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Volume 11, Chapter 2: In Mephius’ Imperial Capital

Part 1

When they heard that the emperor had apparently summoned the crown prince to the imperial capital, the people’s reaction was split in two:

“His Majesty has finally recognised His Highness Gil.”

“No, he’s surely planning to have him arrested and executed once he arrives at the capital.”

The arguments were carried out both surreptitiously and in loud voices. There were not many, however, who clearly supported one option or the other.

The greatest concern for the people was – how long will the civil war continue? Or, in other words, for how long would they need to fear the destructions of war, how long would high taxes be levied, would the men be conscripted as soldiers – those kinds of concerns.

Naturally, there were different opinions among them. There were those who felt that as long as the current reign ensured the country’s peace, then they did not care about the circumstances of those at the top. There were also many who felt uneasy about the emperor’s recent behaviour – invading a neighbouring country with a cause that even those around him felt to be unconvincing, attempting to execute his retainers and their family – and who worried that even once the civil war was over, the signs of trouble would continue to loom large.

Amongst the tangle of information, there was also some about Princess Vileena. This was because, in the port-city of Birac, Gowen and the others had taken the initiative of spreading rumours. Although they had managed to avoid a serious deterioration of popular sentiment towards Garbera, thanks to the news that the princess had captured the intruder, Salamand, the princess herself was said to have returned to her home country.

Incidentally, Salamand, the ringleader of the affair, was said to currently be held in a dungeon in Solon, although only a very limited number of people knew of his exact whereabouts. Although it was doubtful whether he even still breathed, rumour suspected that he was being kept alive on the emperor’s orders, as he had now become an important bargaining piece with Garbera.

In any case, a wide variety of confused reports continued to circulate and, even in Solon, the emperor’s core domain, the people could not hide their anxiety.

There was only one exception.

“The Garberan princess has finally understood her own situation,” gloated Empress Melissa when she heard that the princess had been returned to Garbera.

Her ladies’ maids were helping the Empress change into new clothes. Once the clothes had all been put on, there were the ornaments and hairstyle to tend to, so they were busily going about their work making fresh preparations for these. In the midst of that, the topic of Princess Vileena had been brought up.

“Regardless who tries to twist the truth and how, the former imperial crown prince is no longer part of this world. Since her intended fiancé is no more, Princess Vileena no longer has any place in this country either. Given her boundless willfulness, it seems that she was never someone who could adjust to the strict life in our Mephian court, so you could say that each has found their own place.”

Melissa’s attitude towards everyone was gentle. That had remained the same even after she ascended to the position of Empress.

However –

“That is... about His Highness the Crown Prince,” one of the ladies’ maids standing behind the Empress and holding up a mirror spoke in a low voice. “Is the rumour that His Majesty invited him to Solon really true? If it turns out to be true that His Highness is alive, and, moreover, with his having waged war on His Majesty...”

“That is not the crown prince!”

Melissa’s voice was sharp enough to cut. The lady’s maid suddenly stiffened and almost seemed about to drop the mirror. Gazing at the pale face across the mirror’s surface, Melissa went back to smiling.

“Did I not only just finish saying so?”

“Ah, y-yes.”

“His Majesty is following his own thoughts. Do not trouble yourself with that low person who is senselessly raising a fuss.”

In fact, the one who had reacted the most sensitively to the news that a person claiming to be the crown prince had appeared was none other than Melissa herself.

And yet, ever since the Garberan princess had returned to her home country, she seemed to have completely lost interest in the matter. It was as though the Impostor Crown Prince had never existed in the first place.

Before the evening, Melissa went to visit the Dragon Gods’ shrine. Being deeply devout, she paid homage at the shrine every day without fail. Wearing the hooded cloak that the emperor had distributed to all of his retainers for the ceremony marking the erection of the shrine, she left the soldiers who were acting as her guards at the entrance and proceeded alone into the shrine’s interior.

One of the elders came to welcome her. His filthy appearance suggested that it had been a long time since he had bathed in warm water, but Melissa’s brows did not so much as twitch, and she met him with the greatest possible respect.

“First of all, nothing could be better than that you successfully removed the hindrance.”

“With that, the ‘diagnosis’ should have changed, should it not?”

“Please be at ease. Mephius is moving in a better direction. Ever since the moment when you drew Emperor Guhl to us, the foundations for the ‘land of destiny’ have steadily continued to be consolidated. Indeed, Mephius will unmistakable be guided by your own hand, Empress.”

Beneath the hood, Melissa smiled as bashfully as a young girl whose friend had just pointed out that she was in love for the first time.

“Then, with regards to that matter...”

“Ah yes, that Imperial Guard who accompanied the princess. He was called Tanis, was it? That too was destiny’s guiding hand. And he has safely completed his sacred mission. His fate has now already run its course and he will be awaiting us in the promised land.”

Melissa gave a slight nod. She appeared satisfied, but her eyebrows then suddenly contracted in concern.

“This is somewhat abrupt of me, but, of late, I have not seen that Esteemed One at the shrine. Today also, I had thought to give him my greetings and went to call on him, but...”

“Hmm,” even though there was no one around, the elder lowered his voice a little. “It has been more than half a century since that Esteemed One has taken his ‘current appearance’. The longer the time to grow accustomed, the better the circulation of ether becomes, but that Esteemed One is naturally subject to the laws of one’s allotted lifespan, and so a long passage of time produces various impediments.”

“Will he be safe?”

“It is nothing serious. That Esteemed One is constantly enduring pain. He gazes at a world far wider than that which our insignificant selves can see, and he guides a great many destinies. That is similar to spending every second bearing pain sharp enough to slice through one’s body.”

“Indeed.”

The Empress gave a deep bow then left the shrine.

That evening, Melissa had planned to eat dinner with her two daughters. However, when she arrived at the spacious dining room reserved for the use of nobles, only her second daughter, Flora, was there, with her eldest, Ineli, nowhere to be seen.

When she asked the ladies’ maids about it, it came out that Ineli had recently been attending all sorts of engagements. She was frequently absent as she attended parties, art exhibitions, recitals, or received the greetings from foreign envoys and all manner of events.

“Daughters at that age are so vexing,” Melissa lamented. The ladies’ maids waiting on table were setting down an amount of food that two women alone could not possibly finish. “In that respect, I am saved by the fact that you listen obediently, Flora. How were your studies today?”

