The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 6.1

Extra: Memories of the Sword Princess

As Inglis trained within the Greyfrier sarcophagus, she sat, focusing as mindfully as she could—but then something pulled at her, and she opened her eyes with a sigh.

“Phew. I should take a quick break.”

The task of precisely forming her aether was as delicate as the subtle brushstrokes in painting a masterpiece. If she pushed on and mastered it, someday, she would achieve hi-aether, and with that, the ability to use divine feat unaided. Even from within the Greyfrier sarcophagus—completely unopenable from the inside—she could escape if she could use divine feat on her own to effectively change her surroundings and place herself outside the sarcophagus.

She was glad that she had realized the existence of divine feat while wielding Eris, Ripple, and Arles. Thanks to that experience, she had a goal, a clear target. Without that, even she might have lost hope, succumbed to her doubts.

The only real risk was that if the training took too long, that she might grow old and exhaust herself. Enough time had passed that she had already grown back up from a little girl. Her clothes were getting too tight on her. Still, she was beginning to grasp hints of hi-aether. Only a little bit more, only one more step...

“If I don’t get back soon, Rani will be worried...and...”

More than anything, she herself was lonely. It was the first time in her life as Inglis Eucus that she had been separated from Rafinha for so long.

Would any grandparent not feel lonely, not seeing their granddaughter’s face for so long? No, all would.

It was a natural human emotion, nothing to feel ashamed of. And it pushed Inglis forth in her effort, motivating her to speed up her training.

“I can’t wait to see Rani’s face again.”

As Inglis murmured to herself, she moved toward the cylinders containing Eris and Venefic’s Princess Meltina. When Inglis took breaks, she sometimes checked to see whether anything had happened to them. Usually, Eris and Meltina were both quietly resting inside the devices, their eyes closed, but Eris was different this time.

“Eris?”

It looked like she was shrunken back and trying to embrace herself, her expression pained as if she was about to cry. Perhaps she’d already shed tears and the fluid which filled the device obscured them. Inglis fell silent for a moment. Was Eris recalling something painful? She had been in a Greyfrier sarcophagus before. Was she remembering that time and crying over it? Inglis had heard that Eris became a hieral menace more than four hundred years before. That had been during the Highland-Surface War; what happened then? Did it have some connection to the Silvare Kingdom, which Inglis had founded?

Inglis wanted to ask, but her voice would not reach. All she could do was softly rest her palm on the surface of the device. But as she did, a light shone from where she placed her hand and spread rapidly. “Huh?! Wh-What—”

The unknown light spread over the world around her as her consciousness faded.

◆◇◆

“Eris! Hey, sis!”

Eris heard her name called as she stood in a miniature garden built within the palace. She saw herself reflected in the spring in a beautiful light-blue dress. But as gorgeous as her outfit was, her expression was troubled. This was not a time for pleasantries. “Oh, Tiffanyer?”

A beautiful young lady appeared, a bit younger than her. She was the princess of a country founded by members of the ruling dynasty of Eris’s country, a sister country so to speak. She and Eris were distant relatives, and they had been close since they were young, so Tiffanyer thought of her as an older sister.

In the palace of her country, Eris awaited the return of her father and brother—the king and prince—from their campaign. Together with the forces of their own country and their neighbors, they had formed an alliance and marched forth. Tiffanyer, not wanting to wait alone, had come to be with her.

“What’s wrong? Don’t hurry like that, you’ll fall.”

“B-But I have something important to tell you, si— Eeek!” Tiffanyer stumbled as she approached Eris, who managed to catch her.

She sighed in relief at having prevented a neighbor’s princess from injuring herself. “Don’t scare me like that... What happened?”

“W-Well! I think the coalition army is back!”

“Oh! Is that true?!”

“Yes! They say you can see an army outside the keep!”

“Let’s go look!” Tiffanyer in tow, Eris went to the roof of the keep, where she could see for a long distance.

And what entered her vision was entirely unlike the band which had marched off so gallantly. Eris’s breath caught in her throat. There were half those who had left—no, even fewer. Not a single one was without a wound. Their feet dragged, their shoulders slumped, and their steps were heavy.

Unease oozed from the other people on the roof. Some even lost their strength and collapsed to their knees.

“Wh-What happened?”

“They lost... The coalition army lost...”

“How did it go so wrong? They couldn’t spare even one messenger?!”

“What will become of us...?”

“N-No... What happened to my parents?!” Tiffanyer’s voice wavered as tears welled up in her eyes and she, too, nearly collapsed.

But Eris was there to support her with an embrace. “It’s okay. It’s okay, Tiffanyer. I’m here for you.” She cursed her own weakness, her own inability to offer anything more than those words. She didn’t even know what had happened to her own father or brother. Her father had led the alliance and commanded the coalition army. She had been powerless to stop him.

Their enemy had been Highland. Only mages and the magic they wielded could fight off the magicite beasts created by the Prism Flow, but the Highlanders offered strange new weapons called Artifacts that anyone could wield—in exchange for crops and other supplies from the surface. That could be an equal exchange in its own way, but as distant countries came to rely more and more on the Artifacts, Highland’s terms changed. They no longer demanded just produce and materials but people and land as well, and Eris had heard of Highland executing mages of the surface lands and banning the education in magic there.

Based on those tidings, her country and Tiffanyer’s had ignored Highland’s overtures, defending their lands and people from the Prism Flow and magicite beasts by the strength of their own mages. Mages were rare in most lands, and their number shrank more and more, but Eris and Tiffanyer’s countries had begun with many and trained them well.

There was nothing which could be done if the ultimate magicite beast appeared—a Prismer—but to evacuate as if before a disaster. That was well-known across the surface. Still, there was no other way to defend themselves from the Prism Flow.

However, not every country had made the same decision. Their neighbors, having never counted many mages among their populations—and plenty worried about the Prism Flow—had begun trade with Highland. And just as the rumors had suggested, Highland’s demands increased until entire towns were taken away, their population included, to become part of Highland.

Beyond that, Highland had begun to demand the invasion of neighboring countries in exchange for Artifacts, and it was then that Eris and Tiffanyer’s fathers had risen up. Instead of casting blame on the surface countries which had invaded their neighbors, they laid it at the feet of Highland and called for a unified effort to expel Highland from the region. The king of the regional power wielding his might not only for his own domain, but for those of his surface neighbors, was met with acclaim, and the list of allies in the coalition was strong. The departure of the coalition had been so valiant; Eris had believed in, even prayed for, their victory.

And now she could see not a speck of that gleam was left in the remnants. “We’ve no time to waste! Warm food and bunks for them! They fought in our name—we must at least now labor in theirs!” Eris tried her best to project her voice to the devastated people in the castle, somehow managing to keep her own fear from coming through as a waver.

“Y-Yes, Princess Eris!”

“Understood!”

“L-Let’s go!”

“We’ll do what we can!”

The people sprung to action at her encouraging words, but then she felt something spatter on her cheeks and forehead.

Plop, plop...

They were raindrops—but not normal raindrops...

“Oh no! Eris, the Prism Flow is falling!” Tiffanyer exclaimed.

“Y-Yes... Of all the times! We need to bring people inside as quickly as possible!”

“Aaah! M-Magicite beasts!” Tiffanyer shuddered as she pointed to a large number of risen magicite beasts threatening the routed coalition troops.

“Lend them support! They’re in no position to fight! Call for the mage squads!”

“Princess Eris, we cannot! We haven’t the numbers to handle protecting the troops while fighting so many beasts!”

“But...! But we can’t simply abandon them!”

While not unskilled in the arts of war, Eris could not use magic. Mages were the only ones who could protect her country from magicite beasts. She had tried studying the magical arts over and over, but she was simply incapable. Her father and her brother were powerful mages, suited to the throne, but magic did not always run along family lines. Even in a battle for not only her own land, but the fate of the surface, she was left to the rear.

