ACT 3
“What the hell’s going on?! That idiot’s dead?!”
Yuuto had left the bath, rushed straight back to his office, and immediately sent for Kristina. When she arrived, those were the first words out of his mouth.
Even now, Yuuto referred to Steinþórr only as “that idiot,” but he was all too aware of the man’s overwhelming strength.
Yuuto had introduced military tactics from far beyond this era, such as longspear-equipped phalanx formations, and the mobile fortress made from linked wagon carriages known as the Wagon Wall. And yet, this one man had overcome all of that with his own individual physical strength. It was no exaggeration to say that Steinþórr’s power placed him outside the bounds of what could even be considered human. He was a monster, pure and simple.
Sure, war was unpredictable, and anything could happen out on the battlefield. However, he was the sort of man who could be surrounded by ten thousand soldiers and likely mow them down without breaking a sweat. It was hard to believe someone like that could have died in battle.
“The report states that eight days ago, the Lightning Clan and Flame Clan armies engaged each other at Fort Waganea in southern Lightning Clan territory, and that Steinþórr was killed in the fighting.”
Kristina replied matter-of-factly, her eyes scanning over the report in her hand.
“Eight days ago, huh?” Yuuto muttered to himself.
The Steel Clan had messenger pigeons, which they could use to send information much faster than by horse, but preparing the birds for use took some degree of time and effort, so they were generally only used for urgent messages. Most of their communications were delivered by messengers on horseback.
Furthermore, riding directly on horseback was not as common in other countries, so the rider would stand out. To counter this, they traveled by foot or horse-drawn wagon while in enemy territory, disguising themselves as ordinary travelers or merchants.
Considering that the incident took place in the southern part of the Lightning Clan’s territory, eight days was just about the fastest this information could get to him, but it still wasn’t fresh anymore, and that was everything when it came to intel.
Yuuto had grown up used to the instantaneity of cell phones, and so he couldn’t help but feel like all of this was far too slow.
“What are the chances this is a false report?” he asked.
The deliberate leaking of false intel in order to confuse the enemy was a fairly frequent occurrence, as was the unintentional warping of information into something completely fictitious as it spread from person to person.
In fact, Steinþórr had been mistakenly considered dead for a while after the First Battle of Élivágar River, and when Yuuto had been forcibly sent back to modern Japan, rumors had spread that the Panther Clan had killed him.
In particular, one had to consider the fact that the presence or absence of the Lightning Clan patriarch on the battlefield made such an enormous difference in how threatening his army was. Spreading false info that Steinþórr was dead could lure the Steel Clan into lowering its guard and advancing its armies into vulnerable positions, allowing the supposedly dead patriarch to ambush and rout the unwary forces.
It was reasonable enough to think that sort of strategy could be at play here, even if it was pretty at-odds with his impressions of Steinþórr, who had historically preferred to simply rush his enemy headfirst. If Yuuto took action based on false information, he could wind up paying a hard price in casualties for it.
Being extra careful and suspicious here was the best course of action.
“At this point in time, we cannot say anything with complete certainty, of course,” Kristina replied. “However, in all likelihood, it should be reasonable to assume the report of his death is not mistaken.”
“Based on what?”
“At present, the Flame Clan army is continuing its invasion of Lightning Clan territory, and even the most conservative estimates put them at no less than thirty thousand in number.”
“Th... Thirty thousand?!” Yuuto shouted wildly.
Sure, the Flame Clan was both large and powerful enough to be counted among the Ten Great Clans of the realm, but that number went far beyond anything he’d expected.
The number of people a nation could mobilize into an army was usually proportional to that nation’s agricultural productivity.
The Steel Clan had the Norfolk crop rotation system and good quality fertilizer, far outpacing any of their surrounding nations in terms of the productivity of each acre of their farmable land, and even with all that, the largest army they could maintain right now was just over twenty thousand.
How could the Flame Clan have such a staggering number of soldiers on hand using only the techniques of this ancient era? Yuuto didn’t have the slightest clue.
“You sure those numbers aren’t being trumped up?” Yuuto asked.
The flow of momentum in a battle was largely determined by the balance of numbers and troop morale. Announcing exaggerated troop numbers to encourage allies and stir unrest among enemies was a widely-used strategy all over the world.
Kristina, however, shook her head, her expression still grim. “I believe they aren’t. In fact, I would say there’s more of a chance the real numbers are even greater. These estimates are coming from the Lightning Clan, and I can see little reason for them to falsify them higher. In the midst of a large-scale invasion into their territory, it would further upset the morale of their own soldiers and risk tempting their other neighbors to join in the attack.”
“That’s true,” Yuuto agreed.
Meanwhile, the Lightning Clan couldn’t have more than ten thousand in their army at most.
Steinþórr was a battle-crazed berserker who wished nothing more than to take on strong opponents, but he was also surprisingly skilled at decision-making on the field.
There was no way he’d be stupid enough to risk making his situation even worse by inviting more enemy nations to start attacking him now.
“So, then, crushed under the weight of those sheer numbers, I guess even that idiot finally reached the limits of his strength, huh?”
“Actually, it appears that wasn’t quite the case.”
“Excuse me?! Oh come on, don’t tell me there’s something else...”
Steinþórr’s death in battle, and an army of over thirty thousand—Yuuto had just been handed two revelations that would normally seem impossible.
Two surprises make way for a third, as the saying went, but Yuuto had gone past surprise and into something more like annoyance.
...Or so he thought, until Kristina’s next words delivered the greatest shock so far.
“Er, exact details are scarce at the moment, but... according to the accounts of soldiers who fled the battle in question, there was a sudden, terrible noise from the ranks of the Flame Clan formation—and then Steinþórr and his front-line fighters fell to the ground, spraying blood from wounds that suddenly appeared.”
“What?!”
“The soldiers didn’t seem to understand what had happened, either. They claimed it must have been some sort of witchcraft. However, going by their accounts, the sounds they describe seem to resemble that of the tetsuhau...”
“It... It can’t be...” Yuuto whispered, his face growing pale.
One possibility crossed his mind immediately, a terrible flash of insight.
Yuuto’s hand moved to his waist, and he unholstered the weapon he now carried for emergency self-defense.
In an ironic twist, Yuuto himself had also concluded that this was the only weapon capable of taking down that twin-runed monster.
“What is that?” Kristina asked.
With a stiff expression, Yuuto replied, “This is called a ‘gun.’”
It was a Makarov PM: a medium-sized, semi-automatic pistol, adopted as the Soviet Union’s standard military and police side arm in 1951.
Yuuto remembered how freaked-out he’d been when his father Tetsuhito handed it to him with an unceremonious “Here, take this.”
Tetsuhito was a professional Japanese swordsmith, and apparently his clientele included a few people from the less savory part of society, so he’d used those connections to obtain the weapon.
“Use it to protect yourself.”
In the past, Yuuto had always assumed the man never even spared any thought for him, but the truth was that he’d even been willing to break the law to help his son. It turned out he was actually pretty reckless in his protectiveness.
“It’s a ranged weapon,” Yuuto continued, explaining to Kristina. “It uses gunpowder, just like the tetsuhau bombs we used against the Panther Clan riders. When the powder ignites, the explosive force is channeled into firing a small metal bullet, about the size of the tip of your little finger, at a much higher speed and over a greater distance than arrows. The bullets can pierce right through your targets. It’s an extremely lethal weapon.”
