「Eh? Ah you sure it’s okay for me to go?! Even if you tell me it’s a lie later, I won’t listen to you! You know that, right?!」

Bratta spoke like that to emphasise the point as he addressed Sobble, who was standing before him.

Sobble gave a quiet sigh at the person who could be considered his partner in work.

If possible, Sobble would have preferred to not take on this job.

However, as he was given a direct order by Kabajid, his master, he couldn’t refuse without a very good reason.

And, since he had no reason to refuse, he had no choice but to accept it.

(The formation of the second punitive force. ……If possible, I would have like Prince Shurus to take it on……no, considering their defeat and the need to negotiate a ransom for the prisoners, I guess it would have been a hopeless endeavour. In that case, maybe Princess Frizione? ……I sent out some of my men because I heard that the White Rose Knights were making some strange moves, but I’ve lost contact with them since.)

In this situation, which could be considered dangerous in many ways, he didn’t want to do anything dangerous himself. But, it was also true that someone had to step up at this point in time to move things forward, regardless of the risks.

Sobble knew that, but he still couldn’t help but wonder why it had to be him.

Because of that, it was only natural that he would feel a little irritated at the sight of his partner acting so nonchalantly at the opportunity to go on a rampage.

「You look like you’re having fun. Why don’t you worry a little?」

「Huh? That’s your job. Why would I do that……」

Sobble sighed again at the words that sounded as natural as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

He knew his partner had that kind of personality, but he still wished he would think a little more.

(Should I bring in Pelfiel)

The figure of the female knight obsessed with training crossed his mind, but he quickly rejected the idea.

Pelfiel was certainly skill and was also someone he could trust working with.

But, because of her personality, she didn’t get along well with Bratta.

Pelfiel was also currently working as an instructor for Rhodes, so it was unlikely that she would have the time to help them.

「Can’t be helped, huh.」

He shook his head as he turned his attention back to the paper he was holding.

It described the details of the previous battle between the punitive force and the rebel army.

……However, even the records only showed that it was a one-sided defeat from start to finish.

「If they’d at least sent some decent personnel……no, they were sacrificial pawns whose only only job was to assess the enemy’s strength, so I guess it was too much to ask for more. And, since we were able to achieve our initial goal of understanding their strength, it could still be considered a success. ……It’s a difficult decision to make.」

「There’s no need to worry so much, right? Besides didn’t they say there were nobles among the rebel army who had promised to betray them? Considering that, I feel we should be able to deal with it somehow. But……」

The reason Bratta hesitated was probably due to the information he received from Prime Minister Pesche. In other words……

「There’s a possibility that Crimson is cooperating with the rebels?」

「Yeah.」

Bratta nodded in response to Sobble’s words.

There could be someone with that level of combat strength in the rebel army. With that in mind……while they wouldn’t go as far as to say they would lose no matter whate, it would be a tought fight.

「I understand your worries, Bratta, but he didn’t show up in the last battle, did he?」

「He wasn’t there in the last battle, but he could be there now. When I think about it, it does make me a little worried.」

Bratta had looked happy about the upcoming battle a moment ago, but his stern expression now made it feel like it had all been a lie.

If Rei really did show up in the battle, he knew he would be a tough opponent.

「Plus, Her Highness Vihera, Count Obrisin, and Theorem. They have best people in many ways. ……Well, I don’t think we’d lose either, but Crimson is an exception.」

「……As for that, we need to find some way to counter them this time. No matter how much of advantage we have, the moment he appears, there will be a possiblity that the situation will be reversed. The fire tornadoes I’ve heard about won’t be useful in a melee, but a Griffon is just too troublesome.」

「Indeed. An A rank monster is just cheating. ……Ah, stop it! We’re not going to get anywhere by thinking about it here. When they appear, we’ll just have to respond flexibly. Sobble, gather as many people as you can who can use a bow. Since they fly, we can do something by flodding the area with arrows.」

Sobble thought for a moment before nodding.

Indeed, since the enemy would be flying, there was no need to worry about accidentally firing at allies.

However, if they did shoot down something in the sky during a melee, there would always be risk of hurting their allies on the ground.

「Do we need to prepare other logistics?」

「……How many soldiers will we send out this time? Wasn’t it 3,000 in the last battle? It’s bad that we outnumbered them and still suffered such a crushing defeat, but will the numbers be the same this time?」

「No, I want to end this rebellion as quickly as possible. If we fight among ourselves, it will will only weaken the Bestir Empire’s national power. The ideal situation would be to take the head of Prince Mercurio without wasting as much of our forces and the rebel army’s forces as possible……」

「Are you serious?」

Bratta couldn’t help but sigh at the idealistic hope.

「Well, that’s probably impossible. As I said before, their forces are more than adequate and yet you’re telling us to cause as little damage to both sides……if we could really do that, then there wouldn’t be a need for a civil war.」

「I know I’m being greedy. That would be the best outcome, but it’s not like we have to achieve it. But it is also true that we want to minimise the damage to national power as a result of this civil war. If were to lose a lot of strength now, not only the Mireana Kingdom, but the surroudnging countries might attempt something strange as well.」

「Well, it’s okay, right? After all, the people participating in the civil war are just individual nobles. I heard the Imperial Army is working to stop the surrounding countries, including the Mireana Kingdom, from doing anything strange.」

Sobble nodded in agreement with Bratta’s words. However, his expression showed he wasn’t completely happy about it as his eyebrows frowned slightly.

