WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 130: Emptiness

──────

Countess Cecilia Fargiere, who had borne overall command of the attack on Arnsberg fortress, temporarily returned to the royal capital Saint-Victoire after achieving the fortress’s capture, together with Count Patrick Villeneuve and the elites of the Arelian army, including the Armor of the King.

She entrusted command of the front, which was defending the captured fortress and proceeding with the accumulation of supplies, to the seasoned old general Marquis Robert Montesque. While remaining in the royal capital, she helped with preparations in the rear.

That said, at this stage, Cecilia’s role was not especially large. Preparations to gather troops from across the kingdom had a strong political aspect, so they mainly fell to Prince Emmanuel Arelia, the king’s younger brother and chancellor. Cecilia, as a commander, assisted Emmanuel with her military knowledge, while taking charge of detailed practical work based on the operational outline he devised.

There was work to do, but not a great amount of it, and her days were relatively calm. This also served as rest for Cecilia, who had personally stood on the front line and commanded one of the largest operations in the kingdom’s history, from the conquest of Novakia to the capture of Arnsberg fortress, bringing it to success.

“Then, based on the advice you have given, we will revise the plan and proceed with preparations. Once the supplies have gathered in the royal capital, I believe we will entrust arrangements for sending them to the front to you, Lady Fargiere.”

“Please leave it to me. I will reliably fulfill my duty.”

One day in October, after coming to the castle as usual and finishing a meeting with Emmanuel without any issue, Cecilia exchanged smiles with him as she spoke. Both of them were accustomed to wearing calm smiles.

“Is His Majesty away today as well?”

“Yes. This morning, he is visiting the homes of three soldiers of the Armor of the King. In the afternoon, he will visit the graves of fallen elites for as long as time allows… He asked me to tell you that he is sorry he has been absent from the royal castle so often, and has hardly been able to meet with you despite your frequent visits.”

“No, such words are far too gracious. I believe I understand the significance of what His Majesty is currently doing. I can only admire this mercy as proof of His Majesty’s greatness.”

At the king’s words conveyed by Emmanuel, Cecilia answered while shaking her head.

Ever since the elites mobilized from the kingdom’s center returned to the royal capital, King Childebert Arelia had continued attending to their emotional state.

Originally, they had only gone to attend the military review in early spring. From there, they were sent straight into the campaign against the Kingdom of Novakia, and just when they thought they could finally return, they were further made to take part in the attack on Arnsberg fortress.

When leaving the royal capital, they had not been able to explain the circumstances to their families or say farewell. They had been permitted to send letters only once, after the royal capital Cēsis of the Kingdom of Novakia fell. Even then, many wrote to their families that they would be home soon. Yet even those letters were used as one of the decoys to spread rumors among the city that the elites would return to the royal capital, after which they were sent to the Beiral Plains. In the end, they had lied to their families.

Despite being treated that way without being told anything in advance, the elites maintained their loyalty to King Childebert and finally brought the whole series of great operations to success. At last returned to the kingdom’s center, they were welcomed as heroes by the people and received unstinting praise and rewards from King Childebert. Even so, the fact remained that they had been forced to bear a burden that could only be called unreasonable.

Some had died in battle and would never see their families again. Some had been gravely wounded, discharged from service, and returned to their families changed beyond recognition.

Even those who returned physically intact had borne a heavy mental burden. Looking at individual circumstances, no small number had family members die during this deployment. If they had merely missed a parent’s deathbed, they were still fortunate. Some had siblings or spouses die of illness or accident, and some had even lost children. There were also said to be men who suffered the tragedy of losing both a spouse and the child in her womb during childbirth.

Others had left a spouse close to giving birth alone and anxious, then been unable to attend the birth of their child. Others had missed the wedding of a beloved daughter they had looked forward to for over a year. In many cases, over the past half year or so, they had placed great burdens on loved ones and missed important events.

In order to comfort and praise such people, Childebert was said to be devoting every bit of time he could spare, going to each person one by one.

He visited the graves of those who had died in battle and told the bereaved families that he was proud of their devotion.

He visited the discharged soldiers who had lost parts of their bodies and told their families how great it was that they had fought until they reached such a state.

He visited those who had lost family members, apologized that it was his fault they could not be present when their loved ones died, and offered flowers at the graves with them.

He visited those who had missed important events and told them and their families that he was sorry for causing them such terrible trouble.

The total number of people requiring some kind of response reached nearly five hundred. Rather than summoning them, the king deliberately visited them himself, giving careful attention in a way that was too exceptional for the king of a great country to bestow upon mere knights and soldiers. In addition, he was said to be sending handwritten letters even to those who did not meet the conditions for a direct visit but had suffered some inconvenience. As behavior toward retainers, it could even be called overprotective.