“That is... quite the troublesome weapon to face, then.” Kristina, usually so cool and detached, now gulped nervously.
In a battle between armies, the weapon that dealt the most kills and injuries was not the spear or the sword—it was the bow and arrow.
There was a certain phrase used in the world of Japanese martial arts, or more specifically, in kendo: the “Rule of Three.” It referred to the idea that in order for an unarmed martial artist to win against an opponent armed with a sword, the former would need to have three times as many skill ranks as the latter.
By the same token, someone with a sword would need to be three times as skilled as an opponent wielding a spear.
It was a way of expressing just how much of an advantage you gain in a fight if you are able to attack your opponent from outside of their range.
It was because of this principle that Yuuto had devoted his efforts early on into developing more powerful ranged weapons for his army such as composite bows and crossbows, so he could attack his enemies from further away.
There was also the problem of the bullets themselves. One could respond and react to normal arrows to an extent, attempting to dodge or block them. With a projectile much smaller and moving much faster, however, that would be a difficult, if not infeasible, prospect.
One could thus say that it was only natural that over the course of human history, the gun supplanted and eventually eliminated the bow as a weapon of war.
But that was all history from three thousand years into Yggdrasil’s future. These were weapons that weren’t supposed to exist here.
“What the hell is this guy?” Yuuto wondered aloud. “Actually, wait, I still don’t know his name, now that I think about it.”
Previously, Yuuto had received a message from the Flame Clan patriarch marked with his name seal, but the letters had been an unreadable mess, looking like a bunch of squiggly lines.
Still, this was the man whom Yuuto was going to try to persuade to become his sworn brother via the Oath of the Chalice. Not knowing his name already was a terrible oversight.
Sure, lately he’d been completely occupied with the coalition of surrounding enemy nations, and the doom awaiting Yggdrasil in the near future, but that was still no excuse for ignorance.
He suddenly realized just how right Mitsuki and Felicia had been to worry about him—he clearly had been working past his limits.
“It is Nobunaga.”
“Huh?”
At first, Yuuto didn’t understand what Kristina had said.
After all, it was a word that didn’t belong to Yggdrasil’s language.
A beat passed, and Yuuto realized she’d just told him the name of the Flame Clan patriarch. In Yuuto’s mind, all the disparate pieces of information started to connect, like a puzzle assembling itself.
“That’s... I see now. So that’s what this is,” he muttered, wide-eyed. “Felicia. Send another message to Ginnar; he should still be in Flame Clan territory. Tell him to do everything he can to speed along the process of negotiating for the Oath of the Sibling Chalice with the Flame Clan patriarch.”
“R-Right!” Felicia replied.
“I’ve just found out that I need to do whatever it takes to meet him in person and have a one-on-one talk,” Yuuto added, with a newfound determination.
Yuuto and Mitsuki had come here from the modern era.
In that case, it wouldn’t be strange at all if there were other people from other time periods who had somehow wound up here as well.
It wouldn’t be strange, even, if one of those people turned out to be a legendary conqueror, the “Demon King” of Japan’s Sengoku period, who was supposed to have died in a burning temple, his body swallowed by the flames.
Yuuto felt a cold trickle of sweat run down his back.
Considering the situation he was in now, this was someone he needed to prevent from becoming his enemy, no matter what.
“Sorry for calling you all here so late for the second night in a row,” Yuuto began and glanced at the people seated around the table.
Just like the night before, the seven patriarchs of the Steel Clan had gathered for this council meeting. However, there were more people in attendance this time: several of Yuuto’s direct child subordinates such as Sigrún, Ingrid, and the Claw Clan twins. All in all, it was a gathering of the important core members of the clan.
“Just a short while ago, I learned some shocking information from Kristina: Patriarch Steinþórr of the Lightning Clan was killed in a battle against the Flame Clan.”
Several people shouted “What?!” aloud, and a wave of commotion spread throughout the room.
There wasn’t a single person here who didn’t know about the inhuman strength of the man known as the Dólgþrasir, the Battle-Hungry Tiger of Vanaheimr.
Each of them had been involved, in some way or another, with the Battle of Gashina back in the spring of this year. It was still fresh in their memories how Steinþórr had been lured into a trap and completely surrounded, only to tear his way out of it through a sheer feat of strength.
“You can’t be faulted for finding this information rather shocking,” Yuuto continued. “After all, I couldn’t believe it at first either, but apparently it’s true.”
This time, there was a chorus of gasps, and the room fell silent once more.
The Flame Clan had not only defeated the Dólgþrasir’s army of battle-frenzied warriors on the battlefield; they’d even killed the man himself. Just how strong could they possibly be?
That question, and the fear that came from it, visited the minds of every person there.
“...I wish to ask: By what means did the Flame Clan bring that monster down?” a cool, dignified voice asked.
The question came from a beautiful, silver-haired girl, whose appearance seemed ill-fitting for the oppressive atmosphere of the council meeting.
Her slender, elegant figure made her look dainty and fragile at first glance, but this girl—Sigrún—was the Steel Clan’s most powerful warrior and an accomplished general. She had inherited the title of Mánagarmr, meaning “Strongest Silver Wolf,” handed down to the strongest fighter in each generation by the previous holder.
She had faced Steinþórr in mortal combat several times now, and so she understood his inhuman strength on a more personal, visceral level than perhaps anyone else there.
In her last encounter with him, she had even used the Realm of Godspeed, an ability she had acquired during a fight to the death with a giant direwolf known as a garmr. This high-level technique forced her mind’s reaction speed and her body’s reflexes to their absolute limits for a short time... and against Steinþórr, all it had done was enable her to land one tiny scratch on him.
Perhaps that was all the more reason she was asking her question now. She likely could not imagine any method by which the Flame Clan soldiers could kill Steinþórr.
“The full details are still unclear,” Yuuto said. “However, if my hypothesis is correct, we can assume it’s due to a new type of weapon that uses gunpowder.”
“Gunpowder?” Sigrún asked, with a puzzled frown. “While I can see that catching him by surprise, I find it hard to believe that would be enough to defeat him...”
To her knowledge, gunpowder was only used in firecrackers and in light bombs like the tetsuhau.
Utilized against the Panther Clan’s armed cavalry, they were frightening weapons indeed, but they were mainly used to sow fear and confusion among the enemy and their horses, rather than directly kill anyone.
She didn’t know that there was a gunpowder weapon with a far more terrifying capacity to kill.
“Well, this is all still conjecture. I’m having Kristina continue to investigate the matter, so wait for the results of that.”
“Yes, Father!”
“Besides, what’s more important right now is not how he was killed, but rather what’s going to happen now that he’s dead. Without him around, the Lightning Clan army is going to be in shambles, nothing more than a panicked mob in thin armor. Their country’s probably in chaos internally as well, having just suddenly learned of his death.”
Yuuto paused for a beat, glancing left and right to meet the gazes of the people gathered around the table.
“And so, I’ve made my decision. We’re starting a campaign against the Lightning Clan.”
“...!” Once more, a shockwave of gasps ran through the gathered crowd.
However, this time, their tension came not from fear of a threat, but from excitement and elation.
As described earlier, to the people of the Steel Clan, the Lightning Clan was a hated enemy with whom they had gone to war multiple times now.
