Published at 16th of August 2023 10:48 am

Volume 13, Chapter 2 – Each Battle, Part 2

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Sunspear was a large city in the southern part of Grantz.

It was one of the cities that thrived on trade and commerce and was under the rule of the Muzuk family, one of the five great noble families. In the center of the city, the Golden Palace, the residence of the Muzuk family, exerted an immense presence.

The Golden Palace ias the pride of Sunspear’s residents and a symbol of the Muzuk family’s power. Therefore, it was not uncommon for tourists to come to see it. However, on this particular day, the atmosphere was not peaceful but rather tense.

At the main gate of the Golden Palace, a large number of soldiers were staring at each other.

The soldiers from the South were trying to break into the palace, but the soldiers from the East were stopping them.

Normally, the positions would be reversed, but complicated circumstances have created a strange composition.

One of the reasons was that the head of the Muzuk family was murdered by someone.

In addition, many influential people from the South were involved in the commotion, and many of them died, and since it was the East that discovered it, soldiers from the South rushed to the palace in anger upon hearing the news.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the situation was now a flashpoint, but the worst was averted by the man at the head of the eastern soldiers, who tried his best to calm them down.

“Please, can you calm down? Just listen to me!”

He was the uncle of the Sixth Princess Celia Estrella, Margrave Luzen Kiorg von Grinda, who was in charge of the Southern part of the Grantz territory. Normally a gentleman with a calm expression and a smile on his face, but this time his face was cramped by the devilish southern soldiers.

“Then get out of the way. Why don’t you let us pass? Is there something you don’t want us to see?”

“It is not like that. I want to talk to you calmly first.”

It was hard to believe that these not-so-calm southern soldiers would be able to make a normal decision when they saw their master’s slaughtered body. If they let them through, a lot of new blood would be spilled at the Golden Palace.

“As I thought, it was you who killed Vetu-sama, wasn’t it?”

No matter how much he tried to explain, the southern soldiers insisted that the easterners had murdered Vetu.

Even if they were shown Vetu’s body, it was certain that their judgment would not change. In fact, it might add fuel to the fire.

“Wait, I have insisted from the beginning that it was not us who murdered him. Here is the proof.”

Margrave Grinda held up an object.

It was a bundle of letters that showed that Vetu, the head of the Muzuk family, had been in communication with the Six Kingdoms and the Vanir Three Kingdoms.

Still, the southern soldiers refused to listen to him. Perhaps their anger had gotten the better of them, and they were unwilling to discuss the matter.

“Vetu-sama has done so much for this country; he would never betray Grantz. It must be false evidence you made up! You treacherous southern margrave!”

Margrave Grinda painfully understood that his current position was not supported in the South. Although he was a Southern noble, he was cooperating with the Eastern nobility. The Southerners would not be amused.

However, he did not feel that he had betrayed them. Marquis Grinda was not a servant of Vetu. He was loyal to the country of Grantz, and their claims were unacceptable, but he could only add fuel to the fire by refuting them.

“It is true. If you think it is fake, you can check the handwriting. Let’s calm down first, or we’ll never get anywhere!”

“Shut up, you traitor!”

As the soldier was about to draw his sword, Margrave Grinda was overcome with despair.

Even though this was no time to fight among themselves, why wouldn’t they listen to him? As his defensive instincts kicked in, he reached down to his waist and――,

“Everyone, I think you should listen to what Margrave Grinda has to say.”

An imposing voice sounded as if it slipped through the desolate air.

The crowd of Southern soldiers that had filled the area before Margrave Grinda’s eyes split to the left and right.

A young girl strode majestically from the single path that had been created.

At the sight of her familiar appearance, Margrave Grinda’s eyes widened.

“Miss Loing…”

The girl approached him and smiled graciously.

“It has been a long time. Margrave Grinda.”

She was the granddaughter of Trey Freen von Loing, one of the Five Great Generals.

In the aftermath of her grandfather’s rebellion, her family, the Loing family, was on the verge of decline, but they were able to avoid a fatal wound by cutting their ties with him early.

However, it was too dangerous to leave the family unchecked, and Margrave Grinda now monitored them under the guise of protecting them.

The Loing family, however, had never shown any signs of unrest.

In fact, the Loing family had offered their only daughter as a hostage and now had her serving as a civilian official in the Central. That was one of the reasons why Margrave Grinda was surprised to see her here.

She turned her head back and looked around at the Southern soldiers.

“I understand your grief over the loss of Vetu-sama. But you should not lose yourself in anger.”

There was no one who did not know her name.

Although she had just become a civilian officer, she was the granddaughter of a former Five Great General of the Loing family. In addition, since her family was entrusted with the guardianship of the South, they still had tremendous influence.

If she were to speak to them, they would listen to her rather than the traitorous Margrave Grinda. In fact, the commotion had died down, and everyone was looking at her seriously. Among the Southern soldiers, there must have been many who had been taken care of by the former Five Great Generals Loing.

“The monster army is approaching the Great Imperial Capital. In such an emergency situation, if the South and the East are at odds with each other, it will be exactly what the enemy wants. Now is the time to unite, or the land of Grantz will be wiped off the map.”

The expressions on the faces of the Southern soldiers showed that they were not convinced. But she was right, and no one would argue with her.

