The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 236
Upon hearing the news, I hurriedly headed to the palace.
At the palace, Rosa was listening to the remaining report with a pale face.
The one reporting was the special operations commander under the prime minister, whose whereabouts had been unknown.
He was raising his voice.
“Rejoice, Your Majesty! We were able to cut off the breath of the Alliance that insulted the royal family just two days ago!”
“What… What exactly did you do!”
Rosa screamed. The special ops commander responded with incomprehension.
“We made the enemy pay the price. Your Majesty, they drove wedges between the princes and murdered the former king. Moreover, they tortured and killed prime minister Railand, one of the nation’s pillars. You know this better than anyone, don’t you?”
“That may be true, but…!”
“I admit our methods were extreme, but it’s also true that the Alliance committed such grave wrongs.”
He had a point. Not only did they cause discord between the princes, but killing the king was crossing a major line.
“May I ask a few questions?”
I said as I approached him. The special ops commander narrowed his eyes and muttered.
“You must be Wade… Godric told me about you.”
“Then this will go quickly. I have three questions. First, why did you disappear? If you knew Princess Rosa, who had the prime minister’s support, became queen, there was no need to cut contact.”
“…”
“Judging by your reaction, you thought she would stop the operation.”
“…That’s right. We couldn’t give up that operation. Prime minister Railand, who was like a benefactor to us, died at their hands. The determination to continue the mission was high among our members. Though we wanted to consult with Your Majesty, we prioritized avenging the prime minister.”
“Isn’t that disrespectful to Lady Rosa?”
“We hadn’t sworn loyalty yet at that time. Our lord then was prime minister Railand, who inherited the former king’s will. Not consulting Her Majesty doesn’t count as disrespect.”
“What a grandiose excuse.”
“…”
They simply didn’t want Rosa interfering. Having the operation canceled when it was already significantly underway would have been too great a loss.
“Let me ask another. When did prime minister Railand come up with this operation?”
“When we learned of House of Bradford’s treason.”
“…!”
“When we discovered that House of Bradford was planning to raid the magic stone storage under the Alliance’s instigation, the prime minister was furious to his core. He said the Alliance’s schemes had gone too far. That’s why he thought we needed insurance.”
“An eye for an eye, eh?”
“Yes, we couldn’t just keep taking hits. In the end, when Rinoa Bradford poisoned her parents and siblings, that matter was settled, but our operation wasn’t canceled.”
Then the origins of this incident could be traced back to Rinoa’s family.
“Lastly… Are you aware that our magic stone storage was recently raided by the enemy?”
“What!?”
Apparently not.
Then this turned out to be a perfectly timed counter-cross.
They were focused only on pushing the enemy’s nuclear button, unaware of their own danger.
“Whew! That’s all. Carry on.”
At that moment, Juras smoothly intervened.
“Ars, would you let me handle their disposition?”
“That’s not for me to permit.”
Both Juras and I turned our gazes to Rosa simultaneously.
Rosa hesitated for a moment, seemingly wary of Juras, but nodded after concluding there were no other suitable candidates.
“Very well. But make sure to bring me daily reports on the operation’s execution.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“What did you say?”
“Those reports will contain facts that would be hard for you to handle. If you keep taking each detail to heart… You’ll break down.”
“Kugh! Then I absolutely cannot permit this!”
“Let’s compromise then. I’ll report to Wade or Sophia instead. That should work, right?”
The suggestion was for me or Sophia to filter the reports appropriately.
Rosa looked between me and Sophia before reluctantly agreeing.
After Juras left with the special ops commander, Rosa shuddered as if her tension had finally released.
“Wade, can that person really be trusted?”
“From your position, it’s better not to trust him. However, whatever the case, he’s a big help in the current situation. It should be fine if you just maintain proper distance.”
“Sophia, what do you think?”
Sophia shrugged and expressed agreement.
“He’s absolutely an untrustworthy bastard, but as said, his abilities are certain. To the point where I feel sorry for the Alliance that will face him. If we leave things to him, we won’t have to worry about underground matters at all.”
“Hearing that makes me more worried.”
“Anyway, if Juras Pamilion decides to go berserk, no one can stop him. At most, Wade might be able to hold his reins. So leave him and the underworld matters to Wade, and Your Majesty should focus on planning for the future.”
