The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 250
For a moment, I felt like I’d been struck in the head.
“Great Sage Vindalin…!”
While people know him as the great sage who taught Teleportation Skill to humanity, I recently learned a different truth.
That this Vindalin was actually a dragon who inherited divine authority.
‘Then could that old man possibly…!’
If that old man was Vindalin, everything made sense.
After all, I had agreed to all the magic he cast when I asked him to check my attributes.
It wouldn’t be strange if he had cast that peculiar magic allowing me to read dungeon histories during that process.
‘Then does that mean my coming to the Royal Academy and meeting Rinoa and Rosa to enroll were all his guidance? …No, that’s too much of a stretch.’
Back then, Vindalin told me. I could go to any academy, just not the Alliance Academy.
In other words, even he couldn’t be certain about future events.
‘Though I still can’t be completely sure why he did this to me…’
It’s clear that Vindalin had been watching me from the start. He must have known that I was the figure mentioned in Altron’ revelation.
“He moved without leaving a trace.”
Seeing my reaction, Rosa shook her head.
“So you did know after all. You wrote a false recommendation letter to enter the academy. If the person processing the documents had checked properly, you wouldn’t have even been able to take the test. Well, it probably won’t be an issue now… So I’ll cover up this recommendation letter matter.”
“No, there’s no need for that. Because it’s real.”
“…What?”
“I received that recommendation letter directly from Vindalin.”
“That’s not a funny joke.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“Then, you’re saying you really met Vindalin? Impossible, he’s from hundreds of years ago!”
“Then he must not be human.”
Leaving behind Rosa who couldn’t understand, I left the audience chamber to find Sophia waiting for me. She seemed to be returning from requesting research on magic stones.
“Wade, I want to talk about the current state of dungeon subjugation.”
The place Sophia led me to was the command room that oversaw dungeon subjugation.
Intelligence agents were constantly delivering information there without rest.
“Failed subjugation of Yungdrium’s Turret! Reporting eight fewer teleportation scrolls!”
“Failed subjugation of Sky Prince! The griffons have moved their residence to Cradle of the Swamp! Reporting seven fewer teleportation scrolls!”
There seemed to be no good news, as the expressions of those in the command room were dark.
“Don’t tell me…”
“Your guess is right. Among the 23 groups that proceeded with upper dungeon subjugation, only you and five other locations succeeded. The rest either suspended operations during subjugation or were annihilated. As a result, the number of teleportation scrolls has rapidly decreased.”
The key to dungeon subjugation was securing teleportation scrolls.
If they run out of teleportation scrolls, they would have to proceed with dungeon subjugation truly risking their lives. The weight of this is beyond imagination.
It was like our conquest of Life and Death.
Without teleportation scrolls, it means Ash, Elena, and Lucretia would have died.
If I had witnessed those deaths before my eyes, I definitely wouldn’t have just watched the final battle between Master Ilya and that Orc.
The aftermath would have been significant too.
“How many teleportation scrolls remain?”
“782 sheets. Since we need to distribute 200 new ones this time, that leaves us with 682.”
“How long does it take for teleportation mages to create scrolls?”
“13 sheets per day.”
“This is serious.”
200 sheets were used in just three days, but only 39 were created.
We can hold out for a month at best.
“That’s why we’re planning to reorganize our elite forces.”
“Please exclude my vassals. I don’t want random people commanding my vassals.”
“I understand how you feel, but… It would be a waste to leave you and your vassals’ capabilities unused. I’d like some support in the form of deployments.”
“…”
“Even when subjugating Life and Death, everyone except those seven stayed at the mansion, right? Don’t you think that’s too wasteful?”
“I don’t think so. We perfectly accomplished the task given to us.”
Seeing my stubborn stance, Sophia sighs as if giving up.
“Then let’s say only certain people can be deployed. This is what I had in mind.”
The people Sophia mentioned were Master Ilya, Ash, Lucretia, Elena, and Gunther – five in total.
I vaguely shook my head.
“Lucretia and Elena are out. There are too many concerning aspects to send them elsewhere. The other three might be fine… Alright. In their case, it’s okay to deploy them when they’re not busy. However, they must be the commanders of their groups.”
