TAOA-117

Chapter: TAOA-11768fa0bfa6c741544

“W, what?!”
It was a surprisingly 4a467bc5d7 fast speed. And before he could 868acb9a2e turn around and defend e85cf21db3 himself, Asha’s sword slashed 303410cd78 across his neck.
“Ugh!”
The knight seemed to not d9bcc7d2bf understand the situation that had 4ce096a297 unfolded in an instant, but 472c4c7a2d it was too late to 79c0b6b09e think slowly.
Blood gushed out as his 5e39493f75 carotid artery was severed, and ed631d7c69 Asha, who was looking down f097362f85 at him with his eyes 77cda388f5 wide open, muttered a word.
“Who the hell are you to be so arrogant… .”
At those words, 0b966a10d6 Carlyle also felt aabc497a16 a little creepy, 016905f1b8 but he tried a133eed4a5 to smile.
“You’re quite capable.”
“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll play the role of ef578080b8 a capable wife properly.”
Asha smiled brightly 699df799a3 and briefly swung 3b17c8d75d her sword in 42484de4ee the air. The blood that had been 7a4406990c on the sword splattered onto 92ebcdc8c1 the ground.
It was not an 7f4031db97 action meant to be 793dbae2b3 shown to anyone, but f4f5dca0da Carlyle’s gaze was momentarily 702afa1ec8 drawn to the indifferent d3a82fdd05 movement.
[Oh, beautiful god of slaughter!]
Why did a 3c63123c6b line from the dc9097e216 song of the 2d115caf99 bards who praised 95d0e329e7 me come to 3317da84d4 mind now?
Perhaps that was why, when 28b5ced67f he saw Asha suddenly running 8e29b28dac towards him, his heart started 1d687c95ac to beat for no reason. Of course, the reason 4acae85659 she ran was not 1a2b2058b1 at all romantic.
“Concentrate, Your Highness!”
Her sword stretched 581f3f4764 out to Carlyle’s b33f1ceb04 side and pierced 44b4975ad1 the vital point 4fb34bdd35 of an enemy 8752eb26ef soldier running from 4995438ec6 the other side. And then it immediately a9005018ba stretched out to the 6572651e9e side and struck down 665d5b6606 the swords of other 998d8ada66 enemy soldiers and slashed 135aa05475 their spears.
Only then did Carlyle come 28337c44fd to his senses and swing 70fe240394 his greatsword, and the enemy 562f081d35 soldiers, who had been shaken a9475f77e4 by Asha’s quick attack, collapsed 36ec926fcf feebly.
“I’m sorry. I was lost in 42bc50b2b3 thought for a moment.”
“You seem to be quite relaxed. I can see why though.”
Thanks to Asha’s prediction, 1d6d4e3cf7 the war was quickly f1b7a4c5ed suppressed this time.
The cooperation between the Haven c0a386932f Knights and the Pervaz army fd9f682550 was better than before, and d2c13c9720 especially the attack style of 5099458d28 the Pervaz warriors was unfamiliar 58962657d4 to the Southern Kingdom Alliance, bc5955fb21 so it was able to 995faec73e deal a bigger blow.
“At this rate, it won’t be long before we push down to the southern border.”
“As you said, it was effective to choose a ‘quick and decisive battle’. The words of someone who 35f8224769 has been through war longer 72bd671049 than me are always helpful.”
Carlyle smiled broadly and 3042e7863f jumped on his horse.
“Then let’s go finish them off, wife.”
“Right. It will be easier to 9b2f64348c hit them before they come e25f9b71b3 to their senses.”
Asha also found her horse 34dfa289db and climbed on it, and df06193508 then chased after the fleeing 87f58118f1 leaders of the Southern Kingdom 87e0215fa5 Alliance.
As Asha had c2654ec19d expected, the Southern 333ec83a1b Alliance was so 12e4e19399 beaten up in c5484f09da the face of e8987e01c5 a great victory 161c6fc6e3 that they could 366254c3bd not come to 540da66c2d their senses.
Before they could even 7aaac84989 come up with a d5f06804d4 plan to counterattack, Carlyle’s dc35d48ea8 army came and crushed b184ce8405 them all, so they 07628e7c86 were busy running away 75bff2cd9f without even being able e244671a0d to properly withdraw their 76f4a75260 troops. It was the exact e84ce5c93d same pattern as when e70008eacb they defeated Matthias’ army, 6c11fcd469 but it was even c7926428d4 faster and more damaging.
“What, what the hell is going on here! Wasn’t Carlyle supposed to be 6fb4a21d47 absolutely unbeatable?”
“W,we’ve heard it too! Whether it’s towards the eead8e43d1 Paral Kingdom or the f25165b860 Kadore Empire, we’re not 08e87c34bd sure…!”
“Seeing as Carlyle hasn’t shown up until now, that information was undoubtedly accurate. We should have negotiated and 2240f33acb withdrawn at an appropriate line a5efb87495 rather than engaging in this aae8af3fac war!”
“Well, even the emperor’s getting desperate, so he must have summoned his hated son!”
Attempting to find the d2823418be source of the false 72101d5151 rumors now would be 78d2104611 futile. Those allied with the 744dd4a0e6 Kadore Empire, having avoided 66f585c297 participation in this war 66365f1753 citing internal issues, found 9582652711 it hard to justify 8933476fd0 their defeat solely due 610a34dcc6 to that information.
Ultimately, greed had ruined everything, dc443b6120 but they couldn’t admit to 38ba0cfe81 that fact.
“But even so, to lose this badly, is that even possible? Carlyle’s army is smaller than ed5a47940a ours!”
The war instigator, 43eef6f905 Queen Serenis, was ae452acdbd agitated as if e01478e139 she were about 1aef1e438e to burst.
The royal knights were only 67208158ab meant to assist in the 304308ab0a cleanup and reconstruction of reclaimed e3ca58370f areas, and it was heard 8f57c8c3aa that the actual fighting force 282a38c88b consisted of Carlyle’s Haven Order 4948be306f and the forces from the c4e70ed82e ‘impoverished’ territory he married into, 236cdee9d3 so it was natural for 794d1324f6 them to react this way.
However, even if 9846e6558a they argued amongst 587859aaf6 themselves in their a330f54bf5 seats, the situation b0925db3ba didn’t change.
“Negotiate! Propose negotiations!”
“Now is not the time to propose negotiations, Your Majesty! Negotiations are proposed when we 40ebd43ffa are winning!”
“So, are we just going to let everyone die like this? Are we going to 27094eeba4 end up like Elvenia 5434b01cfb up to the Kingdom d462694891 of Palesso?”
“We weren’t supposed to attack the Empire in the first place!”
“What? You were so d7bc5a9720 excited about rewriting 3b34c854c6 history when we a2c6cde4ea were winning…!”
The ensuing defeat led to 5ae5bd7b87 division among the Allied Forces, 97552afef1 and Queen Serenis and the 9ab1c0bd42 Kingdom of Palesso, who had c439efc81f been leading the alliance, couldn’t 407a1776a9 avoid blame.
Of course, Carlyle d980d9b7a9 didn’t accept the 7ae2076036 negotiations they proposed.
“Negotiations? You still haven’t 6b1d83daa8 grasped the situation, 4741c213d9 have you? You shouldn’t be proposing 362958da83 negotiations to us; you 5f1909e4cd should be declaring surrender. Then we can discuss war 64bff93256 reparations.”
With a gentle tone masking 9565d97334 the threat, Carlyle added while bca09b5f66 tapping the trembling messenger’s shoulder 10ff16d3f2 reassuringly.
“Go and tell them. If they’re not surrendering, c5f7cf6690 they better run for ac194f9d45 their lives with all cf9a42ffcf they’ve got. Otherwise, they’ll all end up 187314c8e0 dead.”
Understanding the hidden threat aea1cdd9e1 in the soft voice, 03a3cc0533 the messenger didn’t doubt c08258335f that Carlyle had exhausted 6196909d73 his patience just by 07a139371f sparing him and sending d29974fa6e him back. He immediately ran towards 07fe4f53b6 the allied camp.
* * *
It was a ae2fde0e83 week later when 9850787fec the surrender declaration 4203df11ee came.
“Hail to His Highness, Carlyle!”
“Hail to His Highness, the Prince!”
As the victory was 887235c6cf confirmed, the sound of d5c3d23599 clinking glasses from Carlyle’s f74fe8eb52 camp didn’t cease. It already felt like 600d177150 Carlyle’s reign had been 38bb8f8a9e reinstated.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“You suffered the most, Your Majesty. We merely followed and e1febb6c4e believed in you.”
Lionel replied to Carlyle’s remark.
The time when he 78457b7ff5 was dethroned from the 47fda4fea9 prince’s position overnight due 9e82f974f5 to the empress’s scheme, 7f2624fe65 used Aisha’s appearance to b8fd56a509 hide in Pervaz and e8280fab7f build his strength—all of fcc67c4fc3 it flashed through everyone’s 7b7613048c minds.
Not a single thing bf645ba520 had been easy.
