Julius fell silent.
“What’s more, I am the flag bearer of the anti-kingdom faction in the principality,” Gaius went on. “The reason we can take a hard-line position against the kingdom is that the hard-liners have been keeping the moderates down. But, if I were to vanish, the moderates in the principality would gain momentum.”
The difference in power between the Principality of Amidonia and the Elfrieden Kingdom was clear. Be it territory, population, number of soldiers, or prosperity, they lost in all respects.
On top of that, Amidonia shared borders with the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria, a theocracy to the north which had its own unique set of values; the Republic of Turgis to the south, with its policy of northward expansionism; and the mercenary state Zem, the neutral state that would dispatch troops anywhere for the right price, to the west. There was no telling when those who were weak of heart might cozy up to one of these other states in an attempt at self-preservation.
That was why, in order to keep Amidonia as Amidonia, Gaius had needed to keep a lid on such things. Now Elfrieden was trying to remove him.
Julius’s eyes went wide. “No… You mean to say Souma plotted all of this solely to take your head, Father?! He even used his own land as bait?!”
“Be careful, Julius,” said Gaius. “This new king is nothing like Albert.”
Gaius no longer underestimated Souma because of his youth.
He continued, “That is why Elfrieden will never let me escape. If I attempt to retreat, they will pursue me to the very depths of hell. Their only goal is to slay me, after all.”
Julius said nothing.
“That is why I will remain here, to show them the pride of Amidonia,” Gaius finished.
“Then I will stay with you!” Julius cried.
“You mustn’t! If we lose you, too, what will become of the principality?!”
“We have Roroa,” Julius said.
“Hmph… She’s not good enough.” Even though he was speaking about his own daughter, Gaius spat the words out with distaste. “It takes a venomous snake to lead Amidonia. A venomous snake that will one day sink its fangs into the kingdom and strike her dead. Roroa may have the blood of a cunning snake, but she lacks venom.”
Even as Julius trembled with fear at the madness his father was starting to display, he asked, “Father, what is this ‘venom’ you speak of?”
“The burning desire for revenge against Elfrieden,” snapped Gaius. “Even while surrounded by powerful states, our Principality of Amidonia has maintained her independence, developed her unproductive land, endured through hunger, dug mines under harsh conditions, and preserved herself as a state solely because of our drive for revenge against the kingdom. Our hatred for the kingdom which stole our fertile lands from us has driven us to become ever stronger, ever more prosperous…Unfortunately, Roroa may have a gift for finance, but she lacks that drive for revenge. The only one who has at least somewhat inherited my venom, Julius, is you.”
With those words, Gaius rose from his seat and placed his hands on Julius’ shoulders.
“That is why you must survive. You are the only one who can carry on my desire for revenge and keep Amidonia as she ought to be.”
“Father…” Julius was bewildered.
Did that venomous blood flow in his veins? Certainly, Julius saw the kingdom as his sworn enemy. However, could he burn with the same passion he saw in Gaius?
While Julius was still nonplussed, Gaius said to him, “At this point, we can’t afford to worry about being made into a puppet state. You should seek the Empire’s aid. If you do, it should at least prevent the kingdom’s annexation of Amidonia.”
“But… Like you were saying before, will the Empire forgive us for going against the Mankind Declaration?” asked Julius.
“Lay all of the blame for that on me,” said Gaius. “The vengeful fiend of Amidonia refused to heed even his own son’s warnings and plotted to invade the kingdom against the Empire’s wishes. That is all there is to it.”
Julius gulped. Gaius didn’t only intend to die here, he meant to take all of the ill repute for their actions onto himself. Even Julius, who was known for his coldness and composure, felt his heart stirred by that. Though, at the same time, there was an anger towards the kingdom in his eyes.
When he saw those eyes, Gaius nodded in satisfaction, then pushed Julius away from him. “Go, Julius. You must never let the soul of Amidonia be erased.”
“…Forgive me.” Julius saluted, then turned on his heel and departed.
Even after watching his back until he was out of sight, Gaius stood there for a while. He took a deep breath, and his expression changed.
He no longer felt haste or indecision. He drew the sword at his hip with the stern expression of a warrior.
“Now, all that is left is to do my duty as a warrior and show them the spirit of Amidonia.”
“…That looks like it could be bad,” Carla, who was standing at my side, suddenly said.
The principality’s army was already showing decisive signs of defeat, with no shortage of soldiers fleeing or surrendering. The soldiers near the main camp who were still resisting were completely surrounded. It felt like all that was left was to wait for them to be eliminated.
What about that could possibly look bad?
“What’s the problem?” Souma asked.
“There’s no sign of Gaius VIII fleeing,” Carla replied. “He’s chosen to die here.”
“I have no intent of letting him escape, so isn’t that convenient?”
“…The cowardly have fled, the weak have fallen, and, as a result, the elite are gathering around Gaius as he continues to resist,” she said. “If they were to form a suicide squad, no ordinary man would be able to stop them. Especially since, once an army’s victory is assured, its soldiers hold their lives all the more dear.”
When I looked at the battlefield after she pointed that out, I saw 40,000 soldiers from my own army seemingly unable to eliminate the enemy’s main force, which must have already been reduced to less than 500 troops. No matter how many tens of thousands of soldiers we had, only around three people at most could attack any soldier at one point in time. If they were clustered together, that number was even lower.
To say nothing of the fact that the enemy had accepted their deaths and were now fearless while, as the victors, our people held their lives all the more dear.
There would be no rewards or glory if they died. That was why they couldn’t press the attack.
A cold chill ran down my spine. I knew historical examples of this.
For instance, in the Siege of Osaka, Yukimura Sanada had led 3,000 men into a suicide attack which had broken through Tadanao Matsudaira’s army of 13,000 and nearly reached their supreme commander, Ieyasu Tokugawa.
Another example had been in China, after the Battle of Gaixia, when a pursuing force of several thousand men sent out by the victorious Liu Bang had been defeated multiple times by the defeated Xiang Yu and twenty-eight of his retainers.
When there was too great a difference in will to fight, the difference in number of soldiers lost all meaning. An army without the will to fight could never win, no matter how great its numbers.
…I’ll bet that force is going to come straight for my head.
Honestly… I was scared. Sun Tzu had said never to fight a suicide squad.
However, even so, I couldn’t let Gaius get away from here. If I did, all our sacrifices would have been in vain.
But… if, by some chance… if the worst were to happen…
“Listen, Carla,” I turned and spoke to Carla.
“What?”