Wortenia Senki (WN)

Volume 2 Chapter 30 (Decisive Battle 2)

Translator: HASUTSUKI, Editor:CptCruiserDay

175 after being summoned to another world: (Decisive Battle 2)

“Sudou… Please lend me your wisdom.”

Irachion’s castle had been dyed red by the setting sun and within one of its rooms Duke Gerhardt lowered his head to a hooded man.

“Duke-sama, please raise your head. A noble person like you should not have to lower your head to commoner like me.”

The tone was very courteous but such tone left an impression that the man was disgustingly polite.

“I beg you! I have no one else to depend on but you!”

Usually, it was unimaginable for Duke Gerhardt to lower his head like this and hidden by the hood was Sudou’s sneering face, since the cause of Duke Gerhardt sudden gestures began like this.

Because the reason why Duke Gerhardt lowered his head like this.

This story all began in the morning.

-

“Are you seriously going to replace me and command the army instead?! Hodram!”

“Of course… Since you took command, even in battles where the situation is favourable to us, you have lost. Don’t you understand your situation, your Excellency Duke Gerhardt.”

“You bastard! For someone who ran away from the enemy what nonsense are you spouting!”

The meeting to decide the future of duke Gerhardt and Hodram had turned sourv where the peaceful atmosphere was now slowly filling with pressure from both of them.

“However, if I’m the one who takes command, we can win you know? This might sound rude, but I don’t see any talent of commanding an army inside of Duke Gerhardt. With that being the case, isn’t it better for me to do so?”

Initially, Duke Gerhardt was thinking of using Hodram by only giving him only some rights of a commander…

However, for Hodram, does not want an inexperienced person standing as the commander.

After all, it would be more efficient if he took command by himself.

The meeting turns into chaos due to Hodram nonchalantly brushing off Duke Gerhardt’s suggestion.

“What are you saying! Within Duke Gerhardt army, there are lots of good warriors! There’s no need to leave the command to Hodram-dono!” One of Duke Gerhardt’s adjutant retorted.

“Hou? This is the first time I’m hearing this but despite anything you say, you still lost to an army even with an army four times larger. If the person you’re talking about is strong like Kyle then I expect that he’s someone with average abilities.”

Hodram plainly ridiculed Duke Gerhardt’s way of command by comparing his abilities as a leader to be poorer than Kyle, this left the adjutant speechless.

“T-That is…”

“In the first place, appointing such an incompetent person as a military commander also show how bad Duke Gerhardt’s ability is, no?”

“Wha!”

“How rude!”

Listening to Hodram’s remark, Duke Gerhardt’s adjutants got angry.

“Hou? I just pointed out the truth so that they can understand your ability, right? Your Excellency Duke Gerhardt!”

Hodram’s tone of voice was filled with ridicule and although it was in a polite manner, it was filled with a rude intent directed at Duke Gerhardt.

“You bastard… What are you aiming?” Duke Gerhardt asked Hodram.

(How? How can he be so confident? He was only able to bring 2,000 of his knights and even though he knows that I have more 20,000, how is he so confident?)

It is true that Mikoshiba Ryouma’s existence caused the situation around Duke Gerhardt to turn sour. However, Duke Gerhardt couldn’t understand, why Hodram was able to show such confidence.

“I was hoping to win this war. Everything I do is for the sake of winning.”

(That much I can understand… There must be something more, something I’m missing!)

In all fairness, what Hodram had said is true.

From the point of view who has the most commanding ability then Hodram stand above.

But then,

“I agree with General Hodram opinion!”

The conflict was broken by the man sitting in the corner of the room.

“””Wha!”””

All eyes turned towards the man.

“Did none of you hear what I said? Then let me say it once again! I said I suggest leaving full command to General Hodram.”

The meeting room turned silent all of sudden.

Noone had an immediate reply.

“What are you doing? Are you betraying me? Kyle!”

Duke Gerhardt’s voice is flat and cold.

With Kyle showing approval toward Hodram suggestion.

Duke Gerhardt was unable to suppress his anger anymore.

“What are you saying! your Excellency! I’m doing my best to do my duty you know!”

“What did you say?”

Gerhardt asked Kyle.

“In the first place, I join Duke Gerhardt because you wanted my military talents! That’s why I want Duke Gerhardt to win this war!”

Kyle then looks around at the nobles inside the meeting room.

“That’s why, since we’re facing an enemy that can even beat me, we should leave command to a person who’s better than even me!”

“K-Kyle… You bastard!”

Gerhardt understood what Kyle’s aim.

(This bastard… He’s planning on changing sides, that’s why he is trying to curry some favor with Hodram! Damn it! I should’ve never allowed him to attend this meeting!)

Kyle who realizes that he had lost Duke Gerhardt trust due to his previous defeat ran for self-protection.

One can say that this is a blunder for Duke Gerhardt since even though Duke Gerhardt had received the report of his previous defeat, Duke Gerhardt still let Kyle attend the meeting.

Duke Gerhardt never expected Kyle to notice, that Duke Gerhardt wanted to use Kyle as much as possible until the

(Damn it! Why did I let Kyle attend this meeting!)

Duke Gerhardt’s gaze was directed toward his adjutant who is sitting next to him.

Like this, the situation turns worse for Duke Gerhardt.

He can’t blame the adjutant. After all, his adjutant had advised him to punish Kyle,instead he decides to postpone the punishment and also did not forbid Kyle from attending the meeting.

This is the result of it.

The treatment toward Kyle still the same as before, and only his punishment end up being postponed.

He should never let Kyle attend the meeting with Hodram.

Furthermore, this meeting was where they had to decide the direction their faction was heading to.

“Hou! So you’re Kyle-dono! I guess I can’t rely on rumors only. I never thought that you’re someone who was able to judge the situation.”

“Your praise is too generous for me.”

The mouth that had ridiculed Kyle until recently is spouting words which were the complete opposite now…

And although Kyle was around when Hodram ridiculed his abilities, he acted as though it was never mentioned.

“I see… If Kyle-sama said that much then I also agree!”

“Wha!”

“This can’t be! What are you saying Earl Aldeheid!”

Gerhardt asked the person who show an agreement toward Kyle’s suggestion.

Duke Gerhardt’s adjutant’s face turns pale.

It was a natural reaction. After all, the one who agreed was the second most powerful person in the noble faction.

In other words, the right-hand man of Duke Gerhardt who had supported him for many years had approved Hodram leadership.

“Don’t be mistaken. Duke Gerhardt… We’re responsible for our vassals after all so I can’t just sit down and wait for our deaths to come.”

His tone of voice seems to indicate that he had made a difficult choice, but Duke Gerhardt was not going to be deceived.

For many years, the Earl had exploited Rozeria Kingdom.

Vassals?

Gerhardt had known the Earl for sometime and in that span of time he never once heard of the Earl having such admirable thoughts.

But, if the Earl shows such a regretful face and voice, the surrounding will easily be deceived by it.

(This… This is hopeless…)

While hostility and anger dominating his heart, Gerhardt tries to calm his mind and assess the situation.

He thought that if Earl Aldeheid the second most influential person within the faction approve Hodram leadership, then it would be just a waste of time for him to argue more.

In a matter of fact, the nobles within nobles’ faction seem to have approved Hodram leadership.

“Well then! With this, I will lead the soldiers!”

The meeting ended with Hodram uttered those words.

Leaving Duke Gerhardt to sit in silence in his chair.

————————————————————————————

“I’m begging you Sudou! I can only depend on you! Please!”

Sudou is looking at Duke Gerhardt with cold eyes.

Disregarding his appearance, Duke Gerhardt clung on Sudou for help.

‘Kyle or Hodram huh?’, that is what inside Sudou’s mind

Sudou is not sure what had happened, but he can see that as the result of the meeting, it has become clear that Duke Gerhardt has lost his faction.

Understanding that Princess Lupis main army is closing in, Duke Gerhardt is cornered.

(This is the man that holds the position of prime minister of Rozeria Kingdom? The moment he lost in power struggle, all that remains is trash eh…)

Within his mind, Sudou was scorning Duke Gerhardt.

(Speaking of influential people, the moment a person falls from power, that person would end up alone huh? Well, I guess this is what we call politics.)

However, for Sudou, to achieve his mission he can’t just ignore Duke Gerhardt.

At least for now…

(In order to fulfill the mission from my home country, in half a year… Well, I will make use of this guy, I guess I need to take a few measures huh?…)

“Please rest assured Duke Gerhardt. I will try to help you…”

Sadou gently grasps Duke Gerhardt’s hand.

“Ooh! R-Really? Will you really help me?! But, right now my situation is…”

His usual high handed attitude had disappeared completely.

Sudou thought that he might lick his shoes if he ordered him to.

“It’s alright… I have a solution.”

“What! You have a solution for this situation?!”

Duke Gerhardt’s tone had returned to his usual in a blink of an eye revealing that the humble and servile attitude he donned just moments ago was nothing more than an act.

However, Sudou did not care about Gerhardt’s attitude.

