Katahane no Riku

The reason for Asty´s absence was much more stupid than she had expected.

After going out of Asty´s room, Riku let out a big sigh.

Today, Asty didn´t come to the training. Even among her subordinates, Asty could be said to be a very diligent person. She would enter the training field before the sun had risen and would keep swinging a sword or spear. But today alone, Asty didn´t show her face.

Riku herself didn´t really care whether she would be coming to train or not. However, she was Riku´s subordinate, and she was also entrusted to her by Gortoberuk. Riku wondered that perhaps she had got high fever and couldn´t leave her room. But if she was to only say this and leave it just like that, it would become bad to Riku´s position, and it would also affect Leivein´s reputation. That´s why she ended the training early and gave a visit to Asty´s given room.

But in the end, it was all needless worries.

“Yo, ojou-chan.”

Turning around, she saw Vrusto, who was leaning at the wall. Probably he was waiting for Riku to come back. After lightly raising her hand as a greeting to him, both of them started walking side-by-side.

“And then, what is the reason for that girl to be absent? Was she sick?”

“…Self-confinement.”

Riku dropped her shoulders.

It felt to her as if she had suffered some kind of loss just for how she had been worried about Asty and had gone after her. Asty wasn´t suffering from any sickness. She was healthier than she could ever be. She was reading a book of strategies while sitting on a chair.

“Haa? Confinement?”

Vrusto raised his voice in a surprised manner. In a low sound, Riku continued speaking.

“Yes. It looks like she thinks she has responsibility for this last battle.”

From what Asty said, she thought she had responsibility as she was the one to make reasons for the troops to be dispatched to Karkata plains, and so she wasn´t going to leave the room until it was the right time.

Of course, it was a fact that she had part of the responsibility. However, all she did was nothing more than giving her opinion. The fault lied on Kraut, who accepted it without seriously thinking through.

“I told her she should go polish her strength rather than doing that self-confinement, but she wouldn´t listen, saying to let her be for at least three days. Anyway, it seems the Gortoberuk house has some family motto that you should seclude oneself to accept your wrong deeds or something.”

“I guess this is diligent? What to say… ”

Vrusto was showing a surprised face. It also felt like Riku had a face similar to his.

“Even though there are things more important than family mottos…”

Rather than family mottos, Riku hated family itself. For the pride of her family, Riku was thrown away, and ended up with sad memories. Looking how she was able to meet Leivein, perhaps in this perspective, it had been a good thing. But in the end, even after ten years had pa.s.sed, she still looked at the Barusak with hostility.

That day from ten years ago… The memories of her being betrayed by her father, engulfed by the waves of the sea and being carried to the seash.o.r.e were as if a thin mist was surrounding it. She didn´t remember the details, but she felt she was full of resentment an hatred. Even now, those thoughts were lying at the depths of her heart. Even after ten years had pa.s.sed, the fence called Barusak still restrained her. Probably, if this were to continue, she would become its prisoner for the rest of her life.

Thinking about that, her mood became a bit dark.

“Who knows?”

Vrusto´s answer was extremely short. Taking out a cigar that was at his breast pocket, he started smoking it. Riku hated the smell of smoke. Not only she hated the smell, she was sensitive and would make her cough. Right at the moment Riku was about to open her mouth to complain, it happened…

“Hm?”

Suddenly, she felt a suspicious gaze onto her back.

Looking behind her, there were three soldiers. The three were very similar to humans, but because they were wearing armor of the Demon Lord army, they were definitely demons. She didn´t mind too much about that point, but she did mind about the way the three were looking at her. It was a bit different from the looks of despise she had already become used to. Rather than despise and contempt, the feeling of surprise that was being given off was stronger.

“What´s the matter, ojou-chan?”

Looking at them once again, the trio disappeared as if they went hiding. Because they didn´t have a face she remembered of, she knew they weren´t her subordinates, but soldiers from Karkata. But even so, it felt they were involved with something.

“Did you see those three men that had just gone to that corner a little bit ago?”

“Hm? Ah, those guys that were glaring at you? …Aren´t they just jealous of ojou-chan because ojou-chan got many achievements despite being a human?”

“It would be good if that was the case.”

Perhaps she was a bit too much self-conscious. While thinking about it, she shook off the suspicions from her mind.

——-

It was at today´s night that the incident occurred.

By the time the moon was at the sky, it happened that sharp screams were being raised from the pig pen.

“It´s a rebellion!!”

“There is a traitor among us!!”

“It´s fire!! It´s burning!”

Together with these words, the blazes of the fire were going up to the sky. The straw spread at the pig pen had suddenly caught fire, now with the fire dazzlingly illuminating the night sky. The soldiers that were keeping watch, by seeing the fire and the voices that were saying it was a rebellion, became confused and made their own commotion.

“How noisy, really.”

Wearing her armor, Riku left her room. Right as she turned to a corridor, she saw Vrusto and Roppu, who had gathered many of her subordinates and were rushing over to her room.

“L-lieutenant! It´s serious!!”

