the pool. Her body began to heat up gradually. This was the best evidence that the source of mystic powers was seeping into Akigase Rikka's body.

This ectoplasmic fluid would turn into the power source for the Kamuy army under her command.

"Ectoplasmic fluid is synthesized from the blood of the godlike sacred beasts to serve as a nourishment for beings not of this world... Knights must store ectoplasmic fluid in their bodies and souls to feed their armies—Isn't that right?"

This was what Rikka had learned about Legions through oral tradition.

Bathing in a vat of ectoplasmic fluid was like resupplying rations to feed a massive army. In addition, there was one important significance.

"...Upon the Appellation of my Onikiri Yasutsuna, I pray to the local shrine of Suruga. Now that my soldiers and I have bathed in local holy water, pray grant me the authorizing seal of warfare to become the war god to defend Suruga."

Rikka shut her eyes and prayed to Suruga's water shrine.

This was to approve Akigase Rikka and her army to become guardian knights of the local land and grant them power...

Before long, Rikka's entire body was glowing with faint radiance to signify the establishment of a "contract." With this accomplished, she could now sortie any moment. Once the light subsided, she prepared to handle another unresolved problem.

"Sakuya, please come out. I am not angry at you."

Rikka called out to the genie hiding in the Suruga tutelary fort. Sakuya might not be present at the water shrine currently but she should be able to sense the noetic waves "calling" her.

"It stands to reason that you could have done better yesterday. Fortunately, I arrived in the nick of time and this tutelary fort did not fall to the enemy."

Rikka's tone was gentle as though consoling a frightened child or animal.

However, Rikka did not want to feign a sweet voice to coax others. She could not do it either. Aware of her warrior disposition, Rikka spoke rigidly, "Since the worst-case scenario was avoided and I am not a woman who nags and clings to grudges, will you please forget about yesterday? Hurry and come help me. Starting today, we will be very busy for foreseeable future."

As soon as she finished, a roughly nine-year-old girl appeared out of thin air next to the vat of ectoplasmic fluid. The young girl with shoulder-length black hair was dressed as shrine maiden, Sakuya's projected image.

The genie's image was looking at Rikka with timid eyes with a sad look on her face.

Rikka deliberately refrained from speaking. She shrugged in an exaggerated manner to imply "what am I going to do with you?"

Immediately, a pipe fox appeared next to Sakuya with a bell's ringing sound.

Glancing at the pipe fox, the image said quietly, "The princess is coming. She wishes for you... to go upstairs."

"Really? Her Highness arrived so soon."

One night had gone by since the attack of the Crusades. It was currently 9:24am.

Reportedly, Princess Shiori happened to be at the tutelary fort yesterday. After Rikka rushed to the scene, she had returned to her temporary residence in the city, hence the two of them had missed each other. Rikka was going to meet the rumored princess at last. They also needed to discuss the current incident.

"No helping it. The situation has become very serious," murmured Rikka to herself, recalling the reports on television last night.

At 7:00pm the previous evening, the Kyoto government in the Kinai region had held a press conference.

The host was the Kinai Governor General, Izumi Tenzen. He was the premier Chevalier and ruler of Kinai, a renowned fierce general who stood on the front lines personally to lead his army of Legions.

In front of the media which included television stations, newspapers and magazines, he cursed extremely emotionally.

The target of his verbal abuse was Lord Caesar, the great generalissimo from the neighboring country and protector of Imperial Japan.

The gist of the speech was as follows:

'Lord Caesar calls himself the protector of our nation's empress but exerts wanton control over our imperial government and the Kantō Fiefdom to interfere unjustly in our internal affairs. Expelling Lord Caesar and the Roman Army from Her Majesty's presence is the first step to rebuilding our proud nation. We pledge our lives to accomplish this monumental endeavor.'

In addition, he even said the following:

'The friend of our nation, the British Empire, agrees with us wholeheartedly.'

'I hereby declare the formation of the Restoration Alliance between the Kinai Fiefdom and the British Empire. All Fiefdoms wishing to pursue the same dream are welcome to join the alliance to save our great nation.'

'As a revolutionaries to bring about our nation's rebirth, the Restoration Alliance will presently march upon Tokyo.'

The Restoration Alliance's manifesto was instantly spread throughout Japan via airwaves.

It raised a huge uproar in the imperial palace and the National Diet Building.

The Tōkaidō region, sandwiched between Kinai and Kantō, was also the location of Rikka and the princess. The Restoration Alliance's army would inevitably pass through Tōkaidō.

"Anyway, I must have a discussion with the princess at length."

Although feared by the empress faction, Shiori was still a legitimate princess of the imperial family.

As a knight, Rikka had no choice but to express her respect and concern. Leaving the blue ectoplasmic fluid, Rikka walked over to her military uniform that was scattered on the floor.

"Thank you for taking the trouble to come here, Your Highness, and gracing me with your presence."

Arriving at a room in the Suruga tutelary fort, Akigase Rikka bowed as soon as she saw the princess.

Shiori smiled gently in return to this young maiden who was both the Tōkaidō Governor General's daughter and a Chevalier.

"I am truly pleased that we were able to meet as scheduled today despite the current times we are in."

"Definitely," Rikka smiled wryly. Their appointment had been set for today in the first place.

Shiori was dressed in her usual shirt and skirt while Rikka had her black military uniform that was exclusive to officers.

"Is your father currently at Nagoya, Rikka-sama?"

