"And there he was… the Wolf of Serafina, the man who avenged his family's honor, and the one who bet his future at the maw of that enthroned viper. He stood there, mocked and belittled, but once he returned with victory in tow, no one was left amongst them who have underestimated his ability and will."
- General Ferrucio O. Lucio, Chief of the Imperial Silesian Armed Command.
An excerpt from his memoir "Fallen by Folly"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A week after Jonathan and his army left to reinforce the Feudal army in Silesia, the first airship from the fleet returned, bearing the wounded soldiers about to be dismissed from service, as well as the corpses that was able to be recovered after all the fighting.
Paddleton town, now acting as the main airship landing hub due to its empty fields, became full of activity as hopeful family members of soldiers prayed that their loved ones would return to them alive, or they'd at least have a body to mourn for and bury.
"Asseeeeeeemble!!!"
At the empty field outside of the landing pad, the soldiers from the Feudal army assembled for their last rollcall before they are officially discharged from service.
"Men! Listen carefully for your name and service serial code. Once you hear it, you are to step out and form up into a square formation behind the flag of your home domain. Am I understood?!"
"""Yes, sir!"""
One by one, names and serial numbers were called and steadily, the soldiers walked towards the designated area where they were directed to go to. Twenty minutes later, the more or less 400 soldiers belonging to the first batch of returning Feudal soldiers were assembled into their own groups, marking the end of the discharging ceremony.
Before they were told that they are free to go home though, a ceremonial act was done in the form of the bell of Paddleton's town hall being made to ring thrice to "cleanse" the soldiers of the memories they experienced in the war. With all of that done, they gave their last salute and orderly walked out of the airfield to meet their families who was gathered outside.
"Papa—!!!"
"Oof! You sure grew up while I was gone, Myne."
"Don't go away again, papa… Uuu…"
"Yes, yes… I'm not going anywhere again, darling."
Everywhere in the yard of the airfield, scenes like this unfolded as husbands embraced tightly and kissed their wives, children ran up and cried tears of joy in the arms of their fathers and soldiers reunited with their siblings.
However, these people are the most fortunate… Since of the 900-person lift-off capacity of the airship, the rest were corpses or worse, mere body pieces that was recovered from the fighting.
"T-This is…!"
"Arnel died after being struck by an Atlanterran mortar shell that detonated right above his trench. The fortress's coroner said that they can't bring him back to a form that can be placed in a coffin… and they don't want to let his body rot and cause an infection in the camp, so they had to cremate him."
"I understand… Thank you. At least we can still have a place for him to belong."
For those family members who lost their loved one in the war, the ones that died way before returned as ashes in an urn, while those that died just recently was fortunate enough to return in a sealed body bag.
"No… No, no, no—!!! You can't just say that to us!"
"I'm really sorry madame, but given the situation they were in, the unit where your son belonged wasn't able to retrieve his body without putting themselves at risk as—"
*PIYAK—!*
"Give him back…"
"…"
"I SAID GIVE HIM BACK, DAMN IT!!!"
As for those who has neither a living person to embrace nor even a body to bring home and mourn for, emotions took over and the feudal army officers who explained it to them received some slaps and hits that they stoicly received, knowing full well of these bereaved families' pain and misery.
After an hour passed, most of the people have left to go back home and only then did the remaining dead bodies, strangely locked inside sealed metal coffins, were brought out from the airship where it was immediately received by the master of House Dahlia, Spica Dahlia.
"…How many?"
"21… We didn't miss a single lost hero."
"…Excellent. Let's bring them home to their people then."
Among all the tribes and peoples serving under House Bougainvillea, the people of House Dahlia are the most recent and presently, also the ones that their fellow noble houses haven't become acquainted enough with.
The fact that they belong to the Deprived were hidden from public knowledge, making their history as people trapped within a dungeon as their only known uniqueness. This made some people wary and some curious about their practices and beliefs developed within their formerly confined conditions… one of which is the absolute rule of having anyone belonging to their people to have their bodies immediately sealed in a metal coffin and brought back as soon as possible to be buried according to their so-called customs.
"Good day, Chief Dahlia."
"Please, Lady Robinson. We're friends here… Spica is enough."
"Likewise, Spica. Martha would suffice for me too."
At Stella town which is still steadily growing both in population and productive capability after being assigned as the industrial hub of House Bougainvillea's territories, Martha was assigned to be the representative of the Bougainvillea family for the entombment ceremony of the Wizards who died fighting in the war alongside Joshua.
While in the carriage ride towards the town in the middle of Mt. Akira's Forest, the two direct subordinates of the Bougainvillea family talked about what was happening recently in the manor and its inhabitants.
"Please don't think bad of madame Selena just because she can't make it and had to send me instead. As you know, things have become complicated after the Imperial Senate heard that Jonathan-sama went against their orders and reinforced the feudal army."
"I know about it, don't worry. If anything, I wish I can shorten these ceremonies so I can get back to the manor and help out too. I heard that even the young lady had to help the madame by moving the papers around and sorting where they would be going to."
"You're right. Young lady Syrene was indeed helping out as such back there."
While the image of the young girl helping out in her mother's work played in their imaginations, a question popped in Martha's mind regarding their two young lords who are now away at war.
"Speaking of which, have you received any news about what happened in the frontlines after Jonathan-sama arrived?"
"Oh… about that, I did receive a report from our new Wizards through a ManaCom. They said that while things simmered down amongst the Imperial forces and the tide was turned against the Atlanterrans, there was a new problem that appeared as soon as the Imperial commanders learned who was leading the reinforcements."
"Wait… you mean that—"
"Right. Much like how he was treated in the Imperial capital, my liege was not received in kind by the generals and commanders there."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
*BA-KRAGH—!!!*
Three days ago, in the Imperial fortress island of Fort Domingo, the otherwise quiet and reserved conference inside the stronghold's meeting room was broken by the noise of a table falling to the floor after being kicked up.
"I won't repeat myself for the third time, you loon… You better take that back."
Although covered with bandages and still recovering from being starved and exhausted by constant fighting, with the help of physical strengthening magic, Viscount Joshua Bougainvillea kicked up the table and stared down a group of Imperial army commanders across him.
"—!!! Why you, you little—"
"O-Order! ORDER OR I WILL BOTH CITE YOU FOR INSUBORDINATION!"
One of these commanders was about to shout back when the meeting's court martial stood up and forced them both to stop. While they did keep their mouths shut, the two never broke their death stares… until the person beside Joshua spoke with an unamused tone that garnered everyone's attention.
"Well, well… Did you hear what they just said, boys? Straight from the horse's mouth, they said that "we should be grateful that they even included us in the report". Braviste… Palvi braviste…" the young baron spoke, even adding a pair of ancient Romulusian words that roughly translates to: "excellent… f****** excellent".
"With all due respect, Baron Bougainvillea… it would be advisable for you to mind your vocabulary and—"
"Why? Have the men within this chamber become as soft as tofu that they'll consider crass words as dangerous as a blade, yet they consider stolen valor an excusable alternative?"
"…Lord Baron, please do not equate our appropriate measures against information leakage to a case of stolen valor. Awarding the prestige of striking Fort Nickson to Commander Al-Ahmar is—"
*BA-KRAGH—!!!*
Before the court martial can even finish his words, another table flew up before dropping to the floor with a crash. This time, it was Jonathan's table that was flipped and made nearly everyone in attendance flinch in fear of the outburst.
"If that is so, then we have nothing to talk to. Gunther, help up the Viscount back to the carriage."
"Yes, my lord. Lord Joshua, if I may…" Gunther replied promptly to his master's orders, snubbing the other officers just as Jonathan did, as he let the injured Joshua hold him to support himself as he walked out of the room.
"Baron! I order you to sit down! We are in the middle of an important meeting, and we are far from being adjourned!"
"F*** your meeting! If it's so important, then go shove it up your ass! Did you really think that I'd sit here while you laud each other of the achievements that we worked, bled and died for?!"
Jonathan's outburst was quickly met by a few Imperial commanders who finally had enough of his words and attitude.
"You ungrateful ingrate! That's enough out of you!"
"We all know that no one with a sane mind would ever believe that it only took a force of a thousand soldiers, starved and ill-armed no less, to take the greatest Atlanterran stronghold in Silesia!"
"That's right! Just shut up and obey orders!"
Unfortunately for them, Jonathan has no intention of backing down. As soon as he heard the words "just shut up and obey orders", he turned his face around slightly, meeting the others' gazes with his stare so cold and murderous that it could instantly freeze a puddle magma.
"The last time we just shut up and obeyed orders, you threw us to the gaping maw of the Atlanterran front and left us there to rot and die. Many of our army's men thought Irma will be their grave and many, so many of them still has their souls left there, never to know true peace…"
*KRIK— GRASH!!!*
At that very moment, Jonathan's Soul Core glowed in activation and in the next instant, the magic particles in the room fizzled with enough force to break every window, making nearly all the officers huddle in utter shock.
"If you view me as unworthy of your respect, then so be it… I have no use of respect that came from spineless bastards like you lot." Jonathan was about to leave the room when a shout came from an imperial commander who is an imperial noble.
"You—! How dare you dishonor us like this! Do you think you'll walk unscathed after this? Who do you think you are?!"
Faced with those words, Jonathan turned for one last time and did not only give a rebuttal but also a statement that can either be viewed as a promise…
"My name is Jonathan Hakuryuu H. Bougainvillea, Baron of the Fenris branch family of House Bougainvillea… and I am here to declare this one thing and one thing alone. By the time that I return to my domain to rightfully rule it, none of you will remain in those seats."
…or a threat.
"You will bow down to the ground… or I will bury you into it myself!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
After leading the traditional funeral rites for her fallen tribesmen, Spica left the town of Stella alongside Martha to head towards House Bougainvillea's manor where they returned to the work of helping their madame.
"Uuu… Waaa-haa…" at one corner of the new and expanded office room, the young miss of the Bougainvillea family was sitting silently, yawning and seemingly about to doze off. "Mommy… let's go to bed already."
"I'm sorry, darling. Mommy is still very busy. Go and follow your big sis Martha to take a bath and go to bed then."
"But I wanna sleep with you tonight, mommy…"
"Sweetie… as you can see—"
Before Selena can decline her daughter's request for the umpteenth time, Spica interjected with a compromise.
"If I may, madame. I believe it would be alright to indulge the young lady's request for tonight. After all, it would also be unhealthy for you to stay up late again and only take a short nap."
"Spica, I know my limitations. I know my appearance and my age don't really look alike, but I'm not old enough to be told to mind my sleep—"
"Madame, it's exactly because we want you to maintain your youthful appearance that we're thoroughly suggesting that you rest already."
"That—"
"Besides, while I may have not known him personally for long before his passing, I believe the late master wouldn't want you to overexert yourself too."
Faced with Spica's logical reasoning and the thought of her late husband, Selena sighed in defeat before removing her ink-stained gloves and standing up from her office chair.
"Well then, you've made a solid case. Martha, Spica, I'll leave the rest of the work tonight to you two… and don't be a pair of hypocrites, you better rest up too as soon as you're done. Am I clear?"
""As you order, madame.""
"Mm. Let's get ourselves cleaned and ready to sleep then, Syrene." Selena spoke as she approached her daughter, but instead of standing up, the child raised her arms, wanting to be lifted up to her mother's arms, something that she giggled at and did.
"Muu… Uppies…"
"Ahaha! Alright then, let's get going."
Left to lead the three other maids who are reviewing, amending, signing and stamping the mountains of documents in the office, both Martha and Spica silently nodded to each other before taking a pile of paperwork with them.