“Well, but your Excellency will have to pay all the burdens alright?”

Hearing Sudou’s words Duke Gerhardt’s face darkened.

“Pay… Is it money? Or power? It can’t be, my head?”

(This bastard… Even while he’s in the middle of such crisis, he still cares about his personal greed?)

Sudou shook his head as he felt amazed towards the creature called nobles.

“It’s fine without your neck. I can’t do anything unless you give up all your money and power.”

“Foolish! Then there would be no meaning!”

“No no, that is not the case. I did say to give it up, but it doesn’t mean we are just going to give it up so easily…”

Duke Gerhardt’s expression change.

“What do you mean?”

“Right now, Duke Gerhardt has very little cards to play after General Hodram robbed you of your authority over the army…”

“I’m aware of that without you telling me!”

Hearing Sudou’s words, Gerhardt raises his voice, feeling that Sudou was mocking him and rubbing salt on his wounds for his failure.

“But, I can say that this can actually be considered as a stroke of good luck.”

“What did you say? What does that mean?! Hodram stole my authority from me and you call that lucky?!”

“To be honest, the enemy’s commander is quite powerful. Plainly speaking, there’s no chance of winning here.”

“What! You bastard!”

Gerhardt shoots his gaze toward Sudou as if trying to kill him with it.

“Please listen first.”

Sudou did not change his tone of voice.

But it was evident that the atmosphere has changed.

The air filled with a bloodthirst.

Sadou’s words immediately return Gerhardt’s mind back.

“S-Sorry…”

Words of apology come out from Gerhardt’s mouth.

“Let me continue explaining it. Although I’m half in doubt, it was quite a feat with how the enemy’s commander defeated Kyle by drowning him. His information manipulation is also good.”

“Information manipulation? You mean those rumors?”

“Yes. The rumors were cleary the enemy commander’s doing…”

“As expected… It’s true huh…”

Gerhardt seems to have also noticed it.

“Do you think General Hodram can defeat an enemy that is capable of drawing such detailed plan? It is obvious that the enemy should still have some trump cards in his hand?”

“Really?!”

“Indeed. If it was me, I would definitely have one hidden…”

Gerhardt felt like the face is hidden behind the hood was laughing.

“Then what are we going to do?! Should we tell Hodram about it?!”

Gerhardt’s response was one that anyone would naturally come to but considering Gerhardt’s current predicament, even by doing so, he wouldn’t be able to get everything back. This was something Gerhardt failed to realize.

Sudou denied his proposal by shaking his head.

“If we do that, it would be useless. Rather than doing that, I will make use of it.”

“Make use of it? What do you mean?”

“Leave it as it is, and let General Hodram lose against Princess lupis.”

“Such foolishness! If that were to happen then everything would be over!!”

Although this side has Princess Ladine as justification, from Princess Lupis perspective, this is only a rebellion and since Gerhardt was the mastermind of such a rebellion, if Princess Lupis were to win the war he would without a doubt be held accountable and take responsibility for his actions thus far.

Sudou shook his head once more.

“That is fine. We can push all responsibility to Hodram.”

“What did you say?!”

“After all your leadership has been taken over. Thus, let’s make the most out of this situation.”

Gerhardt felt that a frightening smile appeared on Sudou’s face.

“But, is that even possible? But, the fact that I had gathered the army won’t change…”

“No… Indeed that is true. However, we still can alleviate the responsibility. Even Princess Lupis would need to execute someone as the mastermind of the civil war. Normally Duke Gerhardt would be the one…”

“I see! But right now Hodram is here…”

“Exactly. If there are two people that can be executed as the mastermind, one of them should be able to negotiate for their life.n.”

“But… Is there something we have that will make Princess Lupis spare my life?”

‘There’s no way that she would spare the mastermind,’ that is what Gerhardt had thought.

It is probably impossible for Gerhardt to capture Hodram and present it to Princess Lupis either.

Sudou keeps insisting despite Gerhardt’s suffering.

“You do have it no? In that dungeon.”

“Dungeon? Dungeon, Dungeon!”

Toward Sudou’s words, Gerhardt remembered a certain human.

“But still… Is it really worth that much?”

As Sudou had said. Indeed it can be used as a negotiation tool but Gerhardt was doubting if it really was worthy enough to make the Princess spare his life.

“What are you saying… Don’t worry about it. Princess Lupis will definitely respond to the negotiation.”

From behind the hood, Gerhardt can hear he’s laughing and he couldn’t help but nod his head while feeling anxious in the coming days. Right now he was in a desperate situation and as the big battle approaches, noone would be able to foresee the outcome of it.