by Hyougetsu
For example, Rolmund’s version of Sonnenlicht had a practice known as “Sunbasking.” Every week, Sonnenlicht followers had to recite holy scripture while standing under the sun. There was no officially set time they needed to do this for, but in general, the ritual lasted about an hour. However, Meraldia’s style of Sonnenlicht had no such ritual.
If I had to guess, the reason Rolmund had a precept like that was to maintain the health of its people. Humans needed to spend at least some time in the sun, or their health would deteriorate. Sunlight was needed to synthesize vitamin D, but that wasn’t all. That was the reason why sunbathing had become such a popular custom in northern medieval Europe, where sunlight was scarce. Even if they hadn’t had the science to back it up, they’d known instinctively that sun was good.
Since Rolmund was a cold place, I imagined most people wouldn’t bother going outside if it wasn’t a religious requirement. But Meraldia was a paradise filled with sunlight, unlike the harsh land of Rolmund. There was no need for mandatory sunbathing. Which was why the custom of Sunbasking likely died out. All it did was waste time for no discernible benefit. I could see why the Sonnenlicht believers in Meraldia didn’t like their Rolmund overlords bringing the practice back.
Though the differences between the two sects of Sonnenlicht may have been slight, those slight things would eventually pile up into one big rift. Besides, there was already a very big difference in the way Meraldian and Rolmund Sonnenlicht followers treated heretics. In Rolmund, heretics were enemies of the state who’d turned their backs on God. Whereas in Meraldia, they were simply misguided believers who lived nearby. If anything, they felt more pity for heretics than hatred.
In the south, other religions had become so prevalent that followers of religions other than Sonnenlicht weren’t even considered heretics. There were even reformed bishops like Yuhit who’d come to see that other religions in fact had valuable lessons they could teach followers of Sonnenlicht. He really had changed a lot since when I first met him.
Regardless, considering how much discontent the revival of a single practice was causing among Meraldian Sonnenlicht followers, it was easy to see why they were quickly growing disillusioned with Eleora. Of course, she hadn’t asked them to worship her, so it was their own fault for placing all those expectations on her in the first place. Humans truly were a demanding race. Then again, their livelihoods depended on their rulers, so I could see why they would be. Everyone had their own needs and responsibilities, and acted accordingly. Including me.
“I guess this is one of my responsibilities too...” I muttered from within my armor, my voice sounding distinctly villainish. A flowing black cape hung from my shoulders. Spiked silver chains looped around the collar of the cape, making me look even more menacing.
“General Veight, you look spectacular!”
Canines were hovering all around me, chattering excitedly. They were the ones who’d made the silver accessories for my outfit.
“I’m glad you think so,” I said with a sigh. Forne’s werewolf series had become so popular in the north that people were now clamoring to see the real Black Werewolf King in the flesh. The people of the north had no idea what Eleora was really after. So they honestly believed that Meraldia was now at peace for good. As a result, they no longer feared the butcher of 400. Many of the northern viceroys, including Vongang’s, had sent me official dinner invitations so I’d decided to do a short tour of the north. But while this was official business, did I really have to wear an outfit this gaudy? Of course, this was all Forne’s doing.
“Vaito, you look cool! Like degenerate cool!”
Firnir had come to see me off as well. You realize “degenerate cool” is not actual slang, right? Melaine and Airia nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, that outfit looks surprisingly good on you.”
“You look very handsome, Lord Veight.”
“However...”
I wasn’t really one for fashion. No matter what I wore, it’d get ripped up when I transformed anyway. Like most werewolves, I saw no point in wasting time with fancy clothes. Most of what I owned was cheap sets of clothes I’d bought at bargain sales. Clothes were expensive in this world, so I figured I was just being prudent, but when Airia had first seen the state of my wardrobe she’d nearly fainted. Everyone complained that I needed to look more stately when I was on official business at least, so I’d upgraded my wardrobe. But if I ruined these clothes by transforming I was certain everyone would complain anyway. I guess that was just more proof fancy cosplay clothes like these didn’t really suit me. Oh yeah, there’s a perfect word to describe what I look like right now, isn’t there?
“I look like a clown.”
“Huh, what do you mean? You look good, Veight. The spitting image of the prince of evil.”
Melaine cocked her head quizzically, and Airia and Firnir hurried to back her up.
“Indeed, you give off the appearance of a well-mannered villain. I can guarantee you that look will be popular with the ladies.”
“Oh yeah, totally! You’re like that evil hero who’s only nice to the heroine!”
These guys don’t get it at all. Then again, that made sense. It’s not like they had any idea what kind of Earth clowns I was referencing here. Still, their responses didn’t make me feel any better. Whatever, I guess this is part of the propaganda campaign too.
* * * *
—Eleora’s War Record: Part 5—
Somewhere within the fortress city of Vongang.
“You hear about Ryunheit’s Black Werewolf King?”
“Yeah, my wife loves that play. She makes me go see it with her every damn week.”
“I’m not talking about the play, I mean the guy himself! I went and saw him the other day. Got invited to a banquet with him and the viceroy. They invited all the traders in the city.”
