WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈
Chapter 49: The Capital, Helenium (1)
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After seeing Schultz off,
we continued toward the capital.
After traveling from the fortress for nearly ten days, we finally reached our destination and encountered some familiar faces.
“Captain, look over there!”
They were the Howard brothers.
‘Why are those two here...?’
My confusion was brief.
The two men rode up, pulled their reins, and stopped before the carriage.
“Ubel, have you been well?”
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Jeg sent us. He said you would be arriving around now and told us to escort you.”
“Come with us. We’ll show you the way.”
I had no reason to object if two people familiar with the roads were going to guide me.
But first, there was something I needed to clarify.
“Did Jeg send that too?”
“Pardon?”
At my question, the two spotted a lavish carriage speeding toward us from afar and frowned.
“N-No.”
“Is that so?”
The Howard brothers were one thing, but people had come swarming over as soon as I arrived.
Was it just my imagination, or did this already stink?
“Hey, tell me honestly. Did Jeg really send you?”
“W-Well...”
Anton lowered his head, stammering.
‘That confirms it.’
The ones who had sent them to bring me over were not Jeg, but the Emperor Faction.
They must have thought I would obediently follow if they put forward Jeg and the Howard brothers, people I was at least acquainted with.
‘If they are the Emperor Faction, then those people are...’
Thud!
The carriage racing toward me came to a stop, and a man with a sly-looking face emerged from within.
“Excuse me. Would this happen to be the carriage carrying Lord Ubel Graum?”
“I am Ubel Graum.”
“Oh! It is an honor to meet you. I am Alben Partel, an attendant of Count Fabian. It is an honor to meet Lord Ubel Graum, the Empire’s war hero.”
Count Fabian was practically Duke Borgia’s right hand,
one of the Noble Faction’s leading figures.
“Count Fabian wishes to meet Lord Ubel for an honest discussion concerning the Empire’s future. A lavish banquet is also being prepared, so would you accompany me to the count’s estate?”
“You barge in out of nowhere like an uninvited guest. What do you think you’re doing?!”
Anton frowned and rebuked Alben.
Alben paid him no mind and waited for my answer.
‘...So my intentions are what matter in the end?’
They were more proactive than I had expected,
but I had anticipated that the Emperor Faction and Noble Faction would make moves like this to some extent.
A margrave might not hold much influence in the capital, but I could still serve as something of a self-defense weapon should the need arise.
‘Or perhaps neither side wants the other to take me.’
It was good for my value to rise.
Still, I had no desire to be caught between them like this and forced to choose.
After looking over the three men facing each other, I spoke to Max.
“Max, get moving.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the carriage started forward, Anton and Alben hurried after us.
“U-Ubel, where are you going?”
“If you are going to Count Fabian’s estate, we will escort you in our carriage.”
“I’ll decide where I stay myself, so stop making a fuss over it.”
After putting on a stern expression and warning Anton,
I turned my gaze to Alben.
“The same goes for you. Please thank Count Fabian for his invitation, but tell him I have a prior engagement and will visit another time.”
Perhaps merely securing an appointment was enough, because he smiled in satisfaction and bowed.
“Yes, I shall relay that to the count.”
With that, Alben headed into the capital ahead of us.
He had realized I was uncomfortable with the situation and removed himself so as not to earn my dislike.
‘Perhaps because he belongs to the Noble Faction, he knows how to read the room remarkably well.’
That, too, was probably a form of political ability.
In contrast,
“Ubel, how could you do that?”
this side was practically clinging to my ankle and pleading.
“What is the problem?”
“Count Fabian is one of the Noble Faction’s foremost leaders. You said you would meet them. Are you considering joining hands with the Noble Faction?”
“Ha!”
I looked at him with an incredulous expression.
‘This is so absurd I have nothing to say.’
I might use them as circumstances demanded,
but I had no intention of associating with those Noble Faction bastards.
More importantly,
“Hey, I just arrived in the capital. What could I possibly know that would make me join the Noble Faction? I’ll be leaving again once the awards ceremony is over.”
“That is...”
“And even if I meet someone or throw in with someone, what business is it of yours?”
I had not even formally joined their faction, yet they were behaving like this. It was clearly overstepping the line.
‘I’m not some lackey of the Emperor Faction.’
No matter how favorably I viewed Jeg and the Howard brothers, this was excessively rude.
