The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 190

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 190.

Even though I’ve been through quite a few battles and could be considered a sort of expert, I couldn’t help but feel flustered in this situation.

My field of vision was filled with flesh-colored skin. While it might sound like a happy sight in imagination, actually being in that situation was incredibly embarrassing.

Moreover, even the person trying to kill me was completely naked.

Normally, this would be a situation where you wouldn’t know where to look, but fortunately, I wasn’t in a state to worry about such things.

‘This opponent is too much to handle…!’

The woman in front of me trying to kill me was some kind of guard, or in a similar position, and her martial arts skills were considerable.

Slightly below Lucretia’s level.

That wasn’t saying much, but the problem was that my current armament level wasn’t good.

‘I need to shake her off for now.’

Crack! I drew up magic to create an arcane sphere.

I imbued it with both shock and vibration properties and struck the opponent’s navel area.

This magic is called Arcane Wave, considered intermediate-level in arcane magic. Shooting this like a cannon to create a wave cannon would be advanced-level magic, the main offensive spell of the arcane attribute.

“Ugh!?”

The opponent hit by the sphere couldn’t dissipate its force and was pushed back.

If we had been fighting on land, she could have effectively dispersed the force by stepping back or sliding, but right now, we were standing in a lake.

With the water reaching up to our knees, the opponent couldn’t regain her balance and tumbled about 10 meters, splashing around.

‘This gives me a moment to breathe, but…’

The situation was still not good. Even if I wanted to talk, the atmosphere wasn’t right for it.

As I subdued the opponent, the panic seemed to intensify, and an even bigger commotion broke out.

“Wait a moment, I don’t mean any harm! Let’s talk…!”

But no one was listening.

Soon, probably having heard the commotion, about five more armed women appeared.

“It’s him! He suddenly appeared and…!”

“Lady Rita has been attacked!”

Combat personnel approaching with killing intent.

The naked woman I had temporarily incapacitated also seemed to have regained her composure and was trying to charge at me again with a fierce expression.

“Lady Rita! Are you alright!? Who are you! How did you get in here!”

“Don’t move! We’ll shoot to kill if you resist!”

Unlike the naked woman who tried to kill me without question, these ones seemed intent on capturing me. This meant there was room for dialogue, so surrendering quietly was an option, but…

‘No, I can’t.’

There was a high probability that I’d be executed without mercy.

I can’t hand over control of my life and death to others.

I had already boasted to Erina and my mother before setting out on this journey that I wouldn’t do anything dangerous.

I had already broken that promise when I broke through the barrier and came in alone on a small boat, but that was a risk I could handle. I could overcome the situation.

On the other hand, being captured and unable to do anything was too big a risk to take.

‘I have no choice.’

At times like this, running away is the best option. However, just fleeing like this would only leave the situation unresolved.

In the end, what I’d face would be a pursuit team.

‘I don’t like taking hostages, but…!’

I decided to subdue the naked woman charging at me.

The opponent, probably feeling great shame from being defeated once, charged in recklessly without thinking. The arrival of support likely contributed to this hasty movement.

I took advantage of her rash movements, dove in, and struck her carotid artery to knock her unconscious.

“Ah! Lady Rita!”

“What are you trying to do with Lady Rita!”

The armed opponents hesitated, probably wary that I might kill this woman. That moment of hesitation was enough for me.

I moved towards the escape route I had spotted earlier, hastily grabbed some clothing that was there, and left the lake.

* * *

The saying ‘leaving home leads to a hard life’ suddenly came to mind.

It feels like I’ve been encountering particularly difficult situations ever since I came to this continent.

On the previous continent, no matter what happened, I could control the situation to some extent, but here, that’s not possible.

‘This might be what my master always referred to as real-life experience.’

I never dreamed I’d be learning that in this continent.

“Mmm!”

The woman who had been unconscious opened her eyes after five minutes. Hearing her groan, I stopped running and immediately put her down.

Then I took out a rope from my backpack and tied her arms and legs.

The opponent, now fully conscious, glared at me with murderous eyes.

“You…!”

It seemed she had a lot of questions too, but since it was obvious what she wanted to ask, I decided not to listen for now.

First priority was to shake off the pursuit team, so I gagged her with a makeshift gag made from torn clothes and carried her on my back again.

It was quite awkward as she had been thrashing about while naked, but fortunately, I was able to quickly shake off the pursuit team and catch my breath.

“Calm down for a moment.”

I decided to dress her in some of the clothes I had hastily grabbed.

She cooperated willingly, probably not wanting to remain naked.

After finally dressing her, I decided to remove the gag and try to have a conversation.

“If you scream, we’ll have to run away again, so don’t do anything foolish.”

“…”

Her eyes suggested she wouldn’t comply easily. She’d probably scream as soon as I removed the gag. So I decided to bluff.

“I have another hostage besides you. If you scream, I’ll tell my colleague to kill that hostage. Are you okay with that?”

Only then did her eyes show a glimmer of resignation.

When I removed the gag, she spoke.

“Who are you? How did a human come to this island!”

“About that… Is this indeed an island of elves?”

My gaze was fixed on her ears. The pointy ears unique to pure-blooded elves

‘First time seeing them.’

In our continent, even half-elves were hard to find, so even I had never seen a pure-blooded elf.

It was the same in this continent too.

There were many dwarves, gnomes, and beastkin, but elves were considered a rare race even here.

Intrigued, I pressed the tip of her ear. I thought it might be sharp enough to prick my palm, but when I pressed with my palm, it curled in softly.

It was a texture that could become addictive, but the opponent flared up in anger.

“What are you doing!”

“I’m sorry. It was just so fascinating. Anyway, I understand this is an island of elves, right?”

