The Girl Who Bore the Flame Ring

Final Chapter: My?Happiness

Having successfully rescued Noel, Cynthia immediately retreated and called a surgeon to treat her wounds. The wound on her right shoulder was particularly severe, and she was bleeding heavily. To top it all off were the burns she’d suffered. According to the surgeon, however, her life could be saved. Relieved, Cynthia’s arm was reassuringly grasped by Noel who had something to say to her.

“H-have the whole army advance. Now is our only chance. Quickly… the order the attack…”

“We know! Sir Siden is already leading an offensive! As are the other rulers including Lord Elgar! You need to be quiet and recover! I won’t permit you to have survived thus far just to die!”

“Yup… okay.”

“It’s ridiculous to involve yourself in a fire trap! What were you thinking!?!? Why didn’t you tell me!?!?”

“Sorry…”

Noel shut her eyes in order to sleep after giving Cynthia her one word response, likely at her physical limit. Water dripped down onto her ash covered face as a wet cloth wiped her clean. Done with the cloth, Cynthia’s eyes turned to the battlefield. A deep crimson sunset illuminated the battle. A grand army was stretched out across the plains, littered with red banners; cloth dyed by the light of the sun. The crimson corps advanced across the scarlet plains.

It almost looks like the banner of the sun.

Red was the sun, and white were the people, the flags of the commonwealth stained in the blood of their bearers. Cynthia wondered what Noel would have thought had she seen the scene. Taking a breath, she then turned to retake command.

Fear of the fiend was rekindled once more in the hearts of the Baharan soldiers at the sight of the sudden all engulfing inferno at the centre of the battlefield, as if the flames of purgatory had descended upon the plains. Then came the heated warcry of the Commonwealth forces, a proud cheer at the return of the Governor General of the Commonwealth, Noel, and the death of the Commander of the Black Sun Cavalry, General Falid. The majority of the black sun cavalry had not escaped, and the stench of burnt flesh wafted across the battlefield. With rising morale, the Commonwealth forces began their assault before night fell. The empire would likely have ambushes of its own, but the morale of those who strode forth was proving difficult to break. Above all, emperor Amil had been dealt a heavy blow through the loss of his right hand man; his most trusted advisor. As the chain of command had been broken, each commander struggled to cooperate, and they slowly gave ground, unable to halt the enemy force. Amil had already lost the trump card that might have turned the tides. Already, the right flank had been breached, and the centre was flanked by the Commonwealth forces, driving the imperial soldiers into a state of panic. Report after report of the death of commanders in battle came flooding in, bringing tidings of Amil’s defeat.

“That’s enough. Have the rear-guard move in and withdraw the army. We’re abandoning Toldo and Vesta. The front lines will move to the city of Cyadre.”

“But, Your Majesty, that’d mean…”

Abandoning Toldo and Vesta meant ceding control of over half of Bahar. Cyadre certainly had formidable defences, but the scope was not comparable with Vesta.

“We haven’t prepared enough supplies to maintain a force of this size in Vesta. We wouldn’t hold out long against such a motivated enemy, so this is the best way for us to minimise casualties in our retreat, whilst planning ahead to retake our lands. Hurry out and give the orders to move the people, soldiers, goods and treasures! Keep as much as you can away from the commonwealth!”

“Y-yes sir!”

The staff officer ran off, and the other officers outside the tent began to move in a hurry.

“To think that I would lose so massively… just why did Falid respond to the enemy provocation?”

Amil sighed and flopped down into a chair. More than anger, he felt loss at his first significant defeat in battle and the death of Falid. That alone was enough to wound his spirit. Falid had surely known it was a trap. Looking at the situation, it would have been fine to order another corps to attack. Even if a large portion of the Black Sun Cavalry went ahead on their own, if Falid himself hadn’t gone, the damage would have been minimal, but he had sallied forth. In the first attack he had carried out of his own volition, he perished, leaving nothing but a vacancy in Amil’s heart.

Falid had probably gone to personally secure the fiend. Why, I don’t know… so it was his first and last violation of orders, huh?