“Understood. I’ll have them subjugate lower-risk medium and small dungeons, mainly with academy students they’ve taught.”
“And make sure to distribute teleportation scrolls to both of them. Even if it’s a lower-risk dungeon.”
“You’re overprotective of your vassals as always. Though that’s just like you.”
Through this Life and Death subjugation, I had become much more vigilant about dungeons.
That’s natural. After all, the dungeon’s leader was strong enough to match Master Ilya.
I thought our next target, the Cradle of the Swamp, wouldn’t be easy either.
* * *
The subjugation schedule for the Cradle of the Swamp was being postponed day after day.
This was due to the unique characteristics of this dungeon called the Cradle of the Swamp.
This place had the property of subjugating surrounding dungeons. It controls other dungeons like its limbs.
That’s why the number of people needed for dungeon subjugation was unknown.
The danger level varies depending on how many other dungeons the Cradle of the Swamp has absorbed.
When only the Cradle of the Swamp exists, it was merely one of the higher dungeons with a danger level of 1, but if it absorbs enough dungeons, it is said to be classified as a special grade comparable to the top 10 dungeons.
Currently, since spies including Gaspar were in the process of gathering information, the subjugation schedule had not been set.
I was resting during that brief time. Without this, there would be no time to rest.
“Ow!”
Slap, slap! Ryuna was playing with the twins while hitting them. There wasn’t any particular hostility; it was just Ryuna’s way of playing with her younger siblings.
Seeing how the twins were giggling instead of crying, there must be some form of communication only babies understand.
Eonia was watching the scene with contentment. Yumir was ready to snatch Ryuna away if she crossed the line.
“The twins are still so tiny.”
At my words, Yumir shook her head saying there was no need to worry.
“It’s just that Ryuna’s growth is steep. Mother told me that Erni and Ed are growing at a normal rate.”
“Oh? You’ve finally started calling her mother.”
“…Ahem!”
“Haha, mother must have cried a lot.”
“Yes, she hugged me and cried, saying I finally called her mother….”
“I’d like to hear that story in detail. Will you come to my room tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll come after putting Ryuna to bed.”
Despite her composed voice, her tail was wagging vigorously.
Eo made a ‘Huh!?‘ sound and gave me a look as if wanting something.
“Yes, Eo can come too. We’ll leave the twins with mother.”
It was during such a cozy time.
Knock knock! Along with a concise knock, Estelle revealed herself.
“Sir Ars, I finally completed it!”
“Completed what?”
“My blood stone!”
After the war with Article, she began learning blood magic in earnest and succeeded in creating a blood stone in just one year.
I’m not sure what level that is, but judging from her expression full of achievement, it must not have been an easy task.
“You said if we put a tracking spell on this, we can find out where father is, right?”
“That’s true, but I’ve lost contact with Elliot who uses tracking magic.”
That was before Juras came.
When Elliot learned that our kingdom had raided the Alliance’s magic stone storage, he strongly condemned me and the kingdom and cut off contact.
Dorofei said he would try to appease him and asked to handle it, but no proper news has come yet.
Even Dorofei himself lost contact after the turbulence occurred, so I was more than a little worried.
“Tracking magic….”
Eonia muttered like that and then says to me.
“Then how about visiting the Elven island? I heard the Elven elders know various types of magic. The Queen Mother too.”
“Indeed. The magic that sealed your memories, Eo, was quite powerful too.”
Moreover, the Queen Mother is a dragon. It wouldn’t be strange if she could use tracking magic at a level equal to Elliot’s.
I also wanted to ask about Vindalin.
“Then would you like to come along this time, Eonia? There’s no need to be particularly mindful now.”
“Yes! I will accompany you!”
As the eastern port city had just been restored, it was perfect timing.
* * *
I was planning to take only Eo and Estelle to Elven island, but Margarita, the elf staying in Baien, made a suggestion.
She suggested bringing the twins along.
From what I heard, elven children receive something called nature’s blessing after they’re born.
It’s not just ceremonial, but actually has beneficial effects, so I wanted the children to receive it.
While we were at it, wondering if Ryuna could receive it too, we decided to bring all three babies.
