Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up - Volume 5 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: How to Take Advantage of an Alliance

After they had completely subjugated the Herald Kingdom and made it part of their own territory, the Royal Naruyan Army took three months to reconstitute and gather another grand army of two hundred thousand men.

Before them stood their young monarch, King Cassia, with Frann Valdesca and the Ten Commanders awaiting his command.

“Our forces will now advance into the Gebel Kingdom! The chief of staff for our entire army will be Duke Frann Valdesca!”

Valdesca bowed his head deeply at this proclamation. With full command over the entire army, that made him second only to Cassia himself.

There had been rumors among the nobility that Valdesca was “finished” after his loss to Eintorian. However, in this most recent attack on Herald, he had foreseen every move the enemy would make, and he’d taken absolute control of the battlefield. This had won him an overwhelming victory, along with renewed recognition of his talents.

“Furthermore, we will deploy all but three of the Ten Commanders! Our defeat is an impossibility! Trample them underfoot with the full might of our forces!”

“Yeaaaaaaaaahhh!”

The crowd erupted into ear-shattering applause.

＊

As soon as Medelian got home, she was dragged off to the new border with the Gebel Kingdom in former Herald territory. She had been unable to defy her brother’s warning that, “If you don’t come immediately, then I really will throw you out of the house.”

Her brother had raised her after they’d lost their parents at a young age. That made him both a brother and a father to her. She didn’t want to slight him. But Medelian still wanted to prioritize her own feelings.

There was one issue with the way Valdesca had raised her—he had coddled her far too much.

On arriving at the battlefront, Medelian was immediately appointed commanding officer of the vanguard unit in the First Army of the Royal Naruyan Army.

The vanguards had an important role. They would be the first to go into the Gebel Kingdom and secure a route of advancement for their allies. It was a mission reserved for the strongest commander.

“Hey, bro, do I really have to? I’ve got other stuff I wanna do!”

However, Medelian was less than enthused by the current conflict. She’d found something far more interesting than this boring war. So, after the king had assigned her to the vanguard, Medelian had gone to visit her brother every single day. During these daily chats, she would walk around and around him in circles, complaining all the while.

“Don’t ignore me!” she exclaimed. “Your adorable little sister’s talking to you!”

Valdesca sighed. This was the umpteenth time he was having to endure this exchange.

Obviously, their conversation was nothing like a discussion between the chief of staff and the commanding officer of the First Army’s vanguards should have been. By appealing to the fact that she was his adorable little sister, Medelian had already dragged this from an official complaint into the realm of a personal one.

Faced with this behavior, Valdesca slammed his head onto the table in front of him.

“Medelian! What do you even want to do?”

Valdesca was the type to maintain a polite tone with everyone, regardless of whether they were above or below him in the hierarchy. However, he didn’t do that with Medelian, who remained the only other member of his family. He knew his sister was strange in a lot of ways. Having raised her himself, how could he possibly not know? The girl was prone to acting in unpredictable ways.

Even so, her behavior over the last few months had been erratic.

“There’s someone I’ve gotta challenge! I want a rematch with the first guy to ever beat me!”

“I think there’s someone else who beat you before that...” Valdesca noted.

Medelian scowled in response. “His Majesty doesn’t count! I mean, we were kids then anyway. Ever since he was little, he’d always hit me and hit me and hit me...!” Medelian shook her head with frustration as she recalled her bouts with the current ruler, King Cassia. “Anyway, he doesn’t count! His Majesty’s not even my type! I’d rather not see him at all...”

Medelian shuddered as if recalling some childhood trauma.

“Wait... Not your type? Why does that even come into this?”

“N-No, it’s not like that!” Medelian shouted, shaking her head. She covered her mouth and looked toward the mountains.

The clever Valdesca sighed and continued to press her. “Out with it, Medelian! What’s it ‘not like’?”

Medelian quickly corrected herself. “That bit about not being my type was a mistake... This is really about revenge! Yeah, revenge!”

This reasoning gave Valdesca such a headache. He knew exactly who she wanted to take “revenge” on.

Erhin Eintorian. The man was his greatest rival as well. He’d even gotten a letter from Erhin urging him to “Hurry up and take her home.”

How was it that she could talk about her type in the same breath as revenge? Valdesca was completely ignorant when it came to the relations between men and women, so her behavior was utterly incomprehensible to him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but let me say just one thing. Save your selfish behavior for after we’ve occupied the Gebel Kingdom. If you get it done quickly, you should have some free time afterward.”

“You mean it? Okay! Now I’m motivated! Time to go smack them down. I’ll go all out from the start!”

Medelian raced off. It concerned Valdesca a little just how quickly she darted away.

After all...

He thought that Eintorian might intervene in this war.

＊

“Your Majesty! The Royal Naruyan Army is closing in on our border!”

Duke Plenett of the Gebel Kingdom announced this with a tense look as he bowed before his king.

After taking a moment to digest this news, the monarch responded, “I understand. We’ve done much to prepare. You must drive them off at all costs!”

“I’ll do it, even if it costs me my life!”

After making this bold declaration in front of the king, Duke Plenett left the castle. He then gathered all of his retainers to give them urgent commands.

Duke Plenett felt just as the king did about the situation.

Naruya’s impending invasion had been obvious, and so he had done his utmost to prepare. He had three hundred thousand men on the border, and that was only counting Gebelian soldiers. At this time, they were aware of two hundred thousand on the Naruyan side.

His preparations were ironclad.

He also had fifty thousand reinforcements from Ramie. Obviously, it was an issue that those reinforcements were going to be reading the winds and preparing to go home as soon as they could. The Ramie Kingdom would soon need them since they had just received a declaration of war from the Rotonai Kingdom.

However, if Gebel was defeated, the Ramie Kingdom would be exposed to an attack not only from Rotonai, but from Naruya as well. They also had to be wary of an attack from the New Eintorian Kingdom, and so the Ramie Kingdom found it difficult to withdraw their reinforcements.

Their orders to the reinforcements in Gebel were to maintain their manpower as much as possible while keeping abreast of the situation.

Obviously, Duke Plenett’s right-hand man Garint was well aware of those orders. The Gebel Kingdom also wanted to conserve their forces, so they were looking for a way to deploy the Ramiens to the front lines.

“Bring him to me at once! Find everyone in the capital that we can mobilize! I don’t care what force you have to pull from. Take even the Royal Guard!”

The “him” in question was Duke Plenett’s son Adonia. He was called a prodigy for his high degree of talent with mana, and he now stood among the ranks of the S-class commanders as the pride of the Gebel Kingdom.

However, his current whereabouts were unknown.

No one could discount his abilities, but he was always taking advantage of that reputation to fool around with women. He’d recently disappeared with the one he was currently seeing.

Duke Plenett had sent men all over in search of his son.

“Why don’t we appeal to the neighboring countries for support?”

Seeing the state of things, Garint hazarded this suggestion, but Duke Plenett shook his head. As far as he was concerned, Gebel was thoroughly prepared, and Eintorian was about the only country they could go to for help now.

＊

Naruya’s elite forces were nearing the border with the Gebel Kingdom.

This massive army of two hundred thousand men crossed the former territory of the Herald Kingdom and attacked all at once.

The Royal Naruyan Army was planning to break through by focusing on a single point. There was a strategic pass along the sole road leading into the Gebel Kingdom from the former Herald Kingdom. The gateway here had protected Gebel all this time. If the enemy were to try to invade without going through this strategic pass, they would be forced to climb over the mountains or take the long way around.

This meant that a grand army could only invade by breaking through this checkpoint.

The gateway stood on a road through a steep valley, looking incredibly impressive. The walls had to be twice as high as ordinary fortress walls.

If the Naruyans couldn’t break through here, their supply lines would be stretched. It was inefficient to resupply their forces over the mountains, and all too unreliable. They had to smash through this barrier.

The vast sea of Naruyan soldiers appeared in front of the gateway.

“Two hundred thousand men, huh?”

The Gebel Kingdom commander who was defending the gate stood on the walls of the checkpoint, looking out over the Royal Naruyan Army. He gripped the hilt of his sword. “If our scouts’ reports are accurate, there should be no doubt about that number.”

The Herald Kingdom had attempted to storm these gates many times in the past, but the Gebel Kingdom had never lost. Not at any time in the past century, at least.

“We’ll still be fine!” shouted his second-in-command. “Our allies are camped nearby, and they will be joining us soon. Then we’ll have even more than two hundred thousand! We can definitely defend the gates!”

The Gebel Kingdom had been preparing for this war, so they had two groups of forces ready to go. The first, consisting of a hundred thousand men, was posted at the gateway itself. Another hundred and fifty thousand had been stationed in the surrounding area, and these troops could join the gateway forces at any time.

The hundred and fifty thousand men were positioned so that they could respond no matter what invasion route the enemy chose. It would also take them less than a day to reach the gateway.

If the whole army had been deployed to the gateway, that would have caused a different issue. The enemy could have given up on resupplying and then taken the long way around to flank them. The reinforcement troops were deployed as they were to eliminate as many strategic avenues for the Naruyans as possible.

Normally, overwhelming a gateway with walls this high would require the attacker to have five times as many troops as the defender. And, taking the scale of the checkpoint into consideration, the defenders could likely hold out for at least a month. That was why the Gebel Kingdom saw this as the best battlefield for them.

How much could they whittle down their opponents without exhausting themselves? The Gebel Kingdom saw that factor as the key to this battle.

＊

Someone walked up to the gates.

It was a man with a slender body, long hair, and a long coat. He wasn’t dressed for the battlefield. Behind him was a woman carrying a number of swords.

Gebel’s defending commander thought that the man must be a messenger, here either to declare war or demand surrender. This man and woman hadn’t come with troops. It was just the two of them.

However, the man who appeared in front of the gates—Frann Valdesca, the chief of staff for Naruya’s entire military—was planning something the defending commander never would have imagined.

That these two had appeared here together, without any soldiers, was proof of that.

Accompanying him was none other than Medelian. With this trusty bodyguard at his back, Valdesca began drawing a massive mana circle in front of the gates.

The defending commander, who had initially taken him to be nothing more than a messenger here to warn them to surrender, panicked when he saw what Valdesca was doing.

“Fire your arrows! Stop him! Immediately!”

The Gebel Kingdom knew about the mana circles that the House of Valdesca used. They fired a volley of arrows in an attempt to stop him from activating one.

“Hmph, is that all you’ve got?!”

Medelian stepped forward to stand in front of Valdesca. Glaring into the hail of projectiles, she unleashed her weapons.

Three swords flew up into the air.

“Wh-What is that woman?! Stop them at once! There’re only two of them!”

“Don’t you dare think your pathetic arrows can kill me!” Medelian shouted as she easily defended herself against the volley.

Meanwhile, Valdesca was quickly creating the circle and pouring his mana into it.

At this point, the third-ranked among the Ten Commanders, Istin, and his second-in-command, Lucana, arrived. They were leading Naruya’s Second Army.

Suddenly, light stretched up into the air as the seal inside the circle activated.

This mana circle had the ability to lock down an area. This meant that the Gebelian reinforcements wouldn’t be able to come inside the sealing circle to join the troops defending the gatehouse.

The Gebelian commander gazed up at the skies, despair written on his face.

＊

The war situation changed rapidly when the enemy broke through the Gebel Kingdom’s gateway in less than a day.

Duke Plenett had considered the battle at the gateway to be the key to this entire war, but he’d never expected the seal Valdesca had used. Now, all of Gebel’s plans had been completely upended.

“The Gebel Kingdom must be getting pretty desperate now,” I remarked after hearing the latest report.

“You’re probably right,” Euracia agreed.

We were near the battlefield in the Gebel Kingdom. Not in any official capacity, of course. This was purely an informal visit.

We had come to assess the situation, and if possible, intervene.

Soon after the fall of the strategic pass, the Royal Naruyan Army split into three units.

