The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 241
Rosa’s decision to not announce the truth about the turbulence.
She rejected my proposal and chose a different path.
I headed to the audience chamber to question Rosa.
“While I’ll respect your choice, I’d like to hear the reasoning behind it.”
Rosa swallowed nervously before answering.
“I thought this would be the better direction.”
“In what way?”
“Sure, as you said, if we only embrace citizens who trust and follow the kingdom, we could strengthen unity. But too many people would be left defenseless. I want to embrace those people too, even those who refuse to trust the kingdom.”
“So you’re planning to blindfold all citizens for that?”
“If that’s what’s necessary. Besides, Wade, isn’t this what you were going to do initially?”
“Well, that…”
As Rosa said, this was one of the possible approaches.
“And I’m not just doing this blindly, I’ve thought it through.”
Then Rosa presented several alternatives.
One of the key points was evacuation to the Lost Lands.
“I think the Lost Lands will actually become safer when the turbulence occurs.”
“That might be true. That place would remain the same even during the turbulence…”
“Exactly. So I think we could reduce casualties by evacuating many people from the Southern Continent there.”
“It would be ideal if it works… But that area is occupied by Article, a group of black mages. We’ll clash with them.”
“About that, apparently Sophia has found some compromise.”
“Sophia?”
“Yes, Sophia says Article wants to avoid further conflict too. So they won’t stop us from developing areas outside their territory.”
Article had no choice. Their protective dragon was already gone.
With their leader dead and core forces like Cuthbert deflecting to the Alliance, they were like tigers without teeth.
Knowing this, Sophia had convinced Article using carrot and stick tactics.
I nodded to Rosa.
“Again, it’s not bad if it works ideally. But it could end up being self-destructive.”
“What do you mean?”
“When the turbulence occurs, communication with the Southern Continent will inevitably be cut off. Those forces that evacuated to the Lost Lands will also break free from our influence. In that case, they’re highly likely to become puppet forces. If those puppet forces become rebel forces, all our efforts would have been wasted.”
“We’ll prevent that by putting a trustworthy person in charge! Like… One of your vassals!”
“No. I won’t make my vassals take such risks. And there’s no one particularly suitable.”
If Rutger or Olaf were here, I could have entrusted it to them, but otherwise it would be difficult.
Besides them, Sophia or Bisketa could become leaders, but they lack the military power to protect themselves, so they would need escorts. That means a larger investment of manpower.
I had no intention of making my vassals suffer by taking sole responsibility for that.
“Then how about Mr. Juras? I think he could handle it well.”
“Drop it. Giving him any more power might lead to regret.”
“Ugh…”
Rosa stamped her feet in frustration. But her determination seemed firm as she pushed forward with her idea.
“Alright! I’ll find a reliable leader to govern that place myself!”
“I hope you succeed.”
“I will succeed, so don’t worry.”
“…Then may I offer one piece of advice?”
“What advice?”
“You should execute the imprisoned princes immediately.”
“What!?”
“If one of the puppet forces rescues them and makes them their leader, your legitimacy could crumble. That could be fatal.”
“That’s not happening!”
Rosa firmly rejected. I wasn’t surprised as I had expected this.
Suddenly, I recalled Juras’s passing comment about her being a wise ruler who doesn’t know reality.
The type who would be a good ruler in peaceful times, but in turbulent times would make mistakes due to indecisiveness.
“Wade, trust me on this one. It will work out. So you focus on preparing for the dungeon conquest. If you have no other tasks, you can spend time with the babies or your lovers. You won’t have such time in the future.”
“…Thank you for your consideration.”
Since Rosa as queen had made her decision, it was out of my hands.
As she suggested, I decided to spend time with my family while preparing for the turbulence .
Despite the imminent threat looming over the world, our mansion was never short of laughter. This day was especially so. It was the day the twins had weaned from breastfeeding and started on solid food, and most importantly, the day Ryuna had completely taken her first steps.
Ryuna, struggling to get up, used all her might to stand without falling, and then walked towards me. “Daddy!” She seemed to have already learned some basic words.
Unable to contain the surge of emotion, I immediately scooped Ryuna up in a bear hug. Ryuna let out a giggle and then playfully slapped my arm, demanding, “Snack!”
“What? No snacks, you just had some.”
“Uuu…”
She struggled to break free, as if to say she had no other business with me.
“Oof!” The shock felt like a nail had pierced my heart. ‘Am I just the one who gives her snacks?’
It was true that I tended to be the one providing snacks, as Yumir preferred healthy foods over treats. So Ryuna might have come to see me as the ‘snack provider’.
Ryuna escaped my embrace and went to cuddle Eonia instead. Lately, Eonia had also been winning Ryuna’s favor by giving her lots of snacks. However, even Eonia seemed hesitant, having been warned by Yumir not to give out snacks too freely.
“Sorry, Ryuna, no snacks.”
Ryuna then demanded milk instead, whining loudly. Eonia gave a wry smile as she put her to the breast.
At this, mother remarked, exasperated, “I don’t know who she takes after with such a voracious appetite. She doesn’t seem to resemble Ars at all, and Yumir is rather dainty in her eating.”
“Haha, at least she’s eating, right? Erni and Edward worry me sometimes because they don’t eat enough.”
In contrast to her siblings, Ryuna would finish all her solid food and even her milk without leaving any behind. If there were no solids or snacks, she would persist and cling to Eonia’s breast.
At that moment, there was a knock and Elena appeared.
