Chapter 22
Not departing today was intended to enter the castle when the confusion was at its peak, but it was also to inform my subordinates in advance so they could prepare.
As a relatively safe way to convey information, I chose to use arrows.
"...I thought you were going to be executed, but are you trying to make a travel companion?"
"Just follow me well."
From the encampment to Zabinsk Castle was a distance that could be covered in about four hours by horse, with plenty of time to spare.
Whether Josef had made some selection or not, I approached Zabinsk Castle with an archer marked gray on the mini-map.
Since the purpose wasn't to hit people, I just fired arrows with notes attached from a safe distance while hiding.
I checked with the mini-map to see if they were properly picking up the arrows.
I also examined the state of the soldiers on the walls in advance, and could see green dots moving around sparsely.
After watching two green dots come near where the arrow was stuck and quickly return, I went back to the encampment and prepared the horse I would ride.
The preparation wasn't anything special.
I just securely fastened a white flag signifying no intention to fight to the saddle and removed the empire's symbols and horse armor attached to the outside.
The jet-black horse Josef handed over was large as befitting a warhorse, but it followed my instructions surprisingly docilely.
I finished preparations before evening and entered the tent I was temporarily given.
For the success of the plan, I had a lot to think about from now on.
***
I left the tent in the early dawn before the sun had risen.
Although it's a distance that can be covered in two hours if moving quickly on horseback, I planned to go very leisurely, so I had to move early.
I checked my preparations one last time.
I put the saddle on the horse and packed snacks for the horse in the pouches attached to the saddle.
I brought food and deliberately filled my own stomach well too.
I wore my uniform neatly so I could feel that I had been treated well enough in the empire, and even tidied up my hair.
The significance of this plan lies in securing the safety of the subordinates in the kingdom and further bringing those who will become my forces to the empire.
To do that, it's necessary to reduce animosity towards the empire as much as possible to lower the difficulty of persuasion, and the easiest thing to prepare is outward appearance.
Just arriving in an intact state can show that the empire's treatment wasn't bad.
I mounted the warhorse and left the encampment.
I considered whether it would be better to go by carriage, but I chose to ride a horse thinking that approaching on horseback would look more dignified and relaxed if I wasn't going to bring a coachman separately.
***
I drove the horse at a slow speed so that my hair and clothes wouldn't become disheveled.
As there seemed to be no variables except for immediate threats to my person, I moved forward while constantly checking the mini-map.
In fact, there were groups of red dots moving around as if patrolling around Zabinsk.
Their scale was too small at 3-4 people, and there were so many gaps that they weren't a threat at all.
This was a good sign.
When hunting animals, it's common sense not to buy vigilance with unnecessary attempts until you're sure you can catch them.
The nobles with ample experience in purges couldn't not know this fact.
Such clumsy and half-hearted threats were likely to be the independent movements of some nobles.
If all the nobles had resolved to kill me, they would have tried to deal with it in a much more certain way.
-Crunch. Crunch.
"...It eats well."
To make the horse follow my instructions well, I kept moving forward while occasionally putting snacks in its mouth.
As it wasn't a long distance, after a few hours, the walls of Zabinsk appeared in the distance.
"Let's go."
As those in the castle would soon be able to see me too, I adjusted my posture.
I straightened my back, with my gaze slightly above straight ahead.
As if not tense at all, I naturally rested my right hand holding the reins on my thigh.
However, befitting 'Viktor' who cherishes his subordinates and has strong loyalty.
I had to convey the expectation of seeing them again and the sentiment towards the homeland I thought I couldn't return to.
I kept my mouth firmly closed, but slightly raised the corners of my mouth and relaxed my eyes.
Occasionally, I brought my empty left hand to my face, wiped my eyes, and slightly lowered my head.
I didn't forget to keep checking the mini-map.
The response had to be different depending on who was gathered on the castle walls.
A moment later, when the castle entered the range of the mini-map.
"...It's done."
It was full of green dots.
Green dots were densely gathered both on top of the walls and right behind the castle gate.
In fact, I didn't even need to look at the mini-map; I could see with my naked eyes the soldiers standing densely on the castle walls.
The flags I glimpsed were those of the 1st Corps I had led.
Although the 1st Corps was originally in charge of the main gate, the fact that they were gathered so openly meant that the nobles still hadn't properly laid hands on the army.
The nobles who feared my control over the army wouldn't have given orders for the 1st Corps to welcome me.
The 1st Corps soldiers must have spotted me too, as the dots on the mini-map started moving busily.
Soldiers who looked in my direction hurriedly descended the castle walls, and more than twice the number who descended climbed back up onto the walls.
"Viktor! Viktor! Viktor!"
"General!"
As I got close enough to somewhat identify each other's faces, unexpected shouts erupted.
As it was advantageous for my arrival to become a big issue, I raised my left hand in response.
They were chanting my name.
If they knew what intentions I had held towards them, they wouldn't act like this, so this fervent response added weight to my conviction.
That the path I had walked until now wasn't wrong.
The gate opened, and soldiers wearing the 1st Corps mark rushed out.
***
After entering Zabinsk Castle, I dismounted and was instantly surrounded by soldiers.
They maintained a certain distance from me and quietly looked at me with eyes full of expectation.
"...It's been a while."
"Waaaaaaah!"
As if they had been waiting for my words, the soldiers shouted cheers, and through them, an officer with a familiar face approached me.
"General Viktor...!"
"Boris."
Boris was one of the 100 soldiers who had come to the capital with me and had become an officer while achieving military merits together.
So I could recall his name as soon as I saw his face, and he stared at me for a moment with wide eyes, probably not expecting his name to be called.
"Ah... First, I'll guide you to the tent."
"Alright."
Originally, I should have gone to the royal palace first, but as I had no intention of walking into the jaws of death alone right away, I followed Boris.
Talking to the soldiers first could also provoke the nobles more.
He started leading the way, and the soldiers surrounding me moved together in that formation.
A few red dots were following at a distance, but I pretended not to notice and moved forward.
The military camp had hardly changed from how it was before I left.
At that time, we were stationed close to the walls in preparation for a counterattack, and the soldiers were still living in the tents that were temporarily built then.
If the army remained this unchanged, things might proceed more easily than I thought.
As I continued following Boris, he stopped in front of the general's tent that looked identical to when I used it.
As soldiers who saw this procession on the way kept joining, by the time we stopped, about several hundred soldiers were following me.
"...We've been waiting."
Boris looked at me while lifting the cloth blocking the entrance of the tent.
I slowly entered the tent.
"Ah."
Inside the tent, Anna was sitting in her seat waiting.
"Anna. It seems it's been quite a while."
"..."
She froze in her seated position, moving only her lips and rolling her eyes.
As she was someone who didn't show emotions well from before, there was no intense reaction like shouting like the other soldiers.
However, I could tell how much expectation she had held just by looking around the inside of the tent a little.
Despite being vacant for quite a long time, dust hadn't settled on my things, and documents were neatly stacked on one side of the desk as if I were still the general.
"..."
"Thank you, Anna."
"...Yes."
As her eyes were also gradually reddening, I slightly averted my gaze so she wouldn't feel embarrassed.
"...Then, General Viktor."
Anna, who had composed herself for a moment, politely extended her arm towards the cleanly maintained seat, as if asking me to sit down.
However, it wasn't time yet.
"I'm sorry, but..."
I pulled over a chair that was roughly placed nearby and sat down.
"I haven't returned as a general of the Rus Kingdom. I've only been allowed a brief time."
"...What?"
"The Empress of the empire granted my request. Generously... perhaps 3 to 5 days. After that, I must return to the empire."
"Ah..."
Of course, I had no intention of just returning.
I was still just a prisoner of the empire.
Although threats towards me would be neglected, and I would be pushed to make a 'decision'.
For now, the purpose of my visit itself had to appear pure.
As if I had visited wanting to see my hometown one last time before dying.
As I explained my situation, Anna nodded with a hardened expression.
Although she seemed to have given up at a glance, she doesn't react so calmly when she really gives up.
That nod was closer to being ready to step forward as soon as an opportunity was given.
Sublimating the joy of the build-up progressing according to plan into gladness at reunion, I opened my mouth with a natural smile on my face.
"Adjutant, no. Anna, have you been well?"
"...There were no major problems."
"I see. I met Boris earlier. He looked very fine. How are the others?"
"The others..."
I listened attentively to her explanation containing the current situation of the unit.
"...That's all."
"Hmm."
Her explanation was that although morale was dropping for various reasons, there had been no big changes.
It was to be expected, as the nobles would have found it difficult to carelessly touch their lifeline believing in just a 1-year ceasefire.
"I'd like to see those faces again."
Now, it's time to openly provoke the nobles.
Under the pretext of wanting to see the faces of my former subordinates again, I walked around inside the 1st Corps.
In the eyes of the nobles, it would look like I was checking my power as soon as I arrived.
"I'm not your superior anymore, but could I ask for a guide?"
"General, you are always…!"
I asked with that thought, but Anna seemed to mind my words and raised her voice.
"...You are always our general. Please feel free to order."
"Then, I'll ask."
"Understood."
Although she quickly lowered her voice again as if it was a mistake, I just nodded as I felt quite good.
So I continued to walk around inside the military camp with Anna.
Starting with those gathered around my tent, I went around finding my former subordinates working all over Zabinsk Castle and conversed with them.
The conversations I had with them contained no impure content at all, but.
"...Good."
"Pardon?"
"No, it's nothing."
The nobles on edge would feel differently.
I had reunions with the soldiers while confirming that a few red dots approached and moved away from the surroundings.
"General!"
"General Viktor...!"
...Anyway, the incident would likely occur at night, so it was enough to prepare from the evening.
I spent time continuing to walk around and talk until the sun set.
---
That evening, in a small conference room located at the Rus Royal Guard headquarters.
"In the end, he came in."
Count Mikhail Kapayev, Royal Guard Captain Andrei Komarov, and others.
Those disappointed by the lukewarm reactions of other nobles were gathered here separately to exchange opinions.
"It's because of those cowards. If we had deployed just a bit more troops, we could have chased him away without even letting him see."
"They say he's already stirring up trouble as soon as he arrived. Does he still think he's a general?"
They had tried to block the path itself by deploying troops from today, but due to many nobles opposing that opinion, they could only deploy an extremely small number of troops.
In Mikhail's opinion, it was all because of those nobles that Viktor was able to enter Zabinsk safely.
"...Damn it!"
-Thud!
Mikhail's venting towards the innocent round table only scattered the piled-up papers.
"I've said it over and over! Those desk-bound fools are useless!"
Andrei also stood up angrily and shouted.
He was the one who had reacted most violently to the news that Viktor had returned alive and well.
Andrei, who couldn't forget the humiliation he experienced during the arrest process, wanted to cut off Viktor's head right away.
"If you don't want to see Viktor become commander-in-chief again, we should move the Royal Guard now! Don't you know the saying 'the first strike wins'?"
Moving the Royal Guard.
The nobles who knew the meaning of those words didn't respond immediately and flinched, but,
"...Andrei. Are you confident?"
Mikhail, whose fear felt from Viktor's appearance on the battlefield and frustration and anger towards the nobles were tangled in his mind, immediately picked up on those words.
Because Viktor's influence wasn't limited to the 1st Corps.
The only force that could move without catching his eye was essentially the Royal Guard.
In the end, Andrei's role as the leader of the Royal Guard was most important for the uprising, so Andrei's right to speak was almost equal to that of Mikhail, the leader.
"Confidence? The Royal Guard has no failures. Never has, never will."
Andrei spoke proudly while flipping his glossy hair.
"Preparations are already complete. We can move even tonight."
"...Good."
As Mikhail and Andrei took a hard-line stance, the others couldn't help but follow even though they felt something was going wrong.
They were also afraid of Viktor moving as if trying to regain control of the army, and it was too late to back out now that they had even mentioned operations among themselves.
They consoled themselves that there must be a reason for Andrei's confidence.
"Conveniently, Viktor is said to be staying on the outskirts of the military camp."
"The 1st Corps guards change shifts at 1 AM every day. How about aiming for that time..."
They developed plans using the information they currently had.
"We need to think about where to confine him."
"Confine...? Well, alright."
Andrei wasn't satisfied with Mikhail's plan to just confine Viktor and then send him back to the empire, but he nodded for now, pretending to agree.
Anyway, since Andrei would be the one on the scene, he thought 'unfortunate accidents' could happen anytime.
"We'll carry it out at 1 AM tomorrow morning."
The result of the brief meeting.
The start time for Operation 'Return', the plan to kidnap Viktor using a small number of Royal Guards including Andrei, was set for 1 AM.
---
Nikolai Smilov had been slowly converting his money into precious metals since the Northern War broke out.
Wearing lots of rings during the negotiation was part of that.
Afraid of reliving that experience, he sold off the rings he had been wearing then, and as soon as he heard the news that Viktor had entered Zabinsk, he had a meeting with other nobles.
Including Nikolai, a small number of nobles who had incurred Viktor's wrath for their own reasons gathered secretly to talk.
These were the ones who had set the ceasefire period to 1 year thinking it would take about that long to gather all their assets and flee in the first place.
They were afraid of Viktor, but not brave enough to entertain thoughts of confronting him.
The conclusion was simple.
"You too?"
"...Nothing is more important than life."
Escape.
The nobles gathered here were those who just wanted to enjoy wealth and glory without cumbersome family or grand ambitions.
They planned to pack their wealth and flee outside the Rus Kingdom to avoid danger.
"How?"
"I have connections with the 4th Corps commander, so I can persuade him to open the back gate briefly."
"Oh!"
"Then, how about using the carriage my family uses for trade? It should be sufficient to carry all of us and our wealth."
The plan was quickly formed.
Their plan was to gather at Nikolai's mansion, which was close to the royal palace, and leave through the back gate by carriage.
"What time?"
"I'll have to ask Alexandrov, but a late hour would be better to reduce attention."
Later, Alexandrov's reply arrived.
"He says 1:20 AM is the shift change time for the 4th Corps, so he'll open the back gate briefly then."
"...Good."
As the nobles were thinking about a suitable time for this,
"Let's meet at Count Smilov's mansion at 1 AM."
Coincidentally,
Considering the time needed to load their wealth onto the carriage, they decided to meet at Nikolai's mansion at 1 AM tomorrow.
After the meeting, Nikolai quickly rushed home.
"Hurry, hurry..."
He had no family, and the servants were not his concern.
The Rus Kingdom?
The future of the kingdom had long been out of his mind.
He still felt weak in the knees when recalling Viktor's gaze.
Just imagining seeing that face again made his hands sweat, so he hurriedly swept his accumulated wealth into sacks.
Then, while loading the heavy sacks full of gold coins and precious metals onto the carriage, he anxiously waited for 1 AM to come.