Schadenfreude
“Please don’t say anything about what happened inside the forest. If anyone asks just tell them that I tripped from a root of a tree and got a messed up. Okay?”
Mia, who arrived in the territory, said so to the four guards who accompanied her. There they joined Ludwig and others.
It was Dion who had to handle the difficult work afterward. After all, Dion’s troops number by a hundred. Without a single casualty, he has to find a place to house exactly 100 people. This would have been easy in the Imperial City. But the main town in the Viscount territory could never accept that many people at once. So, he had no choice but to divide the corps into ten and station them in neighboring villages. When he returned to the territory after finishing all the instructions, even Dion couldn’t help feeling a little tired.
“That was one difficult job…”
“I’m glad I am only commanding a centuria. If this were 1,000 or 10,000 people, I would have a hard time arranging beds and food. This is why I don’t want to be promoted.”
“No desire for promotion as usual. Nothing new there Captain.”
After laughing out loud, the vice-captain said.
“Even so, the captain’s intuition was right.”
“Yeah? What are you talking about?”
“That wishful thinking rarely translates to reality. The princess is said to be the wisdom of the empire, so I thought she was a little more decent compared to the other nobles… Well, I guess all nobles are the same.”
The vice-captain said in a low voice while stroking his beard.
“You should be careful with that princess. She is more than she meets the eye.”
Dion shook his head and replied.
“What? Really? But…”
“Make no mistake, she is the type to be a mastermind behind the scenes. If you sit her in a war room and give her command, she will make it look like she is losing until she snatches victory from you in the final moment. She is that kind of person.”
The vice-captain showed a face that says he was not convinced. He followed Dion to visit the tavern. Inside was some familiar faces.
“Oh, Centurion Captain Dion…”
“Thank you for your hard work. Were you able to make arrangements safely?”
They were the two guards who accompanied Mia. Upon seeing Dion, they immediately stood up and corrected their posture.
“Hey, are you guys drinking too?”
The two Princess Guards gave Dion a military salute. Dion raised his hand and told them to be at ease.
“This time, our Highness the Princess has caused a great deal of trouble …”
“Huh? Trouble?”
“Her Highness doesn’t act selfishly. But I think she must be upset because those forest people were aiming for her life. Please forgive her.”
Ah, bloody moons… these guys too. Well, I don’t think this is my role… but…
Dion sighs a little and then starts explaining…
“It wasn’t really a trouble. Rather, I think it is me who needs to thank Her Highness for the help.”
“Eh …? No, why’s that …?”
The two Princess Guards were astonished. They were confused by Dion’s words. Dion smiled at them and continued…
“Don’t you know? It was a bluff. She was acting.”
Then he went to the two Princess Guards’ table and ordered. After a while, when the ordered beer came, one of the soldiers couldn’t wait anymore…
“So, Captain Dion, what’s the bluff…?”
Dion chugs about half the contents of the wooden cup, then
“See, the thing about armies is that they apply pressure by just being there. If anyone’s planning any mischief, then just having an army stationed nearby is an effective deterrence. Now, this works great against bandits and the like, but against determined warriors who are willing to die for a cause, it might just end up provoking needless violence.”
When two people are both pointing their unsheathed swords at each other, the slightest trigger can lead to war. To stare down the blade of an opponent’s sword is to stare death in the face, and the fear and anxiety that comes with that can easily morph into a desire to kill — to eliminate the threat at hand.
“Her Highness was quite perceptive about this. She felt the dangerous tension in the air upon arriving at the garrison. Then rather than watch from the side-lines, she decided to do something about it. The Lulu tribe isn’t going to come out of the forest and raid us. They never were a threat to begin with. As long as we leave the forest alone, they won’t attack us, and we can avoid any needless violence. The problem is that these nuances of the battlefield are subtle things, and the higher-ups who is not in the front of the battlefield don’t understand this. Your dear princess probably knew getting our bosses to understand was a lost cause, so she took things into her own hands. And boy, what a power play it was.”
For the time being, by withdrawing the army it relieved the tension. But that’s just a temporary measure.
Well, what are you going planning now, Princess? What shall be your next move?
Dion realizes that he enjoys being used in the plans of Princess Mia and he smiles unintentionally.
“So, you know, it now rests on you guys.”
“Huh?”
“His Highness Mia’s hard work may all be ruined depending on your actions. If you babble and His Majesty, the Emperor, hears that his beloved daughter the Princess was shot by an arrow, you know he will definitely not keep still. He will have all the Lulus wiped out. Why do you think Her Majesty told you to keep your mouth shut about what happened? It is very important that no one finds out!”
“Huh…, so that’s what it was! Of course, our lips are sealed…”
The two Princess Guards saluted Dion. Dion looked at them and sighed softly.
Why the moons am I defending Princess Mia …?
Suddenly, Dion remembered the young official who was always standing by Mia. Given how fast and vast Mia’s mind works, it wouldn’t be surprising if she forgets to fully explain her plans to her followers. Those who assist her probably had it rough. Figuring out the Princess intention must be hell for that follower with glasses. He raised his mug of beer as a respect for that glasses fellow, as he smiled…
Cheers to you poor bastard. I am glad I am not in your position.
He downed the rest of his beer and soon enjoyed the taste of schadenfreude…
“Captain Dion, can I take a moment of your time?”
Indeed, the man he was just raising his toast to appeared before him in the tavern. An unpleasant feeling was slowly within him. His guts told him that this glasses guy won’t be the only poor bastard that he was mocking about earlier.
