Valkyrie's Shadow

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 4, Chapter 10

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 4, Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Sella,” Vincenzo said under his breath, “you didn’t mention anything about this!”

“I did say they were on the bony side, sir,” Captain Sella replied.

Vincenzo gripped the scabbard of his arming sword and shot a glare at the Captain.

“I-it was an order!” Captain Sella said defensively, “She said not to mention anything about it!”

By issuing those orders, Captain Zahradnik had gained a grasp of how he would otherwise interact with her. A sudden change in attitude on his part now would be awkward, to say the least.

A long line of Beastman Zombies shuffled through the outer gate of Highfort, occasionally punctuated by a towering figure in black plate armour. Those figures, too, were Undead. The men and women of the fortress’ settlement looked out fearfully from the doors and windows of their homes. The men of the garrison weren’t holding up much better.

Vincenzo glanced at the line of Clerics glaring daggers at him from the side of the lane. So long as Captain Zahradnik carried the Queen’s writ, no one could say anything about what she did or ordered. Everyone could certainly take out their frustrations on the Commander carrying out those orders, however.

The occupants of Highfort were to depart for Blighthold once they were ready for the journey. This not only meant the garrison, but the civilians of the fortress’ settlement as well. The day would be dedicated to their preparations and they would leave the following morning.

“General,” another of his Captains came over. “Captain Zahradnik says that her officers are ready to see you. They’re up on top of the northwest gatehouse.”

“…I’ll be right there.”

He took a few steps before glancing over his shoulder. Both Captains had vanished somewhere. Vincenzo continued walking, muttering darkly under his breath.

The northwestern wall of the fortress ran along the Seylan River, which cut between the hill and the mountains in the north. While that part of the wall was only five metres tall, the sheer drop to the river was ten times the height. A small gatehouse guarded the fortress’ only northern approach: a bridge that stretched across the chasm, leading to a narrow road that ran along the cliff and eventually led to Blighthold.

Vincenzo froze as he finished his ascent to the top of the gatehouse. Thirteen figures, robed and cowled, stood before Captain Zahradnik. Within the shadows of each dark cowl was a bare skull. Crimson points of light blazed from within empty eye sockets. His gaze went away from the fearsome Undead, eventually meeting with those of the two children who accompanied the Captain.

The sole purpose of these children must be to shame grown men into tolerating the Undead…

They never said anything or otherwise seemed to contribute, so it was the only thing he could think of.

“General Inserra,” Captain Zahradnik said. “May I introduce you to the sergeants of the company assigned to Highfort.”

She gestured to a line composed of ten of the Undead, who offered a uniform salute. Vincenzo distracted himself from his fear by returning the salute and forcing himself to analyse their adornment. They were clearly magic casters and, aside from Skeleton Mages, there was only one other type of Undead caster that he knew of.

“These…are Elder Liches?”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Lords of the labyrinth are now ‘sergeants’. Did the world become so ridiculous while we were holed up inside Highfort?

Aside from the Deadmarch, where things occasionally crept down from the Katze Plains, the Undead were extraordinarily rare in the Draconic Kingdom. The only other place where one might find them was far in the south, where many ships had been dashed against the jagged coasts over the ages.

“Since they are assuming garrison duties here,” Captain Zahradnik said, “The sergeants would like to learn as much as possible about Highfort, the surrounding terrain and any quirks to the place that you might know of. Information about the Beastman tribes across the border would also be greatly appreciated.”

“Do you plan on taking the fight to the Beastmen?” Vincenzo asked.

If the tales were to be believed, a half-dozen Elder Liches could destroy a city. The entire ‘company’ that had come to Highfort might be able to level the entire Beastman country.

“No, Your Excellency,” Captain Zahradnik answered. “These forces are for defensive purposes only. Our current agreement with the Draconic Kingdom only includes the liberation of its de jure territory and various forms of aid meant for its economic recovery and border security.”

“That’s…so you’re really not just a Mercenary company…”

“I’ve been associated with Mercenaries and soldiers on occasion, but I feel that it happens more frequently in the Draconic Kingdom. May I ask what led Your Excellency to this belief?”

She was unaware of her ancestry? The girl with her bore features similarly marking her as someone from the south, but the boy had a northern look. It wasn’t uncommon for people to end up in all sorts of places, but it felt like Captain Zahradnik had the bearing of a distinguished lineage.

