Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 174

174: The Imperial Guard

The Imperial Guard was the strongest military force in the Empire.

There were sixteen hundred and twelve of them—and they were constantly training.

They knew what it was like to toil without reward.

They had a past of being subjected to unreasonable violence, of being forced to labor for the benefit of others, and yet they had worked silently for the sake of their comrades and their families.

The darkness that had been cultivated in them as illegal slaves had one day been turned on its head.

They knew.

That they should believe in the Perte Empire and His Majesty the Emperor.

And in the title they had earned, the Imperial Guard, and in the Imperial Army to which it belonged.

About six hundred of them were stationed in the imperial capital, and about a thousand were scattered throughout the country on security duty.

And when a rebellion broke out, it was common for them to be sent to the front lines. Both to be tempered in the crucible of battle, and to avoid unnecessarily depleting the other imperial forces.

—In the Empire, the color red was special.

Only His Majesty the Emperor and the Imperial Guard were permitted to wear red uniforms and armor, the same color as the imperial banner.

Red was a traditional dye, a familiar color to the desert people, and at the same time, a sacred color. Incidentally, the dye was extracted from a type of insect that lived on cacti.

While the use of red by the common people was not restricted, many had recently refrained from doing so.

If you saw red on the battlefield, other than the banner, it meant the Imperial Guard.

A horde of war demons, clad in red.

But today, the ‘horde’ was very small.

Only three, in their faded red armor.

One of them, instead of a shield, carried a greatsword over his shoulder, a sword taller than he was. The others carried longswords with the imperial emblem engraved on them, and large, rectangular shields that reached their shoulders when placed on the ground.

All of them were top-quality magic items, but not something a novice could handle. The swords, which could cut through iron like butter, and the armor and shields, which could stop even those swords, consumed a considerable amount of mana.

—But in the hands of a well-trained warrior, they were worth a thousand reinforcements.

“Just the three of us… to subjugate fifty rebels in a fortress… Honestly, being in the Imperial Guard is a thankless job.”

The one with the greatsword grumbled. His face was hidden behind the standard, unadorned cylindrical helmet, but his voice was deep and resonant, matching his large frame.

“‘Captain,’ you of all people know that’s not true.”

A younger man’s voice, a lighthearted retort.

The ‘Captain’ laughed. The Imperial Guard were, in theory, all of equal rank. But since a chain of command was essential, they were often organized into small squads with a designated leader.

“Hahaha. —May the grace of His Majesty the Emperor be upon us.”

““May the grace of His Majesty the Emperor be upon us.””

The other two chanted in unison. The third Imperial Guard, who was smaller than the other two, was likely a woman.

Their enemy was the ‘Imperial Army.’

Or rather, the former Imperial Army.

The moment a rebellion was recognized, they were stripped of their military status. And in the Perte Empire, a soldier who was stripped of their military status was executed.

The three Imperial Guard were, in effect, executioners.

A small fortress, built of adobe bricks, with fifty Imperial Army soldiers holed up inside.

A defensive battle in a fortress, however unreliable.

An overwhelming numerical advantage of three against fifty.

But it was of no help.

They walked slowly, exposed, to conserve their energy.

Arrows flew, but they were too far away to hit their mark. Or rather, their aim was poor. And even more, there weren’t enough of them to compensate for their poor aim.

But as they got closer, they would inevitably be hit. At least, the arrows would be aimed at them.

The greatsword was raised, deflecting the arrows like a shield.

“I’ll break the gate.”

“Leave it to us.”

As they entered the effective range of the archers, the ‘Captain’ with the greatsword charged. He deflected the arrows with the flat of his greatsword, held before his face, and let the rest bounce off his armor.

He reached the gate and slammed the blade of his greatsword into the center of the closed doors, right where the bar would be. Iron was severed, and the surrounding wood was shattered by the delayed impact. He pushed his shoulder against the door and forced it open.

The doors were not magically reinforced, and no offensive magic was flying.

As their intelligence had suggested, there were no mages among the enemy. And against ordinary Imperial soldiers, who could only use basic physical enhancement…

…fifty of them were no match.

“The gate has been breached!”

“—It’s the Imperial Guard!”

The Imperial Army soldiers inside the fortress cried out.

“Don’t falter! Even if we die here—for His Majesty the Emperor!”

“Tch.” The Imperial Guard with the greatsword clicked his tongue.

“Rebels, do not take His Majesty the Emperor’s name in vain!”

The greatsword swung, and the rebel soldiers were cut in two, armor and all. With every whirlwind of steel, limbs flew, and a mist of blood rose.

While exhaustion was inevitable, he had more than enough stamina to kill fifty soldiers on a battlefield without any offensive magic.

His sword stopped, once.

But only for a moment, for a brief exchange of words. To let your guard down in the middle of a battle, no matter how skilled a warrior you were, was to die.

He was an Imperial Guard, and that meant he knew how to behave on a battlefield.

He would cut down all his enemies.

No matter what they were.

No matter who they were.

For the Perte Empire and His Majesty the Emperor.

By the time the other two Imperial Guard had finished off the archers on the walls and reached him, all the enemy soldiers around him had been reduced to a pile of iron and flesh.