The Second Army and Third Army broke off to the sides to occupy the domains in their respective directions. Meanwhile, in the center, the king personally led the First Army against the main force of the Royal Gebelian Army, which was a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers strong.

At the vanguard of the First Army was Medelian. She was a dominating presence on the battlefield. Could there have been a more suitable vanguard captain?

Medelian surged through enemy lines, crushing foes underfoot and then moving on to the next targets. King Cassia of Naruya followed behind her.

Fighting Naruya on the plains would be a stupid plan. The Royal Gebelian Army quickly realized this and began a temporary retreat, pulling all of their manpower back to the rear.

The Naruyans took three domains in the blink of an eye. However, because Valdesca couldn’t use his Circle of Sealing multiple times in such a short period, he instead massed his forces to attack their next target, the Hertana Domain.

Obviously, the Gebel Kingdom also gathered their forces, intending to fight their hardest to defend Hertana in a siege battle, but this too ended in their defeat.

The Gebel Kingdom was starting to grow very concerned by the way that Naruya was pushing them back. They had already lost four domains, and the momentum was completely against them.

“As for us... Let’s go to the Jeiran Domain,” I said. “There’s something we need to do there.”

Our ultimate goal was for the Gebel Kingdom to make a request for support from Eintorian. But there was something else I definitely needed to do.

Although the path of history had changed considerably, there were still aspects of the game’s plot that remained relevant. My ability to take advantage of that knowledge would influence the course of this war.

＊

“Where is Adonia?! Haven’t you found him yet?!”

The defeat at the gateway came as a shock to Duke Plenett. The very idea that the once unbreachable gates of the border could fall in a single day seemed absurd.

“W-Well, you see...we suspect that your opposition to his latest romantic partner has pushed the two of them to disappear completely...”

Duke Plenett turned wrathfully toward the retainer who’d just told him what all the others had been too afraid to say.

“What kind of nonsense are you spewing when our nation is hanging by a thread?! How dare all of you...!”

The retainers all got down on their knees before their enraged lord. “We’re sorry! We’ll keep looking! He must be somewhere within the country!”

It was true that the most important thing right now was finding Adonia. If he’d just been there from the beginning, then surely their battle lines wouldn’t have crumbled so easily.

“Your Highness! Bad news! The Ramien reinforcements we sent to the front lines in the Jeiran Domain have suddenly retreated!”

Like rubbing salt into a wound, the thing Duke Plenett had feared most of all was now happening. The reinforcements had been biding their time, and they’d finally chosen to act. With the battle lines under pressure, the Ramien unit had decided to return home before they lost troops.

“Damn them... Damn them all...!”

Duke Plenett’s anger overwhelmed him. He shook with wordless rage until he passed out.

＊

“Messengers headed to Jeiran Castle? I’ll have to kill them,” the man murmured as he looked at the advancing unit.

He’d already slain one smaller unit, and now he rode on one of their horses. He hadn’t meant to show himself like this—the man had never intended to see his father again. But the situation had changed. His country was on the verge of collapse, and he needed to act.

Especially if the domain where he was hiding was going to be trampled by the enemy.

“This is shit.”

Defending the nation would protect his family. Such was the logic of a world consumed by war. He’d been avoiding his father by living life as a simple villager. His wife had already borne him a son.

He needed to protect them.

“This is utter shit!”

His father had dismissed his earnest feelings as a mere dalliance. He’d said that his son’s love was nothing more than fooling around with a commoner. The longer the dispute had gone on, the more the man had wanted to cast aside his position and his country to be with her.

But that couldn’t happen. He was Adonia of the Gebel Kingdom. And while he had been able to abandon his social status, he would never be able to give up his country.

If this domain fell into enemy hands, it was possible that many of its villages would be trampled. Naruya might not carry out massacres immediately, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t change their mind at some point. War always crushed innocent lives like so many cockroaches.

Leaving his wife and child at home, Adonia had galloped off on horseback.

When he eventually reached Jeiran Castle, he saw Naruyan banners. The Second Army was about to assault the castle.

“You’re in the way! Move it!”

Adonia charged at Naruya’s Second Army alone.

“Wh-Who are you?! A Gebelian spy?!”

The Naruyans naturally assumed that Adonia was performing some sort of espionage, so they tried to kill him. However, he deflected all of their attacks, and their arrows did not reach his back. Adonia mowed down his enemies like he was batting away flies as he continued his headlong rush toward Jeiran Castle.

He arrived as the Naruyan Army’s vanguard was assaulting the castle gate.

Istin was the commander-in-chief of the Second Army, and Lucana served as his second-in-command. The defense of Jeiran Castle’s gates was falling apart before a force led by the third highest-ranked member of the Ten Commanders.

“Has this country fallen so low that we can be beaten by the enemy’s Second Army?” Adonia shouted at his allies. “You gutless cowards!”

Without another word, he raced into battle.

＊

Of course, the Naruyans weren’t going to let Adonia pass by them unscathed.

“Hey, you there! Who are you?”

Lucana stopped Adonia as he wove his way through the Naruyan Army. Breaking through their forces all alone, from the rear, wasn’t something that any ordinary soldier could have done. And since it was clear that Adonia was an enemy, she obviously couldn’t let him go.

So, Lucana took direct action.

She was an A-class commander, ranked seventh among the Ten Commanders. She never even considered she might lose.

But the moment she parried Adonia’s blade, she was thrown from her horse.

His attack had been filled with mana.

She instantly braced herself for the fall, but with the power of his mana pressing down on her, she couldn’t rise again immediately. Adonia continued on past her. She survived only because he was solely focused on getting to the castle.

Once Lucana went down, even more soldiers swarmed Adonia.

“Get lost!”

Adonia stopped, then unleashed a spinning attack with his sword. The powerful mana it emitted formed a fiery whirlwind, assaulting the soldiers. As the men burned in his firestorm, he easily burst through their encirclement.

Of course, even Adonia felt threatened when he was isolated in the middle of tens of thousands of enemies. However, because this was a siege battle, and the vast majority of them were focused on taking the castle, only so many of them could afford to turn and fight Adonia.

The soldiers around Adonia were reduced to ash, and he kept on galloping ahead. When he reached the gates, he dismounted from his horse, killed some soldiers climbing a siege ladder, and then climbed the walls himself. He also cut down the Naruyan forces fighting on top of the wall.

That was when Lord Jeiran noticed him.

Adonia was dressed like a farmer, so it was hard to identify who he was. Because this was a battle, the lord had to remain wary of an unknown man’s intentions.

With all of the Naruyan soldiers on top of the wall slain thanks to Adonia, and Lucana injured, the enemy force temporarily withdrew. Lord Jeiran watched them go and then turned to Adonia, who was now surrounded by Gebelian soldiers.

“Who goes there?!” yelled Lord Jeiran.

Adonia was exasperated.

“You guys’re useless!” he shouted, making Lord Jeiran jump a little. “Can’t you even tell friend from foe?”

The man was certainly talented. That was precisely why the lord assumed that he couldn’t be of common birth.

“If you are our ally, then identify yourself! What unit are you attached to?” Lord Jeiran demanded, following the usual protocol.

“I’m not attached to any unit... But I am Gebelian!”

Of course, Adonia had no intention of identifying himself. It mattered little, however, as he was already famous in the capital. Lord Jeiran may not have recognized him, but one of the lord’s retainers took a good long look at Adonia’s face.

Lord Jeiran rarely traveled to the capital, so he had only met Duke Plenett a few times. He was also not a member of Duke Plenett’s faction, so he wasn’t called to the capital more often than he went on his own. Also, when Lord Jeiran paid taxes to the government, he always sent a retainer to act in his stead.

That very same retainer was staring at Adonia with his head cocked to the side. After a moment, he whispered in his lord’s ear.

“I’ve seen that man before, my lord...in the house of Duke Plenett. He resembles the duke’s son, Adonia.”

“What?”

Lord Jeiran stared at his retainer in surprise. Then, he looked at Adonia once again.

“Now that you mention it, there were orders to search for him, weren’t there?”

“Yes, that’s right. There were! I’m sure of it now. With that talent, who else could he be?!”

After his retainer said this, Lord Jeiran rushed toward Adonia.

“Lower your weapons at once! Lower them, I say! Just who do you think you’ve been pointing them at?!” Lord Jeiran shouted at his men, even though he was the one who had given the order to surround Adonia.

The soldiers lowered their weapons with looks of exasperation.

“Where have you been all this time, Your Excellency?!”

Formally, Adonia held the rank of count. It was his father, Duke Plenett, who held the rank of duke. As the eldest son, he would immediately assume the title if his father died.

However, that was a world that Adonia had already walked away from.

“Everyone, on your knees! You’re in the presence of a future duke!” Lord Jeiran shouted in an ostentatious fashion. There wasn’t a person in the Gebel Kingdom who didn’t know the Ducal House of Plenett, so the soldiers knelt down in surprise.

“That’s not important now!” Adonia snapped at the lord. “What happened to the kingdom’s pride?! Why are you losing so pitifully?!”

“Well...”

Jeiran couldn’t bring himself to say, “Because you didn’t show up.” Adonia was here now, and that was all that mattered.

“Attaaaaaack!”

“Kiiiiiillllll!”

That was when the Naruyan forces whose battle lines Adonia had broken finished regrouping and resumed the attack.

“Fine...” Adonia drew his sword and shouted, “Everyone, on your feet! I’ll lead our forces!”

＊

Adonia Grebadia primarily wielded fire elemental mana with his sword. His mana was S-class too.

Obviously, he was able to use the element because he was S-class. It would have been impossible otherwise. A-class characters could only use their own personal skills. However, S-class characters had an element in addition to their skills, which made their mana that much more powerful.

With each swing of his sword, enemy soldiers fell as though they had been struck by a flaming cannon.

The commander of the Second Army, Istin, was a careful man. He’d never assumed that this war would end easily.

There were some among the Ten Commanders who were only there because of their incredible martial abilities. Medelian, for instance. Istin, on the other hand, had excellent scores in both Martial and Command, making him an ideal commanding officer.

The problem was that he was far too quiet. It was only with Lucana at his side that he could adequately communicate with his men. Without her, his forces would remain perfectly coordinated, but he wouldn’t be able to give complex commands.

The Second Army required both Istin and Lucana to function.

“Divide the army! Ten thousand of you, follow the commander. The remaining forty thousand, come with me to take the castle! These are the commander’s orders. Hurry up!” Lucana shouted, communicating on Istin’s behalf. The soldiers who had been taking on Adonia swiftly began to divide themselves into two groups.

“Basically...the ten thousand who go with you will be stalling that man who uses fire mana while we storm the gates, correct?” Lucana asked.

Istin nodded silently, and Lucana gave more orders.

The gates of Jeiran Castle were already practically broken. However, Adonia had suddenly arrived and yanked the Gebelian forces back onto their feet.

To counter this, Istin had switched to a strategy using two separate forces. His men surrounded Adonia while Istin came face-to-face with the man. Of course, after their first encounter, Istin was already aware that Adonia was his equal, and perhaps more than that. But now wasn’t the time for pride.

Istin had shown such great respect for Erheet because the man thought about what was best for his country and his own soldiers before himself.

Adonia pointed his sword at Istin. “You... You’re Istin of the Ten Commanders, aren’t you?”

Istin nodded, then swung his spear. Adonia deflected it, of course. But Istin used that moment to back away. Once he did, soldiers carrying shields rushed in to block Adonia.

“You small fry! Don’t get in my way!”

Adonia’s powerful mana took down hundreds of soldiers all at once. After the attack, Istin used his skill again, and once he’d bought some more time, he had the shield bearers stop Adonia again.

His ten thousand men were slowly ground down. But Adonia was being pulled away from the gates without noticing it.

After a while, Istin’s mana ran out, leaving him unable to use his skill to buy time. By now his ten thousand men had been reduced to two thousand.

And then, suddenly...

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The gates opened, and forty thousand Naruyan men poured into Jeiran Castle all at once.

