Souma set down Maria and looked towards the viewers.
"This is the situation on all fronts. As I speak, 150,000 soldiers from the
Kingdom of Friedonia are coming ashore at the Empire's western port. With
the Empire's transportation network and my own nation's shipping capacity,
they will have gathered at the Imperial capital in about two days' time. If
you insist on continuing this war, then as I have already said, we will take
you on. Consider that carefully before you make your decision."
Following his words, the image of Souma vanished. Through this
broadcast, Souma had informed the entire Empire of the current war
situation. Supporters of Maria cheered at each thing he said, while Fuuga's
supporters were overcome by a sense of frustration. And larger than either
of these groups were the ones who were doubtful that this could really be
happening all across the Empire. However, those who knew the kind of
person Souma was, the kind of nation the Kingdom of Friedonia had
become, and what exactly the Maritime Alliance meant, could tell that he
spoke the truth.
In front of Jamona Fortress, Hashim was grinding his teeth.
"To think...he'd get so deeply involved in this..."
"What do we do? The soldiers from Zem and the Orthodox Papal State
are demanding we let them return home."
Hashim snorted at Gaten's question.
"Let those who wish to return home go. So long as we don't let our
guard down, we can face Jamona Fortress with the forces of the Great Tiger
Kingdom alone. If they want to retreat without permission, then we can
have them take responsibility for that after the war."
Seeing Hashim's smirk, Gaten cocked his head to the side.
"After the war...? Is it fine to start thinking about that already?"
"This war ends here... Out of an abundance of caution, Lord Fuuga and I
discussed what to do if the Maritime Alliance showed up. I doubt either
Souma or the Black-robed Prime Minister want to get into a serious war
with us. There won't be anything more than minor skirmishes."
"Hmm... If you say so, then I'm sure you're right," Gaten said with a
shrug. Hashim glared towards the camps of Zem and the Orthodox Papal
State.
"Lord Fuuga described Souma as a mountainous turtle with countless
snakes for tails. I've also thought he's a monster, but it's a monster's fate to
be slain by a great man. I was sure Lord Fuuga would strike Souma down
with ease, but...great as Lord Fuuga is, he can't do it with a patchwork
coalition of riffraff. Only once he's able to move all the parts of our national
body himself will he truly be able to become a great man."
Seeing the dauntless smile on Hashim's face, Gaten understood it was
about to rain blood in the Orthodox Papal State and Zem. The realization
sent an uncharacteristic shudder down his spine.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, in Fuuga's camp outside Valois...
"That's the end of this war..." Fuuga murmured to himself. The words
made Lumiere's eyes go wide.
"Why?! If it's as King Souma said, we still have two days before
Friedonian forces reach here! Even with the additional troops that just
dropped into Valois, it's not a significant change! If we attack with the
forces we have, we can take down both Maria and Souma in one strike!"
"That's not the point," Fuuga said, scratching his head as Lumiere
ranted. "Souma's the farthest thing from reckless or haphazard. Unlike me,
he doesn't enjoy the thrill of living on the edge of life and death. If Souma
himself is out here, it means he has a chance of beating us. One that's good
enough it won't be easy to overturn."
"Even so..."
"Besides, from the sound of it, if we back off now, Souma's gonna let us
walk away with a victory."
"Huh?"
"Madam Lumiere, try to remember what Sir Souma said," Mutsumi
began to explain as Lumiere stared blankly at them. "Sir Souma said if we
were to continue the war, he would take us on. That means he only wants a
cessation of hostilities—not to have us pull out of the Empire entirely. In
other words, we can keep the territory we've already taken. We'll still have
defeated the Empire. However, if we continue fighting, we face an all-ornothing gamble against Sir Souma."
"And what's wrong with that?! Why are you so cautious?! This isn't like
you, Sir Fuuga!"
Despite Lumiere's impassioned words, Fuuga just laughed with a hint of
self-derision.
"Being a little cautious is just right. Against an opponent like Souma, at
least. He's not so easy that I want to be taking him on at the same time as
Maria."
Lumiere couldn't accept this and retorted, "Then attack with only the
forces of the Empire that submitted to you! We'll take the capital by
ourselves!"
"Madam Lumiere!" Mutsumi was about to chastise her, but Fuuga held
up a hand for Mutsumi to stop.
"Well, I don't see a problem with that. Let them try."
"Wha?! Lord Fuuga?!"
"Thank you." Lumiere saluted him before striding off.
Mutsumi stared at Fuuga's face. "Is that really all right...? They probably
can't win."
"I'll bet not." Fuuga crossed his arms and chuckled. "Consider it a
lesson. The guys who surrendered could stand to learn how hard it is to
fight Souma. I'm sure a little pain will make them listen better later."
"Yes, you're right... And having them attack the Imperial capital will
make it harder for them to return to the Empire later...is what I'm sure Big
Brother Hashim would say."
"Ha ha ha, no doubt... And besides..." Fuuga said, stroking his short
goatee as he looked towards Valois. "I kind of want to see what Souma's
gonna pull. He's probably got some kind of secret move we'd never think
of. Let's kick back and enjoy the show."
Meanwhile...
"Heh heh heh..."
Krahe, who had been standing by with his personal forces, trembled
with glee.
"Ha ha ha... Ah ha ha ha ha!"
At first, he had been holding back his laughter, but finally, he reached
his limits and burst out into a hearty guffaw.
"I... I have received a sign from Heaven!"
Krahe thrust his fists into the air as he shouted.
"I knew I was right! This is my role! In becoming Maria's enemy, I
brought back her radiance as a saint! The love of Heaven has returned to
her! Did you see, men?! My fellow lovers and admirers of Lady Maria! She
threw herself from the high balcony! Normally, she would have been
dashed against the ground below, a bloody flower blooming where she
struck! Yet Lady Maria did not die! King Souma rode in on his black
dragon to save her!"
Krahe's eyes shone with ecstasy and madness.
"King Souma is a divine servitor, sent from Heaven to rescue Lady
Maria! Her salvation here is proof that she is a true saint! And we are the
ones who led her to it! We who stand here as her foes! Because we opposed
Lady Maria, she was able to shine as a saint! We are the foes of the saint!
We stood against her like the demon lord, and in so doing, made a saint and
a hero appear in this land! We have played a truly heavenly role!"
Krahe drew his rapier and pointed it towards Valois.
"Now my heart is unclouded! With this sign from Heaven, I will face the
saint as her enemy with all my might! The greater my evil, the more Lady
Maria will shine! What greater joy could there be?!"
Just as he said this, a messenger ran up to him.
"I have a message! Madam Lumiere says to attack the capital!"
"It shall be done!"
With that response, Krahe leaped onto his griffon's back.
Standing before his personal troops, he raised his rapier above his head
and shouted, "Now, let us fight! Until our lives end!"
◇ ◇ ◇
"You did your job admirably, Piltory," I told Piltory Saracen, my
ambassador to the Empire, following the broadcast address from the
balcony of Valois Castle. He'd been the one directing the mages who were
controlling the broadcast jewel since the start of Maria's broadcast. Such a
fine detail really illustrated how planned this was between the Kingdom and
the Empire. I'd been able to stop Maria's fall because I was already close at
hand.
"You stayed in the Imperial capital, working even as the fires of war
drew near. Thank you."
When I said that, Piltory put his hands together in front of his chest and
bowed.
"No, I only did my duty as a retainer. As no order to return home had
arrived, I was certain you would defend the Imperial capital, sire."
"Thank you... I'm glad you believed in me."
I looked at Maria, who I'd just saved. My smile had a hint of anger in it.
"Right, Madam Maria?"
"R-Right..."
"Why did you jump? That wasn't part of the plan."
"Um... When I was standing out there, I found myself overwhelmed by
my emotions..." Maria let out a troubled laugh. "And so many of my vassals
left me, including Lumiere and Krahe. My name as Saint of Empire is
ruined now. I won't miss it, but if I was going to comfort and unite those
who've still decided to stay with me, I needed a little of that divine aura—
like miraculously surviving against all odds."
"Oh-hoh... So it was all an act?"
"Yes..." she muttered, averting her eyes.
I placed my hands on her shoulders and smiled gently at her.
"Um? Sir Souma?" Maria's expression twitched.
I looked her in the eye, pulled my head back, and... Bonk!
"Ow!"
I gave her a good, hard headbutt.
Maria held her smarting forehead as her eyes teared up. "Oww, that
hurts. You're awful."
