The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 77
The festival began with scorching heat like the blazing sun.
This year’s Abundant Catch Festival lasted for five days.
During this period, tourists from inland areas flocked to coastal cities like ours, causing Rainpol’s floating population to increase fivefold compared to normal times.
With tourists from both Crossing and Calliper crowding into Rainpol, the city was bustling with activity.
I decided to handle official business before promoting my book.
‘Hmm, what should I do?’
This morning, I received a visit request from Bisketa, the prime minister from Kuravel.
Perhaps due to my persistent scrutiny of their finances while checking the ledgers, they irritably told me to come see for myself if I was so curious.
‘But if I go officially, it might not be meaningful.’
Like how a division commander visiting a unit finds it difficult to grasp the true situation, setting up an official schedule would likely result in a staged preparation.
So I decided to go incognito.
‘At times like this, I should disguise myself, but…’
For me, removing my disguise was actually my disguise.
Thus, I decided to tour the Kuravel residential area as Ars.
Eo also removed her usual helmet and accompanied me as Rania.
Since only a handful of people from Kuravel, including Bisketa, knew her current face, no one recognized her.
“Just the two of us on an outing. Hehehe…” Eo was grinning, seemingly pleased to be my sole escort.
“Rania, stop smiling and guide me.”
“Yes! First, please come this way. This is the new academy being built thanks to Ars’ generosity.”
“Hmm.”
It was Rainpol’s Second Academy. The scale was much larger than the existing one, and this newly constructed building would likely become the main campus.
In front of the academy grounds, an unfamiliar group was enthusiastically soliciting passersby.
“What’s that?”
Men wearing colorful, flashy clothes.
“That… It seems to be the new circus troupe that just arrived.”
“The ones Olaf brought?”
The circus troupe’s name was Four Seasons. Unlike typical circus troupes with erratic performance schedules due to their nomadic lifestyle, this one stays in one place and performs year-round, hence the name Olaf gave them.
The members of Four Season were out on the streets on the first day of the festival, performing guerrilla shows to promote themselves.
“We are Rainpol’s circus troupe, Four Season! Our first performance is tonight at 7 o’clock, so please come and watch!”
A boy was shouting at the top of his lungs to promote the show. For some reason, his face looked familiar.
“That kid…”
I couldn’t remember exactly who he was.
As I watched him handing out flyers, another member of Four Season called out to him.
“Hey, Aggert! It’s your turn!”
“Oh! Got it!”
Aggert ran to the prepared spot and rolled up his sleeves. In front of him were ten thin stones stacked up.
The man next to him started to build up anticipation.
“This is a feat by our new member, Aggert! Please watch closely!”
Although the stones were thin, an ordinary person would be lucky to break even four of them. Moreover, these weren’t weakened for the performance but actual construction stones.
Aggert struck them mercilessly with his hand.
“Hyaaah!”
Tadadadang! The bricks crumbled.
“…!”
“Oh ho.”
Both Eo and I immediately noticed.
‘He used Aura. Not bad.’
Who would have thought there’d be someone using Aura in a mere circus troupe?
Eo whispered to me. “Ars, he’s using it unconsciously.”
“Unconsciously?”
“Yes, his intense focus on maximizing his strength naturally led his body to use Aura.”
“Instinct, huh. The complete opposite of my type.”
“Hehe, that’s because you think too much, Ars.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It is a compliment.”
After demonstrating his breaking feat, Aggert struck a comical muscle man pose, but a little kid pointed out, “Hey! The bottom one didn’t break!”
“Wh-what!?”
Flustered, Aggert looked around, then stomped on the last stone, breaking it.
“Ha, hahaha! Is that better now?” He laughed awkwardly.
“What’s this, you fraud!”
“F-fraud? You little brat!”
Still, the response wasn’t bad. Aggert continued to show off his strength, attracting more people.
“Hmm, where have I seen him before?”
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t remember. I must have met him, but he didn’t leave a strong enough impression to stick in my memory.
“Oh well, it doesn’t matter.”
I moved on to the next location.
* * *
The residential area where the Kuravel people lived had many fairly tall buildings.
Bisketa had constructed residential buildings in the form of communal housing to accommodate a large population, with an average height of 3 floors, and more than five households living in one building.
In modern times, 30-story apartments are common, so this might not seem like a big deal, but this place doesn’t have that level of infrastructure.
The biggest problem that arises with such dense population is water supply and sewage treatment.
“Hmm, it’s quite impressive?”
Bisketa had considered even that aspect when designing the residential area.
They artificially split the river flowing towards the sea, using one side for drinking water and agricultural water, and the other side for sewage treatment.
Considering that indiscriminately discharging sewage into the sea would pollute nearby coasts and reduce fish catches, they created treatment facilities at the discharge point. Pollutants that couldn’t be treated were buried in the ground, while those that could be processed were turned into fertilizer and distributed to farms.
“So that’s why she demanded for so much money.”
For such a large project, it was inevitable that it would cost a lot of money.
‘This is better, after all.’
Rather than doing work bit by bit, it was more efficient to finish it all at once.
Of course, this was with the premise that someone with the ability to do so should do it.
Bisketa had that ability.
‘If possible, I’d like to bring her in as one of my people….’
Her goal of returning to her hometown was so firm that I couldn’t figure out how to persuade her.
Just then, as if speaking of the devil, Bisketa appeared.
“Eo? What are you doing?”
Bisketa seemed to be inspecting for the festival as well.
She widened her eyes as she saw Eo with her bare face.
“Saint!?”
Eo was at a loss due to her sudden appearance.
“Ah, ahem! Eo? My name is Rania!”
“Come to think of it, we agreed to call you that when you’re in that form.”
Bisketa glanced at Eo once and then turned her gaze to me.
“But who’s that child with you?”
Why does everyone call me a child?
‘I’ve already grown tall, you know.’
Nevertheless, my young age must be apparent on my face.
“Well…”
It would have been enough to say we just happened to meet while passing by, but Eo seemed flustered and made up something instead.
“He’s, he’s a child I care for! We talk occasionally!”
“A child you care for? Really?”
Bisketa looked at me as if asking for confirmation.
I decided to go along with it reluctantly.
“Yes… I’m always indebted to sister Rania.”
“Hmm?”
I thought I had spoken well enough not to be caught, but Bisketa narrowed her eyes as if she had caught onto something.
On the other hand, Eonia was trembling.
“Sister…!?”
Bisketa shrugged her shoulders.
“Since we’ve met like this, would you both like to join me for a bit?”
Following Bisketa, we were able to take a detailed look around Kuravel’s residential area. Bisketa was briefing me about the residential design as if addressing a superior.
Her explanation was so professional that Bisketa’s secretary couldn’t understand why she was giving such an explanation to a youngster like me.
‘This definitely means I’ve been found out.’
I didn’t mind since I was planning to reveal my identity soon anyway. Perhaps because the situation of being found out was strange, she started to tease me.
“By the way, I’m surprised that the man who stirred up the continent was such a young child. Well, I suppose someone who would put on such a childish masquerade couldn’t be very old.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Huh, I was just talking to myself. Why? Is there something that’s bothering you?”
“For talking to yourself, you specifically referred to me as a child.”
“So you think of yourself as a child. Oh my.”
“…”
“But Rania, why are you acting like that? If he’s a child you care for, why are you keeping such a distance from him?”
When the arrow turned to her, Eo asked back with wide eyes like a rabbit. “Is there a problem?”
“Not really a problem… Just, if you’re close, shouldn’t you at least link arms?”
“L-Link arms!?”
“No, he’s still a child, so gently hugging him might be good too. To make sure he doesn’t get lost.”
“…!?”
“Can’t you do it? I guess you were lying about being close after all.”
This lady, saying such strange things…
Hug! I felt softness on my back. Eo had hugged me from behind.
Perhaps because we were similar in height, I could feel her breath directly on my ear.
She must be trembling, as I could feel a slight vibration through my back.
I whispered in a low voice. “…What are you doing?”
“T-To avoid being caught by the Saint. Besides, I’m your sister now! This is natural!”
She seems to be benchmarking the behavior that sister Julia usually does to me.
“Okay, I get it. That’s enough. You can let go now.”
“N-No! The Saint is sharp, so I can’t let my guard down until the end!”
I wondered what the point was in a situation where we seemed to have already been found out.
Eo stayed like that for a full 10 minutes.
“I should be going now. Rania, let’s have tea sometime when you’re free. Ars, I’ll see you next time too. I have something to say about the circus troupe that just arrived.”
Bisketa left with a grin. This definitely confirmed that she had found out.
“Phew. Well, I guess it’s better this way.”
