Special Chapter
The Beginning of the End ①
The Horse Hooves Announcing Ruin
Translator : PolterGlast
This will be a
commemorative SS (Short Story), lasting for about four chapters. This story is
about the end of Takuhir's second life, before he returned to the past. There
is also an announcement in the afterword at the end, so please take a look if
you'd like.
***
This is a story about
Takuhir's second life, leading up to the beginning of the end, shortly before
he was executed by the invading Gryphonia Imperial Army.
In the summer of Kyle
Year 513, a grand ceremony celebrating the ascension of the next emperor was
being held in the Imperial Capital of Griffin, in the Gryphonia Empire.
Many people from all
over the Empire gathered in Griffin, and cheers celebrating the ascension rose
from all around. However, there were also those who watched this scene with
bitterness.
"In the end... it
was decided to choose him. I never thought His Majesty would abdicate the
throne at a time like this! Does it mean his daily amusements were too much for
his age... Duke Harry, what do you intend to do from now on? I must ask you to
please share your thoughts, Your Grace!"
"Margrave Goth,
do not lose your composure. You have overstepped! His Majesty's health has been
failing him recently, and he must have felt he could no longer bear the duties
of government. That bastard sent a large number of beautiful princesses from
the Sura Duchy to His Majesty... We have our own thoughts on the matter, but it
cannot be helped."
Duke Harry replied
thus, then spoke to the man sitting beside him on a particularly luxurious
throne.
"Your Highness
Glorious, it is not over yet. We still have one last move. Even if that man
becomes emperor, his throne is not immutable."
"Harry, what do
you mean by that?"
"I have just had
an audience with the former emperor and the new emperor. At that time, in
exchange for our faction acknowledging his succession to the throne, I
presented one condition. 『In the south and the north, you have competed for supremacy in the
succession. We wish for the new emperor to show us proof that he is worthy, by
demonstrating the same skill that destroyed the southern duchy in the north as
well. 』 That man accepted. With this move, we can turn the tables."
At Duke Harry's words,
the First Prince Glorious muttered while holding his head.
"And what will
happen then? Won't that man just appear again? Some former mercenary of unknown
origin... the 'Ever-Victorious General'? Don't mock me! No one ever thought he
would completely change the tide of war with such tactics! He is now a Corps
Commander, standing shoulder to shoulder with me, a prince, and leading a field
army. His rise is outrageous. All because of him alone, I have fallen behind..."
"However, if that
glorious Corps Commander suffers a crushing defeat and his army is annihilated,
his prestige will fall to the earth. We have a plan. Please, just say that you
leave it to us."
"...I have no
other options. Harry, I'm counting on you."
"As you wish!
Marquis Bradley, Margrave Goth, Count Astley, Count Mainz! I will now impart
the plan. You are to immediately gather your armies and prepare for deployment!
For this campaign, we will borrow 10,000 elite cavalry from His Highness's personal
guard!"
They finalized their
war council and left their seats with eager steps.
※
Meanwhile, in the
office of Grat, the new emperor, two men were discussing future strategy.
"Your
Highness—no, my apologies, Your Majesty. First, allow me to congratulate you on
your safe succession to the throne as Emperor. All that remains... is to sweep
away the squirming rascals, is it not?"
"Those rascals...
no, the big old fox who leads them, is the problem. He is already busy
preparing to drag me down. That bastard, in exchange for recognizing my
succession, he's presented a convenient condition."
"And
you...?"
"Ah, of course I
accepted it. I have you, Weiss. Your skill in bypassing the Sura Duchy's proud,
impregnable fortress line with a bold breakthrough, striking the enemy's
completely unexpected flank and rear, and driving them to total collapse—I'm
sorry, but I want you to show it to me once more."
"Your Majesty,
that was an unorthodox path. If I hadn't done that, the front with the Duchy
would have stagnated, and we would have fallen behind our rivals within the
family. I'll be troubled if you expect that so often."
General Weiss said
this, but his expression was full of confidence. Grat, before he became
emperor, had seen this expression on his trusted general's face time and time
again.
"I don't care if
it's unorthodox or not, as long as we win. Inside your head, there is already a
strategy that neither the enemy nor even our allies can imagine, isn't there?
So, can you win?"
"If Your Majesty so
desires."
