Volume 2 40 (Elena’s revenge.)
Volume 2 Chapter 40 (Elena’s revenge.)
Translator: HASUTSUKI, Editor: SniperIRLDay
182 after being summoned to another world: (Elena’s revenge.)
At the time when Ryouma cuts down Kyle to the ground… Elena carried out her revenge deep inside the forest.
“Damn it! Protect the General and his family!”
“Follow me! We will break through!”
Different orders flew from here and there, it was a very confusing battlefield.
A person suggests protecting Hodram.
One tried to gather some knights and break through.
While their armor gets broken bit by bit, they desperately deflect the attacks that came at them.
However, reality is a cruel thing.
Their good luck was not being rewarded.
While holding shield and sword trying to break through the encirclement, one after another they fall down into the earth.
The number Hodram has on his side is about 30 people.
In contrast, Elena has 200 people under her command.
Because the troops of both sides are Knights, the effect from the difference in numbers has become apparent.
Currently, Hodram who received a surprise attack by Ryouma at his base got ambushed by Elena in the forest during his escape.
This trap is actually Ryouma and Elena’s plan from the beginning.
While Ryouma acted as a hunting dog, Elena acted as the hunter.
Such measure has proven to be very successful.
“Elena-sama… We’ve done everything as instructed. After this what left is to take Hodram and his families heads…”
“Good… Looking at the process I can already see the result. Ryouma… You really did a great job…”
Elena nodded her head and mentioned Ryouma after hearing the report from her adjutant.
“But still… To think that it worked so well… That young man is really terrifying…”
Her adjutant muttered such words while paying attention to the battle development.
In front of his eyes, there is a battle that could be described as a total massacre.
Of course, it was Elena’s side who massacred the enemy.
Having four to five knights ganged up against one of the enemy’s knights, one can already see the result of the battle.
Furthermore, some knights also surrounded the area in case someone escaped.
Only death remains in the eyes of the knights who followed Hodram.
And this kind of situation was created by a man named Mikoshiba Ryouma.
In the adjutant eyes, fear toward such a man can be seen.
“I guess so, he’s indeed a great man… Are you by chance scared of him?”
After praising Ryouma with a smile on her face, Elena asked a question toward her adjutant.
The smile she displayed previously disappear from her expression.
Her adjutant kept quiet toward her question.
Such attitude speaks his true feelings.
At least, for now, Ryouma has not made any move disadvantageous for the Rozeria Kingdom.
It would be fine to admire Ryouma’s ability as an ally.
However, Elena’s adjutant can’t erase the uneasiness that appears in his mind.
(Certainly, he had made a lot of wonderful achievements. His strategies and commanding ability are great… However, he is not someone from this country. He’s just a stranger… if such strategist were to get appointed by the enemy of this country and invade this country… What’s going to happen?)
He acknowledges Ryouma’s ability.
Of course, the adjutant’s thought is nothing but imagination without basis.
And of course, he also understands that his fear was only his imagination, but he still fears Ryouma.
Such feeling is also attributed due to how Ryouma does not show any loyalty toward the Rozeria Kingdom.
He does not pledge his allegiance to Princess Lupis, nor does he have any sense of affinity for the Kingdom.
It was by accident that Ryouma and Princess Lupis become an acquaintance.
And the executives under Princess Lupis know that.
That’s why Elena’s adjutant was terrified of Ryouma’s achievement and capabilities.
“I see, so you’re really afraid of him huh? Well, I can understand the reason why you’re that worried… I’ve received this kind of consultation several times already…”
Elena’s muttered those words with lonely expression.
Hearing her words, the adjutant expression changed.
The worst possibility appears in his mind.
And that is the thing called assassination, but…
“I’ve told the others to not do something unnecessary… After all, we might accidentally stir up a snake by poking the bush which might end up badly for us.”
Elena shrugged her shoulders and said those words…
“Is that about the possibility of killing Mikoshiba Ryouma?”
Elena did not deny her adjutant’s question.
After all, it was the truth that such plan was suggested by some people already.
(I guess, this is like the saying ‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered in’ huh?)
Within the adjutant’s heart, there is feelings of vexation and also desolation.
Certainly, he was afraid of Mikoshiba Ryouma.
However, he never had an idea to assassinate someone just because of that.
(However, no one has achieved more than him in this civil war. It was thanks to him that Princess Lupis could take down General Hodram and Duke Gerhardt… Even though he is not a citizen of the Rozeria Kingdom, to eliminate someone who has produced the greatest achievement by assassination is a bit…)
One can say managing a nation is not all pretty.
For that, the adjutant can understand.
However, he can’t really accept if they decide to assassinate Ryouma.
There’s also another problem other than the adjutants reluctance to acknowledge such thing.
It is fine to choose assassination as a measure.
However, to perform that, a certain condition must be met.
And the condition is to ‘not fail’
They have to be absolutely successful in doing it.
If the assassination ends up as a failure, they might actually create an enemy greater than Hodram and Gerhardt.
That’s why the adjutant didn’t feel the need to kill Ryouma due to such risk.
(The best outcome would be for him to serve the kingdom… Thus this country and Mikoshiba-dono can prosper together…)
But that is easier to say than done.
The social status barrier in this kingdom is quite high, even the citizens of the Rozeria Kingdom never dream to be a noble in this kingdom.
“Elena-sama, what your thought regarding this problem?”
“Mine? Of course, I’m against it… After all, it was thanks to him that I can kill Hodram… And if we fail with the assassination, we might actually end up with a more dangerous enemy…”
Toward the adjutant’s question, Elena tried to speak ambiguously.
Even with such ambiguous answer, a conclusion can be drawn easily.
The problem is, whether or not one has the determination to carried out such thing.
When that time comes, Ryouma would never forgive the kingdom.
After all, no matter what the reason, in his eyes the Rozeria Kingdom has betrayed him.
Nevertheless, Elena is a knight of Rozeria Kingdom.
There’s no choice for her other than to fight anyone who becomes the enemy of the country.
“But… If he really ends up as the enemy of Rozeria Kingdom… At that time…”
Elena’s last words were being cuts off from reaching the adjutant.
“””Uoooooh!”””
“”We caught them!””
Drowned by the cheers that sprigged up from the battlefield.
“Are you guys injured? Listen, we will try to break through the siege… Hold my hand tightly! Keep your focus and don’t pay too much attention to the surrounding!”
Hodram is running around desperately trying to break through the siege while covering his wife and daughter behind him.
The horse-drawn carriage has turned into a useless thing after the horse pulling the carriage was killed by the enemy.
After the horse was killed, he quickly takes his wife and daughter out from the carriage.
However, Elena’s encirclement is so strong that can be said to be like an iron wall, Hodram’s escape routes have already been sealed off.
In the end, he had no choice but to forcefully break through the encirclement.
However, this world is not as sweet as to allow such story to happen.
Due to him trying to unreasonably break through the encirclement many times, the Knights around him began to decrease one by one.
“Father…”
The face of his daughter turns pale due to having people with murderous intent surrounding her.
Until just a few weeks ago, she was the daughter of an influential person within the country. Someone who has never dreamt of plunging into the battlefield.
Yet, fate threw her into current predicament.
“It’s fine! I’m here after all! You just have to keep your attention toward me and run!”
Hodram raises his voice to reassure his wife and children.
He understands that if he shows a slight hesitation it would end up break the two ladies hearts.
“It’s fine… Believe in your father.”
His daughter nods her head toward her mother words.
Or rather, is there even another option other than agreeing to it? the answer is none.
“Here we go!”
Following Hodram’s words, the Knights around him nodded their head.
Their number is four people.
From the 30 Knights following him only four remains.
“”Uooooh!”””
They all rushed together to break through the encircling net.
They raised their swords.
Swinging those swords like mad dogs.
They completely abandoned their defense.
After all, they had realized that if Hodram dies, everything will end.
And such fact turns them blind.
“Your excellency! Over here!”
The encirclement collapsed for a moment due to their reckless move.
“Here we go! We will rush into the forest at once!”
Hodram’s wife and daughter nodded their heads at his words.
After he confirmed that his families are ready, they ran at once.
“Your Excellency! Hurry up!”
Hearing their guard soldiers voice, they increase their speed.
3 meter until they will break out the encirclement.
(A little more! After we break through the encirclement, we will be fine! We can escape!)
Of course, there’s no guarantee that they would survive even after they break through the encirclement.
However, the possibility for them to survive would raise more if they able to break through the encirclement.
“Kyaaaa!”
Suddenly Hodram can hear his daughter’s screams.
“You insolent! Get your hands off of her! She’s my…”
*Doga!*
Dull sounds resounded.
“Mother! Stop! Don’t be rough with her!”
In front of Hodram’s eyes, his daughter was being held down by a knight, and his wife is crouching down after being hit.
It must be due to being hit by the Knights.
Gastric acid and saliva are leaking from his wife’s mouth.
From the viewpoint of chivalry, people would never believe it if they were told that a knight just hit a woman.
However, such beautiful things only appear on a fairy tale, on the battlefield, everything’s the same.
<Note: There’s no such thing as an enemy you can’t attack in a time of war>
Hodram becomes hesitant.
(Damn it! Just a little bit more! What should I do? Should I help them? No, that would be impossible… Should I run just like this? But, that would mean deserting my daughter and wife…)
His line of sight crossed with his daughter.
He can see from her eyes that she wants help for her and her mother.
But he could do nothing.
Just a little bit more run and he would be able to escape.
It is practically impossible for him to help his daughter and wife here.
His cold-hearted mind begins to calculate the loss and gains.
It’s impossible.
He thought he should run away and abandon his wife and daughter.
However, that would also make matters worse.
(If I abandon my wife and daughter, even if I manage to escape to the Thalluja Kingdom, the chance for me to get asylum there would be close to none…)
The Thalluja Kingdom would accept Hodram because he has his wife’s parents family there.
But if Hodram were to abandon them here, his wife’s family won’t be able to forgive him.
His own instinct to survive made him unable to move.
The road left for him no matter which path he choosesonly leads to ruin.
“General Hodram! Throw down your weapon and surrender, or do you want to die like this?!”
One of the knights step forward and shout loudly.
Hodram has already been trapped in a situation where there was nothing he could do.
(Damn it!)
The Knights already blocked his path to escape.
Even if he abandons his wife and daughter to escape, it would be hard for him to break through against them.
“What would you do?! Are you going to escape in front of your wife and daughter?”
Such cold words pierced Hodram.
Both his wife and daughter have swords around their neck.
“Dear…”
“Father…”
Their eyes stabbed Hodram more than anything.
With this, his fate is already sealed.
Hodram throws his sword on the ground.
“I surrender…”
“Very well!”
In response to Hodram’s words, the knight nods his head and raises his hand.
Several knights quickly jump out and arrest Hodram.
“””Uoooooh!”””
“”We caught him! We caught him!””
Such cheers resounded within the forest.
Everyone raises their sword overhead to express their victory.
“It has ended! Now the Rozeria Kingdom will enter a new era!”
“Glory to her highness princess Lupis! Prosperity to the Kingdom of Rozeria!”
Words of delight were shouted by the Knights.
“What are you guys going to do to us? Where is the trial going to be held? At Irachion? or at the royal capital? Can you guarantee the safety of my wife and child until the decision is made?”
Hodram asked the knight standing by his side.
“Trial? There’s no such thing you know?”
Being looked at by the knight cold eyes, Hodram shows a surprised expression.
“What?! What do you mean by that? I’ve surrendered! That’s why I have the right to receive a formal trial!”
Hodram already forgot that he was under arrest as he tried to grab the knight cuff.
Hodram thought that if he surrendered he would be put on trial by the princess.
Or at least he thought that his and his family lives would be guaranteed until the trial is settled.
At worst, Hodram was sure that the kind princess won’t execute his family.
(At least, at least if I get myself time to explain things, I could spare my family from execution!)
However, his thought was being overturned.
“What does this mean?! Didn’t you pursue us by the order of princess Lupis?!”
“No, that is wrong…”
The knight immediately denied Hodram words.
Then a knight with armors dyed with the color of pure white shows up from the crowd.
“You seems to have misunderstood something, General Hodram…”
“That voice… That figure! It’s you! Elena Steiner! You, why are you here?! You’re supposedly participating in the attack at Irachion!”
Hodram expression completely changed.
After all, the person he had admitted to defeat is actually the person called Elena Steiner.
“Elena Steiner-sama? The one who’s called [Rozeria’s white goddess of war]?”
“Are you really that Elena Steiner?”
Those are the words that came out from Hodram’s wife and daughter.
Such doubt is natural, after all, they have met someone who’s hailed as the hero of the nation.
Elena nods her head toward Hodram’s wife and daughter questions.
“Is it that surprising that I’m here?”
“Did you read all of my action?! That can’t be! You’re not someone who’s capable of doing something like that!”
Hodram roared.
“Oh, my? You are still the same man who’s unable to accept reality huh? Overconfident with his own ability and looking down at the others… From the day we met, you’ve never changed… But the reality now is that I’ve caught you, can’t you even accept this fact?”
“Shut up! You peasants! I’m a man from a family with high prestige! Not someone like you, you low life!”
Toward Hodram’s words, Elena shows a bitter smile.
(Such a stupid man… He only thought about his ambition and lineage… Why can a man so full of talents like him be so stupid like this I wonder?)
“You bastard! Did you think you’re better than I am? You’re not someone who’s equal to me!”
“Such pathetic person you are… That’s why Fried-sama appointed me as the General back then, not you… Because that person realizes that your arrogance will erode the country… To think what that person had thought about you turned into reality! Can you see the knights present here? Do you think they hold the same view as you?”
“Don’t joke with me! Fried-dono is the one who’s unable to judge someone talents! For him to give the General rank to a commoner like you instead of me, someone who is born from a noble family! You people! Don’t you think it was humiliating that the glorious knights order of the Rozeria Kingdom being led by a commoner? Furthermore a woman?!”
Hodram raises his voice and looked around.
However, no one presents shows an agreement toward Hodram’s statement.
Rather, everyone shows a despise toward Hodram.
“W-What’s with you guys?! Why are you looking at me like that?!”
The gaze that was directed toward Hodram.
Such gaze was the same as how Hodram directed his gaze toward a commoner.
The difference is that the gaze directed toward Hodram is the result of how Hodram had been leading the Knights order.
“You’re really a stupid person huh… Do you know? The knights present here are of low rank and most of them are born from a family of commoners. You, someone who’s born from such prestigious family never realize… The existence who actually supported the Knights order!”
Just like some knights who are from families that become a knight generation after generation, there are also commoners who become a knight.
However, for a commoner to become a knight, one must pass the exam 100 times harder than those who come from a prestigious family.
Those commoners make a hard effort until they vomit blood.
However, despite being the same knights, there was a clear barrier between those who are a commoner origin and those who came from a knight’s household.
It was a daily routine to have a knight from prestigious family snatch an achievement from those who came as a commoner.
It would be always the Knights from the prestigious family who led the march.
People who originated as a commoner can only do the backstage work.
Among the Knights here, some of them lost their lover forcibly.
Some of them are people who’ve wrongly being convicted as a corruptor.
And the one who does those things to them is the Knights from the prestigious families.
It was always the commoner who undertake the dirty works and suffered because of it.
Not to mention the one who becomes the leader of the knight orders is someone who is obsessed with a special right.
If someone who becomes the leader is like that, then it won’t be weird if those under him turn out hating him.
“Don’t joke with me! We’re born not equal! You can become a knight because of our sympathy! You all should follow us quietly!”
Hodram’s emotion was high, his face flushed.
His behavior has become weird, but everyone presents understood what Hodram wants to say.
He wants to say the knights with commoners origin should follow him who came from a distinguished family.
“Such frustrating person you are… You… Oh well, whatever… You can bid farewell with that idea of yours…”
“You bastard! Are you going to break the national law?! I do have right for trial!”
Toward Elena’s exclamation, Hodram could not hide his surprise.
