II
After rescuing Ramza from Darmés’s clutches, Felix joined up safely with the Azure Knights, who were facing off against the chancellor’s personal army. They proceeded to shake off the other force’s pursuit, taking refuge in Fort Zaxxon which had, for strategic reasons, been abandoned several years previously.
Now, almost three days had passed since their arrival.
Could I have been more blind? Felix, consumed by self-recriminations, looked at Ramza, who lay on a simple cot with his eyes wide open. Still wrought by his excruciating powerlessness, he opened the door and found himself face-to-face with his aide, Second Lieutenant Teresa, who stood looking down at the floor.
“How long have you been there?”
“I suppose...it’s been about thirty minutes.”
“I see...”
“I just...” she said falteringly. “How is His Majesty’s condition?”
Felix replied with a small shake of his head, then walked on. Teresa hurried to follow.
On the road to the fort, Felix had tried over and over to talk to the emperor, but Ramza had not returned to himself. There was no longer any doubt in Felix’s mind that Darmés had used some foul art upon Ramza, so he had sent Odh all through the emperor’s body, hunting for abnormalities, but he found no pale residue of light like he had in Gladden’s body, and even the flow of Odh was perfectly normal. This was what had Felix at his wits’ end now.
The only consolation is that his body seems healthy. But even of that, I have no guarantee...
Teresa was watching him like she was holding something back. When he looked at her, she said hesitantly, “Calling a healer wouldn’t do any good...would it?”
Felix only smiled blandly. If only bringing Ramza a healer would have helped, he wouldn’t be suffering as he was.
“Never mind, ser,” Teresa said in a voice that was barely there. She did not try to speak to him again. Felix sent her a silent apology, his mind continuing to work.
When I asked Darmés if he was a mage, he denied it outright. There was no reason for him to lie back there, so that must mean he really isn’t one. But in that case, what is the source of his power? It isn’t magecraft, and he isn’t using Odh either. He paused. I suppose there’s nothing for it but to take him to Lady Lassara after all. But...
The White Forest where Lassara secluded herself was far to the north of Fort Zaxxon. Even alone on horseback, getting there and back would take ten days. Given Ramza’s condition, they would inevitably end up taking a carriage, meaning that like as not the journey would be even longer.
However, even at that very moment, Felix was sure that Darmés had his servants searching for the Azure Knights, and so his eyes and ears would be everywhere. As it was, Felix owed the Azure Knights a debt after he had made them go to such lengths so that he could rescue Ramza.
“I’m... I’m sure His Majesty will recover.” Teresa was intelligent—she had to know perfectly well that her conviction was baseless. Even so, Felix understood why she had said it.
“I turned against the empire, and now I’m even making my aide worry for me. I ought to be ashamed of myself.”
“Not at all!” Teresa burst out, then, her voice growing faint, added, “My lord, that’s not true at all...” The only sound left in the hallway was the lifeless crunch of boots on gravel.
Teresa didn’t speak again until they arrived at the door to their destination.
“They’re both waiting for you, my lord. I’ll take my leave here...” With a small, sad smile, Teresa saluted, then headed back down the corridor from where they had come. Felix stared after her.
“Truly, I ought to be ashamed of myself...” he muttered. Then he turned his eyes forward again and reached for the mahogany doorknob.
The door opened with an awful scraping, revealing Lieutenant General Violet and Major General Balboa sitting opposite one another at a long table in the center of the room. Apparently, the room had been well cleaned, as it didn’t seem dusty.
“My lord, are you all right?” Violet said at once in a voice laden with concern. Felix couldn’t help a sardonic smile. He must have looked even more sorry for himself than he thought.
“My lord?” Violet said again.
“I beg your pardon. I’m quite well.”
“Well, if you say so...” While she gazed at him with worry in her eyes, Felix sat down at the head of the table.
First, he apologized for wasting so much time while leaving them without any clear orders.
“With His Imperial Majesty in his current condition, it couldn’t be helped,” Violet said comfortingly. “You mustn’t trouble yourself.”
“But we can’t hang around here forever,” Balboa said with a stern look. Violet’s expression turned hard, and she opened her mouth to retort, but Felix raised a hand to stop her.
“Major General Balboa is right,” he said.
“If we ration, our food supplies might last us another week.”
“I see...” Even the most elite army was weak without food. That was a truth that left no room for argument. What Balboa was intimating was that, with supplies tight as they were, if they ran into the imperial army, they would have no choice but to flee.
“My lord, the Anastasia Domain lies to the west of here,” Violet said, looking at him searchingly. Felix knew that the Anastasia Domain was governed by Violet’s father, Duke Beren von Anastasia. It was obvious what Violet was suggesting, and as such, Felix rejected it at once.
“I can’t bring trouble down on the duke’s head.”
“You needn’t worry about that. I might be his daughter, but I know that my father is a man of valor. If we tell him what’s happened, I’m sure he’ll assist us.”
Felix gave a pained smile. “All the more reason we can’t go.”
“Why, my lord?!” Violet cried, leaning over the table toward him.
Felix’s face turned grim as he answered. “I’m sure you heard what became of the others who defied Darmés. Even the great Houses of Ludis and Titan, who were there at the founding of our country, received no mercy from that man.”
