Episode 174. The Krafte War - City Under Fire (5)
“Ah, um….”
Louis d'Aquitaine belatedly opened his mouth but couldn't squeeze out a single proper word, his lips just twitching aninglessly before closing again.
What was he supposed to say.
It felt as if his mind had gone completely blank.
How did she know?
Only he, his sister, and Marquis Lafayette had been there.
How on earth?
Did his sister tell her?
If so, then he, who had pretended not to know while calmly accepting Giselle’s consideration and relying on her.
How must he have looked to her.
As Louis trembled with a pale face, Giselle, who was watching him, let out a light sigh and spoke.
“I know how old you were then, Lieutenant. I’m not interrogating you. I’m just… asking out of pure curiosity.”
Giselle paused for a mont before asking.
“The assassin who poisoned Jean Malo and then committed suicide by jumping… was she Ellen Davi?”
Louis couldn't bring himself to answer, and just nodded as if possessed.
“……And the one who commissioned it was Countess Aquitaine?”
This ti, Louis couldn't bring himself to nod so readily.
However, Louis’s stiffened figure was an even more certain answer for Giselle.
“……I see, so that’s what happened.”
At her bitter, half self-deprecating smile, Louis’s heart felt like it was freezing over.
“The Major's sister also agree—”
He blurted it out without thinking, then clamped a hand over his mouth.
Ellen Davi agreed? She must have had no choice but to agree.
If she hadn't, her entire family, including Giselle, would have starved to death.
The words he had spat out wanting to defend his sister felt so much like trash that Louis squeezed his eyes shut.
Giselle's voice ca after a long while.
“……You t my sister in person?”
Louis felt half-despairing.
Why am I so stupid?
I thought I wanted to be of help to my sister, but instead, I'm just holding her back.
After a long silence, Giselle asked.
“My sister… what was she like? ……Was she afraid?”
What would change by staying silent now?
Louis slowly opened his eyes and spoke.
“……No.”
The woman looking at him was the spitting image of Ellen Davi's defiant expression and stubbornly strong-willed face when she heard his sister say she overestimated her own will.
“She asked my sister. What would you do if I just took the money for my family and ran away.”
Giselle let out a small laugh and replied.
“That’s just like my sister.”
That laugh was soon overco with bitterness.
“In the end, she did it because of us.”
“……I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
At Giselle’s question, Louis swallowed dryly and answered.
“……For knowing, and pretending not to know.”
Giselle stared at Louis, then slowly approached him.
While Louis flinched slightly, Giselle lightly pulled him into a hug.
“Wh-”
Louis almost struggled in his surprise, but Giselle soon began to pat his back gently.
As Louis cald down a little at the gesture, which was more like that of caring for a younger brother than a romantic embrace, Giselle spoke.
“For a young master from a well-to-do noble family, you’re just too damn kind. I can tell just by looking at your face how much you must have been suffering all this ti. How is that your fault, Lieutenant?”
“Uh, um… But I knew and hid it…”
“You didn’t hide it with the intention of deceiving . The Louis d'Aquitaine I've watched is clumsy, naive, and so full of useless motivation that he couldn't be that sinister of a person. Was I wrong?”
Louis held back the tears that threatened to burst forth, unable to answer.
Giselle didn't wait for his answer, either, but spoke in a low voice.
“……It was my sister’s choice. Foolishly, when no one wanted revenge for our parents, she did it for us.”
“But, in the end…”
Giselle smoothly pulled away from Louis and asked with a bitter face.
“Do you also think my sister was nothing but a victim with no choice?”
“Th-that’s not what I ant-”
“Or was my sister just a pawn to be used and discarded by Countess Aquitaine? As is commonly said, is the Black Witch of Aquitaine that kind of person?”
“N-No!”
Louis shouted, horrified.
-There's no need to give money to the family of a woman who is already dead…
-But your subordinates will rember that task, and they will recall your actions before carrying out the orders they've received. And while that woman is just one of many pawns, is there any guarantee that those in similar situations won't know each other? If you don't honor a life-or-death deal for a paltry sum of money, you're just reducing your own pawns.
His sister had said it as if she were teaching him.
But even though she spoke that way, Louis now understood that his sister was not a person who moved solely based on such calculations of profit and loss.
Christine Aquitaine rely feigns rationality, attaching plausible and logical justifications to her actions, but she is far from the heartless person of public opinion.
Doesn't it defy all logic of profit and loss that she went out of her way to raise Louis, and that she opened a path to the military for Giselle Davi, who might have held a grudge if she knew the truth?
“……Right. That's all I need.”
Giselle replied with a refreshed look on her face, then bowed her head slightly to Louis.
“Thank you, Lieutenant. You could have hidden it or dodged the subject, but you told the truth. ……At the very least, I can now know what my sister did for us and what fate she t, and I can mourn for her.”
As Louis wore an expression of not knowing what to say, Giselle, who had smiled faintly at him and raised her head, now had sharp eyes.
They were the eyes of the staff officer ‘Major Davi’ she always showed on the battlefield, and Louis, too, reflexively regained his sense of the battlefield.
“So that’s how it is, Sergeant Durand. I suppose this is quite a pity for you.”
A startled Louis turned his gaze to see Leon Durand, who had thrown aside the tent flap as if it were a matter of course and was standing there crookedly.
“Well, this is quite unexpected. Why is that? Christine Aquitaine is the enemy who used and killed your family, and Louis d'Aquitaine is the little brother she dotes on.”
“Du-Durand, Sergeant?”
While Louis was in shock, Giselle spoke in a cold voice.
“A man like you who can wield Mana would have overheard everything anyway.”
“Overheard? I was rely fulfilling my duty as Lieutenant d'Aquitaine’s Guard.”
Giselle scoffed.
“Says the one who incited to harm the person he was supposed to be guarding.”
“What… did you say?”
As Louis stood completely frozen, Giselle let out a light sigh.
“Lieutenant Aquitaine, this man is dangerous. He’s the one who told about my sister’s death.”
Louis fell into even greater confusion.
Only he, his sister, and Marquis Lafayette were at the scene at that ti.
So how on earth could that man know about it?
Leon Durand. A rcenary from a Francian noble house.
He wasn't unaware that there was sothing suspicious about him. In fact, his sister had been concerned about it.
Louis had also considered the possibility. But until now, he had protected him.
He must have had plenty of chances to betray him or act as a Spy, so why now? And how did he know a fact he couldn't have possibly imagined?
“Hm, this is quite sothing. The face of a wounded young master is more unpleasant than I thought. ……Still, I am curious. The head of the Liberal Party who threw away a golden opportunity, and you, who threw away the chance to take revenge on your enemy. How can you all be so calm?”
“Enemy, revenge.”
Giselle seed to roll the words around in her mouth before speaking.
“You see, I’ve t Countess Aquitaine in person.”
“Oh, have you? That is unexpected. So the rumor that you were recomnded by the Countess of Aquitaine was not just empty talk.”
“It is unexpected. It would be surprising enough for her to just take care of the family of a commoner girl she used as an assassin and discarded as promised, but people who would go so far as to support her to beco an officer and even et her in person don’t usually exist.”
Christine Aquitaine had even personally passed a bill in the assembly so that Giselle could beco an officer.
Giselle clearly rembered what she had said to her when they t that one ti.
-Are you the one who has been taking care of the Davi family, Your Excellency the Count?
-Who knows. But if there is such a person, they are likely just taking care of you for a fair price. So there's no need to feel indebted. ……I wish you luck, Giselle Davi.
After that, there was never any contact.
If she were truly a woman who just used people as pawns and threw them away, she could have easily used Giselle’s sense of debt to her advantage and made her a loyal subordinate.
Durand gave a bitter smile.
“Is that all? The whimsical sentintality of a re noble, her hypocrisy, is that the reason you gave up on revenge? Ellen Davi, who died with her hands stained with blood to feed you and your family-”
“Do not defile my sister’s na with that mouth.”
As Leon Durand showed a hint of surprise, Giselle spat out with blazing eyes.
“Even if it was foolish, even if I can't understand it, it was my sister’s choice. And I, who grew up without starving thanks to her, who beca an officer and achieved my dream thanks to the whim of the noble who hired my sister. Am I supposed to ruin all of that with my own hands and turn my sister’s sacrifice into a fool’s errand? Do you think my sister would have wanted that when she gave her life?”
To Leon Durand, whose smile slowly faded, Giselle, who had taken a deep breath to calm herself, spoke slowly.
“Don’t you dare try to use the intentions of soone who’s already dead by interpreting them to suit your own convenience.”
Leon Durand looked as if he had been completely struck dumb.
“……. Haha, hahaha……. The intentions of soone who’s already dead….”
“Revenge called for in the na of soone who didn't even die wanting revenge, for whom is that revenge? It's nothing but a cowardly act of shifting your own directionless anger and its responsibility onto others. Onto soone who has even been robbed of the chance to deny it!”
Leon Durand stared blankly at Giselle for a long mont, then slowly bowed his head.
“My apologies, Major Giselle Davi. I rashly projected my own position onto you. I was mistaken in thinking you knew nothing and were simply being used by them. I hope you can forgive this discourtesy.”
Giselle gave a slight nod.
“I forgive you, Leon Durand. Thanks to you, I also learned of my sister’s fate. However-”
With a swift movent, Giselle drew the pistol from her hip and aid it at Leon Durand.
“I don’t think my sister would forgive you. Nor would Lieutenant Louis d'Aquitaine, whom you deceived. Either way, I cannot leave a subversive elent like you be in the middle of a battle. I recomnd you surrender peacefully, Leon Durand.”
Leon Durand looked at Giselle without much tension.
“If I could, I'd willingly let myself be captured out of apology, but it seems I cannot co to terms with it as cathartically as you have.”
Louis finally ca to his senses and drew up his Mana.
Leon Durand was a powerful Knight. Giselle, as a military academy officer, could use a sword and a gun, but that was it.
Could he and Giselle stop him, just the two of them?
“Major Davi, Durand’s skill is…”
As Louis whispered cautiously in a small voice, Giselle nodded.
“I know. The two of us won't be enough.”
Then she raised her pistol toward the ceiling and fired.
Bang!
The gunshot echoed-
“That's why I've prepared Reinforcents.”
“Tsk.”
Leon Durand imdiately pulled himself out of the tent, and Louis and Giselle ran out after him.
Once outside, they saw dozens of troops, composed of knights and soldiers, surrounding Leon Durand, Louis, and Giselle.
“You lawless spy scum! The ‘Guardian of Dilrus,’ the ‘Master of Defense,’ His Excellency Count Damien De Millbeau himself has graced us with his presence! Drop your sword and surrender imdiately!”
“Pfft….”
Leon Durand let out a bitter laugh, then looked at Giselle and spoke.
“Well now, I thought you were just a naive young woman being swayed by the world.”
“Before that, I am a staff officer of the Revolutionary Army. There’s no way out, so surrender, Leon Durand.”
“Hmph……. As a sign of my respect and apology-”
Leon Durand slowly reached for his neck and- with a tearing sound, he ripped sothing off.
An elaborate mask, indistinguishable from human skin, fell to the ground, and Damien De Millbeau pointed a finger at him, aghast.
“Y-Y-You-!”
“Lady Davi, I, Gilles de Lionel, eldest son and last remaining heir of the House of Count Lionel, formally introduce myself. ……My respects to you, who are not chained by the ghosts of the past. And, farewell.”
“Wh-”
Before Giselle could even react, Gilles de Lionel charged at Damien with a swift movent that seed to slide across the ground.
The musket bullets fired in surprise by the Infantry were easily blocked by his Magic Barrier-
“Where do you think you're-!”
“Haaap-!”
The knights tried to block his path, but their swords were instantly cut down by Lionel's.
“W-Wha?!”
Damien, horrified, drew his sword and fought back, but he struggled just to block the sword strikes of Gilles de Lionel, who moved with incredible power and speed.
“Wh-W-Wait! Wait, a knight, a-a surprise attack! C-cowardly- Ugh?!”
Just as Damien, who had been struggling with a broken stance from the start, dropped his sword and squeezed his eyes shut at Gilles de Lionel's sword strike.
A powerful Magic Barrier unfolded before Damien's eyes, blocking Gilles's attack.
Gilles smirked and turned his gaze back to face Louis d'Aquitaine, who was emitting Mana, albeit with slightly wavering eyes.
“……Quite impressive, Louis d'Aquitaine. My poor young master, my friend for a mont.”
“Durand……!”
Gilles de Lionel gave a bitter smile and, with swift movents, passed by Damien and disappeared into the darkness.
A mont of silence fell, and Damien, who had run over panting, grabbed both of Giselle's shoulders, spitting as he spoke.
“G-G-Giselle Davi! I almost died! You said he was a spy! Why did the eldest son of the renowned martial house of Lionel pop out!”
“I-I told you we should have just told Marquis Lafayette-nim! You said His Excellency the Count would be enough! How can you be so pathetic?!”
It was because he was excited about taking all the credit for himself….
Unable to bring himself to say such a thing out loud, Damien stared blankly into the darkness where Gilles de Lionel had disappeared and spat out with a dejected face.
“Ah, damn it…. I'm screwed….”
What am I going to report to Marquis Lafayette about this….
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