At the Battle of Gashina, Yuuto’s sudden disappearance had led to their crippling defeat, and at the Second Battle of Élivágar River later on, the Lightning Clan had seized their territory west of the river.
This was an opportunity to avenge those humiliations, better than any they could have asked for.
As for Yuuto himself, he was still in the process of sounding out the Flame Clan patriarch for a potential alliance as sworn brothers. But since they were both rulers of powerful nations, and would be meeting in person to swear the Oath of the Chalice were it to go forward, that process would take a considerable amount of time, even just to pin down the potential date and location for the ceremony.
Yuuto wasn’t planning to spend that time sitting on his hands.
“Personally, I don’t like to kick a man while he’s down, but this is a matter of honor between clans. We’re going to take advantage of this chance and run them over, thoroughly.” Yuuto punctuated this by slamming his fist into the palm of his hand, making perfectly clear that he was committed to the attack.
Most everyone in the room nodded strongly in response, but there was a voice of doubt as well.
“As we are currently under threat from all sides due to the imperial subjugation order, would it not be dangerous to move a large number of our troops? There may be clans who would choose to take advantage of that opening to strike at us.”
It was Douglas, patriarch of the Ash Clan, who timidly spoke up.
The Ash Clan held territory in the center of the Bifröst highlands, at the easternmost edge of the Steel Clan’s sphere of influence. Before joining the Steel Clan, they had been under threat from other nations in that region such as the Fang Clan and Cloud Clan.
In other words, when this campaign to subjugate the Lightning Clan got underway, Steel Clan military forces would begin concentrating in the west, and as the ones furthest away from the Lightning Clan, the Ash Clan would be left in the most dangerous position.
Douglas’ concerns were perfectly understandable, but Yuuto’s response was to slowly curl his lips into a wicked-looking grin.
“That’s just what I’m aiming for. I’m not going to sit around wondering when our enemies are going to decide to attack us. We might as well take this chance to draw them out, and then smash them all to pieces.” Yuuto stated this casually, as if it were a simple matter.
“Hah hah hah, that is just the sort of response I would expect from you, Father. That boldness of yours never changes.”
“Heh.”
“I see, so we’ll smash them all. I look forward to testing my skill.”
Jörgen, Skáviðr, and Sigrún—Yuuto’s longtime allies from his days in the Wolf Clan—all quickly chimed in positively, even smiling as if reassured by how familiar this was.
Douglas, on the other hand, was still not convinced. “B-But can we be sure it will be so simple as that...?” he asked. “If, for example, the Cloud Clan and Fang Clan decided to invade, it would be too difficult for the Ash Clan to hold out against them by ourselves. Would reinforcements make it to us in time?”
Even if, as Yuuto promised, they ultimately succeeded in crushing the enemy forces lured into invading them, if that came only after the enemy had ravaged Ash Clan lands, Douglas could hardly be expected to stand for it.
He was likely trying to get Yuuto’s assurance here that he wouldn’t let that happen.
“You’ll have nothing to worry about. I’ll have the Independent Cavalry Regiment stationed in the area.”
“I beg your pardon, my lord? I have never heard that name before.”
“That would make sense, seeing as they were only formally established a few days ago.”
“...I must again express my concern, then. If they are a freshly-formed regiment of new recruits, I cannot say I feel very reassured.”
“Oh, no, these guys are elite fighters, even stronger than the Múspell Special Forces. After all, they’re the Panther Clan soldiers we captured as prisoners of war at the Battle of Körmt River.”
“Wha...?!” Douglas’ eyes went wide in shock.
The extraordinary skill of the Panther Clan riders was, like Steinþórr’s incredible strength, something known far and wide throughout the Steel Clan.
“C-Certainly, it is true that they would make for a most reliable ally on the battlefield, but they were until recently our enemies. Can we be sure we can trust themǔ”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about there, either,” Yuuto said, with complete confidence. “They’re going to be desperate to put in good work for us, so they can hold on to the new lives and status they’ve got now.”
In Yggdrasil’s historical era, a common custom was to treat prisoners captured from an enemy nation as no better than slaves, and in war they would be forced to man the most dangerous positions on the front lines. However, Yuuto instead valued them for their skills, and would grant them status and treatment in accordance with what they could provide.
The Panther Clan fighters evidently felt a great deal of gratitude towards him for this, so much so that they were putting in requests for him to give them any opportunity to fight for him and prove themselves.
Just to be safe, Yuuto had asked Kristina to use her band of undercover spies, the Vindálfs, to do a bit of digging. They heard no negative opinions of Yuuto—in fact, they heard nothing but gratitude and high praise for him. There was no reason to doubt their loyalty.
“On top of that,” Yuuto continued, “the troops we’ll send down there to invade will only be a fraction of our usual numbers. Maybe about a third or so. Of course, we’re gonna have everyone conduct their war preparations and marches as if they were all going.”
“I see, so then in actuality, we’ll be instructing the majority of them to prepare to move in response to foreign invasion.”
“That’s the plan. Do you still have anything else you’re worried about?”
“No, my lord, seeing that you have thought this far ahead, I have nothing more to say.”
Douglas bowed to Yuuto and resumed his seat.
It looked like Yuuto had finally managed to get him fully on board with his plan.
“All right then! We’ll set the start of the operation at ten days from now. Everyone, return to your respective lands and complete your preparations as soon as possible!”
“Yes, Lord Reginarch!” the attendees all replied as one.
And with that, the plan was officially in motion. The campaign to subjugate the Lightning Clan would soon begin.
“...So that’s what’s happening. I’m sorry! I’m gonna end up being gone for a while again.”
Yuuto clapped his hands together in front of him and bowed low, his eyes closed.
Yuuto, lord and ruler over seven clans, who possessed a commanding presence that allowed him to direct the patriarchs under him to do his bidding with a mere gesture. In all of the Steel Clan, there was only one person to whom Yuuto would make such a humble show of apology.
“I see.” For a brief moment, Mitsuki’s expression was lonely, but in the next instant, she nodded and gave him a smile. “...Okay, I understand. Good luck!”
Having a wife who was so reasonable and understanding only made Yuuto feel more guilty for having to leave her.
“I really am sorry. I know this is a scary time for you, right when you’re probably dealing with anxiety about your first pregnancy...”
“It’s okay, Yuu-kun, I understand. Felicia, take care of Yuu-kun, all right?”
“Yes, of course! I will protect Big Brother Yuuto, even if it costs me my life.”
Felicia’s determined reply was admirable, but Mitsuki’s response was to furrow her brow in a bit of an angry pout.
“I want Yuu-kun to be protected, but I’d prefer not to have the sworn sister I love so much die on me either.”
“I also have no intention of dying before I have the chance to hold Big Brother and Big Sister’s new child in my arms.”
“Good, ’cause I want you to be able to hold my baby, too, Felicia.”
Mitsuki was apparently satisfied with Felicia’s answer this time.
The atmosphere in the room was so harmonious right now that the last thing Yuuto wanted to do was ruin it, but there was in fact one more thing he had to tell her.
“Also, well, uh... As it turns out, I’m going to be taking her in as a concubine, too.”
With a strained, uneasy expression, Yuuto reached his arm back to Linnea, who had been standing just behind him. He put his hand on Linnea’s back and pushed her forward.
Honestly, he’d been far more nervous about telling Mitsuki about this than about telling her he’d be gone for a while.
