The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 67
After finishing the battle, I stayed stationed in the Galarn mountains, observing the surrounding situation.
“Report! In the battle between Crossing and the European army on the Riatt plains, Crossing has occupied key positions and driven out the enemy!”
“Urgent news! The allied forces of Alvard and Beckavia are advancing! Svenner has abandoned the Elon plains and retreated significantly! It seems the Svenner army is worried we might flank them!”
News of victory kept coming in, as if a floodgate had opened.
With this, the war has tilted in our favor.
As per the main story, Bülang’s allied forces have achieved victory.
‘At this rate, they might even switch to an offensive.’
Sure enough, there were signs of the Bülang camp preparing to take the offensive.
Although it wasn’t a bad choice, I felt somewhat uneasy for some reason.
It seemed like there were too many variables intertwined in this war for it to end so simply.
‘The Western immigrants who appeared suddenly… They might hold the key to this war.’
That’s why I called for Eo before any movement could occur.
“Lord Ars? You called for me.”
“Yes, I have a favor to ask.”
“Is it about the operation? Perhaps you want me to lead the vanguard in a pursuit!”
“No, it’s a personal matter. Eo, I want you to return to Rainpol right away and bring me some books.”
“Books… You say?”
“Some special books. They’re not in the library, but behind the wardrobe in my room. The cover of the books should say Athena War Tales. There are two volumes, upper and lower. Bring both of them.”
Those books were nothing else but the main story I had written down, worried that my memory might fade.
There might be clues about the Three Great Generals that I remembered in those books.
Eo tilted his head. “If it’s something like that, wouldn’t it be better to send Yumir? She’s the one who manages your room, after all.”
“Yumir… I have other plans for her.”
It wouldn’t be advisable to show the contents to anyone else.
Not only does it contain the main story, but also individual relationship events for each military commander. To those who don’t know, the contents of the book would seem like a leak of classified information or the writings of a delusional patient.
Even if Yumir were to read it, she would maintain her usual poker face, so I wouldn’t be able to tell if she had read it or not.
Eo, on the other hand, was different. Everything shows on her face.
“Let me tell you in advance, you must never check the contents of that book. Can you promise me that?”
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
“Good. Then please depart immediately.”
“Yes, sir!”
Although there weren’t likely to be any significant variables now that the tide of war had turned, I decided to make whatever preparations I could, just in case.
The next day at lunch, after Eo had left, Duke Hellian appeared with a message while I was leisurely taking a break. “Wade. We’ve received a communication from Bülang’s main camp.”
“Is it about pushing the front line in step with the Alvard army?”
“Yes. They want us to advance our troops to Haksen, the area ahead of us.”
Bülang had shown their will to continue the war.
It was a good move. The morale of the enemy had fallen, and the balance of power had been broken due to the Tunkai army suffering irreparable damage.
“What do you think we should do?”
“…Let’s wait a bit.”
“Wait, you say?”
“Our army, positioned at the edge, doesn’t need to move hastily. It’s fine to move after the central front has pushed up sufficiently.”
“The Bülang side won’t be happy about that.”
“We can tell them we don’t have the capacity to advance due to the large number of prisoners and wounded soldiers we need to deal with. That’s actually true, isn’t it?”
“Hmm, I see. I’ll relay that message for now.”
So while I chose to remain in these Galarn mountains, the other fronts were different.
Out of the 8 fronts, 7 except for ours advanced into enemy territory at once. The allied forces launched a general offensive attack.
* * *
The allied forces began their rapid advance.
The Chimera Alliance, with its front lines broken, was helplessly retreating and losing territory.
To me, it seemed as if they were trying to draw us in.
‘There must be something going on…’
But even I couldn’t think of what that ‘something’ might be.
‘In this war situation, what could possibly create a variable?’
At that moment, Duke Hellian hurriedly entered my tent and said, “Wade, we’ve received an urgent message from the main camp. We need to move now. If we don’t, Calliper’s diplomatic position will become awkward.”
“Even though the war situation has improved thanks to our victory?”
“Of course, we could smooth things over by mentioning that, but is there a need to do so? Advancing now is the best move. I don’t know what you’re worried about, though.”
Was I under a time limit?
Although I was reluctant, I had no other choice now.
“…Alright. Please direct the preparations for the march, Duke. We’ll begin advancing in two hours.”
“Finally…! I’ll start preparations right away!” Hellian rushed out.
About 30 minutes later, Eo suddenly appeared. “Lord Ars. I’ve brought the items you requested.”
“Already? It’s a distance that takes 4 days even by carriage.”
Far from four days, Eo had returned in just a day and a half.
“I rode through the night, changing horses along the way!”
“I didn’t mean for you to work that hard… Well, it’s helpful now, I suppose.”
Thanks to that, I was able to make it in time before the march.
“By the way, Eo, you didn’t look at the contents of the book, right?”
“Of course not!”
I asked out of caution, but there wasn’t a trace of deceit in her innocent expression.
Opening the book, I first looked at the Chimera War that appeared in the prologue.
– Cassius Lloyd, the protagonist who participated in the Chimera War, kills two enemy officers in a battle with the Svenner Kingdom and leads a small-scale engagement to victory.
