The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 127

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 127

Claus who was facing me frowned.

“Hornet? What nonsense is that.”

“…You’ll see.”

“…?”

My cry seemed hollow. 

Aside from Claus right in front of me, no one seemed to have heard it. The situation was too urgent, after all.

Riserl Haldras also seemed to have brushed off my cry. Without any hesitation, he swung his pole-axe towards Eo.

Sensing that Eo was prepared to counterattack at the cost of her life, he first knocked away the sword she was holding.

Ting! The sword flew back and stuck into the ground.

“Now it’s over. At least I’ll send you off without pain!”

As Riserl raised his pole-axe, Eo resolutely accepted death.

At that moment, 

Puk! A sword pierced through his chest.

“Kugh…!?”

It was Dalmore, who was guarding Lysithea while facing Eo’s back.

He had stabbed Riserl’s back.

All of the protagonist’s vassals were at a loss for words at this shocking sight, their expressions as if they had seen an alien. Faces that witnessed a scene impossible in reality.

“Dalmore…! Why me…!?”

“…”

Kwaduk! Dalmore silently twisted the sword. And as if to confirm the kill, he drew a dagger from his chest and ripped Riserl’s neck.

The speed of his movements was as natural as a professional butchering livestock.

“Kyaaaaaa–!!”

“What on earth!?”

Tena screamed in horror, and Rina fell into a panic.

Aggert couldn’t accept the situation and was perplexed, but Gaspar was different.

“Hahaha, the fool used his hands skillfully. Yes, that’s how war should be! Uraaaat!”

Unable to match Gaspar’s momentum, Rina lost her shield and backed away helplessly. But Gaspar, not careless enough to miss such an opportunity, immediately chased after her and brought down his greatsword.

Pwak! Gushing blood.

“Sister–!!”

Her sister Tena cried out. If Aggert had struck Tena at this moment, there was a high possibility that she would have died too, but Aggert was too perplexed to move.

“I’m… Dying…?”

Muttering in disbelief, Rina was mocked by Gaspar. 

“Of course! What, did you think I’d go easy on you just because you’re a woman or young? Hahaha! There’s no such romance on the battlefield!”

Ruthlessly beheading Rina, Gaspar immediately turned his gaze towards me. He also knew that Claus was the core of the enemy forces.

‘As expected, it’s Gaspar!’

The level of his coldness was different. No, could this even be called coldness?

Gaspar seemed to be entrusting himself to the madness of the battlefield.

‘I can’t miss this opportunity.’

I shouted as well.

“Rania! Hornet! Join me over here!”

My target was Claus.

I will kill this dangerous fellow right here.

In fact, if I could, I would’ve even killed the protagonist since things have gone this far, but the protagonist had not reached my location yet, being stuck after dealing with the Fourth General, Feradin.

So, a chicken instead of a pheasant, I decided to take care of this Claus fellow.

“Th-this bastard…!”

Claus’ expression became desperate as he grasped the situation. I gave a light laugh.

“I told you, you’ll see.”

“Planting a spy…! How in the world…!?”

Shaken in his mentality, he staggered from Gaspar’s blow.

Gaspar mocked.

“What’s wrong? Wobbling, aren’t you? Where’s that might from earlier? Hahaha!”

“Kugh!”

Me, Yumir, Gaspar, and even Dalmore. Assaulted by the four of us, the fellow seemed to have judged that he had no hope, and began searching for an escape route.

Soon detecting something, he swung his halberd widely, knocking everyone around him back.

I evaded this attack and let it pass, Dalmore and Yumir retreated and avoided it, and Gaspar crouched down and evaded it.

But Eo could not do so.

Holding the hastily picked up sword, Eo tried to let the attack pass, but her injured leg didn’t seem to move properly, and she couldn’t deflect the force, getting flung away with a thud.

An opening in the encirclement.

Apparently convinced that this was his only chance to escape, the fellow tried to flee, even at the cost of taking damage.

“Tch!”

I wanted to chase after him, but unfortunately there were enemy soldiers where Eo had been flung, so I ran to protect Eo. A dagger thrown by Yumir struck the fellow’s back, but it was not a fatal wound.

But the experienced Gaspar did not let the fellow escape.

The tenacity to never let go of a target he has once bitten.

The reason he had crouched to evade the halberd swing was also because he had read the fellow’s desire to escape.

Lowering his stance and bringing down his greatsword, he then burst upwards with the momentum, swinging the sword upwards.

“Did you think you could escape from me! Uraaaaat!”

Bang! Screech! A severed arm. The right arm holding the halberd had been cut off.

Claus didn’t even have a chance to groan in pain as he continued to run.

“Hahaha hahaha haha! That’s it, keep running! Run away! Disgracefully! Dirtily! Even discard your pride as the strong! I can’t stand it. This is exactly what I wanted!!”

