Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

ACT 4 

“Now then, give us the details.” Yuuto sat across from Kristina, his hands clasped and elbows resting on the desk. 

Gathered around them in the mess hall were his adjutant, Felicia; the citadel’s current master, Olof; and the Horn Clan patriarch, Linnea. 

Albertina was also present, but she had already started dozing off while sitting in a chair. She was still a child in both mind and body, so staying awake at such a late hour must have been difficult for her. 

Yuuto could easily picture the conversation getting pulled off track if he let Kristina pull Albertina into it, so once everyone had gathered in the room, he immediately led the discussion and asked for her report. 

That turned out to be an excellent decision. 

“During this inspection trip, I had my own look around the city and gathered various pieces of information,” said Kristina. 

“Well, wasn’t that shrewd of you,” Yuuto said with a shrug, as if to say good grief. 

Of course, half of his reaction was an act. He had suspected she was gathering intelligence in Gimlé. 

In terms of distance, this place was far from Claw Clan territory. If, for some reason— for example, if Yuuto returned home and his Chalice oaths became invalid— the relationship between the Wolf Clan and Claw Clan were to worsen in the future, there was little to no chance that the information gathered here could be exploited to use against the Wolf Clan. At worst, the people of Gimlé could perhaps be incited to riot, allowing for an attack from behind, but it would be impossible to set that up during the short span of an inspection trip. 

Therefore, his plan had been to give her free rein for the time being, and ascertain the extent of her abilities and her loyalty. As a result, she’d brought him some unpleasant news, but that was far better than if it hadn’t reached his ears at all. 

“In particular, I found pubs and the like were a treasure trove for intel,” continued Kristina. “When alcohol lightens a person’s mood, it also tends to loosen their lips, after all. So, according to what a trader was saying, it would seem that in the Lightning Clan capital, Bilskírnir, there’s a large increase in the demand for tin. So much so that even increased prices aren’t dissuading the clan from buying it up.” 

“Tin...” Yuuto raised his head. “For bronze.” 

A small amount of tin could be used to turn copper into bronze, markedly increasing its hardness. In Yggdrasil, where the use of iron hadn’t yet become widespread, bronze was the typical metal used in arms and armor. 

However, tin was a fairly rare metal, and only found in limited areas. If there was a demand for large amounts of it in the Lightning Clan capital, that meant there was an extremely high chance they were preparing for war. 

“Still,” Yuuto said, “that alone doesn’t mean we’re going to be the ones they target, does it?” 

The Lightning Clan’s territory was vast, bordering quite a few other nations. There were the Hoof and Horn Clans to their north, and Yuuto had heard there were a number of clans to their south, as well. 

“He also mentioned that some of their government officials have gotten into the habit of making lots of friendly small talk with any traders arriving from the east, as a guise for trying to get information out of them.” 

The only nation on the map on the eastern side of the Lightning Clan was the Wolf Clan. 

“I see now,” Yuuto said, unable to suppress a bitter laugh. “Yeah, that’s plenty fishy.” 

Those officials had surely done their best to properly hide their true intentions, but they’d been up against sharp-witted traveling merchants, who were much better at that game. Thus, the ploy would have been completely obvious. 

Yuuto quietly swore to himself that if he was probing for intel and didn’t want it to get found out by his enemies, he’d just go with an honest bribe. Instances like this one showed that information could be worth more than gold. 

“And so, Lord Yuuto. Would you be willing to send me to the Lightning Clan?” 

“Hrm...” Yuuto’s brow furrowed. 

It was true that he wanted intelligence on the Lightning Clan more than anything else right now. Of course, Yuuto had already been regularly sending spies disguised as traders into Lightning Clan territory in order to gather information. But this Kristina girl was far superior to any spy he knew of. She could use her power to control winds in order to eavesdrop, as well as conceal her presence. 

More than anything, she had a keen mind. The true value in information was in what one could deduce when it was combined and analyzed, just like how Kristina had used the info on the demand for tin and the government officials to perceive the threat of war. In this world where literacy rates were less than 1%, her abilities were nothing short of outstanding. 

That was the very reason why Yuuto had wanted her as a subordinate in the first place, but... 

Yuuto stared down at Kristina, at her small body. 

“Ooh! ?” Without changing her deadpan facial expression in the slightest, Kristina moaned and made a show of wriggling her body, but Yuuto just ignored it. 