“Defend the commander!”

Istin’s men threw their own safety to the wind in order to stop Adonia, while Lucana surged around him and into the castle.

It took no time at all for the forty thousand Naruyan soldiers to overwhelm the slightly over ten thousand Gebelian defenders. The only way it would’ve been a fair fight was if the reinforcements from the Holy Ramie Kingdom had actually turned up.

“Damn it! This is shiiiiiit!”

Realizing that the fall of the castle was now inevitable, Adonia began attacking Naruyan soldiers at random, intent on inflicting as many casualties as he could. He’d been able to fight an even battle against ten thousand men because he was one of the five S-class commanders on the continent. But any more than that was untenable.

And so, Jeiran Castle fell to the Royal Naruyan Army, and Adonia was forced to make a temporary retreat.

Having secured the castle, the Naruyan forces weren’t foolish enough to pursue him.

Adonia shouted angrily as he sprinted across the plains. Then, when he ran out of breath and stopped to sit down, a man appeared before him.

＊

Adonia Grebadia was the eldest son of Plenett Grebadia and also one of only five S-class commanders on the continent.

Adonia Grebadia

Age: 24

Martial: 109

Intelligence: 61

Command: 84

An S-class commander is worth a thousand—no, ten thousand soldiers.

That was the kind of man sitting in front of me now, laid low by his recent defeat.

“I wish that I could congratulate you on a battle well fought, but I really can’t. You lost the castle.”

“Who the hell are you?!” yelled Adonia. “A Naruyan dog here to laugh at me?”

“Hey now, I’m no one’s dog. And if I was, I’d have killed you, not stopped to chat.” I shook my head. “I’ve got nothing to do with Naruya. I just came to offer you a word of advice, Adonia Grebadia.”

“Advice?” Adonia gave me a distrustful look.

“Yeah, that’s right. Strong as you are, there are limits to what you can accomplish alone. I know you may hate your father, but without a powerful unit at your command and a capable strategist, you’ll fail to protect the things you could have.”

Adonia rose to his feet, glaring at me. “How do you know about that?! Don’t tell me that father sent you!”

“Nah. I’m just here to offer some advice. Go back to your father. If you want to defend your country, that is.”

Adonia shook his head.

“You call that advice? Don’t make me laugh. Besides, I hear the enemy has an advisor called Valdesca. Garint probably can’t beat that guy. Our battle lines are constantly being pushed back. What’s going to change just because I decide to join in?”

“Well, why’d you come to Jeiran Castle, then?”

“I have family in Jeiran. If this place gets taken, Naruyan occupation will put them in danger. I’m going to take my family and run.”

“And abandon your country?” I asked.

“That’s not—!”

“If you’re there, the situation will change. I guarantee it.”

“That’s big talk, but who even are you?”

“Erhin Eintorian. That’s my name.”

“Huh?” Adonia looked incredibly surprised. “Eintorian...? That’s the name of the king who just started a new kingdom. What would he be doing here? You’re talking bullshit!”

“I came hoping to meet you,” I answered. “You’re absolutely essential to the defense of the Gebel Kingdom. Take your family and go back to your father’s place for now. He’d do well to stay away from the fighting for a while. You might do fine fleeing to another country, but what about your wife and child? Think about it carefully.”

Having said my piece, I turned to go.

Adonia remained silent. He was dumbstruck by what had just happened.

＊

Ultimately, Adonia did as I told him to and returned to the capital with his family.

Duke Plenett would likely accept Adonia’s wife and son, if only to keep him around. Though, the duke could go back on that decision once the war was over. He would probably tell Adonia to keep his current wife as a mistress and take another woman as his real wife.

It doesn’t matter to me if their discord resumes once the war ends.

Obviously, Adonia joining up with the Royal Gebelian Army was not enough to cause any immediate change. Like Adonia had said, Garint wasn’t up to the task of beating Valdesca.

On top of that, Naruya had Cassia. He and Adonia hadn’t fought directly, but his presence was part of the reason the Gebel Kingdom’s battle lines were collapsing, and also why they’d been pushed back as far as the capital.

Gebel’s only remaining domains were the three surrounding the capital: Midrett, Heberett, and Eugena.

Even the Gebel Kingdom had to understand how dire their predicament was.

These were the circumstances under which I visited Adonia’s war camp in the Heberett Domain.

“It’s you...” Adonia murmured. “Ahem, Sir Erhin. You certainly do get around, don’t you?”

“I was right, wasn’t I? You were better off returning home, if only temporarily.”

“You were, but...I couldn’t change the situation! If the capital falls, then I’ll lose my family and my country! I should have run away—”

“No you shouldn’t have,” I said, cutting him off. “Because I’m here now to tell you how to change the situation.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Request support from Eintorian. If our forces join yours, we can beat Naruya.”

“Request support...from Eintorian?” Adonia repeated incredulously. It sounded like he thought this was an absurd suggestion.

“That’s right,” I insisted. “We’ve already prepared to dispatch reinforcements.”

“Even I’ve heard that you beat Naruya twice. But even if you’re telling the truth, why would you do it? I can’t understand why you’d make us this offer right now!”

“Well, of course, there’s something in it for us too.” Indeed, we stood to gain an incredible amount. “It would be in our interest for Naruya to lose troops here in Gebel. If you can break Naruya’s momentum, it will be easier for us to take back the former territory of Runan.”

“Oh, I see... Well, that makes sense,” Adonia said with a nod of understanding.

“Gebel won’t owe us anything for the reinforcements. Our goal is to drive out the Naruyans. But I’m only going to provide the troops. I’ll request you to supply them with provisions. Of course, there’s been strife between your father and us, so I don’t know if he’ll actually make the request for assistance.”

“Yeah, that would be the problem...” Adonia scratched his head, possibly because he knew what had happened.

“That’s why you need to persuade him,” I insisted. “Garint will probably help you out with that. With your battle lines being constantly pushed back, he’ll have no choice but to listen to the two of you. If you can convince him, then next, I’ll tell you how to hold the line until my forces arrive.”

Adonia peered at me closely.

“Assuming that’s all true, the problem is that I can’t be certain whether you’re the real Erhin Eintorian.”

That was an important point. I could look up people’s names using the system, but Adonia had never seen me before.

“I’ve called Garint here for a strategy meeting,” Adonia continued. “He told me he met you before on the battlefield.”

As soon as he said that, the flap of Adonia’s tent was drawn back, and a man entered.

“What’s the King of Eintorian doing here?” asked Garint, who’d coincidentally stopped by the tent because he had business with Adonia. He looked absolutely shocked to see me.

Adonia nodded slowly.

Garint backed away involuntarily. Apparently, the way I’d taken out the Royal Ramien Army had left an impact on him. That effect had been further enhanced thanks to Medelian.

“Wh-What are you doing here...? N-No, it is an honor to see you!”

Garint meekly bowed his head. I wasn’t their king, but he paid me the appropriate respect.

Adonia began laughing in disbelief.

“Ah hah hah hah hah! So, you are the King of Eintorian, then? Really?”

＊

“I can’t believe this... Was the difference in strength truly this great?!” Duke Plenett shouted, a look of bewilderment plastered on his face.

If this continued, the country would collapse.

The Gebel Kingdom wasn’t like Runan. Their army wasn’t rotten and corrupt. He’d maintained a proper fighting force. And yet, look at what had happened.

“Damn it! Don’t just stand there in silence! Come up with a plan! Any plan!”

But the heads of the Royal Gebelian Army couldn’t say anything. No matter what plan they brought to the table, Valdesca would most certainly unravel it.

Duke Plenett could only clutch his head. If the battle lines were pushed back any farther, the enemy would enter the capital. That had to be prevented at all costs.

That’s when Adonia called him aside. The dispute between them was still unresolved, but this situation was far too serious for petty squabbling.

“It’s not too late to call for reinforcements, father!”

“Reinforcements?” Duke Plenett’s hands shook as he spoke. “Where are we going to get those when the Ramiens have already fled?! I’ve already asked the smaller nearby nations for assistance, but none have responded. They all act as if we’ve already fallen!”

“There’s one last nation you haven’t spoken to yet, isn’t there?”

Duke Plenett immediately asked, “Which one?”

“Eintorian, father.”

“Eintorian? Eintorian, he says... Why would we turn to that country?!”

“Father! They’re the only ones left at this point.”

Duke Plenett shook his head. “Not them... Never them! They are our enemies! We can’t turn to enemies for help!”

“Your Highness, it’s true that they are interested in this war,” Garint added helpfully. “Eintorian and Naruya are bitter rivals. If we provide the supplies, they will send reinforcements. The most important thing is that they also want to defeat Naruya.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Eintorian are seeking to reclaim the former domains of Runan,” Garint explained.

“Still, we can’t go begging to them, and even offer supplies!” the duke exclaimed. “It would be another thing if they were pleading with us to let them help!”

“Well, Your Highness... They will have other opportunities even if they don’t take part in this war. They can also form an alliance with Ramie when Naruya invades there.”

“Would you shut up?!” Duke Plenett shook his head, glaring at Garint.

But Gebel continued losing the next day too. Now that the situation had deteriorated this far, Duke Plenett was left with no other choice but to call in Eintorian. He’d accepted that he couldn’t afford to be too prideful.

He summoned Garint late at night.

“You’re certain you can bring them into this?”

“Yes,” replied Garint. “Eintorian will definitely come. The capital must be defended at all costs. If we can just hold the capital until Eintorian arrives, the situation will change!”

The duke was silent.

“Now is not the time to dwell on past grievances. We need to drive out the Naruyans first, Your Highness!”

Having seen the strength of Eintorian with his own eyes, Garint was thinking that Eintorian might be the only nation that could make a breakthrough and turn things in a more favorable direction.

“Call them at once!” ordered Duke Plenett. “No, send a request. They can have supplies if they want them!”

If this was the only straw he had left to cling to, then cling to it he would. It was better than losing everything without trying anything.

＊

“The envoy has set out for Eintorian,” said Adonia. “He should arrive sometime tomorrow.”

“That sounds about right,” I agreed with a nod.

The time has come.

Time for New Eintorian to unveil its greatness to the entire continent.

“Now let me tell you how to hold the line until my soldiers arrive,” I said. “This is where the real war begins. Adonia, I’m about to show you just how strong a man like you can be when paired with a proper strategist.”

＊

The war to occupy the Gebel Kingdom now focused on an intense back-and-forth struggle over the three domains in front of the capital. If the line broke there, the enemy would reach the capital in no time. The Gebelians would hold it for as long as they drew breath, but the situation was overwhelmingly in Naruya’s favor.

Valdesca was commanding the Naruyan Army.

“We have trouble, sir!” announced one of Naruya’s staff officers.

The war was going exceptionally well from the Naruyans’ perspective. There had been hardly any unknown variables that would have resulted in unpredictable outcomes, so Valdesca was surprised to hear of trouble.

He turned to face his advisor. “Calm down. What will the men think if a staff officer blows things out of proportion?”

The chief of staff had many staff officers serving under him. This staff officer, who came from the house of a count, looked around to see who might have overheard his outburst.

“I-I’m terribly sorry!”

“It’s fine. Now settle down and tell me about it. What is this trouble we’re facing?”

When Valdesca asked this, the man quickly forgot how “sorry” he was and went right back to panicking.

“They’ve attacked our supply unit. Just this morning, the main supply unit was en route to the front lines when reports came in that they had been wiped out in an ambush! Wiped out, sir!”

“What do you mean? I need details. The Gebel Kingdom shouldn’t have any spare troops they can use to attack us from behind. But more than that, how would they even know what route our supply unit would be taking?”

“We are not entirely sure yet. We have been making use of multiple supply routes, so the other units are still intact, but...”

Broadly speaking, Naruya was currently using three supply routes. The stockpile of supplies was located at the rear base in Remenett Castle, and there were over fifty thousand troops stationed there. The supplies then had to be sent from there to the front lines, but that was a rather short distance to travel, so it should have been difficult for the enemy to intercept them. That is, assuming the scouts remained attentive.

