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“Your Highness! The West Gate has been breached! Enemy cavalry is pouring into the city!”
“What are you waiting for? Dispatch the knights immediately!”
“Reporting!　The Saint Koschpeza Memorial Knight Order has been wiped out! Commander Mitchen has fallen in battle!”
“The Saint Theodor Memorial Knight Order has suffered heavy losses and appears to have surrendered to the enemy!”
“The Saint Okeamos Memorial Knight Order has surrendered! We have no regular army left!”

The Senate is home to countless “Memorial Knight Order.”
Successive senators have continued to create knight orders bearing their own names to claim them as their own achievements.
They have historically maintained ties with the military by appointing their trusted knights as commanders of these orders.
However, since troop quotas are limited, this has resulted in a proliferation of fragmented units and inefficient chains of command.

“Don’t panic, you fools! I anticipated this and had all the city gates sealed off. What are the mercenaries doing!?”
“The Tigo Mercenary Corps has surrendered to the enemy. The Morcus Mercenary Corps appears to have fled through the East Gate.”
“A distress call from the East Gate! The city gate is wide open!”
“It’s not a surrender—the Tigo Mercenary Corps has defected!”
“The Menier Mercenary Corps has betrayed us! The inner gate in the West District has fallen!”

At the same time, at the Liberation Army headquarters.
Fourth Lieutenant Natalia, having returned after completing the bombardment of the city gates, is speaking with Adjutant Borsche.

“Why would the mercenary corps betray them so easily? Is this even real?”

Borsche gave a wry smile.

“Apparently, it’s because the Senate unilaterally kept slashing their annual wages year after year. They figured, ‘Since they’re on year-round contracts, it’s fine to pay them less.’”
“Whoa, that’s awful!? It’s practically slavery.”

Princess Eleora smiled as she turned to look at the two of them.

“No master would starve his slaves. That’s why they’re worse than slaves.”
“If they’re worse than slaves, it’s only natural they’d turn coat, huh?”

Natalia sighed, and Eleora nodded.

“That’s right. Those in positions of power often forget even such obvious truths. I must be careful myself.”

Borsche adopted the expression of an adjutant and questioned the princess.

“But Your Highness, are you really going to hire them?”
“They may betray their employers easily, but they do work worth their pay. So, we should pay them well and work them to the bone.”

Eleora laughed and gave the following order.

“Put the mercenaries on the front lines. Tell them, ‘Show your new master the strength of the Miraldia Mercenaries.’”
“Yes, ma’am!”

The chaos in the Senate continued.

“In that case, arm the staff!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They’re civil servants. Don’t make a further spectacle of ourselves.”
“Then what are we supposed to do!? This all started because you assassinated Governor Zaria!”
“It was you who caused Governor Klauchen to defect!”
“Is this really the time for the two of you to be arguing!? Go blend in with the refugees to escape!”

But before they could finish preparing to flee, Rolmund soldiers burst through the heavy door.

*“This is the Fourth Squad. We’ve apprehended the elders. Four of our men were wounded in urban combat; no casualties.”*

A transmission came through Eleora’s earring, and she smiled faintly.

“Well done, Renkov. Hold the position. I’ll be right there.”

After speaking into the earring, Eleora turned to her subordinates.

“All hands, follow me. We’re going to pay our respects to a relic of the old era.”
“Yes, ma’am!”

The city had been thoroughly devastated by the assault of the 3rd and 4th Squads of the Magarms Battalion. Around the guardhouse and the inner gate, stone walls lay shattered, reduced to piles of rubble.

“They sure went all out.”

Her adjutant, Borsche, gave a wry smile, and Eleora laughed as well.

“They simply followed my orders. Upon this, the people of Miraldia will surely understand our strength.”

All over the city, mercenary units that had defected to the Rolmund side were standing guard.
Eleora gave them a light salute and entered the Senate building.

“I see. So you are the leaders of the Northern Miraldia Alliance.”

Gathered in the hall were about thirty men. Dressed in old-fashioned attire, they were trembling uncontrollably. Most of them were elderly.
The moment they saw Eleora, they began begging for their lives and hurling insults, but she silenced them.

“Surrender unconditionally. Your fate will be decided after that. Those who refuse to surrender will be shot on the spot. Answer immediately.”

It took barely ten seconds for everyone to surrender.

Eleora summoned soldiers of the Miraldia Liberation Army into the city.
She then pushed the bound senators forward before them.

“Gentlemen, these are the rulers of Miraldia.”

Behind Eleora, Liberation Army soldiers were carrying out jewels and coins one after another. These were the assets hoarded by the Senate.
Of course, these were intended to cover various expenses of the Northern Alliance, but to the Liberation Army soldiers, they likely looked like nothing more than the senators’ illicit wealth.

Just as the soldiers’ gazes focused on the treasure, Eleora had a silver coin and a wooden card distributed to each of them.

“I leave the decision regarding the fate of the elders to you. The future of Miraldia should be decided by the people of Miraldia.”

A faint murmur rippled through the ranks of the Liberation Army soldiers.
They had likely expected Princess Eleora to judge the elders herself.

Sensing their unease, Princess Eleora continued.