“The soldiers!” Tiffanyer pointed as the magicite beasts fell upon the retreating forces and began to devour them.

The wounded soldiers were, for the most part, too weak to fight back, and they fell one by one. The few remaining mages attempted a counterattack, but they were overwhelmed, and so even those priceless survivors laid down their lives.

“We can’t just sit by! Mage or no, rescue those who can still move!”

“Princess Eris! That’s too reckless! Only mages can fight off a magicite beast!”

At that, the minister who had governed in Eris’s father’s absence felt the need to speak up. “This is difficult to say, but we should close the gates so that no magicite beasts can enter! If we don’t, the beasts chasing the soldiers will rush in like an avalanche!”

Some citizens hesitated. “But what of the soldiers outside?!”

“Will they not take up arms for our country and its people again?!”

Others yelled in favor of the minister’s proposal. “But look! All of the magicite beasts are confined to land! As long as the gates are sealed, they’ll be unable to break through. Eventually they’ll disperse!”

“Protect those already inside! That will lead to less damage in the end!”

The crowd was split. What the decision would be was unclear, but doing nothing was its own decision—one that meant neither option would succeed.

It fell to Eris to make that call. She was the only one with the authority to do so.

“No! I cannot abandon the wounded soldiers! Sally forth, and draw away the magicite beasts! While they’re distracted, bring the wounded into the castle! I will lead personally! Let’s go!” Eris declared.

“I’ll come as well! I want to be there too!” Tiffanyer insisted. She was not a mage either, but having seen Eris practice at arms, she had joined in her training. Without a clue of what had happened to her father or brother, Eris found her presence reassuring.

“Yes! Let’s go, Tiffanyer!”

“At your call, dear sister!”

That day, Eris and her forces succeeded in evacuating a thousand of the soldiers who had marched forth against Highland into the keep—at the sacrifice of three thousand civilians when magicite beasts breached the castle town’s walls.

◆◇◆

It was a month after the coalition army had fallen to the Highlanders. Her father and brother had not returned; the surviving knights said they had fallen in battle. The two were powerful mages, but Highland’s Archlord Greyfrier had bested them. With Eris as the only surviving royal, she would succeed as queen.

That day had arrived. Crowds gathered at the palace—not, though, to celebrate the succession, or to swear to join hands for the country’s future.

“No! Why must we bow and scrape to those who endangered us?! To those who invited ruin!”

“The new queen can’t even use magic! Someone like that has no ability to protect the country!”

“That’s right! We reject a new queen! The royals are finished! She must abdicate!”

The shouts of rage were like the rumbling of the earth, echoing from the crowds surrounding the castle walls. After the defeat by Highland, the number of mages in the country was overwhelmingly insufficient; they could no longer defend against magicite beasts. Fear and resentment rose, turning to resentment of the king and royals who had struck against Highland. Citizens argued that the country had been doing perfectly well before they overstepped, destroying their mage corps and placing the people in danger.

That held its own truth, but what of their determination in refusing to ignore Highland’s depredations, to rise and protect not only themselves but others on the surface? Before the battle, they had been hailed, every hand raised in salute as they marched forth. But now, as if that had been completely forgotten, the people surrounded the walls.

At the forefront of the crowd was the very same minister who her father had left in his stead—the one who had, when the retreating soldiers headed for the castle had been attacked by the magicite beasts, called to simply seal the gates and hold tight. “Don’t forget, everyone! She’s cold-blooded! She sacrificed people just like you to save her own circles and the upper crust, the knights! She can’t guide us! She can’t protect us! We need to take this country back into our own hands!”

Eris had rejected his suggestion so that they could bring the remaining soldiers inside, but in the end, for each soldier she had saved, magicite beasts had entered the capital city walls and killed several civilians. Despite her intentions, that was the reality.

