The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 235

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 235

“Calliper and Tunkai destroyed Beckavia? This seems too sudden even to me.”

“That’s absurd! Beckavia destroyed? And by Tunkai and Calliper!? Making up lies just because there’s no way to verify – this is unforgivable behavior!”

Sophia was in a half-crazed state.

I tried to calm her while asking, “As Princess Sophia says, this is hard to believe. How did this situation come about? Weren’t Beckavia and Calliper on friendly terms to begin with?”

“The relationship between Beckavia and Calliper was mediated through our Crossing. There weren’t any particular friendship clauses between Beckavia and Calliper.”

“Even so, this is hard to understand. I get that Tunkai was originally hostile to Beckavia, but why would Calliper…”

“It was because of me.”

“Because of you…?”

“Fundamentally, it’s also your fault, Ars. Think about it. You and your vassals disappeared without a trace from Crossing’s territory. What do you think people thought?”

“…No way.”

At that time, the war with the neutral kingdom Balas had ended and the political situation had temporarily entered a lull.

In that situation, if my vassals and I disappeared without a trace from Crossing’s territory?

It would be natural to think Juras had betrayed me.

“Really. No matter how many times I said it wasn’t true, no one believed me.”

“Well of course. You’re the type of person who would do such things without hesitation.”

“Heh, I won’t deny that. But Ars, you’re an exception. I could never eliminate you.”

“Why… Is that?”

My whole body tensed at his gaze, which was like looking at a beloved younger sibling.

In a sense, that wasn’t a misunderstanding.

“Ars, you came into this world thanks to me. When Crossing’s special forces were annihilating the Fensillon revival forces, if I hadn’t hidden you, you would have already been dead.”

“So what, you think of me as something like a son?”

“It’s not like that. I just want to see what kind of footprints the seed I capriciously planted will leave in history. So eliminating you is impossible. Understand?”

“Well, thanks for that.”

Sometimes I could feel something like affection from Juras.

It’s ridiculous, but he seems to think of me as something like a younger sibling he would give birth to.

Feeling a bit of a headache, I asked to return to the main topic.

Juras smirked and continued his story.

“Anyway, because of that incident, Calliper began to distrust us. King Gareth, who cherished you, was furious. While demanding clarification about your disappearance, he began moving behind the scenes to check us. That’s what led to the secret agreement with Tunkai.”

“Ah…!”

“Being in an alliance with us, it was difficult for Calliper to take actions that would harm us. While they could have broken the alliance, they knew well that if they started a war after breaking it, they would be the ones to perish. Especially since their generals’ capabilities were lacking and you had disappeared too.”

The invasion of Beckavia occurred in that context.

Sophia muttered blankly.

“S-so attacking our Beckavia was to indirectly weaken Crossing’s power? Because we were Crossing’s ally…?”

“Exactly right. Calliper took advantage of the fact that they didn’t have a direct alliance with Beckavia.”

The sequence was simple.

First, Tunkai, who had the secret agreement, mobilized troops to put pressure on Beckavia.

This caused Beckavia to concentrate troops in the west and call for reinforcements.

Then Calliper’s army, pretending to provide support, deployed troops but suddenly changed direction and captured Beckavia’s capital and palace.

“Afterward, friction arose between Calliper and Tunkai over territory distribution, leading to war between the two countries. That’s still ongoing.”

“This is…”

“When you look at it this way, isn’t national politics interesting?”

Everyone felt chills at Juras who was laughing as if nothing was wrong.

Sophia leaned back on the sofa as if her soul had left her body. Ash looked at her uncomfortably and pressed Juras, “What was Crossing doing during all this? You were Beckavia’s ally!”

“Oh? A prince of Tunkai defending Beckavia? How interesting.”

“Ugh…!”

“We found it difficult to move. There were suspicions that I had eliminated not only Ars but Princess Sophia as well. If we had preemptively moved troops toward Beckavia in that situation, our intentions would have been questioned.”

“That you would divert troops to swallow up Beckavia?”

“Exactly. That’s why Beckavia asked Calliper for reinforcements first. Not knowing it would be a shortcut to their destruction, hahaha.”

Silence fell.

The most shocking thing was that Juras hadn’t been involved in any of these events at all. He had only been misunderstood.

If anything, I was the one who had triggered everything.

“I-I’ll be leaving now.”

Sophia staggered out of the room. Ash fidgeted before following after her.

Afterwards, Mother asked about the family’s wellbeing.

“The Elaine family is still in Rainpol. Anton is protecting them. Is there anything else you’d like to ask? If not, I’d like everyone except Ars to leave. I want to discuss future matters with him alone.”

Everyone hesitated, seemingly not wanting to leave me alone with Juras, but when I gestured for them to leave, they reluctantly cleared out.

What we had to discuss was about this world.

Though I was concerned about the Magic Continent’s situation, as Juras said, there wasn’t much I could do about it.

Rather, dealing with the immediate issues was more important.

I explained everything that had happened recently to him.

“Pax, is it… Obviously an alias. That Viscount family must also be a disguise, or perhaps a carefully prepared device to eat away at the kingdom.”

“That’s probably right.”

“Hmm, even so, this is hard to follow. The world is facing catastrophe because magical stones disappeared…”

“Apparently there’s a precedent in the distant past. They say tens of thousands died back then too. And this time the scale is much larger.”

