Chapter 191 - Meeting with the Rube Family

Notes: The names of characters or places may differ from the previous translator, this translation follows the naming used in the official light novel translation.

April 5th.

Twelve days had passed after the fall of the Royal Capital.

That day, the sky was covered with gray clouds, not the kind of weather that could improve one’s mood.

I was having tea with Myalo in the conference room of the royal castle with Tillet waiting in the corner of the room.

「Yuri-kun, as I thought, we should open it after all. You’ve been putting too much thought into this」

Said Myalo while looking at the still-sealed envelope on the desk.

「No. I want to have a frank talk with them. That way, we’d also get to know their stance directly from them」

Just as I was saying that, the door was opened from the outside, revealing the figure of Kien Rube and Liao Rube.

I immediately stood up from my chair and greeted them.

「It’s been a while, Kien-dono」

「Yes… I’m sorry to hear about your loss,」 said Kien with a very difficult look on his face.

Liao, on the other hand, was looking at me with an aloof expression on his face.

I also didn’t miss the moment when he glanced at Myalo.

「Yes, I’ve somehow managed to pull myself out of it」

I extended my hand to Kien, to which Kien responded by accepting the handshake and squeezing my hand lightly.

His hand was exactly what I had thought from someone like him, it was crusty and quite dry.

Next, I extended my hand to Liao as well.

「You did well, Yuri」

「Not at all, I’ve made nothing but failures after all」

With the greetings done, I sat back in my chair again.

Liao seems to be quite puzzled. I guess he didn’t understand what I meant by saying I’ve made nothing but failures.

「Now, please have a seat. Choose any seat you think would make talking with me easier」

Kien and Liao then sat next to each other in front of us.

That shouldn’t have been an appropriate seating custom, but since Myalo was sitting next to me on my left, I guess I had no choice but to let them be.

「――And that’s what was written in the document」

I had written a letter about the crusade and summoned Kien. Liao was just an extra here.

「Here is the covenant the witches made with the Papal States. We have already posted copies all over the town, but here’s the original」

I put the document I had brought from Charleville’s house on the desk.

The content was something like this.

******

Covenant

The Papal States, as Sovereign Hosts of the Crusade, demanded the following from The Kingdom of Shiyalta’s witches’ group.

Either exterminate the royal family of Shiyalta by some means or install a puppet royalty under the witches’ control and overturn the current government.
Maintain the new government until the Crusaders arrive and continue to obstruct the development of a defense system against the Crusaders.
To support the Crusader’s attack on the Kingdom of Shiyalta, and to open the port of the royal city of Sibiak to receive the Crusader’s fleet should it be needed.
Secure as many golden-haired Shans as possible, including Tellur Toni Shaltl. However, this does not apply if it becomes an obstacle to achieving the first demand.
To arrest and imprison the heretic Ether Catholica Wichita to be handed over to the Papal States later.

Upon accomplishing all of the demands above, the Papal States will promise the Kingdom of Shiyalta’s witches group the following.

5000 members of the witches’ group will be granted the same rights as the people of Kura.
The granting of ducal titles to the seven members of the witch’s group.
Protection of the property rights of the witches group.
Permanent protection of the witch’s group ownership of land.

That is all.

The above constitutes a contract between the Crusaders and the Kingdom of Shiyalta witches’ group.

Representative of the Crusaders, Epitaph Palazzo.

Six representatives of the witches group.

Vivira Marmasset

Sharln Charleville

Keagle Kersfitt

Jula Lacramanus

Goula Temper

Kiki Enville

*****

「I see,」 said Kien.

「What a bunch of scum,」 said Liao.

The two of them seem to be disgusted after reading the document.

「Now, Kien-dono. From now on I will speak to you as an equal」

「…Hmm? Oh, Yuri-dono is now the head of the Ho family. Of course, I don’t mind」

Though I’ve been using polite language up until now, it will be difficult to talk about things if I keep speaking like that from now on.

「Kien-dono, do you think the Crusaders will come?」

「…About that, I don’t know. They may not come after the witches’ failure, or they may come because they see that there’s chaos. In fact, with the fall of the Queen, the Royal Capital is now in chaos」

That’s not the case, actually.

The Queen had been trying to get the people to view me as a hero after all.

I’ve also distributed leaflets before that view was sullied.

Although the people are uneasy about Carol’s absence, they are generally welcoming the new ruler from the Ho family.

The government has been overturned, and it is a headache to think about things like tax collection this year, but at least security is rapidly being restored.

「The answer for that is right here」

I placed my palm on the still-sealed envelope on the desk.

「What’s with that…?」

「On the day after the assassination, I sent a message to my company’s shipping lines to the Republic of Albio to check on the Crusaders’ movements」

The answers have finally arrived.