“It’s just a bit of trivia that’s common knowledge, I guess,” Vincenzo said. “Men and women with names and features similar to yours and that girl’s usually come from a place south of the Theocracy. It’s not any particular country – it’s more like those people are spread throughout the south and are well-known as soldiers and Mercenaries. I thought you came at the head of a Mercenary army from the south because of that.”

“I didn’t think that the reputation was so pervasive,” Captain Zahradnik said. “My mother came from the south; as did my great-grandfather on my father’s side. At one point, most of the families in my home village came from the south. I don’t know much about it, though – just the language and the stories that my parents passed down to me. There are also the fighting styles that came down through both sides of my family, but most of my acquaintances aren’t very interested in combat schools.”

“I’d have killed for a Weapon Master this past year,” Vincenzo sighed. “Used to be that Martial Arts were a thing that only Adventurers and famed warriors had, but I may as well be leading an army of Adventurers now.”

The Captain furrowed her brow, but it didn’t feel like she was looking down on them.

“You’ve been fighting conventionally this entire time?”

“We had a few soldiers that knew Thrust early on and they passed that down. All we did was use that, but it’s pretty damn effective when you have an army of spearmen.”

“It’s a foundational Strike Art of the Imperial Army as well, so I believe you’re at least on the right track. I’m uncertain what schools of combat the Draconic Kingdom’s army uses, but, with some luck, we might find more forces holed up like yours. They may have trainers or at least veterans that are more well-versed in your style of fighting.”

“Eh…I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘style’ or a ‘school of combat’,” Vincenzo scratched his cheek. “Our training is more focused on continually mass-training soldiers to keep up with our seasonal losses. Our budget is limited, too, so it can’t be anything too fancy.”

If he were to be honest about it, the Draconic Kingdom’s soldiers were like bees. Their life expectancy was tragically low, so they were conditioned to maintain high levels of morale and trained to inflict as much damage as possible before getting their guts ripped out. Being an officer in the army was learning how to best send men to their deaths.

“Please don’t look down on your martial traditions, General Inserra,” Captain Zahradnik told him. “What your country has developed over the generations was crucial to your situation.”

“That may be so, Captain Zahradnik,” Vincenzo replied, “but we still got overrun in the end.”

“You did,” the Captain nodded, “but it doesn’t necessarily invalidate all of your hard-won lessons. From what I understand, out of all of the Human nations in the region, the Draconic Kingdom was in the worst situation. Re-Estize and Baharuth were allowed to develop safe from existential threats; the Slane Theocracy enjoys the legacy of the Six Great Gods; Roble has Demihumans on nearly all sides, but the ones on all but one side are friendly or at least non-aggressive. Only the Draconic Kingdom has a powerful Beastman Country to contend with, and you may find that you are surprisingly strong once stability and security have been achieved.”

Her words seemed heartfelt, but, at the same time, they sounded like a consolation to soldiers of a battered and crippled country with poor prospects. Compared with the forces of the Sorcerous Kingdom that had come to take over border security, all of the hard-earned gains in power by his men were insignificant.

“We’ll see if there’s anything left to sift through,” he said. “I don’t want to get my hopes up thinking that other garrisons have survived as we have. Now, you said something about the neighbours and the terrain around here…”

“Yes, Your Excellency,” Captain Zahradnik said, “I can see that the vegetation has been cleared at this bottleneck in the canyon, but I can’t imagine that it’s the only place where Beastmen might be able to cross.”

“You’re right,” Vincenzo replied. “Mountains run all along the border, but there are passes that Beastmen come through on their raids. The border forts only guard major approaches and our patrols attempt to cover the rest.”

“Do you have posts over each of the passes?” The Captain asked.

“We don’t,” he shook his head. “Our patrols stick to the roads along the border.”

“What are these patrols composed of?”

“We use full companies,” Vincenzo replied. “A long time ago, it used to be squads, but entire squads would disappear when Beastmen hit them. With more men, we can at least kill a few Beastmen and satiate the rest.”

“You speak of losses so casually that I wonder how many you lose each season.”

“Between soldiers and civilians from raids that slip through, around sixty thousand. We try to see the bright side of things when it comes to that.”

“Such as…”

“The population stays pretty stable,” Vincenzo said. “There’s work for everyone. Spares build up between raids, but they empty out with every attack.”

“If this was Re-Estize or the Empire,” Captain Zahradnik said, “I’m sure everyone would be screaming about how horrible life is since they keep getting raided. Now that I think about it, the quality of life must be fairly decent here.”

