Chapter 21
Unlike the original plan of hoping Anna would hold out well in the kingdom and wanting the Empress to cling to him,
This 'betrayal by indirect intent' plan was closer to collecting the fish traps he had laid out until now.
Although the details might change depending on the situation, there was one goal.
It was to provoke the nobles of the Rus Kingdom and induce them to provide an excellent justification.
He just needed to grasp and wield that justification.
This plan was possible because he had lived in the Rus Kingdom for a long time observing the nobles, and knew what they had done after the war started.
-Clop. Clop. Clop.
The most important thing was to arrive in Zabinsk at the exact timing.
Not too fast, not too slow.
The Rus Kingdom had power dispersed among the nobles, so decision-making took a long time.
Although Vladimir Savinkov took on the role of leader, he didn't have enough power to force opinions while ignoring the nobles' opposition.
As an example, just before the Northern War broke out.
When the vassals of the empire gathered their forces, the response of nobles based near the border and those staying around the capital and rear areas diverged.
Later, when the imperial forces didn't move for several days, the debate among the nobles only intensified.
The nobles were divided between those who said they should immediately gather forces to confront them and those who said they should negotiate or observe the situation even now.
In the end, it took more than a week for the nobles to unite in their decision to resist.
By that point, the imperial army was already crushing the kingdom's army that had attacked independently.
The plan was based on this.
When it was decided to send him to the kingdom, an official document containing that content would have been dispatched.
"At the earliest a week, at the latest ten days."
To deliver a letter by express messenger from Rainesburg to Zabinsk, it would take at least 5 days even going as fast as possible.
It was dangerous to arrive in Zabinsk before that official document, as the nobles felt threatened enough to give up occupied territory and sell him out.
If he suddenly appeared in Zabinsk, the nobles would quickly unite instead of fighting among themselves.
No matter how incompetent the nobles were, once they united, they gained strength and couldn't be easily overthrown.
For similar reasons, arriving too late was also not good.
He needed to arrive at least before their opinions converged into one.
He also needed to give a hint to his subordinates in advance so they could react appropriately.
So the timing he thought of was within 3 days after the Rus Kingdom received the official document.
Enough time to think of countermeasures, but not enough to gather the opinions of various nobles.
The idea was to rush in before clear measures could be established, provoking mistakes or arbitrary actions from the panicked nobles.
Since he had built up things until now, just acting as Viktor would make the nobles fret on their own.
After that, there was nothing difficult.
He just needed to choose an appropriate justification depending on the situation and rise up using the army.
"...Phlegethon seems to be worth its price."
In the original plan, he would have had to ride horses through the night to catch up with the express messenger, but thanks to the Empress allowing the use of Phlegethon, he had gained some leeway.
He headed towards Zabinsk at a moderate speed that didn't strain his body, and,
"Stop! Who... huh?"
A week after departing.
He was able to arrive at the encampment where he was first captured.
As his appearance in the Rus Kingdom officer's uniform looked very suspicious, he encountered soldiers and ended up facing the person in charge of this encampment while tied with ropes.
"...Well, well."
Familiar tent, familiar balding head, familiar geniality.
It was General Josef Steiner, whom he had met on the way to the empire.
"You should know you're lucky. It's only been two days since the document saying you would come arrived."
He approached me, who was tightly bound, and untied the ropes.
Whether it was because of the Empress's token in his possession or because he thought I was going to die anyway, he was much more cooperative than during our last meeting.
By the way, the document arrived two days ago.
"When did that document enter the kingdom?"
"...I don't know why you're asking, but the messenger entered Zabinsk yesterday."
As intended, he had arrived at a very appropriate time.
The nobles must be in an uproar by now.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll depart at dawn tomorrow."
"Well, do as you please."
After that, he had some additional conversation with Josef, and from the greatly changed generous Josef, he was able to borrow a carriage without a roof, a white flag, an archer to shoot arrows, and writing materials.
---
Yesterday, a letter sent by the Empress of the empire arrived in the Rus Kingdom.
The letter briefly stated that Viktor had departed towards Zabinsk.
It was less than a month since the nobles had handed him over to the empire.
"Viktor is coming back?"
"That's impossible!"
The nobles of the Rus Kingdom were in their second day of meetings.
They roughly sat the king aside and hurriedly gathered to put their heads together.
"Sh-should we send a protest to the empire?"
"What protest! If they were people who would listen to protests, they wouldn't have notified us like this!"
It was also written that Viktor would return to the empire again, but that wasn't important.
The very fact that Viktor would set foot in Zabinsk again, even for a moment, felt like a nightmare to the nobles.
"We haven't even touched the army yet..."
"We must stop him! Somehow!"
"How!"
It was impossible for the nobles to carelessly touch the bloated army.
Even when Andrei was furious, saying Viktor's subordinates, including Anna, had attempted rebellion, it was postponed on the excuse of lack of evidence.
During the war, they could easily purge based on the responsibility for defeat, but now the war was temporarily stopped.
Purging the famous 1st Corps was too burdensome a choice for the nobles, even among the soldiers.
Moreover, the fact that the ceasefire period was only 1 year was also a problem.
The private soldiers and mercenaries prepared by the nobles were mostly ground up in the early stages of the war.
Now, over 90% of the Rus Kingdom's army was conscripts hastily brought in.
With even half of their territory taken away, the Rus Kingdom, unable to restore its forces, couldn't carelessly reduce its army.
In such a situation, when news suddenly came that Viktor, whom they thought they would never see again, was returning, the nobles' opinions were largely divided into two:
"We must stop Viktor, even if we have to kill him!"
"We should seal the city gates and start the purge now!"
Those who said they should fight against Viktor, not knowing what would happen the moment he entered the castle, and,
"Let's wait and see for now. His stay in Zabinsk will be at most a few days. What big trouble could happen?"
"That's right. Without his rank insignia, isn't Viktor just a common orphan commoner?"
Those who were ready to flee or had nothing to fear, saying they should wait and see without responding for now.
"You ask what big trouble could happen? Have you already forgotten how he glared at us in the palace as if he would kill us?"
"At that time he was still the commander, but now his position has been officially terminated. Is it right to think that soldiers will follow a commoner without authority or status?"
Opinions were sharply divided.
A day passed in that state, but their debate still showed no progress.
Vladimir, who usually mediated among the nobles, watched them shouting and spitting at each other, and became certain that the end had come for the kingdom.
Because they were divided on the vague topics of 'kill him' or 'wait and see', even if one was decided, additional debates would inevitably follow.
If they decided to kill him, how would they do it, and if they decided to wait and see, what and how they would do wasn't even mentioned.
They didn't know when Viktor would arrive, but they hadn't decided anything.
Looking at the trembling king in the midst of the nobles, Vladimir regretted his past choices.
A single general holding overwhelming power versus nobles maintaining a balance of power by checking each other.
Not believing in the existence of supermen, he had trusted the latter more, but,
"Ha, this is nonsense. We'll take care of it ourselves."
"...Take care of it? Are you saying you'll assassinate him?"
"Nothing wrong with that... you coward."
"You're mad, mad! Go ahead and try!"
This pandemonium was the result.
Vladimir clutched his head due to the headache that felt like it was squeezing his brain.
A moment later, when he raised his head as the headache subsided.
No one remained in the conference room.
---
"Hah..."
Sergei, a soldier belonging to the 1st Corps in charge of guarding the city gate of Zabinsk, sighed as he looked at the distant horizon.
His hometown, Garogorod, had fallen into the hands of the imperial army.
He knew that surviving itself was lucky, but even Viktor, who had been the object of that gratitude, had been sold to the empire.
"Ah, I want to run away."
"Me too."
He no longer had any attachment to the Rus Kingdom.
He even thought he might be able to return to his hometown if he surrendered to the empire, and Dmitri standing next to him was in a similar situation.
"What will you do if you go back?"
"Well..."
Sergei leaned against the side of the city gate and exchanged trivial conversation with Dmitri.
This atmosphere was not limited to just these two.
