Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114. I Say I'm Sorry
“W-we won.”
“His Highness won.”
“We won!”
The Poinus soldiers who had watched the battle shouted loudly.
Even though only the battle between Maxim and Smiral had ended, and their own battle remained, they rejoiced as if they had already won.
Perignon and Saint-Sard too.
Rodrigo, surrounded by enemies, and Bethel, who was going to rescue him, were the same.
They thrust their fists high into the air and rejoiced as if they no longer had to fight.
On the other hand, the Uresra soldiers all had surprised faces.
It was because they had never even imagined that their captain would be defeated, that he would meet his death.
The reason they could go against the river in the extreme cold and recklessly start a fight in the middle of an enemy camp was because Smiral existed.
A belief that he would resolve any matter, no matter what.
An absolute belief that with Smiral, even if despair came, even if death was near, he would somehow turn things around.
But…….
“Your captain is dead! Those who want to live, throw down your weapons and kneel!”
Maxim, standing with Dawn in hand, shouted to everyone.
The Uresra soldiers looked around with frightened faces.
Betrayal and death.
Two values were placed on the scales.
“Five!”
As the count began, the Uresra soldiers stirred.
“Four!”
Only one number had decreased, yet a sense of urgency spread.
“Three!”
One soldier knelt.
He said pathetically, ‘P-please save me!’
There were no more numbers.
Because the voices asking to be saved spread like a plague.
“Captain Perignon.”
“Yes? Ah! Yes, Your Highness.”
“Let’s get this sorted out.”
Perignon looked at Maxim with a face that said he didn’t know what sorting out he was talking about.
“Prisoners. Prisoners. We can trade them later.”
“Ah……”
Although Perignon made a rather troubled expression, Maxim didn't pay it any mind.
He called for Bethel.
And he placed a hand on Bethel’s shoulder.
“To a place where people can't see.”
Startled, Bethel looked at Maxim.
“Other people can’t see, so quickly. Use your common sense. Don’t be so frustrating.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Maxim borrowed Bethel’s strength and left the battlefield.
In response, the Poinus soldiers bowed their heads to Maxim and did not spare their greetings of ‘Your Highness! Thank you!’
It was the first battle that signaled the beginning of the war between Poinus and Uresra.
***
A place without the eyes of others.
I collapsed to the ground and let out ragged breaths.
“Your Highness, are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“What do you think?”
Bethel scanned me with eyes full of worry.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re seriously injured……”
Because I had circulated mana.
The external wounds were sorted out one way or another.
But my mind was too exhausted.
I had used a Saga that was too immense to take care of the alligator fellow.
To the point where it was precarious even for the level of a 4th Star.
‘It was something I could handle only after reaching the 5th Star.’
If it weren't for the Talisman, I might not have been able to handle the level of the Saga, and my soul might have crumbled.
In any case, I had confirmed the limits of the Saga.
“But, Your Highness.”
“What?”
“Aren’t there too many prisoners? It will be difficult to handle them at the barrier……”
“If you simply think of them as prisoners, then yes.”
“Pardon?”
Instead of answering, I smiled and stood up.
Bethel asked, ‘Your Highness, are you okay to stand up?’
“Even if I’m not okay, I have to go. Let's go, home.”
Because I had to meet with Chris and prepare for the next step.
***
Inside the barracks, under a lamp that flickered anxiously, Rostislav Romanov was looking at a map.
“It is Pyotr Bagterion. I will be entering for a moment.”
At the voice from outside the barracks, Rostislav raised his head.
Pyotr, with a square face and red hair, pushed aside the cloth and came inside.
“What is the matter, Lieutenant Colonel?”
“There is no contact from Major Smiral.”
“The weather is harsh, isn't it taking time for him to arrive?”
“It is too delayed to be seen that way.”
Rostislav scratched his forehead and counted the days.
“A week has passed.”
Rostislav leaned deep into his chair.
