Katahane no Riku Chapter 34

Royal capital, Barusak residence.

At the spiritualist arts laboratory, there was a female spiritualist indulging herself into meditation. It was Riku´s elder sister, Raku Barusak. Unusually, she stopped researching and was now silently smoking her smoking pipe.

“What´s the matter, Raku-sama?”

A boy, who was Raku´s attendant, asked her.

Raku was a scientist obsessed in researching. If the attendant wasn´t watchful, she would without even eating her meals. Before he started serving her, there would be times which Raku would remain at her desk without eating or drinking anything for a whole week. Such hardcore scientist had been for the whole day looking at the sky without researching anything. This was an abnormal occurrence.

“Ah, Marius. It´s nothing special.”

While looking at the sky, Raku was smoking her pipe. The thin smoke was slowly raising to the sky in a spiral. , Raku didn´t show any signs of coming back to her laboratory. After pondering for a moment, the boy called Marius put his doubt into words.

“Are you feeling unwell in any way? If that is the case, then I can arrange a doctor…”

“There is no need for that.”

Raku flatly declared. And then, she tiredly shrugged her shoulders.

“Hey, Marius… Don´t you think that recently, Rook had been having a bad luck?”

“Rook-sama´s luck, you say? ….That…”

Marius kept standing without being able to say any following word.

Rook Barusak was a prodigy since he was a child. At any rate, he was so exceptional that by the time he had just become five years old, he had already surpa.s.sed his father in achievements.

In special, the management of the territories was going extremely well. Because of his bizarre idea of burying dried leaves and spreading ash at that territory which no kind of crops could be cultivated, it had a rapid transformation of a wasteland to a splendid farmland. At the present time, the territories he governed were all filled with the liveliness of the people.

But his military accomplishments were a different story.

There was no way this was his weakness.

Rook possessed an exceptional talent as a spiritualist. In fact, in the spiritualist tournament which would happen once every two years, in his debut, which was when he was eight years old, despite it being his first time, he advanced to the quarter finals and regrettably lost, but in the one of when he was ten years old, he was able to advance up to the semi-finals, and in the one when he was twelve years, he advanced up to the finals, and finally, in this year´s one, he got hold of the honor of winning the tournament.   …Of course, adults were partic.i.p.ating in the tournament as well. In other words, he had the strength for it to be to the point of breaking the record in the history of the spiritualists. But…

“Don´t hesitate. Say it clearly. Say that “his last battles were all disappointing.”

Snorting, Raku declared.

He possessed incredible achievements on the tournaments. But his achievements in battle were poor. Of course, he went to many battles. Two years ago, he confronted to Edgar Zerrik´s army and had shown an astonis.h.i.+ng hit and run tactic. But recently, all became different.

At the Myuuz castle battle, at the beginning, they had a robust upstart. Everyone thought it was already a won battle. Rook´s “shadow” had shown them the path to the fort and they successfully captured the fort. But after that… Without partic.i.p.ating in the invasion of the Myuuz castle, he went back home saying as the reason that the princess had called him and that being urgent.

Perhaps, Rook´s luck started to decline since then.

“At the incident at Derufoi city, it was Rook´s fault. Even though it would have been better if they executed Charlotte right away… Many spiritualists died meaninglessly. The strategy was naive; naive at all points.”

“Ra-Raku-sama? Aren´t you exaggerating?”

“As if, Marius. What else should I speak if not the reality? The head of the Bistolru was killed, the famous bodyguard squad of Cellia Buryuuser was annihilated, the informant that was infiltrated at the Demon Lord army was killed, and the Demon Lord´s sister that had finally been captured ran away; all this was because Rook´s judgment was naive. Because of that, the reputation of the prestigious Barusak household declined by a nose dive.”

It was possible to hear the sound of the smoking pipe cracking.

Somehow, it seemed that Raku was putting too much strength on her fingers. Marius felt like the muscles of his back had frozen.

“Probably, he will lose this next battle.”

“Su-such a thing! There is nothing saying that he will lose.”

“No, he will lose. Marius, do you know the reason why he is attacking Karkata?”

“That would be…”

Raku was silently glaring at Marius.