Only then did Anton realize how disgracefully he had behaved, and he apologized with a dejected expression.
“I got too worked up and spoke out of turn. I am truly sorry...”
“It is enough that you understand.”
Sigh. I had not even entered the capital yet, and my head already hurt.
I was once again feeling the truth of Schultz’s words that it was a battlefield in a different sense from the front lines.
‘Anyone who is not on my side is simply an enemy. Is that it?’
The nobles’ black-and-white logic was enough to make the back of my neck ache.
“Did that bastard Jeg know about this too?”
“Jeg truly intended to entertain you as he promised before, but people heard rumors that he was acquainted with you...”
Tsk. He was having a hard time too.
People with greater authority than him must have raised a fuss, leaving him no choice but to accept it.
‘Forget it. I only need to do what I have to do.’
Whatever filthy, underhanded things they did behind the scenes, I only needed to take what was mine.
“Captain, we have arrived!”
At Max’s call, I climbed down from the carriage.
A den filled with every kind of intrigue and political maneuvering,
I had arrived in the Empire’s capital.
Anton pointed toward the enormous city walls.
“Ubel, this is Hellenium, the capital of the Helion Empire. This is your first time here, correct?”
“Uh, probably?”
“What?”
“No, it is nothing. More importantly, it is even more impressive than I heard.”
“As the center of the Empire, it is somewhat different from other regions.”
Somewhat?
The capital, Hellenium, possessed a grandeur befitting its reputation as a city that had shared the Empire’s history.
City walls that appeared at least twenty meters high,
a moat stretched out before them,
and imperial crests carved throughout the walls.
Camilla Fortress, considered one of the north’s iron fortresses, looked shabby by comparison.
The inside of the walls was even more impressive.
‘It looks exactly like it did in the game.’
A broad avenue wide enough for six carriages to pass side by side, with countless buildings lining both sides. And that was not all.
“Fine cloth from the east!”
“Here, specialties from the west...”
Merchants selling goods gathered from throughout the Empire and too many people to count filled the streets.
‘It is so peaceful that it is hard to believe there was a war only a few months ago.’
I could believe this was an entirely different country from the north where I had been.
‘Of course, that does not mean I can let my guard down.’
This was the heart of the Empire. It might look bright on the surface, but I could not forget that all manner of scheming people lurked behind it.
“Um... Ubel, where are you planning to stay while you are in the capital?”
“If you tell us, we will send people to make sure you are comfortable!”
When Anton and Seton asked where I was headed, I silently looked at the two of them.
“...”
“This has nothing to do with the Emperor Faction! We only wish to apologize for the disrespect we showed you, so you have no need to worry.”
“Yes, we will not tell anyone else. Not even if it kills us.”
They had flown about skillfully enough on the battlefield,
but they seemed terribly awkward when it came to dealing with people.
Seeing the two of them, like a pair of somewhat lacking younger brothers, I let out a sigh and answered.
“Whew. Then take me to your estate.”
“What? To where...”
“Jeg said he would entertain me, did he not? It is a long-standing prior engagement. I cannot cancel it now.”
I really had made plans with Jeg,
so even if the Noble Faction learned of it later, they would have nothing to say.
At the mention of going to the estate, their faces brightened.
“Yes!”
“This way, Ubel.”
Following their lead, we traveled for a short while before a magnificent estate came into view.
“So this is...”
“It is an estate owned by House Hallios.”
I had heard the family was wealthy,
but the estate was truly extravagant.
“Let us go in.”
“Fine.”
We passed through the main gate,
crossed the garden, and entered the estate.
When we opened the door and entered, Jeg, a middle-aged man leaning on a cane, and a woman around twenty holding a baby greeted us alongside their servants.
Jeg spread his arms and greeted me.
“Ubel! Welcome to House Hallios.”
“The welcome was quite grand even before I entered the capital.”
“Ahaha, that was...”
When I mentioned the Emperor Faction, he averted his eyes.
After glaring at Jeg once, I turned my gaze toward the middle-aged man, who appeared to be in his fifties.
“So you are the one my son has been praising so much.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ubel Graum.”
“Zeon Hallios.”
The Marquis of Hallios.
Jeg’s father, and the person who had elevated his house from a mere count’s house to a marquis’s house.
‘I heard his health was poor...’
Regardless of his health, his eyes were still sharp.