And then there was the matter of the survival of Noel Bosheit, the fiend, whom Amil had previously overlooked. She would likely continue to stand against him as the fiendish governor general of the commonwealth as long as she survived on the front against the empire, and the man who should have been able to stop her had died.

“Kkhhhhhhhhh… If only I’d killed her then! Did my softness cause all this!?!?”

It had also been a result of his own negligence and pride. Amil regretted his past choices in order to hide from himself his boiling fear. The fear in him that the fiend of purgatory would continue to stand on the battlefield with the intent to kill him. She would follow him across the highest mountains and the deepest oceans until he was slain.

Having taken control of the commonwealth army, Siden did not slack off in his pursuit as night fell, ordering a forced march. He had also proclaimed that all who surrendered would be spared in an attempt to limit resistance. Naturally, there was no quarter to those who resisted. The lord of Toldo accepted the call to surrender when he heard of the imperial defeat at Altvear. Siden entrusted Vesta to Burns, and was told that if given a week, he could take it without blood. All this was approved by the council, and as promised, after a week, the red and white two-toned flag of the commonwealth flew proudly over the city. Beside it flew Noel’s twin-hammer banner.

Burns changed the power balance of the continent with the battle of Altvear, using it as proof that the Libelikan Commonwealth was not merely hastily thrown together, but it was instead already capable of wielding military might that rivaled the Horsheido empire. The news drastically decreased the influence of the empire and its emperor Amil, who, signed an armistice with the Commonwealth so he could turn towards dealing with internal unrest in the provinces. The great emperor himself had been the one to send out a letter requesting an armistice with mere rebels and insurgents; therein acknowledging formally that the Libelikan Commonwealth was worthy of negotiation. It was an indication of how cornered Amil was.

On the other hand, the Libelikan Commonwealth was also exhausted by the war. While they had a mind to destroy the empire in a decisive strike, Noel, the one who had won them their great victory, suggested that accepting the armistice was a good idea, and the kings had agreed. In accordance with the treaty, Western Bahar was separated into the Commonwealth, and Burns joined the council as its ruler. Vesta, the city captured bloodlessly during the war, was its capital, and the plebeians were relatively satisfied given their leader was a fellow Baharan.

Noel proposed to maintain the status-quo at the meeting of princes.

“It’s pretty convenient to just leave the enemy be. Won’t people be super motivated if we have a hated enemy? And if that hated enemy goes, we can just make another one, so it’s fine to leave things as they are.”

If they tried to forcefully unify the continent, things would obviously fall apart rapidly. Already, various signs of such an inevitability could be seen here and there. Storing up the hatred was the easiest action for the moment.

“But still, we don’t know what they’ll do when cornered. We in Gemb have a saying: a cornered rat will bite a cat. Should we not crush them while we have the chance?”

“Do we have the strength, though? I know it’s your own suggestion, but it seems pretty hard to keep fighting forever even when the empire offers us an armistice.”

“But…”

“It’s fine.” Noel confidently smiled as she responded to Siden’s worries, “Let’s take it slow without panicking. We’ve still got a long road ahead of us.”

At the present, it was best for the commonwealth to regain its own strength. There was no need to have another massive battle. Furthermore, they wouldn’t let the empire remain unafraid forever. Encouraging uprisings, they could invade under the pretense of defending the new nation. The troubles in the imperial provinces were enough that they would gain sympathy. Noel’s proposal for Commonwealth policy was to support liberation. There was no reason to bear the full brunt of the imperial force, and the idea was to provide military support while genuinely allowing for the province to remain as independent as possible. Naturally, Noel would oversee this as the governor general. While the discussion was fierce in the assembly, the final conclusion leaned towards Noel’s proposal as her suggestion was approved of by Elgar, Siden, and Burns. Noel figured that forcefully taking the continent would nullify all the Commonwealth’s gains. She couldn’t have it turn out to merely create a new leader and repeat the cycle, and so it was best to allow the empire to continue to exist.

“I see… so you mean we place all the blame for the unrest, dissatisfaction, grudges, and sense of loss on the empire?”

