The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 21.
The assembly point was the large city of Karten, located in the western part of Crossing. Currently, Karten was gathering 100,000 regular troops along with all the core military officers of Crossing.
I set out on a journey to Karten, renting a two-horse carriage.
The estimated travel time was about 2 to 3 days.
Thinking the carriage life would be boring, I brought books worth reading about this war, but I didn’t have time to read them.
That’s because I had to learn horseback riding.
“Unlike the battlefield of the Callipher Kingdom, where it’s difficult to use horseback riding due to geographical conditions, horseback cavalry will be actively used in this war. Ars, you probably won’t be leading cavalry charges yourself… But in Crossing, officers are required to be issued military horses.”
I had ridden a horse before, but I couldn’t remember proper galloping.
The Callipher Kingdom tended to neglect cavalry, so I hadn’t received related training.
My master brought a horse she had prepared separately from the carriage.
“Are you going to teach me, Master?”
“No, there’s someone more qualified than me.”
The person my master pointed to was Eonia.
‘Come to think of it….’
In the game, Eonia’s class was cavalry. Specifically, the special ‘White Horse’ unit.
Well, the White Horse unit wasn’t particularly superior to other cavalry units in performance, but it was well-received as a character skin.
“Then, lord Ars. If I may, I’ll proceed with the instruction.”
“Yes, please.”
“…”
“Eonia?”
“Um… If possible, could you speak to me less formally? It feels strange to receive such respect from my lord…. You can just call me Eo comfortably.”
Since she wouldn’t listen even if I said we weren’t in a master-servant relationship, I decided to go along with her wishes.
“Alright. Then let’s begin, Eo.”
“Yes!”
She set the final goal as reading a book while riding a horse.
“We’ll aim to read all the books you brought before we arrive.”
“Isn’t that too harsh?”
I had brought a total of five books. It would take about 6 hours of reading per day to finish them all before arrival.
“It won’t be difficult once you get the hang of handling the horse.”
“The trick, you mean…”
“It’s simple. Horses are intelligent creatures that can think and act on their own. If you can grasp this meaning, you’ll be able to do it soon.”
Horses can think for themselves too.
As she said, that was the key.
Even without me doing anything particular, the horse judges and moves on its own.
The rider just sets the direction.
Only after realizing this could I relax, entrust my body, and read books.
By the second day, I could doze off while mounted on the horse, and later I could sleep comfortably on horseback.
On the dawn of the third and final day.
“…He’s an amazing person.”
Such a voice reached my half-asleep ears.
It seemed Eo and my master were talking inside the carriage.
“I didn’t expect him to be able to handle a horse this quickly. I thought he’d read at most three books, but he’s already finished the fifth one!?” Eo was chattering excitedly.
“Haha, I understand you’re happy, but lower your voice. You might wake up Ars.”
“Oh!”
Eonia carefully peeked through the carriage door in this direction.
I decided to pretend to be sleeping quietly.
Relieved, she started showering me with praise for a full hour.
‘Eo seems to have quite the tendency to flatter.’
She interprets everything about me positively without any duplicity.
However, a subordinate who only says pleasing things can become toxic.
‘Well, it should be fine for now.’
As I tried to ignore the shower of praise, our destination, Karten, gradually came into view.
***
Karten is essentially the capital city of Crossing.
Although the actual capital was Crosshorn on the eastern coast, due to Crossing’s characteristic of land becoming more barren towards the east, Karten, located at the western edge, actually had a larger population.
The population of this area was a whopping 800,000. It had the largest population among non-capital areas.
“So this is Karten… The area ruled by that Juras fellow…”
I had to wear a helmet from the moment I entered Karten.
And this was the same for Eo.
We decided to reveal her identity but not her face. This way, she could stay by my side even when I am Ars.
I thought Eo might find the helmet uncomfortable, but she seemed quite satisfied, even excited, about wearing a helmet paired with me.
Ignoring Karten’s famous attractions like the slave auction, gambling houses, and general market, I headed straight to the central military headquarters.
It seemed meetings were held 24 hours a day at the headquarters, as I was able to join in the middle of one.
“Mercenary Wade is entering!”
As I revealed myself, Juras’s face, which had been wearing a bored expression at the head seat, brightened up.
It was as if a long-awaited toy had arrived.
“You are welcome, Wade. I’ve been waiting.”
Besides Juras, other figures from Crossing’s military narrowed their eyes as if evaluating me.
Present were not only Juras, the 1st General and Commander-in-Chief, but also the 2nd General Creeper Nolak, 3rd General Patty Hurt, were also present.
Among them, Creeper Nolak, frowning as if something displeased him, said, “Commander-in-Chief. Are you sure about this? Is this really the one who defeated you?”
“Without a doubt.”
“It could be a ploy by the Millias family of Calliper.”
“Ignore that stupid group. Marquis Millias family has nothing to do with Mercenary Wade.”
“Then what about Ilya Anfei? Couldn’t they have set up an unrelated mercenary as a stand-in to get the reward?”
“Huh, that possibility, though slim, certainly exists. But what’s standing next to him is different. Nolak. You should know whose ‘aura’ that is.”[1]
Only then did Nolak seem to notice Eonia.
Eo was emitting killing intent towards Nolak, as if filled with hatred.
“This aura… Eonia Mirabel…!”
“It’s the same Eonia you personally fought when conquering the Kuravel Holy Kingdom. As long as she’s here, this man is indeed the Wade I know.”
“Uh, umm!”
All the Crossing’s figures were showing interest in me.
The core issue was one, what kind of skills did I possess to have defeated Juras?
