Chapter 78 - Monster of the Northernmost Territory II_011_Sora's Return
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This story is a work of fiction.
All characters, organizations, and names appearing are fictitious and have no relation to reality.
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011_Sora's Return
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The Jabaru Kingdom Army, which had been fighting the Posandalk Front Army, retreated immediately after the tunnel unit withdrew from the tunnel. They must have been buying time for their allies to retreat through the tunnel.
「I hear the Jabaru Kingdom Army has also retreated on the Gehatheim side. It's probably because the 20,000 troops they had invested with absolute confidence were annihilated.」
When General Joguru, the commander-in-chief of the Posandalk Front Army, expressed his personal opinion, many nodded.
「Colonel Strebas's achievement in intercepting those 20,000 enemy troops with only 1,700 and annihilating them is great. Furthermore, capturing Prince Salvana is a magnificent feat.」
General Joguru, immensely proud that his protege had achieved such a great military feat, was beaming with joy.
「The achievements of the main player, Sora Forstei-dono, are also immense. The enemy dead amount to 13,000. Most of them were defeated by Forstei-dono. The capture of Prince Salvana is also excellent, but there is no end to the praise for Forstei-dono, who showed prowess unmatched by ten thousand men.」
He heaped praise on Sora, who sat at the lower end of the council, using words that made one's teeth float.
It's not that I'm not happy to be praised, but you're overdoing it...
Not only General Joguru but also Colonel Strebas exaggeratedly spoke of Sora's exploits, so Sora felt his seat was ticklish.
It was the next day that a truce envoy arrived from the Jabaru Kingdom Army.
It was just when reinforcements from home also arrived and they were about to launch an offensive, so General Joguru wanted to turn away that envoy. Of course, he couldn't do such a thing.
He calmed his heart, met with the envoy, and entered truce negotiations.
Truce negotiations are not something General Joguru can do arbitrarily. A political army overseer accompanies them for times like this.
The political army overseer is a post that does not have command authority over the military, but when political judgment is required, it can place the front army commander under its command.
The political army overseer accompanying the Posandalk Front Army is Baron Ruttier, who is 48 years old this year. He is a man with a look of a hard worker, with dark brown hair mixed with white.
It will soon be a year since he was assigned to this Posandalk Front Army, but this is the first time Political Overseer Ruttier is doing his job.
It has been over 20 years since the political army overseer position was established, but it is something like an honorary post that rarely does work. Normally, one completes the one-year term and takes some sort of post in the capital.
Even though his term was about to expire, Political Overseer Ruttier himself was surprised that he would actually have to work.
The overseer is by no means a dead-end position. It was established to show promising future officials the battlefield.
The trigger was dissatisfaction that officials who did not know the battlefield talked about military affairs.
Political Overseer Ruttier proceeded with negotiations while also communicating with the commander of the Gehatheim Front Army. Fortunately, the Kuodo Kingdom annihilated the 20,000 attacking army, and also had a trump card in capturing Prince Salvana. With reinforcements from home, there was no problem in invading in terms of military strength.
Even if the Jabaru Kingdom were to abandon Prince Salvana, it would be fine. If rumors spread that a country that abandons its prince would protect other nobles, there might be nobles who would cooperate from within. There are many ways to use Prince Salvana.
After three days of negotiations, they reached an agreement formally recognizing the Gardadia Region as territory of the Kuodo Kingdom. This means the Jabaru Kingdom will lose the pretext to invade the Gardadia Region.
Furthermore, prisoner exchanges will be conducted at a ratio of 1 to 2. Of course, this exchange ratio is favorable to the Kuodo Kingdom. The number of prisoners is 5,000 Jabaru Kingdom soldiers to 3,500 Kuodo Kingdom soldiers. For the difference not covered by the 1-to-2 ratio, the Jabaru Kingdom will pay identity guarantee fees.
The Jabaru Kingdom, which also had to pay 10,000 large gold coins, found it difficult to support its military economically, not to mention the human casualties. It will likely be unable to conduct large-scale military operations for a while.
Thus, a truce was concluded with the Kuodo Kingdom at an advantage.
Sora led the Amania Territory army and returned to Amania Territory, where his family was waiting.
「Sor—a!」
His father Joseph, upon seeing his face, jumped at him. He was elated like a child.
「Welcome back, Sora.」
「I have returned, Mother.」
His mother Schane, who had the same emerald (suishoku) hair as Sora, gently welcomed Sora inside. Meanwhile, Joseph was still clinging, and Sora was trying to pry him off.
「Elbert. I leave Father to you.」
「Understood.」
Elbert grabbed the back of Joseph's head with his large palm in an eagle grip. It was not behavior befitting the head of the main family, but Joseph was left dangling and carried away.
「Are you hurt?」
「As you can see. Not even a scratch.」
Schane was relieved at those words.
That night became a great banquet celebrating Sora's return. The Forstei family was baronial, but because they owned mines, they were quite wealthy. Not only knights and squires, but all the soldiers who had fought alongside Sora. And local influential people gathered.
「Tonight, I thank you for gathering for my son.」
Joseph gave a speech with his nose high. It was so long that not only Sora but also the attendees grew fed up.
「Umm...」
「Dear, your speech is a bit long, isn't it?」
Schane was smiling, but her eyes weren't laughing.
「...Ah, yeah. That's right. Then, let's toast to Sora's safe return.」
Joseph hastily toasted.
「Cheers!」
When the toast ended, guests came to Sora to greet him.
Merchants, village headmen, overseers who managed the miners, and master blacksmiths.
Because Sora had left this Amania Territory when he was young, he had no interaction with these people. Since most were meeting him for the first time, the greetings took time.
They had their own agendas for being here, but merchants with sharp ears had heard of Sora's great exploits.
Sora knew that these people supported this Amania Territory. So he did not treat them roughly, but responded politely.
After the torrent of greetings ended, Sora went out to the terrace and let out a sigh of relief.
「As expected, this is tiring. The battlefield is easier.」
Because he had little experience with such occasions, which exhaust the spirit more than the body, Sora's shoulders were stiff from the unfamiliarity.
As he rotated his shoulders with crackling sounds, he caught sight of stars like jewels floating in the night sky.
「I wonder if Shine is doing well.」
Not much time had passed since they parted at Central Station. He had wanted to talk more then, but had been too shy to do so.
「I want to see Shine...」
Because he had been taken straight to the battlefield upon returning, he hadn't had much time to think during that time. But now that he was calm, Shine's face came to mind. The stars in the night sky he looked up at seemed to appear as Shine's face.
The next day after the grand banquet, the head of the family, Joseph, couldn't get up due to overdrinking. Just then, a messenger arrived from the Marquis Forbas family in the capital.
Joseph, getting up like a ghost and changing clothes, listened to the messenger's message. He felt sick. His head ached. He looked like he might vomit at any moment.
「On this occasion, Sora-dono's great exploits are truly a cause for celebration.」
The messenger read the congratulatory address resonantly, but Joseph was in no state for that.
Just let it end soon...
Summarizing the messenger's words, it was that a reward was to be given to Sora, so he should come to the capital.
If he returned to the capital, he could see Shine. Sora's heart leaped.
The next day, Sora boarded a train bound for the capital. Originally he had little luggage, and he had headed to the battlefield before unpacking his bag. There was an unpacked bag in his room, so he just took it out as it was.
Joseph, who had recovered from his hangover, Schane, and his older brother Balkan were also together. Joseph, being a noble, could predict that this reward would be substantial. At the very least a knighthood, but considering the size of his military exploits, a barony was possible.
The members of the Forstei family headed for the capital, each with their own thoughts in their hearts.
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