II
The War Room at Galia Fortress
Paul, who had been promoted to the rank of general following the victory at the Plains of Ilys, summoned his commissioned officers to a war council. Orders had arrived from King Alfonse that they were to intercept the northern imperial army that had defeated the Third and Fourth Legions. Amongst those assembled were Olivia, who had received an accelerated promotion of three ranks to become a major, and Claudia, who had been promoted by two ranks and was now a second lieutenant. A nervous young man sat fidgeting beside them. Following his debut as tactical advisor at Fort Caspar, he had received an abrupt promotion from private second class, and was now Warrant Officer Ashton.
“As you all know, His Majesty has ordered us to intercept the imperial army in the north,” said Senior Colonel Otto, freshly promoted just like the others. The officers all nodded with rapt attention, with the exception of Olivia, who propped her cheek on her hand and stared up at the ceiling, looking bored. In what had practically become a conditioned reflex, Otto felt his fist trembling, but he restrained himself. He went through his explanation of the current state of the war systematically, then took comments from the officers. One man raised his hand to speak. It was Major General Osmund Chrysler, who had commanded the right flank at the Battle of Ilys.
“The Second Legion is clearly in peril, so the way I see it, we have no time to lose. I propose that I take three thousand soldiers and go there at once. I can report back on the situation on the ground as well,” he said. The officers, on the whole, responded in one of two ways to this. Some nodded, finding nothing to object to, while others looked ambivalent. The reaction of the first group was simple enough to understand, but Otto suspected the latter group saw through to the hunger for glory that lay behind Osmund’s proposal—that Osmund wanted glory was a simple fact. He had found little at the Battle of Ilys, and his eagerness for the assault on Fort Caspar had been plain to all until Olivia and the detached force went and took the fort before he arrived. That the common-born Hermann, who had commanded the left flank, had been promoted to lieutenant general only added fuel to the fire of his discontentment.
“My lord, your thoughts?” said Otto, directing his question at Paul, who sat beside him. He himself thought the suggestion left a lot to be desired. They had scouts to send ahead. Hunger for glory he sympathized with, but their first order of business was crushing the enemy vanguard that would advance on the central lands. He was, of course, also thinking ahead to retaking the north, and didn’t want to risk it, however small, of losing more soldiers that came with dividing their forces.
“We have scouts we can send to get a look at the situation, Major General Osmund. I don’t see the point in dividing our forces,” said Paul, who had clearly been thinking along the same lines. Otto voiced his agreement, but at this Osmund leapt to his feet.
“Lord Paul, the imperial army may already be marching south as we speak!” he protested. “Our greatest enemy, in my humble opinion, is time—time that we cannot waste loitering about waiting for scouts to bring back information. If we do not make haste, the Second Legion will be wiped out!”
“You may just have a point there, Major General,” replied Paul thoughtfully. Now the majority of officers were nodding in agreement. The only exceptions were Olivia, who was loudly ordering another cup of tea, and Claudia and Ashton, who sat on either side of her, looking at the ground in embarrassment.
“What do you think, Major Olivia?”
“Me, ser? I like to get a look at my enemy before I make plans,” said Olivia, unreservedly spooning precious sugar into her new cup of tea. She took a sip, savoring it. Shaking his head, Otto turned to Ashton on her right, who was hiding his face.
“And you, Warrant Officer Ashton?”
“Y-Yes, ser! I... I don’t believe an advance force is necessary, ser!” he said, only for his face to fall like he regretted the words. The other officers were all looking at him now, doubt written plain on their faces.
That reaction isn’t unjustified, thought Otto. Whether we send a scouting party or let Major General Osmund go ahead, the assumption is that we’re going to do some sort of reconnaissance. Now here comes the absurd suggestion that reconnaissance isn’t necessary at all.
Osmund turned to Ashton, his eyebrows raised. “I heard all about your success at Fort Caspar. A truly superb strategy—I’d never have come up with it myself. As such, I’m dying to know just what it is you don’t like about my plan. Care to share the reason? For my future reference,” he said. The room filled with a crackling tension. Ashton, the author of this atmosphere, looked pleadingly at Otto, who, with a barely perceptible smile, nodded at him. He himself was intrigued to hear what the sorry-looking young man had to say. Ashton’s shoulders slumped and an expression of woe came onto his face as he haltingly began his explanation.
