“Rrghhh... Damn it all!” Babel roared. With a high-pitched tinkle, the glass he’d thrown to the ground shattered, its pieces scattering across the floor. The act did little to pacify his rage.
“As if there are still so many out there loyal to the ghost of that man...” he spat hatefully. He’d figured there would be a few detractors, of course, but he hadn’t expected so many would still flock to the war god’s side. “Guess I can’t underestimate the power of the ‘Suoh-Yuuto’ name after all.”
Only a select few Steel Clan members knew the truth behind Yuuto’s current circumstances—namely those Yuuto had given his direct Chalice. Very few held these Chalices with Yuuto to begin with, and all of them had already either passed on, escaped with Yuuto five years ago, or had long since relinquished their authority as patriarchs. However, they were all influential people, and through them, Yuuto’s latent influence was probably still being felt throughout the senior clans.
“Ungrateful peons... Pulling this stunt after I went out of my way to care for them and ensure their survival.” For the last five years, he’d done everything within his power to cater to the senior clans. Certainly, he’d done so because he’d been afraid they might still remain loyal to Yuuto, and he’d wanted to sever those ties, but in the end, none of them had joined his side—instead, they’d all cozied up to Nozomu. The fact that they’d determined Nozomu even had a chance of winning against him rubbed Babel the wrong way.
“But it’s strange...” If Yuuto’s name had that much power behind it, then why had the enemy camp not announced his involvement publicly? If they had, they’d have had a much easier time usurping Babel’s forces and bringing them to their side. Of course, there was the fact that he was supposed to be dead, but they could even use that as a perfect chance to expose Babel as a liar. Why would they not take that opportunity?
“Unless... He really is dead?” This was, after all, a world where death constantly nipped at your heels. He’d set off for a completely foreign land too, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. In fact... Perhaps Nozomu and the rest had returned to Tarshish because their father was dead, and they had nowhere else to turn? “I see... That would explain everything.”
“Tee hee, your insight is just as keen as ever, Babel.”
“Who’s there?!” A sudden female voice from nowhere caused Babel to whip around in shock. As an Einherjar, he was a warrior of impressive renown, and even since he’d become reginarch, he’d never shirked his daily training. He couldn’t recall a time where he hadn’t been able to sense an approaching presence—until today.
“Aw, it’s only been five years, and you’ve already forgotten me? That’s mean.”
“K-Kristina...? A-Aunt Kristina?!” His voice was tinged with bitterness. Before his eyes was a woman so bewitchingly beautiful that if you took ten men off the street at random, each one of them would undoubtedly turn to look at her. However, Babel knew all too well that beyond her beauty lurked poisonous thorns.
“Long time no see, my dear nephew.”
“...Indeed, it has been a while. Might I help you with something?” Babel asked, now on high alert. She was one of Yuuto’s most trusted confidants, and the one most skilled in deception, at that. In other words, he could never be too careful around her.
“I just came to inform you of two things.”
“Two...?”
“Yes. First, Father has indeed passed away.”
“Oh... Well, I’m truly sorry to hear that.” Feigning an expression of surprise, Babel strung together insincere words of condolence. Truthfully, Yuuto had always been an issue for him. By all rights, the news should’ve thrilled him, but he couldn’t take the words of the cunning witch before him at face value. He dared not show too much emotion or risk being found out. For now, the best strategy was to maintain a poker face.
“Second, I came to let you know the intentions of the women going forward.”
“I see.” He gave a subdued response, but this was actually of great interest to Babel. By ‘the women,’ Kristina must’ve meant Yuuto’s wives—and as Babel knew well, women were not to be underestimated. Whether it be Sigrún, said to have been the reason they were able to win the great war of Yggdrasil; Ingrid, inventor of Yuuto’s modern weaponry; or Fagrahvél, Sword Clan patriarch and bearer of a rune that boosted troops’ morale; they were the stars that shined the brightest in Yuuto’s army. No doubt their involvement would greatly influence the outcome of this battle as well—if they planned to act, it was something Babel definitely couldn’t ignore.
“None of them plan to interfere in this battle between you and Nozomu,” Kristina stated.
“Oh? Well, that’s certainly good news for me, but without any proof, I’m afraid I can’t trust you so easily.” Naturally, Babel wasn’t so naive as to take what Kristina was telling him at face value. It was entirely possible—actually, very likely—that this was a trap meant to lure Babel into a false sense of security, and even if she was telling the truth, she might have shared the information with the intent to shake him up. The entire time, he’d taken special care to pay attention to his expression, his tone of voice, and his diction as he observed Kristina cautiously, making sure that his reginarch’s mask of composure didn’t accidentally slip.