「It normally takes twenty days for a round trip, but the wind was on our side, and we were able to make the round trip in only fourteen days this time. It arrived yesterday, and this is why I summoned you here」

It seems that a round trip in just fourteen days was considered to be a lucky thing given the wind conditions this time of year, and we were fortunately lucky.

「The days don’t add up. It has only been a little more than ten days since Yuri-dono’s army recaptured the royal capital」

「At the time of the assassination, the circumstances told me that they were connected to the Crusaders 」

「Yuri-kun… It may be something obvious to you, Yuri-kun, but it is not so easy to grasp such a conclusion for others,」 said Myalo.

「It would be boring if we were to be misunderstood, so let me explain」

Myalo then began to explain the reasons and rationale for my decision in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

「…And that’s how Yuri-kun realized that the witches were working together with the Crusaders that day」

「Hmm…」

「Anyway, here’s the reply. As you can see, it has not been opened. Why don’t we open it, you might ask?」

「Why? Why did you summon us without opening it? It’s a letter addressed to you so you should read it,」 exclaim Liao.

「In any case, I can see that there’s nothing we can do about the crusade without the cooperation of the Rube family. That is why I decided to not open it until this meeting so that we can think together instead of me drawing a conclusion first」

「I see」

The fact that the wax seal had not been broken was proof of that. That being said, it doesn’t guarantee that I have not opened the letter and put it in a new envelope and resealed it with new wax.

The stamp on the wax seal belongs to the Kuklirison family, but just like any seal, it can be forged and is not reliable proof.

It is supposed to be a simple proof, but when it comes to authenticity, the credibility of the messenger who carries it is more important than the wax seal.

「I would have opened it if you hadn’t come today. Well, let’s open it」

「Yes」

I then broke the wax seal and opened the letter.

「Let me read it first. This is also a business correspondence for my company. I don’t want it to contain anything extremely confidential」

「No problem」

*****

I: General Information

About Printed Scripture Books

The new printed scripture books are well received. Orders are increasing along with the bareback scripture books. (See Attachment)

Orders for the old (as we call them for convenience) printed scriptures have been reduced by one-third.

It seems that the protests from the Karlugi archbishop are getting even louder.

I have also received a rebuttal letter to the letter from Ether-sensei, which is attached.

(I find it hard to believe about the assassination matters, but if it is true, may the Queen rest in peace)

II: Information

The order to form the Third Crusade had been issued.

This information was delivered across the straits and brought to the Republic of Albio by an emergency messenger pigeon.

The spies of the Republic of Albio, who are in charge of listening to the news of the crusades, are rooted in the Euphos Federation, and after the two sides meet, they have decided to participate for the time being.

This time, with the approval of the Pope and the participation of the Papal’s army, it was confirmed that it would definitely be carried out, and it seems that they were very excited.

(The leaders of the Republic of Albio seem to be relieved after hearing the explanation from the Chairman about the relation with the current conspiracy. Well, it’s going to be tough, but please do your best)

(The Euphos Federation is virtually an enemy of the Republic of Albio, so they must be focusing on their intelligence gathering)

Since the order came considerably later than usual, there was less time to prepare for logistics and other preparations. It is also expected that this year’s crusade will be slightly delayed.

III: Product

As instructed, we have borrowed a large sum of money from a moneylender to purchase a large quantity of firearms and gunpowder.

The interest rate is 8% per year.

(The moneylender rubbed me on the wrong side, I got a little hostile with them)

IV: Ship

The delivery of Holland XV and Mamiya XVI (small exploration vessels) is completed. It has also returned with some goods.

Negotiations on the construction of a new ship have been suspended as the construction cost has been allocated to the purchase of guns.

*****

“Well, it can’t be helped,” I thought to myself.

I was disappointed because it would have been better if the crusade had been canceled.

This means that the arm has been raised. Once it swung up, we have no other way but to bring it down, it’s war.

Well, my luck has been pretty bad lately, and this happens.

I then handed the letter to Kien and read the attached separate sheet of paper

I guess it was the right decision to leave the bookbinding to a designer. I think we could increase our profits from this.

Well, it’s not like I can prioritize profits at a time like this though…

「Looks like it’s coming sometime before the end of this year」

When he finished reading, Kien handed the paper to Liao.