“No! Eris didn’t want that! None of us did!” Tiffanyer watched the scene outside the castle, her eyes downcast and full of tears. She had come to attend Eris’s coronation.

“He’s not wrong, Tiffanyer... He’s not wrong. It was my decision that led to the civilian losses.”

“B-But...then what are we supposed to do?”

While they were at a loss, the recently appointed knight-captain called out to them. “Your Majesty! Give the order! Let us drag that coward who seeks to divide the people before you! With the old king gone—with your father gone—we must bring this land together if we’re to defend it. Yet he foolishly inflames the people and plots rebellion! He seeks nothing but the throne for himself!”

Eris and Tiffanyer had saved his life from an attacking magicite beast that day, and he had thanked Eris and sworn his loyalty.

“The captain is correct, Your Majesty!”

“We shall follow him!”

More of those that Eris and Tiffanyer had saved pledged their support. Eris’s decision had brought only resentment from the people of the capital, but among the knights and mages, it had earned trust.

But—no. This was not the way. “Wait, everyone! Calm down! It is true we must come together if we are to defend this land! But if we crush the townspeople by force, it will only hasten the collapse! I cannot assent!”

“Your Majesty! What other choice is there?!”

“I will go forth! I will face them and speak to them until they understand! That is my only option.”

“That’s dangerous! If anything were to happen to you, we would lose our one unifying symbol and collapse yet faster!”

“But if I don’t—”

As they spoke, the pitch of incitation outside grew even higher. “Why do they merely tremble behind their walls, saying nothing?! Are our wastrel royals and wastrel knights naught but cowards alike?!”

The argument was persuasive. People believed if only Eris had true power, she might have been able to protect the routed soldiers from the magicite beasts without losses to the people of the capital city. If she had, so many people would still be alive. Her father or her brother would have been able to. All Eris could do was gritted her teeth—but the knight-captain was not content with so little.

“Are those the words the people of the country should have for those who stood on the front lines?! They wait safely in the rear as they grumble their complaints! I can’t stand it! Your Majesty, Lady Tiffanyer, we shall sally forth! Do not stop us! Let’s go!”

The knights let out a war cry in approval of their captain’s call.

“Wait! Please, wait! If we do not show through our deeds that the country must unite—”

“I cannot overlook their deeds! They mock the old king, they mock your brother, they mock all who fell for our land! Only those who fought with us that tragic day could understand our rage!”

Eris flinched. She couldn’t stop them. Even she had remained at the rear during the war with Highland, unable to participate. She could not understand what was in their hearts; her words could not reach them. Words were less important than their speaker. Hers could not stop them.

“Forgive us!”

“Ah!”

The knight-captain and his knights shoved past Eris, on their way to the square. Both her father and brother’s words would surely have stopped them. The force of their magic, if talking had failed. But Eris had neither.

“Eris! Are you all right?!”

“Y-Yes...” She was alone, no one in the hall with her save for Tiffanyer, who helped her to her feet.

“Wh-What do we do? What can we do? At this rate...”

“It... It’s my fault... I can’t do anything. I may have been born a royal, but...”

“No! That’s not true! You tried so hard to protect the country and its people!”

As Tiffanyer protested, the noise from outside grew louder. The knights rushing out and the townspeople pressing had begun their clashing.

Angry shouts. The clash of blade on blade. Screams—

“Ah! I’m so sorry, father! I’m sorry, brother!” Tears welled up in Eris’s eyes.

A future where the survivors turned on each other was not what either of them had desired. The country truly was collapsing, its knightly guardians raising their swords against those who their duty was to protect. There was no way they could reunite their country like this. Eris knew this for a fact, but she had no way to stop the tragedy. And it was all because she, who had survived, was so weak. Her feelings of weakness, of guilt, crushed her.

But just then, around the walls of the castle where the knights and crowd clashed, a wave of explosions occurred.

“Gahhh!”

“Wh-What?! Whose work is this?!”

