The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 114
An untimely tension flowed through the room.
Eo and I, who knew the situation, and Gaspar were fully prepared, while others who didn’t know the circumstances were bewildered.
“Gaspar, is that true? Master…”
Master Ilya, sensing the presence, trailed off.
Anton hesitates and says to me, “Is there a need to be on guard? He’s probably come regarding his disciple’s childbirth. Right, Ilya?”
“Hmm, I did vaguely mention the due date to Master. I didn’t expect him to come at such a perfect timing though.” Master seemed unaware of why we were on guard.
However, Gaspar says, “Even so. I can’t predict what might happen if we let our guard down in front of him. Anton! What are you doing? Pick up a weapon immediately!”
At Gaspar’s urging, Anton hurriedly grabbed a sword decorating the wall.
“Of course, we can’t be careless in front of Master Guderian… But is there really a need for this…?” Master Ilya was restless. She felt uncomfortable about greeting her master while armed.
“Ilya, are you there! Your master has come in person!” Guderian shouted from the lobby on the first floor. Master flinched and tried to get out of bed to greet him.
I prevented that and signaled to Yumir.
Yumir nodded and left the room to greet Guderian.
His voice was so loud that only Guderian’s could be heard, not Yumir’s.
“Oh, a beastkin? Hmm, I thought I smelled that Gaspar fellow, but it was yours? No, I can still smell something from the room. Alright, lead the way quickly.”
After a short wait, Guderian appeared with Yumir.
He was covered from head to toe in thick leather clothing. His head was also wrapped in something like a bandana, making it difficult to recognize him as a beastkin at first glance.
But you could tell by the atmosphere. This person was incredibly dangerous.
“Ho… Well, this is quite a grand welcome.”
Guderian narrowed his eyes, looking at us holding weapons.
Master Ilya, rarely losing her composure, made a sullen face.
“I’m sorry, Master! It seems there’s been a misunderstanding…”
“No, this is probably the right response. If that one over there is who I think it is.” He looked at me and grinned. “Mercenary Wade… So you’re the one who made Hanneman a coward.”
“It’s my first time meeting you, Grand Master. I’m Wade, Ilya Anfei’s disciple.”
“You greet me well with your face covered.”
“…Please understand.”
I wondered if covering my face had any meaning. It wouldn’t be difficult for Guderian, who knew everything about Master Ilya, to guess my identity.
Those eyes seemed to be staring right through me.
Still, he seemed to be playing along for now and didn’t make an issue of it.
“Huh, it looks like you’ve done your research on me too?”
“Just the surface-level information.”
“Then you’ve responded well. If you had been careless, you would have lost your life.”
At this, the atmosphere in the room became even sharper. Anton, who had grasped the situation, also emitted killing intent.
Guderian, seemingly surprised by Anton’s energy, widened his eyes before smirking. “Well, I came today to congratulate my disciple on giving birth. I have no intention of seeing blood. Why don’t you all put those deadly things down? You too, Gaspar.”
“…It’s been a while, Guderian.”
“Same to you. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”
“Don’t you find it strange? That I’m under someone else.”
“I thought it was strange… But I understood the reason right away.”
Guderian smiled looking at Yumir. Gaspar made a face like he’d eaten something sour.
Everyone slowly lowered their weapons.
Still uneasy, Yumir and Eo stood guard in front of me.
“Wait a moment, Master. What do you mean by that? Why should we naturally be hostile?”Master Ilya asked with a desperate expression.
Guderian replied nonchalantly, “Well, the West has become hostile to Crossing. Including Mercenary Wade.”
“What does that have to do with you, Master?”
“I didn’t particularly mention it before… But now that war has broken out, I should say it. Ilya, I’m currently lending my strength to the West. Under the name of Samgeonjang.”
“What?! Why would you do such a thing, Master…!”
“I suppose I’m starting to get old too. Various thoughts came to mind. Watching Diellum endlessly corrupt itself.”
Diellum, the village of beastkin. According to Gaspar, it was an extreme group.
Gaspar, seeming to understand, chimed in. “You’re trying to bring Diellum out into the open, aren’t you?”
“It seemed like the only way to avoid extinction. Even I couldn’t help but feel responsible. Hah! I wish I could have been a free spirit like you, Gaspar.”
“It sounds like you’re being sarcastic.”
“Huh, if it sounded that way, then it probably was. At least the people of Diellum think of you as a traitor.”
“Those guys just mistakenly thought I was on their side. I don’t take orders from anyone, I don’t belong anywhere.”
“What about now?”
“…Well, I guess I’ve gotten old too.”
“Hahaha! So we’re in the same boat, are we?”
I didn’t understand what they were talking about, but I decided to pretend I did.
I thought that perhaps Guderian had decided to take responsibility and lead them because the survival of Diellum, the beastmen’s village, was in danger.
Guderian slumped into a chair. Then he received the child from master.
“What’s the name?”
“I named him Gawain.”
“Gawain, huh… That’s nice. Sounds like the name of someone who’ll grow up to be a fine man.”
“When the child grows up, I hope you’ll teach him martial arts, Master.”
“Huh, that won’t be possible. I told you, didn’t I? We’ve become enemies now. The flames of war have already been lit. They won’t stop until one side’s flame is completely extinguished. So if you meet me on the battlefield, please kill me, Ilya. And you all should survive. It would be much better for you young ones to survive than this old man.”
“Master…! Please stop saying such sad things.”
Master Ilya shed small tears. Everyone was surprised as it was the first time they had seen master’s vulnerable side.