“It’s the best idea we’ve had so far, so it should be fine with that. And if they reform and start governing well, they might end up having good relations with us. That might just bring peace to the continent.”

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Even as she had known it was impossible, Noel had spoken. Good governance meant they first had to abandon the expedition, but not only would that further discredit the emperor, it would also leave them vulnerable to a counter attack from the church of the star. The Commonwealth had already established a friendly enough relation with the continental powers, which meant that it would turn into a pincer attack. Therefore, that new territory was being propped up as a wall to defend the empire, and no one knew how long it would last. If they managed to push too far in, the might that had gained independence for the Commonwealth would turn on the empire to assist their enemy. Each position would change with time, but Noel would deal with that when it happened.

“Well, I guess we should do our best on our own. Everywhere we look is in need of repair.”

Once the meeting was adjourned, Noel grabbed her subordinates and made graves for Barbas and those who died in battle. While there may have been no meaning in praying to such stone monuments, it at least served as proof that she would never forget them. Barbas had a wife and a young child, so Noel invited them to join the office of the governor general. That was how she had received the two.

The office of the governor general was presently stationed in central Bahar near Toldo. Vesta was nearby, and they could watch East Bahar and threaten them with force. The fifty thousand fighting men in the office were first set about farm work in an attempt to revive the province. That being the case, Noel had not been made the local lord of Toldo, but she was there to provide assistance. The domestic affairs were left to him. Noel said it was fine because the office would relocate if anything happened. The soldiers had been informed that they could settle if they wanted to. While resting her body a little, Noel thought about all the important things they still had left to do. Cynthia, Kai, and Riglette were all subjected to the whims of the governor general from start to finish.

A short distance away from the capital city of Firuth lay a hidden chapel by the trees. A place where horrific human experiments were underway. It was the place where orphans, prisoners, and abandoned children had originally been made into augmented soldiers, but it had been transformed into a dungeon built to sate the lust for eternal life of the former emperor Befnam. The twisted experiments yielded regular results. Befnam succeeded in slowing the human aging process. At the cost of one human life, another could be moderately extended. Befnam had used many prisoners from the continental campaign without Amil knowing. All continuation of Operation Dawn under the pretense of Operation Heaven’s Sun was a lie to cover up the experiments aimed at obtaining eternal youth. Cooperation from prime minister Mills had been needed to conceal his activities. He had his own ambition, something he wanted, having looked into what was handed down by the original sun emperor. More importantly to him than finishing Operation Dawn, was to make his own dream a reality. Thus, he poured all his money into Befnam’s research. He wanted to steal it all right at the end.

“Lord Mills, we have depleted our adult male population. What do you think of substituting children?”

“Sounds fine, get to it right away. We can always take as many as we need from the continent. Well, we need to ensure his majesty continues his expedition to that end. Huehue, I’ll have him seated on that throne until he burns away.”

Soon enough, perpetual youth would be attainable. Mills would take it without letting Befnam see the fruits of his labour, and then he would take the empire when the opportunity presented itself. He could conquer the continent then, so there was no need to rush. Once the formula was complete, he would have all the time in the world.

“Hmm?”

A strange noise reached Mills’ ear from the lower floor around the entrance to the church. The building was encircled by a sturdy wall, and had five levels of basement below for the experiments. It was guarded by handpicked elite soldiers from Operation Dawn to prevent the possibility of a bandit raid.

“Lord Mills! An enemy raid! Ah, ahh, aaaaaaahhhh…”

“What? If you don’t calm down and explain, I won’t understand you.”

“The fiend, Noel the fiend is…”

The soldier’s head was then crushed, his gray matter splattering onto Mills’ face. Standing behind the man who had lost his head was a woman in red armour: Noel Bosheit, the governor general of the commonwealth; the corners of her lips curled up slightly. Mills knew her face from the negotiation of the armistice. While she had appeared suitably cold for a commander in the commonwealth, she now had the expression of a wolf licking her lips in the face of her prey. She held a rusty hammer in her hand, and countless nails.

