After exiting the tent where Lim was resting, Elen moved to another tent where she put on a new uniform while enduring the pain screaming at her from all over her body. Just as her best friend had suspected, she was a walking bundle of bandages underneath her clothes.
With the Battle of Boroszló having ended, Leitmeritz’s army collected its wounded and dead, joined up with Lebus’ army, and erected a camp on the plain extending at the northern edge of Boroszló. Legnica’s army followed their example, also setting up a camp.
There was maybe one more koku left until the sun would sink below the western horizon. The sky was still blanketed with layers of gray clouds, but the snowfall had come to a halt. Elen entrusted the management of the camp to Rurick, and headed over to the camp of Lebus’ army while only taking a single, lightly armed subordinate with her.
“Are you really going to be alright with just one guard?” It was only understandable for Rurick to have worry written all over his face.
It was only very recently that Elen and Liza had opened up to each other and sorted out their emotions. So far Leitmeritz and Lebus had shared a relationship of “strangers, or otherwise, enemies.”
Rurick had heard from Elen that she had “reconciled with Lebus,” but he didn’t know the details.
“No problem. I don’t plan to stay out for long, but please take care of things here during my absence.” Elen had answered Rurick.
She only took one attendant with her to not unnecessarily aggravate the soldiers of Lebus. Liza should have told her soldiers about the improvement of her relationship with Elen, but it was necessary to demonstrate this new reality in a clear and undeniable way.
Sure enough Lebus’ soldiers were on their toes when she visited, but they properly welcomed Elen and guided her to Liza’s tent. Elen’s subordinate was led to a tent for guests upon Liza’s instruction, resulting in Elen thanking her for being so considerate. Being able to stay in a warm place that was protected from the cold wind, was worth a lot with the weather in this region.
And thus Elen and Liza managed to reunite again inside the supreme commander’s tent. The tent’s ground was covered with bear and moose pelts, completely isolating the tent from the cold emanating from the soil. Cushions made out of plenty of cotton had been piled up in a corner, and many drinks such as wine, vodka, and Brunian apple cider lined up on a small table. Boxes filled with maps, documents and pens also occupied a part of the tent.
“Elizavetta…no, Liza, let me thank you for your timely help.”
Only Elen and Liza were present in the tent, and thus Elen adjusted her address of the rainbow-eyed Vanadis to her pet name, briefly expressing her gratitude.
Lebus’ army under Liza’s command having defeated and routed the reserve forces in the rear of Legnica’s army had a major impact. With just Elen having killed Figneria, Svirid’s will to fight might have remained unbroken.
“I didn’t do anything worth mentioning. We just teased Legnica’s soldiers a bit from behind. It doesn’t even qualify as a deed of arms.”
On another note, Lebus’ army didn’t suffer any casualties. Of course, some of its soldiers got wounded, but the injuries were limited to minor wounds thanks to their pelts.
“By the way, what about your adjutant?” Liza asked curiously.
Liza was quite aware that Lim wouldn’t leave Elen’s side unless she had to deal with something quite important.
“She was wounded quite seriously during this battle, so I had her take a rest.”
Elen kept up her calm demeanor, but she couldn’t conceal the trembling in her voice. Liza didn’t probe any further, and after offering Elen to sit down on the pelts, she poured wine into silver cups for two.
With several maps of the surrounding areas spread out, the two Vanadis informed each other how they had moved up until now while sitting on the ground. This allowed them to finally grasp their respective actions in detail.
“Gathering the militia and deliberately having Legnica’s scouts find them, eh? Smart move.”
Hearing Elen’s honest praise, Liza answered without hiding a proud smile, “I recalled the story of how Tigre repelled the Muozinel two years ago, and tried to put it to use in my own way. If you don’t plan to make them fight from the very start, they can simply keep a good distance from the enemy. And leaving aside warm clothes to fend off the cold, you don’t need to prepare any weapons for them either.”
──If she’s talking about the battle at Agnes, that’s an idea Ludmila came up with, though.
Elen thought, but decided to stay silent about it to not dampen Liza’s happiness. She also believed that Liza wasn’t completely wrong with making it one of Tigre’s achievements since he was the one who decided to use that plan, persuaded the citizens, and put it into practice.
“It seems like Legnica’s army built a camp at the southern tip of Boroszló.”
Having received Svirid’s capitulation, Elen had promised him to not treat his soldiers as remnants of a defeated army, and had even banned her army from stealing the weapons and flags of Legnica’s side.
“Figneria told me that she would entrust Legnica to me. Besides, Legnica’s previous Vanadis, Sasha Alshavin, was a very dear friend of mine. It might be impossible right away, but once the wounds on both sides have healed, I’d like to form a relationship between Leitmeritz and Legnica where both sides stand on equal ground.”
Svirid had thanked Elen, told her about all future plans of Legnica’s army, and promised to cooperate with Elen and Leitmeritz from now on. He said they wouldn’t be able to move soldiers because of the absence of a Vanadis, but preparing weapons and rations shouldn’t pose much of a problem. After thanking him, Elen tried to hand over Bargren to Svirid, but the elderly knight, who had served under three generations of Vanadis, had shaken his head.
“Please hold onto it. For the sake of proving that Legnica stands by your side as an ally. I would be delighted if you could return it, when a new Vanadis appears in our principality someday.”
For this reason, the draconic tool with its golden and scarlet blades had been put away in the tent of the supreme commander at Leitmeritz’ army camp.
Having listened until the end of Elen’s explanation, Liza nodded thoughtfully, “In that case, it sounds like a good idea for you to stay here for a while.”
“Yeah, I plan to do so for five or six days. I’ll have Legnica provide us with the necessary food and fuel during that period. Though I have no intention to take it for free.”
Elen herself was wrapped up in bandages all over her body, a state far from being perfect. If she worsened her injuries by moving around too much, it could lead to permanent ailments.
After asking about Figneria’s death, Liza revealed a complicated expression. Because she had almost been killed by Figneria in the capital, she couldn’t regard her as anything but an enemy, but she sensed that Elen had a different view on Figneria.
Noticing the change on Liza’s face, Elen inserted a pause by emptying her cup and asking for a refill of wine, before asking in a casual tone, “By the way, what about Olga?”
The youngest Vanadis Olga Tamm was in Lebus. Elen thought that she might be guarding the governmental residence in Liza’s stead, but she was completely mistaken.
Liza answered with a playful twinkle in her differently-colored eyes, “I sent her to Kazakov’s territory, accompanied by 2,000 soldiers.”
“Are you planning to shut up Kazakov?”
Guessing Liza’s intent, Elen laughed in admiration.
Elen wasn’t the only one having a bad impression of Egol Kazakov, the current patriarch. He had induced the Vanadis to fight each other by passing around some secret information, and on top of that, he had sent a letter to the capital, demanding Eugene’s deportation. Elen was sure that he had been instigated by someone, but she didn’t feel a shred of sympathy for him.
“If you or I were to go there, some people might regard it as a personal feud, but such a problem won’t crop up with Olga. Kazakov’s Polus is next to my Lebus, and since I’ve sent several people knowledgeable of the area with her, she won’t get lost either.”
Olgert Kazakov, Egol’s deceased father, hated Liza and had started a private war against her in the past. Because of this, Egol resented Elen and Liza. However, that grudge would be pointless with Olga as his opponent.
“I didn’t officially announce Olga’s presence in Lebus. But then again, since her name and face aren’t known around that area, it wasn’t that much of a trouble to keep it hidden either.”
“Kazakov is going to be shocked, I’m sure. You think he’ll pull back obediently?”
“That depends on how Olga handles matters. I gave her a little advice, though.”
Liza shrugged at Elen’s questions, skillfully enough to not spill any of the wine in her inclined cup.
“I plan to vacate this place tomorrow at noon, and go after Olga. What are you going to do after resting here for several days, Elen?”
“I wanted to hear your opinion about that part.” Elen grimaced as if she had something bitter in her mouth. “What kind of effect is Figneria’s death going to have?”
It was a rather vague question, but Liza understood what Elen was worrying about.
“If you limit the answer to us, it’s going to have two effects.” She raised one finger, and continued, “First, it’s going to give us a big advantage against Valentina who’s scheming something. If it becomes known that the confrontation between us Vanadis has shifted to a 5 vs. 1, the number of people supporting her might decrease, and we’ll just need to watch out for Valentina’s movements.”
