Chapter 3 – Story 86: Flight
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We were totally taken for a ride!
Adomius spat out in bitter regret inside his mind while walking loudly like a rhinoceros. Them investigating the letters from the soldiers, who had surrendered to the enemy, out of caution towards a possible betrayal was fully within the expectations of the Divine Son of Destruction.
Anyone would be wary if they heard about letters from soldiers, who had surrendered to an enemy. And anyone would check those letters before allowing them to be handed over to their addressees. It was set that they’d thoroughly and carefully sieve through the text, checking whether they contained calls for internal disturbances and demoralizing propaganda, or secret codes intended for collaborators.
For this reason, the Divine Son of Destruction targeted the soldiers who would check those letters for their contents. Moreover, the method he applied was cunning.
He didn’t criticize Prince Alexius or used gentle persuasion by citing his gentle treatment of prisoners. No, such words would only confirm the soldiers’ suspicions as they’d be on their guard from the very start.
Instead, the letters contained praise for the food. And even though the letters would be the perfect vehicle to propagate collaboration and alienation, the letters didn’t contain anything like that. Naturally, this caused the soldiers to suspect that the text might hide some secret ciphers or codes instead, resulting in them meticulously scanning those letters.
Without realizing that this was the trap in itself.
Even under normal circumstances, their provisions would be meager as Luoma had to cut down on the rations in preparation for an extended siege, but on top of that, the soldiers were now forced to carefully read stories about delicious food being described in all its glory. It was only logical that they wouldn’t be able to endure for long.
Just how does this food taste? Is it really so delicious?
Anyone would have asked themselves such questions in their position. And if they saw the surrenderers bring in that very food as souvenirs for their families and loved ones, it’d naturally pique the curiosity of the soldiers. They’d want to give it a try as well.
Would anyone go against such temptation, especially when asked whether they wanted to have some of it? If this would have been money or valuables, some might have firmly resisted, saying that they wouldn’t take any bribes. But, food? Moreover, considering that it was also distributed to prisoners, it couldn’t be any extravagant food either.
However, its real worth exceeded money and valuables by far.
“I desire an audience with His Highness Alexius!”
Adomius had been heading for the room allocated to Alexius. Of course, Alexius’s hang-ons tried to turn Adomius away, claiming that they couldn’t let him pass.
In response, Adomius placed a hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
“Either I cut my way through to His Highness or you let me pass. Make your choice!”
Adomius meant it seriously.
If we sit around on our laurels without doing anything, it’s clear that we will lose. Before that happens, I must get Alexius out of here, no matter what it takes.
He had resolved himself to the degree of literally risking his neck over this. Adomius was one of the regimental commanders who had led the elite Black Wall. None of the prince’s followers possessed the balls to oppose his spirit. They flinched back with their faces pale, allowing him to go past them.
Adomius opened the door to Alexius’s room, just to be hit by a strong stench of alcohol in the next instant. Alexius was feebly sunk into a chair, like a corpse, situated in the center of the dim room. The floor was littered with several wine bottles.
Spotting the prince, Adomius loudly addressed him, “Your Highness! Now is not the time to daze around like that!”
“…What? Did the reinforcements finally arrive?”
Alexius looked up to Adomius, his eyes blurred from his drunkenness. While suppressing his irritation, Adomius explained the events up to this point.
“There are no reinforcements! ――Please have a taste of this first.”
Adomius offered a slice of the sweet bean jelly which he had confiscated from a teary-eyed soldier. Alexius listlessly accepted it, took a small bite, and slowly chewed.
“It’s awfully sweet, isn’t it?” Alexius muttered his complaint.
Adomius commented, “Your Highness, do you not understand?”
Honey and fruits were commonly used as sweeteners in the West of this era. However, the sweetness of the jelly was a lot stronger and more direct than food sweetened with honey or fruits.
“This most likely uses sugar.”
Befuddled by the booze, Alexius accepted Adomius’s words at face value.
“It’s a waste to use something like sugar for buying out soldiers.”
Sugar was produced in this world by boiling down the juice of a plant similar to sugarcane, but the area suitable for growing it was limited and the West had to mostly rely on imports. Because of that, sugar was valuable enough to be traded for its weight in gold and silver at times, meaning, it could only be tasted by some royals, nobles, and wealthy merchants. It was expensive enough that you could use it for bribery.