“M-my my… to think that the hero of the Commonwealth, Noel her excellency, herself, would come to a place like this. Had you come officially, we would have greeted you with fanfare… I don’t quite have a grasp on the circumstances surrounding your visit, but for the moment, we have an armistice with the Commonwealth. At any rate, this is clearly a violation of that.”

It had taken great effort on the part of Mills to suppress his surprise and maintain his gentle demeanor.

“I came in secret. Isn’t the imperial administration in upheaval everywhere? So, I figured that now was the only time to smash it. It isn’t a problem if I don’t get caught. I’m fairly sure that the armistice will continue for a while yet.”

“I-it isn’t very restrained to smash things. In, in the first place, how did you find out about this place? This is supposed to be one of the most secret places in the empire!”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Y-yes.”

“Well, I won’t tell you. I mean, if I told you right before killing you, it’d be a waste of time.”

Catching Mills by the nape of his neck as he tried to quickly escape, she forced him to the ground. Though resisting as much as he could, he couldn’t get his body free.

“I bet you’re just doing more worthless research, aren’t you? You’ll bother everyone if you keep it up, so I’ll have you die now.”

“Woah, wait, j-just hold off a little! Th-th, the research here is about eternal youth. You hear me? It’s almost complete. Naturally, we’ll share the results with you, so hold off on killing me just yet! And I’m the prime minister of the empire! I’m a very useful man to have!”

“Hmmm… I don’t really need you, though. If I ever got tired of living forever it’d be hell. Besides, it’s pretty fun as things are, so I think it’s enough. And I don’t even need your power. It’ll be way too hard on me if there are two people with horrendous personalities.”

Noel pressed several nails onto his head, smiling all the while.

“S-stop that. Oi, quit it! Stop…”

“Ei!”

With her shout, Noel drove three nails into his head at once, and then broke his neck just in case. She defenestrated the convulsing corpse. Her injuries hadn’t fully healed yet, but this much activity was fine. Noel dusted off her hands as Cynthia, Kai, Riglette and the White Ant Bloc finally arrived.

“Governor General,” reported the new boss of the White Ant Bloc, Gorn, “we’ve secured the church. We killed all the fuckers who resisted.”

He didn’t seem quite used to his new position, but he was working with ferocious effort.

“Weren’t they pretty strong?”

“Physically, yeah, they were very strong, but their movements were amateur. A little cloak and dagger, and the whole thing went smoothly.”

“As expected of the White Ant Bloc.”

“Thank you very much! I can’t let Barbas’ tradition die.”

Cynthia entered the conversation after Noel patted him on the shoulder in praise.

“I don’t quite know what’s going on here, but it doesn’t look like a good establishment. It stinks of blood.”

“Yup, it’s best to burn it down soon. We’d better leave no trace.”

“There are fifty children locked in the basement, what should we do about them?”

“We’ll take them to Toldo for now and figure it out later. If they want to stay in the city, I won’t mind caring for them.”

Cynthia’s eyes went wide at Noel’s response, and Riglette tutted as she expected more troubles to begin as she was the one who was going to be in charge of ensuring the children were cared for.

“It’s rare for you to say something like that.”

“Yeah, I guess. Is there anything else?”

“Yes, there’s no black stone here like the one you mentioned, and neither was Befnam anywhere to be found. If you think we should search the surroundings, then we can leave some soldiers behind.”

After looking up to the ceiling to think over Kai’s proposal, she decided against it as there didn’t seem to be any problems left.

“No, no, it seems fine.”

“Still, if you think he’ll be a problem later, should we not search for him? I don’t mind staying behind alone.”

“It’s fine. Everyone’ll be glad to have some new toys. Now, let’s set up those combustion stones and burn this place down. Burn the documents, drugs and corpses. Burn away all traces of this place and let them blow away in the wind.”

“We’re going that far? It’ll stand out and people will come for us.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, but if they’re going to see it anyway, we might as well make it grand.”

“Then leave it to the White Ant Bloc. We can set it up to go off when we’re long gone and nice and safe. Of course, it will be effective. We’ll shock those imperials out of their skin.

“Sounds fun. Now make your preparations and head out to high ground!”

