Bonus Short Story
So Close Yet So Far
“We’ve finally made it to Sigtuna,” Linnea remarked and let out a soft sigh as she gazed up at the fortress walls that loomed in front of her. Sigtuna, the Sword Clan capital, was a three-day walk away from the Holy City of Glaðsheimr—a mere stone’s throw away by all accounts. But that distance was the Steel Clan’s largest problem right now.
“I hope Father is okay...” she muttered to herself.
Three days away in the Holy Capital of Glaðsheimr, Yuuto and Nobunaga were engaged in a climactic battle for total control over Yggdrasil. The Flame Clan Army fielded over a hundred thousand troops compared to the Steel Clan’s thirty thousand. The disparity was obvious, to be sure.
“Tch! We need to hurry, Father might desperately need reinforcements even as we dawdle here!” Linnea continued, her worried tone becoming ever more pronounced. Unable to quiet her anxiety, Linnea stood up and began to pace. Linnea’s Steel Clan Western Division consisted of approximately ten thousand soldiers. Their addition wouldn’t cancel out the Flame Clan’s numerical advantage, but they would still go a long way toward evening the odds.
“Haste makes waste, Princess. The troops need rest,” Rasmus, the Head of Subordinates for the Horn Clan, furrowed his brow and remonstrated Linnea. While Rasmus was technically her subordinate, he was like a father to her.
“...I know that,” Linnea returned with a sour expression. She understood full well that an excessively hard forced march would result in some units falling behind and others deserting in the scramble. Tired troops wouldn’t be very useful in actual battle either. Even knowing that, she couldn’t help but want to push forward.
“Hah! I’m sure His Majesty is fine. He is a god of war, after all. No man exists in this world who can best him in battle,” Rasmus proclaimed proudly.
“I’d like to believe that too, but...” Linnea replied.
What Rasmus was saying was probably true. Even so, Linnea couldn’t help but consider the worst. What if his opponent was a person from the same land of the gods that Yuuto himself was from? Yuuto had suffered two defeats in engagements against Nobunaga, that much was true. She knew that Rasmus was simply trying to reassure her by taking a rosy view of the matter, but she couldn’t get rid of the anxiety she felt in the pit of her stomach.
“Oh divine Angrboða, please watch over and protect him...” Linnea said hopefully, biting back her frustration over the fact that this was the most she could do at that particular moment, and knelt in prayer to the goddess.
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