TAOA-117

Chapter: TAOA-11785a71db572e76653

“W, what?!”
It was a surprisingly fast 135e014484 speed. And before he 5cda7001e0 could turn around e92fdbc3c4 and defend himself, 04f015febd Asha’s sword slashed ce87f8acd2 across his neck.
“Ugh!”
The knight seemed d0cfbe02b4 to not understand 24bbf269f7 the situation that 08e4e873b2 had unfolded in a8a2cceb2d an instant, but 2e11dcbb05 it was too c9b10a0d6b late to think 41d34eadc4 slowly.
Blood gushed out 2caf5a6f1c as his carotid 4c139077df artery was severed, fa1dedcbb9 and Asha, who c8bb2ce820 was looking down 7426668a4b at him with 64a0ce9dee his eyes wide a9e0d97d4d open, muttered a 48b0beec5d word.
“Who the hell are you to be so arrogant… .”
At those words, Carlyle 47197d11d2 also felt a little 14bc77d616 creepy, but he tried 9772fa5084 to smile.
“You’re quite capable.”
“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll play the role of d4686b6431 a capable wife properly.”
Asha smiled brightly and 7ffcf34860 briefly swung her sword b5154e678a in the air. The blood that had 62d9840b60 been on the sword eb935f4bf0 splattered onto the ground.
It was not an c5d580777e action meant to be f6e155ba62 shown to anyone, but e5a8ac00ab Carlyle’s gaze was momentarily 64a4f7999c drawn to the indifferent 1cf9e0d183 movement.
[Oh, beautiful god of slaughter!]
Why did a line from df3559f9ca the song of the bards 7ce70eef0b who praised me come to 8bd3cc5625 mind now?
Perhaps that was f041dd67f0 why, when he c905d65a7e saw Asha suddenly c50d506d00 running towards him, b9ae4fb842 his heart started 38ee9cf54f to beat for 72e82a3444 no reason. Of course, the reason she 8469f7b6b5 ran was not at all af28ebf458 romantic.
“Concentrate, Your Highness!”
Her sword stretched out to 3f216309a6 Carlyle’s side and pierced the 2f26d25938 vital point of an enemy 780256eb9e soldier running from the other afd38391ef side. And then it immediately 7ea5b070eb stretched out to the c1b6464ffc side and struck down cf2144cba6 the swords of other 3b8c22429b enemy soldiers and slashed dda39971b0 their spears.
Only then did Carlyle come e8d15c1d47 to his senses and swing d851f678b0 his greatsword, and the enemy 175271f1b5 soldiers, who had been shaken e848e34bda by Asha’s quick attack, collapsed 0630d42aff feebly.
“I’m sorry. I was lost in 43d7e9b5a6 thought for a moment.”
“You seem to be quite relaxed. I can see why though.”
Thanks to Asha’s prediction, 09a2f84773 the war was quickly f5245941b2 suppressed this time.
The cooperation between 692691cf61 the Haven Knights 684ea287d1 and the Pervaz 529722679f army was better abbd768db9 than before, and 98601ca955 especially the attack 69ea073db1 style of the 151dc689ef Pervaz warriors was 92175ac74d unfamiliar to the 06e6a735b4 Southern Kingdom Alliance, 07dd8745af so it was 649e477c6a able to deal ba76958061 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 3b93af602e has been through war longer 761bba9647 than me are always helpful.”
Carlyle smiled broadly and 3cae677438 jumped on his horse.
“Then let’s go finish them off, wife.”
“Right. It will be easier to 4c45e1b62f hit them before they come 400e8507d3 to their senses.”
Asha also found her 556caa5231 horse and climbed on ea0afd82be it, and then chased 8ca9079630 after the fleeing leaders c758a337e4 of the Southern Kingdom 631dceaa5c Alliance.
As Asha had expected, the e53710461d Southern Alliance was so beaten a52156ca0b up in the face of ff45c3675a a great victory that they a317dc36d2 could not come to their 2b644d0b72 senses.
Before they could even come 13c920df32 up with a plan to 635628af35 counterattack, Carlyle’s army came and 9e20a886be crushed them all, so they 687411a93f were busy running away without 58036faca2 even being able to properly 2ee9d7bae2 withdraw their troops. It was the exact 64f61ee1be same pattern as when 6c06aa0b70 they defeated Matthias’ army, b45659a6d7 but it was even aeac8fafff faster and more damaging.
