The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 55
As the end of the training camp approached, free time began to appear.
Only a few students with poor performance were required to attend intensive training, while regular cadets like myself were given freedom under the pretext of personal maintenance, except during military science classes.
I decided to use that time to finish writing my novel.
Finding a secluded spot, I was reviewing the contents of my novel.
‘I’ve written most of it, but….’
Excluding the erotic scenes, which could be considered the highlight, it had become little more than a bland romance novel.
After getting approval from Estelle, I could add the erotic scenes to transform it into an erotic novel, but…
‘Something feels lacking.’
I tried to find the problem, but as the writer, it wasn’t easy for me to spot the issues. I needed a third party to evaluate the content.
I thought about showing it to Beryl or Dorothy, but there was someone lingering around me.
Erina, who seemed to be cautiously circling the area.
After confirming that no one was watching, I gestured for her to come over.
Seeing my gesture, Erina opened her eyes wide like a rabbit and approached with small steps.
“Sit here.”
“…Is it okay? Weren’t you angry with me?”
“Angry? Why?”
“Well… You said you didn’t want to talk to people from the Saleon faction anymore. And at the last tea meeting, I unnecessarily suggested we sit together…”
“That just means don’t act like you know me when other people are around. It’s fine when we’re alone. Actually, I wanted to join the previous tea meeting too, so it’s okay.”
“Phew! So that was it.”
“Anyway, sit down quickly. Before others come.”
I handed the novel to Erina as she sat across from me.
“This is a novel my friend is writing. Could you read it and find any problems?”
“Usually in these cases, it’s the person’s own story. Did you write this, Ars?”
“Well, I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Hehe, I’ll read it first.”
Erina read intently, as if savoring each sentence. Since others could come at any time, I sat at a distance until she finished reading the book.
After two hours when she finished reading, I joined her again to hear her thoughts.
‘Why am I nervous about this?’
I anxiously waited for praise, but…
“It’s too monotonous and predictable.”
“Cough!”
I involuntarily coughed as if spitting blood.
“If you’re going to unfold the story in such a monotonous way, at least the sentences should be beautiful, but they’re not even that.”
“Cough!”
“Moreover, even the plot development is poor. What is this? The development is like a flower garden in someone’s head.”
“That’s enough…”
My life points were already at zero.
“Is there room for improvement?”
“Since sentence expression skills don’t improve in a short time, we’ll have to change the plot development. It would be good to add a character. That way, the story will deepen, solving the monotony of the drama and improving the plot development.”
“A third person? Should I add a friend character?”
“No, since it’s a love story… Let’s add a love rival.”
It was an understandable solution. Many dramas and movies develop their plots this way too.
‘So this was the part that felt lacking.’
Erina suddenly seemed impressive.
“As expected of someone called the talented daughter of Grancel!”
“You’re saying that for something like this…?”
“More than that, what about a rival in love? Should we add a male character who’s after the heroine?”
“No… Let’s add another heroine who gets involved with the protagonist instead.”
“That’s huge.”
Inspiration was flowing freely.
Erina spoke as if to encourage it.
“That girl is like this. She has wavy blonde hair down to her shoulders. She’s the daughter of a great noble. And… She always carries a fan.”
“But the protagonist is set as a low-ranking officer, so how can he meet such a high-status young lady?”
“That, that’s because. He went to the great noble’s mansion before to receive butler training. That’s when he met that girl… That’s right! The protagonist has actually liked that girl since then. That girl’s name is… Erina! Erina Saleon!”
“…?”
Feeling something strange, I looked up to see Erina covering her face with her fan. Judging by her flushed neck, her face must be red.
“The two were separated by their social status, but in the end, their true feelings connect them.”
“Overtaking the main heroine?”
“It’s the plot twist.”
“It’s certainly a shocking development.”
“Right? It’s not monotonous, is it?”
Regardless of the additional heroine’s setting, her advice was on point.
I smoothly wrote out the story including the new heroine.
There was a gaze watching the two of us working on the writing.
Ars was so focused on writing that he didn’t notice that gaze.
“…”
Clench! Casper’s fist tightened.
‘How dare he make advances on my Erina!’
Casper, filled with anger, wanted to rush in and separate the two right away, but he knew that if he did, he would hear cold words from Erina.
Erina had been treating him coldly. She had been doing so ever since he impersonated Wade.
‘Damn it!’
He eventually turned his steps to find Gilbert.
If he informed Gilbert of this, that guy Ars would surely get a harsh scolding. However, contrary to his expectations, Gilbert seemed to smile with satisfaction.
“Be open-minded, Casper. That child is Erina’s friend too, isn’t he?”
“B-But Lord Gilbert. That guy is from the Hellion faction!”
“Children don’t need to concern themselves with factions.”
“But!”
In fact, Gilbert thought of Ars as a good match for Erina.
That was since he heard about Ars’s grades. An elite cadet who had never missed being the top student from elementary academy to middle academy.
It meant he had the qualities to become a core officer in the military in the future.
Moreover, there was also the Elaine family.
As Rainpol developed, the taxes paid to the state by the Elaine family had increased significantly. Having established itself as a trade intermediary with Crossing, their tax revenue level alone rivaled that of a count’s family.
If he provided just a little support, a rise in rank would happen soon.
If that happened, the story would be different.
What if he was the fourth son of a count’s family and a core officer in the military?
‘Since Erina seems to like the guy too, if it turns out that way, I should push for a marriage arrangement right away.’
There was no reason to refuse a political marriage that could make his daughter happy.
Unaware of such thoughts, Casper expressed his frustration.
“Lord Gilbert. Didn’t you say you would make Erina favorable towards me? Yet Erina is still cold to me.”
“Haha, I’m sorry. She’s such a capricious child, you see.”
In his eyes as he looked at Casper, there was a light of contempt.
‘Stupid fool.’
To him, Casper was an object of disdain. After all, regardless of how it happened, he had caused him the humiliation of being a prisoner.
The reason he kept him around was for later use.
He planned to manipulate Casper, who would come begging for help when his fake Wade identity was exposed, to swallow up the capital and territory of the Marquis Milias family.
“Don’t be impatient, Casper. All things eventually work out naturally.”
“I… understand.”
After leaving Gilbert’s office, Casper headed back to where Erina had been, but she had already left.
Seeing Ars writing alone, he approached with large strides.
“Hey.”
“…?”
Casper growled and made threats, “Stop approaching my Erina from now on. She lives in a different world from the likes of you.”
Ars, who had been listening with a blank expression, soon snorted. “Hah, and you live in the same world as her?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, come on.”
Ars gave a bitter smile. He even felt pity seeing him unaware that he was being used as a disposable pawn.
At this, Casper, perhaps thinking Ars was looking down on him, threatened in a low voice.
“You, do you know who I am to show such an attitude? I am Wade. I’m the one who led the war against Alvard to victory, the one who defeated Julian Craig.”
“…”
Ars was so shocked by this brazenness that he was at a loss for words.
Casper, perhaps thinking Ars was intimidated, smiled with satisfaction. “If you understand, don’t approach Erina again. If something like this happens again, I’ll make you know your place.”
“Can I say one thing too?”
“…?”
“A castle built with sand will collapse very easily. Once it collapses, it can never be recovered. Escape before that happens. This is sincere advice.”
“The likes of you is giving me advice+? I told you to know your place.”
“If that’s how you take it, then I have nothing more to say.”
Ars shrugged and turned his attention away from Casper.
Casper glared at Ars for a long time before turning his back and leaving.
* * *
The training camp ended two days earlier than scheduled.
This was because Duke Hellian, seeing that I was spending time meaninglessly, ordered to end the camp for those with excellent grades.
So I, who finished earlier than planned, had to head to Rainpol alone without Eonia and Yumir’s escort.
“Whew! It’s only been a month, but it feels like it’s been a really long time.”
Since the territory had been developing almost daily, Rainpol, which I returned to after a month, had a different appearance.
I first headed to the top management office in the Crossing direction.
I wanted to go straight to the mansion and eat the food Eo had prepared, but I couldn’t.
It was because of the news I had heard from Duke Hellian before coming here.
‘The Chimera War is about to begin.’
Europer in the northwest. Tunkai in the north.
And Svenner in the west have formally allied and started to gather troops.
An allied force called the Chimera Alliance was formed, named after the territorial shape of these three kingdoms.
Their target is the southern great power, Bulang. A war between major powers was about to break out.
‘First, I need to gather intelligence.’
As I headed to the top management office to access Crossing’s intelligence information, I heard a strange sound.
Thud! Clatter! Creak! Squeak! Books falling, desks being dragged. It was an incomprehensible sound.
‘Are they moving luggage?’
Thinking that, I opened the door of the office and froze in place.
Because there, Master Ilya and Anton were passionately kissing each other.
Moreover, master was pushing Anton against the wall and pressing her lips against his. They were so fervent that they didn’t even notice my presence.
“Mmph…!? Ilya, wait…!”
“Why now, Anton? You’re the one who started the fire.”
Anton, pressed against the wall, seemed to have noticed my presence with a sidelong glance, but master, with her back to the door, couldn’t. Finding Anton’s bewilderment cute, she kissed him more roughly.
At this, Anton pushed master away forcefully.
“Anton…? Why…”
Master made an expression as if hurt. But that was only for a moment.
“Lord Ars is here!”
“What!?”
Only then did master turn her head, and upon meeting my eyes, she froze like a stone.
“Ah, that… I’m sorry for not knocking. But I think it might be better to lock the door when doing such things.”
“Ah, ah, ah, no! Th-this isn’t what it looks like, Ars!”
“It’s okay. It’s a good thing, isn’t it? But I think it might be better to separate public and private matters.”
“But that’s…!”
“It was a shocking sight to see after a month apart. But you both look happy, which is nice to see.”
“…”
Master seemed to have stopped thinking, unable to say anything.
“Anton.”
“I-I’m sorry, Lord Ars. To show such an unseemly sight in the office…”
“It’s your office, there’s nothing to be sorry about. If anything, being in the office probably made it more intense. More importantly, where are the intelligence files on Svenner?”
“They’re here.”
I gathered those documents and said, “I’ll take these to the mansion to review.”
“Huh? If it’s about that, I should also…”
Anton looked bewildered.
“It’s fine. You need to put out the fire.”
I locked the door with a click and left the office.
Realizing that I had been considerate, I heard their laughter behind my back.
But only for a moment. Soon, they began to share their passion again.
TL NOTE:
Schedule: @5PM UTC Everyday
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support me or read up to 20 chapters ahead, you can do so via patreon.com/ChibiGiant. OR by unlocking chapters.
I think this is the first I’ve seen the character walks in on people making out trope end not only wholesomely but without a misunderstanding.
Damn… I know this doesn’t count as netorare, but I feel empty inside. There was even that little, “If no one wants me after a few years, will you take me?”. The build up was there, and he and Ilya have also known each other for long and are very close, but suddenly the author does this? I feel oddly bitter, especially seeing Ilya being genuinely happy with Anton… Maybe it’s just me daydreaming about something that was never even there before.