“Sir, this is bad! They’ve taken out the other supply units!”

Valdesca’s expression grew dubious as the reports came in one after another.

“What kind of force could possibly be attacking our supplies?”

“Actually...it wasn’t a whole force. It was just one man...”

The aide-de-camp who had delivered this most recent report could hardly believe the words coming out of his own mouth, and it showed in his eyes. He was passing the information along because that was what the report said, but the idea that just one man might have done this seemed absurd.

However, for Valdesca, this explained everything. If the enemy had moved around a force large enough to destroy their supply lines, Naruya would have noticed. He just couldn’t imagine all of his scouts missing it—his forces weren’t that incompetent. Therefore, the Gebel Kingdom couldn’t have sent a detachment to attack the supplies.

A single man, on the other hand? That was possible.

Valdesca’s brow furrowed as he approached the map. The other staff officers automatically gathered around.

“There is only one man who could cut our supply lines all on his own. It must be Adonia Grebadia. We should at least check. Bring in a prisoner who knows Adonia’s face.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ah, hold on a moment,” said Valdesca. “I believe that Istin and Lucana encountered him before, correct?” He took a beat to ponder this, but ultimately, he was hesitant to call the two of them. If they came here, their part of the front line would be pushed back. “No, never mind. Just bring the prisoner for now.”

“Yes, sir!”

Once he confirmed what Adonia looked like with one of the prisoners, he was certain that Adonia was the one targeting their supply lines. However, knowing and being able to stop him were two different things.

A few days after the first report, there were definite signs of fracture. Supplies had failed to reach the front lines, and that was having an effect on the soldiers.

The army couldn’t store all of their supplies on the front lines. It would massively impact their mobility. The most common solution to this was to amass supplies inside the safety of a castle they had captured. But because the supply units headed to the front lines were being continuously attacked, there was a negative impact on the troops, and Naruya ended up having to temporarily halt their attacks.

Not eating was terrible for morale. Obviously, the troops had less energy when they were hungry, but there was a psychological effect on them too. After all, it was said that ninety percent of warfare was logistics.

Supply units were weaker than assault units. If an S-class commander was attacking them, then of course there would be mass casualties.

But as the losses piled up, that in turn made the next target more obvious.

Valdesca gathered his staff officers to tell them what they were going to do about it.

“Call the Ten Commanders. We need to lay a trap!”

While cutting their supply lines might have blunted the Naruyan troops’ momentum and forced things into a stalemate, all Adonia had managed to do was buy time.

If anything, this plan of his was a blunder. Attacking the supply units was a brilliant move by itself, but if Adonia himself was the one doing it...

“If the supply units are being attacked, then that means Adonia is not at Heberett Castle,” Valdesca reasoned. “There are two rabbits before us, and we shall chase both. I will pursue Adonia with the Ten Commanders. While we are doing that, our forces will occupy the Heberett Domain, which Adonia was guarding. The castle was only holding because Adonia was there. It should fall in no time. Does everyone understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

During this strategy meeting, an urgent message arrived from the king.

“Sir! His Majesty! His Majesty is coming! He says to stop the advance so we can take on Adonia!”

“Aah... His Majesty has always been rather interested in the Gebel Kingdom’s S-class commander.”

Valdesca furrowed his brow. He’d been making a point of not letting the king meet Adonia.

When Cassia had heard the initial rumors about Adonia, he’d insisted, “I’m going to take him on.” Valdesca had only just managed to convince Cassia to attack the capital instead, but the king had changed his mind, and now he once again wanted to battle Adonia.

Valdesca didn’t have any fears of Cassia losing in a fight. However, he couldn’t risk some unknown variable appearing on the battlefield. Up until now, the king had been leading the unit attacking the enemy capital. Although, even they were being affected by the supply shortage.

The plan had been for them to conquer the three domains, forcing Gebel to divide their attention while Cassia launched a direct assault on the capital. However, once the king heard that someone was single-handedly taking out their supply units, his personality would never let him stay quiet about it.

“We’ll have to catch Adonia before then...”

If Cassia arrived and ordered them all to stand back so he could face Adonia personally, they wouldn’t be able to use any kind of trap. As such, it was of paramount importance that they execute Valdesca’s plan as soon as possible.

Obviously, all of this caused a decisive delay in their offensive, and the front lines bogged down.

＊

“So you want us to trade places now?” asked Adonia. He’d been attacking the supply routes I’d investigated, and to great effect.

Valdesca’s no idiot. If Adonia keeps on going, he’ll actually be in more danger.

“That’s right. You head back to Heberett. There’s a possibility that the entire enemy force will head there, so you go and stop them with all your might. If you can hold out...if you can buy enough time, then the Eintorian Army should be arriving shortly.”

“And what will you be doing, King Erhin?”

“Taking your place and pretending to be you to attract attention. We just need to draw things out. Valdesca doesn’t yet know that I’m secretly involved.”

“So Valdesca will throw everything at you, thinking he’s taking me on...but I’ll be at Heberett, and when his men attack, I go on the counterattack! Hah hah hah!”

For some reason, Adonia burst into a strange laugh.

“No matter how I look at it, you’re clearly more of a danger than Naruya!” he declared. “You give me goose bumps. You’ve got us all dancing to your tune. I couldn’t help but laugh. This alliance of ours is obviously just temporary. In the end, I’m sure you’re going to be Gebel’s enemy too.”

Adonia didn’t take his eyes off of me.

“Well, I’m not going to disagree,” I said. “That will likely be the case... But let’s focus on the present. We can think about that after saving Gebel, all right? We each have clearly defined goals, after all. Or were you hoping to take my head here and now?”

Adonia shook his head. “It looks like I’ll have to play along. But...I’m sure I’ll come to rue the day I invited you into this country.”

After he said that, Adonia laughed again.

＊

“You ordered the supply unit to travel along this road, right?” asked Valdesca. “You made absolutely sure of it?”

Valdesca’s aide-de-camp nodded. “There won’t be any issue. I’ve confirmed it repeatedly.”

“Then I want you to continue observing.”

“Yes, sir!”

Having given the man his orders, Valdesca turned to Istin. Istin nodded without a word. With Lucana wounded, Istin had to come alone. Communicating with the taciturn commander was a little difficult, but Istin had yet to misunderstand one of Valdesca’s commands.

He wasn’t a problem. The real issue was—

“What about me, bro?”

“You will be staying by my side for now.”

“Whaaa, that’s boring! I wanna fight too!”

—his restless little sister. Valdesca pressed a hand against his forehead. However, if he was going to stop Adonia, he needed both Medelian and Istin.

Valdesca was chasing after the supply unit.

He couldn’t bring a whole fighting force with him. It would’ve been too obvious. If the enemy noticed them and didn’t attack the supply unit, that would be a problem. For that reason, he’d chosen to take a small but elite squad including Istin, one of his aides-de-camp, and Medelian.

Obviously, in a head-to-head battle, Adonia probably still held the upper hand, even with Istin and Medelian around.

How would Istin and Medelian fare in a battle against Cassia? They would put up a good fight, but they couldn’t win. Valdesca joining the fray wouldn’t change the result unless there was one more condition in play.

Generally speaking, an S-class commander couldn’t be beaten using traps. That was why Adonia was able to run around attacking the supply units without worrying about such things. However, if the trap was a mana circle, that changed things.

If the supply unit they were following was ambushed, Valdesca intended to send in Istin and Medelian as a distraction while he used the Circle of Sealing.

He had used the same tactic while taking Gebel’s strategic pass, but by limiting the area that the circle covered, he could pour even more mana into it. No one would be able to leave the circle until he dispelled it or ran out of mana.

He meant to contain Adonia, not kill him.

The Gebel Kingdom was no match for his forces without Adonia.

Obviously, Valdesca couldn’t use the Circle of Sealing over and over. This would probably be the last time he could use it during this war.

But that was no issue. Not even if it was Erhin Eintorian who showed up instead. Erhin no doubt had some strange ability that would allow him to dispel the Circle of Sealing anyway, so Valdesca saw no point conserving it for a fight against him.

“They’re being attacked, sir!”

Finally, someone took the bait. Valdesca looked at Istin and Medelian. After exchanging glances, they rushed off in the direction of the supply unit.

＊

There was no need to reveal my identity, so I put on Adonia’s clothes and donned a mask to attack the supply unit.

No traps had been prepared on any of the supply units I had wiped out yesterday. But that was actually good for me. The longer it took for Valdesca to show up, the more time I’d be able to buy.

I’m only keeping up this charade until he appears.

The unit coming from Eintorian would arrive soon. The Gebel Kingdom was going to supply them, so they didn’t have to bring their own supply units, and that meant they could march faster than normal. In fact, I had already bought enough time for them to arrive.

However, I maintained this ruse because keeping Valdesca away from the front lines was advantageous to me.

Valdesca will be assuming that Adonia is still out here, so he will have sent troops to attack Heberett in Adonia’s absence. And if Valdesca’s here, then Adonia should be able to take out a good chunk of the Naruyan troops advancing on Heberett Castle.

Without their brain, Valdesca, or their heart, Cassia, the Royal Naruyan Army is just an army like any other. Adonia should be able to turn the situation to his advantage.

I repeatedly used the Attack command to wipe out the supply unit.

“It’s an ambush!”

“There’s the enemy! Kill him!”

The supply unit soldiers started coordinating closely with one another, but they were still just a supply unit and therefore no threat to me.

However, it looked like the enemy had run out of patience. I could see Valdesca, Medelian, and Istin coming my way.

All right, time to run.

＊

“There he is, sir!”

“I see him! Begin the plan!” Valdesca nodded, glancing at Medelian and Istin. He then dismounted his horse to begin preparing the mana circle.

“Huh?” his subordinates uttered in surprise. Valdesca hurriedly got back on his horse.

They were taken aback—the person they assumed was Adonia had suddenly started to run away.

Istin gave Valdesca a look that asked, “Do we chase him?”

“We chase him!” Valdesca ordered with a nod. Istin and Medelian took off after the fleeing enemy.

“By the way, does Adonia always wear a mask?” Valdesca asked his aide-de-camp. It seemed suspicious because if Adonia did indeed wear a mask, they wouldn’t have been able to get a description of his appearance.

“No, we’ve received no reports indicating that.”

That was not what Valdesca had been hoping to hear. He had a bad feeling about this. Cold sweat ran down his back.

“Recall Istin and Medelian at once! Hurry!”

The man was wearing a mask when there was no need for him to. He’d also run away at the first sight of them. If he’d fled that quickly, that meant he knew who they were. And he obviously knew them well enough that he could be certain of their identities at a distance.

I have a very bad feeling about this.

“Sir?”

“Something is wrong! Please, hurry!” Valdesca urged.

“U-Understood!”

The aide-de-camp that Valdesca had brought along mounted his horse and rushed off.

“Get the supply unit back in formation and proceed to the front on schedule. We have a supply shortage on the front lines.”

“Ah, understood. We’ll do that, sir!”

Once he’d given the supply unit their orders, Valdesca went to follow his aide-de-camp. He needed to join up with the others again before doing anything else.

It’s beyond suspicious that he’s wearing a mask. It couldn’t be, but...is Adonia trying to get us to chase him? Despite being the Gebel Kingdom’s one and only S-class commander...?

Valdesca scratched his head, feeling suddenly doubtful.

If that masked man wasn’t Adonia, then who the hell was he? The Gebel Kingdom didn’t have anyone else who could single-handedly wipe out a supply unit. That limited the possibilities for the man’s identity.

And as far as Valdesca knew, there was only one man who would execute a plan like this.

What if he’s already intervening in the war?

Valdesca hadn’t expected this war to be easy. He’d anticipated an Eintorian intervention all along.

But I didn’t expect it to be happening already...

“Damn!”

