Fluttering Leaves, Dancing in the Air

"So that's how it is. Did you hear that? Lawrence."

"... Bertil!!"

The call mark that Bertil had taken out howled loudly.

It was a wonder saliva didn't fly from it.

The one who yelled over the call mark was Lawrence, the Commander of the First Order.

He was in the Operations Command Room of the castle as the king's bodyguard, which meant that the call mark was connected to the Operations Command Room.

Humphrey went straight to Bertil, just as René had said, but Bertil informed Lawrence personally.

Half the reason for this was to insure his position. If Lawrence and Hilbert had already discovered this move, or would discover it in the future, Bertil would be backed into a corner. Bertil was trying to avoid that.

"You don't have to shout so loud to be understood."

"What was that! Are you actually going to betray us!?"

"Wasn't it so real?"

Lawrence was not only displeased with René's attitude, but also with Bertil's behavior, which seemed to match it, and shouted at him.

Bertil responded in a dismissive tone.

"Anyway, it's about how we can take advantage of the situation. We've tied up some of their activities, now we just have to figure out how to take advantage of it."

"It's not worth paying any attention to her delusions. It's useless to think about catching her off guard or taking advantage of her. It's better to just consider it all a lie."

Bertil thought that Lawrence's words were tinged with wishful thinking.

For the enemy René, she should be evil all the way through. She needed to be evil. There was never any human emotion in her. She was the daughter of the devil who sold out his country to the Federation. She was more evil than the Evil God... and that was about it.

But Bertil thought differently.

"At least I think she's telling the truth when she says she doesn't want the people to suffer. The undead have streamed into the city center as well, and we've had to fight them, but it's not just the ... Second Order, there's been zero damage to the people."

"She destroyed Wesala!"

"I heard that the refugees were all women and children. In other words, she had the power to kill virtually all men, but she let quite a number of women and children escape alive, didn't she? I don't think that everything she said earlier is true, but it is certain that the "Rose Princess of Hellrage" draws a line between life and death based on some standard. She does not just hate and kill the living."

Even if the "line" was not justice or respect for human life, Bertil knew there had to be something there.

"... Of course, the "Rose Princess of Hellrage" is definitely willing to kill you and His Majesty, and I'm not going to sit by and let her do it."

"Of course!! ... And don't call that thing princess!"

Lawrence shouted back at his excuses.

"Bertil, which side are you on?"

"If we can get the citizens out safely, that's all that matters, isn't it? I mean, let's get this straight. As long as the Second Order doesn't attack the undead soldiers, they won't attack us. The Second Order should take the lead, and the First Order should fight with the Second Order as a shield. And if the blockade on the west side is really lifted, we can evacuate the citizens. Just until the evacuation is done, the Second Order should pretend to have betrayed you..."

"I hope it works out that way."

Lawrence did not seem to think that René would keep her promise.

He did not reject Bertil's opinion because, if the Second Order were to take the brunt of the damage, it would be the Second Order that would be first in danger if René were to break that promise.

"At any rate, we need to keep an eye on the west side. If the troops are really retreating, we can divert the reinforcements gathering from the surrounding territories to the west. We can get them into the capital avoiding the enemy, and we must also have them escort the refugees."

"That's for His Majesty to decide."

"... Yes, that was a presumption. Please consider it as a statement of opinion."

--His Majesty, right.

Bertil smiled only at the corners of his mouth.

Lawrence had served the previous king as an exemplary soldier. However, he was out of character when it came to Hilbert.

Bertil was secretly worried that he might challenge any citizen who was negative toward Hilbert to a duel.

"Please, don't even think about it. I don't care if you want to be fooled and ruin yourself, but in that case, do it alone. Don't bring our country into this!"

When Lawrence had said all he had to say, the communication was cut off abruptly.

The call mark was already a brown, weathered scrap of paper. Bertil tore it up, crushed it, and tossed it into a corner of the room. Call marks only lasted a few minutes at most.

It was not an unnatural time to hang up the communication because the conversation was over and the mark was about to burn out, but it was an irritating way to hang up.

Bertil laughed or chuckled and shook his head.

"We can't tell them that we've talked to the "Rose Princess of Hellrage". I'll just tell them that the undead are only after the First Order, and tell them not to attack, instead to become a human wall."

Through a slit window, Bertil looked out over the city.

The army of the undead had regrouped to fill the holes in their ranks.

If this temporary retreat was meant to lure Bertil into a treacherous betrayal, the second attack should begin after a few more moments...

"Commander."

Humphrey stopped Bertil as he was leaving the room.

He had come here by chance, but in the face of the conversation between the "Rose Princess of Hellrage" and the Commander, he just remained in the corner of the room, watching the proceedings closely.

When he finally spoke up, there was a hint of confusion on his face.

"What is it?"

"Well, ... I probably shouldn't be saying this here, but. ...Is the person you just spoke with really the Commander of the First Order?"

For a moment, Bertil did not understand the intent of the question.

"I see what you mean,... hahaha. Lawrence knows that he is a symbol of the country, so he makes a good outward appearance. Even many members of the Second Order don't know that he has temper tantrums."

Humphrey looked at Lawrence's unusual behavior and could hardly believe that he was the Commander of the First Order, a national hero.

"It's as if the Commander has decided that you are a traitor."

