Chapter 359
Side Story – Memories of an Imperial Princess (75)
Princess POV
“Over 100,000 troops have been spotted coming from the direction of the Merdea Kingdom!”
“Combined with the troops that arrived earlier, it’s hundreds of thousands of soldiers. A head-on battle would be difficult.”
“What should we do?”
My tent became a very chaotic space again with reports coming in from everywhere.
“What are you going to do now?”
Duke Raisha has regained control of hundreds of thousands of troops.
And these were troops that could be perfectly controlled.
“I should feel rewarded for all the hard work I’ve put in until now.”
“Can you do it?”
Duke Raisha became a hero.
A hero who stopped 100,000 Imperial troops with just 30,000 troops!
The surviving 30,000 troops would probably believe Duke Raisha even if he brought a regular egg and claimed it was a dragon’s egg.
“Now the enemy will completely trust Duke Raisha. All that’s left is to sweep them away according to plan when Duke Raisha charges.”
“We won’t be the ones getting swept away, right?”
“How could that happen?”
Let’s pretend I didn’t notice Ast’s gaze sweeping past my crumpled blood relatives in the corner.
“Are you confident?”
“Even if I’m not, I have to make it happen.”
“Of course.”
I gave so much support that it wouldn’t be strange to behead him if he lost. Therefore, defeat is not an option.
Only victory, and a great victory at that, is needed.
“How far has the work progressed?”
“For now, we’re continuing to use magic bombardment as a test, but it’s not working as expected.”
“Well, the enemy isn’t stupid.”
“More precisely, only the general is stupid.”
“That’s right.”
Slightly.
Let’s ignore Ast’s action of glancing once again at my crumpled blood relatives in the corner.
“The enemy’s biggest weakness is that they have no choice but to trust that stupid general.”
“They have to trust him because he’s achieved so much.”
“Yes. While we created some of it, he also created things on his own.”
Once again, his gaze is directed somewhere.
“Ast? You seem to be looking too much in one direction?”
“I apologize. I couldn’t help myself.”
I know it can’t be helped, but I had to caution him because he was looking too many times.
“Let’s be careful not to end up like that ourselves.”
“I understand, Your Highness.”
Ast, who said such a thing would absolutely never happen, looked at the map on the desk.
“Our operation will start by leaving this place open.”
The point Ast indicated was one of the enemy’s retreat routes in their rear.
“Isn’t this terrain advantageous just by holding it?”
“It’s terrain where even 10,000 troops could face 50,000.”
“You’re going to give it up even knowing that?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
There must be a reason for this action.
Ast’s unconsciously evil smile proved it.
The problem is not knowing what Ast is going to do!
“What are you planning?”
That smile meant at least tens of thousands would die.
My instincts were telling me I needed to know exactly what Ast is planning this time.
“Hmm… Wouldn’t it be more fun to watch without knowing, Your Highness?”
“War isn’t meant to be fun.”
“It isn’t?”
“It isn’t.”
My eyes met with Ast’s.
“Hah! Can’t be helped then.”
When I glared at him with wide eyes, Ast let out a small sigh and began saying something to a nearby soldier.
“What is it?”
I looked at Ast with suspicious eyes as I watched the soldier running away urgently.
“Please just wait a moment.”
“Really?”
Really, just a moment later.
Someone came running urgently to where we were.
“Did you find him, senior?”
“Yes.”
“Maref Cesar?”
Maref Cesar.
The youngest of the Cesar Count family, and my second personal butler after Ast…
…Was actually an observer sent by the dragon to monitor Ast, who had taken a fragment of the dragon’s evil.
He was smiling kindly while looking at Ast, but magically spoke to me in an urgent voice.
-What is this combination? I’m getting a really bad feeling about this? Am I the only one who feels this ominous, Princess!
Um… About that…….
-What a good intuition.
-Arghhhh!
Though his expression distorted for a split second, he displayed an amazing poker face.
Before Ast could see, he started putting on his usual friendly expression.
“What brings you here?”
“Use some magic.”
“What kind of magic would you like me to use?”
“A silencing spell.”
-How many magicians are here, yet you call for me! What on earth do you want to say! Call another magician, Princess! This madman wants to use a silencing spell to talk! I don’t want to hear such things!
Though the dragon was throwing a tantrum like a child, I slightly averted my gaze.
-Damn it! So that’s how you’re going to be!
Grr!
Though the dragon was performing the strange feat of grinding teeth with magic while maintaining a smiling expression on the outside.
“What are you doing? Hurry up.”
“Yes, senior.”
At Ast’s words, he simply used the silencing spell while smiling brightly.
“Hmm… This should be fine?”
“Before becoming a butler, I was quite a promising magician. My skills won’t be lost anywhere, so you don’t need to worry.”
It was magic from a dragon, known as the progenitors of magic.
Even the great magicians in the unit wouldn’t be able to break through this silencing spell.
“You were selected for your magical expertise, so I can trust you.”
“Is that so?”
Nodding at my words, Ast began moving the pieces on the map on the desk.
“If we leave this area open, the enemy will retreat. Do you know why, Sir Ria?”
“Though their numbers are many, there are quite a few defeated soldiers. Right now they might not notice due to the morale boost from reinforcements, but soon they’ll reach their limit.”
“That’s right. The existing forces are practically half-dead from continuous battles. The reinforcements must also be quite tired from rushing to provide support as quickly as possible.”
“There’s also the supply problem. Unlike the border region, this is Karan Empire territory.”
“That’s correct. This is our territory, and therefore we know the surrounding geography more accurately than the enemy. Through this, we’ve preempted important points and are cutting off their supplies.”