“First, let us have a dialogue and listen to what Margrave Grinda has to say.”

She bowed her head, and Margrave Grinda immediately bowed his as well.

“I would also like to ask something of you. I want you to listen to what I have to say. If you are still not convinced, I will offer you my head.”

Margrave Grinda’s words were not false. If he could not convince them, he would have no face to show to his niece. If that was the case, it was better to die and apologize than to expose his inadequacy.

“Please, as I said, listen to me. Please.”

The anger seemed to fade. Perhaps they would be willing to talk.

The faint hope made Margrave Grinda want to pat his chest.

But in his heart, he scolded himself that he could not rest easy just yet.

There were still many problems in Grantz.

The Central region was the most worrisome, but the “Spirit Wall” in the North was next.

As long as this wall was not closed, there would be an inexhaustible flow of monsters into Grantz.

The letter that came to Vetu said that Hermes, the fifth great general of the North, had been defeated.

Margrave Grinda’s heart was crushed with anxiety.

＊＊＊＊＊

“Snow, huh…”

When Helma raised his hand to his chest, a snowflake fell onto his palm.

The snow melted with his body heat and turned into drops of water that slid down from his hand. Watching this, Helma looked up at the cloudy sky. It was dark and uncertain, just like the current situation in Grantz, he thought with a smile.

“Brother, I think it’s time to start the war council.”

Helma turned to see his sister, Proditos, standing there.

She was the proud sister who goes along with her selfish brother without complaining.

However, she also knew that she was missing out on marriage.

She does not seem to mind, but as the older brother, Helma hoped that once this war was over, she would be able to settle down.

However, there was only one other large family in the North that could compete with the Heimdall family, the Bromell family. But Proditos would not want to marry into a family that led a rebellion.

So they would inevitably have to look outside, but it was unlikely that Proditos would be open to that either. It was as much of a headache as regaining the “Spirit Wall.”

In any case, his sister’s future was of secondary importance. Putting it aside, Helma decided to solve the problem at hand.

“I understand. What about the nobles of the Bromell family?”

He asked his sister as he walked towards the tent where the war council was to be held.

“They have arrived. Together with our army, we have about 70,000 men.”

The two were currently building a camp in the suburbs of Molaren with the goal of retaking the “Spirit Wall.” The surrounding nobles had provided them with supplies and soldiers, and their army was growing rapidly, but it was still insufficient. The army still lacked the strength to deal with the monsters occupying the Spirit Wall and the new invaders coming from the unexplored territories. Helma thought that even if the entire Northern forces were deployed, it was doubtful that they would be able to push back the invaders.

“Helma-sama? Where is Helma-sama?”

As he walked with a troubled look on his face, he heard a soldier call his name.

Not knowing what the rush was, Helma waved his hand in a broad gesture to let him know where he was.

The soldier ran up to him and dropped to his knees.

“A messenger from His Majesty the Black Dragon King of the small country of Baum is here to see you.”

“His Majesty, the Black Dragon King…?”

“Yes, what will you do?”

“I will see him soon. Proditos, go to the tent first and explain everything.”

“Understood.”

As soon as his sister was gone, Helma looked at the soldier again.

“Take me to the messenger.”

“Yes, please come this way, sir.”

As the soldier led Helma through the camp, he saw a large pile of wooden boxes near the exit. As he wondered if this was an aid in the form of supplies, he saw someone kneeling in front of him. A soldier wearing black equipment―he must be a member of the “Raven Army,” as rumor had it.

“I was supposed to deliver this to General Hermes… but the way was blocked by the advancing monster army. I apologize for not being able to deliver it to the general.”

“We have enough food and other supplies, but… what kind of supplies are these?”

“These are all spirit equipment.”

“What? All of it?”

It was no wonder that Helma was surprised.

A large number of wooden boxes, in other words, all filled with spirit equipment.

Helma knew many nobles who had given up all their wealth to acquire a single spirit weapon. Even in the Great Grantz Empire, only the nobility could afford to own one. It was hard to believe that there was such a large amount of valuable equipment right in front of him.

“…It’s not a lie, is it?”

“I think you’ll want to see for yourself.”

Stepping up to one of the wooden boxes, Helma opened the lid. A beautifully crafted spirit weapon was revealed.

“…..Thank you, Your Majesty the Black Dragon King.”

Clutching the lid of the wooden box, Helma’s body trembled with emotion. But without expressing it, he turned around and began sending instructions to the soldiers.

“Call my personal guard. Tell them to guard this.”

“Yes, I’ll tell them right away.”

“And, the messenger of His Majesty the Black Dragon King, I’ll have someone prepare food and drink for you. Of course, I would like to offer it to everyone who has brought us supplies. But this is a place like this. I hope you will forgive me for not being able to offer anything extravagant. But I will do what I can.”

“Thank you.”

“No, that’s our line.”

Helma laughed uncontrollably but pulled himself together and slapped his cheeks.

The situation had not changed at all. The powerful supplies of spirit equipment had arrived, but they must be distributed to those who can use them. Not a single piece of equipment could be wasted. Everything must be done carefully, including the selection of personnel.

However, there was no doubt that a ray of light had shone in the darkness.

“Ah… maybe the heavens are on our side.”

Suddenly, he looked up at the sky and saw that the snow had stopped, and a ray of light was shining on the ground.

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