Neither side had expected them, and the confused roar fell silent.

Whirrr... Whirrr... 

Mechanical sounds came from the faraway sky.

“Ah... Eris, that’s—!” Tiffanyer pointed to a squadron of flying ships.

“H-Highland?!” Eris gasped.

And thus, a slaughter among compatriots was avoided—though none could yet tell if that was a blessing in disguise.

◆◇◆

“I am Archlord Greyfrier of Highland. It pleases me to make your acquaintance.” The commander of the Highland forces spoke to Eris from the throne which had once been hers.

“Greyfrier!” The man who, she had heard, had killed her father and brother in combat. So he’s—

“Then you’re the one who killed my dear sister’s family! Damn you!” Tiffanyer cursed.

“Stop that, Tiffanyer!” Eris sharply scolded Tiffanyer, who glared at Greyfrier. It was true that she wanted vengeance for her father and brother. However, if he had bested them on the battlefield, he was surely quite powerful. How else could he have taken their castle with only a few men? Forcing a confrontation was unlikely to end well.

“B-But...! Don’t you resent him?”

Greyfrier watched Tiffanyer silently. His gaze was fearsomely intimidating, full of murder. Like a lion or tiger regarding its prey before it pounced.

“Uh... Ah...” Tiffanyer stopped as if frozen.

“J-Just be quiet for now, Tiffanyer!” Eris stepped between the two, as if to protect her from Greyfrier. “We accept your...Highland’s proposal. Artifacts for the fruits of the land and the product of the earth.”

Greyfrier quietly shook his head. “That would be too lenient. Those are no longer the terms.”

“What are you implying?”

“Those are terms for amicable trade. Do not forget that your country raised an army against us—and lost that army. We, too, had our losses. This is no merchant’s prattle; this is a demand for your surrender following your defeat.”

“A demand for surrender...”

“Accept, or be destroyed. Bear that in mind. You have no other way to stop this ruin.”

Neither Eris nor the knights who had gathered could object. The country no longer had the might to fight off Highland. The coalition army was spent, the remnants unable to so much as combat the magicite beasts in their own lands.

And they were on the brink of civil war. It was by no means a sure thing that Highland would manage to destroy them before they themselves did. Thus, they could give only one answer.

“The situation is as you describe. We surrender to Highland.”

“A commendable decision.” Greyfrier quietly let his gaze wash over Eris, head to toe, as if evaluating her. She shuddered in fear as she felt it wrap around her. It felt like it could see through to her deepest fears. But, crowned or not, she had inherited this country from her father. No matter what, it was her duty to protect it. She clung to that determination.

And thus, she asked Greyfrier, “What are the terms? What is asked of us?”

“Your house may continue to reign. I do not intend to change the structure of rule. However...”

Greyfrier’s conditions were harsh.

Quartering of Highland troops and personnel.

Provision of produce and matériel as Highland demanded.

Handing over the commanding of defenses to Highland, against magicite beasts and against other countries. In addition, Highland would have authority to levy conscripts for those purposes.

The provision of Artifacts, but only for use by Highland forces.

In other words, the country’s people and riches would be served up to Highland on a platter. And while Highland would protect it, the Artifacts used to do so would be kept strictly out of the hands of Eris and her compatriots. The terms were vastly different from the initial trade offer—enough to essentially make the country a Highland possession, with the royal family remaining in name only, as mere figureheads.

And beyond that—Highland would hunt the mages, not only eradicating them but also burning and banning their books and tools. It would leave nothing but Highland’s Artifacts for defense from the magicite beasts, and cut off any hope of a future rebellion.

They were each almost unacceptable terms. But in the current situation, Eris had no choice but to accept them. The only saving grace was that, at least, the arrival of Greyfrier and Highland’s army had prevented the outbreak of a civil war.

At least there was that. At least—

All she could do was to take that as salvation, and no matter the circumstances, she would do what she could to the best of her ability. Thus, Eris faced her future.