That was when Valdesca realized something. If Adonia wasn’t here, then where was he? If even the king was headed this way, then the members of the Ten Commanders who were headed to Heberett Castle were in danger.

This place wasn’t important right now.

Valdesca changed course on his own.

He needed to send a message to the force attacking Heberett Castle.

＊

As they chased after the enemy, Medelian cocked her head to the side. She felt like she’d seen this back turned to her and running away once before. The memories of the hours she’d spent chasing him came back to her. Even disguised as he was, she’d never mistake him for anyone else. Medelian was certain of it.

“Istin, stop!” she shouted, pulling back on the reins of her horse. “You go and protect my brother. This guy’s too far away for the Circle of Sealing anyway. I’ll join back up with you after I see where he flees to, so you go on ahead.”

Istin blinked dubiously at this.

It was true that Valdesca was alone. But that didn’t seem like any reason to disobey his orders to pursue. Military law was incredibly harsh, and breaking it without good reason was out of the question.

Medelian got angry at the man’s hesitation. “Hey, Istin! Are you refusing my orders?!”

But that’s when Valdesca’s aides-de-camp arrived. “Lady Medelian! Lord Istin! You have orders to pull back at once!”

Once he heard that, Istin finally turned his horse around. However, Medelian shook her head.

“I don’t mind pulling back, but let my brother know I’m going to find out where this guy’s fleeing to first. You can all head back before me!” Medelian turned her horse, a look of satisfaction on her face.

“Please wait, Lady Medelian!”

She ignored the aide-de-camp calling after her.

She was going to have to pursue the trail of her enemy using only the hoofprints he’d left behind.

＊

I couldn’t run north forever. The question of whether to attack the supply unit again or to head back still remained, but...

“This is good enough,” I concluded. As much as I might have liked to attack the supply unit again, that could have proven more trouble than it was worth. I’d bought enough time, so it was a good opportunity to head home.

I turned my horse, meaning to take the long route around using the road opposite the one that I had fought on earlier.

Besides...Valdesca probably caught on since I ran so quickly. He’ll be rushing to Heberett Castle around now. He’s got to be in a hurry too, so we won’t run into each other...right?

As I was thinking that, an awfully familiar woman appeared in front of me.

“I knew it!”

Knew what?

“It was you after all!”

“Who are you? I don’t think I know.”

Since I had the mask on still, I tried to feign ignorance. Medelian covered her mouth as she burst out laughing.

“That’s just adorable!”

“What do you mean...?”

I didn’t have the heart to try to keep on pretending. Still, calling an enemy adorable? I had no idea what she was thinking.

“It’s adorable! You can’t disguise your voice, but you still think you can go on claiming it’s not you just because you’ve got a mask on!”

I took off the mask out of exasperation. “We’ve only met a couple of times, and you already know my voice?”

Medelian scowled. “And you don’t know mine?”

“No, I remember you. You’re pretty unusual...”

“Sure am! Hee hee. Well, as long as we both remember, it’s all good!”

What’s so good about it?

I was worried I might have to fight her again, but that wasn’t the vibe she was giving off right now. If I’d had to, I could’ve driven her off. I’d already proven that I could beat her, and since I hadn’t used Daitoren yet, its time limit wasn’t an issue.

“So tell me. What’re you doing here?” she asked.

“You’ll probably figure it out soon enough. If you don’t want to fight, I’d appreciate it if you could let me go.”

“Why? I don’t wanna.” Medelian shook her head with a look of annoyance.

“You don’t wanna... So, what? We’re fighting again?”

“Oh, I do wanna fight! But not right now.” She shook her head again. “Because if I lose, I’ll get sent flying back home.”

Well, if you don’t want to pretend we never met, and you don’t want to fight, then where does that leave us?

“Okay, so what do we do?” I asked.

“I’m gonna follow you!”

“Erm, Medelian? I’m probably going to end up fighting Naruya. You’re not planning to betray them, are you?” I asked with a shrug.

Medelian suddenly got all cheerful again. “You’re going to fight us?”

“That’s right. It’s what I’m here for.”

“You mean it? We’re really gonna fight?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Hee hee, great! In that case, it’s all good then. I won’t follow you.”

Sure changes her opinion fast, doesn’t she?

“I’ll see you on the battlefield, then?” she asked.

“In all likelihood, yeah, but— Hey, wait.”

“Okay, I’ll go obey my brother’s orders now. Because I may end up disobeying him later!”

With that nonsensical comment, Medelian turned her horse and rode off. The sword on her back hadn’t floated into the air once the whole time.

“What was that about...?”

I didn’t understand the situation. It’d left me with a headache.

Valdesca was incredibly dangerous, but at least I could predict him somewhat. Medelian, though? She was beyond my comprehension.

Well, let’s just forget about her for now. As long as she has one of those accursed tools the members of the House of Valdesca like to carry around, there’s no point in fighting her.

Trying to understand what cannot be understood is a waste of time.

＊

“Your Highness! We’ve received word that the Eintorian Army is heading this way!”

After hearing Garint’s report, Duke Plenett went up onto the walls around the capital. It was true that he needed a mighty army, but...

Too powerful an army would actually be a source of worry for him, so he wouldn’t be at ease until he had seen the Eintorian reinforcements for himself.

“Those are the lancers you spoke of?”

“Yes, Your Highness... They’re incredibly dangerous, but they should make for reliable allies. That man riding at the front is Erheet Demacine. His martial abilities are no match for your son’s, but his ability to command troops is among the best on the continent.”

Even Eintorian’s rank-and-file soldiers were on another level, and they had better equipment too. The soldiers of the Gebel Kingdom gulped when they saw them...while at the same time, thanking their lucky stars that they had come as reinforcements.

＊

“I’m hooome...?”

Medelian quietly slunk into Valdesca’s command tent, trying to gauge his reaction as she did.

Of course, Valdesca barked at her for disobeying his orders.

“Medelian!”

“It’s not like that! I didn’t violate your orders! It’s just...the guy was way too suspicious, so I wanted to keep going a little longer to find out who he was!”

Hearing these excuses, Valdesca slapped his forehead and let out a long sigh. “And? Was your pursuit a success?”

“Uh, yeah... In a way!”

By contrast, Medelian was a bundle of positivity. She was so cheerful that it was easy for him to figure out why.

“Based on your reaction, it was him, like I thought,” Valdesca said with certainty.

Medelian was quick to nod. “Yep! This war’s going to get fun. And it means I don’t have to go to Eintorian again!”

Valdesca’s shoulders slumped. He had no idea what was going on in Medelian’s head.

It doesn’t seem like she wants to join him. Don’t tell me she’s in love...?

At this point, even Valdesca was starting to think that his little sister might be feeling sweet for his rival. After all, Medelian was delighted that Erhin had shown up on the opposing side. Even if the war weren’t a factor, he’d be worried because she was his little sister. The mystery of what Medelian wanted from Erhin was only growing larger.

Wham!

Valdesca slammed his forehead into his desk.

“W-Well, I’ll be going now!”

When she saw that, Medelian vanished, leaving Valdesca to tear his hair out. He had bigger problems to think about right now. He could worry about her later.

The real issue was that he was facing Eintorian yet again.

But this time, the full might of Naruya was on the field. Valdesca even had both of his trump cards, Medelian and Cassia.

This is the one fight I can’t lose.

There was another loud thud as Valdesca slammed his head into the desk again to clear his mind.

＊

Adonia had been unusually effective in cutting off the enemy’s supplies. However, now that Naruya had a means of neutralizing him, that kind of strategy was no longer available.

As a result, the plan had to be completely reformulated.

The problem was that I couldn’t appear openly. This wasn’t a war of conquest. It was strictly us responding to a request for aid from a neighboring country. There were all sorts of problems with a king like me showing up in person.

So, for public purposes, the leader of the reinforcements was Erheet.

He had Heina supporting him as an advisor. That personnel selection was sure to raise Duke Plenett’s blood pressure, which was exactly why I’d chosen her.

Instead of heading to the front, I joined up with the rear unit led by Yusen before entering the Gebelian capital.

The number of reinforcements we had dispatched to participate in this war was sixty thousand. During this period, Fihatori had been tasked with defending the homeland. He was the perfect man to have in place in case something happened while I was away.

All of my other commanders were here: Erheet, Jint, Heina, Yusen, and Gibun.

I split my forces into two armies. The First Army was led by Erheet and the Second by Yusen.

Our reinforcements weren’t able to enter the capital, so we camped outside while the key members went to the palace for an audience with King Gebel.

That left only Jint with me.

Euracia had traveled to the Gebel Kingdom with me, but we’d split up after I’d assigned her another task. I unfurled a map with Jint, our representative quiet guy, standing beside me.

This may have been obvious, but the Royal Gebelian Army’s situation was not good. They’d had a massive force of three hundred thousand men, but half of it was now gone. Combined with my forces, that brought us to two hundred and ten thousand troops. We had the Royal Naruyan Army outnumbered, at least.

Although, if Gebel’s defenses kept breaking and they kept on losing siege battles, the issue wasn’t with the soldiers, but with their commanders.

That was how the Gebelian front line had been pushed back so far that we were facing the Naruyans across the three domains in front of the capital: Midrett, Heberett, and Eugena. Those three domains were now effectively the front line.

The Royal Naruyan Army had divided their forces into armies of roughly sixty thousand troops each, and they had been attacking all of them simultaneously.

Between our disruptive attacks on their supply units and my own forces arriving, the Naruyan Army had been forced to stop pressing the attack. We were now at a lull in the fighting.

They’re going to have to change tactics now too.

I had been able to suggest our earlier strategy thanks to Adonia. While he was attacking the supply units, the Naruyan king, Cassia, hadn’t been on the front line.

The king hadn’t been with Valdesca and the members of the Ten Commanders who came up from the rear. He also hadn’t been fighting to take any of the three domains. By extension, that meant he’d been pursuing another mission.

Could he have been taking some circuitous route to launch a surprise attack on the capital? If not for Eintorian joining the war and Adonia’s attacks on the supply units, that plan would have undoubtedly ended in success.

But things are different now.

King Cassia of Naruya has probably pulled back to his own camp. That means we have to assume he’ll be coming at us with a different plan.

Knowing that, I went around to each of the front lines, confirming the composition of the enemy’s forces using the system. I was trying to predict Naruya’s next move so I could counter it.

“Jint, place this on Midrett Castle.”

I tossed a tiny wooden horse to Jint. It had “Royal Naruyan Army Second Army” written on it. Jint did as I asked and placed the horse where Midrett Castle was on the map.

Istin was the commander of the Second Army. After taking Jeiran, he had immediately advanced toward Midrett.

“This one goes on Heberett.”

The Third Army was led by a commander named Bleicke who had risen to become the third-ranked member of the Ten Commanders after the last guy had died in the previous war.

“And this one goes on Eugena Castle.”

That left the Fourth Army, led by Maruand, the fourth-ranked member of the Ten Commanders. He was an A-class commander.

The ninth- and tenth-ranked members of the Ten Commanders were only on the upper end of B-class, but Medelian was capable of using abilities that effectively put her in S-class.

Looking at the Royal Gebelian Army as a whole, they had one S-class commander in Adonia, as well as four A-class commanders who were known as the Four Generals. Well, there were only three now, since I had killed Ruteca in South Runan.

Altogether, Gebel didn’t have enough commanders to fight Naruya.

The Second, Third, and Fourth Armies were under the direct command of Valdesca and were fighting on the front lines.

The problem is the First Army.

Their vanguard captain was Medelian, and their commander was the commander-in-chief, King Cassia of Naruya himself.

Now that the First Army had rejoined the front line, Naruya currently had a total manpower of one hundred and eighty-seven thousand. Just looking at that number, combined with the level of the commanders that had been deployed... Well, it was clear that this war would have the attention of the entire continent.

It was the hundred and eighty-seven thousand strong Royal Naruyan Army against the two hundred and ten thousand strong Gebel-Eintorian Alliance. But with the numbers so close, it wasn’t troop counts that mattered.