「I guess so」

「Of course, the Rube family will fight, we have 12,000 soldiers with us」

「The Ho family army has 16,000, the Second Army has 10,000 soldiers, and the First Army has 7,000 soldiers, for a total of 46,000 soldiers. But the second army is like scraps, we should see their prowess as only about one-third of their number」

「How is the Second Army doing?」

「The regular soldiers have been told that they will be given a special pardon after a year of military service for their charge in the civil war. We are in the process of attaching senior soldiers of the Ho family to the Second Army ranks in the Ho family territory and the Royal family territory, and training them to the point that they would think that dying is better. All the women who were officers only because of their status, including those in the First Army, have also been weeded out」

「We only have a few months until the Crusaders arrive, I’m unsure of how this training would help us much…」

Well, that’s an issue indeed.

「The Second Army was not originally soldiers meant to fight in wars. They’re mostly just people who want to get money by working as the witches’ henchmen and flaunting their prestige around. But we’re actually going to send them out to war this time, but even if we train them, they would only get as good as normal soldiers. It would be better for us to reduce their number to only about 5,500 strong」

「As I remember, the total number of enemy soldiers in the last crusade was about 80,000 strong. I don’t think we could put up much of a fight without Boff and Noza’s help this time」

「Fortunately, we still have two to three months to spare. Common sense suggests that even if they were to rush it, it would still take that long. They would need to make arrangements for each country and prepare for logistics and the like. All of that should only start from about now」

「Yes, I guessed so」

Kien seemed to agree.

「We’ll start by taking down Boff and Noza in the meantime」

As I was saying that, I handed a paper to Kien.

*****

Covenant

The Seven Great Witches Family makes the following covenant with Oron Boff, the head and representative of the Boff family.

1: In the event of something happening in the royal capital, the Boff family shall not advance their force into the royal family territory.

2: The Boff family shall not allow the Rube family to pass through their territory and obstruct their progress.

3: In the event that the Rube family attempts to move southward by sea, the Boff family shall prevent them from proceeding.

The Seven Great Witches family promises the treatment described in the following clauses if the above three clauses are complied with.

1: The granting of the same rights as the people of Kura to a maximum of 2,000 members of the Boff family.

2: The conferral of a ducal title to the head of the Boff family.

3: The assurance of the Boff family’s lands after the conquest by the Crusaders.

4: The right of the possession of an armed self-defense force.

That is all.

The above constitutes a contract between the Crusaders and the Kingdom of Shiyalta witches’ group.

Representative of the Boff family, Oron Boff.

Six representatives of the witches group.

Vivira Marmasset

Sharln Charleville

Keagle Kersfitt

Jula Lacramanus

Goula Temper

Kiki Enville

*****

「Those bastards…,」 said Kien with his eyes burning with anger.

He seems to be angrier than when he found out about the witches’ betrayal. Rube and Boff are neighbors, after all.

「As you can see, they are nothing but trash. I will summon their family head to the royal castle and kill them」

「Kill them? Do you know what their army would do if you did so?」

「I’m sure we’ll manage to absorb them in a couple of months. Everything will be rushed, though」

「Hmm… but….」

Kien seems to be not keen on the idea.

「I cannot trust an army whose general is a man who signs such a covenant and then gives up before the battle even begins. It would be foolish to put them in any key position, and it would spare us from the trouble of waiting to see if they would make a move or not」

They were reluctant and hardly fought at all in the last war. I don’t think we can rely much on them.

If they are useless anyway, we might as well kill them while we can.

「We’ll have to fight them first in that case」

「I’ll summon Oron Boff to the royal capital. In the meantime, the Ho and Rube families will attack his territory from the north and south. I assure you that they won’t put up much of a fight」

「Hmm…」

「We’ll be better thinking of how to handle the Noza family. Bolfra Noza is a somewhat smart man. I have a similar paper from the witches to the Noza family, but this one is in the form of a memorandum. It is in the form of a unilateral promise from the witches’ side without Bolfra Noza’s signature or seal」

He must have known the dangers of giving such a two-way contract to the witches as it could be used as a tool to blackmail him later on.

It’s infamously known that if it’s in the form of a memorandum, the witches can easily forge it to their needs, so all he has to do is just burn the one in his possession and say that he got caught up in the witches’ plot.

「I know him quite well. He’s a worrywart of a man and is not fit to lead an army」

「Oron Boff is likely to show up at the summons, while Bolfra is not likely」

「Yes. That’s just the kind of man he is. He’s definitely not coming」

Kien seems to have the same opinion.

「Well, there are still ways to get to him, only after we killed Oron Boff first, though. We’ll easily get to him once everything but him has become enemy」

The problem left is how to fight the Crusaders after that.

Now, let’s see if Kien will get on board or not.

「We’ll be fighting the Crusaders after that, and I want to make sure that we win regardless of whether there are hundreds of thousands of enemies. This time, if we lose, it will be the end of the Shans after all」

「Hmm? …Well, it would be best if we could win this,」 said Kien wistfully.

