Chapter 222 - Episode 215: The Tyrant's Retreat
"...Listen, Viscount Tajinette, are you truly not coming with me?"
"Hah, my service ends here."
At the northernmost central edge of the Kingdom of Lancel, at the foot of the Lestio Mountains which run as if to bisect the continent north and south, Viscount Chloe Tajinette answered the question posed by Cadne Lancel I.
In the King Cadne before her, there was no trace of the power he held when he was hailed as the hero of the military nobles. His face was pale, his expression lacked confidence, and he was constantly trembling in fear.
And now, finally, King Cadne was attempting to abandon his own country and flee. He intended to escape to the north, despite having no destination, by crossing a narrow and steep mountain path carved out as one of the few trade routes to the northern part of the continent. Winter was already near, and snow was likely falling atop the mountains. What were the chances that King Cadne, whose physical strength had declined, would safely reach the north?
Surrounding Cadne were about fifty people in total: eccentric Guard soldiers, bureaucrats, and servants who had yet to discard their loyalty, as well as slaves who had been swept up in this flight.
Beside the king of a country with a population of 1.5 million, only fifty remained in the end. No, perhaps it should be said that fifty people still remained for a man in such a state.
And Chloe Tajinette was not included among these fifty.
"...Is it absolutely impossible? I am in this state now, but if I seek asylum in some country in the northern part of the continent and successfully secure their cooperation to borrow troops, I can surely reclaim power from those rebels. Then you could become my most trusted vassal. I'll do anything—money, a title... yes, I'll make you a Marquess. So—"
"I am sorry, Your Majesty. Even if my head be severed, I cannot accompany you beyond this point."
Chloe firmly refused Cadne's optimistic invitation—an invitation based on a delusion that, thinking logically, would absolutely never be realized.
Personally, Chloe no longer admired Cadne, but even so, Cadne was still the king who had ascended to the throne through a formal coronation ceremony. As long as he remained in this country as king, Chloe had decided to protect Cadne as a noble of a military house.
And when Cadne abandoned the country, Chloe's duty ended. A king does not abandon his country. He who abandons the country is no longer a king. Chloe could not follow Cadne as he departed for a foreign land.
Therefore, she would accompany and protect Cadne up to this point. Beyond this, she would not protect him. This was the answer Chloe had arrived at in order to reconcile her sense of mission as a noble with her personal feelings.
To an outsider, it would look like foolish logic, merely clinging to a self-satisfying stubbornness. However, whether Chloe desired it or not, she was a military noble. She had been raised being told by her father, the previous head, to fight for the king, and that she was born and raised for that purpose. Chloe could only think in this way. She had come this far unable to do otherwise.
"The forces of the Princess Faction Coalition will arrive here soon. If you are to leave the lands of the Kingdom of Lancel, it would be best to depart quickly. I will buy time here."
"...I am sorry. I could not live up to your expectations. I will not forget your devotion, Viscount Chloe Tajinette."
"...Now, please hurry."
Without responding to Cadne's apology or his gratitude, Chloe said only that.
Chloe watched as Cadne and his group entered the cold and steep mountain path. She watched the miserable back of a king who had lost every single battle, accompanied by his few remaining attendants.
Once they were out of sight, Chloe looked back.
She could not continue to follow Cadne, who was finally abandoning the country. However, the southern side of the Lestio Mountains was technically the territory of the Kingdom of Lancel, and Cadne and the others were technically still within the Kingdom of Lancel. Cadne was still king.
Therefore, she would stop the pursuit of the Princess Faction Coalition here, alone. This too was a childish and absurd justification, convenient only for herself. The corners of her mouth involuntarily twisted. This was simply the logic she used so that she could die on the soil of her homeland, like a military noble, like a member of the House of Viscount Tajinette.
The sun dipped, morning became afternoon, and the pursuers of the Princess Faction Coalition appeared. Their number was several hundred—no, likely over a thousand.
However, the path leading to the mountain road was a trail cut through the forest, and its width was not very great. A thousand soldiers could not surge forward all at once. Fortunately, she possessed an excellent talent for water magic. She should be able to at least buy some time.
If she used water magic skillfully, there were plenty of ways to stall the opponent without killing them. There was no longer any need to kill her compatriots, nor did she wish to. She only had to buy time until the moment she was cut down.
The pursuing army stopped at a distance of several dozen meters from Chloe.
"I am the head of the House of Viscount Tajinette, Chloe Tajinette! Anyone who attempts to force their way through here shall be regarded as a traitor acting against His Majesty Cadne Lancel I! As long as I live, not a single soldier shall pass!"
She drew her sword and declared loudly. She stated this knowing full well that in this country, those who sided with Cadne were now the ones treated as traitors.
The Princess Faction Coalition army responded to Chloe's declaration with force.
The vanguard group, the archer unit, drew their bows toward Chloe. Over a hundred arrows were released. Chloe protected herself by creating a wall of ice that covered her. No matter how strong-armed a man drew a powerful bow, he could not pierce ice as thick as a stone wall. The arrows were all blocked by the ice wall Chloe created, or they missed their mark and fell to the ground around her.
Seeing that they could not finish her from a distance, the Princess Faction Coalition army advanced. They leveled their spears, drew their swords, and moved forward.
In response, Chloe simply produced a massive amount of water.
Because it led to the mountains, this road was a gentle slope. The water Chloe produced became a mass and rushed down the slope with momentum. Attacked by a current of water higher than their knees, the soldiers of the Princess Faction Coalition army could not even stand, let alone advance, and tumbled over.
I'll just wash away all the enemies like this. Thinking so, she produced even more water. The massive amount of water, which became a muddy torrent by sweeping up earth and mud, reached the commanders of the Princess Faction Coalition army riding in the rear—before it did, it was blocked by a suddenly appearing wall of earth.
The current, which had lost momentum after overflowing into the forests on the left and right during its long descent, hit the earth wall and easily flowed sideways.
"...They won't be defeated so easily, will they?"
Chloe muttered, a bitter smile appearing on her face.
Since they were pursuing Cadne himself, the enemy must be full of skilled individuals. It seemed an excellent mage was also accompanying them.
Then, a single knight leaped from behind the earth wall that had blocked the current. He soared to a height impossible for a human jump and ran through the air as he came. It seemed they even brought a wind mage with enough skill to fly. Chloe laughed inwardly, thinking they were being quite lavish against a single opponent.
Chloe raised her hand into the air—and produced boiling water in the form of a mist. Just as a water mage can create ice, they can create hot water using the same principle. The mana consumption is higher, but it is possible to raise the temperature to the point of causing burns.
Taking a direct hit from the explosively erupting hot steam, the flying wind mage was forced to retreat. Without hesitation, Chloe fired ice pellets to scatter over a wide area; the wind mage, who took them full-on, lost the momentum of his flight and crashed into the forest. Since he seemed to have used magic to decelerate his fall, he likely didn't die.
While this was happening, the soldiers who had been knocked down by the water returned to the battle line. Struggling through the muddy road, the soldiers who had been swept into the forests on the left and right moved through the woods to flank Chloe.
She was being surrounded by soldiers from the front and sides. Once it came to this, stalling the opponent without killing them would be an arduous task.
"...Hmph."
Chloe wore a fearless smile. She was going to die anyway. If so, she would die after unleashing a grand technique that would become a legend.
Chloe crouched on one knee and touched the ground with both hands. Then, she released her mana all at once toward the surroundings.
Chloe's role was to buy time. To stall the pursuers. If so, she could simply cover them in ice and make them unable to move.
Since covering the soldiers' entire bodies would cause them to suffocate, she wrapped the road she stood on and the surrounding forest in mana, creating ice all at once so that they were covered up to slightly below the knees.
In an instant, an intense headache struck Chloe. The burden of using such a massive amount of mana at once pressed down on her body.
Still, Chloe did not stop the activation of the magic. While a pain like her head was splitting ran through her, and she felt blood overflow from her nose and bloody tears flow from her eyes, she released the magic.
And then, the magic was completed, and ice covered the area. The ice wrapped around the legs of the Princess Faction Coalition soldiers, who wore expressions of astonishment, sealing their movements.
At a glance, the soldiers whose feet were frozen were about several hundred who had approached Chloe. As expected, the entire army was impossible.
As the result of a stall by a single mage, it was sufficient. A good way to die. Within her consciousness, which was fading due to mana depletion, Chloe thought so.
Her head would likely be taken while she was unconscious. This is the end.
Having reached her limit, Chloe Tajinette let go of consciousness.