at 18th of October 2020 07:36:37 PM\nChapter 106
ăâAs expected of you, general Skuld, your talent is unrivaled . âă
Though he was grandly clicking his tongue in his mind, Albert gave Skuld a greeting upon her triumphant return .
ââ Still, he had to admit this was truly stunning .
The jormungand army, the same army that had cornered Albertâs elites, had easily been dealt with by Skuld . For her, that was like taking candy from a baby .
Had Albert been fighting alone, the Strasbourg castle would already be down by now . Mayber Lagrange alone wasnât much, but Leclerc was definitely a tough opponent . Even Albert was not incompetent enough to not understand that . He knew he owed Asgard a lot . No matter how much he insulted Benedict, who had died in battle, Albert felt it wasnât enough .
But expecting that he could crush an enemy of this level with Alphonse alone was naive of Albert .
A naivety that stemmed from a lack of experience when it came to military matters .
He had made the elementary mistake of not thinking that the enemy would prepare a trump card just like he did .
And now that he had suffered utter defeat at the very start of the hostilities, Albertâs usefulness to the Asgard empire had probably fallen to him only being able to provide his Strasbourg territory as a supply base for them .
But in that case, all Albert would be able to ask from the empire would be for them to spare his territory . However, that much would not be enough to justify him wearing the stigma of a traitor .
Even though Jormungandâs land would greatly decrease if they lost the war, Albert would become its next king . That was why he had betrayed his kingdom .
ăâI guess this is as good a place as any to kill my fun . âă
Skuld looked down at Albert like she was looking at trash .
ăâSay, are you seriously supposed to act as our empireâs vanguard here? How can you even dream of being useful to my empire when you couldnât defeat an enemy of this level?âă
Albert had no word to say to the much younger Skuld as she told him off .
The difference in power between the two of them was very clear for anyone to see .
(âŠThis damn girl who only knows how to fight!)
Albert never was a patient individual .
He had to desperately control himself to refrain from yelling at Skuld in return .
He felt humiliated, but he would only bring his own ruin if he turned his back on the Asgard empire over this .
ăâI admit that was a disappointing display . But once the mass production of the Alphonse riders is done, Iâll be able to repay this debt twice over if I must . âăăââŠYou really donât get it, do you?âă
This time, Skuld sighed like she was sincerely amazed .
ăâThatâs why amateurs shouldnât be able to have their say when it comes to war . The dead soldiers will turn in their graves . âă
Albert was apprehensive as to why Skuld would arbitrarily deem that he was an amateur .
Sure, he had never been on the frontline himself, but he had participated in plenty of small battles .
There was an obligation for influential nobles to receive a general course on how to be a commander from the military .
Albert had been considered an excellent student among his peers back then, and he took pride in that .
ăâWhy did you keep the Alphonse riders in reserve and then sent them straight out? That wasnât one of that dead commanderâs instructions, was it?âăăâIt was mine . Trump cards should always be kept reserve for the time when they can have the best psychological impact . But now I think we should have waited for the enemy to be a bit more tiredâŠâăăâFigured as much . So hereâs the thing, even if you mass-produce the Alphonse riders, you will just lose again . âăăâWhâŠ!!âă
As one would expect, Albert couldnât help himself from raising his voice in protest to Skuldâs blunt criticism .
If he let this go and acknowledged his own incompetence here, that would hinder the military cooperation between himself and Asgard in the future .
ăâArenât you going too far with that statement, general Skuld?âăăâEven though the Alphonse riders are based on our militaryâs Chaos riders, they arenât centered on firepower as much . They should be used mainly as a mobile weapon . Using them directly in a siege is like declaring your ignorance to the world . âă
Albert finally recalled that Benedict had advised him to try to gradually decrease the enemyâs forces before throwing in the Alphonse riders in a surprise attack, not a direct attack .
ăâB-but focusing on the victory in front of us and losing the actual big fish would have been pointless, wouldnât it?âă
Albertâs pride wasnât so thin that he could quietly acknowledge his mistakes . He felt he hadnât done anything wrong . He believe it would have been impossible to see that new magic spell coming .
Realizing that Albert did not have the ability to understand her words, Skuld brought that conversation to its end .
ăâSince youâve lost your soldiers, at least be useful in sowing discord in the country . Because right now, I have nothing to report to his majesty about you . âăăâI will live up to those expectations . âă
Thanks to Skuldâs flawless victory, Albert felt it wouldnât be too difficult to convince the surrounding noble households to join him .