"Hmph, that's what happens to liars!" I said, my voice raising in anger. I
couldn't hold it back right now. "Don't give me that crap after looking like
you didn't have the slightest care for your own life! If I hadn't made it in
time, you'd have been fine with it! Your life would have ended the war, and
you'd be set free from your responsibilities as empress!"
"Urk... You understand me well..."
"I've been there myself on several occasions."
Being forced to play a role by my position, and then that role taking
control of me. I have experienced it many times. It had nearly killed my
heart before...
"You said it yourself, didn't you?! 'I want to be a person, and I want to
be loved as a person!'"
"Ah...!"
Maria had talked about it in the past.
"I may be an empress, but I'm still just a human being. Instead of being
worshiped as a saint, I want to remain a person, and to be loved as a
person."
It was a declaration that she wouldn't flee into her role as an empress
and wouldn't lose her humanity.
"Do you have any idea how many people would grieve if you were to
die? You, who've lived as a person, and are loved as a person. Sure, the
people who worship you as a saint may think that martyrdom will only
make you holier, but those of us who love you as a person—those who
you've loved as people—would never want that for you!"
Large teardrops spilled from Maria's eyes. Without the time to let her
voice out or the need to think about why she was sad, the tears overflowed
from some natural, unconscious part of her being. Maria herself was visibly
surprised when she noticed them streaming down her cheeks.
"Huh? That's strange... Why won't they stop...?"
Maria wiped them away several times, but the flow wouldn't end.
Her tear ducts were open now, after being held shut by force of will for
so long. Understanding the size of the burden she'd been carrying, I
renewed my decision to shoulder it with her from now on. Obviously, I
wasn't very strong myself, but I'd get my friends and family involved too,
and we'd all bear it together.
"Souma! The traitors from the Imperial forces are on the move!"
reported Hal, dropping out of the skies from Ruby the red dragon's back.
They'd come to the capital as well.
Hal and his men, the dratroopers, were keeping an eye on how the forces
of the Great Tiger Kingdom responded.
I'd thought that if I showed how confident I was, Fuuga's wild instincts
would pick up on the danger and he wouldn't attack, but it looked like it
was the northern knights and nobles of the Empire who'd made a move. Or
maybe he'd let them in order to see what we'd do.
"Then we'll simply meet their attack as planned. Madam Maria."
"Yes."
"I know I sent you the instructions through Piltory, but were you able to
prepare the things I'd asked for?"
"Of course..." Maria replied with a sniffle. She wiped the tears from her
eyes and looked straight at me. "When the earthquake and eruption
happened in the north, I had 'the things you sent with the relief supplies'
placed where you told me to. They're ready to use anytime."
"Okay."
I nodded, then addressed everyone present.
"Now then, let's show Fuuga and his people what we've got. The fruit of
two years of research."
◇ ◇ ◇
Lumiere sent forces to the north, south, east, and west gates of the city in
order to assault Valois. Because the Kingdom of Friedonia had only sent a
small number of reinforcements and Fuuga's forces still vastly outnumbered
the defenders, she believed an attack from four directions would easily take
the city.
With the four armies in position and their attack imminent, the sound of
a cannon firing was heard from within Valois.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Lumiere and her men braced for incoming fire, but the sounds were too
sporadic for it to be that. No smoke could be seen rising from any of the
four directions either.
"What...was that all about?"
As Lumiere was wondering, a messenger rushed over.
"I have a report! Something is slowly falling from the direction of
Valois!" the messenger relayed.
Lumiere looked through a telescope and saw something fly from the
capital, before a parachute opened above it in midair and it began fluttering
to the ground.
She recognized it as similar to the equipment the Kingdom of Friedonia
had used to bring soldiers into the capital. This time, however, the parachute
wasn't carrying a person but some crystalline object with metal objects
around it.
"What is that...? Well, it matters little. Tell them to shoot down whatever
it is at once!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
On Lumiere's orders, the mages would attack...or so she thought.
However, contrary to her expectations, no attack touched the mystery
object.
What are the mages doing?! she thought.
As Lumiere watched with increasing irritation, the same messenger as
before hurriedly ran up to her.
"L-Lady Lumiere!"
"What is it?! Why haven't they started the attack?!"
"I have a report! They can't use magic! Not just the mages, but all of our
soldiers!"
"What?! How could something so absurd happen?!"
In utter disbelief, Lumiere tried to use her own wind magic. However,
while she felt like the power was being sucked away from her, she couldn't
produce so much as a slight breeze.
"No...this can't be!"
"Madam Lumiere. Things have gotten a little bad."
As Lumiere was recovering from her shock, Krahe came over.
"What is it, Sir Krahe?! Return to your post!"
"The griffons have been restless since that object appeared. Like they
want to take off, but can't. We can't use our air force like this."
"No...! Could it have something to do with magic no longer working?"
Was this some unidentified attack from the Kingdom of Friedonia? The
moment that thought occurred to her, Lumiere recalled what Fuuga had said
to her.
"Being a little cautious is just right. Against an opponent like Souma, at
least. He's not so easy that I want to be taking him on at the same time as
Maria."
Was this what Sir Fuuga was talking about...? Finally understanding
what he meant, Lumiere ground her teeth in frustration. She hadn't
anticipated going onto a battlefield where all magic was completely sealed
off.
Her common sense told her it was impossible. However, what she was
witnessing defied common sense. That was what Lumiere, who had a
sharper mind than most people, considered.
"It's likely that the object is obstructing our use of magic. But they
shouldn't be able to block our magic while still being able to use their own.
So we should assume that thing renders all magic unusable. It's disrupted
us, but the conditions are equal for both sides."
Lumiere gave up on using magic and decided to give the order to lay
siege to the castle using only conventional attacks. If the enemy couldn't
use magic either, it was going to be a slog, but they would be able to take
the city with overwhelming numbers and conventional siege engines.
However...
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Before she could even give the order, there were countless popping
sounds from the castle, each of them like a smaller version of the cannon
from before. The sounds then overlapped to the point where you would
think there had to be thousands of them. Lumiere got a bad feeling as a new
messenger rushed over to her.
"I have a report! Our forces took heavy losses when they fired small iron
balls at us from on top of the city walls as we attacked!"
"No! Can they use magic?! Wait, those pops... Don't tell me...!" As she
realized the possibility, Lumiere shuddered. Gunpowder weaponry.
Gunpowder had already been discovered in this world but had limited
usage. Because magic was greatly weakened at sea, the cannon had been
developed as a replacement. With it becoming the standard for naval
combat, small arms development ultimately fell to the wayside.
If King Souma was anticipating a battle under conditions where magic
was unusable to begin with, of course he would come armed with equipment
similar to what's used in naval battles. We never had the chance to fight
properly from the outset! Damn!
Lumiere thrust her sword into the earth in frustration.
◇ ◇ ◇
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
I could hear our artillery firing from the walls of the Imperial capital.
Around now, Fuuga's forces would be attacking the walls without magic
and finding themselves stymied by 2,000 lion-dog cannons. I'd put in a
massive order with Shabon, anticipating a battle like this one. I'm glad I
sent them to the Empire along with the relief supplies.
In this world without rifles, the lion-dog cannon was the most
maneuverable kind of gunpowder weapon. They looked silly, but had
proven exceptionally reliable in battles at sea, which were similar to the
conditions we faced now. And it'd taken a significant amount of capital to
purchase them from the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Kingdom.
Fuuga's forces were thrown into disarray as they found themselves
suddenly without magic and exposed to a hail of fist-sized projectiles.
They'd come with countermeasures next time. This strategy was the type
that was only guaranteed to work on someone who hadn't seen it, but it was
enough to break their will to fight for now.
"Ugh, this feels weird."
I looked over at Naden, who was acting like she had a hangover. Naden
and Ruby started to feel ill whenever they were present during cannon fire.
That was probably because they used magicium in order to assume their
dragon or human forms.
"Sorry, Naden. Can you hang in there a little longer?"
"Ngh..."
As I patted her on the head, Naden gave me a look that said, "Fine, if I
have to."
"Sir Souma. What is it that you had us fire from the cannon? We
prepared it for you because you said it would make magic unusable..."
Maria asked, pointing outside the walls.
Yeah, she would want to know that, wouldn't she? I thought, then said,
"It's made using curse ore, the energy source we use for the drill, only
compressed to concentrate its effect. When it's activated, it will nullify or
weaken all magic. The machine sucks up all the energy used to manifest
magic effects. I guess you could call it a magic canceler."
