#3 (II)

Two other plans were outlined: one using the sea to bypass the great rebel fortress line and reach the Tilandr Bastion without having to advance through a whole lot of hostile territory. The other was to secure a mountain range that was breeding ground for brigands and Army sympathizers, which was also a suspected major route through which the rebels were thought to transport in much of its supplies.

The third proposal was the first to die, as even Budo himself voiced the stupendous risk in having to contend with hostile mountainous terrain and the presence of bandits and rebel groups. Then, the water route was shot down as well, for it was pointed out by a number of admirals that the defenses at the rear had not been well mapped, which risked a major rout if the rebels had fortified that area.

Abell's suggestion was the safest and most orthodox course, allowing the use of superior Imperial numbers and firepower to slowly wear away at the Rebel's front-line. A plan was therefore formed, with several generals and admirals volunteering to lead the various branches of the Army to secure the cities. They were all surprised then, to learn that the Emperor also wanted to come as well.

This time, even Budo could not hold himself back. "My lord, I must protest this!"

"It'll be fine. I do not fear assassinations, General Budo," the Emperor said. "Besides, it would be far more inspiring to the people if I came along personally right? Even if I do defer to all your superior skills in leading, of course."

"In that case, my lord," said General Abell, "Allow me to be the one to be your escort! I and my army shall work to ensure you are safe from all harm."

"Alright, that sounds good."

Budo could only shake his head at the young Emperor's foolhardiness. He was hardly a year ruling and already he was taking many risks. The Empire may yet fall if he wasn't careful with his head. He frowned. Perhaps he could-?

No, his place was here. His eyes went to Honest, who was busy chowing down on food in the background. In case the reckless Emperor did get himself killed, Budo wanted to be here, in command of the Pandemonium-class, so he could finally mete out justice against the rotten Prime Minister. If the man somehow survived the many powerful guns, then Budo would use his Teigu to see to it personally that the man was gutted for his many crimes to the Empire.

Unaware of his thoughts, the Emperor continued to consult with the generals without his input. They spent the whole day fleshing out the details of the Campaign that would begin as soon as possible.

Then the Emperor dropped his last bombshell.

"I'd like General Esdeth to capture this fortress here," he said. The other generals looked at him in surprise. "I have heard of her skill, and would like to see it personally."

"But, my lord—"

The Emperor held out a hand. "I know her personality, for goodness sake it's all anyone can talk about! And that's precisely what I need to see and confirm for myself. So send the command, and tell her it's a demotion if she refuses."

Budo could see Honest's face twist in mirth as silence fell after the Emperor's words. He slightly re-evaluated the young Emperor. Perhaps he wouldn't be assassinated after all; he'd actually die impaled on a spike of ice.

Along the great slopes of Mt. Scapaios, named after the gigantic dragon whose bones could be seen buried in its mighty peak, there lived quite a number of Danger Beasts. All along the forests that made up the mountain's base they hunted and fought each other in titanic duels that few people ever saw. And few ever saw them because none dared to live there, particularly with the presence of not just the numerous Danger Beasts, but the tribes of vicious beastmen that called the Scapaian forests their own.

Hunched and mangy, with bodies shaped like burly, unwashed and unshaved men, bearing snouted heads reminiscent of various animals with sharp, mismatched teeth growing along their mouths, these creatures were known as the Kahzrak. They had existed since before the Empire's founding, and had been a blight on the lands of men for that same amount of time. Theirs was a peculiar society, built around worshipping the various Danger Beasts that lived in Scapaia. They had mastered fire, and the implements of war that could be forged from it, though with markedly lesser expertise than Man. They were built along tribes or clans, loosely affiliated bands that frequently warred against one another.

The settlements closest to Scapaia had long suffered the rampant raids and incursions from frenzied Kahzrak, who looted and despoiled much in their mad, unknowable quest for destruction. No one had ever been able to communicate with the creatures, despite the many specimens of creatures that had been dissected in the Imperial Research Institutes for thousands of years. All that was known about them were gleaned from the studies of intrepid adventurers and the experiences of the frontier towns that bordered Mt. Scapaia. And the only thing that any sane person should know about the Kahzrak was to stay the hell away.