Thus addressed with a smile, Flora answered something but seemed unable to calm herself down. After that, the silence dragged on.

No doubt finding it dreary, Melissa changed the topic.

“I heard from Ineli that you are still preciously keeping hold of an old book.”

“From Elder Sister?”

The slightest of smiles peeped out from Flora’s face. She was probably happy that her sister had remembered something so trivial.

“I am certain that was something that Ineli once received from His Majesty, was it not? Take good care of it.”

When Melissa said that, Flora for some reason lifted her face as though startled.

“...Yes,” she answered in a faint and fading voice, and after that, she obstinately shut herself away in her shell.

At around the same time, Ineli Mephius was, in fact, within the palace premises. She was in a courtyard which was screened by a promenade along which grew luxuriant trees. There was a small armoury on the south side. Although the sun had already set, it was naturally not an appropriate place for an imperial princess to be.

The drab street clothes that she wore were unusually subdued for her. A young soldier waited by her side.

Although, for all that he was a soldier, his only weapon was a short sword at his waist, and even that was hidden beneath his overcoat. That was probably because he was not one of the palace guards who were allowed to enter that courtyard. No doubt because he was aware that he was breaking the regulations, his young face was pale.

“It’s too dangerous, Princess,” he repeated while incessantly looking around left and right. “And if anything were to happen, I am not sure that I would be able to protect you by myself. You have to understand that he is not normal. No matter what we ask him, he just mutters something unintelligible and...”

“That isn’t something to be frightened of.”

Ineli laughed airily in front of the arsenal and lightly touched the young soldier’s cape. From that alone, the youth’s face flushed crimson. He was one of the capital’s garrison guards. Some time ago, his garrison had undertaken a search for a certain man on Ineli’s orders.

When she had received the news that the person had been found, Ineli had announced that “I want to meet him at once.”

As it would, of course, have been far too conspicuous for the Imperial Princess to go to the garrison station, she had issued orders to a company commander who could allow entry into the palace, and the man had been moved to the armoury earlier that day.

It was precisely there that she was going to see that man now. For some reason, Ineli had assigned only one young soldier to act as her guard while she was doing so. Although, for all that he was a soldier, he appeared to be not yet twenty and his facial features still retained a trace of innocence. Ineli stretched out her fingers to the lightly curling hair that reached to above his shoulders.

“From this close, your face is exactly like that of an Endean nobleman.”

“P-Princess...”

“I believe in you, my Prince. You’ll protect the weak Ineli, won’t you?”

“T-That – of course!”

While the young man who was about three years older than her was in ecstasy, Ineli produced the key to the armoury and opened the door. At her orders, her sentinel was to stay on the alert outside the door.

When the princess raised her lamp, a shadow inside scuttled hurriedly as though to escape from its light. It was movement like that of a wild beast, but, upon closer inspection, the shadow was human.

Its face and entire body was wrapped in bandages. It was impossible to tell at a glance what kind of person it was.

Both its ankles were chained, like those of a slave, and the eyes that were looking up towards the intruder were filled with fear.

“Do not be afraid,” Ineli whispered sweetly. “I have been looking for you for a long time. Now, now, nothing scary will happen to you here. Please tell me your name.”

She crouched down to bring her gaze level with that of the man who was practically on his hands and knees on the ground, looking ready to escape at any moment.

With a tense expression, the young guard asked about the situation from outside, only to receive the peremptory command to not let anyone get close. He immediately turned his attention back to the outside of the armoury.

Meanwhile –

“A-a-a,’ the man struggled for breath. “I-I’m... Bane. C-Captain Bane, of the Black Armoured Division.”

The Black Armoured Division.

The name of a military unit that no longer existed. Because its commander, Oubary Bilan, had at one time been falsely accused of assassinating the crown prince, the Black Armoured Division had been dissolved; and the three hundred or so soldiers who did not appear to have been involved in his plot were integrated into various other units.

And then – Captain Bane. Originally an unimpressive figure wholly unconnected to splendid military feats, it was uncertain that there was anyone in Solon who even remembered him, yet his name was linked by fate with that of Crown Prince Gil. Right, his fate was deeply intertwined with that of the man whom Ineli was relentlessly fixated on, the very “traitor” who, even now, was dividing Mephius in two.

Ineli Mephius remained crouching.

“I see... Bane. Why is a hero from the glorious Black Armoured Division in a place like this? Why do you fear humans like a beast which has escaped from its cage and crawl on all fours through the town, hunting for scraps of food? Please tell me everything. Because from today onwards, you will regain your human dignity and position.”

As the Imperial Princess of Mephius talked, Bane gazed upon her as though upon a saint. Even as his breathing continued to be ragged and harsh, and although, just as Ineli had said, he definitely shrank back like livestock terrified of humans, he brokenly started telling his tale.

It was right after the two battles that Taúlia had waged against Apta. The reconciliation with Ax Bazgan had brought a period of peace to Apta but, before long, Captain Bane had suddenly received summons from Gil Mephius.

The two of them had galloped through the dead of night. He had been informed neither of their destination nor of their purpose. Then, at the point they had arrived at, they were captured by the bandits who had been raising trouble in the neighbourhood. The village at which the two of them had dismounted was precisely the bandits’ hideout.

The two of them had been locked away separately, but Gil pretended to have slipped away through a gap in the guard’s vigilance, and freed Bane. Whereupon, he gave as reason for Bane escaping along that, “I’d attract too much attention. If they realise that I’ve gone, they’ll chase after us like their lives depend on it.” He then ordered him to go and bring back help.

Feeling frantic, Bane flew back to Apta Fortress and reported all that had happened to his superior officer, General Oubary Bilan of the Black Armoured Division.

Gil must have calculated that Oubary would want to have a monopoly on this outstanding achievement, and so would only bring a small number of troops with the pretext of “not attracting attention”.

The Black Armoured Division were ambushed in that village. As soon as they entered the inner part of it, flaming arrows came flying overhead and within an instant, their surroundings were lit up as brightly as the noontime sun.

For a moment, a shadow seemed to have been branded into the earth’s surface.

Then, that shadow had suddenly dissolved. The next instant, it had turned into the figures of bandits swooping down with swords and axes in hand.

Bane remembered parrying once, then twice, with his sword. That, however, was all he could recall from the fight. Judging the situation to be unfavourable, he had been about to run away when he had received a blow from behind from an axe.

He had collapsed in a dead faint but, fortunately, he had been wearing a steel helmet and had only fallen unconscious. When he had come to, the entire area had turned into a sea of flames.

Bane had screamed voicelessly and had used the very limits of his strength to flee. Even as his face, arms, and legs were scorched, even when he could no longer breathe, he had run and run, seized with a despair that was like swimming in a pitch-black ocean.

And then, from amidst the bushes into which Bane had collapsed, he saw –

The crown prince and General Oubary were facing off against each other, their raised swords interposed between them. As sparks flew and the swords collided with one another, Bane finally realised...

This had all been part of a carefully devised plan. That Gil Mephius – or rather, that someone who looked like the crown prince – had set a trap to bury the Black Armoured Division.

As he watched, the General was driven back and soon fell before the sword that the prince swung like lightning.

Although his consciousness was hazy and dim, that one scene was one that Bane had not torn his eyes away from. The prince’s clothes had caught fire and burned. The heaving muscles on his back had been gleaming with sweat. And in its centre was, beyond a doubt, the mark from a slave brand.

Afterwards, the bandits had started to throw the bodies of the Black Armoured Division’s soldiers into the fire. They would toss two or three corpses into the flames, then every time, they would shout something and laugh out loud. To Bane, they looked like a group of demons. Bane had once again lost consciousness.

When he woken up, there was no one around and only the pillars of black smoke rising up from the ground’s surface were left to prove that the small village had been there.

Even though his entire body was covered in severe burns, Bane had unsteadily started walking, as though fleeing from looming danger. He had stolen repeatedly from one village after another, fleeing further and further west, as if being pursued by some invisible spectre, until finally, he had collapsed and been found by a man called Rone Jayce.

A brand.

Ineli gulped. At some point, she had gotten to her feet and was looking down at Bane from above.

The brand... of a slave.

That was certainly what he had said.

While travelling through his fear-coated memories, the wretched man who had now finished speaking must have been vividly reliving the emotions he had felt at the time, and his entire body was quivering unceasingly as he dribbled tears and drool.

It all seemed like the senseless ramblings of a man who had lost his sanity.

And yet, at the same time, a strange feeling was stirring within Ineli.

I want it to be true.

Ineli was convinced that the man who currently claimed to be the crown prince was an impostor. Up until now, however, she had not been able to grasp his real identity. Because of the close resemblance in their faces, she had even considered that he might be someone linked by blood to the imperial family whose existence and identity had been hidden for some reason or another.

Yet she was being told that he was a slave. In Mephius, they were the very lowest category, treated on par with livestock.

That, however, was convenient for Ineli. That his origins were the lowliest of the low meant that the crown prince’s secret was all the bigger. The impact when it was exposed would be huge.

That man... Is that right? A slave... he’s a slave?

Ineli trembled.

A brat.

What flashed through Ineli’s mind were the words that the man disguised as Prince Gil had spoken softly as they had passed by one another.

A brat like you doesn’t understand anything. Any more whining from you and I\'ll strangle you with my own hands. Got it, little girl?

Those had been the words of a slave? Those had been the words that a slave, whose life was one of sipping mud on the very lowest rung, who could be killed at a single order from his master, had spoken to Emperor Guhl Mephius’ step-daughter?

As though it had been set alight, Ineli’s entire body burned with the heat of anger such as she had never felt before. Yet at the same time, there was a strange pleasure in the incandescence that coursed within her.

Dizzy and shivering from fury, the princess staggered for a second and, placing her hand against the wall, she waited for her violent emotions to subside.

Suddenly shifting her gaze, she saw the wretched man who was still trembling while clutching his head.

He no longer had any use.

Not only was Ineli done with him, but he was also certain to become an obstacle to the future of Mephius.

The Imperial Princess once again crouched down. She gently stretched out her hands towards that quivering back and shoulders, and hugged them close.

Bane’s entire frame heaved with a sudden start.

“It’s alright. Don’t be afraid... It’s alright,” Ineli whispered into his ear. She deliberately pressed the man by the shoulders towards the swell of her breasts.

A light that was hard to describe came into the eyes of the perpetually trembling Bane. He was right against the young girl’s soft, fair skin. As she murmured words that were almost like love, an unknown fragrance wafted towards him with her warm breath. This time, it was Bane whose entire body succumbed to heat as he was seized by passion.

With a cry like a beast’s, Bane’s body covered hers.

The girl screamed.

Ah! – The guard standing sentry outside hurriedly peeked through the crack of the door. A black shadow was wriggling. Beneath it, slender limbs that glowed with an almost dazzlingly white lustre were struggling.

Instantly drawing his conclusion, the sentry pulled his sword in every bit as much of a frenzy as Bane, and rushed in.

He was a soldier from the downtown area garrison, where his duties amounted to chasing fleeing burglars or slaves, or forcibly restraining drunkards who were swinging swords around. Before he even fully realised it, the other man had collapsed, blood pouring from his head.

While he was still breathing violently, he heard Ineli’s voice murmuring a few words.

“He is still breathing.”

The young soldier looked towards her, then shifted his gaze in a fluster. Her clothes were torn and her naked body – or, at any rate, one of her ample breasts, was completely exposed.

It was only afterwards that he realised what the princess was saying. Although Bane was lying prostrate with blood gushing from his head, his back was spasming weakly.

The sentry was once again seized with violent anger. When he thought of how that filthy man had ripped the princess’ clothes and buried his face against her bare skin, he felt that he could not be allowed to live.

“Do it.”

Ineli’s voice flew over his barrier of reason and moved him to action. He raised his sword with a strangely shallow stroke, then swung it down.

Without raising another sound, Bane stopped moving completely.

“You did well.”

Ineli stepped to the sentry’s side. She took his blood-covered hand.

“P-Princess...”

“I should let the hero who saved the future of Mephius take his reward.”

Ineli guided his hand towards a warm, soft sensation.

While the youth’s mind was being pulled into a white mire, Ineli giggled softly to herself. It only needs to be just me alone.

I’m the only one who needs to know the prince’s real identity. The one who holds vital knowledge about the man who will eventually be ruling the country.

The actions she had just taken greatly resembled those of her mother, Melissa Mephius, but naturally, neither the mother nor the daughter had any way of knowing about what each was doing. And their goals were greatly at odds with one another.

On Ineli’s instructions, the young sentry transported Bane to the incinerator used for disposing of the corpses of slaves.

From the next day onwards, Ineli’s behaviour was striking.

By using her personal connections with the nobles that she already had ties to, as well as with the people she had quickly built up intimacy with in the process of collecting information about the crown prince, Ineli created opportunities for meeting a great many of the retainers.

Within Mephius, Ineli was shown great respect for her title of “imperial princess”. However – that was limited to only “within Mephius”. As she had not inherited the blood of the imperial family, in a way, her worth did not extend beyond being useful as a reward for a retainer or as a tool for negotiations with foreign countries.

It was partly for that very reason that she was so eager. The current chaos was Ineli’s best chance of seizing an opportunity to become a central figure in Mephius.

Part 2

Crowds of people were jostling and shovelling along the side of the highway in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Gil Mephius.

When five hundred soldiers from the imperial capital’s Defence Force had expressly gone to the outskirts of Nedain to meet him, he had declined to board an air carrier or a horse-drawn carriage.

“This isn’t a trip that needs any hurry. My apologies to Father, but I’ll be taking it easy to travel.”

The Defence Force had reluctantly resigned itself to surrounding Prince Gil on all sides in order to defend him, but –

“Don’t go before me. You impudent curs can huddle together behind me,” the prince had roared. Because of that, the soldiers from the Defence Force, who had originally intended to meet Prince Gil then immediately return to Solon, found themselves in the awkward position of having to follow behind him, exactly as though they were the Imperial Guards that he commanded.

Incidentally, those who had accompanied the prince from Nedain did not total five hundred.

At the front was Crown Prince Gil Mephius, riding a white horse. Not far from him, on a sweating, black-coated horse that stood in contrast to his, was the masked swordsman Orba. Behind him followed Pashir, the runner-up in the gladiatorial tournament, and thirty other Imperial Guards who had likewise been gladiators marched after him.

Prince Gil was on the move –

In the blink of an eye, the news travelled around the entire Imperial Dynasty, and nobles and commanders from all corners hurriedly made the journey to Solon. Which meant that not only Gil but also all the most important lords whose names were linked to the Imperial Dynasty were, at that moment, converging on the capital from every direction either by horse, along the highways, or by ship through the sky.

“This isn’t a ‘trip’ we need to hurry,” Gil repeated.

From a discerning standpoint, this ‘trip’ might need to be called a ‘last journey’. What he was headed towards might well be a cold prison in which were probably awaiting iron chains to steal the freedom from his limbs, and repulsive instruments of torture to wring every last drop of blood from his body.

Yet even so, as he jolted along on his horse, Gil remained perfectly relaxed. When he spotted fruit on the trees growing along highway, he got an attendant to pick them and then munched on them on horseback; he returned the greetings of each of the children who cheered for him as a hero and gave him military-style salutes; and when he stopped overnight at a village, he attended the small banquets that the village bigwigs held for him.

Gil had revolted against Emperor Guhl and had led his men into defeating and killing other Mephians. By rights, he could have expected to be the target of hatred.

True, Emperor Guhl had an autocratic style of government which had started to veer towards tyranny, but the influence of that was not yet widely felt among the populace. Therefore, there was no great surge among the people to defeat a vicious and foolish ruler.

However, Gil was known to have played a heroic role in Solon and in Apta. And it was a fact that there were not a few people who regarded him as the hero, and as their sovereign, of the next era.

Which was why the people did not probe any further into the quarrel between Guhl and Gil. Because the crowds of people who were standing on tiptoe to catch sight of Gil, the children who were badgering their parents to take them up on their shoulders; the women who were cheering gaily, all believed that –

Our Crown Prince made a bold decision.

He avoided war for our sake.

Such was the wave of emotions that reached Gil – that reached Orba as he gazed at the people from atop his horse. Incidentally, the other Orba, who was riding close by, was the one who might as well be called ‘Orba’s body-double’, the Imperial Guard Kain in disguise. He had happily taken up that role again after a long time. When voices called out from all around to the hero who served the crown prince, he proudly raised his hand.

Watching the way they were welcomed, Orba’s thought was that – I was right.

In the east was Emperor Guhl, who would let thunder roar among the dark clouds covering the sky as he consolidated his reign over the country. Coming from the west and reaching out towards the east, the new hero, Gil Mephius. If the torrents of their two fates collided, countless corpses would probably be left scattered in their wake, while blood and gore might flow until it covered the earth’s surface.

Orba had deliberately chosen to avoid that. There was also the issue with Allion and the fear that he might lose his cause, but the main reason for his decision was the thought that – if I keep my eyes fixed on the ‘later’, I’ll be doing the same thing as Guhl, and nobody would follow me.

Instead, after this clash, when Orba had a crown on top of his head, he was ready to go out and meet the future, accompanied by the military forces and the people of the Imperial Dynasty of Mephius.

Even he had noticed that the town had suddenly become full of life.

The interior of the room was dark.

All he had to do to have an unbroken view over Solon was to open those heavy curtains, but even though he started to get up from the chair, in the end, he stopped still.

After all, to start with, one of his legs still would not walk, and of his two hands, there were only three or four fingers that he could move without difficulty.

Bald-headed and large-bodied, his name was Oubary Bilan.

Formerly, he had been the commander of the Black Armoured Division. A man whose name had been linked with Mephius’ twelve generals, and who had also occupied that position.

But now, not only had he lost that title, but he had also been wounded so badly that it was doubtful whether he would ever be able to hold a sword again. Had it been an injury received while fighting an enemy who was out to harm Mephius, then Oubary could have held his head up high and claimed it as a badge of honour, but the one who had injured him had been none other than...

......

Oubary hurriedly shook his head over what he had been about to think.

Not a single ray of light shone through the curtains.

His surroundings were quiet. There were only a few chamberlains to look after him and the number of his visitors amounted to none.

The place where he was living was not his original residence. The mansion in which he had resided when he was one of the twelve generals had burned down during the time when Oubary had been imprisoned on the charge of having assassinated the crown prince.

The origin of the fire was unclear.