Befnam had hidden himself in a secret passageway when Noel had begun her raid. It was natural to have one just in case. He had risen to the seat of emperor to protect his project. He climbed up a ladder, and removed the lid from a well. It was a path that led to the church’s graveyard. The assailants in the surroundings did not notice him.

I don’t know who did this, but to think they found out about this place… Could it be Amil’s doing? I don’t know what he’s thinking with such foolishness…

Amil may have attempted to use military force to gain the results of Operation Heaven’s Sun in his desperation. Family were the most distrusted people for Befnam. Whatever the case, he had to hide himself for the moment. Then he would use his hidden funds to rebuild his research centre and continue its operation. He had already succeeded in dramatically decreasing his rate of aging, most likely having increased his lifespan by three times as a result of his experiments on babies. Grasped in his hands was the secret black stone that was the key to eternal youth; a secret formula left behind by the sun emperor Bergis: the inheritance of the sun. As long as he had it, Befnam could return to power.

“Ehehe, the commonwealth is expanding its circle of influence, but I don’t mind if the empire is destroyed once. As long as I’m alive, I can always rebuild. Ahaha, the only one fit to rule this continent is me!”

Befnam laughed as he went to leave the graveyard, but suddenly stopped. Or rather, he was suddenly stopped. Something had caught on his foot, perhaps some foliage.

“Shit, what is it now!?”

Looking down, he saw a fleshy corpse, an arm with visible bone had caught his foot. The body was incredibly revolting, riddled with maggots. A hollow eye socket reflected nothing, and a sickening stench reached his nose.

“W-what!? What is this!?!?”

As he tried to escape, he could not free his foot as the body would not move. He dropped the secret stone when he went to use his hands to pry off the arm. Quickly bending down to retrieve it, countless arms came up from the muddy ground.

“Ugh-gaaaaaaah!!”

They wrapped around his body and worked to drag him into the ground. The secret stone was being crushed in between bony fingers. The sound announcing the instant that Befnam’s dreams were crushed, but it wouldn’t end in mere despair. The sound of cackling children echoed through Befnam’s mind, teasing him; accusing him.

Let’s play. Let’s play. Let’s play. Play with us until we’re satisfied. That’s your responsibility. Realise what you’ve done.

“A-are you kidding me!? I’m the emperor, you monsters, I am the emperor!”

“What a pathetic death for a former emperor,” spoke a severed head with a remarkably deep voice.

It chattered away, held up amid the bones. It was a young man used once for a live experiment: Fraser. He had been incredibly healthy, and Befnam remembered how he had survived even after being reduced to just a head, only dying at last when Befnam had stopped prescribing him medicine. The nightmarish existence had pleased Befnam’s sadistic heart, and he was now faced with the unbelievable reality of that Fraser sitting right before his eyes.

“No! I’m not like you corpses! I, I’m alive!”

“You’ll catch up.”

With those final words, the rotten corpses dragged Befnam into the earth. Other small corpses swarmed to the surface to watch the church explode with satisfaction before returning each one to its grave. Silence reigned once more.

Noel watched the church erupt in flames from a high place, as did Cynthia. Riglette was busy worrying about how to escape given the fifty odd parcels of unnecessary baggage.

“Just what was that place?”

“Hehe, I wonder. But I think it’s good for the Commonwealth that we destroyed it. Doesn’t it feel like a suitable job for the governor general?”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to say. No matter how you look at it, it wasn’t a good place.”

“That’s true. It’s a shit place.”

Noel stretched grandly.

“What will you do from here on out? Do you intend to continue as governor general?”

Cynthia seemed uneasy. Ever since Noel had announced she was tired of the position and intended to retire, Cynthia hadn’t been energetic. It was only a joke, but it seemed to have been too effective. Noel had kept it up to the point that if she revealed it was a lie now, she would be punched right in the face.

“I still have much to do. And I’ve just gained 50 new family members.”

“Surely, you can’t intend to add more to the Bosheit family!?”

“Isn’t it fine. It won’t go down in value. If there are more people with my surname, it’ll be like my family’s increased, and it seems fun.”