“From this moment on, we will carry out the traditional trial of the Rolmund Republic era: ‘Wood Exile.’ The fate of the Elders will be decided by a vote of all Miraldians present here.”

The soldiers murmured even more. They surely never expected that they themselves would be the ones to decide the Elders’ fate.

Princess Eleora held up a Miraldian silver coin.

“This silver coin shall serve as a vote of mercy. Those who seek to spare the lives of the elders, cast this coin before them.”

She then raised a wooden card. Though originally used for games, it now bore the Liberation Army’s emblem branded into it.

“These wooden pieces shall be considered votes of judgment. Those who seek punishment for the elders, cast a wooden piece before them.”

And finally, she declared:

“You must cast one of these votes. As for the vote you did not cast, take it back with you as a memento of this trial.”

At that moment, the elders gasped. They instantly understood what the outcome of the vote would be.
A single silver coin could buy a night’s stay in a comfortable inn with a hot meal. Would anyone willingly throw that away just to maintain the elders’ privileges?
They realized that much immediately.

“Wait, but then…”

One of the elders shouted, but Squad Leader Renkov of the Magiarms Battalion pointed his magic staff at him and intimidated him with a low voice.

“You’ve already surrendered unconditionally. If you break your promise, I’ll shoot.”

Before the elders, pale with fear, Liberation Army soldiers and mercenaries stepped forward one after another.
What they tossed at them, along with looks of contempt and hatred, were mostly wooden cards. A few silver coins were thrown as well, but they were quickly buried under the mountain of cards.
Eventually, it seemed everyone had finished voting, and silence fell over the scene.
Looking at the towering pile of cards, the result was clear.

Princess Eleora flung her cloak aside and declared in a clear, resonant voice:

“The people of Miraldia have found the elders guilty! By this verdict, the elders shall be punished in accordance with the ‘Wood Exile’!”

The soldiers and officers erupted in wild cheers.
The Rolmund soldiers led away the elders, who were on the verge of fainting.

Immediately, a large number of wine barrels were brought in to replace them.
The Rolmund soldiers shouted:

“This is celebratory wine from Her Imperial Highness Princess Eleora, in honor of the Liberation Army’s victory!”
“The surrendered soldiers may drink as well! We will never punish you!”
“Come on, drink your fill! We can clean up tomorrow! The futile war between Miraldians is finally over!”

At those words, the soldiers cheered and, forgetting all about the elders, swarmed the wine barrels.

Amid the cheers from outside, Princess Eleora looked down upon the elders from a room within the mansion.

“Now then. Following the trial conducted by the Miraldians, you have been found guilty. I trust you have no objections?”
“Wh…”

One of the elders began to rise, but fell silent when a magic staff was pointed at him.
Eleora smiled gently, like a loving mother, and declared:

“Based on the fair and merciful verdict of the ‘Wood Exile,’ you are hereby banished.”

A faint look of relief spread across the elders’ faces.
Exile was humiliating, but it did not cost them their lives. It was far better than being executed.
While the punishment of exile—which barred them from entering the city—could potentially lead to death, for now, at least, they would survive.
As long as they remained alive, there was a chance for a comeback.

But Eleora smiled gently.

“Under the Law of Rolmund, exile means being cast out into the wilds at night with nothing but a wet shirt. Even in summer, one would perish within a few days, but in winter, one would freeze to death before taking a hundred steps.”
“What!?”

As the stunned elders fell silent, Eleora pressed her point.

“Incidentally, there are no specific regulations regarding what the shirt is to be soaked in. Out of respect for the elders, I’ll send you off with some expensive spirits.”

High-proof distilled spirits evaporate at a terrifying rate, drawing heat from the body through vaporization.
While indeed Worngang is located in central Miraldia, it is now the dead of winter. At night, the temperature drops below freezing.
It is clear to anyone what would happen if they were cast out into the wilderness wearing nothing but a shirt soaked in distilled spirits.

The elders immediately panicked and began desperately begging for their lives.

“Wait! Wait! We’ll pay the ransom! Just spare our lives!”
“If you kill us, this country will be ungovernable!”
“That’s right! If we lose the Senate, Miraldia will collapse!”

Eleora gave a wry smile.

“The only reason you incompetents have been able to govern this country is because of the capable staff of the Senate, isn’t it? They will continue to work under me. We won’t have any problems even without you.”

Most of the staff who had served under Ioro Lange and Vest had already sworn their loyalty to Eleora.
Their duties would remain the same, but their compensation—including salaries and vacation time—would be far better. That is reason enough to pledge loyalty to the new ruler.

“There were likely countless turning points where you could have avoided this fate. But you yourselves chose not to take them. Give up.”

There was no malice or hostility in Eleora’s gentle tone.
After all, there was no need to harbor such feelings toward the senators who would die tonight.

Realizing that death was inevitable, one of the elders muttered under his breath.

“…At least, at the very least, grant our death here.”
“That cannot be. The ‘Wood Exile’ permits only exile. The voters would feel guilty otherwise.”

Princess Eleora spoke quietly, then turned her back on them. A cold, dry wind blew in through the window.

“Walk to the end of your fate on your own two feet.”

The slanting sunlight cast a long shadow from Eleora onto the elders.
Outside the window, the cheers of the soldiers and officers continued endlessly.