It was how well each side could use them.

“Oh, right, Jint,” I said, suddenly remembering something. “That kid you’re training, Damon. Has he gotten to the point where you think he’d be of any use?”

“If you want him...he fights well.”

During the last war, I had uncovered a young diamond in the rough, Damon. He was currently being trained by Jint, and I’d had him participate in this war as one of Jint’s subordinates. If he proved himself useful, I meant to assign him a relatively important mission.

＊

“You’re saying those are the lancers who drove off the Ramiens?”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Duke Yohanett, a member of the Gebelian royal family, smiled as he observed the Eintorian forces. He could see their strength—it was no wonder that they’d been able to drive off the Royal Ramien Army.

“To think Plenett would suddenly request Eintorian’s assistance when he had been so averse to the idea before. Things have certainly gotten interesting.”

“Well, since their aid has prevented our lines from falling back any farther, isn’t it for the best that he did?” suggested Yohanett’s retainer.

“Yes, you do have a point there,” Duke Yohanett agreed, nodding.

Duke Plenett currently held all of the authority, so any failure on his part would be to Duke Yohanett’s advantage. However, if Plenett’s mistake led to the fall of the nation, that would be a problem.

Duke Yohanett would have to cooperate for now.

“Still, I have my doubts. Regardless of how elite these lancers are, will their arrival really have a dramatic effect on the situation? Duke Plenett’s pride and joy, Adonia, joined the war effort, but conditions haven’t changed in the slightest.”

“Well...we’re likely better off with Eintorian than without them,” said the retainer. “If they act as shields for our men, then that’s good enough.”

Yohanett nodded once more. “Well, I suppose so... It’s better to have them, yes. Still, it amuses me to no end. Just having to call for Eintorian’s aid is already a defeat for Duke Plenett. Because, despite crowing about how well prepared we were for this war, it’s been nothing but one loss after another. If he can’t win this, I’m sure I’ll be able to have him removed from power...”

“I spoke with Garint. He said that with Adonia by our side—as well as Eintorian, who have already bested the Naruyans once—we should be more than capable of turning this around.”

“It’s Plenett I have a problem with!” Duke Yohanett exclaimed. “He’ll be joining up with the Eintorian Army and leading them on the front lines, right?”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“How shameless. The man’s already failed as a commander. Isn’t it about time that he takes responsibility for his actions and allows someone else to take over? If we’re so certain of victory, then ideally, I’d want to call him to account for his failures. I would prefer to keep him tied down in the capital while someone from our house distinguishes themselves in his place...”

This was Duke Yohanett’s greatest problem: Plenett had been given a position that matched his abilities.

Yohanett wouldn’t deny that. A loudmouth like himself could only talk big, but his fellow duke did, in fact, have actual talent. Would Yohanett be able to do what Plenett couldn’t? Certainly not. Duke Yohanett knew himself too well to think otherwise. It was what frustrated him so much about this situation.

As he was fuming about it, his head chamberlain approached. “Your Highness, a guest from the Eintorian Army has come to visit. They say they wish to see you. What shall we do about it?”

“From Eintorian?” Duke Yohanett looked at the retainer he had been talking to before. The man shook his head, having no idea who this unexpected guest could be.

The head chamberlain observed their reactions, then asked, “Would you like me to chase them off?”

Yohanett weighed his options for a moment before shaking his head. “Chase them off? Hold on, we can’t go mistreating the reinforcements. I’ll have to at least meet with them.”

With this order, the head chamberlain nodded and left the room. He soon returned with the guest—a graceful woman with her hair cut short.

“Greetings, Your Highness. My name is Heina.”

The world of politics was merciless, and at the end of the day, the winner was the winner, regardless of what methods they used to get there. That was why Erhin had sent Heina Berhin to do political maneuvering. She was the most adept politician among his followers.

“Heina, you say?”

“Yes, I am Heina Berhin.”

Duke Yohanett searched his memories, trying to remember where he’d heard of her before. He wasn’t the type to remember the names of those who were beneath him in rank, but he did recognize hers for some reason. This signified that she was somehow special.

Duke Yohanett, who was well aware of the prejudices of his memory, took another look at Heina. But her face was unfamiliar. Of that, he was certain. He glanced at his retainer. The man looked as if he’d already figured something out.

Fortunately, the retainer had a better memory than his master. He approached Yohanett and whispered, “Your Highness, she is the one who pulled the wool over Duke Plenett’s eyes during the South Runan incident...”

Upon hearing this, Duke Yohanett clapped his hands with glee and welcomed Heina with an unusual enthusiasm.

“You’re the schemer who fooled Duke Plenett, aren’t you?” Duke Yohanett asked with a big smile. “I only wish we could have met sooner. You must be the first to have ever humiliated him so utterly!”

“I am honored by your kind words,” Heina replied, her own smile much cooler. It was an expression that revealed nothing of the feeling that lay beneath it. “Now then, I have a favor to ask of you. It involves Duke Plenett...”

Those words were enough to tell Duke Yohanett all he needed to know about her.

Heina Berhin had come bearing the good fortune he had long been waiting for.

＊

“We’ll use Eintorian’s forces as much as we possibly can. Send the Eintorian Army to the front lines of every battlefield!”

This was the policy Duke Plenett had taken as commander of the combined forces.

“Father, shouldn’t we confer with Eintorian before deciding on our strategy?” Adonia suggested.

“We’re providing the supplies, so it’s only natural that they follow our plans,” Duke Plenett countered. “What is the problem with putting Eintorian’s troops at the front like Garint’s strategy suggests? If you care one whit for that miserable lowborn concubine of yours, you’ll shut your mouth and do as you’re told!”

Duke Plenett had been forced to swallow his pride and call for reinforcements from Eintorian, a nation he strongly disliked. As such, he was feeling even more stubborn than usual. A full sixty thousand Eintorian men had come to Gebel’s aid, and he intended to take as much advantage of them as he could by positioning them as sacrificial pawns.

“Father!”

Adonia opposed Duke Plenett’s approach. He felt it was important to consult Eintorian about their strategy. When the duke brought up his wife and son again, he exploded with anger.

He’d thought his father had finally accepted them, but now he was calling her a concubine. Adonia had never once thought of his wife that way. She was a commoner, but that fact was unimportant to him. She was the only woman for him, now and forever.

“Well, let’s set that matter aside for now. We can discuss it once the war ends,” said Duke Plenett. “There’s been a lull in the fighting on the front lines, so we’ll try a night raid.”

“A night raid?” asked Adonia.

“I mean to use Eintorian’s lancers for it. They’re supposed to be strong on the plains, right?”

This was yet another plan that threw away soldiers without considering the big picture. These sorts of strategies had enabled their enemy to push back the front lines quite far. Even with the addition of sixty thousand more troops, would anything change as long as Gebel continued doing things the same way?

This wasn’t the time for meaningless battles of attrition. In order to change the situation, they needed a new strategy with a clear view of what victory looked like.

“Father, it’s time to change how you think. Eintorian has an excellent advisor. Why not hold a meeting with him and see what he has to say?”

“A meeting, huh? If he has good ideas, I’ll listen. But shouldn’t he show us what he’s capable of first?”

Suddenly, Adonia realized the point of all this: Duke Plenett was executing the night raid to facilitate an Eintorian defeat. The hope was that the experience of losing would make them more obedient.

Adonia balled his hands into fists.

The duke was always like this. He had used his son’s considerable martial prowess purely as a tool to build up the House of Plenett. And if he was willing to use his own son that way, then there was no chance that he would ever truly rely on the Eintorian Army.

Erhin’s plan was the only thing that’d kept the front lines from being pushed all the way back to the capital before the Eintorian forces could arrive. His strategy had also allowed Adonia to score Gebel’s first victory in a while against the defenseless Naruyan charge toward Heberett Castle. The Naruyans had been quick to retreat, but it had been a long time since Adonia experienced such a satisfying win.

That was why Adonia was completely in favor of Erhin’s assertion that strategy was paramount. The way things stood, not only was Duke Plenett no longer needed, but his presence was actively harmful to the Gebel Kingdom.

“Hey, step aside!”

Suddenly, there was a commotion. Their eyes naturally turned toward the outside of the camp.

Soon, a man entered the stables.

“Duke Yohanett?”

Adonia regarded this unexpected visitor with suspicion, while Duke Plenett’s brow furrowed with the sort of contempt reserved for cockroaches.

“Where do you think you are? You have no place here. Get out at once!” Duke Plenett demanded in an intimidating tone.

Yohanett simply smiled and then opened the letter he was carrying.

“Your Highness, Duke Plenett. His Majesty wishes to speak with you, so it seems you’ll be needing to return to the capital. I have here a royal decree that appoints me as interim commander until your return.”

The laughter in Yohanett’s voice caused Duke Plenett to stand up and roar, “What nonsense is this?! His Majesty would never issue such an order in the middle of a war!”

“You intend to defy his command, then?”

“Shut up. Adonia, get rid of him for me!” Plenett shouted.

However, Adonia merely shook his head. “This is a valid order. It cannot be ignored.”

Duke Plenett snatched the letter out of Adonia’s hands. His expression filled with despair as he read it.

＊

When Cassia returned to the Naruyan Army camp, all of his men were there, bowing down as they welcomed him.

But the king was not in a good mood.

Going somewhere and having nothing to show for it was a waste of his time, and he hated that more than anything. So, having just finished wasting his time, his anger was at its peak. And yet...it had been his own decision to take troops and ride off to defeat Adonia. He couldn’t blame Valdesca for this one.

“What is the plan?” he asked Valdesca, keeping his words short out of frustration.

Valdesca went on to explain their current policy. It was the ultimate strategy, born as the result of much difficulty on his part.

“Sire, the Ramie Kingdom once asked us for an alliance.”

“Did they?”

Cassia’s response was curt and disinterested, but Valdesca was used to that and just continued on.

“The Ramiens formed an alliance with the Gebel Kingdom, but the reinforcements they sent have since returned home. I would say that means their alliance has already been dissolved.”

The king didn’t even respond. He looked completely uninterested.

The nearby retainers were overcome with fear, and they all glanced at Valdesca.

“I intend to make use of those reinforcements,” Valdesca continued. “We will provoke the returning Ramien Army to attack the Gebelian Army from behind. What do you think of that?”

“You mean to enter an alliance with the Ramie Kingdom?” asked Cassia.

“Hardly. Naruya does not make alliances. I have no intention of violating that principle. The idea is to put them in a position where they have no choice but to attack.”

“Oh?” Cassia finally showed a mote of interest.

“I would also like to have you lead a detachment of twenty thousand men and strike at the heart of the enemy once again. We must thrust all the way through them with such overwhelming force that no one can defend against us.”

“You’re sending me to face death?” Cassia forgot his earlier frustration and laughed out loud. “Hah hah hah hah hah! This is finally starting to sound fun. Give me all the details.”

What kind of man would come up with a plan that sent his own king onto the field of death?

＊

The Eintorian forces had settled in at the barracks of Heberett Castle. There was currently a lull in the fighting, so we were focusing on preparing ourselves.

First, we had to decide who would be in command on the battlefield. This was the most important issue at hand. I couldn’t stand front and center personally, so I needed a puppet commander from the Royal Gebelian Army.

This war had the attention of the entire continent. It was an important conflict that would decide who held sway in the south. Depending on the outcome, any of them could fall prey to Naruya next.

The New Eintorian Kingdom needed to make a name for itself here. We were a new nation with a powerful military—the true successors of the Ancient Kingdom!

For that, I needed a commander who would listen closely. I’d only be able to seize victory if the Royal Gebelian Army came under my command too.

The greatest barrier to my plans had been Duke Plenett. There was bad blood between us, sure, but even if there hadn’t been, he still wasn’t the type to do as I said. I could provide the best strategy ever, and he’d dismiss it with a laugh. Then, he’d just push forward with his own idea.

