I’m sorry.
– Saying that is insufficient, whether it’s a hundred times or a thousand times.
Even if I wanted to tear myself apart, I have nothing to say.
So I don’t even seek forgiveness.
Rather, I hope you can hate me until the end.
I wish you the courage to be able to hate me.
I lightly ruffled Epherna’s hair.
[… Foolish.]
“…Haha. I guess I do seem a bit foolish.”
[You’re not just foolish; you’re an idiot.]
“…”
[Are you planning to hide your feelings and deceive her until the end?]
A child who has never liked anyone in their life.
It took me thirty years to realize an emotion I couldn’t even define.
Even with the opportunity now, I can’t express it.
“There’s a famous saying for situations like this.”
Ern lightly touched the red lips where his own had lingered.
“Liking someone can sometimes be a sad thing.”
Receiving infinite attention and affection from her, I realized one thing.
The person who is loved begins to love back.
That process happens so naturally and unconsciously.
You can’t resist it, and eventually, you get drawn in.
Her shy demeanor looks adorable.
Sometimes her appearance as a leader seems impressive.
Her goddess-like face, which I always see and talk to, goes without saying.
So even more, I couldn’t open my heart.
“What’s the point of confessing when I’m about to die? It would only be tormenting hope, right?”
Despite that, I ended up taking the first kiss with an impulsive act.
Still, I didn’t convey my feelings until the end.
Isn’t that enough?
Convincing myself like this, I changed my position.
*****
After bringing the sleeping Epherna to the bedroom and finishing up the party, Ern’s first action was to seek out Schneider.
Schneider, waiting for him, reported the current situation as if he had been expecting Ern.
“I’ve delivered the Second Prince’s order to Duke Lemea in the North. The message should arrive in at least three days, so it would be wise to depart immediately.”
In the absence of the Emperor, Schneider was the Supreme Commander who held the military authority of the Empire.
With just a word from him, it was even possible for the First Legion to search the North, which had been designated as a closed sector.
However, using such immense manpower for a mere search operation would mean incurring responsibility for wasting resources.
“…I’ll ask again, but you’re not really going to deploy the First Legion for a search operation, are you?”
“If searching was the only goal, I would have mobilized only the shadows.”
The 1st Corps was an invincible army that had performed the most during the war.
Aside from the Order of Knights led by Darion, no group could match the raw power of the 1st Corps.
The reason for mobilizing them for this matter was obvious.
“We will wipe out all the monsters in the North.”
This was to reclaim the land that had long been a nest and death trap for the monsters.
“I’ve also made a request to the Knight Commander, who accepted it but mentioned the arrival would be delayed. As an urgent measure, I asked to send only the Red Falcon Knights to the North.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Preparations were complete.
With the First Legion and the Order of Knights, along with the Northern warriors to assist us, our military strength was more than sufficient.
“However, is this really alright? The reason we haven’t cleaned the closed sector until now wasn’t due to a lack of imperial power.”
The monsters in the closed sector possess an immortal quality within that area.
Because of that troublesome reason, even Duke Lemea, who had powerful warriors at his disposal, had given up on reclaiming the land.
“I have a method.”
However, the monsters’ immortal quality also stemmed from the winter blizzards.
As the master of the Winter Blizzard, Ern knew how to lift that curse.
“Please take care of the monsters.”
I will go find and kill the cult leader.
Leaving those words behind, Ern turned and departed.
To meet his end.
*****
Without the Emperor’s command.
Without the order of a royal to act as his proxy.
Gathering such large-scale military forces was a reckless act that could easily be suspected as rebellion.
But the Supreme Commander of the First Legion, Schneider, was prepared to face severe punishment.
The Duke of Northern Lemea had justification for wanting to exterminate the monsters threatening the North.
The Order Commander Darion had only mobilized his elite Red Falcon Knights, making information blockage effective.
The shadows were a unit that couldn’t be tracked by the information networks of the nobles from the start.
However.
The gathered forces over the five days, in truth, didn’t exceed 200.
They couldn’t exactly move the entire First Legion to the Northern Closed Sector overnight.
The elite warriors under Duke Lemea also numbered fewer than a hundred.
Yet, this small force wasn’t lacking.
Since only a limited number could be deployed due to various circumstances, they focused on quality instead.
“It feels like we’re going to war again after a long time.”
“Duke, haven’t you only been dealing with monsters in the North?”
“…”
As Simon Lemea awkwardly cleared his throat, Ern marveled, amused by the rare sight.
“Thank you. I never thought you’d actually agree to help.”
“You should think of it the other way around. Why would I refuse the chance to reclaim lost lands of old?”
“…Indeed.”
The Closed Sector originally belonged to Duke Lemea’s territory.
The vast lands beyond the Karun Mountains once had rich deposits of gold and iron.
If memory serves, they enjoyed some prosperous times before the Demon King’s uprising.
Though, as it happened before the war began, the memories are somewhat hazy.
“Do you have a prepared strategy? As you know, I only received the report and the request, so I wasn’t involved in planning the monster extermination strategy.”
“There isn’t one.”
“What?”
“The First Legion, the Northern warriors, the Knights, and the Shadows—they’re all distinctive forces. How could we possibly make them fight as a single group?”
If they’d had time, as with the Winter Blizzard operation, it might’ve been possible. But this time, they were short on both time and training.
So.
“Simply put, we’ll divide the formation into four: First Legion, Northern warriors, Knights, and Shadows.”
“You’re saying we’ll let them fight separately?”
“Isn’t that more efficient, especially since they aren’t properly trained together? Besides, didn’t you have reservations about having Northern warriors fight alongside other forces?”
It’s better to fight alongside the men you’ve shared meals with until yesterday, even if they were the ones you brawled with fiercely last night. At least you know you can work in sync with them.
“We’re going to press forward with brute strength. That’s the entire outline of this operation.”
They have no reason to expect anything unexpected will happen.
On our side, we have three heroes.
Moreover.
“With the Supreme Commander himself joining the battlefield, any chaos that arises can be quickly managed.”
There’s also a level-headed commander in place to give calm instructions in case of any unexpected situation.
Let them try and break through if they dare.
“Do we have sufficient resources? It’ll take quite some time to exterminate all the monsters in the Closed Sector. You’re not planning on using the resources from your duchy, are you?”
“And if the First Princess learns of this…”
Before arriving here, Duke Lemea hadn’t been briefed on the details.
Since he had accepted the request without question or hesitation, like a true man, they decided to handle urgent matters first and explain later.
Now was that “later,” but seeing him questioning every detail made Ern wonder why he acted like a man of few words in the first place.
“The resources are being supported by Duchess Katia and … Duke Tesran.”
“It makes sense for Duchess Katia, but… Duke Tesran? How did you persuade him?”
“The First Princess and Second Prince gave him quite a hard time.”
Even as one of the Empire’s three major dukes, he couldn’t maintain his influence after being cornered by both the First Princess and Second Prince.
In the end, Duke Tesran lowered his head without ever appearing before Epherna.
“Well… let’s leave that for later. You mentioned the First Princess is asleep and won’t be aware of the situation here for now.” “Even if I finish my work quickly, it will take at least a month.”
Though Shir is temporarily covering for the destroyed Summer Sun, the shock from the loss of the entity that governed most bodily functions for over a decade is not something to take lightly.
Considering the aftereffects of the operation, she’ll likely be asleep for at least a month.
In the meantime, the Minister of Finance has agreed to handle the country’s finances and general administration, which will be vacant due to Epherna’s absence.
‘I remember seeing that youngest son of his at the academy; he seemed like a clever guy.’
The youngest of the Minister of Finance, who once served as Ern’s teaching assistant.
A talented individual with a quick mind, diligent work ethic, and a sharp learning curve, he consistently held the top spot in Ern’s history class.
Ern even offered him a civil service position, as he met expectations to the end.
The boy’s eyes sparkled with gratitude at the offer, making Ern genuinely happy for him.
