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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 16.
That face is of the protagonist Cassius Lloyd that I remembered. There was a slight difference from the illustration, but it was undoubtedly him.
He was dressed shabbily and had heavy shackles on.
‘Strange. Why has Cassius become a slave?’
Of course, I didn’t know much about the protagonist’s past either.
As is often the case with ordinary games, protagonists are usually left bland so that players can easily put themselves in their shoes.
In Athena War Tales as well, there wasn’t much information revealed about the protagonist apart from the polished illustrations.
‘Was the protagonist originally a slave?’
If so, there is something odd.
In the game, the protagonist held a noble status as the third son of the marquis Lloyd family.
This marquis Lloyd family was an influential noble house of the southern power, the Bulang Alliance.
‘The pedigree itself matches up.’
It wouldn’t be strange if the slave protagonist was soon sold and adopted into the marquis Lloyd family.
His hostile attitude toward the Crossing Republic could also be understood if he had been enslaved in Crossing.
‘But…’
There was one crucial part I couldn’t understand.
In the game, the protagonist didn’t know Juras Pamilion.
He spoke as if meeting him for the first time during their encounter event.
‘Perhaps the story has already changed somewhere.’
Feeling such confusion, I was in a slight panic.
Meanwhile, Juras was introducing the slaves one by one, enjoying the reactions of the Calliper nobles.
As he had said, the slaves were of superior quality.
Renowned warriors, outstandingly beautiful women and men, and even people with special skills like cooking or architecture.
“For the nobles of the Calliper Kingdom, which has no slave system, this will become a relief effort. By paying me a fee, you can rescue these people. If you change your perspective, doesn’t your thinking change as well?”
The eloquent Juras. Already, it wasn’t just one or two nobles who had been swayed.
If purchasing slaves by paying money is dressed up as a relief effort, it becomes an honorable act instead.
The wavering nobles. Seeing this, the Duke Regnant Hellian took the lead first.
“Indeed, I suppose we can think of it as a relief effort.”
“A sensible person, I see.”
Juras grinned slyly.
To him, Hellian coldly declared, “Then I shall provide relief for all of them. I’ll pay whatever amount you want. So… Once your business is concluded here, you scum should disappear from this place.”
“…Oho.”
As expected of an O-tier inner circle member. He boldly slammed Juras down.
He didn’t lose an inch of his fighting spirit even against Juras.
“Why do you think I cannot afford to pay that much?”
“Of course not. The Hellian Duchy of Calliper is also famous as a prominent merchant family, is it not? You should be able to cover such a cost. However, there are slaves here who cannot be bought with just money.”
“What?”
Juras then pointed at the protagonist Cassius and a woman whose entire body was burned beyond recognition.
“These two are special among this group. Something other than money is needed. First, about this man, he is closely related to the fallen Fensillon Imperial Family of the past. I cannot reveal the specifics now, but I can assure you he is a person of great interest.”
That was true. The protagonist was set up as the last remaining descendant of the Fensillon Imperial Family.
“And this. Do not be surprised by this ghastly thing. This is Eonia Mirabel, the last Valkyrie of the Holy Kingdom of Kuravel.”
At this, the banquet hall became abuzz with commotion.
While Cassius’ case wasn’t that significant since the Fensillon Empire was a fallen nation from 30 years ago anyway, Kuravel is different.
The Holy Kingdom of Kuravel was a kingdom with a unique faith that fell to Crossing just a year ago.
The term Valkyrie referred to the commander of the royal guards in Kuravel, whose martial arts were said to be elegant yet sharp, passed down by a single line of succession.
“That thing is Eonia Mirabel…? Are we to believe that claim?”
“Of course no one will believe it looking at this pathetic state. It’s troublesome for us as well. She threw herself into the flames to preserve her chastity and self-mutilated like this. But do not worry. With steady treatment, she can regain her originally outstanding appearance.”
“It would truly be laughable if she is not actually Eonia Mirabel.”
