Chapter 13 A Step Forward (5)
Najenda lit another cigarette and popped it into the corner of her mouth. Clutching the empty pack with mechanical fingers, the former general winced at the persistent phantom pain in her missing hand. Glancing at the bar, she turned away regretfully. There was still too much work to do to start drinking in the morning.
In her mind, memories resurfaced once again.
...After a moving speech that skillfully alternated between pleas, promises, and calls to fight for the right cause and a better life, most of Najenda's army bowed to her, swearing loyalty. A handful of officers loyal to the Empire and their men,, whom the "compassionate" general allowed to leave, were torn apart by an "angry mob." Najenda openly scolded the vigilantes, but later, away from prying eyes, rewarded loyal and not squeamish officers and soldiers. Everything was going remarkably well!
Unfortunately for the defector, she didn't know that her "friend" Esdeath, along with her personal division of executioners, was only waiting for an opportunity to strike at the rear of the newly declared revolutionaries.
As a result, Najenda kept her life but lost half of her army, her hair, her hand, and her eye. None of the most powerful teigu owned by Najenda nor two close associates with Great Artifacts, nor trained troops helped. At the approach of the Revolutionary Army troops, the distraught northerner retreated, but help arrived almost too late.
Contrary to the vociferous statements of the revolutionary army, which allegedly managed to intimidate the infamous Ice Death, Najenda understood: they were simply let go. A Northerner, capable of resisting thousands of selected soldiers alone, is simple... is gone. She didn't even take the teigu of the defeated "friend"!
The psychotic sadist deliberately maimed her, but did not kill her. And she also deliberately did not give battle to the rabble who imagined themselves to be an army. That was what she was all about. The bloodthirstiness and madness of this monster reached such limits that from the outside they began to seem like a manifestation of honor, even some kind of perverted mercy.
Yes, Esdeath enjoyed crushing the weak, but she truly relished breaking the strong. Najenda had never been a religious or superstitious person, but after witnessing her "friend's" behavior during the Southern Campaign, she began to believe the rumors about her demonic origin.
...They brought several leaders and the most formidable captured warriors. All of them shared a burning hatred and contempt for death in their eyes. Heads and disfigured bodies of other Southerners adorned rows of pikes, illuminated by the fires that consumed the city.
The leader of the captives burst into curses in his tribal dialect. Within moments, soldiers brought him to his knees and pressed his chin into the dirt, pulling on his hair. Esdeath approached and stepped on his head. The heel of her high white boot, alien amidst the grime and blood of the realm, dug deeply into the man's forehead with a metallic spike. After listening to the muttered insults through his clenched teeth, Esdeath smiled.
“Do you hate me? Do you want to kill me?” the smile grew even wider. “Excellent. Become stronger and take your revenge.” Now the Northerner's face distorted into a genuine snarl. “You too. I will be waiting!” even the stunned soldiers felt the mix of anticipation and bloodlust. “Dispose of these weaklings in the nearby jungles! In an hour, send the hunters after them! Don't take prisoners!”
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“Esdeath, why? They're our main enemies!”
“These are weaklings, Naji,” it was impossible to believe that this young girl was responsible for the plundered and completely annihilated city, looking at her cute smile. “Enemies will be those who can survive and come back to take revenge... So that I can crush them again!”
The memory of her "friend" suddenly ended, replaced by another, even more painful one.
“I'm sorry, Naji...” - genuine sorrow appeared on her pale face. “I'm sorry that you turned out to be weak too. But I believe you can become strong.” Esdeath smiled encouragingly. “I will wait, my friend! I will take your hand and eye as souvenirs.”
The woman uttered a bitter curse under her breath as she touched the bandage covering her eye socket.
After the Imperial forces had retreated, the heavily wounded defector had enough strength left to exchange a few words with the commanders of the rebel army. However, everything quickly faded into darkness. When she woke up after the surgery, she found that the remaining officers and their troops had already been swayed by the resourceful leaders of the revolutionaries. Someone had spread the rumor that the general would not wake up, and the officers, tempted by the generous promises, did not refuse the offers.
Only the love-struck fool Lubbock remained with her. A smile played on the woman's lips.
After talking to the new command, the military realized that the too ambitious and mighty figure of the female general was not needed by any of these cowardly dogs. She even suspected that the assistance was deliberately delayed... and furthermore, that Onest, with the help of the sniffer dogs from Saikyu, had learned a lot about the upcoming rebellion in advance. Everything worked out too conveniently for the leaders of the Revolutionary Army who received numerous experienced soldiers and officers without a potential rival for power. And... they remained isolated, devoid of a single leader, groups that even quarreled with each other.
How convenient it was! For the Prime Minister.
That fat bastard!
...You don't need to be an experienced reader of human souls to guess what followed. The general, without an army, wasn't at all surprised by the "generous" offer to lead a militia regiment or an assassin squad to eliminate especially important and well-guarded targets.
Any army officer would deeply resent the proposal to lead a bunch of sneaky assassins and reluctantly agree to lead a "regiment" of former peasants armed with pitchforks and a dozen muzzle-loading muskets. But with Najenda, the leaders of the revolutionaries had miscalculated. Where others reached a dead end and gave up, she saw opportunities. Otherwise, how would a poor noblewoman without connections or the inhuman talent of this northern savage Esdes be able to rise to the rank of general?
And now the woman stood at the head of a group of people who were tasked with disrupting the established balance and elevating their commander to the pinnacle of power. The former general was a realist and didn't expect to become the ruler. But to take the position of Minister of War or Supreme Commander? Why not?
However, before her dreams could come true, there was still a lot of dirty work ahead. And now a woman accustomed to army discipline had to endure that she was leading a group of freaks who owned teigu, such as this crazy with a split personality — Shelly. The others weren't much better. Except for the green-haired simpleton Lubbock, who followed the woman everywhere like a faithful dog, despite her injuries and the loss of her former beauty.
And if an insensitive killer with blood-colored eyes awakened fear and hidden horror in the heart, and the simple-minded rude Bulat caused condescending smiles, then a former masseuse, or, frankly, a whore who, by an incredible coincidence, received one of the ancient artifacts, with her dissolute manners and extremely immodest outfits, did not cause a woman anything but contempt and disgust. Najenda herself rose to the coveted title ... in different ways — therefore, she did not like to see her crooked reflection in an unprincipled and shameless commoner.
Alas, but for many reasons, she could not, having previously recalled teigu, put the unpleasant person out. Therefore, she had to work with what she had, restrain herself and play the role of a loyal commander, almost slipping into familiarity. However, this is not alien to her. On the way to the rank of general, she had to do much less pleasant things than being nice to a whore. The way up has never been strewn with rose petals. Who, if not her, should know this!
Many years ago, when she and her mother lived in the former mansion of their family as servants for a wealthy relative, a little girl, crying in a dark corner, made a vow to herself. She promised to ensure that her future children would never have to endure what she had gone through. And now, as an adult woman who had seen much and achieved much, she had no intention of yielding to the blows of fate. Regardless of what she had to go through or what she had to do, she would not waver from her goal.
One way or another, she would take her rightful place in this decaying world!