-Piririririk. Boom!
Fireworks exploded into the sky—well, technically, they were magical fireworks. A simple yet dazzling festival magic, adapted from a signaling spell.
Fernandez stood by the wooden palisade, watching the fireworks. The banquet was more exhausting than fighting. The stars of this party were Kirhas, Duke Erbe, and himself. Their achievements in the recent battle were too significant to ignore.
So, he stepped out to gaze at the night sky and ended up watching the fireworks. The colorful explosions spread wide across the heavens, drowning out the stars with their brilliance.
-“What a waste…”
Most mages fall in love with the night sky in some way. The flow of mana between the stars, the halo of light reflected by the moon—deep night is a mage’s time.
But the Empire’s mages were setting off fireworks in that very night sky. Faijashi grumbled, clearly displeased.
‘That’s a kind of alarm system.’
-“Which makes it a waste.”
‘Not all mages can observe the flow of mana with their eyes, you know.’
The fireworks served as both a report to the command, signaling that the area was fully under their magical control, and a warning system to deter enemy magical forces. It wasn’t just about celebration.
There were multiple effects. They also reassured the frontline commanders, who were wary of sudden enemy magical attacks during the banquet.
Fernandez quietly closed his eyes and sipped champagne. A gentle breeze blew—a warm spring wind. As he focused on his hearing, countless sounds reached him.
The noise of the laughing and chattering banquet, the sound of fireworks, the rustling of grass under the wind, and then… to more secretive places.
-“First, we must kill that guy, Fernin.”
-“He’s just a nimble, sharp kid. It’s more logical to target Duke Erbe first, no?”
-“Duke Erbe first? He’s the one who achieved the most in the last three battles. This isn’t something we can just sweep under the rug. Too many people saw it.”
In the command tent, a few knights and nobles who had slipped away from the banquet gathered. They wore dark expressions, stroking their chins or holding their foreheads.
The plan had gone awry. The Emperor’s intention was to use the Empire’s mighty legions to swallow the Great Wilderness and, once the war was over, seize Ribue by force. The justification was already prepared—evidence that Duke Erbe had colluded with demons or their minions.
The problem was Duke Erbe’s achievements were too glorious. If they openly opposed him and moved to take Ribue, the Emperor and the court nobles would face political backlash for attacking a hero.
The Elector Dukes wanted Duke Erbe’s downfall, but they didn’t want the Emperor to gain too much power. With the Emperor personally sending legions, the Electors’ eyes would inevitably focus on Ribue.
In this situation, the Emperor needed a perfect justification. But due to the incompetence of the Imperial Central Army and Duke Erbe’s valor, cracks were forming in the Emperor’s reasoning.
-“The Chieftain’s concubine almost single-handedly turned the tide of the war.”
-“Are you suggesting we fight the entire Beastman Tribe? Have you seen how fiercely the Hearttaker Chieftain fights? The Emperor never ordered us to antagonize all Beastmen.”
-“Is that beast the only Chieftain?”
Bernard, the Knight Commander of Levans, smirked. The other nobles began murmuring at his words.
-“The rival Chieftain, Cherad Blondtail? That beast is on a losing streak, isn’t he? I heard most of his followers have already turned their backs on him or are preparing to.”
-“Yet he still commands nearly half the forces of the Hearttaker. Plus, he’s allied with the Lavirata Dynasty. The tide of war can turn in an instant, no?”
-“So, kill the Hearttaker and ally with Cherad? Wasn’t the Emperor’s intention to subjugate this wilderness by defeating Lavirata?”
-“Think of it as symbiosis.”
Bernard smiled slyly. Even though they’re losing now, the number of Beastman tribes following the rival Chieftain isn’t small. Cherad Blondtail nearly conquered the wasteland with Lavirata.
In their eyes, Cherad and his legion aren’t incompetent. Only a capable leader could conquer such a vast wilderness. It’s just that the Imperial Army was stronger.
Before the Imperial legions arrived at Ribue, the Hearttaker’s forces were suffering sporadic defeats and retreats. The Hearttaker’s troops weren’t a ragtag bunch, which made Cherad’s ability to defeat them in every battle all the more impressive.
-“From this moment on, we will lose every battle. In a way that minimizes damage to our main force.”
-“How far do you plan to retreat?”
-“To Ribue.”
Ribue was the capital of the Western Imperial Territory. Pulling the frontline back to Ribue meant abandoning all other small and medium-sized cities outside it.
But in the process, Duke Erbe and the Beastman Nobility would suffer irreparable damage. If the Imperial main force became less aggressive, the pressure on them at the frontline would inevitably increase.
-“By allying with the rival Chieftain, we cut off Ribue’s strongest ally and completely crush Duke Erbe’s power! Hahaha!”
-“A brilliant plan, brilliant!”
-“Haha, truly befitting the Knight Commander of Levans! I can’t help but admire it!”
The nobles burst into laughter at Bernard’s words. Though things were diverging from the Emperor’s intentions, the war was still ongoing, and they were merely reinforcements requested by Duke Erbe, not the main force.
After all, Duke Erbe’s legion was in a more pitiful state than they had anticipated. Most of his vassal nobles had already deserted, and Ribue’s forces were nothing to write home about.
-“Shouldn’t we first seek the Emperor’s approval for this?”
-“…This is a secret. I trust you’ll keep it quiet.”
-“What else is left? Speak!”
-“Ironside is within the legion.”
The nobles’ expressions froze. Ironside. Officially an intelligence agency, but in reality…