He himself has been breaking several laws these past few days.
He does some unfair things, such as positioned someone he doesn’t like to a border guard duty.
Embezzling military expenses, received bribes from merchants, and so on.
He also traps his colleague who becomes hindrance to him by accusing them of crime.
However, at the end of his life, what he relied upon was the law itself.
Even if that sounds unreasonable, he still relied on it.
After all, he does not have anything left anymore.
“Don’t misunderstand alright? In official record, Hodram Alberg is attempting attack toward Elena Steiner, thus he ends up being killed in action. And his family are killed due to attempting to escape. That would be the official record… That was your favorite way of getting rid someone right? Hodram…”
Elena smiled sarcastically toward him.
“Can’t be! That… You can’t do something like that! Where’s the justice!”
“Justice? This is not justice you know? This is revenge… For my husband and daughter whom you had killed 10 years ago.”
Hodram face froze toward Elena’s words.
Hodram’s wife and daughter also show a surprised looks.
“What are you saying?! I don’t do that! I don’t know the matters about your family!”
“You don’t have to put up some excuse… Five years ago, I heard from Heinz, a slave merchant who was ordered by you to do the jobs. He’s the witness…”
Following Elena’s words, her adjutant who stands beside her nodded his head.
“I don’t know of such thing! I don’t know that slave merchant either! And that merchant has already been executed! Where’s the proof! The testimony!”
“Dear… Just what happened here? Did you really… Killed Elena-sama’s family?”
“Father…”
“What?! What’s with those eyes! I don’t know anything about that matter! Are you not going to believe your father’s words?!”
Hodram’s family also begin to suspect him.
However, the more he tried to defend himself, the colder their eyes become.
It was obvious for them that Hodram has wronged everyone present.
“Let’s see… I do not have such evidence indeed… But, I don’t need such thing. Because what I want is to kill you…”
“You bastard…”
Hodram finally noticed the madness in Elena’s eyes.
And also the fact he won’t be able to escape.
“But, be relieved… I will also kill both your wife and your daughter together with you… My daughter was violated and killed, but, I will forgive you…”
Elena then pulls out her sword from its sheath and walks toward Hodram’s wife and daughter.
“Wait! My wife and daughter have nothing to do with me!”
Hodram is immediately suppressed by the knights around him due to him trying to stand up.
“It does you know? After all, they are your family…”
“Wait! Somebody! Somebody stop her! This kind of thing, this kind of thing cannot be tolerated!”
Looking at Elena, Hodram desperately seeks help from around him.
However, amongst the 200 people present, no one listens to Hodram’s plea.
Because everyone present wants him to die.
“Nooo! Please… Help…”
Tears appear from the daughter’s eyes.
She understood that his father has committed an unforgivable crime.
And how much his father was hated.
However, she thought that among the 200 knights, there would be still someone who can show mercy.
“Goodbye… It was not your sins… But your luck was bad… At least, I won’t make you suffer like my family…”
“STOOOOP!”
Hodram roared.
However Elena did not stop, her sword gently swayed in the air down to Hodram’s daughter.
*Zazh*
Hodram’s daughter collapsed to the ground, from her neck blood dyed the earth.
*Zash*
This time Hodram’s wife lost her life.
“You bastard! How dare you! I will kill you! I will definitely kill you!’
Hodram eyes were red in anger, saliva scattered from his mouth.
However, being pressed by several knights, he was unable to move his body even for an inch.
“That’s good! That’s what I wanted to hear from you! Because I lived to see you like this!”
Elena walks toward Hodram with an innocent smile on her face.
(With this… Everything is over… Seria… Dear… Now you both can rest in peace… With this, all of your regrets, I’ve erased them all…)
The grudge that she had for these past 10 years will be released.
Inside her heart, the appearance of her husband and daughter appeared.
“With this, everything comes to an end… Hodram Alberg!”
Elena raised her sword overhead.
“Damn it! You bastard! You damned low life!”
That was the last words of Hodram Alberg, the mastermind behind the rebellion.
With this, the civil war in the Rozeria Kingdom came to an end.