The soldiers of the Rus Kingdom just moved according to the set schedule, but the hope they had when under Viktor's command had disappeared without a trace.
With the distributed meals gradually decreasing and the quality of supplies given from above noticeably worsening.
Their morale could hardly go any lower.
The two guarding the front of the city gate were just passing time, with no particular intention of fulfilling their guard duty.
That's when.
-Thwack!
"...Huh?"
"Did you hear that too?"
"Yeah."
At the sudden sound of something flying and sticking, Sergei and Dmitri tensed up and scanned their surroundings.
As it was still bright, they could quickly find the cause of the sound.
"Is that it?"
An arrow with a note attached was stuck about dozens of meters away from where they were standing guard.
Sergei picked up the arrow and out of curiosity, unfolded and read the paper.
"What is this?...Huk."
"What is it, what?"
After reading the note blankly for a moment, Sergei took a deep breath and held out the note to Dmitri.
Dmitri, who then approached and read the contents of the note, opened his mouth wide and looked at Sergei.
After looking at each other for a moment, they,
"Waaaaaah!"
Shouted and ran towards their comrades inside the city gate.
"The General is coming back!"
The note had handwritten on it: 'Viktor. Tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, will return through the main gate.'
***
Sergei ran to the 1st Corps general's tent with the note.
-Flutter.
"Lady Anna!"
"...Ah."
Anna was alone in the tent.
At the sudden visit, she quickly hid the feather duster she was holding behind her back and carefully moved away from Viktor's seat.
"What's the matter?"
Anna, who greeted Sergei with a calm attitude,
"News of General Viktor!"
When he mentioned Viktor while holding out the note, she snatched it and read it.
"...Hmm."
Then she returned to her seat and started pulling out documents that Viktor had previously recorded.
-Gulp.
While Anna was comparing the handwriting with the writing left on the documents, Sergei waited for the result in great tension.
He had already made a big fuss while bringing the note, so if this note turned out to be just a prank, he might be beaten to death by his comrades.
"...It seems to match the General's handwriting."
"Then...? Huk!"
As soon as Anna's confirmation was over, Sergei rushed out of the tent to spread this good news further.
"Haah..."
Anna also wanted to shout for joy, but she was maintaining her composure as much as possible.
Although the handwriting matched, the only thing to believe was this short note.
Anna, who longed for Viktor's safety or return more than anyone, was more afraid of having false hope and then having it broken.
She needed more clues to have hope.
A definite clue that Viktor might return.
"..."
"Lady Anna! A message from the 4th Corps Commander!"
Another soldier came to her as she was pondering deeply.
The current 4th Corps Commander, Alexandrov Kalichin, was a noble but had been cooperative from before because he had his life saved several times with Viktor's help.
Although he couldn't openly help Anna due to watching the eyes of other nobles, he was helping her indirectly by providing information about their movements.
"Today, the nobles gathered and held an emergency meeting, he says."
"Is that so?"
"And after the meeting ended, he received orders from Count Mikhail Kapayev to strengthen the alert level and standby for deployment."
"...Count Kapayev?"
Anna felt something was suspicious.
Until now, when a noble transmitted orders to the military, the owner of those orders was always Count Vladimir Savinkov.
There had never been a case where another noble specifically gave orders to a particular corps.
Moreover, the content of the order was also significant.
Strengthening the alert level means, in other words, to deploy more troops.
Standby for deployment means to prepare even undeployed troops to be able to move out at any time.
The 4th Corps is in charge of the back gate of Zabinsk.
Is there a reason to suddenly strengthen the guard of the back gate, not the main gate?
When it's not even wartime, while putting thousands of soldiers on standby?
Given that no similar instructions had been issued since Viktor was taken away, and such an order came right after an emergency meeting,
"...The 1st Corps will also increase the number of guards. Relay this immediately."
"Understood!"
Although she didn't know what would happen, the 1st Corps also needed to prepare.
After instructing the soldier to strengthen the guard, Anna sat back down.
As she pondered quietly,
-Rustle. Rustle. Thud.
With trembling hands, she neatly gathered the work documents piled in front of her and placed them on the desk that Viktor originally used.