Ch.316Chapter 316. Red-Eyed Dragon of the South (6)
by fnovelpia
“Indeed. I think it would be good to take advantage of this opportunity to invade Rolland, but what does my lord think?”
At the words of her military officer, Lynn shook her head slowly.
“No, Navie. I understand your thinking, but now is not the time to move troops carelessly.”
“Is that so…? With my limited insight, I don’t understand, but may I ask for an explanation?”
A subordinate daring not to meekly follow the will of their ruler, but asking why they thought that way.
This was a situation that the old Lynn would never have tolerated, but the current Lynn answered her military officer’s question in an extremely calm tone without any emotional fluctuation.
“Yes. Serpina is in the north, isn’t she?”
“Even so, we have an agreement with Serpina’s forces, don’t we? I believe there’s still plenty of time left on it…”
“That’s right. We made an agreement. But the moment that agreement becomes truly meaningful is when there’s a guarantee that various lords are scattered across the continent. No, there doesn’t even need to be multiple lords. Perhaps I would have been sufficiently reassured if there was just one country with the national power of the former Aeshus forces.”
“…?”
“So, you can think of it simply. Everyone consciously or unconsciously adheres strictly to agreements because of honor. Well, that’s obviously important. There’s nothing good about damaging the image of keeping one’s word. But do you know what has an even heavier binding force than honor?”
“A heavier binding force, you say…?”
Lynn stretched out the finger she had been twirling in her hair and said:
“It’s falling into a situation where you can’t conduct diplomacy with any country.”
“Everyone strictly keeps treaties once made because they fear that. Moreover, since breaking a promise once creates an image within the continent that makes indiscriminate attacks seem like righteous actions, everyone can easily join hands under the pretext of ‘let’s eliminate great evil first.’ Do you understand what I’m saying?”
To the officer who nodded silently, Lynn continued her explanation with light gestures.
“However, Serpina’s forces won’t feel that absolute fear at all right now. Small and medium-sized countries can band together all they want, but they can only step up when they calculate they have a reasonable chance of winning. Usually, the target of a united front tends to be the most powerful country.”
“Let me explain it simply. Serpina broke the treaty and invaded our borders. Many would condemn her, right? But realistically, is there an excellent way to stop it? Would Serpina, who even swallowed Aeshus, fear losing trust on the continent?”
“…!!”
“Like it or not, Serpina’s forces have already swallowed half the continent. The national power now compared to when she was confined to the northern continent must be vastly different. After all, soldiers and resources come from extensive territories. The most frightening point is that, strangely, the public sentiment of the subjugated territories toward that devil isn’t that bad.”
Lynn still clearly remembered the news that came when Serpina was conquering the northern continent.
Due to her failure to manage public sentiment in each conquered territory, rebellions were occurring continuously at an unprecedented rate in history. Even Lynn acknowledged that the biggest reason Brans forces were able to steadily organize the central continent without any significant threat was because Serpina’s forces in the north were so preoccupied with successive rebellions that they couldn’t even touch other parts of the continent.
“In the past, rebellions would have already broken out… But not only are there no rebellions, there are even absurd rumors spreading that ‘Serpina might not be such a bad person after all.’ Of course, it’s likely organized propaganda from Serpina’s side, but in any case, we can’t deny the result that ‘she is governing quite successfully without any disturbances.'”
“Now there are only six countries left on the continent, excluding the nearly extinct Aeshus. And of those, apart from our Brans forces and Serpina’s forces, all four remaining countries are gathered in the southern continent. So, Serpina loses nothing by ignoring treaties and invading us. No one is in a position to check her.”
“Then is the conclusion already reached? What should we do? Must we watch as the villainess Serpina once again dyes the continent with the hateful Einhart flag?”
At those words, Lynn wore a very serious expression.
“Navie. You lost your father to Serpina, didn’t you?”
“Y-you remember that?”
Lynn spoke in a dignified tone as if wondering why he would ask such a thing.
“Of course I remember. It’s the story of a man who bet his life for me. How could I forget that?”
The officer bowed his head briefly in appreciation, then spoke with reverence in his voice.
“My father simply worked for the Imperial Army, for Algot von Einhart. And Serpina cruelly…!!”
An unbelievably cruel story, even now.
Serpina, solely with the determination to ascend to the imperial throne, summoned her competitors Algot and Sidmid to one place and massacred them.
In that process, his father, who was a soldier protecting Algot, was sacrificed—
He harbored the same hatred for the Einhart imperial family that about one in ten people might have.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to bring up painful stories anymore.”
Lynn, with that leisurely smile characteristic of those in high positions—
“You’re helping me to prevent such things from happening again, right?”
