Chapter 21

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Hidden Forces
-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Are you from Pomnos, too? Wow… What a pleasant surprise!”

Lucy waved the hand she'd offered, inviting another handshake. Whees stared down at her hand, his beak agape and at a loss for words.

The Raphi didn’t really have a concept of nations, tending to live in small groups in various cities. For this reason, their affection for their hometowns was exceptionally strong, even more so than their usual coldness toward outsiders.

Combined with their small population, they would treat anyone from their hometown like family, without any reservations.

“No, I mean… Well, I’ll be.”

Whees, at a loss, clutched his beak. His hand, clenching and unclenching restlessly, trembled faintly with a surge of delight.

“You really lived in Pomnos?”

“I did. I lived as a recluse near Mt. Hwinum in Ankahbun. I sold smoked trout and molt mushrooms, and it was surprisingly profitable.”

“Ankahbun? Why in such a rural backwater…”

“It may be a country town, but the sunsets there are beautiful. It was the perfect place to live in seclusion.”

“…”

“Unfortunately, I was dragged here to Parnas, but my mother is still there, looking after the Raphi children.”

Ankahbun, Mt. Hwinum, molt mushrooms.

Words that could only come from someone who had actually been to Pomnos tumbled out so casually.

Suppressing the feeling that his comb was about to pop out, Whees stared intently at Lucy. Wheat-blonde hair, a frame that looked like it would break easily with a single touch, and unusually large eyes.

He hadn’t noticed before, as humans all looked similar to him, but upon closer inspection, she reminded him of someone from his memory.

To be precise, not a person from his own memory, but one from a letter he’d received from his mother.

The very same bizarre human his mother had written about—a troublesome person who had settled in Pomnos and was doing strange things with the Lycans.

The letter had said that human had wheat-blonde hair, was from Parnas, and was a scrawny woman who looked as if she’d never had a proper meal in her life…

…No way.

His thoughts coming to a halt, Whees gaped his beak in shock.

“What, that’s impossible…! Are you saying Your Majesty is that Lycan trafficker?”

“…Lycan trafficker?”

“My mother told me. There’s a person who pretends to send Lycans to other countries but sells them for ransom instead. She said that woman has wheat-blonde hair.”

“That’s not true!”

Lucy waved her hands dismissively, looking appalled.

Lycans weren’t animals, and now she was being called a trafficker. She couldn’t understand why her attempts to help them were being seen in such a light.

…No, wait.

From the Raphi’s perspective, she was helping creatures that deserved to die, so of course they wouldn’t understand.

It might even be more logical for the Raphi to think she was selling them off.

She could follow their line of thinking, but she couldn’t muster the courage to persuade Whees, who was staring at her with contempt.

Lucy shot Walter a look, pleading for help. Understanding her signal, Walter cleared his throat.

“Whees. Her Majesty did not sell the Lycans. On the contrary, she granted them their freedom.”

“I heard from my mother that she took money from the Lycans.”

Walter turned to Lucy, his face impassive.

His expression was calm as always, but turmoil swirled in his dark eyes.

Of course, Walter didn’t know the details of her past life, so it would be difficult for him to explain. Lucy crossed her arms and, after a moment’s thought, put on a facade, her voice full of dignity.

“That’s right. I sold them.”

*Gasp.* A sound of two men inhaling sharply at once. Lucy stroked her chin and spoke in an arrogant tone.

“You know as well as I do how vile and filthy those Lycans are, don’t you?”

“Of course. They are savage, base, and uneducated creatures. They live only to torment the weak and sell them off, and when the moon is full, they lose all reason and run around like beasts.”

“Precisely. I, too, realized while living in Pomnos just how savage the Lycan race is.”

Lucy let out a deep sigh, *haa*, and forced a sorrowful expression onto her face.

“It was so infuriating to see those vile creatures set foot in the city. If I were a Raphi, I could have subdued them with force, but since I couldn’t, I tricked them and had them expelled to another country.”

“Then the reason you took the money was…”

“The money was… incidental. No, well, I didn’t take that much, anyway. That wasn’t the goal. In any case!”

“So your purpose was to drive them out.”

“Exactly!”

A look of admiration spread across Whees’s face, which had been displeased all this time. His expression seemed to say, “So there was such a profound meaning behind it all!” without anyone needing to explain.

“Is that so… I nearly misunderstood. It would make no sense to defend such creatures.”

“Indeed. The Raphi are far more superior and beautiful than those things. They aren’t even people.”

Whees gaped his beak, looking at her with a moved expression.

His tongue flickered between his beak, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite find the words.