"Sucks it up... So it doesn't nullify it like our magic armor soldiers'
armor then?"
"Right. You've got the idea," I said, nodding.
If magic were water, their magic armor would be like a dry suit, while
our magic canceler was like a lump of diatomaceous earth, sucking it all up
in an instant. But what that thing was sucking up wasn't harmless water—it
was energy.
"So if you keep trying to use magic near it, eventually you'll go beyond
its capacity and—"
Ka-boom!!!
Before I could even finish, there was a loud explosion, followed by a
ground-shaking impact. Looking over, I saw a massive plume of black
smoke rising from one corner of Fuuga's forces.
"It'll blow up like that..."
I was treated to the rare sight of the Saint of the Empire staring at me in
blank confusion. It was likely destroyed from an attack by those among
Fuuga's forces who'd figured out the magic canceler was rendering magic
unusable. Given that soldiers in this world enhanced their attacks with
magic, with magic nullified, it might have only looked like they were
whaling on a hunk of metal with ordinary swords—but without knowing it,
they had been pouring magical energy into the canceler. Then it hit capacity
and exploded.
"The reason curse ore is so hated isn't just because finding it while
mining means you can no longer use magic, but because if you keep trying
to use magic, it explodes and causes cave-ins. We designed the magic
canceler with that negative aspect of curse ore fully in mind."
With my idea that magicium were nanomachines and curse ore was
made up of nonfunctional nanomachines, Genia, Merula, and Trill had
spent the last two years researching curse ore. The magic canceler was a byproduct of that research.
When I heard that curse ore nullifies magic and explodes, my first
thought was that it could be scattered as a weapon. But I gave up on the
idea because it would remain in the soil afterwards, causing harm to people
long afterwards like cluster munitions or depleted uranium. However, with
the development of the magic canceler, which denied the use of magic over
a wide area without scattering it, I was able to force my enemies to fight
without magic.
Incidentally, the one that just went off had deliberately had its capacity
lowered. That was Hakuya's idea.
"When we use the magic canceler, we should deliberately include a
number of them with lowered capacity. If we show them early on that it will
explode, we can reduce the enemy's attacks on the canceler. They're also
unlikely to carry it back after the war that way. No one wants to take
something dangerous into their own camp, after all."
I think that's what he said. My prime minister was reliable and nasty.
But, well, it's not purely advantageous to us...it's like an EMP attack. If we
used the magic canceler, the enemy couldn't use magic, but neither could
we. Near a magic canceler, Naden and the wyverns couldn't fly, and our
options for ranged attacks were limited to simple bows and cannons. Also,
while the magic canceler was in use, there was no way to cast healing
magic on the wounded. We needed to fight a defensive battle without
magic. This time we had a large number of gunpowder weapons ready, but
preparing them and using them cost an incredible amount.
In all likelihood, we had spent an incomparably greater sum on this
battle than Fuuga's forces had. There was also the simple fact that we
couldn't mass-produce magic cancelers. It just wasn't a method we could
use every time. However, in its big debut, it proved extremely effective.
When Fuuga's forces saw the massive explosion, they lost all will to
keep on fighting and pulled back from the walls of Valois like a receding
tide. It was safe to say the crisis in the capital was at an end for the moment.
Once the main body of Friedonia's National Defense Force arrived from
the west, it would be impossible for Fuuga's forces to completely annihilate
the Empire, so I expected Fuuga was going to have to take the win I was
offering him.
"Once Fuuga's forces retreat, I want you to retrieve and shut down the
magic cancelers. Don't let your guards down," I ordered my subordinates.
Soon after that, the messenger came bearing word that Fuuga had
accepted our ceasefire.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, around that same time, Jeanne was crying at Jamona
Fortress.
Jeanne had seen it all for herself over the broadcast, the way Souma had
saved her sister. She'd heard it for herself, the state of the war all across the
continent. And that the one who'd devised the plan was Hakuya, the Blackrobed Prime Minister. Despite refusing his help, and despite the difficult
situation it put the Kingdom of Friedonia in, he had still extended a helping
hand to her.
"I won't let you die."
Jeanne could have sworn she heard his voice.
Thank you... Sir Hakuya...
Jeanne gripped her chest as she silently shed tears. In order to give her a
moment to compose herself, her second-in-command, Gunther, silently
watched Fuuga's forces outside the fortress.