It was a victory that could definitely be called perfect.
Both we and the enemy were equally unprepared, but our response was faster.
They probably didn’t expect it would take just three hours to bring in the stored equipment and rearm the captives.
It would have been great if we had simply won overwhelmingly, but there was clearly a backlash as well.
“Ugh…! Nurse! Magic for pain relief!”
“Can it really help?”
“Don’t move, patient!”
The night ward was in total chaos.
While everyone returned in high spirits as if they were just fine, the truth was there were 50 injured soldiers.
Many knights fell due to not coordinating with our forces in the rush to return to battle, and others had aggravated injuries.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities among them.
“Please wait a moment! We are treating the most critical cases first!”
“There’s no need to hurry, Saintess!”
“You’re the best!”
All the injured could be restored to combat-ready status thanks to Iris.
Essentially, we repelled the enemy without any loss in strength.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Please use some pain relief magic on the patients complaining of pain.”
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“Then could you step aside? The nurses are having a hard time moving around because of you.”
“Uh… I understand.”
Iris was cold and distant when performing medical procedures.
Maybe it was because lives were at stake.
I couldn’t even make a sound and had to step back and watch.
Watching Iris sweat and hustle around, one thought crossed my mind.
“She’s beautiful…”
She was breathtaking.
I had only seen Iris in her Imperial University form, but she truly was a living Saintess.
Treating this many people one by one would surely take all night…
But seeing her face remain in a constant smile without any hesitation was awe-inspiring.
I decided to stop being a nuisance and left the ward.
Soldiers and knights crowded the castle walls, standing vigilant.
It was a castle we had just taken, so they were extra cautious to avoid losing it to a surprise attack.
I had already contacted the merchants waiting in the Monarch Principality.
In the morning, they would come loaded with supplies that had been delayed.
That way, we could secure enough provisions without having to plunder the residents of the 4th Castle.
As I peered over the castle walls, I saw the operation of picking up the enemy corpses was in full swing.
They were burying the bodies while also looting equipment.
With them sprawled out in the grass, they would soon start to rot and smell.
“C-commander! Good work!”
“Yeah. Everyone’s doing well. But why do you all look so tense?”
“Um… it’s nothing…”
When Pelaine arrived at the worksite, the atmosphere froze.
How could they proceed with gathering the corpses of subhumans while the subhuman commander was right there?
It was only natural to feel awkward.
“They were tough bastards who put us through hell. Maybe we should spit on them?”
“N-no, we can’t do that!”
Please, just leave, Pelaine.
Can’t you see their faces turning pale?
The knights were starting to look pitiful.
“The Saintess has treated the dead with respect, regardless of friend or foe! What the Saintess does is good and just, isn’t that right? It’s right to follow her!”
“Uh… um… uhh… that’s true. Sorry for the disturbance.”
“No, it’s not a problem, Commander!”
It was Pelaine who was persuaded.
Seeing Pelaine scratch his head awkwardly, I couldn’t help but step down from the castle walls.
Night was deep, but the city was still noisy.
Some lingered in the plaza chatting, others moved in and out of the cathedral, and children were running around having fun.
This war… we can win.
Watching this, I felt confident there was a good chance.
What I had been most worried about when I came down south was that even if the suppression army seized all the castles, they wouldn’t be able to win the hearts of the people.
If they resisted to the last, determined to not lose their identity as members of the Southern Republic, what then?
At that point, the Imperial Army would have had to wipe out all subhumans and drown the south in blood.
But now that I had confirmed the people could turn toward us, that was enough.
We can win.
No, we will win. For sure.
“Schlus Hainkel, the preparations for the funeral are complete.”
“What? Already?”
Just then, one of the subhuman guards approached with some news.
It was about Darius’s funeral.
Normally, a funeral would be funded by the state, but since it was Darius’s, the subhumans had volunteered to scrape together their own funds for the service, so I asked them to prepare it.
I expected it would take at least a day or two, but it was completed in just six hours?
To be honest, I was a little skeptical.
Were these guys preparing a half-hearted funeral for their hero?
“This way.”
“…!”
I followed the soldier’s lead to the cathedral.
And I couldn’t help but be amazed.
White flowers adorned the altar.
It looked like every flower in the 4th Castle had been picked and gathered.
In front of it stood a tidy, Freya Empire-style coffin.
Contrary to my concerns, it was prepared properly.
Moreover, there were quite a number of people already gathered there.
They looked like they were ready for the funeral to start immediately.
“Damn…”
I hadn’t prepared anything.
It was my role to recite Darius’s achievements and deliver a eulogy since I was the one who appointed him as a knight.
I was trying to think calmly and leisurely, but I never expected a lightning bolt to hit me like this.
“Shall we start now? It wouldn’t be a problem to delay till tomorrow night.”
“No. The people want it tonight. Spread the word that the funeral will begin in one hour.”
“Yes.”
It looks like today was going to be a day for me to be a bit more vocal.
*
After midnight.
Despite the dark night, people kept pouring into the cathedral.
All the seats inside had long been filled, and the outside was packed with people.
It would be impossible for everyone to stand in front of Darius’s coffin to pay their respects one by one.
