◆◆◆
The northern sky is leaden gray.
The northern frontier of the Guynes Empire──the Duchy of Edelweiss is a land sealed by snow and ice for two-thirds of the year. Twenty days north by horse from the imperial capital, Guynesfried. Along the way, the forests give way to dark walls of coniferous trees, and one’s breath turns into white vapor.
By the time the gray-white snowfields stretch to the edge of the horizon, most travelers have already lost the will to turn back. In truth, very few people willingly venture to the northern frontier.
It is, most likely, the correct decision.
The Edelweiss ducal house had established its residence at that farthest edge.
A massive stone structure that could only be called a fortress. There was not a trace of elegance. If there is room for decoration, make the walls a foot thicker──so decreed a lord of generations past, and that teaching has been faithfully upheld to this day. The walls are thick, the windows small, and taken as a whole, it resembles nothing less than a giant stone coffin.
For those who seek warmth, it is an exceedingly unpleasant building. But a fortress is not a place built for comfort. It is a place where only two choices exist: kill the enemy or protect one’s allies. And the lord of this fortress was that kind of person as well.
◆◆◆
Helmine Ira Edelweiss was forty-six.
A tall woman with silver-gray hair tied loosely into a single bundle. She leaned her hardened frame, as if forged by the frozen lands of the north, against the back of her chair, fixing her gaze upon her counterpart in a private meeting room at the top of the fortress. Some might call her features beautiful, but such claims usually came from those seeking to flatter her to her face, and Helmine herself had never once shown interest in such evaluations in her life.
To her, only two judgments held any meaning.
Useful, or useless.
Rumored to have blood so cold it might itself be frozen, she was truly a general of ice.
Across the table sat Dietrich Sera Schwarz. The heir of the eastern House Schwarz, and a representative of his father, the current head. A slender man just past thirty, his nose reddened, perhaps from the harsh cold of the north. Yet in contrast to his somewhat restless physique, his eyes alone were firmly set. A man tough enough to have attended the council of the Twelve Houses many times.
「So」
Helmine spoke while lowering her gaze to the map of the Empire spread across the table.
「What is His Majesty’s condition?」
Dietrich quietly shook his head.
「According to the imperial physicians, he will not last half a year」
「Half a year, is it」
Helmine exhaled shortly through her nose.
「Too long. He has already lain on that bed for ten years. It would almost be better to… no, there is no point speaking ill of the dead. The problem lies in what comes after」
The passing of Emperor Valfreed.
What would follow was something every power holder in the Empire was considering, and at the same time, something they would rather not think about. Four princes and princesses vied for the throne. There was no codified law of succession. While there existed the unwritten rule of deliberation among the Twelve Houses, even its procedures were undefined. This structural flaw, where the throne would be decided by strength and intrigue, had been left unresolved for three hundred years.
「My father believes we should support the second prince」
Dietrich stated.
「Victor, then. Your reasoning?」
「The first prince is the Chancellor’s puppet. Should Ludovik ascend the throne, the Empire will fall into that woman’s grasp. The first princess, Her Highness Katerina*, is too gentle to weather the coming turmoil. The second princess, Her Highness Anastasia, is gifted, but her network of allies is too narrow. Securing broad support from the Twelve Houses would be difficult」
TN: For some reason, Katarina is now Katerina
「So it is elimination」
「Precisely」
A straightforward answer. Helmine did not dislike such men. She had no interest in listening to those who spoke in circles, and this envoy had chosen the correct approach.
「And what of House Aster? I have been hearing their name often of late」
「We have information that they have begun negotiations with the Chancellor as the core of the demi-human noble faction. There are also reports that Helga-dono, acting head of the house, held a direct meeting with the Chancellor」
「Oh?」
Helmine’s brow shifted slightly.