“Right now, whether you believe me or not is irrelevant,” Kristina responded curtly. “Father’s dying wish was for you to receive this message, and now that you’ve received it, my job here is done.”
“Dying wish, huh?” Babel considered it. He wasn’t related to Yuuto by blood, and he hadn’t inherited the throne through any official means, nor had there been any ceremony. However, it was true that Yuuto had handpicked Babel to become reginarch. In that case, perhaps it wasn’t so strange for Yuuto’s dying wish to be to make sure Babel got his message.
“Father always said that to be a king, you need strength above all else.”
“...I remember it well.” Yuuto himself had been a man who had valued compassion more than anything, but he had also held the cynical perspective that his sworn children and subjects weren’t as loyal to him as they were to the power he possessed. He wouldn’t have been able to build a government from the ground up in the New World and keep it running for ten whole years on compassion alone. It was his overwhelming strength that had made everyone follow him.
“With that in mind, Father issued a directive to his wives. ‘Even if Nozomu decides he wants to be king, only watch over him from the sidelines and do not get involved. If he doesn’t have the ability to usurp the throne on his own, he doesn’t have the right to the crown.’”
“...I see.” It certainly sounded like something Yuuto would say. He was weak when it came to his family, but he’d never let his personal feelings get in the way of business. He wasn’t foolish enough to hand over the throne to someone who didn’t deserve it, even if that someone was his own son.
“That’s all I have to say. Goodbye.” Disinterestedly, Kristina tossed the paper in her hand into the air, which caught Babel’s attention for but a fraction of a second. That short moment was all it took for Kristina to vanish from the room without a trace. Babel reflexively swallowed in fear.
“That woman terrifies me,” he muttered. His office was supposed to be heavily secured, yet Kristina had escaped like it was nothing. If he was being honest, it bordered on nonsensical. And it wasn’t just her—all of Yuuto’s most trusted confidants were like that. If they really had no intention of joining the battle, he couldn’t imagine a bigger godsend. The problem, though, was whether or not it was a trap...
“Thinking about it, it seems unlikely.” Whether directly or by word of mouth, he felt he had a pretty good idea of what type of person Yuuto was. He’d also observed the way Yuuto had fought back in Yggdrasil. Up until now, Yuuto had hardly ever resorted to this level of false information or misrepresentation in order to give his own army an advantage. Of course, it’d be dangerous to assume he wouldn’t, but he didn’t think this type of situation, at least, was one where Yuuto would rely on a tactic like that. In this case, the Yuuto he knew would confront his enemies head-on and use his strength to make them submit. In other words, he could likely send his troops out to crush Nozomu without any risk. No mythical Yuuto-led “special unit” was going to attack him from behind.
“Heh... Heh heh heh... What’d that bastard used to say? ‘If you’re gonna eat the poison, you may as well eat the plate’?” It was something Yuuto had often said once he’d gone all-in on a decision. After five years of being reginarch, Babel had come to understand its meaning—the one thing a ruler needed most of all was the ability to make a decision and stand by it. His instinct, honed over countless battles, was telling him that it was impossible for Yuuto to have a support unit waiting in the wings. Now was the time to attack.
Babel gave his orders. “Tell all units gathered in Tarshish to mobilize! I’ll crush this rebel calling himself ‘þjóðann’ with my own two hands!”
“Big Bro, I’m getting word that Babel’s army in Tarshish is headed this way.”
“So they’ve finally begun to move.” Nozomu’s face went tense upon hearing Arness’s report. Of course, he’d been prepared for this. But hearing that the enemy had mobilized reminded him that war really was imminent, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous.
“Yeah. And it looks like it’s all of their units at once.”
“All units...?” Nozomu frowned in suspicion. “That seems a bit odd. Didn’t you and Rungr say that the reason Babel hadn’t made a move up until now was probably because he was afraid of dad?” When he’d first heard their assessment, it had honestly depressed Nozomu. “Just how long am I going to be under my dad’s protection?” he’d thought. Now the situation was different. He couldn’t afford any mistakes, and he’d resolved to use everything he had at his disposal.
“Yeah... Gathering all his forces to attack us and leaving Tarshish completely open is a rather strange move,” Arness agreed.
“Right?”
“But we can’t deny the reality in front of us. We have to adapt and change our strategy.” Arness put his hand to his chin, seemingly vexed. Since the enemy was so wary of Yuuto’s nonexistent presence, Nozomu and his siblings had originally planned to scheme around that fear and collapse their chain of command, after which they’d pick off each individual unit. But the enemy’s actions had completely uprooted that plan.