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Chapter 9: Before a Loyal Retainer’s Grave
On the way home from Zem, I rode on Naden’s back at some points, and also joined people in the gondola to chat. This was just a quick foreign excursion, so it had only been about a week since we left the Kingdom.
I had Naden fly to the castle and set the gondola down in the courtyard, as per usual. As the guards saluted our arrival, and everyone stretched the travel stiffness off, Liscia and Juna came out of the castle carrying Cian and Kazuha. Roroa was behind them, too.
Liscia gave Kazuha (I couldn’t see her face from this distance, so I figured it out from her Machapin baby outfit) to Roroa, and rushed over to my side. Oh... Having a wife to welcome me home is nice... As I held out my arms, ready to catch Liscia in them, she ran straight past me and hugged Mio.
“P-Princess... Is that you?”
“...I’m a queen now, though,” Liscia gently told Mio, who was staring at her in astonishment. “Oh, and I’m sorry. We made your family go through so much trouble for us.”
“No... Just hearing those words makes it all feel like it was worth it, somehow.” Mio returned Liscia’s hug.
The two former students of Georg finally met, and their eyes were wet with tears as they hugged. I liked how Liscia could be so considerate of people, and it was a moving scene, but I felt a little sad that she had prioritized Mio over me. I’m so petty, and I hate myself for it...
“What’re you lookin’ so sad for, huh? We’re right here, too, ain’t we?”
“Look, Cian, Kazuha, it’s Dad.”
Roroa and Juna took Cian and Kazuha’s tiny little hands and pressed them to my face. The kids cooed, as if trying to console me. Y-You guys...
“I’m home, everyone!” I was so moved, I hugged the four of them tight.
“You’re really makin’ a big deal of it when you were only gone for a week, Darlin’.”
“Hee hee, welcome home, Darling.”
Roroa and Juna smiled at my overreaction.
As I was enjoying the first time I was able to spend with family in a week, Hakuya, who had walked up behind me at some point, loudly cleared his throat. “Sire, I’m sorry to interrupt the happy family moment, but let us address the matter of Madam Mio immediately. If we spend too much time on it, it risks impacting our later plans.”
“...Okay.”
I had promised, so I was ready to get right to work on restoring Georg’s honor. I wouldn’t go back on my word when I had said something publicly. Georg’s honor would definitely be restored. But... Whether that’s something Georg himself wanted is another matter.
One autumn night a month later... An announcement from the castle came through on Chris Tachyon’s news program.
“We will now make an announcement regarding the new investigation into the insurrection led by former General of the Army Georg Carmine.”
According to the news, the reason for reinvestigating the issue was that Georg’s daughter Mio had won the martial arts tournament in Zem, and gained the opportunity to speak directly with King Souma, who was in attendance. She had emotionally requested that King Souma open a new investigation into Georg’s rebellion. To make a direct appeal to the king like that could easily have been seen as an affront, but King Souma saw how Mio had been willing to cut her way through Zem’s powerful warriors to have him hear her wish, and decided to launch the investigation when she provided new evidence in the form of a journal Georg had kept during the rebellion. It seemed there had been an actual investigation performed during this past month.
The people of Friedonia (especially those in the Elfrieden Kingdom) were not sure what to make of Georg Carmine’s rebellion. Because the man himself had committed suicide in prison without ever saying a word, and his closest associates chose to follow him into death, there was no one left who could speak to how things had turned out the way they did. The castle’s announcement at the time that “Georg started an insurrection, so we put it down” had been very plain. That’s why the people of the Kingdom’s opinions on the matter were largely based on speculation.
If we were to summarize how they saw things having happened, it looked like this:
Georg was suspicious of the sudden transfer of power from the former king, King Albert, to King Souma. Due to that distrust, he closed himself off inside his domain, and ignored Liscia when she tried to persuade him to speak with King Souma. On top of that, he sheltered nobles who King Souma had accused of corruption inside his domain. It wasn’t clear if those nobles put him up to it, or if he was using them instead, but he led the Army in a revolt. It was possible that, in his old age, he had grown ambitious, and wanted to become king himself.
That was the people’s script for the rebellion; which was why the current appraisal of him was that of a once-loyal warrior who had grown arrogant and rebelled in his old age. However, that was when Mio appeared with Georg’s journal.
“This is something that must be kept secret, but I take up my pen now because I want you, my family, to know the truth.”
The diary that began with this passage depicted a Georg who was completely different from the one people had spoken of up until this point.