2 hours later, which is at nearly midnight, the five servants took a short break at the manor's backyard, sipping green tea and having light biscuits so as to not upset their stomachs before going to sleep.
"Ugh… this is getting tedious. For the past month, it has been endless letters of complaints from the Senate and requests for trade agreements from merchant guilds that kept piling up as high as Mt. Akira."
"You're so right about that. Never in my life have I seen so many documents piled up yet all of them can be split between ramblings of an out-of-touch politician and the demands of loons who are belittling us."
"Ink and paper… ink and paper… ink and paper…"
"Waah! Hold on to your sanity, Sanya! If you drop out now, it would be mine and Dolly's turn soon too!"
While the three maids are airing out their complaints and barely holding on to their sanity after doing nothing but the same kind of work for months already, Spica and Martha are having their own conversation about the things they noticed about the documents.
"The senators are clearly sending those letters just to harass us… It's clear with the inconsistent handwriting and the vocabulary used that they hired a bunch of ghostwriters to make and mail them in a regular basis." Martha spoke, followed by Spica.
"You noticed that too, huh? For me, I think the merchant guilds' trade agreement requests has their noble patrons' mitts all over it. It's clear that their haggling for our magisteel, mana quartz and their respective furbished products are done by their backers to quietly tell us to "keep ourselves in line"."
"I guess even after everything that Jonathan-sama did, there are still those who think they're untouchable… enough that they'll still actively belittle us."
"You're right about that. It really is unfortunate that people like them still exists and cluelessly underestimate us… I can only wish that they'd stop short of showing it outwardly."
At some point, the three maids quieted down to listen to the exchanges of their two seniors, quickly recognizing that they're talking about serious subjects even when they're in a break. This made Laida, the one who complained about their work being tedious, to complain before shortly being rebuffed by her two companions.
"Muu… look at our two senpais, even when we're supposed to be kicking back and horsing around, they're still talking about work and serious stuff."
"Laida, don't drag me and Sanya on your silliness. I think you're forgetting that you're always the one who initiates griping about things."
"You sure do…"
"Hyeh-! If you wanna suck up to them and be boring too, go on. You may call me "loud and silly", but at least I make my own way here."
"Haah?! What do you mean we're sucking up? Do you want a beating?!"
"We'll beat you senseless, Laida."
While the five of them are all enjoying their breaktime, Spica's face suddenly perked up and a moment later, the jeweled brooch she was wearing began to glow faintly at the same time as her eyes did.
"Spica… Did you receive a ManaCom?" Martha asked before being replied to by Spica.
"…No. It's a radio transmission. One from someone that I ordered to stay in Marin to keep tabs on the Marquisdom. She says that an unfamiliar carriage has arrived in the palace, and it seems to belong to a Tenka Imperial noble."
Spica described the clan insignia painted on the carriage and as soon as she mentioned a "white heron", Martha knew who it was that came to the palace.
"I see… that explains the rumors that I've heard before we left the Imperial capital. I suspected that the rumors are just exaggerations, but when you consider this development…"
"I've come to the same conclusion too… it's the only logical explanation given the web of their relationships and familiarities."
Tomorrow morning, both Spica and Martha reported their conclusions to their madame inside the office that has its doors, walls and windows all enchanted with noise nullification formulas.
"Given the information gathered by our spies in the other feudal domains, as well as what my elder brother, Renzo Robinson, bought from his trusted informants, the Hiiragi clan is eyeing a connection with someone within East Serafina."
"With the Penne Earldom and much of its high-ranking underling families gone, the only noble stock left in our region is the Taiga Marquisdom… which is why we deduced that the Hiiragi clan is arranging for one of their daughters to be engaged and later wed to the acting Marquis Taiga-Regalia."
The news struck Selena hard, knowing that soon, there will be a new set of eyes constantly preying upon them due to their newfound wealth and influence… still, she didn't let this appear in her expression as she looked up to the two and asked them a question.
"Given this information, is it possible to deduce who the Hiiragi clan would be sending?"