“My lord…!”
“We won’t lose. Serpina may seem to be doing well now, but rapid expansion inevitably brings chaos. We’re waiting for the right time. If we can hold out, opportunity will surely come. So I’m counting on you until then, Navie.”
“I… I! I swear to dedicate my life to Brans…!!”
“Good.”
After the brief audience in the reception hall—
Cecile, who was guarding her in place of Farfalle who was away on business, approached Lynn and asked:
“How do you see it?”
“You mean the Rolland situation?”
“Yes.”
Lynn answered without any hesitation.
“Lunarian will win.”
“Is that so? Because of the mage? But considering the difference in military strength, wouldn’t Rolland, which has been stockpiling troops and not wasting resources, be more—”
“No, Cecile. My thinking isn’t because of supplies or resources or such things. It’s because of a more fundamental reason, you could say.”
“A fundamental reason, you say?”
Lynn said that, then sighed deeply and self-deprecatingly as if it were absurd.
“Even I think it’s a somewhat ridiculous reason.”
“What is it…?”
“Lunarian was that man’s first master.”
“By that man… do you mean the white-haired mage?”
“Yes.”
Now she was certain. The white-haired mage—Swen—had continued to serve Lunarian, at least while he was under her.
And whenever she observed how situations unfolded, Lynn was often overwhelmed by the thought that all of this—Lunarian’s rebellion, raising an army, swallowing the Karelia forces—might have been in Swen’s palm all along.
Lynn was conscious of Swen in her own way. She had to be. After all, his touch had reached every element moving the continent now.
‘I don’t know why he’s still under Serpina now… but it’s a fact that he never truly served me as his lord. Then what is his aim now….’
“He must have been a truly remarkable person. Both Farfalle and you, and… that woman too. Seeing how he continues to influence things without even being here.”
Lynn fell into thought for a moment.
The woman Cecile was referring to was probably Lunarian.
Although it was already in the past, she still seemed to hate Lunarian, the enemy of Karelia, in her heart.
“Looking at it objectively, there’s nothing our forces can do directly right now. If we had ample troops, we could have stationed sufficient forces in the north and attacked Rolland or Hesna… but there’s no need to make the mistake of losing existing territory while trying to expand.”
“Then…”
“We have to survive somehow with clever words. I’ve already joined hands with Serpina to survive. And having drunk my brothers’ blood, I can’t collapse pathetically.”
Watching her profile, Cecile thought.
She wasn’t sure exactly what future Lynn was envisioning, but she felt like she was realizing once again a single truth that applies at any moment in worldly affairs.
“You’re certainly different from what I’ve heard about you.”
“Hmm? You mean me?”
“Arrogant, dogmatic, a ruler who looks down on others. The stories about you that circulated when I was under Karelia were full of negative things. But meeting you in person like this, you seem like a completely different person. The way you remember each subordinate’s story, how cautious you are in everything… Although I ended up here by chance, I think Lynn is a person worth serving.”
Lynn gave a bitter smile at those words.
“That assessment was probably correct. That’s why I tumbled all the way down here. I’m just a youngster who only realized how great the things I held were after being thrown to the ground.”
“No. Even if that’s true, what matters is that you’ve changed. It was Karelia’s habit to say that people can change as much as they want.”
“Really? From what you’re saying, Karelia seems to have been exactly as rumored.”
“…”
Lynn didn’t press the silent Cecile for a response, but once again twirled her blue hair with her finger.
‘It’s unfair… but having realized too late, I can only wait. I have to survive somehow. By extending the agreement as much as possible and creating discord between Serpina’s forces and Lunarian’s forces, I’ll surely find a way forward.’
Unfortunately, because it was too late, Lynn couldn’t choose her own fate with her own hands.
Having shattered all the options given to her by her own hand, the available answers had become limited.
Nevertheless, she had no intention of giving up.
She was now somewhat confident in dealing with Serpina’s side, so the problem ultimately was Lunarian.
Her fate would depend on what kind of woman Lunarian was.
Holding out as long as possible, and not cursing the fate she had twisted with her own hands, no matter how it ended.
That was her own form of atonement for the people who died for her, and for Irene Juliette, who believed in her at some point.
* * *
While everyone was assessing the current situation with their own calculations—
A man who couldn’t even assess the situation, let alone deal with the immediate crisis, sat on the throne, sunk in anguish and worry.
“Damn it! How dare she point a sword at us? What an insolent woman…!”
This man was none other than Seta Rolland, a born warrior who had now spent more of his life as a lord than as a warrior, the former deputy commander of the 3rd Knight Order of the old Einhart Empire, and the current ruler of Rolland.
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