#53: Just Before The Battle — After Becoming an Overlord, I Came to Another World! (WN)

View of Harkurea-El-Maurice-Lumoria, Seventeenth King of the Lumoria Kingdom Self-Proclaimed Hero King

“You have overstepped your bounds and set foot upon the territory of Einheria! However, since there was no official proclamation, it is understandable that you might mistakenly believe this land still belongs to you! Therefore, this one time only, we shall forgive your foolish behavior! If you turn back at once, tuck your tail, and flee, I promise we will not strike your backs! But if, in your folly, you remain here and raise arms against Einheria, be prepared to be exterminated to the last! I will say it once more! If you repent your stupidity and withdraw from this place, you will be spared! This is mercy!”

The voice of the enemy envoy reached my ears… and, shamefully, it took me a brief moment to process what had been said.

At first, when a woman appeared from the far side of the river, raising the banner that marked her as an envoy, I could not help but be captivated by her beauty.

Her abundant golden hair glittered as it caught the sunlight, and her gaze held a strong will without the slightest fear of our army. Even through armor, one could faintly discern a woman’s well-balanced figure. Her beauty was enough to draw even me, a king, and she possessed an untouchable mystery that seemed to rival my own… everything about her proclaimed she was not merely an ordinary person.

In the Lumoria Kingdom, it was an act rightly shunned for a woman to don armor and stand upon a battlefield, yet she stood with such dignified presence that even my royal guards might have been compelled to kneel. She was perfect.

Seeing that almost divine figure step forward from the enemy ranks… I found myself taking a step forward before I realized it.

Count Harekukku noticed my movement and said something to stop me, but… none of it reached my ears.

I pushed aside those who tried to restrain me and faced her across the river. Then I heard a cool, clear voice like the ringing of bells… and those words were cast at me.

…All right. I understand the gist of it.

In other words… what was that?

…Was I just mocked by some lowborn rebel?

I—a wise king, a war god—by mere bandits?

As that reality dawned on me, I reined in the anger that threatened to stain my heart.

This meant nothing. It was the sort of idle chatter that had no value—a vulgar greeting exchanged before battle.

There was no need for me to trouble my heart over such trivialities. This battle would be my first campaign, and from it I would one day become a hero—surely hailed as a Hero King. Even if the other side knew no reason, I should treat them with magnanimity. That was the duty of the Hero King I would become.

They had likely used that fair-faced woman to draw our attention, then to insist upon their own righteousness. Rebels always tried to justify themselves with incomprehensible logic… Words like these could not so much as itch me.

But if I remained silent, it would seem as though I accepted their claims.

I quickly considered my reply.

“…I understand your assertion. It is nothing but brazen shamelessness, yet it is the speech of an envoy. Your level is clear, though—one could hardly expect education from a mere pack of bandits, and it is the one who expects it who is foolish.”

As I spoke with a shrug, the woman standing on the opposite bank twisted her face in suspicion.

“But how unfortunate. It feels a waste for beauty such as yours to be among a rabble of bandits.”

To be honest, it was not merely “a waste.” It was an immense waste. If she were not a lowly bandit, I might even have taken her as a concubine.

“Hm. Very well. If you abandon the crooked path and return to the righteous one, I could place you under my protection. Of course, you would have to present me with the head of your leader—the master of you bandits…”

View of Salnare-Lubaras-Harekukku, Head of House Lubaras Count Harekukku

For years I had stood beside that puppet, tending to this and that, but never—not even once—had I wished, as strongly as I did today, to abandon that role and have someone else take over.

It seemed the fool had been bewitched by the enemy envoy’s appearance and had pushed aside our proper envoy to step forward himself.

…Certainly, she was a striking woman, but the enemy were lowborn bandits.

It was not an opponent a king ought to exchange words with, and a king stepping into a war of words with his own mouth was, to begin with, absurd.

I had ensured he possessed the minimum education to keep up appearances in diplomacy, but… it was only surface-deep after all.

He was, in general, an easy puppet to handle, yet I would very much like to correct his habit of occasionally cutting his own strings and wandering off like this.

As I watched, thinking such thoughts… hmm. I was surprised that mere bandits had enough culture to send out an envoy, but her bearing was more surprising still.

She did not seem lowborn… Could she be some fallen noble?

If she was foreign, she might become a valuable diplomatic card… We should capture that woman alive if at all possible.

I only hoped the puppet would not develop some foolish lust… No, even if he was what he was, surely he would not become aroused by bandits. He had at least that much sense.

At worst, even if the puppet said something stupid, if we exterminated the enemy, it would be no problem… Those civilians there were unfortunate, but they would have to be slaughtered along with the bandits.

They were valuable seed for my future domain… but it would be dangerous for scandal to spread. If you must resent someone, resent the king who acted on his own.

For now, the exchange itself seemed acceptable… In that case, it should proceed to battle without issue.

In truth, I had been sweating, expecting him to fly into a rage at the enemy’s opening words and order a full charge. But he was responding more properly than I had expected.

In all likelihood, another word or two would bring us to battle, but the question was whether he could finish it cleanly. While that puppet was out of my hands, I could not predict what he might do.

If we were not outside, I would have liked to drag him back by force.

Then, suddenly, the puppet stopped mid-sentence. He had seemed to be speaking smoothly, but… what was wrong?

“…”

In the next instant, the upper half of His Majesty’s body fell to the ground.

His lower half remained standing.

“…What?”

Even to my own ears, it was a stupid sound, yet it slipped out of my mouth.

I could not understand what I was seeing… Why was His Majesty’s upper body… on the ground…?

“Y-you! You bastard! W-what—!? What did you do!? Do you understand what you’ve done!?”

Our proper envoy shouted beside me, and that was what snapped my thoughts back into motion.

Our king had been murdered!?

How—!? No, that did not matter right now! To think our king could be killed before battle even began… Had we underestimated the enemy’s savagery!?

“What did I do…? I merely cut down a fool who did not know proper respect… There is nothing strange about it.”

The enemy envoy spoke as though it were nothing, sliding the sword she had drawn at some point back into its scabbard.

“For an envoy to cut down another envoy is an unforgivable barbarity! You wretches—do not think you will die easily!”

Our envoy screamed, face red with agitation.

No—before envoy etiquette, the king being killed was the problem, wasn’t it…?

Some part of me, strangely calm, was correcting my ally in my head… No, the fact I could think that at all meant I was deep in confusion myself.

This was no time for foolish thoughts… In this case… what must I do…

We would have to enthrone the puppet’s child.

Fortunately, the infant could barely even walk. If I became regent, I could hold absolute power for fifteen years. In that time, I could educate the next puppet… and it would surely be more usable than that idiot.

The troublesome part would be the ducal house… even if they had renounced succession, they still carried royal blood. If I could not restrain them… perhaps the ducal house should disappear as well.

Damn it! If only he had died after we’d progressed a bit further with selling titles, we would have had more breathing room! That defective puppet—always, always dragging me down!

“What are you talking about? That fool was not an envoy, was he? An envoy is the one bearing this banner.”

“Th-that is…”

While my mind ran through what came next, the envoys continued their exchange.

Honestly, none of that mattered to me anymore… Well, we would need to retrieve that puppet’s corpse… As thanks for his service, I would at least bury him in a grand state funeral.

The real issue was not only the old nobles… If we mishandled things, even the rising nobles could split into factions…

“In these lands, it is custom to conduct exchanges through envoys, and an envoy must raise the banner that proves they are an envoy. An envoy’s words are the words of that army’s supreme commander. Before battle, envoys clash with words to raise morale and lead into battle, or they deliver proposals for peace or ceasefire—this is the role of the envoy as the commander’s mouth. The banner exists to ensure this proceeds smoothly, and if you attack the banner, your nation loses all trust. That authority is precisely why being an envoy is dangerous—and why someone who claims to be an envoy without bearing the banner may be killed for approaching the enemy lines. Am I wrong?”

“…”

Right now, all the rising nobles were gathered under me only because I held the symbol of authority—the puppet king.

With that symbol broken, it was inevitable that those who would come for my position would appear…

“And besides, that fool—despite not being an envoy—insulted our king! How could such a thing be tolerated! If he were an envoy, then fine—one could endure it because it is ‘custom’! But he was not! A mere soldier insulted the king! You should be grateful I did not even let you feel pain—there is no right for you to complain!”

“T-this is our king! His Majesty Harkurea-El-Maurice-Lumoria! And to attack while bearing the envoy’s banner…”

We could not remain here… I had to return to the capital at once and secure the queen and the prince…

Fortunately, only those here knew the puppet had broken.

Yes… It would be best to send Haria’s force—now on its way—to the capital. Haria alone was still unreliable, but with Eltrise, she would surely maneuver well.

“King? A king exposed himself, unguarded, before the enemy? That is beyond foolish! A king who does not know his station, who exposes himself to the enemy without a plan—such a thing is no king! If, by chance, that one truly was your king, then why did you not stop such a reckless ruler!?”

“Ghk…”

Send a messenger to Haria’s force at once and direct them to the capital… and these nobles here could be thrown against the enemy to buy time.

In name, I would also be unable to leave, but once Eltrise reached the capital, we could withdraw even without exterminating the enemy.

The land of Yōntsu was regrettable, but once we secured our footing, we could send troops again.

“Men without loyalty! Fools who serve a foolish king! There will be no turning back now! Lay down your swords and offer up your own heads, and I will grant you an easy death! This is the final mercy! If you insist on resisting, I will grant you a death befitting your crimes!”

“What—!”

In that case, we would do as planned: rain arrows to check their movement and buy time.

With that thought, I began to fall back toward the rear of our formation. If I lingered here, I might end up like that puppet.

Ah, yes—we would need to order the retrieval of his corpse… If we did not retrieve it before battle began, it would become troublesome.

Worst case, we might hold the state funeral with an empty coffin… but having a body would be clearer. Still, freezing it would require pulling a mage’s hands away, which was another headache.

Hah… even dead, you still trouble me…

“You have raised arms against Einheria and committed the great sin of mocking Fels-sama, the supreme king. But do not despair. We shall condemn all your sins with our swords.”

“…”

“Then, from this moment…”

“W-wait! At the very least, allow us to carry the king’s remains to the rear headquarters!”

“…Very well. No matter what he was in life, we will show respect for his death. The battle will begin in thirty minutes.”

So they had gained time to retrieve the king’s remains… Hearing the exchange, I organized my thoughts again.

Even though we had lost our figurehead before battle began, what we needed to do did not change.

For the common soldiers, this would likely crush morale, but for the upper ranks, though there was shock and anxiety about the future, we should still be able to act without issue in this battle.

If anything, what would torment us was what came after… We would proceed with the battle as is, but we would need to discuss the future at headquarters… We would also need to sort allies from enemies.