It was as though somebody had cursed him with relentless misfortune, yet Oubary continued to live his quiet, his monotonously quiet, existence. Day after day, he spent his time in silence within his room. He had been forbidden from leaving the building anyway, and armed soldiers were constantly keeping watch on it. Even so, it was not to the point of his being forbidden from coming and going from his room; yet he would either be reading a book, eating the meals that the chamberlains brought in without exchanging any personal words with them, or sleeping once the sun had set. His entire life was lived in that one room.

Apart from the fact that the outside was a little noisier, that day too was a day without change for Oubary.

“Lord Oubary, may we enter?”

Sometime after noon, the chamberlains came in and started changing the bed sheets.

Oubary sat watching them without any interest. He looked like a lonely old man at the end of his life, and it was hard to believe that not so long ago, Emperor Guhl had praised him as “a warrior whose daring is equal to that of any commander from the neighbouring countries.”

“Have you heard?” One of the chamberlains pipped up innocently as he was working.

The one he was addressing showed absolutely no response. However, the chamberlain simply wanted to avoid falling into shared silence with this strange occupant who almost seemed to have assimilated into the darkness that shrouded the room.

“They say that His Highness the crown prince is finally coming to Solon. I really wonder what kind of words His Majesty will exchange with...”

Casually turning around, he realised that Oubary’s thin lips were curved into a faint smile.

Huh? Thought the chamberlain.

Those heavy shoulders were shaking. No, not just his shoulders – his arms and legs, his cheeks, all were quivering.

“General!” The chamberlain unthinkingly cried out his former title.

A stain spread out from beneath Oubary Bilan’s lower half, and started dripping drop by drop from the chair.

Even so, the former general of the Black Armoured Division was still smiling. He continued to smile while his entire body trembled and urinated incontinently.

Gil Mephius had entered Solon.

When he received that report, Guhl Mephius gave one short order.

“Keep him waiting.”

He had him stay in a residence near the centre of Solon which had been prepared beforehand. Gil Mephius was then kept waiting for three days.

Was he deliberately making things difficult to have Gil fully endure the taste of fear and irritation, or did he intend to wait until every single retainer had arrived at the capital – the question was debated both among the nobles and the people.

The emperor and the crown prince.

The father and son who had unleashed bloody battles around Birac and Nedain. Who knew what would happen when they met face-to-face. Wanting to witness the scene of what was certain to be a historic moment, there were those who travelled from afar to reach the capital, as well as many who were leaving Solon for a while, fearing that the situation might turn alarming.

Because the emperor had purposely delayed that moment by three days, an oppressive feeling of tension drifted through Solon.

As for what Gil was doing during that time – absolutely nothing worthy of any particular attention. It had been a long time since the crown prince had been in Solon. How much time had passed since he had left here, tasked with the duty to defend Apta Fortress? He had once passed through Solon without stopping when he had been heading to bring reinforcements to Garbera, then had done the same when he had returned to Apta – a behaviour which had made the emperor look at him askance. Various thoughts must no doubt be flitting through his mind.

Among the nobles and the townspeople of Solon, there were also many who believed that maybe – His Majesty has no intention of meeting the crown prince, and only invited him because he plans to attack him by surprise. It would not have been surprising if Gil himself had shared those misgivings, yet, from start to finish, he seemed to just be calmly watching things unfold.

Then, on the morning of the third day, Guhl Mephius received a visitor in his private study. An old man with dark brown skin who was enveloped only in a plain piece of cloth. Needless to say, he was one of the elders of the Dragon Gods’ faith.

“That Esteemed One has extended an invitation to His Majesty. Please visit the shrine this afternoon.”

“Oh?” With an uninterested expression, Guhl flipped through the pages of a book that he had taken from a shelf. “Have his legs gotten so weak that he can’t leave the shrine anymore?”

“... That Esteemed One has been labouring incessantly to correct the diagram of fate. The likes of us cannot begin to imagine the agony of it.”

“Is that right?”

“The matter concerning Gil Mephius will be settled this morning. After that, he wishes to speak with Your Majesty first-hand.”

“I get it, I get it,” Guhl Mephius answered, his deeply wrinkled face all the while turned away.

After that, he got ready for the audience. He put on a cloak and picked up his crystal-tipped staff in one hand. Then, just as he seemed about to reach for something at his chest, the emperor suddenly summoned the officer of the Imperial Guards who was responsible for guarding him within the palace.

“You called for me, Your Majesty?”

“Take out your gun.”

“Yes?”

Although puzzled, he obeyed the order. The handguns that officers of the Imperial Guards carried with them were personally given to them by the emperor when they took up their duties. Guhl looked at the long-serving gun.

“How long ago was it that I gave you this?”

“Ah... Would it be nearly twenty years?”

“It’s a really old model, huh. If you’d wanted, you could have had it replaced with a new one.”

“It is something that Your Majesty personally bestowed unto me.”

The officer appeared to be in the latter half of his forties.

Guhl did not say anything further and instead started doing something curious. He slid open the gun’s cylinder and took out a single bullet.

The officer did not say anything.

As a young man, he had loved jokes. He and Guhl had even used to laugh about stupid things. He seemed on the verge of making some unfunny joke along the lines of: Your Majesty, you truly are the descendant of the Dragon Gods. Are you going to breakfast on a bullet? Silence reigned however, and amidst it, Guhl took a similarly old-model gun from his breast, and loaded the single bullet into it.

“That’ll be all,” Guhl returned the gun and sent the officer of the Imperial Guards away.

After which, escorted front and rear by several of his guards, he made his way to the audience hall.

The pounding of their feet echoed back from the high, domed ceiling. Pale, flickering light glimmered across it. There were artificial pools on either side of the passageway, and the sunlight streaming in from the high windows reflected from their surface.

Statues of the dragons and heroes from Mephius’ founding myths were enshrined one by one along the pools. It was the sight that the emperor saw whenever he walked along the passageway leading to the audience hall. In other words, it was a sight that Guhl had grown familiar with over more than thirty years.

Finally, the path came to an end, and a door ornamented in red and gold stood before him. He entered as the official in charge of proclamations announced his arrival.

Far more people than usual were already gathered within the hall. Leading figures and generals in command of all the main fortresses were present. Everyone bowed their heads at the same time.

On every face could be seen the acceptance that, on this day, the future of Mephius would be determined. Even so, there was not the slightest noise or commotion. Only silence ruled.

It looks like...

People exchanged surreptitious glances.

It looks like His Majesty truly does intend to call His Highness before him.

There’s still some uncertainty about whether he will throw him in prison without a ‘by your leave’...

