Ch.309Chapter 309. Aeshus, Vanished (1)

“What?”

“Aeshus, this is as far as you go. The outcome of the war has already been decided. We… can never defeat them.”

“What are you talking about?! No, why did you launch a surprise attack in the first place?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have time to explain everything from start to finish. I’ll just tell you what’s certain. …Anima, you were right about everything.”

“Huh…?”

“I’m saying that Yurie’s prayers reaching heaven was likely all a fabrication by Serpina.”

“…!!!”

Anima was bewildered. She couldn’t help but be bewildered.

Her friend who had suddenly returned was bringing up the very topic she had set aside, the one she had wanted to hear about all along.

If circumstances allowed, she would have liked to discuss it in detail. But Epinel’s expression was far too serious and grave for that.

Anima swallowed all the questions that threatened to spill out and prioritized the one question she absolutely had to ask.

“What’s… your evidence?”

Epinel silently handed over a map.

On that map were detailed descriptions of what Anima had noted before launching the surprise attack—the strange formations of Serpina’s troops and their regularly spaced intervals.

“This is…”

“Serpina’s army has consistently acted in incomprehensible ways. Considering everything that’s happened, I judged it to be a measure to prevent our forces, led by Swen, from continuing to push the front line through divine connection. That’s the only plausible explanation for why they would repeatedly waste supplies on sorties and retreats, only to now confidently attack with a large force.”

“But I don’t think that’s it. It seems their goal was to make me—to make us—think that way from the beginning. Nothing has happened until this very moment, right? At this rate, we’ll simply be annihilated. At least in this situation, we can’t avoid that.”

After hearing this, Anima asked with an extremely serious expression:

“Then, what about the soldiers who went on the surprise attack…?”

“They’ll be wiped out soon. How could they win when they’re outnumbered more than two to one? If we had prepared properly, we could have fought back and at least inflicted some damage, but having attempted a surprise attack only to be ambushed ourselves, there’s nothing we can do in such confusion. They’ll suffer a devastating defeat, probably.”

“You… knew all this and came here alone?”

“Because I have something I must do.”

“…!!!”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind losing my life. I didn’t escape alone just to save myself. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Anima was quick-witted. Naturally, she had no difficulty grasping the context from the conversation so far.

“Anima. When everyone was turning away from the truth, only you consistently pursued it. Even now, I don’t agree with forming an alliance with Serpina, but at least you should remain by Yurie’s side rather than me if there’s to be even the slightest hope.”

“That’s—”

“I’m not saying we should have made peace as you suggested. Even if I knew everything and could go back to that moment, my decision wouldn’t have changed. I would have just fought with my life on the line. If I had staked my life from the beginning, I wouldn’t have gone this far. But that’s not the situation now, is it? To be fooled like this and killed… it would be disrespectful to our comrades who departed before us.”

“…”

“Don’t worry about escaping. I’ll take responsibility. In the end, I was the commander who didn’t listen to you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Anima didn’t say anything. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say she couldn’t.

Did she understand? She understood everything. Epinel was saying, “Take Yurie and escape.” Along with the statement that the Aeshus army was finished.

The message was all too clear.

“You…”

—You’re going to your death, aren’t you.

You’re saying you’ll stop Serpina here even if it costs your life, in our place.

Before those words could escape her lips, Epinel placed both hands on Anima’s shoulders. Wet blood from her hands trickled down Anima’s shoulders.

“This isn’t a sacrifice. I’m not doing this unilaterally to save you all; from our army’s perspective, this is the most rational decision. For the sake of our comrades who died before us, Yurie must not fall yet. …Please, Anima. We don’t have time for this. You need to go get Yurie quickly.”

Yes. Yurie.

Anima thought of Yurie, who would still be focused on offering prayers.

We lost Erinandorf. When we were struggling with illness, our comrade Emma left us. And now we’re going to lose Epinel too?

Perhaps Anima herself could endure it. She had a more level-headed personality than one might expect.

After all, among the five, she was the only one who could expand her thinking to consider “temporarily allying with Serpina.” In terms of physical loss, she had suffered the most among the members, having lost an arm, but despite that, she was the kind of person who could prioritize moving forward rather than being bound by the past.

But what about Yurie? If someone who never overcame the loss of two comrades were to realize that her misjudgment had now cost her Epinel as well?

She would surely break.

Her childhood friend, their leader, the one with the most noble blood—she wasn’t just a person of such strength.

Epinel closed her eyes and said:

“I’m sorry, Anima. This is both a request and an order. I have full authority, after all.”

“Epinel…”

“Of course, I know that in this situation, there’s no real force behind the order. Even if you don’t listen to me until the end, well, there’s nothing I can do about that… But still, I’d like you to grant my final request.”

With those words, Epinel removed her hands from Anima’s shoulders and began walking with heavy steps.

Now she had to decide. No, perhaps she had already made the decision in her heart.

More than that… there was one last thing she had to ask.

“Epinel, wait! I’ll do as you say, but let me ask just one question.”

