Published at 5th of March 2023 8:37 am

Volume 11, Chapter 5 – He Who Aims for the Heavens, Part 1

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“Sister, our dream will soon come true.”

“I see… So it will finally come.”

The blonde-haired young man let loose his words, and the woman smiled happily.

Ah, a dream. Weiss immediately understood that it was a dream of happier times. Otherwise, there would be no explanation for the boy looking younger than he does now. Above all, there could not be two people who were already dead.

“Rei, I will surely cure you of your illness.”

“Fufu, Thank you very much, Hiro-sama.”

An unfulfilled wish. The cause of the disease is unknown. Rei smiled softly, even though it was painful for her to even speak.

Everyone knew it. Everyone knew that Rei did not have much time left. But none of them could accept the reality.

“It’s going to be a little far, but I heard there’s a great doctor there. I’ll bring him back to you…”

“It’s okay. I still have some time left, so I will be waiting for your return, Hiro-sama.”

“I’ll be right back.”

“Yes, have a safe trip.”

Rei nodded with a smile, and Hiro turned and left again and again as if he was sorry to leave her. When silence fell in the room, the air was different. It was heavier and more stifling than when Hiro was there. It made you want to run away, and yet, your legs never moved.

“Altius, can you protect Hiro-sama…?”

“Fuh, who do you think I am? You can rest assured, sister, and await the good news.”

The lion-like young man, with a dashing flip of his cloak, left the room as if to follow Hiro.

The only ones left in the room were Rei, who was lying on the bed, and the shrine maiden knight who served her.

“Meteor, I don’t have long to live.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“The Spirit King has told me. Death will soon come to me.”

Her voice choked.

The “Five Great Heavenly Kings,” who were as powerful as gods, had pronounced this sentence. In other words, death was an inevitable fate.

“Please take care of the rest.”

She looked as if she had accepted everything. She was smiling, trying not to make people worry, even though she was in such pain that she really wanted to cry. After having served her for so long, she understood it. Therefore, she couldn’t give up on her.

“Very well.”

Not wanting to cause her unnecessary trouble, she bowed her head, pretending to understand.

There was no way she could give up. She would surely cure her illness.

Her resolve was firm. But the passage of time was a cruel thing. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how hard she struggled, there were many things she could not do anything about. Only to be tossed about, swallowed by the muddy waters, and to find only despair awaiting you when you finally catch your breath. She wished that time would stop. Even if she refused to see it, even if she tried to erase it by screaming, the memories that had been forcibly carved into her head were dredged up.

The next thing she knows, it’s raining. And she hated the rain.

Walking through the silent camp, she arrived at a tent.

“Hiro! Are you there?”

In the unlit tent, she sensed a single human presence.

“Meteor? Why are you here?”

It was so dark that she could not see the boy’s figure, only heard his voice. She walked with the presence and reached him, although she was suspicious of something hitting her foot once in a while.

“Princess Shrine Maiden-sama――is Rei-sama safe? Where is she?”

“…..”

Looking down quizzically at the unresponsive boy, she grabbed him by the chest in frustration.

“Answer me! Where is Rei-sama?”

“Sorry….. I couldn’t get to her in time.”

“What?”

“She’s dead.”

Her anger reached its peak at the sound of his voice, which was so calm and collected.

“Don’t be ridiculous! This is no time for jokes! Tell me the truth!”

“By the time I got here, she had been killed by the Faceless King.”

The boy which she had grabbed looked at her with a very wary look in his eyes.

“Rei is dead.”

“…..Dead?”

“Yeah…”

“Why, why, is she dead while you’re here!”

She pushed him down with too much force in the tent, but her voice was cut short when she noticed a strange sensation.

“What is it?”

A hand on the floor returns a warm, fresh feeling. The eerie touch slipped out from under her, causing goosebumps, and Hiro stood up. Next, he revealed the “silver sword” to the world. It was a beautiful light. But it was one of the Five Emperors of the Spirit Sword that Rei had in her possession.

“Why, the Heavenly Emperor, with you…”

She couldn’t say the rest. It’s because she has noticed an unusual sight around her.

There were mutilated corpses lying around. Not a single one of them was alive. Then, she looked ahead, frowning at the strange smell that hit her nose.