From the start of the Billien River to the Poinus territory, three days was enough.
A week, it was a time when a carrier pigeon should have arrived long ago, even if they had found a place to camp.
“I think something has happened.”
“Yes, what kind of incident are you thinking of, Lieutenant Colonel?”
“I hope not, but……”
Pyotr caught his breath with a dark expression.
“Are you trying to say there was a surprise attack from the enemy?”
Pyotr’s eyes widened as if asking how he knew.
At this, Rostislav let out a long sigh.
“Isn’t it a fact known to all that your head is not very good?”
“……Lieutenant General, I am also doing my best.”
“It’s fine. Who would doubt your abilities even if you don’t try so hard?”
“Thank you.”
Rostislav, who patted Pyotr’s shoulder, turned his eyes to the map.
The Billien River, the Ricalypse Plains, the Black Pine Forest, and the Akal Corridor.
Rostislav calculated the distance between his current location and the Akal Corridor.
“How long do you think it will take?”
“To the Akal Corridor, you mean? If I go alone, it will take about a week.”
“It will take longer since it's snowing, right?”
“That is correct.”
He swallowed.
If, as Pyotr said, this operation had been leaked, troops would be deployed around the Billien River.
‘Landing will become difficult.’
If they pushed it, they could somehow get up, but they might lose half of their current forces.
No, maybe even more.
‘Failure is absolutely not an option.’
Even for her, Mikhail Lagos Pustin, he could not tolerate failure.
The head of the state religion who seduced Caesasi and holds him in the palm of her hand.
A wicked priestess who holds the country and shakes it as she pleases.
It was a situation where success was needed even just to eliminate Mikhail.
Uresra's long-cherished wish, if they could occupy Poinus and obtain land that does not freeze.
If only that happened, they could pressure Caesasi with the support of the people and the nobles on their side.
“I suppose the Akal Corridor will be necessary after all.”
Rostislav placed a yellow stone in front of the Akal Corridor.
Pyotr looked at Rostislav with a face full of concern.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go back there now.”
“I have no intention of going back.”
Pyotr, unable to read Rostislav's thoughts, scratched his head and blinked his eyes.
“What is Tolino doing now?”
“Tolino is…… not doing anything. He’s probably sleeping……”
Rostislav looking at Pyotr pathetically.
“I-I’m sorry. He doesn’t have a separately assigned position.”
“Pick 500 men and tell them to go to the Akal Corridor.”
Pyotr’s pupils shook greatly.
He had confirmed that Poinus troops were stationed in front of the Akal Corridor.
For that reason, the operation to break through the Akal Corridor had been discarded.
But…….
“Isn't it too dangerous to go to the Akal Corridor?”
Rostislav looked at Pyotr, scratching his chin with the back of his hand.
“If you tell me the reason, it would be easier to persuade him. You know Tolino’s personality, don’t you?”
“As the Lieutenant Colonel said, if the enemy knew our operation, what do you think they would do?”
“……They would likely deploy troops to the Billien River.”
“So shouldn't we divide their attention? Signal that we're going to an obvious place. If they move their troops there, you will land. There will be casualties, but it will be manageable.”
“Then wouldn't it be better to send more than 500 men?”
Rostislav quietly gazed at Pyotr.
Pyotr scratched the top of his head with both hands, as if he didn't know why he was being looked at that way.
“What do you think is the reason I chose Tolino?”
“Tolino…… Ah!”
Pyotr now finally recalled Tolino's ability.
That ability that everyone found eerie.
“500 men should be enough. So send them right away.”
“I understand.”
“You should move too, Lieutenant Colonel.”
“Where should I……”
“Shouldn’t you go to where Smiral disappeared?”
“I will go check immediately and send a carrier pigeon.”
At Rostislav’s gesture, Pyotr left the barracks.
“I thought they were a mess, steeped in peace, but was there a capable commander?”