But, Adomius shook his head.
“You still have not been able to realize it, Your Highness?”
Alexius was confused as he didn’t understand what Adomius was trying to tell him. Seeing that, Adomius tried to slowly explain it in an easy-to-understand manner.
“If we are talking about bribery, the enemy could have directly relied on money and valuables. And yet, the enemy gave sugar, which you call valuable enough to be a waste to be used like this, to the common soldiers. Please think about what this could possibly mean.”
Alexius was puzzled as his head was fogged by the alcohol.
It might be seen as a compensation, but when it comes to treating common soldiers to expensive sugar, you’ll probably need quite a substantial amount. However, where securing that much sugar comes into play, it stops being just a problem of funds alone. After all, you can have as much money as you want, it won’t matter if you run out of sugar. In short, connections allowing you to constantly obtain a set amount of sugar――or in other words, a strong trade relationship with the Maritime Nation Jeboa――is absolutely necessary.
“Don’t tell me, Jeboa and them…”
“That’s correct. Unless they have a good relationship with Jeboa, it will be impossible for them to procure this huge amount of sugar, no matter how much money they might have.”
The reality of their opponent, whom they despised as revolting slaves, having a cordial relationship with Jeboa’s merchant guild, the one holding firmly onto the West’s economics, came as a startling shock.
“That is not all either. Your Highness, have you ever partaken in a mysterious pastry like this?”
“No. I haven’t…”
This strangely elastic, sweet pastry was a first for Alexius who had received all sorts of presents as crown prince of Holmea.
As though having expected as much, Adomius nodded once.
“It is the first time for me to have tasted and heard of such a pastry, too. If this even applies to Your Highness, then I dare say this pastry…”
At last Alexius realized what Adomius was trying to say.
“In other words, you’re saying this doesn’t originate from the West, but from somewhere else…?”
Adomius confidently nodded at Alexius’s question, “Your Highness, we have underestimated our enemy way too much. A military force that crushed ours. Tremendous funds allowing them to buy masses of sugar. A deep connection to Jeboa’s merchants. And, the shadow of a foreign country.”
At that point, Adomius took a short break, and then he declared, “We shouldn’t look down on them as something like revolting slaves any longer!”
Alexius trembled with fear.
High-class pastries, which use sugar, are enjoyed together with fragrant teas and wines during elegant parties where the lords and their ladies gather. Holding such refined tea parties on the battlefield speaks volumes about their leeway.
In reality, it wasn’t as though Souma and his friends had held such refined tea parties. However, there was no way for Alexius to know about that. Inside his mind the scenery of various races holding a tea party while enjoying sugar-filled pastries and laughing together took form as something real. Those illusionary demi-humans, who were enjoying their tea party, all turned to Alexius at once. And then they said in one voice: Do you believe the likes of you can best us?
“Hiii…!”
Alexius got frightened by the illusionary voices his own mind had produced. And in response, he threw away the half-eaten piece of jelly in panic as if holding something extremely dangerous.
Adomius softened his voice and told Alexius, who had finally been able to comprehend the situation, “Your Highness, I think rumors of this pastry have already spread inside the city.”
This was an era without postal codes and addresses. The letters destined for the families of the surrenderers were first taken to people regarded as influential or famous within a district, from where they would be distributed to the actual homes. And because many people were unable to read the letters, it was a custom to have those influential or famous people read it to them.
In short, the people controlling a district were very likely aware of those pastries at this point.
After having thought up to that point, Adomius denied his own thinking.
It’s not just very likely. They most definitely know about the pastries by now. Otherwise, that Solon guy would have never dropped that meaningful hint of 「a move outside the board」. It’s not necessarily said that those among the people who noticed such might of the enemy, aren’t currently pressing Count Mythos, telling him that it might be better to surrender.
It was very normal for nobles to switch sides to another country, if they believed that the king they were supporting didn’t have enough power anymore, in this epoch. Yet, if it was Count Mythos who was known for being a steadfast, gritty warrior, Adomius assessed it as unlikely that he would capitulate to savage, revolting slaves or their likes.
