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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Betrayed General Betrays
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The source of the laughter was General Viktor.
Even with his hands and feet bound, he stood there unscathed without any help, bursting into guffaws. The guards hurriedly grabbed him, while Andrei forgot to lower his raised arms and just stared blankly.
...Did he do that for my sake?
He'd never laughed that loudly before, so maybe he was deliberately making a big noise to draw attention.
After laughing for a good while like that, the general...
"...He's finally lost his mind."
...stopped the moment he heard Andrei's mutter.
His face, looking at Andrei, showed no trace of the laughter from moments ago.
"What, what is it?"
Andrei averted his gaze slightly, then, offended by his own fear, yanked hard on the rope to meet the general's eyes.
"What do you think you're..."
"Hey. Andrei."
"...Urk."
Andrei, trying to muster his courage and yell, couldn't finish his sentence under that low voice and the icy cold expression.
The general, showing just a hint of the charisma from the battlefield, smirked at the cowering Andrei, shrugged lightly, and shifted the mood.
"Don't be so scared. My mood should be good, right?"
"Scared? Me...?"
"It's peace arriving, after all. You're more used to peace than I am—what's there to fear?"
"You damn bastard...!"
Andrei fumed at the general, who ignored his words and just said what he wanted.
More than that, I was focused on the peace the general mentioned.
Just yesterday arrows and stones were flying everywhere, and now peace was coming?
What had they talked about inside?
"Hah, whatever. A dead man anyway—bound to talk a lot."
Andrei's words poured fuel on my doubts.
"Who knows."
"What?"
The general responded flatly, as if he already knew, but I immediately signaled at the mention of General Viktor possibly dying.
*Clank! Clank!*
The soldiers, waiting tensely, gripped their spears and slowly approached.
"What the hell are you doing!"
"We can't just let you arrest and kill our commander-in-chief in the middle of the night during a war."
With the general's life on the line, I couldn't let them go.
Even setting aside my personal fondness from how he'd just protected me, without him, we'd all die under incompetent commanders like before.
If we're going to die anyway, shouldn't I repay at least some of the debt I owe him?
"Hey, this is a royal order—His Majesty's will! You da..."
"I've never received any such order! The others haven't either, right?"
"Yes!"
He pulled out the decree stamped with the king's seal, but now that we'd made up our minds and drawn our weapons, that scrap of paper meant nothing.
With dozens of soldiers gathered, they—who had only one properly armed man, Andrei—couldn't resist.
"Untie the ropes right now."
"You bastards... fuck...!"
Andrei spat curses while his eyes darted around frantically.
His hand fiddled with the sword sheath at his waist, but knowing resistance was impossible, he didn't even grip the hilt properly.
"Captain! Wh-what do we do!"
The other guards, terrified by the spears aimed at them, huddled around Andrei.
"Are you committing treason? Drop your weapons now!"
"Treason?"
"Yeah! How dare you threaten me, bearer of the royal command!"
He seemed emboldened by invoking treason, but I was surprised to find the word rolling off my tongue felt surprisingly good.
The surrounding soldiers flinched for a moment but saw no sign of me backing down, so not one lowered their spear or retreated.
Any soldier who's been through war knows.
The punishment for treason is farther away than the swords and arrows of the Empire's troops.
If the ones giving orders don't change, we'll be thrown back into the meat grinder.
Without even General Viktor, we'll die pointlessly soon enough.
"Not bad."
"What?"
Better treason than dying like dogs.
As I drew my sword, Andrei's eyes widened.
"St-stop now, and I'll let it slide quietly!"
"And the general?"
"..."
"Hah."
To the very end, Andrei stayed silent, refusing to hand over the general.
In the end, I raised my sword high.
Tension peaked—the situation where my single gesture could decide everything.
As I hesitated over the tough choice...
"Stop."
The general, who'd only been watching, finally spoke.
At his word, everyone including me lowered their weapons.
"Andrei. You were chattering away so hard—why so quiet now? Just say it."
The general said it jokingly, as if lightening the mood.
Andrei, realizing he'd survived, wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
"...Fine. His Majesty..."
"I'll say it. Adjutant Anna."
"Yes."
"You fucking dogs..."
"No need to worry about the war. The Empire and kingdom have agreed to a one-year truce."
"A truce?"
He explained the situation simply.
The reason for arresting the general was to hand him over to the Empire for the truce.
"...I see."
"Take good care of things while I'm gone."
Before I could fully grasp those words, the general started moving.
"Move out."
"Hah, you're really insane... Hey, hey!"
Somehow he'd already untied the ropes binding his legs and walked off steadily. Andrei and the guards surrounded him and quickly slipped away through the parting soldiers.
"General!"
"Please, live long!"
I stared blankly at the general's retreating back, his final shout ringing out as he strode away without hesitation.
True to his words about feeling good, even on the path to death, his steps looked so light.
How could he worry about us even knowing he's going to die?
Is that why he became such a great general?
"...What do we do?"
Even after he left the camp, I stared in that direction for a long time before dismissing the troops and returning to my tent.
My mind was a mess.
The general had asked me to temporarily take command of the troops, but I entered his command tent, put out the lamp, and left.
If they were mementos, I should gather his things, but I couldn't accept he'd die and touched nothing.
My head throbbed.
Even lying in bed, exhaustion wouldn't come.
"One year..."
General Viktor had said a prolonged war would disadvantage the kingdom due to the vast difference in strength.
Even if we won this one, we'd lose the next.
And could a kingdom without even him resist the Empire in a year?
The kingdom that kept losing before he became general?
On top of that, Andrei wouldn't honor his promise to let it slide quietly—our lives were at risk too.
A king who arrests the commander-in-chief unilaterally wouldn't hesitate to go after his adjutant and soldiers.
There could even be a massive purge like those before General Viktor.
Maybe I shouldn't have let Andrei go—regret welled up, but he was long gone.
"I need to think this over."
Looks like some preparations are in order.
The general's last command was to live long, after all—I should follow that.
----
"Hoo."
Only after the soldiers parted and I fully exited the camp could I finally exhale in relief.
That was close.
I hadn't expected the adjutant to react so fiercely to a threat against me.
Aiming weapons at the Guard Captain bearing the royal decree.
Where did that initial prickly distrust of me go?
It was a huge relief everyone obeyed me even as things nearly boiled over.
I almost missed my last chance to escape the kingdom.
I was shocked when she murmured that treason wasn't bad.
"That damn bitch, just..."
"Didn't you say you wouldn't talk? She was pretty desperate."
"...A dead man talks too much."
I poked Andrei each time he muttered nonstop to confirm.
He snapped back irritably but couldn't do anything special to me.
For hot-tempered Andrei to hold back like this meant he had separate orders.
And everyone seemed to think I was going to die, but I saw it differently.
As long as the emperor wanted me, I wouldn't die right away.
Satisfying her strict standards was another matter, but my head wouldn't be chopped off and displayed immediately.
The justification was perfect too.
It wasn't me betraying or fleeing—the kingdom abandoned me first.
Among sentimental types, I could even expect sympathy; it was an ideal situation.
"Heh heh."
"...Insane bastard."
If I just maintained the right attitude, the Empire would value me highly.
Manage my image from now on, and I'd look like the 'loyal, capable general discarded by incompetent superiors.'
The Empire's emperor isn't one to easily discard a competent, ambitionless subordinate who's loyal but steps up when needed.
For my dream of world conquest, I'd endure some discomfort.
"So, where are we headed?"
"Can't you just shut up and follow quietly for once?"
"Fine."
"Hah..."
So, this arrest wasn't the end—it was the beginning.