「And for that reason, I’m thinking of a decisive battle at the north of the royal capital. I want the Rube family to not fight the Crusaders and let them pass through with their army intact」

「――What!?」

As expected, Kien must felt agitated by my suggestion.

「If you worry about your people, we can just evacuate them. We have three months; it shouldn’t be that difficult」

「Are you asking me to give Mital up?」

「I doubt the Crusaders would go as far as crushing a city like Mital into ashes as it was a painstakingly tiring task. We can just repair it after we return. I’ll pay for it」

「As if we’ll let such a thing happen!」 interjected Liao.

「Mital is a city that we, the Rube family, have been protecting for generations. Are you seriously asking us to let it burn to the ground?」

「In that case, then you can do as you please,」 I said before continuing by saying, 「The Ho family will back out. You can fight there all you want」

「What?」

「Wha…!?」

Both parent and son were surprised to hear my words.

「With the forces we have, it’s gonna be hard to win any fight near the northern border. I won’t take that gamble」

「What’s with this childish thinking of yours? We must unite and fight…」

Kien must have thought that my thinking was absurd and childish.

「Kien-dono. In that case, then let me ask you this, how many soldiers do we really have in our army that we can rely on?

We have the Ho family’s army and the Rube family’s army. There’s also the First Army, but they’re still in a state of decline due to the confusion in their chain of command, let’s count them too as a bonus.

We only have a total of around 34,000 soldiers to rely on.

We’ll be fighting with 60,000 of Kura’s people in the least, they’re bringing 80,000 soldiers with them in the last crusade after all.

Compared to their army, do all of our 34,000 soldiers have a high spirit or unparalleled physical strength? I don’t believe so.

In the last battle, I heard that we mostly lost due to the battle between the infantry soldiers.

Kien-dono. I also heard that the Rube family was similarly overwhelmed when it came to the battle between the infantry.

The other side deployed a large number of firearms, and we on the other hand just fought with spears and swords. Of course, they would be the ones to win.

The Second Army has at least around 11,000 soldiers ready to fight. The Boff family has around 9,000 soldiers, while the Noza family has around 8,000 soldiers.

With a total number of 28,000 soldiers much lower in prowess than that of the Kura’s army.

Combine the two and we have a total of 62,000 soldiers.

But, let me put it in another way, Kien-dono. In a battle for the survival of the nation and the extinction of the race, are you going to take on the decisive battle without any plan in this situation?

While the only thing you could think with your head is how to feed the whole army and give them a little encouragement before the battle, you think that we should be able to win because we have our pride, our plainrunner, and our kingeagle, just because the other side doesn’t have them? Is that it?

If that’s how you plan to fight, I’ll say nothing more. You can do whatever you want」

Even if we do our best, there are things that are impossible to overcome.

This is the reality.

If he’s asking me to take such a gamble, I found that letting go of our losses and retreating to the new continent was a much better choice.

「So you think that we can win if we move all the way to the royal capital?」

「We can win, and I am planning a plan that」

Well, even if we don’t win, the Rube family’s army will probably be in tatters and won’t be able to do anything to me.

But it’s in our best interest to make them believe that we can win.

「And what exactly are your plans?」

「Preserving the Second Army while retaking the royal capital was part of that. Besides, didn’t you wonder why I have all these documents with me? Well, it was something I took away by using a little trick before killing the witches」

What would have happened if I had defeated the Second Army without a second thought?

While I could have surrounded and annihilated them and then laughed in front of their piles of corpses, there’s nothing to gain from doing so.

If I had simply burned the witches without interrogating them, I would not have been able to get proof that the Boff and Noza families were in cahoots with them.

It also would have been all too late if we only managed to find Charleville’s hidden room a month later.

It is really terrifying when thinking about that kind of scenario happens.

「Yuri-dono, if we were to give up Mital…」

「Father, you can’t be serious!?,」 Liao rebutted while also bumping Kien’s knee with his.

It seems that he cares a lot about Mital.

But the most important thing he must remember is that we can always get the city back once we win.

It is not something irreparable like people’s life after all.

「Keep your mouth shut, Liao… Yuri-dono, you must have a good reason if you’re asking me to give up Mital, and why does it have to be in the royal capital? I will not be convinced until you explain to me」

Well, I guess he’s also got a point.

「Then let’s talk about it. I’m sure you’ll understand once you listen to my plan」

TLN: I just began reading this series two weeks ago and was already quite invested with the story. I began from reading the light novel and continued to read the translated web novel, sadly there’s not much continuiation and the quality are below the average (no offense), I’d say I do a pretty better job with this, what do you say? This chapter was quite long, I say, around 12 pages of words doc (250 lines, 4000 words). I can’t tl much these days but maybe a chapter or two per week should do for now.

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