episode_0035

Fall of Fortress Streb (2)

Count Le Delmo looked at Juno who was looking at him and spoke of his demands in a confident manner.

“First. Your Majesty the Prince, please cut off my head here. I have spent my whole life defending this Streb, so it would be natural for me to die here. And if possible, I want to be killed by the person who broke through my defense”

“… According to the principle, captured enemy commanders should be publicly executed in Adria, the capital of the empire… I will accept that request…”

“Secondly, please make Sir Cordelia here a knight to His Highness the Prince. Even if I survive as a prisoner… there will be no place that will accept a commoner knight who was defeated in battle and lost his master… I don’t want the child I thought of as my daughter to live like that.”

“Your Excellency!! That’s not enough!! How can you be loyal to the person who killed your Excellency?! Absolutely not!! Excellency!!!”

Although Cordelia desperately opposed it, Count Redelmo made eye contact with Juno and nodded, and Juno also nodded in respect for his firm determination.

“Good! Since you’re from a commoner, you won’t be on Tesseito’s list of nobles, so it won’t be a problem”

“Shut your mouth!! Do you think I would give my loyalty to a dirty Balkan prince!! If that happens, take my life in my own hands!!”

“Cordelia!!”

Cordelia’s body flinched at Count Redelmo’s words.

“You are like my daughter… No, I have always thought of you as my daughter… So please don’t say things like you will die in front of this father”

“Your Excellency…. No, Dad…. No way!! You are telling me cruel words about how to be loyal to the person who killed my father!! I would rather live and die as a wandering knight!! No, it’s okay to live as just a mercenary!! So please…blah blah blah”

“I know your talent well. You have a lot more talent than this kid. As a father, I cannot allow such talent to rot… So please listen to this father’s last request, my daughter…”

“Black Black Black Black Daddy…”

“Cluck cluck… It’s my last wish… Promise me that you will grant this father’s request”

Perhaps because the arrow had penetrated his lungs, Count Le Delmo was breathing heavily and coughing up blood as he spoke to Cordelia.

“Sigh… I understand… I promise. As my father said, I will become that damn prince’s knight! I will live as a damn Balkan knight!! Are you satisfied now? Black black black black”

When Cordelia promised, Count Le Delmo finally smiled faintly. Then he looked at Yuno again and continued speaking.

“Thank you for listening to this old man’s last request. It’s a bit of a price to pay, but I’d like to give you some advice. When fighting a war… especially an all-out war, do not spare yourself. If His Royal Highness had taken part in this battle from the beginning, the sacrifices of the soldiers would have been much reduced. It would have been natural since my calculations did not include any monsters other than standard charges. Never value the lives of soldiers”

“Thank you for the advice. I will definitely keep this in mind. Now then…”

Yuno took out the sword from his waist that was given to him as the second-in-command of the expeditionary force.

And Count Le Delmo lowered his head, exposing the nape of his neck.

“Ah…no!! Wait a minute!!”

When Yuno raised his sword high, Cordelia blocked Yuno’s sword.

“Please let me have the last word!!”

“If you’re going to do it, do it quickly! If the crown prince comes, the count must be transported to the capital…”

Sensing the prince’s energy, which could be felt from afar, approaching, Yuno urged Cordelia.

“Dad, I love you!! I will remember you forever!! Black black black black”

Cordelia gave Count Le Delmo a tearful kiss on the cheek, then stood up and nodded to Juno.

Count Le Delmo also gave his final thanks to Juno and bowed his head again, and Juno’s sword with its sword passed through the count’s neck, causing the count’s head to fall cleanly to the floor.

“… I cut you with a sword… so there would have been no pain ”

“….Thank you for your consideration… And…”

Even with tears streaming down her face, Cordelia bowed down in front of Yuno, expressing her gratitude.

“Intermediate article Cordelia. I pledge allegiance to His Majesty the Third Prince of the Balkan Empire! Until the day I die, my sword will be used to destroy your enemies, and my shield will be used to protect you”

After hearing Cordelia’s oath of loyalty, Yuno raised his sword and tapped her on both shoulders once, accepting her as his knight.

“I have sworn allegiance at the command of my father, so as a knight I will obey His Majesty the Prince’s orders… but you will not be able to receive my true loyalty that comes from my heart!!”

Her eyes were full of resentment toward Juno for beheading Count Le Delmo, whom she considered her master and father in her heart.

“Phew…. I understand. Well, since I accepted him as a knight, I guess I’ll have to take care of him. Throw away everything that symbolizes Teseito-kun and follow me. If you just follow me, there won’t be any problem, but if you wander around carelessly, you might get in trouble, so you should stay in my barracks for the time being”

“I will obey my lord’s orders”

Yuno went outside and tore down the wooden wall to make a rough coffin, then obtained a uniform from the soldiers who were making a camp inside the fortress and returned inside. After giving the imperial military uniform he had brought with him to Cordelia, he placed Count Le Delmo’s body and supplies in the coffin.

Cordelia took off the markings and uniforms symbolizing the Tesseito army, changed into the imperial army clothes that Yuno brought her, and followed Yuno.

Shortly thereafter, the crown prince and Yuno Machujin revealed that they had executed Count Le Delmo and showed him the body and supplies.

“Well done. It’s Yuno! You made a huge contribution on this expedition!! Still, it would have been better if Count Le Delmo had been captured alive… I can see how happy he would have been if he had shown his Majesty the execution of this man”

“Sorry. older brother. The Count’s resistance was so fierce that he had no choice but to kill him”

“No!! If it weren’t for you, the capture of Fort Streb would have failed. It’s a hundred times better to kill than to miss!! Ah!”