She was a child. Precocious and cheeky though she might act, one look at her appearance showed she was a young and tender child. 

“Sending you into enemy territory is another matter.” Yuuto paused, considering the worst-case scenario. If by some chance she were to die, it would weigh far too heavily on his conscience. 

Of course, Yuuto knew he would also be shocked and dismayed if any subordinate, such as Sigrún, were to die. But in someone like Sigrún’s case, she was a military woman who had sworn the Oath of the Chalice to stake her life on the battlefield for Yuuto and for the Wolf Clan. She was a mighty warrior who bore the title of Mánagarmr. Telling someone like her that he didn’t want her to go into danger would be more than just rude, it would be an insult to her pride. 

However, the twins from the Claw Clan had no connection to him via the Chalice. They were technically his guests. He couldn’t make them do anything too reckless. 

“It’s just too dangerous, or rather...” 

“Dangerous? Hee hee.” With a coquettish grin, Kristina abruptly kicked over the chair her sister was sitting in. 

“Bwah?!” Knocked awake by the sudden impact and the tilting chair, Albertina could do nothing but cry out in a silly voice as she fell over onto the floor— 

—or so one might assume. Instead, she flipped her body in midair, sticking a skillful landing on all fours. Yuuto went wide-eyed in surprise. Her reaction had been as nimble as a cat’s. 

“A-an earthquake?! What’s happening?!” Kristina shouted in panic as her gaze darted around. 

“Al, please capture Olof over there,” Kristina said. “Take him alive.” 

“Huh?” 

“What?” 

Thrown off by the sudden turn of things, Albertina and Olof’s eyes widened and they stared blankly at Kristina. 

“Lady Kristina, what is this all of a sudden?” Olof asked. 

“B-but Kris, isn’t he from the Wolf Clan?” 

“Never mind that,” Kristina said, lowering her tone. “Just do it.” 

“Y-yes!” Albertina’s body shuddered, as if recalling some sort of traumatic experience. And then she disappeared. 

“Wha—?!” At the sound of Olof’s surprised voice, Yuuto turned to look in his direction and was shocked at what he saw. Somehow, Albertina had gotten behind Olof and was holding a short blade to his throat. 

Olof was a man who had worked his way up to the fourth ranked in the Wolf Clan. He had experienced countless battles, and distinguished himself with his military achievements. And he hadn’t had the time to put up the slightest resistance. 

It was true that Olof hadn’t been prepared for the surprise attack. On the other hand, hearing someone proclaim “take him alive” should have given him just enough time to put himself on guard. So the element of surprise had been mitigated. 

That meant Albertina’s level of agility might even surpass Sigrún’s. Her movements had been so swift that Yuuto had been unable to follow them with his eyes. 

“All right, Al, that’s enough.” Kristina’s words resounded clearly in the silent room. 

Albertina immediately pulled her blade away from Olof’s throat, and began bowing her head in apology to him over and over. As for Olof, his face was more rigid and blanched than it had ever been. 

“So, it’s true that we lack pure physical strength and wouldn’t do well wielding spears on a battlefield,” said Kristina. “But if it came to close quarters combat in the middle of town, it would be hard to find someone better than my sister.” 

“After seeing that, I’m gonna just thank the heavens that my own head is still attached.” Yuuto had just fully realized how dangerous these twins were. He had been completely deceived by their childish appearance and innocent behavior. If Kristina was the perfect spy, then Albertina was a natural born assassin. 

“Hee hee! Taking your head would have been quite impossible, Lord Yuuto. Miss Felicia was constantly by your side, and the palace was full of a number of frighteningly strong people, after all.” 

“So past tense, then? You twins are scary as hell.” Yuuto couldn’t help but put a hand to his own throat as he let out a sigh. 

It was true that until recently, the Wolf and Claw Clans had been at war with each other. It would have been more unnatural if Yuuto hadn’t been directly targeted at some point. 

Looking back through the pages of history, setting aside internal strife and domestic power struggles, one didn’t usually find examples of a foreign agent successfully assassinating a king. 

In practical terms, the twins would have had to slip past multiple layers of highly vigilant guards, during a time of heightened alert due to war, in order to reach Yuuto’s bedchambers and kill him. That must have been too difficult even for them. 

That being said, sneaking into the crowded city itself was a much easier matter, and on the off chance they were spotted, they likely would have been able to get away from the town guards with no trouble. 

