Lemurian people regarded Emperor Hercule as a national hero and a great military general, but the contemporary kings Sasan VIII and Ludwig I were also the subjects of many tales.
In war chronicles where Hercule was the main character, and even in the ones centered around the famous generals who served himâDarios Leopard the âBlack Pantherâ for instanceâHercule was described as a reliable lord.
In romances about Emperor Hercule and the women in his lifeâHercule was portrayed as a gentle, yet philandering man.
In stories about the artists and scholars who received the backing of the Emperor, Hercule was seen as a liberal and progressive patron.
In picture books and sermons of clergymen, Hercule was depicted as a highly pious believer in the Messiah.
And in tales centered around Sasan VIII and Ludwig I, he was a villain that couldnât be made light of.
There were even stories of future people going back in time to teach Emperor Hercule future knowledge, as well as stories where Hercule was gender-swapped.
However, there emerged two patterns in the character of Hercule in those stories.
Either he was righteous rulerâkind-hearted, always looking out for the people, deeply pious, someone who would shed tears for deceased soldiers.
Or he was a tyrantâcruel, did not care about other people, had no faith in God and would stop at nothing to achieve his goalsâbut even then, he was still a wise ruler who brought the Empire to glory.
The character of Emperor Hercule differed from writer to writer, but by and large, these were the two mainstream views of him.
With all that said, the following historical event was what caused the opinions of writers to become divided.
The âRevolt of Hadrianusâ.
One historian claimed that Hadrianusâs rebellion was in fact orchestrated by Emperor Hercule. Another historian asserted that he was blindsided by the rebellion.
So which was the truth?
Only one thing could be said for sure.
Hercule was someone who would never let facts inconvenient to himself to remain in historical records.
âPoor His Highness Hadrianus. He raised an army thinking Your Imperial Majestyâs forces were annihilated, but they are actually unhurt,â a dandy, moustached man laughed as he spoke to Hercule.
His hair and eyes were light brown. A long and narrow pair of ears protruded from under his hair. His skin was well tanned from sunlight, and his gel-hardened hairstyle was quite modern-looking.
From his clothing and accessories, one could tell that he was someone who was fussy about his appearance.
His name was Edmond Erdomort. He was a half-elven military nobleman.
Andâhe was Herculeâs brother born of a different mother.
Edmond Erdomort was born to a human concubine of the previous Emperor Hadrianus III.
Garphis was very good at commanding the clibanarii cavalryâhe could do other tasks too, of course, but he was the best at leading the clibanarii. On the other hand, Edmond was a jack of all trades who could command all branches of the army, though he wasnât particularly good with any of them. His best troops were archers, but it was really nothing exceptional.
When Hercule went to fight Darios, he entrusted the imperial capitalâs defense to Edmond because no one else was available, but Garphis was in charge of house-sitting this time. It didnât matter much since Hercule planned to return to Nova Lemuria right away.
âEven though you and Titus are both my brothers, I wonder why you guys are so different from each other.â
âI am humbled by Your Majestyâs assessment.â
Herculeâs brother of a different mother, Titus, suddenly appeared. Unlike Edmond, Titus was a pure-blooded high elf like Hercule.
Though Titus had exceptional artistic talents, he was hopeless at political and military matters. He was nothing but excess baggage in this campaign⌠but if Hercule left Titus at Nova Lemuria, Hadrianus might go after his life. So just this once, Hercule brought Titus with him for safety reasons.
Indeed, this Trabizos campaign was a trap to lure in Hadrianus. By feeding Hadrianus the false information that Herculeâs forces met a storm en route and were annihilated, Hercule lured Hadrianus and the nobles who backed him to rise in revolt, so he could root out all opposition.
That was Herculeâs plan.
Rather than making a political purge first, itâs better to show them that they were no match for him by beating them into submission through warfare. The purge would come after that. Then the political situation would finally be secure, Hercule reckoned.
A rebellion would happen one way or another. The sooner it happened, the easier it was to deal with.
âStill, to think he actually took the bait⌠Is His Highness Hadrianus an idiot?â
âIndeed, normally one wouldnât get fooled so easily, right?â
At Carolinaâs question, Hercule smiled wryly. He thought back upon the beautiful, black-haired female demon. It was thanks to Asmodeusâs masterful trickery that the first step was such a huge success.
âYour Majesty! Nova Lemuria has come into sight!!â
Christos shouted.
Herculeâs army were currently on the sea. He turned around after Hadrianus fell for the false information and raised his host, declaring himself as Emperor.
âAlright, letâs defeat Hadrianus and be done with it.â
âHaha, I can hardly wait. Finally, itâs my turn to shine.â
Edmond laughed delightfully.
Meanwhile, Hadrianus and his jolly comrades werenât exactly in the best mood. Which wasnât surprisingâhe had done everything exactly as God commanded, yet the moment he raised his host, Hercule came back.
âHow many men have been assembled?â
âWe have 18,000 infantry; 2,000 crossbowmen; as well as 2,000 cavalry. In addition are 8,000 cavalry sent by Bulgaron as reinforcement. In total we have 30,000 men.â
ââŚHm.â
Hadrianus fell in deep thought. Herculeâs standing army was composed of ~20,000 infantry; ~10,000 cavalry, ~10,000 longbowmen; in total it was ~40,000 men strong. And Hercule shouldnât have time to call mercenaries or draft commoners into service. MeaningâŚ
âWe do have a winning chance!! Thereâs no choice but to win anyway!!â
Hadrianus was fired upâbeing outnumbered made he feel even more determined. If he could defeat Hercule, he would be remembered as a great commander capable of winning against the odds. Then everyone would acknowledge him the worthy Emperor.
