Later, per Yadoriggy’s suggestion, I made Kivik a viscount of five counties in Siala. “I thought this might be better for you than somewhere too peaceful, so I’ve entrusted it to you. Make it just as peaceful as Nayvil.” “Oh, I wasn’t aware there were five extra counties in Siala.” Stroking his white beard, Kivik wore a blank expression on his face. To be sure, there wasn’t much left after summing those five counties and Soltis Nistonia’s domain. “I’m transferring land from some other lords. They aren’t terribly powerful, after all. It’s not a problem. In fact, it’d be simpler if they did rebel.” “I see. In that case, I must agree that I should go.” “Leave your home base to Little Kivik. I bet he’d like to finally be away from his father, too, and finally have some peace and quiet.” Little Kivik was a good age himself, but with his spry father still active and never retiring, he didn’t seem like the head of his clan. “Perhaps. I’ll be wary of the Antoini remnants that fled to Melya, too.” Of course, I had put thought into whom I’d chosen. “Let’s take some time for things to quiet down. I’m concerned about going to the capital too quickly. I’m sure the people there would see me as just some bizarre young upstart anyway.” I’m still just a bit over twenty years old. The public would only find the mysteries around me unsettling. Not that I particularly care what they think of me, but a rebellion would not be productive. Good decision. Kiso Yoshinaka was also surprisingly unpopular in the capital, leading to his demise. You ought to carefully consider when you go. He mentioned yet another name I’d never heard of, but even in my world, there had been a warlord who’d captured the capital with a large army only to lose it, and his life, two months later. Without enough food, taking the capital with a large force means your men have to loot. It’s impossible to rule when you’ve made all the residents your enemies. Precisely. You’ve still only lived half as long as I did. You have time. The hastier you are the sooner your end will come. It was a bit odd to hear a conqueror advise caution, but any king, even a demon king, would want to hold on to his power as long as possible. Before Kivik arrived in Siala, two petty lords who’d been offering their allegiance died mysteriously. I could only think the rappas had killed them. Apparently their families believed it was murder as well. The dead lords’ clans holed up in castles and rebelled, so I sent Kivik and put them down. Other than holding their land for generations, they were an entirely uninteresting lot. Melyan troops attacked Kivik a few times, but they were all just skirmishes. Yadoriggy advised me on where I should attack next. At the time, she was dressed as a werewolf dancer—such a sight wasn’t uncommon in a castle. Besides, by looking like a dancer, she could travel the land with a troupe of performers, and nobody would raise an eyebrow. “I’m sure you know the Melya clan’s vassals hold a substantial share of the power,” she said. “I do. They always decide things by council. It’s even written into their laws.” Hmm, just like the Rokkaku. Apparently, Oda Nobunaga was familiar with the arrangement, too. Lords who were controlled by their vassals probably existed everywhere. “Word is the clan head, Xylan Melya, is trying to rein them in, causing them to butt heads. It seems Xylan believes the only option is to submit to you.” Well, with only one prefecture under his thumb, he probably knew he couldn’t beat me. “Tell them this: For my part, I won’t bring them to harm if they hand over the Antoinis.” “As you wish.” “Oh, and tell them to ensure Xylan’s vassals find out. This should not be a secret.” “As you wish.” That way, baseless though it was, they’d quarrel among themselves. And that would work in my favor. There were other ways to suppress your enemies besides war. “Additionally,” she said, “one of us managed to sneak into Orsent Cathedral in Fortwest Prefecture, and they say the archbishop there wouldn’t mind siding with you.” Fortwest Prefecture was essentially controlled by Orsent Cathedral. There were individual lords in place, but they held almost no power. “I see. I need to think of how to prepare for my capital entrance soon. I don’t want to bring shame on myself.” Governance would be impossible if I didn’t know anything about the capital. I needed time to study. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that,” Yadoriggy said, bowing her head. “That’s fine. Everyone has their role. I’ll ask Kelara.” For about a half year afterward, I settled down, from other people’s point of view. I celebrated my twenty-third birthday in a time of peace and quiet. I didn’t look much different, but my son and daughter certainly did. They would both run about the castle corridors, driving their wet nurse Laviala crazy. I wasn’t exactly slacking, though. With Kelara’s help, I meticulously researched the rituals and political affairs of the capital as well as the values of its people. The crown prince Hasse would be king, but I would be the one running the government. “I’m impressed by how devoted you are to your studies.” Even Kelara was shocked that I went so far as to take notes—not that her face showed much shock. “I don’t want anyone to think I’m just some country boy. For one thing, there’s nothing more aggravating than being mocked by incompetent fools, and if my reputation suffered, some people might try to bring back Paffus VI after he’s gone.” Quite a few people had taken control of the capital in the past, but very few had managed to keep it under their rule with any stability. It was all due to their ignorance about the capital. There existed no precedent for a city that purportedly had thirty or forty thousand inhabitants. As a result, concentrated into this one place was a tangled web of special interests. “I see. I shall do everything in my power to impart my knowledge to you.” Kelara never batted an eye. I could see why the crown prince said she was unwavering and stiff, but that was precisely what was so reassuring about her. Part of what showed a ruler’s skills was how they made use of their vassals. “Well then, today let’s talk about commerce in the capital,” she continued. “Oh, no, that’s enough studies for tonight.” I went up to Kelara and wrapped my arms around her. “Making love to a woman like a country boy won’t do. Teach me what you know.” “As you wish.” With a straight face, she took off her clothes, exposing her brown skin to me. Her silver hair seemed more radiant than ever. The day after bedding Kelara, I became father to a third child. Fleur had given birth to a girl. Fleur was a brave woman, and apparently that hadn’t changed even in childbirth; according to those present, she hardly looked in pain at all. They said they’d never seen such a quiet birth. “You must be exhausted, Fleur.” When I went to see Fleur where she still lay in bed, she seemed unconcerned, as if she’d just had a bit of a cold. “After everything I’ve heard about the pain of childbirth, I was expecting it to be far more difficult than it was.” “I almost feel like I’m hearing a warrior bragging.” “Thinking about the survival of my clan was much harder.” She wasn’t smiling, which told me she was completely sincere. “The Wouge clan isn’t going anywhere now, so just worry about whether our daughter grows up healthy. Let’s get someone trustworthy to be her nurse, too.” “Yes, my lord. I will make certain your daughter is raised well.” After stroking Fleur’s pink hair, I left the room. And then, as we were holding private celebrations, there was a stir. Our neighbor Melya was reportedly engaged in a civil war. Now there was an opportunity knocking. Sometimes all it took was a little waiting for opportunities to crop up. A wolf instantly appeared before me when I went to the courtyard that night, and she quickly changed form to the rappa Yadoriggy. The shorter an exchange with a rappa was the better. “The count who controlled Melya Prefecture, Xylan Melya, purged one of his top vassals for insolence; some of the others retaliated, so he fled his castle, and they are now locked in battle. Xylan has his supporters, too, so the prefecture is broken into two camps.” “Let Kivik know right away. And go tell Xylan that Alsrod is ready to give him protection.” “With Xylan himself already sheltering the Antoinis, I doubt he can officially come to our side.” Indecisive bastard. He’d decided he was no match for me, and yet he still harbored the Antoinis, who had defied and fled from me. It was little surprise his vassals had disobeyed such a fickle count. “Tell Xylan any friend of the Antoinis is my enemy.” I’d make him see he had no options. I gave instructions to my troops to be ready to move out at a moment’s notice. And finally, Xylan sent an envoy requesting troops to retake Melya. With the attacks against Xylan gradually getting more intense, he seemed to be in dire straits. Xylan’s vassals had set up his younger brother Salhorn as a puppet ruler. Melya Prefecture was completely rent in two. Family squabbles weren’t too uncommon, but now there was a lord waiting to take advantage of all of this, right here. If he had a problem, that was it. The time had come. I headed straight to Hasse. “Now more than ever, please lend me your strength. The time for you to be king has drawn near.” Hasse agreed to my plan right away. And so an army ten thousand strong marched from Maust. I, however, was not the commanding general. It was the crown prince, Hasse. I was right next to him, but he was the one in charge. “Listen up!” he said. “I want you all to eliminate the treacherous vassals attacking Count Xylan Melya! Melya Prefecture is close to the royal capital. We cannot sit by and watch such chaos go on so close to our borders! Anyone who defies me is a traitor against the royal family!” Since he hadn’t been to battle for a long time, Hasse’s voice was shrill, but with his goal so close, he looked excited. If Crown Prince Hasse made an appearance here, the king in control of the capital would have no choice but to side with the Melya clan’s vassals. Surely he couldn’t side with his cousin who claimed to be the crown prince. This situation would escalate beyond Melya’s problem. I trusted the werewolf captain of the