It was burdensome to have an influential figure in the capital glare at me with tiger-like eyes, but I hid it and maintained a calm expression.
He merely snorted and stroked his beard.
“Hmph. My son has lately been associating only with worthless fools, yet he has finally brought home someone worthwhile.”
“Father, you have not forgotten that several of those worthless fools are in the reception room upstairs, have you?”
“You insolent brat. Am I not even allowed to speak freely in my own estate now?”
After scolding Jeg, he turned away as though his business was finished.
Once the Marquis of Hallios disappeared, Jeg sighed.
“Sigh. When is that old man going to start living without such a temper...”
A filial son calling his father an old man was not in a position to say that.
Whether he knew what I was thinking or not, Jeg continued the introductions.
“Say hello as well.”
“My name is Ruina Hallios. I heard my husband has been in your care.”
I already knew Jeg had a wife and child, so I was not surprised as I greeted her.
“It is an honor to meet you, my lady. I am Ubel Graum.”
Despite appearances, Jeg was well known in high society as a henpecked husband.
‘A rather rare case among nobles.’
After greeting the estate’s owners,
Jeg showed my party and me to the rooms where we would be staying.
“You can stay here.”
I could not help exclaiming at an interior that rivaled any decent hotel.
Max, Dihelm, and I were about to unpack when,
“Um... Ubel, could I speak with you for a moment?”
Jeg called me aside.
I did not need to ask why.
“The Emperor Faction?”
“...Exactly.”
Sigh. Of course it was.
“Fine, let us go. There will be no problem if I simply go offer my greetings.”
Even if I avoided them now, I would have to face them eventually.
If I refused for no reason, I would only make enemies.
‘If I am going to meet them anyway, it would be better with Jeg at my side.’
Besides,
‘If I consider making him owe me a favor...’
I could endure this much inconvenience.
“I am truly sorry to keep dragging you around. That was not why I invited you in the first place.”
Jeg looked somewhat apologetic.
He seemed to believe I had been dragged into politics because of him.
“If you are that sorry, grant me a favor later.”
“Fine. If it is within my power, I will do whatever you ask. Just say the word.”
All right, I will take that.
Having received a definite promise that he would grant me one favor, I followed Jeg to the reception room in the estate’s annex.
Men of various ages, from their twenties to forties, occupied the room.
Just as an awkward silence was about to descend at my arrival,
a young man around Jeg’s age stepped forward.
“Pleased to meet you. My name is Garsion Ludwig. I hold a modest position as an officer of the Imperial Palace Guard. You are Lord Ubel Graum, the hero who saved the Empire, are you not?”
“...It is an honor to meet you. I am Ubel Graum.”
“I apologize for startling you with such a sudden invitation. Everyone here wished to meet Lord Ubel at least once, so we took the liberty of arranging this gathering despite the rudeness.”
His manners and words were so flawless that he could have served as a model noble.
‘Just as I expected from Garsion.’
[Garsion Ludwig]
A man who values noble honor and etiquette, he will seize control of the Ludwig Ducal House once the age of turmoil begins in earnest and become one of the warlords who clashes with Jeg for hegemony over the central region.
Once he stepped forward, the surrounding nobles began introducing themselves one by one.
They were all children of reputable houses or young heads of their families, but there were only three people in this room truly worth noting.
Jeg Hallios.
Garsion Ludwig.
And lastly...
“Pleased to meet you. I am Ivan Charlotte.”
A man who looked to be in his mid-to-late forties, seated in the place of honor, held out his hand to me.
I flinched for a moment, but carefully controlled my expression and politely shook his hand.
“I am Ubel Graum. It is an honor to meet the renowned Marquis Charlotte.”
“Oh? You know of me?”
“Yes. How could I not know the marquis, head of the Imperial Guard, elder brother of Her Majesty the Empress, and maternal uncle to His Highness the Crown Prince, whose intelligence is so widely praised?”
“Haha, thank you for recognizing me.”
As if I could avoid knowing him even if I wanted to.
Ivan Charlotte.
The only person in the present Empire who could truly be called a relative of the Imperial Family through the Empress.
The leader of the Emperor Faction, and the person responsible not merely for lighting a fire between the evenly matched Noble Faction and Emperor Faction, but for throwing a bomb into it.
And beyond that...
‘The man who opens the curtain on the true age of turmoil.’
He was the person who would later cause the Empire’s own struggle among warlords.
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