But, Count Mythos’ heart had been shaken by the old man called Solon too. If he heard the rumors about the pastry and understood that the enemy wasn’t anyone he could afford to belittle as revolting slaves, it’d become unclear which side Count Mythos would choose. And it was possible that Luoma might fall apart from within in the near future, Adomius guessed.
“We must control the inflow of these pastries…,” Alexius muttered, his face ghastly pale.
Adomius shook his head, “Are you going to tell the soldiers to confiscate the little food the men, who were captured by the enemy, asked their comrades to bring to their families?”
If this was money or valuables, we might have been able to confiscate them under the pretext of bribery. But, we’re talking about nothing more than a mouthful of pastries. The residents and soldiers, who don’t know the value of sugar, won’t be able to come to terms with having the pastry confiscated, even if we tell them it’s bribery. Rather, they would suspect us for trying to monopolize the food, which might trigger a revolt in return. However, if we try to explain the reason properly so as to avoid any misunderstandings, we’ll end up spreading news about the might of our enemy instead.
“Even if we were to attempt controlling it, I cannot give orders to the city guards.”
Adomius’s royal army consisted of soldiers under the direct command of the king. In contrast to that, the guards in this city were Count Mythos’s private army. For this reason, Adomius didn’t have any authority to order the guards.
“W-What should we do then!?”
Alexius asked in what sounded almost like a scream.
Adomius declared, “The only one capable of salvaging this situation now is you, Your Highness!”
Military authority not being unified in one place was the most pressing problem at present. Even if Adomius might be a regimental commander of the top elite Black Wall of the royal army, he used to be just the third son of a rural lord. It was impossible for him to demand from Count Mythos to hand over the military command. Having said that, if Adomius arbitrarily decided to follow Count Mythos’s orders, he’d be suspected of having changed his mind about the king instead.
Because of that, the troops inside the city were currently split into two factions: the former punitive force led by Adomius, and the city’s guards under Count Mythos. That was also the reason why Adomius didn’t notice the rumors about the pastry spreading inside the city so far.
Usually, Alexius, the crown prince and a general of the royal army, should have consolidated the right to command all troops inside the city. But, probably because he was devastated by the crushing defeat at the bridgepoint, Alexius had confined himself inside the room given to him all the time until now.
“At this rate, this city is going to fall without a fight! Before that happens, you must appear in front of everyone, take command, and tighten the leash on the soldiers, Your Highness!”
Alexius fell silent for a while upon Adomius’s appeal.
Just when Adomius started to become nervous, Alexius finally said, “I got it. I will do as you say. ――But, as you can see, I’m drunk today. I cannot appear in front of everyone like this. Wait until tomorrow.”
This was a very reasonable point. Firmly suppressing his impatience, Adomius lowered his head, consenting to the prince’s request.
◆◇◆◇◆
“His Highness…was able to run away…?”
The next morning, Adomius was eagerly waiting for Alexius to come out, but hearing the report from his subordinate, he became dumbfounded. According to his man, Alexius took just a small group of his followers and left the city through the eastern gate on horse early this morning.
Hearing that, Baron Kantbias announced that he’d go to call him back, got on his chariot, and chased after Alexius’s group, but according to the subordinate, the baron hadn’t come back yet.
Adomius’s brain entered a state of rejection to the sudden and unexpected chain of events. He needed to slowly count to ten to come to terms with the situation.
“D-Don’t screw with me!” Adomius yelled in rage.
Alexius was prince of Holmea. The kingdom couldn’t afford to have him die in action. And even less could the kingdom afford for him to fall into the hands of the revolting slaves and become a prisoner. Because of that, Adomius had planned to sacrifice himself to allow Alexius to get away, if push came to shove.
But――
“Sacrificing myself and being turned into a sacrificial pawn are completely different!”
Why hasn’t he boldly told everyone to take care of the rest in his stead, if he’s going to run away anyway!? A king doing a moonlight flit without telling his retainers and subjects would be absurd!
Adomius spat out all the insults and abuse he could think of. And after his head calmed down a bit due to that, he started to consider what to do from now on.
If rumors about the prince abandoning the city and fleeing with his closest followers spreads in the city, the soldiers’ morale will take a heavy blow. Maybe I should keep this truth to myself and tell the soldiers that I recommended Alexius to run away?