He had no choice but to seize the opportunity to remove Mercurio from the race to the throne. But, as someone who served Kabajid, it was not fun to know that this was all taking place in the palm of Tragist, the Emperor.

But, Sobble quickly shook his head.

Now was not the time to think about such far reaching thoughts. In any case, he had to make sure his master, Kabajid, would be the winner of the civil war.

(In that sense, it’s fortunate that Prince Shurus lost the first battle. If we win the next one, our achievement will stand out even more. Regardless of the nobles who know the situation, to the common people, Prince Kabajid defeated the opponent Prince Shurus lost to. That will be the only result that matters. ……If that’s the case, we can’t afford to lose the next battle.)

Sobble was calculating in this mind how many supplies he would need, the formation of troops to transport them, and the troops needed to guard them when he suddenly noticed Bratta, who seemed like he wanted to ask something.

「What’s wrong?」

「Hm? Oh. Back to the earlier point. If Crimson is possibly in the rebel army, should we take Rhodes with us?」

「……Now that you mention it, that’s true. He originally agreed to cooperate with us in order to defeat Crimson.」

「Hey, weren’t you the one who suggested we recruit him and actually negotiated to recruit him?」

「He had a certain level of fighting power and we didn’t have to worry about him betraying us. That was all I was thinking. You got tired of training him too and left him with Pelfiel.」

It seemed that it was true that Bratta had lost interest in Rhodes. He looked away quietly as Sobble spoke without any emotion.

「No, it’s not that it’s bothersome or anything. If I leave with that training idiot, Rhodes will naturally get the training he needs and become stronger. He said he wanted to become stronger, so I just decided that it would be the best choice.」

「Then don’t look away like that. ……Well, how it’s Rhodes doing? It depends on that whether I take him or not. He may be useful in terms of combat, but it’s also important whether he listens to our orders or not.」

「Ah……from what I saw the other day, he seems to have gotten pretty strong. Of course, he still weaker than me.」

「That’s true. No matter what you say, you’re a skilled member of the First Prince’s faction. If he easily becomes stronger than you, we’ll be in trouble. ……Well, considering Pelfiel’s training habits, that’s a possibility.」

「Impossible.」

Bratta asserted immediately.

Even Bratta could understand that he was one of the strongest fighters in the First Prince’s faction.

Having risen to his current position through strength, he took great pride in that strength.

What set him apart from the other nobles was that fact that his words and actions were perfectly balanced by his strength.

……Considering his specialisation in combat, he held many similarities to Gurgast.

As if reading his partner’s thoughts, Sobble smiled.

「I know. That much is true. ……Well, that’s beside the point. If Rhodes is not in a position to fight, I’ll just tell him that the Crimson might be with the rebels and ask if they want to join the punitive force.」

「Sure, then I’ll be off. You’re busy preparing everything, right?」

「Thank you.」

With that brief response from Sobble, Bratta left the room.

Seeing him off, Sobble immediately began preparing for the attack.

(As for Princess Frizione……no, it would be better for someone else to make contact. I would rather her not know anything about this.)

To be honest, Sobble would prefer it if Frizione had no involvement with this punitive force.

In terms of military strength, Frizione’s forces were inferior to those of Kabajid and Shurus, but she still wasn’t someone to be underestimated.

Although not as powerful as her two brothers, she still had enough military power to influence the balance of power surrounding the succession to the throne.

He had never imagined that Frizione was attempting to cooperate with Mercurio.

If he had know that the White Rose Knights had been sent out for that purpose, he would have sent more capable soldiers.

They would have caught Widele and her knights and seized the letter meant for Mercurio.

But, it was too late for that.

Whether it’s was God’s mischief or Widele’s own luck, the White Rose Knights had already made contact with the rebel army and the letter had been handed over to Mercurio.

「Anyway, we need to get our preparations in order quickly. We need soldiers who can attack from a distance. Also, if we need to defeat the rebel army spectacularly, we might as well prepare some Dragon Knights.」

He had to quickly decided what kind of army to organise, in consultation with Kabajid.

Thinking like that, Sobble also left the room.

 

 

「Oh, so the next one to come up is my brother, Kabajid. I guess it can’t be helped, since Shurus seems to be busy with the previous incident. It’s sad that brothers are fighting each other. I wonder if this is also because of my poor judgement back then.」

Hearing from her subordinate that the First Prince’s faction was moving to launch an attack, she……Frizione, muttered wistfully.

Reaching for a cup on the table, she took a sip of tea, and then another, as thoughts filled her mind.

Her droopy eyes were filled with sadness.

She was sad that her brothers and sister, even if they were half siblings, were fighting.

She had inteded to do everything in her power to prevent this from happening, but she was always too late……and in the end, she had been unable to prevent this civil war.

「I was too late……again.」

If only she had dispatched Widele a little sooner.

As Frizione voiced her regrets, a nearby female knight spoke up to encourage her.

「Frizione-sama’s kindness will surely be the trump card that will break this situation. Let’s fight so that the people of the Bestir Empire don’t have to fight each other.」

「……That’s right. Right now, because I’m here, it’s battle between three royals and one royals. Although with Vihera on the other side, it’s really three against two.」

「Yes. If Frizione-sama joined the other side……the state of equilibrium would cease. However, in that case, the right of succession to the throne would be……」

Frizione nodded at the voice of her subordinate and friend, who spoke with some difficulty.

「Yes, I understand that point. But I will never let my siblings fight each other as my father wants.」

As Frizione muttered to herself, a determination that didn’t match her kindness showed in her eyes.

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