「What!?」

After hearing the report, Shurus couldn’t help but ask the woman in front of him.

It was both expected yet unexpected. As the report contained both contradictory feelings, Shurus’ reaction was somewhat sulky.

However, the woman who had made the report to Shurus, Amare, Shurus’ childhood friend and aide, spoke as if his attitude didn’t matter to her.

Amare knew that the man in front of her had a short temper. But, if anything, she felt relieved that his current attitude meant that he hadn’t completely lost his temper.

She spoke again, following up on the report she had given a few seconds ago.

「The punitive force has almost been completely annihilated. The rebel army led by Prince Mercurio has not sustained any noticeable damage. Of course, they’re not completely unscathed, but compared to the damage we suffered, I think it’s fair to say they basically lost nothing.」

「No! That’s not what I want to hear! I never thought those incompetents would be able to win this battle. All they needed to do was to expose at least a little of Mercurio and Vihera’s secrets. But what do you mean my knights, which I sent out to see all that, were wiped out as well!?」

In a fit of rage, Shurus slammed his desk.

A loud noise echoed through the room, but it wasn’t particularly surprising to Amare, who understood Shurus’ short temper and had walked alongside him for many years.

「Not all of them were killed. One returned.」

「Yeah, one certainly did return. But he returned without his right arm and leg. He can no longer be a knight.」

After saying that, he took a deep breath to relieve the irritation from his chest.

「……Potions will not be the most effective here. Get the alchemists to make a prosthetic arm and leg to give to the man. He survived such a defeat. Don’t forget to reward him properly. Tell him he’s lucky to have returned alive. And……give a proper reward to the families of the knights who died in this battle.」

「Yes.」

Hearing those last words, Amare nodded with a slight smile.

Her lord, Shurus, was a man who cared for his subordinates, so she was happy to see him reveal his compassion.

In the first place, Shurus’ strongest support came from the military. Naturally, those wounded or killed in battle would be generously rewarded.

That was why the military supported him so highly, even compared to the First Prince Kabajid.

「Haah……」

To calm himself down, he reached for the cup on his desk.

Fortunately, it hadn’t fallen over and broken when he had hit the desk earlier.

When he passed magic power into the cup, it started to fill with water.

This was a magic item, made with alchemy, which was widely promoted in the Bestir Empire.

It only had the effect of producing cold water, but the magic power required was negligible. It also produced a fixed amount of water, regardless of the quality and quantity of magic power used.

Considering its effects alone, it was similar to Rei’s Dagger of Flowing Water. The difference was that the Dagger of Flowing Water was originally a weapon that manipulated water rather than a magic item meant to create drinking water……in particular, water which changed in taste depending on the quality and quantity of magic power used.

「……So, what about the information from the man that came back? Ah, no. I’ll ask this first. What happened to the nobles?」

「Most of them were taken prisoner or killed in battle. The few survivors have fled back to their own territories or have holed up in their mansions in the Imperial Capital. Only a few have reported back. Although it’s more accurate to say that they were just giving excuses.」

Shurus frowned at displeasure at Amare’s words.

「Tch, I thought that would probably be the case. But still, prisoners. So they’re trying to get a ransom. They’re making things difficult for us.」

「I see. So, what are you going to do?」

「I’ve decided. I’m not going to pay money for those useless people. Contact the families of the nobles who were captured. In return, I’ll wait for a period of time.」

「Fufu, wait for a period of time? Certainly, it takes a period of time to build up our strength. Even if we organise the next punitive force, we’ll need to coordinate with Prince Kabajid and Princess Frizione.」

How to put it? The time needed to organise the next punitive force was now being taken from the time required to negotiate the ransom for the captured nobles. Hearing Amare’s words, Shurus spoke with a sigh.

「They’re the kind of people who can’t even force the enemy to reveal their hand. I’d like to abandon them as soon as possible. ……Since they’re part of my faction thought, I can’t abandon them that easily. If possible, I’d like to throw them into the next punitive force again.」

「After experiencing such a crushing defeat, surely they’re realise how foolish they are? If they do, I think they’ll hesitate to join the next punitive force.」

「They’re really useless. ……Anyway, let’s leave the topic of those incompetents here. I’d like to hear the information we got back from the knight that returned.」

Amare must have agreed with Shurus’ words about those incompetent nobles. She spoke without any particular objection to his words.

「First of all, the most powerful force from the other side, as we’ve seen in this battle, is none other than Her Highness Vihera.」

「……I guess so.」

A bitter look appeared on Shurus’ face as he muttered out loud.

As someone with influence over the military, Shurus was naturally confident in his own abilities. But even so, he just couldn’t imagine winning a head on fight against his sister, Vihera.

Even before Vihera had run away from the Bestir Empire, there had been a large gap in their abilities. He was aware that his skills had grown since then, but he still didn’t think he could beat Vihera, who had an overwhelming talent for combat.

Shurus would never admit it himself, but out of all those with the right to inherit the throne, he was the most relieved when Vihera ran away.

「Hmph, well, if you think about her individual strength, she certainly is one of the strongest in the rebel army. But ultimately, an individual can’t win against a group.」

Shurus muttered, half to himself.

Amare looked at her lord with a worried look that only a close friend would notice.

Shurus noticed his aide’s gaze, but didn’t say anything further. He knew that if he said anything, he would say something that he didn’t want to.

Thus, he forced the conversation back to the main point.