“Barring the whole getting eaten part, I don’t think the people have much to complain about. It’s good land ruled by a good Queen.”

Vincenzo turned to look out over the fortress’ interior, watching his people loading wagons with their belongings. Captain Zahradnik didn’t react to his words in the same way as other foreigners would.

Travellers and Merchants from other parts kept their distance, expressing their horror and sympathy over the Draconic Kingdom’s circumstances. Some offered their prayers; maybe even a bit of charity. To others, it might merely have been an interesting story to share abroad.

Those who came to fight fought for their own reasons. Adventurers and Workers saw raids as an opportunity to obtain wealth. The Theocracy came partially because the Draconic Kingdom was an ‘unofficial’ tributary and partially because major raids were a golden opportunity to exterminate thousands of Demihumans at once. Sometimes, he wondered if they saw it as a convenient military exercise as well – one that they were paid to conduct.

Followers of The Six held the Theocracy as a shining example for all humanity, and their priesthood constantly preached about cultivating strength so that the Draconic Kingdom could be just as strong as them. Those who saw their armies and elite forces in action, however, knew that it was an impossible dream.

Maybe it isn’t as impossible as people think…

“Captain Zahradnik.”

“Yes, Your Excellency?”

“Is…is it possible to replicate the results we’ve achieved here? We’ve got hundreds of men who can hold their own against Beastman raids. More than hold their own: they can win.”

“It’s not impossible,” the Captain replied, “but the cost may raise more than a few eyebrows.”

Vincenzo grimaced at the memories of their long siege. Out of the five thousand soldiers of the garrison, less than six hundred had survived. And that was with the benefit of a defensive position. Still, the Draconic Kingdom lost tens of thousands of soldiers every season. If they could somehow build up their strength over time…

“I think it’s at least worth bringing to the attention of the Grand Marshal,” he said.

“Ah, about that: your Grand Marshal is dead. As far as I know, you are the highest-ranking officer in the Draconic Kingdom’s army…on that note, you are not formally a General, are you?”

He turned his attention back to the Captain.

“Did one of the others tell you about that?”

“No. I’ve just been in the presence of thousands of ‘officers’ from different places. Generals, Commanders, Captains and Sergeants – Lords of different races, as well. They all have a distinct feel to them. How they carry themselves; how people react around them; their capabilities: many countries and organisations simply throw rank around as if it is synonymous with one’s role, but reality is not so simply denied.”

“I see,” Vincenzo sighed. “I’ve been trying to fill the late General’s shoes, but I guess it isn’t so easy. The garrison needed a chief of staff and I guess I was the sucker that took the job. Or maybe the others dumped it on me.”

“I understand, Your Excellency,” Captain Zahradnik smirked. “I will not challenge your authority, but a certain ‘sucker’ will be having an audience with Her Majesty.”

“Th-the Queen?” Vincenzo looked across the canyon, eyes following the road. “Here? Now?”

“Once we finish briefing this company, we’ll be flying back to Blighthold. From there, you’ll board a ship to the capital.”

“In that case, we shouldn’t keep Her Majesty waiting. One moment while I get some officers to answer the rest of your questions.”

It took him a half hour of chasing people around before he returned to the northwest gatehouse. All of them did their damndest to avoid him by being as busy as humanly possible. To his surprise, only Captain Zahradnik and the two kids remained when they got back to her. His officers visibly relaxed when they realised that they wouldn’t be interrogated by one of the Undead.

Three hours passed before Captain Zahradnik appeared satisfied with the information disclosed to her and Vincenzo’s officers went back to their preparations. With transports all along the Seylan River destroyed or disabled by the Beastmen, it would be a two-day journey by road to Blighthold.

“That went more smoothly than expected,” Vincenzo said. “I thought those sergeants of yours would be with you.”

“They are, Your Excellency,” Captain Zahradnik answered.

“I beg your pardon?”

Thirteen Elder Liches abruptly came into existence along the gatehouse’s parapet.

“Since your men still seem hesitant to interact with the Undead,” the Captain said. “I had them maintain Invisibility and simply take notes while I asked all of the questions they wished to ask.”

Ten of the Elder Liches saluted before rising off the stone and flying away. Captain Zahradnik gestured toward the fortress keep.

“Please prepare what baggage you need for the trip to the capital, General Inserra,” she said. “The rest of your belongings can be transported by road. Also, select one of your Captains to accompany us.”

“Will they be coming to the capital as well?”

“No,” Captain Zahradnik replied. “Blighthold’s public order is currently being maintained by the Balik Family and they’ll be handing over their policing responsibilities to your men. The officer you select will be using the two days it takes for the garrison to travel to the city and prepare for the transition.”

Vincenzo headed back down the wall and through the fortress. He should have been happy that the siege of Highfort had been broken and things were moving forward again. The task ahead of them seemed infinitely more daunting, however, and he was apparently the one in charge of the army now.

He crossed Captain Sella on the way back to his quarters, stopping him with a hand on his pauldron.

“Sella, you’re coming with me.”

“Wha?”

“They’re flying me to Blighthold so I can take a boat to the capital. Blighthold needs an officer to take command of the province’s security.”

The man blinked twice slowly. His cheek twitched.

“How are you flying, exactly?” He asked.

“She didn’t say…do you know something?”

“Er, maybe you should pick another Captain, sir.”

“Tell me, dammit!”

Captain Sella turned to flee down the hallway. Vincenzo grabbed him by the bracer.

“I’ll walk, sir,” the Captain said. “I hear Gisolo always wanted to fly.”

“You’re comin’ with me, Sella.”

“Y-You didn’t see what they came in with!”

“I told you to tell me!”

“Dragons!”

Vincenzo froze.

“D-Dragons?”

“Big ol’ Undead Dragons! I swear our balls are gonna turn black and rot off if we ride those things!”

“That’s…that’s not true, probably. The Captain and those kids flew in on ‘em, didn’t they?”

“I saw the kids on ‘em, but…nope! Get Gisolo for this.”

“Gisolo’s not cut out for organising the militia,” Vincenzo told him. “You’re comin’ with me and that’s final!”

He returned to the Commander’s quarters and gathered what he thought he’d need. Just in case, he put on three pairs of pants.

Captain Zahradnik awaited them at the top of the fortress keep, where there were indeed two Undead Dragons. Captain Sella stood as far away as he could from them.

“Have you seen a Skeletal Dragon before, General Inserra?” Captain Zahradnik asked.

“I can’t say I have, Captain Zahradnik. I’ve heard about them. The Adventurers working out of Blighthold talk about them appearing out of the Katze Plains once in a while.”

“Hmm…did they say how frequently they appear? They’re in high demand by our Elder Liches.”

Two of the Elder Liches present mounted each of the Skeletal Dragons. The two kids looked expectantly at him. Did they want him to ride with an Elder Lich?

“I’m afraid I never asked,” Vincenzo said. “Why are they in ‘high demand’?”

“They can be dominated by Elder Liches and used as flying mounts,” Captain Zahradnik said. “Maintaining a Fly spell continuously consumes mana. By having a Skeletal Dragon, an Elder Lich can loiter in the skies indefinitely, controlling troops, providing close air support with spells and regenerating mana over the theatre of operations. Retaliating against a Skeletal Dragon with magic is also difficult, as they are immune to low-tier spells.”

That wasn’t terrifying at all. A handful of Elder Liches could already destroy a city. Now they’d be able to fly around forever and destroy any number of cities.

“We should get going, Your Excellency.”

“The kids aren’t riding?”

“They won’t be able to see anything if they ride behind you.”

So he was going to be riding an Undead Dragon, sandwiched between a kid and an Elder Lich. A part of him yearned for simpler days when all he needed to worry about was being eaten by Beastmen.

It took about as long as smug looks started to appear on the kids’ faces for Vincenzo and Captain Sella to mount the Skeletal Dragons. Vincenzo shook his head as the Skeletal Dragons took wing. Children could be used to exploit emotional weaknesses, but he had never heard of them being used like this.

His stomach lurched when the Undead creature banked west and ascended on slow wing beats. A yelp from Sella carried over the wind.

“We’ll be ascending to five hundred metres and maintaining that height relative to the ground,” Captain Zahradnik told them. “The Elder Liches will be casting Invisibility so the Skeletal Dragons won’t be noticed from below. Don’t panic when they suddenly vanish under you.”

“A-alright,” Vincenzo replied, “What about–”

He suddenly realised that Captain Zahradnik wasn’t flying on a Skeletal Dragon, but simply floating between the two. An Elder Lich flew at her side.

“What about…?” She prompted.

“Er…what about us?” Vincenzo asked, “Won’t we be seen from below?”

“Beings that live on land usually don’t pay much attention to the skies,” Captain Zahradnik answered. “Unless they have powerful Rangers, they won’t be able to make out what a few dots flying five hundred metres above them are. Speaking of which, we haven’t noted any powerful Rangers at all thus far. The Beastmen don’t even think to use ranged weaponry. Is that common?”

