Record of Wortenia War: Volume 26

Prologue

Thick clouds covered the sky, blocking out the sun, making it the perfect example of an overcast day.

Although it was approaching midday, the land was dark. The occasional flash of lightning cut through the sky in the distance, followed by a roar of thunder that reverberated across the land—truly ominous weather.

A young woman looked out her window toward the east. Her room was located within the royal castle in the Xaroodian capital of Peripheria.

Her name was Lione.

Once a mercenary, she now served the Mikoshiba Grand Duchy as a knight. For someone who made her living from battle, she wasn’t especially large in stature, standing just over 170 centimeters. She would be considered bigger in build than most other women from Earth, but from a warrior’s point of view, she was on the smaller side.

However, within her lay a terrifying talent.

She had the agility of a feline and had a well-proportioned, muscular body fitting for someone with ample combat experience—her body exemplified functionality. Anyone on a battlefield would be able to take one glance at her and understand just how much power lurked inside her. In addition, Lione’s refined features, combined with her flaming red hair, caught the eye of many.

Her chest wasn’t particularly voluptuous; while some might see this as unfortunate, few would deny her beauty. Everyone had their own taste, but there was a universal standard for beauty. All that appeared on Lione’s beautiful, strong face today was doubt and grief.

Man... I don’t like the look of that sky. It’s makin’ me feel uneasy, thought Lione as she ran her hands through her fiery hair. This was a peculiar state of mind for the Crimson Lioness, an experienced mercenary who also played a major role in the Mikoshiba Grand Duchy.

Lione was usually bright, easygoing, and had a mature older sister aura about her, but she was also a calm, calculating commanding officer.

She was frequently criticized for not being very womanly and was often the target of jealous whispers, but she was a veteran mercenary commander. She was once even asked to serve as an officer due to her outstanding leadership abilities.

It was a rare occurrence for the experienced mercenary, Lione, to show such emotion—even if there was no one around her.

That said, Lione’s clouded expression wasn’t without good reason. If most people had heard the report she’d received from the Igasaki clan, they probably would have lost heart and fallen into a daze.

Did Lione’s reaction to the report stem from her realizing just how imposing the O’ltormea Empire was, or did it come from the betrayal of her faint expectations of the Kingdom of Xarooda?

Lione felt emptiness and fragility pass through her mind. Given the situation, I was somewhat prepared for this. I didn’t expect a country renowned for its military prowess to be like this.

The Kingdom of Xarooda controlled one of the westernmost territories in the eastern part of the continent. They had managed to develop a nation in the basin formed by several dangerous mountain ranges.

Xarooda has also acted as the last bastion against the conquerors from O’ltormea, who have their eyes on dominating the whole western continent.

Everyone living in the eastern part of the western continent was aware of this reality. It was also common knowledge that the knights and soldiers of the Kingdom of Xarooda’s army were powerful. However, Lione now knew of a crack in their seemingly strong defenses. This differed greatly from what she had heard from Ryoma Mikoshiba before they left for this expedition.

Well, we are at war. There’s bound to be matters we don’t expect... I guess...

No matter how well one prepared, even if one could predict various outcomes, reality often found a way to surpass expectations. In a way, to remain composed was a good quality for a commander to have because they would have the ability to prepare for any unexpected developments.

Regardless, everything had its limits.

It’s a historically significant nation, and yet...

The Kingdom of Xarooda had an extremely long history in comparison to the other nations in the continent.

Out of the twenty or more countries that made up the western continent, it had been around the third-longest. In a continent plagued by war, which had frequently caused the rise and fall of nations, Xarooda had managed to stand for close to five hundred years—a rare achievement.

Apart from the Kingdom of Helnesgoula in the northern part of the continent, which had a history spanning over a thousand years, the only other kingdom that could compare to Xarooda was the Kingdom of Rhoadseria to the east.

However, having equally long histories didn’t mean their armies were equally strong.

Even so, countries with long histories have certain advantages that put them above the rest.

This also meant there were also a similar amount of downsides. Lione couldn’t help but question if the Kingdom of Xarooda possessed military prowess proportional to its long history. After all, the Holy Qwiltantia Empire, one of the three strongest nations vying for hegemony over the continent, had emerged only after the Church of Meneos was established. That was only three hundred years of history. And Lionel Eisenheit, the current emperor, had established the O’ltormea Empire just about ten years ago.

In other words, having a long history didn’t necessarily guarantee military strength.

Not that I would ever refer to Xarooda as weak, but... Comparin’ them to those other nations is probably unfair...

Compared to the three big nations—which included the domination-hungry O’ltormea Empire—Xarooda was much smaller.

Even then, the Kingdom of Xarooda boasted a substantial territory covering a third of the eastern part of the continent. It only looked small compared to the other great powers, which occupied a larger part of the western continent. When viewed alongside the southern kingdoms, Xarooda was rather big.

As a country on Earth, it was still a relatively strong nation. The problem was that countries boasting greater national power than Xarooda resided on the very same western continent, and they were Xarooda’s enemies.

If someone were to ask me if the country’s national power matched its size, I’d find it hard to answer, even if I tried to consider the question thoughtfully.

Because the Kingdom of Xarooda was in a mountainous region, it was also filled with trees and hills. The only issue was that it lacked wide-open plains suited for agriculture, owing to its mountainous terrain. Of course, most of its land consisting of mountains wasn’t entirely bad.

