The day after Frizione’s army joined up with the rebel army.
As they continued to deal with the aftermath of the battle, one of the soldiers on guard duty suddenly noticed someone coming down the road.
For a moment, the soldier thought it was another punitive force! But as he was about to hurry to inform his comrades, he realised that he had seen incorrectly.
It was because of who was leading the army coming towards them.
They were wearing clothes made from cloth so thin you could see through it, like the clothes worn by dancers or prostitutes. They were also wearing gauntlets and leg guards.
Even in the vast Bestir Empire, there was only one person who would wear such clothes.
Well, maybe there might be others, but at the very least, the soldier only knew of one person who would wear clothes like that.
「Vihera-sama, Vihera-sama has returned!」
The other soldiers came to their senses after hearing the guard shout out loudly.
「Vihera-sama has returned!」
「Thank goodness, now we can deal with things even if we’re attacked by another punitive force.」
「No matter how strong Crimson is, he’s still only one person. I was worried about not having enough forces, but now……」
Such voices could be heard whispering here and there as the news spread.
Rei, who was really Rei and Set, as well as Frizione’s army, which now served under Mercurio after joining up, had added to their military strength.
Those two forces were certainly reassuring for the soldiers, but the main force of the rebel army was still the army led by Vihera.
That army had been fighting alongside them since the start of the civil war. That was why the rebel soldiers felt such a deep sense of relief after hearing of her return.
However……on the other hand, the army led by Vihera had their eyes go wide at the devastation before their eyes.
The fences that had surrounded the camp were in ruins and, in many places, the fencing had been destroyed entirely.
Outside the camp, the ground was littered with broken arrows, long swords with chipped blades, spears with broken shafts, all scattered everywhere along with bloodstains.
It was easy see why there were no corpses around despite that, because of the concerns regarding disease and undead in addition to the fact that no one wanted to be in a camp surrounded by corpses.
「H-Hey. This has to be……」
「Yeah. Viscount Bugle seems to have guessed correctly.」
「I can’t believe it……Anastasia, please stay safe.」
All the soldiers muttered their thoughts, some even prayed that the prostitutes they were close to were safe.
「Shouldn’t the prostitutes, merchants, and other non-combatants be safe? I don’t think they would go out of their way to attack them.」
「You never know! There will always be people who will rob or assault us.」
One of the soldiers shouted at their fellow soldiers in frustration.
Many others were also worried about their favourite prostitutes, their favourite bars, and blacksmiths they knew well.
Tilleyle called out to Vihera as he watched their soldiers.
「Vihera-sama, if things continue like this, the soldiers might go crazy. I think it would be better if you spoke to them now.」
「……Yes. If they start a commotion with the soldiers who were left at the camp, it would be a problem, so it would be best to deal with it now.」
As she turned her horse around to speak, she noticed a commotion coming from the camp.
Thinking that Mercurio had come to greet her, Vihera turned around and saw a group of female knights in white armour.
Of course, Vihera knew who the female knights in white armour were and who commanded them.
And then, pushing her way through the female knights……the White Rose Knights, was her half-sister, as expected.
「Sister!」
Vihera’s voice as she called out to her sister was mixed with a touch of tension in addition to happiness.
Although she cared greatly for Mercurio, her younger brother, Vihera was still a woman.
Perhaps she also felt some relief upon seeing her sister, who she shared blood with, even if only half.
After all, Frizione had led her army to escape from the Imperial Capital, which could be considered their enemy’s headquarters.
「Vihera, I’m glad you’ve returned safely. Seriously, you’ve caused so much worry girl.」
Frizione smiled as she looked at Vihera with a somewhat scolding look in her eyes.
Frizione was glad for Vihera’s safe return as she had gone out to eliminate the soldiers blockading their camp, but above all, it was because she had returned to the Bestir Empire.
From Vihera’s point of view, her strong desire to return to the Bestir Empire at this time was to rescue Mercurio and to help him in the civil war, so to her, she wasn’t really returning to the Bestir Empire.
Still, she judged that there was no point in purposefully upsetting her happy sister, so she jumped off her horse as she went over to Frizione.
「Sister, how have you been? ……I’m glad you’re safe too.」
「Yes. Your knight saved me. To be honest, it would have been difficult to get here without him.」
At the words ‘your knight’, Vihera naturally thought of Rei.
Immediately looking around, she found her beloved a short distance away.
Rei was with Set as usual, stroking his back.
Seeing Vihera looking at him, Rei raised his left hand, the one which wasn’t stroking Set, in greeting.
(Hah, I’m not in the mood for this anymore.)
To be honest, Vihera would have liked Rei to at least run over to hug her.
Of course, she would never say that out loud.
She shook her head slightly and spoke again as she looked at the state of the camp.
「So, Sister, looking at the state of the camp, there must have been a battle……」
「yes. It seems that the blockades were a decoy. They tried to take over the main camp during that time, but a messenger was able to let us know and Rei went back first and managed to prevent the loss of the camp. That’s what’s happened so far.」
「……What about the damage?」
「They’re not small. I also heard that the enemy force was over 20,000 strong. Considering that, I think we should say they held out as best they could.」
When Frizione said that a force of 20,000 had attacked the camp, the people listening into the sisters’ conversation gasped.
It was a significantly larger force than they had expected, so the state of the camp made sense.
