11-14 A Face-to-Face Meeting

Time goes by fast for your race and your country, compared to the Sarkaz.

Not long after the titan that was Gaul collapsed, Victoria and Leithanien feasted on its remnants as quickly and ferociously as they could. It has only been a few dozen years, and the Gallic Era has long since come and gone.

You never witnessed Corsica I's battleships and cannons. You have never knew Lingones's prosperity and pride. The lands of your father's generation have been integrated into the territories of Victoria's most provincial nobles.

The uniform you wear is that of a high-ranking Victorian officer. The medals you wear are all Victorian.

You speak the most standard Victorian as the Londinier nobility do, without even the slightest hint of Gaulish accent.

When you walk before me and claim you want to negotiate with the Sarkaz, what gives you the right to call yourself Gaulish?

Your Highness, Gaul has not a single city left.

The man who stands before you is not a Gaulish man, but a Gaulish survivor.

Some of us live in Victoria, some in Columbia, and some in Leithanien. We did not choose this exile. We've long been without a place to call home.

You wish to rebuild Gaul?

......

Yes, just as you and other Sarkaz wish to rebuild Kazdel.

Two centuries ago, the Gaulish Empire's artillery battalion also surrounded the walls of Kazdel.

And now you will speak of yourself in the same breath as the Sarkaz?

Victoria was in that war against Kazdel, too. And from what I heard, the reason you and the Military Commission were able to enter Londinium was precisely because of an invitation from Duke Cavendish.

Then I'm certain you've heard what has become of him.

Ten days ago, Duke Stafford stirred up an uprising in Londinium, and Duke Cavendish stepped forward to put a stop to his scheme.

The Londinium Defense Forces joined the battle as well. Too bad. Neither Duke Stafford nor Duke Cavendish survived the other's cannonfire.

I'm sure you know this better than me. The other dukes are all paying keen attention to Londinium's situation right now. No matter what you are planning to do within the city, you will need a new helping hand.

This is how you will work with the Sarkaz.

Correct. As you can see, the Gaulish remnant will fully support all of the Kazdel Military Commission's activities in Londinium.

In exchange, we only ask that you return the few Gaulish cities to Gaulish rule in Victoria's forthcoming chaos.

What good is my promise? A nation's destruction has nothing to do with the number of cities it has.

I understand that, Your Highness.

But... We can't afford to wait for a more opportune time than this.

I know a Youth Vanguard. He once served directly under the Gaulish Emperor's Guards.

When I met him, he was already sixty-something. However, the Guards had long disappeared during the Battle of the Four Emperors. He never got the chance to become a Vieux Vanguard.

He told me about the spirited emperor, their indomitable fleet, and the troops' idle conversations during mobilization. Over the decades, he has always insisted on telling his stories in Gaulish.

Now, he lies in a small sanatorium in the Chep Borough of Londinium. I paid him a visit not too long ago, and he has already forgotten how to speak.

Even so, whenever he sees Gaulish imperial-style architecture on the telly, his muddy eyes regain their former vigor without fail, and he lifts his spasming hands to clap.

He will be gone in no more than five years.

The last generation of Gaulishmen who have truly seen Gaul with their own eyes is dying.

Your Majesty, you are right. Compared to the Sarkaz, our lives are insignificant. Our memories... cannot be passed on through our blood.

When the final witnesses pass away, our memories of Gaul will disperse with the wind like the empire. When that moment comes, Gaul will truly be lost.

All we can do is to grasp at the ashes as best we can.

Ballistae! Fire!

Hold the sealing layer! Do not let them any closer!

These Defense Forces men... A tad bit stubborn, aren't they?

Because their leader is still up there.

These soldiers... really respect their commander.

Commander, the Sarkaz are here! The Rhodes Island Operators are engaged in battle with them!

Back them up. We need to draw the enemy's attention on this facade of a battlefield to the best of our ability. To buy the Doctor time.

My guess is the mercenaries at Highbury died by your hands.

War is imminent. Both you and I know it in our hearts.

......

Ascalon, you were born and raised in Kazdel. The General plucked you from a corpse pile, the Regent taught you to use a weapon, to defend yourself and your homeland.

But now, at this moment when all Sarkaz must stand together, what are you and those Sarkaz at Rhodes Island doing?

Are you going to give our information to the Victorians? To... a group of outbloods that once trampled upon Kazdel?

You betrayed the promise you once made. You betrayed Kazdel.

Kazdel is several thousand kilometers from here.

During the civil war, you chose to become Babel's assassin. I couldn't stop you, nor did I have reason to.

After all, you were serving Her Majesty Theresa, the sole King of Sarkaz.

But what do you serve now...? A phantom of the past?

The civil war ended long ago, and now even Her Majesty Theresa has returned to our side...

Four years ago... You were the ones who killed her.

And now you will sully her death so dishonorably.

Who's the real traitor?

—Urgh!

Lettou...!

......

This blood...

—!

Doctor, the drones have detected another squad of Sarkaz fighters closing in on our position!

No, not just Sarkaz fighters... That surging red...

Okay, Doctor.

It's pretty much going exactly the way you said it would. He's heading straight for the top of the command tower!

The vampire's twisted stubbornness is really giving away his movements... I won't be affected by that, will I?

Good news. This command tower is very close to the city walls. I've already located the best route to the control area.

The modern communication methods that the Defense Forces are using are much easier to take advantage of than all that witchcraft the Sarkaz use. I went and disguised my drones' identification codes. None of our long distance signals will be jammed, guaranteed.

Though... drones are very fragile. If they get attacked, that's gonna be all our hard work down the drain.

I just hope that Amiya can stall those guys who really know how put up a good fight up there...

......

You're weak and foolish, Liberi.

You know a Sarkaz can easily end your life, and you choose not to run?

I am the commander...

This is my tower.

My men... They're all still here.

Perhaps I should consider cleaning them up first, then.

Hm? These Arts.... This scent...

Ah... I see, the foolish pretender is here.

This is our first proper meeting, 'King of Sarkaz.'

I've met you plenty of times before, Vampire.

Countless Self-Salvation Corps fighters sacrificed themselves because of you. I remember all their names, and their lives won't carry any less weight than they deserve just because you look down on them.

So, what do you intend to do, King?

Will you use that... pitch-black axe of yours to end me?

........

Caster team, sniper team, join me and tear down his blood defense! No time to lose. Seize the target!

You disappoint me.

Cautus, you assume the stance of a warrior, yet you deny the necessity of killing in politics. You are even weaker than Theresa.

Theresa was a ridiculous one... She tried to have the Sarkaz bow down to our invaders, namely Victoria.

And the most foolish of her actions was undoubtedly her decision to make you her successor.

Focus fire!

What a pointless struggle...

Disperse.

Hm?

——

I see.

In addition to the assassin who was your vanguard, you brought another servant with you.

I am Amiya's employee, not her servant.

Banshee.

Are you perhaps afraid?

You think... by hiding in that shell called Rhodes Island, you can refute your relationship with this counterfeit, and escape Kazdel's judgment on its traitors?

Your words are always riddled with falsehoods, Vampire.

Although only for the time being, I took off my Rhodes Island elite operator uniform the moment we decided to come to Londinium.

I'm the Lord of the Banshees.

Wheresoever I speak, there lies the Elegiac Court.

It is not the crown that I follow.

It is precisely Her Majesty Theresa's ideals that have driven me this far. You took her life and desecrated it, but you can't extinguish the flame that she lit before our eyes.

How can someone who has seen daybreak return to an eternal night?

So this is...

The Mausoleum of Kings... Just as its name suggests... this is the resting place of all Victoria's kings.

Do you hear something?

Nothing besides our breathing.

......

Come. We need to finish this mission as fast as we can.

Rhodes Island and the Corps will need our help.

—

Stop!

What's this... on the ground...?

It's too dark here... I thought this was some of that upper crust posh decor.

This is blood.

Signs of a fight here.

An utterly tragic battle... No, this place is a mire soaked in death.

Judging from the color of the blood, this must be at least several years old.

Several years... You don't mean...

The Sarkaz.

Sarkaz died here.

I recognize their weapons. They're... the same ones the Sarkaz warriors who attacked the Knights of the Tower used all those years ago.

They're different from what the Sarkaz outside are using.

Completely different.

The blades that the Sarkaz use now are all made in the munitions factories in Highbury, and they're very similar to the standard weapons used by the Victorian Army.

They're not as crude, and nowhere near as... barbaric.

I still remember... the sounds of their rusted blades cutting through my fellow knights. They were heavy, and they'd shatter bone before crushing armor.

Dagda, are you alright?

I'm fine.

If the sight of these battle scars was enough to stop me in my tracks, I probably wouldn't have been able to manage a single peaceful night since my escape from Londinium.

Vina... The situation's not quite what we expected.

......

The Sighs of Kings is still inside.

Keep calm and carry on.

Who fought the Sarkaz?

There's no way to tell.

The other side left no traces?

If they did, it's likely I haven't seen them before.

Mr. Totter. How long has it been since you became a mercenary?

It'll be my fourteenth anniversary next month.

You must've seen weapons from most countries out there.

Certainly, but not every country out there.

I'm just your garden variety merc. I haven't seen the weapons of any particularly elite forces.

If I had, I wouldn't be alive right now.

......

Morgan, Indra. Head back outside the path and stay alert.

Secure our evac route, just like before, right?

I hope I don't miss out on anything good.

Siege, we can't act rashly now...

Do you hear the battle above us, Dagda?

No.

I do. This trembling... I can imagine it.

I can't go back empty-handed.

If the sword will stop all of this, or even just ease all the sacrifice and slaughter...

Then I shall do it.

I do not see this as a responsibility. It's just... a tiny act on my part.

It's nothing different from knocking out the front teeth of those thugs who come looking for trouble.

Vina...

Allerdale, you said it yourself. Having taken this step, we can't turn back now.

You look pretty cheesed.

Hmph, this was my chance to fight right beneath the palace!

I just hope they don't actually run into anything that calls for a fight.

Eh, you should know what a big sacrifice I'm making for you. If someone whacks you in one go, you've got to have a friend to yell for the others, right?

Haha, my silly Hannah.

......

Do you remember how Vina looked when we first met her?

How could I forget?

She was real cocky.

She was tiny, but she was full of herself, she hardly talked. You couldn't even tell when she was angry, but when she fought...

Haha... Who do you reckon taught her how to fight?

She said it was her teacher.

And I thought she had some brawler from Norport for a teacher.

Then we found out about who she was, and it all made sense. Probably a knight with muscles for brains.

Seriously, though, aren't princes and princesses all meant to wear frilly clothes and have trouble running? What kind of teacher would have her fighting like she's facing a wild beast?

Haha, when she first told us who she was, I thought she was having a laugh.

Vina wouldn't kid about something where life and death is concerned.

I thought it was a new gang looking for trouble with Glasgow.

But it turns out it was an operation to assassinate the heir to the throne? Hah.

They were pretty tough, though.

I thought it'd be a lot more fun to follow a crown princess on an adventure than living the thug life. Besides, this princess has got a special place in my heart.

Before I knew it, we were following Vina out of Londinium, wandering the world with her, and making it back here.

Now... If the heroes in the legends had a choice, they'd rather lie down on the sofa and gulp down a cold beer, wouldn't you agree?

Having second thoughts?

Of course not. We've come this far already.

I started on my memoirs already, and I'm going to make a huge with the book! It's called The Legendary Vina and Her Legendary Mates. All I need now is a publisher.

With your sorry vocabulary? Forget it!

Vina said it was cool!

......

This reminds me... of that pub that we smashed the sign of.

That was the first battle we won with Vina leading us!

That night, we drank all the booze in their cellar. In the end, Baird carried us back to the lorry, one by one, and drove us home before the police got there.

Are you bloody daft? I was the one who carried you on my back. Baird was so off her trolley, she tried to steer the loo! And you wanted her to drive?!

Haha.

All I'm thinking is... No matter where we are, we can still come together and make a name for ourselves, right? Even if it's just taking over a pub from the other gangs.

Say, Hannah...

We've been back for days already. Why hasn't Vina so much as suggested paying Glasgow a visit?

The key.

Before we left, the Doctor gave me this key.

The Doctor told me that Dr. Kal'tsit negotiated for this... Only this can open the door that leads to the Mausoleum of Kings.

I know this key once belonged to a Draco.

......

...Allerdale.

Do you know... where the other key is?

Why ask me that, all of a sudden?

I just remembered... another legend about the Sighs of Kings.

My ancestors... once nearly killed a Draco king.

And now I hold the key of the Red Dragon's descendants...

...to open the door to the Mausoleum of Kings.

Here, it doesn't matter whether one is Draco or Aslan—

One is only Victoria.