“Whatever it is, it looks like rebels have appeared.”

“If you become in panic, you will be doing just like those guys want you to.”

Riku rebuked the two, who were somewhat fl.u.s.tered. It was at times like this that it was necessary to deal with the problems with a cool mind. Riku gave a deep breath, and then, she looked at the direction the screams were coming from. Perhaps it happened because the air of the winter was very dry.*1 The improvised pig pen was being scorched while it rose sounds of being burnt.

“Second lieutenant Vrusto, take control of the soldiers and suppress the commotion. There should be about three people sparking off the commotion. Cut down those people that are being annoying.”

“Understood.”

Lightly lowering his head, Vrusto immediately headed out at fast speeds. In an instant, Vrusto vanished from the place he used to be just like the wind.

“But , why do you say there should be about three people?”

Roppu asked her this awkward question. While looking at the fire, she flatly replied.

“First of all, it was because hearing from the voices, there should be about three people screaming.”

“Eh? Weren´t you sleeping at this time?”

“I didn´t feel like sleeping, and also didn´t feel like training. Rather than that, how do you think they were able to get in here?”

While still gazing at the fire, she asked Roppu. While lowering his eyebrows, he earnestly started to ponder about the question. After the screaming voices were raised two more times, Roppu spoke about his doubts.

“To climb the walls of Karkata… Is impossible. It is too tall for someone to forcibly try to climb it up, and even if there was someone from the inside sending down a rope for them to climb up, the guards would have noticed.”

“If that´s the case, then does it mean the gatekeeper had betrayed us?”

“It shouldn´t be it. The role of being the gatekeeper are given to demons that had been working at Karkata for generations.”

“Yes, even if he temporarily betrayed us, he would have chosen the timing to do that in his own accord. At least, tonight´s patrolling is very rigorous for him to do that.”

“…Right. I think it would have been more effective to cause turmoil after the banquet happened.”

With all that said, then how did they get in?

First of all, why did they start a fire today? Since it was easy for them to infiltrate, it would have been better to wait to cause the confusion after their vigilance cooled down. It was just as Roppu had said: the confusion would have spread even more if they had started the fire after everyone was drunk at the banquet.

“To begin with, why would they want to cause turmoil? Because, since it is only two or three people, even if they cause disorder, because we would be able to immediately suppress it, there would be no meaning to it.”

Roppu said those words worriedly. He was boiling with all these questions. Slowly moving her finger to her chin, Riku started to think. The fire was getting worse, and now was spreading to the pen the sheep were at.

“Wouldn´t it mean that there wouldn´t be no meaning to the disorder if it wasn´t caused today?”

“You mean the people infiltrated and the people outside are not in conditions to be properly cooperating with each other?”

“That´s right. In other words, they had previously decided that it was [today] that they would act.”

“Uhh… This means that today, the enemy troops knew that at this time, they would light a fire, and also knew that the fire would more or less be able to cause disorder. Would it be something like that?”

Riku nodded at Roppu´s doubts.

“Yes.  …In other words, it means they are coordinating with the outside troops.”

In wars, it was the standard to cause turmoil and attack. Most likely, they would use the gap given from all the turmoil and open the gate from the inside, having their troops come inside. By the time Riku finished summarizing her thoughts, Vrusto came back.

“Ojou-chan. We caught the three people that put fire onto the pen.”

“In the end, it was three people. Where are they?”

“Right now, they are being dragged to the plaza. It looks like it will take some time to put down the fire. It had spread a lot after all.”

Being led by Vrusto, together with Roppu, Riku headed to the plaza. There, the three men were tied with ropes. Curiously, they were the three soldiers she had seen before at dusk. In seems like they were soldiers of the Barusak that had slipped in.

“So the meaning of those gazes was this.”

Riku understood now. She was that worthless child they had thought to be dead, but for some reason, she was at the Demon Lord army now. There was no way for them to not be surprised. They probably had had a similar opinion to Toudo at the time. Looking at the Barusak soldiers that were glaring at her, she thought about those things for a moment. However, right now, it was not the time to be pondering about things. Taking her halberd, she cut the three people´s head off without saying anything.

“Wai-, ojou-chan!? Shouldn´t we have pressed them for information!!?”

“Before we could do that, they might have self-exploded. It might have been fine to search whether they had bombs or not… But right now, time is precious, so there was nothing else to do.”

In reality, she wanted to torture them thoroughly.

She wanted to peel their skin, crush their bones and torture them until they pleaded to her to kill them. But right now, she didn´t have the time. She had plenty of time to indulge herself in this pleasure later.

“Immediately gather the soldiers at the gate.”

“Ha? Why is it? Before extinguishing the fire?”

Even now, the fire was vigorously burning.

If they don´t put off the fire soon, it will spread even more. If the wind´s direction was to change, it was possible that even the residential area might catch fire. But all Riku did was give one glance to the fire. It was as if it would be more efficient if they were to let the fire spread. Raising the corner of her lips, her eyes went back to Vrusto.

“We will be using it instead. This huge signal fire.”*2