The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 290
Perhaps due to the overwhelming amount of work, a year passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, the continental situation became clearer.
In the central continent, a confrontational structure formed between Svenner, the Western tribes, Crossing, and Liande.
The variables were the nearly-destroyed Tunkai, the neutral-declaring Europe, and the stagnant absorption situation of Alvard.
The Tunkai royal family, who had most of their territory taken by Svenner’s invasion and moved their base to the still-chaotic Beckavia region, were pursuing survival through bat-like diplomacy.
Situated with Svenner and Europe on the left side and Alvard and Crossing on the right side, they declared that if someone attacks them, they would attach themselves to the opposite side.
Since it would be quite troublesome if Tunkai took Beckavia territory and sided with Svenner, they had no choice but to use strategy.
I came to the Ellan Kingdom on business and, after receiving the report, decided to go meet Ash immediately.
Since Ash had set up a separate residence in the city, I headed to his mansion with an escort.
The escort, if you could call it that, was just Eonia and the twins.
The twins, who had grown considerably in this past year, were walking with anxious steps. Eo was walking hand-in-hand, matching their steps, not knowing what to do.
“Eo, just let me hug you.”
“No. I need to walk quickly to train in martial arts.”
Eo seemed to be stimulated by the fact that Ryuna had recently started martial arts training.
“That’s just to lose weight. She started because she ate too many snacks recently and gained weight.”
As she aged, Ryuna’s shyness had disappeared. Now she could at least distinguish whether someone was on her side or not.
This was the beginning of a tragedy.
From the start, the clever Ryuna began getting snacks from people indiscriminately.
She particularly targeted grandfathers.
Her great-grandfather Kaien was the main target, and king Parain was no different. When she went to the palace, she would also beg Sophia and Rosa for snacks.
Because of this weight gain, Yumir took the special measure of starting martial arts training under the pretext of dieting.
“That’s why Ryuna was terrified.”
“But her movements were good. The ancestors even praised her.”
Ryuna was a genius, you could say. Despite being terrified, she showed outstanding results. Even master Ilya praised her talent.
Stimulated by this, Eonia also seemed eager to start martial arts training for the children.
Riding on this expectation, Ed and Ernie were walking hard, but soon their legs gave out, and they knelt down.
Then they looked up at me.
“Daddy…!”
“Hug me.”
Although Eo said they shouldn’t make weak sounds, I couldn’t bear the children’s gaze and lifted both of them.
They laughed happily but soon fell asleep, seemingly tired from walking.
Just then, Ash’s mansion came into view.
“Huh? Isn’t that our carriage?”
“Oh, now that I think about it, today Erina and Estelle were supposed to visit Ash’s mansion. They were going to let the babies meet.”
There was commotion from the mansion’s living room.
Lucretia and Lysithea were holding children and arguing about something, while Ash was awkwardly caught in the middle.
Erina and Estelle were also watching the scene, smiling while holding their own children.
“Everyone’s here.”
“Oh, Ars!”
Ash, thinking it was perfect timing, ran over and whispered.
“Hey, let’s talk outside. If we stay here, we’ll be drained. You can’t imagine how long they’ve been talking…”
“I also had something to discuss, so this works out well.”
“Then I’ll go out first!”
After Ash left, Luc and Lysithea relaxed their shoulders.
I approached them to greet them.
“What were you talking about that made Ash run away?”
Luc, holding a male child, answered with a sullen expression.
“We were just discussing which child is the eldest. Of course, I said my Lyden is the eldest. After all, I was pregnant first!”
Lysithea refuted this immediately.
“The first to be born was our Loony!”
The order of first or second child is quite important in family hierarchy, which is why they were arguing.
Estelle and Erina were the same.
Although Estelle was pregnant first, Erina’s child was born earlier.
“Elaine, what do you think? Who is the eldest?”
“Eh? Oh…”
Both Erina and Estelle were watching my answer with interest.
Understanding why Ash was awkward, I decided to follow him and escape.
* * *
The Ellan Kingdom was gradually finding peace while overcoming great chaos.
Most dangerous dungeons in the western continent had been conquered, sealed, or eliminated, and they were in the process of regaining control of the southern continent.
Recently, festivals were being held in villages and cities, and daily life was gradually being restored.
“Humans are truly persistent,” Ash said, raising his drink.
“When dungeons were proliferating, I wondered what would happen… But we ultimately overcame it.”
“Not yet. The real crisis is just beginning.”
“… The Mother goddess, right? That crazy god who wants to eliminate all sentient beings in this world.”
“Correct. Now it has apparently obtained a body and is active in the central continent. It’s highly likely that this scheme was to have Svenner attack Tunkai.”
“…What’s Tunkai’s current situation?”
“That’s what I came to discuss. Ash, I’ll need you to help.”
I demanded that Ash infiltrate Tunkai and stage a coup.
“Indeed, you want me to overthrow Tunkai and bring them over to Liande’s side.”
“If not, there’s a possibility that Tunkai might side with Svenner, which would be a headache.”
“That’s right. Even though their national power has weakened, Tunkai still has many capable military officers.”
In the upcoming great war, each officer becomes precious.
Because having more officers allows for more efficient command of soldiers.
“I’m sorry, in the midst of being happy about the babies being born…”
“What, it’s actually perfect timing for my itchy hands.”
“I’ll assign the best people possible. Anton or master Ilya would be fine.”
“Oh, does that mean you care about me that much?”
“Stop with the embarrassing talk.”
“Huh, alright. I’ll accept the goodwill. I’ll take Ilya, Gaspar, and my brother Gunther. If these three are together, I feel we can escape from any dangerous situation.”
“…Take Sophia too. Because she knows the most about the Beckavia region.”
Then, for some reason, Ash’s expression hardened.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, no, with Miss Sophia… It’s a bit of a complicated atmosphere.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“Just! It happened while we were talking about this and that! Don’t tell Luc and Lysithea!”
“You’re impossible.”
“You’re the one who already has five children saying this?”
That was true too.
Ash speaks as if giving a rebuke.
“Recently, there are talks of marriage with Queen Rosa? And also talks of marriage with the elf Beato?”
“Politically, somewhat…”
“You’ll have a hard time.”
It was really like that.
As they say, the right day brings the right market, and that night, discussions about that matter went back and forth.
* * *
Before dispatching Ash to the Beckavia region and fully embarking on the Central Continent war, a departure party with only acquaintances was held in the royal palace.
All of my vassals except Sophia and Bisketa, who is working in Liande, were gathered here.
We were to determine the order of heading to the Central Continent, so everyone was discussing with passionate voices.
Olaf raises his hand as if surrendering during that conversation.
“Sorry, but I’ll go last. I’ve barely gotten vacation to come here, so I don’t want to return immediately.”
Olaf was holding children in both arms.
One was a child with my sister Julia, and the other was a child with Meissen.
With Ash’s child and our children also present, the number of children was quite large.
Rosa was looking at this enviously.
It started with Olaf’s tactless remark.
“This is it, isn’t it time for Her Majesty Queen Rosa to also have an heir?”
“What!? That, that is…”
Rosa rolled her eyes and then glanced sideways at me.
I avoided her gaze, but King Parain laughs heartily and says,
“It might be well-timed. If allied with Ars, future cooperation between the two kingdoms would be smooth.”
“Father, you’re drunk.”
Although Princess Melodie tried to stop him, King Parain, seeming in a good mood, continued to insist on the marriage between me and Rosa.
Olaf, whose drinking had risen, chimes in and accidentally misspoke.
“That’s right! Isn’t their age similar? There might be political considerations, but if ages match, it’s fine! Unless she’s a thirty-something aunt, Queen Rosa is still in her prime!”
The party atmosphere instantly froze.
Julia and Meissen hurriedly poked Olaf’s side.
“…Huh?”
Olaf finally understood the situation.
Because there were many women over thirty here.
Yumir had her usual expression, but her tail was swinging largely as if angry, and Eonia had bent the fork she was holding with one hand.
Lucretia and Lysithea were the same. Even Leitin and Beato were glaring at Olaf with sharp eyes.
Only Master Ilya was smiling wryly and nodding.
Gaspar was laughing as if adding fuel to a burning house. It seemed he was quite drunk as well.
“Hahaha! There are indeed many aunts here!”
“M-Mr. Gaspar! You’re drunk!”
Although Dorofei quickly tried to stop him, the already chilled atmosphere was unavoidable.
I had no choice but to clean up.
“We age together. What does it matter who is older?”
Although the cleanup naturally didn’t work, I succeeded in changing the topic.
We discussed the direction of the future war. Olaf briefs enthusiastically to hide his embarrassment.
“The north will be Crossing, the center will be Alvard, the south will be our Liande. Correspondingly, the opponent’s north and center will be Svenner. There are intelligence reports that the western tribes are moving in the south. So naturally, our opponents will be the western tribes.”
I took this opportunity to ask about Olaf’s home kingdom, Europe.
“Europe… Looking long-term, I think they might side with Svenner. The attack on Tunkai this time is like that, and they have many territorial ambitions. Then they would likely attach to Svenner’s side to try and steal our territories rather than unify with us.”
“Hmm.”
If Europe joins the Svenner camp, the war situation would likely become evenly matched.
Olaf swallowed his saliva.
“A war between three kingdoms… This war will determine the ruler of the continent.”
Everyone’s expressions hardened at these words. It was a massive war, and since the Central Continent cannot use the Teleportation Scroll, there was a high possibility of casualties even among the vassals.
Understanding this, an atmosphere formed to enjoy tonight’s party more.
Even Yumir became drunk, and the party’s night deepened.
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