Ch.76Surrender

“No!!! Aaaaaaaargh!!!!!”

The standard-bearer of Fahrenheit screamed in despair upon seeing the severed head of the Master contained in the box.

The reason the head was delivered much sooner than expected was because some nations in the Allied Forces were too weak to sustain a prolonged war, and more importantly, because Amurtat, who had physically severed the Master’s neck, expressed the opinion that “it’s not good to incur unnecessary hatred.”

Thus, the Allied Forces’ headquarters sent Alkius’s head to Fahrenheit with a message that read “We accept Amurtat’s opinion, who brought us the Master’s life” but was understood as “Since you cut off the head, we’re delivering it to you.”

And what happened next… well, isn’t it written above?

“This can’t be true…! The Master..! Our Fahrenheit’s Sword Master..!!”

The standard-bearer’s lament was close to a wail.

Even in this command room filled with subordinates, his tearful sobbing resembled an elderly mother watching her son’s death, while simultaneously embodying the condensed rage at the realization that Fahrenheit’s chance of victory had vanished.

After a long while, the standard-bearer of Fahrenheit finally stopped his outcry and stood up again.

“L-Lord Standard-bearer…”

“What will you do now?”

The adjutants asked with pale expressions as the standard-bearer rose, and after wiping away his tear stains, he gritted his teeth and said:

“We go to the palace.”

*

The standard-bearer walked quickly.

The palace guards, after crunching through the gloomy winter snow, verified his identity and immediately let him in. Upon reaching Marcus’s office, the standard-bearer addressed the Grand Duke Marcus, who was looking at him with a gaunt face.

“Your Majesty. We have lost.”

The standard-bearer of Fahrenheit spoke with an utterly dejected expression.

In his arms was a box containing the head of Fahrenheit’s Sword Master, Alkius de Shailen.

Fahrenheit, with its 300-year history, was being pummeled from all sides by the Allied Forces comprising 35 nations. The 10 million citizens, now tiresome to even mention, had become nothing but a massive burden since the food supply was cut off.

To survive, they needed to break through the blockade somehow, but with 1.2 million Allied troops surrounding Fahrenheit in layers, the Fahrenheit army, which had relied on the asymmetric power of the Sword Master, was essentially in a state of collapse.

Moreover, once news of the Sword Master’s death spread, deserters began to appear, and since the rationing system began, the necks of those who tried to deceive distribution officers for extra rations were displayed in the marketplace almost daily.

Although there was still some food left, this was only because they were diverting all grains—even those meant for breweries and livestock—to make food for people. Once those grains ran out, everyone would eventually starve to death.

“No… That’s impossible… Take that away! That head is a fabrication! How could Fahrenheit’s Master possibly be defeated?!”

However, Fahrenheit’s Grand Duke Marcus was denying all of it.

The Grand Duke who once radiated authority while holding an ornately decorated scepter and royal scepter was now gone, replaced by a 300-year-old man in faded clothes, sitting on the throne, repeating nothing but shabby delusions.

The standard-bearer could feel nothing but pity looking at him.

In just a few months, the nation that had been carefully nurtured for 300 years had completely collapsed.

“Your Majesty! The alchemists and wizards have already examined it! There’s no possibility it’s fake!”

“Silence! How dare you ignore your lord’s words! Go and encourage the soldiers! Severely punish deserters! Execute those who disrupt the rationing system! This is a royal command!”

“Your Maj—”

Tap.

Just as the standard-bearer was about to defy the Grand Duke’s disjointed orders, someone grabbed his shoulder.

It was Fahrenheit’s chamberlain.

“Chamberlain?”

Shake… shake…

When the standard-bearer looked at the chamberlain, he quietly shook his head, and the standard-bearer immediately understood what it meant.

*

“So, Chamberlain. You have something to tell me?”

“His Majesty’s judgment has become clouded. He cannot accept the sudden change in circumstances. It’s not surprising. Even immortals aren’t immune to madness…”

“Sigh…”

While dementia-like mental deterioration could be prevented, brain dysfunctions like schizophrenia or PTSD from accumulated trauma couldn’t be avoided even by monarchs.

They say that those with wings will fall, but with wings, one can glide to reduce the impact. However, if the wings are completely severed, one can only plummet to the ground screaming—and Fahrenheit’s current state was very much like having its wings cut off entirely.

“What should we do now? We have no chance of winning anymore.”

“I’ll try to calm His Majesty somehow. I’ve received some drugs from the Alchemists’ and Adventurers’ Guilds. They’re similar to stimulants that adventurers take to overcome extreme fear and stress… Let’s try using those first.”

“Drugs… Is that really okay?”

For the standard-bearer, who had to look after the soldiers’ health, drugs were a very unappealing measure.

Many adventurer-turned-soldiers often tried to smuggle in various substances they had become accustomed to during their adventuring days, and quite a few had been beheaded for unauthorized use of highly addictive drugs.

Although monarchs’ bodies and minds were far different from ordinary people’s, they couldn’t escape human physiology—getting drunk when drinking alcohol and needing sleep when tired. So naturally, there was some resistance to administering drugs that could potentially disrupt homeostasis to the head of state.

“But this is the best option we have now. Do you have any better ideas?”

“…No, but…”

“Then follow my lead without complaint. I’m not asking for your understanding.”

The chamberlain represented the civilian sector, while the standard-bearer represented the military, and between the two, the chamberlain outranked him.

This was due to the principle of civilian control and because the resources needed to maintain the military were supplied by the civilian sector.

“By the way, how are the citizens faring? I’ve heard there hasn’t been a peaceful day since the rationing system was implemented.”

“Sigh… People’s heads are displayed every day. Precious flour gets spilled on the ground, and people fight over even a single grain of wheat.”

“Is it that bad?”

“No one has starved to death yet, but come spring, the numbers will start to rise.”

Always, in disaster situations, those who die first are the elderly and weak who cannot take care of themselves.

In a society that cannot care for its vulnerable members—pregnant women, the elderly, women, and children—a war of all against all eventually breaks out, and society soon collapses.

Anyone with some education would easily sympathize with this theory.

“I’ll return to the walls to encourage the soldiers. Even if His Majesty is confused, the country cannot afford to be in disarray, can it?”

“I would appreciate that. I’ll do my best in my position as well. You do your best in yours.”

“Yes. Even though we’ve lost the war, Fahrenheit can still rise again.”

Defeat in war is bitter, but this is a nation with 300 years of history.

It won’t lose everything over one defeat; it can shake it off and rise again.

Although a heavy price must be paid, as the saying goes, “After the rain, the ground hardens”—Fahrenheit too will be reborn as a stronger nation.

With this belief, the standard-bearer and the chamberlain exchanged words of encouragement before parting ways.

If the ruler of a great nation falls, those who support him need only raise him up again. At the very least, Marcus was a monarch whose eye for talent was second to none.

Had his nation been weak, his close associates would have killed him in his mentally compromised state and surrendered the city or fled in the night. Had his ministers been ambitious, they would have used this opportunity to whisper malicious words into the monarch’s ear and become power-hungry favorites.

Considering how many rulers are betrayed by their ministers and how many leaders abandon their subordinates, the idea that Fahrenheit could be rebuilt even if it falls now might not be so far-fetched.

Of course… as they thought, the price to be paid would be severe.