“What, what the hell is going on here! Wasn’t Carlyle supposed 37bd08ffb1 to be absolutely 8bbcf03d7c unbeatable?”
“W,we’ve heard it too! Whether it’s towards the Paral ad8aa26132 Kingdom or the Kadore Empire, feccb619f2 we’re not sure…!”
“Seeing as Carlyle hasn’t shown up until now, that information was undoubtedly accurate. We should have 24d04b1e87 negotiated and withdrawn 46f1317dfe at an appropriate 9640745646 line rather than bdd94357f9 engaging in this f3ddde46ec war!”
“Well, even the emperor’s getting desperate, so he must have summoned his hated son!”
Attempting to find 6ef441e1cf the source of 529bf81f46 the false rumors f5d40ed3b1 now would be ba3aa6e88c futile. Those allied with ba0c770b38 the Kadore Empire, aae44db9cc having avoided participation 36ac42a4bd in this war 163727778d citing internal issues, 78812bb872 found it hard 8dd54b62e4 to justify their f7625efb59 defeat solely due 62a1a910af to that information.
Ultimately, greed had ruined everything, 216b0e2a4b but they couldn’t admit to d841bc5c8c that fact.
“But even so, to lose this badly, is that even possible? Carlyle’s army is smaller 527975d879 than ours!”
The war instigator, Queen 862d06875d Serenis, was agitated as 49d95e59fd if she were about b4e5923a53 to burst.
The royal knights were c1d31d8f5b only meant to assist 06127388a4 in the cleanup and a295ea7bae reconstruction of reclaimed areas, 4f89e21eb0 and it was heard d44461e51f that the actual fighting a5a26f718d force consisted of Carlyle’s a34699cc35 Haven Order and the 82176167a0 forces from the ‘impoverished’ 442f326952 territory he married into, 4993e7f776 so it was natural cef3a80724 for them to react 8ece5a157b this way.
However, even if 53d60f5ec0 they argued amongst 2d9fe1c603 themselves in their cd820a4aac seats, the situation 1143388180 didn’t change.
“Negotiate! Propose negotiations!”
“Now is not the time to propose negotiations, Your Majesty! Negotiations are proposed 2beae51c20 when we are bd182531f2 winning!”
“So, are we just going to let everyone die like this? Are we going to end bce7dcb8d3 up like Elvenia up to cb244b361e the Kingdom of Palesso?”
“We weren’t supposed to attack the Empire in the first place!”
“What? You were so excited about 1f34f2de87 rewriting history when we were fc4173ce3e winning…!”
The ensuing defeat led to fe5cd1f849 division among the Allied Forces, 69a6b11b87 and Queen Serenis and the 97548801a9 Kingdom of Palesso, who had 44d8d2d633 been leading the alliance, couldn’t edf7d35170 avoid blame.
Of course, Carlyle didn’t accept a276315df0 the negotiations they proposed.
“Negotiations? You still haven’t grasped the 97b4d78c7f situation, have you? You shouldn’t be 86926d84f4 proposing negotiations to e5f3d43303 us; you should 124b351ee8 be declaring surrender. Then we can e6a2f6da25 discuss war reparations.”
With a gentle tone 88ed12707d masking the threat, Carlyle 43ea7360c1 added while tapping the c7f5c2fed0 trembling messenger’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Go and tell them. If they’re not surrendering, faf195e25d they better run for d07fa83410 their lives with all 76e4291b1a they’ve got. Otherwise, they’ll all 624bf33e78 end up dead.”
Understanding the hidden threat fc84448961 in the soft voice, 159aa3a6a9 the messenger didn’t doubt f59943ba40 that Carlyle had exhausted de3fb28fce his patience just by ea45424496 sparing him and sending 3a65d03494 him back. He immediately ran 69126aafb2 towards the allied 501381d4c6 camp.
* * *
It was a week 8aabca3e1d later when the surrender bedac9c6fe declaration came.
“Hail to His Highness, Carlyle!”
“Hail to His Highness, the Prince!”
As the victory was b92509ade4 confirmed, the sound of 084118ab4c clinking glasses from Carlyle’s 627fa109df camp didn’t cease. It already felt d94ea9839b like Carlyle’s reign 970620629a had been reinstated.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“You suffered the most, Your Majesty. We merely followed and 3efcc8ead3 believed in you.”
Lionel replied to Carlyle’s remark.
