Chapter 273 : Chapter 273
Chapter 273
“Dimashq Plains.”
I spoke the name of a land.
It was after looking back on my two lives.
“It is the Dimashq Plains.”
“What is there?”
“Victory!”
I spat out the word with difficulty.
Because the life I looked back on was heavy, my breath naturally became short.
I spoke as if anxious, as if trembling, filled with the passion of a young man.
Amethus felt a sense of unease from me.
It was because I looked different from usual.
“I remember.”
I recited.
“At the Dimashq Plains, we achieved a great victory. The Western Alliance, which had been pushed back continuously, annihilated the Empire and opened a path to the Imperial Palace. I remember the victory of that time, and I must recreate it.”
“However…….”
Amethus asked.
“What if it is different from that time?”
“It cannot be different.”
I asserted.
“I spent 7 years in the West to ensure it would not be different.”
“…….”
“Ferbias will definitely pretend to retreat. Then he will gather his forces at the Dimashq Plains and attack again. We will seize that opening and achieve victory!”
I scratched my head hard.
There were many plans.
There were many thoughts.
These 7 years, I dedicated them to recreating the victory of the Dimashq Plains.
Then it must be certain.
Because I know the future.
Because I am the Regressor Prince!
“Ferbias has much anxiety. It must have worsened because of Secundus's death. If it is the Ferbias you know, how do you think he will act now?”
“…If it is the Ferbias in my memory, he would force a contest of strength.”
“Right. He is that kind of fellow. In the end, he wants to solve everything with power.”
It was like that during the Succession War too.
He pretended to play within the rules, then staged the Grand Convergence, and even within the Grand Convergence, he suddenly gathered soldiers to pressure the other two factions.
Thinking of my half-brother, I smiled fishily.
“Ferbias… he must think the Empire still holds an overwhelming advantage.”
I giggled.
“Not knowing what kind of time I spent, or what preparations I have made….”
The Empire scattered calamities in the West.
But I stopped them all.
The Empire has no justification for the war.
Two of the Great Emperor's three confidants have lost interest in the battlefield.
The Whale of Hobel Bay died.
Among the Ten Great Generals of the Empire, four have lost their lives.
Four-Fiend General, Eight-Impact General, Nine-Lines General, Ten-Vigorous General (though two were Hermai Merhes's doing).
Considering the time before the regression, the Empire has already lost a surprising amount of power.
I also looked back on what I had gained.
The Western Alliance with no loss of troops.
The support of the people directed at me.
Two heroes in a state incomparable to before, Obro Denoebang and the Widow Queen.
And these jade eyes,
A man who was the Emperor's confidant and my greatest enemy before the regression, but is now my most loyal subordinate,
Amethus Aretion.
“Before the regression, we fought desperately. Yet we achieved a great victory at the Dimashq Plains. But this time, I prepared for 7 years. How could I possibly lose?”
“…What if a fight doesn't happen in the first place? What if Ferbias really retreats?”
“If he retreats like this, Ferbias becomes a fool who will remain in Imperial history forever. Would he tolerate that himself?”
“…Still.”
“Of course, I should give him a moderate opening. Make him think, ‘Uh, at this rate, there’s no reason to retreat. I should find a gap and sweep them away at once… where would be good?’”
Amethus still could not shake off his ominous feeling.
His intuition was thrusting a vague sharpness at him.
The intuition that usually gave surprisingly accurate answers was acting ambiguously now.
As if leaving it to Amethus's choice.
I noticed the anxiety in the jade eyes and continued.
“Who am I, Amethus?”
“…You are my master.”
“Right. I am your master, and at the same time, one who knows the future.”
Shion Pollinglight, the Regressor.
“I said it easily because I know the future. I predicted it easily. But how would the Empire know? How could they know that I see through even their meanest and most secret methods!”
“……You are correct.”
“The West has gathered as one. The Imperial army is on the verge of being half-destroyed. There is no opportunity like this, Amethus.”
Seven flames rose in my blue eyes.
“The time has come. Let us welcome it gladly.”
***
Grand Duke Pret came to find me.
He is the pinnacle of the West, one of the Seventeen Elders.
In other words, a power among powers, a high-ranking person among high-ranking people.
He had built a friendship with me early on.
“Shion.”
“Please come in.”
The Grand Duke tilted his head.
“Why say come in when we have already been talking for a while?”
“I tried mimicking a one-act play. As if the Grand Duke suddenly visited.”
“You tell jokes that drain one's energy. Are you resting enough?”
“It’s awkward to rest when the soldiers are fighting.”
“Still, you must rest. That is a commander's duty. If you don't rest and make a mistake, thousands die.”
“I know that, of course. I am sleeping three hours a day without fail.”
It is the ultimate luxury.
I giggled.
Grand Duke Pret noticed that the bandages wrapped around my body had increased.
“……Anyway, let's finish what we were saying.”
“Please continue.”
“The Empire has made a secret proposal.”
“Through where?”
“The King of East-Erta. He was indeed an Imperial stooge.”
“As expected.”
Grand Duke Pret nodded.
At this point, it was not a surprising story.
“May I guess what the proposal is?”
“…Try guessing.”
“Hmm. Let’s see …A truce?”
“Close.”
The Grand Duke said.
“They recommended an end to the war.”
“Oh!”
I let out an exclamation.
“They went a bit further than I thought.”
“Because it’s a war where there’s no profit in doing more.”
“They started such a war first, and now they recommend ending it as they please…. Cordis, how brazen.”
“Instead, they promised sufficient reparations.”
I frowned.
I didn't like the tone Grand Duke Pret was using.
Wasn't he speaking as if everything was already decided, as if he just needed to persuade me?
