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Emperor Commodus marched forward, leading his imperial guards.

He didn’t care about the rough terrain.

Riding his magnificent steed, he found it no trouble at all.

There was a minor issue of the wagon carrying the emperor’s supplies arriving a bit late, but since he considered himself generous, he let it slide with a little punishment for the wagon’s steward.

He didn’t care even when some of the soldiers collapsed from illness.

He thought his loyal soldiers wouldn’t weaken from something as trivial as a stomach ache.

He figured that such minor ailments could be endured through the grit of well-trained soldiers, so he decided to punish the medic in charge of overseeing their condition.

Even when the food turned into a mess and was no longer edible, he remained unconcerned.

The food meant for the emperor was specially managed, and if it ran low, he could easily requisition more from a nearby domain.

He believed that hungry soldiers would either find food on their own or, if they couldn’t take it any longer, would munch on the grass sprouting by the roadside like herbivores, so he brushed off the trouble with a bit of punishment for whoever was managing the supplies.

He didn’t even bat an eye when the soldiers’ morale plummeted.

With the undefeated aura resting in the emperor’s hands, the morale of the soldiers was not a consideration.

If the soldiers were under the emperor’s command, no matter how bad their condition, without an ounce of fighting spirit, or starving, they would dutifully follow orders given through a flag. So he simply punished the ones in charge of managing the soldiers.

Thus, the emperor arrived at Betelgeuse with his imperial guards reduced to less than half.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Well, we’ve certainly diminished a lot; still, there are half of us left!”

“You see! We should have completely cut off the road! Sever the bridge! Burst the dam! Crumble the cliffs to block the way!”

“That would result in far too many sacrifices.”

“Sacrifices? A few trees being caught up in this is a sacrifice?! You elves are too fixated on trees!!”

Once more, the elves and dwarves were ready to clash like oil and water.

“Enough! This isn’t the time to fight each other.”

As I chimed in, the tense atmosphere simmered slightly between them.

The enemy they needed to fight was the emperor’s army, not each other.

“To not have shot a single arrow while reducing the enemy by half is no small success. So please, let’s not scold so much.”

“But… there are still half left. We could question the very act of fighting.”

Well, honestly, I’m a bit surprised too. After all that trouble, there’s still half of them left.

Had their loyalty been that high? Despite having adjusted everything to avoid dead soldiers, they were tormented by disease and harsh conditions… hmm.

I wonder if they really are that loyal to the emperor that they’d endure such risks and suffering? Is that foolish emperor such a worthy figure to gain such loyalty?

Just going by the rumors, it doesn’t seem so… Hmm. I don’t know. Perhaps those following the emperor have some ulterior motive for adhering to him… no way. They can’t possibly have such schemes being the emperor’s guards!

“So… shall we proceed as planned?”

“Yes. Please gather everyone there as scheduled.”

“Understood. Then, your ladyship, this way.”

“No, I won’t go.”

To the elf representative’s words, I shook my head.

“What? But if you don’t go… to them…”

“It’s fine. I won’t be in any danger. The Dragon Priestess is not a weak being.”

The representatives of the elves and dwarves looked at me with worried eyes, but what could I do?

“I will try to persuade them until the very end.”

I’m just doing what I need to do.

“So… you two, take the others and find refuge in the prepared tunnel. If I manage to persuade them successfully, I will come to the tunnel entrance to call for you. But if it doesn’t go well… ignite the prepared fuses and block the tunnel.”

First and foremost, the elf-dwarf alliance should not go to war with them directly.

If a war breaks out here, the flames of conflict will escalate into a full-blown war between North Romania and the elf-dwarf alliance, with other nations waiting to pounce at the first sign of chaos.

The absence of war would lead to the best outcome!

Even if Betelgeuse burns, it can be rebuilt. It’s just a city! I can give it up without a second thought!

It may feel a bit regrettable!!!

“Ugh… Hoo… I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible.”

“What?”

The dwarf representative began to sulk dramatically.

“Avoiding war sounds great. Who likes a war drenched in blood? But! To hand over the Dragon Priestess to those fools and avoid war… I’ll choose to fight!”

“No, you can’t fight! A fight here would escalate from a city battle to a race war!”

“The stubborn dwarves in Sagarmatha would likely feel the same! Better to risk war than hand the Dragon Priestess over to that foolish emperor!!”

What the heck is going on?! They were following my words this whole time!

“We elves feel the same.”

What?! Elves?! You too!! You weren’t supposed to be rational beings?!

“The Goddess of Life is the mother of our World Tree Yggdrasil, which makes her akin to our grandmother. If we hand over the embodiment of such a being to those ruffians, we’d lose all face to seek Yggdrasil’s shade.”

No, grandmother? I mean, in terms of relation, it’s right but! That’s seriously hurtful! In terms of age… well, in that regard, you’re vastly older than me!!!

“We feel the same! With the name of the sacred mountain Sagarmatha! We cannot hand over the Dragon Priestess to that foolish guy! If we did, Sagarmatha would surely enact great punishment upon us!”

Well… I can’t really deny that. If Sagarmatha heard that news, they wouldn’t simply end their anger with scolding the dwarves; they’d definitely cause chaos for all of North Romania.

“But… war…”

“Sometimes, there are things more important than lives lost in war. Our honor that we’ve preserved for our race. The young Dragon Priestess might not understand yet.”

Still young, huh! Nobody older than me exists!

“Nice words! Abandoning a city tied to our race’s pride! If we survive by handing over the Dragon Priestess to those inept fools… we’d have no face to see our ancestors!”

No, wait, I’m just going to talk them down.

Why does it keep swaying towards the idea of war?! Why?!

“I’m just going to go and talk! I’ll try to talk sense into them!!!”

“Elf Spirit Swordsmen! Prepare for deployment!! Today, we fight for honor!”

“Dwarf Warriors! Raise your weapons!!! Tonight, we dine in the underworld!!!”

At their shouts, the other elves and dwarves burst into cheers. Seriously, what the heck!!! Why won’t they listen to me!!!

Their human army is already at rock bottom before combat! If I butter them up a bit, they should pull back without too much trouble! Why pursue a head-on clash like this?! Do they think they’re some kind of head-butting dinosaurs?!

“For Pete’s sake! Calm down! It’s a fight that doesn’t need to happen, so why the heck do you want to fight?!”

“At the moment that that foolish emperor brought his forces, we can’t just let it go. As long as that emperor remains on the throne, these things will repeat endlessly.”

I couldn’t argue against the elf representative’s cold words. Indeed… if that emperor stays on the throne, such incidents may repeat!

“Whatever the case, war is…”

“Even if a little bit of bloodshed now can prevent a greater sacrifice later, I would willingly do so.”

“What’s so complicated about it! I just despise that moronic emperor! That’s it!”

Hmm. Ugh… I feel like I’m also being persuaded. If that fool had just kept his head down, this wouldn’t be happening… but still, war… ugh…

Ah! I can’t even deal with this!

“Alright, I get it. I concede. But I will go speak to them first. That much I cannot yield. And for safety’s sake, evacuate the elderly and children to the tunnel we prepared.”

In the end, I succumbed to their will.

Ugh. Seriously, if a war breaks out between races, it will be a disaster. I can clearly see the future where North Romania gets utterly smashed.

Ah! Whatever! It’ll work out somehow! Most of the time, it manages to work out in situations like this!!!

Even if a big war breaks out, it’ll eventually settle! Even if many die in the war… we can always work overtime in the afterlife! Yeah!

So!

“Then I’ll just… huh?”

Before I could go relay my words to the human army, one figure stepped forward from their ranks.

A man wearing luxurious armor, riding a pure white steed.

He held a flag intermingled with silver and black in his hand.

“All troops! Charge!”

With an undefeated banner pointed forward, he urged his horse, starting to charge ahead of everyone else.

Ah… um… is the emperor, the one supposed to command the army, leading the charge himself?

Truly, he was a fool.

 

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