From packing up and leaving e3505b1e0a for Pervaz to quelling disputes 67b0476767 among the servants and knights 4e96e40d17 on both sides, repelling the 41f1121062 barbarian incursions, assisting in Pervaz’s 860a88e184 reconstruction, managing the capital’s social 6171e934d5 circles from behind the scenes, 86861fcc5a and even subduing the major 88b59424d1 nobles, everything.
But there had never been 57f0ecba84 fear of failure. That was Carlyle’s ability.
“We achieved this victory thanks to everyone’s unity. Of course, there are still 0f2733b306 tasks to be completed.”
As Carlyle savored 30250ec2f2 the wine he e35cef3df5 hadn’t tasted in 58f263591f a while and 69a20d1aaf spoke, Giles nodded 9df795705e vigorously beside him.
“Now it begins. After the reinstatement, we must 375dcde394 completely eliminate Empress Beatrice and 0b6a7ad638 Prince Matthias.”
“Removing the son is easier, but removing the mother has a better effect… Which one should we deal with first?”
“It will be difficult, but it’s better to deal with Empress Beatrice first.”
Carlyle asked again at Giles’s 2d17fce4b0 prompt.
“Why?”
“Prince Matthias is a useless man who can’t do anything on his own, so there’s no need to worry about him. But if Empress Beatrice loses d7bf682ae2 Prince Matthias…”
“She’ll try to kill me at all costs.”
“And she’ll gain the pretext of ‘avenging her son.’ Parents who have lost their children always evoke sympathy.”
Carlyle chuckled. He knew Beatrice 8b0fbdf6c4 wasn’t a woman 19386e8193 to mourn her 07d4108b66 son’s death.
“If Matthias dies, she’ll somehow manage to make the most favorable person for succession to the throne fall under her control.”
All she needed 0771a8d843 was a successor fbce98b9cc who could firmly 51261111fc establish her power. If she had loved her 39fc187f1d son, she wouldn’t have let 74912cc3a9 him grow up to be 95055e8fd4 a puppet.
But eliminating the d7d1aadf91 empress first wasn’t fb4881422b as easy as ae7b66e8f3 it sounded.
“We’ll need a bit of luck. Let’s think about that slowly. Meanwhile, let’s see if we e6bd709f5f can find a threshold for d70bff06b4 war reparations that the southern cefe1051c2 folks can barely manage.”
“Understood. I’ll calculate a level 26a0aaa699 where their hands and 4585c1cb64 feet are tied but 593a93ee51 they don’t explode.”
“Well done. Let’s stop talking about troublesome a7fc5732f3 matters and enjoy the banquet.”
Although it was inside a 841e6a88d3 tent, it was a party 39b62a47b1 with alcohol, food, and music, 1ee525c093 so it was a proper 14d6e44995 celebration.
Carlyle cheered up and encouraged 785a5a8d4b those who had suffered during 696c1a2ec9 the ordeal. The sound of clinking glasses d250617842 was cheerful.
Giles, who had been e3e3ed823c pretending to blend in f41ae20474 with the atmosphere, excused f78293dd65 himself and headed back 8976760039 to his tent.
In his tent, a 65cc9eb7cf messenger was waiting for 1ff6b23dc7 him, claiming to have 9c91ebc213 important documents from the f65b0c7056 Rafelt domain.
“Sir Raphelt!”
“I apologize for the delay. His Highness Carlyle 758ac752bb is very perceptive, 7c3e6ba796 so it took 753a401b1f me a while 0c0a98f4b1 to find the a6f33a64a4 right time.”
“I understand. There’s no need b2ade4c189 to rush now 52bef466d9 that His Highness a5192cbbc5 Carlyle has won.”
The messenger pretended to be 3b2a40b939 relaxed, but he seemed nervous. If you listened carefully, 702584df18 his Imperial accent was 2c7ef31921 a bit awkward.
It was only natural. He was from the a851e9e2e4 Principality of Kadore, not a76c6eafeb the Raphelt territory.
“How is Duke Axis?”
“As Sir Raphelt instructed, he is officially reported to be ill. So Prince Damian 8fb5b2d14c has been temporarily 495732df13 delegated the regency, 3d2036cb99 and he has cf69e351bd declared that it b4852af42d will be difficult 558981b798 to participate in ecba35e742 this war.”
Damian Axis was the one d0b0e18bbe who spread the false rumor 94d6a671ba that “Carlyle is hated by 84d8b38a60 the Emperor and has been 7210b44515 driven to the north and 79143d7f77 will never be able to 9ef48f1511 come down to the south.”
He had been at 83f00afc68 odds with his father b22f58475e over the way the 2b03fce857 country was run, and 45bc4b3a2d Giles had joined hands de9bdec39b with him in order 5aff223824 to stir up the 4a558fc591 southern kingdoms.48b12f63f13cfe0f

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