Episode 146. Previous (1)
“Go back. The commander-in-chief is washing himself now.”
“Sheesh…”
The knights gathered in the horde immediately turned to Taylor’s words.
The commander-in-chief said he would monopolize the bathhouse for a while, but there was no article that could object to that.
Especially if the commander-in-chief is a woman.
After successfully returning the knights this time, Taylor again crossed his arms and sat down on the chair.
“Hmm······.”
About 5 minutes after letting Schlus in.
As notified, Commander-in-Chief Pellain came and entered.
Of course, he didn’t say that Schlus was inside.
There was only one reason for doing that.
“Are you going to meet me by now?
because it looks like fun
That was all.
They both sound like male virgins and male bachelors.
I wondered how they would react if they met naked in the bathroom.
Will there be a scream soon?
It was Taylor who thought he might see the rare sight of the blunt and hard Schlus Heinkel running away while being beaten.
“Umm…….. Ummm…….. Ummm…?”
But something was strange.
It must have been 20 minutes since Pellin entered.
There was no loud voice, let alone a scream from inside.
Then a long time passed again.
Until then, no one had come out.
‘Did there ever be an accident inside?’
Maybe both of them were mutated by the assassin.
Slowly, I began to feel an ominous feeling.
The desire to go inside and check it was like a chimney, but thinking of the fox-like wife and the rabbit-like daughter waiting at home, my conscience pricked me and I couldn’t do it.
Then, should I shout and ask if it’s okay inside?
It was the moment Taylor made up her mind and stood up.
“uh······?”
bum bum.
There were footsteps coming from inside.
Appearing with him was none other than Schlus Heinkel…
“Are you still standing guard? You did a great job, Vice-Captain.”
“Uh uh … … Yes … ….”
It was the commander-in-chief of Pellain who walked side by side.
However, the feeling of Pellin was strange.
The ears, which had always stood stiff and alert, were drooping, completely relieving tension.
Also, her straight eyes, which were always screaming fiercely, were busy looking into Schlust’s face with the cruelty subsided even more.
It was clearly the face of a single female beast, not the face he had shown as the commander of the Holy Knights and the commander-in-chief of the suppression force.
‘What the hell happened inside?’
Taylor looked at the two of them in confusion.
As soon as he was doing this, Schlus came closer and whispered in his ear and near his mouth.
“Taylor.”
“Yes?”
“It must have been a situation you created on purpose. I want to say thank you.”
“Oh, yes….”
Taylor couldn’t help but smile.
no thank you
I thought he was a bachelor without courage.
Now that I see it, it was a perfect player.
It’s just that I couldn’t because I was busy with the war, but if I had a chance, it could be completely captured in just one hour…
It was Taylor who felt a certain kind of awe from Schlus, who had a casual expression on his face.
“Now it’s okay to let other knights in.”
“Oh, yes. Yes. I’ll bring it in after I change the water.”
“Going for water? Why the hell are you doing such an inefficient thing?”
“There are some crazy people who drink the water that the Commander-in-Chief entered and came out.”
“············”.
Fellin’s expression hardened.
I found out something I didn’t really want to know.
At that time, Schlust heard the footsteps rushing from afar and shrugged.
This was to prepare for the assassin’s raid.
However, it was none other than the knights of the Imperial Knights who ran around the corner.
“Mr Schlus Heinkel! Commander-in-Chief! Were you all here?”
“What’s going on?”
“Breaking news! Duke Lorraine will surrender unconditionally and surrender!”
“What······?”
The three of them were stunned and froze on the spot.
***
Things got very urgent.
To be honest, it would not be an exaggeration to say that I was being careless.
Yesterday the Great Forest declared a lockdown, and I smashed the infantry in the Great Forest.
And since it was this morning that the Great Forest began to withdraw, it should have been quiet all day at least.
Because I thought the day would pass just by collecting the bodies, treating the wounded, and counting the casualties.
However, Lorraine lightly defied expectations as if sneering at me.
Without any negotiation, he declared unconditional surrender, giving up everything in the power of the Southern Republic.
“Crazy. Is it possible that it’s a trap?”
“We are investigating. However, the Duke of Lorraine himself came to the 4th Castle first, surrendered, and requested that all soldiers be disarmed.”
“············”.
The possibility of it being a trap should be considered slim.
I had to think that way even more when I saw the procession already coming from far away.
It was the worst formation in battle, as it formed a thin column and our cavalry could break their backs and trample them whenever they wanted.
I didn’t come here to fight.
It was reasonable to see that it was really for surrender.
“Prime Minister Lorraine wants to surrender! Open the front door!”
“············”.
Suddenly, the servant approaching the bottom of the castle gate was making a loud noise.
But Pellin didn’t answer and just looked down at him.
“Lo, Prime Minister Lorraine wants to surrender! Answer me!”
“············”.
Fellin responded with a cold gaze.
I couldn’t help but admire this part.
If it were me, I would have gone out of my way and immediately opened the door and pushed Lorraine in to sign the surrender document.
