‘Duke Florian. Why would you do something like that…’
Distressed, Marquis Baker Gotham entered his barracks alone. He was sure that Duke Florian was the one who had assassinated Antras. It wasn’t vague speculation; he had a valid reason for thinking this.
He may be a blind man, but he was a superhuman who had reached the level of a Master. In place of his sight, his other abilities developed greatly; one of which was the ability to read other people’s emotions. Although it was impossible for him to read their thoughts, he was able to roughly identify their feelings.
That was why he was able to know.
Duke Sebastian had grieved as if he had lost a member of his own family when Antras’ dead body was in front of him. The other people around him had also felt grief and bitterness.
Except for one person. Dominic Florian had been that exception.
Marquis Gotham had sensed a subtle feeling of joy and relief - Duke Florian had the feelings of someone whose plans had succeeded.
Marquis Gotham immediately guessed what was going on; he guessed who had killed Antras.
From the beginning, it hadn’t made sense that someone had been able to sneak into the Empire’s tightly guarded camp and assassinate Antras.
Because the battlefield was a place that was more heavily guarded than any other location, it made assassinating someone more difficult. And yet, the most important person in the military had been assassinated just like that…
To be able to hide from the other knights meant that the assassin had to be at least a Master. Currently, there were three Imperial Masters in the camp.
There was no way Duke Sebastian killed Antras. And it wasn’t Marquis Gotham himself either.
That meant there was only one suspect left. Even if he wanted to deny it, it was impossible to do so.
The problem was...
‘Would it help the Empire to reveal this?’
There was no way it would.
Given Duke Sebastian’s current state, he would immediately want to duel once he found out the culprit was Duke Florian. No, it wouldn’t just be a duel, it would be a fight to the death.
Then, regardless of the outcome, the Imperial Army would be finished. They had lost Duke Schweiker. They lost Lucas Florian. They had lost Antras. And if the two of them were to fight?
‘No. That’s a truth that cannot be revealed.’
In the end, Marquis Gotham believed it would be best to hold this fact close to his chest. At least, until this war was over.
‘But who knows if this is the right decision…’
Marquis Gotham shook his head. Even he wasn’t confident about his own decision.
What was certain was that this war would only get more difficult in the future.
***
“The Empire is attacking from all directions, sir.”
“They’re not here asking for a peace treaty?”
Milton looked surprised when he heard the messenger’s report.
“Yes, sir. They’re attacking both the Republic and our Lester Kingdom’s borders while setting the battlefields on fire. It’s said that Duke Sebastian is moving particularly enthusiastically, sir.”
“...What’s the current war situation?”
“Sir Jerome is blocking them, sir. So far, no important fortresses or castles have been taken over by the enemy.”
“I see. Keep me posted if there are any further details.”
“Yes, sir!”
After sending the messenger out, he turned towards Count Sabian.
“Seems like you’re a little off the mark at the end.”
“Yes, it’s a bit unexpected, sir.”
Count Sabian had been sure that the Empire would ask for a peace treaty.
The Empire had already lost its major power in the fight with General Barron of the Republic. They were in no position to continue fighting this war.
For the Empire, this had been a war of conquest. In other words, they didn’t need to put their country’s fate on the line. A war of conquest’s main purpose was to achieve the best result possible: completely subjugate and merge the enemy’s country with their own.
That was the best result but in reality, it wasn’t always possible to get that kind of a great result. Even if they hadn’t gotten their enemy to completely surrender, it was wise to withdraw if the war for conquest was getting difficult.
Currently, the Empire had achieved plenty of gains against the Republic. They had completely conquered the territories of the former Valence Kingdom and the Strabus Kingdom as well as reducing the Republic to less than a third of its original size. Even if the Empire stopped fighting here, they would have gained sufficient benefits by having a peace treaty and strengthening political relations with the Lester Kingdom.
