Episode 122 Revolution Defense War – Krafte (4)
The building we entered after getting off the carriage had a simple and efficient interior reminiscent of a military headquarters rather than a palace.
The King’s room, which he entered under the guidance of Chancellor Bittenfeld, did not even have a throne, let alone any decorations.
Placed in the exact center of a fairly large room was a long table reminiscent of a strategy conference room and chairs lined up in rows.
And beyond the long table, you can see a man looking toward the balcony, holding a cane with both hands.
Perhaps the author is the High King of Krafte.
“I brought you here, just as your Majesty ordered.”
Chancellor Bittenfeld looked at me as if his role had been completed just by leading me this far.
“Then, have a nice chat.”
…That doesn’t sound like much fun.
No matter what I thought, Bittenfeld left without any regrets.
Then the Great King slowly turned his back and faced me.
“Welcome, Marquis de Lafayette. King Charles II of Krafte welcomes you.”
“Pierre de Lafayette, Commander-in-Chief of the French Revolutionary Army, meets His Majesty the High King of Krafte.”
As far as I know, the Great King is an old man in his 60s, but although he has grown white hair, he looks much younger than that, perhaps because of his posture or attitude.
The great king smiled and nodded at me, then stretched out his hand and offered me a seat.
“Sit down. Do you enjoy coffee?”
“Yes, I like it.”
Christine drinks coffee so often that I also started to enjoy it.
Although it seems like she drinks coffee for work rather than preference.
“Okay, that’s good.”
The great king nodded with satisfaction, sat down at the head table, boiled water himself using a magic tool, and began making coffee in a rather unique way.
…It’s true that it’s coffee, but there are things in the alcohol that I don’t know what it is.
I was quite skeptical, but the King calmly savored the aroma of variously mixed coffees and handed them to me with confidence.
“I think it went well. Would you like to try it?”
“…It’s an honor, Your Majesty.”
You can’t not drink coffee recommended by the king of a country himself.
“hmm.”
The scent is very strong.
When I closed my eyes and tasted it, the Great King’s coffee had a very unique and deep taste, combining the natural bitterness of coffee, the aroma of alcohol, and the pungent sensation on the tongue.
“This…”
It’s amazing.
To be honest, I was skeptical, but it has the strongest taste of any coffee I’ve ever tasted.
“It looks like you did quite a bit of research. “It’s great.”
The Great King seemed quite pleased and looked very satisfied.
“Haha, I’m glad you recognize me. “I can’t handle government affairs without this.”
That’s right.
Still, it’s not a bad start.
The atmosphere is good, so from now on I will do my own thing-
“Wouldn’t it be a pleasure to have the enemy you face on the battlefield know your tastes?”
As I was leisurely savoring my coffee, I almost spit out all the coffee I had in my mouth at the words the Great King spoke.
“your majesty…? “You may be presumptuous, but I don’t know.”
“Jim is planning to go to war with Franzia.”
The king said, “Let’s eat dinner together tonight.” He said it in the same tone.
…crazy?
With a storm raging in my head, it took some time before I could barely open my mouth.
“…I thought His Majesty called you to discuss diplomacy between our two countries.”
“Isn’t war the most fundamental and core issue in diplomacy between countries?”
No, have you decided to go to war and called me?
Damn it, should you have looked into it when you rejected Talleyrand’s request and called me, the military commander?
Why did Tale and that man come together at first, skipping here and going straight to the Eastern Empire?
I swallowed dry saliva and looked at the Great King, who was leisurely savoring his coffee with a smile.
No matter how you look at him, he seems suspiciously peaceful for a king of a country who started war.
Are you serious?
Or threats?
Should I have dragged the damn Talleyrand by force?
After thinking about it, I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
“I am offended, but I cannot understand His Majesty’s decision.”
“Hoo, why?”
“The main enemy of the Krafte Kingdom is not Francia. The Empire of Germania, to be more precise, the Archduchy of the Sudenreich, where the current emperor is.”
From the beginning, the Great King of Krafte was famous as the leader of the anti-imperial faction within the Germanian Empire.
The position of emperor of the Germanic Empire is considered to be a semi-hereditary position, as it has been held by the princes of the Grand Duchy of the Sudenreich for the past several hundred years, but it is a position elected by the electors.
“The authority of the Emperor, Archduke Sudenreich, had already been undermined, and the Empire had lost the ability to continue the war.”
Because of the unreasonable war with us, the current emperor’s national power is ruined, and the Kingdom of Krafte can aim for the next emperor if it maintains its current status.
“Your Majesty, all you have to do is wait for the empire’s authority to further decline and fall into chaos. Then, it is not a dream to have an emperor elected in the Kingdom of Krafte, so is there any reason to help the empire by going to war here?”
“Hu-”
The Great King opened his mouth with a smile.
“Kaiserin may have given enough interest to Jim.”
They said that the Empire’s Empress Cecilia visited in person.
“If this war ends in the complete defeat of the empire, Kaiserin will not be able to maintain the power it currently holds. “Will the interests promised by someone who cannot even protect his power be properly guaranteed?”
In most cases, the interests promised by the empress must be guaranteed by the emperor to whom the authority has been transferred.
But this is not the normal situation.
The Emperor appears to be half insane, and if he had any interest in satisfying the High King of Krafte, the head of the anti-Emperor faction, he would have crossed the line that could be guaranteed by the Empress, who would lose power.
The great king looked at me with a smile and then opened his mouth.
“As expected, he is not just an excellent person on the battlefield.”
The Great King smiled leisurely.
Does this old man talk about war and laugh at this situation?
The moment I thought that.
There was some noise.
Regularly over long distances.
It’s gradually getting closer.
Chuck-
Chuck-
It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized that it was a familiar sound to me.
The sound of footsteps of an army marching in unison.
It is approaching the palace.
The great king slowly got up from his seat, lifted the staff that was leaning on the chair, and gestured to me.
“Since you are an honored guest who has been visiting for a long time, I will let you listen to Jim’s music.”
It’s music.
As I stood up, the Great King led me to the balcony.
The sound of footsteps, which had been heard regularly until that moment, now seemed to vibrate the entire palace. As the king and the king went out to the balcony, Krafte’s soldiers walked with a goose step, lifting their legs up to their waists. and lined up on the parade ground under the balcony.
When their formation was over, the Great King opened his mouth.
“Emperor of the Empire.”
The ruler of all Germanians elected by the powerful electors of the empire.
A position that any prince of the Germanian Empire would dream of.
However, there was no emotion on the face of the Great King as he spit it out.
“What glory and value is there in taking the throne from an empire that has already been overthrown by an extremely incompetent emperor?”
The great king raised his staff and held it.
Accordingly, the officers under the balcony raised their swords and said,
“The throne of an empire whose authority has already collapsed has no value, Marquis. “What is important to Jim is not such trivial things, but a stage on which to prove the value of his music.”
The great king waved his staff.
Like an orchestra conductor swinging a baton.
And accordingly, Krafte officers simultaneously send signals with their swords and flags.
The Krafte army began to move in perfect order, without even a command or a shout in response.
As if they would not add any noise to the King’s music, as if they were nothing more than instruments used in the King’s music.
“They say I am the leader of the anti-emperor faction.”
Under the command of the Maharaja.
Chuck –
Footsteps sounding without an inch of error –
“They don’t even dare to understand Jim’s true nature, so he lets them talk as they please.”
Bang –
The sound of muskets being raised all at once without even a preparatory shout and firing at the same time without even a margin of error shakes the palace like a single gunshot, not a military gunshot.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
At the signal given by the great king, the cannons were fired all at once, creating an earth-shaking roar.
“It is a discipline that can only be maintained by training soldiers thoroughly during their 10 years of service.”
Each and every one of them is a part of a gigantic war machine rather than a human being.
The great king declared, leading an army that seemed to embody the word discipline itself.
“Jim is a challenger.”
Those countless soldiers are string instruments commanded by the great king.
“I took on the challenge because the empire was powerful. Although we were victorious in a seven-year war, we were unable to achieve complete victory due to the limitations of Krafte’s national power.”
Their guns are wind instruments.
“Jim could not be satisfied with that, so he prepared for a long time after the war ended. But the empire is crumbling before you.”
His hand swings his staff in time with the words that come out of the king’s mouth, and the melody created by the army moving in accordance with the words continuously resonates.
“That is why they are no longer worthy enemies of Jim. Therefore, Jim and the soldiers need another stage on which to perform a performance worthy of their preparation and hard work.”
The great king waved his staff and clenched his other hand into a fist like a conductor finishing a performance.
In response, the Krafte forces fired their muskets all at once, turned their guns, hit the ground, and all stopped.
The sounds of gunshots and footsteps shake the palace, like pressure from a battlefield.
The great king looked back at me, who was trembling at that, and stamped his staff on the floor and placed it with both hands.
“So, you are the one who went beyond the empire that I was aiming for and prepared a suitable stage for me and my soldiers to stand on. “I ask you for war with gratitude and respect.”
The great king smiled brightly after the orchestra finished playing, which was filled with the heat of war even more than the battlefield.
This is really crazy.
I at least thought that the Great King would be unpredictable, but this is beyond my imagination.
You’ve already decided to go to war anyway, so why bother calling me and asking me to go to war with such a grandiose performance?
Does what I say here have any meaning?
however.
Now, the faces of the soldiers who barely won the war against the empire and gained hope came to mind.
The queen also did her best and did her best until she was exhausted, hoping that they would enjoy peace and happiness.
And most of all, the future I want for Christine and my people.
I took a moment to catch my breath and opened my mouth.
“…I heard that Your Majesty was a great king who looked after the people and was given the title of ‘Great King’ by the people.”
The Great King is watching me with an amused expression.
“So?”
“The Great King is now trying to decide on a war that has no benefit to the national interest.”
I added, looking at him as defiantly as I could.
“So, is Your Majesty truly worthy of being called ‘Great King’?”
“Did you ask the people to call you King?”
“….”
“Jim led this country for Jim. “The reason I enlightened the people and gave them prosperity was because it was easier for my goal.”
The legend of an era who was called the Great King by the people without even claiming to be one, answered with a noble smile.
“As a result, I devoted myself enough to my country that they called me an enlightened despot and great king. “Then wouldn’t I also be qualified to command my people to devote themselves to my cause?”
This is bad.
To the great king, the people and the nation are merely means.
The only thing that matters to him is the stage where he can demonstrate his power and the glory that he can win with his own hands.
This is like.
…A blue knight.
I bit my lip as I felt like I was once again encountering a ghost I had left long ago.
Even at this moment, the Krafte army can be seen waiting under the balcony, not even moving a single inch, maintaining overwhelming discipline and as if they will obey any command from the Great King.
Can the revolutionary army fight them and win?
Against a gigantic war machine itself that operates according to the will of the Great King rather than a human army?
In fact, the Great King is looking at me with an amused expression, with both hands resting on his staff.
“…As commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, neither Her Majesty the Queen nor Francia want war with your country.”
“I’m sorry, Marquis. As a member of the Empire, Jim is willing to go to war at Kaiserin’s request to prevent the Empire’s complete collapse. “If the empire maintains its form, won’t there still be a throne for my successor?”
A warmonger who has no interest in such things and only wanders around looking for a battlefield that suits him speaks well.
I sighed and opened my mouth.
“Let’s make a deal, Your Majesty.”
“It’s a deal. It’s a deal. “Marquis, do you have a card you can show to Jim?”
“We will withdraw from the Rhineland.”
Charles II slowly tilted his head.
“What value is that to you?”
“I will sign a truce with the Empire. “Please give us two years.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, dear.”
I answered the king with a puzzled face, twisting the corner of my mouth.
“Your Majesty said that you are an unworthy enemy because the empire has already collapsed.”
The Empress’s request is only a justification, and in the end, this war has nothing to do with Krafte’s national interests.
Only the personal will of the Maharaja.
Not satisfied with just subduing the emperor and making Krafte the loser of the northern part of the empire through seven years of war, he takes on the challenge of achieving even greater glory.
“If the Great King and Krafte were victorious over Franzia, which was devastated by a series of long civil wars and wars with the revolutionary Germanic Empire, would later historians praise it as a victory achieved by the Great King’s greatness?”
For the first time, the Great King opened his eyes and said,
“Ugh…”
He then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
A foolish and ridiculous request to buy time for the enemy.
But if it’s interest.
“If you allow me, I will do my best to prepare to challenge the living legend for a never-to-be-received stage to be dedicated to His Majesty the King.”
The Great King, who was bursting with laughter, opened his mouth with a face that seemed like he was dying of fun.
“I believe you are not praying for me to die of old age, Marquis.”
Ah, I think I would be happy if that were the case.
No matter how I look at it, I don’t think this guy in front of me who is so bright and burning is like that.
“…It seems that His Majesty will even kick his coffin down for the war he has been waiting for.”
“Kk hahaha!”
The Great King burst into laughter again, laughed for a while, and then opened his mouth.
“I really like you. Yes, I will grant you two years, Marquis de Lafayette.”
The Great King said, his eyes sparkling with anticipation and joy.
“Don’t disappoint Jim.”
