On a morning when we weren't moving, I was inside my tent using the alchemical apparatus that Helkov's nephew—the triplets—had made for me to refine medicine.
I hadn't expected I'd need to use the Golden Root so soon.
"Sorry, I can't step away right now, so just tell me what you need, Celine."
It was Celine, the black-haired elf and leader of the Salvir squad.
We were already in the final stretch of our march. During this time, Celine had ended up acting as a mediator, shuttling back and forth between General Wageris and me whenever we clashed.
So it wasn't the first time she'd come to my tent in the morning like this.
"...Is it true that Your Highness personally crafted the medicine that suppressed that epidemic?"
Apparently, alchemy was something of a rarity.
And this was the reason we were stationed here just short of our destination.
A few days ago, an epidemic had threatened to break out within the army.
Or rather, it was a vomiting and diarrhea infection caused by neglecting hand-washing and gargling—nothing too serious in terms of symptoms.
However, soldiers with severe symptoms became dehydrated and lost consciousness entirely.
I only finally grasped the situation when one person died.
"I'm making it through alchemy, but it's not poison. I should have informed General Wageris yesterday that we can depart tomorrow?"
Even when I prompted her with water, she didn't respond.
When I stopped my hands to look at Celine, she was kneeling on one knee with her head bowed.
"I know this is a presumptuous request, but could you please reconcile with General Wageris?"
"Eh, hmm. It's true that this time I prioritized treatment and confined General Wageris to quarters under house arrest, but I should have lifted that yesterday, right?"
The truth was, I had wanted to respond to the epidemic, while General Wageris wanted to continue the march. Our opinions had diverged.
(Even if I explained, he wouldn't understand, and he kept saying that based on his experience, this level of outbreak was fine. It got on my nerves. Well, if I'm being honest, my predictions about the spread of infection were based on my previous life's experience, so there was a point where I gave up on persuading him.)
Honestly, I thought using the authority granted to me by my father, the Emperor, had been rather childish of me.
If he had resisted then, General Wageris would have faced a court-martial.
To avoid that, he would have had to either kill me or find a loophole in the authority my father granted to deny its validity in the first place.
(Though come to think of it, General Wageris did follow the orders even if forced, and since I pushed my way through, maybe it's my turn to bend.)
I'd been busy with thorough hand-washing, boiling and disinfection, isolating the infected, replenishing fluids and minerals, and experimenting to see which of the medicines I'd rushed to make through alchemy would work, so I'd resorted to quick and rough methods.
Looking back now, I was aware that using my authority to nearly remove the top commander of the army had been excessive.
Besides, even if I replaced him here, there was no prospect of replacement personnel being sent, and at worst, those dissatisfied with the general's treatment might have rebelled.
Yeah, I'm not popular.
The soldiers who helped with boiling water and isolation only obeyed because I had effectively taken General Wageris hostage.
"So I should apologize to General Wageris? And is General Wageris prepared to accept an apology?"
I don't mind bowing my head.
After all, I'm just a fox borrowing the tiger's might of the Emperor.
This time, even the retainers who knew nothing about pandemics had said that maybe we could deal with it after reaching the destination city, just as General Wageris suggested.
Looking back now, "One person died by bad luck so immediate infection explosion!" feels like an overreaction.
However, accepting my concerns, Celine answered with difficulty.
"Well, this incident was the final straw, but the discord with General Wageris goes back further than that."
"Ah, the tent deficiencies from the small fire? But that was the result of a formal protest. I can't withdraw or apologize for that."
When I stated my position, Helkov raised his hand.
"Your Highness, wasn't it about the Imperial Guards stealing alcohol? You used your discretion to hand down apologies and pay cuts for that, right? Who hands down such rewards and punishments is a touchy subject."
Ah, that happened too.
Imperial Guards who had no intention of following me from the start and were already dissatisfied.
Some of them had taken out and drunk large amounts of alcohol without listening to the rear support unit trying to stop them.
The complaint went from the rear support unit to General Wageris.
And since I got an earful from him, I made the perpetrators apologize directly and cut the pay of their superiors as well.
"That was at General Wageris's request. There's no reason for Lady Asha to apologize. Rather, regarding the fact that you shouted at him for trying to ignore the women and children who came seeking help during the march, asking if he was such a weak commander that he'd be stopped by one frightened woman—perhaps that wounded the general's pride?"
Wearrel said this, reminding me that had happened too.
In any case, General Wageris prioritized the march.
In military group actions, the itinerary is decided in detail, and there are negotiations with our destination that can't be delayed.
But then a woman came seeking help, saying her village had been attacked by bandits.
She herself was desperate enough to try to stop the army—action that could be seen as begging to be cut loose.
As army commander, General Wageris said we should leave it to the local peacekeepers, and he would report to the authorities there while marching, permitting only temporary protection.
I used my authority there too, sending out a scout party because she said she feared bandits, attaching Helkov as an escort in name only, stopping the army and doing as I pleased.
"I thought we could help them, so I just did it. And at that time, he complained extensively about how stopping the march would cause widespread inconvenience, yet here I am stopping it again. Certainly gives him reason to be angry."
When I nodded to Wearrel, this time Yikt raised another possibility.
"He seems to be quite an emotional person, so it might be something smaller. For example, exposing the Dink wine served at the banquet as counterfeit, or stopping the general's wife's nephew—an officer—from forcibly seducing a townswoman, embarrassing him in front of others."
Small, small things, but certainly things that damage a general's dignity.
He had said he paid good money for the Dink wine, and saying in front of subordinates that General Wageris had been deceived showed a lack of consideration.
But I didn't know that officer was the general's wife's nephew.
I just stopped him because he was a badly-mannered pick-up artist wearing a military uniform.
"...All of them."
Celine affirmed everything as if squeezing the words out.
Apparently, the accumulated distrust from General Wageris toward me had reached its peak.
Since Celine was watching from nearby, she had apparently come here sensing a crisis.
"What about General Wageris's side?"
"I spoke to him. I said that while your methods may have caused confusion due to lack of experience, he should acknowledge that the results were correct."
Since Celine was General Wageris's subordinate, she had first proposed reconciliation to her superior.
That was the proper order, but the fact that she came here like this meant... right?
"Anyway, he's probably saying I don't act like a man, sneaking around taking records to tattle instead of saying things to his face, or that I'm petty. He's the type who gets angry if you don't hit back when hit."
Helkov, who knew him well, predicted this, and Celine fell silent.
Apparently, something similar had been said, but for a shut-in like me, it was too extreme.
"So, do you think asking me to reconcile will fix anything?"
Since the medicine refining was finished, I transferred it to a mortar and moved to the next process to make it into pills.
"...I am ashamed to say I have no clever plan. Might I rely on Your Highness's wisdom?"
Apparently, Celine had heard something from my relative Wold, who had become my finance officer.
But being expected too much was troublesome.
I've been a shut-in for as long as I've been alive, you know.
Honestly, I don't have the means to move people.
"Also, rumors are circulating among the soldiers that despite the dispatch being decided by Your Highness's will, you got cold feet and stopped the army."
"Wow, the source is obvious."
That I stopped the army on a whim—General Wageris had said that too.
So this malicious prior information was known to those with connections to the nobility.
The soldiers were basically commoners serving military service or taking their first step toward advancement as military men.
And the main victims of this epidemic were the rear support unit.
Whether the infantry or other lower-ranking soldiers suffered damage was split fifty-fifty.
Those unaffected probably had no real sense of the epidemic since we isolated the infected.
"Noble-born and didn't catch the epidemic... hmm, that's most of the officers."
Even if I knew where the malicious rumors came from, I couldn't narrow it down.
"I humbly believe that showing an attitude of coordinating with General Wageris externally would be necessary to dispel the bad rumors about Your Highness."
I understood Celine was desperate too.
She was acting out of consideration for the army as a whole.
But I didn't think this could be resolved just by me nodding, and clever plans don't come to mind so easily.
As I was worrying, a voice called from outside.
Apparently, Nomariola had brought breakfast.
Regular update
Next: Coordinating with the General 2