Raydor Holy Sword War Journal

"Thank you for coming all the way. His Royal Highness King Raidor's brother."

It was Bazel Garst, the general of the Royal Army, who welcomed Raydol into the interior of the fortress.

The last time I saw him, he had a slightly tired face just after the battle, and now he has a more energetic face.

However, the expression did not come to mind, and the mind was carefully engraving wrinkles on the face as it aged.

"Long time no see. I have a lot to tell you, but please explain the situation to me."

"Ha... as the messenger told me beforehand, the Empire has unilaterally challenged His Highness Reidor to a duel. The date and time will be two days later. The location is here at Fort Brain. If he does not respond to the duel, or if His Highness does not appear by the date and time of the duel, the Emperor himself declares that he will destroy the fortress."

"I see... you set them up from over there, ignoring the hostages."

Nevertheless, if you were an emperor, you wouldn't have abandoned your daughter, Célia von Alsline.

If we do something like take Cecilia as a shield or kill her in disguise in this situation, the angry emperor will invade the kingdom of Zain with his whole body.

There is no way to imitate such a careless person. The courage to kill a cat and buy the wrath of a tiger is not supposed to be in Granard, the king.

(Well, I'm not gonna hurt Celia anyway.)

Raydol didn't spend much time with Célia, but he was still sleeping in the same house.

In a situation where swords were smashed into each other on the battlefield, it was hardly ruthless enough to kill an empress who could not resist for the sake of illusion.

(I think it's sweet... but I don't have the benefit of killing it.)

"So, what's your brother saying?"

Naturally, the demands of this duel have also been reported to King Granard. What kind of decision does that brother make as king in the event of the appearance of the chief of the Empire?

In response to Raydol's query, Bazel stiffened his face slightly.

"... of course, I am also reporting to His Majesty for instructions. But I haven't heard back yet."

"Yeah? The duel's tomorrow, right? I don't know how long it takes to make it."

"No matter how fast it takes to get from Fort Brain to King's Landing, it will take five days, so I wonder if there is no choice but to respond late. Nevertheless, it has already been more than ten days since I turned to the messenger of the report. If His Majesty had given me instructions, I would have come sooner...."

"I see. Well, we still have two days till the duel. I hope we wait for the king's wisdom to come down."

Raydol hangs his lips in ridicule.

I was interested in what kind of judgment my brother King would make in this situation, but I didn't think things would get better.

(If it were possible to change the situation, would Grannard come here and negotiate directly with the Emperor? If this King came to discuss it personally, the Emperor would not be able to go underground, and the negotiations could be arranged in a different way from the duel.)

But - perhaps not.

Grannard doesn't come here. You can't face the Emperor.

If Grannard had been prepared to fight the Empire head-on, he would have come to this place and fought with the Empire's negotiators.

"... weak kings, kings that don't move when they have to."

"Ha...? Did he say anything?

"No, it's nothing. Rather, let me rest for today. I don't know if your brother's messenger will make it by the deadline, but he's been in the army this far. I'll have enough rest to prepare for the duel."

Raydol waved lightly at General Basel with a strange expression and entered the building.

In the end, two days later, there was no reply from the King's City.

Was there trouble reaching Brain Fortress, or was Grannard unable to make a decision until the end?

Either way, the outcome of the war between the Kingdom of Zain and the Alsline Empire was left to the two Holy Sword holders.

On the duel date, the Imperial Army arrived at Fort Brain almost at a predetermined time.

The Imperial Army lined up on the hill just as it did when it attacked the fortress - at the head of which was a man in bright red armor, like a burning fire.

Emperor Zacharius van Alsline.

The victory was undefeated. The most powerful swordsman of modern times was peeling his fangs like a beast and overlooking the fortress.