Black Dogs, Dorbeau, to be the vanguard this time. I told him to crush our enemies without mercy. Even with reinforcements from the Santira clan in Fortsouth Prefecture, our enemy numbered five thousand at most. On the other hand, we had ten thousand, and if you added Xylan’s troops, we had an even greater number advantage. Opting not to be sieged, our enemy struck out onto the plains. Since holing up in a castle with five thousand men would be next to impossible, they must’ve had no choice. Besides, while they were slowly besieged in their base, Xylan would be rallying his men. After clashing once with the enemy, Captain Dorbeau of the Black Dogs deliberately pulled back, causing the enemy line to stretch. His strategy was to then make another attack on their flank and destroy them. It was a swift attack befitting a werewolf. The plan worked—the enemy routed and withdrew. You could say the first round, at least, had gone to us. The enemy ultimately changed their plan to splitting up and defending multiple castles. Their morale had been damaged somewhat. “At this rate, do you think the battle will drag on?” Laviala asked me that night. We were in a room of the mansion I was using as my quarters. A strategic map was on the table. “Not at all. Right about now there’s another task force heading to attack their main castle.” “Another task force? That’s the first I’ve heard…” “Because I made sure not to tell you. If all our troops know, the enemy will find out, too.” “Still, at least tell me about it…” “I have a few reasons. The men will be more enthusiastic if they think they’re in the main attack. Right about now, Kivik is ravaging Melya Prefecture with two thousand men, behind their lines. Most of our enemies here won’t have anywhere to return to.” Laviala let out an “Ahh!” at that. “Speaking of which, you didn’t move your troops through Kivik’s territory on the way… I thought maybe you wanted him to focus on managing his land…” “Right now, a lot of the soldiers in the enemy’s main stronghold, Dokto Castle, are gone, so it isn’t at full strength. We’ll take advantage and capture it with a surprise attack by Kivik.” I took game pieces from both sides of the map and moved them closer to the enemy pieces. “Then, together with Kivik, we’ll pulverize the enemy troops out confronting us. With that, the Melya clan will effectively be obliterated. We can’t kill Xylan Melya since he came to us for help—but at best he’ll be living as our puppet.” I moved the piece representing my troops farther in. “This isn’t a war about what to do with Melya Prefecture— We’ll be taking the royal capital soon. More people are joining our side. The opportunity is ripe.” During the past half year, I’d been scheming to bring more people to my side. It would all now come to fruition. The next day, my troops began taking the enemy’s castles one by one. As usual, I had everyone in the first castle killed as proof of my lack of mercy for those who didn’t surrender beforehand. By planting a seed of fear, I robbed them of motivation. At the same time, by having Hasse repeatedly say they were rebelling against the crown prince, I made their position even more precarious. They’d soon realize, the way things were going, Hasse was to become the new king. Opposing him would make things worse and worse for them. In the midst of all this, a messenger on horseback came to my encampment. They said the Melya clan’s stronghold, Dokto Castle, had fallen to Kivik’s attack, and Salhorn Melya, who called himself the clan head, had escaped to the royal capital. “Fool. He should’ve at least escaped to his own troops. He doesn’t even have the courage for that?” That same day, I announced that Kivik had taken down the enemy’s main castle. “I neglected to mention this before, but that old soldier is my comrade from when I was at Fort Nagraad,” I told my men. “I wanted to give him the honor of leading the way to the capital.” My generals lit up at the mention of the capital. “This prefecture is just the beginning. Now we head to the capital to make the crown prince king!” ““Whooooo!”” A loud cry went out from among my generals. I’d been making them wait so long for this. “I’m sure many of you wondered when we were ever going to set our sights on it. I was gathering our strength bit by bit. Under his watch, Kivik did a splendid job stabilizing Siala in almost no time. There’s nothing to be afraid of now! Today and tomorrow, we shall obliterate what’s left of the enemy!” Of course, there was no one left following the Melya clan’s vassals, so people kept coming to surrender. On the other hand, I let all the ones still resisting have their warriors’ deaths. If they meant to die, nothing would convince them otherwise. Apparently the remnants fled to the royal capital together with an Antoini who used to be a lord in Siala. I don’t envy his life as a fugitive. Two days later, I went into the castle town of the Melya clan’s burned-down home, Dokto Castle. Building a temporary shack at the castle ruins, I decided to appoint a castle commander. They’d have the important role of guarding our rear as we invaded farther. I called Laviala