The day after the war council, Major General Osmund took three thousand cavalry and departed from Galia Fortress for the Emaleid Citadel, the greatest city in the north of Fernest. If the northern imperial forces came south towards central Fernest, they would likely try and take Emaleid to make it their base of operations. In the end, Ashton’s plan had been vetoed, and Osmund’s officially approved. Olivia was to set off with another cavalry unit as the second company in a week’s time, and the main force would march two weeks after that.
Within the walls of Galia Fortress everyone was busy with preparation for the next battle. Claudia was walking down a corridor with a stack of military documents in one hand when she saw Olivia coming out of the archive room.
What in the world was she doing? It’s not like there are any books that the major would like... thought Claudia. She called out to Olivia, and the other girl turned slowly back to her.
“Oh, Claudia.”
“You look quite miserable, ser. Are you unwell?” she asked. Usually a bundle of energy, right now Olivia looked rather downtrodden.
“No, I’m fine. I was just heading to the mess hall.”
“Well, then what’s the matter?” Outside of where food was concerned, Claudia had rarely seen Olivia so dispirited.
“I just haven’t been able to find any clues...” said Olivia with a weak smile. Now Claudia came to think of it, lately Olivia had been disappearing from time to time. She’d assumed she’d just been frequenting the mess hall, but now it seemed she was trying to find something.
“I could help if you like, ser,” Claudia offered. Whatever Olivia was hunting for, two sets of eyes were surely better than one. Olivia clapped her lightly on the shoulder.
“Okay, I’ll call you next time. For now, let’s go have lunch,” she said. Despite Olivia’s words, however, Claudia couldn’t help but feel that her offer had been rejected.
Oh well. So long as she’s not sick, it’s probably nothing to worry about, Claudia reasoned to herself. Just because I’m her aide doesn’t mean I need to go prying into her private business. She followed Olivia to the mess hall.
When they arrived, they found Ashton sitting at a table right at the back of the hall. He was scowling as he ate his soup.
That’s right, I meant to ask him about what he said yesterday, thought Claudia. She accepted a full plate of bread and soup from one of the women bustling about the kitchen, then went and plonked herself down in front of Ashton.
“Hey, what was all that about yesterday? Talk about your imagination running away with you—I was worried you might be delusional!” Ashton stopped abruptly in the process of raising another spoonful of soup, and looked up apprehensively at Claudia. He wore a guilty expression like a child caught playing a prank.
“I just said what I thought at the time. When you put it like that, though, maybe I did get carried away...”
“Weawy? ’thounded pothible to me,” said Olivia, coming to Ashton’s defense through a mouthful of bread. She had arrived a little after Claudia and sat down next to her.
“Major, it’s poor manners to speak with your mouth full,” Claudia scolded her gently, and Olivia nodded. There was something so sisterly about this exchange that Ashton couldn’t help but smile. Seeing them side by side, golden-haired Claudia and silver-haired Olivia, he was suddenly reminded of the gold and silver lions on the royal flag. The cup on the table between them was then, of course, the chalice.
He allowed himself to be entertained by the foolish image until Olivia finished her mouthful and said, “It sounded possible to me. Ashton’s right—don’t you think the timing’s too perfect? Taking out the Third and Fourth Legions just two months after the Seventh Legion takes back Fort Caspar and the south—that could definitely be meant to provoke us.”
Why didn’t you say that at the war council, then? thought Claudia, then remembered Olivia entirely engrossed in her cup of tea and worked out the answer herself.
“I suppose; it just seems like too much of a leap. Why would the northern imperial army want to lure the Seventh Legion out?”
This is what Ashton had said the previous day:
“I believe the imperial forces deployed in the north may be lying in wait for the Seventh Legion. If so, it is my humble opinion that we shouldn’t rush to confront them.” When he began, the majority of the other officers were regarding him with sympathy. Paul and Otto listened without interrupting until he was finished, but to the extent that they paid any heed to their surroundings, their expressions were troubled.
