The atmosphere there was naturally full of sadness.
　Still, some time has passed since Kabazid took his own life, and he seemed to be somewhat calm.

"... Cabbage older brother,"

　It was Fritzione who muttered first, got off his horse and ran towards the corpse of Kabazid, who lay on the ground.
　A little later Angela follows her and waits away from Kabazid's body lying on the ground.

"Well... Why, brother Kabazid?" No matter how much you don't pretend to be responsible for the defeat with your own life, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, I didn't want to kill each other as brothers, so I went to Mercurio like this."

　Tears from Fritzione's eyes wet the ground.
　Looking at it up close, Schulz slightly swings his eyes at such an older sister.
　It was the same with Vihela, whose charming eyes were now bewildered and saddened.

"... my brother Kabazeed, what did you think of this after all?"

　In the silence of grief, the voice of Mercurio, who had descended from his horse and had come close to him, echoes.
　The voice does not have the usual light atmosphere, but is full of bewilderment and sadness.
　Nearby, Teoreme also looked at the body of Kabazid with some disbelief.
　Mercurio and Teoreme are not the only ones who look at Kabazide's body in such disbelief.
　So did the aristocrats of Mercurio's army who came here with them, and so did those who followed them.
　Among them, Ray was the only one who had a different feeling.
　Perhaps... no, I'm sure I've come to this Elgin from my own world.
　But in the end he died without telling me anything about his origin.
　Of course, if you tell them that you are from Japan, it could have caused a lot of trouble.
　That may have been the case for Ray's most secretive event, the sorcery.
　Then Ray would have had no choice but to flee the Westian Empire.
　But... still, Ray's place of origin was invaluable.

(However, given that Kabazide was from Earth, if you look for it, there may be other people from Earth. If possible, I'd like to see you... but how can I find you? and there is the question of how to keep her secret.)

　She may have finally finished her farewell to Kabazide in the face of Ray, who has many subtleties. Mercurio and Schles face each other.
　Fritzione also stands a short distance away from Mercurio and Schles, his eyes turning sad and watching them.
　Vichela, unlike the three of them, was near Mercurio's army.
　This may indicate in an attitude that there are only three members of the royal family in the Vestian Empire: Mercurio, Schles, and Frizione, and that they are no longer members of the royal family.

"It's been a long time since I saw you like this".
"... I see. I never expected to see you again in this way."

　In response to Mercurio's light tone, which was different from what he had earlier told him about Kabazid's body, Schles responds without any particular exasperation.
　Mercurio wonders for a moment about his brother's behavior, but somehow understands that the reason is because Kabazide took his own life, and continues without mentioning it.

"Now, Kabazid is supposed to have taken responsibility for the defeat, but nothing... no, do we need to make this clear before that?" one's elder brother Schles In this civil war, we won, and Schles lost. That's all right, isn't it? Do you actually say things like you haven't lost yet?"

　While Mercurio makes a provocative visit, Schles looks at Ray looking at him while stroking Seto's head for a moment and shakes his head.
　Originally, I had no intention of resisting this.
　Still, he turned to Ray because he thought he had been easily suppressed if he wanted to do anything here.

"No, I don't mean it. If you resist here, you'll only waste the lives of your soldiers. I'm not going to waste my life by making stupid judgments about not being able to win or lose the battle. I'll have you play it for me. Our expeditionaries have surrendered to you, but can we expect a firm treatment as prisoners of war?"
"I'll deal with that properly." I don't think soldiers in particular will face such severe penalties. --I can't do it exactly."

　The punitive force has a total strength of more than 40,000 men.
　Of course, they fought Mercurio's army in this battle, and they were severely damaged by Ray and Sett's attacks.
　Many have also fled the battlefield, saying they don't want to fight any more.
　But... there are still more than 20,000 men left.
　If we were to capture all of them and feed them at least, we would need a lot of food.
　It was true that Mercurio's army could not take all the punitive forces prisoner unless they could afford that much food.

"Well, it would be impossible to release them without punishment, and, you know, for those who were not directly related to the nobility, adventurers, mercenaries, and volunteer soldiers, they would be released immediately after collecting some fines."
"I have no objection to that,"

　a sulk nodding without any particular defense
　In the first place, quite a few adventurers and mercenaries have joined the war in the Westian Empire.
　This means that where they were originally, the number of adventurers and mercenaries is now decreasing.
　A short period of time would be fine, but a long period of captivity would result in a shortage of hands on a variety of requests, including the subjugation of monsters and active bandits, the escort of merchant forces, and the extraction of materials.
　The situation was the same for Mercurio's army, and even if the punitive force won, Schles intended to take the same measures as Mercurio does now.
　The penalty for doing so would have been higher than that of Mercurio's army, though.

