Uh, what’s he talking about? I can’t keep up.
“That’s so... human.” Human? Who is? The yellow-eyes? “Think about their actions since the declaration of war: testing the waters in the west, the extended battle in the Hell Expanse, the massive trap they laid by executing a pincer strike on the Frontier, the extreme offensive they led on the palace... they were all highly polished operations.”
And not at all like the vampires, son Peine concludes, and pops a boiled bean into his mouth. Then, he continues:
“If Lady Kuroi was their only objective, then a threat, not a letter demanding answers, would be a better option. They could torture the citizens of the palace to summon her out. Or, even better for them, destroy the palace like they did the mountain and assault the fort with brute force. That would be much more vampire-like.”
He has a point. The yellow-eyes are monsters that delight in violence. Even Golden’s assault was sloppy and without strategy—forced and purely for fun.
“I see. So you’re saying that their use of the royal family’s authority is itself unnatural?” asks Marius.
“Unless I’m missing something and the king’s sister is some great figure to them, then yes.”
“Therefore, it is unnatural. This letter... Considering the timing and method employed... Yes, yes. Cunning and malice alone wouldn’t explain this.”
“Maybe they’re just having fun pitting us humans against each other?” Ange suggests.
“If that were the case, they would not grant us a chance to explain or withdraw.” The youngest brother sure has a disturbingly cold smile; even Origis is taken aback. “They’d send the royal knights without a second thought; my family’s army, too. A Willow-on-Willow battle would be the most likely outcome.”
“Marius, what are you saying?” Origis questions, surprised.
“Haven’t you considered the possibility, Origis? We haven’t heard a peep about their movements, yet Father and Nazarus aren’t the types to just sit idly by in this sort of situation.”
Family issues, huh? I guess famous families have their own share of problems. Agias’s arms are crossed, and he hasn’t budged, though.
“Whoa, now, Marius! That’s important information. Isn’t it, Felipo?”
“Yes, it is. The full scope of the vampires’ half-baked plans is coming into view.”
“And what do you surmise from this unrefined strategy?”
“That some sort of problem must have occurred.”
The black-hearted priest attacks some smoked fish with renewed appetite. As for son Peine, he changes his target to the omelet. They both look delicious.
“If they were trying to use human authority to their advantage, then they wouldn’t miss the fact that most of our main force is made up of Willow soldiers. But if they can’t discern that, then what does that mean? Son Peine?”
“That the army of House Willow is on the move, away from the palace.”
“And speaking of authority, religion would be the greatest form of this. Don’t you find it strange that they don’t make any reference to the existence of our God?”
“Felipo, I’d say that the fact that the Church was burned to the ground is the stranger bit. Fire is the human element. If they wished to extol their own god, then surely there was a better way to destroy it. Perhaps one that involved lightning or earth.”
“Truly, truly. And this doesn’t even touch on the fact that the cunning Archbishop would never just roll over and die.”
“I suppose some people truly don’t die when they are killed. They have a... lust for life.”
“Do you speak of yourself now, Undead son Peine?”
Uh, what? Why are they so chipper? Even I am reaching for some meat now. Oh, that’s some good stuff. Some wine would go well with this.
“So the vampires’ plan is to make themselves appear greater than they are, then?” Agias, our army’s commander, asks for clarification. The black-hearted priest, son Peine, and Marius all nod. Ange follows, and I bring up the rear. Origis agrees with his eyes. Sira is petting her rabbit... and the raven-haired girl is too focused on feasting to have heard anything, I bet.
“Excuse me. I have an urgent message.”
Oh, Captain Zakkow! So he was on guard duty, huh?
“The vampires at the palace have split their forces. A thousand are headed northeast.”
There are currently five thousand vampires in the capital, and they just sent out a thousand? That’s a large force. What’s in the northeast, anyway?
“House Willow’s estate lies to the northeast of the palace,” adds Agias. Wait, what? “Our family must have inspired this march. It is also the ultimate proof that this letter was a bluff. In other words, a crack has appeared in their state of affairs. Swiftness is of utmost importance now. Tomorrow morning, our entire army shall march on the capital.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” I stopped them. Er, put a pin in it, anyway. “What about reinforcements? Aren’t you going to send some? That’s a thousand vampires, you know? Sure, we can use fire magic, but God’s blessing has yet to propagate south of the fort.”
“If they required reinforcements, they would say so. From our location, the road to the Willow Estate is also a treacherous one. If we send troops that way, it will be difficult for them to meet up with us at the palace.”
“But that doesn’t mean...”
“House Willow has a duty to execute and dignity to maintain. I also...”
His blazing eyes land on Kuroi. She’s holding a bowl of soup. Man, she just doesn’t stop eating. How many bowls is that? I heard she made a crazy dash from the Hell Expanse, and that once the battle was over she collapsed. I guess this is for the best, then. Eat while you can, you know? But, like... at least look at us a bit. And drink some water!
“...would like to bring the Apostle to the palace,” Agias continues. “The purpose of this move is to instill some hope into humanity.”
God damn natural-born military men. So manly, always ready to go into battle. Such majestic guts... unlike me.
“We must go straight down the path of righteousness, so that any and all may follow after us,” he declares.
He’s marching for something big... perhaps even marching to his death. I can see it on his face, the bastard. But I won’t let that happen. I doubt everyone here will survive; war is not that kind. However... there are some of us who absolutely must survive. And I will do all I can to make sure they do, so that we can taste true victory. I won’t let them die.