Epilogue
THE imperial family, or more specifically the emperor, of Martgarz was powerful. They excelled at creating administration systems for a country as well as instating standards, and the nobles were one piece of their vertical system of rule.
This of course had both its merits and demerits, but one significant positive of it was that there was a system in place for automatically determining who was now in command of an army should its current commander fall, and the entire army shifted to following the new commander’s orders, whether that meant continuing the battle, or stopping it.
“I am Baron Paulos Greylain, a vassal to Marquess Angus. All officers of higher rank have been killed in combat, therefore I now hold the authority to command the entire army of Marquess Angus. We surrender.”
Paulos was one of the knights in the core formation protecting Julian and was using a call charm Lushera had to contact Cristophe.
The battle had turned into a one-sided slaughter.
The forward defensive line was hemmed in on several sides, taking attacks, the collapsed formation no longer capable of attacking back or even defending. The only reason they hadn’t broken ranks and fled yet was because they were blocked from doing so from behind. The soldiers, unable to retreat, fought panicked by their impending doom, only to die pointlessly. The rearguard unit was already retreating, having lost its commander.
It’s sometimes said that most casualties of war occur after victory or defeat has been decided while one of the armies retreats and the other chases. That could be stopped with a declaration of surrender from the commander or the country itself.
“I am Cristophe Murdeux, commander of the Mount Kugus Defense Army. I respect your wise decision. Are you in a position to raise a signal flare? If so, please fire the customary five whites. Once that is confirmed, we will raise a white signal and I will order my entire army to stand down.”
“Understood. I am grateful for your show of mercy. I know the spell for firing signals. I’ll do so immediately.” Paulos raised a hand to the sky, soldiers scrambling over each other to escape past him.
A magic bullet fired from his fingertip, leaving a trail of light behind as it raced up into the cloud-cleared skies and exploded in a puff of white light and smoke. He did that five times, a sign to both his and the enemy’s army that they had declared surrender.
After a short moment, one shot of the same sort of signal fired from the fort on the mountainside, the sign that the surrender was accepted.
“All units, cease attacking! You may only strike those who resist,” came Cristophe’s voice from the call charms of every squad in the army. The sounds of screams and weapon against weapon dropped in volume, then the remaining faint noise slowly faded.
The armies had mixed in the confusion of melee combat, but the Setrayuan soldiers pulled back a short distance while maintaining their formations.
There were no more roars from the magic cannon raining down, either.
Instead, the groans of the injured were audible.
And with that, the battle ended.
“…Okay. That was the human settlement,” said Lushera. “Would you tell me why the hell you went along with something like this? I don’t care if you’ve surrendered, if I don’t like your answer, I’ll burn you all with my fire breath until only your bones are left.” She glared around at the Martgarz soldiers, either standing still or sitting down on the ground out of sheer exhaustion.
“Lushera…” said Timm, shocked and trying to stop Lushera’s violence, but she didn’t listen.
If you surrender, the battle stops, a resolution left to international negotiations, each individual judged by the order of the humanoid world. But there, they would only be charged with crimes against other people.
And it was therefore Lushera’s thinking that any who trespassed on dragon territory should undergo a dragon’s trial. It wasn’t justice or fairness that belonged here, but fear.
Paulos thought for a while. Lushera couldn’t see his expression, since his face was entirely concealed behind a helmet.
“I did this because I believed it was best. Or, rather, that it was…appropriate. It was loyalty to my country and my lord. For the peace of my people. For political stability. For my gain. For my personal status and life… There are far too many considerations. Essentially, I believed there was a relatively large benefit to be had should we win, and a relatively small loss should we lose. If I refused to follow orders, I, my family, and my people would be nothing but traitors. And I would die. My only option…was to continue down the path that had some possibility of gain, and retaining my life. Life doesn’t generally go completely as you had intended. At least this way, I could be like the leaf slipping between the waves…”
His voice tapered and trembled. His uncertainty, which he had boxed away, came close to breaking loose, but he stamped it down and continued.
“Did I have any other options…? I was thrown into a labyrinth with no way out. And at the end of it, there was…this…this…” He held his head in hands clad in roughened silver gauntlets. “If I were as powerful as a dragon, perhaps I wouldn’t have these worries…” he said.
“…Dragons have their own worries,” said Lushera.
“Of course, my apologies.” He let out a long sigh.
The fact that he’d had no other options was separate from whether or not Lushera should forgive him, but she didn’t sense any attempt to deceive, and that left her with a good impression of the man.
What she needed right now was for them to feel the fear and terror of knowing that, when facing a dragon, there was nothing that could protect them. She didn’t think she needed to make anyone else a warning after having just killed Julian.
“Do you forgive me?” asked Paulos.
“No. But I’ll leave the rest to be handled in the human way. I hope you spend your remaining time with no regrets.”
“Thank you…”
This incident was huge and could threaten the very existence of the humanoid world. The Church might even step in. While she wasn’t certain about the soldiers, any knights in a command position would likely face the death penalty and be dishonored as betrayers of the humanoid world.
Though, Setrayu would likely aim for compensation rather than that.
Lushera shook her head, and, with that, it was over. She didn’t have to bother with what happened after.
“Viola, how are you doing?” she asked.
Viola still stood in the middle of the battlefield, staff raised. Timm and Lushera remained on guard in case any crazed soldiers attacked, but even the soldiers fleeing hesitated to go near her.
At this point, there weren’t any enemies they needed to be cautious of. Instead, they were approached by knights from the Setrayuan defense force, slipping through the milling Marquess troops as they ran. These knights were most likely vassals of the Foster Duchy.
“I don’t really know for sure, since this is the first time I’ve ever used the dracovitae,” said Viola. “But it seems okay. Just look at that beautiful sight.”
There wasn’t a single wisp of cloud remaining, a rainbow bridge arching through the clear blue sky.
Lushera heard powerful wingbeats. Kaphal was coming back from the other side of the mountain, which meant things over there had calmed down.
Seeing that, Viola lowered the dracovitae. The overstated arm armor encasing her folded up, returning to the single staff form the Hurricane of Insight took when enshrined.
“S-Sister…?” Monica was still on the ground, peering up at Viola in a daze like she hadn’t quite kept pace with everything happening.
The Collar of Slavery was still around her neck, but it was only in effect when something or someone issued orders. With Julian dead, she was freed from all his commands.
Viola crouched in front of her, meeting her eyes. “Yes. My name is Francesca. I’m your sister. I normally conceal my identity and go by the name Viola while I work as an adventurer. These glasses are a magic item called Glasses of the Masses. They stop people from recognizing me and make me look like another person. Though, we’ve never met, so that’s irrelevant! You know what, did you ever get that teddy bear I sent you?”
“Viola,” said Timm, cutting in because Viola was veering off topic in her excitement.
“Why…are you here?” asked Monica, like she couldn’t imagine even a single explanation for why Viola would be here.
“To save you.”
And Monica still looked like she never even considered that immediate response.
Viola wrapped her arms around Monica, tightly, oh so tightly, like she would never let go of the confused girl.
“I’m sorry,” said Viola. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long, but I made you wait forever…”
“Eh… Ah, w-waaaaah!”
Monica eventually broke into loud, unsightly sobs.
She trembled, like a chick freezing after having fallen from its nest, and buried her face in Viola’s chest.