The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 305
After the war in the South was settled,
I had some time left, so I entrusted work to Duke Hellian and headed towards the Ellan Kingdom.
For some reason, everyone accompanied me on this journey. They said it was to spend time with their families.
This was understandable because the Ellan Kingdom was currently holding a victory celebration.
In the capital, Baien, magic propaganda was flying through the sky, and merchants who came up from the provinces were busily selling goods.
Sophia nods with satisfaction.
“Those outfits are from the Southern Continent. It seems the road network has been normalized.”
As Sophia appeared, the servants and attendants in the royal palace greeted her warmly.
She was particularly enjoying a cult-like popularity among the maids, so the maids who heard the news came rushing out.
“Minister Sophia! Have you returned?”
“Did you finish your work well?”
Among the maids, Sophia was a legendary figure.
It was natural, as she had seized national affairs despite being a woman.
Sophia shrugs her shoulders.
“Whew! I’ll need to mingle for a bit. Elaine, please report to Rosa for me.”
“I’ll do that.”
I separated from the group for a moment and headed to the audience room with Lucretia.
Rosa, now seemingly familiar with the throne, welcomed us comfortably.
“Welcome back.”
“Yes, I’m glad you seem to be doing well.”
“…What kind of tone is that?”
“I’m a king now. So I no longer need to bow unnecessarily.”
Luc also nods in agreement.
Rosa then asked me about the war’s current situation.
“Juras’ strategy seems to have worked perfectly.”
“That’s the result. So where is this Juras now?”
“Still in the North. Seems he’s investigating the underground market.”
“The underground market…?”
“You know, the place you mentioned. A secret location where blood magic is being performed. It seems he’s begun an investigation there.”
“Wow!”
As expected of Juras. He’s doing all the work without me and not even saying anything.
This competence is truly admirable.
“So how long will you be staying this time?”
“Well, it depends on how the reports come in, but I plan to stay for at least three weeks.”
“I, I see.”
Rosa blushes for some reason and doesn’t know what to do.
Luc sighs and says,
“Lady Rosa, in times like these, it’s better to speak directly. How is the political marriage progressing?”
“What are you talking about! I’m not thinking about anything like that…!”
While saying this, she looks at me sideways.
The political marriage with Rosa was already in motion.
For the integration of both kingdoms, this would be the most harmonious approach.
However, the timing was not yet right. Neither of them particularly liked the idea of a political marriage.
“It seems we can only discuss this after the war ends.”
“Y-yeah.”
“Then I’ll take my leave. I want to rest a bit before touring the festival.”
“Alright, rest well.”
After the audience, I returned to the mansion.
Everyone was preparing for a party there.
It was to celebrate overcoming yet another war.
My father and mother, who had already moved their residence to this continent, were also helping with the party preparations.
Among them were my twin sisters, Elsie and Chelsea.
Now five years old, they quickly ran to me when they saw me.
“Oh, big brother!”
“Big brother Ars!”
They were incredibly sociable, just like sister Julia. They quickly recognized me as their brother despite not seeing me for a long time.
The same goes for my children.
They instantly subdued Ryuna, who had been the gang leader, and became the new leaders.
Ryuna followed behind them with a thoroughly disciplined expression.
When Ryuna tried to secretly eat the cookies on the party table, Elsie and Chelsea scolded her.
“Ryuna, you can’t!”
“Don’t eat without permission!”
Startled by their scolding, Ryuna quickly put the cookies back.
‘Yumir didn’t even listen to my words…‘
It seems children are more influenced by their peers than by adults.
The party began like this.
Gaspar strongly demanded alcohol.
He said it was to comfort Gunther, who had lost his arm.
But before that, a small event occurred.
The trigger was Mirabel.
Mirabel was watching the returned twins with warm eyes, as if they were treasures, and was playing with them.
Mirabel rolled a ball-like toy, and Ernie and Ed ran about noisily.
At that moment, our eyes met as I was watching the scene contentedly.
“Daddy!”
Ernie, who was chasing the ball, forgot about the ball and ran to me. Ed followed behind his sister.
“Oopsie!”
I lifted them up, and they laughed cheerfully.
At that moment, I felt a tingling sensation.
Mirabel was glaring at me as if looking at an archenemy.
She alternated her gaze between the toy she threw and me, trembling with anger.
“You did that on purpose…!”
“Huh? No, the children just changed their minds.”
“Grr…! I challenge you!”
“A challenge?”
When the content of the challenge was revealed, the party venue began to buzz.
The challenge was simple.
It was a contest of who the children (Ernie and Ed) would run to and hug first.
The first round started with Ernie.
Ernie sat blankly, biting her nails.
Opposite her were me, Eonia, and Mirabel.
“Let’s begin.”
As Yumir stood Ernie up, Mirabel shouted with enthusiasm.
“Ernie! Over here! Come this way!”
She waved the toy and caused a commotion, and Ernie began walking towards her, smiling.
Eonia, as a mother, seemed unwilling to lose and tempted her with cookies.
I didn’t particularly care about losing, but since it was a contest, my competitive spirit arose.
‘I have a secret weapon for times like these.’
I discreetly gestured to Ryuna.