But, Adomius laughed scornfully at his own deliberations.
No matter how I try to smooth it over at this point, the truth is obviously going to come out right away. Besides, above all, my will to serve Holmea has already diminished quite a bit.
“I can’t take this bullshit anymore!”
Adomius ripped the helmet with the green tuft, symbolizing his status as regimental commander, off his head and slammed it on the ground in front of his feet.
“If His Highness does as he pleases, I’ll do the same! I can’t be arsed any more! Tell the soldiers to do as they like!”
“Regimental Commander Adomius!?”
Adomuius flopped down with a thud on the spot in front of the surprised and panicking soldiers.
“If I have to fight for such an idiot, having my head cleanly chopped off by that Divine Son bastard will be a lot more worthwhile! At least I’ll be able to meet my dead comrades!”
◆◇◆◇◆
Alexius was driving his horse toward the royal capital Holmenia together with a small number of his followers. Suddenly he noticed someone calling for him amidst the thundering of the hooves.
Once he pulled the reins, forcing his horse into a trot, and looked back, he spotted Baron Kantbias’s chariot chasing after his group from behind. In contrast to his group which didn’t bring any spare horses because they left in a hurry, the baron was driving on a chariot pulled by two horses. Moreover, because the baron was coming after them with a visage making it obvious that he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice his two kiryu in order to catch up, the prince understood that they wouldn’t be able to shake them off either.
Alexius pulled a very sour face and stopped his horse altogether.
“Your Highness! Just what are you planning to do!?”
Baron Kantbias asked right off the bat the second he reached Alexius without giving the prince any greetings. Alexius proudly stretched his back without feeling any guilt.
“Know this. I shall return to the capital and gather our soldiers once again.”
His words sounded very reasonable. The current soldiers in Luoma would have a very hard time to best the highly motivated slaves. As such, there was a reason to ask for reinforcements.
But――
“Why didn’t you inform everyone of this then!?”
If it was just about requesting reinforcement, a messenger should have been enough to get the job done. Alexius himself could have stayed in the city to unify the guards and remnants of the punitive force and protect it from the revolting slaves until the reinforcements arrived.
Also, even if his escape had been based on the worry that he, a prince of Holmea, could have been captured by the enemy, it’d have been fine for him to go back to the capital after openly declaring those reservations in front of everyone.
However, he didn’t do any of it.
In other words, Alexius himself understood very well that this was nothing more than him fleeing.
“At this rate, you will go down in history as a foolish general, Your Highness!”
Those words of Baron Kantbias reflected reality, but for Alexius, who could have known about that, they were exceedingly painful.
“B-Be quiet! Silence!” Alexius yelled in anger.
At that moment, he heard a quiet thud. Forgetting his fury as he wondered where that noise had come from, he pulled a puzzled expression. And immediately following, Baron Kantbias groaned quietly in front of Alexius.
“How did…?”
Alexius asked, but his eyes flew wide open. After all, a small arrow was lodged in Baron Kantbias’s chest.
The baron tried to bring his hand to his chest, likely wanting to pull out the arrow, but his body powerlessly tilted over in the middle of that motion. And just like that, he fell off his chariot.
“Y-Your Highness! Around us!”
As soon as Alexius surveyed the vicinity due to the voice raised by one of his followers, he found that they had been surrounded by several men without any of them noticing. Some of his followers tried to fight back by drawing their swords in a hurry, but all of them, without a single exception, were shot to death.
Within a small amount of time, only Alexius and a very few were left alive.
“Y-You bastards! Hear who I am! My name is Alexius, the crown prince of Holmea!”
Alexius did his best to bluff, but the men weren’t perturbed by his introduction at all. Instead, a man, who appeared to represent the enemy group, stepped through the circle of humans, respectfully genuflected in front of Alexius and lowered his head.
“Please show your lenience and forgive us for the sudden rude conduct, Your Highness Alexius. We have come to receive you on the decree of our lord.”
With those words, the man held up the string placed around his neck, showing Alexius a thin plate with a size allowing it to fit into a palm. This plate was a substitute for identification papers. Drawn on the plate was a crest showing a snake coiling itself around a wine cup.
“T-This is…!?”
Trembling in surprise and fear, the snake picture looked as if it was alive in Alexius’s eyes.
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