「So, what other forces did they have?」

「Count Obrisin and Viscount Bugle. Those two were particularly prominent in relation to Her Highness Vihera.」

「I thought as much.」

Shurus nodded, expecting that.

It was only natural the Viscount Bugle, who was devoted to Vihera, would be there. And since it was clear that it would be a fierce fight, it was only natural that Count Obrisin, who had a connection with Vihera, would join them.

「Was it just those two? There were others who had previously been with Vihera, weren’t there?」

「Yes. They are the so called Second Princess’ faction, but they hardly showed up in this battle. However, it seems that the knights retreated after realising it was impossible for them to observe the battle any further given the enemy’s momentum, so they might have joined the battle after that.」

「Even though they had seen things up to that point, in the end, only one of them survived. ……They really tried too hard.」

Shurus had a disappointed look on his face for just a moment, but his face quickly returned to that of a prince.

「So, what about Mercurio’s forces?」

「IT seems that Theorem led the forces of the Third Prince’s faction to the battlefield. It’s true that the troops led by Her Highness Vihera were an elite force. However, it was Theorem’s troops that ultimately decided the outcome of the battle.」

「I see. ……Hmm? No, wait. Did Vihera lead troops?」

「Yes. She led the cavalry that almost single handedly destroyed the punitive force’s cavalry. Check here for the details of the battle.」

He read through the report, tensing himself as he read the information his knights had obtained, literally at the risk fo his own life.

Written there was the flow of the battle as seen by the cavalry. However, the knight had only made it back after suffering serious injuries that left him near death. The information he had given before losing consciousness were fragmented and the details would likely only be known after he regained consciousness.

Still, just by looking at it like this, he could tell how things had generally went.

This meant that Shurus’ military talent was by no means low.

「……Hmm, I see. SO they sent in Vihera and her men first. You could say that the whole battle was decided in one fell swoop. But……they’re really incompetent. No matter how you look at it, they were far too fragile.」

Shurus muttered in exasperation.

People like Vihera and Count Obrisin were certainly powerful. That much was understandable.

However, even so, the front line had collapsed far too quickly.

「I was the one who gathered them all together, but I didn’t expect them to be defeated so one-sidedly without being able to do anything. They usually talk so much about the pride of nobility, so I wish they had held out a little longer.」

「Don’t be ridiculous. That was a unit led by Her Highness Vihera, right? If they were strong enough to seriously take them on and not collapse, I wouldn’t have included them in the extermination force in the first place.」

Shurus nodded in agreement at Amare’s words.

He sighed as he looked at the report……before noticing that the name of one his objectives wasn’t written anywhere.

「……Didn’t Crimson appear? According to the Prime Minister, Crimson is probably working with the rebels.」

He spoke the name of the person he wanted to investigate first and foremost in this battle.

Of course, Shurus had watched the finals of the fighting tournament. To be honest, he had been shocked by how Rei fought and hadn’t expected that he would be able to fight so well against Noiz,

And, according to the information from the Prime Minister, there was a high chance that Crimson had joined the rebels.

That was why he wanted to know how much of a threat he would be if he actually fought in a battle.

Of course, he knew the role Rei played in the war on the Selemus Plains back in Spring. He understood that it would be difficult to deal with someone who could create a fire tornado.

However……he was certain that Rei had some other powers as well and, more than anything, he wanted to know more about his fire magic and Griffon, which he hadn’t been able to display or use due to the tournament rules……

「No, as you can see from the report, Crimson did not appear in this battle. Either he has yet to join the rebel army or the Prime Minister’s assumption that he had joined the rebel army was incorrect.」

Amare muttered, but Shurus immediately shook his head.

「This is not just the Prime Minister’s assumption. Even though he looks the way he does, he is the Prime Minister of Bestir Empire. I can’t imagine he would make such a big mistake.」

The image of Pesche, who was clearly obese and not suited to phyiscal activity, flashed through Shurus’ mind.

He didn’t like seeing that unhealthy body, but he also had to admit that Pesche was a capable person.

He was capable to the point that Shurus really wanted him in his faction, full of incompetent people as it was.

But, as the Prime Minister, Pesche wouldn’t join the his faction. ……Or rather, better said, he wasn’t allowed to join any faction.

By direct orders from the Emperor, Trajist, he had to treat everyone fairly.

Of course, Mercurio, who had become a rebel, and Vihera, who had run away, were exceptions.

「So, what do you think?」

「It’s quite possible that for some reason, they haven’t joined up yet and are planning to do so in the future. There’s also information that he enjoys hunting bandits.」

「……Where did you get that information? I hadn’t heard anything like that at all.」

「From the Prime Minister. As for where the Prime Minister got it from……well, I’m sure he has some kind of source within the Mireana Kingdom.」

Shurus continued, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

「Or maybe, they’ve already joined up, but don’t want to reveal him yet. To be honest, I think this is the most likely scenario. What do you think?」

「Yess. That’s certainly a high possibility. They have a Griffon as a familiar, so it’s unlikely he will travel slower than a horse.」

「I guess so. Well, please send this information to my brother and sister as well. I promised to give them the information in exchange for doing as I pleased this time……and most importantly, I think my brother and sister will be able to obtain this information on their own in no time. In that case, might as well make them owe me a small favour.」

Amare nodded at Shurus’ words and immediately left the room to share the information with Kabajid and Frizione.

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