Other officers, even Osmund himself, wore condescending smiles. One of them sneered, “Major Olivia’s pet tactician has some really unique ideas.” As this amounted to a slight against Olivia as well, Claudia grew genuinely angry. She couldn’t make any retort when the offender was a major general, however, so she cursed him silently instead. In the warped world of the military, rank was everything. If your commanding officer said white was black, you agreed without question. Even setting the slight aside, though, Ashton’s suggestion had really gone too far. Claudia had thought she’d more or less understood the young man, but she had neither the evidence nor the courage to back him up on this.
In the mess hall the following day, she watched him, thinking.
And yet the major thought what he said was reasonable... Perhaps I’m still not giving Ashton enough credit for his tactical abilities.
“Um, anyway, it’s not like I had any proof of what I said, and it got rejected, so there’s no point stewing over it now,” Ashton said, trying to sound disinterested before going back to eating his soup in an attempt to avoid Claudia’s gaze. She decided he needed a talking-to.
“You bonehead! If you can’t stand by your opinions, don’t bring them up in the first place!”
“B-But... When the ogr—Senior Colonel Otto, I mean—asked me all of a sudden, I panicked...” said Ashton, shrinking back from her. Claudia sighed deeply. She understood that he was nervous as a freshly commissioned officer, but he’d be no use if he held on to this foot soldier mentality forever.
“What did you think would happen at a war council? Honestly. Are you Major Olivia’s tactician or not? You need to toughen up!”
Olivia giggled. “Ashton’s in trouble...” she said, with a friendly smile at Ashton.
“You li—!” he began, then broke off, his shoulders slumping. “Yes, ser. My apologies.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Olivia comfortingly, rubbing his back. Claudia was quietly amused to see Olivia acting like an older sister trying to cheer up her little brother, even though she was pretty sure Ashton was four years the elder.
“You can wipe that smile off your face too, Major,” she said, smiling broadly at Olivia. “Today I’m going to have you decide on a house name, and I’d appreciate your cooperation instead of trying to wriggle your way out of doing it.”
They’d spent four whole hours last time, as well as two hours the time before that, trying to find a name. Olivia looked away, and said in a whisper, “I don’t need any house name. I never asked to be made nobility or anything and I don’t want to be. What’s wrong with just ‘Olivia’? It’s a good name.”
“That won’t do, ser. You’ve been honored as a knight of the kingdom, and that means you take on the name of a noble house. Also, Senior Colonel Otto told you to hurry up and choose one already.”
In Fernest, titles were passed on through hereditary succession. The children of nobles would always be nobles, and the children of commoners would always be commoners. As with anything, however, there were exceptions. If a man from the ranks of the nobility took a common woman as his wife, she could become nobility. This came with all sorts of privileges, so it was common for powerful merchants and the like to marry off their daughters in this way.
The other exception was for those who were knighted after displaying extraordinary feats of valor in battle. Naturally, this latter exception was the one that applied to Olivia. In response to Claudia’s explanation of all this, Olivia put her hands over her ears and pretended not to hear, then threw herself face down on the table so hard her head banged on the surface. Claudia rolled her eyes while Ashton patted her gently on the shoulder.
“Olivia, it’ll be easier if you pick something soon. The ogr—Senior Colonel Otto can be scary,” he said, shivering as though he’d remembered something. Olivia looked up and nodded reluctantly before swallowing down her soup in a single gulp.
“Right, I’ve got to get back to work,” said Ashton. His eyes were dull like a dead fish as he headed off to Otto’s office. After he’d gone, Olivia and Claudia went to Claudia’s quarters.
“Wow, this is really, really tidy,” said Olivia, looking around in fascination. “It’s nothing like mine.” The room was sparsely furnished, with only a simple bed, a writing desk, and a small bookshelf. I think it’s more that yours is just unbelievably messy in comparison, thought Claudia, but she didn’t say it.
“All I really use it for is sleeping, after all,” she said as she took a heavy tome from the bookshelf. It contained names of all the noble lines that had, for one reason or another, already died out. She gestured for Olivia to sit down on the bed, then sat down beside her and opened the book.
“H-Hey! Major, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Lunch made me sleepy.” Olivia had gotten under the covers and was snuggling in. Claudia dragged her out again, then thrust the book out under her nose. As she was wont to point out, if Olivia didn’t pick a name soon, Otto would bang his fist on tables again.