"Well, I'm a nobleman, but... it's a very heavy punishment." At least, the heads of the nobles who participated in the punitive force were replaced. the payment of reparations accordingly to the deprivation of some territory For a few years, the people we send will inspect and tax will be heavier than before. Oh, and the limitation of military power beyond a certain level... I guess. Also, if the inspection reveals any illegal activity, we will take action against it. I think that unless it's a serious crime, it'll be a fine."

　The aristocrats of the first and second prince factions were astonished by Mercurio's words.
　What the voice contains is not anger... but amazement.
　Indeed, the punishment Mercurio has spoken of is quite heavy.
　However, the aristocrats here thought that their house would be ruined...and that there would even be the deprivation of their peerage.
　In comparison, Mercurio's verbal punishment was by no means unacceptable.
　It was easy, however, to anticipate that almost all nobles would be able to find illegal conduct in the inspection.
　However, not everything is done for personal gain, given the illegal behavior.
　For example, in order to expand the army owned by aristocrats, the cost of flood control projects and road improvement in their territories, and the stockpiling of food in case of famine, etc.
　be diverted primarily to the cost of them
　It's illegal, but it's a reason why we can' board.
　Schulz opens his eyes wide and opens his mouth with a look of surprise.

"Is it really good?"
"Yes. Well, if we do something meaningless here to reduce the number of nobles, there will be trouble again."

　The nobles know that they have lost.
　Still, if it were to be stripped of the peerage, there must have been some people who were not convinced. 　
　With that in mind, Mercurio's proposal was by no means bad. ...no, the punishment imposed on the loser in the civil war is extremely light.
　The faces of the aristocrats show a look of joy.
　Many are smiling because they thought they might have to follow the covert.

"But..."

　Mercurio's words cut in on the verge of such aristocrats' cries of joy.

"Remember that the next time you commit a crime like a rebellion, you will be killed by all your family and followers. I can't deal with people I've been hostile to twice with tolerance, and I can't stand in the way of being a drag."

　Mercurio even smiled, but the content was not calm.
　a virtual ultimatum
　The next uproar like this would literally be fired, including his own family and his men, as Mercurio said.
　He was powerful enough to realize that.Some people can't trust it because they usually smile badly, but no one is going to behave so foolishly now.

"All right, we're losers. Well, it's fair to say that the punishment is light."
"Cabad's brother took responsibility for the defeat by his own death."

　Accepted by grief, Mercurio says with a complex expression of a little joy.
　The reason why he was happy in his expression was probably because he knew he was his brother, but he still felt something weird about him.

"It's a relief,"

　Schles also gave a brief thank you speech.
　Since he was entrusted by Kabazide to the nobles of the first prince's faction, he could not accept severe punishments such as execution or deprivation of peerage.
　However, I managed to accept this content.

"... older brother Shulsu".

　Meanwhile, Schles looks at his brother's voice, which he calls again.
　As if waiting for it, Mercurio speaks in an emotionless voice.

"The aristocrats think the punishment they have now is acceptable. But I'm sure there will be a lot of trouble for my brother Schulz, but you know that?"
"Oh,"
"Wait a minute."

　Mercurio's words almost coincided with Schles nodding and Amale opening his mouth.

"His Highness Kabazid asked for his help before he took his own life. Would you please grant me that wish?"

　Amale usually shows little emotion, but now it appeals to Mercurio with a false expression of heartbreak.
　For Amare, this is the crucial moment to save Schles' life. I appealed to Mercurio with that in mind...

"Oh, don't worry," I've heard the story from Ray. Of course it is something Kabazid had hoped for by his own life, and my sister had promised to do, so I won't break it."

　If anything, Amale looks surprised at the words Vichela told her with a strong will.

"Well, Prince Schles..."
"Yes, I will never take my brother's life. ...but that's the trouble I just mentioned. I'm sure I'll send some people to my brother and have him act with me."

　in other words, in other words
　But as long as it saved Schles' life, it was absolutely necessary.
　If we let Schulz go without thinking, and aristocrats gather there again…, it is not necessarily the same as this time by changing offense and defense.
　It's also someone who proves that Schles is not doing anything dark, although the name of surveillance is certain.
　Understanding this, Amale looks a little disappointed and still silently bows to Mercurio.

"Well, that's the end of the war. The nobles will have to return their troops to their territories, and the people here will have to go with us to the imperial capital. Oh, of course, considering the medical treatment for the injured, I don't think we can send everyone home right away, so we need to leave a certain number of people. Let's cooperate in doing so. It will take several days to get to the imperial capital, considering the need to dispose of the bodies."

　Thus the civil war in the Westian Empire ended.