His face was already steeped in madness.

Seemingly having lost his mind, he chased after Claus, laughing madly without even caring that Yumir was watching.

Mad dog Gaspar. I was reminded of that nickname again.

If it weren’t for the special circumstances of him being Yumir’s father, could I have tamed him, I wondered.

“That damned bastard…!”

Feeling threatened by Gaspar, who had chased him to a close range, Claus grabbed the sword that had been rolling on the ground and swung it back.

Although it was not his main hand, the attack was imbued with a lot of aura, so Gaspar could not ignore it.

“Oof!?”

Bang! Gaspar’s greatsword was deflected and flew away, unable to withstand the force.

Claus, seeming to take it as a chance, swung the sword again to try to kill Gaspar.

“You one-armed fool, you’re no match for me!”

Gaspar barely evaded the sword strike and tried to tear Claus’ neck with the sharp nails of his right hand.

As a one-armed person, Claus had difficulty blocking this attack. Scratch! His neck was cut, but not deeply.

Gaspar then tried to aim for Claus’ eyes with the nails of his left hand.

Whoosh! Claus barely avoided it by turning his head to the side.

And that was the moment.

“…!?”

Screech! A spear crosses between Gaspar and Claus.

It was Cassius, who had finally broken through the defense line of the soldiers and charged in. Having thrown the spear to block Gaspar’s further attack, he rushed in with a grim expression.

“Oh my! A dangerous fellow has appeared.”

Gaspar retreated without hesitation.

The intruding Cassius alternately looked at Rina’s corpse and the betrayer Dalmore, then gritted his teeth.

“You bastards…! I will never forgive you!”

Claus held back Cassius.

“Now is the time to retreat, Cassius! Tena! You retreat too!”

Retreating under the escort of the officers, the half-conscious Tena wailed.

“Cassius! My sister, my sister…!!”

Cassius glared at Aggert, Tena’s opponent, as if to kill him, but Aggert just awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

At that moment, a cry was heard from the left side.

Dorofei had received reinforcements from the center and come to the rescue. 

Claus shouted. “We have to get out of here quickly! If we linger any longer, we’ll be slaughtered! For the sake of avenging Riserl and Rina, let’s go!”

“Sir Claus…! Understood! Everyone, retreat!”

The army of Bülang begins to retreat.

They had scored a major victory by killing the 4th General Feradin, who had attacked our right wing, but suffered the loss of the officers Rina and Riserl.

The objective damage situation is even.

Cassius and Tena glare at me, the commander, with smoldering eyes.

Claus, representing them, growls.

“I will definitely pay back this debt. I am Claus Eivgeight! I will never forget your faces, not even in my dreams!”

Even though he had lost his right arm, his fighting spirit was not extinguished. I instinctively felt that this man would appear before me again someday, and he would become my greatest rival.

“By the way.” It was Gaspar.

He tilts his head and says, “Have I ever said I would let you live?”

“…What?”

I was heading towards Gaspar to support him, and I saw that something transparent was connected to his hand. And it was connected to Claus’ neck.

It was a multipurpose thin line commonly used by mercenaries. It is used for fishing line or to quickly suture wounds. Thicker than a thread but thinner than a cord, a transparent line.

I’ve heard that its strength is quite strong and it is not easily broken by ordinary force.

Of course, even though it is strong enough, it is not strong enough to kill a person. Even if you attack someone with it, it would only cut the skin, not sever the bone and muscle.

However, Gaspar seemed to have a special knack for handling this line. The aura that Gaspar had spilled was flowing through the transparent line.

Due to the light of this aura, the previously transparent line gradually revealed itself.

The other party did not notice the unease due to the wound on his neck, but when the aura flowed, he finally noticed.

“What!?”

He quickly brought his hand to his neck, but Gaspar was faster.

“Farewell.”

Gaspar tightly gripped his palm and spread his arms wide, as if tearing the line.

Scratch! The line cuts through the neck, severing the entire neck except the cervical vertebrae, cutting through the skin and muscles.

“Kkuhhhhh…!”

Claus died, spitting blood foam.

“Aaaaaaaaaa–!!”

Witnessing this at close range, the half-conscious Tena let out a scream and fainted.

Cassius also stared blankly at Claus’ collapsing body.

“Hahaha haha ha!” The raving Gaspar.

“Did you think I would let go of the one I’ve bitten once? Hmph?”

The soldiers of Bülang were overwhelmed by Gaspar’s madness. Some were even trembling and peeing their pants.

The fear that tramples on courage. Gaspar bestowed that upon his enemies.

I feel like I’m suddenly the antagonist here. No, am I really the antagonist?

Eventually, Cassius shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“You…! You are evil spirits! Evils that should not exist in this world!”

This was a symbolic statement for me. The protagonist’s declaration of enmity. The moment the main villain was defined – Me.