If we were to summarize the depiction of Georg in the diary she had, it was as follows:
Georg was always loyal to the royal family of Elfrieden. He viewed Princess Liscia not only as the daughter of his liege, but as if she were his own daughter, too. He also understood that the young man King Albert had chosen to marry Princess Liscia was fit to be a king. However, there were those among the Kingdom’s nobility who fattened themselves through corruption, and even those who collaborated with the Principality of Amidonia, and they could not accept the way that Souma pursued them for their corruption, and tried to improve the country.
Georg sensed an impending rebellion by these nobles, and an invasion by the Principality of Amidonia, so he brought the corrupt nobles together, and led the rebellion himself, so that he could root out the corrupt nobles by losing to Souma. At the same time, Georg shut off the corrupt nobles’s collaboration with Amidonia. If, during that war, the Amidonians had invaded through the Carmine Duchy instead, and worked together with the corrupt nobles, the war might have dragged on for a long time. Because he was cautious of that, Georg worked to keep them from collaborating with the Principality of Amidonia.
As a result, the Principality of Amidonia instead hoped that King Souma and the nobles would knock each other out, and invaded through the south because they couldn’t coordinate things with the forces of the corrupt nobles. Then, when the Anti-Air Repeating Bolt Throwers on the walls of the castle in Randel fell, Georg surrendered, and was successfully taken captive along with the corrupt nobles. He was satisfied with the result, but there was just one thing wrong. He felt guilty for the people of the House of Vargas, who had joined the insurrection out of loyalty to their friendship with him.
The journal ended on the day Georg surrendered and was captured.
At the end of the journal, it said, “In order to keep Liscia from being sad, this must be kept secret. When you finish reading this, please, burn it.” However, when Mio learned of her father’s tragic resolve, she could not bring herself to do so. Though it was against Georg’s last will, she had won the martial arts tournament in Zem to redeem her father’s honor.
Souma read that diary, and immediately ordered a new investigation into Georg. When he did, it became clear that accounts from those who fought in the Army as part of the rebellion, and those who fought against them in the Forbidden Army, were consistent with the contents of the diary.
The soldiers who fought in the Army back then reflected on their experiences.
“Despite having a force that was larger than the Forbidden Army, Duke Carmine only surrounded the fortress where they were holed up, and didn’t actively try to attack them. Because Duke Carmine, who was known for his intense attacks, was acting so passive, the soldiers couldn’t muster the will to fight.”
“The only ones who were motivated were the forces led by the corrupt nobles.”
Meanwhile, the soldiers on the side of the forbidden army said...
“It was only the corrupt nobles’ forces that actively tried to attack us during that siege battle.”
“They were the ones who brought out the cannon to attack us, while the Army’s units only attacked from a distance. I remember feeling let down when Georg surrendered the moment His Majesty arrived with the Air Force.”
The Forbidden Army and Army were fighting each other as enemies, but both sides had this understanding of events. And this was recorded in the diary.
“When His Majesty (Souma) comes with the Air Force, I will immediately surrender, and, to aid in having the corrupt nobles captured with me, I’d like to wear down their forces first. In order to limit the casualties among the soldiers I have dragged into this rebellion with me, I will remain passive, only launching enough sporadic attacks to satisfy the corrupt nobles.”
...This was consistent with that understanding, too.
By comparing this diary with the accounts of those who actually experienced the war, it became clear that its contents were highly believable. There were those who suspected it was a fabrication, made by Mio to rebuild the House of Carmine. An appraiser compared the writing to letters from Georg that were stored in the castle, and came to the conclusion that it was unmistakably written in Georg’s hand.
Later, historians viewed the timing of the diary’s appearance as “too convenient,” and suspected it might actually be a forgery, but a new analysis of the writing came back showing it was a match for Georg’s. Because of this, it was concluded that this was unmistakably Georg’s own handwritten diary. It came to be called The Loyal Retainer’s Diary, and was kept in the museum in Parnam.
With the veracity of the diary believed to be high, through its publication, Georg’s reputation changed greatly from an “arrogant traitor” to a “patriotic warrior who deceived both his enemies and his allies.” However, it was still a fact that he had started a rebellion, and there were still living relatives of those who had died in the Army and Forbidden Army as a result of it, so it would take some time for Georg’s reputation to recover completely.
One day, when the Kingdom was abuzz with the results of the new investigation into Georg, Souma and Liscia appeared to the people in a broadcast, holding Cian and Kazuha as they stood before Georg’s grave. The location was a hill overlooking the Carmine Duchy.
The broadcast explained that the new ruler of Randel, Glaive Magna, had said, “I know he committed treason, but it wouldn’t sit right to throw my former master’s body away,” and received Souma’s permission to bury his body here. Their key subordinates were lined up behind Souma and Liscia, and among them was Mio Carmine. There was a large man in black armor next to Mio who drew attention, but perhaps the location of the broadcast jewel had been chosen poorly, because his face was out of frame.
Queen Liscia handed her child to the dragonewt maid who was nearby, and in return took a bouquet of flowers which she placed on Georg’s headstone. Then, once Liscia returned, it was King Souma’s turn to hand the child he was holding to her, and to walk in front of the grave.
“Can you see our children, Duke Carmine?” Souma knelt there, and placed his hands on the headstone as he bowed his head. “They are the ‘future’ that you risked your life to defend. I know I was too immature to see through to your true intentions, but please—keep watching over the kingdom you loved from the afterlife.”
As he said that, King Souma lowered his head, and his shoulders quivered. His face was out of view, but was he crying, perhaps?
One person watching said, “It’s like he’s trying desperately not to laugh.”
If so, it must have been a laugh of self-derision. Perhaps he wanted to laugh at his own ineptness for not being able to discern his retainer’s true intention. However, the people did not blame King Souma for failing to understand Georg. It was soon after he had been given the throne, and he was still young, not even twenty at the time.
The older, more experienced Georg was to be praised for pulling off the deception, but no one moved to condemn Souma’s failure to catch it. That was visible in the expression on Mio’s face as she watched King Souma from behind, too. Was she humbled to have the king show her father such respect? There was an incredibly awkward look on her face, as if she were sleeping on a bed of needles, throughout the whole broadcast. The large man in black armor beside her was clutching his cape. He looked as if he was trembling, too, but maybe this was just people’s imagination.
Souma rose, then stood in front of Mio. “Here, Georg Carmine’s honor has been restored. You, his daughter, are to inherit the House of Carmine, and rebuild it.”
“Y-Yes, sir!” Mio knelt, and put her hands together.
King Souma nodded. “However, though he had his reasons, it does not change the fact that he committed treason. Therefore, while I cannot return all of your former lands, I will give you your old home, Randel, and the lands surrounding it as your domain. The present owner, Glaive Magna, was happy to accept this.”
“I-I’m grateful, yes!”
As Mio bowed her head once more, King Souma placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Mio Carmine. I want you to show the same loyalty to this country that your father once did.”
“By your will!”
The House of Carmine was restored. That news excited the whole kingdom.
Once I had made sure we were no longer broadcasting, I dropped the pensive look and relaxed.
“I’d say that’s everything settled.”
“Good work, Souma. I think that was pretty believable,” Liscia congratulated me on a job well done.
“Um, I’m sorry to make you do all this for me!” Mio bowed even deeper than before, so low it looked like her forehead might touch the ground. I slapped her on the shoulder.
“I’d been meaning to restore Georg’s honor at some point anyway, so don’t sweat it. Besides, you helped me dress up the facts in a pretty convenient way.”
We kept the fact that Georg had sent Glaive to notify us in advance, and that he had used the Zemish mercenaries to make the corrupt nobles spend the money they had squirreled away, only to get it back, a secret. If those things got out, it would hurt the country. Obviously, I’d told Mio what had really happened to that staged revolution, but she wouldn’t go public with it. For that reason, if I could just get her to accept the outcome of the new investigation, I could handle anything else.
“Sire. Take the princess.”
“Ah, thank you.” I took Kazuha from Carla. “Oh, right. Now that Georg’s honor has been restored, there are more people who look at the House of Vargas in a more sympathetic light. Considering the extenuating circumstances, I could release you from slavery now, you know?”
Hearing this, Carla shook her head with a wry smile and said, “Not yet. I have a role in making sure you don’t go off the rails, and I’ve gotten used to being a maid lately. I worry about Prince Cian and Princess Kazuha, too. I don’t mind if you wait until Prince Cian takes the throne to release me.”
She laughed after she said that. Well... if she’s fine with it, I guess it’s okay.
I looked at Kagetora, who was standing next to Mio. “What do you think? Would the late Duke Carmine have been satisfied with this result?”
Kagetora just stared vacantly into the sky, giving no answer.