“I had been wondering why the Grand General would endorse such a… young woman as king. But now I see that Your Majesty is one of the wisest humans I have ever met. Please forgive my disloyal attitude.”

Whees bowed respectfully, his expression softened.

Pushing aside her guilt about the Lycans, Lucy accepted his bow with a composed face. Still bent at the waist, Whees continued his introduction.

“I am the eldest son of Chieftain Omne Bomdeman, who rules Pomnos. It is a great honor to meet someone who knows my homeland. I will serve Your Majesty with all my being from this day forward.”

“I shall be counting on you.”

Whees abandoned his languid posture, standing ramrod straight and gazing at Lucy with reverent eyes. When Lucy extended her hand, he accepted the handshake with a look of deep emotion.

As the two were sharing stories about life in Pomnos and inquiring after the chieftain’s well-being, Walter appeared with warm tea, setting it on the table and seating them both.

When their reminiscing came to an end, Walter began clearing the teacups and got to the point.

“Whees. What’s the situation in the duchy?”

Tension descended upon the relaxed atmosphere like a sudden raid. Whees straightened his posture, placing both fists on his knees.

“Yes. We’ve secured clear evidence of treason.”

“What kind of evidence?”

“They’re moving troops toward the capital in groups of twenty. We estimate the total number of moving forces to be around two thousand.”

“Two thousand?”

Lucy muttered, pulling her legs up onto the sofa and hugging her calves.

Despite her languid voice, her golden eyes were sharp.

“Whees. As the squad leader, you must be in charge of reconnaissance for this operation. What was the total estimated number of troops from your surveillance?”

“Based on current confirmation, there are one thousand soldiers stationed in the duchy and another thousand conscripted from other lords. We estimate the total to be around two thousand.”

Walter calculated the enemy’s strength against their own before speaking.

“It’s not a particularly threatening force. I believe we can handle them.”

“…Something’s off.”

In response to Walter’s words, Lucy raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

“As I recall, the duchy has always maintained a standing army of over five hundred under the pretext of protecting the trade port. And besides that, the Duke kept about fifty of his own men at each free port in other countries. For a man like that to think he can retake the capital with a mere two thousand soldiers…?”

Even if he gathered all his scattered forces, he’d have over a thousand men. Yet, as soon as the king fell ill, Kill began raising another army.

They claimed the soldiers were gathered separately to control the Council, but the fact that he was operating a private army when the Parnas Royal Army already existed makes it clear he was plotting treason from the start. And yet, he only has two thousand men?

“What about us? I believe you said we have twelve hundred troops ready to move in an emergency. If we gather the entire army, it’s around twenty thousand.”

“We can’t gather the border guards because of the war between Dopein and Antevasila. Still, if we try our best…”

Walter continued in a hesitant voice.

“The maximum number of personnel we can deploy within a fortnight is five thousand.”

Five thousand.

It sounded like a lot, but that was the number they could scrape together. It would take considerable time just to gather the troops scattered across the various commands, and the number would shrink significantly if they excluded trainees and only counted combat-ready soldiers.

But it didn’t matter. She had no intention of wasting soldiers in an all-out war with the Duke. Instead of refuting, Lucy began to speak slowly.

“Let’s assume for a moment that we have five thousand soldiers.”

Lucy’s finger moved gracefully, tracing a number on the table.

“But Duke Kill has less than half that number—two thousand. Do you honestly think two thousand men can defeat five thousand?”

Walter’s face stiffened, and he fell silent. After a moment, he continued, his voice lacking confidence.

“I know the Duke is a meticulous man… but I thought that since he’s a layman when it comes to military affairs, he might be acting carelessly. Or perhaps his judgment is clouded by emotion…”

“Duke Kill is no fool. If he were that stupid, he never would have reached his position in the first place.”

Walter bit his lip at the sharp rebuke. Lucy let out a light breath to clear the air.

“There must be more hidden troops. Find them.”

“We considered the possibility of a disguise. But even after Whees mobilized every Raphi in his squad to search, we couldn’t find any clues.”

“That’s right, Your Majesty. The duchy is mostly plains, so there aren’t many places to hide. We searched the mountains and even underground, but there didn’t seem to be any additional troops.”

Lucy hugged her knees, resting her chin on them.

She watched the two of them with narrowed eyes, then let out a small, discreet yawn. With a reluctant expression, she spoke.

“It seems you two don’t know what Duke Kill’s greatest weapon is.”

“Pardon?”

“Where do you think smuggled goods are usually traded?”

“…Ah.”

Finally understanding her, Walter covered his mouth with his hand and turned his head away, embarrassed.