“Rei left me this. Use the Heavenly Emperor to take revenge on the demons.”

“Did Rei-sama really say such a thing?”

There was no way that Rei would desire such a wish. She loved all living people regardless of their race.

There was no way she would have asked Hiro to do such a cruel thing as revenge, much less ask him to do it.

“No… nothing… Rei smiled at me until the very end.”

Hiro grabbed the hilt of the Heavenly Emperor and stabbed a head that was lying on the floor. In response to Hiro’s unusual behavior, she was too frightened to say anything. She doubted that he was really Hiro, staring at the head impaled on the tip of the sword with no emotion lit up in his eyes.

“Rei was kind. She was too kind to the point of destroying herself.”

“What are you talking about… Hiro, you…?”

“That’s why I―I have to carry on the feelings that Rei left behind.”

Hiro brushed the head off the tip of the sword and turned his feet outside the tent. She scolded her shaking knees and followed but soon came to a halt. Once outside, she noticed a sheer cliff beside the tent. If she fell from this height, she would most likely not survive. Hiro was standing in such a place; his gaze fixed on a single point. It was directed toward the world below. She knew that if she looked down, she would see a beautiful landscape, but only today―it was burning red as far as the eye could see.

“Hiro, what have you done?”

She heard a scream. A storm of screams, more intense than the sound of rain, had been launched into the sky.

If she remembered correctly, the burning red spot should have been a city. It was already a magnificent city, a beautiful metropolis that you should visit at least once, except that it was ruled by the ‘demon race.’

“I will exterminate the ‘demon race’ from this world. I will eradicate every last one of them.”

Hiro, with the burning city in the background, turned his empty eyes on her.

It was broken. The boy’s expression, illuminated by the lightning, makes you realize everything.

The boy was completely broken.

The feeling of crumbling underfoot―everything is painted black as everything goes black in front of his eyes.

(Dream, huh…?)

She opened her eyes and saw her own paws. They were covered with fur, hiding their sharp claws. It reminded her that she was in wolf form.

(I guess it’s time to go back.)

She stretched out her back with absentmindedness. Then the body glowed and formed a human shape, and as soon as the light converged, a bare-chested woman appeared. She picked up the old military uniforms scattered around the bunk and changed her clothes in a tedious manner, and when she was finished, there was a knock at the door of the room.

“General Weiss, Lord Muzuk wants to see you. Are you awake?”

It was the voice of General Robert, who supported her as one of the five great generals.

“I just woke up. I’ll be right there.”

Weiss went into the hallway and found Robert waiting for her by the wall.

“So, what’s going on?”

“A letter from Prime Minister Rosa has arrived. He wants to talk to you about the future plan.”

Weiss started walking down the corridor while listening to Robert’s words.

“The letter from Prime Minister Rosa, huh…? Hopefully, it’s happy news…”

“General Weiss, are you still dreaming? How is that possible?”

“I’m just saying.”

After some idle conversation, they arrived at a room with a large door.

A soldier on guard puts his hand on the handle and opens the door. Inside, Vetu, the southern nobleman, and his entourage are waiting for them, and it seems that Liz’s uncle, Margrave Grinda, is also in attendance.

“General Weiss, I apologize for calling you out at such short notice.”

“No problem.”

Weiss sat down in her chair, and the military discussion began.

“I think everyone knows that the Vanir Three Kingdoms have divided their armies and are marching on the Grand Duchy of Drall. We weren’t sure if they were coming south or to the center, but we finally know where they are going.”

Vetu prefaced his speech by clapping his hands and having his soldiers prepare a map.

“The target is definitely the center of Grantz. The Vanir Three Kingdoms would have to pass through the western part of Grantz to get to the center of Grantz. However, if they were to pass through so easily, the western part of the country would once again become desolate. Therefore, Prime Minister Rosa wants to stop the invasion at the western entrance. At present, Lord Bunadhara is preparing to intercept the invasion with a force of fewer than 10,000 men.”

Lord Bunadhara was Aura’s father, who was the chief of staff of the Grantz main army. He was not a very prominent figure, but he had been mentioned as a candidate for the next generation of the five great nobles after the invasion of the Six Kingdoms, in which many famous western nobles were defeated. His ability was unquestionable, but since his daughter Aura was selected as the chief of general staff, he was sometimes ridiculed as having a daughter’s influence.