Spica and Martha looked at each other's eyes for a moment, trying to make sure that they have the same name in mind before giving it as their answer.
"Considering the fact that she's the only of-age and unwed or unpromised daughter of the clan, and that the secret mission she would surely be given is to keep an eye on us, there is only one name that we can give…" Spica explained, leaving the telling of the name to Martha.
"It would be Princess Hiiragi Chiori, the young master's close friend in the Imperial Academy."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Back in the frontlines of Silesia, the previously deteriorating battlefront has been unanimously swept back by Ostadonia's resurgent offensive. If back then, the Atlanterran ships and airships have mercilessly traced a route of bloodshed and cruelty closer and closer to the isles of Marl Kah and Tenka, they have now been driven as far back as the confederate island state of Mako Huna.
"DRAT! They're gaining ground against us! Call the artillery to fire those shells faster!"
"…They're saying that they are moving as fast as they can, Captain! They're telling us to just hold on for a bit more!"
"IMBECILES! We don't have a "bit more"! Once we're gone, there's nothing left— ARGH! F***!!!"
"C-CAPTAIN!!! THE CAPTAIN IS WOUNDED! MEDIC! MEDIIIIICCC!!!"
Ever since Joshua and the Feudal army's sortie against Fort Nickson basically threw a wrench at the revered "Atlanterran war machine", everything has gone downhill from that point onwards.
"Press the advantage! Abuse the friendly artillery bombardment and meet them in their trenches! CHAAAAAAARGE!!!"
"""FOR OSTADONIA!!!"""
At the isles of Mako Huna, a state that has recently been transforming itself from a fortress island state where problematic officers are sent to "blow off some steam", to a nearly paradise-like island for tourists and celebrities alike, the scars of the previous attack have been worsened by its current status of being a contested territory between Ostadonian imperial forces and Atlanterran confederation forces.
"…Master! Incoming fire support request from the 417th Imperial Army regiment. They want us to fire on the concrete bunker at the cleft of that hillside."
"Don't be contented with the bunker. If there's no one on our side there and the bunker is only facing our side, remove the entire hill."
"T-The entire hill, sir?"
"You heard me, gunnery sergeant. Blow it up to kingdom come."
"U-Understood! Firing!"
In all of these battles, a lone airship from the feudal army of Serafina remains on the frontlines, left unscathed by enemy gunfire through its extremely powerful engines powering layer upon layer of defensive shell magic formulas, as well as a hull made of thick magisteel and metal alloys that not only withstands attacks but even repair minor damages on it.
"Master! Incoming ManaCom line from Army commander Al-Ahmar Altair."
"Patch me through. Keep it encrypted."
After wearing his headphones and pressing the "receive" button on his console, Jonathan started the call with the commander of the Imperial army who is leading the offensive to take over the Mako Huna isles in a bid to force Atlanterra to surrender and consider accepting the armistice agreement.
"Good day, commander. I didn't expect to receive a call while we're in the middle of a firefight."
["I will cut to the chase, Baron Bougainvillea. I'm requesting that you leave the battlefront immediately."] the commander immediately spoke, not even giving back a cursory reply to Jonathan's polite greeting.
"I can't do that commander. Given the firepower of the anti-airship cannons present in the battlelines, I cannot have my vessel to fall back and leave providing fire support to your airships that can be brought down by one well-placed shot from the enemy cannons."
["That is our own problem to deal with, Baron. I repeat, I request that you leave the battlefield and—"]
"I apologize commander but according to Imperial communication protocols, we have to cut this conversation before it reaches the 1-minute mark. Talk to you later then."
["H-Hold on! Baron! BARO—"]
Cutting the ManaCom transmission under the reasoning of following Imperial laws on communication against hijacking, Jonathan avoided being told to draw his airship out of the fight.
Half an hour later, the battlelines remained largely unchanged as both sides drew back both injured and dead soldiers from their trenches, actively replacing them with fresh combatants… a common occurrence in the new battle doctrines after nearly every superpower in the world gained the ability to mass produce weapons and supplies alike, and now considers even human lives just as equally disposable.