This was not the case for those wishing to hone their strengths in the wretched forest. Over time, many had either succumbed to the dangers in Scapaia, or had emerged as undisputed champions after cutting a swathe through both Danger Beast and Kahzrak. Among those of the latter group was the Empire's infamous "Ice Queen", already feared throughout the land for her military exploits. Her fell reputation was enhanced further by her constant forays into Mt. Scapaia. She was perhaps the only human to also be a terror in those forests as she was outside of it, leaving nothing but piles of frost-bitten pieces in her wake.

Not even her lieutenants, the Three Beasts, could match their master in facing down the dangers of Scapaia whenever she had the urge to let off some steam. They were each formidable fighters, and wielded their own powerful Teigu. Yet even they would find difficulty in the treacherous forest, as the Kahzrak were crafty and wielded strange magics themselves. It required a tremendous, overwhelming force, on par with that of a Danger Beast, to walk fearlessly and unscathed through the forest, and even the most bloodthirsty of the trio, Nyau, conceded the impossibility of following Esdeth into the forest.

This was the reason why they were currently in the encampment right outside the forest's perimeter, placed on standby while their master indulged in her battle lust. While each were devoted to Esdeth in their own way, none of them showed any outward concern for her entering the forest of death alone: this was just their way of acknowledging that they had faith in their master, no matter what.

Presently, one of their number, a disgraced former general named River, was busy cooking a meal on the campfire when a soldier bustled into the general's tent, breathless. "My lords, the comm device has been pinged!"

Each of the Three Beasts present looked at the soldier in silence before they looked at each other.

"The General's not here, as you well know," Liver said.

"But sirs…!" the soldier insisted. "It's the Emperor…!"

Liver was just about to say a well-rehearsed line when the tall, burly man who'd been quietly doing pushups to the side rose and towered above the hapless soldier. "Listen here, shortstack," said Daidara. "I'm gonna assume you're another one of those new transfers from another division. You still haven't had time to settle down, everything's so fresh and new, huh? Am I wrong? Well, here in General Esdeth's army we prize two things above all: strength and spine and a huge appetite for battle."

"That's three things," said Nyau.

"And that's just the three basic things," Daidara said without missing a beat. "But there's one big rule we've always got to follow as part of the General's army: You do not fuck around with her orders. Whatever she says, goes."

"Does that count as two big rules now?"

"…And we don't care if it's General Budo, or the Prime Minister, or the Emperor, or the goddamned Wanderer: when General Esdeth says to fuck off, fuck off!"

Just before the intimidated soldier could leave on his shaky legs, River intervened, and asked, "Hold, soldier. What exactly did the Emperor want?"

"W-w-well he wanted to speak with the General," the soldier stammered. "A-and we all knew—because we know all the rules, sirs—and we told the Emperor she was busy—"

"You what?" River cried. "You didn't tell him she was here, hunting, in Mt. Scalaia?" Nyau swore, somewhat uncharacteristic for one with such a pretty face. Daidara, meanwhile, looked like he could decapitate the quivering soldier any second.

"W-we did—I mean, I certainly didn't, but some of the other guys in the tent said so, sir! And then the Emperor, he—" The soldier paused, as if suddenly reluctant to continue what he was about to say.

"Well? Out with it, soldier!" River insisted heatedly.

"H-he said, sir, that he was an understanding fellow and understood the General's need to hunt some Danger Beasts, but that afterwards she should come join him in conquering a couple of territories from the rebels. Sir. And—and—if she don't comply, she's gonna be demoted from General… sir."

Utterly surprised, the Three Beasts looked at each other. They were thoroughly amazed that someone would have the gall to order the General around like that. Their shared moment of surprise was enough to allow the soldier to beat a hasty retreat.

"The balls on that kid," Nyau said in the silence.

"It's his funeral," Daidara remarked, nodding to himself.

"Be that as it may, we have no reason not to take the Emperor's word at face value," River said. His background as a former general lent well to situations like these, as he was the only one who retained a little pragmatism when it came to his master's various caprices. He sighed, and looked around at each of his fellows. "Who shall summon her?"