“What about the army led by Prime Minister Rosa?”

Said a southern nobleman.

“They are not coming here. I received a letter about it, but as I said before, she has changed course to the west, toward the Grand Duchy of Drall.”

“Hmm, then, with our present forces, we must repel the Free Peoples, I suppose?”

“No, we have decided to send reinforcements to the west as well.”

“With the free peoples on their way, isn’t it dangerous to reduce our forces?”

“Not really.”

Vetu pulled out a sheet of parchment.

“According to the counterintelligence report, the Steichen Republic is fighting hard, and the Free Peoples are not moving as fast as they would like.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, even if they were lucky enough to get here, the free peoples, exhausted by repeated battles, would be no match for us.”

Everyone was convinced, but then Weiss, sensing a strange atmosphere, interrupted the conversation.

“To start with, I am skeptical about the free peoples going north from Steichen… but looking at the map, it would be better to go through the Grand Duchy of Drall. Why didn’t they choose the same path when the Vanir Three Kingdoms chose a safer one? …In the first place, if they wanted to destroy the Grantz, they shouldn’t have invaded Steichen.”

The free peoples would invade the southern part of Grantz from Steichen. The Vanir Three Kingdoms invaded the south. These two pieces of information were mixed together to create the current situation.

Weiss stared at Vetu, the man sitting at the highest seat, wondering where in the world this information was coming from.

“I’ve been wondering about that myself. But for some reason, the free peoples have invaded the Republic of Steichen. Perhaps it was inevitable, considering the shallow ties between the two countries, especially with the supreme chancellor in the Six Kingdoms. Perhaps they saw this as an opportunity to expand their territory.

Vetu looked at Weiss as he moved the piece repeatedly.

“General Weiss, I would like to ask you this: even if the free peoples choose the Grand Duchy of Drall as their path, they will surely pass through the western part of the Grantz. Then it would not be easy to deceive our eyes. Above all, if they advance from one direction, it will be easier to predict, and it will be faster for our side to prepare an intercepting posture. In other words, I believe that the Vanir Three Kingdoms wanted to avoid this by attacking from two directions. The result was that the thick defenses of the Steichen Republic prevented the free peoples from even coming to the southern part of the Grantz.”

Laughing mockingly, Vetu placed one of the southern Grantz’s pieces on the map.

“Then that means the southern nobles alone will suffice for the defense.”

“The Eastern nobles―you mean we should head to reinforce Prime Minister Rosa?”

“That’s what I’m saying. The problem at hand is the Vanir Three Kingdoms coming through the Grand Duchy of Drall. If we are to repel them in the west of Grantz, the greater the number, the better.”

Vetu strongly conveyed his desire to drive the eastern nobles out of the southern part of Grantz.

“I understand. Then we will join Prime Minister Rosa.”

Weiss nodded her head obediently, and Vetu showed some surprise. However, Weiss thought he had a point. If the free peoples are really stranded in Steichen, it is useless to let the soldiers stay in the southern part of Grantz.

“But there is some uncertainty.”

“Uncertainties?”

“If they try to outsmart us, that is. We’ll keep General Robert in the south as a precaution against that.”

Leaving him there as an insurance policy, along with 10,000 troops, would make it impossible for Vetu to act strangely.

“That is reassuring. If the former five great generals will stay, there is no reason to be afraid.

“Well, I have some preparations to make, if you’ll excuse me.”

Weiss stood up and left the room. There was no need to listen to Vetu, who still seemed to want to say something. She had made as many concessions as she could. All that remained was to push through this opinion. Weiss is pondering what to do next, and Robert was following behind her.

“He’s up to something, isn’t he? Was it right for us to listen to him?”

“That’s why I’m putting General Robert in charge of the watch. I’ll leave you about 10,000 troops, and you can use them as you like.”

“Understood. I’ll leave them in the city.”

“That sounds like a good idea… In any case, don’t let him do anything until the battle with the Vanir Three Kingdoms is over.”

“I understand. I’ll take care of it.”

As Robert confidently taps his chest, a woman appears at the end of the corridor.

“Serphina-sama?”

Serphina, Vetu’s wife, bowed her head when Weiss mentioned her name.

“General Weiss, General Robert, may I have a word with you?”

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