“I’m afraid to say that holding this castle will be all but impossible,” said Ashude.
“You intend, then, to pull back your entire army?” asked Bamba.
“Much as I would sooner ensure that Castle Lund does not fall into enemy hands, this territory has little merit of its own. It only has use to us as a foothold through which we could claim Maasa and Canarre,” Ashude explained.
The route from Seitz to Castle Lund involved passing through Paradille, and took a considerable amount of time to travel. Although Ashude had managed to topple the castle in a surprise attack, holding onto a fort that far separated from his homeland for an extended period was not realistic.
“Very little merit to Seitz, perhaps, but to Paradille, this castle serves as a strategic position of no small importance,” Bamba countered.
To Paradille, Lund was a border county that could provide a wide variety of options for the remainder of the war with Missian, both offensive and defensive. Having won a territory of such great significance, Bamba wasn’t about to let it go without a fight.
“I understand that, yes. I trust, however, that you also understand the position that we of Seitz find ourselves in?” said Ashude.
“I fully appreciate your moment of crisis, Your Lordship, but we have expended no small amount of rations and magistones to enable this venture─not to mention the casualties our army sustained, admittedly few though those were. We cannot turn around and leave after suffering such losses,” Bamba replied, the stern look in his eyes never faltering. “For the sake of our duchies’ mutual friendship and future collaboration, might I suggest that we discuss the matter further?”
“You wish to discuss it. I see,” Ashude muttered. Bamba’s words had led him to realize just how troublesome of a matter this was going to be.
If Ashude had been given full impunity to do as he pleased, he would have abandoned Castle Lund in a heartbeat and rushed his men back to Seitz to defend their homeland. The sooner a losing venture was abandoned, the better. A worsening of relations with Paradille, however, was something Ashude would have preferred to avoid. Earning their animosity would make a future victory against Missian difficult, even if Seitz did manage to weather the current crisis.
The Missian army will be marching to reclaim Castle Lund at once. If this castle falls, they’ll proceed to gather their troops in Purledo and march on its surrounding counties as well. That is a situation that would pose its own set of problems. Perhaps leaving some number of soldiers here would be for the best, for the sake of maintaining our alliance with Paradille… Ashude thought. He spent a moment longer putting his thoughts together, then delivered his conclusion.
“Very well. We will aid in the defense of Castle Lund. However, given the dire state of affairs in our homeland, I will be ordering a number of my troops to withdraw. This means, of course, that we will not be following through with our planned invasion of Maasa.”
“Understood,” Bamba said after a lengthy pause.
Ashude and Bamba went on to discuss the particulars of the movements of Seitz’s army, coming to an agreement after a rather extensive period of negotiations. Ashude agreed to leave twenty percent of the Seitzan army to defend Castle Lund, while the remainder of his troops would return to their own duchy to drive back the enemy and reclaim Purledo County. Ashude himself would return to Seitz as well, leaving one of his vassals, Boroths, to take command of the troops in Lund.
Ashude wasted no time in carrying out his plan, leading his troops back toward Seitz at a frantic pace.
○
Following Ars’s departure to the front, Licia returned to Castle Canarre. Now, she walked through its corridors on her own.
It’s so quiet here, Licia thought to herself. Seeing the state of the castle brought a melancholic frown to her lips. It wasn’t just that Ars was missing─Rietz and the rest of his retainers had ridden off to war as well, leaving very few of the castle’s usual residents behind.
“Elder Sister! Welcome home!” a shout rang out. Wren dashed down the corridor toward Licia, accompanied by her pet, Rio. She and her brother Kreiz were still children, so needless to say, they’d been left behind in the castle.
“Thank you, Wren,” said Licia. “Hm? Where is Kreiz?”
“He’s out in the field, training!” said Wren. “He’s been pushing himself harder than ever ever since our elder brother went to war.”
“I see. I’m a little worried he’ll push himself too far, though. It would be terrible if he hurt himself,” Licia said with a look of concern.
“I was just about to go study! Would you mind teaching me a lesson, Elder Sister?” asked Wren.
“Of course not,” Licia warmly replied. “I’d be happy to teach you anything I’m able to.”
Licia and Wren made their way to Wren and Kreiz’s room, where they pulled up a pair of chairs, sat down, and began their lesson. Being a daughter of nobility, Licia had received a formal education and was well-versed in a number of subjects that she now passed on to Wren.
“I had no idea there were that many cities in Summerforth!” Wren exclaimed. Today, the two of them had decided to study geography. “Have you ever been outside of Missian, Elder Sister?”
“Only once,” Licia replied, “but on the one occasion I did leave, I traveled to the Imperial Capital.”
“What was it like?!”
“The castle there was enormous, to start, and splendidly made. The city, however, felt a little dreary to me. I think Canarre might be a much nicer city on the whole, as a matter of fact,” Licia explained as she thought back on her time in the empire’s capital. It had far exceeded Canarre in terms of scale, of course, but she’d gotten the impression that Canarre’s citizens were livelier than those of the capital by just as great a degree.
“Really?! Canarre sure is a great place to live, huh?” Wren said with an innocent, childish grin. “Oh, that reminds me! People have been saying that we made a boat that flies through the sky, called an airship! Is that true?”
“It is indeed,” said Licia.
“Oh, wow! That’s amazing!”
“And as it so happens, I’ve ridden aboard it!”
“Really?! I’m so jealous! I wanna ride it too!” said Wren, eyes sparkling with glee.
“It’s sailed off to war, so you won’t be able to ride it just yet,” said Licia. “Once the war is over, though, I’m certain you’d be able to ride it if you asked.”
“I’ll ask! I wanna ride!” Wren excitedly cooed─but a moment later, her tone dropped to a subdued mutter. “I hope the war ends and our brother and the others come home soon…”
“Yes, I do as well,” Licia said, her own tone just as full of loneliness.
The two of them kept chatting for some time as they carried on their lesson.