Ch.707Are You Upset?

After returning to headquarters, I issued only a couple of orders before collapsing into sleep, and I was barely able to wake up after a full day had passed.

Despite the victory, the imperial army’s atmosphere was like a funeral.

Perhaps it was because news of Ludwig’s death had spread throughout the camp while I was asleep, or because we had suffered too many casualties.

“To think that the Margrave has fallen…”

Nigel looked as though he might break into sobs at any moment, and the other knights couldn’t hide their dejection either.

“The Ka’har retreated, but… can we really call this a victory…”

They might have been able to cheer with joy and relief at the moment the Ka’har withdrew, but now that time had passed and the excitement had subsided, they finally saw the price paid for victory.

—-

The imperial army had suffered truly massive losses, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Commander-in-Chief Margrave of Landenburg, deceased.

3rd Corps Commander Frederick, killed in action.

Landenburg’s hero-class knights, Joshua and Heinrich, critically wounded.

In effect, all the core strength of the imperial eastern army, except for me, was either dead or bedridden.

And it wasn’t just the core forces.

More than half of the knights who had formed the backbone of the urban warfare had fallen, and casualties numbered in the thousands. Many mid-level commanders had also met their deaths when Orhan raided the command post.

The losses were so severe that merging the 2nd and 3rd Corps was being considered.

—-

As soon as I got up, I had to face mountains of work without even having time to properly tend to my body.

The most urgent matter—transporting and treating the wounded—had been voluntarily handled by the military priests while I was asleep, but there were so many other tasks that I barely had time to eat.

Though Sean and other adjutants, along with Landenburg’s administrative officials, helped me… I couldn’t dump all the work on them.

Simple administrative tasks could be handled at their level, but most of the accumulated work consisted of matters too significant for them to even dare take responsibility for.

These would have been handled by Ludwig originally, but now that he was deceased, I was the only one who could take responsibility and handle them.

As the head of the Empire’s new marquis family, House Median, and the official successor to inherit Landenburg.

Though it wasn’t officially recognized yet, people here were already regarding me not as the Margrave’s successor but as the Margrave himself.

The commander-in-chief who would decide all matters in the east. It was a position with truly heavy responsibilities. Too heavy for a foreign one-armed former soldier.

Orhan had said that if responsibility was too heavy, I should quit and live as I pleased… but that’s something only barbarians would do. Besides, those words weren’t even meant for me in the first place.

“Identify the fallen, collect their bodies, and cremate them.”

Therefore, with one arm bandaged and receiving treatment from healing priests, I devoted myself to the aftermath of war alongside the survivors.

“Organize and report the remaining troops by corps… and administrators should also estimate how much compensation will be needed for the bereaved families.”

“Surely, you don’t intend to provide compensation to all the bereaved families? Even the families of common soldiers?”

One administrator asked an absurd question in a tone that suggested I was saying something ridiculous.

“Were you planning to abandon them?”

What, are soldiers not people? Of course we should provide compensation.

The families of knights might be able to get by on the inheritance left by the deceased, but the families of common soldiers would have to worry about their very survival now that their breadwinners were gone.

“If we don’t look after the bereaved, who will?”

“Your Excellency, forgive my impertinence, but we currently don’t have the resources…”

The administrator expressed reluctance.

With the collapsed wall and half-destroyed city, the cost of rebuilding the annihilated domain forces would already consume massive resources, so where would the budget come from to care for each soldier’s family?

“Do it. Even if it means delaying the wall’s reconstruction.”

…This seemed so obvious that I wondered if I really needed to explain it.

“What do you think the surviving soldiers will think if they see the families of the fallen dying from neglect?”

They would be convinced that the moment they die in battle, their families would starve to death.

“From that point on, they would care only about their own survival, not victory in war. They wouldn’t hesitate to betray or desert if it meant staying alive. Do you understand?”

I continued, fixing the administrator with a stern gaze.

“What I’m saying is that soldiers brave enough to sacrifice their lives like blades of grass for the Empire and Landenburg would degenerate into an undisciplined rabble looking out only for themselves at the first sign of trouble. Is that what you want?”

It was a somewhat extreme assumption, but not entirely unfounded. Family love tends to take precedence over loyalty or sense of duty.

“…I understand.”

The administrator finally nodded and agreed to follow my orders.

Whether it was due to my logical explanation or the blue glare I shot at him, I couldn’t say.

—-

Besides handling the fallen, there were mountains of other tasks.

Managing the naturalized Danes and rebuilding the half-destroyed city. Reestablishing diplomatic relations with Dane.

I even had to write a detailed victory report with extensive explanations to justify Ludwig’s unauthorized actions to Leopold and the nobles.

“Sigh… this kind of work really doesn’t suit me. Can’t you write it for me?”

“A report that will be delivered directly to Leopold? I can edit it to match royal formalities, but you must draft it yourself. After all, you are the master of Landenburg, not me.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

I put down the half-written report on the desk with a sigh tinged with mint.

When, where, how we fought, and how many died—these details were easy enough to write. I just had to summarize the reports from my adjutants.

The problem was coming up with excuses to answer why we fought the way we did. What Ludwig had done could arguably be considered treason from the central government’s perspective.

Let’s say we overlook his unilateral decision to breach the wall since he was the one responsible for the east.

However, leading imperial forces across the border into Dane and establishing diplomatic treaties with Dane without the Emperor’s permission clearly exceeded the authority of a mere margrave.

Frankly speaking, Frederick would have been justified in disobeying and withdrawing with the imperial forces.

“How am I supposed to justify this…”

My appearance—clutching a pen and wracking my brains—must have looked quite amusing, as Leonore smiled and offered advice.

“You don’t need to worry so much. Honestly, even if you just wrote that you did it because you wanted to, the central government couldn’t say anything. At most, they’d just grumble behind your back. Even Lord Wien wouldn’t want to antagonize you.”

Is that really advice…?

“There’s no way they would let it slide like… wait, would they?”

Thinking about it carefully, her words weren’t entirely wrong. No matter what nonsense I wrote in the report, Leopold would have no choice but to understand and accept it.

Though Orhan had fallen and the Ka’har had retreated, that didn’t mean permanent peace for the Empire.

Monsters, fairies, werebeasts, perhaps even dragons—even after defeating the Ka’har, the Empire remained threatened by all sorts of dangers.

Whether it was Leopold, Wien, or anyone else, they would have to be mindful of me for the Empire’s survival. The current Empire lacked the capacity to deal with all those threats without me.

Just considering the losses from this war alone, if I were to leave the Empire, they would struggle to maintain domestic security, let alone defend against foreign invasions.

That’s what Leonore’s advice was pointing out.

Even if I suddenly decided to kill all the nobles I disliked, Leopold would not oppose me but rather take my side.

…It was a somewhat extreme example, but I clearly understood what she meant.

“Right, this wasn’t like me. I was too caught up in the idea of filling Ludwig’s shoes. I should be true to myself.”

Thanks to her, I was able to write the victory report with a much lighter heart. It was enough to simply note that if they found our actions objectionable, I would take responsibility and leave the Empire.

“No, don’t write it so bluntly…”

After reading my draft, Leonore shook her head and changed my direct threat into more formal language.

“If responsibility for this matter is raised and the diplomatic agreement with Dane is rejected, Landenburg and Median will have no choice but to take independent action to preserve honor and faith… What does this even mean?”

“It means that if they make an issue of this, we’ll take our two marquisates, declare independence, and side with Dane. The central government would have no choice but to be alarmed. Combined, Landenburg and Median territories would rival Faelrun in size.”

…It was an even stronger threat than mine, just dressed in formality.