Mountains can act as a shield against enemy attacks, and they have a lot of natural water sources. So it’s really not a bad thing at all...

The mountains of Xarooda hid many valuable mines. In addition to gold, silver, and copper, Xarooda was one of the only nations on the western continent with iron mines. This resource was vital for forging armaments, and thus a huge advantage for a country like the Kingdom of Xarooda.

It was difficult to overlook the fact that they not only were able to mine such metals, but they also possessed most of the iron ore on the continent. They had become incredibly skilled at forging armor using their ample supply of iron. Gathering the metals needed was practically painless, so there was no better environment for an artisan to hone their trade.

As a result, people often claimed that the Kingdom of Xarooda produced some of the highest-quality equipment on the western continent.

Knights and soldiers have long used weapons and armor from the Kingdom of Xarooda and always treated them as high-quality equipment.

Even if they were mass-produced items, they would already have fetched a higher price than equipment made in other countries. Because Xarooda’s goods were not merely ready-made but rather crafted by renowned artisans, it wasn’t unusual for their prices to soar.

To those who made a living in combat, it was safe to say equipment from Xarooda was often a subject of envy. That was made evident by the fact that whenever a shipment of goods came from the trading city Pherzaad, a large share of the items were equipment made in the Kingdom of Xarooda.

Recently, Xarooda expanded their trade routes to the northern city of Sirius.

Xarooda was desperately securing a constant flow of funds. Smithing and sales were two main industries within the nation. And the backbone of that industry was the vast amounts of natural ore deposits that lay in the mountains. The ore deposits were the lifeblood of the kingdom.

But therein lies another problem. Such treasure attracts enemies who want it for themselves...

It was the way of the world: if one country excelled at something, another would lag behind. One couldn’t gain anything without losing something else. This truth applied to people and nations. The price the Kingdom of Xarooda paid for its success with mining and metallurgy was a lack of self-sufficiency regarding food.

Since Xarooda is so mountainous, where those many metal deposits lie, it lacks empty plains suitable for farming. Previous monarchs tried and failed to change that.

Politicians fully aware of their limited agricultural power would not simply disregard that weakness. In fact, past monarchs in Xarooda had taken great pains to improve the nation’s agriculture. But the level of technology available to those on Earth had its limits. Even with their best efforts, Xarooda could barely keep its citizens from starving. Or more accurately, they were one bad harvest away from a famine.

It was a horrifying reality.

This situation made the neighboring Kingdom of Rhoadseria—with its ample amounts of irrigated agricultural fields—look like a tempting place to live. Centuries ago, Rhoadseria and Xarooda had frequently clashed swords due to the former Xaroodian rulers coveting Rhoadseria’s land. It was a prime country for food production.

However, living in such demanding conditions isn’t always a bad thing.

Due to living in such a mountainous region, the people of Xarooda were built rather sturdy. Moreover, they held a strong sense of loyalty and duty toward their nation—a great boon indeed.

And so, the history and climate of this country nurtured a warlike spirit among its people.

The Kingdom of Xarooda had been able to protect its borders due to the sturdy and incredibly patriotic people who lived there. This was a fine example of how advantages and disadvantages could change someone’s outlook or the situation. But Xarooda’s geopolitical position had changed dramatically once the O’ltormea Empire established itself in the central part of the western continent and made known its desire to dominate.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Rhoadseria to the east relied on Xarooda as an important defense to avoid an invasion from O’ltormea.

A new era had recently dawned for the three eastern kingdoms, as Ryoma Mikoshiba orchestrated the establishment of a four-country alliance headed by the Kingdom of Helnesgoula. But a new, foreboding cloud had settled over Xarooda.

An incredibly lethal one, at that...

Lione let out a deep sigh. After all, the Kingdom of Xarooda would lose one of its few advantages in the coming war. Despite how dauntless she usually was, keeping her composure in such a situation was challenging. An ordinary commander would find themselves in a state of despair, their mind going blank. Lione’s instinct to first analyze the situation and her tenacity to face reality were what made her a cut above the rest as a commander.

I know I said that the people of this country were loyal, but that isn’t necessarily the case for the nobles.

There was a difference between the commoners—who had no involvement or responsibility in politics—and the nobles, who did.

A cold smile appeared on Lione’s beautiful face.

Was she ridiculing the wavering nobles?

Or was she grieving the idiocy of humans?

We’re in a bit of a bind... Judging from O’ltormea’s movements, they are hell-bent on destroying Xarooda. But Xarooda is in a state of confusion and has yet to unite against the invaders... Everyone has their own ideas on what to do. We need someone who can coordinate all that and decide on a direction for the nation.

The royal family, bureaucrats, nobles, and common folk were all involved in the war effort. It was a rather dangerous situation because all the groups that made up Xarooda had yet to unite and face the national crisis before their eyes. The discord among the nobles was terrible; their arguments often went in circles as they bickered over what to do at the royal court. Some intended to fight until the very end, but others shouted about negotiating for their survival. Those who prioritized the safety of the citizenry suggested the unconditional surrender of Xarooda to the O’ltormea Empire.

That said, it’s a little difficult to just dismiss the nobles’ methods as a mere attempt at self-preservation.

The nobles were patriotic; the same could be