He thought that once theyâd realize that Jormungand had no chance of winning, then he might be able to get some important people on his side against all odds .
However, Skuld mercilessly cut-off Albertâs naive dreams .
ăâAlso, Iâd really like to face the man named Kurats soon . There probably wonât be many people whoâll be willing to betray the kingdom as long as heâs still going strong . âă
At the end of the day, no matter how strong Skuld had shown herself to be, Kurats had destroyed an entire Asgardian army .
Skuld was right to expect that it would be hard to win over other aristocrats until Kurats would be defeated .
(He just keeps getting in my wayâŠ)
Even since that man had shown up, none of Albertâs expectations had proven to be right .
Seeing the grimace Albert was showing from his hostility towards Kurats, Skuld smiled delighteldy .
ăâMake some noise, as much as you can . Tell people that Skuld is awaiting the heroâs challenge . âă
Christopher had received the report of the punitive forceâs defeat the day before today . Only a bit over 30% of the forces of Lagrange and the other nobles were gone, but it seemed that Leclercâs army, which was supposed to have been in charge of the rear, had been wiped out .
It was truly a breathtakingly complete defeat . If this situation was not dealt with, some might start calling Jormungandâs power into question .
Showing a weak response would mean taking the risk of seeing the nobles at the border swarm to Asgardâs side .
ăâCall Cellvis and Rosber . Bring Mordred, too . âăăâUnderstood . âă
Christopher bit his lip until blood came out . He cursed himself for his lack of vision .
Albert was a very ambitious man, always wanting to rise further .
Though he had already lost his standing, he was still Felbellâs husband, meaning he definitely still maintained some political power .
Even so, Christopher had never thought Albert would switch to Asgardâs side .
After all, no matter what Asgard promised, the chances of them staying true to their words was close to zero . Albert was not stupid enough to not understand that, was he?
After the war, if Asgard did succeed, Heimdall would take Felbell for himself and Albert would be lucky to even have a position as a feudal lord .
No, there was no way someone that ambitious and with that high a self-esteem would ever bid his time hoping for the best . There had to be a bigger goal .
ăâââ Cellvis, in your respectable presence . â ăăâRosberg, here as you asked . âăăâMordred, here to answer your call . âăăâGood . âă
Christopher took a sip from his cup to wet his lips, and kept his deep anger and disappointment towards Albert contained for the time being .
ăâIt appears the mad princess has torn our forces apart . âăăâWe have no excuses to offer, your majesty . Leclerc was a fine tactician . That mad princess is simply something else . She is out of standards . âă
In contrast to the very calm Cellvis, Mordred openly shouted . He was red in the face .
ăâW-with all due respect, this is not my fault! Everyone here should be well aware of the power of the new spell!âăăâThat spell⊠It certainly did manage to scatter Strasbourgâs army, but it apparently did not have much of an effect on the mad princessâ forces . âăăâT-thatâs ridiculousâŠ!âă
Mordred felt miserable knowing that the new type of magic he had sent with great confidence had ended up giving such results .
This spell was the trump card Mordred had created by secretly gathering the research of Olivera, the man who had attempted to assassinate the princess . This was supposed to prove his superiority over Kurats .
But if even Surtr LĂŠvateinn didnât work, then Mordred had nothing else to offer . That was his last move .
ăâThere was a hole in Strasbourg that had to be plugged, it couldnât be helped . We also had nothing else to entrust to Lagrange and the other nobles to allow them to gain achievements . âă
The kingdom should have gone to subjugate Strasbourg at full force from the start .
But Christopher was still a parent, and even though he was supposed to be impartial, there were some feelings involved when it came to going after his daughterâs husband .
ăâAccording to my subrodinatesâ information, Skuldâs army has already fully entered in Strasbourg . Moreover, the first army of Asgard led by Gunther, the devil swordsman, are also preparing for war . âăăâSo Asgard is seriously coming to take the countryâŠâă
Skuldâs army by itself was enough of a threat, but if Guntherâs first army got involved as well, that would be akin to an all-out-war .
ăâRosberg will not be free to move as he wills if he has to deal with the devil swordsman GuntherâŠâă
Gunther and Rosberg were both known as the âSwordsâ of their respective countries . They had once fought each other in a contest, which later became a famous altercation where both parties were evenly-matched . That day, they had both managed to show that their titles as the kingdomâs sword and the devil swordsman were no exaggerations .
They were fated opponents .
It was only natural for them to be cautious of each-other .
ăâIn that case, there will be no one left to compare with the mad princess when it comes to commanding troops and military prowess . âă
Cellvisâ sword skills were first-class, and there were some other people among the kingdomâs generals who had made a name for themselves through their spearmanship .