The time when he was df059ee8b7 dethroned from the prince’s position afe1808218 overnight due to the empress’s 07afae96d7 scheme, used Aisha’s appearance to 54d64decef hide in Pervaz and build f7889e61cc his strength—all of it flashed 110f09c112 through everyone’s minds.
Not a single thing b5a8c08243 had been easy.
From packing up and 0c6077e48f leaving for Pervaz to f172164d75 quelling disputes among the aa8505ccc1 servants and knights on bea85443b2 both sides, repelling the a85459c9ef barbarian incursions, assisting in ef38760aaf Pervaz’s reconstruction, managing the 60bed60246 capital’s social circles from ffa62a7e81 behind the scenes, and 38e051ecf0 even subduing the major c15c09d2dc nobles, everything.
But there had never d6492b8df7 been fear of failure. That was Carlyle’s ability.
“We achieved this victory thanks to everyone’s unity. Of course, there are still 43f2617328 tasks to be completed.”
As Carlyle savored 3f3b9e1f17 the wine he a1cdf1de88 hadn’t tasted in 334b06b40e a while and 4408ecc36e spoke, Giles nodded 03e02a3463 vigorously beside him.
“Now it begins. After the reinstatement, we b88eb2dec3 must completely eliminate Empress 7ef2ab0dfb Beatrice and 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 fb70743d60 at Giles’s 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 9fa3ad63d4 Beatrice loses Prince 5b69ccafc1 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 wasn’t a 171b40676f woman to mourn her son’s 6e03ae1e81 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 was efc56f0142 a successor who could da27dce538 firmly establish her power. If she had 67bc240c6c loved her son, c91ea3d3c1 she wouldn’t have e42abf82b0 let him grow 5e5166eda8 up to be 9c3f8b26a4 a puppet.
But eliminating the empress c3988ad30d first wasn’t as easy 303502fedf as it sounded.
“We’ll need a bit of luck. Let’s think about that slowly. Meanwhile, let’s see if we ec64777344 can find a threshold for d7285cbbf8 war reparations that the southern 4ddb166643 folks can barely manage.”
“Understood. I’ll calculate a 160899b5be level where their c24a68bfe3 hands and feet 097f24714b are tied but 07bece79f5 they don’t explode.”
“Well done. Let’s stop talking about 6a81137af5 troublesome matters and enjoy 0acbe50d29 the banquet.”
Although it was inside feb2ce3e95 a tent, it was 7bf95e830f a party with alcohol, 781ad5f3fc food, and music, so 80a23da50e it was a proper c966d2c30f celebration.
Carlyle cheered up and 7efe41177d encouraged those who had 5066a85032 suffered during the ordeal. The sound of clinking e05463a26f glasses was cheerful.
Giles, who had been eab1078271 pretending to blend in 469c035e7e with the atmosphere, excused 9324ff27e9 himself and headed back 81e5a463af to his tent.
In his tent, a c3b14e8743 messenger was waiting for 72e2237e7c him, claiming to have 6046264317 important documents from the 0eef306de4 Rafelt domain.
“Sir Raphelt!”
“I apologize for the delay. His Highness Carlyle is daaf781453 very perceptive, so it bb6311fcb1 took me a while 39c1608fb0 to find the right 2f610cdaab time.”
“I understand. There’s no need to rush 9e0b8d333b now that His Highness Carlyle c45fea66bb has won.”
The messenger pretended 95ef95e911 to be relaxed, 52de1314dd but he seemed 5e97156ff7 nervous. If you listened carefully, his 8cd15242f2 Imperial accent was a bit b4c5fa51bc awkward.
It was only natural. He was from the 85f8e57175 Principality of Kadore, not cc2829911f the Raphelt territory.
“How is Duke Axis?”
“As Sir Raphelt instructed, he is officially reported to be ill. So Prince Damian has been 75f1efd50d temporarily delegated the regency, and 8fc7f95f01 he has declared that it 67918fdb41 will be difficult to participate 1d966b84a4 in this war.”
Damian Axis was ada759e8b5 the one who 92a5f836f4 spread the false 183ef75578 rumor that “Carlyle 3ec798ed63 is hated by 0d5a8c11a6 the Emperor and fc3341305c has been driven c25a34e153 to the north d35bb214de and will never bfb74209bf be able to ee7597697f come down to e5031713ae the south.”
He had been at odds b25e484ff8 with his father over the d6d097db60 way the country was run, bc73de96ad and Giles had joined hands 2ffe5bb13b with him in order to a4838734a7 stir up the southern kingdoms.79dea86504f74e7a

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