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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 75

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 75

I refrained from answering and ended the conversation with Juras.

‘I may not have to choose right away, but…’

The timeframe Juras proposed was 2 years. I had to make a decision by then.

There was one thing that made me uneasy.

If I were to do as Juras said, there’s an extremely high possibility that I would end up becoming the protagonist’s enemy. The theory about Ars being the final villain, which I had been trying to ignore, would actually come true.

There could be an opposite meaning to this as well, but considering only the information gathered so far, that aspect is not something to be considered.

‘There’s still time.’

Starting next year, life at Fensillon Academy, where I’ll encounter the protagonist, begins.

The political situation might change, and Juras’s grand plan could fall apart, so I decided to observe the situation for now.

“Phew! My head hurts. I should rest a bit.”

I let myself sink into the sofa. Usually, when I say something like this, Eo would tactfully bring me tea, but for some reason, there was no response.

She was staring at me blankly.

“Eo? What are you doing?”

“…”

“Oh, come on. Yumir, could you bring me some tea instead?”

Even after that, Eo remained in a daze for a while, and only after Yumir brought out some refreshments did she mutter. “…As I thought, my eyes weren’t mistaken.”

“What are you talking about? Come on, sit down. The tea will get cold.”

It seemed as if she couldn’t even hear my words.

“I thought you were a noble person, but to think you were of royal blood! I, Eonia Mirabel, will dedicate myself entirely to Your Highness, Ars’ great cause from now on!”

It seems she liked that part. She had vaguely guessed about my bloodline during the past conversation with King Parain, but now that it was confirmed today, Eo was greatly moved.

“Let me say this in advance, I don’t think of myself as royalty. Just forget about that part. I’m not Ars Almein, I’m Ars Elaine. And if I ever establish a kingdom, I’ll abolish the aristocratic system, so I won’t even be a noble. So status doesn’t matter at all.”

“But…”

“Well, I might keep the monarchy system like Crossing, so I could become a king. Anyway. Don’t change your attitude just because I have royal blood.”

“I-I didn’t change my attitude! I’ve always…”

“Enough. Sit down here.” I scolded her to try and correct Eo’s sycophantic tendencies, and she hung her head dejectedly. Seeing her like that, my heart softened. “Well, I appreciate your feelings. I’ll be counting on you from now on.”

“Ah…! Yes! I’ll do my best to serve you!”

I end up indulging Eo after all.

Maybe this is why Eo’s sycophantic nature never improves.

My master, who had been watching this scene with a bitter smile, nodded and spoke. “I should make my position clear too. Ars, until now we’ve just been master and disciple, but it seems it’s time to change that.”

Master smiled gently and knelt on one knee. “I, Ilya Anfei, will be your unbreakable sword and upright spear, guarding your path forward.”

“Haha… Master, did hearing about my bloodline change your mind too?”

“Does it look that way?”

“No, thank you. Master. No, Ilya Anfei. I’ll continue to rely on you.”

Thump! It was a handshake filled with mutual trust.

Seeing this, Eo pouts, wondering how it’s any different from her.

“And Anton. I’d like to hear your thoughts as well.”

Anton must be as conflicted as I am. Because of the matter involving his father’s death.

“I don’t hold any great grudge against Crossing. So I’ll continue to serve my lord as I have been.”

“…I see. So that’s how it was.”

“Pardon? What… Do you mean?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I felt like I finally understood who he was.

The mysterious armored figure who broke Ars out of prison when the game’s Ars was branded a traitor and imprisoned. Another figure who followed Ars besides the Seven Vassals.

I wondered if Anton wasn’t the identity of that armored figure whose name and face were unknown.

Juras probably encouraged Anton.

— The rightful heir to Fensillon you should serve is imprisoned. Anton, now is the time to fulfill the Oath of Quinter.

To this, Anton broke Ars out of prison without hesitation.

‘If so, there were actually eight retainers, not seven.’

Even in the game, Anton was Ars’ retainer.

Through this incident, I came to fully trust Anton as well.

“I’ll be counting on you from now on, Anton.”

“Yes! I’ll dedicate myself entirely to repay your trust!”

I explained the situation to Gaspar and Rutger, who weren’t present. Although nothing was finalized yet, I decided to tell them about the continental unification as I had been thinking about it for a while.

