Two days later, after a day of rest on an off day, I returned to noble school and greeted people around me as necessary, then I went to go greet Sieghart of my own volition for the first time.
"Good morning, Sieghart. It's a pity that I didn't see you at the party two nights ago."
"Ahh, good morning, Kaldia. Well, actually…… I didn't go to the birthday party at the archduke's residence."
The general commander's grandson sounded weaker than usual. When I looked at the center of the classroom, Eric and Grays, who had finally returned to class after such a long absence, were glaring angrily in Sieghart's direction.
Ahh, I have to deal with this early in the morning. I really didn't want things to become like this because of me, Sieghart and Eric should be getting along with each other originally.
"……I remember you said that you would participate, so what happened?"
"The morning on the day of the party, my grandfather heard about what happened at school, and ordered me to stay at home and not participate in order to learn self-discipline. No, I should say that self-discipline was only an excuse. As a warrior, I must follow up on anything I say to the very end."
Oh? I see, it's a boycott.
General Commander Rolentsor's style is to never stand down and withdraw from anything that has been decided upon. And it's evident to see from the Arxian royal army, that he has a firm hold over them and strictly upholds the code of chivalry.
The commotion that began from my win in the mock duel using tactics considered underhanded, has now become a direct confrontation between me and Sieghart on one side, versus Eric on the other side. In order to resolve this conflict, it depends on if Eric can officially take back his insults to me in front of everyone, this has already become a matter of nobles' pride.
"I see, so that's what the general commander has done…… Then, Sieghart, I have something I'd like to request of you and your grandfather."
"Request?"
"Yes. I'd like to resolve this situation. Definitely before it gets any bigger and the archduke hears about it."
"Wait a minute, the archduke? Just what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Nothing that major. I'd just like for you to write a formal request letter, on my behalf."
Sieghart furrowed his eyebrows even deeper, indicating that he didn't know what was going on.
"……Kaldia, what are you plotting?"
"What's with that? Plotting, you make me sound like I'm up to something nefarious……"
"My bad, your expression just now made me think that you had some evil scheme in mind, though."
Just what type of face was I making? I could have sworn that I didn't allow my facial muscles to even twitch. Being a bit unsatisfied with myself, I couldn't help but touch my cheek silently.
I had Sieghart write a letter of formal request for Baron Eric Teal Dovadain to visit the Jugfena royal domain, as the representative on behalf of the royal family, the archduke's family, and the House of Lords, in order to console the soldiers exhausted from the long, ongoing war.
The official request letter to Eric was filled with formal, stuffy, speech, but that was the essence of the letter. Sieghart's face kept twitching as he kept looking back and forth between the letter and me.
"K, Kaldia…… are, are you serious about this?"
"Of course. I already received consent yesterday from Earl Einsbark who's in charge at Fort Jugfena, as well as Ergnade who's the leader of the Jugfena knights, in fact they think it's an interesting plan and will help me with my goal."
The grinning face of my adoptive father Ergnade appeared in my mind. Unlike for me, my plan had no benefits whatsoever for Ergnade and his brothers, they're helping me mostly because they think it's amusing.
"Eh, but, Fort Jugfena is on the frontlines, right? How are we going to get the archduke to agree to sending his son Eric, even if Eric is only the second son, to the frontlines when Eric's not even a military officer……"
"No, Fort Jugfena isn't on the frontlines, right now it's just a military base supporting from the rear. Recently the House of Lords made a decision, and supplies are being stored there. There's a simple hospital that's been set up there, so it should be the perfect place for a consolation request."
"Ah, I see…… But, will Eric go there obediently?"
"He'll go. ……I can't say the details, but at any rate the Upper House of Lords will have to send a person with an appropriately high enough rank as a commander to the front lines before the next battle."
Although I immediately shared the information I received from Margrave Freche with the eastern border, the army will be able to prepare for things in advance, but it can't make a move.
There are three separate chains of command for the soldiers on the border currently. The first and largest group is the royal army commanded by Marquis Rolentsor. The second group consists of Earl Einsbark and his Jugfena knights and commoner soldiers stationed at Fort Jugfena. And, the third group are the border domain nobles' armies, meaning Margrave Genas' army and the Kaldia army.
The only group that's allowed to move independently and attack without direct permission from the king, is the royal army. Of course, during war the other two groups have permission to respond to and deal with any Rindarl attacks, but in other words they aren't allowed to decide attacks on their own.
Basically, not all of our forces are allowed to make decisions on their own to engage the Rindarl troops.
……The laws regarding warfare are somewhat complex in Arxia, this is because Arxia primarily adopts a defensive strategy, but in times of war, there are provisions that also allow it to invade other countries. However, permission is needed from the king in order to attack enemy troops or territory, and we're only permitted to invade countries that are currently attacking us.
This type of law is in effect because Arxia views itself as a non-aggressive country, while leaving provisions in place to attack enemy countries if we are attacked first.
The Sacred Code which is the origin of Arxia's laws contained no mention of requiring the king's permission. However, in order to not get involved in war and worsen the relationship with the neighboring countries, the non-aggression laws were enacted.
……Currently, the enemy is about to use slave soldiers forcibly drafted from a defeated country. I expect that the morale of the largest group of our soldiers on the border, the royal army, will take a huge hit from this.
In order to prevent this, even if only a little – the king, or at least someone related to the king coming to visit and console the soldiers, it's the most effective type of performance to boost their morale.
Considering the scale of the battle, actually it should have been someone even higher ranked like Grays or the crown prince……. But with the risks involved, the House of Lords was willing to compromise and send Eric instead, that's how I got my proposal passed through even the Upper House of Lords.
Besides, in the formal, stuffy speech words of the official request to the archduke's family, I hinted at knowing the archduke's family's secret problems. Remembering the information that Ratoka brought back to me on the archduke's family, I smiled to myself. Marquis Rolentsor hates scandals more than anything, and the archduke definitely wouldn't welcome a scandal either.
So of course, the archduke wouldn't interfere with sending Eric to console the soldiers, he was basically forced into having to send Eric.
Obviously, in order to console the soldiers and rally their morale, a speech must be prepared for Eric to give to the soldiers.
I'm already a person that's a part of noble society. I'll settle this problem using nobles' methods. ……I've manipulated Eric into a situation where he's going to be forced to swallow his pride and the insults he said against the soldiers.
After Eric is dispatched to the border, I shall ask him to withdraw his previous remarks, and if he still doesn't, it'll become necessary for the archduke himself to resolve his own family's situation. And besides, with this it should relieve some of Eric's unresolved anger and maybe correct his personality issues, along with settling this entire problem.
I see, I can understand now how it may have seemed like I was plotting something. But I was just trying to do what I thought was best for the security of Arxia, how odd.