The Mythical Hero's Otherworld Chronicles: Volume 10 [Parts 1 to 5] by Tatematsuri

Author:Tatematsuri
Language: eng
Format: epub

The twelfth day of the tenth month of Imperial Year 1026

Once the imperial army had finished reorganizing its forces, it renamed itself to the Six Kingdoms Incursion Force. In effect, it had declared to all of Soleil that it intended to march on into Esel.

“How uncharacteristically bold of Lady Celia Estrella,” Ludurr murmured. A young man in the service of Beto von Muzuk, he looked too frail to have any place on the battlefield, but he carried himself with distinction. Although very pale, if not sickly pallid, he retained an aura of authority. The overall impression he left was a curious one, faintly unsettling but also undeniably charismatic.

He gazed at the chief strategist’s message, stroking his chin in what might have been admiration. “Or perhaps a sign that her heart is behind this cause.”

A nearby aide seemed to overhear. He laid down the reports he was compiling and turned to Ludurr. “Do you mean to say it was not before, sir?”

“She was not enthusiastic about the Faerzen campaign. Unsurprising, perhaps. She has matured impressively over the past three years, but it takes longer than that to harden one’s heart. The prospect of trampling her friend’s homeland underfoot no doubt gave her pause.”

Personally, Ludurr saw no reason to show mercy to a mortally wounded nation. If anything, putting it out of its misery was the kinder thing to do. Let the name of Faerzen vanish from the world. It would hardly be the first. The history books were littered with nations that had suffered the same fate, as numerous as the stars in the sky.

“So she is much like Emperor Greiheit, sir?” the aide asked tentatively.

Caught off guard, Ludurr burst out laughing. Few figures in imperial history had a more checkered past than Greiheit. Longstanding rumor held that he had secured the throne by slaying his own father and assassinating his brothers, and his reign had been marked by endless warfare and incessant expansion. He had executed the entire bloodlines of rulers who opposed him. Anyone who defied him was put to the sword, commonfolk or nobleborn. By all accounts, he had been the cruelest of despots. Yet even he had possessed another side.

“Ah, yes,” Ludurr said once his laughter had subsided. “Never did an emperor dote more on his children.”

In a sense, he had been the most naive kind of emperor. Even comparing them seemed absurd.

Ludurr rose from his chair and headed outside the tent. “He never hesitated to dirty his hands if it would bring about his heart’s desire. For that alone, I will praise him. But it was unwise to defy fate. If only he had accepted his lot with grace, he might have lived a little longer.”

Greiheit’s attempts had been admirable but futile. They had only led to tragedy, and much that had gone awry in the present could be traced back to his actions.

Ludurr stepped outside the tent, narrowing his eyes against the sun’s glare. At that moment, a cry went up from afar, and a loud bang shuddered through his body.

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