episode_0322

* * *

At the barracks of Tepelo Castle, at the moment when the battle between the Roland Army and the Lunalien Army was beginning in earnest.

“Everyone! Don’t slack off on your training! You must never forget that the Ohana guys might surprise you at any moment!”

The one who personally led the soldiers and focused on training them from early in the morning was the commander of the defenses of Tepelo Castle and temporary lord, Tifa.

It was quite a ceremonial thing for a lord to come to the barracks in person and conduct training, so it was only natural that there would be one or two subordinates by her side to point out this situation.

“Your Majesty, I think it would be best to leave this to General Metz and take care of the work… … .”

Right now, like this.

“You’re back, Violet? I told you, I don’t like sitting on the throne and wrestling with papers!”

“But that is the job of the lord… … .”

“That’s why I gave you the position of lord!”

“The position of Lord of the Castle cannot be given or received arbitrarily without the King’s approval.”

“No… …Luna, you’re going to listen to me! How long have I known him? Huh!”

Violet sighed naturally at the sight of Tifa coming out so recklessly.

It might have been a big problem for a subordinate to dare to sigh in front of a superior, but at least Tifa wasn’t the type to find fault with such things.

“Huh? You’re just sighing and stuff? Are you ignoring me? Are you?”

“… … Lord. Even so, I thought of you as a ‘generous person who can overcome this much’, but do you want to change that evaluation?”

“You made me like this! You didn’t do it even though I told you to! In the first place, you’re much better at that than a moron like me!”

Violet didn’t ask any further questions and went to find the man who was supposed to be there.

“Where did General Metz go?”

“I gave him a patrol. You never know where the Ohana kids might come from.”

“Is there any news?”

“No, there isn’t. Ohana guys, don’t move an inch. I thought they would move since the difference in forces was quite large… …How scared must they be to not take a single step out of the castle? Wouldn’t it be better to just stand there and check the situation?”

“I’ve heard that Navidos Ohana is an extremely cautious person. Even when the clouds of war with Hesna’s army gather, he only strengthens his forces and reinforces his defenses. He doesn’t seem to be the type to take the first step unless someone moves first and has a clear advantage.”

“Is that being extremely cautious? Isn’t that just a little brat?”

“Foot.”

Violet, who had laughed without realizing it, lowered her head sharply.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been rude, Your Majesty.”

“What the… … Anyway, I was secretly expecting you to come in. Isn’t this a good opportunity to measure how many people my magic can cover?”

“Are you feeling better?”

“I haven’t used magic since I fought Karelia. I’ve been meditating steadily, just like Genor said. I’ve been thinking about this and that, and I want to try out some new magic, but I’m so worried that I’ll waste it and not be able to use it in battle. My body’s so tense I could die.”

For a woman, she has incredibly firm abs and definitely has a talent that no one can match when it comes to ‘looking healthy’.

When she was fighting, she was sometimes closer to a beast than a human.

“You have incredible confidence. Well, you are the strongest general in our army, Lord Seong… … But even so, you shouldn’t let your guard down too much. Of course, Lord Seong knows that the stronger you are, the more important it is to not let your guard down, right?”

“What?”

Tifa looked at Violet with a dumbfounded expression, then laughed heartily as if the barracks were about to leave.

“What’s so funny? I thought we were having a serious conversation… … .”

“No, hey. I thought Violet, you know how to flatter. Even if you do that, I don’t have anything to throw at you?”

“I’m not flattering you, I’m telling you this after seriously assessing the situation. If it weren’t for you, Lord, Karelia wouldn’t have been able to win.”

“I guess magic helped. But, do you seriously think I’m the strongest?”

“… … Yes?”

Only then did Violet realize that Tifa was looking at her with a puzzled look.

“Do I feel like I’m the strongest in this country?”

“That… isn’t that right?”

“No, no. There are people who make people like me into something like that, I don’t know why they think that way.”

“… … Yes? Who is that?”

There’s a general stronger than Tifa?

Tifa’s answer to the unbelievable words was even more unbelievable.

“There’s Luna.”