“Oh, yeah, that. So how was it? Did he bite you or anything?”
“Hahaha, of course not. But that man has one really intimidating aura, you know.”
“Is he really that impressive?”
“Oh yeah. He’s like a living legend. I got goosebumps just sitting in the same room as him. But, you know...”
“Hm?”
“Since I was there and all, I thought I’d ask the man for a handshake.”
“Holy shit, you’ve got nerves of steel!”
“Nah, he’s a surprisingly polite guy. He just smiled and shook my hand when I asked. It was like being in the presence of a king.”
“You’re really singing this guy’s praises, huh?”
A pair of men were sitting at a bar in Vongang and discussing the Black Werewolf King. Meanwhile, Eleora had returned to the mining city of Krauhen to receive a report from her homeland.
“This isn’t good...” she muttered. Her adjutant immediately walked over and asked, “What seems to be the matter?”
“My dear uncle’s meddling. We won’t receive any reinforcements until fall.”
“But then...”
Eleora folded up the letter and tossed it onto her desk.
“He’s even worried about someone as far removed from the succession as me. What a cautious man. But this is posing quite a problem for us.”
“Even if he cannot spare any troops, he could at least send over a few priests and civil officers.”
“Civil and religious matters aren’t under my jurisdiction. There’s nothing I can do, Borsche.”
Rolmund and Meraldia had several differences not only in their religion, but also in their code of laws. Reorganizing Meraldia’s religions and judicial institutions was something that could only be done by specialists in their respective fields. Eleora stroked the spine of her Blast Grimoire and sighed.
“I worked so hard to lay the groundwork for a stable rule here. But while I may be the empire’s huntswoman, I’m not its chef. Preparing the dish I’ve caught is the job of our civil officers. It’ll be difficult for me to fulfill that role without any prior training.”
&nb
sp; “But you cannot disobey an imperial command, Your Highness.”
Borsche narrowed his eyebrows, and Eleora shook her head.
“This is just proof that the emperor’s power is waning, and those around him are starting to assert control. I imagine his health must have taken another turn for the worse. It’s possible his disease is progressing faster than the healers anticipated.”
“Then, with all due respect...”
“Yes, he’s probably not long for this world. It’s imperative I make the right choices before he departs.”
Do I take risks to solidify my rule over Meraldia and become its de facto ruler? Or do I accept that this is beyond my ability alone, and contend myself with asking for aid from the homeland? If I make the wrong choice here, my future will be sealed. As Eleora is contemplating what to do, Natalia entered her room.
“Princess, I have a report to... Oh, should I return later?”
Natalia looked from Eleora to Borsche, then timidly started backing away. But Eleora just smiled and said, “Don’t worry, we were just chatting. Feel free to make your report.”
Natalia nodded, then saluted.
“Our healers say that there have been more outbreaks of food poisoning among our mage corps. At least a few men from each platoon are bedridden.”
“It seems our empire is full of sick people.”
“Huh? Oh, yes. It’s as you say.”
Eleora was of course referring to the emperor’s condition, but that was something Natalia was unaware of. Eleora took the report from Natalia and perused the names of the sick men.
“You’ve been keeping a close eye on our food stores?”
“Yes, exactly as you ordered. Our rations come directly from the viceroys themselves, so they shouldn’t be contaminated. We’ve also been performing our own checks, as per military regulations. However...”
Natalia trailed off and glanced over at Eleora.
“Everyone is treating their rations the same way they would were they in Rolmund, so they’re getting spoiled without anyone noticing.”
The temperatures in Rolmund were low enough that people didn’t have to worry about food preservation much. Only in midsummer did it get warm enough for perishable food to spoil. But even the northern reaches of Meraldia had climates mild enough that food needed to be taken care of. If left alone, it would rot in no time. The differences in climate had caused more than a few sicknesses on their own too, and the mage corps was chronically understaffed. Eleora nodded, her expression sympathetic.
“All foreign expeditions bring with them the risk of disease. Tell those who are ill to rest and recover. Reorganize the remaining tasks to be accomplished by priority, and put off the lowest priority missions to compensate for the lack of personnel.”
Eleora was running short on time, but she didn’t want to push her men past their limits. She thought back to the secret plan concocted by her homeland to conquer Meraldia. The idea had been to win over the northern viceroys through diplomacy, then conquer the southern cities by force. Eventually, they would conquer enough territory that the Commonwealth would be forced to surrender. Some autonomy would be returned to the alliance, but they would become a Rolmund territory. Then, over time, officials from Rolmund would start slowly stripping away the viceroys’ power, until Meraldia was well and truly assimilated into the empire.
If Eleora was successful in her mission to conquer the south, it wouldn’t matter who became the next emperor. She’d have too much clout to be exiled. After that, she just needed to weaponize her accomplishments successfully in order to survive in the den of vipers that was the royal palace. Her goal was to survive long enough to let her subordinates retire happily as lords with their own plots of land. She’d sworn she wouldn’t rest until they were rewarded for the loyalty they’d shown her. Unfortunately, her Meraldian campaign had ground to a halt. If a new emperor was coronated before she completed her mission, she would be in a precarious position. All because the current emperor had rushed the invasion of Meraldia once he’d learned about his ailment. Smiling sardonically, Eleora grumbled, “This is such a messy campaign. I bet you future historians will laugh at our foolhardy invasion.”
“Your Highness.”
Sensing her dissatisfaction, Borsche cut her off before she could say anything that might incriminate her. Eleora smiled self-deprecatingly and raised her hand in acknowledgment.
“I know. But really, it’s pathetic. He’s desperate to leave his name in history now that he knows his days are numbered. However, he waited until his mortality caught up with him, and now it’s too late. That’s a lesson I would do well to remember.”
Natalia was worried others might overhear Eleora’s near-treasonous words as well and hurriedly said, “Princess, you must be tired. Why not watch a play or something to relax?”
“A play, huh? How very like you to suggest that, Natalia.”
Rolmund’s government strictly controlled what kind of productions were allowed to be put on in theaters. All plays were inspected by a censorship committee to make sure they didn’t insult the emperor or his government. As a result, most plays ended up being religious in nature. They were either anecdotes from scripture, or reenactments of the lives of various saints. And of course, Natalia was the daughter of a Sonnenlicht bishop.
However, Eleora was unaware that things were different in Meraldia. There was no censorship committee, and all manner of plays could be put on without fear of reprisal. Had Eleora been aware a play extolling the virtues of Ryunheit’s Black Werewolf King existed, she would have prepared countermeasures immediately.
“Ah no, that’s not why I’m recommending you watch one, Princess. You see...”
But before Natalia could finish her sentence, another messenger burst into the room.
“Your Highness, Krauhen’s viceroy is requesting an audience. He claims he has urgent news.”
“Very well, I’ll be there at once.”
Eleora rose to her feet and strode toward the door, patting Natalia on the head as she passed.
“I’m afraid the play will have to wait for another day, Natalia. Take care of the wounded soldiers for me.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
It was much later that Eleora finally learned of Viceroy Forne’s ploy.
* * * *
The moment I returned to Ryunheit, I went up to my office and dove into my bed. I’m so done. I’m never wearing an outfit like that again. The citizens of the north had loved my getup, but I hated it. Everyone from young boys to old ladies had begged for my handshake. That had been so exhausting I never wanted to do it again. At least not for another week.
While I was running around playing at being a celebrity, the other councilors had been hard at work. There were some cultural differences between the north and the south, but the viceroys of all the Meraldian cities were relatively close. My capable vice-commander, Kite, tidied up a stack of documents as he caught me up to speed.
“The four northern cities closest to the southern border are all sympathetic to the Commonwealth.”
Specifically, those four cities were the theopolis Ioro Lange, the fortress city of Vongang, the old capital Vest, and the agricultural city Welheim. Each of them were ancient cities with long and storied histories, as well as key strongholds that served vital functions within Meraldia. But they’d all been ranked low within Eleora’s new city hierarchy. As a result, they weren’t very satisfied with her.
“Excuse me, Lord Veight. But I’ve brought the results of the test run of the portable crossbows you developed for the canines.”
Kurtz the dragonkin engineer walked into my office and laid a sheaf of papers on my desk. Kite got up to brew us all a cup of tea, and I started pondering Eleora’s latest move. She’d probably introduced this ranking system in order to incentivize the various cities to compete with each other over who contributed the most to Rolmund. But instead of spurring the lower-ranked cities to try harder, she’d just sown the seeds of rebellion. S
omething essential to her plan was missing, but I had no idea what it was. As I was wondering what she’d originally planned to use to control the cities even under the ranking system, Parker walked into my room.
“Veight, have you seen Master? Once she finished raising the last of her skeleton warriors she muttered ‘I do not wish to lay eyes on another bone for a long time...’ and wandered off somewhere.”
“You realize you’re nothing but bones right? If you found her you’d just make her more depressed.”
“Unlike her skeleton warriors, I’m at least still technically part of the living. We really can’t have the Demon Lord going missing right now. If she doesn’t come back, how about you take over for fifty years or so, Veight?”
“The title of Demon Lord isn’t something you can pass around that easily, you know. Especially not for fifty years.”
Halfway through my conversation with Parker, Garsh burst into my office.
“Yo, Veight. I came to check up on the mates I lent you, so I thought I’d drop by your place too. They’ve been pining for some seafood, so I brought some dried fish for everyone.”
“Don’t just leave it all here, you’re going to stink up my room!”
Why are there so many people flooding in? The worst part was, no one seemed like they wanted to leave, even after they concluded their business with me.
Upon spotting Garsh, Kurtz got to his feet.
“Sir Garsh, as you requested, I’ve drawn up blueprints for an improved drainage pump.”
“Ohh, thanks. Do you have a prototype I can test?”
“I do indeed. We have yet to do a proper stress test, but theoretically it should be capable of handling seawater as well.”
