Merchant Noble is out (3/4 chapters for today)
Surrenderer
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“Excuse me.” (Randal)
Following the hesitant soldier who guided him, the blond-haired young man strode confidently into the headquarters. Upon seeing Jeanne and Renoir, who were both stunned, he smiled warmly, as if greeting old friends after a long time.
“General Jeanne, General Renoir. It’s been a while. Is it since we fought together against the Lureid Kingdom?” (Randal)
Both Jeanne and Renoir had fought alongside Randal on the battlefield when Arc and Casablanca were still allies. They were certain: this young man was Randal himself.
“General Randal. I wasn’t prepared for your sudden visit, but…” (Renoir)
Renoir, unable to hide her surprise at Randal’s unexpected appearance, instinctively responded politely despite the fact that Randal was their enemy general.
“It’s fine. I’m the one who barged in.” (Randal)
Randal appeared completely at ease, as if there were no tension in him at all, even though he had come to the enemy’s headquarters.
“Let me introduce myself again. I’m Randal. It’s good to see that neither of you have changed.” (Randal)
To the point of extending his hand for a handshake, Randal clearly had the upper hand in controlling the pace of the situation. Jeanne, who had been caught off guard, suddenly snapped back to reality.
“Randal. You and I are enemies now. You didn’t come here to rekindle old friendships, did you? If I kill you right here, I’d say that this invasion would be half successful.” (Jeanne)
Jeanne drew her sword and pointed it at Randal’s chest. Then, she sternly interrogated him, maintaining her calm demeanor.
“Why did you come all the way to the enemy camp?” (Jeanne)
“I came to surrender.” (Randal)
Randal answered immediately.
“…What?” (Jeanne)
His response was so unexpected that Jeanne reflexively repeated the question.
“Surrender. White flag. Submission. Disarmament.” (Randal)
“Wait, wait, wait. Surrender!?” (Jeanne)
Jeanne could hardly believe it. She opened her eyes wide and gaped in disbelief, throwing questions his way.
“I’m not sure I should be saying this, but didn’t Queen Casablanca kill Tyr? She’s supposed to be your lifelong enemy.” (Jeanne)
“It wasn’t Queen Casablanca who killed Tyr-sama. It was King Rudolf. And he’s already dead.” (Randal)
“You were supposed to be a high-ranking officer of the Warden Household…” (Jeanne)
“The person I swore loyalty to was Tyr-sama, not the Warden Household.” (Randal)
“Even so! Even so!” (Jeanne)
Randal answered so calmly that Jeanne halted her barrage of questions. Even if his answer seemed convincing, and her mind could understand his surrender, her heart just could not accept it.
“You suddenly come here to surrender, and you think I’ll just believe it?” (Jeanne)
“Here.” (Randal)
Randal tossed a piece of paper onto the table.
“?!” (Jeanne)
When they looked at it, they saw a map of the terrain around the battlefield, with certain areas marked.
“This is the deployment of the entire Arc army.” (Randal)
“!!” (Jeanne)
Indeed, now that it’s pointed out.
Next to the markings on the map were names like “Randal,” “Laika,” and “Rishu.”
“There are two routes to reach the royal capital of Kali. One is the orthodox route. This was used during Tyr-sama’s expedition to Kali, and it’s the route you two are trying to take for the invasion now.” (Randal)
Randal traced the map with his finger as he explained. Neither Jeanne nor Renoir had expected to be given a direct explanation about the enemy’s deployment by the enemy general himself, and both hastily began to take notes.
“But, there is another route. This narrow back road.” (Randal)
Randal pointed strongly at the narrow path.
“This is the path my sister Laika is stationed to defend. She will ultimately listen to what I say.” (Randal)
“If we take this route…” (Randal)
Though it would be a detour, it avoided fighting the main forces led by Rishu. As long as Arc was unaware, they could launch a surprise attack on him.
“That’s right. We can strike Arc’s flank without fighting the soldiers we have prepared.” (Randal)
“Wonderful! If this information is correct, we will surely win!” (Renoir)
In contrast to the excited Renoir, Jeanne was still uncertain. She posed a straightforward question.
“But Randal. I still can’t trust you. Why go this far to betray Arc?” (Jeanne)
“Heh. You still don’t trust me? Fine. Being that cautious is more fitting for a general.” (Randal)
Randal smiled confidently and pulled another sheet of paper from his pocket.
“What’s this?” (Jeanne)
“A summons from Arc.” (Randal)
Jeanne took the paper and read its contents. Indeed, it was a letter from Arc calling for Randal.
“Looking at my aimless style of fighting these past few days, Arc’s suspicions have grown quite deep. It seems he plans to call me in before I can betray him, and execute me.” (Randal)
He then added, smiling somewhat sadly.
“There’s no place for me in the Warden Household anymore.” (Randal)
“I thought the Warden Household was a solid, united force. Has it really become this unstable?” (Jeanne)
Although they had heard rumors about a rift between Arc and Randal, they never expected it to be deep enough for betrayal on the battlefield. It seemed Randal was truly serious about surrendering.
“I understand. I’ll contact Queen Casablanca-sama. Once I get her approval, we can discuss things…” (Jeanne)
“Hurry up. If you take too long, I’ll be executed.” (Randal)
Randal did not have much time left. This was Jeanne’s moment to show her speed.
“Right. I’ll handle it as quickly as possible.” (Jeanne)
Finally, Jeanne shook Randal’s hand.
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