The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 50
Spring passed and summer came. And after that summer passed, autumn arrived.
At this time, the Calliper Kingdom began to have headaches over food issues.
This was due to the previous war with Alvard & Madon.
At that time, the southern region, which was Calliper’s breadbasket, was paralyzed due to Madon’s army pushing up from the south. The paralysis of farming for about a month during the busy farming season was a tremendously big blow.
Moreover, in the west, due to the looting by guerrilla forces, territories were destroyed and a large number of refugees emerged, causing the west to also lose some of its function as agricultural land.
As food for the winter became scarce, Calliper had no choice but to import food from other kingdoms.
And Rainpol was no exception to this.
“Is it still not enough?”
“Ugh… It seems so.”
Brother Max made a sad face. Although they quickly immigrated to Rainpol and started agriculture, they had to start from the work of reclaiming the land, so they couldn’t achieve satisfactory results.
Moreover, compared to Ribel located in the southwest, Rainpol located in the northeast had a different climate, so farmers struggled and even the efficiency of agriculture didn’t come out.
“I think we can somehow hold out until January… But February might be difficult. Ars, isn’t there anything we can do?”
“Crossing doesn’t have any surplus either. To begin with, Crossing isn’t a kingdom with developed agriculture. We might be able to somehow make up for it with fishing, but I don’t think we have enough surplus to provide aid.”
As it was, they were currently bringing in citizens from Kuravel, so food reserves weren’t plentiful.
“Phew! If only we had land bordering the sea on our side. Can’t be helped. We’ll have to purchase food.”
“Where will you buy it from?”
“Well, let’s rule out Crossing since it’s a kingdom that can’t export crops. Alvard, Beckavia, and Madon are out because our relationships aren’t good. I guess Bülang is the only option?”
Bülang, the great southern kingdom. It was also the kingdom the protagonist belonged to.
“Bülang is an agricultural powerhouse. They should have enough food.”
“That’s true, but they’ll play games with the price.”
“Why?”
“Because the demand is high. Alvard and Madon will also try to import food from Bülang for similar reasons as us. Bülang will try to sell food at the highest possible price by creating competition.”
“Ugh, we don’t have the funds for that…”
“Yes, so let’s turn our attention to the west.”
In the west, there were the great power Svenner and medium-sized kingdoms like Europe and Tunkai.
“Then it would be Europe. It’s the only place that has a proper trade route established with our Calliper.”
“But there’s a possibility that Europe might also play games with the price. So we need to move quickly.”
“Hmm, I’d like to rush there right away, but I’m too busy with territorial affairs. I wonder if I should ask father.”
“Um… No. I’ll go.”
“You, Ars? Will you be alright?”
“It’s fine. I had some business to attend to there anyway.”
I was thinking of taking this opportunity to recruit a certain individual.
One of the Seven Vassals.
The Wyvern, Baeolaf.
* * *
Baeolaf Dresden.
He was a promising young talent of Europe, and Europe had no doubt that he would become a great nobleman or great general who would support the kingdom in the future.
However, at the age of 23, he enters into an indefinite seclusion for unknown reasons.
Even in the game, nothing was known about this reason.
It was none other than Ars who recruited him.
Ars says this to the protagonist who is struggling with a shortage of talent.
─It seems there’s an outstanding person in seclusion in Europe. You must be busy, so I’ll go meet him once.
This wasn’t even a sub-event but a main story. It means that Baeolaf is an important figure related to the main story.
Therefore, I could naturally meet him by following the flow of the story, but I decided to try recruiting him right away as my status could change the situation.
‘But a Wyvern…’
When it comes to dragons, the first thing that comes to mind is Zhuge Liang.
A legendary strategist of the Three Kingdoms era. Well, in actual history, he was more of a politician than a strategist, but anyway.
Baeolaf had that nickname of Wyvern in the game. However, this was a title related to the recruitment process rather than ability.
‘Ars made three visits to recruit Baeolaf.’
Ars made round trips to Europe three times. The recruitment period took about 6 months. The game doesn’t specifically explain why he did this.
‘The event content was clearly…’
Ars , who went to find Baeolaf, keeps complaining, saying things like ‘He’s a formidable opponent’. ‘He’s eccentric’.
After that, for some reason, he went to consult with Ash, a playboy male character.
After receiving that consultation, it was a ridiculous event where he recklessly hit on any female characters and suffered from the aftermath.
‘Why on earth did Ars do that?’
Whatever it was, it seemed to be related to the reason why Baeolaf went into seclusion.
So I thought it might be difficult to even meet him, but that wasn’t the case.
When I revealed my identity as Wade and said I wanted to meet secretly, an invitation to the mansion arrived immediately.
I headed to the Count Dresden mansion, accompanied by Yumir.
“Are you Wade?”
The complexion of the man who came out to greet us saying this was very haggard. Dark circles were settled under his eyes, and his hair was greasy and disheveled.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Baeolaf Dresden.”
“You must be joking. You’re that Baeolaf?”
“Haha, I’m sorry to receive you in this state, but you’re wearing a helmet too, so let’s call it even.”
There were only five servants in the mansion besides Baeolaf. The peculiar point was that all five servants were beastkin.
When we moved to the reception room, those beastkin servants brought tea.
Yumir smelled and tasted it first, seemingly checking for poison. At this, Baeolaf burst into laughter.
“Well, well. You’re no different from a king. Hahaha!”
“I’m sorry. My aide is overprotective.”
“No, it’s good to see. That beastkin maid. I can see she’s been following you for a very long time.”
“Well, of course. She’s been taking care of me since I was a baby. She’s like family to me.”
“Oh! That’s amazing. I think we can get along well.”
For some reason, there was a fondness in his gaze as he looked at Yumir.
Considering that people of the continent usually despise beastkin, this was unusual.
“So? Mercenary Wade. What’s your reason for wanting to see me?”
“Before that. You don’t think I’m a fake?”
“I don’t. There’s no reason for a fake to come see me. It’s awkward to say this in front of you, but many people have been saying that Wade’s true identity is me.”
Baeolaf was somehow connected to me.
The genius of Europe who suddenly went into seclusion. And Wade the mercenary who appeared around the same time.
Gossipmongers were strongly speculating that Wade’s true identity was Baeolaf.
As Baeolaf made no statement about this, it was being taken as a silent confirmation.
While Casper’s impersonation of me only worked within the Calliper Kingdom, it wasn’t the case with Baeolaf. If he were to come forward claiming to be Wade, it could be accepted as the established theory.
Of course, it would soon be exposed as a lie since Master Ilya and Eonia are under me.
“So there’s no way a fake would come to see me. They would only be digging their own grave. So if someone approaches me with interest, it goes without saying that they’re the real deal. Am I wrong?”
“You’re not wrong. Then you must have some idea of my purpose as well.”
“It doesn’t seem like you’re here to say something about the impersonation. Hmm, are you proposing that I join your ranks?”
“…”
“Is that correct? Huh, interesting. I’m curious too. Wade the mercenary who appeared like a star. I wonder what kind of person you are.”
“You’re easy to read.”
This guy, he showed a cunning quality similar to Juras. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have the same level of wickedness as Juras.
“That’s right. Baeolaf Dresden. I highly value your skills. That ability that was called the future of Europe. Instead of wasting it here, won’t you come and display it under my command?”
“The future of Europe… Is it?”
“Do you have an aversion to that expression?”
“It was just ironic that you said it. You ask for loyalty to yourself while praising the part about being Europe’s future.”
He smiles faintly and says, “Well, fine. I’ll work under you.”
“…!?”
I didn’t expect him to accept so readily like this. Then why did Ars in the game need to asked three times, and why did the Kingdom of Europe leave this person in seclusion?
But still, the reason was soon revealed.
“But there’s a condition.”
As I thought.
‘Is it money? Or territory? Considering he’s been in seclusion for years, it must be quite a substantial condition.’
I thought about the condition within reason, but the condition he presented easily surpassed my imagination.
“Please personally write an erotic novel that satisfies me.”
“…What did you say?”
I thought I had misheard, but he nailed it down.
“An erotic novel. An erotic novel. Vulgarly called smut.”
“You have a sense of humor. More importantly, the real condition…”
“This is not a joke. This is my condition for pledging loyalty to you. I’ve given the same condition to all the factions that have coveted my abilities so far. Well, no group has met this condition yet.”
I thought he must be crazy.
‘An erotic novel? And one I’ve written myself?’
No wonder no group has met this condition.
“Can I, at least, hear the reason?”
“Oh, you’re different from those who immediately got angry.”
“I’m just as bewildered. If this is just to mock me, we should end this conversation here.”
“Of course, there’s a proper reason.”
Then he talked about his first deployment.
“It was about two years after I graduated from Fensillon Academy. I was ordered by the king to lead an army of 30,000. It was the western front, facing Tunkai.”
He says the war wasn’t difficult. They just had to face off, not actually engage in combat.
“We were like that for half a year. I thought it wasn’t a difficult task at all. There really weren’t any difficult things. But a problem arose from an unexpected place.”
A problem that occurs when wars drag on.
It was the issue of the soldiers’ sexual desires.
“Scouts would rape women in villages, some would even approach female horses and get kicked to death. Before long, some were targeting and raping weaker male soldiers, even killing them. In the process, sexually transmitted diseases became prevalent.”
“…”
“I didn’t know what to do. Even after threatening them with military law, the soldiers’ deviant behavior didn’t decrease. That’s when my father, who was deployed with me, came up with a solution. He used female slaves to pacify the soldiers.”
“That’s…”
“Yes, it was horrific. The slaves who had to deal with men day and night mostly ended up dead. And those slaves… They were all demi-humans.”
“Ugh!”
“It was unavoidable. Even if they were slaves, treating humans like that could tarnish a noble’s name. But it’s different with the despised demi-humans.”
“You mean they could be used and discarded without hesitation?”
“Doesn’t it make you sick? It was even more so for someone like me who had a demi-human nanny when I was young. It seems you understand too.”
“I understand… But I can also see why your father made that choice. If left unchecked, military discipline would have been shattered.”
“I understood too. Given the nature of the army, it was unavoidable. That’s why I thought of a countermeasure. What if we could provide another way for soldiers to relieve their sexual desires?”
“And that’s the erotic novel?”
“That’s right. If the military provides a means, then we can more strictly enforce military law on the remaining deviant soldiers.”
If no means are provided and only military law is enforced, soldiers’ morale will drop, but after providing a means, there’s justification to enforce military law.
“Making soldiers take care of it themselves…”
It wasn’t a completely outlandish idea. Even in modern armies, that’s usually how it’s handled.
Of course, in modern times, there are various contents available for this purpose, so the situation is different from here and now.
“That’s why we need a novel with charisma! A novel so immersive and erotic that soldiers won’t think of anything else, won’t even consider breaking military law! Unfortunately, I seem to lack writing skills and couldn’t write such a novel.”
Baeolaf’s intention was to create that content. Circus troupes, bands, dance troupes for morale-boosting performances, etc. The erotic novel was one of these.
He was saying he would use these to break the prevalent bad habits in the army.
“So you asked others for this?”
“That’s right. Everything else was prepared smoothly, but the erotic novel just didn’t work out as I thought. No matter how many nights I stayed up wracking my brain, I couldn’t write a good piece.”
Is that why he looks like this?
It seemed certain that he was a strange fellow, but I could understand the circumstances.
If that’s the case, one fact becomes clear.
‘Don’t tell me Ars’ three visits… Were to submit erotic novels for review three times!’
My head started to ache. I wanted to leave immediately.
“Is ghostwriting not an option? If you need a good work, it doesn’t necessarily have to be written by me, right?”
“I’m not asking for a masterpiece right away. What I want now is someone who truly understands my thoughts. So I’d like to see that sincerity. After that, you don’t need to write it yourself. I don’t care if it’s ghostwritten or whatever.”
“I’ll, I’ll think about it for now. Let’s end here for today.”
“When you come back next time, bring at least one book. I’ll be looking forward to it, Wade.”
As I left the mansion, I felt my strength draining away.
‘He was a tougher opponent than I imagined…’
On the other hand, it was clear. It meant recruitment would be successful if I just brought an erotic novel.
‘So that’s why Ars did that!’
He asked the playboy Ash for advice on writing erotic novels, and Ash, trying to tease Ars, encouraged him to hit on any woman.
The important point here is that Ars eventually succeeded in bringing Baeolaf into the protagonist’s camp.
Later, when Ars was branded a traitor, Baeolaf followed Ars, who had understood him, rather than the protagonist.
In other words, Baeolaf was Ars’ vassal from the beginning, not the protagonist’s.
Even now, it was certain that he would be a great asset if I could successfully recruit him.
‘I guess I have to do it. Writing an erotic novel…’
My vision went dark. An erotic novel, of all things.
To think that I have to become an erotic novel writer!
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That is a recruitment condition on par with recruiting Xavier in FE5 in terms of convolutedness.