The heads of the Ludis and Titan families had openly opposed Darmés’s accession to the emperor’s throne. Felix’s personal guard had found them dumped like garbage in the dungeons of Listelein Castle. His guards had succeeded in bringing a few survivors out, but all of them were in the same state—every fingernail ripped off, every tooth torn out. The room had been strewed with their gouged-out eyeballs. Even now, after their rescue, all they did was beg for mercy with whatever remained of their voices.
Violet drew back slightly, but a moment later she leaned forward with even more intensity than before.
“Then let’s at least have him lend us food. If the Azure Knights are to survive, that isn’t up for negotiation.”
“If Darmés learned that he cooperated with us, no matter how slightly, he might well turn on the people of your domain, not just Duke Anastasia.”
“Slaughter the people? Surely even he wouldn’t go that far...”
“Doing such a thing openly would undermine his authority as emperor,” Balboa added.
Felix watched the other two exchange a look of confusion. “Darmés is so insane it’s impossible to say what he would or wouldn’t do,” he said plainly. “At least, that is how he seemed to me.”
Felix had seen with his own eyes Darmés’s irreverence for the emperor’s crown—the symbol of imperial authority. He went on to explain that Darmés had made it clear in his speech that he had no regard for the emperor’s throne—and so what the man’s true ambitions were, Felix had no idea.
Silence spread through the room like a fall of frost under the shade of night. It was Balboa who eventually broke it.
“If you’re certain, then it must be so. I couldn’t say so before, but I always thought there was something suspect about Darmés.”
It was Felix and Violet’s turn to exchange a look as Balboa launched into a tirade against Darmés. It did not last long, however. Violet burst out in cheerful laughter, bringing color back to the lifeless air of the room.
Balboa narrowed his eyes and said, disgruntled, “Did I amuse you that much?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It was just a little—not even a little, it was highly surprising.”
Balboa snorted. “Surprising? Everyone has a person or two they can’t stomach. In my case it just happened to be the scoundrel calling himself the new emperor.”
“When you put it like that, it does sound like you,” Violet replied. “Anyway, my lord. If you won’t turn to my father, may I be so bold as to ask what you do intend to do?”
Felix took a breath before he answered her. “I am going to turn to the Kingdom of Fernest.”
“To Fernest?!” Balboa and Violet shrieked in unison. Felix felt their fierce stares boring into him.
It was not a mere spur-of-the-moment suggestion, but something Felix had been weighing up ever since he’d rescued Ramza. Still, it meant seeking aid from the nation they had been at war with. It was asking too much, and he knew it. It was only natural that the other two looked at him in dismay.
“Why Fernest in particular and not some other country?” Balboa finally asked, looking bewildered.
“One of the key reasons is that I believe Fernest is the only nation left that can stand against Darmés’s empire.”
“Hmmm...” Balboa grumbled. “I’m not sure that’s enough for me to grasp your motivations, my lord... Wouldn’t the United City-States of Sutherland do, in that case? If you’re looking for a major power, then they fit the bill. They’ve remained neutral—on the surface, at least—so their military should be in far better shape than Fernest’s.”
“Yes, Sutherland is a major power. And just as you say, if it were a simple question of military strength, Sutherland might come in above the empire, to say nothing of Fernest. But I can’t help but question if they can really stand against the empire.”
“Why is that, my lord?” Violet asked with curiosity.
“In times of peace, the city-states’ system of governance functions well enough. But you can be sure in a crisis, every decision will take them forever. With the situation developing so rapidly, it’s hard to believe they’ll be able to keep up.”
Balboa smoothed back his glossy white hair. “I suppose it is just a gang of minor nations, when it comes down to brass tacks.”
“Before, you said that was one of your key reasons, my lord,” Violet said, her eyes going cold. “Would another reason be Death God Olivia, by any chance?”
Felix nodded. “Darmés knows arcane arts beyond just manipulating corpses. That was what prevented me from killing him. It would certainly be reassuring if Olivia would continue to fight with us.”
Darmés had intervened before their battle saw its conclusion, but from the start, Felix had sensed from how Olivia fought that she had never been worried. He had not revealed his full strength either, but all the same, to the last he had been unable to imagine Olivia lying in the dirt. Every time their swords met, he had felt more strongly that while they both possessed hidden power, the nature of hers was different to his own.
The look on Violet’s face made it plain she was thoroughly displeased. Balboa folded his arms tight and let out a deep sigh.
“You’ll forgive me for saying so, my lord, but do you seriously believe Fernest will welcome us? If I were a commander in the Royal Army, I’d pretend to extend a hand of friendship while scheming a way to kill you in your sleep. A mortal enemy wandering into their hands? It’d be the perfect opportunity to cut you down while scarcely lifting a finger.”
“Depending on who we talk to, that is probably true.”
“That makes it sound like you’ve already decided who you mean to talk to...” said Violet, a dangerous edge to her voice. “I trust you don’t mean Death God Olivia.”
Felix smiled. “I think matters of politics are probably beyond her.”
Relief flitted across Violet’s face. “Then who?”
“The man they call the God of the Battlefield,” Felix said, then picked up the cup of tea in front of him that had long since gone cold and drank it dry.
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