The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 238
After finishing the hectic vacation with the babies.
I headed to Watts, a small city located at the border with the Alliance, along with Juras.
It seemed Juras had set up an appointment with Pax here.
“What if he doesn’t show up?”
“That won’t happen. Such behavior could be interpreted as showing fear. That person called Feis won’t want that. He won’t want to lose the initiative he’s gained.”
“Fe… What?”
“Feis Lancost. That’s his real name. The Viscount Pax family is just a cover. While I don’t know all the details about this disguise, in any case, he is a person from the Alliance.”
How much did he manage to find out in this short time?
Juras handed over a document. It contained information about the upper Alliance that Feis Lancost belonged to.
It was a place called ‘Realm’, one of the upper Alliance. This was the place that had manipulated Prince Paris and backstabbed the black mage group Article.
“You’ve found out quite a lot.”
I suddenly felt that Lucretia and the kingdom’s intelligence agents who hadn’t discovered anything in a month seemed incompetent, but I shouldn’t think that way.
This guy Juras is just frighteningly capable.
“After reviewing the confidential documents you retrieved from the underground market, it wasn’t difficult to follow the trail.”
“Yet those ‘not difficult’ things still haven’t been discovered by the kingdom’s intelligence agents…”
“That’s not so much about their incompetence as it is about your indifference.”
“Mine?”
“Well, if you had been interested and tried to find out, you would have discovered it somehow. But you didn’t. Because you instinctively avoid these kinds of suspicious matters.”
I had no words to refute that.
“Only when it started to affect your situation did you hurriedly try to find out, but by then it was too late. Getting scared by the opponent’s threats to kill your family, wondering whether to run away or not. Well, rather than indifference, we might as well call this pure incompetence, right?”
“Alright, alright, let’s stop talking about that.”
Although I had words to excuse myself, I decided to stop since this guy would just refute everything anyway.
The appointed time to meet Feis Lancost was now 10 minutes away. Along with it, the tension in the surroundings increased.
The guard forces that each side had brought were being positioned secretly.
Since this kind of gloomy tension was something even I was feeling for the first time, my mouth went dry. To hide that tension, I asked Juras.
“What are you going to talk about with him?”
“That depends on what he has to say. Leave it to me and just watch.”
“…What’s that leather bag?”
It was a thick leather bag. The size looked suitable for Santa Claus to carry around. The bag was full of lumpy objects.
Juras smiled eerily.
“It’s a present.”
“A present…?”
That’s when it happened.
Thump, thump! A man walking toward the meeting place. He had guards on both sides, and I recognized their faces.
‘Cuthbert!’
The other one also seemed to be one of the skilled participants from the royal succession battle.
‘I heard they ganged up on Elena and left her in critical condition.’
Since it took three of them to fight Elena alone, they probably weren’t top-tier fighters, but they would be overwhelming compared to ordinary people.
“Huh, Ars. Let’s go too.”
I walked to the meeting place with Juras.
The opponent who arrived first observed us with sharp eyes.
Their gaze was fixed on Juras, the new face, rather than me.
Juras responded to this with a smile.
As both sides faced each other, the opponent spoke first.
“I didn’t expect you would be the one wanting to meet, Wade.”
“Well, our previous conversation didn’t seem to end satisfactorily.”
“Not satisfactory? What, are you saying you have more to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“Huh, I’ll listen. Though if you’re here to beg for your life now, it’s too late.”
Since it was Juras who had something to say rather than me, he stepped forward.
“So you’re Feis Lancost. Indeed, you’re that type.”
“Who are you? Stay out of this, small fry.”
Though he called him a small fry, Feis’s expression hardened as if he could sense Juras’s unique intimidating presence.
“…Who are you?”
“I’m called Juras Pamilion.”
“I see. So you’re the king’s close aide who suddenly appeared when that woman Sophia was appointed as prime minister. What are you? Are you Wade’s servant or something?”
“Me, his servant? Huh, hahaha!” Juras burst into laughter as if he found that extremely amusing. “In some sense, that might be correct. He is the first person who has made me devote myself to someone. That was quite amusing. Very amusing indeed, Feis Lancost!”
“What’s with this lunatic?”
After letting out a dry laugh for a while, Juras spoke to him with the same smiling expression.
“I heard you said you’d make Wade despair. That you’d take everything from him?”
“So what about it?”
“Not a bad threat. If things had continued that way, it might have gone as you planned. Even if you couldn’t kill Wade himself, you would have succeeded in giving him irreversible frustration. That would have been a result you could call your victory.”
“Are you saying things are different now?”
“Yes, unfortunately for you, he’s under my protection. If you want to die peacefully, back off now.”
“Ha! Hahaha! I wondered what you were going to say, but you’re just here to bluff! Hahaha!”
Feis was mocking me.
“You must have been quite scared! Do you think I don’t see through your plan to hide behind a decoy!”
“That’s a natural assumption. But he’s not a decoy. He’s now the main player.”
“What?”
“I’ve entrusted all matters of underground conflicts to this person called Juras. So I won’t worry about you anymore.”
“You’re saying you’ll entrust your life to someone else?”
“While you could put it that way… There’s a good expression ‘the right person for the right job‘, isn’t there? I’d prefer you use that expression.”
“Pfft! I thought you were somewhat capable, but I guess I was mistaken.”