Linnea bowed to Mitsuki deeply. “B-Big Sister Mitsuki, I entrust myself to your care!”
Meanwhile, Mitsuki had leaned in close to Yuuto, and was staring into his face intently.
“Hmm... Well, you sure look like you got some stuff out of your system.”
“Ah! That’s, er...” Linnea looked as if she were remembering something, and she began fidgeting, her face turning bright red.
Yuuto felt the heat of his own face flushing as well.
“Oh. No, no,” Mitsuki said. “I didn’t mean that. I meant that your face doesn’t look as grim as it did before, Yuu-kun.”
“...Did I really look that bad?”
“Oh, you did all right. Like this.” Mitsuki scrunched up her face into a glower.
Apparently, it was her imitation of Yuuto.
It was surely a heavy exaggeration, but it still gave Yuuto cause to reflect. He’d been trying this whole time to act like everything was perfectly normal when he was around her.
It looked like Yuuto still had a long way to go when it came to putting on a brave face. Mitsuki was pregnant after all, and he didn’t want to cause her any unnecessary stress...
“And there you go, trying to keep your stress and your worries all to yourself again.” Mitsuki’s pointer finger poked Yuuto right between the eyes, digging in. “If you keep that up you’re going to end up just like Uesugi Kagekatsu, you know.”
“Huh? Wait, you’re talking about the adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin, the God of War, right? He inherited the family line, and he was eventually appointed by the Toyotomi government to be on... the Council of Five Elders, I think it was?”
“That’s right. He was the son of such a huge celebrity, someone everyone said was the strongest and so amazing, and the pressure from having to follow in those footsteps meant he was always stressed out and frowning, even in front of his retainers.” Mitsuki pulled back her finger from Yuuto’s forehead and held it up, speaking now as if she were reciting aloud from some reference book. “They say that the wrinkles on his forehead were stuck that way until the day he died.”
“Huh, really?” Yuuto stared at Mitsuki in admiration. “You know, I’m surprised you learned about something like that.”
Yuuto had been using the internet to do his own studying on the history of the Sengoku period, but this was something even he’d never heard.
“I read about it in a manga!”
“What, that was from a manga?!”
“Once I decided I was coming here with you, I read through all the Sengoku-related manga I could find.”
Mitsuki gave Yuuto a playful wink.
Joking aside, that sort of studying was probably part of the reason she was such a good wife. Of course, Yuuto thought her inner character had the most to do with it, though.
“Anyway, yeah, the point is that I was worried sick you were going to end up the same way, Yuu-kun. That’s why I’m glad you look better. Thanks, Linnea.”
“Oh, no, it was only because of your and Aunt Felicia’s efforts. As the youngest sworn sister, I will not presume to put myself above my place. I have every intention of always treating the two of you with the honor and the respect that you rightly deserve.”
“U-Uh, that’s a little too stiff and formal. You can just relax and take it easy with me, you know.”
“F-Forgive me. This is just how I am. Even my child subordinates tell me that I take things too seriously.”
“That part of you reminds me a bit of Big Brother Yuuto, though,” Felicia said with a smile.
“Oh, you’re right, it does!” Mitsuki chimed in.
“I-Is that true?” Linnea asked bashfully, seemingly happy to hear this.
The conversation blossomed from there, and the three girls enjoyed talking with each other for some time.
Yuuto was pretty much left to watch from the sidelines. However, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling for him just listening to them talk.
Their discussion was so lively and full of energy, so happy and full of color. Just listening to it made his heart feel lighter.
Yuuto began to let himself relax within this warm atmosphere, though just as he felt himself starting to zone out, Mitsuki suddenly turned to him.
“You know Yuu-kun, you really are one lucky guy, sitting here surrounded by three beautiful girls like us.”
He wasn’t sure she should be brazenly using the “beautiful girl” label for herself, but it’s not like she was wrong, either.
For Yuuto, though, more important than anything about their appearance was the fact that they accepted him for who he was, flaws and all. He had people who supported him, who understood him.
More than anything else, that was what he was grateful for. That was what made him happy.
He had all but given up on ever having that once, even going as far as telling himself that a solitary heart was a ruler’s destiny.
Yuuto nodded slowly, a flood of emotions welling up within him.
“Yeah, you’re right. I really am one lucky guy.”
“Wow... I’m really asking for it now. Maybe I’ll spontaneously combust or something...”
In a dreamy, relaxed state, Yuuto muttered those words to no one in particular.
When people experience too much happiness, they become worried that terrible misfortune will soon follow, as if out of some kind of cosmic balancing of the scales. Such was human nature.
Though his remark on bursting into flames was no more than a joke, Yuuto did somewhat seriously wonder if indulging himself in this sort of thing might earn him a knife in the back.
“Don’t say things like that,” Mitsuki’s voice scolded from above him.
Mitsuki was busy cleaning Yuuto’s ear while he rested his head on her lap as a pillow.
“Big Brother, you are always working so hard for the sake of everyone else. I believe you deserve this much. Now, say ‘aaah.’”
Felicia brought a spoonful of something red to Yuuto’s mouth.
“Mm...” Yuuto opened his mouth and let her spoon-feed him. As he chewed, a distinct sour flavor spread throughout his mouth. “Huh, so this is what pomegranate tastes like.”
He’d been interested in trying it for himself since it had become one of Mitsuki’s preferred foods.
It was definitely very tart, but delicious too.
“Hngh! Hngh! Like this, Father?” Linnea called out, straining.
“Aahh, yeah, that’s good, just like that.”
As Yuuto felt her fingers press down against the muscles of his lower back, he responded with a sigh of pleasure.
“But are you sure it’s okay for me to have you do this? You are still technically a clan patriarch.”
“It’s fine! I wanted to do something to make you feel good, too, Father. ...And I would have felt left out if I was the only one without something to do. Besides, this is a fresh new experience for me, so I find it enjoyable.”
Linnea, raised as the noble daughter of a patriarch, apparently hadn’t had any experience in servicing someone else’s pleasure in this sort of personal way.
When the other two girls had started pampering Yuuto, she had just stood there flustered, unsure of what to do, looking like a frightened small animal—which, thinking back now, had been adorable in its own way.
“Okay, this ear’s done. Yuu-kun, flip over.”
“Mhm.”
Yuuto switched to laying on his other side, and Felicia and Linnea hurried over to the opposite side of the bed.
It kind of made him feel like a king.
Of course, in reality, he was something pretty close to a king right now.
“Man, I think I totally get now why some kings fell completely into debauchery and started ignoring politics.”
This was dangerous. He needed to keep this kind of thing in moderation! But along with that strong sense of danger came the whisper of temptation, that it was fine to let things go just for today. Yuuto was definitely giving himself over to the latter.
“Don’t worry, Yuu-kun. If you ever do that, I’ll kick your butt so hard it’ll send you flying out of this room.”
“Tee-hee, in that case, I will take over after that, and drag you by the arm until we reach your office.”
“Th-Then I’ll, um, um... I’ll help you with your work! We’ll do our best together!”
“Hearing that makes me so happy, I think I’m gonna cry.”
Yuuto could only let out a wry chuckle at the thought of the three girls’ complementary promises.
It looked like he wasn’t going to be able to let his nation fall to ruin any time soon.
These girls really were way too good for him.
“Father, I’ve brought Hveðrungr to you.”