So the group became Yumir, me, Estelle, and Eonia.
Erina wanted to come along, not wanting to be left out, but had to stay behind to nurse Rosa who had collapsed with a high fever from overwork.
“Setting sail!”
The ship heading to the Elven island was a sturdy warship. This was to prepare for possible monster attacks from the island.
As we needed to establish communication networks with the Southern Continent via the Elven island, many state intelligence agents were aboard the ship.
It didn’t take long to reach the island. Thanks to making contact in advance, we were able to arrive at the island without getting caught in the barrier.
“So this is the Elven island…!”
Estelle couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of the island densely packed with trees.
Ryuna too was happy, waving her hands at the mysterious sight.
We moved straight to the central island.
After requesting an audience with Altron, I exchanged greetings with Cailum.
“It’s been a while, Ars Elaine.”
When I came before, we couldn’t talk due to various procedural issues, but this time was different.
Having become the father of the elven nation, he welcomed us with a benevolent smile.
“Welcome, Lady Mirabel.”
“Y-yes….”
Eo’s attitude was ambiguous. Well, from her perspective, Cailum was someone who tried to cleverly use her when she had lost her memories.
Cailum said he fully understood and kept his distance from Eo on his own.
“I’ve heard the outside is in chaos, how is the situation?”
“Not very good. Lower-ranked adventurers who can’t benefit from teleportation scroll keep dying, and even elite forces using teleportation scrolls are struggling with the dungeons’ overwhelming power.”
“Hmm, then we might be able to help somewhat. That’s partly why you visited, right?”
Indeed, one of the purposes of this journey was to receive aid in the form of teleportation scrolls from the elves.
Cailum says, “Our island is naturally free from dungeon threats, so we haven’t strategically stockpiled teleportation scrolls. However, due to our long history, we have enough stored. Enough that the guardian elves could use them daily without running short.”
Come to think of it, I remembered when I had confronted Elena here before. At that time, she was able to avoid death by me thanks to using teleportation scroll.
At the time, I thought she had used teleportation scroll after sensing some crisis, but no, it was just standard procedure.
They had enough teleportation scroll to use without hesitation.
“Combined with what’s in storage, we have about 3,000 teleportation scroll. If we start strategic production, we can make about seven per day.”
“3,000 scrolls!”
This could last half a year.
Cailum grins.
“If this can repay my debt to you, I’ll give you as many as you need.”
“Debt? If anything, I should be the one repaying.”
“No, you’ve done much for us since we began preparing for nationhood.”
“Haha, I appreciate the kind words.”
“However….”
Cailum turned his attention to the babies.
“Are they your children?”
“Yes.”
“Then those two babies are yours and Lady Mirabel’s children?”
“Yes, the girl is Erni, and the boy is Edward.”
“W-wait, did you say boy?”
His expression becomes serious.
“Are you sure they’re Lady Mirabel’s children?”
“Is there some problem?”
“Well…. I know that male children aren’t born in Mirabel’s bloodline.”
“…What?”
What nonsense is this?
“That’s how the Valkyrie could continue in the Kuravel Holy Nation.”
“Don’t tell me the title of Valkyrie can only be held by women?”
“That’s right. This is truly amazing. A male child from Mirabel’s bloodline! I must discuss this with the elders immediately.”
Cailum was making an unusually big fuss.
I had heard something about Mirabel’s bloodline from Elena too.
That it was a bloodline skilled in martial arts.
‘But if only females were born…’
It means it was a strictly matrilineal family.
Matrilineal families naturally have difficulty continuing their line. While patrilineal families can easily produce heirs, matrilineal families can end immediately if something happens to the females.
That’s why the Mirabel family that remained on the elven island became extinct.
The only ones remaining were the Mirabel family who had migrated to the Magic Continent.
The Mirabel family here was human-friendly, having children through relationships with the human Kuravel royal family for generations, and they became the Valkyries protecting Kuravel.
“Eo, haven’t you heard anything?”
“No. My mother passed away not long after giving birth to me.”
Eo anxiously hugged the babies tight.
The twins, uncomfortable with this, started crying.
Meanwhile, dozens of elven elders appeared with serious expressions.
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