Volume 7, Chapter 2 - Holding Hope And Sunk In Sorrow, Part 4
The inside of Lucia’s tent was becoming filled with murderous intent.
“Excuse me.”
Then a woman’s voice rang out to break the murderous intent. A figure entered the tent before Lucia could give her permission to enter.
The person had no left arm. Rather, the left side of her body was severely damaged, giving her a painful appearance that made everyone who saw her want to turn away. She looked as if she was about to break like a fragile piece of glass, exuding a piercing presence.
There was not a single vestige of the girl who had once been revered as a beautiful princess.
Anyone who saw her would have felt the same way.
Her eyes are deadly pale, and her skin, pale as a ghost, gives others an intense chill.
Her name is Luca Mamon de Urpeth ― commander of one of the countries in the Six Kingdoms, Urpeth Kingdom, and second-in-command of the army that conquered the Grantz.
“I was taking care of Eagle, so I’m late.”
She said this to Lucia with eyes that did not show any signs of embarrassment or emotion.
Her brother had been beheaded by the fourth prince in a previous battle. However, she did not accept his death but brought back his body and was seen eating and sleeping with his head, laughing happily. In addition, the creepy conversations that could be heard from her tent at night, and the guards who heard them, became mentally ill, and many transfer requests were sent to Lucia.
After the death of his brother, Luca’s mind has collapsed and continues to wander the line between reality and fantasy.
“I have to take care of Eagle because his wounds have not healed yet. If you need something, could you please tell me quickly?”
Lucia sighed silently and pointed her iron fan at the seat in front of her. She urged her to sit down, but Luca refused, refusing to leave the entrance.
Lucia’s shoulders slumped, and she gave up and began to explain.
“I don’t think things will get any better if we stay here. We will retreat to Felzen.”
Then Luca came briskly up to her and looked silently down at Lucia.
“Are you dissatisfied?”
She nodded her head slightly.
“Of course. What do you think you are doing? You let the fourth prince escape. There’s no doubt that he’s lurking around here. I will find him and cut off his head.”
“Don’t get too hung up on it. He’s dead. I have no desire to stay here any longer, okay?”
“That’s what you’re trying to convince yourself. When the soldiers realize the truth, and more importantly when the home country realizes such a blunder, both you and I will be punished.”
“It’s true… but he’s not coming forward even though he’s alive. Then it would be inconvenient for them to know that he is still alive.”
Although it was regrettable, it was a unity of interest that transcended the boundaries between friend and foe.
The only thing she could do was to play clown, as the one who had defeated the “Ancient King.”
“I have no intention of leaving this land. I will stay here until I get his head, even if it means taking a bite out of it.”
“You are the commander of 100,000 troops… aren’t you?”
It is best to retreat. With the chain of command in disarray, future battles will be difficult. After all, they succeeded in neutralizing the west. They should be satisfied with that for now.
What awaits the Grantz Empire in the future is the restoration of normalcy in the west. They have to deal with the noble lords who change their minds and take measures to prevent the refugees from causing a riot. There are many other problems that need to be dealt with, and the usual course of action is to take advantage of the gap in the Grantz Empire, which is busy trying to solve those problems and destroy them once and for all.
“So, for the sake of your dead brother――”
“Eagle is not dead!”
The spirit radiated was like that of a demon ― a monster of sorts.
“He is just resting in the tent, for now, waiting for the right moment!”
This is the kind of expression that only a ghost trapped in deep hatred can make.
Lucia thinks that it is hard for the God of War to be resented this much as if it were someone else’s problem.
“…If you say so, that’s fine. But how about involving the soldiers in the path of revenge?”
“Shut up. I am the commander. The soldiers are obliged to follow me.”
“You will lose the throne, you know?”
“I don’t care. As long as I can kill him…”
Luca’s head slumped down as she bit her thumbnail in frustration.
“I will kill him with my own hands. I must condemn him to eternal torment.”
Lucia spread out her iron fan to cover her mouth as she looked into the eyes that had a dimmed light in them.
“Night after night… Eagle is crying. He cries for help from his sister, he cries that his neck hurts, he cries that he has no arms, he cries out in blood and tears for that man to be killed.”
