By the time my horse and I caught up to Hakurei and father, they’d already reached a nameless hill in the northern region of Keiyou. In the distance I could see my father waving his muscular left arm.
“Sekiei! Over here!”
I nodded and, after giving my mount a gentle stroke, urged it into a gallop to close the remaining distance.
“You’re so slow,” Hakurei said as I halted alongside her beautiful white horse, sounding dissatisfied with my performance. “Are you sick?”
“I’m doing my best,” I replied with a light shrug as I narrowed my eyes. It was probably better to keep quiet about the fact that some of Koshuu’s cavalrymen were following us as our guards.
In the far distance, I could see the outline of a gray fortress, the northern limit of the Ei Empire. Apparently, if you climbed to the very top of it, you could not only see Gen but Seitou as well. Seitou, situated northwest of Keiyou, had been our ally for a hundred years now. It was a country that focused heavily on trade.
Father stroked his horse and said to the apple of his eye, “Hakurei, you did fantastic!” He laughed. “To think the day would come when I’d lose to my daughter!”
“I have been training,” she reminded him. “Has my performance convinced you to let me handle the bandits I wrote to you about?”
He made a thoughtful noise. “I shall make a decision tonight after discussing it with Raigen. You’re sixteen now, so I have been thinking it was about time for you to have your first battle.”
“Wait, subduing bandits for a first battle?! Then, I’ll also...come...” My words faltered as Hakurei shot me a cold look.
“It won’t be a problem. I don’t need your help.”
I could tell from her tone of voice and the look in her eye that I wouldn’t be able to change her mind.
But still, it feels a bit too early for her...
Ignorant of my uncertainties, father turned his gaze to the far northern sky. “Over fifty years ago now,” he said, “our parents and our parents’ parents lost to the cavalrymen of Gen, who came in such large numbers they resembled a thick fog. As a result, they took away the northern lands of Ei. Since then we’ve built a line of fortresses along the southern bank of the river to fend them off, but that’s not enough. There will come a time when we must find the opportunity to launch a northern campaign.”
A campaign to retrieve the stolen lands north of the river was the Ei Empire’s greatest wish. However, after living in the city for a while, I saw the truth—there was a huge difference in mindset between the people of Koshuu and the people of Rinkei when it came to the northern campaign. The citizens of Koshuu were constantly exposed to the threat of our enemies in Gen, and our generals and soldiers were always fighting on the front lines. Those living in Rinkei, meanwhile, had the luxury of enjoying the empire’s economic growth in safety.
This is exactly what happened back during the days of the Tou Empire too.
“Father,” Hakurei said in a quiet voice, “what do the generals at the front lines think?”
“They share my opinion. However, we simply do not have enough resources or funding. The final decision in regards to a northern campaign would fall on His Majesty’s shoulders, though I hear that within the court, the officials are split between those who support a northern campaign and those who prefer to maintain the status quo.”
If the only issue were the officials disagreeing with each other, then it wouldn’t be so bad. The problem was that a rather large number of people wanted no war at all, and they would swallow any treaty conditions no matter how humiliating so long as they could maintain peace.
“The current emperor of Gen, Adai, rose to power on the battlefield. While keeping us in check at the river, he’s also been personally subjugating the various tribes and clans in the far north of the continent. He’s never lost a single battle.” As he spoke, my father’s stern face became even more severe. “I hear he’s obsessed with the idea of unification. If we show even the slightest opening, he will surely invade us.”
Adai—I’d heard that name several times while I was in the city. Parents would scare their kids into obedience with threats that White Wraith Adai would come for them if they didn’t listen. Everyone feared the foreign emperor.
“However, the wall of fortresses that we built is an impenetrable barrier!” My father roared his words, his entire voice overflowing with a lust for battle. “I doubt that there will be any movement at the front for the time being.”
“That may be the case for Adai, but what about the generals under his command?” I blurted out. “I hear that the commanders known as the Four Wolves have been exercising their might across the land, and that even Seitou is on guard...” I trailed off when I noticed Hakurei staring at me from my side.
My father stroked his beard and cracked his riding crop. “Oh? Sekiei, you know a lot about this. As I expected, you have what it takes to become a military official!”
“I-I just heard people talking about it in the city.”
Father laughed. “I don’t mind waiting for you to change your mind about your future! It’s true that Adai has four great generals under his command. Of them, I’ve only directly fought the Crimson Wolf, Nguyen Gui. I will never forget the fierceness of his blows. He was a difficult enemy, and brave, charging forward over and over again.”
Hakurei bit her lip, but she didn’t say anything. The Ei Empire placed little importance on its military and suffered from a consistent deficit of soldiers. In contrast, the Gen Empire had a large and powerful army. It meant that even a force led by a single member of the Four Wolves had the potential to match the entire might of the Chou family’s army.
Father turned his horse around to face us. “But, I hear that Nguyen has greatly offended Adai. He has already returned to the great northern plains of En, far from here. There’s no need to worry.”
I’d heard about Nguyen’s retreat from Meirin in the city as well. It was strange, though; within Gen, Adai was so popular that people were even starting to deify him. Would someone like that be so petty? Turning, I saw the cavalrymen serving as our guards in the distance. Father must’ve noticed them as well.
“We should return before it gets dark,” he told us. “Hakurei, I will allow you to go and subdue the bandits. Don’t be hasty! Spend a few days forming a team, and make sure you bring Sekiei with—”
“Hyah!”
Hakurei tugged on her horse’s reins and, without giving father an answer, galloped off. She was lost to the distance in a blink of an eye, her silver hair whipping in the wind.
Father sighed—a rare occurrence for him—and twisted his lips in a bitter smile. “How troublesome. She’s as stubborn as her mother was... It was your aunt’s suggestion, but perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to send you and only you to the city. I never expected you to find your first battle saving the Ou family’s precious daughter, who’s an up-and-coming merchant in her own right, from pirates. Hakurei must be desperate to not fall behind you. She’s terrified to an obsessive degree by the idea of you leaving her behind.”
“That’s not...”
“It’s true. I’ve gone through something like that myself, you know?”
The weight of my savior’s words were so heavy that I couldn’t say anything in return.
I should probably make sure that I can help her out against the bandits...just in case...
I didn’t know how father interpreted my silence, but he grinned and said, “I won’t say anything more on the matter. Now, let’s head back! I look forward to hearing your anecdotes from the city.”