It was just past noon the following day, and Yuuto was enjoying a short rest in his favorite garden after lunch, when Sigrún’s voice called down to him in its usual crisp, military tone.
Yuuto opened his eyes and, sure enough, there he was. The masked prisoner stood before him, held in place by Múspell soldiers flanking him on both sides.
Of course, Yuuto was the one who had ordered him to be brought here.
Yuuto addressed the soldiers first. “Good work. Oh, and you guys can go now, except for Rún. Leave him here and return to your duties.”
“What? But, my lord...” one of the soldiers began. They all looked puzzled and concerned by this.
One could say that response was only natural. Right now, Hveðrungr wasn’t bound by any ropes. If the soldiers let go of him, he’d be completely unrestrained.
However, Yuuto waved a hand at them dismissively. “The man’s unarmed, and Rún’s here, too. It’ll be fine.”
“Yes, my lord!” Assenting to his command, the soldiers quickly saluted, turned on their heels, and left.
Hveðrungr waited until the soldiers were out of sight before he spoke.
“I see you’re enjoying life at the top, Yuuto. You look comfortable napping with my little sister’s lap as your personal pillow, so don’t get up on my account.” His voice was chilly, and he glared at Yuuto.
Yuuto’s lips curled into a grin. Without moving, he looked up at Hveðrungr and replied, “Despite everything, you’re still soft when it comes to Felicia, aren’t you?”
Hveðrungr was the type of man who was only ever interested in himself, but Felicia was the sole exception, the one other person towards whom he showed any attachment.
Being the perceptive man he was, he would surely have realized that his not being executed meant that his identity as Loptr was still being kept secret.
If he were to reveal that secret, it would jeopardize Felicia’s standing within the Steel Clan. In order to avoid that, he’d waited until the soldiers were gone before addressing Yuuto in such a familiar way.
Hveðrungr shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. So, did you have me brought out here just to watch a display of how intimate the two of you are?”
“Oh, no, but I was maybe hoping that the sight of how well we’re getting along might put you at ease a bit, seeing as you’re her family and all,” Yuuto replied casually.
That reasoning was only an excuse, though. It was a calculated move: By starting with a loud and clear message that Felicia was on his side, it might help speed along the negotiation that followed.
“Hmph, what a transparent little trick. So exactly what did you plan to use Felicia to try and get me to do?”
Hveðrungr had seen through it effortlessly.
However, that, too, had been accounted for in Yuuto’s calculations.
That was just how talented this man was—and that was exactly why Yuuto had sent for him.
“Have a seat, and let’s talk.” Yuuto lifted himself up, and the two of them took seats facing each other.
Yuuto stared into Hveðrungr’s eyes for a moment, then took a long, deep breath before starting things off.
“So, I know it doesn’t sound convincing coming from someone who was just taking a nap, but I’m a busy guy, so I’ll save time and get right to the point. Would you be willing to swear the Oath of the Chalice with me again? Not as Loptr, but as Hveðrungr.”
“What?!” The first response was a shout of surprise, but it didn’t come from Hveðrungr. It was Sigrún, who was standing right next to Hveðrungr with her hand on the sword at her waist, watching him without letting her guard waver for a second.
Yuuto realized he’d probably forgotten to tell her anything beyond her orders to bring Hveðrungr to him in the garden.
Hveðrungr himself, by contrast, seemed completely calm.
“Well, I expected you’d have something like that in mind, but I have to wonder if you’re not out of your mind. I did try to kill you, you know?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right, Father!” Sigrún shouted. “He is too dangerous!”
“Not only that, when I made the attempt, I killed your sworn father. I should be the object of your revenge.”
“Absolutely true! And furthermore, even as Hveðrungr, he is a terrible war criminal who set fire to his own lands, inflicting suffering on his own innocent subjects!”
“If anything, I find it far more surprising that I haven’t been executed after all that, and that’s coming from me.”
“Yes, it’s exactly as he says! Father, offering your Chalice to him should be out of the question!”
With each statement from Hveðrungr, Sigrún offered her unwavering agreement.
It was clear she was being completely serious, and speaking out of real concern for Yuuto’s safety, but...
“Pfft.”
Yuuto couldn’t keep himself from cracking up just a bit at this scene.
“This is not a laughing matter, Father!”
“Yes, if it’s a joke, it’s certainly in poor taste.”
As Sigrún made a rare display of open anger, Hveðrungr folded his arms next to her and made a show of nodding solemnly.
He was clearly playing around with her, taking advantage of her totally serious and honest personality.
He’d known her since they were both children, and it seemed he also knew all the easiest ways to tease her.
“...Big Brother, I’m afraid I must say I am opposed to this as well. This man doesn’t show the least bit of repentance for his actions.”
Felicia hadn’t so much as cracked a smile during the back-and-forth between Sigrún and Hveðrungr, and she wore an expression of grave concern.
Felicia rarely ever spoke up in such firm, clear disagreement with Yuuto on anything.
She had experienced her own share of suffering due to all of her brother’s many crimes. She surely couldn’t help but think of what would happen if he were allowed the chance to commit them again.
Yuuto understood those feelings, but he also couldn’t afford to back away from this.
“I told you yesterday, that’s exactly why I need him. It’s because he’s so shameless; the kind of person who never regrets the immorality of his own choices.”
The people close to Yuuto all had their own quirks, but most all of them were good people.
Skáviðr was a great example of this. Through his role as public enforcer of the law, including the delivering of capital punishments, Skáviðr took on the burden of the darker, uglier necessities of Yuuto’s work. In order to accomplish the goal of protecting the weakest citizens under fair laws, he willingly performed his role as a sinister, hated character. In actuality, Skáviðr was a man of great kindness, if a bit socially ungraceful.
Personally, Yuuto appreciated the good people he surrounded himself with, and enjoyed their company. But as the ruler of a powerful nation, there was something he lacked with only people like that.
“Alas, this brat is not capable of making plans with me.”
This famous Chinese historical quote was attributed to Fan Zeng, the elderly strategist and adviser to Xiang Yu of Chu. He supposedly made this remark lamenting his master’s tendency to always give in to sentimentality at the expense of logic.
Yuuto now felt like he understood the feelings behind those words.
Up until this point, thanks to the introduction of weapons and tactics that far surpassed the standard for this era, Yuuto had been able to use the power of that superiority to force victory in all of his battles. However, from now on, they’d be fighting under even harsher conditions than ever before.
As Sun Tzu wrote, “All warfare is based on deception.”
In order to be victorious in the conflicts ahead, Yuuto needed wily, underhanded strategies that would ruin his enemies—he needed the mind of someone like Hveðrungr.
“As it happens I’ve just had my wedding ceremony, and my new wife is pregnant, so it’s easier to dole out pardons, too,” Yuuto continued.
One very old tradition throughout history was the lightening of sentences or granting of pardons for prisoners when a ruler or person of high status has a happy occasion.
One could say this was the perfect timing to release Hveðrungr from his imprisonment.
“Still, we cannot know when he might betray us again...” Felicia began.
Yuuto cut her off. “It’d be too much of a waste to lose out on making use of someone this talented over a little reason like that.”
Yuuto had tossed aside Felicia’s real grounds for concern as “a little reason like that,” as if it were a minuscule thing.
Both Felicia and Sigrún were stunned speechless, their mouths hanging open.
