The Girl Who Bore the Flame Ring

Chapter 28: Good Luck to the Beast that Goes to its?Death

A messenger from Wilm arrived at fort Carness. It was a notification of Emperor Befnam’s edict chastising Grohl and labeling him a traitor after Coimbra’s crushing defeat at the battle of the Trais river. Wilm had temporarily been appointed as viceroy, and he had promoted Riglette to the position of major general.

“It’s hard to believe, but this is certainly an Imperial Edict from His Majesty Befnam. It clearly bears the seal of Horsheido… but it’s rather abrupt that Major General Wilm has been made acting viceroy.”

“Are you displeased with His Majesty Befnam’s edicts?”

“N-no, not at all, but, it’s just that I can’t quite fully grasp the situation.”

The commander of the military police was pacing this way and that in his confusion, but it wasn’t only him, both Barbas and Kai were unable to express themselves in words. Nobody could believe that the grand army that Coimbra had arrayed could summarily crushed in a single day. Though they had essentially predicted that it would be decided in a single battle, it was hard to accept such a one sided defeat.

“Lord Wilm has great expectations for Lord Riglette. The traitorous Grohl is presently retreating west along the side roads. You have orders to immediately lead the troops in Carness and pursue him. Also, pass judgement on Noel Bosheit at once.”

The messenger’s words had only been superficially polite.

Spittle flew from Barbas’ mouth as he spoke, “Oi, you bitch. Yer fuckin’ daddy’s jumped into bed with the Baharans real quick. Oh, but I guess that fucker Gaddis did it too. It’s one hell of a thing for both major generals to just quietly betray us! Isn’t that just great for everyone who believed in them!”

“Watch how you open your mouth. We are justified by imperial command.”

“Ha! If yer justified, I’m god!”

Brushing off what Barbas was saying, the messenger turned to Kai, “Incidentally, Sir Kai, Gemb has complied with Baharan requests and has commenced an invasion of Coimbra. Not only Gemb, but Ribeldam, Giv, Longstorm, Horn, and Karmbith have prepared their men. You are free to gain as many merits as you please in cooperation with Lord Riglette.”

Kai furrowed his brow in response to the messenger’s words. He nodded along, but still couldn’t grasp the situation. He made a face that showed he wanted to point out the total lack of indication as to their status as traitors.

“Would you like some time to think the situation over? We have prepared a special room for you, so feel free to wait there.”

“What a leisurely order! Grohl is running for Coimbra right now! You should prepare the men at once!”

“You’re all annoying, aren’t you?”

“What was that!?”

“I said you’re annoying. Even though you want me to deal with the situation. What a laughable sentiment. In the first place, I get to judge Captain Noel, right? If you act like that, I might just have you killed, you trash!”

The messenger faltered at her force, “S-sir Riglette?”

“Barbas, this fool is getting in the way of the conversation, would you drag him away for me?”

“What are you saying, Sir Riglette!? Any injury to me is a betrayal of the empire!”

“Hurry and take him away! He’s an eyesore!”

“Don’t try and order me around! Well, we both think he’s an eyesore. Oi, somebody get over here and drag this fool down to the dungeon!”

“Y-you son of a bitch! If you act like this…”

As he started to resist in a rage, two of the White Ant Bloc subdued him, and dragged him away, one on each side. Once he was out of sight, Riglette started the meeting.

“Hmph, I hate my father from the depths of my soul. The evidence he ‘got’ from me was probably a fabrication so that he could get rid of her without dirtying his hands. He wanted you and the captain to kill me, which almost happened. It’s unbelievable.”

Riglette tutted. The one who had saved her had been none other than that foolish little girl Noel, so Riglette owed her a huge debt.

“That aside, you’ve become a major general, right? Isn’t that great? The Captain and I are retiring, so do whatever you want together with the other traitors. Be happy you weren’t killed.”

“Wait.”

Riglette threw the letter from Wilm at Barbas’ retreating back.

“Your friend Dirk died in battle. Do you still want to retire?”

“What?”

“It’s true. It’s written right here. It appears that he was killed by the enemy commander Falid while protecting the viceroy. His famous Black Sun Cavalry have been ordered to descend upon Coimbra, you know.”

“No way, old man Dirk…”

Barbas darkened his brow, as did the other members of the White Ant Bloc.

“I don’t intend to do what that man wants. He only sees me as a disposable tool. As if I’d be used again.”

