Ch#37
- Heading to the Capital (1)
That was the day Elric wandered through a terrible nightmare.
In other terms, it was the day Tiria’s fever finally broke, and she returned to her office.
In yet another sense, it was the day fresh news arrived from the Western Battlefield, and overall, it was a day when the end of the year loomed large.
“Three more kingdoms have fallen.”
Tiria spoke while reading the Western Monthly.
As she said, in that short span of time, three more kingdoms had already walked the path of ruin.
Without exception, they were kingdoms that did not possess one of the Seven Strongest. Now, the battlefield had become a struggle between the five remaining kingdoms and a single empire.
“Won’t the situation begin to stagnate soon?”
To Tiria’s question, Elric gave a sharp reply.
“It will only get more violent.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah…”
Elric snapped back to his senses a moment too late.
Perhaps because of the bad dreams, he was in a quite sensitive state. He thought it had lessened lately, but here it was again, rummaging through his mind and affecting his daily life.
Elric gave an awkward smile and added a further explanation.
“Forgive me. What I meant was that the easy war is over, and the fighting from now on will take the form of them tearing into each other even more fiercely.”
“The… easy war?”
“Indeed. The kingdoms that have fallen so far were those without any of the Strongest, were they not? Now that they are finished, what remains is the clash between the powerhouses. Naturally, the battlefield will become more intense.”
“Does a single individual truly influence a war to such an extent?”
“You can see that just by looking at Flame Demon Igret’s knights. In the end, the battlefield is led according to the whims of a few powerful individuals.”
It was absurd, but it was the truth.
As gunpowder and steam were invented and researched, scholars claimed that individual martial prowess would no longer be able to move the battlefield.
But what was the reality of the Western War?
The battlefield was still dominated by a single spell carved into a staff and a single swing of a sword by a superhuman.
That was why everything up until now had been the ‘easy war.’
Battles against nations without the Strongest were more accurately described as one-sided massacres.
Tiria looked quite skeptical at Elric’s words.
Her voice carried that same tone.
“Even if that is true, wouldn’t they become more cautious if it is a battle between equals? I find it hard to imagine the situation becoming more urgent than it is now.”
It was a plausible doubt.
Of course, it was far from the correct answer.
“It is because of the compatibility between the Strongest.”
Elric understood this part better than anyone.
After all, he himself occupied one of those seven seats.
“Flame cannot pierce the Heavenly Wings. The Heavenly Wings cannot pierce the Demon King. The Demon King cannot pierce the Saint, and the Saint cannot pierce Geumgong.”
The moment he mentioned Geumgong, Elric brushed his hand over his knee.
A bitter smile accompanied the gesture.
“Ultimately, it is like a row of dominoes. In the current situation, if any one person breaks the balance, the battlefield will reach an irreversible state in an instant.”
For instance, if two of the Strongest formed a temporary alliance and struck down one head, the war would end at that moment.
The remaining war would not last a single season before victory was handed to one side.
There could be no truce.
The battlefield would never stop until only one nation remained on the western lands.
The rift between nations, carved out over twenty years, had gone beyond the point where it could be settled through agreement.
Having finished his explanation, Elric rubbed his neck.
‘Hmm, did I sound too much like a know-it-all?’
The thought occurred to him late, and Elric checked Tiria’s reaction.
She was lost in thought for a moment before she threw out another question.
“Then what about the Sword Demon Kasha?”
Elric’s fingertips twitched.
“The, the Sword Demon?”
“Yes. If what you say is true, then the Sword Demon must have a compatibility as well.”
“Haha…”
No matter how he phrased it, he would end up praising himself.
Elric felt the awkwardness rise to the top of his head as he spoke.
“……There is none.”
“Pardon?”
“The Sword Demon has no compatibility. He considers the situation rather than compatibility. Would you understand if I said the outcome is decided by the difference in troop strength, the weather, the terrain, and various other factors at the time?”
His knee injury was, in the end, an extension of such things.
A dreadfully large disadvantage in numbers.
He had been in a situation where he had to stop an army of thousands alone, and the equipment they wore were things born from Geumgong’s hands.
They were enemies charging from atop a hill, and the wind that day had also favored them. How could he have emerged from there unscathed?
In truth, it was a miracle he was even alive.
Even if he went back to that time, Elric was not confident he could defend any more perfectly than he did that day.
“Anyway, it’s an unnecessary story. Since the Sword Demon no longer appears on the battlefield.”
The moment he tried to change the subject, Elric realized Tiria’s gaze was fixed on him, intense enough to pierce right through him.
Elric’s heart skipped a beat.
Had he given her a reason to be suspicious?
No, if she suspected him just because he mentioned Kasha’s disappearance, it would be more accurate to say the person making the guess was delusional.
And as far as Elric could see, Tiria was far from being a delusional person.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that…?”