Seeing Weiss bow
respectfully, Grat cast aside his hesitation and made an immediate decision.
"Then, I hereby
appoint you as the Corps Commander of the Northern Expeditionary Force, and
entrust you with 30,000 of my soldiers. They will likely send 20,000 to 30,000
encumbrances of their own, but as an imperial command, you are to take command
of them all as well. If the allied forces on both sides are roughly equal,
under balanced conditions, they will have no grounds to complain about your victory.
So... when?"
"The imperial
command, I have certainly received. I will immediately form a select unit from
Your Majesty's soldiers and depart to subjugate the Kyle Kingdom."
Grat watched the
retreating figure of his most trusted general, who had bowed and was departing,
and muttered with deep emotion.
"It's a strange
fate. Was it about 11 years ago that he came to visit my camp, where I was
fighting on the southern border? At that time, he was in rags from head to toe,
a sight that was hard to look at..."
The man Grat, who was
the Third Prince at the time, had met out of sheer whim in the midst of the war
with the Sura Duchy.
He hadn't even met the
suspicious man who had volunteered as a mercenary, but had his subordinates
test his swordsmanship. But that man had defeated all of his subordinate
champions, so he had taken an interest and granted him an audience. That was
the beginning.
Grat's long-standing,
major problem was that he had no subordinate commander who was skilled in both
literary and military arts, to whom he could entrust an army. As a result of
speaking with that man, he had sensed his potential as a great general and, on
a trial basis, entrusted him with a unit of 1,000 men. The man then showed him
a magnificent victory in a local battle.
As the war situation
progressed, the number of soldiers the man commanded increased, and he piled up
victories, climbing the ladder of promotion. That was Weiss Schwarzfalke, the
man later known as the "Raging Black Hawk" and the "Ever-Victorious
General."
The Sura Duchy's army,
caught off guard by his extremely bold tactics, collapsed completely, and the
duchy quickly fell into ruin. This development, which no one had expected, this
sudden change in the situation, had put Grat in a decisive position in the
struggle for the throne, and his succession was confirmed. It was, so to speak,
thanks to this man that he had been able to ascend the throne.
※
One month later, as
the harvest drew near and golden fields covered the land, disastrous news ran
through the Kyle Kingdom. The Gryphonia Imperial Army had suddenly crossed the
border and invaded, routing the defending Margrave Hastburg and his forces, and
was now advancing into the kingdom.
The opening battle was
an anticlimactic one.
The Gryphonia Empire
had not let the Kyle Kingdom sense its intention to invade. The Kyle Kingdom,
too, had become complacent, believing that since a new emperor had been decided,
there would be no new invasion for the time being.
For that reason,
Margrave Hastburg, who was defending the border, had barely managed to gather
3,000 of his own men and 1,000 from the neighboring Viscount Kirias. Only
Viscount Gorman, who had been in the middle of an exercise, had been able to
rush to the scene with 300 cavalry.
Against them, the
10,000-strong Iron Cavalry Corps, led by Duke Harry, who had desired the
vanguard for himself, trampled the Kyle Kingdom's soldiers under their hooves and
easily crushed them.
Margrave Hastburg and
his men suffered repeated defeats, and in the end, they abandoned the Southern
Gate fortress where they had been holed up, and with their forces reduced to
less than a third, they fled in rout toward the Royal Capital.
There, they are
awaiting the 30,000-strong reinforcements from the Royal Knights and preparing
for a counter-offensive.
The Kyle Kingdom's
side has also decided to respond to this crisis with the entire Royal Knights
army, and 30,000 cavalry have already departed the Royal Capital, heading
south.
Everyone anticipated
that a great, decisive battle would soon be fought over the Southern Gate
fortress.
※
In the Gryphonia
Empire's camp, jubilant with victory, they deployed in and around the captured
Southern Gate fortress, and the high command participated in a war council to
decide future policy.
At the war council,
the supreme commander of this expeditionary force, Corps Commander Weiss of the
Northern Expeditionary Force, sat in the upper center seat. To his left sat the
members of the First Prince's faction, Duke Harry and the other nobles. To his
right sat the various commanders of the emperor's direct subordinate units, led
by Corps Commander Weiss.
"Well, the
opening battle has ended in victory... From here on, we would very much like to
see the renowned General Weiss's command."
Margrave Goth of the
First Prince's faction was the first to speak. He himself had won numerous
victories on the border with the Kyle Kingdom and was a veteran champion known
even to the enemy country.
"The vanguard was
granted to you because you strongly desired it. But I, as the Corps Commander
of the Northern Expeditionary Force, having received His Majesty the Emperor's
command, will follow your victory. Duke Harry, I would like you to command the
entire 25,000 troops of the right wing, and to secure this area and our supply
lines. We, who are responsible for the left wing, will position 10,000 infantry
at the rearmost, on the border, to secure our logistics and an escape route in
case of emergency. And with our main force of 20,000 cavalry, we will strike
the kingdom's army and move to attack the Royal Capital directly. Is this
acceptable?"
"Yes, sir!"
The leaders of the
right wing—Duke Harry, Marquis Bradley, Margrave Goth, Count Astley, and Count Mainz—replied
shortly and smirked. Because this was playing right into their hands.
The 20,000 cavalry of
the troublesome left wing would grind themselves down against the 30,000 of the
Kyle Kingdom's Royal Knights. This is what they had been plotting and hoping
for all along.
"Then, the war
council is concluded. We also have preparations for tomorrow's departure, so we
will excuse ourselves to fall back and receive reorganization and
supplies."
With this, he returned
to his own camp. Only the leaders of the right wing remained at the war
council.
"Hmph, has he
become overconfident, being called the 'Ever-Victorious General'? To fall into
our scheme so easily. War is about numbers, and yet he intends to win with
20,000 against 30,000. It will be a sight to see his tear-streaked face."
"Margrave Goth,
that man cannot be trusted. You must not let your guard down at any time.
Marquis Bradley! Take your troops and from now on, stick to his rear and be on
standby. Do you understand? Do not fail to finish him."
"Yes, sir!
Understood. As His Grace Duke Harry commands, we will either witness his end or
deliver the finishing blow."
"Good. As long as
you understand."
And so, they spent a
sleepless night in anticipation, and the fated morning arrived.
※
In the early morning,
before the sun had fully risen, a single messenger galloped into the Southern
Gate fortress.
"Urgent report!
Urgent report! Please, I must see the Duke immediately! Open the gate, open the
gate!"
Duke Harry and the
others were roused from their sleep by the early morning express messenger.
"What is it!
Speak, and speak quickly! I permit you to speak directly!"
"Yes, sir! A
report from my master, Marquis Bradley. In the early morning, the left-wing
army vanished completely. 20,000 cavalry have disappeared and are nowhere to be
found!"
"What did you
say? If they were heading to the Royal Capital, they would have to pass by this
fortress. There is no sign of them having passed here!"
"Yes, sir! My
master is in pursuit, following the hoof prints... It seems they lead into the
demon territory on the left flank. We know nothing more at this time."
Yes, it was only at
this point that they realized.
The army they had
intended to send into the enemy's heartland as a decoy to be ground down—if that
army invaded from the demon territory on the left flank, it meant that they
themselves would now have to face the 30,000-strong enemy army that would come
from the front.
They were the ones who
had become the decoy and the bait. In yesterday's council, it was true that the
man had not said he would fight the Royal Knights, nor that he would advance on
the central highway to strike the capital. They themselves, in order not to
have their own hidden intentions sensed, had deliberately not pressed for the details
of his strategy.
"Get all troops
inside the fortress at once! The enemy's counter-offensive will begin shortly.
Make haste and prepare!"
Duke Harry's scream
echoed through the Southern Gate fortress. They now had to face the
counter-offensive of the Kyle Kingdom's elite, the 30,000-strong Royal Knights.
Twenty-five thousand
against thirty thousand, they were at a numerical disadvantage, and in terms of
cavalry, they were overwhelmingly inferior. And if they were to retreat so
shamefully, the First Prince's fate would be sealed.
With grim resolve,
they began to prepare for a defensive battle.
And immediately after,
the Royal Knights splendidly took the bait that Weiss had thrown.
Taking the brunt of
the fierce attack from the Kyle Kingdom's proud 30,000 Royal Knights, they,
being outnumbered, would be forced to continue a difficult fight.
※
At the same time, a
great army was galloping on horseback through the dangerous region known as the
edge of the demon territory. They, with the Corps Commander himself leading the
vanguard, pushed deep into the demon territory without hesitation.
"Report! There is
an army displaying a white flag deployed on our path ahead! Their number is
approximately 500! They say they wish to surrender to us!"
Corps Commander Weiss
temporarily halted his advance and granted an audience to the general of the
surrendering army.
"Thank you truly
for accepting our surrender. My name is Hiyorimi von Erol, and I am entrusted
with the viscounty just over the hills ahead. I humbly request your permission
to join your army."
"Now then... what
to do? We have not accepted your surrender. You are a coward who has betrayed
your kingdom and defected. Is that not so?"
Even at the Corps
Commander's words, the young man did not flinch in the slightest. His face,
with its faint smile, was mysteriously filled with confidence.
"Of course, it is
as Your Excellency says. A force such as ours could be blown away with a single
breath. However, I am certain that we can be of great assistance to Your
Excellency's strategy."
"Speak
specifically. How can you be of use?"
"I surmise that
Your Excellency's enemy right now is time. You intend to gallop down the
defenseless highway that leads from Teigoon to Est, and then to the Royal
Capital, and strike the capital directly. You intend to strike the capital and
decide the victory at once, before the Royal Knights can turn back from the
Southern Gate, do you not?"
"Oh? You've read
that far?"
Weiss sighed. He had
never imagined there would be someone on the kingdom's side who could
accurately read his strategy.
"However, there
is just one problem. Teigoon is protected on both ends by narrow passes and is
not suited for an invasion by a large army. Furthermore, even with a small
force, if they block the passes, it will take time to break through, and you
will waste precious time."
Weiss was well aware
of that. He had also prepared countermeasures for it, but at this moment, he
deliberately kept silent.
"And you have a
solution? I have no need for fools, but if your proposal meets my expectations,
I shall accept your surrender and permit you to join my ranks."
"Thank you. I am
grateful for the generosity of the renowned Ever-Victorious General, General
Weiss. The army Your Excellency leads is unified with fast horses, but you must
have a minimal supply train, do you not? I propose you split your army, sending
half to the Teigoon pass, and the other half, with the supply train, through my
domain. You would pass through my domain, via Dimos in the southeast of Baron
Solis's territory, and rendezvous at Fran. It would be a significant saving of
time. And beyond Fran, a vast land awaits the harvest. If we guide you, passing
through this side road will be a simple matter."
"...Very well!
Viscount Hiyorimi, I promise I will put in a good word for you with His Majesty
after the war. I permit you to join our ranks. Guide half of the force! The
entire army will rendezvous at Fran! However, the guides shall come from your
army, while you yourself will accompany me and head from Teigoon to Fran. Is
that acceptable?"
He would take Erol's
advice, but he would separate the crucial Erol from the army he commanded. He
was, in effect, a hostage.
Accompanied by the
contentedly nodding Erol, the army led by Corps Commander Weiss resumed its
advance, splitting the army into two.
And so, toward the
fated hour, the hoofbeats of the Imperial army echoed toward the Estol domain.
***
Thank you very much
for always reading.
【Announcement】 I am pleased to announce that this work has been slated for a book
release. To have come this far, supported by everyone's encouragement since my
first post, is truly like a dream. I offer my heartfelt thanks to you all once
again. Thank you so much for your support up to this point. And please, I ask
for your continued support. I will be providing more details about the book
version in an activity report, so I would be grateful if you would take a look
via the author's name link.
【Regarding the Gaiden (Side Story)】 The gaiden related to this main story has now reached
16 posts. It's almost at the point where stories and historical sites related
to the main story will begin to appear. I plan to continue posting this slowly
as well, so thank you for your support.
【Regarding the Special Arc】 Starting from this time, I am posting a special arc
divided into four parts. This is content I have been developing for a long
time, but it was content I couldn't write until the story progressed, the
characters were all introduced, and the various motives, such as the Imperial
situation Sieghart mentioned, became clear. The special arc is structured to
include some episodes that will also be reflected in the book version. The
content is a story about the events leading up to the prologue, a little before
this main series, but it also describes the connections between Takuhir and
other characters. I plan to spell out in detail the events leading to the end
of the second world, and the movements of the Empire and the Kingdom (Estol
domain), so please look forward to it.
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