Riglette picked up Wilm’s letter, and violently tore it asunder. Knowing she was hated, she had put in great effort in hopes of being appreciated, but she was done with him. If he hadn’t seen her as disposable, he would have kept her at his side, or sent her to the navy like he had done for Leue. In summary, she had been completely abandoned. He sent her a letter now to raise her mood. He would use whatever he could, and get rid of her when the time was right.

I don’t care about betraying the empire or whatnot. What I can’t forgive is trying to just throw someone away after using her. I’ll definitely kill that man!

“What should we do as military police? If we defend the viceroy, we’ll go against the emperor and become traitors, but turning our blades against our viceroy would go against everything it means to be a retainer. Aaah, I just don’t know what’s right!”

The commander of the military police was kneeling with both hands on his cap. He had most likely done nothing more than blindly follow Coimbra up until this point. Unfortunately, Coimbrans were also the people of the Horsheido empire and it was absolutely unacceptable to defy the orders of the most powerful man in the empire.

“Figure it out yourself. I’ve already decided.”

“What are you going to do?”

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“I’ll judge the captain, that much I can abide by.”

“What’s that? You haven’t figured it out at all! You’re all just fucking talk!”

“I’ll go along with whatever she decides to pay back a debt I owe her. Why don’t you stop making a fuss and just decide already? If you want to escape, there isn’t much time. The army of justice is approaching to destroy the rebels after all.”

Riglette turned and began to walk to Noel’s room after she spoke.

Opening the door, she found that the room was pitch black. The rain had finally stopped, but the rough curtain was completely covering the sky as if she hadn’t wanted to see a single sliver of the scenery outside. It was ferociously hot too, and just stepping inside had already caused Riglette to sweat.

“Captain… we need to speak quickly.”

Riglette took a step into the room. A nebulous sense of suffocation befel her, and she wondered if the room was really as large as it seemed. Noel was sitting on the bed with her notebook open, but her back looked like the back of a recluse about to give up the ghost.

Riglette took another step in. Something was definitely wrong with the room. She could feel something lurking in the back, only she couldn’t see signs of anything in there at all. Little by little, she began to hear the patter of feet running about, and as she peered further in, the sound of mocking laughter. Riglette wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or not. There were maybe one, or two… no there were several dozen in there.

A thought struck her. It was the sound of children at play. The instant she understood it, an innocent laugh echoed through her mind.

“Eek…”

Something seemed wrong with Noel’s eyes, and she called out in a rasping voice, “What is it, Riglette? Has the rain stopped?”

Was it even Noel? She wasn’t sure, but she fumbled out a response.

“I-it stopped. If you open the window, you should be able to tell.”

“Cool. Then let’s open that up. The rain was noisy and annoying so I shut it out. Ahaha, once I did that, I felt way better.”

Noel stood abruptly, and flung open the nearest curtain. Brilliant light cut through the darkness, instantly flooding the room, erasing the presence as it did. The childish laugh was gone.

“There are still clouds, but the weather’s kinda good, eh? I guess the bad news is done for the moment, then?”

“Y-yes, well, I have some bad news from earlier. The main Coimbran force has been defeated.”

“I’ve already heard that bad news from somewhere. Like rainwater seeping through the ceiling.”

Noel gave a weak laugh and asked for the details. After hearing it all, Noel was neither disheartened nor angry.

She simply responded with a muted, “Ah.”

“You don’t have any thoughts on Wilm’s betrayal?”

“Getting angry won’t help after all. Well, I’d still kill him if he was right here, though it’s a bit late now.”

“In that case, why did you not punish me? My father was the one responsible for your reassignment, and sold out his companions for his own personal glory, on top of it all. I am that man’s daughter. I won’t complain if you want me executed.”

Noel responded with a blank expression, “Well, you’re my precious aide. I won’t take anything out on my companions. I’d have killed you if you had said that you’d betrayed us, though.”

Saying that they might as well meet up with everyone else, she left the room.

Like the lord of the castle, Noel gathered up all the men and spoke, “We’re going to save them,” and looking over the uproarious lot, she continued, “Rebel or not, the Coimbran army is my ally. Also, I have to save my friend Cynthia.”

“Are you serious about this? Kai’s men aside, there are only about seven hundred of us in the castle. In comparison, the Baharan army is easily over fifty thousand, not to mention all the traitors who are joining them. Won’t we be killed if we face them?”

“The enemy is going after the viceroy as much as they can, right? They have to be tired. We, on the other hand, are all rested up and full of energy. Also, their advanced pursuit units are probably really lightly manned so that they can be as fast as possible.”