Raku´s height only reached to his shoulder, but she was giving off an aura that made it look like she was looking at him from above. Desperately trying to make his head work, he started to think about the reason why Rook went to capture Karkata.

“Hm… What should he do to get some sort of advantage…?”

Saying this much, Marius realized something. Opening a map in hurry, he localized the position where Karkata was. Karkata was a hill surrounded by a grape plantation, but going to the other side of that hill, straight ahead, one would shortly arrive at a certain prospering port city.

With his voice trembling because of his own discovery, Marius said the answer.

“Perhaps it is because it is close to the port city of Perikka that had been captured a few days ago since it would be possible to establish a base there for the recapture of Perikka city?”

“That´s only the surface.”

Marius´ idea was rejected. Because he had confidence on that answer, he became a bit down.

“Why would it be?”

“Actually, it is so that he can get his hands on that grape plantation that grows there.”

“I see, it was th… What?”

Marius was about to nod, but suddenly, he noticed something strange. As if how Marius had his mouth wide-open was funny, Raku started laughing.

“Right, right, it´s a stupid reason, right? It seems he wanted to sell the wine made of grape so that he could get some funds. Hey, it´s a stupid reason, right? If it is about getting money, he should already have mountains of it at his own territories…”

“…Hadn´t Rook-sama already been producing strong liquor beverages?

Marius asked full of doubts.

He had never tasted any strong alcoholic drinks, but when he asked his alcohol loving friend that would partic.i.p.ate at samplings of newly created products, apparently wine was an drink that would make the throat sting. He laughed, saying it wasn´t to the point of solely being a drink that was agonizing to drink, but he seriously shook his head at that. It was without doubt one that would make you cough, but it was a high-grade beverage that would bring about a smooth and complex taste to the mouth. It was a product of high praise that wasn´t found anywhere else even if one was to search for it around the world and didn´t have enough stocks at the market.

…But Marius didn´t drink alcoholic drinks, so it didn´t matter to him.

“Umu. That´s right. When I asked him about it, he said that beverages were important to receptions and had uses in diplomacy. And so, he needed to get something of good quality. Hmph, even though he said that alcoholic drinks were no good until he became twenty years old. That´s just stupid; he is a really just a stupid little brother.”

Raku kept ridiculing her brother for a while.

But once she stopped smiling, all that remaining was an elder sister full of grief.

“However, although he is a stupid little brother, that´s where his cuteness comes from.  …He is worthless, but it would be regrettable if he were to perish at this battle.”

“…If that is the case, if Raku-sama were to rush over there and help him…?”

“What are you spouting? That would be just spoiling him!”

Raku kicked Marius. Taking a sharp blow at his ankle, Marius groaned in pain. Without even looking at the groaning Marius, Raku started to diligently write a letter.

“Besides, if I was to move the army as well, father wouldn´t remain silent. This battle is also for the sake of him clearing his name. It is a fight for Rook, who embarra.s.sed the Bistolru and the Buryuuser and covered the name of the Barusak in dirt, to regain his honor.  …It would be a pain if I were to intervene in a bad way just so that I would get father´s antipathy. There is no other way besides secretly helping him.”

Her father´s face came to Raku´s mind.

To be continued…   -.-”

 

His tone of voice was gentle, but he was actually very strict. Neither Rook nor Raku were a match to their father. Although he didn´t display this behavior after he retired by old age, his rigidness was still in good health. They still had never directly received his true anger. There were many times he got angry at them, but it was a gentle anger of something like “Hey, don´t do that”; it wasn´t his true anger. It was different from anger of things like “You can´t leave the bread half-eaten”  or “Pay more attention to the training, ok?”, but true anger.

Strictly speaking, it was the anger of the times when they caused any losses to himself or the Barusak household. It would be an anger caused by something like when breaking a pot that was a heirloom or dropping cooffee at his books. But as if this kind of anger was still bellow that, because he didn´t want get more angry himself or because he was too angry, he would scold them through letters. The recent incidents at Myuuz and Derufoi, it felt like he was angry enough for it to be called his true anger, but even so he sent his anger through letters.

When Raku was thinking about his true anger… It was in the meaning of Rook physically being injured.

Just like how her stupid little sister had been thrown away.

Probably, if Rook fails this time, he won´t see the tomorrow. As his elder sister, she needed to avoid that at all costs. Regardless of what kind of thing he had done to receive it, she didn´t want to see her little brother dying.

“Marius, take this and send it to Rook… No, send it to his close aide, Mary. We are talking about Rook after all. He will say something like “But my strategy is perfect!” or something and not pay attention to it.”

Raku gave the well sealed letter to Marius.

Thinking about the words that were said to him, he silently put the letter in his pocket.

“Ha, understood.”( はっ)

“Use a fast horse. If you depart today, it should be possible for you to catch up to him before he arrives at Karkata.”

“Ha!”( はっ)

Giving a light nod, Marius immediately went his way and rode his horse to Karkata.

———

The footsteps of war were approaching.

From the expectations of a soldier that was a.s.signed to scouting, without having any changes to their numbers, the enemy army should be geting to a position that will be possible to see them with the eyes by today. Originally, it should have been about now that they started to launch attacks. However, differing from Riku´s intention, the preparations for the siege were steadily progressing.

They were taking great care of the pigs, and so that even if anything unexpected was to happen to the pigs, they were also starting to take care of their sheep. Although the ordinary citizens and merchants inside the fortress all had anxious faces, the soldier´s enthusiasm for the siege and morale were high.

“It will be soon. The time they come to attack.”

While sitting on his chair, Kraut was waiting for any notifications. The faces of the people that were under the rain gathered waiting for the conclusions of the meeting all seemed to be splitting open by the tension.*1

“Ha, we are ready to go anytime.”( はっ)

“Let´s show them we will endure, whether it is five years or ten years.”

Riku, who was sitting at the lowest seat, was looking at all this with cold eyes.

She thought of ideas to end the war quickly somehow, but none of them were good ideas. All of that just ended up with the days pa.s.sing by.

“Don´t put up a gloomy face like that.”

Vrusto, who was standing next to her, patted her shoulder. Those feelings were only in her mind, but it seems that all was exposed by her expression on her face. Riku let out a small sigh.

“It makes me want to. For them to go for a siege from the beginning…”

“Well, war isn´t just flashy slaughtering. We need to be attacking the weaknesses of the strategy of the spiritualists too, you know?”

“If it is a enemy that would be showing their weaknesses, though.”

Currently, the defeats of the enemy had been piling up. No matter what, it was impossible to think the enemy would hold back in taking measures for this next battle. Rather, they would be attacking with the resolution of even dying for the sake of the succeeding of the attack. Riku wasn´t able to relax.

“Re-reporting!!”

It was right at that moment.

Roppu jumped into the room. As a member of the reconnaissance squad, he was supposed to be looking out for the enemy´s movements right now. It didn´t seem like he was hurt, but he had an expression on his face that was weird for some reason.

“What´s the matter, sergeant major?”

To Riku´s question, Roppu answered it with a trembling voice.

“Th-the enemy… The spiritualist army isn´t coming here. They ignored Karkata and kept advancing towards the mountains.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

Vrusto´s shout resounded through the meeting room. Not only Vrusto, but everyone inside the meeting room raised their voices in surprise. With eyes wide-open, Kraut looked at Roppu.

“I-is… this true, Sergeant Major Nezaarand?”

“Y-yes. It´s the truth.”

“I can´t believe it… For it to not become a siege.”

“Let alone a siege, for us to not need to have a war is good.”

Everyone became relieved by the war they had just avoided for some reason. But then, a weird question arose.

“But, why did the enemy…”

Putting her finger onto her chin, Riku started to think.

“Going on from here, there should be the Karkata´s plains and the Ryus.h.i.+on mountain range, right? Perhaps, they are planning on going through the mountains?”

“…But, at the other side of the mountain…”

At the moment Vrusto had said that, Riku arrived to a conclusion.

“Sergeant major! Do you have a map?”

“A m-map?”

With Riku´s orders, Roppu opened his map.

It was a simple map, but in there, there was the thing Riku wanted to know about.