Each of the Three Beasts swallowed, their eyes turning towards the device placed in the very corner of the tent. It was a one-way signal to a mechanism on General Esdeth's person, which would alert her to return. She had given strict orders to the three of them that she was only to be disturbed in this way if anything truly catastrophic were happening, such as a freak occurrence of magic or some apocalyptic bullshit that even she could sense a mile away. Else, she did not care if there was a rebel army marching on their camp at the moment, she was not to be disturbed!

It went without saying that the person who'd summon her needed to be one of the Three Beasts. And it needed to be the one among them currently with nothing to lose in the face of their master's potential wrath. After all, they had every reason to believe Esdeth's threat of cutting their balls and feeding them to the pigs if she was ever disturbed for anything less.

"Flip for it?" River suggested.

Even Nyau, who was ever smiling and jeering in the face of certain death, hesitated now to take the coin River passed around. The Three Beasts, veterans of a thousand massacres, stared determinedly at their palms, from where fortune or misfortune would spring. They swallowed, and after a hidden signal, flipped the coin.

In the end, it didn't matter who it was that drew the short end. General Esdeth's wrath was a terrible thing to behold, and it did not fall on one man's head alone.

The ship thrummed, pulsed and rumbled around him, like he was living in the belly of an enormous beast. And yet, that wasn't the only thing vibrating.

Tatsumi himself churned with unspent energy, as his excitement kept on growing and growing to a fever pitch. He paced his quarters endlessly, clenching and unclenching his fists, the feeling of tension filled his body to a point where it might just explode. It was the same thrill he felt on the night before a scheduled Hunt, as if he were a predator who'd long smelled the blood and was all ready to pounce, yet there was no prey in sight.

His two friends, Sayo and Ieyasu, were oblivious to his plight. Their gazes were fixed on the view outside the small porthole that showed the endless blue sky extending far in the horizon. The three of them were in Tatsumi's quarters inside the large underbelly of the Ordos-class flying ironside. It was a small and cramped space fitted with only a table and chair as furniture, a small privy, sink, and an emergency escape slot. Tatsumi could only therefore pace a few steps, as there was really no space left in the room.

Truth be told, the Emperor's personal quarters was supposed to be the Admiral's quarters, but the Admiral had been reassigned after Tatsumi had insisted on coming with the campaign fleet. The ship then functioned under the chief adjutant's command, while one General named Abell was given the task of defending the Emperor with the detachment of soldiers carried on the ship. Much had been shifted around to accommodate Tatsumi's whim, as Honest was fond of pointing out again and again.

Sayo and Ieyasu reflected the child-like wonder that was on Tatsumi's own face half an hour past. This was when General Abell had led them on a tour through the insides of the ship while it was already in motion. Most of the structure gave Tatsumi the impression of fish tightly packed in a barrel. Much of the space within the ship was dedicated to the various machinery that kept the ship operating. In various places, it also smelled strongly of a substance that Abell called the "ether runoff", which made the trio's eyes water and sting after a prolonged time exposed to it.

There was also a persistent humming noise coming from all the gathered machinery that left a buzzing in Tatsumi's mind, even up to the present. General Abell explained that nearly 90% of the entire ship was geared towards making it float via the enormous ether batteries, as well as allowing it to move around and maneuver. The other 9% was left to the other systems, like navigation, weaponry, countermeasures and emergency mechanisms as well as the boarding and deployment mechanisms for the elements of the army transported in the ship. The mere 1% left over was dedicated to the ship's crew itself, who were composed of sailors, navigators, gunners and engineers who were all expected to do the work of all other crewmembers at any given time. This was, the General explained, the reason why a flying ship of this size, although dwarfed immensely by the Pandemonium-class back in the Capital, was to be led by a single Admiral, as if it were an army unto itself. Without the crew's expert and tireless functioning, the ship was literally a useless hunk of iron on the ground.

"There are many other classes of ships like these, my lord," General Abell explained. Although possessing a significant paunch and a bald pate, he looked quite sagely with his graying beard and mustache. His scholar-like lectures also lent well to the impression. "They are all geared towards various functions. The Ordos-class, for example, is built for the speedy deployment and transfer of armies across the field. The Castellum line of ships, on the other hand, are for prolonged sieges, Danger Beast hunting, or for use in the nigh-impossible chance the enemy side has ironside ships of their own. Then there are the slimmer Nomad vessels, which head our interception fleets that exclusively hunt down smaller boats. Their ships are designed to house the smaller boats within, and are unsuitable for army transportation entirely. It all depends on the situation, you see, and that is how certain admirals are chosen for specific jobs."

