Side Story Chapter 107
“Arghhhhhhh!!!”
Raphael’s painful scream filled the council chamber. Ever since his right arm had been neatly cut off, he had been screaming at the top of his lungs.
Sersiarin didn’t have a strong stomach, so she quietly looked away.
Michael angrily drew his sword. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.
“Negotiations are over, so do I have any reason to spare my prisoners? They’re potential enemies.”
“As an emperor, how can you say such a thing?! War prisoners are protected by international law!”
“That’s strange,” Joshua sarcastically remarked. “As I recall, it was one particular nation who made those international laws and recently changed it as they pleased.”
“That is...!” Michael gnashed his teeth.
The aforementioned international laws had actually been made and distributed by the Great Temple of Hubalt, as self-proclaimed protectors of peace. Of course, it was only common law because the Pope had preached about it without going through the required legislative processes, so the law had no substance. Nevertheless, it was universally practiced because the leaders of other countries were the fervent champions of the law.
Yet, that was a problem for the paladins’ dreams of ruling the continent, so the highest ranking paladins had gathered and publicly announced that those laws were null. It had happened on the same day that Lilith Aphrodite had manifested the authority of a Demon King a few years ago.
She served as excellent justification. According to international law, no one was allowed to infiltrate or harm another nation, no matter what the circumstances were. In other words, international law prohibited people from causing even minor damage even if it were for the great cause of punishing evil. Preposterous, the paladins thought. That was why the paladins nowadays loudly proclaimed that international law was all but nonexistent; they said that there was no such thing as international law without any written records of it.
“International law is whatever a powerful nation would like it to be... No, it’s actually embarrassing to call that law. I have no reason to give your circus acts the time of day,” Joshua scoffed.
“Joshua Sanders!”
“Toss his arm somewhere far away. With the authority of a Great Angel, he’ll probably try to reattach it again.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” one of the Imperial Knights said with a bow.
“Your arm isn’t going to grow back like a troll’s, is it? You wouldn’t even be a human any more; that’s more like a monster. Isn’t that ability too horrible for a noble paladin with the authority of a Great Angel?” Joshua tilted his head.
Raphael, the “noble paladin”, shook like he was about to explode and his face was already scarlet red. Nevertheless, he remained silent—the sword resting against his neck reminded him that the threat of execution was far too close.
“Wait a minute. There’s no need to go through the trouble since I can just kill them all right here,” Joshua muttered to himself.
“Y-Your Majesty.” Sersiarin grabbed Joshua’s sleeve.
Her actions actually made Michael more anxious.
“Wait!” Michael shouted. “Let—” He paused and corrected his tone. “No, I would like to propose a new deal.”
Joshua smiled subtly, tapping Sersiarin’s shoulder reassuringly.
“What deal? Isn’t it too late for that now?”
“Martial God, I understand how great you are, but you must have met Bel, the Hubalt Empire’s strongest man.”
Joshua’s silence sufficed as an answer to Michael.The source of this content is N0veII_bIn
“I guarantee you that I don’t know how skilled the troops that crossed our borders are, but they would inevitably be annihilated by the Martial Knights trained by Bel himself.”
“...You’re overconfident.”
“No, I’m certain. Bel and his Martial Knights are considered our counter to the Martial God for a reason. Hey, you, the middle-aged knight right below the throne. If I remember correctly, you’re the Combat Emperor, yes?” Michael abruptly turned to Cain.
“In any case...” Joshua locked eyes with Michael. “...you aren’t going to say that the troops that have already crossed the border are in breach of the agreement, are you?”
“I have never acted so cowardly in my entire life.”
“Then it’s settled. The prisoners shall be released after our troops return.”
“I have a request this time,” Michael abruptly said.
“...Hmm?”
“You’re the ones who crossed the border first, so don’t blame us if they return to Avalon as corpses.”
Joshua chuckled. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I heard from the Queen Consort that there’s apparently someone quite reliable in charge of the army.”
* * *
Meanwhile on—or rather, in the border of Hubalt, Avalon’s army was on the move.
“That place leads into the lands of the Hubalt Empire,” a knight said, pointing at the far horizon. A red cross was engraved on the surface of his armor.
“How many of Hubalt’s border guards have we killed on our way over here?”
“The number is estimated to be around three thousand.”
“What about our casualties?” the other man asked.
“Including the lightly wounded, it’s three hundred people, but over fifty percent of them are now ready for battle.”
The man frowned slightly. They had fought their way through three thousand people, but only took three hundred casualties. It was no exaggeration to call it a great victory, but the man didn’t seem pleased with these results.
“In other words, at least one hundred and five people were killed or gravely injured, even though the guards we fought weren’t even knights. That’s too many casualties,” the man said.
“But only our infantry sustained damage—”
“Belutin.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
“Who are we?”
Belutin flinched and snapped to attention.
“We are the First Order of the Great Ducal Family of Agnus!” he thundered.
“Yes, we’re from the Ducal Family of Agnus.”
“May the light be with you, Your Grace!”
Only one person in the Ducal Family of Agnus could be called “Your Grace”: Babel von Agnus, the only brother of Joshua Sanders, the Emperor of Avalon. In spite of the fact that the family was merely one of many noble families, the Agnus family had once had hundreds of knights under its banner.
No longer. The Agnuses’ influence and power were a shadow of their former selves, so only five hundred knights from the Red Cross Order were present right now. Nevertheless, all of them were certain that they were the most elite knights on the continent. They were, after all, marching alongside Duke Agnus.
“...Let’s go. I turned my back on them during the civil war, but since he’s back I’ll have to repay the favor.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
With a sharp blast of the horn, the Arcadian garrison and the army sent from the Agnus family marched deeper into the lands of the Hubalt Empire spread before their eyes.