episode_0206

Siege weapons.

The moment I heard those words, I felt my mind go blank.

I thought about what I had just heard again, wondering if I had misheard, but I absolutely did not.

“No, you didn’t see it wrong!? The scale! What type of weapon!?”

“There were three siege rams, five siege towers, and 43 trebuchets. And at first glance, the size of the enemy seemed to be over 1 million.”

Sounds crazy. crazy… … .

“That’s crazy!! It’s not even a coup, so where did they get that many troops and siege weapons!? No, at that level, it’s not a rebellion, it’s just a coup!? Another territory! Have you received any communication?”

“No… … . I tried using communication magic in a hurry, but there was no contact from any of the territories, and I did not receive a call again.”

I thought there would be help from outside, but could it be that they brought in a foreign force rather than those who started a rebellion in another territory?

These crazy guys… … . After the rebellion is over, the country will be torn apart and put into the mouths of the people I brought in. Can’t you even judge that?

“What about their doubles? Which country is it? Grand Duchy? Or did you come here from the Empire? Who on earth provided them with siege weapons!”

“… … They were just ordinary citizens.”

“That can’t be possible!! They started a rebellion all over the country at once and made their own siege weapons… … . If not… … . no way. No, that can’t be possible. Really? Is that what I thought?”

Lemoir slowly shook his head and responded to my words.

“I couldn’t figure out the exact thing. The scale is too large, there are unexpected things like siege weapons, and even contact with other territories is impossible… … .”

“Princess, I will go and find out the details myself. Princess, please wait here. Lemoir, let’s go.”

After saying that, Jin turned his back and ran away. After looking at the back for a moment, I assumed the worst situation I had just thought of and continued thinking.

Let’s say a rebellion breaks out all over the country. Judging from his attitude of hating nobles to the point of hating them, I’m guessing it wasn’t just the thoughts of the man down there.

That’s because the man clearly referred to the group as ‘us’ rather than the individual ‘me’. So, let’s say that everyone except nobles, engineers, vagabonds, slaves, and ordinary citizens, all turned into enemies… … .

“At least 3 million… … . No, maybe 4 million… … .”

Even for untrained ordinary citizens, it was already a sufficient number to push through in quantity.

If there was just enough supply, it would have been enough just to survive with a water battle. The siege weapons themselves exist in the royal capital, and sufficient supplies and supply routes are also prepared.

But what if the opponent has weapons of a similar level and their quantity overwhelms us?

well. It will be a very difficult battle, even if it is not at a disadvantage. Even if we win, the damage will be significant.

Before the damage can be repaired, neighboring countries will put pressure on it, and it will soon become a vassal state or disappear into history.

“… … .”

Actually, it’s a good story. Because I have no regrets about this country anymore.

From one day on, I started to think that I didn’t need anything, no power, no money, no fame.

-Until there is something I want to protect. Until then, how about protecting the world?

I have no desire to protect the world. It’s too big and too cluttered, so it doesn’t suit me.

but… … . We have to protect this place. Even if you can’t protect it, you have to struggle.

If I leave behind what I can do and run away, I don’t think I’ll be able to find the answer in my future travels.

“I have to meet my father.”

I turned around and ran towards the grand hall.

My father would have been the first to receive information about the rebellion. No matter how old and rotten he is, he is the king of this country, so he must be working with his ministers to find a solution.

Suddenly――!

“Father!!”

There was no one in the grand hall that I arrived at after running like that.

“Father… … ?”

Is it somewhere other than the grand hall? No, that can’t be possible. If you want to have a meeting, this must be the only place?

I ran into the inner room, thinking that this could not be possible. While running down the hallway, I suddenly heard a loud noise.

―――!!

I heard a sound like lightning, so I turned my head out the window and saw the protective shield covering the royal capital shaking.

“Has the attack already begun? … !!”

Gritting my teeth, I stopped controlling my strength and started running as hard as I could. Crunch, crunch, the floor cracked every time I moved my feet, but now was not the time to worry about that.

I reached the inner room by breaking the floor and started looking around to find my father. A library, a dressing room, and even a bedroom.

Finally, when I arrived at the safe, I took a breath and looked around. But my father wasn’t here either.

“Are you at the chapel?”

The moment I turned my back to run again, I noticed a shadow standing at the entrance to the inner room and stopped running.

“Father?”

I said that with some expectation, but what came back was a completely different person’s voice.

“Father is no longer here.”

“… … Brother?”

The owner of the shadow was not my father, but my brother.

“No, that’s okay. What do you mean, your father isn’t here?”

“It means literally. My father took refuge here to preserve his body.”

“Evacuation? Evacuation?”

I asked back with fluttering under my eyes, but there was no answer, as if he was trying to say that what he was saying would not change.

My teeth ground and my clenched fists trembled.

“Ha, evacuation… … . Evacuation… … .”

―――!!

When I heard another loud noise, I glared at my brother and shouted.

“A person called a king, a person who leads others… … !! Abandoning the country and running away for just that reason!? Don’t be funny!!”

“You made the best choice.”

“Best? This is the best? The best thing to do is to do nothing, throw away your obligations, throw away everything you can and run away!! dog sound!! That’s just a cowardly excuse to run away from your own mistakes!”

My brother frowned and shouted at my shout.

“Then what do you mean I should do!! What can I do there!! Are you saying you had to stab and kill your father, who went crazy with fear, and usurp the throne of king!?”

“You should have stopped it anyway!!”

My brother seemed to be speechless at my words and took a deep breath and widened his eyes.

“At least I should have hit him and stopped him. They told him not to forget that he was a member of the royal family, and that he should not forget his duty, but he left behind a coward who forgot the weight of his seat and ran away, just because he was a family member. For the same reason you said!! You mean you just sent it to me?”

My brother didn’t respond to my words and just avoided my eyes.

―――!! ―――!!

The same roar as before was heard in succession, as if a full-scale attack had begun, and even the royal castle shook from the shock.

“Ha… … . Yes, if it were my father, if it were that person, I think that would be the case. But, at least my brother should have stopped that person. A person called the crown prince, a person called the next king, can’t even do that… … .”

“I couldn’t do anything. Even when my father threw away his crown and ran away, and even when he ran away with the royal treasures… … . All I could do was watch.”

“Are you going to confess now?”

My brother bowed his head at my words.

“As I watched my father run away, I… … . I thought I wanted to run away too.”

“… … .”

“But, I held on with the thought that at least I had to keep what I said. but… … . That alone was too much, just tying up my body that was trying to escape was too much, so I couldn’t do anything.”

After saying that, my brother gritted his teeth and covered his face with one hand.

“I-I can’t do anything. Trying to correct what was happening at the academy only made things complicated by meddling and increased the number of unnecessary victims. I tried to correct that mistake, but even that turned things upside down! After that, everything I did went wrong!”

“At first, I blamed others. But looking back, it was all my fault, my guesses, and things that happened because of my carelessness!”

―――!!

“Now I’m no longer sure what I can do… … . Everything I wanted to do was ruined, and everything I wanted to achieve either came to nothing or was ruined like this!!”

“When you try to correct something, things become more complicated, and when you try to accomplish something, it gets canceled or taken over by someone else for some absurd reason. Now that he wants to become king, the people revolt!! I lost everything!! I… … . What on earth… … .”

I couldn’t finish my sentence and I was sobbing… … . No, looking at the cowardly guy, I sighed quietly and approached him.

“Are you done?”

Hearing my words, he looked up at me with watery eyes, and I raised my clenched fist.

” Clench your teeth. Because it will hurt a little.”

―――!! ―――!!

I couldn’t hear it because of the loud noise, but the guy was hit by my fist and fell backwards, rolling a couple of times.

“I can’t do anything. I lost everything.”

The guy’s cheek from my fist must have been in a lot of pain, so he couldn’t make any sound and just looked up at me.

“Can’t you see the soldiers fighting against millions of rebels on those walls? How can you say the same thing when you see people who don’t break down against hundreds, not thousands, but millions, of people and say the same thing in front of them!?”

“I… … .”

The guy lowered his head without finishing speaking. I looked down at him without saying a word, and when I heard another roar, I looked towards the gate for a moment and then looked forward again.

“Then, keep whining there.”

I passed the guy who was bleeding from the mouth and went out of the boudoir.

“I’ll do it myself.”

After saying that, I tore off the hem of the dress I was wearing, ran out of the castle, and ran as fast as I could towards the castle wall.

I didn’t look back. Because there’s nothing to see there anymore.