Cordelia felt a moment of murder when the crown prince spoke of execution, but when Yuno gently touched her with his foot to dissuade her, she came to her senses and erased the murderous intent from her mind.

‘Ugh… You have to endure it, Cordelia… You will have to live as a Balkan citizen from now on… Hehehe, father, why are you putting me through this ordeal… Hehehehehe’

When Count Le Delmo’s supply and demand was blocked by the castle walls, the defenders of Fort Streve despaired and calmly headed to the prisoner of war camp.

There was no abuse of prisoners that would normally have occurred.

The 11th corps was annihilated, and the damage to other corps was quite severe, so Juno, who thought that further expeditions were impossible, told the crown prince, ‘If you offer to exchange the territory of Fort Streve’s salient territory for 4,000 prisoners, Tesseito will accept it.’ This was because the crown prince, who thought that Yuno’s suggestion was correct, strictly prohibited the abuse of prisoners and delivered a diplomatic document regarding a ceasefire to Tesseito.

A day later. A considerable number of cavalry and infantry gathered in front of Fort Streve.

And the Duke of Tiruen, who led them, smiled bitterly when he saw the Streve fortress with the flag of the Balkan Empire flying up there.

“Damn it! Who would have thought that Count Le Delmo would already be captured!! If this was going to be the case, I should have defeated the southern imperial army and headed straight here. I was stupid… Damn it!!”

“Who would have thought that the shining iron walls of Streve would fall in just one month? It’s not the Duke’s fault”

“Tch… Now that things have come to this, it will be impossible for our cavalry-centered army to capture Streve again. I don’t know who it was, but the recovery was done very quickly”

“Yes. I also agree with the withdrawal of troops”

The engineers of the 5th Corps quickly repaired the Streve Fortress, which was destroyed by the siege, and completed the replacement of the broken castle gate in less than a day, showing the dignity of a mature engineer. Therefore, Duke Tiruen, who led Tesseito’s reinforcements, could only sigh regretfully.

“Well… it would be a shame to just leave, so I guess I should at least say hello to those imperial bastards, right?”

As the Duke of Tiruen came running on his short horse, the imperial army, which had been nervous about Tesseito’s forces, relaxed.

However, Duke Tiruen, who the soldiers thought was a reaper, raised his sword and fired sword energy at Eomaeoma, sending it into the necks of the soldiers standing on the castle wall.

Fuuu!

The soldiers instinctively realized their own death and recoiled, but a bright blue light appeared even on Streb’s castle walls, and with a loud explosion, Tiruen’s sword energy disappeared without a trace.

“Huh? You blocked my sword energy? Is this the third prince who just became a master?”

“Whew~ I don’t know who it is, but this sword skill is almost at the level of the teacher? It’s thrilling, right? Kkkk”

Tiruen and Yuno faced each other across the castle wall and had their first meeting as rivals who would fight fiercely in the future.

“I can’t fight to the death here, so I guess I’ll have to retreat. Anyway, the prince who has just become an adult is capable of blocking my sword energy… As expected, Balkan… It’s not an easy country”

However, a plot to overthrow Balkan was already planned in Tiruen’s head, and the plan was slowly being implemented.

“I hope to see you on the battlefield later. Prince Yuno… kekekekekeut”

After muttering to themselves, Tiruen and Tesseito’s relief army withdrew to the south.

And a diplomatic agreement containing the exchange of 4,000 prisoners and the Streve salient was delivered to the Royal Palace of Tesseito, and King Tesseito and the Duke of Tiruen approved it, ending the Battle of Streve Fortress with a complete victory for the Empire.

The 5th Corps decided to remain behind fortress Streve to defend, and the 1st and 4th Corps returned to their respective garrisons. And the 10th Corps set out on its march to the capital.

Lastly, Crown Prince Prinz, Yuno, and each corps commander quickly returned to the capital through space travel, taking only a small number of their associates with them.

“Aaaah~~ It’s nice because I don’t have to smell that awful dirt smell, bro”

“Hahaha, that’s really true. Let’s go quickly and see His Majesty the Emperor. I heard that His Majesty has received the news of victory and is anxiously awaiting our return”

Prinz and Yuno returned to the imperial palace, escorted by the Guard Knights, in a carriage waiting in front of the space magic circle on the outskirts of the capital.

“Yunoya~~~”

“Oppa~~”

“Yuno!! Hey dude~~~”

As soon as he entered the main gate of the imperial palace, the four women, Isabella, Marie, Eliza, and Catherine, rushed at him and attacked him with heavy bullets. Juno lost consciousness for a moment, and only after being urged by the crown prince was he able to force them away.

“I’m sorry. Right now, I have to go to see His Majesty the Emperor with my brother, so see you later. Understand? Everyone?”

“Tch… We’ve been waiting anxiously for almost 3 months… I guess he didn’t miss us at all”

“But who is he? Who is the woman behind your brother?”

“Ah! This is my new personal escort. Cordelia. I’ll send someone to you, so go to my palace and rest”

“Yes, I understand. Your Majesty!”

The four women looked at Yuno with wide eyes as if they were suspicious of something, but Yuno was confident because nothing really bothered her.

Following the attendant, Cordelia and the four women returned to Juno’s palace, and Juno headed to the royal palace with Prinz.

And looking at the emperor with a bright smile and the empress looking at Yuno with a faint smile, Yuno bowed to the emperor with the crown prince behind him.

*Illustration of the younger sister, Princess Marie, who will soon become an adult