The Magnificent Battle Records of A Former Noble Lady

Rulan Kingdom is attacking because it wants this countrys blessed lands. However, this countrys biggest harbor town, Manrinia, is inaccessible to people due to the taint. Apart from that, the last leg of the purification journey will be Manrinia. Do you understand so far?

Ahh, yes, yes. I understand.

Good, now to continue. When we, The Dipterous Sword, accomplish the request from the Kingdom of Rulan, we will be granted a single wish on behalf of the whole guild. That wish is to receive land in an ideal location.

Eh?

We want to make a new headquarters, you see. And, that ideal place is Manrinia.

Well, I never

Tedla, realizing what Alhart was trying to say, opened his eyes wide in disbelief.

Alhart smiles at Tedlas reaction.

Youre very perceptive, Second Son. Yes, we, The Dipterous Sword, have been aiming for Manrinia from the start. The guild accepted Rulan Kingdoms request in order to obtain Manrinia.

Well, thats not the only reason, though.

But, for it to be that easy

Well, I dont think well be able to obtain Manrinia that easily, whether this country wins or Rulan Kingdom wins. But, do you think were just going to easily lend about half our forces to the Rulan Kingdom? Did you think that it was just a coincidence that the last destination of our trip is Manrinia?

No way then, all of this was your

Yes. It was all part of the plan. Well, its fine if we just lent a hand to Rulan Kingdom though. But, there were some guys who were eager to get back at the people in this country who treated Sylti poorly while taking Manrinia..no, rather, its the opposite. If Im not mistaken, when we were thinking of ways to get revenge on the people who hurt Sylti, it also occurred to us to make use of Rulan Kingdom. Isnt that right, Sylti?

Yes. If Jin were to make a new headquarters, then, we would not need a branch. And, if he is going to leave anyway, he was going to involve the Rulan Kingdom in his decision so he could give a blow to the Royal Family of Rulan Kingdom, who have been pushing him around so much until now.

Conquered by a country supposedly weaker than themselves, the largest port town, overtaken by the person they exiled and their comrades. Is there a more ridiculous story than this? This countrys citizens especially the Royal Family, will remember it every time they see Manrinia. The humiliation theyve suffered. Utter defeat. Fear of the strong. Despair worse than death. For eternity, until death, and many times over. They will suffer as long as they are alive. Although, that treatment is still lukewarm for someone who has hurt our friend.

Youre doing all of this for the sake of one person?

Exactly. Now, choose, Second Son.

Eh?

Will you side with us, or will you die for the countrys sake, of course!?

So, thats what I have to choose

Oh, right.

The choice presented to him was such that there was no longer room to choose.

Sword held against his throat, it was the same as being asked, do you want to live? Or do you want to die?

I

But, strangely enough, Tedla had no qualms about the choice he had to make.

Staring right at Alhart, Tedla forcefully clenched his fists.

I dont want to have any more regrets. I dont want to make the same mistake I made two years ago. Even if what youre doing will lead to the downfall of this country, its still a lot better than losing the smiles on the faces of those I care about again so, I will be siding with you.

Alhart laughed at Tedlas statement.

Good choice, Second Son. Dont you feel a little better now?

Responding to Alharts words with a wry smile, Syltina clapped once and changed the topic.

Well, now that weve done our shopping, lets go back to the others. Its a little earlier than planned, but we are leaving this evening. We stand out too much in this town, and we dont know when the Knights will come sniffing around.

Thats right. So, from now on, were going to have to move while being careful of the Order too? What a pain.

Umm, do you have some kind of general plan?

The general flow has been decided, but there is no detailed plan. In the end, its fine if we just go according to plan, but, were free to take care of the little details as we please.

Well, if the plan is too detailed, there tends to be a delay in responding when things dont go as planned, so were just playing this by ear.

Playing it by ear

As long as we dont forget the final goal, we can do whatever we want. The Dipterous Sword has mostly operated like this until now.

In the first place, were not the types who will just move obediently when we know a strategy has been decided. Everyone in The Dipterous Sword Guild is

This time our final goal is to accompany the Saintess to Manrinia and have her perform the purification. So, well, Im sure its okay, but please be careful not to let the Saintess or the Prince find out. Other than that, its not much different from what weve been doing.

I see. Understood.

Well, were almost there. Ill leave it to Yuto to persuade her, but you, Second Son, tell the Prince that were leaving tonight.

Understoodeh? By leaving it to Yuto, could it be that

Yuto is also one of our comrades from The Dipterous Sword.

Well, it was really just a coincidence that he joined us on this trip.

Tedla gazed in amazement at those words.

Apparently different from what he thought, it seemed that their surroundings were full of people related to The Dipterous Sword.

Then, lets go.

Sure.

Yes.

Tedlas face stiffened as the campsite came into view.

Up until now, in a different sense, he had to go through the days without feeling relief.