Yuuto wasn’t being hyperbolic, though. He truly meant that it wasn’t a big deal.
There was no real telling how much time they had left until Yggdrasil sank into the ocean, yet here they were hopelessly surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Nothing should be off limits, not even working with the hated man who killed my sworn father. How can we afford to fight this war without taking advantage of every available resource? That was how Yuuto truly felt right now.
A good example of this stance could be found in Sengoku period history with the famed Oda Nobunaga himself. Shibata Katsuie and Matsunaga Hisahide were both generals who switched sides and fought against Nobunaga, but they were also very talented. Nobunaga forgave them on this basis and allowed them back into his ranks.
Yuuto himself wasn’t aware of it, but this was exactly the sort of quality befitting a great ruler.
That being said, the two girls were still not convinced.
“Certainly, even I must admit this man has great talents, but I would say that’s exactly why he’s so dangerous,” Sigrún said. It was rare for her to be this insistent.
“If he ever does try to betray us again, you can just cut him down where he stands,” Yuuto asserted, in a voice that was low and chilling.
In truth, not wanting to kill the man who was once his sworn brother was still a part of Yuuto’s personal feelings. However, if the time came and it was necessary, he fully intended to follow through—even cut the man’s head off himself if so required.
Ordinarily, Yuuto was a mild-mannered and sincere person, but when the situation called for it he had no problems detaching from his own sentiments and doing what had to be done.
“A wise man changes his mind, but a fool never will.” This was one more way in which Yuuto possessed the nature of a true king.
Felicia and Sigrún remained silent, their breaths taken away by the strength of Yuuto’s spirit, but Hveðrungr chuckled, seemingly enjoying himself.
“Heh heh, knowing the naïve little thing you were just three years ago, it’s honestly like I’m staring at an entirely different person.”
His grit and ability to withstand this pressure was certainly what one would expect from the mastermind who took over the Panther Clan and raised it into a powerful nation capable of invading large clans in no more than a year.
“I would’ve never been willing to serve under the you from back then, not for anything, but as you are now, I’m not unwilling to consider taking your Chalice.”
“How insolent. As if you’d receive any greater offer!”
“Truly so. Why, there are more people who wish for the honor of receiving Big Brother’s Chalice than there are stars in the sky!”
Felicia and Sigrún immediately latched on to Hveðrungr’s self-important answer.
They were both zealous when it came to their belief in Yuuto, so they couldn’t restrain themselves from protesting in offense.
Yuuto himself, however, was another story. He slapped a hand against his thigh and smiled happily.
“All right, so you’ll accept, then! That’s a big help.”
He was the sort of person who didn’t care at all about whether people spoke to him humbly or respectfully. That was why he so easily ignored Ingrid’s bursts of uncouth language, or Kristina’s deliberately cutting remarks and attitude.
“You’re getting ahead of yourself. You still haven’t told me any of the details about this new Oath of the Chalice, you know.”
“Hmǔ Oh, right, that’s true. Well, I obviously can’t make you a child subordinate. It’ll be a sibling oath. After all, officially speaking, you’ve already relinquished the position of Panther Clan patriarch to Skáviðr and retired from that family.”
“Yes, I suppose I couldn’t expect to be allowed back into the main family line,” Hveðrungr agreed, with a sardonic smirk.
Under the clan system of Yggdrasil, each clan was structured in imitation of a family, with the oaths sworn on the Chalice forming the power relationships in that family.
As the center of that clan family, the patriarch and his or her direct child subordinates were the center of power for the clan’s governance.
Sworn siblings of the patriarch were given their due honor and respect as “uncles and aunts” of the child subordinates, but they were “branch family,” not part of the main family line at the clan’s core. They were a step removed from any input in clan policies or affairs.
A sworn sibling couldn’t advance their rank within the main family, so it was a career dead end.
“It might not be the best replacement, but I’ve prepared a position for you as the commander of our Independent Cavalry Regiment.”
Sigrún gasped. “Father, I think that may be giving him far too much power!” she said, raising her voice. “We should at least wait and see if we can truly trust him first...”
Yuuto shook his head, refusing to hear her protest once again. “When a person gets ahold of power, that’s when their true desires come to the surface. If we try to test him without giving him any power, we’ll never really know anything for sure.”
Over the last two years, Yuuto had seen all too much how power and authority changed people.
He knew now that trying to judge people before that change wouldn’t help him make the right decisions.
It was easier and faster to give someone power and watch what they did with it.
“Besides,” Yuuto continued, “The Independent Cavalry Regiment is meant to act as a totally detached military force. Leading them requires exceptional decision-making abilities, to be able to adapt to changing conditions and new information. There’s no one better suited for that role than this guy.”
“Hm, judging by the name of this group, I’d guess they’re made up of the Panther Clan riders taken prisoner at the Battle of Körmt River,” Hveðrungr mused.
He’d already deduced the identity of their soldier base. His perception was as impressive as expected.
“That’s right. We also have the ones who surrendered and agreed to submit to the Steel Clan at the end of our campaign against you. It’s about three thousand men all together.”
“Ohoh.” Behind his iron mask, Hveðrungr’s eyes narrowed.
When it came to combat skill, Panther Clan riders were the best of the best. They were perhaps the most skilled fighters in all of Yggdrasil.
If command of their regiment was given to Hveðrungr, who was already familiar with leading them in battle, they could outclass a force of ten thousand normal infantry.
The strength of ten thousand troops was on par with the military might of one of the Ten Great Clans.
Giving such a powerful position to a former enemy commander, and one who had held a personal vendetta against Yuuto for such a long time, seemed like a break from sound logic.
However, Yuuto wasn’t just granting Hveðrungr this power without any forethought.
Hveðrungr had once been the leader of an army of over ten thousand such armed cavalry, had forged an alliance with the Lightning Clan, had taken advantage of Yuuto’s absence to push the Wolf Clan and its allies to the brink of destruction—and was then completely defeated by Yuuto with seemingly no effort.
That memory was surely burned vividly into his mind.
Yuuto’s calculation was that the man wasn’t fool enough that a mere three thousand riders would tempt him into trying something funny.
“Very well. I’d started getting bored of self-reflection in that tower cell, anyway. I’ll take the offer.”
“Great! I’ve already got the Chalice prepared. Felicia.”
“...Right.” For once, Felicia’s response was slightly delayed.
With body language that made clear she was doing this only reluctantly, Felicia fetched the Chalice and placed it in front of Yuuto and Hveðrungr.
“I wish you wouldn’t look so upset about this, Felicia,” Hveðrungr said, with a bitter smile.
“I don’t care.” Felicia turned her cheek and looked away.
Yuuto laughed. “Don’t treat him too cruelly, Felicia. Technically, he’s going to be your sworn younger brother now.”
“...!” Felicia’s eyes went wide. Apparently she hadn’t realized that until just now.
The way the Chalice oaths worked was that, traditionally, the first person to exchange the Oath of the Chalice with someone as a sworn younger sibling or child was “older” than those who came later.
Even discounting that, Felicia held the position of Leader of Subordinates, meaning she was in charge of managing all of Yuuto’s younger sibling subordinates.
“In that case, I will be as cold and high-handed with him as humanly possible.” Felicia stated, an icy expression upon her face.
“Haha, I gotta say, I can’t really picture you acting that way, Felicia,” Yuuto replied.