Count Sabian had known this, that was why they had taken Lucas Florian as a prisoner. It would have given the Lester Kingdom one more card to hold as an advantage over the Empire at the peace treaty negotiation table. But he never thought the Empire would give up on the peace treaty and launch an even more aggressive attack instead.
“If I’m being honest, sir, this was really unexpected. That man, Antras, isn’t someone who would misjudge like this.” Count Sabian shook his head as he spoke. “What the Empire is doing right now is no different from self-destructing, no, it’s more closer to suicide, sir.”
“You think maybe they have an ulterior motive?”
“I’m not sure, sir. I can’t… read them at all. Why are they doing this?”
A variable like Antras’s death was so unexpected that Count Sabian hadn’t thought of it, that was why he had no idea why the Empire was doing something like this.
“Then, let’s keep an eye on the situation for now.”
“That seems like a good idea, sir.”
And so, Count Sabian decided it would be more prudent to wait a bit longer.
Because he didn’t fully understand what was going on with the Empire, he wasn’t able to come up with anything different.
However, there was someone who could.
***
“Antras died?!”
Siegfried sprang up from his seat.
“Really?”
“Yes, sir. One of our informants in the Imperial Army said it was 100% true, sir.”
The ideology of Republicanism was all over the world. Thanks to that, he had been able to plant informants even within the Imperial Army. And because of that, he knew about Antras’ death before Milton.
“So an opportunity has come.”
Siegfried had a hunch that this was his last chance. The Empire was going berserk due to the death of Antras and Lester Kingdom wasn’t aware of the situation yet. Now was the time for him to draw the sword he had prepared.
“David.”
“Did you call for me, Fuhrer?”
“Is the plan complete?”
“Yes, sir. This is the evidence.”
David handed Siegfried a single document. Once he checked the document, Siegfried smiled.
“Good.”
Siegfried hadn’t been doing nothing while he had been laying low. He had been sharpening a sword to insert into the heart of the Empire once there was a chance for him to strike back.
Now was the time to draw that sword.
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“Jake.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
“Start moving the army immediately. We’re heading to the Empire’s capital. We’re aiming for the Emperor’s head!”
“Yes, sir!”
The wounded tiger who had been curled up was finally moving again.
***
Siegfried’s advance.
It heralded a spectacular counterattack by the Republic.
“I will pay off the great hero of the Republic, General Barron’s grudge. Rise with me, brothers of the Republic!”
With that proclamation, Siegfried moved the entire Republican Army.
Barron’s death was a bad thing for the Republic as a whole, but personally, it had a lot of advantages for Siegfried.
With Barron’s death, Siegfried became the only living embodiment of charisma in the Republic.
So far, Siegfried had taken control of the Republic’s military, politics, and the legislature, but General Barron had been the exception. His presence was like a grain in a precise mechanical device and Siegfried loathed him.
If Barron had been hostile, it would have been easy for Siegfried to somehow get him out of the way, but because Barron put a distance between them, like he was saying, ‘leave me alone,’ it had been difficult for Siegfried to do something first.
But General Barron had died with Duke Schweiker of the Empire. Actually, there were rumors that the two heroes had been blessed by heaven and been enthroned by the deities, but Siegfried didn’t believe that. He was an atheist.
‘If there really was a god in reality, then he would be incompetent compared to me. The fact that the world is in such a mess with their omnipotent powers is evidence of that.’
That was what Siegfried usually thought; that was why he didn’t believe that a god had placed them on a divine throne, but he could believe that General Barron and Duke Schweiker had destroyed each other.
For Siegfried, this was the best result possible.
Barron hadn’t died alone, but had taken the Republic’s head, Duke Schweiker of the Empire. Duke Schweiker had been a thorn in Siegfried’s eye, how could he not be happy that it had been removed for him?
But what pleased him the most was that General Barron was now dead.
Politicians usually prefer dead heroes over heroes who were still alive. Dead heroes were much easier to utilize and they were never hostile. That was what a dead hero was.