“Yes… I’ll do that.”
The topic returned to the magic stone storage raid.
Sophia said the situation had actually improved.
“I hate to say this, but this incident has turned into a blessing in disguise for us.”
Originally, the Alliance’s goal was to seize the kingdom’s territories that had fallen into chaos due to the appearance of dungeons.
“But this incident has made that impossible. After all, the Alliance’s territory will be in chaos too.”
“But many more people are now in danger! Hundreds of thousands of innocent people will die!”
“That’s not our concern. It’s the Alliance’s problem to deal with.”
“But still…”
“Did we do it? They’re the ones who raided our magic stone storage. Right now, both sides are reaping what they sowed. So don’t worry about them, let’s focus on handling our own affairs. …Hmm? Rosa.”
Sophia stroked Rosa’s shoulder as if comforting her sister. Rosa nodded, seemingly reassured.
A peculiar bond seemed to have formed between the two.
* * *
Three months and two weeks until the turbulence.
While this was the minimum estimate and actual turbulence might occur later, they needed to prepare for the worst-case scenario now.
For this, they divided responsibilities among themselves.
My role was to organize forces for dungeon subjugation.
‘This is troublesome. The forces just aren’t coming together.’
The kingdom’s military power had huge gaps due to the recent war with Article.
Not only were elite forces lacking, but even lower-tier forces were insufficient.
‘Even if we somehow manage the elite forces…’
The problem was the lower-tier forces.
Casualties from dungeons occurred more frequently in numerous lower-level dungeons rather than fewer high-level ones, so we needed many lower-tier forces to deal with them.
If we could effectively handle just that, we could exponentially reduce the number of victims.
‘There’s no choice. We’ll have to use that method.’
I decided to utilize the currently suspended Academy.
With many nobles expelled due to the succession war, I decided to fill the empty spots with talented commoners.
The talents included not just magical aptitude but also fighting abilities, swordsmanship, and other martial arts.
This was a major reform.
Previously, commoners needed a noble’s recommendation to enter this Royal Academy, and even for martial arts admission, they needed to be at least capable of using aura.
When we announced that admission would be based solely on visible talent, applicants flooded in from everywhere.
Within just a week of the announcement, there were 100,000 applicants.
I planned to accept them all and began conducting interviews.
My vassals helped tremendously with this interview process.
“Huff! Huff! Ars, I’m done for.”
Ash, who served as a martial arts interviewer, was exhausted after a week.
He had interviewed 5,000 students during this period, so it was understandable.
Besides Ash, Master Ilya, Gaspar, Lucretia, and Elena all served as martial arts interviewers to screen students.
“You shouldn’t complain about something like this. Once the Academy starts, you’ll have to serve as a teacher too.”
“Phew! This is no joke. Well, given the situation, I guess there’s no choice.”
“Please bear with it.”
“…Right, I shouldn’t be complaining. The one who’s really having it tough must be Sophia.”
“Surprisingly, she seems fine with it.”
“That’s just on the surface.”
Ash gulped down some water and continued.
“By the way, how long are we going to hide this?”
“About the magic stone storage being raided?”
“Yeah, we can’t hide it forever, right? There are already ominous rumors spreading among citizens. They’re saying the end will come during the next period of turbulence.”
“Those rumors were spread by the Alliance.”
“What? Then it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out.”
“That was the plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“Things changed when the Alliance’s magic stone storage was also raided. They’re now busy keeping things quiet too.”
The situation had turned into both us and the Alliance working together to keep things under wraps.
“Sigh, I understand the circumstances but… The citizens have a right to know. From their perspective, it must seem like the higher-ups are acting on their own without considering them.”
Ash grumbled as he headed off to conduct afternoon interviews.
“The right to know…”
I wanted to tell the citizens too.
However, even if we told them the truth, it’s not like citizens could fend for themselves.
Some powerful groups would unilaterally dominate weaker ones and form factions. From the kingdom’s perspective, that would be rebellion.
Moreover, food distribution would become difficult immediately, leading to mass starvation even before the turbulence occurred.
We were trying to keep things quiet to avoid such situations at all costs.
Believing that even momentary peace was worth protecting.
“…Ah, I don’t know.”
Feeling troubled, I decided to dump the remaining work on Juras and head home.
* * *
The mansion I returned to after 3 days had a tense atmosphere in the air.
There was a reason for this. Eonia, who was pregnant with twins, suddenly went into labor 5 days ago.
It was about 8 months and 20 days – premature by a month from the due date, which made everyone more on edge.
“Oh my, Ars. You’re early.”
“Mother, how is Eo’s condition?”
“She’s stable now.”
“…”
Seeing my hardened expression, mother stroked my cheek and said, “Twins often come early, dear. So don’t worry too much. Only good things will happen from now on, so why do you look like that?”
Mother didn’t know about the upcoming turbulence. Neither did Eonia. I felt telling them would only have negative effects.
Seeing mother’s carefree smile somehow made my heart ache.
“Can I see Eo for a moment?”
“Hmm… That might be difficult now. She just fell asleep.”
“I see…”
“You should get some sleep too. You look tired.”
I decided to follow mother’s suggestion and get some rest. I needed to be by Eo’s side when her contractions got worse, so I decided to sleep now.
Having only caught brief naps over 3 days while working, my consciousness quickly fell into darkness.
A deep darkness without even fragments of dreams.
My consciousness began to stir when I heard crying.
“Waaah!”
“Waaah!”
Ear-piercing cries.
“Ugh… Yumir, could you comfort Ryuna…?”
Even so, it wasn’t like Ryuna’s usual crying.
While Ryuna cried a lot, it was only when others tried to hold her.
She rarely cried when Yumir or I held her. She was usually quiet even when alone in her cradle.
But now the crying sounds were loud enough to sound like stereo.
I tried to comfort Ryuna while still drowsy.
“Ugh… Ryuna, don’t cry. Mama will be here soon.”
But for some reason, those crying sounds kept getting closer to me. Eventually, they were right next to my ear.
“Huh!?”
I jumped up, startled, thinking I might be having a nightmare.
Before my eyes were mother, Bisketa, and Eonia.
In Eo’s arms were two bundles, from which the crying sounds were coming.
Eo smiled warmly and handed me the bundles.
“I’m sorry to wake you, but I really wanted to show you.”
In the bundles were two babies who looked just like me and Eo.
“E-Eo? What’s going on?”
“Actually…”
The situation was simple. She had worried that I would be overly concerned if she told me she was going into labor.
Not wanting to worry me when I was already busy with work, Eo had asked others in the mansion to keep it secret from me.
Mother spoke apologetically:
“I’m sorry. Actually, when you came to the mansion, she was already in severe labor.”
“Really… Even if I’m busy, something this important…”
Though I was a bit angry, I wasn’t in a position to complain since I also kept secrets.
“Anyway… You really worked hard, Eo.”
“Hehe, yes.”
Eo sat on my bed and gazed lovingly at the babies.
I could finally observe the babies carefully.
One had navy blue hair like Eonia, while the other had blonde hair like me.
Eo said, barely containing her smile, “The one with navy hair is a girl. She was born first, so she’s the older sister.”
“If she’s the sister… Then this blonde one is a boy.”
Ryuna, who had been in her nearby cradle, seemed to wake from the commotion and was gripping the rails, staring at us with wide eyes.
Her gaze was fixed on the babies who would be her siblings.
“Ars, what should we name them? I have some ideas…”
“For twin girls, wasn’t it going to be Erni and Cherni? And for boys, Ed and Ched?”
“So I was thinking Erni and Edward, what do you think?”
“Yes, I like that too.”
Erni Elaine and Edward Elaine. This was the moment the two children made their names known to the world.
“Though Cherni and Ched are nice names too. They’re good names.”
To my words, Eo declared confidently:
“Those will be for the third and fourth child!”
“Third and fourth?”
We talked about baby names for a while. Erina, who rushed to the room late, looked at the babies adoringly and gave me meaningful glances.
I tried to ignore those glances while saying to Eo, “Even so… I’ll be angry if you hide something like this again.”
“Ugh, you just seemed so busy, Ars… I’m sorry.”
I firmly resolved and told her, “Come to think of it, at least between family, it’s better not to keep secrets.”
“Yes, I’ll remember that.”
“In that spirit, I have something to confess too.”
“A confession?”
I explained about what was to come, not just to Eonia and mother, but to everyone in the mansion.
Furthermore, I decided to explain this fact to all citizens of the kingdom.
Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”
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