“Say that after you defeat this guy.”
Convinced that I was serious, Feis’s interest turned to Juras.
He smiled sinisterly and threatened. “You said you’re Juras Pamilion? You’ve meddled unnecessarily. I’ll give you hell-like despair too. I’ll make you beg me to end your suffering.”
“Sigh…”
“What?”
“Aren’t there any more original expressions? This makes you no different from the small fry who’ve challenged me so far. It’s always the same. They say they’ll make me kneel before them, make me beg, but in the end, they’re the ones begging me. Pleading for forgiveness, admitting they misjudged their opponent. I really hope you won’t be like that… But seeing how you talk, I’m not expecting much.”
“Y-You’re quite talkative.”
“I’ve lost interest. Just die now.”
“…What?”
Snap! When Juras snapped his fingers, there was a rustling sound and a figure leaped out near Feis.
“Enemy of the prime minister! Pay with your life!”
That was supposed to be a position where the opponent’s guards were stationed.
Yet an assassin jumped out from there.
However, they couldn’t kill Feis. Instead, the assassin lost their life to Cuthbert, who was protecting him.
The assassin died with their body torn apart, spraying blood everywhere.
Cuthbert, who killed him, was rather confused.
“W-What? He didn’t use teleportation scroll.”
With teleportation scroll, one could survive no matter what. However, Juras disposed of him like a consumable item, as if such things weren’t necessary.
This sends one message to the opponent.
Using someone as a disposable item means there might be more proper assassins nearby.
“Hey! Wait… This is our Alliance member!”
Cuttbert removed his mask. His companion shouts in shock.
“Flix was a puppet of the kingdom…!?”
Amidst their agitation, Feis shouts angrily.
“Calm down! This is such a shallow tactic! I’ve been suspicious of Flix for a while now! So don’t get rattled!”
Though saying this, he seemed to be the most flustered of all.
That person called Flix was probably a special operative planted by the prime minister. Given that he came here as a guard, he must have been one of the key infiltrators in the inner circle.
Juras just threw that out as bait. Even Feis was thrown off by this dramatic action.
Juras lets out a deep sigh watching his reaction.
“Oh my, showing such an obvious reaction makes me lose motivation. Please act more composed, as if you had anticipated this much. Hmm? Feis Lancost!”
“You…!”
The initiative was already in Juras’s hands. Feis, seemingly displeased by this, speaks with anger.
“Do you think you people are safe? Who do you think attacked the magic stone storage deep in the palace? If you think the palace where you’re staying is safe…”
“Here’s a gift.”
Whoosh! Juras interrupts him and throws the leather bag that was on the floor.
Thinking it might be explosives, Cuthbert cuts the flying bag in half with his greatsword.
Then the lumpy objects contained in the bag scattered.
They were human heads.
“Th-these are…?”
Juras spoke calmly.
“First Guard Officer Malik Dion, First Guard Member Tysin Fiddle. Fifth Chamberlain Denil Olson, Sixth Head Maid Aurora Feed, Reception Maid Judy, Guest Room Maid…”
As the naming continued, Feis’s expression hardened.
Finally, sixteen names. When the count matched the number of heads, Juras speaks.
“Go ahead and say there are more.”
“…”
Feis is speechless. Juras strongly urges. “Say there are more, come on…!”
“Wh-what nonsense!”
“Please say there are more! If this is all the spies you’ve infiltrated into the palace, it’s no fun! Please tell me Guard Captain Lucretia Akasha is a spy! Tell me King Rosa was a puppet of the Alliance!”
“Y-you madman…!” Feis was completely overwhelmed by real madness.
Cuthbert and his companion were also staring at Juras with disgust.
Juras looked at the other two, losing interest in Feis. “Can you two entertain me?”
Cuthbert answers boldly.
“Ha, hah! If you’re looking for a fight, I’m willing to oblige.”
“A mere grunt dares to say they’ll match me?”
Juras released his aura.
Faced with that dark and ominous aura, that overwhelming amount of aura, Cuthbert and his companion lose their fighting spirit.
“Ah…!”
“This impossible weapon spell is…”
Despite appearances, Juras was at the pinnacle of martial arts.
Neither Elena nor Master Ilya could match him. Only Anton could be his equal.
“L-Lord Feis, I think we should retreat for now. There’s no point in continuing this conversation.”
The momentum was completely on our side.
The opponents who had been treating this lightly just to mock me had no weapons to counter Juras’s wickedness.
As the opposing group disappears like they’re fleeing.
Juras watches their retreating figures and mutters to me. “Ars, do you know what constitutes a surrender declaration in shadow warfare?”
“…A surrender declaration?”
“It exists in chess too, doesn’t it? Calling your opponent underhanded is acknowledging that your own skills are inferior.”
That’s true. Being underhanded is actually being skilled. That’s what ability is.
Then what would be an indirect surrender declaration in shadow warfare?
“It’s simple. It’s acknowledging that your opponent is more insane than you.”
“Huh.”
Earlier, Feis had shouted at Juras. Called him a madman.
To Juras, that felt like a declaration of surrender.
I couldn’t help but say.
“But you really are insane. The opponent was just stating a fact?”
“Heh, I’m just pretending. I’m normal. If anything, you’re the abnormal one.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
To say that I’m more abnormal than this guy.
This was the most unfunny and creepy joke I’d ever heard.
Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”
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