Luca breathes out wildly like a beast, appealing desperately without looking away from Lucia. The vindictiveness of Luca, who wore a poisonous air that could be called miasma, did not stop.
“Then, I have to make it happen… Yeah, because I’m his sister… I’m going to tear off that man’s arms, gut him, aha, pull out his intestines, wrap them around his neck, twist them off, mess them up, and kill him.”
Her face was devoid of any emotion as she stared into the emptiness and mumbled to herself. Even though the tone of her voice was joyful, an endlessly empty cry rang out in the tent.
“Yes, right, that’s right, I’m going to kill him, kill him? Kill him? Kill, kill, kill!”
The curse created by the vindictiveness was so terrible that it led to despair.
“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”
It was too sudden.
Like a broken doll, she kicked the ground, again and again, shaking her wobbly head.
She kept her eyes on the ground and kept screaming.
Eventually, she jumped as if she was hit by something.
“Hah ― hah. I-I’m sorry! S-stop…!”
Suddenly, she retreated back to the corner of the tent, hugging her body, and her eyes widened as if in a panic, and she began to look around with a frightened face.
“A-ah… if you’re satisfied… I’ll take my leave now. Eagle wants to see me.”
Luca hurried out of the tent as if running away from something.
Lucia, who was looking at the unsteady back in a disturbed manner, closed her eyes.
“You’ve broken in the wrong direction.”
She let out a deep, sorrowful sigh, and a smile appeared on her face.
“Now… how should I use her?”
＊＊＊＊＊
“General McRill, the reconnaissance unit reports that they have found the encampment of the Levering Kingdom Army…”
In a noisy tent, a person in a superior position lifted his head in response to the report from the staff.
It was McRill de Pius, the general of the Urpeth Kingdom, one of the Six Kingdoms.
“Where have they been hiding?”
“Near the center of the west, in a place called Fort Tullus.”
“It’s a little too far away… If we organize a separate force, can we take it down?”
“We are still unsure of their numbers. I think we should wait for new information.”
“I see…”
General McRill slumped back into his chair with a sigh.
“If we can’t get some results, we can’t avoid Luca-sama’s punishment…”
Compared to other countries, the damage to the Urpeth Kingdom is too great. Not only were the 20,000 that surrounded the city of Sabelt destroyed, but their equipment was also seized by the enemy and used in the fight against the Fourth Prince Hiro, which was criticized by other countries. If compensation were to be paid, Luca’s achievements would not only be stripped away. There is a high possibility that her life itself will be taken away.
“If we can’t avoid that… we will not be able to repay His Majesty Kratos.”
Although the previous king ― Kratos, had many enemies, he was like a parent to General McRill. That’s why, when the king died, and the Urpeth Kingdom was taken over, General McRill was pained by the treatment of the siblings who were his remnants.
But at the time, General McRill had no power to save them and could only watch. Nevertheless, the siblings were able to endure their disadvantage and quickly surpassed General McRill and came forward to fight in this war.
But then, Eagle was killed in battle, and his sister was broken-hearted by the loss of her beloved brother.
“……It’s pathetic, they call me general, but I haven’t contributed anything.”
General McRill crosses his arms in distress, and a staff member comes to his aid.
“Deputy Commander Luca-sama wants to see you. She wants you to come to her tent as soon as possible…”
General McRill is overcome by a melancholy mood. It was excruciating to see Luca now. Rumor had it that she was sleeping with her dead brother’s head in her arms. There were even complaints from the soldiers about the stench wafting from the commander’s tent.
“All right. I’ll be right there.”
But he still had to see her even though he didn’t know what kind of reprimand he would receive.
Hoping that it would only be a reprimand, General McRill headed for the entrance with a somber expression on his face.
Once outside, he felt a chill run through him and shivered involuntarily. General McRill cocks his head and begins to walk with a scowl on his face.
Luca’s tent was not too far from the main tent of Urpeth.
He could reach it by walking silently through the camp where he could hear cheerful voices.
Then, the soldier guarding Luca’s tent saluted him with a tense look on their faces. When the entrance to the tent was opened, the soldier’s hands were shaking, whether it was because they met General McRill or because they were afraid of the evil that was going on inside.
“Sigh…”
Suppressing the urge to run away now, General McRill dove through the entrance.
Once inside, a strange odor stung his nose. The stench was so nauseating that General McRill had to cover his mouth. As he walked forward with heavy steps, he saw Luca sitting in the middle of the room. The strange sight overwhelmed him, but when Luca silently urged him to sit down, General McRill hurriedly put his knees on the ground.
“A-are you calling for me, Luca-sama?”
His voice trembled from fear. He looked up, fearful that he might have upset her.
Then, with an expression devoid of any emotion, the Lord turned to him with eyes as cloudy as muddy water.
“Why didn’t you greet Eagle as well?”
“Huh?”
“Eagle is angry. Please greet him properly.”
She turned to offer him her brother’s head.
The head was covered with dried flesh, the skin was peeled off, and the eyes were rotting.
General McRill’s face went down as he swallowed what was coming up from his stomach, triggered by the strange odor coming from the air.
“H-ha! I’m glad to see you looking so well, Eagle-sama!”
He couldn’t watch any longer. An eerie sensation of sinking into the mire crept up from beneath his feet. General McRill’s large body shivered as he felt an unaccountable chill.
“Eagle, what should we do?”
Luca hugged the skull carefully and spoke happily.
“Is that so…? Is that what you want? Fufu, Eagle is kind.”
She urged him to look up.
General McRill lifted his head, his bones creaking as he forced his nerves to twist in rejection from fear.
Luca smiled thinly at the faint light source in the dimly lit tent.
“General McRill has been loyal to us since our father’s time, so we’re going to drop the matter this time.”
He doesn’t say who. Once he said that, General McRill’s head would fall to the ground.
“Yes, thank you, I am very happy, and I will continue to serve you both with all my life.”
General McRill expressed his gratitude without hesitation.
“So, the reason I called you here…”
“You may order me to do anything you wish.”
General McRill was about to prostrate himself again when an unbelievable statement shook his eardrums.
“You must burn down all the villages you see in the surrounding area. And fondle the refugees flooding the streets and expose them in plain sight. Not a single Grantz should be allowed to live. Find them by the roots of the grass and behead and kill every last one of them.”
The order was so fearsome that General McRill’s body stiffened and confusion swirled in his head. But he could not remain silent for long, so he opened his mouth.
“I-I can’t do that…”
“Why not?”
“It would cause unnecessary resentment. It might affect our future battles.”
“…General McRill, raise your head.”
His heart skipped a beat and began to beat rapidly as if water in the middle of winter was pouring down on him from above. Feeling his emotions churning, General McRill breathed in and out wildly.
Time seemed to slow down as his brain could not accept the incomprehensible commands, and his body refused to accept them. He realized that he felt as if he was wandering in a darkness that he could not escape forever. But everything comes to an end sooner or later.
“――!?”
There was not even a scream from General McRill as he looked up. The surprise was pushed to the back of his throat by fear.
Luca was there, right on the tip of his nose.
Her pupils dilated as she stared at General McRill, holding up the skull of her beloved brother next to her wounded face.
“Kill all the Grantz who made Eagle look like this.”
When he first met her, she was a beautiful girl. After the previous king’s death, her beauty became a calamity that befell her, and she became a toy for many nobles.
After enduring and enduring hellish days, she was finally freed, but now she is holding her late brother’s neck with a big burn on the left side of her body. Her eyes, which had been as clear as amber, were now cloudy to the point of disaster.
General McRill bites his bottom lip in frustration, wondering if this is all his own fault for being so ungrateful. He realized that he could no longer refuse her orders.
“Very well. Let’s make those who stand in our way ― the Grantz ― bleed.”
The only thing that awaited Luca in the future was a ruin. There would be no one who would follow her. If that’s the case, devoting the rest of his life to her might be a way to repay his debt to the previous king.
“Then I grant you an army of 20,000. Burn down the villages, demolish the cities, and turn castles, forts, and anything else in sight into rubble.”
“Yes!”
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