The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 224
Though a crucial national matter was approaching in just a few days, I was living a leisurely life.
Most of the work was handled by the prime minister’s side, and Bisketa was commanding things behind the scenes for the tasks assigned to me, so I was enjoying a relaxed lifestyle.
“Hmm…”
My daughter Ryuna was sleeping on my chest. Just watching her peaceful expression made time slip by.
When she cried, I would feed her or change her diaper, then watch her fall back asleep.
I spent about 6 hours like this, and Ash remarked in disbelief, “You’re hopelessly addicted to your daughter. Can you really just spend the day like this? It’s unbelievable that a rebellion is being planned in just a few days.”
“Why, I’ve done everything I needed to do.”
“But you never know when some variable might pop up, so you should be staying on alert.”
“Those kinds of variables are futile to prepare for. I’ll just deal with them when they happen. More importantly, Ash, isn’t our daughter cute?”
“How many times are you going to ask that?”
Ash chuckled and sat next to me, gently stroking Ryuna’s cheek.
“Maybe because she’s a spirit beast? Her hair has grown so much already.”
“I heard from Gaspar that spirit beasts grow rapidly in their first year, up to walking, to adapt to the harsh environment. She might be able to walk in a month.”
“Wow, then she’ll probably learn to talk fast too. I better start teaching her about this body of mine, as her future husband.”
“Do you want to die?”
Ash then left to go to the tavern, likely to drink while collecting information. After he left, Erina cautiously entered the room.
“Sir Ars, may I join you?”
“Of course. Would you like to hold her too?”
“Yes…”
Erina carefully took Ryuna and smiled warmly. But soon she seemed hesitant about something.
“Um, well…”
“What is it?”
“When will I… Receive news?”
“What news? Did you arrange to be contacted somewhere?”
“No, it’s not that!” Erina’s face flushed red.
“Yumir safely gave birth, and Eonia seems to be doing well, so I was wondering if it’s my turn now…”
I didn’t understand what she was referring to. As I was puzzled, Erina bit her lower lip frustratedly, then blurted out determinedly.
Just then, Ash burst back through the door.
“Sorry, Ars! I didn’t have any money! Can you lend me a bit…”
“I want a baby too!”
Ash and Erina’s statements overlapped.
“Ah!?”
Erina was startled to see Ash, and flustered, she quickly left the room.
Ash was trembling.
“That envious bastard! I’ll tell senior Gunther on you!”
With that, Ash stormed off angrily.
Yumir then peeked her head in.
“My lord, is everything alright?”
“No, it’s just some silly nonsense. Where have you been all day?”
“I went to the market with Eonia. We bought some baby clothes together.”
I gestured for her to sit next to me.
“Yumir, don’t you think it’s time to change how you address me?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The honorific. How long are you going to keep calling me ‘my lord’? And the formal speech too.”
Yumir shook her head. “To me, you will always be ‘my lord’.”
Even Eonia had barely stopped using formal speech, but it seemed it would take Yumir a long time.
Soon, Eonia appeared with the purchased clothes, holding them up for Ryuna. That’s when Bisketa, who had been handling the work, and Elena, who had been guarding her, showed up.
“Elaine, the forces from the Akasha family have infiltrated the entire city.”
“Thank you for your hard work. I asked you to handle it since I would draw too much attention, but was it difficult for you?”
“It wasn’t too hard, but being an old woman, I do get tired…”
While Bisketa sat down to give her report, Elena was holding Ryuna with a serious expression, observing her closely.
I was more concerned about Elena’s actions than Bisketa’s report.
“Is there something wrong with the child?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I was just imagining what it would be like if Melian and I had a child. This is a bit different from what I had pictured.”
“And how was it?”
“Too adorable. The baby I had imagined was sturdier-looking. I had wanted a baby boy.”
She then glanced at Eonia.
“I hope Eonia gives birth to a son. Then I might be able to catch a glimpse of my dream.”
The preference for sons was particularly strong in both this world and the Magic Continent.
Yumir also seemed quite disappointed.
My mother had comforted me, saying that I should just keep having children until a son is born. She said I needed to be strong about it.
“Please don’t say such things in front of me. I don’t care if it’s a son or a daughter.”
This peaceful daily life was disrupted by the sudden variable Ash had mentioned.
Three days later, at midnight, Lucretia appeared at our residence, covered in wounds.
***
There were only 2 days left until the planned date of action.
In the midst of this, Lucretia appeared at our residence, covered in blood.
Naturally, an emergency was declared at our mansion.
“Lucretia! Are you alright!?”
Elena, her mentor, quickly rushed down from the second floor to support Lucretia.
“Ah, Lady Elena… Ugh!”
Lucretia coughed up black blood. Her face was disturbingly pale.
I immediately gave orders.
“Meissen! Please tend to her wounds!”
“Yes, sir!”
Meissen, who could use sacred magic from the Magic Continent, had skills far superior to the healers here. While she lacked the magic to use it repeatedly, the effects were overwhelming.
Meissen concentrated and began healing the wound. But soon, she shook her head.
“It seems the poison has spread! I’m able to stabilize her, but the poison has already spread throughout her body, and the rate of deterioration is faster than the healing.”
“Poison…!”
The use of poison meant it was deliberate.
In this world, poison held a special meaning. It was less about the potency of the poison itself, and more about it being the natural enemy of the Teleportation Skill.
The underlying principle of the Teleportation Skill was that the caster could read their impending future death and teleport before the attack landed. This was an absolute exception-less rule in situations where certain death was imminent.
This gave rise to a way to exploit Teleportation Skill – poison.
The first method was using an instantly lethal, highly toxic poison. In this case, simply using it could definitely trigger Teleportation Skill.
So instantly lethal poisons could forcibly activate Teleportation Skill in someone who had it active.
The second method was using a slow-acting, less lethal poison.
This slow poison was less directly involved in causing death, so it didn’t fall within the activation range of Teleportation Skill.
Even those using Teleportation Skill couldn’t defend against this slow poison.
“Gaspar! Can you guess what kind of poison this is?”
“Tch! I’m afraid I don’t know much about the poisons of this world. But it seems to be a particularly deadly one.”
That meant someone had confirmed that Lucretia had a Teleportation Scroll activated, and poisoned her to nullify its effects.
“Bisketta! Immediately search for someone knowledgeable about antidotes!”
“Wait.”
At that moment, Ash stepped forward. He looked at the spots on Lucretia’s body and identified the poison.
“This is likely Kreckton’s poison. It’s a toxic plant that only grows in monster dungeons, and quite dangerous.”
Ash then rummaged in his bag and pulled something out.
“What’s that?”
“A universal antidote used by mercenaries. It can’t completely cure the poison, but it should be able to delay the symptoms.”
After giving her the antidote, Lucretia’s condition visibly improved. Meissen then followed up to fully heal her.
“Whew! Our continent’s sacred magic is truly amazing! Healing the wound and detoxifying in one go. Meissen, why don’t you become a mercenary? You’d be super popular!”
Thanks to Ash, we were able to catch our breath.
The revived Lucretia took a deep breath and thanked Meissen.
“Thank you so much, Meissen.”
“Not at all. As someone who has been in your debt, it was only natural I do this.”
Lucretia stood up with Meissen’s support, and immediately made eye contact with me.
“Wade, the other side has caught on.”
“If that’s the case, it would have been better if you hadn’t fled to our mansion.”
“I-I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of any other way to escape the situation…”
“Gaspar! Elena! Patrol the perimeter. If you spot any surveillance on the mansion, you’re authorized to eliminate it.”
After sending them outside, I listened to the rest of Lucretia’s story.
“Their target was Lord Railand, the Prime Minister. They must have thought the Prime Minister was trying to make Princess Rosa a puppet ruler and seize power.”
“And the Prime Minister? Is he…?”
“I’m not sure. Since the royal guards like myself were decimated, he may have already fallen into their hands…”
“This is troubling.”
For now, it seemed they attacked thinking Railand was the mastermind, rather than suspecting my involvement.
However, it was only a matter of time.
If my involvement was exposed through the Prime Minister, we would be in danger.
“I should have kept Elena as a guard after all…”
Lucretia apologetically bowed her head. The royal guard’s duty to protect kingdom officials was a point of pride, which is why she stubbornly refused to let us guard the Prime Minister and Princess.
“But the Prime Minister does have his own intelligence unit under his command. There’s a chance he may have escaped…”
“I’d rather not bet the future on such uncertain possibilities.”
There was no choice then. I had to change the plan and move more swiftly.
“From now on, I will be circulating false information.”
“False information?”
“Spread a rumor that Prince Joseph has seized the royal palace and is attempting to forcibly usurp the throne. Please act on this immediately.”
I had already infiltrated palace staff under the Prime Minister’s help. I had to get ahead of them before those infiltrators were discovered and eliminated.
“That alone won’t be enough. We’ll need to take actual action. Bisketa, select 200 highly trained soldiers and have them assault the palace gates at dawn, subduing and incapacitating the guards. Then, covertly hide that force at the designated position.”
“And then?”
“We’ll have to see how the other side responds. I have a few ideas on possible directions, but I’m not sure exactly how it will play out.”
With this variable, the coming coup had no choice but to become an impromptu performance.
In this aspect, it was no different from war.
I felt the same overwhelming pressure as in war.
But in a way, that gave me confidence. After all, I had never been defeated in any war thus far.
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