“In fact, we betrayed half of them... Or should I say that they were not our allies in the first place. I'd say we're not on the same side to begin with. The First Order has had a few deaths here and there, but we're still unscathed. No wonder he's not at peace."

In the first battle, the members of the First Order were mercilessly killed, but the Second Order only had a few wounded, and there were no deaths despite the arrival of such a large horde of the undead. Until Humphrey brought back the shocking news, Bertil had no idea what was going on, and he wondered if ... Lawrence might have suspected an inside job. He even thought it might be a trap to make it look that way.

And his fears were right. Bertil dared not hide his invitation by René, but Lawrence seemed to have suspected Bertil even before that. That's why he was so hostile.

"To be frank, I'm ... scared. It is natural to hate one's enemies, but I feel that the Commander of the First Order's feelings toward the "Rose Princess of Hellrage" are different... I feel that even the Commander is becoming hostile to him because of this."

Charisma, brilliant military prowess, good looks, and graceful behavior...

Everyone admired Lawrence, who looked like he was born to be a hero. The public, of course, but even more so the knights of the Order.

Humphrey was even more puzzled because of this.

--Lawrence is a person, not a "hero" or a creature.

“Lawrence is hardworking, kind, serious, the strongest, has a strong sense of justice, and is charismatic. I think he's a knight worthy of holding the position of Commander of the First Order. But I think he's a little out of touch because he's so thrilled to be able to finally strike a blow against the Federation, which he hates but has been forced to treat with courtesy as a tributary state, and to fight against the Federation and defend his country. He's from the East. He probably feels closer to Noacurio than to the Federation..., and I heard that his parents had some kind of a bad experience with the Federation."

"T-The Federation? Federation? Isn't the one we're fighting now the 'Rose Princess of Hellrage'?"

"Maybe his 'enemy' is just broadly defined. The former king was pro-Federation. Then he was one of the Federation. René was the daughter of the former King. Then she is one of the Federation. The "Rose Princess of Hellrage" is a monster reincarnated from the daughter of the former King, and an enemy that threatens the newly rising state. Then it's one of the Federation... That's a gift for a soldier, don't you think? If you're confused on the battlefield, you're going to die."

Lawrence was surely seeing the shadow of the Federation in the "Rose Princess of Hellrage".

For Lawrence, this was a battle against an evil invasion by the Federation. He was outnumbered, and he was as ferocious as a wounded beast.

"I guess I'm being classified as an ally of the Federation, too."

Humphrey still looked uncomfortable when Bertil stated that.

"We were such good friends."

"So you don't like him anymore?"

"No? ...I don't want to be friends with someone who is so excited about cutting off the heads of girls. I don't."

--Ah, I've said it. I didn't want to abandon him.

Bertil quietly closed his eyes, then opened them.

Outside the window, an army of deathly soldiers was forming.

“I'll be the bat. Let's move on and see how we can end all of this in the most amicable way ... Protecting this country means protecting the people. It does not necessarily mean protecting His Majesty. I would overlook a coup d'etat or sell my soul to the Evil God if it means keeping as many people alive as possible."

＊ ＊ ＊

"You're quite the apex predator."
(TLN: Weird translation, I took some creative freedom, basically says Bertil looked casual but was actually very alert. Pls no bully)

René said as soon as she broke off the illusion call mark conversation.

The place where René was having the conversation was a different tent from the operations room in the main camp. Alastair, who was present, frowned when he heard René's words.

"I knew he would lie."

The reason she gave Humphrey the illusion call mark instead of the normal one was, of course, on purpose. This way, she could evoke the emotional response with convenience in terms of range.

In her conversation with Bertil, René was reading his emotions to see how cooperative he was and whether or not he was lying.

"When I mentioned Hilbert and Lawrence, I got a reaction, so I assume that at least one of these two was listening."

René sensed Bertil's agitation and fear.

If she deduced from what the words were, especially the ones he reacted to, she could understand what the situation actually was.

Alastair also crossed his arms and groaned.

"No way, they would have come out of that place. Which would mean ..."

"He didn't respond to the 'are they with you' part, so... he probably put down a call mark and relayed the conversation to the Operations Command Center."

"It is unbecoming behavior toward a princess! It's the kind of thing Bertil would do. I can't even sigh."

"That's all right, we can use it to our advantage."

What kind of person was Bertil and what was his attitude toward the coup? René knew in detail from what Alastair had told her beforehand.

The overall story gave the impression that Bertil was a man who could neither be boiled nor baked. Emotionally, he would probably be on their side, but he was cautious and never strayed from his role as a military man protecting his people.

It was probably true that he wanted to see how things went and decide which side he would take.

Bertil agreed to talk, but did not make the rash decision to risk everything on René, nor did he seem to be completely on Lawrence's side.

"Although he was not hostile, there was a sense that he was watching for a chance to outsmart the competition. It was like he was trying to win by himself."

"Princess, in our earlier conversation, you were assuming Phase 7 Pattern 3, right? In this situation, you yourself will be going around the front line..."

"It's fine. We'll start the battle again on that plan."

"Understood."

Alastair bowed respectfully.

“I understand your feelings, but I'm not going to give you a free pass, Commander of the Second Order. I have not lied, but I have not told the truth either. Just the way the God you believe in does."

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