The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 69
In the prisoner-of-war camp set up in Crossing’s military camp.
I was walking around here with Anton.
Although I was an outsider, thanks to Anton being with me, no one thought it strange.
Anton examined the list of prisoners handed over by Juras and explained each key figure one by one.
“This one is Mana Tolkins, the infantry battalion commander of Europe. He is of noble status.”
“Pass.”
“And this man… His name is LeBron Dames. He’s a cavalry soldier, but they say his individual combat ability is quite outstanding.”
“Just by the name, he seems like a perfect match for me.”
I was unnecessarily interested, but he doesn’t have such exceptional skills.
“There doesn’t seem to be any talent that catches my eye…”
“That’s inevitable. There are already many outstanding individuals by my lord’s side. Yumir is one, and so are Gaspar and Rutger. My wife is the same.”
“What about Eonia?”
“Mirabel… She has some, shall we say, off-kilter aspects.”
He seems to be pointing out her unique minister-like qualities.
“Haha, don’t say that to her face. It’ll start a fight.”
There wasn’t any talent that particularly appealed to me. If they seemed even slightly capable, most were nobles, making them difficult to recruit, and for commoner talents, it was practically impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff.
‘I guess getting Prince Romelo is enough to break even.’
I felt a bit unsatisfied.
“Can’t be helped. Let’s go back.”
“Yes.”
It was then, as we turned to leave.
“Wait a moment!”
A sharp voice that seemed to pierce the eardrum.
“That ash-colored helmet. You must be Wade!”
“…?”
It was a boy wearing clothes that looked like a burlap sack.
He might be about two years younger than me. His voice tone was high, as if he had just hit puberty. His build looked sturdy, but he wasn’t very big, probably not fully grown yet.
“Please! Release Uncle Brahms and Uncle Lampard! They both have wives who are newly pregnant!”
“Shut up!”
The guard soldiers around threatened him, but the boy faced me head-on with stubborn eyes.
“No! I’ll cause as much trouble as it takes until you release those two!”
“You insolent brat!”
Thwack! Thwack! The guard soldiers beat him up severely, partly to discipline the other prisoners as well.
“You can beat me all you want, just release those two!”
The boy wouldn’t budge an inch.
Even though his face was swollen and his mouth was full of blood from being burst open, the light in his eyes hadn’t died at all.
Intrigued, I gave Anton a look.
“Stop!” At Anton’s signal, the guard soldiers quickly backed off.
I approached the boy and said, “You’re an interesting one. But do you know your situation? You’re about to become a slave of Crossing. That’s what happens to all those who can’t pay the price. From the looks of it, you weren’t well-off in Europe either, so what can you offer me in exchange for releasing those two? Surely you’re not just asking for their release based on compassion alone without any compensation?”
“I have nothing to give right now! But I’ll pay you back later!”
“How do you plan to pay me back?”
“By becoming a great general!”
“…What?”
The boy shouted proudly. “I’m the man who will become a great general in the future!”
An awkward silence fell. Even the guards snorted in disbelief.
“I’ve heard enough nonsense.”
“What did you say!”
“If you’re such a great person, why are you captured here?”
“T-That’s… Because I tried to save the uncles…”
“If you really had the makings of a great general, wouldn’t you have managed to save them somehow? Then you wouldn’t have been caught and suffered this humiliation.”
“…I admit I’m lacking now. But I’ll be different soon!”
“Anyone can say that.”
As I turned to leave, the boy hung his head, seemingly disheartened.
The guard soldiers dragged him away and threw him into a narrow solitary cell.
I casually said, “Anton, release the men he mentioned.”
“If it’s about listening to that boy’s words, there’s no need to do that.”
“I’m not convinced by what he said. It’s just that, we also have a pregnant woman waiting at home, don’t we? Since we’re in similar situations, I decided to show some compassion.”
“Ah…”
It must have resonated more with Anton’s position.
“Thank you for your consideration. I’ll process it accordingly then.”
“Give that boy medical treatment too. If he dies from that, I feel like I might have uneasy dreams.”
“Yes, sir!”
A great general, huh.
‘His spirit is commendable, but…’
In this world, for a mere commoner to become a great general was like catching a star from the sky.
I thought that boy would be lucky if he didn’t starve to death, let alone become a great general.
* * *
Bringing Prince Romelo to my side also had strategic significance.