「I’d like to hear more details sister, but……would it be okay to sort out my subordinates first?」
「Yes. The important people can remain here. Also, we haven’t completely finished cleaning up yet either, so it would be great if you could help out there as well……right?」
Frizione looked over at Mercurio.
Seeing Vihera, he had a genuine look of relief on his face.
It was clear from the enemy’s strength that the main camp had been the target of the punitive force, but Mercurio had still been worried that it might have been a decoy to annihilate the main force of the rebel army led by Vihera.
Vihera’s force had generally acted together, but they had also attacked the troops blocking the road in smaller groups, just as Vihera had gone and fought alone.
Since that was the case, Mercurio’s worries were not excessive, considering the possibility they could have been ambushed and wiped out one group at a time.
「Fufu, you think I’d be defeated by some random person like that? But thanks for worrying about me. You did a good job, Mercurio.」
「It’s only because of Theorem and Rei. This time, I went along with the enemy’s plan even though I thought it might have been a trap, and this was the result. I think I should have gone with you, sister.」
Mercurio sighed as he spoke and Vihera shook her head, to indicate there was no other way.
「If we had abandoned the camp at that time, it would have caused more trouble down the line. Since that’s the case, you couldn’t have left the camp. With all that in mind, your choice was not wrong. Instead, let’s start cleaning up first. There are many other things that need to be discussed.」
Vihera’s words prompted everyone to enter the camp.
The troops led by Vihera were ordered to disband for now as they went about their own tasks.
Some people cleaned up the surroundings, some went to check on the safety of their acquaintances, and some went to check on their own tents.
Several members of Frizione’s army caused a commotion at that time, but it ended up just being minor arguments, probably because they both understood that they didn’t have the time for such things right now.
「Well then, Rei. Shall we go too?」
「……Eh?」
In the meantime, Rei was dragged away by Vihera for some reason and taken to the magic tent.
As he was dragged along, Rei was forcibly held by Vihera’s arms, with his elbows buried in her ample breasts, taking him aback at their softness.
……Vihera herself had a happy expression on her face, being able to touch Rei for the first time in a long while. Mercurio and Tilleyle on the other hand looked unamused as they watched one while Frizione had an amused smile on her face.
Angela also had a slightly displeased expression on her face, but with Mercurio and Tilleyle looking even more unhappy, Angela’s behaviour was hardly noticeable.
「Vihera-sama, I’m glad you’re safe……」
「Yes, now the rebel army is fully prepared. Princess Frizione, Prince Mercurio, and……」
One of the nobles glanced over at Rei, whose arm was being held by Vihera, or more accurately, buried in her chest.
There wasn’t anyone here who would treat Rei rudely.
It wasn’t just Mercurio’s rebel army, but Frizione’s army as well.
It was only natural after seeing him perform acts that rivaled what an entire army could do.
It hadn’t happened just once or twice either, so Rei’s power was etched into their memories.
Even those who would normally be picky about etiquette were forced to show a certain level of respect towards Rei.
「Now, let’s discuss our future plans. I, Theorem, will be handling the proceedings.」
Theorem gave a bow as everyone else nodded.
In actual fact, as Mercurio’s closest aide, Theorem was the one essentially running the rebel army.
No one could complain about Theorem being the one to handle proceedings.
Even if they held different thoughts in their mind.
「First of all, Princess Frizione has joined us. Princess Frizione has suggested we take the opportunity to change the name of the rebel army. What does everyone think?」
Everyone had their own response to the question.
The name ‘rebel army’ was originally given to them as way of telling people that Mercurio had rebelled against Kabajid and Shurus, and that they needed to be destroyed.
Some people wondered if it was okay to change the name of their army so easily, even though Frizione had now joined them.
Some thought that the name ‘rebel army’ gave others a bad impression, so they wanted to change it if possible.
Others didn’t particularly care about what they were called and didn’t think it mattered either way.
There were slight differences in thoughts between people, but they broadly fell into those three categories.
Of the people present, the majority had been with the rebel army since its formation and wanted it to be called Third Prince’s army.
However, from the perspective of Frizione’s army, while it was true that they didn’t mind joining up with the rebel army, it was also true that they didn’t like that name as they didn’t have any attachment to the Third Prince.
Considering that, Mercurio was forced to consider whether they needed to change the name of the army.
If they continued to use the rebel army to refer to themselves, it wouldn’t split the army……but there was a risk the atmosphere among the soldiers would become unpleasant and discord would appear.
Rei looked over at Mercurio, who was worried about the topic, without commenting himself.
Rei thought of himself as a hired mercenary, so he didn’t particularly care whether the army was called the rebel army or something else.
He felt that they should just call it whatever they wanted.
「Hmm, that’s right. Frizione, do you have any good ideas?」
Mercurio turned his eyes to Frizione, who had brought up the topic of the army name, but Frizione shook her head in response.
「I have a few ideas, but you’re the one leading the army, Mercurio. ……To be honest, I still don’t agree with brothers fighting each other, but it’s also true that I can’t just keep saying htat. If possible, it would be good to have a name that represents our goal of ending the war quickly and prevent unnecessary fighting.」
「……Well, that’s a crazy plan.」
Mercurio thought to himself with a bitter smile……and ultimately they were unable to think of any good ideas, so they ended up referring to themselves as Mercurio’s army, the same way Frizione’s army had called themselves.