“Merdea’s soldiers need rest. And they must have brought minimal supplies to provide support quickly. Oh? Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to attack, Lord Ast? If we block this area and isolate the enemy, we can wear them down to death.”
Ria pointed to the area where Ast had planned to make a path.
“My goodness…”
Seeing this, I couldn’t help but gape.
“If we defend this area while cutting off enemy supplies, the enemy will wither and die. There are two things the enemy can do to survive. One is to push the frontline and win, the other is to bypass through areas we’re not defending and retreat. We can gain advantage by setting traps in favorable locations for both options.”
“Who are you…?”
These words slipped out unconsciously at the sight of Ria confidently stating her opinion.
“Your Highness?”
“The Ria I know doesn’t know how to say such things.”
“Y-Your Highness!”
The sight of her shouting with a reddened face was Ria’s usual embarrassed appearance.
“Are you… Really Ria?”
“Isn’t this too much, Your Highness? How do you usually think of me?”
“Someone whom God gave sword skills to, while taking away many things?”
“What are those many things?”
“Thoughts.”
“Couldn’t you speak with a bit more consideration, Your Highness?”
“Your Highness, Sir Ria is trying hard too.”
“Lord Ast…”
Ria’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Ast who took her side.
“Your Highness, people grow quickly when they have rivals.”
Rivals?
“Ah… So that’s it.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Rival? Who is my rival?”
When Ria tilted her head and asked, Ast and I simultaneously mentioned one person’s name.
“Duke Raisha.”
“It’s Duke Raisha.”
“Your Highness? Lord Ast?”
Bang!
Though Ria slammed the desk saying she couldn’t stand it this time, Ast calmly continued what he had to say.
“As Sir Ria said, if we block this area, we can wear down the enemy to death.”
“That’s right.”
“Indeed.”
“They completely ignored me?”
Even Maref ignored her, and a deflated Ria quietly approached to look at the map together.
“But that’s only if everything goes according to plan. If we’re not careful, we might get bitten by a cornered rat.”
Swish.
Ast stopped speaking and turned his head.
“That’s right.”
“That could happen.”
“…Right.”
Ria and Maref naturally followed Ast’s gaze and nodded.
What was there… The rest is omitted.
“So we empty this place to make the enemy feel at ease. By emptying this place, naturally without other obstacles…”
Ast, who caught the horse of the Kingdom of Merdea, moved it elsewhere.
“They will be able to flee to Fort Pesra.”
“Isn’t that bad?”
Ria, who was blankly staring at Ast’s hand, tilted her head watching the Merdean army’s horses being moved to Fort Pesra.
“Fort Pesra is a natural stronghold. Even with fewer numbers, it is a place where we can easily fend off the enemy. Yet, they are sending more troops than we have?!”
“That’s right, senior. This makes no sense.”
-What kind of crazy thing is this madman trying to do?
-I don’t know either, so I’d appreciate if you’d stop asking me?
I snapped at the dragon who kept asking me as if I was easier to approach than Ast, but I was curious too so I decided to ask.
“There must be a reason for sending them here? Could you explain that reason first?”
“Hmm…”
After contemplating for a moment, Ast looked at me with a serious expression.
“Your Highness, do you know this saying?”
What is he trying to say by building up suspense like this?
“What is it?”
Although I felt uneasy, I decided to listen.
“Art is an explosion. So I’m going to try some art.”
As expected, normal people couldn’t understand Ast’s words.
“…What does that mean?”
“Well, you see.”
As we slowly listened to Ast’s art, we all opened our mouths wide and said the same thing.
“You’re properly crazy.”
“You’ve gone mad.”
“As expected of senior!”
-What kind of thoughts does this crazy bastard have to commit such acts?
Ast smiled brightly watching two humans and one dragon being shocked.
“Thank you for the compliments.”
Those weren’t compliments…
#95 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of Duke Religieus Lu Raisha
After completing a retreat that will go down in history, a general came to me while I was resting at Fort Pesra.
“A letter?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Did a messenger come?”
“No. They approached the fort with a white flag, but instead of entering directly, they shot an arrow from afar.”
“Hmm… Let me see it. If it’s surrender, we should accept it with an open mind.”
“Here it is, General.”
The paper is ordinary.
“It’s not inscribed with magic or anything?”
“The mages have already confirmed it.”
“It could be magic that can’t be detected by mana, like the Empire’s magical bombardment. Did you check properly?”
The general nodded at my reasonable suspicion.
“We had a soldier directly check the letter. However… The content is strange, so I think you should check it yourself, Commander.”
“Really?”
What could be written to make such an expression?
I opened the letter.
“Huh?”
The letter wasn’t very long.
Simple greetings along with congratulations on reaching Fort Pesra.
But the last sentence was different.
<Then I hope you will remain as the Commander of the Kingdom of Merdea for a long, long time.
Do you like art? I really like it.
I hope Duke Raisha will like it too.
-Count Ast de Lailac->
“What… Does this mean?”
“I don’t know, Commander.”
To discuss art on the battlefield.
While I was contemplating what this could mean.
“Enemy forces, Commander!”
At the word that the enemy was attacking, I climbed up the fortress wall and a huge magical projection began to appear before my eyes.
『Did you receive my letter well, Duke Raisha!』
In the projection, a young man was smiling brightly.
『General! Art is such a wonderful thing. I’m so happy that I can discuss art with the General in a place like this!』
“Is he insane?”
It was when I was frowning while looking at the guy spouting incomprehensible words.
『Art is! An explosion!』
The moment the man in the projection raised both arms and shouted.
Bang!
“Huh?”
As the earth shook, everything around began to collapse.
