Being ordered by the captain that way, the military cadets reluctantly saluted.
Bowood spread his hands and disappeared to the main deck.
“Instruction officer!” The captain rushed to chase after him. No matter how skilled he is, if the captain is like that, he'll be a bad example for the crew.
Stix whispered to Malicorne and the others in a small voice.
“I have a plan to make that man powerless.”
“What kind of plan?”
“What, the warship will be in chaos during battle.”
“Probably so,” Malicorne agreed.
“And, it isn't certain that bullets will fly from the front.”
The whole group felt tense at Stix's words. He was suggesting that they shoot and kill him in combat.
Chapter Five: Flame of Twenty Years Ago
D’Angleterre (Angle Province)
Located in the southwest area facing the sea, these settlements were said to be built a few centuries ago by immigrants from Albion. This area had always been troublesome for the kings of Tristain over the generations.
This was because there was a culture of independence here; whenever something happened, they would oppose the central government.
So around a hundred years ago, when a religious leader from the religious country Romalia started an event to practice their religion, the highly motivated people in this region all rushed to join in this event. Even though this displeased the king and raised his suspicions… Still the people in this region continued to maintain the unique carefree style, and willingly accepted the terms suggested, so there wasn’t any vigorous suppression.
In other words, the people in D’Angleterre were slick and pleased both sides.
Twenty years ago, they forced the Tristain government to recognize their own independent government, and set up a temple for a new religion.
Because of that, they became an eyesore to the Romalian government. In the end, Tristain was pressured to send an army to suppress them… That was what was recorded regarding the incident then.
That day, twenty years ago, Agnes was still only three years old. Her memories about then are fragmented, yet still very fresh and strong.
The three-year-old Agnes was originally collecting seashells on the seashore.
Then she found something more beautiful than the pretty seashells sculptured by the waves. It was… A ring with a big ruby on it, beautiful like a fire-- It was sparkling on the finger of a young female that had been washed ashore.
The three-year-old Agnes felt afraid, as she stretched out her hand to touch that ruby ring. At that instant, the female opened her eyes and she asked Agnes in a trembling voice.
“…This is?”
“D, D’Angleterre.”
After Agnes replied, the young female appeared satisfied, and nodded.
After that, Agnes ran to inform the adults that she had found someone who had been washed ashore. Even though that female was on the brink of death, under the care of the villagers she managed to pull through.
She called herself Vittoria. Even though she was a noble, as she was a member of the new religion, she was pursued by Romalia but she escaped.
A Tristain squad came to this place a month later.
They burned the village indiscriminately.
Fathers, mothers… The home she was born and grew up in… All swallowed by flames in an instant.
The young Agnes kept running amidst the flames, and finally escaped into the house Vittoria was hiding in.
Vittoria hid Agnes under a blanket. Not long after, a group of men rushed into the room.
“The Romalian woman is here!”
The rough male shout made Agnes very scared.
Following that, she heard a voice chanting a spell.
The next moment, Vittoria, who let Agnes hide on the bed, was surrounded by flames. As Agnes’ consciousness gradually faded away, she saw someone who, despite being burnt by scorching flames, was casting water magic on Agnes to increase her resistance to fire-- It was Vittoria.
Agnes’s memories ended there temporarily. The next scene that was reflected in her eyes was--
A man’s neck.
An ugly neck that had very obvious burn marks.
Agnes was being carried piggyback by that man. Seeing the wand in his hand, Agnes understood that he was a mage. In other words, she understood that this was the man that used Fire magic to burn her village into ashes.
Agnes’s consciousness began fading once more… When she woke up, she realized she was lying by the shore, wrapped in a blanket. The village kept on burning in the massive flames. Agnes stared at the wavering flames without shifting her eyes.
She was the only survivor.
From that day, over twenty years had passed.
Yet whenever she closes her eyes, that massive flame would appear before her eyes.
That massive flame that killed her family and savior.
At the other end of that flame, a man’s back would appear.
After growing up, Agnes learned that incident was part of Romalia’s “New Religion Hunt”. The trigger for that incident was due to the village protecting Vittoria who escaped from Romalia. Furthermore, she investigated and found out that it was conducted with the excuse of “eradicating a contagious disease”.
Since there was a change in religion in Romalia, the New Religion Hunt came to a halt as well. However, the wound in Agnes’s heart had not healed.
Even though she had put an end to Richmon--The man who accepted bribes from Romalia and made the plans for that incident-- with her own hands, her revenge was still incomplete. The flames of vengeance in Agnes’s heart would not extinguish until all the people who burned D’Angleterre to ashes were eradicated.
The information bank for the Royal Army is situated at one corner of the eastern part of the Tristain Palace.
Even among the Royal Army, only personnel at high positions are allowed to enter this place. In fact, Agnes can be said to have worked hard to prove herself in order to earn the right to enter places like this.
The Musketeer Corps that Agnes leads is one of the few defending squads that will not participate in this battle of conquest against Albion, even though they are imperial guards. In a war like this where the entire country’s strength is immersed, by right they should participate in the battle as well… But the most crucial reason is that the highest commanding officer for the upcoming battle, de Poitiers, has no pleasant feelings towards them.
Even though the scale of the battle would be small, the position of leader of the imperial guards is equivalent to a general commanding a distant conquest, or even higher. So if the imposing and qualified Musketeer Corps participated in this battle, it is quite likely that de Pointiers' achievements would be taken away by them. So the General, who hoped to make marshal, naturally refused to let them participate in the battle. That is to say, all the contributions and achievements would be gathered by him, and he would not tolerate someone above him during military conference meetings.
Besides, Agnes is not even a mage. What can a mere commoner do? De Poitiers has always looked down upon Agnes and her squad.
Of course, the reasoning on the surface was an entirely different story. He put forth a reasonable justification that, “Regarding the Musketeer Corps of the imperial guards, they should naturally do their utmost to protect Her Highness.”
But to Agnes, this was instead a good chance.
Frankly speaking, she did not care about what happened to Albion.
With such a mindset, Agnes immersed herself in the information bank of the Royal Army, and after about two weeks, she finally found the document she was searching for. The following words were written on the cover of that document: