Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 107

The Hogbeck Territory (2) – Wickharlt’s Sister

“My, brother, are you ignoring me now?”

As we were ‘interrogating’ Wickharlt about his fiancee, the other woman suddenly said.

The woman, who looked really similar to Wickharlt, put her hand on her hips while glaring at Wickharlt.

“My bad, don’t be angry. Let me introduce you to my sister, Cecilia.”

“I’m Cecilia Hogbeck. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

As she was greeting us, I could see her eyes focused on Lapilia-sama.

“You must be Lapilia-sama! I’ve always wanted to meet you! Please, tell me about your heroic accomplishments on the battlefield.”

Cecilia looked at Lapilia-sama with sparkling eyes. Lapilia-sama seemed to be a bit bewildered by Cecilia’s attitude.

“I…It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Cecilia-san”

“Please, drop the honorific and just call me Cecilia. Here, please sit down comfortably. I’ll make you some tea right away!”

“My sister is a huge fan of yours, Lapilia-sama. At some point, she even said she also wanted to go to the battlefield which truly troubled my parents…I apologize but, Lapilia-sama, please humor her for a bit,” I thought Wickharlt was going to help Lapilia-sama but he ended up saying that with a bitter smile.

Lapilia-sama smiled bitterly and answered Wickharlt with an ‘I understand’

“Hey, what about us?”

“You should admire us too!”

For some reason, the twins seemed to feel a sense of rivalry. They charged toward the confused Cecilia and surrounded her from both sides.

“We are–

“–Stronger than her!”

Or so they said.

“I’m also curious about their story, so how about we all listened to it together? Not you, Wickharlt. You have to make sure to spend some time with Opa-san.” (Lapilia)

After that, Lapilia-sama left and followed Cecilia and the twins.

***

We had some tea while talking about the twin and Lapilia-sama’s experiences on the battlefield. The story even continued until dinner time.

To be honest, I think at this time Wickharlt’s parents must have wanted to hear about their son’s experience, but there was the incident at Hakusha so maybe it was better to avoid talking about Wickharlt.

After the story ended, Cecilia asked, “Everyone, how long are you planning to stay this time?”

“Including today, we plan to stay for four days.” (Wickharlt)

“Just for days? Why? You usually stay for a week,” Cecilia said while puffing her cheeks.

Seeing his sister’s antics, Wickharlt smiled gently and explained, “We’re going to return to the capital after finishing the inspection at Lieze Fortress.”

Inspecting Lieze Fortress was actually Lapilia-sama’s job. But because the twins who were told to stay put and relax became interested in the inspection and also because Wickharlt said he wanted to greet Thor-sama and apologize for making his Division suddenly relocate, we all decided to visit the Lieze Fortress together,

“Sigh…then, it couldn’t be helped. What’s your plan for tomorrow?”

“If tomorrow’s snowfall isn’t heavy…We’re planning to go to Hakusha.”

When Wickharlt mentioned ‘Hakusha’ I could sense a slight tension in the room…or rather, in Wickharlt’s family’s faces.

Wickharlt also seemed to notice, so he continued his words in a cheerful tone.

“As I said in my letter, I’ve already come to terms with my termination. To put it bluntly, I’m not cut out to lead people. I feel guilty for saying this even though I caused many deaths, but I’m happy now with my position as the deputy commander of the Roa Brigade.”

Cecilia looked a little dissatisfied after hearing Wickharlt’s words.

“Is Roa-san…that amazing?”

She turned her suspicious gaze toward me.

“Well, Roa’s ability isn’t bad.”

“Yeah, he isn’t bad.”

Surprisingly, it was the twin who replied first.

“Well, we would’ve lost in Zetta if it wasn’t for Roa,” Frein added.

“You’re a promising general, then?” Wickharlt’s father leaned forward, seeming to be wanting to hear more about me.

From there, the conversation switched to the battle at Zetta Plain. I think gruesome stuff like war wasn’t something you were supposed to talk about while eating, but everyone seems to have no problem with that. Maybe the family of a lord was used to this kind of conversation?

The twin and Frein were particularly spirited while talking.

When the story reached the part when Wickharlt risked his life to carry out my plan and succeeded, the family looked at Wickharlt with sparkling eyes.

Wickharlt and I barely spoke anything because it was really embarrassing to hear others talking about our accomplishments.

Laplia-sama, who joined the Zetta War in the middle, also listened to the story with interest. Drew looked like she had something else on her mind, just like this morning, but she still ate properly so I just left her alone.

Even after everyone finished eating, the story about the Zetta War didn’t end, so we ended up talking until late into the night.

After the story finally ended, Cecilia approached me.

“Roa-sama, you’re amazing! Your accomplishment is truly impressive!”

“T…Thank you.”

“So, Roa-sama do you already have someone?”

“Pardon?”

“May I nominate myself as your prospective partner?”

“What!?”

Behind me, Lapilia-sama looked bitter just for a moment.

But at that time, I didn’t notice that.

***

T/N: Lapilia looked bitter? Is this the star of Roa x Lapilia romance??. My grandma was admitted to the hospital a few days ago so I was a bit busy. Sorry for the late release