“I swear on the name of Juras Pamilion, on the honor of the Crossing Republic, that this is the last Valkyrie Eonia.”
“…So? What is the method to provide relief for those two?”
If it is Eonia Mirabel, she would be a considerable asset for Calliper as well.
She may not have the capabilities of a general since she was a royal guard, but her personal protection skills were assured. Having thrown herself into the flames out of hostility toward Crossing, the possibility of her being a spy was low.
As such, many nobles were eyeing Eonia.
Enjoying this atmosphere, Juras grinned slyly.
“The method is simple.”
However, the method to purchase these two, the protagonist and Eonia, was anything but simple, contrary to his words.
“If you can defeat me, Juras Pamilion, in anything, I will give these two to you without any cost.”
***
The arrogant condition proposed by Juras.
“It can be martial arts, a debate on any topic, anything is fine. Try to make me concede. If you do, then you can take them with you.”
However, there was no one willing to step forward. The current Ten Heroes held such immense prestige.
Any challenger would be naive fools ignorant of the state of the world.
“I’ll do it.”
The one who boldly stepped forward was that Casper fellow.
Juras looked at Casper with a chilling grin that stretched to his cheeks.
“The prodigy of Millias… The giraffe child of Calliper. How do you plan to make me concede?”
“Chess.”
“Chess, is it? Very well. Let’s prepare for a match right away.”
Since the outcome was obvious, I decided to ignore Casper and focus on restraining Master Ilya nearby.
“Calm down, Master!”
“Don’t stop me. This is something I must do.”
Her sudden reaction was simple.
“Ars, I had told you about it a year ago, remember?”
“You mean when you took a mercenary job from the Kuravel Kingdom and went to the battlefield?”
“Yes. Back then, I fought side-by-side with Eonia. It wasn’t a deep bond, but I cannot leave her to suffer such humiliation.”
If we’re talking about Eonia Mirabel, in the game she was an SSR-ranked character.
Her personal combat power was 93, putting her in the upper ranks, but perhaps due to her background in the royal guards, her skills in war were helplessly poor.
She was even just a side character uninvolved in the main story.
In the middle of the story’s progression, she appeared as a grotesquely armed enemy soldier from the Crossing army. If you didn’t see the hidden event to capture her, she would die soundlessly and never appear again.
Even if you captured and recruited her, her personal bond event only reminisced about her time as the captain of Kuravel’s guards, having no relation to the main story.
Perhaps future updates would give her a role, but that story is unknown to me, so it’s not my concern.
‘Come to think of it, there was a bond event with Master Ilya.’
A simple event where they sparred as acquaintances. After that event, through Valkyrie’s spear arts, Ilya gained an enlightenment and her combat power increased by 2, if I recall.
The spear arts passed down solely through single inheritance to Valkyries. I was interested in it, but…
“How do you plan to beat that guy?”
“There’s only one way. If it’s spear and sword, I can prepare right away. Even if I lose, I don’t care. This is a matter of my pride as a warrior.”
“I said calm down…!”
The reason I was so anxious was because of what happened in the game.
How she lost her left arm to one of the Ten Heroes.
‘Could this be when that happens?’
I couldn’t shake off that thought.
And for good reason, Juras Pamilion’s personal combat power in the game was a monstrous 98.
That was the tenth highest overall, making him a monster as both a scholar and a warrior.
Master Ilya might be able to put up a fight to some extent, but I couldn’t imagine her winning.
No matter how much I tried to dissuade her, she wouldn’t listen, so I had no choice but to resort to my final option.
“Eeh…! Alright, then I’ll do this. I’ll go instead.”
“You’ll go instead? What an odd thing to say, Ars. You don’t stand a chance.”
“It’s fine. I’m not planning to compete in martial arts anyway. More importantly, Master, do you have your old mercenary outfit? And a helmet too?”
“You can’t be…”
To protect my master, I had no choice.
The mercenary Wade had to appear.
While Casper drew everyone’s attention, I left the banquet hall wearing the mercenary clothes and gray helmet that concealed my face, which my master had given me.
