Around the ti Rigel was rampaging inside Valestein Royal Castle—
"Pick up the speed! We must arrive in ti no matter what!!"
"Y-Yes!!"
"Damn it! Please be safe…! My beloved sterica and Rigel…!!"
Balzac von Goussel, Rigel's father, was racing his carriage forward.
He was chasing after his own son, who had gone berserk and marched all the way into the enemy kingdom's capital.
"Marquis, please! Calm down! We're almost at the outskirts of the capital!!"
"I know that! But how can I possibly calm down?! If sothing happens to those two, the history of the Goussel Marquisate will end right there…!!"
(Good grief…! That idiot son of mine! Once he gets ho safely, he's getting the lecture of a lifeti!!)
Balzac cursed his son's foolishness in his heart.
Rigel had always been a failure. His swordsmanship was hopeless, and his magic was diocre at best. The only thing he was decent at was academics, but even that was nothing special. Still, as a family they had poured love into him. However, their expectations for the future had mostly been placed on sterica.
(sterica was with him! How did it co to this…?!)
Unlike Rigel, sterica was an exceptionally talented child. Her swordsmanship had nearly reached the level of a master, and she was steadily studying the command of troops. This war had originally been expected to be nothing more than a small skirmish near the border, so Balzac had given her command experience as a learning opportunity.
The miscalculation was Rigel volunteering to accompany her. Sending both of the Goussel Marquisate's children to war at the sa ti carried considerable risk, but Balzac had approved it thinking it would be good stimulation for his son. That had been a mistake.
(They say experience on the battlefield changes a person, but… I never imagined Rigel had that kind of talent…)
According to the ssenger's report, the position of overall commander of the Goussel Marquisate army had been transferred from sterica to Rigel.
All because of the overwhelming military prowess he had displayed.
He had played a major role in the battle on the plains, even slaying an earth dragon. In the subsequent fortress assault, he had taken out the enemy commander and pushed the invasion deep into enemy territory.
Up until Rigel's unexpected awakening, everything had been fine. The problem was his rampage.
(The Valestein Kingdom may be a small nation, but it is still a proper country… It's not sothing that can be toppled with just a handful of troops.)
The private soldiers of a re noble house from the Wiestaria Kingdom were simply not enough. On top of that, because they had only anticipated a small skirmish, they had left a significant portion of their troops and equipnt in reserve.
Even taking Rigel's awakening into account, the possibility of defeating the Valestein royal family was virtually zero. At least, that was what Balzac believed.
"—Still, the defenses seem strangely thin. There aren't even any checkpoints."
"Indeed… Normally there should be checkpoints even within the sa country…"
The coachman muttered with a puzzled expression.
"Well, never mind. Right now we must hurry."
Balzac ended the conversation there.
By pure coincidence, they were following the exact sa route Rigel had taken. Because of this, anything that could have obstructed their advance had already been cleared away by Rigel beforehand. They were heading toward Valestein Royal Castle in the shortest possible ti. And then—
"There it is!"
"Ooh!! Is that it?!"
A massive shadow appeared ahead of them.
It was Tosh, the capital of the Valestein Kingdom.
"Hmm… I've been here once before. The castle walls are still as imposing as ever."
"Even for a small country, it is the capital where the royal family resides, after all."
"Yes, indeed. But for us right now, that's actually convenient."
"What do you an?"
"No matter how berserk Rigel is, seeing those walls should cool his head. He's probably camped a short distance away from Tosh, working out a plan. Co, let's find him quickly."
"Yes!!"
Instead of heading inside Tosh, Balzac's group began circling around the city. He judged that Rigel's forces, having no way to breach the walls, were most likely stationed sowhere outside.
His reasoning was correct.
If Rigel were an ordinary person, breaking through those walls would have been impossible.
"…Hm? This is strange. I don't see Rigel's group anywhere."
"We should have covered the entire periter of Tosh, but… perhaps we missed them?"
"That's unlikely. The force I entrusted to them numbered around 250. I'm not so incompetent that I would overlook a group of that size."
"But then… where on earth could they be…?"
Balzac's group tilted their heads in confusion. Not finding Rigel was extrely troubling. If they stayed too long, there was a risk that Balzac's own party would beco targets for the Valestein Kingdom's soldiers.
Just as they began to feel a slight sense of impatience—
"Hm? What is that?"
"What do you an by 'that'?"
"Look closely. There's a flag flying on top of the castle wall."
"Wha…! That crest is…"
"It's the Goussel Marquisate's flag."
Balzac declared firmly.
It was not the national flag of the Valestein Kingdom, but a flag bearing the Goussel Marquisate's family crest. Which ant—
"They captured Tosh…? Impossible… That can't be…"
There was no way they could have taken those sturdy walls with such a small force.
As Balzac stood in confusion, soone approached from inside Tosh.
"Marquis Goussel, welco. We have been expecting you."
"You are… one of the soldiers serving my Goussel Marquisate, correct? Why are you here?"
"I was ordered to co greet you, Marquis."
"Ordered by whom?"
"By none other than Commander Rigel, of course. Please, this way…"
"From Rigel?!"
A soldier of the Goussel Marquisate army, acting on Rigel's orders, had co out from inside Tosh.
The aning of that fact was obvious.
"Don't tell … Rigel really captured the Valestein Kingdom…?"
Balzac muttered in a daze.
Then, with a hesitant and cautious deanor, he stepped into Tosh.
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