"You seem so knowledgeable about all this, General Abell," Tatsumi said. "Why aren't you an admiral instead?"

"Truth be told, I was aiming for that position, my lord," the general replied. "However, this was during that unfortunate war, and the hierarchy was in a dreadful state. The army needed more generals than admirals then, and thus I was put to work."

"Oh, okay." Tatsumi glanced awkwardly at Sayo and Ieyasu, whose expressions mirrored his own. It seemed like they had stepped into a landmine of sorts. "Er… would you like to be renamed as admiral, then?"

"Hohoho," the man said, chortling, as he stroked his beard. It was a tic he seemed to share with the Prime Minister. "I do appreciate the offer, my lord, but I am too much ingrained with my own soldiers now that I've been a general for so long. I've formed a sort of bond with them. Wherever they go, I follow; and naturally that goes both ways." And so Tatsumi left it at that.

All in all, he was thankful to the General for taking the time to show them around. Of course, Tatsumi recognized that the man might just be buttering him up in order to get into his good graces, but he appreciated the effort all the same. As long as it wasn't something that sounded or smelled bad, then Tatsumi was fully ready to reward good work with Imperial favor when it was deserved.

"We ever ask how this emergency thing is supposed to work?" Ieyasu remarked. He was now examining the portion of the wall which said CAUTION: PULL DURING EMERGENCIES ONLY. Both the chief adjutant and General Abell had stressed to Tatsumi multiple times on the importance of following the written warning to the letter.

"Don't touch anything," Sayo said, sounding exasperated.

"I wasn't going to," Ieyasu said, protesting. "Besides, it wouldn't do to have my name go down as the assassin to the world's last Emperor if I ended up doing something stupid."

"Sheesh, don't say scary stuff like that!" Sayo scolded. "Don't you know the spirits can hear and might just invite bad luck?"

As Sayo began on her latest sermons, Tatsumi's lips curled up into a fond smile. It had been Ieyasu's idea for the two of them to volunteer as his bodyguards. At first, he'd been very skeptical, as the two of them were quite likely the most unconventional bodyguards ever. He'd seen examples of his own bodyguards: tough, grizzled soldiers trained to stand around and wait on him for hours on end while clad in resplendent, identical armor. He wasn't sure he wanted that for his friends: he'd always imagined getting them some sort of job at the capital or something.

But then, even Sayo had voiced her approval of the plan. "To them, we're basically friends, aren't we? So it'd make sense for us to stick together than most. So why not become your official bodyguards while we're at it?"

Seeing no other objection to it, he went to the Prime Minister with the suggestion. Honest had been greatly amused at the idea, and had then pointed out to Tatsumi that technically there was no restrictions on who he could assign as his bodyguards. He was the Emperor, after all. However, there was a security detail already assigned to him 24/7, so it was only a matter of informing the head of the palace guards that Ieyasu and Sayo were to be considered like they were one of them—even if their skillsets were vastly different. (Honestly, Tatsumi would bet money his friends could beat his bodyguards in a straight up fight)

Cue the trip to Martin the Skeleton's forge, from where the two of them were granted access to two of the master smith's masterpieces.

Ieyasu had acquired a pair of single-headed hand axes, with a sleek design that allowed him to throw it with little loss in accuracy if needed. The axe head was built from the same material that was used to armor an Imperial flying ship. The grooved grips meant he could leverage his strikes for more power. There was a retractable spike towards the edge of the handles for extra utility. In addition, all of Martin's creations were said to feature a certain gimmick or two. Tatsumi's katana, for example, featured a hollow handle, inside of which one could secretly store anything that would fit. In this case, Ieyasu's gift of weaponry had a magnetic bonding mechanism that would allow one axe to fly back towards its owner if it had been thrown, as long as the other axe was still held in hand. It required a little practice from Ieyasu to prevent the axe from simply flying back and decapitating him on the return trip, but he promised to master it.

Sayo, on the other hand, never got the daggers Tatsumi was expecting to give her. As soon as Martin discovered that she preferred to use bows, the skeleton had seemed excited to usher them into a particular shelf, where he then gave her the weapon secured to her back today. It was an unusually shaped and forged bow, as it was made of metal, with limbs that were completely inelastic, giving it the appearance of a staff. Instead, a pulley mechanism jutting out from the ends of the limb, connected to some mechanism hidden within the hollowed chamber of the bow, added the necessary force and tension to fire a shot. Having tested it herself, Sayo marveled that it didn't feel any different than when using her old standby bow that was made of wood, which was remarkable. But that wasn't its only function. The bow also acted as a very formidable quarterstaff, which was light enough to not burden her if she ever started swinging. The switching mechanism was also near automatic, meaning she could seamlessly switch to preparing an arrow to fire in just a couple of seconds. However, just like Ieyasu she now had to train to use the staff form properly, as it was dead weight otherwise.

Tatsumi wasn't really expecting his friends to die for him, as the bodyguards were sworn to do. It was kind of awkward to ask that of his friends, admittedly. It was vastly different from trusting them with his back whenever they were grouped together during a Danger Beast hunt. In that instance, they acted as a functioning team expected to fight together. It was already difficult enough treating them as his companions even when they were already technically his "employees" with compensation already prepared for them from the Imperial Treasury.

He sighed. It was just one of many things he now had to juggle as a newly minted Emperor. The village elder had remarked to him when they'd met that the job would make him old before the year was out; Tatsumi truly doubted it would take that long for him to look just as wrinkled and gray as that guy.

The comm-device on the table suddenly bleeped, drawing all their attention towards it. The sound was shrill and loud, which made answering it pretty much a necessity.

"Yes?" Tatsumi said, upon answering.

"Greetings, my lord," came the garbled voice. "This is General Abell. We are approaching our destination, and have already spotted our rendezvous at the location. Would you like to come up to the deck?"

"Uh… sure."

"Very well, my lord. And do be sure to prepare for the cold."

The deck of the ship was a flat surface situated at its top, just the same as actual decks on water-borne ships. Unlike the latter, it served no practical purpose for personnel, as the high altitude winds made it impossible to work. But it did make for a good view, as long as one minded the edge.

"You guys coming?" he asked his friends.

"Of course," they both said, as if he'd said something strange.

When Tatsumi left his quarters, both Ieyasu and Sayo flanked him from behind, which made him self-conscious all the way up to the deck.

The wind buffeted him the very instant he cleared the open hatch leading to the deck. Tatsumi clutched the emergency safety railing, which was supposed to be used during emergencies if the deck or upper sections ever caught fire, and made his way over to where General Abell and some of his soldiers were waiting towards the ship stern. Walking that distance in these types of wind was made all the more daunting by the way the ship swayed and creaked beneath his feet, as if the whole edifice would fall apart in mere seconds.

"Hail, Emperor!" everyone of them greeted when he approached. Tatsumi felt like he'd been climbing a sheer cliff by the time he'd arrived.

"There it is, my lord," said General Abell, gesturing to the land far below. Tatsumi looked and saw their target, the city of Folkis. At this height, it was just a tiny spot on the distance, but he knew it was a large city, where about a forty-thousand souls lived. He could see the sloped terrain of the hills around it, which made it difficult to attack in a full-on siege. It was also a source of much-needed wealth, as the ore in its veins would help immensely with the war effort.

He had been told that Folkis had been captured through quite a bit of treachery. The governor who was supposed to lead Folkis was still loyal to the Empire, but his subordinate mayor had long been a sympathizer for the rebels. When illegal activities had been discovered, the mayor was said to have feigned outrage and begged for an entire garrison of troops to help "purify" his city. The governor, enthusiastic to prove his loyalty to the Empire, sent in five scout ships for good measure. However, the mayor had sprung a trap, killing all the loyal soldiers sent to help, and had then acquired the ships for the rebel cause. A rebel army then moved in and fortified the city, thereby denying its use for the Empire.

"The crew has informed me," said the General, who had to shout to make his voice heard above all the noise surrounding them, "That they are beginning descent procedures. Before long we'll be able to dock and unload my army."

