The Girl Raised by the Death God Holds the Sword of Darkness in Her Arms - Volume 2 - Chapter 2.5

V

Guyel’s Work Room at Windsome Castle

Guyel returned to his work room. The advisor waiting for him there saluted him, a gesture which he returned before he moved to ease into his chair.

“Colonel Guyel, I have today’s report,” said the advisor, holding out a stack of papers. Guyel took it without a word, his eyes running swiftly through the contents. Most of it was concerned with eruptions of unrest directed at the lords they’d left to govern the conquered lands.

Lady Rosenmarie’s plan is proceeding apace. The northern lands look poised to fall to the empire even sooner than we hoped, he thought. Then he reached the final report in the pile and sighed to himself. The hour has come at last, then. And today, of all days... He’d only just sat down, but now he stood up again.

“You’re going out, Colonel?” asked the advisor.

“Where is Lady Rosenmarie?” asked Guyel.

“Where she always is, ser.”

“Very well. I’ll be back in an hour or so,” he announced, then left for the command room.

“It’s Colonel Guyel, my lady,” said Guyel. He opened the door to the command room and was met by a rush of stale air. Though the curtains were wide open, the window that faced onto the garden was shut tight. Guyel casually went over and opened it to let some fresh air in. He then turned to Rosenmarie, who was scribbling away in silence.

“My lady, may I have a moment of your time?” he said.

“Hm? That sounds like you, Guyel,” she replied without looking up. “Sorry, but I think you can see I’m pretty busy right now.” Irritation laced her tone. Her glossy red hair stuck out at all angles like she’d been tugging at it, making it look not unlike a bird’s nest. Rosenmarie, tall and beautiful and always dressed in men’s clothes. From maidservants to noble’s daughters, she had admirers in all corners of society. If she ever attended a ball, she’d have been surrounded by admirers in less than five minutes. That was, if she were able to tolerate such occasions.

Looks like she’s in an even worse mood than usual today, Guyel thought. His gaze flickered to what he suspected caused her foul temper—mountains of documents that spread out over her desk and threatened to bury it entirely.

A month had passed since they defeated the Third and Fourth Legions. Since then, Rosenmarie had spent almost every minute of every day in the command room. Gaining control of nearly half of the northernmost region of Fernest all at once had spawned an insurmountable volume of paperwork. Of course, most of the work fell to civilian officials. Even now, he could hear the scratching of however many pens from the adjoining room. There were, however, a large number of issues where Rosenmarie had to make the final call herself. Furthermore, because no one could stand in for her, she had to push through it all alone. As her aide, Guyel stood ever at the ready to offer whatever advice she required.

Though of course, with her sharp intellect, my lady would never need my help. Guyel adjusted his posture to stand up straight, then delivered the news that Rosenmarie had been waiting for.

“We’ve received word from the shimmer, my lady.” The pen in Rosenmarie’s hands snapped in two with a loud crack. She looked up slowly. A grotesque smile stretched from one ear to the other like a gash across her face. Guyel took a step back from her, unnerved.

“And?” she said.

“Uh...y-yes, my lady. The shimmer reports they located the Seventh Legion at the town of Canalia in the south of Fernest. Around three thousand soldiers, probably an advance company sent to ascertain enemy movements. And there was one other thing.”

“One other thing?” Rosenmarie sang back at him, sounding like she was enjoying herself. She is terrifying, Guyel thought. He licked his chapped lips, then delivered the news he’d hesitated to give.

“My lady, this is merely the shimmer’s personal observation. There is no evidence for it,” he began. He told her of the silver-haired girl who led the Seventh Legion company—the girl who might well have been the so-called “monster.” It was all mere speculation. Still, given that the information came from a shimmer, there was probably around an eighty percent chance it was true—even if Guyel himself didn’t want to believe it.

Rosenmarie’s awful smile widened further still, and she began to cackle. “Brilliant! Trust a shimmer to get the job done!”

“There was, however, one oddity in the Seventh Legion’s movement,” Guyel said. Rosenmarie’s laughter immediately trailed off, her expression darkening.

“Oddity? What sort of oddity?”

“Rather than advancing towards the northern lands, they are instead moving west.”

“What do you mean, west? That’s completely in the wrong direction.” Rosenmarie ran a finger along her rouged lips and appeared to think for a while. Then, with a frustrated click of her tongue, she suddenly burst out, “Gladden! That decrepit, meddling old bastard...” She went on loudly insulting the marshal—although the two of them were alone in the room, Guyel glanced around, checking the corners.

“My lady, I beg you to consider your words more carefully. To insult the lord marshal in such a fashion...” he began.

“Hmph! Like it matters. It’s only you and me in this room,” spat Rosenmarie dismissively.