“Well, never mind about magic and monsters. You’re not asking me about that anyway.”

“…”

“You want me to deal with this Pax person, right?”

“Would that be possible?”

“That’s not the issue. This is something only I can do. Besides, Ars, it’s impossible for you.”

“It’s not exactly impossible. It’s just…”

“You’re afraid because you have too much to lose, right?”

“…!”

“You’ve already lost at that point. Having a lot to lose means having many weaknesses. That’s fatal in shadow warfare.”

Juras let out a light sigh.

“That’s why I kept telling you. Don’t get attached to vassals. Think of them as consumable items that can be replaced anytime.”

“I told you I’d do things my way, didn’t I?”

“That does suit you better. That’s why I said I’d handle the shadowy business. The same goes for this time.”

Juras put down his teacup and stood up from the sofa.

“Now that we have our objective, I’ll move right away.”

“Move? What exactly…”

“I plan to meet this Pax person directly.”

“…!?”

“In shadow warfare, the most important thing is not giving up momentum. If you’re pushed into a defensive position, you can’t do anything. In that sense, Ars, you were properly dominated. I’m going to reverse that.”

“How are you planning to meet him?”

“If you look for a way, you’ll find one quickly. The tea was good. Well then, see you later.”

Juras immediately springs into action.

Though I hate to admit it, he really did seem reliable.

* * *

When Juras left, the mansion had an atmosphere as if a typhoon had passed through.

Sophia sat on the living room sofa staring into space, while Ash was clenching his fists with a hardened expression.

Erina also couldn’t shake her dark expression after learning that the Duke Saleon’s family was closely involved in the series of events.

Feeling that everyone would be left with emotional scars if left alone, I decided to take responsibility.

“Sophia, I take full responsibility for this incident. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

“…”

Sophia glared at me with fierce eyes but soon shook her head.

“It’s not your responsibility.”

“But I was the catalyst for these events.”

“Even so. If a nation falls due to something like this, its fate of destruction was already inevitable… So Ash, don’t make that expression either. I’m fine.” Sophia let out her worries with a sigh. “I actually feel lighter.”

“What?”

“Because there’s nothing I can do right now. So even hearing about the destruction, I just think ‘so that’s how it happened’… Maybe I knew from the beginning that our nation had no future. I just didn’t want to admit it.”

If Sophia had been in the Magic Continent, she would have been running around trying to revive the nation. Because of her position.

The current situation where she could do nothing actually freed her from those shackles.

“Still, I feel unsettled. I want to drink and forget about it. Ash, will you join me for a bit?”

“Of course. I’ll take you to a quiet regular spot.”

The two left the mansion casually.

‘Doesn’t seem like they’re holding onto it.’

Though it might be inappropriate to say this now, this incident seemed to have brought Sophia even closer to being my vassal.

“Phew! I guess we can breathe a bit easier now.”

Juras will handle the power struggles. Finding ways to travel between the two continents also gained momentum with the arrival of Juras, who had researched transfer magic circles.

What remains is preparing for the upheaval four months later.

Since I didn’t know much about that part either, I needed more information.

‘I need information about the dungeons.’

Especially information about the most vicious dungeons Ash mentioned.

I was about to go to the academy to learn about them.

“Young master.”

“Yes?”

Yumir came down with Ryuna, whom she had taken to the cradle upstairs.

Ryuna was frowning despite being held in Yumir’s arms. I thought she might be hungry, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I’ve been holding her all day. She seems to miss her father’s arms. Would you like to hold her?”

“Haha, surely.”

When I reached out my hands, Ryuna eagerly came into my arms.

“Did you really miss my embrace?”

But soon a foul smell wafted up. At the same time, Ryuna’s expression became one of heavenly comfort.

“Whoa! Ryuna, you…!”

“Uu…”

Ryuna relieving herself comfortably.

It seems she had been holding it in, waiting for me to change her diaper.

I’m not sure if this counts as being smart, but thinking that she was relying on her dad made me feel secretly proud.

After changing her diaper, Ryuna laughed happily, seeming refreshed.

Seeing this made me worried.

“Yumir, before the upheaval begins, take Ryuna and go to the North Continent. The Alliance territory should be safe.”

“…I refuse.”

“Huh?”

It was the first time Yumir had refused my orders, so I was momentarily surprised.

“Neither I nor this child wants that. Even if bad things happen, we’ll stay by your side, young master.”

“I understand how you feel, but…”

I decided to try persuading her anyway. It was hard to predict how dangerous the kingdom would become.

It was better to send non-combat personnel to Alliance territory if possible.

However, I would soon learn that even this was meaningless.

Because that news arrived a few days later.

It was about the revenge of the Prime Minister Railand, which had been veiled until now.

The blade of revenge that the Prime Minister Railand had been preparing to pay back the Alliance, who had instigated the assassination of the previous king and manipulated the princes.

The revenge plan that he was confident would overturn the Alliance was none other than this.

It was the raid on the Alliance’s magic stone storage.

Just as the opponent tried to press our nuclear button, the Prime Minister Railand also tried to press their nuclear button.

With the success of this raid, the magic stones stored by the Alliance also vanished.

As the dungeons that both forces had gathered over hundreds of years were released, not only the territory of the Ellan Kingdom but also the Alliance territory became danger zones.

Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”

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