My certainty that Eonia was here grew stronger.

“Do you know a half-elf named Eonia Mirabel? And a human woman named Bisketa Kren?”

“…”

Her attitude suggested she didn’t want to answer. Judging by her complete lack of reaction, it seemed nothing rang a bell.

“As for me, I’m just looking for someone. The hostage I mentioned earlier was a lie to threaten you, so don’t be so wary.”

I thought she might scream to call for help, but she didn’t, perhaps not believing my words at all.

‘This conversation isn’t going anywhere.’

I needed to somehow extract information from this woman.

‘I didn’t want to use this method if possible, but…’

I drew up magic and used a light magic spell.

It was something I had learned while researching light magic after returning from the Forest of Lament recently.

A magic to gain the opponent’s favor. There’s a grand official spell name, but simply put, it’s charm.

If you’re wondering why such a dubious spell that dark magicians would use exists in light magic, it’s because darkness and light are fundamentally similar in the end.

Darkness subjugates the opponent, while light enchants them.

This isn’t just limited to magic.

People born with light naturally exude such qualities.

Famous leaders, religious figures. Skilled artists and entertainers. Such people make others respect, love, and naturally follow them without needing to use magic.

People call this charisma.

Juras once said something like that.

That he was darkness and shadow. And that I was light.

He was talking about governing styles, but it applies to the style of making people follow too.

Juras meticulously plans and creates mechanisms to force people to follow. On the other hand, I tend to build human relationships to make people follow of their own will.

Anyway, the point is that light attributes also have mental magic.

Of course, the style is different, so the efficiency differs from dark attributes.

Dark attributes deprive the opponent of free will, so the subsequent applications are endless. You can use them as puppets that carry out any order, or implant anger to create berserkers who can’t distinguish friend from foe, or give them a thirst for blood to turn them into vampires.

This is why dark magic has such a bad reputation, and why people avoid dark magicians.

On the other hand, light attributes can’t deprive the opponent of free will.

That’s why its efficiency is extremely low. Unless you have considerable talent, you can’t expect results just by using magic.

You need to actively engage in actions that gain the opponent’s favor for it to barely have an effect.

Charm magic is like a supplementary role, like a dating gift.

‘It might not work even if I use it in such a high state of alertness… But I should try at least once.’

Both the old magician who confirmed my talent and the dark magician I met in the Forest of Lament said my light attribute was surprisingly strong, so it should have some effect. It’s natural since it’s the protagonist’s light attribute.

I used charm with the magic I had drawn up.

Since it was my first time using it, I wasn’t sure how to activate it, so I decided to just make eye contact.

I met the opponent’s wary eyes.

And for a moment. The opponent’s eyes became unfocused and dazed. When her eyes regained focus, her wariness towards me had noticeably decreased.

‘Did it actually work?’

I quickly pressed on.

“I have no intention of harming you or your colleagues. I’m just looking for someone. The incident at the lake earlier was a mistake. The hostage thing was also just a measure to prevent you from screaming. Please understand.”

“…”

“It might be odd to say this now, but shall we introduce ourselves? I’m Ars Elaine. And you?”

The opponent hesitated, wondering if she should speak, but when I increased the input of charm magic, she finally opened her mouth.

“…Margarita.”

“So that’s why they called you Rita. Nice to meet you, Margarita. Since you seem willing to listen to me now, I’ll untie you.”

To gain her favor, I untied her ankles. Her arms had already been untied when I dressed her.

As Rita regained her freedom of movement, she raised her guard again, but soon relaxed her hostility.

‘The effect is better than expected?’

To make someone who was trying to kill me just moments ago concede this much. Thinking that this was just a one-time effect made me shudder.

Whatever the case, I needed to get information.

I coaxed and soothed her, occasionally increasing the intensity of the charm, and extracted information.

***

One of the islands where elves reside.

On an island where the highest-ranking elves live, Bisketa was looking at Eonia with a deep, pensive expression.

Eonia was staring out the window with blank eyes.

“Eo, what’s wrong?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been staring out the window for a while now.”

“Ah… That… For some reason, my heart has been unsettled… I’m sorry, Lady Bisketa.”

“…”

Bisketa felt a deep sadness at the way Eonia addressed her.

‘This was for the best. For Eo’s sake…’

Bisketa rationalized to herself and spoke to Eonia.

“Eo, shouldn’t you start getting ready? Lord Cailum will be here soon.”

“…”

Eonia’s expression darkened rapidly.

“Lady Bisketa. Is Lord Cailum really my lover?”

Bisketa was at a loss for words, but managed to feign composure and answered.

“That’s right. So don’t say such things in front of Lord Cailum.”

“…I understand.”

Eonia was in a state of memory loss due to some measures taken.

This was something Bisketa had tacitly approved.

From Bisketa’s standpoint, she had no choice.

After being transferred to this island of elves.

Naturally, Eonia caused all sorts of commotion saying she would find Ars. It was truly reckless.

But this place doesn’t allow free entry and exit to the outside. Even if they wanted to leave, they couldn’t.

Above all, there was no way for outsiders to enter this island.

It was exactly the same method by which the Kuravel Holy Kingdom maintained its isolation.

A barrier surrounds the center of the island, making it difficult to even discover the island, and even if someone notices the existence of the barrier and breaks through it, it causes a tremendous tidal wave that drowns the intruder.

Bisketa ruled out the possibility of reuniting with Ars. In that situation, with Eonia insisting on going out to find Ars, she had no choice but to make a decision.

With the help of the elves, she sealed Eonia’s memories.

‘I’m sorry, Eo. But…’

There was no other way.

Bisketa rationalized and let out a deep sigh.

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