– The war ends in victory for the Bülang Allied Forces, causing diplomatic situations in various kingdoms to fluctuate.
– Through this war, Cassius Lloyd is selected by Prince Eldric and granted special admission to the Fensillon Academy.
The question that came to mind now was why the protagonist needed special admission.
Even I had steadily attended the academy and secured admission without much difficulty.
‘It must be because the protagonist had been living as a slave. He probably couldn’t attend the academy consistently like I did.’
That explanation made sense, but it raised a new question about why the protagonist had been living as a slave in the first place.
I couldn’t confirm that part in this book, so I hurriedly searched for the passage about the Three Great Generals.
It took quite some time here.
Because this passage was at the end of the book.
It was the latter part of the story.
The protagonist, who founded a new kingdom on the land of the fallen Beckavia Kingdom, soon faced a crisis.
This is because the Crossing Republic has mobilized a large army for a punitive expedition.
– An army of 100,000 led by Juras Pamilion invades the border. The protagonist faces a crisis.
At this time, it was the early days of the nation’s founding, so proper military strength was not in place.
The forces the protagonist could muster were only 60,000 at best. This was not enough to defeat Crossing.
To devise a countermeasure, the protagonist gathered his vassals and held a general meeting.
And someone says at that meeting,
– Don’t worry. I’ve called for reinforcements. The Three Great Generals will come to help us. If they support our army, we can defeat the villains of Crossing.
My mind was in confusion.
‘There was someone among the protagonist’s vassals who was in communication with the Western people!’
The game didn’t properly cover the Western part. It must have been covered in the part that was about to be updated.
‘But who could it be?’
Who had been in contact with the West?
‘Damn, I can’t remember who said it.’
In the game, it was just a line of text, so it was hard to remember the details.
Even when writing this book, I couldn’t remember that part, so I just marked it as ‘someone’.
If it had been right when I entered Ars’ body, I might have recalled somehow, but now it’s been 5 years since that point. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember who said it.
‘There are too many candidates.’
Moreover, all seven of my vassals were present at that general meeting.
‘Could it be one of the seven vassals? Still, judging by the speech pattern, it doesn’t seem to be the Saint, Rescue Squad, or Master Artisan…’
If you ask whose speech pattern it resembles, it would be Master or Rutger. Or it might suit Gaspar as well.
‘No, there were many people there besides the seven vassals. I don’t necessarily need to think that way.’
Anyone among the protagonist’s subordinates could be the Western informant.
It’s even possible that Ars said such a thing.
If that’s the case, the force behind Ars becomes the Western people.
If it’s the opposite, the force that trapped Ars could be the Western people.
‘It’s complicated.’
Still, there was a gain. I now know that one of the forces behind him was the Western people. It would be right to consider the Svenner Kingdom, which is closely associated with the Western people, as a behind-the-scenes force as well.
Now the remaining mystery is about where the other behind-the-scenes force is and which side Ars was on.
‘I’m gradually reaching the truth. I might get closer if I find out what King Parain is hiding.’
The existence of the traitor is slowly taking shape.
And in this situation, Eonia’s stock suddenly rose.
As a conditional participation character, she might not be present depending on the play situation, so the game company wouldn’t have given her such an important line.
At least Eonia was out of suspicion.
“Thank you so much, Eo. You must be tired from the long journey?”
“I’m not tired at all!”
Despite saying that, her whole body was covered in dust. She must have really run day and night, sparing sleep.
I was both exasperated by her inflexibility and grateful.
I took out a handkerchief and wiped her face.
“Anyway. You’re the only one. But next time, take breaks along the way. I’m always worried when you do this.”
“Uh…! I, I’ll keep that in mind.” Eonia seemed bewildered, not expecting such high praise for just bringing two books.
Soon she smiles broadly and says, “Heheh, is there anything else you’d like me to bring? I’ll run anywhere in a flash to get it.”
“It’s okay. This is enough.”
“But what’s the significance of those books? You seemed urgent about them.”
“They contain clues about this war.”
“Clues in those books…?” Eonia tilts her head, wondering how mere books could contain clues.
But in reality, I had figured out the enemy’s intentions through the contents of the book.
‘Someone who has a relationship with the West. Someone who communicates with the Svenner Kingdom.’
If such a person is now on the side of the allied forces?
I can understand what the enemy’s movements mean.
‘This is troublesome.’
I stood up abruptly. Just then, Duke Hellian entered my tent, having finished preparations for the march.
“Wade, the preparations for the march are complete. We can leave right now…”
“Forget that. More importantly, send word to the rear supply bases immediately! Tell them there are enemy spies infiltrated in the bases!”
“What!”
But it was too late.
Soon, a messenger came running breathlessly and began to report.
“Urgent news–!! The rear supply bases in Yulin, Gerard, Jeran, Cockri, and others have been attacked and destroyed by the enemy!”
A total of 22 supply bases were destroyed, and all the stored military provisions were burned.
This was a fatal blow that pushed the allied forces, who were attacking deep into enemy territory, into a predicament.
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