"Yes. By the way, my father has apparently paid his respects to Your Highness before—"

"We met a few times at the capital. I have also seen him once after my return from Rome."

The two of them were sitting on sofas to talk face to face across a table for receiving guests.

This was the personal office for the castellan, in other words, the top commander in charge of a tutelary fort.

Naturally, the commander's room was furnished with elegance and majesty. Four days prior, the previous castellan whom this room belonged to had been arrested on corruption charges. He was imprisoned at the military police headquarters in the outskirts of Suruga City and his Appellation, the key for summoning Legions, was also sealed.

Yesterday, the temporary castellan had died in combat.

"Speaking of which... Rikka-sama, you are currently the Suruga tutelary fort's castellan, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. Of course, returning to Nagoya would currently be quite a challenge. Since encountering them here counts as a sort of fate, I shall engage the Restoration Alliance for a bit."

The Chevalier princess smiled cheerfully and Shiori asked, "Then the urban areas around Suruga have been sealed off?"

"Yes, all major roads and railways have fallen under the Restoration Alliance's control."

A map of Tōkaidō was laid out on the table.

The Tōkaidō region consisted of the three prefectures of Aichi, Shizuoka and Yamanashi. Suruga City was the central metropolis of the Shizuoka prefecture.

"Apart from this place, all tutelary forts in Shizuoka have been subjugated by by the Restoration Alliance."

Rikka pointed at five locations on the map—Hamamatsu, Kakegawa, Suruga, Fuji, and Nagahama respectively.

"Suruga's previous castellan not only took bribes but even had secret dealings with agents of Britain. Had we discovered this sooner, we might have been able to discover the invasion at the earliest opportunity... However, it could have been his arrest that prompted the Restoration Alliance to act ahead of schedule," explained Rikka wryly.

Shiori said to her, "Regardless, Suruga is currently akin to an isolated island on land."

"Yes. Telephone circuits have stopped working since last night while surrounding base stations have apparently been taken over. Moreover, the whole Suruga region is under large-scale interference from noetic waves, so even wireless communications and airwaves have been very unstable."

Indeed, since late last night, television and radio signals could no longer be received.

Shiori had confirmed this too.

Rikka continued, "Getting a hold of outside information requires the use of retainer beasts to scout or pass messages. At the moment, I have dispatched roughly a hundred pipe foxes."

"Is it possible for humans to enter or leave?"

"The British forces have deployed many retainer beasts to surround Suruga. Whether taking air routes or going through the Southern Alps, there is a high risk of being detected."

"Retainer beasts... In that case, reckless escape attempts would be even more dangerous."

Shiori began to assess the situation. Shizuoka prefecture's plains were mostly located along the shore.

Not only were urban areas concentrated there but the old highway dating before the Edo period was also built along the coast. That was why the name of Tōkaidō equated to "sea road."

The five tutelary forts of Shizuoka prefecture were also built along the old highway or on the Pacific coast.

"As one might expect, the Restoration Alliance's army—" Shiori spoke after some contemplation, "—will be advancing east along the old highway to take over Hakone Pass."

"Assuredly so. Rome has a garrison stationed in Kantō, which means that failure is all but assured unless the Restoration Alliance secures their base of operations prior to attacking."

The higher the altitude at which a Legion flew, the greater the consumption of ectoplasmic fluid.

Consequently, movement was essentially limited to low-altitude flight or sea travel while avoiding mountainous regions. (If a fight against Legions was not expected after the movement of troops, there were also cases of super high-altitude travel through the stratosphere.)

Sitting formally and upright, Rikka said solemnly, "Your Highness, now that Suruga is surrounded, the situation is quite dire. If you wish to escape to the capital, perhaps I could—"

"No need for that, but I do appreciate the gesture."

"Oh?"

The Chevalier princess narrowed her eyes with interest.

Shiori smiled and said, "I have no idea whether Suruga will be my final resting place, but I did come here with intentions to stay for the long term. Besides, those people at the capital... probably do not welcome my return."

"True."

Rikka also knew why Shiori was feared.

Just as she was smiling awkwardly and feeling ridiculous, Shiori said to her, "Rikka-sama, speaking of escaping Suruga, wouldn't it be natural for you to receive orders to escape yourself?"

Akigase Rikka's father was the Governor General of Tōkaidō, Akigase Shouzan.

He was both a man of impressive magnanimity and an experienced politician. Even disregarding their relationship of parent and child, it was possible for him to secretly order his daughter to leave Suruga, so as to prevent Tōkaidō's top Chevalier from perishing along with the Suruga tutelary fort.

Hearing Shiori's speculation, Rikka laughed candidly.

"This I cannot deny. Either way, there are ways to handle it. If my father were to send a pipe fox to issue such an order... I will simply claim that the pipe fox went missing."

"Oh dear."

Akigase Rikka was not only a mighty warrior but also a noble-minded Chevalier of utmost integrity.

Shiori smiled elegantly with other intentions in her mind. Since she had reasons preventing her from leaving this place, her only choice was to decline Rikka's kind offer. There was an issue that Shiori must take care of here.

This issue was precisely Tachibana Masatsugu. Shiori needed to clarify the relationship between him and her.

Shiori hoped for Masatsugu to be her knight, but no one could guarantee for certain that he would be willing to assist her.

Nevertheless, Shiori committed her resolve. She must accomplish this goal no matter what.

Part 2

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Part 3

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Part 4

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Part 5

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