“Justice will judge you! I will judge you!”

I had planned to remain silent, but this sheer hypocrisy was unbearable.

Without realizing it, I snapped at the protagonist.

“What, this guy was just a fool.”

“What did you say…?”

“Just because a few of your friends died, you talk about judgment? Justice? Don’t make me laugh. If you were really like that, why didn’t you say the same when the soldiers died? The deaths of complete strangers are fine, but the deaths of your friends are not? There is no justice in war to begin with. Everyone is just pursuing their own interests. How can there be such simple justice? So instead of that nonsense, just say it plainly. You want to take revenge.”

“Tsk…!”

“Furthermore… It was you who invaded, right? You, who have been carrying out guerrilla operations and pillaging civilians in the past few days, have the audacity to talk about justice?”

It seemed to hit the mark, as Cassius could not retort.

He gritted his teeth, glared at me for a moment, then turned his body.

“…Retreat!”

The retreating Cassius.

And so the first confrontation with the protagonist came to an end.

Due to the attack by Cassius, the command of the right wing fell to me after General Feradin was attacked. 

“Brother Ferge, please lead the infantry and set up a defensive formation in a line.”

“Understood.”

After the infantry of Brother Ferge set up the defensive formation, they collected the wounded soldiers.

If the central army had pushed in deeply, we would have had to force our way into the enemy lines as well, but since it was originally a demonstrative attack, General Altior was not being reckless.

Thanks to that, we were able to have the leisure to collect the wounded.

“Eo, come here.”

“Huh? Yes!”

Since Eo was limping to come to me, I went directly to her.

I sat Eo down on a nearby rock and checked the wound on her leg.

“The wound is quite deep.”

“This much is fine! I can still do it!”

“What a foolish thing to say.”

I received first aid supplies from the medic and treated her directly. The effect of healing magic may be miraculous, but there are limits to it.

If the timing of the treatment is delayed or if emergency treatment is not done in time, cases may arise where healing becomes impossible.

We had to manage the wound until she could receive treatment from the priest.

I carefully wiped around the wound and wrapped it with an alcohol-disinfected bandage.

At that time, Eo, who had been wearing a sullen expression the whole time, spoke softly.

“… Are you disappointed in me?”

“Huh?”

“If it had been Ilya or Anton, this wouldn’t have happened, don’t you think?”

“No, I’m not disappointed in you. But I do think you were a bit careless.”

I didn’t prepare for the appearance of a strong person like Claus.

If I had been more thorough, I would have definitely brought either Master Ilya or Anton.

To put it nicely, I trusted the other vassals too much, and to put it negatively, the pool of talents is still shallow.

What Eo was trying to say was the former. She thought she had burdened me with her lack of ability.

“I… Will become stronger. Even more than Ilya or Anton. I will soon become the best for Ars. In command, and in battle! So please don’t give up on me…”[1]

“What are you talking about? I’m not disappointed in anyone. And as I’ve said before, your enthusiasm is going in the wrong direction. I’d rather you take it easy a little more.”

“But…”

“Alright, that’s enough. We’ll talk about the rest next time. Dorofei! Please move the wounded soldiers to the rear.”

I also sent Eo to the rear so that she could receive treatment.

And when I had a moment of leisure…

That man approached.

Dalmore Sting. He spoke while looking around cautiously.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Wade. I’m Bowell, the 16th officer of the special forces.”

“…How did you know about my identity?”

“There was a message from Lord Juras. He said that only you and he knew the final password.”

Bowell must have been surprised as well.

The general of Calliper suddenly shouted the final password, out of the blue.

“And Juras said that if Wade uses that password, I should not hesitate to carry out the final mission.”

It was easy to guess what that final mission was.

To betray the protagonist’s party. The best-case scenario might have been to kill protagonist Cassius and Prince Eldric.

“Doesn’t that mean the mission is ruined because of me?”

“It may be so, but Lord Juras probably anticipated this result to some extent when he told me your final password.”

“…”

If it was that Juras, it did seem plausible.

Bowell gave a faint smile.

“And thanks to that, I was also able to save my own life. So don’t think too hard about it.”

“Ah…”

If he had carried out the mission of assassinating the protagonist and Prince Eldric, he would have had a high chance of losing his own life as well. The chances of escaping after killing those two would not have been high.

Spies may seem heartless, but they are still human, after all.

Bowell was relieved to have saved his own life while carrying out the mission.

“What happens to you from now on?”

“I’ll return to the special forces and be assigned a new mission. Since spy missions are no longer possible, I’ll probably be shifted to intelligence work.”

“You’ve worked hard so far. … I’ll make sure to tell Juras properly.”

So that he doesn’t end up being abandoned.

Bowell seemed to understand the meaning of my words and left after expressing his gratitude.

 

Footnotes:

1] Best Girl!!!

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Schedule: Everyday

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