“Oh my, I didn’t come here to talk about such things.”
I bowed my head. “I’m sorry. It seems I’ve ruined the mood. Master Ilya, I’ll be going now. Please continue your conversation in peace.”
Gaspar signaled to me with his eyes that he would stay, so I decided to leave the room with Yumir and Eo.
But then…
“Wade!” Guderian speaks softly. “…You’re also my precious disciple, strictly speaking. So let me give you some advice.”
“Advice…?”
“First! Beware of Western spies.”
“…!”
“The West has been planting spies on the continent for decades to conquer it. They are cunning and clever. They might already be around you. If you let your guard down, you might find a knife in your throat while you sleep.”
“…”
“For your information, it’s not Ilya. Although this one is from the West too, there are some different circumstances. You can hear about that from her later. Second, be careful of Tetora Anistri.”
Tetora Anistri. According to Crossing’s intelligence, she’s one of the leaders of the West.
“That one is an anomaly. Qualitatively different from Hanneman. If you underestimate her, you might be swallowed by that black flame.”
“Tetora Anistri…”
“And third. A war will soon break out in Calliper. I thought you should know since you’re also connected to Calliper.”
“A war in Calliper?”
This was the hardest to understand. There was no reason for a war to break out in Calliper, no matter how hard I looked.
“You’ll find out soon enough. Oh, and one more thing. If you meet me on the battlefield next time, try to avoid me if possible. I become a demon on the battlefield. If we don’t meet on the battlefield, if it’s after everything is over, let’s have a drink together. And at that time, I’d like you to take off that mask. Until then… I’ll think of you only as Wade.”
It seems he has roughly guessed my identity. But he doesn’t seem to intend to reveal it to others.
Although Guderian was a figure from the West and thus my enemy, for some reason I felt a vague sense of trust in him.
“…Yes, thank you, Great Master.”
The advice Guderian gave me. I pondered over them for a long time.
* * *
Due to many things to think about, I had trouble sleeping and went to the academy in a daze.
Although I had slept in the carriage, I was still tired.
‘I’ll have to sleep a bit during class.’
Being a general was convenient in this aspect. Now, even if I slept openly, the officer acting as teacher couldn’t point it out.
As I was heading to the classroom like that, a group blocked my way.
They were the cadets I had dismissed yesterday.
Upon seeing me, they hurriedly ran forward and fell prostrate. As expected of cadets, even their prostration was disciplined.
“We’re sorry! Please forgive us!”
“Please forgive us, General!”
These guys were pleading with their foreheads to the ground. It was understandable. With the ‘daddy card’ no longer usable, this was their only option.
‘This is quite a sight.’
Those who usually looked down on me were now begging with tears in their eyes.
Their number exceeded 60.
Casper was also among the group.
He was standing there blankly. The sight of his followers prostrating and bowing their heads to me must have been quite shocking.
“W-What is this?”
Dorofei, who arrived at school after me, also muttered in astonishment. “…Ars. What are you going to do?”
“Well…”
Dorofei whispered to me as if he had made up his mind.
“How about forgiving them? There are some who just went along with the faction without any real malice towards you.”
“That’s not a reason for forgiveness.”
“That may be true, but…”
While I thought about harshly rejecting them all since I was already seen as a villain, it seems I’m not that kind of person after all.
‘Besides, if I reject them all, it might cause trouble from other quarters.’
For example, putting pressure on my family.
Having made a decision, I spoke to Casper. “You too, kneel and bow your head. If you do that, I’ll forgive the others.”
At my words, Casper started trembling.
The others looked up at Casper with expectant gazes.
‘Sigh, I’m too nice.’
Forgiving insubordination just for kneeling and begging. What general would give such a lenient punishment?
Moreover, this was also the best path for Casper. Kneeling here was equivalent to admitting he wasn’t Wade.
He’d be cursed at, but considering he knelt to save his fellow cadets, he could continue his cadet life after shedding the risk of being a fake Wade. He wouldn’t have the same influence as before, but he could keep his position as a cadet.
This was my last act of mercy.
He ultimately rejected it.
“You think I’d kneel to the likes of you?! I am Wade! A greater general than you!” Shouting like that in anger, he turned and left. Naturally, the others’ resentment poured out.
“Where are you going, you bastard! If you bow your head, we can live too!”
“Damn you! You really weren’t Wade after all! I never believed it from the start!”
“You coward! Running away instead of taking responsibility!”
“I was stupid to have believed in someone like you until now!”
Curses rained down.
Fake Wade. It was the moment of Casper Millias’s complete downfall.
I spoke to the prostrating students.
“So you were following someone like that?”
They remained silent, as if they had nothing to say even with a hundred mouths.
I whispered to Dorofei. “Can you sort out the somewhat decent ones?”
“Yes, I’ll do it as quickly as possible.”
I could trust Dorofei’s judgment.
Still, I decided to weed out some before that. With Casper acting like that, I had no intention of forgiving the others.
“You, you, and you, you. And you over there.”
These were the ones who had been particularly outspoken so far.
Among them were also those who had shown ill intentions towards Estelle during the Chimera War visitation.
“I have no intention of forgiving you, so get out now. If you want to blame someone, blame Casper who ran away and left you behind. That was your only chance to survive. As for the rest… I’ll think about it.”
Sighs of relief could be heard here and there.
Those I had pointed out were in tears as if shedding tears of repentance, but it was too late.
Besides, I knew well enough that those weren’t tears of repentance.
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