to my quarters. “I’d like for you to guard this place.” “Lord Alsrod, allow me to set a condition, if I may.” Looking at her face, I could tell right away this was something she absolutely wouldn’t compromise on. I’d been with her all my life—ever since the day I was born. We could hide almost nothing from each other. “I can hazard a guess what you want to say, but tell me anyway.” “I want to be with you as you occupy the royal palace! When will such a momentous day ever come again?” I knew it. That was exactly what I expected. “Occupying the palace isn’t my goal here. I’m sure you know that.” Becoming king—that was what I desired. I didn’t need to put it all into words. “Still, I want to share the joy of this milestone by your side. I know how important defending Dokto Castle is, but…” I sighed. To be honest, I’d wanted to share that joy with Laviala, too. “I want to reward my guardsmen by taking them all with me, too. Maybe I’ll let Noen Rowd handle this. He’s better at defending than attacking anyway.” Next I summoned Kelara to my quarters. “Help me make sure I don’t do anything embarrassing when we occupy the capital. I can’t be bringing shame on His Royal Highness.” “Very well. First, it’s crucial you make sure everyone knows it’s strictly forbidden to loot.” I was a bit disappointed. “That’s the same no matter whose land you’re taking. I’m asking more about etiquette.” “May I speak freely, sir?” I was almost a bit frightened by that, but I told her to hold nothing back. If I got a scathing criticism now, it would sting no matter who I was. “You were already conscious of etiquette while in Maust. If you continue as you have been, there shouldn’t be any problem. You would already make a fine regent for this country, one that nobody could speak ill of.” I was stunned. “Kelara, I never meant you to be a sly little sycophant.” “I have never studied sycophancy, so that’s beyond my depth,” Kelara responded dryly. “No matter what you say, my affection for you will never fade.” “I don’t mean to belabor this point, but I speak as a vassal—not as your wife.” I couldn’t believe she could say such things with such a neutral expression. “Fine. I trust you. I’ll take your word for it.” “Thank you very much. I promise you my undying loyalty, as well, my lord.” Kelara nodded, still not smiling. Hasse really was a fool to let this one go, I thought. A person who couldn’t tell who was useful couldn’t be a good king. Well, for now I’d just send orders to the surrounding lords to accompany the crown prince. That way it would be crystal clear who was friend and who was foe. I marched my troops through Fortwest Prefecture and on to Fortsouth Prefecture. I’d received permission of passage from Orsent Cathedral in Fortwest, so although this was a detour, it was at least reliable. Entering the royal capital from Fortsouth was the proper route according to old custom as well. The surrounding lords rushed to join me. “Thank you for coming. However, it’s pointless to bow your heads to me. I ask that you bow before His Royal Highness, the crown prince. He is the one you will serve, after all.” The greatest power in Fortsouth—our capital entrance—had been the Santira clan, but apparently they’d already lost their will to fight, and their vassals and clan members came to surrender one after another. There was no way they could wage a proper war now. The clan head, Leggus Santira, had fled. Even the people of the royal capital seemed to realize defense was impossible now; King Paffus VI was said to have fled westward with his clan. He’d probably continue calling himself king, but abandoning the capital would leave a terrible impression. Hasse would have no trouble going from crown prince to sovereign. Shattering what pitiful resistance remained, I easily liberated Fortsouth Prefecture. All obstacles to the capital were now gone. It didn’t seem there would be any more real battles, so I had my formal attire sent from Maust. Might as well look the part when I took the castle. I was pretty happy myself, but someone else was even happier. That person was Crown Prince Hasse. “This is all because of you, Marquess. I don’t know how to express my gratitude… Thank you, thank you…” As he broke into tears, I wasn’t sure how to react. “Your Royal Highness, could emotions perhaps wait until after we have taken the capital?” “Oh, I just wanted to let you know how thankful I was. Naturally, I’ll thank you after we take it, too. I promise you the position of regent as well.” I couldn’t ignore those words. Regent—arguably the highest position in the kingdom after the king’s, it was the highest vassal rank; historically, too, it was the rank that had been attained by various de facto supreme rulers of their times. “I would be most honored to be your regent. I shall strive to be worthy of the role to do my utmost to ensure peace in the kingdom.” “Yes—and I shall not go back on my promise.” It had taken time, but I was finally here. I was another step closer to my dream of being king. Well, perhaps it hadn’t taken so much time. The position of regent had been handed to me on a silver platter.
Chapter 24
19 min read