“It is. Beastmen use their claws and teeth, as far as I know. Occasionally, we’ll see one that uses a weapon that substitutes for claws, but never anything like a sword or a polearm. Not that they need them to rip a Human apart.”

“So relying on their natural weapons is a purposeful choice?”

“I’d say so,” he nodded. “Their warriors tend to use lighter armour, but not much else.”

“What about magic items?” Captain Zahradnik asked, “We’re still sorting through our spoils, but they don’t appear to be very common at all amongst the tribes we’ve fought so far. For that matter, we’ve been aggressively suppressing their magic casters so we aren’t sure of the full extent of their capabilities.”

The way she spoke suggested it was as simple as saying so, but ‘suppressing magic casters’ was not something that was easily done. They were highly-valued members of the tribes and usually well-protected. Even if they didn’t have an escort, the Beastmen weren’t stupid and their mystics were not placed in risky positions.

“For us,” Vincenzo replied, “they’re troublesome enough. Beastman mystics rarely go on the offensive, but they exact an exorbitant cost in blood just by healing their fellows. As for magic items…as you say, they’re ‘normal’ Beastmen. Just like normal Humans, they usually don’t run around with magic items. Any that you’ve found were probably from their warriors.”

They flew on in silence as the Seylan wound its way out of the canyon and into the vast coastal plain of the Draconic Kingdom. The Skeletal Dragons banked to the west, sending them on a course away from the river. They were flying high enough that they could see Blighthold on the southwestern horizon, but Vincenzo’s attention was riveted to the activity in the rural landscape that they were crossing over.

“What are all those things running through the fields?” Captain Sella asked.

“They’re the remains of the Beastmen tribes withdrawing from the province, Captain,” Captain Zahradnik replied. “We’ll have driven them out by the time your people come through.”

“But your forces are so powerful. Why let them escape? Why not just kill them all?”

“Because we are using an Undead army,” she replied.

Vincenzo turned his attention away from the surroundings to stare at Captain Zahradnik. Across from her, he could see Captain Sella doing the same.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean by that, Captain Zahradnik,” Vincenzo said.

He swallowed, fearing the answer that she would provide. He couldn’t conjure up anything pleasant when he tried to imagine an ‘Undead army’. The young woman flying between them smiled slightly.

“If twenty thousand Undead came boiling out of the Katze Plains,” she asked, “what would you do, Your Excellency?”

“If by ‘you’ you mean the Draconic Kingdom,” he answered, “we’d hire Crystal Tear to destroy them in the Deadmarch. We left those lands empty just for that purpose: to identify and intercept Undead that came out of the north.”

“And if Adventurers, Mercenaries and Workers weren’t enough to stop them, what then?”

“Then we’d evacuate the citizens. The army would try to buy them time to get to safety. Depending on what was coming, we might be able to whittle them down with ranged weaponry.”

Considering the powerful Undead taking over garrison duties and all the Elder Liches flying around, he doubted it would be in any way effective. They’d have no choice but to flee from the army of darkness. He’d have suggested that the Theocracy would appear to help destroy the Undead, but, given how recent events had played out, they weren’t a reliable recourse.

“Would you consider negotiating some sort of settlement with the Undead?” Captain Zahradnik asked.

“Negotiate?” Distaste crossed Vincenzo’s features, “No, Captain…wait…”

Captain Zahradnik’s smile grew as realisation dawned upon him.

“That’s right, Your Excellency. The Undead are universally recognised as the enemies of all life. An Undead army may as well be a force of nature – one may as well try to intimidate or negotiate with an avalanche. Fight or flight are the only options. Don’t you think it’s ideal for dealing with an occupation?”

“So you haven’t communicated your intent to the Beastmen at all? They don’t know you’re here to liberate the Draconic Kingdom?”

“Not at all, Your Excellency. We’re just an ‘Undead horde’ to them.”

“I see. So you started with this province to make it look like you came out of Katze.”

“We did come out of Katze, but, yes, that’s the idea. To avoid retaliation against the Draconic Kingdom’s citizens in occupied territories, we’re acting as a ‘force of nature’. As far as the Beastmen know, all the Humans that they left behind in their flight have been consumed by the Undead.”

“…they haven’t, right?”

“Let’s take a look, shall we?”