「That heir──this Hein, was it? What sort of man is he?」
「I have heard him described as a prodigy, but he never appears in social circles. At most, there are stories of him humiliating the Vice Chief Court Mage in a duel of staves… It seems even in the capital, his true nature is not well understood」
「Hmph. An heir like a ghost, then」
Helmine snorted, as if losing interest. It was not in her nature to spend time on someone whose true form could not be grasped.
「More troublesome is the alliance between House Aster and House Sarion」
「Indeed. It would not be wise to make enemies of both houses, which together serve as the sword and shield of the capital’s defense」
「Then we observe. We will not provoke those two houses. ──But if they interfere with us, that is another matter. Tell your father as much」
Helmine gazed at the map for a moment.
Her eyes traced slowly across the rough parchment depicting the Empire’s territory. Edelweiss in the north. Schwarz in the east. Graus in the southwest. Connecting the lands of the three houses formed a triangle enclosing the imperial capital, Guynesfried.
The same triangle had existed three hundred years ago.
The War of the Twin Emperors──a civil war in which the northern and eastern houses joined forces to contest the throne, splitting the Empire in two. House Graus of the southwest acted independently, seeking to profit from the conflict, but ultimately lost the trust of both sides. That, however, was another matter. What mattered was that even after three hundred years, the structure of the Empire had not changed in the slightest. And if nothing had changed, then the same forces that acted three centuries ago would inevitably come into play once more.
History does not repeat itself. People do.
「What is the situation with House Graus?」
「The southwestern trade routes are being secured as planned. They intend to complete independent supply lines via sea routes within the year」
「That old man is reliable. He neither betrays nor rushes recklessly」
The corner of Helmine’s mouth lifted slightly.
「Dietrich」
She fixed her gaze on the young envoy.
「Tell your father──the time is near」
「Understood」
Dietrich rose from his seat and bowed deeply.
Helmine did not watch him leave, instead lowering her gaze once more to the map. The sound of his footsteps echoed along the stone corridor, gradually fading into silence.
◆◆◆
It is difficult to define in a single word the feelings she holds toward the imperial capital. It is not hatred. Nor is it contempt.
It is disappointment.
──The Empire must be strong.
That had been Helmine Ira Edelweiss’s creed for twenty-four years. Twenty-four years spent fighting as the northern wall against barbarians, avalanches, and famine. And during that time, what had the capital been doing?
The Racial Hierarchy Law pushed forward by Chancellor Zigitaris has steadily weakened the Empire’s strength. The exclusion of demi-humans struck directly at the defensive power of the northern frontier, driving away the demi-human soldiers who once fought alongside them on the front lines to repel barbarian incursions. Helmine was left with no choice but to make up for the manpower shortage using only the people of her own domain.
Since then, the winters of the north have grown even harsher.
On the battlefield, those who can fight are allies. Whether human or demi-human does not matter.
Those who can wield a sword stand beside you. Those who cannot step aside. That is all there is to it.
──There is no way that vixen could understand that.
Helmine believed that from the bottom of her heart. Those who merely issue commands from the warmth of the imperial palace could never grasp the reality faced by those who fight while freezing in the north.
「Those who weaken the Empire are enemies of the Empire」
Helmine muttered to no one in particular.
Her voice was swallowed by the stone walls, fading into the snow outside.
◆◆◆
By the way.
There exists another world in which these three houses moved in exactly the same way.
In that world, called the 「original history」, the three houses of Edelweiss, Schwarz, and Graus likewise rose in rebellion against the Imperial Chancellor. However, the circumstances were somewhat different. In the original history, the Demon King Belzay was still alive, and the Empire was in the midst of a great war against an external enemy.
Zigitaris’s tyranny became even more severe under wartime conditions.
The expendable use of demi-human soldiers became routine, and the autonomy of the Twelve Houses was heavily restricted under the pretext of wartime governance. The three houses saw that chaos as an opportunity and made their move.
Taking advantage of the Chancellor’s attention being focused on the Demon King’s army, they secured the support of the demi-human noble alliance and the hero Azel, and brought about the collapse of Zigitaris’s authority.
The rebellion succeeded.
