Chapter 67 – The Empire and the Kingdom Begin to Move

The Galland Empire’s capital where the emperor lives.

One of the five major powers, military power that’s competes for second place, and economic power, it is the capital of the mighty Galland Empire.

It is a fortress city covering a vast terrain with a high rampart. It is also an economic city with the streets overflowing with stalls and people.

Rumors of the country of the dragon knight were already spreading even in that place.

And, the invasion of the Rembrandt Kingdom by the Galland Empire Army and its failure are also recognized by people as a certain fact as it was coming from various information networks.

At the heart of the capital city of Galland Empire is a gigantic castle.

White and gray, the castle has a rugged appearance and has a straight brown brick external wall. Was it repeatedly remodeled and renovated? The left and right of the castle is asymmetrical.

Even in the castle, the rumor of the Dragon Knight has crept in quietly.

A mythological legendary hero became a reality. The story in the rumor is something ordinary people won’t believe but it is about the army of their own country being destroyed.

Thus, the rumor is certainly spreading in the castle but in extreme secrecy.

A man of influence of the empire, who heard the rumor, is walking on the aisle with a face as if chewed something bitter.

He is an elderly short man but has a muscular and thick body. The man was in black suit and is stroking back his gray hair.

He is one of the minister who serve in the empire’s capital.

「Military affairs Minister!」

「What, general?」

The minister of military affairs looked back at the man who had run diagonally behind him and replied with the position of the man who approaches him.

The middle-aged man, who was called general, walks with a stern face and stares at the minister.

The man, who was called general, has a short black hair and is wearing a black military uniform. He was angry as he ran and lined up with the military affairs minister.

Because the man who was called general was tall, the military affairs minister glares back at him by looking up.

「Did you hear the rumor?」

「I sure even a baby have already known.」

The minister instantly replied to the general’s question.

The general gave out a short breath removing his gaze from the minister and looked ahead the passage.

「…After all, we should have not used a newcomer from a mercenary group in such an important battle.」

When the general murmur so in a small voice, the minister clicks his tongue and stares at the general.

「Fool. His Majesty himself nominated them. Besides, we don’t even know if you’ll win even if you’re in his shoes.」

「Ha, hahahahaha」

To the minister’s line, the general began to laugh because of hearing something unbearable.

「What’s funny?」

When the minister said that and looked at him with eyes full of anger, the general stopped his feet and his laugh.

「The number of soldiers he took was about eighty thousand. On the other hand, the kingdom army has 50,000 at most. I heard that even with that difference of forces, they were annihilated in only a few days. That is the greatest defeat in military history that only a fool can accomplish.」

When the general said so and laughed again, the minister paused and stopped.

「The problem is the loss of a lot of soldiers. How can you rate it like that general? Besides, I heard rumors that the Rembrandt Kingdom’s border military force was lead by a dragon knight.」

When the minister said so, the general rang his nose.

He has an expression of completely ridiculing the minister’s word.

「Stupid. The apostle of god leading braves founded a nation. As if anyone will believe such a dreamlike thing.」

When the general said so, the minister stopped walking through the aisle and looked at the back of the general.

The minister vomited a sigh. He turned his foot in the direction where the general turned and walked behind him.

Ahead is the throne room.

A gloomy double steel door.

When the general knocked on the door, the door was opened by the soldiers inside.

The general and the minister go through the door in a row. They walked on a carpet that is like a tiger’s fur with white and black pattern with their leather shoes.

There’s only a two step stairs before the emperor’s throne with high back rest ahead.

On the throne, there was a man with obese body.

He’s probably around his late twenties.

The man has rings with jewel on both hands and is wearing a red robe. His hair was gray, is divided in the middle and is combed to the left and right, and extends up to his cheeks.

The man looked at the minister and the general with a sharp glance and turned his hand to the two.

「Kneel」

When the man said that word, the minister, the general, and the eight soldiers in the room knelt on the spot.

The man on the throne, who confirmed their appearance, nodded lordly and opened his mouth.

「Military affairs minister Karim and the guardian of the east, General Torga. It is about the Rembrandt Kingdom’s invasion.」

When the man said so, the two, Karim and Torga, reacted with a twitch and raised their faces.

Look at the faces of the two, the man sighed and put his elbow on his leg.

「This totally has become a headache. I lost enough soldiers to transfer stationed soldiers on the south west. Well, the actual soldier is thirty-thousand, and the rest is mercenaries and slaves.」

The man smiled in a sarcastic manner after saying so.

Then, the general called Torga looked up at the man with a sharp eye.

「Your Imperial Majesty, Hakan-sama! I understand your anxiety. Let this Torga dispel Hakan-sama’s anxiety! Please leave it to me by all means!」

「General, you’re being rude!」

Military affairs minister Karim yelled at Torga’s sudden plea.

However, Emperor Hakan fearlessly smiles and shakes his head.

「No, considering the dark clouds that are presently covering the empire, Hakan’s temperament is truly reliable. Anyway, the chief magistrate of the Alda prefecture of the west reported absurd things like the invasion of the kingdom ended in one day with everyone being slaughtered… Though the magistrate has already been executed, he said that the plan of leading the kingdom nobles by their nose has been successful.」

TN: I checked the raw and he really said Hakan and not Torga. Author is probably confused.

Veins floated in Torga’s face upon hearing what Hakan said.

Torga is beating the floor with his fist while his lips trembles in anger.