Despite Noel’s optimism, Barbas and the others held dark expressions.

“But I heard the enemy is fielding elite cavalry.”

“Yup, that’s why if you don’t want to, you don’t have to come. I’m leaving behind anyone who doesn’t want to. Do whatever you want. It’s fine to take minimal provisions.”

With that, Noel took up her bident and began making preparations.

“Thanks for everything, Kai. Are you heading back go Gemb now? Let’s cancel our play-date, okay?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Gemb is an enemy of Coimbra now, so the next time we meet, we’ll be enemies. I won’t go easy on an enemy, so…”

“Hahaha, that’s a truly fascinating proposition, but when did I ever say I was going to leave? You’ll trouble me if you jump to any hasty conclusions.”

Kai’s response had been slightly irritated.

“So you aren’t going back?”

“Nope. My lord Siden made it clear that it was important for me to think for myself when something important happened. Unfortunately, I’m not good with my head, so I’m acting on my convictions. It may have only been for a short while, but I’ll never abandon a comrade in arms.”

Kai’s men agreed with his statement.

“Ahaha, you guys really love war, eh? Even going so far as to lose on purpose.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. Also, it’s a little harsh to say that we love war. It’s about the depth and complexity of the matter, is it not?”

“Ah, yup, now that you mention it, I guess it is.”

“That aside, I have no intentions of dissolving our arrangement.”

“Then I’ll be sure to come and play!”

Noel strongly grasped Kai’s outstretched hand, her own enveloped by his massive paw.

“I ain’t runnin’ either. I’m one o’ the captain’s companions, and I need to get revenge for old man Dirk. If we fall back to the mines we might be able to fight on for a number of years… we might be bandits, but we’re still men! We need to show those Baharans some pain!”

“If pops is goin’ so’re we! We promised to die at the captain’s side! She could beat a demon straight outa hell!”

“I-I’m coming too!”

“Me too! I might be an MP, but I’m still a man of the Coimbran military. I’ll protect the viceroy to the end!”

It wasn’t only the White Ant Bloc that spoke up, but also the commander of the military police, who had been overcome by emotion and agreed to follow Noel. After smiling happily from the depths of her heart, Noel affixed the twin hammer banner to her bident.

“Then it’s fine for you all to die by my side. I’ll find happiness and share it with you. Let this banner be a landmark by which you can return.”

“Captain… if we’re dead, shit and happiness will be indistinguishable.”

“We’ll be by your side as long as we live, right pops!”

“All y’all need to shut it!”

As Barbas and the others quarreled, a serious expression wafted across Noel’s face.

“But it’s not a lie. I won’t say anything impossible, but should be fine if I remember you.”

“Hehe, thank’s for that. Well then, let’s make sure to possess the captain if we die. If it works out in the end, it won’t have been a lie!”

“It’s bad luck to say that, pops…”

As the White Ant Bloc began to proclaim its agreement man by man, Barbas apologised with a laugh. Noel joined him too, and before long so did everyone else. Some of them were awkward, some had their faces go stiff, and some went pale, but none of them had any more thoughts of running. They were afraid of death, but their will to fight was overflowing. It became the foundation in their hearts from which they all had built their convictions.

“Shall we go then? We’ll be defeated at once if we stay in Bahar, but I won’t lose again. It’s a matter of giving what we get. I’ll never ever give in, so let’s fight hard to the bitter end!”

“Yeah!!”

Noel gave her rallying speech, and the body of around eight hundred men raised their fists along with their spirits. At some point, Riglette too raised a fist.

Noel left Carness, and concealed her men on the side roads to wait for the remainder of the Coimbran forces.

All of the Coimbran soldiers were wounded, and already holding their weapons were suffering greatly as a result of the merciless slashes from the enemy cavalry. Their flag was now a deep crimson having soaked up the blood of countless Coimbrans. That evil blade was approaching even Cynthia. Once one thousand strong, her numbers had dwindled to three hundred already. The fact that very few had deserted attested to Cynthia’s incredible command, but there was a limit to how much willpower could compensate for waning strength. They ran and ran, but the enemy was never far behind them. Furthermore, as the signs of defeat piled up, it was inevitable for morale to decrease.

Shoulders rising and falling with each breath, Cynthia’s aide asked her uneasily, “Sir Cynthia, where should we run?”

“We should be able to work something out if we can only make it back into Coimbran territory. I’m sure we’ll receive reinforcements.”