“Come on, choose.”
“You really are pushy, Claudia...” muttered Olivia, taking the book. She flipped through the pages without any interest. Before even a minute had passed, she started fidgeting, turning this way and that, before facing Claudia with boredom written plain in her expression.
“What if we played tag inste—?”
“No.”
“Okay, hide-and-se—?”
“Absolutely not.”
Olivia fell silent for a moment, then said seriously, “You’re quite selfish, you know.”
“Look who’s talking!” cried Claudia, her voice growing shrill. Just then, Olivia, who was half-heartedly turning the pages again, stopped short.
“This crest...” she said, gazing down. At last, she showed some interest.
“Huh? Which one?” Claudia looked, and saw a drawing of a skull covered in scarlet roses. On the skull’s forehead was a red gemstone in the shape of a diamond, with two great black scythes crossed behind it.
That’s an inauspicious crest if ever I saw one... thought Claudia. She checked, and saw that the line had ended over a hundred and fifty years earlier in Tempus Fugit 804. The key point of why it had ended, however, was not written.
“The House of Valedstorm... How odd. It’s usually written here how a line ended, but this time, there’s nothing,” said Claudia, tilting her head in puzzlement. Beside her, Olivia stared down at the crest with uncharacteristic seriousness. Her usual frivolity was nowhere to be found. Claudia sat for a while taking in this rare scene, until at last Olivia slowly raised her head.
“I’ve decided. This will be my name.”
“Wha—?! Ser, I know I told you to hurry, but you shouldn’t make this decision lightly. There’s lots of other names.” At the very least, Claudia thought, there was no need to take on a name with such an unsettling crest. She snatched the book from Olivia, and turned hurriedly to a different page.
“See, what about this one? The colors match your hair, Major,” she said, aware of how pushy she was being as she pointed to a silver moon surrounded by sarsasso flowers.
“No need. From today onward, my name is Olivia Valedstorm,” said Olivia without so much as another glance at the book.
“But...” Looking into Olivia’s eyes, Claudia felt the force of her resolve and knew there was no point arguing further. “I see, ser.”
“By the way, do you think I could find out what happened to this house?”
“What happened...?” Claudia ran a hand over the book, mulling over Olivia’s question. For a noble house from over a hundred and fifty years ago, it wouldn’t be easy. She looked up, and found Olivia gazing at her with a hungry look in her eyes.
“Weeell... I imagine you could probably find out at the Royal Library in the capital.”
“What’s the Royal Library?” said Olivia, curious.
“You don’t know about the library? It contains the whole history of the kingdom. And the Kingdom of Fernest is said to be the most ancient nation in all of Duvedirica, so it’s scarcely an exaggeration to say the whole of history. You can probably find just about anything there.”
“The whole of history...” murmured Olivia with a hard expression Claudia had never seen before. It made her delicate features appear even more otherworldly.
“Major?” she asked. Olivia was silent. “Major!”
“Oh! Sorry,” said Olivia, coming back to herself. For the first time, her smile appeared forced.
“Is something wrong, ser?” Claudia asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, Colonel Otto said to choose a name quickly, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. Yes, I suppose...”
“Then you’d better go let him know I’ve chosen one!”
“Wha—? H-Hold on, stop pushing! I’m going, I’m going already!” Olivia shoved her with her unnatural strength, and Claudia, helpless to resist, was driven out of the room. She whirled around just in time to see Olivia slam the door shut and hear the key click. She’d been locked out.
Even though it’s my room, she thought. More importantly, though, what in the world has gotten into her? Dazed and confused by the rapid progression of events, she headed off to see Otto.
Olivia listened to Claudia’s fading footsteps, then picked up the book she’d tossed on the bed. As she did so, she also pulled out the large gemstone that hung around her neck. The scarlet gemstone that had been left along with the ebony blade on the day Z had vanished. She opened the book once more to the crest of the House of Valedstorm, and compared the two.
Just like I thought. The shape, the color... They’re totally identical. With her suspicion confirmed, Olivia’s eyes now fell on the two great black scythes behind the skull. Slowly she began to smile, then laughed out loud.
At last! she cried in a strange tongue unlike any human language. I found a clue! Just you wait, Z. I’m coming!
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