"I was wondering," Tatsumi said in turn, "Won't the people in the city know we're coming? They can probably see us up here!"

"Oh, they're already well aware, my lord!" the General said. "And it's fortunate for us they don't have the sort of anti-air guns we've got lining the Capital! This would have been a very dicey descent otherwise!"

Tatsumi continued to watch as the ground got closer and closer by the second. Soon, they had cleared the level of the sky that brought with it high winds—now it was relatively calmer, but then it also made the sounds of the ship below more apparent and loud.

Then a booming alarm sounded. Tatsumi looked around in confusion, before turning to the General.

"That's a beat to quarters, my lord!" the General said hastily. "It means we're under attack! You have to get to—"

"Um, Tatsumi? Something's coming," Sayo said, squinting with her eyes.

At her words, they turned and saw a most amazing thing. A long, tall column of ice was slowly ascending towards them, looking like a growing needle from this distance. At the tip of it, riding the growing column upward, was a lone figure, a familiar one to Tatsumi. Her long sable hair was unmistakable, even from afar.

"That's—" Everyone's jaws went down in shock.

"General Esdeth?" said Abell in shock. "But—"

The whole ship shook, making their bodies crumple and tumble to the floor.

"What's going on?" Abell demanded of the comm device.

"General Abell, General Esdeth has attacked us! She's overloaded the engines with some sort of immobilizing frost!"

"Absurd! Why is she even—" The General's question was answered soon enough when the column of ice finally speared up and past their level, followed by a flurry of crystallizing ice that soon encrusted the surface of the deck in a massive wave. Esdeth descended with all the grace of a flying swan, before waving carelessly and knocking away the soldiers in Abell's group with a strong breeze. Surrounded by the ice she looked greatly like a divine apparition of the winter storm, cloaked in a mantle of sheer, irresistible power.

Her intentions were obvious to all who were present to witness her arrival. It was clear from the moment she appeared—her eyes had instantly sought him, vengeful and angry.

She then glided purposely towards him, and then thrust the tip of her sword towards his throat.

"Tatsumi!"

His two friends went up, Ieyasu from the side and Sayo from the rear, baring their weapons. Esdeth's eyes flicked from left to right in a quick motion, before returning solely to him.

"Are these your new bodyguards, 'Emperor'? I think you're better served hiring actual dogs to protect you," she said mirthlessly. "You know why I'm here, I wager."

"No, not really," said Tatsumi, who cocked a brow. She bristled at that, and he was quick to then say, "Unless it's to complain about my orders?"

"…Really now. I thought I'd make you swallow your own frozen entrails if you acted dumb. Now, out with it. Why did you call me here?"

"Um, isn't that obvious? I need your—the Empire needs your power to help conquer the rebels once and for all."

The woman chuckled. "Have you not been informed by your Prime Minister? I accepted to join the Empire, to become its general, but not to become its lapdog. I go wherever I please, do whatever I find pleasing. That was the pact I made with Honest from the start. And neither he nor any Emperor can change that."

"If you wished not to be a lapdog, then why are you here?"

Her eyes flashed, and Tatsumi could distinctly sense his friends cry out as an ice spike grew from the tip of her sword to touch its tip so close to his throat. He felt it bite into his skin, barely enough to pierce through and draw blood. "You mock me, child?"

"General Esdeth," Tatsumi said sternly. "You are certainly powerful enough to be a General of the Empire. And I am told you have done much to earn your reputation on the battlefield. But in my opinion, you haven't done enough just yet. A legion of enemies continue to stand before us, and we have taken far too long to defeat them. To take back what is rightfully the Empire's."

Esdeth chuckled. "And what if I defect from your precious Empire, 'my lord'? Throw in my lot with the more reasonable rebellion? Do my part to savor your innocent squeals as I skewer you on your Throne?"

Tatsumi smiled. "You won't do that. The rebellion would never allow you to do whatever you want. See, you have the smell of a Danger Beast about you, General Esdeth. You live in a house made from the bones of your foes. They would no sooner ally with you than clap you in chains and make sure you never saw the light of day again." He shrugged. "You are certainly welcome to try it, though. But be warned that I and my village have made it a sport to hunt down Danger Beasts. You won't be any different, I suspect."

"Bold words, boy. Do you even have the skills to back that up?"