“Eonia, do you have a moment?”
“Ah, Teacher! What can I do for you?”
“If you’re free, would you like to spar? It’s time you start improving your physical condition. Leave the baby for a bit… Oh dear, Ryuna has latched onto your breast again. She’s been worse than the twins lately.”
“Haha…”
“Anyway, get ready and come out to the backyard, I’ll be waiting.”
As Eonia was about to hand the sleeping Ryuna over to me, mother offered to take her instead, seeing it as a good opportunity.
But the moment Ryuna was in grandmother’s arms, she suddenly snapped awake, her eyes wide open. She then started crying and desperately tried to break free.
“Ah! Okay, okay, I understand!” Mother quickly passed Ryuna back to me. Ryuna buried her face in my chest, whimpering.
Mother let out a deep sigh. “When will she stop being afraid of other people?”
“But at least she doesn’t cry just because someone is around now. She’ll keep getting better.”
After comforting my disappointed mother, I took Ryuna and was about to go for a walk, but then Erina and Estelle appeared.
“Please wait a moment, Sir Ars.”
“And Ryuna too!”
With determined expressions, they said, “Today, we will succeed in holding Ryuna.”
“So please cooperate with us, Sir Ars.”
The two seemed quite anxious. Now that they had succeeded with Eonia, they felt compelled to win Ryuna over as well.
They then led me and Ryuna to their room, which was filled with various items meant to win Ryuna’s affection.
Estelle was the first to step forward.
“Here, Ryuna. These snacks are really, really delicious!”
A clichéd but effective method. However, Ryuna glanced at the snacks and then looked up at me, indicating that she wanted me to take them instead.
So I took the snacks and handed them to her. Ryuna eagerly ate them up, not even sparing a glance for Estelle, who was left stunned.
“See, that didn’t work.”
Erina scolded Estelle, then suddenly started undressing.
I wondered if she was hallucinating that I wasn’t there, but that wasn’t the case.
“Heheh.”
Erina gave me a shy yet alluring smile, as if it was intentional. In her underwear, she picked up a piece of clothing that looked familiar to me.
“Don’t tell me that’s…”
“Yes, I borrowed it from Ms. Yumir for a bit.”
Dressed in Yumir casual clothes, Erina reached out to Ryuna.
“Come on, Ryuna, come to your sister’s arms.”
Ryuna seemed confused, since she could smell her mother’s scent on this stranger.
Curious, I handed Ryuna over to her.
“Uu…”
To my surprise, Ryuna settled down calmly in Erina’s arms. But only for about 10 minutes.
Soon, Ryuna started squirming uncomfortably.
Nevertheless, Erina celebrated her small victory, as this was part of her plan to get Ryuna accustomed to her scent.
Erina then started undressing again, possibly intending to put on Eonia’s clothes. I averted my gaze to Estelle before I got too excited watching.
“I didn’t want to use this, but…”
Estelle steeled herself and cast a spell on her own body.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s a dark magic called Charm.”
“Charm? There’s such a thing in dark magic?”
“By the way, Sir Ars, you were born with an affinity for light magic, weren’t you? There’s a similar spell in light magic as well, right?”
“Yes, a charm spell that can be cast on others.”
“But I’m using this on myself. I’ve never tried it before, but apparently it makes it easier to gain someone’s favor.”
While the effect seemed similar to my charm magic, the underlying nature was different.
As I watched Estelle, I felt a stirring of desire within me.
On the other hand, Erina frowned in disgust.
“This is really creepy. What are you doing?”
Even Ryuna seemed repulsed, indicating that this spell was more effective on the opposite sex.
Estelle seemed to realize this as well, her expression turning crestfallen. But soon, a new idea seemed to occur to her, and she approached me, caressing my cheek.
“Sir Ars, how about me?”
“The effect is there, to the point of being hard to resist.”
“I’m always available, you know…”
Estelle slowly brought her face closer to mine, but then Erina slapped the back of her head.
“What are you doing in front of a child? Dispel that spell right now. It’s making me uncomfortable too.”
“Ugh… You didn’t have to hit me.”
“You deserve it. Don’t use that spell again, understand? Ugh, it’s giving me the creeps.”
The two continued trying various methods to win Ryuna’s affection.
Whether it was effective or Ryuna had simply grown tired of their persistence over the past few days, she eventually stopped crying when they held her, resigning herself to the situation.
In the end, it was sheer tenacity that brought them victory.
* * *
In addition to preparing for the dungeon raid, I had another task – to find a way to return to the Magic Continent.
For this, I had been inquiring about methods to enter the Elven Isles. If I could meet Elves from Kuravel there, I might learn more about the transfer magic circle. Plus, there was unfinished business.
According to Elena, the dissident Elves who had helped me escape back then were likely in grave danger of execution.
I needed to revisit the Elven Isles to assist them, but the way to enter the isles remained elusive.
I could try forcibly breaking through the barrier again like last time, but that method only allowed a small number to pass through, and I couldn’t be sure it would work again.
So for now, I had to cautiously make inquiries.
Suddenly, Elena burst into my room without knocking.
“Elaine!”
She exclaimed excitedly, “I’ve managed to make contact with an Elven informant! Now we can relay a message to the isles!”
“Finally…!”
The Elf we found was one operating outside the isles. Even though they had isolated themselves, it was hard to imagine they had completely shut out external information.
We assumed they must have informants collecting intel from the outside world.
And we had finally located one, just a month before the impending turbulence .
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