VI
Listelein Palace, Imperial Capital of Olsted
Marquess Schwarz von Hermit, Darmés’s minister of the interior, called on the emperor in his workroom. He found Darmés standing at the window, his hands clasped behind his back. He was clad all in black, just as he had been back when they had called him Chancellor Black-Robe. There was a proper way for the emperor to dress that had to be carefully observed in order to carry on the traditions and maintain the prestige of the Asvelt Empire. Schwartz, in response to the mutterings Darmés inspired, had twice advised him to change his attire. The first time, Darmés had dismissed the matter as trivial. The second, he had looked at Schwarz as though he was a worm. Schwarz, fearing for his life, had not tried a third time.
“I am here, Your Imperial Majesty,” he said, announcing himself. He bowed low to Darmés’s back, then asked, “Is this concerning the official letter?”
“Aren’t you quick on the uptake?” Darmés said without turning around. “It is there on the desk.”
Schwarz walked over to the desk and picked up the letter that lay right in the middle. “Excuse me,” he said, then started to read with an assured air.
Diplomatic letters of all kinds tended to be couched in ambiguous language that required one to read between the lines. But the letter in his hand was so straightforward it was almost disappointing, requiring no particular reading ability whatsoever. Schwarz nevertheless read it through several more times.
“A most delightful idea, don’t you think, Marquess?”
“Delightful, you say...” He couldn’t see Darmés’s face to read his expression, but he was sure that the emperor was smiling.
With a swish of his robes, Darmés left the window to come over to the desk. Schwarz moved to do the same. Darmés settled languorously into his chair.
“Why, yes,” he said, as casually as if they were talking about the weather. “Oh, word arrived last night from Lieutenant General Flora to say that the Dawn Knights we sent into Mekia have been defeated.”
Schwarz found himself briefly at a loss for words. What Darmés styled as the “Dawn Knights” was in fact no more than a pack of monsters. The mere sight of the things was enough to make Schwarz tremble. He had never dreamed they could be defeated.
He dabbed at the sweat already beading on his forehead with his handkerchief. “I can’t believe that the Dawn Knights could be defeated by an army of only fifty thousand soldiers.”
“Can you not? Mekia has three experienced mages. I always considered defeat a possibility.”
Schwarz was so taken aback he almost dropped his handkerchief. “They have mages? Three of them, no less?!”
“Why, yes. Is that really so surprising?”
“They call mages messengers of the gods, as I am sure you know, Your Imperial Majesty. The existence of three of them is bound to be cause for surprise,” Schwarz said honestly.
Darmés’s cracked lips twisted in an ominous smile. “The gods do not have messengers. They have no need of them. Gods are the highest of all in existence, perfect in and of themselves.” The way he spoke as though he had firsthand experience with the gods made Schwarz deeply uneasy.
Darmés gave a strangled laugh. “It seems we have become very sidetracked. The Dawn Knights we sent to Sutherland are still engaged in combat. The city-states, it seems, developed a strategic weapon and are putting up a much stronger fight than I expected.”
“A strategic weapon, you say...” Schwarz was no soldier, as he himself would happily have admitted. The words held no meaning for him. But assuming their intelligence was accurate, that meant that the only ghouls that had won them any victories were the ones sent against Rosenmarie. He’d also heard that, while they might have routed the Royal Army, around three quarters of the creatures had been lost in the process.
Are the ghouls not as great a threat as I thought...? he wondered. But he quickly dismissed the idea as the image rose in his mind of the ranks of horrifying ghouls in such numbers that they blanketed the wilderness around them.
“I suppose,” Darmés mused, “that it means they weren’t as lost to indolence as I supposed. Oh well. They are more diverting than I expected. I’d planned on readying for a second act in Mekia after they fought off the Dawn Knights, but this wonderful invitation got here first. It would be rude not to accept it, don’t you think?”
“You’re going to accept it?!” Schwarz exclaimed.
The Royal Army had lost the living legend Cornelius as well as Paul, the God of the Battlefield, but they still had strength enough to mount a resistance. Nor would it do to ignore Death God Olivia, whose name he heard so often these days. He would have rather died than say so to Darmés, but Schwarz thought that breaking off their secret agreement with Sutherland and going to war had been a mistake in every respect. Whatever Darmés had hoped to achieve, the real result was that two great nations had allied together, and now, the Holy Land of Mekia and its three mages had joined them. The Illuminus Church, given their intimate ties with Mekia, would not hesitate to mobilize their prized Knights of the Sanctuary. Schwarz knew it was futile to dwell on what-ifs, but he was sure that things would never have gotten to this point if Ramza had still been emperor. A man might have been accused of incompetence for less, and yet Darmés, as he replied, looked completely mystified.
“Let me ask you—do you know of some reason why I ought to reject such a favorable offer, Marquess Schwarz?”
Schwarz forced himself to swallow, then said, “If you will pardon my saying so, Your Imperial Majesty, I cannot call this offer favorable. The late Lord Osvannes told me once that simply concentrating all of one’s forces constitutes a threat. Knowing as little of soldiering as I do, learning that they also have three mages only makes me more worried.” He mopped the sweat on his face as he spoke.
Darmés stared at him as though dumbstruck. It was only a few seconds, but Schwarz waited with his heart in his mouth, wondering if he had made a fatal mistake.
“Ohhh. Yes, I see what you mean.” Darmés immediately started laughing as though amused. Schwarz was entirely lost. Finally, Darmés let out a final chuckle and said, “It’s an issue of perspective, isn’t it? I don’t feel remotely threatened by their united front. They may attack us a hundred times if they like—my armies are mighty enough to crush them every time they try.”
It was clear that Darmés was not talking about the Crimson or Helios Knights. At that moment, Schwarz also realized that he had been naive. The ranks of ghouls he had seen were not all of them.
Darmés picked up some papers on his desk and said, “As such, I would like you to draw up a written pledge. It would be a terrible nuisance if they denied any agreement as soon as the fighting was over.”
“I shall prepare the documents at once, Your Imperial Majesty.”
After he left the room, Schwarz slumped against the nearest wall and breathed deeply, trying to relax his wound-up nerves. Don’t overthink it, he told himself. You just do the job the emperor has given you, no more and no less.
Even if that emperor might be something other than human.
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