They descended along their flight path, angling toward one of the villages ahead. The Skeletal Dragons settled in a nearby field where groups of Undead were slowly shuffling their way southeast. A mix of Undead stood around in the village itself and Vincenz spotted at least two towering masses of flesh amongst them.

“This village doesn’t seem to have a manor…” Captain Zahradnik murmured. “General, do you know which house belongs to the village chief?”

“There should be a plaque or some other marker on the chief’s place,” Vincenzo looked around. “I don’t see it…”

“Administrators get eaten,” Captain Zahradnik said, “so I suppose the village chief would try to hide the fact that he is one.”

In the end, they picked a house that looked promising. The curtains behind its shuttered windows shifted ever so slightly after they knocked on the door. Captain Zahradnik gave Vincenzo a pointed glance. He cleared his throat.

“This is General Inserra, from Highfort. We’re here to talk to your chief if they’re still around.”

After several more attempts, the front door opened a crack. A blue eye peered out at them from the shadows.

“The chief’s dead,” a woman’s voice came out. “I’m his wife. Wh-what do you want?”

“…I’m not sure.”

“Huh?”

“We’re here to inform you that the Beastmen are currently in the process of being driven out of the country,” Captain Zahradnik filled in for him. “Once the Undead leave your village, you’ll be safe to return to your regular lives. By the same token, please let your people know not to go past the Undead if they encounter them: if they are around, Beastmen may still be in the vicinity. General Inserra and his men will be taking up policing duties in the province in a few days.”

The woman’s eye went from Captain Zahradnik to Vincenzo. Then it went to the two kids before going past them to the Undead standing around the village.

“You mean it’s safe now? We can go outside?”

“Once the Undead leave,” Captain Zahradnik replied. “The General here just wanted to make sure everyone was alright.”

“We’re alright,” the woman replied. “At least those of us that weren’t eaten. But…we don’t have enough food. We couldn’t work properly last year, so the harvest…”

Vincenzo bit his lip. There was nothing a soldier could do about that. Would they survive an invasion just to perish from famine?

“Her Majesty has arranged for food and supplies to be delivered to Blighthold,” Captain Zahradnik said. “Once it’s safe to come out, you can send wagons to the city to procure provisions.”

The crack in the door widened, revealing the woman’s face. Tears gathered in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. Captain Sella sniffled behind his left shoulder.

“Oh, bless Her Majesty!” She said, “Bless her pure little heart! Thank you for letting us know – we’ll go and do that right away.”

“After the Undead leave,” Captain Zahradnik said. “You didn’t go through all this just to get eaten.”

“O-of course, my lady.”

Vincenzo frowned, examining Captain Zahradnik from the side. Now that the villager had mentioned it, she did have the telltale beauty of a Noble.

They returned to the field outside the village, mounting the Skeletal Dragons and continuing their flight to Blighthold.

“Captain Zahradnik,” he asked after their ascent levelled out, “are you a Noble?”

“I am.”

He abruptly lowered his head, drawing a surprised noise from the girl sitting in front of him.

“F-forgive me for our conduct, my lady! We’ve been rude…”

Lady Zahradnik regarded him with a curious expression.

“I don’t feel that you’ve been overly rude, nor do I expect you to speak formally at all times, Your Excellency.”

Vincenzo flinched at her ‘Your Excellency’. She seemed to be the type that let people dig their own graves. Had she switched to tormenting him now? What would she say to the Queen?

“I lied to you about being a General,” he kept his head down. “I’m just an up-jumped Captain.”

“Yes, you explained your circumstances to me. But what does that have to do with my being a Noble?”

Ah, I’m dead. She’s gonna dump me off this damn Dragon the second she’s done having her fun with me…

“Because…because only Nobles can be Generals, my lady. Commoners can’t even be Commanders. It’s not our place.”

“Oh. I wasn’t aware of that.”

“At least execute me in some humane way, I don’t want to watch the ground coming up at me like that.”

“I beg your pardon?”

He stole a glance at the noblewoman. Her expression was as placid as it usually was – he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

“It’s death to impersonate a Noble…” Vincenzo’s voice trailed off limply.

“Out of curiosity,” Lady Zahradnik said, “why did the other officers choose you to take command of Highfort?”

“…because I sounded the most Noble-like.”

“I see,” Lady Zahradnik said, “Well, I’m not entirely familiar with your country’s laws, but this sort of thing lies beyond the scope of the authority entrusted to me by Queen Oriculus. If you insist on being executed for your transgressions, you’ll have to make that request to Her Majesty in person.”