“But our messengers report that each province has already invaded Coimbran territory. Even our allies in Gemb. There are even rumors that the local lords have betrayed us too.”

“It… is a baseless rumor from the enemy. Don’t let the soldiers know too much. If morale gets any lower, we’re going to collapse.”

They were dismissing it as a rumor, but it was most likely the truth. Once they got back to Coimbran territory, they would probably have no way of knowing who was friend or foe. Now that Wilm and Gaddis had betrayed them, Cynthia didn’t know who to trust. The only allies she could reliably trust to remain so were Noel, who had been recalled; the soldiers who were retreating with her; and the men who had died at the Trais river.

“The enemy are… spreading out as they please. It may already be too late.”

“Is that so?,” Cynthia cut off the conversation with her curt response.

She had already exhausted her mental capacity. The idea that it might have been better to have remained behind and died with Dirk if the retreat was going to be so horrible briefly floated through her mind.

The enemy has tremendous numbers and momentum. On top of that, we are under an onslaught of some ferocious cavalry. Is this the true strength of Bahar?

With each charge of the cavalry in black which published the Dragon Banner, the Black Sun Cavalry, her subordinates decreased painfully in number. They did launch counter attacks of their own, but the movements were completely different. The enemy would readily ward away the lowered spears as if they could see everything. As far as Cynthia could tell, they had yet to kill a single cavalryman. The situation was abnormal.

“We are exhausted, but this difference in skill is unbelievable. Just what are they?”

“S-sir Cynthia, the Black Sun Cavalry are back in view! With more enemeis in tow for the attack!!”

“Ready the spears to halt their charge!! Do not let them get to the viceroy! We are his shield!”

Cynthia’s voice was angry, as she scolded the undecisive soldiers. Summoning the last dregs of their strength, the men of Cynthia corps formed up, each with his spear. To stop a charge of around twenty cavalry, they widened the line to match the enemy width, and grasped their weapons. At a terrific speed, the cavalry put their spears through the men who had opposed them, sending screams and blood flying through the air. A small amount of viscera stuck to Cynthia’s face. Despite having been thrown, the spears aptly penetrated the armour of the men they struck. Cynthia thought she saw one of them sneer as he drew the sword at his hip and spurred on his horse. Likely hoping to kill the enemy commander himself, Cynthia responded by drawing her sword, but she didn’t have enough strength left, and her grip was weak. Her vision clouded.

“Enemy commander spotted, I’ll take her head!”

“As if I’d let you!”

“Out of the way, small fry!!”

Decapitating the man who had moved to defend her, the cavalryman drew near in an instant.

“Die!!”

“Ack…”

(Is this the end?)

In the instant he put all of his might into a blow to strike Cynthia down, his body unnaturally lifted into the air. His riderless horse neighed on its way to an inevitable death.

“Gh, Gggh…”

“Cynthia is my precious friend, so she can’t be killed.”

A highly distinct bident had cleaved the man in two. Having been thoroughly mown down, the man collided with a large tree, spraying something red.

“Noel! Is it really you!?”

“Hehe, I’m here! I’ve brought everyone to come and save you. Isn’t it great that we were able to meet safely again?”

Noel was in a magnificent mood, but the other Black Sun Cavalrymen were still in good health.

“D-don’t let your guard down! Those ones are really dangerous! They’ve really shaken us!”

“Looks like it, yup. But I could see all their movements fine, so it seems like I’m a little bit more dangerous.”

With a wide grin, Noel calmly approached the enemy with her bient at the ready.

“What’ve you done to our dawn brother!?”

“Ride down the woman and the small fries! Don’t let a single one escape!”

The angry cavalrymen charged in as if to run them down. Noel dove under one of the horses and speared one of them through its abdomen. With his screaming as a signal, a large number of soldiers sprang out from their surroundings publishing the Coimbran scales, and the twin hammer banner. Further surprising the Baharans was the fact that along with Noel’s ambushing troops were some Gembi infantry, despite the fact that they were supposedly allies.

“T-that’s a Gembi uniform!? They should already be fighting with Bahar. W-why ally with us?”

“These are only the men who agreed with Sir Noel’s refusal to abandon her companions.”

At some point a large, rustic man with a scar on his face had managed to come up beside her, he was an officer from Gemb: Kai.

“Officer Kai? I am very grateful for your reinforcements! However, doing this kind of thing…”

Kai was blatantly defying orders, and if he did a poor job of it all, he would certainly be charged with treason, a crime worthy of capital punishment without a trial.