Gaspar responded with a bitter smile, while Rutger looked worried.

“Continental unification… To be honest, I’m not sure if that’s such a good thing.” Gaspar said. “I’ve seen the end of the Fensillon Empire. I know painfully well how reckless that kingdom was. I realized then that the end of a unified kingdom would be the same. Well, you might create a golden age for a while, but I’m worried it’ll follow the same path after you’re gone.”

“That’s uncharacteristically serious of you. But don’t worry about that. I’ve thought about what comes after unification too.”

“If that’s the case… I’m a bit excited. If possible, try to complete your great work before my life ends.”

“Come on. Looking at you, you’ll live for at least another 30 years.”

“Heh, I hope so.”

Rutger also expressed his concerns. “With your skills, you might be able to lead the war to victory. But it’s not generals who run a kingdom, it’s the officials in charge of domestic affairs. From what I can see, you don’t seem to have anyone who can handle domestic affairs under you yet.”

“I’ve been thinking about that aspect too. By the way, are you capable of handling that kind of domestic affairs, Rutger?”

“I can handle military affairs just fine. But real domestic affairs like agriculture, commerce, and construction are a bit beyond me.”

“Hmm.”

In the game, domestic affairs were automatically resolved just by placing characters in the right positions, but reality was naturally harsher.

While I had gathered more than enough military personnel, I still hadn’t secured any talent for domestic affairs.

If I were to run a kingdom in the current state, I’d be torn apart. So I absolutely needed talented individuals to assist me with domestic affairs.

‘I’ll have to consult with Baeolaf about this.’

I was planning to give Baeolaf the position of prime minister, who would oversee domestic affairs in the future.

As such, I decided to start preparing for domestic affairs from now on, joining hands with him.

* * *

It was a week later that Baeolaf’s new recruit was brought in.

The prisoner exchange ended with Juras mediating, first securing Baeolaf’s new recruit, then releasing Prince Romelo.

I worked to conceal Baeolaf’s whereabouts through Yumir and Gaspar, then secretly brought him to Rainpol.

From the start, I took off my helmet to greet him.

Baeolaf saw my face and looked around.

“If you’re looking for Wade, he’s right here.”

“Haha, sorry. I don’t have business with a stand-in.”

“I’m not a stand-in. Do I need to let you hear Wade’s voice for you to believe?”

“…You must be joking. You’re really Wade? How young are you?”

“I’m just turning seventeen. Anyway, let’s sit down.”

Still not believing, he was staring intently at my face.

“You must know how this situation is unfolding. You can probably guess why I revealed my face from the start too.”

“You’re going to force me into your service, I suppose.”

“Rather than force, it means I’ll do whatever it takes to make you my subject, given how things have turned out.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“It’s a bit different. Whatever happens, I mean to make you follow me sincerely. Now that I’ve taken this step, I’m going all the way.”

“That… You mean the erotic novel?”

“Did you read what I sent?”

“Yes.”

“How was it? Ah, but please don’t give harsh criticism.”

However, Baeolaf spoke without concern. “It was ambiguous as an erotic novel.”

“Ugh!”

To give harsh criticism after forcing me to write it. My fist is crying.

He continued, “How should I put it? What I wanted was a novel for men to read, but what you sent was a story that women would like. Except for the sex scenes. It’s like it was written from a female perspective.”

“Ah.”

Could it be that Estelle and Erina intervened and it turned into a female-oriented novel without my knowledge?

“Because of that, it didn’t have the unique sense of perversion found in erotic novels. As a pure love story without sex scenes, it’s actually quite well-done, but it’s ambiguous as an erotic novel with sex scenes included.”

“Hmm.”

It was criticism that hit the mark. In that case, I couldn’t be angry either.

“Actually, I got help from two friends. But let me say in advance, it wasn’t ghostwritten. In the end, I wrote it myself.”

“Ha, so that’s how it was. Well, I won’t make an issue of that. Reading it, I can tell how much you struggled.”

“Haah…! Anyway, this one’s a failure. Give me a little time. I’ll hurry and write the next book.”

I was thinking of making three attempts like Ars did in the game, but Baeolaf held up his palm to stop me.