Ryuna seemed to have read my thoughts and quickly ran over.
I hugged Ryuna and said,
“Ernie, my daughter. Want to play with sister Ryuna?”
“Yes!”
Ernie broke away from the attention of the other two and ran to me, clinging to me.
Mirabel and Eo were left with shocked expressions.
“T-that’s unfair, Ars! Using Ryuna like that…!”
“Then you should have stated the rules from the beginning.”
“Ugh…!”
Mirabel glared at me as if I had used an extremely despicable trick.
‘This won’t work twice.’
So, I decided to let Edward win in his turn.
“Ed, come here.”
Although I just gestured and called him casually, for some reason, Ed ignored the temptation of toys and snacks and clung to me. Perhaps he knew Ryuna was on my side.
An easily achieved two-game winning streak.
Mirabel was devastated and knelt down.
However, when I sent the twins to console her, she quickly recovered her spirits and started playing.
On the other hand, Eonia remained in shock for quite some time.
* * *
The day after the party.
When I woke up after drinking with Gaspar’s group, my face blocked by an object.
“Umph!?”
When I tried to remove it with my hand, it was Ryuna.
Now that Ryuna could open doors freely, she often squeezed into my bed when I am sleeping in.
“What if you block dad’s face so he can’t breathe?”
“Hehe, dad’s awake.”
Since I was often away for work, she always insisted on playing with me whenever I was around.
It seems she was thinking the same thing now.
“Let me sleep a little more.”
“No way!”
When I tried to close my eyes again, Ryuna clung to my face, throwing a tantrum.
Ignoring her and trying to sleep, Ryuna seemed to get sleepy too and began breathing softly.
This peace was broken about an hour later.
For some reason, I heard a commotion on the first floor of the mansion.
Wondering if something had happened, I left Ryuna sleeping in bed and went out, only to see them doing the same thing as yesterday.
Erina’s newly crawling son Lucius and Estelle’s daughter Lux were the targets this time.
‘Well, this has become a trend.’
With so many babies around, it might have been inevitable.
“Oh, Ars!”
Erina greeted me with a bright smile.
“Ars, come join us!”
“Me too? You might regret it. I totally defeated Eonia yesterday.”
Eo’s expression twisted. She seemed to be subtly bothered.
“Hehe, I’m different.”
In Lucius’s case, since I hadn’t paid much attention to him, she was confident in her maternal bond.
Gilbert joined in this time.
Gilbert seemed completely accustomed to life here. Perhaps from abandoning his ambition for power, his expression looked very comfortable.
His gaze at his grandson was pure doting.
And so began the second race.
“Lucius! Come this way!”
“Come to grandpa!”
Lucius started crying, confused by everyone calling out to him. He seemed too young for this, but soon began crawling while crying, looking for his mother.
Whether he came to the wrong direction because tears blocked his vision, his direction was towards me.
“….”
“….”
Erina and Gilbert fell silent.
“Waaah!”
He was crying in my arms, which confirmed he had come to the wrong place, but it was my victory nonetheless.
“Heh, my victory, Erina. Didn’t I say you’d regret this?”
“….”
Erina smiled warmly.
“Our Lucius is so smart, matching dad’s mood perfectly.”
“Are you angry?”
“What? I’m not angry.”
She seemed slightly angry.
In the next match with Estelle, her daughter Lux refused to come, crying, so it was invalidated.
The focus then shifted to the Ash couple.
“Ash, you try too.”
“No thanks. It’s obvious he won’t come to me anyway. Let’s go have another drink. Gaspar said we should drink outside today.”
“I can’t believe how much you all drink.”
At that moment, Sophia, who had finished her work at the royal palace, returned and spoke.
“We’ll drink next time. I have something to tell everyone.”
“Something to tell us?”
Sophia presented a competition being held during the festival.
It was a combined festival and initiation exam.
The Ellan Kingdom was desperately short of internal and military talent.
It was clear that more talent would be needed in the future, so during this festival where people were gathering in the capital, they were conducting an initiation exam combined with a competition.
Sophia demanded that all of my vassals participate in this exam.
The reason was the hardships faced in the recent war.
“Didn’t everyone doubt my abilities and refuse to follow my orders?”
Sophia glared at Ash, Lysithea, and Gaspar. To varying degrees, Luc and Anton had also doubted her abilities.
Eonia, who originally wouldn’t follow anyone except me, was the same.
Only Gunther and master Ilya had trusted and followed Sophia.
“I’ll make you all prove how capable you are. So everyone, take the exam.”
Everyone was horrified at the mention of the exam.
Sophia, as if expecting this reaction, requested my support.
“Ars, you tell them.”
“Well, I thought it was about time we had a competition… Everyone, do it if possible. Since we’re doing this, I’ll also put up a prize.”
Everyone’s expressions changed. Becoming a vassal competition made their competitive spirit rise.
“Sophia, how many days are left until the exam?”
Anton asked seriously.
“Sorry, but only 3 days remain. So you’ll have to rely on your basic skills.”
“3 days….”
Anton immediately began preparing to study, determined to cram in as much as possible in those three days.
Feeling the same sense of crisis, Eonia also started studying, and the mansion began to burn with an unexpected academic enthusiasm.
Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”
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