With the justification of taking revenge for General Barron, Siegfried mobilized the entire Republic. “Let’s avenge our great hero” - with that, he united all the people.
‘I’m so glad you died, General Barron.’
Only after General Barron had died was Siegfried sincerely thanking him.
Either way, Siegfried led a fearsome army southward.
Of course, the Imperial Army didn’t just sit on their hands; they fought back.
“Show the Republican fanatics the strength of the Empire!”
“Oooooooh!”
Duke Sebastian fought fiercely against the Republic; he didn’t spare himself and took the lead in every battle. Having lost both his beloved disciple and a close friend he had respected, Duke Sebastian was the personification of revenge. And of course, Marquis Gotham and Duke Florian fought hard on the front lines against the Republic as well.
Thanks to that, the Empire was holding up surprisingly well against the Republic’s full-scale offensive. But as time went on, the differences began to show. Without Antras, the Imperial Army couldn’t keep up with Siegfried’s strategy.
The damages suffered from the Lester Kingdom’s intervention; the damages sustained in the battle against the Republican Army led by General Barron; the supply lines stretched thin to counter the scorched earth tactics. With such unfavorable conditions, it wasn’t a good situation for the Empire to continue fighting in this war.
Siegfried had so accurately stabbed the Imperial Army’s strategic weakness that it seemed cruel.
“Duke Sebastian. Count Leon is said to have been killed, sir.”
“What?”
“It’s said that he was killed by the Republican Army led by Jake and that the 20,000 troops he was leading were also wiped out, sir.”
“Keugh…”
“Duke Sebastian, Siegfried led a detachment and attacked our supply unit, sir.”
“Where is he? When and where did he show up?”
“It’s reported that he appeared on a minor road just past Catrol Castle, sir.”
“Isn’t that the location where we defeated the Republic before?”
“Yes, sir. It seems like they pretended to retreat when their siege failed. Instead, they went to the rear and attacked our supply line.”
“Damn it…”
Duke Sebastian gritted his teeth as he looked down at the strategic map.
Although it seemed like the Republic was on the full offensive, they were actually attacking the frontline bit by bit, but exhaustively. By doing that, either Siegfried or Jake led an elite force and was going around stabbing vital Imperial points.
‘Isn’t this what our Empire did to the Republic at the beginning of the war?’
Were they planning to repay everything they had suffered? The tables had turned and now, the Empire was being subjected to the same pattern by the Empire.
‘What should we do? What do we have to do to reverse the situation?’
One of the operational staff spoke carefully as he looked at Duke Sebastian staring hard at the strategic map.
“Your Grace, I wonder whether we should be pulling the frontline back.”
“Pull back the frontline?”
“Yes, sir. We’re not in a position to deal with both the Republic and the Lester Kingdom at the same time, Your Grace. Recently, not only the Republic, but the Lester Kingdom has also begun to attack our military supply lines.”
“Hm…”
To give up the frontline — that was an option.
But to give up the frontline was no different than letting go of the Republic that they had finally pressed down.
‘That would make all the supplies and lives consumed by this war meaningless.’
Duke Sebastian wanted to avoid such a situation.
‘First, let’s try to hang on a bit longer.’
Duke Sebastian gave orders to the messenger.
“Tell the entire army to strengthen their defense and keep an eye out for both Siegfried and Jake’s movements. And send a carrier pigeon back home asking for assistance. We cannot fight a war without supplies.”
“Yes, sir!”
Rather than using an excellent hand, Duke Sebastian decided to deal with the problem.
In actuality, this was the limit of his ability.
‘First, we endure. The Empire wouldn’t be that weak.’
Even if the war consumed some of the Empire’s national power, Duke Sebastian chose to maintain the current frontline. He judged that, considering the Empire’s output and the population, it wouldn’t be impossible.
But he didn’t know that Siegfried actual intention was to shake the foundation of the Empire itself.