His methods would only lead to our utter defeat. And so, I immediately took steps to deal with the problem.

“Sire, it looks like Duke Plenett’s gone back to the capital!” came the report from Yusen.

“And Adonia?” I asked.

“He didn’t really do anything to stop it. He seems to have decided to act as the duke’s representative in his absence.”

So far, things were going according to plan.

You could say that it was thanks to Heina playing her part well. But also, Duke Yohanett’s ambitions were in line with my desired outcome.

“This way, Your Highness.” Heina led Duke Yohanett into my tent.

“You’re the Eintorian advisor, then?” Yohanett asked me.

I nodded, rising as Heina introduced me.

Adonia’s the only one who needs to know who I really am.

It’s actually better if word spreads that my armies are strong with or without me leading them. That way, no one will be able to attack the country recklessly in my absence because they’ll come to fear the Eintorian Army itself.

Maybe there will be rumors that I was acting behind the scenes all along...but that’s well within the range of acceptable outcomes.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness, Duke Yohanett,” I said.

“Adonia here highly recommended you and vouched for your talents. You were the one who created the lull in the fighting that allowed time for the Eintorian Army to arrive. This led Adonia to victory at Heberett Castle, yes?”

“Yes. Although I am, of course, only carrying out His Majesty’s strategy on his behalf.”

I turned toward Eintorian and placed my fist over my heart. It was meant to be a salute to His Majesty, Erhin Eintorian. Farcical as it seemed from my perspective, it was important to posture like this.

“Anyway, I am sure that if Eintorian works with us, you will definitely be able to win this battle.” Duke Yohanett gave a smile and a nod. “I value my own life more than anything, so I won’t be going out onto the battlefield myself. As long as you can win, I won’t tell you how you ought to go about doing it. If you can position me as the commander who won this war, then I will give you all of the support I can.”

When he’s this open about it, I almost have to like the guy.

Duke Yohanett must’ve had a talent for identifying whose coattails he ought to ride.

“Please do,” I said. “While you rest in the rear, we will work with Lord Adonia to deliver victory. The accolades will, of course, go to you as the commander.”

“Brilliant! I see you’re a man who understands these things. That’s the most important thing between us! And I hope, like Miss Heina was saying...if we should happen to lose, Eintorian will take all of the responsibility, yes?”

“It will be just as I told you, Your Highness,” Heina answered on my behalf.

“Good! Then let me watch what you can do! Ah, but not from the front lines. I’ll pull back a little and wait for you to deliver news of our victory! Hah hah hah!”

As Duke Yohanett departed with a hearty laugh, Yusen gave me a questioning look.

“Why was Duke Plenett removed as commander?”

“Because he wasn’t up to the task,” I replied.

“Yes, and as we suspected, the king viewed Duke Plenett as a threat,” Heina added. “With only a little prodding, he quickly joined hands with Duke Yohanett and agreed to this plan.”

One of the biggest fears of a king was that his close associates would amass too much authority for themselves. Even greater was the fear of rebellion.

Of course, Duke Yohanett won’t be getting the credit for this war either.

All of that needs to go to Eintorian.

＊

Even after Duke Plenett was forced to leave for the capital, the stalemate continued for several more days. After all, his removal didn’t change the fact that this was a siege battle, and therefore, we couldn’t rush out to meet the enemy recklessly.

The focal point of the front lines was Heberett, which was especially crowded. But that was only to be expected. There were a lot of forces massed there, between the existing Gebelian defenders and the Eintorian reinforcements.

Castle Heberett had been transformed into a fortress. The same went for Midrett Castle and Eugena Castle, of course. Currently, I had Erheet and Jint at Midrett Castle, while Yusen and Gibun were at Eugena Castle. I had also reassigned the Royal Gebelian Army to retainers recommended by Adonia and redeployed them to each of the castles.

Naturally, Adonia and I assumed direct command of Heberett Castle ourselves. Knowing Valdesca, it was plain to see that he’d execute some sort of scheme here. After all, it would take months to fight a traditional siege battle, and time was against Naruya. That was the biggest advantage of a siege battle. We only had to defend ourselves to win.

That’s why he’ll constantly be trying to catch us by surprise. And it won’t be with just one or two plans either. I expect him to challenge us with a whole series of different strategies.

Our objective is to efficiently fend them off...but just defending doesn’t feel that impressive, huh?

For that reason, I chose to prepare my troops and wait.

How would the enemy come at us? That was the critical question.

However, Naruya continued to stay put. It was Yohanett who came instead.

“Are the Naruyans still keeping quiet?”

He’d set up his camp as commander-in-chief of the combined forces far to the rear of the fighting, but for some reason, he had still come to visit the front lines.

“Well, the wait is to our advantage, so I suppose it doesn’t matter,” he remarked. “Make sure you defend this place properly. I’ll leave my retainers here with you, so use them as you see fit!”

I had tensed up for a moment, worrying that he’d grown impatient at the lack of enemy attacks. I’d feared he would say something like, “They’re scared! Why don’t you go out there and attack them instead?” but apparently not. Fortunately, Yohanett stood by his earlier statement that he wouldn’t tell us what to do—he’d come only to check on the situation before disappearing again.

The problem occurred that night when Naruya launched a raid.

“They’re finally here! And at night too!” Adonia exclaimed after hearing the report and rushing to rouse me from my sleep.

I rose, got ready, and hurried outside. That was when Heina ran up to us.

“Your Majesty! It’s the enemy!”

“I’ve already heard. It’s about time they showed up.”

I was getting sick of waiting.

“Your Excellency! Your Excellency!”

Not long after we headed outside, Adonia’s retainer rushed over to us.

“Why the fuss? We already know the Naruyans are attacking! We’re going there now!”

“That’s not it, Your Excellency! It’s treachery! Our allies have betrayed us!” the man shouted, spittle flying everywhere. Heina and I looked at one another.

As we did, Adonia seized his retainer by the front of his shirt.

“Betrayed us? What are you talking about?”

“Duke Yohanett’s men suddenly opened the north gates! And now...the Naruyans are flooding through...”

“So, you’re saying that Duke Yohanett betrayed us?”

“That’s how it seems!”

Adonia turned to look at me, his brow furrowed in disbelief.

“Let’s head to the north gate for now,” I suggested.

Adonia nodded and we ran there swiftly. The Naruyans were indeed pouring through them. At the front of their forces was Yohanett’s retainer, leading the way—a blatant betrayal.

Seeing this, Adonia’s face turned bright red. “What have you done?!” he shouted.

“Your Excellency, Gebel’s fortunes are already on the decline,” replied Yohanett’s retainer. “It’s absolute folly to think that joining with Eintorian will protect us!”

“How does that justify abandoning your pride as a Gebelian to become the dog of another nation?!”

Adonia attacked the man, his face incandescent with rage.

Duke Yohanett had turned on us.

Every country had its treasonous snakes, and playing your enemies against one another was a time-honored tradition. So we had tried to use Duke Yohanett to defeat Duke Plenett, only to in turn have him used against us this way.

“Defend His Excellency!”

As Adonia threw himself into battle, his retainers all raced forward to confront Duke Yohanett’s retainer and his men.

That was how the Naruyan cavalry, who burst through the gate after them, were able to break up our formation.

Naruyan First Army

Morale: 98

Training: 99

The Naruyan soldiers in this attack were elites.

The First Army. That’s the unit led by the King of Naruya.

They were taking into account the fact that Adonia was at Heberett Castle. Valdesca had seemingly been trying to keep the King of Naruya from encountering Adonia before now, but he must have changed his policy.

That could only mean one thing: Valdesca had a concrete vision of how this operation was going to bring them to victory.

＊

Several days before the night raid, Mutega, the ninth-ranked member of the Ten Commanders of Naruya, received secret orders from Valdesca to make contact with Duke Yohanett.

“You’re offering to make me lord over all of Gebel?”

“Yes, you will become the Duke of Gebel after this war,” Mutega replied. “His Majesty never forms alliances, but he does value obedience. He is generous to those who submit of their own accord.”

“H-He is? And he has such authority...”

Gebel had continued to lose, even after Adonia had joined the war, and this was in large part due to the authority of the King of Naruya.

That was what Yohanett believed, and it was why he was so quick to nod.

“Besides, do you even believe Gebel can endure this?” Mutega asked. “Think about where the lines of battle currently are. It pains me to suggest this, but could it be that due to the actions of Duke Plenett’s faction, you’ve never been given the power you ought to hold? Although you’ll have to submit to His Majesty, at least within Gebel, you’ll be able to rule like a king. Heh heh.” Mutega chuckled as he offered this shady deal to Yohanett.

Power and his own survival were the two things the duke wanted most. If he could have them both, then it mattered little to Yohanett whether he served the King of Gebel or the King of Naruya.

“Hmm, this is quite a weighty proposition,” said Duke Yohanett. “Could you give me some time to consider?”

“Not long. I will return tomorrow.”

There was a reason Valdesca had sent Mutega. Valdesca had always foreseen an Eintorian intervention, and he’d considered a number of ways that he might outwit Erhin. Valdesca also would’ve never overlooked the relationship between Plenett and Yohanett or the one between Yohanett and Eintorian. And based on the information he’d gathered, Yohanett was a classic example of a fair-weather ally.

That made him the easiest to crack open and exploit.

“Aah, Your Highness,” said Mutega. “There is one thing I forgot to tell you. Even with Duke Plenett driven off, it is his son Adonia whose deeds will stand out. So even if you become the commander-in-chief of the Gebelian forces, it is questionable whether you will be able to take credit for your achievements...”

Mutega did not come right out and say it. He also left it to the end, as per Valdesca’s instructions.

Yohanett mentally cursed the man.

I’m already well aware of that. Don’t think you’re so clever!

However, the proposal was still alluring. As soon as Mutega left, Yohanett immediately consulted one of his closest associates.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Your Highness, the lancers from Eintorian may appear powerful at first glance, but that image is ultimately a false one.”

“It is?”

“Eintorian has won two victories against Naruya, but never in a total war, with the Ten Commanders, the King of Naruya, and Frann Valdesca all in play. What’s more, Eintorian’s king, the one who has fought Naruya, is not participating this time. I can’t see a mere sixty thousand reinforcements turning the tide. It’s clear as day to me. Naruya’s army is the mightiest on this continent.”

“That all sounds very reasonable,” Yohanett agreed with a nod. The scales suddenly started to tilt toward Naruya. This was a gamble, and he absolutely had to pick the winning horse.

However, no matter how many times he thought about it, it seemed he had far more to gain from a Naruyan victory. That outcome was already the more likely one anyway. It was obviously better to side with them.

He’d already heard that Herald was now ruled by a noble who had surrendered. That only made the offer on the table more appealing...

Far more appealing than the proposal Eintorian had brought to him.

＊

It was a few hours before Mutega made contact with Duke Yohanett, on the same day that Heina had made contact with him in the capital.

She didn’t think that Duke Yohanett was trustworthy. He was a small man, always ready to switch sides—the type she hated most. Whenever she met a man like him, some sense inside of her acted up, and she naturally got goose bumps.

This time, that sense once again proved accurate.

However, they still needed to prevent Duke Plenett from interfering, so she went ahead with persuading Duke Yohanett as planned. With a man like him who was only focused on his own self-interest, all she had to do was dangle some bait and he’d quickly take it. That had made it simple to get Duke Plenett recalled.

If she had Adonia help fabricate evidence that Duke Plenett was planning in secret, Duke Yohanett would have to go for their proposal. That was what Heina was thinking as she left his mansion.

“I’m sorry for the wait. Please, come this way.”

On her way out, she passed the head chamberlain. He was leading in a man who was dressed like a member of the nobility.

Taken on its own, this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. But something about it struck Heina as incredibly unusual. The head chamberlain was acting as if it were the man’s first visit. There was a certain tension in the air too.

No... Is it fear?