"Whether or not I do have it is out of the question." He waved his arms in a downward cutting motion. "I've had enough, General Esdeth. I'm fed up with this exchange. Either help me by doing your best down there against the rebels, or get you gone with your tail between your legs. All the same, get out of my sight." These last words were said with such heated outrage that Sayo and Ieyasu were taken aback. It was like they were looking at a person who was so much unlike their friend. And yet it was also very Tatsumi-like to lose his temper so often, leading to him sounding very much like he did now. Such words had only gotten him a sharp scolding from the village elder, yet what effect did it have now on the Ice Queen?

"Hmph." Esdeth withdrew the sword, after a while. "Very well. I shall play along, 'Your Majesty'. It just so happens that, for the moment, our goals align. It has been so long since me and my men have been ordered on an offensive against the rebels. I trust there won't be any tiptoeing around with the campaign goals this time? Because if there is, then I'm heading back to Scapaia, no matter what you say."

"The other generals have the gist of the plan. This will be a full-out sweep of rebel lands, recapturing lost territories, and finally destroying the last rebel hideout at Tilandr. I leave it to them, and to you, in extension, as to how to best approach it, however. You're much smarter with these military things than I."

"At least you know your limits," the general mumbled to herself. With a flip of her long, waist-length hair, she turned around and skidded down the trail of ice she'd made behind her. "Don't disappoint me, young Emperor," she said as parting words, before leaping down the side of the ship.

"Whoa! This must be like a thousand feet high!" Ieyasu exclaimed. "Is she crazy?"

Tatsumi breathed out, feeling the tension in his body dissipate. He felt calmer now, for some reason, as if the talk with the most powerful warrior he'd ever encountered, who had saved him not that long ago from a Danger Beast, had finally cleared his head.

"Forget that," Sayo hissed. "Are you crazy, Tatsumi? You talked that way to her? Don't you already know who she is?" Even in their remote village, rumors had easily come of the dreaded Ice Queen, who was said to be nigh unbeatable in battle. She was said to possess a Teigu so potent that she was able to wield its enormous power with utmost precision and power, and use it to annihilate the Empire's enemies. The "Ice Queen" was so laden with rumors and stories about her true nature that it had painted in Tatsumi the image of a cruel creature clad in a sheet made of ice, her cackles echoing into the darkness of the cold winter nights.

And then he had met her personally, and that had made him wonder which of the stories about her were jokes, and which were the truth. Because she was beautiful and statuesque, and he could hardly imagine her as a butcher of many battlefields.

Tatsumi shrugged. "And I'm the Emperor. One way or another you've got to make people toe the line. I learned a lot from gramps."

"Yeah, and the elder didn't need to deal with a General Esdeth in his life," Ieyasu said.

"Oh, I was scared, no doubt about that," Tatsumi said. He turned to regard the patches of solid ice she had left behind on the ship. It would no doubt be a big problem when the time came for the crew to clean up. "But it kind of helped when I just thought of her as not this big, scary woman who was a terror on the battlefield, but just like a normal person. A General." I just thought of her as this beautiful woman, Tatsumi wanted to say next, but knew he'd be ridiculed by his friends for that. It was the truth as far as he was concerned, but they didn't need to know. Therefore, he settled for declaring, "But there are things I've got to do, especially now that I'm Emperor. I can't let her drag me down."

The others fell silent, leaving him to his thoughts as he watched the view from the deck. Even General Abell had gone back inside the ship in order to start preparing his army for deployment. Only he and his friends were left, and the other two kept their own thoughts to themselves.

As the scout boat screamed towards its destination, the occupants listened raptly as Najenda spoke.

"We're lucky to have gotten this opportunity, so we shan't waste it."

"Shit. Who knew the Emperor himself would make it easy for us?" Lubbock asked.

"It still smells of a trap," Mine said. "But we've got to take a chance, like Najenda says."

"We've gotta hit him from all sides. Make sure he never has a chance to react, or do anything stupid. Let's end this Empire, once and for all."

"Hoo yeah!" Lubbock cried. "Time to kill an Emperor, guys!"

The rest cheered. As usual, only Akame remained silent, her ruby-red eyes glittering with fiery determination.

...