“…”
“Many of Souma’s political measures can be roundabout, or downright strange, but I feel at ease watching him. That’s because I can feel that this country is slowly but steadily improving. So… call me selfish if you want, but I want Souma to be king. If my father demands his crown back, I’ll fight him at Souma’s side.”
I had heard those words before. If I recalled correctly, they had come before we’d gone to the planned construction site for the new city. While I had been exhausted from repeated all-nighters, Liscia had said this to me when I’d been trying to take a nap.
“Never forget. You’re the one I want to be king, Souma. I’ll accept no substitutes. If my father were to demand the crown back, I’d fight him at your side.”
Since her words hadn’t changed, was that proof that her feelings hadn’t either?
…I was happy. At the fact there was someone who would say they wanted me to be king. That she could feel at ease with me in that position. It was because Liscia was at my side that I was able to be king.
As I was thinking that, I saw the Albert explode in the distance.
“Liscia, the Air Force is coming back,” I said. “Hurry and get that thing out.”
“…I know.” At my urging, Liscia took something black out of her pocket and fastened it around Castor’s neck. “I’m sure you’re aware, but that is an item called a slave collar. It can be tightened at the master’s will, and if the wearer seeks to harm their master, the collar has a spell in it to automatically decapitate them. It will decapitate the wearer if they attempt to remove the collar contrary to their master’s wishes, too. They can’t commit suicide, either. Also, the master of this collar is set to be Souma Kazuya.”
“…I don’t have the will left in me to resist at this point,” Castor said.
Having been collared, Castor limply let go of the sword he had been holding. The hilt guard bounced on the stone floor with a clatter. This was the moment the battle was decided.
Then…
“Father!”
A girl with blazing red hair, gleaming golden eyes, dragon wings, and a tail flew down from the sky, rushing over to Castor, who had his shoulders slumped.
Come to think of it, Excel had told me “I have a granddaughter who stayed with Castor” with a deeply pained look on her face, hadn’t she? In that case, this girl had to be Castor’s daughter, Carla.
The Albert had just blown up moments ago, but when I saw her red armor, it occurred to me that she may have been fighting with the Albert up until now.
The moment she saw my face, Carla unsheathed the sword at her hip. “Curse you! How dare you do this to my father?!”
“Stop, Carla!”
Castor stopped Carla just as she was about to come swinging at me.
“Father?! But…”
“That’s enough. We’ve lost.”
Liscia stood between me and Carla, spreading her arms wide. “Stop this already, Carla! Duke Vargas is already wearing a slave collar! If you kill Souma, Duke Vargas will die, too!”
“Liscia…?!” she gasped. “I see… We lost, huh.”
The strength seemed to drain from Carla’s body. The sword fell from her hands and Carla limply slumped to the ground where she stood. She wore a stunned look, tears streaming from her eyes.
It pained me a little to see it, but she had taken part in this rebellion. I couldn’t show her preferential treatment. I asked Aisha to put a slave collar on her, too.
Around that time, the wyvern cavalry who had been fighting the battleship Albert began to gather. They were all seething with anger, but as soon as they saw the collars on Castor and Carla, they realized they couldn’t touch us and just ground their teeth in frustration.
The glares of the wyvern cavalry hurt, but I didn’t have time to be concerned by that now. “Tolman, steward to the House of Vargas!”
“…I am here.”
I raised my voice, and Tolman, who hadn’t interfered and had just silently watched how things had played out, just as Castor had said he would, stepped forward.
“You recall the rule that was agreed on when I delivered my ultimatum, I trust,” I said. “‘If one of us is struck down or captured, that person’s subordinates will immediately come under the command of the other side.’”
“Yes…”
“As you can see, I have captured General of the Air Force Castor Vargas,” I said. “From this moment, I temporarily give the powers of the General of the Air Force to you. You are to lead the Air Force under the command of the Forbidden Army!”
“Yes, sir. I understand… However, might I ask one question?” Tolman asked with a face stricken with grief.
“…What is it?”
“What will become of Duke Vargas and Lady Carla?”
“We will deliberate on what is to be done with them after the war. There is no need to decide that right here and now.”
Then, looking to the wyvern cavalry around me, I said, “If you come under the command of the Forbidden Army now, you will be treated as only having acted under the orders of Castor. Those who do not comply will be tried alongside Castor as traitors when the war is over.”
“You want us to sell out our masters?!”
“Yeah! We won’t abandon Lord Castor!”
Some spirited voices shouted out from amidst the wyvern cavalry. I glared in the direction of those voices.
“Consider this carefully. This country has a system of joint responsibility for crimes. If you are found guilty of treason, your relatives will be punished, as well. I hope you were prepared for that before you spoke!”
““…””
The room fell silent. Surely even the fearless soldiers of the Air Force weren’t willing to gamble with lives other than their own. When told their families would be implicated as well, they didn’t have the spine to go through with it.
In that heavy atmosphere, Tolman bowed his head to me. “…I will follow your orders, Your Majesty.”
“S-Sir Tolman!”
“We can still fight!”
“Silence! Can’t you see that the more you resist, the worse you make Duke Vargas’s position?!”
“Urkh…”
Having silenced all opposition, Tolman bowed to me once more. “Your orders, please, sire. How would you have the Air Force move from here?”
As Tolman admirably bowed before me, I gave him my order.
“First, announce the end of the battle using the Jewel Voice Broadcast. Announce to the people of your domain that Duke Vargas has been captured and the Air Force will come under the command structure of the Forbidden Army. After that, call up the members of the Air Force that aren’t present here. Once your forces have gathered, I will have you head to the Carmine Duchy. Also, I want you to announce that anyone who continues to resist, especially after all that’s happened, will be judged as a traitor once the war is over. Do I make myself understood?”
“Yes, sir! It will be done.” Tolman saluted me, then moved to carry out his orders at once.
With this, the terrible battle in the Vargas Duchy, which had been a “needless battle” for both the losers and the winners, came to a close. That was one obstacle surmounted.
Now, finally… I can head to the Carmine Duchy.
From the wall, I looked off into the distant west. There, I knew that man must be waiting for me.
“I’ve kept you waiting, Georg Carmine. I’m coming now.”
Liscia was watching me with silent concern, but I barely noticed it.