“Hee hee!” Kristina giggled. “Didn’t I say so at the very beginning, when you called the two of us twins a mere nuisance? ‘I have never been so insulted in all my life,’ I believe?”

The next morning, Yuuto hurried along his preparations for the departure from Gimlé. 

He needed to get back to Iárnviðr as quickly as possible, but before that, there was still a lot to do. 

He’d already had Felicia draw up the necessary documents and send them first thing in the morning, by carrier pigeon, to Jörgen in Iárnviðr. 

Surprisingly, the history of carrier pigeons goes back quite a ways. There are descriptions on Sumerian clay tablets from as far back as around 5000 BCE describing their use. And, until the first fax machines were invented halfway through the 19th century, they remained the fastest method of written or drawn correspondence. 

As for their present use in Yggdrasil, it didn’t go beyond tying the vine or stem of certain types of plants to the pigeon’s leg, which served as a code and could only transmit very simple, limited information. It wasn’t like one could get a pigeon to carry a clay tablet with a real message on it, after all. 

And so message by pigeon wasn’t a highly regarded means of communication, and most domesticated pigeons were being raised as a food source. 

But with the advent of paper, sending more detailed text had become possible. The cruising speed of a carrier pigeon was around 50 to 70 kilometers per hour. It would likely arrive within the day, much faster than a messenger by horse. 

At the moment, only the Wolf Clan possessed this rapid means of communication. The twins, who’d departed for Lightning Clan territory, had been given several pigeons, as well. 

The successful return rate of a carrier pigeon was around 60%. So if they needed to send a message and wanted to be absolutely sure of its arrival, they’d need to use all their pigeons, and would only be able to communicate once. But Yuuto trusted that the younger twin, Kristina, would be able to make the correct judgment in that situation. 

Linnea approached Yuuto and spoke just as he had finished giving Olof detailed instructions on what to do after he left. “Big Brother, I’m also thinking of returning to Fólkvangr in order to start preparing my army.” 

There was bravery in her voice, and a light had returned to her eyes that showed she had regained some self-control. She must have been able to put a lot behind her after a night’s rest. 

“It may only be slightly, but I want you to allow me to repay you for the battle with the Hoof Clan!” 

It seemed that she had roused herself into action, unable to allow herself to remain weak while her brother was facing a crisis, and Yuuto was grateful for it. 

“Okay, I’m cou—” Yuuto began to nod but then stopped. He put a hand to his mouth, deep in thought. 

After a while, Yuuto seemed to speak absentmindedly to no one in particular. 

“So the wheat harvest is already over, and if the terrain here is like that, then... yeah, I should be doubly sure about this, just to be safe.” 

“Big Brother?” 

Yuuto was standing completely still, staring at a single point in space. Just as Linnea called to him, he suddenly turned to face her. 

“Linnea, leave gathering the troops to Rasmus. I have a different favor to ask of you. Normally, it’s not something I should be asking the patriarch of a different clan... but it’s something only you can do.” 

“Only me?” 

“Yeah.” Yuuto grabbed Linnea by both shoulders. 

Her face turned a bright shade of red, and she averted her gaze from Yuuto’s, but he was too excited to notice that. 

He brought his face even closer to hers, his eyes serious, and spoke with feverish enthusiasm. 

“You’re the only one I can rely on for this, not anyone else!”

Three days after Yuuto arrived back in Iárnviðr, the intelligence Kristina had gathered on the Lightning Clan was proven to be correct. 

The man before him in the audience chamber was middle-aged, perhaps 40, and was dressed in gray furs. They looked like wolf pelts. 

“Now then, what is your business here, good envoy of the Lightning Clan?” Yuuto inquired in a haughty manner, resting his chin in one hand. 

The envoy’s face was taut and pale, yet there was no hesitation or fear in his eyes, only a sort of tragic resolve. 

After wetting his lips once with his tongue, the envoy began to speak in a strained voice. “I carry a message from my patriarch.” 

“From that... from Steinðórr?” Yuuto had almost slipped up and said “that idiot,” his usual way of referring to Steinðórr, but managed to catch himself. He couldn’t let himself call the patriarch of the Lightning Clan an idiot in front of one of that clan’s own members. “Felicia.” 

“Sir.” 