I couldn’t help but sneer.
“Even so, isn’t it clear that you haven’t made a proper decision?”
“Are you saying my decision was wrong?”
“Of course. Entrusting command of the regular army to someone just because they won a simple chess match? I hate to say this, but are you in your right mind?”
At this, others reacted strongly, saying things like ‘You bastard!’ and ‘How dare a mere mercenary be so insolent!’.
Juras grinned and calmed them down. “He’s absolutely right.”
“What do you mean, he’s right?”
I thought he would surely bring up my defeat of Gillias Melbourn as a justification.
However, Juras lightly admitted it.
“It’s true that I decided to hire you solely because of that chess match. Objectively speaking, it’s not a sane decision. But all the insane decisions I’ve made so far have always produced the results I wanted. I’m confident this will be the same.”
“Hah… I’ve heard your sophistry well. So? What is this task you want to entrust me with?”
“I’d like you to take command of an army corps.”
As expected, he’s entrusting me with military command.
Wait a minute.
“What did you just say? An army…?”
“That’s right, this is the army you’ll be taking charge of.”
What Juras pointed to on the strategy map was a place where six soldier-shaped pieces were gathered, and also the reason why other military figures were looking at me with displeasure.
Juras Pamilion.
This madman was trying to entrust me with the overall command of a large army of 60,000 men.
***
At most, 1,000. Even if I joined with Master Ilya, I thought we’d command about 2-3,000. An army of 60,000 was far beyond my expectations.
Moreover, the operation given was insane.
If it was just about holding positions and maintaining the front line, it might not have been so difficult, but what Juras ordered was nothing less than an invasion.
“I want you to lead an army of 60,000 towards Carrington in the north. You’ll need to fight the Beckavia army there.
Crossing had deployed three armies to the front, Patty Hutt’s 60,000 strong army facing Alvard in the west, Juras’s 80,000 strong army facing the Alvard & Beckavia allied forces in the northwest, and Carrington’s 60,000 facing Beckavia in the north.
The Crossing Republic is waging war against two countries simultaneously.
Still, it wasn’t a complete 2-to-1 battle.
Crossing’s ally, Calliper, though not participating directly, had deployed troops to the front line border of Alvard, preventing the Kingdom of Alvard from concentrating its forces.
“Alvard will probably go on the defensive. They can’t be sure how the Calliper forces will move. So, there won’t be any clear results on the western and northwestern fronts.”
“Hmm.”
“That’s why, Wade. I’d like you to improve your record against Beckavia in Carrington.”
Carrington was Beckavia territory near the front line and a strategic stronghold.
If we could take it, we could immediately threaten Beckavia’s granary.
Naturally, Beckavia is desperate to defend it.
Their defensive force is 65,000, which is 5,000 more than ours. It’s all the troops Beckavia can mobilize.
“…Are you serious?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Are you seriously entrusting this task to me? You’re leaving a crucial phase that could determine the outcome of the war to a mercenary like me?”
“Of course, I’m serious. And I believe you’ll accomplish it splendidly.”
I couldn’t understand what basis he had for saying such things, but this madman truly believed it.
‘I can’t figure him out. He’s on a completely different level compared to Prince Eldric.’
I couldn’t understand why they wanted this war in the first place. What benefits could Crossing gain? It was all unclear.
Even in the game, Crossing was only described as a crazy kingdom waging war to capture slaves, without any detailed explanation of its inner workings.
‘If they had been recklessly waging wars for such reasons, they would have collapsed in an instant.’
However, both in the game and here, Crossing had one of the top three national powers on the continent.
This Three Lions War is the same.
In the game, this war was explained like this,
─The Crossing Republic declared war on the kingdoms of Alvard and Beckavia and won. Beckavia, having suffered great damage in this war, is on the path to destruction.
It’s good that Beckavia is destroyed.
But what happened after was the problem.
Crossing didn’t annex Beckavia but left it as it is, causing chaos.[2]
Thus, the main story of the game was about the protagonist later conquering the Beckavia region, and rising up to establishing the New Fensillon Kingdom.
‘If they had no intention of annexing the land, why did they declare war in the first place?’
There were many questions in various aspects.
“That’s all for the explanation of the operation. What will you do, Wade?”
“What if I give up and go back now?”
“I suppose someone might end up in a pitiful state.”
Is he referring to my master’s subordinates that he’s holding as leverage?
“Are you saying this knowing full well it’s an ineffective threat?”
“Hah, indeed? To tell you the truth, I’ve already sent back Ilya Anfei’s subordinates.”
“…!?”
“Once you were on your way here, I no longer had any use for them. The same goes for Ilya Anfei on your side. And Eonia Mirabel too. My interest is solely in you. Now, Wade. The constraints binding you are gone. What choice will you make? Tell me your own decision…!”
His eyes showed a glimpse of madness.
At the previous party, I told him to show me his caliber.
Juras is saying the same thing right now.
This is a dangerous and absurd task, but if completed, much can be gained.
Just the compensation alone would be enough to live comfortably for several years.
Should I choose to flatly reject this opportunity and give him a taste of his own medicine? Or should I seize the opportunity despite how disgusting it is?
Whatever choice I make, he aims to see me through it.
I made up my mind. “…If you promise a compensation of 40 million sillan and give 20 million as an advance payment, I’ll play along with you.”
The compensation doubled once again.
Juras replied with a chilling smile, raising both corners of his mouth.”We have a deal.”
Footnote:
1] The author here used 투기 which literally means intent or speculation, I used aura here cause it feels better to me.
2] Annex here means joining of the two kingdoms
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