The reason Europe was launching a fierce attack on the Crossing Army was to recover the prince, but when I brought the prince back to the Galarn Mountains, Europe ended up like a dog that had been chasing chickens.
If they were to attack where I was, the Galarn Mountains had already been fortified to the point where they couldn’t dare to touch it.
Moreover, unlike Crossing, which was famous for not executing prisoners, I was unpredictable, so the opponent became cautious.
After long deliberation, Europe judged that it had become impossible to recover the prince and withdrew their army to the rear.
‘Now I can finally catch a breath.’
The front line where Tunkai and European had all retreated, resulting in a stalemate.
As the helmet was starting to feel uncomfortable, I decided to put the gray helmet on Anton to act as my stand-in and return to Ars.
When I returned to the unit after a long time, Ferge greeted me with a proud smile.
“You’ve worked hard, Ars. Thanks to you, General Dunan must have closed his eyes in peace.”
“You’ve worked hard too, Brother Ferge.”
Ferge scratched the back of his head as if embarrassed.
“And, well… You ordered promotions for me and Stina? You didn’t have to go that far.”
“What are you talking about? During that retreat, you achieved great results, Brother Ferge. It’s a well-deserved reward.”
“Huh, thank you.”
After unpacking in my tent, I wandered aimlessly around the camp.
It was to observe things that weren’t visible when I was in the position of the highest commander.
During this, I happened to run into Bannings, my peer.
“Ars! You’re back! So, is your leg injury better?”
I had made up an excuse about an injury for the reason I went to the rear, so no one thought it was strange.
Bannings, who had talked to me before I went to the rear, knew that I hadn’t injured my leg, but even if I had gone to the rear out of fear, he seemed to understand and played along.
“It’s better. But what’s all this commotion about?”
“Well… It seems General Dunan’s body is arriving.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, the Tunkai side had agreed to hand over Dunan’s body. It was to gain diplomatic favor with Calliper for future prisoner negotiations.
They also returned the bodies of other prisoners as respectfully as possible.
When those bodies arrived, the atmosphere in the army became heavy.
A soldier wailed in front of his comrade’s body.
“What was the meaning of this war…!”
The allied forces had gained nothing from fighting this war. Even the achievements gained by the Chimera Alliance were insignificant.
Neither victory nor defeat, just emptiness.
He was crying out at the fact that nothing was gained from this war where over 100,000 were sacrificed. At the fact that the price of losing friends, comrades, and family was this hollowness.
Dorofei, who received Dunan’s body that had been reduced to rags, collapsed as if crumbling.
“Why are you like this, Dad? Get up…!”
The cadets were standing in silent tribute around Dorofei, who was wailing.
Duke Hellian, who had been quietly watching this, approached me and murmured. “This is the cruelty of the monster called war. Whether you win or lose, the damn situation doesn’t change. Especially in a situation like this that’s neither victory nor defeat, it’s even more shitty.”
“…”
“That’s why I left the military and entered politics. I thought there might be a way to prevent wars in advance. But it ended up like this anyway. Damn it.”
I felt something beyond self-interest from Hellian.
It was as if I could see the greater cause I had felt from King Parain.
“But wasn’t it unnecessary to receive the bodies at this point? The morale of the army has dropped quite a bit.”
“It’s alright. If the enemy actually attacks, they’ll fight them off with fire in their eyes.”
It was as if a quiet anger was enveloping the soldiers. Rather than saying morale had dropped, it would be more accurate to say it had risen.
“That might be true for now. But if the front line becomes prolonged, problems will surely arise. How long do you think this standoff will last?”
“At least a month, I’d say. However, the possibility of a battle occurring on our front line is almost zero.”
“That’s quite long. Alright, then let’s prepare a way to boost morale.”
The method Duke Hellian came up with was nothing special.
He decided to conduct large-scale visitations for the soldiers.
***
A week after the standoff began.
Along with the stalemate, both sides began underground work on an armistice agreement.
They were positioning soldiers at points that would become borders to gain as much territorial advantage as possible, while spies from both sides were secretly engaging in fierce battles to gather information.
The behind-the-scenes war had officially begun.
Despite such a tense situation, a warm atmosphere was flowing through our camp.
People were constantly coming and going to the visitation areas prepared throughout the camp.
Because our battlefield was located on the easternmost edge, it was easy to accommodate visitors from Calliper.