“Luna… …Your Majesty???”

“Yeah.”

Luna is much stronger than Tifa?

Of course, he always took the lead in battles, and he even won the martial arts competition held by the Karelian army… … but in the first place, the Karelian army lacked generals with outstanding martial arts skills, and most importantly, he did not participate in the competition because he found Tifa, who seemed to be a human version of the beast before his eyes, annoying.

“Well, I can use magic now, so we’re about the same. If we just fought, I wouldn’t have been able to beat Luna even if I died and woke up.”

Violet looked at Tifa’s face seriously without saying anything.

… … At least, it didn’t seem like he was lying to make fun of himself or anything.

Tifa is the type of person who seems cool on the inside, and she’s not good at lying – so if this was just a prank, she could definitely tell…

‘Are you telling the truth?’

“Hey. Even you, a smart person, make such stupid faces. I guess I’m getting to know a lot of different people today?”

“No, that’s… … .”

Violet barely regained her composure and asked.

“Then why… …has it not been revealed until now?”

“Huh?”

“Luna… …If Your Majesty is such a powerful general, why hasn’t his reputation been passed down until now?”

“That’s simple. Luna was really soft-hearted.”

“You were young?”

“Yeah. Even when facing the enemy, there is hesitation. If I show even a little sincerity here, I will die right away, so I wonder if that is right. I heard it once when I asked, so it is not exact, but… … Since I spent a long time with Luna, I can infer that the way of thinking flows in that direction.”

“You worried about that, huh… … .”

“So Luna, at least until recently, has never been sincere. Like when she was competing in martial arts competitions or fighting. She was always controlling her power.”

Tifa placed a hand on Violet’s shoulder, who was blankly looking at her.

“That’s ridiculous, right? But it’s true. But before I came here, Luna told me something.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He said he was prepared. He said he wouldn’t hesitate anymore. It seemed like he had a lot of thoughts after killing Karelia.”

“So now people will know. Who has been hunched over and waiting for an opportunity?”

“… … !!!”

Tifa spoke in a flowing voice, looking at the soldiers training in the barracks.

“Chel Brands, Epinel Rosenkros… … All of them were able to make their names known because Luna didn’t reveal herself. ”

Tifa muttered as she remembered another strong man – a face she could never forget.

A female general with red hair like herself, Irene Juliette.

Although my life was saved thanks to Luna back then… … I was confident that I wouldn’t be taken advantage of now.

‘… … I will take care of that woman, not Luna. Definitely.’

* * *

Everyone watching the 1:1 duel held their breath when they heard the sound of weapons falling.

Not a single person noticed what was happening.

“Uh… … Uh.”

It was such a strange sound that it was embarrassing to even call it a terminal sound.

The kind of sound that a half-dead person would utter, whose chain of thought had snapped before he could even think of saying anything.

Ting!

The first thing that fell was the weapon.

A being who was like a half-double to the human named Seta Roland, who was the pride of the human race, and who was with him from the moment he became the commander of the Third Knight to the moment he became the lord of the Roland Army.

That being was torn to pieces and scattered across the ground, losing its sharpness.

And then, next.

What fell with a thud was――a head.

A human head.

I only split the sum once.

We didn’t even exchange swords a few times. Really, there was only one contact.

That’s why people couldn’t say anything.

Even though he saw with his own eyes that the head of the person rolling on the floor was Roland’s, his thought process stopped for a split second without him realizing it.

“… … .”

Thud!

The weapon fell, the head fell off, and only then did the body below the neck, which had been perched on the saddle, fall to the ground.

Luna turned her head slightly and directed her red eyes at the fallen Roland—no, what was Roland?

The Adina Sword in his hand was covered in crimson blood, making the viewer feel as if the blade itself was red.

She said nothing, dipping the blood-soaked blade into her bloodshot eyes for a moment… …

By raising the sword in his hand and flashing it―

―Woo …

He responded silently to the cries for a new king of the era.

Anyone who had seen this scene with their own eyes would have thought this.

――The name that will decorate this era will not be Serpina von Eingart, but Lunarien Inian.