「Fool! I can’t believe we have been defeated even with the plan we have prepared carefully and being superior in number! That incompetent one probably lead the plan to that by being unable to utilize anything!」

Hakan nodded deeply to Torga’s barks.

「What the general said might be the case. I appointed a leader of a mercenary team, which is famous for being undefeated, as a general but his record must have been a fluke. If you think about it, he must have only strike when he has the advantage of number or if they are in an advantageous position. It seems that he was not able to do that when he became a general. He was a coward who rely on siege even on a slightly disadvantageous war.」

Hakan said so and shrugged his shoulder. Karim knit his eyebrow and opened his mouth.

「Hakan-sama, I’m saying this with fear but Leonid, the general of the west, was a valuable talented person. We should be wary that Leonid had suffered a crushing defeat…」

「Military affairs minister! I know that the military minister has brought up that mercenary but it is necessary to ascertain reality accurately.」

When Karim tried to give a frank advice, Torga interrupted and denied Karim’s opinion.

Karim quietly turned his eyes down and lowered his head looking at Hakan nodding in sync with it.

The next day, Galland Empire begins to move its forces to conquer the country of the dragon knight, Einherjar.

「Prime minister! Is Earl Villiers secession true? 」

A low voice of a man echoed across the east gate of the kingdom’s capital.

In the castle gate there were more than 200 soldiers, two luxurious horse-drawn carriage, and an elderly man wearing a gorgeous robe standing in front of the horse-drawn carriage, uniformly lowering his head toward the outside of the city gate.

There, a man in his thirties is riding a beautifully decorated horse.

The man was a muscular man with wavy blond hair that extends up to his shoulder and is wearing a shiny white cloak.

「Your Majesty, King Creivis. You must be tired from your long journey. 」

The man called King Creivis was irritated in the elderly man’s reply. He descended for the horse and looked at the elderly man.

「Yuta, it is not the time for greetings! In the east, the war situation was finally brought to a stalemate. However, there is no meaning to that because the margrave territory, which is the point of defence on the west, has become independent! 」

Creivis openly yelled at Yuta with anger, the elderly man called Yuta looked up at Creivis with fierce eyes.

「What a silly question, Your Majesty. Up to now, the eastern empire has been taking over our territory because of Maeas working behind the scenes. If the west becomes brittle, the empire will take away the west with pleasure. Maeas will probably lend hand to the empire too because of the high chance of success. 」

When Yuta responded, Creivis became more frustrated because of Yuta’s buoyant attitude.

「If you know that much, what have you been doing! 」

When Creivis yells again, Yuta looks at him with blaming eyes.

「Being hasty and being impatient are different things. Calm down first, Your Majesty. The enemy has been acting to scrape off Rembrandt Kingdom that has grown to the left and right until now. If that is the case, is it really correct to lead a large army and run straight to the west? 」

When Yuta said that, Creivis gritted his teeth and and pulled back his chin.

「…I got it, Yuta. Let’s be calm and hurry. So, does this mean that Yuta is against the militarisation in the west? 」

「No, Your Majesty. I said that there is a possibility.」

「Ei! Which is which Yuta!」

Creivis yelled at Yuta’s vague words again. Yuta nodded and gave out a shallow breath.

「It depends on how you receive the rumor of the Dragon Knight’s country.」

「Such a thing, isn’t Earl Villiers behind that rumor!?」

「Is Earl Villiers lying?」

Even if the angry Creivis was not shaken, he asked Yuta to verify it.

Creivis nods roughly and opens his mouth.

「It’s natural. Even if they become independent of Rembrandt Kingdom, with the current situation, they’ll be devoured by the empire. Therefore, he use the name of the dragon knight. The story of the 80,000 troops of Galland Army being annihilated must also be a lie or dramatize.」

When Creivis said so, Yuta tilts his head.

「Well, indeed, it is possible that Earl Villiers fabricated that story since it was transmitted from the west. So, are you absolutely sure that everything was a lie?」

「What do you mean? Are you saying that a dragon knight really appeared?」

「No, I don’t mean that much but I think that there is a high possibility that somewhere, a different power other than Galland Empire and Rembrandt Kingdom exists.」

「Why?」

Creivis, who became somewhat calm, asked about Yuta’s speculation.

Yuta looked at his eyes and slowly spoke to arrange the information in his head.

「First, it’s time. In order to make a lie like a dragon knight, it is necessary to fight of the army of the empire and annihilate them in a dramatic manner. If you’re preparing for independence and the empire sends approximately 5,000 to 10,000 troops by chance, will you be able to annihilate them with little to no damage? It will be quite difficult. In addition, if the empire really wants to invade the kingdom, they will move at least 100,000 soldiers. If we’re talking about the combat capability of the Galland Empire, it is possible.」

「Ah, that’s enough! All right, let’s decide to act assuming the existence of the Dragon Knight first.」

To Yuta’s long speculation, Creivis shakes his head left and right.

However, Yuta straighten his eyes and opens his mouth.

「Your Majesty, I have not told you to admit the existence of the dragon knight. I also thought of the number of soldiers Earl Villiers could have. If the empire really invaded, that land should have already be a part of the empire.」

「So what do you want to say? Is there a dragon knight?」

When Creivis asked, Yuta shook his head.

「My guess it that they hired mercenaries to rival the 100,000 troops of Galland Empire.」

「… What?」

To the words that came from Yuta’s mouth, Creivis froze and gave out a stupid voice.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep