LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 4 - Opportunity in Crisis (3)
✦ Chapter 4 – Opportunity in Crisis (3) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝
The owner of the laughter was none other than General Viktor.
Startled by his hearty laughter, especially considering his bound limbs and upright posture, the Royal Guards frantically tried to restrain him, while Andrei simply stared, his arm frozen mid-air, completely dumbfounded.
…Could he be doing this for my sake?
He never laughed so boisterously before. Maybe, just maybe, he was intentionally making a scene to draw attention away from me.
After what felt like an eternity, the general finally stopped laughing.
“…Has he finally lost it?”
The moment those words left Andrei’s mouth, the laughter ceased.
As if he were a different person entirely, the general’s face, now completely devoid of any amusement, turned to Andrei.
“Wh-What?”
Andrei averted his gaze for a moment. His pride seemingly wounded by his own flinch, he roughly tugged at the ropes, forcing the general to meet his eyes.
“Just what do you think you’re…?!”
“Tell me, Andrei.”
“……….!”
Andrei, who had been trying to regain control of the situation, was rendered speechless by the general’s low voice and icy stare.
The general, revealing a sliver of the charisma he commanded on the battlefield, smirked at Andrei’s cowering form. Then, with a light shrug, he shifted the atmosphere entirely.
“Don’t look so scared. Shouldn’t you be happy for me?”
“Scared? M-Me?!”
“I mean, peace has finally arrived. You should be more accustomed to it than I am. What is there to be afraid of?”
“This goddamn bastard…!”
Andrei’s frustration was palpable as the general continued speaking as if he hadn’t heard a word he’d said, only concerned with getting his own point across.
My mind, however, was more concerned about the ‘Peace’ the general had mentioned.
Just yesterday, arrows and boulders were flying; now, suddenly, there was talk of peace. What could they have discussed inside?
“Bahh, whatever. What else can a dying man do but ramble.”
Andrei’s words only added fuel to the fire of my unease.
“Indeed.”
“What?!”
The general’s nonchalant response, as if he’d expected this all along, only served to unsettle me further. Immediately, I reacted to the implication of Viktor’s words.
He could die?
I swiftly signaled the soldiers.
*Clang! Clang!*
Responding to my signal, the soldiers, who had been watching with tense anticipation, gripped their spears, advancing slowly.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“There’s no way I’m letting this stand. Not when you barge in here in the dead of night, planning to arrest and execute the supreme commander of our forces in the middle of a war!”
Not when the general’s life was on the line.
Personal feelings aside — the gratitude for him shielding me earlier — if the general was gone, our fates would be sealed. We’d be thrown back to the mercy of those incompetent commanders.
If we were going to die anyway, might as well repay the general’s kindness, even just a little.
“Hey! It’s a royal decree, a decree! You dare defy His Majesty’s will—?!”
“I have never received such orders! Nor have any of you, correct?”
“Yes!”
Andrei sputtered, retrieving a rolled-up parchment stamped with the royal seal, but it was meaningless now. With our weapons drawn and our minds made up, that piece of paper held no sway. There were dozens of us now, and Andrei’s men were the only ones armed.
Resistance was futile.
“Release him from those ropes, now.”
“Damn you all…”
Andrei cursed under his breath, his eyes darting around frantically.
Although his hand hovered near the hilt of his sword, he knew that drawing it would lead to certain defeat and didn’t grasp it fully.
“Captain! Wh-What do we do?!”
The other Royal Guards, terrified by the sea of spearheads pointed at them, huddled around Andrei.
“Are you trying to start a rebellion?! Lay down your weapons this instant!”
“Rebellion?”
“Yes! You dare threaten me, a bearer of His Majesty’s decree?!”
Andrei seemed bolstered by the word “rebellion,” likely thinking it would intimidate us. I was more taken aback by how effortlessly the word left my mouth.
It had a certain ring to it.
The soldiers around me flinched for a moment, taken aback. However, sensing my resolve, not a single one of them lowered their weapons or dared to step back.
We were soldiers, veterans of countless battles. We knew the truth.
The threat of punishment for treason paled compared to the immediate danger posed by Imperial blades and arrows.
If those in power remained unchanged, we’d be sent marching back to the slaughterhouse.
And if General Viktor was gone…we’d all be dead before we could even blink, leaving nothing behind.
“I like the sound of that.”
“What?”
Treason it was then.
Better to die fighting than be led like lambs to the slaughter.
As I drew my sword, Andrei’s eyes widened in horror.
“S-Stop this now and we’ll forget this ever happened!”
“And what about the general?”
“………….”
“Ha…”
Andrei remained stubbornly silent, unwilling to budge, determined to keep the general prisoner until the bitter end.
With a heavy heart, I raised my sword high.