“Even if you say that, you’ve already got over a thousand. Can you even name them all?”

“Of course. Want me to?”

“No, I’ll take you up on that some other time. We don’t have much time, and Sir Riglette is glaring.”

She really was glaring. Noel could even hear tutting.

“Haaa…”

“What’s up with that weird sigh? Didn’t we just burn our troubles away?”

“I was wondering if I’ve obtained happiness.”

“You haven’t?”

“I don’t know. If possible, I’d like something I can see, though.”

Cynthia gave a wry smile, “That’s as unreasonable as always.”

“But once I’ve figured out what happiness is, I’ll add it to my notebook. I’d better lock it up in a safe only accessible to the governor general.”

“Oi, didn’t you promise to share that information with me!?”

“You can check when I die.”

“Don’t say such horrible things!”

Noel received a punch for the first time in a while.

“Well since the weather’s nice, let’s head back to base! I’m sure everyone’ll be craning their necks to see our return.”

“What an incredible misrepresentation.”

“The office of the governor general has people with terrible personalities after all!”

“Did you say something about me?”

“I didn’t mention your name at all, though.”

“Your eyes say it all. In the first place, just why do you make it so hard on me!?”

“Uwaaa, I’m being chased by some wily glasses! Everyone turn and run!”

Noel took the children and headed for a wagon concealed in the forest with Riglette chasing along, her face bright red. Behind her, rushing to ensure everyone was guarded were Kai, Cynthia, and the White Ant Bloc.

Later on, Noel received land in Bahar as a reward for meritorious service. Not personally, but for the office of the governor general. It ended up being assigned to a lord in the office of the governor general. With the city of Toldo falling under the direct jurisdiction of the office of the governor general, Noel menaced the empire and put her all into both work and play. When the war rekindled once more with the empire, she was sent to the front to fight and fight and fight. Naturally there were times when she won and times when she lost. Many companions died, and many enemies were slain, yet Noel continued to fight, burdened with many lives. As a result, the Commonwealth was able to increase its sphere of influence without being whittled away itself.

Noel continued diligently in her duties as the governor general, delivering such warnings as, “We are capable right now of destroying the empire and becoming the rulers of this continent,” and others that came out as threats from kings with burgeoning pride. While her job as governor general had gotten more laborious with it now directly controlling land, she felt that the responsibility for all the peoples of the continent would be too much to bear. There were limits to what man could do, and it was important to know them. That was why Noel relied on her friends and companions, and didn’t push herself too far. Assisting her were the usuals, as well as the great numbers of new members of house Bosheit. Noel learned all their names, strengths, and weaknesses; and she placed each in a suitable position. Of course, her own entertainment was always in consideration as well. On her arbitrarily decided birthday, Noel put forward a motion to dismiss herself from the office of governor general in an effort to make a tradition of Cynthia’s scoldings. It always alarmed everyone in an amusing way. When the founding of the city was celebrated in a grand festival, serious and treacherous alike enjoyed the festivities.

Naturally, it wasn’t always fun and pleasant, but also sad and painful. Fortune and misfortune were two sides of the same coin; so too was the weather. All Noel could do was try her hardest to make things as enjoyable as possible. Even still, there were some things that didn’t go well no matter how much time she spent. The reunified Coimbra, for example, was embroiled in riots and uprisings for over ten years, directly leading to Elgar’s untimely death from wounds received in battle. Struck with grief, Illum poisoned herself and died. Their son Norn was crowned king, and Irvan and Perius were appointed his regents. Noel had held Elgar’s withered hand right to his final moment. He had desperately tried to tell her something, but she had not been able to make out what it was. Noel took his warhammer as a memento. Though she hadn’t wanted it to, the warhammer returned to being her own treasure. Holding the two hammers in a place no one could see her, Noel cried. In accordance with Elgar’s dying wishes, Noel thoroughly established a ban on censugrass. The growers had fiercely resisted, but she had removed all of the Coimbran strain with all the brutality of a fiend.

There were many opportunities to crush the empire during Noel’s governor generalship. 60% of the continent had already been conquered, and there were many who pressed to push soon and destroy the empire to bring peace to the land while they had the opportunity, but Noel stressed maintaining peace, keeping a conclusion at bay as even if the empire was eliminated, internal conflicts would simply arise. Man could not live without creating enemies. Noel had concluded as such after observing a great many people. She therefore decided it was best to keep the empire neither alive nor dead as a target for wars of revenge. While there would come a time when the peace ended, Noel could maintain it as long as she lived as per her promise when she became the governor general. She had to do what needed to be done.

“Would destroying the empire and placing the Commonwealth in control really bring peace?”

When Noel voiced her opinion to the kings of the Commonwealth, there wasn’t a single one who could directly object. History had repeated itself countless times. Maintaining an advantageous position in the rivalry was most profitable. Even the kings with ambition were not courageous enough to oppose Noel and her long record of military service. The armies of the office of the governor general were already well known as the pillar of the Commonwealth.

Ten years after the founding of the Commonwealth, the continual warring between it and the empire was brought to a sudden halt with a peace treaty signed in the city of Levve. Noel represented the Commonwealth, and the treaty was recognised by the fifth emperor of Horsheido. That day brought an end to the first Libelikan war. When the empire negotiated with the church of the star, the discussion was stormy, but the lengthy expedition finally came to a close with an agreement to much reparation. As for why the talks had even happened, it was a simple matter: the empire had lost all its clout on the continent, and Verdun was presently ruled by the local people. Rather than an imperial expedition, it had become a regular territorial dispute. The wishes of the church of the star to avoid more intervention, and the desire of the empire to avoid a second loss happened to coincide. Fighting on the continent continued.

When discussing the history of the Libelikan Commonwealth, the foremost prominent name was that of the first governor general: Noel Bosheit. Her tracks suddenly vanished on her self-styled fiftieth birthday. It was officially announced that she had died, and the office of the governor general held a grand funeral. The cause of death has been ascribed to things such as dying of a heart attack while playing with Cynthia’s children, slipping and falling, choking on a piece of bread, falling from a tree, somehow managing to drown while napping on a riverbank, etcetera, etcetera. There was also talk of her not having died but instead living on in a carefree secret life, or changing her name and moving to Mundonovo, or going on a journey around the world to fulfill her final promise. All of the stories are dubious, but remained dear to those who loved Noel.

At any rate, however, Noel had not appeared upon the public stage since that day. A mountain of treasure had been left in her room in the office of the governor general, but what drew the most attention was a sealed safe, as rumors abounded that she had locked in it the secret to happiness greater than life. The box, however, could not be opened. Locksmiths could not open it, and when struck, the hammer would break rather than the safe. Having decided it couldn’t be helped, those who remained collected all her belongings and they are kept together with the most valuable treasures of the commonwealth, two rusted hammers, under strict guard to this day.

As for the contents of the box, assistant to the governor general Cynthia Edrich and head of the governor general’s military police Riglette Bosheit left valuable testimony.

“Noel’s handwritten notebook is in there. It contains methods to finding happiness, but I don’t know the details. She promised to tell me one day, but… well, let’s look for the answer out in the world. I feel like I can understand that response.”

“Listen, that’s just a prank left by an idiot. Paying attention to it is ridiculous. Even if you work hard and open it, you’ll just get a note saying ‘too bad,’ or something. If you find out how to open it, tell me right away. That’s an order.”

In any case, the woman known as Noel left the world with many mysteries: where had she been born, from whence came her military prowess, how did she inspire such confidence in her men, where did her favourite bident disappear to, why had she remained youthful in appearance despite her age, how had she died, where was her body, why had she increased house Bosheit so much, and finally, just how much had she accomplished.

At present, a large number of historians follow the trail of the progenitor of house Bosheit, Noel Bosheit. Despite having no children of her own, the Bosheit name remains. Men, women, and children of all races included, they numbered initially ten thousand, and their descendants continued the history of the governor general as soldiers fighting for the Commonwealth with the belief that it connects them to her memory.

Author’s Note:

My thoughts on writing are that I want to relay many actions through my words.

Thank you for reading to the very end.