“How sufficient are the reparations?”
“They will withdraw without claiming any rights to the territories the Empire has already occupied. They will pay reparations to each country over the next 8 years….”
“They’ll act as if this war never happened, so let’s stop fighting?”
“…The Empire is a place where people live too. They probably don’t want to fight anymore.”
“Imperials are people? Ha, hahaha-!!!”
I spoke filled with ridicule.
“It’s funny. How stupidly did they view us to think we would fall for that? Who would fall for such a shallow trick.”
“…….”
“Grand Duke, why do you not answer?”
Thud.
I tapped the table.
I began to get angry.
As anger rose, my black scales heated up.
The place where we were was quickly filled with sweltering heat.
Thick drops of sweat flowed down Grand Duke Pret's forehead.
“Answer me, Grand Duke. I often cannot control my emotions these days.”
“…We intend to accept the Empire's proposal.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“…The Upper House of the Dawn Brotherhood.”
“I should be one of you as well?”
“…Of course you are.”
Grand Duke Pret found every word difficult.
The enraged Shion looked as if he would turn into a black dragon at any moment.
Black scales, sharp fangs, acting as if a dragon that chews up even a seven-star mage would crawl out of his throat right now.
“I tolerated you people leaving me out and holding a meeting, but I cannot tolerate this.”
I twist.
I turn black.
I heat up.
I am becoming a dragon form too heinous for Grand Duke Pret to handle.
“Let’s hear it. How many approved of that stupid recommendation to end the war?”
“…Thirteen.”
“Everyone except just four!”
I giggled.
“Imbeciles! Do they not know Ferbias that much? Do they not know Cordis that much?”
Inside my smiling mouth, only fangs are packed tight.
“End the war, my foot! Retreat like this? That Cordis, that Ferbias? It’s obvious they are only looking for a chance to stab us with a sword again!”
“…….”
“Everyone except four is that stupid! Who are the four? One is me, one is the Widow Queen, one is Obro Denoebang! Then who on earth is the remaining one!”
“……Who do you think?”
Grand Duke Pret opened his mouth.
He was calm even while being crushed by my aura.
“It was me, Shion.”
“……?”
I tilted my head.
I couldn't understand.
“You also opposed the recommendation to end the war, Grand Duke?”
“In my own thoughts, I do not want to oppose it.”
“Then why did you oppose it?”
“Because I thought you would oppose it.”
“……You took my side?”
The heat began to subside.
I suppressed a little of the rage that was about to burst out.
“Why?”
“My, you ask in such a disappointing way….”
Grand Duke Pret smirked.
“I was on your side from the beginning. Have you forgotten that I arranged both your Lower House seat and Upper House seat?”
“…It must have been a deal.”
“I have watched you all along, and you are a trustworthy trading partner.”
I kept everything I promised.
No, I repaid with something even more valuable than the promise.
The Grand Duke considers me a hero.
I stopped calamities no one knew about and prepared heroes to stand against the Empire.
He hated to imagine what the West would have become if not for me.
“For now, please follow quietly.”
“…….”
Grand Duke Pret spoke as if soothing me.
“First, please conform to the general trend, Shion. Even if you just pretend to follow….”
“……Until when?”
“I will let you know. When the time comes, I will lend you my strength. Will you trust me, Shion of Merion?”
“…….”
I have secrets.
The second among them, ‘He does not trust’.
But the world forces me to trust again.
Cruelly, to me, who knows painfully well what trust is and how much it hurts when it is broken.
“I will take it as accepted and leave now.”
“…….”
“Have a good night, Shion.”
***
Even when Grand Duke Pret left, I had a stiff face.
I slowly reached into my bosom and took out a metal case.
Clatter, clatter.
A magic tool that separates the outside and the inside.
A treasure that keeps my secrets.
“…….”
Only after I was certain that my voice would not be heard outside did I burst out my anger.
“…Imbeciles-!!!”
A scream tried to leak out of my throat.
But since I had already become a scream, I couldn't even do that.
My skin that had died black, the scales flashing pitch-black, burned fiercely.
“We must prepare right now! Even if I know everything, bringing down the Empire is not easy! What do you mean to do, playing along with such a clumsy recommendation to end the war!”
I vomited out my rage.
“We will only be playing! It is Ferbias's trick! How much, how much did they use such tricks before! Taking advantage of our desperate situation, how much they mocked us-!!”
Painful memories.
“To be tricked again! To suffer that plight again!”
When we responded to a proposal that looked sleek on the outside and was persuasive enough, the Empire stabbed us in the back as if to show off.
It happened several times.
However, this did not last long either.
“…Right, but it could be so…. You all don’t know, so it could be so…. Since you haven’t experienced it yet, since it is a story from before….”
My eyes turned sad.
“I know what state you all ended up in…. I remember how miserable we became…. I know enough that even if I want to forget, I cannot. So I, because I wanted you all not to end up like that… only for that…….”
I wanted to cry.
So when I cried, instead of tears, deep blue ‘Soul Fire’ leaked out.
Since I had already burned everything up, there was no helping it.
“Only I know…. Only I…….”
Even if I want to share, I cannot share; even if I hate being lonely, I have no choice but to be lonely; even if I want it to end quickly, it does not end, and only a long time passes.
“……Right, this was what a secret was. If someone recognizes it, how could it be a secret.”
The Regressor Prince had many secrets.
I realized that weight anew.
“…Grand Duke Pret. As you said, I will at least pretend to follow for now. But I am not persuaded. For your sake, I am not persuaded by you all.”
The blue eyes were eerie.
“I will prepare for the Dimashq Plains. Even if I am alone.”