Yuuto gestured with his jaw, and Felicia proceeded to approach the envoy and accept the message from him, gracefully following the motions of proper etiquette. She returned to Yuuto’s side and looked over the contents of the message once, then opened her eyes wide in surprise. 

“What is it? What does it say?” he said. 

“I will read it aloud exactly as written. ‘Inform Lord Yuuto, patriarch of the Wolf Clan, that I am Steinðórr, patriarch of the Lightning Clan. The patriarch of the Hoof Clan whom you killed, Yngvi, was my sworn brother by the Chalice, and also the father by blood of my most beloved wife. Our hearts, both husband and wife, are torn apart with grief. I should like to invade the Wolf Clan territory right now, that I might take your head and offer it before the grave of my dear brother; however we of the Lightning Clan do not desire a meaningless war. If you of the Wolf Clan have even the slightest bit of regret for your actions and wish to make amends, then hand over the city of Gimlé to us at once. If you refuse, we will show you no mercy.’ ...That is the whole message.” 

“Even nonsense has its limits! We would never accept such absurd demands!” Sigrún shouted. 

“Did you forget that the Hoof Clan were the ones who invaded the Horn Clan first?!” Jörgen raged. “Our patriarch did no more than abide by the sacred bond of the Sibling Chalice and send troops to assist them! And death is a constant companion in war. We have nothing to be blamed for!” 

Before Yuuto had a chance to open his mouth to respond, Sigrún had protested her indignation, followed by his second-in-command Jörgen. They had been sitting silently nearby in the audience chamber, but could do so no longer. 

The message had been a completely one-sided display of willful rudeness toward the Wolf Clan, so it was only natural for the two of them to get angry. It had been meant to try to provoke a fight, to put it plainly. But Yuuto remained eerily calm, putting on a pained expression as if he seriously took the message to heart. 

“Hmm, Lord Steinðórr’s anger is certainly well warranted,” he said. “Gimlé is an extremely important piece of land to the Wolf Clan, and yet I would like to do anything I can to avoid armed conflict with the Lightning Clan, who are known for their dauntless courage in battle. I would like some time to think about this.” 

“Father?!” 

“Father?!” 

“Big Brother?!” 

Jörgen, Sigrún, and Felicia spun around to face Yuuto, their inability to believe what he was saying written all over their faces. 

Yuuto silenced them with a meaningful look, then turned to smile broadly at the envoy. “Good envoy, you must be tired from your long journey. I will have a room prepared for you, so you should relax in Iárnviðr for a short while as our guest. The gritless bread we make here is exquisite, you know? And our mountains are abundant with wild game. We’ll extend you our full hospitality, so please enjoy yourself.”

The moment the envoy left the room, Sigrún and Jörgen rushed toward him with all the intensity of wildfire. 

“Father! Just what did you mean by that?!” Sigrún shouted. 

“Yes, please explain it! The thought of giving up Gimlé to that wretched beast is beyond the realm of sanity!” Jörgen exclaimed. 

Yuuto looked over at Felicia in a plea for assistance, but even she wore a troubled expression, and was clearly expecting a full explanation. It looked like he was surrounded on all sides on this one. 

“Father, we are being disrespected here!” Unable to restrain his anger, Jörgen slammed his fist into the wall with a bam. 

Compared to the modern-era Japan Yuuto hailed from, the people in Yggdrasil were noticeably more uncivilized in their temperaments, but Jörgen was among the more moderate among them. If Jörgen had been pushed to this point, one could only imagine the fallout if some of the other ranking officers of the Wolf Clan had been present for that audience. 

Yuuto himself, however, merely nodded coolly. “Yeah, they were definitely looking for a fight with us. But just because they’re asking for one doesn’t mean we have to give it to them, right?” 

Around the world, past and present, pretexts and justifications had been indispensable for wars. By publicly declaring one’s own side to be justice and the enemy to be evil, the soldiers gained morale, and it served as an appeal to legitimacy among other neighboring nations. 

Looking at it inversely, if one didn’t allow the opponent to have their justification, it served as a deterrent and they couldn’t so readily invade. 

“How can you be so easygoing about that?! What do you suppose will happen if we give them Gimlé? They’ll just get even more cocky, and soon they’ll be asking us to hand over Iárnviðr!” 

“Yes, that sounds about right,” Yuuto agreed. 

