The sun finally rose, shedding light on what we’d achieved.
Our night raid had been a complete success. Our objective, the cannons, had been destroyed down to the last. As you’d expect, we had a number of people who were MIA—dead, in all likelihood—or injured, but our losses were a drop in the bucket compared to the enemy’s.
We’d eliminated the threat presented by the Raul army’s artillery, and that had broadened our field of available strategies. News of the victory had also visibly improved the morale of our soldiers and laborers.
As for the Count Palatine, we quickly learned upon our return the reason he’d sent Vera-Sylvie to fetch us in his stead.
“It appears that Siegbert Wendelin von Frentzen-Orengau, the Imperium’s Mayor of the Palace, was assassinated,” he reported. “This has sent ripples through the nobility, and has resulted in a cessation of the monetary backing the self-proclaimed Duke Raul was receiving from the Imperium. We believe this to be the reason the Raul army mobilized far quicker than we anticipated.”
Apparently, our unit that raided the enemy mages had managed to capture and interrogate several Imperium soldiers who had come to reinforce their allies. I questioned whether that sort of torture might cause a diplomatic incident, but the Count Palatine reassured me, telling me that the captured soldiers were already under several layers of earth. I supposed this world’s espionage specialists had it pretty good, not having to worry about pesky things like international law.
“So they didn’t suddenly find their gumption all at once—they’re feeling cornered,” I summarized. Having lost his backing due to the Imperium’s political upheaval, the self-proclaimed Duke Raul had realized he was running out of time. “But for matters in the Imperium to be moving already? That’s faster than I expected...”
I’d just discussed the situation with Timona yesterday. Why was it that these things always happened when you least expected it? “Can your agents gather more detailed information?” I asked.
“Quite possibly, yes,” the Count Palatine answered. “But it will take some time.”
Yeah, that figured. Couldn’t do anything about that.
The reigning Divinity—not exactly a dude of steely resolve, I’d gathered—had failed to use the Ordination Feud from a while back to strengthen his position, which gave me a vague idea of how this was all going to turn out. But matters regarding the Imperium could wait for now.
What was more relevant was that we’d learned our enemy was quickly running out of grace. With nothing to lose, they’d attack us with everything they had in order to kill me or take me prisoner. In other words, chances were low that they’d attempt a protracted siege.
Ah, there was one more point I should mention: Over the past few days, the overall circumstances of the civil war had seen some changes. First up, it seemed that Marquess Arndal, who was being besieged by the Raul faction nobility, had chosen to resist until the bitter end. According to our information, he was overwhelmingly outnumbered and indeed might have already fallen. Foreseeing this possibility, he’d smuggled his children out and sent them in the direction of Chelán Hill. Currently, they were under the protection of Lady Nunmeidt—the transmigrator’s liege.
Speaking of, it bore mentioning that Lady Nunmeidt had defeated her older brothers and restored order to most of her county’s major cities. However, since those cities were concentrated in the county’s north, and she had Raul faction neighbors to her east and west, it was up in the air whether her forces would make it here in time for the battle. I hoped for her sake that they did—even a few hundred would do. Otherwise, it’d be difficult for me to give her preferential treatment after the war.
As for the Agincarl, their infighting had gotten so chaotic that our information on them was all over the place. However, while it was a three-way brawl to the south of the County of Chamneau, it seemed the nobles to the north of the county had settled into a standoff. It appeared my read on the situation had been correct; the nobility outside of Raul and Agincarl wanted to avoid fighting if they could get away with it.
Lastly, there was the Dozran army, which had almost arrived at Chelán Hill. Given their position and marching speed, they’d probably arrive around when the Raul army did—which, come to think of it, was probably exactly what they were aiming for. The conniving bastards.