Weekly chapters (2/2)
D-d-d-double chapters for King of Heroes!
Enjoy~
Chapter 62 – Before the War
[Fu…]
When Ares finally returned to his room, he quickly laid himself down on the sofa. There was only Sigurd aside from him.
He had already asked for everyone else, including Julius and Theta to not enter.
[Thank you for the hard work. How did it go?]
Sigurd laughed a little upon seeing Ares" mood.
[It"s tiring to play around with those aristocrats. Each and everyone of them harbour selfish intentions. It"s hard for me to hold myself back.]
Ares said so with disgust.
[Well… something good did come out of it.]
Saying so, Ares was reminded of Cornelia"s face.
He was interested in meeting her after hearing Balzac"s story, but turned out she was nothing like what he expected.
He had met her earlier today and talked to her too… in the process, he realized that he was drawn to Cornelia. Certainly, her beauty was almost otherworldly. So beautiful even Ares was astonished despite having his fair share of being around many beautiful women before. But that"s just a small part of it. What drawn Ares the most was the intensity of her『Will』.
[I wish to change the livelihood of all the people in the capital. If you don"t mind, would you be willing to help me?]
She said. Her att.i.tude when she said that …was exactly that of the 『Temper of a Ruler』…
Those who were there…the veteran of many battles Silvia and even Ares himself felt the intense pressure.
Changing the empire with her as the frontman… Ares began to devise a plan even as he travelled back home.
[In any case I need to get rid of the obstacle that is right in front of me first. Sigurd, we"ll be fielding the troops in 3 days. How are the preparations?]
[We are ready to go at any time.]
[Yosh. His Majesty should also receive my letter by tomorrow morning. Once the reply arrived, we"ll leave. In the meantime… Zekka!]
In response to Ares" loud calling, a shadow appeared next to him.
[Yes! Answering to the call.]
[Have you finished the investigation?]
[The Brittany Federation is currently hiring a lot of mercenaries. There is no notable movement on Trevoir Kingdom… Meanwhile, I believe the aristocrats won"t be able to pull through. The Redgear has sniffed the invasion plan and is currently ama.s.sing soldiers on their fortress. Their strongest generals, such as『Gold Tiger General Zion』,『Silver Bear General Garn』, and『Silver Princess Knight Liliana』 have also converged to stand their ground.]
[How many soldiers are there in the Redgear"s capital?]
[There should be around 1000 left as guards, reportedly]
[How about the quality of those mercenaries that Brittany Federation hired?]
[Vile people. They are mostly those with notorious reputations.]
Ares asked some short questions, and Zekka answered all of them with confidence.
Sigurd simply listened while also watching silently.
[Yosh, with this we have most of the important information]
Ares then turned toward Sigurd.
[The future of Schwarzer clan depends on the outcome of this war. This is the decisive point. Therefore… I need to make sure that no one will pull my legs down.]
Whilst saying so, Ares picked up the gathered information and scanned through it.
[Do I have anything to fear? Obviously His Highness Carlos will do something… well, I don"t see the need to be worried. His Highness Joseph won"t do anything, he doesn"t have the brain for it. Lombardia clan will not act, nor will the Saxons… I guess they have their pride as the Archduke clans. So who I should watch out for… is it Rozenheim"s Scion? I suppose he"s the only one I need to be careful with.]
Having said that, he then turned to Sigurd.
Sigurd unconsciously corrected his posture.
[Sigurd… our goal in this war is『to raise merits greater than anyone else』. By doing so, I will surely catch the most attention among His Majesty"s retainers. That is our aim. To that end…]
Ares took a deep breath before resuming his speech.
[To complete His Majesty"s conquest, I will conquer all 4 countries by ourselves]
[I know this may sound unusual coming from me. The usual me will just go 90% Ares, with the remaining 10% being the generals on my side… this time it"ll be all for His Majesty]
[I didn"t want to invoke needless conflict before, so I always did most things half heartedly. But this time…]
Ares laughed.
[It will be a big step for me. I need to get it done properly in order to build ourselves a foundation.]
Sigurd thought inwardly.
Ares truly resolved himself this time around. What this war will entail to, he couldn"t tell yet. Even so… all he needs to do is trying his best to be his lord"s sword.
Ares received a command to march on the next day.
Ares will be heading to Brittany, while Prince Carlos and Archduke Saxon will march to Redgear. Silvia will be joining Ares.
It was announced that the main forces led by Emperor Sephiros himself will be stationed around the area once Redgear has fallen.
Ares moved immediately upon receiving that order.
Before dawn had even risen, Ares had already left the capital. Along with him were his trusted retainers and the black legion.
Riding along the road under the moonlight, Sigurd looked at his lord"s back who was riding at the forefront… in his heart, he knew that this war will change his life from hereafter.
Author"s Note:
The first Arc, which was quite long for the time being, is over.
We will enter the second Arc on the next release. Finally, we "ll move on to the battle scene. Thanks for the people who waited
For the time being, first of all, I would like to post every day in January!