The air crackled with tension; my next move would determine everything. Even I, caught in the throes of this momentous decision, hesitated a moment longer…
“Stand down.”
The general, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
At his command, we all lowered our weapons.
“Well, Andrei, you were all talk just a moment ago. What happened? Cat got your tongue? Speak freely.”
The general’s tone was light, almost playful, as if trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere.
Andrei, snapping out of his daze, wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
“…Right. As I was saying, His Majesty…”
“I’ll take it from here. Anna, my aide.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“These damned bastards…”
“Fear not about the war. The Empire and the Kingdom have agreed to a one-year truce.”
“A truce, sir?”
He explained the current situation succinctly.
The reason for arresting the general was to hand him over to the Empire in exchange for a truce.
“…I see.”
“While I’m away, I’m counting on you.”
Before I could fully grasp the meaning of his words, the general started moving.
“Let’s go.”
“What the… Hey, hey!”
Having already untied his legs, he walked forward with a steady pace. Andrei and the Royal Guards hurriedly surrounded him, making their way through the soldiers who stepped aside.
“General!”
“Please, live long!”
I watched, dumbfounded, as the general walked away without hesitation, his last words echoing in my ears.
He had claimed to be happy, and indeed, there was a lightness to his stride, despite the fact he was walking towards his death.
How could he be so selfless? To worry for us when he knew what awaited him…
Was this what made him such a great general?
“…What to do now.”
I stood there long after he disappeared from sight, my gaze fixed on the spot where he had vanished. Then, dismissing the soldiers, I returned to my tent.
My mind raced, a maelstrom of emotions.
The general had entrusted the troops to me. However, I simply stepped inside the command tent, lit a lamp, and left.
I should have gathered his belongings, preserved them as mementos, but the thought of acknowledging his impending death filled me with such dread, such resistance, that I couldn’t bring myself to touch anything.
I was exhausted yet sleep evaded me.
“One year…”
General Viktor often said that a prolonged war would only result in the Kingdom’s defeat. The difference in our national power was simply too great.
Even if we achieved victory this time, it wouldn’t change the inevitable outcome of the next war.
Could the Kingdom, without Viktor, stand a chance against the Empire in a year?
The same Kingdom that had suffered defeat after defeat before his rise to power?
Moreover, there was no guarantee that Andrei would honor his word. Our lives were still in danger.
If the King was willing to have his Supreme Commander unilaterally arrested…What would stop him from coming after us, his mere subordinates?
A mass purge, like the ones that frequently occurred before Viktor, was a very real possibility.
Maybe letting Andrei go free was a mistake. Too late for regrets now; he was long gone.
“I need a plan.”
We needed to be prepared.
‘Please, live long!’
General Victor had commanded us to live long, and we had to follow that order.
🪦
“Phew…”
It wasn’t until the soldiers had dispersed and I was well clear of the encampment that I allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief.
That was close.
I hadn’t expected my aide to react so strongly to a threat against her superior.
To think she’d go so far as to draw her sword on the Captain of the Royal Guard, a bearer of the Royal decree!
What happened to the uptight, distrustful woman from before?
It was a relief they all listened to me, even when things almost escalated beyond control. If things had gotten out of hand, I might’ve lost my last chance to escape the Kingdom.
I was caught off guard when she declared treason wasn’t so bad.
“That crazy bitch…”
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t speak of it? You were quite desperate back there.”
“…Too much talk from someone who’s about to die.”
Just to be sure, I nudged Andrei every time he muttered something under his breath.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance but refrained from actually retaliating in any significant way. For someone as hot-headed as him to be so restrained… It only confirmed my suspicions. He must have received specific orders.
As for their assumption that I was done for…they could keep believing that.
As long as the Emperor wanted me alive, my head was safe, at least for now.
Satisfying that ruthless woman was another matter entirely, but I wouldn’t be meeting my end at the executioner’s block anytime soon, that much was certain.
I had the perfect excuse, too.
I hadn’t betrayed or escaped; the kingdom had abandoned me first.
It was a good position to be in; the more empathetic sorts might even pity me.
“Hehe.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
I could secure a comfortable position in the Empire, if I played my cards right.
With a bit of careful image management, I could become the “Loyal and Capable General, Abandoned by His Incompetent Superiors.”
The Emperor, capable as she might be, wasn’t heartless. She wouldn’t carelessly dispose of a loyal and valuable subordinate just because he was a bit too…proactive.
And as for me…I was willing to endure a little discomfort in pursuit of my grand dream — world domination.
“So, where are we headed?”
“For the love of… Can’t you just follow quietly?”
“My apologies.”
“Ha…”
This arrest…it wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning.
↤ END OF CHAPTER ↦
Translator’s Notes :-
Should I use Emperor or Empress going forward?
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