“…Make it quick.”

“Why did Serpina waste supplies to stage this elaborate deception in the first place?”

“Serpina’s army’s purpose was… probably to weaken our national power. It’s a flimsy reason, but honestly, at this point, does that kind of reason really matter anymore?”

No.

The supplies Serpina’s army wasted while carrying out this deception clearly outweighed the degree to which our national power had declined.

It wasn’t for nothing that she couldn’t counter Epinel’s argument. From Serpina’s perspective, the most efficient method would have been to simply advance her troops directly against our army. We would have collapsed anyway. We would all have died anyway.

Yet they didn’t do that, and if they didn’t, there must have been a reason.

And if there was a reason, it inevitably occurred to her that Epinel, as the commander, must have played a significant role.

“You! What was your purpose?!”

“…What?”

“What was your purpose? Your resolve to fight until the end! Was it just throwing away your life? Or did you have some objective? Like trying to cut off Serpina’s head… something like that!”

“…??”

“This is my last question.”

Though Epinel’s expression suggested she wondered why Anima would ask such a thing—

Epinel also knew well that Anima wasn’t the type to waste time with meaningless questions at such a crucial moment.

“I tried to kill the mage.”

“What…?”

“Serpina’s army’s mage. I tried to kill them. Even if it cost me my life. I thought it would be worth dying in the process if I could just kill the mage. If that’s what you mean by purpose, then yes.”

And with that, she turned her head again and continued walking toward where Yurie was.

‘She tried to kill the mage…?’

As soon as she heard those words, something seemed about to connect in her mind, but—

Now was not the time to leisurely ponder.

Anima cleared her mind momentarily and followed behind Epinel.

* * *

“…!!”

Yurie, who had been praying for Emma and Erinandorf, was startled when she saw it was Epinel who opened the door and entered.

“Epinel…? What’s going on? Is the siege over?”

“…”

“We won, right? That stupid Serpina. Emma and Erinandorf, our Aeshus, will never lose. No matter how many troops she brings, those two will protect us. She’ll pay the price for not understanding that simple fact.”

Even as Yurie continued to ramble, Epinel approached her without offering any response.

“Are you here to pray together? Yes. Today too, let’s tell our comrades together that thanks to them, we were able to hold out well. They’ll be happy to hear that.”

“Come, this way—!!!!”

“I’m sorry.”

—Thud!

Epinel lightly knocked Yurie unconscious.

A retainer using force to render their sovereign unconscious—normally a capital offense, but they had no time now.

Epinel carried the unconscious Yurie to the carriage Anima had prepared and said:

“Zeta Castle won’t work. Raclaine Castle is even more dangerous. Hide somewhere on the outskirts of the territory. The Brans territory or the southern continent would probably be safest. Don’t come out into the world for at least half a year. Understand?”

“…I understand.”

“Anima.”

Epinel finally smiled at Anima and said:

“Thank you for guiding this incompetent teacher this far.”

“…!!!”

“Well then.”

Before Anima could say anything, Epinel quickly departed.

She knew that sitting here crying would truly make Epinel’s sacrifice meaningless.

Anima, shedding just a single tear, said to the soldier:

“Please depart.”

“Yes!”

Just before Serpina’s army arrived.

In that truly fleeting moment—Yurie and Anima successfully escaped from Valhart Castle.

* * *

After eliminating the forces that had launched the surprise attack, conquering Valhart Castle was undoubtedly simpler than any battle we had experienced so far.

Our forces outnumbered theirs by more than 2 to 1, our troops’ morale was high while the enemy had lost their will to fight, and our well-fed and properly paid soldiers faced enemy troops who were neither well-fed nor paid on time.

It was such an overwhelming victory that it was hard to believe the Aeshus army could collapse so pathetically.

—Waaaaaah!!!!!

Simultaneously with the advance on Valhart Castle, I had dispatched 20,000 soldiers each to reinforce the front lines advancing toward Zeta Castle and Raclaine Castle.

According to intelligence, almost all their forces had been concentrated at Valhart Castle, so there was no need to worry about those other locations. They would likely be taken without much difficulty.

‘So it ends like this.’

As I gazed at the burning Valhart Castle from the hilltop, recalling the time when Irene and I defected to the Aeshus army—

“We’ve won, Swen.”

The woman who was my master spoke to me.

“My lord.”

“I suppose this was ‘the most efficient’ method?”

“Yes. I believe so. No, it definitely was.”

“I see.”

Serpina didn’t question me further.

On the surface, it might seem like our army had lost more by engaging in unnecessary actions—a losing business proposition—but

my predictions never miss the mark. If we had started the war without any preparation, we would certainly have suffered some severe damage.

I don’t know what that might have been… but perhaps we would have lost someone extremely important?

At that moment.

“My lord!”

In the distance, Ian and Irene were approaching on horseback.

Upon arrival, they dismounted, offered a light bow, and spoke with extremely serious expressions:

“…We have something to report.”