Going to the palace party with my face concealed was an unheard of breach of etiquette, but now it seemed possible if I pushed through somehow.
Returning to the party hall in disguise, the results of the chess game were already out.
“You’re quite skilled. Truly worthy of being called the prodigy of Millias. The title giraffe of Calliper seems… A bit excessive though. Heh.”
“Creek!”
The situation on the chessboard was clear. Juras was mocking and thoroughly crushing Casper.
Casper seemed to have hit a wall, shaking uncontrollably as if possessed.
“Well, I shall take a brief leave!”
Before the situation turned completely hopeless, Casper fled. That was the only way to preserve some dignity.
“Unfortunately, I cannot take Eonia Mirabel with me. Who would like to challenge me next?”
The quiet party hall.
Just as he was about to withdraw, thinking it was over, I intentionally scratched my throat to disguise my voice as much as possible and spoke up.
“I will play.”
All eyes turned towards me.
Many frowned at the face-concealing helmet, but not Juras.
“Oho… That Ilya Anfei helmet. You must be the mercenary Wade who they say defeated Gillias Melbourn.”
Behind me, my master stood as if vouching for me.
My master glared dangerously at Juras.
“Hahah, Ilya Anfei…It’s been a while since I saw you on the battlefield a year ago. Did you practice?”
Chill! My master responded with a murderous glare.
Some of Juras’ men glared back menacingly, creating a tense atmosphere.
Juras immediately warned his subordinates.
“That’s enough, this is not that kind of place.”
“Ilya, stand down.”
When I firmly addressed her by name, my master seemed taken aback, blinking widely before nodding.
“So, mercenary Wade. What is your aim in challenging me?”
“Chess.”
“Hmm, chess? I’m sorry, but can’t we do something else? Scoring another mundane victory would just be boring for me and the audience.”
“Mundane victory…? It seems you haven’t seen the heavens above heavens.”
At the highest levels of chess, there is no such thing as a mundane victory.
Even ascended to the pinnacle, victory is never easily attained.
The heavens above heavens meaning artificial intelligence.
The world of moves demonstrated by AI was quite literally out of this world. At the very least, Juras had never experienced that barrier.
“I’ll let you experience that, heavens above heavens, albeit indirectly.”
“Heavens above heavens, you speak rather grandly for a mere mercenary. Very well, I’ll take your bait.”
“Let’s start as soon as the pieces are set.”
“Before that…Shouldn’t we set some conditions?”
“Conditions? That’s news to me. I didn’t hear any mention of conditions. Like the previous game.”
There were clearly no conditions set for the game against Casper.
“In the previous game, I gained plenty – the prestige of defeating the prodigy of Millias, giraffe of Calliper. But… What do I gain by defeating you? I never said there were conditions, but I never said there weren’t either. Am I wrong?”
“Tch.”
The situation was odd, but it didn’t matter.
“What do you want?”
“That’s the question. What could I possibly gain from a mere mercenary? Should I wager my left arm? If you lose, you’ll forfeit your left arm.”
“What…! You bastard…!”
I imagined my master losing a duel and having to give up her left arm.
Could it be that this is really how she lost her left arm in the original story?
“…Do as you wish. I’ll be the one winning anyway.”
“Confidence, I like it. Well, I don’t enjoy the sight of blood in a place like this either. So my condition is simple. If I win, you remove that helmet and reveal your face. I’ll expose the true identity of the mercenary Wade to the world.”
From my perspective, that was also a risky proposition, but I accepted it.
“If the preamble is over, let’s start quickly.”[1]
“So impatient. Will you take white?”
“You take it. In case you lose with black and make excuses, it would be troublesome.”
“We’ll see where this confidence of yours comes from. Then I shall make the first move.”
I calmed the rising blood in my head and looked at the chessboard.
My concentration was at its peak.
I was determined to utterly crush him.
Footnotes:
1] Preamble means statements made before the event.
TL NOTE:
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Locked the fucked in
In my books, preambles just means yapping