Doing so would take more than 24 hours.
In the end, we had to skip the formalities and proceed in a simpler manner.
Even though it was a national funeral, given the wartime situation, we had no choice.
“Schlus Hainkel…”
“It’s just Schlus…”
At that moment, all eyes turned to a human man who appeared from the plaza.
Schlus Hainkel.
A man who appeared like a comet, directly under the Emperor’s command.
With his arrival, the suppression army had suddenly revived, swiftly retaking the 4th Castle and standing equally against the rebel army.
Though Schlus said not a word about his own achievements, everyone vaguely understood.
He was effectively leading the suppression army.
“At this late hour, I wish to express my gratitude to all who have rushed here to pay their respects, despite the urgent announcement.”
As Schlus stood before the altar and opened his mouth, the interior and exterior of the cathedral filled with a solemn silence.
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Schlus surveyed the mourners, his eyes still vacant, as he continued his address.
“I believe some may take it as a great disrespect for a human to speak of Darius’s achievements. If anyone can explain them better than I, please step forward and speak in my place.”
“…”
“If no one is present, I will continue. Darius was like a beacon for the subhuman revolution. He illuminated the dark future of the southern subhuman slaves, igniting their spirits and guiding them along a dark path. His accomplishments are beyond words. It is impossible to recount Darius, the hero, for everyone here.”
The unexpected statements left the subhumans shocked and speechless.
They thought he was just here to formally acknowledge a well-fought enemy.
But Schlus was now venerating Darius, who had once rebelled against the Empire, as a hero.
He was paying respect without belittling him, a hero in the eyes of all subhumans.
“However, what’s truly regrettable is that Darius’s aspirations remain unfulfilled. The so-called rebels who claim to represent the republic are still conscripting subhumans and thrusting them onto the battlefield without giving them proper armor. In this, the suppression army vows to uphold Darius’s legacy and fight for the complete liberation of the southern subhumans.”
“…!”
It felt like being hit in the back of the head.
This sharp sensation left the audience stunned.
Naturally, they had come to view the Empire as evil and the Southern Republic as good.
They had derided the suppression army’s proclamation of slave emancipation as a deception.
But now they found it confusing.
Wasn’t Darius, the hero of slave liberation, the one who had fallen due to Lorraine recklessly charging into the enemy lines with magic raining down?
Was the suppression army, which conducted this funeral for Darius after killing him, truly the bad guys?
“To honor Darius’s heroic deeds and spirit of sacrifice, he will be posthumously appointed as a knight of the Freya Empire. Thus, I, Schlus Hainkel, shall bestow upon Darius a new name.”
A new name?
The cathedral stirred for a moment.
“Darius von Libel. May you rest in peace.”
Libel.
In the imperial language, it meant traitor or dissident.
As Schlus bowed his head, the crowd followed suit, collectively bowing their heads in a moment of silence.
Everyone paid their respects to the hero who put an end to decades of subhuman slavery.
“Well then, let us proceed with the send-off.”
As soon as Schlus’s words fell, four people approached the coffin.
Two humans and two subhumans.
The four of them worked together to lift the coffin and began to carry it along the open path.
The area outside the cathedral was filled with people holding lanterns.
Each lantern emitted a dim, flickering light, akin to a candle.
But as they gathered in hundreds and thousands, they illuminated Darius’s path.
Just as he had once lit the way for subhumans, now the subhumans were lighting Darius’s last journey.
“Ah…!”
Just then, one child accidentally let go of a lantern.
In an instant, the lantern soared high above, beyond the child’s reach.
Schlus, witnessing this, released his own lantern.
Two lanterns floated into the dark sky like sky lanterns.
Observing this, subhumans began to release their lanterns one by one.
Without fully understanding the significance, as if entranced, they sent their lanterns into the sky.
“Wow…”
The faint lights adorned the sky.
The eyes of the subhumans looking up turned red.
Darius was receiving his final farewell under such a bright sky, heading towards his resting place.
“Ah, quite the spectacle, isn’t it? Burp… They even put paint on the coffin made of expensive wood, using hundreds of lanterns.”
“…”
Just then, a drunken human knight approached Schlus and mocked him.
Just as other knights rushed to drag him away, Schlus raised a hand to stop them.
Looking down at the drunken knight, he openly expressed annoyance.
“Is a dirty subhuman enemy commander better than the knights of the suppression army? Tsk…”
“Which faction do you belong to?”
“Royal Knights, 33rd squad! And what of it? Are you going to request punishment from the vice commander? Why don’t you try-”
“The suppression army is singular.”
“Excuse me?”
“Though we all come from different origins and affiliations, the suppression army fights as one. Am I wrong?”
“True, but why bring that up now-”
“Do you intend to conduct a funeral with just one hand?”
“No…”
“There are still many comrades who have yet to return from a deep slumber. When all our comrades are brought back, when the suppression army is whole again, that will be the time to hold a proper funeral. Do you still have any complaints?”
“No, not at all. My apologies…”
The knight, coming back to his senses, immediately bowed his head.
Respect was welling up within him.
And it was the same for the other knights watching the scene.
Even though Schlus Hainkel was just an ordinary student, the knights were genuinely respecting him now.
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