Volume 4Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Toward Concluding a Peace

1

With the death-struggle in the underground waterway behind them, the party made together for Nocto’s military harbor, the ones turning back and the ones setting sail alike. Among the many ships at their moorings, a single large vessel that was plainly not the Empire’s caught my eye, stopped at the far end of the port.

“Rune-sama.”

“Yes. That’s a Republic ship without a doubt.”

The Republic, which threw its weight behind an economy of maritime trade, led the world in shipbuilding, outstripping even the Empire, so telling one of its ships from an Imperial one was easy. The fine make of the hull, of course, but also the steady way it sat on the water and the sheer imposing bulk of it, larger by a full size and more, all spoke of the height of the Republic’s shipcraft.

“Still, it’s odd. A trade ship, I could see, but what business does a Republic warship have here?”

“Come to fetch us in person, perhaps?”

“It’s not that. I told Raquel by letter we’d ready our own ship and come to the Republic. Even if they’d sent an escort vessel, they’d normally get word to us first.”

“True enough…”

The mystery of the moored Republic warship only deepened. Try as we might to learn the circumstances, not a single crewman was in sight, and we were entirely at a loss.

“…Mm~. Oh, hey, hey! Should we hop aboard that ship and just head to the Republic ourselves?!”

“Absolutely not.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry.”

She swatted down Fadi’s carried-away suggestion in a cool voice.

“…Nobody parks a ship in another country’s military harbor without leave, do they.”

“No. Ordinarily it’d be unthinkable. Which, put the other way…”

“Means the Republic’s stopped being at peace, that it?”

I didn’t much want to call up anything so grim, but having gone through that unlooked-for fight at Nocto, ill scenes couldn’t help but cross my mind. Arms crossed, still wearing a dubious look, Rudolf turned his back on the ship.

“Well, I can’t come along, so no use my mulling it over.”

“You are my minder, after all,” said the Saint.

“Tch. Come to think of it, hauling myself to the Republic might be a sight safer than keeping watch on this woman…”

“Fufufu. I can hear every word of that.”

“Haah… I just hope I make it home in one piece.”

“I can hear that too.”

The chain binding the Saint had passed from my hand to Rudolf’s, and the Saint now walked always just ahead of him. No sign of resistance from her for the moment, but Rudolf’s worry I understood down to the bone. The dread of one who could work a giant beast and trample many people underfoot. Having actually crossed blades with her, I knew how hard she’d be to keep in check, and even without a bout, the chill down my spine told me the presence she wore was no ordinary thing.

“Whatever you do, no funny business.”

“…Fufufu. Is that what they call setting a flag?”

“As if it is!”

“A joke. Do settle down.”

The words of warning had no effect on her whatsoever. Praying Rudolf would get the Saint to the capital in one piece, I took my eyes off her.

“Rest easy. I swear on Lord Svell I’ll offer no resistance on the road to the capital.”

Just how much weight that vow carried was beyond the grasp of Rudolf and me, who held no faith in the god Svell.

2

Departure for the Roscheld Republic was set for the morning after next. Today and tomorrow we would put up at an inn in Nocto, and it was agreed we’d look into the Republic warship the following day.

It was just on dusk. To find rooms enough for the whole sailing party, we’d split up and search. As Rune-sama and I were dividing the ground between us, a voice broke in.

“U-um, excuse me—!”

A young man standing before a supply warehouse a little back from the water shouted at the top of his voice, then waved a hand our way.

“Who’s that?”

“That uniform… isn’t that a guard of the Republic?”

“Then he’s a crewman off that ship.”

“Most likely. In any case, let’s hear him out.”

By the look of him he was in quite a state. He caught sight of us and came running over in under ten seconds.

“Haah, haah. Forgive me… for the sudden…”

He drew in a great breath of sea air, working to steady his ragged panting. I set a hand on the hilt of my sword so I could draw at once if anything happened.

“So, have you some business with us?”

Even knowing full well he was a Republic guard, Rune-sama put the question to the young man as if she hadn’t a clue. His breathing settled by degrees, and at last he began to speak.

“You are Her Majesty the Emperor, Valtrune von Felsdorf, are you not?”

“Yes. I am indeed Valtrune, the current Emperor.”

At her plain answer, the young man’s face stiffened another degree. Then, as if steeling himself, his face went stern, and he dropped to his knees on the spot and bowed his head.

“Your Majesty. F-forgive the discourtesy, but I beg you: will you not come with us to the Roscheld Republic, this very moment?!”

“—Kh.”

So it was. My bad feeling had struck home. This turn of things proved beyond doubt that something had gone wrong inside the Republic. A trivial matter, a scheduling conflict, say, or ill health on their side, would have come as a proposal to cancel or put off the meeting. That they wanted a visit this urgently meant, plainly, that they’d run into a problem they couldn’t handle within their own borders and wanted to borrow the power of the Empire’s Emperor, a great nation.

“Tell me the whole of it.”

“Yes. The truth is—”

What he laid out was beyond all imagining. A coup erupted in the Republic with no warning at all. Councilors on close terms with the Empire, their lives hunted. And the father of Raquel Nova, who was Rune-sama’s own dear friend, murdered, the council taken over entire by councilors of the pro-Kingdom faction. The Republic split in two, its order collapsed. And Raquel, the young man explained, wished to win back the Republic’s right of self-rule from the high-handed pro-Kingdom councilors.

“…And that is how matters stand.”

I heard him out to the end and turned to her at once.

“Rune-sama. Let’s call off the crossing to the Republic. It’s far too dangerous.”

I urged her to give up going this time.

“N-no. Why would you say such a thing!”

I spared his near-weeping face a glance and turned my back on him coldly.

“Why? Because it’s obvious. With the Republic’s order in chaos, danger reaches Rune-sama. As the personal knight who thinks of her safety first, of course I’m against it.”

“But then the Republic will—”

“What we think of first is our own nation. That’s only natural.”

As things stood, in the Empire’s northeast, forces opposed to her already threw their weight about and ran unchecked. With stability at home not yet secured, we hadn’t the room to spare to help put down a coup in another country. I took Rune-sama’s hand.

“Let’s go back to the capital. Rune-sama.”

Hand laid over hers, I turned on my heel and took one step onto the homeward road, but the hand I’d covered slipped free at once. She hadn’t stirred so much as a step from where she stood.

“Rune… sama?”

“Al. I’m sorry.”

“—Kh!”

I grasped the meaning at once. She meant to walk it. The road of carnage, like an endless bed of sharp needles. Laying a hand on the desperately pleading young man’s shoulder, she smiled softly.

“…Your wish. I’ll grant it.”

“Y-you truly will?!”

“Yes. Truly.”

In that moment, going to the Republic was settled. A foreign land we’d set foot in knowing it a danger zone. As my own private feeling I didn’t take to it, and I couldn’t help thinking there was little point in holding out a saving hand to a Republic whose machinery of rule had ground to a halt; but she, as Emperor, had chosen to answer the plea for aid with an eye fixed much further ahead, I thought. If so, all I myself could do was honor her will and keep her person safe until we were back in the capital.

“Heey. We’ve got inns enough for everyone… hey now, why the gloomy faces?”

The group that had been off searching the nearby inns came back just then.

“Lord Rudolf.”

“Ah. Did I walk in on something?”

“No. You’ve come back at a good moment, I’d say.”

“—?”

Shown, with no word of explanation, a young man still bathing Rune-sama in hopeful looks, the whole lot of them were left baffled, to a man.

“…Big bro. Mind if I hear the details?”

I beckoned Fadi and Rudolf over; Fadi came whispering at my ear, and I laid out the young man’s story from a moment ago, plain and careful to add no color of my own.

“…That’s the gist of it.”

“Huh. So they want the Emperor’s authority used to put a stop to the Republic’s squabble. Pretty arrogant thing to ask.”

“There’s certainly no obligation on us to take it on. Weighing the national interest, turning it down would be the safe call.”

Fadi’s and Rudolf’s views both leaned away from taking up the plea for aid. But even if that was the view of the great majority, only one opinion took precedence.

“I’m of the same mind as all of you myself, but Rune-sama has decided we make the crossing to the Republic with all haste.”

“Eh?” Fadi and Rudolf blurted as one.

The Emperor’s command was absolute. What she had chosen was the highest priority of all.

“Thirty minutes to make ready. We leave for the Republic at once.”

3

If anyone can, Rune-chan will surely come to our aid.

Honestly, I hadn’t taken Councilor Raquel Nova’s words to heart. The newly risen second female Emperor in the whole history of the Valugan Empire. Valtrune von Felsdorf. I’d heard from every quarter that she was a person of fine character, but never in my dreams had I thought her so big-hearted that she’d truly rush to the Republic in its plight.

“We’ll follow after your ship.”

“Understood. We’re in your care, and grateful for it.”

For Emperor Valtrune, who’d made up her mind to come with us to the Republic without a moment’s hesitation, I felt nothing but gratitude. The matter brooked no delay. Every moment’s delay would cost lives.

“Rune-sama. The crew have all boarded the far ship. We can put out whenever you like.”

“I see. Then it’s about time I went back as well.”

With the jet-black knight following at her side, she took her leave of us and our Republic ship. In flat contrast to the sunny smile she’d given us, the knight fixed a cold gaze square on me.

“…Hii.”

“………”

Though nothing at all was done to me, a short, scream-like sound leaked out of my throat by reflex. I regretted the rude reaction afterward, but I felt that no matter how many times that scene were played over, I’d give the same one every time. On the deck rising and falling with the waves, watching the sun sink into the horizon, I thought: with this, a chance to rebuild the Republic still remained, and I felt the relief of having done my part.

The civil war in the Republic would surely keep tracing a course toward greater ferocity. There was a limit to how long the local governments of each region could hold out in resistance, and unless a sweeping rebuild of the government could be managed, the nation itself would be laid under the threat of vanishing. Lady Raquel’s plea had been heard. What came of it from here was an unknown quantity, but if each and every soul who loved the nation roused itself, the Republic of old could without fail be won back. That was what I believed, letting my body sway with the roll of the ship.

4

The sky was dyed a dim indigo, and countless starlings wheeled overhead as a single black mass. As if to announce the day’s end, the air had chilled, and the breath I let out came white.

“…Right, then. We head back to the capital, our own way.”

Just five of us, myself included. The brawny Rudolf left the rickety carriage they’d arranged for us waiting and drew his eyes off the fleet of several ships pressing on toward the open sea.

“Come on. Quit staring and let’s go.”

The chain fastened at my wrist gave a light tug.

“…What a splendid entertainment, and I’m not to see it up close. A shame.”

“Hah? What are you on about.”

“Nothing. Only that I’d have liked to witness their story with my own eyes.”

I could have wiped out the five here and slipped aboard the Republic-bound ship. But run wild in this moment, and the distrust they held toward me would remain, a thing that could never be wiped clean. To fulfill my aim I needed their efforts, and for that, in the end, I needed to join hands with them. Well, to go without watching such a delightful entertainment even for a moment was simply beyond me. At the huge white shadow lurking directly beneath the ship they rode, I smiled.

“…Fufufu. I’ll be watching over you from afar.”

“So what is it you keep going on about?”

“Pay it no mind. Only talking to myself.”

My precious giant beast, whom every soul present had pushed clean out of mind. The White Serpent’s work on the forest road was done; its next task was to watch the Elect, who’d surely be at their liveliest in the Republic too. I could share in the White Serpent’s field of view at any time. Sealed of my mana though I was, a spell of this much I could still work. I’d be shut away somewhere in the capital from here on. Even in a dull, entertainment-less space, the one thing I could take pleasure in was watching over their exploits from far away.

“Let’s be off.”

“Ah, hey… haah. What a free spirit you are.”

The moment Rudolf and I climbed into the carriage, the wheels began to roll slowly. In the cabin bound for the capital, I decided to take a while’s rest. Eyes shut, I sank my consciousness to the very bottom of the abyss.

“Suu… suu…”

Because in a few days, surely, I’d be shown a scene so delightful I couldn’t tear my eyes from it.

5

The jet-black sea, lit by moonlight, only spun out slow ripples and mirrored the night sky. Not even two hours had passed since we’d left the military harbor, yet the ship was cutting the dead center of the ocean, not a scrap of land in sight anywhere around. The rotating watch had come to my turn, and I swept my eyes over the surroundings from the highest point of the ship. The salt scent drifting at my nose and the silence-wrapped sea made for a stretch of peace so deep I could almost forget the turbulent hours before.

“…Nothing out of the ordinary, then.”

Another ship, an enemy shape, if one drew near I could pick it out with ease from a long way off. The sea, with nothing to block the view, was in a sense an easy place to run a watch. Well, rare exceptions did exist.

“………”

The infinite spread of water directly below. There, by contrast, even an enemy’s approach was hard to catch. Let them dive underwater and there’d be no sound of them nearing at all; deeper still, and not even a shadow could be made out. A great blind spot, truly. But still, surely not. I couldn’t go so far as to say it was out of the question, yet the notion of an assassin swimming on and on to board the ship I struck from my mind at once. Near port it might be possible, but out this far at sea, few humans could keep themselves under the water. Before wasting any more thought on needless fancies, I set to thinking over how we’d move once we reached the Republic.

Nothing at all stirred on the water. With no approach of ill intent to sense, I’d let my guard down completely. So I couldn’t notice it: the huge white shadow lurking directly beneath the great ship we rode. Having decided on my own that what would come creeping toward us was human, I’d never imagined, even faintly, the giant beast the Saint had loosed.

“Shhh…”

Towing along a creature that was never in the plan, the ship drew steadily nearer to the Republic. The day a respite came to us was, it seemed, a future still far, far off.