âŚPeople normally only go to war against a numerically superior enemy if they were sure of their own superiority in quality. Going up against a superior enemy means you already lost strategically⌠But Hadrianus wasnât aware of that.
It was true that Hercule had a smaller force when he won against Dariosâbut he always held the initiative in that war. He was able to win because he picked the fight in a way that wrote off the number difference.
In this case, the initiative was with Hercule from the beginning. Hercule himself had tempted Hadrianus to rebel.
It was plain as day that Hadrianus had zero military talent. But nobody there pointed that out. Many nobles had already abandoned Hadrianus, most of the ones that still stayed with him were either too stupid to realize what situation they were in, or just couldnât back out now that they were in too deep.
âLetâs go all in and engage them on an open field with our full strength.â
âPlease wait!!â
A voice rang out asking Hadrianus to hold his decision. It belonged to a swarthy man.
Large build, dark skin and curly hair. He was from an indigenous noble family who held sway over the southernmost part of Lemuriaâs southern province, Misr province. The second son of a branch family of the Almon ClanâOscar Almon.
Since very long ago, the Almon Clan had held great amount of land in the southern part of Misr, giving them great economic strength. They had frequently come into conflict with Elven noble families, however.
Elves envied the Almonsâ enormous fortune, and on the other hand, the Almons were jealous of the blood of elves.
The current head of the main family of the Almon Clan was not the sharpest tool in the shed. Oskar Almon who had the misfortune of being the second son of a branch family was dragged along into this mess.
âWhat? A mere nameless noble who is not a main familyâs head, a branch familyâs head, or even heir to his house dares speak to me. Depending on what you say, I may have your head cut off. Are you prepared to talk?â
âYes⌠I suggest we avoid fighting on an open field. The Emperorâs army has numerical superiority, and itâs dangerous to challenge the enemy clibanarii. Most importantly, our army only consists of mercenaries of poor quality. ThereforeâŚâ
âYou want me to shut myself in a fortress!? To hide like a rat!!? You think I would fight like a coward!!?â
ââŚMy apologies.â
Ah, this is hopeless. Oskar sighed inside.
Fortunately Hadrianus wasnât angry enough to slay Oskar right then and there⌠Or rather, Hadrianus didnât have the guts to kill Oskar himself so he just prohibited Oskar from talking back from now on.
And so, senseless as it was, Hadrianus made preparations to confront Hercule on an open field.
Herculeâs and Hadrianusâs forces met in a place three days away from the imperial capital Nova Lemuria.
Herculeâs total forces were approximately:
Two infantry corps, 19,200 men strong. One cavalry corps, 9,600 men strong. One archer corps, 9,600 men strong.
38,000 troops in total.
On the other side, Hadrianus had 18,000 mercenary infantry; 2,000 crossbowmen; and a reinforcement of 8,000 Bulgaroni troops. In addition, there was a small force of 2,000 cavalry that he paid out of his own pocket.
30,000 troops in total.
In terms of numbers, Hercule had the upper hand.
â30,000⌠They managed to cobble up quite an army, huh.â
âThose guys are probably just the rotten imperial nobles.â
Darios was surprised at the enemyâs numbers, but Hercule was calm.
In the first place, the Emperor wasnât the only one with an armed force in the Lemurian Empire. Nobles maintained a certain number of private troops.
Public order in this world was very different from Japan. There was no police force dedicated to maintaining public order, it was up to soldiersâlike knightsâto catch criminals. But the main role of soldiers was to fight foreign enemies, not to keep an eye out for criminals.
Thief bands and such things were eliminated at a momentâs notice, butâŚÂ there was no way to root them out completely.
Therefore people who owned valuables would carry weapons to protect themselves. As for the nobility, obviously they employed a number of mercenaries for self-defense.
And unlike a mercenary who did not have a power base like Darios, the noblity had built up their foothold in various place in the Empire since ancient times.
Head family and its vassals.
Branch family and its vassals.
Branch family of a branch family and its vassals.
Vassal of a vassal, who also had their own vassalsâŚ
When you muster all that strength, it wasnât so difficult to rally up a considerable fighting force.
That was why the nobility was such a nuisance.
Simply because of blood relationship, they continously inherited power from time immemorial.
Bloodline was a power. Just like talent, effort, connections, wealth, education, it was a kind of power that a human being could have. To say bloodline wasnât a ârealâ power was as stupid as saying talent wasnât a real power. Itâs turning away from reality.
And as it happens, Hercule was the one person blessed with this worldâs greatest bloodline.
âThat said, rare bloodlines are mere red liquid when they are rotten⌠Noble blue blood are too good for those guys. Letâs empty their blood upon this land to return it to the Lord.â
Shall we?
Hercule said as he turned around to face his own vassals.
Garphis, Edmond, Darios, Carolina answered with smiles on their faces.
âWell then, my friends⌠Letâs eliminate the troublesome cavalry to start with.â
Sorry this took so long, between uni and my job I couldnât find any time to work on this novel (okay I admit I also slacked a bit). Iâll try to finish the rest of this arc within October. If I go on another hiatus after that, this project can be considered dropped for good.