The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 271
Kaien was shocked. Gillias, sensing something was wrong, furrowed his brow.
“Sir, what’s the matter?”
Kaien couldn’t say anything. He just stared intently at Ars’ face and his necklace.
Because of this, Alvard’s forces that were approaching to kill Ars all stopped at once.
Ars, who had a dagger against his own neck, speaks,
“Does your stopping mean I can take this as permission to leave?”
“…”
“Then I’ll take that as such and pass through. Prepare to retreat!”
Ars’ vassals were Also wide-eyed. Though confused, they slowly began retreating, following behind Ars.
The Alvard army was greatly shaken by this action.
Gillias shouted, “Do you think you can escape like this!”
“Then try attacking. The moment you do, I’ll take my own life. I’ll show you myself an ending befitting a defeated general.”
“Kugh…!”
Gillias bit his lip hard. He was trying to give the order to kill in place of Kaien, who still hadn’t regained his composure.
At that moment, Kaien speaks with a trembling voice, “Is, is it really true, are you really Rizna’s son?”
“I don’t know my mother’s voice or face. All I know is what I was told by Yumir, who was my mother’s maid at the time.”
“…!”
Kaien knew something about Yumir.
She was the beastkin girl who was introduced as someone taken in from the arena, when he last met his daughter Rizna.
“Did that beastkin help you escape? From Calliper’s clutches…!”
“Calliper’s clutches? Hah, you’ve been under a huge misunderstanding. It wasn’t Calliper who annihilated the Fensillon restoration forces and killed my mother.”
“Then who…?”
The reason Kaien had been hostile to Calliper all this time was because he thought Calliper had killed the Fensillon restoration forces and his daughter.
Logically, it was difficult to think of anything else.
At the time, the Fensillon restoration forces were moving to Calliper to establish their base.
The nobles and royalty of Calliper were not happy about this. While King Gareth was thinking of accepting them, others were not.
Because of this, even King Gareth at the time thought the annihilation of the Fensillon restoration forces was done by bandits hired by nobles within the kingdom.
Kaien too, when he investigated the scene later, saw the markings of the Calliper army and thought they were the culprits.
Ars gives a bitter smile.
“It was all Crossing’s doing. King Parain was behind it. His intention was to root out any chance of the Fensillon Empire being restored.”
“Parain…!”
“However, saving me and framing Calliper wasn’t his doing. That was Juras’ scheme.”
“…!?”
Kaien trembled in shock.
At that moment, he recalled something from the past.
It was during the height of the Chimera War.
When Ars came to the Alvard camp to brief them on his strategy to defeat the Tunkai army, Juras was there too.
At the time, Juras had said this to Kaien,
-You’re already in my grasp, sir. I can devour you any time.
At the time, he had dismissed it as Juras’s empty boasting.
But now in this situation, he could understand what it truly meant.
Ars also shook his head in disgust.
Ars too had always wondered.
Why had Juras deliberately let him, a baby, escape?
The answer was right here.
“Juras was trying to get leverage over you.”
It wasn’t just a whim, nor was it because Ars was the last bloodline of the Fensillon Empire.
He had kept Ars alive merely as a hidden card to blackmail Kaien, the Grand General of Alvard and one of the Ten Heroes.
“Now that you’ve heard this much, you can guess the whole story, grandfather?”
“…!”
“If you don’t let me escape, I’ll take my own life. How ironic. Mother entrusted me with this necklace thinking you would protect me someday… Only to die by my grandfather’s hands.”
Ars’ necklace was what Kaien had given to his daughter Rizna as a coming-of-age gift. That’s why he couldn’t mistake it.
“Such… Such a thing…!”
Kaien’s composure was completely shattered.
But he couldn’t let Ars go either. If they captured Ars here, the war would be a perfect victory. They would be losing that opportunity.
Ars shook his head.
“Seeing that you still haven’t cleared the path, it seems you’ve decided to cut family ties for your duty as a general of the kingdom. I respect that, grandfather. Then I’ll go to the afterlife first.”
Grip! Ars points the dagger at his own neck with both hands.
Kaien shut his eyes tight.
“…Stop, I’ll clear the path so put down that blade.”
“…Thank you, mother in heaven would surely be happy too. Now, let’s go!”
Ars began retreating toward where his main force was. The Alvard army that had been blocking the retreat path awkwardly made way.
Lieutenant Gillias was furious.
“Sir! This cannot be! To let go of the chance to capture the enemy’s commander-in-chief like this…!”
Kaien nodded calmly.
“Take my head, Gillias.”
“What…?”
“Cut off the head of the commander who made the wrong decision and take full command to capture that man! Then we can win the war! Hurry!”
“I- I cannot do that! How could I do that to you, sir…!”
“If you cannot do that, then this situation ends here as is. It means that neither I… Nor you Gillias could cut off personal feelings.”
“Kugh!”
Gillias clenched his fists and criticized Ars.
“You coward! You dare call yourself a soldier!”
“Ha! Didn’t you just say it yourself? That to win, to survive, one must not be picky about means and methods. I simply did just that.”
“Kugh…!”
Ars and Ash’s forces smoothly escaped from the encirclement of Kaien.
Kaien was blankly staring at the sky.
He knew what Ars truly wanted from him. Ars had left a clear message through this incident.
‘What an audacious child. He takes after Rizna a lot in this aspect.’