However, the victors did not claim the fruits of victory. The woman known as Zigitaris was the kind who did not die politically even when defeated militarily. She pried open the cracks within the victors’ alliance one by one, consigned Azel’s companions to the shadows, and in the end, completely dismantled the coalition.
Only one point matters.
In this parallel world, there is no Demon King.
Because Hein Sera Aster reduced the Demon King to cinders early on, there is no external enemy to shake the Empire, no wartime system, and no chaos of the battlefield. And yet, the same three houses have begun to move once more.
The same triangle is quietly closing in around the imperial capital.
The contradictions the Empire has cultivated over a hundred years are of the kind that will inevitably fester and burst, regardless of whether there is a catalyst.
◆◆◆
Now then.
In the southwestern Duchy of Graus, in contrast to the secret talks of the northern frontier, preparations for war were proceeding in a remarkably subdued manner.
Among the Twelve Houses, the Graus ducal family was notably unremarkable. They had never gained fame through military exploits, nor had they taken center stage in the political struggles of the capital. Their lands, spread across the warm plains of the southwest, prospered through agriculture and trade, and the family motto passed down from their ancestors was 「Not to win, but not to lose」.
The head of the house, Klaus Sera Graus, was sixty-eight.
In appearance, he was nothing more than an ordinary, gentle old man. His back was slightly bent, his voice slow, and in political gatherings he mostly listened and nodded calmly. Yet this mild elderly man had, over the course of two years, quietly constructed an independent supply network that did not rely on the capital’s logistics in any way.
Through the southwestern ports, he had established direct trade with southern nations via sea routes. Officially, it was framed as promoting industry within his domain. In truth, it was insurance, ensuring that even if the capital attempted to starve his lands during a crisis, his domain would not wither.
Warfare is not only about swinging swords.
An army without supply collapses before it ever raises a blade. Klaus had seen this countless times over nearly seventy years of life. Having studied the records of the War of the Twin Emperors in his youth, he knew that in that civil war, it was not the weaker side in battle that fell first, but the side cut off from provisions.
While Helmine Ira Edelweiss upheld a steel-like creed that 「Those who weaken the Empire are enemies of the Empire」, Klaus had never once spoken such grand words. He simply continued, in silence, to make preparations so that his grandchildren’s generation would not go hungry.
That quiet resolve──perhaps, in its depth, it surpassed even the boldness of the iron-willed woman of the north.
◆◆◆
The imperial capital, Guynesfried.
As the year-end sessions of the House of Lords concluded and each noble family withdrew to their domains, the Chancellor’s office was busier than ever.
The Emperor’s condition.
Negotiations with various factions over the gradual easing of the Racial Hierarchy Law.
Repairing relations with House Aster──the number of matters Zigitaris Ira Malicia had to manage only continued to grow.
Then a single report arrived.
There was no sender listed. Only from the coded format could it be discerned that it came from one of the spies the Chancellor’s office had deployed across the Empire.
The contents were brief.
The heir of House Schwarz of the east has entered the northern Duchy of Edelweiss. Stayed three days.
No official record.
A starkly simple report, yet for Zigitaris, it was more than enough.
She was already aware of the movements of these three houses. It was information she had already disclosed to Helga. That the north and east were exchanging envoys. That the southwest was constructing its own supply network. Having conveyed this, she had begun repairing relations with House Aster and had also initiated the easing of the Racial Hierarchy Law.
However, whether the three houses were aware of that change was another matter entirely.
The three houses had begun to move before Zigitaris shifted her policy. It was like trying to seize the reins of a horse already in motion from the outside. One might succeed, or be kicked aside.
Zigitaris set the report face down on the table and gazed out at the night sky beyond the window. The winter stars shone with a sharp clarity. Just as each of those stars had a name, so too did each of the Empire’s crises bear its own name.
「…Will it be in time, I wonder」
Her voice fell into the empty office.
For the voice of the most powerful woman in the Empire──it carried a faint note of uncertainty.
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