“No, surprisingly, it might be usable as is.”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s lacking is just the sense of perversion. We can supplement that.”

“But the writing is already complete. If we suddenly change the main character’s personality here, won’t the overall atmosphere become strange?”

If we’re increasing the sense of perversion, the only way is to intensify the sex scenes.

But Wilson, the novel’s protagonist, had become a justice character faithful to chivalry due to Erina and Estelle’s influence.

There wasn’t anything that felt like violation even in the sex scenes.

“That’s true. If we modify it like that, the story won’t be consistent. But if we make external modifications, it becomes possible.”

“Externally?”

I had no idea what he was talking about.

To me in that state, Baeolaf revealed his creativity.

“First, we publish the pure love story without the sex scenes. Even I can see it’s well-written, so it should do quite well, especially among women.”

“And then?”

“Then we release an extended version under a different pen name with intense sex scenes inserted!”

This is the gist of it.

First, I’ll announce a pure love novel under my name, then release a pirated version with added erotic scenes under a different pen name.

The idea is to create a sense of perversion by defiling an already published pure love work.

“You… Are you a genius?”

To think you’d come up with such a method.

In this case, even if the protagonist’s actions and personality don’t match up, readers will just accept it and move on. After all, it’s a pirated version.

I can freely increase the intensity of the erotic scenes as I wish.

This was possible because there was still no awareness of copyright in this world.

“But I think that might not be enough yet. To solve the soldiers’ sexual desire problem…”

“Of course. I never thought from the beginning that everything would be solved with just one of your books.”

With that, Baeolaf began to explain the things he had prepared to me.

The erotic novel was just the beginning.

Baeolaf had already thought of other means as well.

“I’ve recruited dancers from various regions to form a dance troupe. I think if we have them perform regular morale-boosting shows, it will be easier to control the soldiers.”

“Certainly.”

To me, it sounded more practical than distributing erotic novels.

“It’s not just dance performances. There’s also a circus troupe prepared that can perform all sorts of amazing feats. I gathered them secretly while living in seclusion. I’m planning to bring them to Rainpol soon, what do you think?”

“That… I’d like to request that from my side as well.”

Currently, Rainpol was developing rapidly, but as a result, many side effects were also emerging.

The main side effect was the lack of entertainment.

Because residential areas had been expanded so much, there was a lack of entertainment and cultural facilities to increase the happiness of the residents.

“Rather, it wouldn’t be bad to make a large tent where the circus troupe could perform regularly.”

“That’s very good. But will Crossing easily give permission?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Rainpol is already under my rule, more or less.”

“Oh! That’s reassuring.” Baeolaf says happily. “This is it. What I wanted was a comrade who understood my thoughts and would work together with me.”

“Have I passed that standard?”

“Of course. But there’s one more thing. I want to get a promise.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll say this in advance, but I love my homeland, Europe. As such, turning my back on my kingdom is a difficult choice.”

“Nominally, you’ve already been abandoned by Europe, haven’t you?”

“Even so, my feelings for my homeland aren’t broken. If you can’t convince me until the end, I’m thinking of taking my own life.”

“Hmm. So? What’s the promise you want to get?”

“A greater cause that can rationalize betraying my kingdom. I want you to promise that.”

“When you say cause, you mean?”

“If it’s for creating a better kingdom, I’ll follow you. Unifying the chaotic continent and furthermore… Eradicating the discriminatory consciousness towards beastkin. If you promise that and put it into action, I’ll pledge my loyalty to you.”

From his appearance, the latter seemed much more important than the former.

“Alright. I also thought that discrimination against beastkin should disappear.”When I readily accepted, Baeolaf breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you. Let me introduce myself again. I’m Baeolaf Dresden. From now on…”

“I’m Ars Elaine.”

“Yes, Ars. From now on, I’ll work for you. Just call me Olaf. From now on, I intend to live as a commoner Olaf, not the noble Baeolaf.”

“Then… I understand. I look forward to working with you, Olaf.”

Successful recruitment of Baeolaf.

With this, four of the seven vassals have been gathered.


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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

Score 9.2
Status: Completed Type: Author: Released: 2022 Native Language: Korean
I ended up possessing Ars Elaine, a supporting character in the game. Struggling to prevent my death, I pave my way.

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