“Even so, my lady,” Guyel admonished her. “There are many who covet your position, and your words just now would provide them with ample evidence to oust you from the Three Generals.” Rosenmarie boasted both noble blood and strength of arms, but she wasn’t without enemies. Even at this very moment, scores of them were surely scheming on how to bring about her downfall. Of course, such efforts were futile if the schemers did not possess the talent commensurate to a member of the Three Generals, but Guyel thought it better not to go out of their way to provide their enemies with anything that could become a liability.

“Fine, whatever. Not that I’d be heartbroken to lose my position in the Three Generals anyway, but I’m not about to step aside for that rabble either,” said Rosenmarie with a snort.

“Your understanding regarding the matter is greatly appreciated, my lady,” replied Guyel. “But moving on—you believe there is some relationship between the Seventh Legion’s movements and the lord marshal?” Rosenmarie slowly rotated her chair towards him.

“Oh, they’re related, all right,” she replied. “Southeast of the central front is Fort Peshitta, defended by the Sixth Legion. I’m pretty sure Marshal Gladden ordered Swaran to attack them.”

“I see...” Guyel said, nodding as he looked over to the map on the wall. “You think the advance company is going to the Sixth Legion’s aid?”

“I’m all but certain. He just had to go meddling in all this...” said Rosenmarie. She made another frustrated click of her tongue. Guyel realized he felt relief.

Was I afraid of the Seventh Legion’s monster...? he wondered privately. Out loud, he asked, “How do we proceed then, my lady?”

“They’re not big enough fools to ignore me entirely. If they’ve got an advance company running about, it won’t be long before their main force shows itself.”

“And you think that the main force will come to us?”

“Exactly,” said Rosenmarie with a composed nod. Her reckoning of the situation was the only natural one, and Guyel could find nothing to object to. There was a chance that the main force might make for Fort Peshitta and the central front as well, but given the current state of the war, the likelihood of that was close to zero.

“How should we handle the advance company?”

“For the time being, we do nothing. There’s the honor of the exalted lord marshal to consider, as well. As much as having my prey snatched out from under me pisses me off...”

“And if...if the ‘monster’ drives off the Swaran army?” Guyel asked, feeling like he was opening a forbidden box. Rosenmarie sank back deep into her chair, her eyes drifting about in space.

“True...” she said, after some time. “Right. If that happens, I’ll send Vollmer after her,” she declared, snapping her fingers like she’d landed on a brilliant plan.

“Lieutenant Colonel Vollmer?”

“That’s right. He was just saying how he’s been spoiling for a fight. He’s just the man to test this monster’s true strength. If she can even push back the Swarans, that is.”

Vollmer’s devastating martial strength was formidable even compared to the rest of the Crimson Knights, and he carried an aura that made all around him lower their gaze. Guyel could think of no one better to put against a monster. Yet Rosenmarie’s reply had, in fact, taken him by surprise. He had been convinced she would insist on abandoning her paperwork and facing the monster herself and had prepared himself to attempt to talk her out of it with all his might. Now, he felt like he’d been tricked.

What is the lady plotting? he wondered, puzzled. Meanwhile Rosenmarie chuckled, all arrogance. Guyel himself couldn’t have been more grateful for this turn of events, but something felt off, something he couldn’t quite put a finger on. Rosenmarie had been unhealthily obsessed with the Seventh Legion ever since they killed General Osvannes. That went without saying. Yet now she was sending Vollmer against them in her stead. His uncertainty was only natural, if nothing else.

“What? You look surprised.”

“Me? No, I... Uh...” Guyel stammered, shaking his head.

“Hmmm? Did you perhaps think I’d go running off to fight the monster myself?”

“Wh-Wha...?! I... That’s...” It was as though Rosenmarie had read his thoughts. Guyel became too flustered to string two words together. Rosenmarie watched him with a smirk.

“It’s not that complicated,” she said. “My only aim here is to crush the Seventh Legion for what they did to General Osvannes. Hunting monsters just for the fun of it doesn’t interest me. Besides, can you imagine if I went out to meet a force of merely three thousand? That’d really give the imperial citizens something to laugh about,” she said, then cackled with laughter herself.

I see. So, put simply, Lady Rosenmarie might be interested in the monster, but not because she wants to cross swords with her. At least, that’s where things stand for now, at any rate...

In any case, he was glad that she wasn’t focused on the monster.

“Sending Lieutenant Colonel Vollmer is an excellent suggestion, my lady,” he said, emphasizing his agreement before she changed her mind. “I’m sure all would agree it wouldn’t be proper for you to go yourself, monster or no.”

“Right? If Vollmer slays the monster, all well and good—we confirm it was only ever a minor threat. On the off chance he’s killed, I take my army and crush them. Simple as that.”

With that, Rosenmarie turned back to her paperwork. The motion of her pen as it ran across the page was now measured and regular, totally different from earlier. Guyel gave his unmitigated agreement, then left the command room. Just before the door closed, he caught an echo of an unhinged giggle that sent a chill down his spine.