It’s finally starting.

Guhl Mephius sat on the throne. For a while, the old man, who had ruled over Mephius for many long years, lowered his gaze, as though tracing the faint pattern in the marble of the dais, on which stood the throne, with his eyes. He finally raised his eyes. And, as though afraid that those eyes might emit an invisible beam that could pierce through them and read their hearts, all of the courtiers conversely lowered their gazes.

Next to the emperor was Empress Melissa. In that tense hall where one would hesitate to so much as give a single cough, she alone seemed faintly bored. Her expression was exactly the same as when she was watching a farcical side-show that had dragged on for far too long.

Next to Melissa were the two sisters, Ineli and Flora. The older sister, Ineli had personally entreated the emperor to allow the two daughters to sit with their mother, Empress Melissa. Ineli’s back was ramrod straight and her eyes were especially alert, and she looked as though she did not intend to miss a single part of what would happen next. Her younger sister, on the other hand, had her head hunched back into her shoulders, giving the impression that this was painful to her.

And then –

A bronze trumpet was blown.

“His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Gil Mephius – entering!”

Just as when the emperor had entered, the crier called out in a clear voice.

The two guards that stood on either side of it solemnly opened the massive doors that stood directly opposite the throne.

The people there narrowed their eyes, as if they had been hit with the fierce light of daybreak shining over a mountain ridge, as they peered at the young man who walked in from beyond the door.

A short cape over a white silk tunic. A ceremonial longsword at his hip.

When their eyes took in the young man’s appearance, the hushed silence, the almost sacred silence, that had reigned over them suddenly collapsed.

Uwoh.

A sound almost like a moan escaped from someone’s throat.

Look.

That’s... there’s no doubt...

There’s no possible doubt, that’s the crown prince himself.

His Highness Gil Mephius is alive!

The people there seemed to billow like waves crashing against the cliffs of Zonga.

While the long wave of people ebbed and swayed on either side of him, Gil Mephius walked forward. As far as he seemed to be concerned, that commotion and those emotions were the same as pebbles by the side of the road, and he paid them no attention as he simply walked towards the throne. When he reached the stairs before it, he suddenly knelt.

He waited for the hem of his lightly fluttering cape to settle against his back.

“It has been a long time,” Gil Mephius was the first to speak, “Your Majesty Emperor Guhl Mephius – my father. Having received Your Majesty’s invitation, Crown Prince Gil Mephius is here to see you.”

Part 3

In that moment when Gil knelt and spoke out, a different emotion swept through the hall. It contained a great variety of feelings all jumbled together, but, to summarise it in a few words, there was a sense of being ‘deeply moved’.

Tense as they were from this moment having finally arrived, there, before their eyes, was a young warrior, revived from the very abyss of death to stand against the emperor – the feelings that they were witnessing a scene from a heroic legend welled up within them.

There were many, also, who were reminded of the person that, not even a month ago, had knelt in the same place. A very young girl, who could still almost be called a child. Even though she trembled almost imperceptibly, in front of Emperor Guhl, whom all the retainers feared, the girl had stood her ground from beginning to end.

When the figures of the girl in their memories and the young man before their eyes closely overlapped, many of the officers and nobles there were unable to hold down the emotions that welled up within them.

Perhaps it was a sign of the future.

Then –

“It’s good that you’ve come,’ said Guhl, unperturbed by the intense emotions that had engulfed the hall.

Having reached this point, Guhl Mephius was not going to take any more of his time to negotiate or to play cat and mouse with his opponent.

“When I sent you to Apta, I did not think that you would be away from the capital for so long. That was not my intention. Too many things have happened. Some were unavoidable, but there are some that I do not understand. The same is no doubt true for the many retainers gathered here.”

“Yes,” the man who had once been a gladiator and who had been made to kill for the amusement of the masses, assumed the expression of a crown prince and answered.

“It was because I had chosen you to defend Apta that I had you leave Solon. It was clear that Taúlia’s lord, Ax, was awaiting his chance to take aim at our territory. And, in actual fact, I heard you fought him twice in Apta. The final outcome was that although you did not lose Apta, you arrogantly, and without permission, decided to form an alliance with the western Taúlia. Not only that, but immediately afterwards, and also without permission, you sent reinforcements to Garbera. Even though I had Ineli go as a messenger to warn you that you were not to do so. First, let me hear your explanation with regards to these two matters.”

The emperor had fired the first shot.

His head very slightly lowered, Orba answered in a firm voice.

“To start with, Apta is not a fortress that can be defended with only a small military force. When the first battle occurred, we did not have time to request aid from Solon and, I am ashamed to admit, we had fallen into a predicament from which we were rescued by the Garberan troops which had been about to pull out of there. However, it was not difficult to guess that Ax was likely to attack again without wasting any time, so I pulled our troops far back and deliberately lured him to Apta. Because of the fierce fighting, the fortress suffered partial destruction, however, we were able to deal Ax a serious blow. To avoid further mutual damage, we agreed to pull back our soldiers. And on that occasion, I came to an unusual understanding with Ax Bazgan.”

Orba took his time and answered at a relaxed pace. He continued –

“Around that time, I too heard the information that war was probably about to break out between Garbera and Ende. Garbera is, needless to say, the birthplace of my future wife, Vileena Owell, and thus a country with which we have formed an alliance. I also owed them a favour for helping me in Apta. Your Majesty, you were convinced that the conflict would not escalate, and you held the conviction that we should not recklessly take part and needlessly risk fanning the flames of war, so you sent Ineli with a message to ‘not send reinforcements’, however...”

At that point, Orba glanced up towards the princess for a moment. In actual fact, Ineli had deliberately delayed conveying the message to the crown prince. Of course, not only would emphasising that fact now simply sound like an excuse, also, and more importantly, even if he had received the message, Orba would not even have considered cancelling the reinforcements to Garbera.

In the instant that their eyes met, Ineli visibly stiffened, but Orba immediately returned his gaze to the emperor’s face.

“I too had already participated in some battles. I was convinced that if Ende saw that Mephius intended to honour the alliance, they would definitely pull back before the opening of hostilities. Although I cannot claim to have Your Majesty’s discerning eye, and although I now blush at my youthful recklessness, at the time, I believed it to be the best policy in order to protect the ‘cause’ that was our alliance with Garbera. I am of course young and inexperienced, but I had intended to fully accept the consequences. I am merely one of Your Majesty’s retainers; there was no way for me to excuse my crime of having disobeyed the orders that I had received from you, so I had intended to simply remain in Apta until you had formally handed down your verdict.”

As Orba spoke, none of the retainers uttered a sound. He sensed that their silence was not only due to fear of Emperor Guhl, but that it also stemmed from the intent of evaluating the next ruler.

While Orba was talking, Guhl did not brusquely interrupt him, nor condemn without listening to what he had to say.

What Guhl wanted above all else was a direct confrontation. In place of swords, guns, shields and battle formations, it was words that flew between the two, and that were arrayed around them. The emperor and Crown Prince were meeting on the premise that they would need to fight fairly.

Therefore, this too was war.

A single slip of the tongue would be the same as offering the enemy a chance to attack. Being at a loss for a single word was equivalent to losing an officer able to command a thousand men. And whoever ran out of words would be the one whose fate would have run its course.

This was the final fight that Orba had to overcome in order to raise himself up to the position of emperor of an entire country – he who had originally been a person whose birth and death would not be recorded in history, and whose life would only have been remembered by those who lived in his area, only to soon fade even from their memories. And it was a fight without swords or strategy, one in which he needed to prove to his only opponent, his “father”, that he was the real person, despite being an impostor.

Observing that the crown prince had finished talking for the time being, the emperor raised his eyebrows.

“Indeed, I immediately sent a messenger to Apta to invite you to come before the throne in Solon so that I could hear what you had to say. That much certainly happened. Yet shortly after having returned to Apta, my son was shot and lost from this world – that is what I heard. And in fact, I sent search parties to Apta, yet none were able to find Crown Prince Gil Mephius.”

“...”

“The grief I experienced then was shared by all of Mephius’ people. Yet now, you are here kneeling before me.”

From beneath his heavy eyelids, Guhl Mephius glared at the one who used the same name and had the same appearance as his son.

“Why did you deliberately feign your own death and deceive not only the retainers and the people, but even I, your own father?”

“Yes,” Orba once more lowered his head.

Princess Vileena had once asked him the same sort of question.

You who were supposed to have died in Apta, what have you been doing until now and what led you to return? Well? Please do tell.

That time, the muzzle of a gun had been gleaming right before Orba’s eyes.

And this time too, an invisible gun, blade, and guillotine were flickering from behind the emperor. Even as he grew tenser, Orba started to narrate “circumstances” which closely resembled those he had previously explained to the princess.

While he had been inspecting the territory, he had learned that the commander of the Black Armoured Division, Oubary Bilan, had in the past attacked villages in Apta’s vicinity.

While he was pursuing investigations, Oubary once more moved his troops to attack one of the villages by the border. Gil had caught wind of it just before it happened but, as he did not have time to gather his soldiers to hold Oubary back, he had no choice but to lay a trap in the village and to repel him by force.

“We just barely managed to defeat Oubary. However, when I was interrogating the captured soldiers from the Black Armoured Division, they claimed that he had planned to assassinate me and to make it look as though the west had done it. Well, from the start, his aim when attacking the village was to pretend that Taúlia was responsible and to once more re-ignite a war against them. Not only that, but they hinted that Oubary was not the only one involved in the plot.”

While he was imperturbably laying out these new “facts”, the retainers’ expressions revealed in turn surprise and confusion.

“Oh? So who was the one conspiring with Oubary?” Guhl asked, snorting through his moustache. “Among all the people here, is that person present?” Orba briefly swept his gaze around his surroundings. For a moment, the hall was enveloped in a different kind of nervousness than earlier.

“Well, it seems that the rank and file soldiers were not given the name. Which is why I had no choice but to be very cautious. There was someone in Mephius who, unknown not only to myself but also to Your Majesty, was scheming war with other countries. And who was even willing to secretly kill me, a member of the imperial family, to accomplish that. I believed that it might develop into a plot equal to the rebellion that Zaat Quark had been scheming.”

“...”

“I should probably have immediately rushed to Solon with that information. However, and although you may laugh at my shallow and inexperienced way of thinking, I had only just defied one of Your Majesty’s orders. I was worried that if I were to then nonchalantly return to Solon, Your Majesty would find my words difficult to believe. Would I not instead be giving that heinous person, who was connected to Oubary, a chance to conceal the truth? On the other hand, if Your Majesty ordered me to return to Solon, and I once again disobeyed you, I was sure to forfeit even more of your trust.”

Everyone there was could understand the implicit meaning behind Gil’s words.

Orba did not need to look around the hall for them to be able to guess the identity of the “someone” who had plotted to invade the west.

Emperor Guhl Mephius.

Obviously, Orba himself was perfectly aware that what he was saying was not the actual truth. However, it was not hard to imagine that the emperor had long had designs on the west, and he had in fact been going to put them into effect after Gil Mephius had faked his own death in Apta.

And at the end of the day, it was a fact that the emperor had dispatched armed forces against Taúlia. No matter how much of his authority he used, that was one truth that Guhl could not erase.

“If I, the only one who knew truth, was placed under restraint in punishment for my crimes, that person might once more target my life, and I was afraid that might cause the country to take a wrong turn, and plunge it into a war with the west that neither the people nor the retainers wanted. Moreover, I myself had only just entered into an alliance with Sir Ax; just as with Garbera, I could not fail to uphold it. Therefore, I decided that, for the time being, I would pretend to have been shot by Oubary’s men, leave Mephius, and rapidly inform the west of what was going on.”

“So, in other words, while we were crushed with grief at receiving the news of the crown prince’s death, you were doing nothing less than making preparations in Taúlia to ambush our fine soldiers?”

“It was a bitter decision to have to make. The alliance with the west had certainly been made on my judgement alone, but, when I left Solon, Your Majesty had done me the honour of saying that you left the matter of Taúlia entirely to me. Both sides had suffered considerable losses during the fighting, but we had fought fairly and I had afterwards sworn friendship with its ruler, Ax Bazgan. I could not allow some ambitious person to trample that underfoot with their schemes.”

“...”

Unlike the kneeling Crown Prince, from whose back energy seemed to be rising like smoke, Emperor Guhl for some reason seemed to find this swift exchange of words troublesome. From an outside perspective, it looked as though he needed to muster all of his strength to open his mouth.

“In that case, it would have been best if, immediately after defending Taúlia, you had personally come to Solon and talked to me directly. Why did you feel the need to deliberately announce yourself in Apta and fight the troops which I sent there?”

“Your Majesty, would you have been prepared to listen to what I had to say?”

“If a son who was believed dead was to reappear, any father would listen.”

“No,” Orba flatly declared. As the people around them gasped, he continued, “How could I possibly believe that Your Majesty would be willing to lend me your ears when you had only just failed in your invasion of Taúlia? You might have arbitrarily decided that I was the product of evil western sorcery, or a body-double set up by someone who intended to rebel, and had me secretly executed.”

Guhl growled something. He was just about to break out into shouting but then gave up on the idea, or perhaps he realised that doing so would have been a mistake.

Orba could tell that those hostile to him were losing vitality. He could smell the mood that was drifting through the hall. He sensed instinctively that here and now, he should unsheathe the invisible sword at his waist and thrust with it. Unconsciously, he firmly straightened his waist and moved his knees forward.

“Just now, I said that it was a bitter decision. It was agonising to be the one to divide the country, but in order to ensure peace as quickly as possible, not only in the west but also in Mephius, I had to harden my heart and grasp a sword. And in fact, was it not only after I had announced myself at the risk of my own life, and slipped through blades and storms of bullets to take Birac and Nedain, that Your Majesty finally felt inclined to listen to me like this?”

“So you’re saying that you killed our country’s soldiers simply to prove yourself?”

“Repeating myself.”

Compared to the emperor, whose words somewhat gave the impression of prey being driven into a corner, everything that Gil said were almost tangibly full of vigour.

“... Is all that I can do, Father. I have already stated this several times, but it was unbearable for me to kill Mephian warriors. When I swung my sword, the soldiers whose helmets cracked open beneath it might have been the parents or the brothers of those gathered here. The soldiers whose breasts were pierced by my bullets might have babies who are even now crying pitifully in the towns and villages of these domains, or aged grandparents. No matter how uprightly my life is from now, the wounds caused by this war, both to Mephius and to myself, will not be easily healed. Which is why...”

Gil Mephius raised his head.

“Which is why, Your Majesty, please heed my words. So that these wounds that Mephius bears will not be in vain. So that no more young blood need be spilled in this fight. Your Majesty, having taken Nedain, I am far from being at a disadvantage, so why is it that you nevertheless asked me to come before your presence? Why is it that you are having me exchange words with you, Your Majesty, in front of all the commanders and lords gathered here?”

Why? – Guhl no longer spoke.

As though wanting to use that silence as a foothold to leap even further, Orba’s tone grew firmer.

“I have heard that Allion is moving to invade Ende. And that a request for reinforcements has come from Ende. Your Majesty, please give me the order. With your permission, I will immediately organise a military force and will show you how I put a stop to Allion’s ambitions.”

Within the hall, finally unable to contain their agitation, the retainers exchanged glances. They had heard the news of Allion’s invasion. The great power in the east. All of them naturally feared that it planned to gain a foothold in Ende, from where it would bring its warhorses to the centre of the continent.

Even while receiving a princess from Garbera as a wife for his son, the emperor had been manoeuvring to draw closer to Ende. He might, therefore, have been expected to immediately respond to the appeal for help, but there was a reason why Mephius was unable to simply send soldiers. And that reason was the matter concerning Gil Mephius.

And now, Gil himself was offering to lead reinforcements to Ende. Moreover, in order to do so, he had chosen to leave an advantageous encampment and had come to Solon, which was the same as handing himself to his opponents.

How did the people there see Gil Mephius now? As a peerless hero or as a fool unmatched in all of History? Whatever the case, having seen him like this first-hand, his name and figure certainly loomed much larger than before in the mind of the commanders and nobles there.

It was indeed because of the fact of Allion’s invasion that Orba had come to kneel before Emperor Guhl even at the risk of his own life. At the same time – and just as he had once said to Pashir – this was also something that he saw as a bright ray of hope.

Allion had become a common enemy for both Guhl and Gil. Therefore, he had made use of it. Orba had, in a manner of speaking, prepared a “way out” for the emperor.

If things turned into a life-or-death battle, the emperor would inevitably strike down with all his might. Solon would be turned into a sea of flames. As Pashir had pointed out, he might also once again take measures to dispose of Orba in secret.

And so, he had deliberately avoided the issue of victory and defeat.

He judged that if Gil Mephius did not display an attitude of being desperate for victory, the emperor would weigh the situation and take that “way out”, resigning himself for the time being to sending Gil to Ende, which was certain to have a considerable effect on the retainers.

“Your Majesty, your decision, please.”

It looked as though the colourless, odourless smoke rising from Gil Mephius’ back would soon engulf the pitiable old man before spreading its dominion to every corner of the hall.

“Indeed,” Emperor Guhl Mephius blinked his heavy-lidded eyes.

A moment passed.

With that pause in their exchange of words, Guhl’s tone of voice suddenly softened.

“It’s true that you have a valid point. As a father, I was enraptured as I listened. I believe it was good that I summoned you and that we talked face-to-face like this. When I first heard the messenger, I wondered what kind of fool it was who was pretending to be my son, but, indeed, that look of yours is worthy of the crown prince of Mephius, and you have a proud soul. I can see why Rogue, Odyne, and the others joined your side.”

Oh – The court shook once more.

A smile appeared on Guhl’s lips, which were partly hidden behind his moustache. The emperor too was finally recognising that the one kneeling before him was undoubtedly his real son, the true Crown Prince of Mephius.

This truth would determine Mephius’ future.

Orba lowered his head respectfully.

He sighed secretly, as though to wring every last drop of air from his lungs. For now, this marked a turning point in the fight. First came cooperating with Ende to push back the might of Allion. Not only would this protect Mephius, it would also consolidate Crown Prince Gil’s achievements and...

“One more thing.”

Guhl’s voice was strangely sharp as it cleaved through the harmonious atmosphere that had been starting to pervade the hall.

In that instant, Orba felt like a beast which had been holding its breath until now had abruptly reared its huge form from behind Emperor Guhl.

“There is just one more thing that I want to confirm.”

“That... What on earth is it?”

“I want you to remove your clothes, here and now, and show me your back.”

Guhl’s voice echoed for a long time.

At least, that was how it sounded to Orba.