"Well, this is pretty stupid… We've lost thousands of men trying to push the Atlanterrans out of the ruins of Fort Nickson and they're not even halfway there." Jonathan mused while looking at a pair of graphs on his console that shows the positions of comrades and enemies alike from hours ago and right at this moment. "Damn, I knew they said that static warfare remains largely unchanged for a long time, but I didn't know it was THIS bad."
"Shall we retreat, master? We've done our best supporting them yet it's still like this." Suggested by the same gunnery sergeant from before, earning Jonathan's annoyance and a brief spoken lesson from him.
"Are you stupid? If nothing's changing because you're not giving it your all, the solution isn't to stop, it's to give it your all. Captain Maurice!"
"Yes, my lord!" the captain attentively rose to his feet with a crisp salute.
"How are we with munitions and fuel?"
"Well stocked and prepared, my lord! The crew are also ready, sir. We're just waiting on your word!"
"Very well then, give my orders to all corners of this ship! We're going on the offensive!"
As soon as he gave those words, the captain and several communication officers spoke to either their ManaCom consoles or the voice pipes running through the vessel. Moments later, the loud hum of the engines several decks below and rooms away from their location begin to be heard and the shots fired by their cannons gained a whole other level of force and destructiveness.
Down on the ground, the annoyed ramblings of commander Al-Ahmar's subordinates regarding Jonathan's presence and meddling with the battlefield began to take a toll on the commander's psyche.
"At this point, he's bound to only disobey us again and again like a petulant child."
"We implore you, commander! Scare them with force or court martial to keep them in line!"
"He cannot be allowed to meddle anymore! This is our war to fight! We shouldn't let him in it like bringing a child into a playground!"
All of these complaints surrounded the commander who has finally realized the reason why Jonathan is neither heeding his words nor even showing a sliver of respect towards him.
I stole his glory… everything that his compatriots killed, bleed and died for, I received it without even questioning why I am being given these awards that aren't mine.
"Let him be." He muttered with a defeated tone, telling those around him to keep quiet and let him think more. "We've done our part in this war and in this kind of situation where it has devolved to static trench warfare, it would be difficult for us to press another attack just to finally dislodge them from the rubble of Fort Nickson."
"But commander! That would mean—"
"I know what its consequences are. This is my direct order, ignore Baron Bougainvillea's continued presence and actively seek their help in driving off the enemi—"
Before he can finish his words, a soldier burst into the meeting room and told them a news that none of them expected to hear.
"C-C-C-Commander! The local commanding officer of the Atlanterran forces are requesting a surrender."
"Surrender? We're evenly matched here. Who does he think he is to demand a surrender from us when his victory isn't even here—.
"Sir! It's them requesting to surrender to us. They said they'll rather take their chances being a prisoner of war than fighting against "the dark cloud"."
"The dark cloud? What on earth is that?"
"I believe it's the nickname they came up for the airship of Baron Bougainvillea given its similar color."
It only took Al-Ahmar a moment to realize why the enemy commanding officer wanted to surrender rather than to continue his and his mens' struggles.
"T-That guy—!!!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Master! Initiating "ground sweeping" attacks on the enemy trenches and pillboxes!"
"Fire at will! Leave none of them behind!"
"Aye, sir!"
Just as he ordered, his ship and its crew upped their aggressiveness against the enemy, firing shells and spells on the defensive structures and setting up an opening to be used later by imperial forces.
Right when it is about to bore him again, the mana sensor officer shouted a declaration that made Jonathan to stand up and leave the bridge.
"Atlanterran Wizard formation approaching from the south! They number over 200!"
"Two hundred? Heh! Not enough for a decent fight but I can't be too choosy now."
"M-My lord! Where are you going?! Why are you—"
At the panicked question of the airship captain, Jonathan only had one answer.
"It's been a while since I went all out in a battle to end it quickly. Let me show you guys how it's done."