Under Duke Hellian ‘s leadership, as families and lovers of the soldiers visited the visitation areas, the gloom that had enveloped the unit was dissipating.
As much as I wanted to rest, I had to strengthen the surveillance on Prince Romelo because European’s spies could be hiding among the visitors.
It seems I had visitors, even though I had been thinking of visitation as an afterthought.
Yumir approached and whispered, “Young master. Madam Claire and Miss Julia have come.”
“Oh my. I told them they didn’t have to come…”
My father and brother Max, who knew I was Wade, didn’t come, perhaps out of consideration, but my mother and sister Julia, who didn’t know, were different.
Since I couldn’t turn them away at the door, I left Anton to act as my stand-in and moved to the nobles’ exclusive visitation area.
The visitation area was set up like a party venue. Invited musicians were playing instruments, and nobles were enjoying dances in small spaces.
The food seemed quite rich, as if they had imported high-quality ingredients.
“What? There was food like this?”
It felt like I had missed out on half of my military life.
Accustomed to combat rations, I was about to grab a table and get some food, but just then, sister Julia appeared.
“Baby brother─!”
Behind Julia, who was shouting and waving her hand, six girls were following.
They were the kids I knew from Rainpol, the young ones who had given me flowers before.
“Sister, we agreed to stop calling me the baby. Now Elsie and Chelsea are the youngest, remember?”
“I thought so too. But thinking about it again, aren’t you the youngest among the brothers? So you’re the baby!”
“What kind of forced logic is that?”
“Hehe! This is the privilege of being an older sister!”
I seated them at a table and personally brought them food.
The kids’ eyes lit up at the sight of the food.
For these commoners, it seemed to be a delicacy they might eat once a month, if that, and they started moving their hands without pause.
I was curious about how delicious it was, so I tried some too, but it wasn’t much compared to what Eo used to make, so I quickly stopped.
“Haha… This place is still the same.”
“Sister?”
Julia looked around and laughed bitterly, as if lost in memories.
“Are you regretting retiring?”
“It’s not that. It was to help with the territory’s affairs. Still… I can’t help but feel sorry. It’s like I ran away alone.”
“Instead, I joined the military, didn’t I?”
“That’s true. If our baby brother joined in my place, it would be much more beneficial from the military’s perspective.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to stop with the baby brother.”
As we were chatting like this.
Julia leaned in and whispered, “By the way, baby brother. Why does she keep stealing glances over here?”
It was Erina, who kept glancing this way. She had come to visit the Saleon faction cadets, including Ruan Chase, and seemed to want to join this gathering, constantly watching for an opportunity.
“She looks like a young lady from a high-ranking family. Do you know her?”
“I met her when I went for butler training.”
“What? Oh my. So our baby brother has charmed another one. Really.”
“Charmed…?”
“You charmed her! Otherwise, why would she be looking over so blatantly?”
Julia scolded. “I told you it’s a big problem if you keep stringing along multiple people like this. I know someone who got stabbed in the stomach for doing that, you know? Of course, you probably didn’t have such intentions, but… That makes it even worse!”
Julia put on a stern expression as if trying to drive the point home, but just then, mother, who had been visiting Ferge, appeared.
“Julia, what are you saying during a visitation? More importantly, you should go see Ferge too.”
“Ugh. Why should I?”
“You’re twins.”
“That’s exactly why I don’t want to go.”
“No more excuses. He’s getting promoted this time, so you should congratulate him too.”
“Fine, I get it. Come on, girls, let’s go.”
Julia left with a sullen expression, taking her group with her.
Mother sighed at the sight.
“How can twins be so different?”
“Julia has her own strengths. More importantly, are you wandering around alone? What if you get lost? I’ll at least assign Yumir to you.”
“I can’t trouble you like that. But… I wonder if they haven’t arrived yet.”
Mother looked around. It seemed she was looking for someone.
“Do you have other companions?”
“Beryl and Estelle came with us. Estelle seems to need complicated procedures since she’s from Crossing.”
“What? W-who?”
“Beryl and Estelle.”
I could understand Beryl. Beryl’s uncle, who is my mother’s younger brother, is participating in this war. But Estelle is different.
“That… No, she’s definitely coming to see me, right?”
“Of course. She begged so much to come along.”
“Mother, I suddenly have a stomachache…”
But it was already too late.
Soon, the visitation area began to buzz with activity.
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