“I’m not turning my sword against my own lord, so it should be fine. On the off chance I am to be punished, I will accept it gracefully. Maybe I’ll say I was possessed by a fiend of war!”

After laughing heartily, Kai turned to face Cynthia.

“The one you and your government should thank Sir Noel, not me. She might not be too smart, but there might be something to her that can really draw people in. Ah, that’s not to say she is a bumbling fool, it’s just a problem of her lifestyle.”

“So she came to save us even though she had been reassigned on false charges? I… don’t even know how to face her.”

“I don’t think that Sir Noel pays it any mind. Well, whatever happens to this little rebellion after it all doesn’t matter. Our priority now is simply getting out of here. We have made preparations for the Coimbran force to return to Carness. Our light infantry can definitely protect you all the way back!”

“I’m sorry, Sir Kai! This is all I could do to fend off their pursuit! Please look after the viceroy well!”

Cynthia had managed to narrowly escape death because of Noel corps. Her men, too, had propped themselves up with their spears to fight to the end on the spot. Once they had whittled down the elite cavalry to ten, an extremely resentful voice called out for retreat, and even their infantry dispersed at the order.

“S-sir Cynthia, the Baharan forces are pulling back!”

“Haa, haa, i-is that true?”

Cynthia looked to the retreating Baharan soldiers with ragged breath, and they certainly seemed to be genuinely retreating, likely without the resources to continue the pursuit. Cynthia immediately ordered the tending of the wounded, and that they would, for the moment, return to Carness.

“W-we somehow managed to get away. Are you hurt, Noel?”

“…”

After Cynthia wiped off her bloody, muddy sweat, she called out to Noel who was squatting down with her bident. As expected, even Noel was tired, and her fair complexion was tinged slightly red as if she was slightly feverish. On the other hand, her troops were fresh and ready to pursue the enemy themselves, and were already beginning to pound cavalry disrupting stakes into the ground, as well as string up black ropes between the trees. Having arranged for everything that needed to be done, she was operating even better than Cynthia, who was uncomposed for the moment.

“Noel.”

“This person… was able to live until now, even though his organs have spread all over the place. It looks like the flame from my curious spear has cauterized the wound, so he’s still not dead.”

He was the cavalryman that Noel had chopped up and abandoned first. It seemed that he had ironically been given the same fate as what he had dolled out to Cynthia’s subordinate earlier, but he had astonishingly managed to stay alive, though it would be more accurate to say, as Noel had, that he had been unable to die.

“Gah…. aaah!”

“You can relax. We might be enemies, but I don’t intend to pointlessly harrass you.”

“We had a talk just now. This man is a product of Operation Dawn, apparently. Even though he doesn’t have any real military accomplishments, even though he went through all that horrid training and experimentation, he’s going to die like a dog here. He’s crying like a child.”

“Operation… Dawn? Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of it. Just what was it?”

“I wonder. I don’t quite know myself,” Noel prevaricated.

She thought that there was no point in saying anything if she didn’t know either, but Cynthia held herself back. It wasn’t the time for that kind of argument, and, more importantly, Noel didn’t look like she wanted to know.

“But still, no ordinary man could avoid giving up the ghost like this.”

Cynthia once again affirmed how formidable the Black Sun Cavalry was as an poignant given that it was composed of men like him. Then she looked at the dying man’s face. Tears really were pouring out from around his bloodshot eyes, but she could only hear a faint wheezing from his lips, and could not tell if he was saying anything. He was theoretically a detested enemy, but she didn’t think she should try and gain any more information from him.

“Noel, isn’t this enough? If you don’t want to, I will.”

Noel shook her head in response.

“I’d told him to relax so I could kill him at first, but he said he didn’t want that. So I though I’d let him live it out. Uuuh, I think he wants to die of his own volition at the end, so I didn’t finish him off.”

“But…”

“….”

“I… I’m sorry, but I can’t watch this any longer. I’m putting an end to it.”

After troubling over it some more, Cynthia finally drew her sword and went to stab him, without particular opposition from Noel. If asked why, it would be because his eyes had shut and his ragged breath run out.

“He died then? There wasn’t a need to suffer that much.”

“Well, that’s true, I suppose, but I think he was happy.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It would be lonely to die all by himself, but I listened to everything he had to say. You and I were both with him in the end, so I’m sure he was happy.”

After murmuring her response, Noel stood up using her bident as a staff, and walked down towards her men who were loitering about.