When he asked cautiously, Tiria replied.
“It is because you did not mention anything regarding the situation of the Emperor. He is also one of the Seven Strongest.”
“A-Aha!”
Elric let out a breath of relief and said,
“There’s no way to know his situational compatibility! Did he not fall silent immediately after starting the war twenty years ago? Since there is no precedent for him fighting the other Seven Strongest, one cannot make a hasty judgment!”
The former Emperor of the Empire, the very man who started the war.
He had withdrawn from the front lines less than three months after the war broke out and had remained out of the public eye ever since.
So, Elric couldn’t possibly know.
Since he himself had only started active duty on the battlefield ten years ago and had only made a name for himself as one of the Strongest less than five years ago.
“A-Anyway!”
Elric cut his words short.
“What does the compatibility of the Strongest have to do with us? They are on the other side of the continent, aren’t they?”
“……I suppose so. The trading season has passed as well.”
Tiria nodded, showing her quick agreement.
Only then could Elric fully put his mind at ease.
‘Phew, I really need to watch my mouth.’
Just because a topic he knew about came up, he had acted like a know-it-all. That was a dangerous move that could have planted seeds of doubt.
Elric scolded himself, thinking he needed to be careful and then careful again.
It was during such a peaceful time.
Wibin was so quiet that, unless they were debating news from the battlefield, the biggest headline was that a neighbor’s cow had given birth to five calves.
The relationship between Elric and Tiria was much the same.
They could face each other when handling various tasks, but whenever silence descended, a ticklish atmosphere settled in, making it difficult to continue the conversation.
It was a strange silence that was uncomfortable yet didn’t feel bad, and it was filling the office where the two were today.
“A letter has arrived from the Royal Castle.”
It was Aldio who broke the silence, bringing a letter.
The white envelope was stamped with the royal seal, and Aldio’s manner as he presented it was exceedingly respectful.
Elric tilted his head.
“From the Royal Castle?”
“Ah, it must be a letter regarding the New Year’s Banquet.”
At Tiria’s answer, Elric’s gaze turned to her.
“A banquet?”
“The New Year is approaching. As it is a banquet to mark the beginning of the year, all nobles are encouraged to attend.”
Only then did Elric nod, showing some level of understanding.
However, he had a question.
“Do we absolutely have to go?”
He wasn’t very keen on it.
Since Ferdin was a remote kingdom far from the Western Battlefield, he wasn’t immediately worried about people recognizing him.
However, if all the nobles of this place gathered, he might get caught up in petty disputes, and if he failed to control his temper for a moment, he could draw unwanted attention.
Someone might investigate his tracks and eventually reach the name Kasha.
If possible, he wanted to skip it.
That was his desire, but—
“It is not possible. Although they call it a recommendation, it is effectively a command.”
Tiria was firm.
“Though it wears the mask of a banquet, it is closer to a basic attendance event to test loyalty to the Royal Family. If we miss it for no reason, it is easy to fall out of favor with the court.”
“Mmm…”
“If you truly dislike it, I will have to go alone.”
Elric’s shoulders flinched.
Now that he thought about it, that was true.
“……What did you do last year?”
“I went alone. Since it was the first banquet after the former Head of the family passed away, all eyes were on me.”
Why did that feel like pressure?
No, Elric knew the answer.
More than that, hearing her say she would go to the capital alone gave him a sense of rejection for some reason.
Even putting aside his feelings of guilt, he simply didn’t like the idea of all that attention being focused on her.
Elric himself didn’t quite know the reason.
“……I’ll go.”
He answered on impulse.
Tiria nodded immediately and said,
“That is a wise choice. Then I must have the carriage prepared. We will need to pack our bags as well.”
“Hmm? We’re not taking the train?”
“Pardon?”
The two exchanged looks of confusion.
As Elric tilted his head, Tiria spoke.
“……Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
Elric let out a sigh at her attitude, which clearly showed her worry.
He remembered once hearing something from Elbus Graham about people of her kind.
‘By the way, have you ever seen someone who suffers from a phobia of civilization? People who feel anxiety toward every element brought about by technological advancement. I happened to see exactly such a person not long ago. What was it again? They said they were anxious because the train was too fast to jump off in an emergency.’
‘Ah, they really existed.’
Realizing that someone who believed the analog way was the only safe truth was closer than he thought, Elric looked at her with a peculiar gaze.
“Let’s go by carriage. If we were to encounter an accident on the train, wouldn’t we be unable to respond? Furthermore, we cannot bring many guards on a train. It is not ideal for protecting oneself.”
Should he call her a country person?
She was speaking calmly, but for some reason, it looked like she was quite frightened.
This aspect, which hadn’t been very apparent while living in the old-fashioned Wibin, was finally revealed to Elric.
It was a completely new side of her.