Of course, Cecilia understood that these merciful actions did not come simply from Childebert’s mercy.

The elites of the kingdom’s center, including the Armor of the King, were irreplaceable treasured military strength for the Arelian royal house. They were essential to maintaining the royal house’s authority and the royal capital and demesne that formed the basis of its wealth. To put it extremely, the instant the royal house lost the loyalty of those elites, the Arelian royal house, which lacked the force to protect its authority, would be finished. If by any chance they gave up on the royal house and rose in rebellion, the royal house would be eaten away from the inside and vanish.

No matter what, any dissatisfaction the elites might carry in their hearts had to be removed before it took root there, then overwritten with pride and loyalty. They had to be convinced and delighted that they were special enough for the king to behave toward them to this extent.

Childebert’s actions were based on that reasoning. Cecilia understood the logic, but the fact that he put it into practice still forced her to admit that he was indeed an impressive man. She had no choice but to acknowledge that his will to proceed along an extraordinary path of hegemony was genuine enough that, when necessary, he would calmly carry out behavior like this.

In fact, Childebert’s behavior had shown dramatic effect, and the elites were said to be deepening their loyalty to the hegemonic king even further while weeping with emotion.

“I will certainly convey your words to His Majesty… Then, thank you for your time today.”

“Not at all. I will continue coming to the castle regularly from tomorrow onward, and even when I do not, I am usually at the royal capital residence. Please call on me whenever necessary.”

Cecilia gave an elegant salute to her lord’s younger brother and left the room.

She left the royal castle for the day and, in the carriage returning to the Fargiere family’s royal capital residence, opened her mouth in a place where only her trusted adjutant Celestan could hear.

“…Everything is proceeding smoothly. There is nothing left to worry about.”

Feeling almost as though all fortune had turned toward their side, Cecilia murmured.

Toward the decisive battle, the Kingdom of Arelia was catching its breath. The Kingdom of Edelstein was also using this reprieve to move. Now, as both countries steadily proceeded with preparations, it was truly the calm before the storm. Before a great war that would likely be engraved in history, Cecilia was spending the calmest days she had known in the past several years.

Just as she had murmured, there was nothing to worry about. Fortune, no matter who looked at it, was on their side.

The Kingdom of Edelstein had lost not only the hero Matthias, but even Sigismund, known as a great king. By some strange twist of fate, the wise king who had protected the country for many years had passed away at this particular time.

On Arelia’s side, the assessment was that having lost the hero’s protection, lost the wise king’s shelter, and lost many other excellent soldiers as well, the Kingdom of Edelstein was no longer the powerful enemy it had once been.

Claudia Edelstein, newly become queen, had gathered nobles, knights, soldiers, and even commoners to hold her coronation ceremony on the frontline battlefield. Taking that as an opportunity, the morale of that country, which had sunk deeply after successive ill reports, had recovered, and everyone had regained the will to face the decisive battle.

Her courage in coming to the battlefield and her skill at staging and speech, lighting a fire of fighting spirit in everyone’s hearts, were certainly magnificent. But what she had accomplished was nothing more than restoring a negative state to zero. The Kingdom of Edelstein had likely gained the morale necessary for the decisive battle, but that did not mean the country had gained any advantage.

In a great war involving tens of thousands of troops, neither side could make especially complex movements. In other words, troop strength, and the national strength that supported it, would speak. The Kingdom of Arelia was now moving to display the national strength it had accumulated until now. It was certain that they would greatly surpass the Kingdom of Edelstein in manpower. After that, if Childebert, who would be supreme commander on the battlefield of the decisive battle, united the whole army and the commanders each displayed their own strength, the glory of victory would be theirs.

Everything was going well. Almost disappointingly well.

Having achieved the long-cherished wish she had held since childhood, Cecilia now walked the remaining short distance toward one great victory, the unification of the western continent, at the side of her lord Childebert.

She felt joy at that, and at the same time, a certain emptiness. The goal that had always occupied so much of her consciousness had been achieved and had vanished from within her heart.

“After we win the decisive battle… perhaps I should try taking a long vacation. Or starting some hobby. Once His Majesty rules the western continent, I imagine I will have some free time for a while.”

With the same smile as always, a smile now completely fixed on her face, Cecilia spoke.

“Now that your heart has become free, please do whatever you like, in whatever way you wish.”

The knight who had supported Cecilia at her side since she was still very young answered his mistress gently, and somehow sadly, as she wore a smile tinged with emptiness.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried