“Sure I am an honorable Royal Army man. I do have to encourage the people to escape abandoning me, it is the highest honor.”
Louise kept on trudging.
“Do you understand now where the true honor lies? Do you now understand the meaning behind teacher's words? They all did… they just wanted to live, that’s why they tried so hard to escape.”
Saito rattled on with an aura of superiority. Mostly because he felt too depressed to talk about anything else.
“Disgrace.”
Louise finally opened her mouth.
“Disgrace? I like it that way. The honor of victory! Justice! Made a lot of noise, but in the end nature showed the truth and made them honest.”
The Allied Forces, including Wimpffen who arrived first at Rosais, asked for permission to return to their home country. The answer from the monarchic government prefecture that could not swallow the circumstances was short: “Withdrawal permission not given. Explain the circumstances in greater detail.”
Half the number of Allied Forces were killed or turned to the other side, De Poitiers was killed? The facts did not sound sane. They seemed to doubt if it was a real report. Was it not a fake report? Wimpffen could not blame the home government for that. Perhaps, even I, after hearing such a report would not believe it spontaneously and be able to grant permission to withdraw.
The defeated army was concentrating in Rosais.
Wimpffen began negotiation with his own country.
He insisted repeatedly that considering the way things were going, they were heading towards annihilation.
With great effort he gained the permission to retreat… after a half day; a very valuable half day. A half day that could be fatal for the Allied Forces.
As the defeated army began arriving… they received further bad news from a dragon knight scout. Albion’s main army from Londinium was moving faster than expected.
The way things were going…
“At dawn tomorrow, the enemy's main army will burst into Rosais.”
He looked at the map and asked his subordinate,
“How long it would take for an army to fully embark?”
The logistics staff answered.
“Until the morning of the day after tomorrow. Though Rosais has giant port facilities for ships, on land, there can be only a limited number of soldiers at the same time.”
Wimpffen was worried. When you think about it – he needed to start withdrawal preparations before they were permitted. However, Wimpffen was scared for his own neck and did not want to be hung by a war tribunal.
“It is necessary to stop the enemy army’s pace first.”
“40,000… No, with the revolts the number is far greater. Where can we find an army to withstand it?”
In addition, the bombardment from the air would pull the withdrawal line to the fleet. Besides, ship guns would not help to adjourn the army marching.
Moreover, in order to gain more time, soldiers, who ran away at full speed, lost all their heavy amour.
Wimpffen thought.
And… suddenly he had an idea..
“…That’s right. Let’s use ‘it’.”
“It?”
“The trump card! The trump card of my army! Now it’s the time to use it! Messenger!”
The messenger came to Louise when she waited for the withdrawal embarkation in the tent.
It was in the evening.
“Me?”
The older soldier seemed to have been in a very great hurry. He was like a living embodiment of the whole Allied Forces – always in a hurry.
“Miss Vallière! Commander Wimpffen calls!”
Only now Louise understood that General De Poitiers and Marquis Handenburg were killed. The confusion within the Allied Forces was considerable.
Louise went to face the commander, while Saito was sticking around. He had a bad premonition.
After taking the instructions, Louise came out of the commander's tent, ghostly white.
“What’s wrong? What were the orders?”
Even though he asked, she did not answer.
She looked straight ahead… and began walking towards the other end of Rosais. But not towards the embarkation tent.
She came to the temple on the side of the town… and received a horse from a horse keeper. Then the horse keeper bowed to Louise who tried to ride away.
Saito grabbed the Louise's hand.
“Hey! Where are you going?! It’s not safe to leave the city!”
“Let go.”
Louise muttered in a lifeless voice. Feeling that something was not right, Saito shouted at Louise.
“Talk! What were the orders given to you?! Hey!”
Louise did not answer. She just kept on biting her lips.
With the other hand Saito took the order parchment from Louise. Since he could not read the letters the only thing he understood was a map.
“I can’t read. What is written here?”
Louise bit her lip again.
“Talk! What is written here?!”
Derflinger, on his shoulder, read it instead of Louise.
“Aaah, a backup. Not very honorable.”
“Backup?”
“Fufu, buying time for the main force to escape. Alone against enemy army of 70,000. Wonderful, isn’t it?”
Saito turned pale. He muttered blankly.
“What?”
“Quite detailed instructions actually. Hoho, wait on the hill 50 leagues on the left from here. Wait with 'Void' spells ready. Face towards the land route to see the enemy first and keep casting spells until you run out of magic. Neither withdrawal nor surrender are permitted. Haah, in other words, its an order 'defend till the end'. To put it briefly – fight against enemy until you die. That‘s what is this order about.”
“...Hey, what is that - a joke?”
Saito said grabbing Louise’s shoulders.
“No one is joking. It’s the truth.”
“Really, are you an idiot? You would die just because our generals told you to? They are treating you like a tool. No, a backup tool. Don’t do that! Don’t do that!”
“Stop being hasty.”
Saito was amazed.
Ahh, this look in her eyes… I remember it.
Louise hasn’t changed since the day they met.
Louise still wanted to be recognized.
She entered into this war against her parents’ will because… she wanted to be recognized.
She was nicknamed “Louise the Zero”, idiot Louise.
Since those days… Louise dreamed to be recognized by her parents and her classmates. That’s why she applied for the Fouquet search.
However… once the legendary Void elements power awoke in her it changed.
She wanted to be recognized for more than just this.
Saito could not really understand it well. Neither could Louise. Therefore he tried to persuade her.
“Be reasonable. For your pride's sake? Look, it is not a safe inn, you are going to die here…Understand? Stop it, all right? You are great. I know that. But let's run away. Ok? Disregard such orders and flee. Ok?”
“Where would you run? It’s an enemy's territory.”
“Stop being so prideful!”
Louise looked straight at Saito and said clearly,
“It’s not because of pride. What would happen if I were to run away? Our allies will be annihilated. Your maid, everyone from the ‘Charming Faeries’ inn… Guiche, Rene – everyone. They might be killed. They might be shamed.”
Saito frowned, realizing that too.
The reason why Louise is so determined… was not just because of her pride.
“I do not want to die. But I do not want my friends to die either. That is… the true meaning of the word 'honor'. Hey Saito, you kept on saying that honor is stupid but what ‘honor’ were you talking about? It’s not because of a great honor that one die for others. It is different.”