If this noble was affiliated with the duke, he should have been to the mansion dozens of times before now, so the treatment he was receiving was strange. Also, the dukes were incredibly prideful men. They didn’t let just anybody in to see them. Yet here was a noble visiting him for the first time in the middle of a war.

Suddenly, another man flashed through her mind: Duke Ronan.

Having endured humiliation so many times just to curry favor with Duke Ronan, this scene felt all the more off to her. However, there wasn’t anything she could do about it right away.

Heina saddled up and rode off to join Erhin as soon as she could.

“Your Majesty, I witnessed something strange.”

“Something strange?” Erhin repeated. Heina relayed her observations: a noble was visiting Duke Yohanett for the first time during a war, and the head chamberlain seemed unusually frightened.

There must have been some reason for the visit, just as there had been for Heina’s. And if he was visiting Duke Yohanett, then...

Erhin immediately went with Heina, who had a pass that would let them through the gates, and they hid outside Duke Yohanett’s mansion.

The goal was to get a look at this noble for himself.

Eventually, a man who looked like a noble stepped out of the mansion.

Erhin immediately activated the system.

Mutega Ramey

Age: 26

Martial: 89

Intelligence: 65

Command: 71

Instantly, he uncovered the name of the suspicious man Heina had witnessed. Erhin could only laugh at what he learned.

He already knew that name.

He’d had the Droy Company infiltrate Naruya in order to thoroughly investigate each of the Ten Commanders, and Mutega Ramey was one of them.

That meant Naruya had also made contact with Duke Yohanett.

＊

The day after that secret meeting with Mutega, Duke Yohanett made his appearance at Heberett, confirming his betrayal.

As a result, the Eintorian Army prepared for battle. The way he’d come and gone was suspicious enough on its own, but on top of that, he’d left his retainers behind. Of course, I only realized how dodgy this situation was because I already knew that Yohanett had been meeting with Naruya in secret.

If I hadn’t known, Valdesca would have beat me for sure.

I was going to have to chalk this one up to good luck on my part.

Sending the Droy Company to uncover the names of the Ten Commanders had also proved incredibly useful, since the system didn’t display affiliations outside combat.

As a result of all this, we were able to swiftly respond to the Naruyans coming through the opened gates. Obviously, it would have been possible to defeat Yohanett’s retainers before this moment, revealing his betrayal. However, that could have backfired on us—it was entirely possible that we would’ve been treated as traitors for attacking them. Or, alternatively, Yohanett might have discarded his retainers like a lizard dropping its tail and then tried to talk his way out of it.

That was why we’d quietly waited for the betrayal.

Once I dealt with Yohanett, the forces of the Gebel Kingdom would be completely under my control. For the duration of this war, at least. I also benefited from them opening the gates and letting the Royal Naruyan Army in.

For those two reasons, I sat back and let Yohanett’s plan proceed.

“All units, intercept the enemy!”

On Heina’s command, thirty thousand Eintorian troops rushed the Naruyan First Army. Ten thousand lancers and five thousand shield bearers stopped the Naruyan cavalry, and the remaining fifteen thousand infantry supported them in that task.

Only the Eintorian troops had been told to prepare for this. Although Adonia was trustworthy, we couldn’t know whether any of the people serving under him were in cahoots with Yohanett.

Who can be trusted, and who can’t? That will all be laid bare tonight.

I rushed to the front of the gates and began leading our defense. Meanwhile, the Naruyan cavalry was pouring in because the gates were open.

This is the First Army, which should mean the King of Naruya is here. He would want to lead his elite forces personally.

But Valdesca would never allow his king to stand in the vanguard. I couldn’t be sure of that, of course, but I knew that Valdesca wouldn’t plan anything that could result in his king being isolated.

What if King Cassia does come in? I’ll have to fight him with Adonia at my side.

If we could close the gates and kill the king of Naruya...that would bring their momentum to a full stop!

I looked around just to be sure, but King Cassia was nowhere to be seen...yet.

There was another person in his place.

The vanguard of the First Army was pouring in right now, and their vanguard captain had just made her appearance. I didn’t need the system to tell me who she was.

It was the first ranked of the Ten Commanders, Medelian.

But she didn’t fight the way she usually did. Instead of using her powerful area-of-effect skill that made the swords of the fallen float into the air and strike her opponents, she was just looking around.

Our eyes met. Instantly, she ran toward me.

Adonia had been cutting down the enemy cavalry one after another, but once he spotted her, he started heading in my direction too.

“I’ll handle her!” he declared.

“No, dealing with the cavalry is more important right now. Join up with Heina and follow her commands!” I shouted back. I turned and headed toward Medelian myself.

Cassia’s waiting somewhere behind her. I don’t know if it’s a smart move to summon Daitoren at this point. 

Despite my uncertainty, I needed to confront her.

“We meet again,” I said.

I expected her to say, “Finally, we can fight!” and come at me, but for some reason, she pointed behind me without drawing her sword.

“Shut up and come with me!”

Shut up and come with you?

That line sounded like something a thug might say before dragging a person into an alleyway to rob them. But after shouting it at me, Medelian ran off in the direction she’d been pointing. Basically, into Heberett Castle.

She’s the enemy’s vanguard captain. Her job is to break past my lancers and shield bearers, but she isn’t even looking at the soldiers.

She acted like a total battle maniac before. But now...why doesn’t she seem interested in fighting?

I debated what to do for a while, but it was actually advantageous to get her off this battlefield. After all, if she used her skill, our battle lines would definitely collapse.

That was why I decided to follow her, even though she could be leading me into a trap.

Is she trying to lure me away from the battlefield?

No, that can’t be it. Not having someone like her, who can use wide area attacks, is actually a bigger loss for Naruya.

Whatever the case, I’ll have to brave the danger if I want to find out what she’s really thinking.

I had already given Heina all of her orders, so I followed Medelian.

She was waiting for me in the shadow of one of the buildings in town. No one else was around. The moment she saw me, she dismounted from her horse and beckoned for me to come with her. I slid off my own horse and followed her.

Leaving her horse behind, she led me into a gap between the buildings. We ended up in a back alleyway that would shield us from any prying eyes.

“You’re acting weird again... What are you even thinking?” I asked. “Don’t tell me Valdesca put you up to whatever it is you’re doing here.”

Medelian responded by grabbing my arm and pulling my face closer to hers. Then, she whispered into my ear.

“This has nothing to do with my brother. Ugh, that’s not the problem! You do know that stupid duke from the Gebel Kingdom betrayed you, right? That’s why the gates opened!”

Um, if you’re going to whisper, at least do it quietly. My ears hurt.

“What, Medelian? You’re reporting him to me? Are you planning to turn against Naruya?”

What she had told me was definitely a secret, the kind of thing that ought to be reserved for a clandestine meeting like this. She couldn’t let Naruya’s soldiers overhear.

“Aaaugh! You dummy! Why are you so unfazed? The gates are open, and the castle’s about to fall. I’ll help you, so run away right now. My brother’s laid layers and layers of traps, so if you stay, you’ll get wiped out!”

Medelian sounded genuinely concerned for me.

She wants me to run.

I couldn’t understand what was happening. Why would she try to save me? She was even going so far as to act as an informant.

From Naruya’s perspective, this was a grave act of treason. Of course, I already knew everything that she’d told me.

It seemed bizarre to hear my enemy—the first-ranked member of the Ten Commanders and a daughter of the esteemed House of Valdesca—talking like this.

“You’re going to help me? Your enemy?”

“That’s what I said! Have you even been listening?”

“Why?”

“Why...? Augh! Are you trying to get yourself killed here? I know you’re strong and all, but His Majesty’s stronger. You don’t stand a chance against him!”

I finally understood.

She’s genuinely trying to save me.

This isn’t Valdesca putting her up to it. She’s acting all on her own here.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but whatever. I appreciate your kindness. But I don’t need to run away.”

“You must have lost your mind to be saying that. Are you running a fever?” Medelian pressed her hand to my forehead, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. She then cocked her head to the side. “You don’t seem overheated... So you’re saying this with a clear head? If you are, then you’re a real idiot!”

She gave me another look of heartfelt concern.

This woman’s getting weirdly close, sticking her hand on my forehead like this. Under these circumstances, who would think that we were enemies? We look more like lovers right now.

If anyone sees this, won’t I be branded as a traitor...?

“Hold on, you don’t understand the situation,” I said. “I already knew they were going to betray us.”

“Huh...? You’re lying!”

“I’m serious. I’ve taken every countermeasure, so I promise I won’t die. Just watch. You’ll see for yourself whether I’m lying or not.”

I peeled Medelian off me and left her there, then headed for my horse.

“Hey, hold on!” she called after me, but now that I knew what she was up to, I didn’t need to hang around any longer.

“I appreciate the warning. But we’re going to win.”

Medelian just glared at me until my horse galloped away.

I immediately returned to the battlefield and went to Heina for a sitrep.

“Your Majesty! Where were you?!”

“I’ll explain later. What’s the situation?”

“Around ten thousand soldiers have come through the gates.”

“That’s about right, then. Let’s get up on the walls immediately.”

“Yes, sire!”

Ten thousand men in the vanguard, huh? The king will be in the main force that’s waiting behind them.

If we were to let too many of them inside, things would get out of hand. I decided to take this vanguard force as a gift from Yohanett. Thanks to how shifty he was, we had been able to thoroughly prepare for them.

Adonia was leading the Eintorian forces and killing cavalrymen by the thousands. So, with the enemy bogged down inside the walls, I looked outside the castle.

For the moment, I couldn’t spot the King of Naruya out there in the darkness.

According to what Medelian had just told me, there were other plans in motion, which was all the more reason to end this battle quickly so we could prepare for the next.

“Now, Heina!”

“Yes, sire!”

When I gave the signal, soldiers ran up onto the walls carrying barrels of oil. They quickly overturned them and let the oil pour down outside the north gates. At the same time, my archers let loose the flaming arrows they had prepared.

Fire met oil, and then...

Bwoosh!

In no time, the highly flammable oil created a wall of flames in front of the north gates.

“Gwaaaaaagh!”

Doused in oil and shot with flaming arrows, the Naruyan cavalry trying to enter through the north gate quickly found themselves ablaze. The wall of fire rising up from the ground forced the cavalry unit to back away, at least temporarily.

“Take aim, archers. Focus your fire in front of the north gates!”

With Heina’s second command, arrows began raining down. All of this was obviously to buy time for us to close the gates.

I immediately descended into the castle and shouted, “Adonia! Go with your men to close the gates! Once they’re secure, we’ll surround and eliminate the enemies inside!”

“I’m on it!”

It didn’t seem like Adonia had a good grasp of the situation, but he had picked up on the fact that he ought to close the gates. He quickly broke past his foes and sprinted toward them. Meanwhile, our infantry began surrounding the enemy cavalry. The shield bearers stood in front of the enemy, blocking their way, while the lancers thrust their spears through the gaps in the shields—this was the most effective tactic against attacking cavalry.

Ultimately, we were able to surround and eliminate ten thousand of the enemy’s troops almost instantly.

The Gebelian Royal Army, who had been delayed in their arrival, soon began to join up with us. Silence fell over the battlefield.

“Arrest Yohanett’s retainers and their men at once!” Adonia ordered the Gebelian troops.

The Eintorian Army let out a victorious shout. “Yeaaaaaaaah!”

This was still just the first of many battles to come, but nonetheless, the Eintorian Army had fended off a surprise attack from Naruya’s ten-thousand-man vanguard force while taking hardly any losses.

That was the most important thing.

Of course, there was no time to bask in the afterglow of victory.

“Urgh... How dare you.”

Medelian suddenly emerged with her cheeks puffed up in annoyance. As she dismounted, soldiers surrounded her on all sides, swords ready.

“I don’t think you get to say that when you’re the ones who attacked us,” I pointed out. “What now? Do you want to try and solo my whole army?”

She glared at me across the wall of soldiers around her, which was two or three men deep.

Then, raising her hands, she said, “I surrender.”