“What’s this?” Hveðrungr asked with a smirk. “You’re still putting on that innocent act around himǔ”
“Brother!”
“Whoa, now that’s scary.” Hveðrungr made a show of shuddering in a rather exaggerated manner.
And so, after two years, the Oath of the Chalice was once again exchanged between the two men, and they became sworn brothers anew.
“Father, I have prepared the documents declaring an order to make consecutive plantings. If I could have you affix your seal, please.”
“Lord Reginarch, regarding the issue in Gimlé’s western district...”
“Yuuto, there’s something I don’t really get about the design for the sails, can you look some things up for me?”
What awaited Yuuto after the renewal of his old relationship was an absolute mountain of work.
One thing after another piled in, mainly requests for him to make decisions on things before he headed off to war with the Steel Clan’s army and became unavailable.
In Yuuto’s absence from the capital, he would pass all authority regarding those tasks onto his second-in-command, Linnea, but it was perhaps only natural that everyone would wish for the decisions to come from Yuuto himself and not his representative.
Yuuto made sure to listen carefully and attentively to the people who came to report to or petition him, and he handed down his decisions one after another. However, no matter how many issues he got through, there seemed to be no end to the number of people seeking an audience.
It was rather late at night by the time the last of them left.
“It’s finally over—!” Yuuto cried out in triumph, throwing his hands into the air.
“I’m terribly sorry about this, Big Brother,” Felicia said. “There are still some unread messages.”
“Gah, there’s still some left, huh?” Yuuto drooped over his desk.
Learning there was still work left to do just as he’d thought it was over and done with was the most exhausting feeling.
“First is... Oh, this is from Ginnar, whom we have serving as an envoy to the Flame Clan.”
“Ah!” At the mention of the name, Yuuto sat up with a start. “Hurry and read it!”
Right now, obtaining a personal meeting with the Flame Clan patriarch was of the utmost concern for Yuuto.
He of course had no intention of downplaying the importance of his approaching showdown with the Lightning Clan or letting his guard down, but to Yuuto it wasn’t really a war about settling a score with an equal opponent, as much as it was about suppressing and controlling a weaker one.
The fact was that with Steinþórr gone now, Yuuto didn’t feel much of a real threat from the Lightning Clan.
On the other hand, not only did the Flame Clan patriarch’s true identity concern him; there was also the fact that the results of their meeting and dialogue held the key to breaking the alliance of enemy clans and their encirclement strategy.
Every day felt like an eternity waiting for a response back from the Flame Clan.
“‘Inform my grandfather Lord Reginarch Yuuto of the Steel Clan. I am Ginnar, Wolf Clan Executive Officer.’” Felicia began reading the message, starting from the formal introduction.
Ginnar had originally been a trade merchant who had traveled to a great many lands across the breadth of Yggdrasil, and Yuuto had invited him to join the Wolf Clan in recognition of his exceptional mercantile skills.
Presently, Yuuto was making the most of the persuasion techniques and eloquent speech skills Ginnar had honed from his long years of sales experience, by sending him as a diplomatic envoy to the Flame Clan capital of Blíkjanda-Böl. Yuuto had tasked him with opening negotiations to work toward establishing an alliance between their nations, and an exchange of the Oath of the Sibling Chalice between the Flame Clan patriarch and Yuuto.
“‘Firstly, congratulations on your wedding. As your sworn grandchild, I wish to express my deep joy, as well as my best wishes for happiness and good fortune for you and your wife for the many years to come. Along with this message, I have included a fine emerald that I came across in this region. Please accept it, that you might be able to offer it to Lady Mitsuki as a gift.’ ...Ah, here it is.”
Felicia retrieved a tiny cloth sack from within the package, and when she turned it upside-down, a deep green gemstone tumbled out and into her palm.
“Oh, my, it’s quite large,” Felicia remarked, her eyes widening. As a woman, she of course did not lack an affinity for beautiful gemstones.
“Just what I’d expect from a former merchant, the guy really is tactful. But I wish he’d hurry and cut straight to the important stuff.”
“Please don’t say that, Big Brother. You should make sure to give this gift to Big Sister Mitsuki. I’m certain she will love it.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it, but right now I need you to keep reading.”
“Of course. ‘Now then, Lord Reginarch, I shall report on the task you gave me regarding the Sibling Chalice alliance with the patriarch of the Flame Clan. Presently, the Flame Clan patriarch is personally commanding his army in the field, and as it is not yet known when he will be returning to the capital, it has proven very difficult to pin down potential dates.’”
“Hah, so I’d guess the emerald was probably his way of trying to make up for that,” Yuuto said with a wry grin. He was tossing and catching the gemstone in his hand and rolling it around in his palm as he listened to the message being read.
Normally, Yuuto didn’t really like this sort of bribe-like gesture.
Ginnar was also a good judge of people, so he should be aware of that fact.
And so, instead of offering the emerald to Yuuto as a gift directly, he had banked on his knowledge of Yuuto as a devoted husband to his beloved wife, and framed it as a gift Yuuto could give to her.
He really was tactful.
“‘Grandfather, it pains me greatly to make someone as great and honorable as you have to wait like this, but negotiations have shown promise. The Flame Clan patriarch has expressed a great interest in you and seemed open to the idea of swearing the Oath of the Sibling Chalice. Please look forward to more good news soon.’ Well, now!” Felicia sounded delighted as she finally finished reciting the message.
“We can’t expect too much from that, though. This was written before the imperial subjugation order against the Steel Clan came out, remember?”
Messages sent back and forth with the Flame Clan had to go through Lightning Clan territory.
The subjugation order had been issued four days ago. That region was also still in the midst of active conflict, so messengers would have to be careful of the routes they took. Yuuto hadn’t confirmed the sending date yet, but it clearly would have had to have been sent even earlier.
“Still, it is definitely good news, no doubt about that.”
“Yes. Judging by this message, the Flame Clan patriarch seems willing to accept the offer of becoming your sworn brother.”
“Yeah. All that’s left is to pray that the subjugation order hasn’t changed his mind on that.”
“Erm, that does remind me of something I wish to ask. Do you think our invasion of the Lightning Clan might harm the Flame Clan’s opinion of us?”
“Hmǔ ...Oh, I see. You mean that whole, ‘all you have to do is occupy them, no need to engage’ business.” For a moment Yuuto didn’t get her question, but soon he remembered what she might be referring to.
Just before the Flame Clan launched their invasion of the Lightning Clan, they had sent the Steel Clan a message requesting aid. It had basically said, “No need to actually engage them. Just occupying them is enough.”
Felicia was asking if this meant the Steel Clan invading now would be going against the wishes of the Flame Clan.
“I am of course aware that the Steel Clan is already a large regional power, strong enough to conquer its immediate neighbors, and we have no obligation to adhere to the demands of someone from a foreign clan, with whom you have not exchanged the Oath of the Chalice... However, this is also someone who somehow killed Steinþórr so easily, and that troubles me... I believe that we should do our best not to agitate him.”
“Hmm, well, I understand your point there. In our circumstances, making such a powerful nation into our enemy really would spell the end of the Steel Clan.”
“Yes...”
“I certainly don’t intend to provoke anybody. I’m doing this because I’ve got a plan.”
“If that is the case, then I understand.”
“Well, we’ll still have to find out how it goes once things get started.” With a wry chuckle, Yuuto drooped his shoulders.
