CHAPTER 3 - II -

 

In the end, it was the Margrave who won; his score, 2 to the Ban’s 1.  It sure was the most nerve-wracking jack-en-poy game I’ve seen.  Not only did it stop a potentially dangerous armed confrontation, but we also avoided our personal loyalties and feelings from being jeopardized by any side.

 

After all, jack-en-poy is supposedly a ‘random’ game of chance…

 

“…”

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing.” Maddie laughed silently, “I find it amusing how you solved the problem with those two stubborn nobles by using a game from your country.  They didn’t even suspect a thing!”

 

Ah, she must’ve read my mind during that time, “Well, jack-en-poy is indeed a game.  But we also use it when we’re indecisive about something we should decide on immediately.”

 

“Really?” there’s a mix of surprise and amusement on Maddie’s face, “What an interesting land you have.”

 

“Haha…”

 

Jack-en-poy was my country’s version of the Japanese hand game ‘jan-ken-pon’ (hence the similarities in the name).  I’ve read before that one could predict a pattern on how it’s played by unsuspecting players.  But well, this was Chersea…

 

Jack-en-poy is an entirely new thing to them.  I guess they’ll be fine with that…for a while.

 

What I told Her Holiness was true; we use it from time to time whenever we’re unable to reach a decision.  And, in my place, we had a lot of ‘indecisive’ moments, like from when choosing a restaurant to eat (our usual answer was ‘up to you’ even though we didn’t like it in the end), or when we’re deciding on a dress to wear.

 

Also, it’s a popular ‘poor kid’s’ game every afternoon…Haa…I miss Earth.

 

I was not aware that during that time, Maddie was casting me a long stare.

 

 

Anyway, after that episode with the two envoys from the opposing camps, we continued our travel to the capital of the kingdom of Amaranth, which was a city of the same name as the country itself.  Since Eris was with us, she was fetched by the Ban of Kistral to bring to her father.

 

Honestly, I guess they just didn’t want Eris to appear at the capital since she’s the daughter of the royal enemy’s leader.

 

Well, at least, that young girl is safe there than she is with our group.

 

Maddie, under the guise that she had something to ask from me, went to the carriage where I was.  Lily, seeing through her friend’s intentions, accepted but with certain conditions.  She asked the Marquise of Monfort to come with her inside.

 

“I’m just making sure of your security, Your Holiness; Head Maid’s orders.” I heard the Marquise reiterated.  But the tone of her voice revealed to me she’s also teasing the Saint, for it was written on Maddie’s face that she wanted to be alone with me.

 

I tried to divert the topic, “It looks like the armies ravaged the countryside with reckless abandon.”

 

Maddie remained silent as she surveyed the damage of the villages—some of those were still burning—as we passed them on the way to the city of Amaranth.  On the roadside were some villagers, desperately searching for something they could still use.

 

The Margrave of Nocturna went ahead of us with some men to bring the news of the Saint’s arrival at the capital.  He left most of his men together with the Paladin Corps to help with our security, since the more we travel inside the Amaranthine kingdom, the more it’s becoming clear the extent of the simmering conflict.

 

Finally, Maddie broke the ice, “This is why I hate wars.”

 

I only looked at her.  I found I could say nothing, even though we had the same opinion.

 

However, the Saint continued, “I only took the holy mantle out of my desire to stop these things from happening.  You see, before, I was also a lady of Nerfes—and we women of Nerfes would never back down from a battle.  I’ve killed my share of men…”

 

It’s my first time I heard Maddie talked about that aspect of her past.  I just could not imagine her donned in armor, with a bloodied sword on her hand, and several corpses at her feet.  However, with her words, that’s possible…and that would also explain her seemingly remorseless killing of the Imperial soldiers back in Hagena.

 

“And, because it’s war, you must kill, or end up getting killed.” Maddie further said, “It’s inevitable that I murdered innocent people to come back alive to my family.”

 

“Your Holiness, I don’t think anyone can blame you for that.” I tried to console her, “Your job is to defend your lands and fight for your king and country.  You only did what you were told to do.”

 

“Is it?” she countered, “Just because killing for your king and country is legal, you can use it as an excuse to murder people?  Like, that village over there has nothing fortified in it, save for those few burnt-out fences meant to keep livestock.”

 

I couldn’t find any words to tell her.  Honestly, though it may sound cruel, this was a normal scene in a war.  Villages, towns, and cities would be decimated and burned to the ground.  People would be killed, save for those who were deemed useful.  The defeated would be crippled enough not to let them get up and take vengeance on the victors.

 

This was one of the brutal facets of the concept of ‘total war’.

 

“Tell me, Kuro…” Maddie asked, “…did I fail?  Are my visions for this land doomed to come crashing down?”

 

“Well, honestly, Your Holiness…I think it is.”

 

“!!!”

 

“You know us, humans.  We’re stubborn, selfish, extremely hard to deal with.  Not to mention, if you’re not careful enough, you could end up betrayed.  So yeah, I think your vision of peace for this land is doomed to fail.”

 

Maddie’s face was all gloomy when she heard that, “I…I see…”

 

“But well, if you know you’re in the right, might as well go down with style.”

 

“Hmm?  What do you mean?”

 

“So, you know your plans would fail, right?  Tell you what, Your Holiness, go down standing your ground!  Fail, but fail in a grandiose manner, something that will be remembered for generations to come!”

 

“But, don’t you think my efforts would only be in vain?”

 

“Precisely, that’s it.  Struggle in vain; however, do it gloriously.  Personally, Your Holiness, I think it’s better that you take the 99.9% chance of failing than 100% sure failure if you do nothing.  0.1% is a pretty big number of attempts, you know.”

 

Maddie was awfully silent.  She was all-ears on me.

 

“Here’s my take on your situation, Your Holiness—no, Maddie.  Since you’re the Saint, even though your plans won’t come true, do it anyway.  At least you did something than nothing at all.  There’s a saying from my world that ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’.  I think you fit the bill.  Think of the instance you did absolutely nothing; I bet there’d be a lot more corpses here than as of the present.”

 

To that, Chersea’s human saint had nothing to say.  I knew her mind’s kind of conflicted; confused whether she’d have to continue what she had been doing, or stop wasting her time and efforts for something that we knew was bound to fail.

 

But, if Maddie’s plans were going to end up the tragic route, as her fiancée, I wouldn’t leave her alone!  Of course, I’ll go down with her!

 

We should do something than leave the people of Chersea at the mercy of war and death.