Machiavelli had once said: “If you yield through fear and to escape war, the chances are that you do not escape it; since he to whom, out of manifest cowardice you make this concession, will not rest content, but will endeavor to wring further concessions from you, and making less account of you, will only be the more kindled against you.” 

That Yuuto seemed to take Jörgen’s words in stride only poured oil on the fire of his anger, and he screamed at Yuuto, red-faced. “Father!!” 

“Calm down a bit, okay? No one’s saying we’re actually going to agree to any of it. I only said I’d take it into consideration.” 

“What is there to even consider here?! Cutting off that messenger’s head and sending it back would have been a good enough response!” 

There is a tale from the Kamakura period of Japanese history, in which the demands for tribute by Kublai Khan’s Yuan Dynasty in China were so insolent that Hojo Tokimune, the effective ruler of Japan at the time, had had an emissary cut down in response. Tracing back the threads of history, examples like this of killing the messenger are too numerous to count. 

Thinking about the historically proven events that occurred afterward, Yuuto leaned his body back against the chair. “Hey now, if we did something like that, the Lightning Clan would invade us right away.” 

Just as Yuuto had sent spies to infiltrate the Lightning Clan, they surely must be sending spies of their own into Wolf Clan territory, disguised as traders or the like. Once they’d heard that the Lightning Clan envoy had been killed, that news would make it back to Steinðórr quickly. 

“I’d like nothing better than to see him try,” Jörgen said, caught up in his own excitement. “Father, when did you turn into such a coward?! Wagging your tail at someone who has made such a fool of you, it is disgraceful as a man of the Wolf Clan!” 

Yuuto shot him a chilly look. 

Jörgen was the Wolf Clan’s second-in-command. Most of the people he dealt with were deferential to him, treating him with the utmost respect. Subconsciously, that sort of treatment had begun to feel natural and right to him. 

That was how authority and power slowly poisoned the heart and made a person more arrogant. The insolence of others became unforgivable. Indignation made it impossible to see what was right in front of oneself. Defending the dignity of one’s station became the only focus. It was a bane common among powerful authority figures. 

But the current Yuuto wasn’t naive enough to care about such empty vanity. 

“Think about it,” Yuuto told him. “They went as far as to send us that ridiculous envoy and message. That means they’re already finished preparing for war. But we’ve only just gotten started. Do you see?” 

“Ah!” Jörgen made one final grunt, then went silent. All the blood that had rushed to his head was finally starting to come down, it seemed. 

Normally, fighting a war requires a considerable amount of preparation time. 

During the Hoof Clan invasion, they’d sent out in a rush whatever forces they had on hand, and that had put a limit on how many soldiers they could recruit and assemble. And the unreasonably hard marching pace the soldiers had been put through had meant that, by the time they reached Fólkvangr, they’d been completely exhausted and hardly able to fight well. 

At that time is was a necessity born out of crisis, but it was undoubtedly a much better plan to do whatever it took to avoid falling into that type of situation again. 

“B-but, Father, right now that envoy is surely in his room laughing at how much of a coward he thinks you must be!” Jörgen protested. “As your child subordinate, the thought of the father I respect being mocked is something I cannot stand!” 

Jörgen was practically gnashing his teeth in frustration, and Sigrún and Felicia were nodding in agreement with him. Jörgen must have said what the two of them were also feeling. 

“I’m grateful you feel that way, but for now, you have to endure it,” Yuuto said. “This war has already begun. And all warfare is based on deception. Let him laugh at us as much as he wants; I’m happy he’s letting himself be fooled. If it gets us more time, then it’s a small price to pay.” 

Right now, what they needed more than anything else was time. If Yuuto could buy that time by losing face, he’d buy it up like it was the last bit of merchandise in the last minutes of a bargain sale. 

“Second, you’re in charge of making sure the envoy is entertained. In fact, butter him up with flattery. I don’t even care if you let him get the idea I could grant him my Oath of the Chalice. Just make sure he has the best time he’s ever had in his life.” 

As he gave Jörgen the orders, Yuuto recalled the face of the Lightning Clan envoy. That man had had the eyes of someone who had prepared himself for death. His mission had been to die if necessary, to create the pretext for the Lightning Clan’s invasion. Perhaps he’d done it in exchange for a secure life for his family, and the honor of serving his nation. People like that prepared their hearts to withstand pain and fear, but often weren’t as prepared to cope with flattery and temptation. 

