The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 102
Ash, who was about to step forward at Ars’ appearance, had to quickly retreat.
‘I never thought Wade would show up here. This is a miscalculation…!’
Next to Wade was a woman exuding an extraordinary aura. Although her face was covered with a helmet, her identity was easy to discern.
‘Eonia Mirabel!’
Ash gauged their respective abilities.
‘In a one-on-one, I might be able to buy time for Lysithea to escape, but…’
This is the heart of enemy territory. If we do that, we’ll both end up caught.
Ash decides to observe for now.
Ars was standing in front of the guard who was about to violate Lysithea.
The guard was sweating profusely. He thought he would be punished for trying to mistreat someone who might be a high-ranking prisoner.
However, Ars’ actions were the opposite.
“First, fix your belt. Your pants are about to fall down.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
As the guard refastens his belt, Ars says, “Do you have a family?”
“Y-Yes, I do. A widowed mother and two younger brothers…”
“That accent… It’s from Alvard. When did you cross over to Crossing?”
“Five years ago. When I was captured as a prisoner in battle, I defected to Crossing. With the help of my superior, I was able to bring my family who were living in Alvard to Crossing as well.”
“Then you’re not a slave, I assume.”
This was one of Crossing’s strategies. If a captured prisoner brought their family to Crossing, they wouldn’t be made slaves but would be treated as citizens right away and given a settlement.
“Don’t you miss Alvard?”
“Not at all. They treat my family so well here… Crossing is already my homeland!”
“Well, that’s good.”
Ars patted his shoulder.
“I understand why you showed anger, but don’t be quick to hate others. These prisoners might become people of Crossing just like you. Understand?”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’ll give you a leave pass. Go home and rest with your family.”
“Th-That’s alright! I haven’t done anything deserving of a reward…”
“Who said it was a reward? You’re not helpful for prisoner management right now. And it’s not convenient to assign you other duties, so I’m just sending you away. Do you understand?”
“…Yes. I won’t show such disgraceful behavior next time. Thank you, Lord Wade.”
The guard left with a complicated but somewhat happy expression.
Ash was secretly impressed by Wade’s handling of the situation.
He would have viewed it negatively if Ars had executed or punished the guard. No matter how valuable high-ranking prisoners are, a general who mistreats his soldiers can’t be trusted.
Ars pointed out the guard’s mistake while gently admonishing him. That guard will probably work more diligently from now on.
“Hmm.”
Ars let out a small groan upon seeing Lysithea’s appearance.
“I see why they say she’s difficult to handle. She’s practically oozing nobility… No, given that she’s not stating her status, could she even be a princess?”
“Mercenary Wade…!” Lysithea gritted her teeth. “You bat! You wagged your tail for Calliper, and now you’re back with Crossing!”
“No, speak properly. It’s Calliper and Crossing that are wagging their tails for me.”
“What…!?”
Having refuted her with sophistry, Ars lifted Lysithea’s chin.
“If you’re going to reveal your status, now would be a good time. If Juras gets to interrogate you, you’ll be in for a much rougher time.”
He was being sincere.
There was no way Juras wouldn’t uncover Lysithea’s status.
Ars could hardly imagine what kind of schemes Juras would concoct once he learned of Lysithea’s identity.
“It would be better to speak up before that guy returns.”
“Hmph!”
Ptui! Lysithea’s spit landed on Ars’ helmet.
At that moment, a terrifying killing intent permeated the surroundings.
“How dare you…!!” Eonia, enraged to the tips of her hair, raised her spear.
Reacting to this piercing killing intent, Ash instinctively drew his dagger.
“Stop it, Eo. This can be wiped off, that’s all.”
“But…!”
“Thanks for getting angry on my behalf. Now, calm down.”
“Yes…”
Even Lysithea was shaken by this generosity.
She almost thought it might be okay to reveal her identity to Ars.
However, a situation that would quickly dispel such thoughts soon unfolded.
Ars turned his head towards where Ash was. He had detected Ash’ reaction to Eonia’s killing intent.
Ash flinched but quickly composed himself and looked elsewhere.
Ars smiles. “Hmm, oho, haha…”
There’s no way he could have been discovered. As Ash was thinking this, Ars delivered a death sentence.
“Looks like we have a little rat that’s snuck in.”
“…!”
Even Lysithea’s jaw dropped at this.
She reflexively shouted. “Run away!”
“Kuk…!”
But Ash couldn’t move. Eonia, having noticed the situation, had blocked his escape route. Along with her, the guards who grasped the situation also formed an encirclement.
Ars speaks, “Let me ask one thing. Did you kill any of our soldiers while infiltrating? If you did, I won’t forgive you.”
“…I didn’t kill anyone. I just knocked them out and borrowed a uniform for a while.”
“I hope that’s true. More importantly, what will you do? There’s no escape route anyway. If you don’t want to get hurt, you’d better surrender quietly.”
“It seems I have no choice.”
Knowing resistance was futile, Ash quietly accepted disarmament.
Ars locked him up in the same prison as Lysithea.
At that moment, a mid-ranking officer who was with them whispered. “What should we do? Since he dared to attempt a prisoner rescue, we could execute him immediately under military law without taking him as a prisoner.”
Hearing this, Lysithea shouts.
“You can do whatever you want with me! But please… Please don’t kill this person!”
“You spat at the general earlier, and now you’re saying this!”
“I-I’ll apologize if you want me to. So please…!”
“Then hurry up and reveal your identity! Both of you!”
“That’s…”
Lysithea hung her head low. Ash seemed to have made up his mind and was about to speak, but Ars stopped him.
“If you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to. Instead, I’ll just make you pay the price for it.”
Then Ars speaks to the officer in charge of the prisoners.
“I’ll take these prisoners. I’ll explain it well to the commander-in-chief, so don’t worry.”
“Ah, yes! I understand!”
Ars was smiling with satisfaction.
‘The spoils of war have come in all at once.’
If he played his cards right, he might even be able to recruit Ash.
Ars left the prisoner camp with Ash and Lysithea, contemplating how to handle them.
* * *
Ash and Lysithea decided to leave their belongings with Olaf to be delivered later.
Olaf had to stay on the battlefield for a while as he also had to work on the withdrawal of the Rainpol soldiers.
I started preparing to return to Rainpol first with Eo, Yumir, and Anton.
In fact, Anton was in a position to stay with the Crossing army for follow-up, but as master’s delivery was approaching, Juras made a consideration and allowed him to return home first.
Whether it was a consideration for that work or an intention to put Anton in debt, I couldn’t tell his ulterior motives, but anyway.
“In any case. I thought I’d come alone, but we all ended up going home together.”
It makes the phrase ‘standing on one’s own’ seem meaningless.
“Even so, I don’t think it was without results,” Anton said.
“Your energy seems sharper than before.”
“Is that so? Certainly, after going through a life-and-death situation, I found myself realizing something.”
In terms of numbers, it feels like my power has increased from 2 to about 3.
Moreover, I was able to gain various small experiences. This time, I clearly experienced things I couldn’t feel when my vassals were around.
The effect of standing on my own was evident.
“Even so, I don’t want to experience it twice. I’d rather just train harder in martial arts.”
“That should be enough now. Once you’ve realized something, it doesn’t easily disappear. Sir Ars, through this incident, you’ve broken down the wall that was blocking your path. Now you just need to move forward until the next wall appears.”
“When you say it like that, it’s reassuring. Well then, let’s hurry back to Rainpol.”
Right now, all I wanted was to go home and rest well.
As I was about to get on the carriage, Eo’s eyes widened.
“But Sir Ars. We haven’t done the merit rewards yet… Are you planning to do it in the carriage?”
“Merit rewards? We’re doing that?”
I almost blurted out ‘Was there anything to reward?’, but looking at Eo’s eyes, I could see she was serious.
I was slightly overwhelmed by that seriousness.
“Oh, right. Shall we do it then?”
“Yes!”
I had bought gifts in Arandal for merit rewards, but I had intended to use them next time. This time, there wasn’t really anything to reward for.
If there was anything, it would be Eonia at most.
‘Did she ask for merit rewards knowing that?’
Eo seems to have a rather cunning side to her.
“I’ll only announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places for merits. First, 3rd place… I’ll give it to Olaf.”
Olaf did abandon the internal affairs I had entrusted him with, but that clever action ultimately saved my life. Moreover, in the last battle, he skillfully commanded the soldiers in harmony with Sophia Veron.
“So, 3rd place. But since he abandoned the internal affairs, the merit feels like plus-minus zero. So no reward. Next, 2nd place.”
Eo gulped. Judging by the glance he gave Anton, he seemed to think he was competing with Anton for 1st and 2nd place.
“Eo, it’s you.”
“…!?”
“You saved my life when it mattered, and you were helpful in the last battle too. Ah, don’t make that face. First place isn’t Anton.”
“Pardon?”
“Anton earned his merits in Crossing. So he should receive his rewards from the Crossing side.”
“Then, 1st place is…”
“It’s me.”
This time, I wanted to praise myself.
“It was really tough…”
The Casper guys made unexpected moves, and Sophia Veron took over that baton to troll. In the forced battle at the Delston Mountains, I had to fight a life-and-death battle with the monster named Fischer Partin. In the last battle, I had to support Juras as well.
“To add a bit more, the 1st place in merit would be me, Aggert, and Dilas.”
If it were the usual Eo, she would have glared at the person who got 1st place and poured out resentment, but she didn’t do that to me no matter what.
Instead, she clapped with a refreshed expression. She seems to think that excluding me, she’s essentially in first place.
“By Aggert and Dilas, do you mean the guys who escaped with you at that time, Sir Ars?”
“That’s right.”
I took this opportunity to take out the sword from my luggage.
“Anton, please deliver this to the guy named Aggert. You can ask Olaf’s subordinate, Dilas, who that is.”
“I know who Aggert is.”
“You know?”
How does he know?
“Yes, isn’t he the little one you showed kindness to during the last Chimera War? The one I arranged to live as a slave in Rainpol. So that he could repay you someday, Sir Ars.”
“You say I showed kindness…”
“Oh my! You don’t remember!”
“I guess I forgot.”
There were so many shocking events at that time that I ended up forgetting most of the minor details.
Anton burst into laughter.
“This must also be due to Sir Ars’ virtue. I will personally deliver that sword.”
“And please give a generous reward to the person named Dilas as well.”
“Yes, sir.”
Anton carefully wrapped the sword, sheath and all, in a cloth.
Eo was looking at the sword enviously. Then she stared at me intently.
“Ah, about the reward.”
Since I hadn’t really thought about what to give, I handed over something suitable from my luggage.
It was a sapphire I had bought from a workshop in Arandal. It wasn’t expensive as it wasn’t crafted, but Eo’s eyes widened.
“Th-th-th-th-this is…!”
“Is it a bit much? Well, it’s not really useful. I’ll give you something else.”
“No! I-I’ll cherish it for life!”
Eo hugged the gem preciously, as if she would never return it.
I wondered if receiving a gem had some other meaning, but as I became extremely tired after finishing the merit rewards, I decided to ignore it and board the carriage.
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