Elen showed her approval by silently nodding.
“Second, it might trigger chaos in Legnica.”
They were defeated in battle and lost their Vanadis. Despite having lost their previous Vanadis just last year. Given that the draconic tool would choose the next Vanadis, there was no risk of succession disputes as they happened among nobility. But, it was pretty easy to imagine that there would be factional strife during the time without a new Vanadis. Legnica’s people would likely go on with their lives while anxious about that part. Also, it was possible that people viewing this situation as a golden opportunity might pop up among the lords with a territory situated around Legnica. Even more so with the capital being caught in a maelstrom of chaos right now.
“Just not having to worry about an intervention by Asvarre or Brune is already a big boon, but you and I need to protect Legnica.”
If Asvarre or Brune tried to invade Legnica at this time, they’d have to cross the rough sea with its freezing winds. Neither of those two countries would likely brave such dangers.
“I suppose it’s time to write some letters to the influential nobles around Legnica, telling them that they’d need to deal with two Vanadis if they started to unnecessarily meddle with Legnica.”
Elen and Liza were immediately able to think of several possible candidates. If they possessed territory next to Legnica’s south, they’d also be close to Leitmeritz, and if they had territory next to Legnica’s north, Lebus wouldn’t be far either. Thus the two decided to send letters with a joint signature to those nobles.
The wine bottle’s content had decreased by around half without either realizing. Liza poured them some apple cider.
“Come to think of it, is there anything you learned about Duke Ganelon’s movements?”
Elen shook her head, “No, we left the capital on the same day as you and Olga. And then, after getting back to Leitmeritz, there was no time to look into it.”
After all, they had to catch up with Figneria. Because they invested all their time into gathering the soldiers and marching, neither Elen nor Lim had any leeway to take care of other matters.
“I didn’t find any clues on my side either. Ominous incidents of people vanishing and monsters appearing are taking place all over Lebus, and some towns and villages also suffered damages, but… If we at least knew Ganelon’s whereabouts, I could make some moves from my side.”
Elen picked up the cider bottle and offered a refill to Liza who was tightly clenching her cup with frustration coloring her face.
“I’ll come along with you at such a time. So, calm down for now.”
After emptying her cup and getting Elen to refill it, Liza loosened her face into a smile, and exhaled lightly.
“Friends are a wonderful thing to have.”
Becoming embarrassed, Elen ransacked her silver hair, and changed the topic.
“What are you going to do after joining up with Olga?”
“Of course I’ll take my soldiers and head for the capital.” Liza’s reply was crisp and clear-cut.
She intended to restrain Valentina’s movements, keep a stern check on the landed nobility which had been raising its soldiers all over the country, and, depending on the circumstances, suppress them with brute force.
“What if Valentina had occupied the capital by then? It’s a possibility, right?”
Assuming Valentina had kneaded her plans for a long time, it was quite thinkable that Osterode’s army would have started moving at the same time as she escaped the capital.
“At that time, Olga and I won’t have much of a choice but to join up with Sofy and Ludmilla, and work out a breakthrough solution together with them.”
“Got it. Once our side can move again, I’ll head for the capital.”
When Elen said so, Liza muttered with an uneasy expression, “I wonder whether Tigre is safe and sound.”
“…If it’s him, he’ll somehow muddle his way through if something troublesome occurs. It’d be the usual with that guy.” Elen replied with a laugh, half to give Liza a peace of mind and half to persuade herself.
Neither of them knew that Tigre was heading for Ganelon’s location around that time. There was no way they could.
“In Tigre’s case, it wouldn’t be odd for him to be worried about us instead. We must quickly meet up with him to ease his mind.”
“True, seeing me will give him the necessary peace of mind.” Liza allowed a faint will to put up a fight to show through.
Elen was somewhat irked by that, but she limited her reply to a shrug and a “Sure.” Exactly because she knew that Liza’s feelings were sincere, she believed that she was in no position to tell her off.
After shaking Liza’s hand, Elen left the tent.
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———————- End of Part 6 ———————-
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