On one side was the man who had ordered him to die, and on the other the man who offered warm and hearty hospitality. There were few hearts that wouldn’t be swayed by that imbalance. 

“Let’s play the part of the cowards, and get him to forget his loyalty and his mission. If things go well, I’d like to get some more intel on the Lightning Clan, too.” With a bit of a wicked grin, Yuuto chuckled to himself. 

He was no longer the foolhardy boy he had been two years earlier. He’d acquired the shrewd strength he needed to survive in the war-torn world of Yggdrasil, a mixture of toughness and flexibility. 

“Oh, and it’s possible he might try to taunt or provoke you, so don’t take the bait,” Yuuto added. “Endure it with a smile.” 

Usually Jörgen was a gentle person whose temper Yuuto didn’t have to worry about, but after the example with the message earlier, he thought it best to make sure. 

“Felicia, spread a vague rumor in the city that implies I might want to exchange the Oath of the Sibling Chalice with that idiot. Honestly, the thought makes my skin crawl, but it could make the spies lower their guard, so we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do.” 

“R-right!” 

“And also... hmm, yeah, let’s put a plan in place to seal off the city roads on the same day the troops are assembled. We want to delay the spies’ return to the Lightning Clan, even if it’s just by a little.” 

“U-understood.” 

“Well, that should get us a little bit more leeway to work with, but the fact that we have to hurry hasn’t changed. It probably won’t be long until that idiot gets tired of waiting and makes a move. Okay, what else...” Yuuto idly tapped his finger on the desk. 

With a perplexed look, Jörgen said, “Father, if I may ask, what was your age again? I seem to recall that you were in your teenage years.” 

Why would you ask that now? Yuuto thought, but answered anyway. 

“I just turned 16 last month. Oh, in Yggdrasil custom, I think that would make me 17, though?” 

“Even though you have lived less than half as long as I have, just what experiences did you go through to become as cunning as a seasoned veteran? For the sake of educating future generations, could you tell me?” Jörgen sighed and shook his head back and forth in amazement. 

Yuuto gave a wry smile. He couldn’t believe how much the people of this world were so quick to put a kid like him on a pedestal like that. It wasn’t good for his upbringing. He’d once already almost lost his way due to it. 

And so Yuuto said, with self-admonition: 

“Well, it’s just because I’ve had access to a lot of ways to cheat.”

The moon in the sky and the nearby torches lit his path. 

Step by step he made his way up the staircase, preparing his resolve. When he reached the top, he sat down and looked up at the sky, and pushed the Send button. 

“Hello, you there, Mitsuki?” 

“Yuu-kun, your voice sounds gloomy. Did something happen?” 

That was just what he should have expected of his childhood friend, who’d been spending time with him since their earliest memories. Even over the phone, she could pick up on the slight variation in the tone of his voice, and deduce that something was wrong. 

Yuuto couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony. Even though he was in a completely different world, he still couldn’t keep anything hidden from her. 

“I’m going to have to go into battle again.” 

There was a long silence before she spoke. “...I see. There’s nothing I can say to stop you, right?” 

She clearly had a lot that she wanted to say. But the fact that she’d held those words back showed that she could read from Yuuto’s voice how solid his determination was. 

“I’m sorry, for always making you worry.” 

“Men really are selfish. It’s always the girls who get pulled along and end up crying. It’s just the truth of how the world works.” 

“I’m sorry...” 

“No, don’t be. That was just me being a bit mean. Since I made you feel bad too, that makes us even this time, Yuu-kun.” 

Hearing this, Yuuto felt that his end of the debt was far too heavy for that to make things even. 

Even though she knew he couldn’t accept it, she was doing what she could to try to erase his feelings of guilt for making her worry. The spirit behind her words seemed to seep into his chest. 

He felt the hand holding his smartphone clench tighter. “Thanks, Mitsuki. Sorry for always making things hard for you.” 

“You promised you wouldn’t say that, Pops. Come back alive, okay? That’s a promise too, okay?” 

“Yeah. I promise.” 

Despite the fact that he knew she couldn’t see it, Yuuto held up the little finger of his left hand, and swore to her in his heart once more that he would come back victorious. 

One week later, Yuuto received word from Kristina that she’d left the Lightning Clan capital, Bilskírnir. 

And with his preparations fully complete, he dispatched his troops.