Even he had to admit it was a real tightrope-walk of a strategy.
But, he had to believe in the choice he’d made.
The die had already been cast.
Being pressed above them.
“I see, so it would seem the Steel Clan plans to begin a campaign against the Lightning Clan.”
The Sword Clan patriarch Fagrahvél muttered these words to himself as he glanced over the message in his hand.
It was one day after Yuuto had made his proclamation of said campaign to his council of patriarchs.
Additionally, information about it had not even gone public within the lands of the Steel Clan, yet, though Fagrahvél had no way of knowing that.
For the world of Yggdrasil, where messages were still most often carried on foot, this information had reached him at a preposterous speed.
“More intelligence by way of that stupid geezer, my lord? Just what sorts of eyes and ears does he possess to come by such things? It is just so bizarre...”
Fagrahvél’s trusted aide Erna spoke with open distaste in her voice.
The so-called “stupid geezer,” Imperial High Priest Hárbarth, somehow pulled in information from all throughout the realm while himself remaining in the imperial capital Glaðsheimr. He obtained information from far-flung locations before people actually out there managed to do so.
This was why people feared him as Skilfingr, the Watcher From on High.
He had learned of Steinþórr’s death well in advance of everyone else, as well. By the time that same information had been caught by the Sword Clan’s intelligence network and then worked its way up to the top, ten whole days had passed.
Erna was far past being merely surprised by these developments; they sent an eerie chill down her spine.
“Huh, maybe we shouldn’t say anything rash, then, you know? He could be listeniiing.”
That overly-relaxed voice conveying an unsettling idea belonged to Bára.
Like Erna, she was one of the Maidens of the Waves, a group of nine Einherjar belonging to the Sword Clan. Bára’s easygoing, lilting way of speaking belied a truly cunning and resourceful mind, which earned her favor as another one of Fagrahvél’s most trusted companions.
“Oops!” Erna quickly covered her mouth with both hands and glanced around nervously.
She could see no one there besides the three of them.
Even using her heightened Einherjar senses, she couldn’t feel anyone’s presence.
But she still didn’t feel like she could lower her guard. That was how scary that old man was.
“Anyways, let’s forget about that old man for a minute, okay? He is our ally right now.” Bára paused, then added, “...Even if it’s only for right now.” Her words carried their own tinge of venom.
Behind the scenes, Fagrahvél and Hárbarth had been locked in an ongoing political struggle to determine guardianship rights for the divine empress, Sigrdrífa.
And the struggle had been bitter, indeed, especially in the face of Hárbarth’s overwhelming information advantage.
It would be quite impossible to tell them not to hold any personal enmity towards the man.
“Indeed,” Fagrahvél said, nodding. “Right now, our focus is the Steel Clan.” He turned his gaze to a map mounted on the wall.
It was ironic: In order to plot out his victory over the Steel Clan, he was using a map made from the substance known as “paper,” produced by and purchased from the Steel Clan.
“Even though there’s an imperial subjugation order out against him, he certainly doesn’t show any restraint, huuuh? As soon as he found out the Battle-Hungry Tiger was dead, he went in for the kill. I guess even if they change their name, a wolf is still a wolf, wouldn’t you agree?”
“From what I saw of him, he didn’t really seem to me like someone that was eager for war, though. Rather, he was very, well, ‘harmless’ isn’t quite the word. Mild-mannered, I would say.”
“I think it’s better to judge by actions than by appearances, though. The Wolf Clan used to be a tiny clan up against the Bifröst mountains, on the verge of disappearing, and now two years later they’ve got more military power than even we do, riiight?”
“You’re right about that. Her Majesty has issued the subjugation order, after all, so I’m sure all along he was just planning to use her for his own nefarious ends. He nearly had me completely fooled, too.” Erna gritted her teeth in frustration.
Erna already knew her share of people who approached with friendly smiles, behind which they hid calculating and vicious schemes—that included the girl in front of her now.
Those kinds of people had a sort of liar’s stench that she hadn’t gotten any hint of from Yuuto, but this was someone strong enough to build up his clan into a powerful nation in the matter of just a few short years. It just meant he must have been more skilled than her.
As Erna thought back to her memories of him, she got more and more irritated at the thought of him.
“My liege! The perfect opportunity to attack them is now, while they’re busy invading their neighbor. Let us show them our might, and smash them all at once!”
“Erna, you knooow, your strong suit is how you’re so serious and honest, but could you use your head a bit more, pleeease?”
“That sounds like you’re really insulting me! Just because you are the older sworn sibling, that doesn’t give you the right to just say anything and everything about me...”
“I’d say nine-to-one odds this is just them baiting us, thooough.”
“Huh?!” Erna’s eyes went wide as saucers, and she looked at Bára and Fagrahvél in turn.
Fagrahvél responded with a wry smile and a chuckle. “Most likely, yes. This is a man whose people revere him as the second coming of a god of war. I can’t imagine his being so thoughtless as to rush to move his troops around and expose himself right after an imperial subjugation order was issued against him. He’s got something set up and waiting, and he’s doing this troop movement in order to flush out his enemies and pull them into a vulnerable position, I’d say.”
“I think he’s also counting on it being easy to figure out that this is bait, too. There’ll be some enemies who get cautious and hold back, and others who would think it’s a good opportunity to go after him. So he can make his enemies react in different ways and get all mixed up, you knooow?”
“That sounds about right. He really is a shrewd one.” Fagrahvél gave a heavy, serious nod, crossing his arms.
“Th-Then, we should hold off from attacking right now?” Erna asked nervously. She was the only one of the three not keeping up with the flow of the conversation.
“No, it’s why we will attack now,” Fagrahvél stated firmly.
Bára nodded in agreement. “Riiight? I think that’s the right call too. If he’s trying to make us, his enemies, act differently from each other and get mixed up, then you could turn that around. He doesn’t want us to all do the same thing.”
“Indeed. And the art of warfare lies in doing exactly that which your enemy least wants you to do. The subjugation order against them was only issued just recently. They may already have started preparations to counter us, but they shouldn’t have prepared anything significant just yet. In which case, we should attack right now, with all of our available forces attacking at once, without granting them any time to recuperate and ready themselves. We should take them out in one fell swoop!”
Fagrahvél slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand.
As it happened, Fagrahvél and Bára’s analysis had indeed revealed the intent behind Yuuto’s troop movements. It had led them to take the course of action that would be the absolute worst for Yuuto, out of all the possibilities that he predicted.
In the days before Yuuto arrived in Yggdrasil, the strongest military leaders in the realm had been summarized by the following phrase: “The Battle-Hungry Tiger hunts in the west, the Beautiful King holds council in the east.” And it was no empty phrase: Fagrahvél’s reputation as one of the two greatest military commanders in the realm had been proven time and again.
However, he and his aide had still made one crucial mistake in their analysis, and that was that this, too, was all part of what Yuuto had predicted.
The Sengoku period provided the examples of the imperial edict against Oda Nobunaga, and the Nobunaga Encirclement Strategy. Studying that history, and the flow of events in that period, had made a huge difference.
Of course, that knowledge and foresight still didn’t change the fact that this situation was most certainly undesirable for him.
The curtain was threatening to rise on a great war that would encompass all of Yggdrasil, a war perhaps worthy of the name Ragnarok.
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