If Saleon’s rebellion succeeds, Ars will die anyway. Letting him live here would be meaningless.
Having made his decision, Kaien quietly orders,
“All forces turn back. We will surprise attack and subdue Saleon’s stationed army.”
* * *
As I escaped the encirclement, I unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew! Somehow that worked out well.”
This incident was a gamble even for me. If Kaien had cut off his personal feelings and handled the situation coldly as a soldier, I wouldn’t have made it out alive.
“Ars! Hey, you fool!”
Ash seemed to have exploded with anger belatedly.
“How could you come to save me! You should have just abandoned me then…!”
“I went to help because I had evidence. If there had been no evidence, I would have just backed off.”
“That evidence was putting your life on the scale! Do you even know your position!? If you die, not only Calliper but the entire Ellan Kingdom will be greatly shaken!”
“It would have been the same if you had died. You know me well, right? How I would react if someone I know dies.”
“Well, that…”
I probably would have been consumed by revenge. I would have gathered all of Crossing’s army to settle things with Alvard and the rebels.
Ash gritted his teeth.
“Damn it, when you act like this, I have no choice either.”
“What do you mean you have no choice?”
“Listen well because this is truly just once.”
Ash kneels on one knee and shouts.
“I, Ash Peyton! Swear loyalty to my lord!”
Silence fell.
“What are you doing? It doesn’t suit you.”
“That’s why I said just once!”
Ash quickly leaves, seemingly embarrassed.
Elena, who had been watching this warmly, approaches and says.
“Even though Ash has sufficient qualities to be a king… you managed to receive his loyalty oath quite skillfully.”
“He was already our person even without such things.”
“Huh, I think I understand why Eonia adores you so much. More importantly, what will you do now? Are you going to pursue the retreating Alvard army?”
“No, if my thinking is correct, this rebellion ends here.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Let’s return to the royal palace. Everything should be settled by then.”
The fact that they spared my life meant they were willing to take my side in this war.
As such, there was a possibility they would directly suppress the Saleon rebels.
Currently, the Saleon rebels would think the Albard army is on their side, making them vulnerable to surprise attacks.
‘I didn’t want to use such cunning strategies but…’
This wasn’t the time to be picky about methods.
If we wanted to quickly unify our central continent and expand our influence to the outside world, we had to use whatever methods were available.
* * *
As I expected, when we returned to the royal palace, that news was delivered.
Duke Hellian, who first received the news through a messenger, exclaims excitedly.
“Ars! We just received contact! News that the Alvard army has suppressed all the Saleon rebels! What is this? False information!?”
“It must be true.”
“Huh…! What method did you use?”
“It’s a strategy that’s difficult to reveal publicly, so don’t worry about it. So? How are the Alvard forces moving now?”
“We’re urgently gathering information. It seems Alvard intends to transport the suppressed rebels to the royal palace to hand them over. Since this could be a trap, we’re planning to receive them at the northern military fortress rather than the capital.”
“That would be wise.”
“Also…. The commander-in-chief of the Alvard forces has expressed his wish to have an audience with you.”
“I will agree to it. Please guide him to me as a top priority when he arrives.”
That Alvard commander-in-chief.
***
Kaien arrived by evening. Since the army’s handover was to be done separately at the northern fortress, he arrived at our royal palace accompanied only by some officers.
The Alvard diplomat who was at our royal palace turned pale and said something to him.
“Lord Kaien! You’re suppressing the rebels and acknowledging Calliper’s current regime! If His Majesty learns of this…!”
“I will explain well to the king, so don’t worry.”
“Hmm…! If you say so.”
Kaien dismissed the officers and remained alone in the audience chamber.
“I have something I want to ask you. About Rizna, and about you…”
“I will tell you everything. However, before that, there’s something I want to show grandfather.”
“Stop with that grandfather title. We’re not in that kind of relationship anymore.”
“Huh, I understand. However, I hope you’ll treat this child warmly like family at least.”
“Child?”
“Erina!”
When I called for Erina, she appeared from the room behind the audience chamber, carrying Ryuna.
When she put Ryuna down, Ryuna came running.
“Papa!”
“Oh my, my daughter. I heard you cried a lot? Really.”
“Eeng…!”
Ryuna buries her face in my chest and nuzzles.
While holding Ryuna, I turned to Kaien.
Kaien was wide-eyed and couldn’t speak.
As we got closer, Ryuna observed him with round eyes. Ryuna, who is extremely wary of others, doesn’t follow anyone except blood relatives.
That’s why she was scared of and cried at mother, Claire, and others.
But Kaien was different.
“Would you like to hold her?”
“…”
Kaien held Ryuna with trembling hands. He seemed to see my mother Rizna’s face in Ryuna.
Ryuna, who had been blank-faced, suddenly burst into laughter and pulled at Kaien’s beard as if it were a toy.
“Kyahaha!”
Kaien was so moved he didn’t even seem to feel the pain.
“Ah, aah…! Rizna…! Your connection wasn’t cut off but still continues like this! Rizna…!”
He soon held Ryuna tightly and began to sob.
Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”
TL NOTE:
Schedule: Everyday
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support me or read up to 30 chapters ahead, you can do so via patreon.com/ChibiGiant. OR by unlocking chapters.
You can also Rate this series in your free time @NovelUpdate.
the chapter 270 is missing
fixed