However, Pellain was paying attention to every little thing, so as not to jeopardize the prestige of the empire.
“Okay. Stop being stubborn.”
“Second, Prime Minister!”
At that time, Lorraine, who was walking from the procession behind, was holding the servant’s shoulder.
“I, Lorraine Phillipe, former Duke of the Southern Colonies, formally surrender to the rebellion forces.”
“Open the front door.”
Only then did Pellain’s order drop and the door began to open.
From the point of view of the Empire, there has never been a state called the Southern Republic.
Therefore, the position of Prime Minister could not be recognized.
Lorraine, a former duke of the southern colonies and downgraded to a rebel commander, was seen dismounting from his horse and slowly approaching the fourth castle.
Servants also tried to come in, but were stopped by our knights.
Only Lorraine was allowed in.
“Take it up to the conference room.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Checking only passing through the castle gate, we went straight to the inner fortress.
Pellain and I took the lead and Kane followed us.
After that, the commanders of the Imperial Knights Templar and other mercenary commanders followed.
We entered the conference room and were seated first.
Even if no one said anything, everyone found a seat without arguing and sat down.
So naturally, there were only two empty seats.
The upper seat and the seat directly below it.
“Anything. Don’t sit down quickly.”
“Ahh…. Yes.”
He passed the hesitant Pellin and sat down in the seat just below the head of the table.
No matter how practically I belonged to Pellain’s superior, I could not sit on the commander-in-chief of the suppression force.
I am a person who will be leaving soon, and Pellain has to stay a little longer to deal with the post-war situation, so I could not destroy Pellain’s authority.
So everyone sat down and waited for about 5 minutes.
I heard footsteps outside and the door swung open.
Then Lorraine with a dark expression appeared.
No, but why are you wearing handcuffs…?
“Isn’t there a certainty that the troops brought in are all of the rebel forces?”
“Yes.”
“Have the guards of each castle been disbanded?”
“It is still maintained for the sake of security.”
“I should add the immediate disbandment of the guards as a condition of surrender.”
“You can do whatever you want…”
The dissolution of the guard was a very sensitive matter.
Because of the guards who still remained as Lorraine’s subordinates, the hotel was ripped open and Einz and Erika were almost killed.
If you think that you will take over and enter the castle and do not want to be destroyed by a surprise attack, you have to carefully check whether there are any remnants of the castle.
“Now then, bow down and ask for forgiveness-“
“Return the weapons and sign the surrender document-“
“···········?”
“···········?”
As they were talking at the same time, my eyes met with Pellain.
As soon as I said it, I felt like sh*t.
Signing the surrender document was only done in modern Earth, but here it was common to bow down.
But Pellaine closed her eyes and reached out to me, yielding to me to keep talking.
what. this isn’t it
It became a form of coercion by using the status of an investor in the Knights Templar to which the commander-in-chief belongs.
While everyone’s eyes were on me, I couldn’t delay time.
I sighed, got up, took the document I had prepared in advance, and laid it out on the table.
It was a document that included everything up to the dissolution of the guard, which was just added.
“Give back your weapon, Lorraine.”
“A weapon…?”
“It was saying to return your personal weapons to make sure you’re willing to surrender.”
“············”.
Lorraine bowed her head and brought her hands to her waist.
With its scabbard, the long sword was released from the belt and placed on the table.
Then he handed him a pen, and Lorraine calmly read the signing and wrote his name in his own column.
Next, it was my turn to represent the Imperial Emperor.
The next was signed by Pellain, the commander-in-chief of the suppression force and commander of the Holy Knights, and Kane, the deputy commander and commander of the Imperial Knights.
So all the signatures were done.
“With this, the surrender of all rebel forces, led by the former Duke of Lorraine, has been received, and I declare an end to all unrest in the southern region.”
“············”.
The official surrender is now over.
Lorraine shook her head and did not know how to raise her head.
Now it was the turn of the real surrender.
We all got up, turned Lorraine back on, and led the way out.
Surrounded by the knights, Lorraine went out the front door again and preached orders to the rebels.
order to drop weapons and surrender.
Tongue…
Crackle…
chuck······
As the procession passed one by one, they began to throw weapons and armor together.
It was a majestic sight.
Tens of thousands of troops being disarmed at once.
Soon, armor and weapons were piled up to form a silver tower.
It took a long time for the surrender procession to pass.
In the meantime, we sent knights to each castle in advance to check whether the remnants were ambush.
When it was concluded that all the troops had truly surrendered, there was nothing harsh.
In the midst of the setting sun setting.
The Holy Knights and Pellain had already entered the three castles in turn and were preparing to raise their flags.
I approached and talked to Pellain to make a slightly difficult request.
“Commander in Chief.”
“Oh, Schlus-sama. It really has come true as Schlus-sama said. I didn’t know that the Duke of Lorraine would surrender so quickly….
“Fellin. I have something urgent to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
“I want to entrust you with the execution of the Duke of Lorraine.”
“············”.
Pellin’s mouth opened slightly.