“At the other side of the mountains that are ahead of the Karkata plains… It is Perikka city.”

With the demons seizing their biggest port city, the income of the kingdom decreased. In that case, them coming to recapture this was not weird.

“No, but if they wanted to attack Perikka, shouldn´t they do so from the sea? Because, going through those mountains is next to impossible.”

“Yes, although I was distant from them, I didn´t see any kind of equipment for travelling through mountains. Looking at their other equipments… It didn´t look as if they were making preparations for going through the mountains.”

Vrusto and Roppu presented their arguments. Of course, those were good points. But then, why did they ignored Karkata and kept advancing?

“When climbing a mountain, there isn´t any way other than going in a line through a single path-de gozaruyona?”

Right at that moment, Asty muttered a few words.

Although it wasn´t to the point of there being only a single line, it was impossible to climb a mountain with a row formation.

Asty´s words added color to the meeting.

Standing up from his chair, Vrusto put his fist up.

“That´s right! Right now it is the time to attack the enemy! We need to show them what´s up with them ignoring Karkata!”

This declaration changed the mood.

The people that were until now obsessed with the idea of going for a siege suddenly had their views changed.

“That´s right! That was an insult to us!!”

“Immediately prepare for departure! It will be war!!”

Everyone started to hurry. The center of all that commotion was Asty. Riku was still glaring at the map.

“…I feel as if there is something wrong…”

The people at Karkata getting angry by being insulted by being so openly ignored feels like something very possible to predict. But even so, it didn´t look like they were setting a bait by ignoring them.

“There must be… Some kind of reason.”

“Hey, lieutenant commander Barusak! You too should start the preparations for departure!”

But her line of thought was interrupted.

With his angry voice, Kraut had sent her orders. While holding herself back from clicking her tongue, she looked at Kraut.

“I am not certain about the details, but, this is a trap without doubt.”

“Are you sure? Are you not? In that case, attack. If you don´t have the confidence, I can set you at our rearguard.”

At that moment, Riku noticed.

The strangeness of the glint of his eyes. They were somehow unnatural. It wasn´t only Kraut, but also the other demons that managed this fortress and Asty as well.

“Second lieutenant Vrusto, this is…”

“Yes… What´s with all this?”

Vrusto´s face had become pale.

It was as if there were something moving Kraut and the others… The glint of their eyes were very strange. Perhaps, that curious s.h.i.+ne in their eyes had something to do with the reason for why the people that were so obsessed with the siege easily changed their opinion. Krauth shouldn´t have been stupid enough to send the whole army to attack just because he was insulted considering the possibility of all them being killed. Unfortunately, Riku didn´t have the time to think about the reason all this was happening.

“Vrusto, do some preparations for us so we are able to immediately retreat should something go wrong. And also…”

Riku was whispering at Vrusto´s ears.

Although it was obviously a trap, stopping their frenzy was already something impossible. She didn´t like the idea of going for the siege, but she hated the idea of throwing oneself in a trap even more. But since all this was already to this point, all she could do now was to do her best in surviving through it.

“We are departing!!”

Since he had given the order, within only two hours, they had finished preparing.

The twenty thousand men Kraut led all rushed out the gates while raising battle cries.

As if they were looking at the victory that was in front of their eyes.

—–

“…In the end, that´s how it went.”

Rook snickered.

Asty Gortoberuk, who was eager for a battle of revenge for Gortoberuk, became the center of all this, making the lord of Karkata going after them leading his army of sixteen thousand men.

First of all, there was no way they would have their pride harmed because they were ignored. But Rook had already known about this development… Rook knew how it went in the game.

“Hahaha, they are just like Takeda s.h.i.+ngen.”*2

“Who is that, young master?”

Rook ignored Mary´s question.

“Turn around! To the army of small fries!”

The ones coming to attack his hundred thousand strong Barusak army, which waited at the plains without climbing the mountains,  was an army of fifteen thousand soldiers.*3

With them being lured by the bait, all there was next was destroying the army that was going out of their fortress unbeknown to the situation.

But Rook still didn´t know about the actual number of soldiers, nor that his sister who was thrown away was at the enemy side.