Rostislav let out a long breath and looked towards where the barrier was.
***
“Achoo!”
Damn cold.
Because I had overexerted myself using mana, the magic Chris had cast on me lost its effect.
As a result, I was the only one suffering from a cold that no one else had caught.
Knock, knock, knock.
I think I knew who it was without asking.
“Your Highness, I’m coming in.”
“You’d come in even if I said no.”
Elliot, who opened the door, was smiling faintly.
She had brought a meal and medicine.
“Why are you the only one who’s sick?”
“I know, right? Why am I the only one who’s sick?”
I dipped a piece of bread into the half-cold soup and pushed it into my mouth.
Maybe because it was the north, the bread was hard.
It seemed the warm bread had cooled in an instant because the weather was cold.
“Even if it doesn’t taste good, just eat it. You have to eat to take your medicine.”
“It’s not that it doesn’t taste good, it’s tough.”
“You still have to eat it.”
I said just once that I wouldn't eat because my jaw hurt, and she keeps going on about it.
“They say everyone would have died if it weren't for Your Highness. Is that true?”
I shrugged my shoulders while munching on the bread.
I did save a lot of people by eliminating the fellow named Smiral, but even if I hadn't been there, not everyone would have died.
Because they would have retreated before fighting.
Instead, they would have faced the enemy with their morale dropped.
“It's strange. People say that Your Highness saved them. Everywhere I go, there's nothing but praise for Your Highness.”
“They treated me like an unwelcome guest at one point.”
“That’s because they didn’t know Your Highness’s true worth. You will be welcomed now.”
Elliot offered a glass of water and a packet of medicine.
I looked back and forth between the medicine and Elliot.
The medicine was so bitter I didn't want to take it…….
“They won't welcome you if you go around with a cold.”
Chris, standing at the door, was smiling faintly.
“Don’t just smile, come over and cast some healing magic on me. You're good at that kind of thing.”
“You sound weak. I would recommend taking the medicine. If you overcome it on your own, you won’t catch a cold for a while.”
“How cheap.”
It was true that one gets stronger after being sick once, but the fever in my head and the dizziness were quite uncomfortable.
“I have received all the reports.”
“Oh my?”
Elliot had a surprised look on her face.
It was because Chris had knelt on one knee and paid his respects to me.
“Thank you very much. You have accomplished a great feat.”
“Why are you doing something you don’t usually do?”
“Thanks to Your Highness, many people were able to live, so as the person in charge of the border, I must naturally do so.”
“That’s enough. In the time you're doing that, just cast some healing magic.”
“You will become healthier if you take your medicine and overcome it.”
This old man was stubborn in strange places.
“How many casualties were there?”
Chris, who had raised his head, met my eyes.
He seemed surprised that I asked about the dead, when he thought I would be pleased with the praise.
“We survived because there were sacrifices. Before praise, we must comfort the souls of the sacrificed.”
“I was genuinely surprised.”
“Not yet.”
Because there would be more things to be surprised about in the future.
“23 people died.”
“That’s a lot of deaths. Let’s hold a memorial service.”
We must appease the dead.
This was not for the dead.
It was for everyone who lives and looks upon the dead.
I too could depart one day.
But if no one watches over me after I've left, if I am left alone and forgotten as time flows by…….
‘It would be heartbreaking.’
So that the remaining ones do not just remember alone and beat their chests.
We must comfort them together, bury them in our hearts, and tell them that we will remember them as long as we protect this place, as long as we live.
They came to this cold place and left without once realizing the dreams they held.
The remaining ones too have buried their dreams and are enduring in solitude.
At least for that moment, so that everyone can be comforted, we must pray together.
“I understand.”
Chris folded the map and documents he had brought.
The struggle for survival was also important.
Still, I had to say it.
That I was sorry for only making them suffer.
They didn't want to be soldiers, but because they were soldiers, they deserved to be comforted.
They had more than enough reason for it.