But none of them had attained the power of the out-of-standards commanders such as Skuld, Rosberg, and Gunther, who were each considered to be strategic weapons on their own .
It was nonsense to compare them to other people in the first place .
They had already reached a realm that could not be measured on human scales .
ăâAs expected, there is nothing we can do save for borrowing his power, is there?âăăâââ Iâm afraid so . âă
Cellvis answered with a regretful tone .
The truth was that he had hoped he could use this opportunity to raise the Jormungand militaryâs fame .
However, he knew the danger of putting the interests of individual organizations within the kingdom rather than the kingdom itself .
He hadnât been the minister of war for so many years just for show . He had properly earned the kingâs deep trust in him .
ăâSend a messenger to the lord of Bashtar . I order him to subjugate the mad princess . Convey to him that he may ask for any reward he wants once itâs done . âă
ăIn any case, since Lunaria was become queen in the near future, Kurats would effectively become the ruler of Jormungand . There was no real issue with him behaving in a grand manner .
Right now, the top priority was the kingdomâs survival .
While such serious talks were taking place in the capital, a struggle of womanly pride was heading for its end in Bashtar .
ăâYou can do it, Clodette! Youâre the only one we can rely on now!âăăâI,ih⊠Sorry . I canât do it anymooore⊠. âăăâCornelia! Marika! Frigga! Anyone?! As his women, are you really going to accept having depend on the power of those monsters?âăăâThen are you saying youâll take care of it instead, Lunaria? Thatâs great . âăăâW-wait, Iâll allow them to do it for today . Hey, stay away! Help me, Triestella! I-I canât anymore!!âă
The womenâs assembly had just achieved a new record of consecutive defeats .
Felbell languidly laid down on her bed, staring at her husband who was in such deep sleep he seemed dead . The night before, he had held her in his arms like he was trying to suck her in . But rather than holding her to seduce her like he used to, he had just been trying to escape his fear of death and his own downfall .
ăââŠHeâs basically done for, isnât he?âă
Albert seemed to think heâd be able to recover, but when she thought about it, Felbell did not believe Asgard would let him have his way .
He had been a traitor only once, but it was still natural for the empire to be wary of him .
Albert was not someone who could control his desires . It was already clear to Felbell that Asgard would find a pretext or another to crush him .
Perhaps Albertâs instincts could perceive that as well .
ïŒI wonder whatâs going to happen to me?ïŒ
Considering the way Asgard had shown themselves to be so far, she would either be executed or become one of emperor Heimdallâs playthings .
ïŒI supposed I should end it before that . ïŒ
If she was to be humiliated by the enemy, then Felbell prefered to die .
As a member of the royal family, she had that kind of pride .
ïŒBut just want in the world is this one doing?ïŒ
She wondered when it began .
What was it that made her realize that Albert was all bark but no bite, a sheep in tigerâs clothing .
He had fine looks that gave him an aura of elegance and wisdom, as well as a gracefully well-trained and refined body .
He had once been an eloquent man, familiar with all types of refreshing art forms . In those days, he used to be at the top, with no equal when it came to entertaining women .
The young women of the aristocracyâs high society had once all been captivated by him .
One of those women had been Felbell herself .
Then, one night, after sheâd had to go through several rendezvous, Felbell had forgotten herself and tied herself to Albert .
Sheâd been a virgin, yet she had felt dazzled and intoxicated by the situation . She later learned that that was because Albert had used a philter .
ââBut she thought it was fine .
At the time, it had been unimaginable for her to end up with any other man than Albert .
Since then, she had started looking away from reality, and living her life fully dependent on him .
(What a stupid woman I am . Iâm supposed to be the princess of a country . )
That was how she felt about loving such a hopelessly foolish man .
And she could not tell if those feelings had changed .
Though she had found out Albert was actually a big coward save for his pride, Felbell did not feel like turning her back on him, mysteriously enough .
ăâGlory seems like too much to hope for, so we can at least perish together . âă
Jormungand would be at peace so long as it was in the good hands of her resolute sister, who was the polar opposite of her .
Felbell had realized a long time ago that Lunaria was more cut-out for politics than herself .
ăâWhat was his name again? Kurats, was it? If thatâs the man Lunaria picked, then he is probably a good choice . Sheâs picked right, unlike me . âă
Had Lunaria heard this, she would likely have answered, âYou are right, he is a good choice of partner, but do believe I have made enormous miscalculationsâ .