Chapter 242: Angies Return (3)
New chapter of The Demon King is out! (1/2 chapters)
It had been month after the coronation. The ransom payment was completed, and nearly 3000 released prisoners suddenly arrived at the port city of Ryubili. As expected, the returning prisoners were shocked and lamented to find Angie crowned. They reviled her, calling her a traitor who abandoned the emperor and fled the battlefield first. However, these men had gone to war for the nation and returned as prisoners, and they could not simply be killed.
Angie lied by publicly claiming that she had fought to prevent a cavalry bypass, but punished those who openly criticized the emperor with the crime of lèse-majesté. By that time, the news of Alfred’s survival had naturally spread. And then, one month later, Alfred returned.
—
Alfred quietly landed in the port town where the high-ranking nobles who had been released earlier and had implicitly expressed their support for him resided. Supporters, including the former prisoners, began to gather in the town to rally around Alfred. Ignoring the frantic attempts by the electors to calm the situation, Angie openly gathered her forces. The season of political intrigue orchestrated by the electors was over. The season of war, where warriors wield their swords, had arrived.
Two weeks later, Alfred and Angelica’s armies faced each other in the rural town of Nettelphila. Officially, it was just a meeting for the two emperors to discuss matters. However, even for a mere discussion, a show of military strength was necessary.
Upon Alfred’s return, many of the lords who he thought were on his side became fence-sitters, and with the treasury empty, only 6000 soldiers could be gathered. In contrast, Alfred quickly mustered 2200 former prisoners, and with the soldiers they had left behind in their hometowns, a total of 7300 men assembled under his command.
Angie found the sibling rivalry almost laughable, but there was no other choice. Angie and Alfred attempted to meet at an equidistant point from the front lines of both armies. With ten attendants each as guards, the meeting took place in an open field where both armies could clearly see them. It was March 8th, a chilly, windless day with cloudy skies. Angie faced Alfred, or someone who appeared to be him, across a makeshift table and two chairs set on a rural farm road.
“…” (Alfred)