It was more comfortable to reveal my identity naturally like this than to take off my helmet and announce it.
“But Eo, how long are you going to stay like that?”
“Huh? Oh, yes…”
Eo separated from me, showing a hint of regret. Perhaps because it was midsummer, my back was damp with sweat.
It was the same for her. She had sweated so much that her front was all wet, revealing the lines of her underwear. I was pretending not to notice, but she seemed to realize it herself and soon became flustered.
I casually said, “I’m a bit tired from walking for so long. I’m going to rest here for a while, so if you have something to do, you can go for a bit.”
“Yes, sir! Then I’ll be away for a moment!” Eo disappeared in a hurry. In her place came Yumir.
“Young master, Eonia asked me to take over the escort duty.”
“Haha…”
It seems she became too embarrassed to come back after thinking about what she had done.
“Did something happen?”
“Just… Never mind that. Do you have any other duties today, Yumir?”
“I don’t have any particular assignments.”
“That’s good then. I’ve just finished my inspection and my schedule is clear. Let’s go around the festival together.”
I decided to escort Yumir today, if only for all her hard work usually
***
Generally, a five-day festival reaches its peak starting from the third day.
So I thought the beginning of the festival would be relaxed, but it wasn’t.
This was due to Rainpol’s special circumstances.
While the people of Crossing had many other options and didn’t necessarily come here for tourism, it was different for Calliper.
The fact that Calliper didn’t have a summer festival played a big role. Currently, Rainpol was the only city in Calliper where a festival was taking place, so tourists were bound to flock here.
“My goodness, I didn’t expect there to be so many people.”
Although I had intended to escort Yumir, I ended up surveying the festival situation.
Stalls running out of food, tourists arguing over lack of accommodation, and nobles frowning at the street hygiene.
“I need to check quickly and inform the administrators. I’m sorry, Yumir. Let’s tour the festival together next time.”
“It’s alright, this time alone is enough for me.”
“That can’t be. I’ll definitely make time.”
As we were touring the festival, we encountered a familiar face.
“Ah, Ars!”
A frail-looking boy waving his hand as he approached. It was Dorofei.
“Dorofei? What brings you here?”
“I came to congratulate on the festival’s opening. It’s my friends’ territory after all. You, Beryl, and Bannings.”
“Haha, Max will be surprised too. When he finds out that the Count of Grimwood has visited.”
“I’m still just a youngster. And if it’s about that, they won’t even have time to worry about someone like me.”
“Why?”
“Well, because Duke Hellian came along.”
No sooner had he said this than Duke Hellian’s figure began to appear behind Dorofei. He was touring the festival accompanied by his five closest aides. Among those aides were Marquis Reinhardt and General Ironheart, who knew my true identity.
“Ugh.”
I tried to leave with Dorofei, feeling like something troublesome was about to happen, but Duke Hellian spotted me first.
“Well, well. If it isn’t young Ars.”
“…I hope you’ve been well, Your Grace.”
“Hah, indeed I have.”
Seeing Duke Hellian address me, two of his aides expressed confusion. It seems those two didn’t know my true identity.
Duke Hellian explains about me to them. “This boy is at the forefront of the cadets known as the Golden Generation. He’s a talent who will become a pillar of our military in the future.”
“At the forefront… So he can stand shoulder to shoulder with Ruan Chase or Casper Millias?”
“Of course. I actually think he has even higher potential than them.”
“Oh! If Your Grace says so, it must be true.”
Hellian seemed to have visited Rainpol to strengthen the unity of his faction.
‘Max must be proud of himself.‘
To have so many high nobles visiting like this. There’s never been anything like this in our family’s history.
But it didn’t end there. As Duke Hellian stopped, causing a crowd to form, a man appeared, pushing through the throng.
“Blocking the way at a festival, Regnat? That won’t do.” A man with a meaningful smile. It was Gilbert Saleon.
Hellian frowned upon seeing him. “Gilbert? Why are you here…”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be? I’m here to enjoy the festival too.”
In fact, there was a reason he shouldn’t be here. It’s because our family belongs to the Hellian faction.
In the noble circle, it’s tacitly forbidden for the leader of another faction to visit without invitation, as it’s enough to create rumors.
“I knew you did many tactless things, but I didn’t know it was to this extent.”
“Hah, calm down. You shouldn’t get so worked up over something like this. Besides, I have business with Baron Elaine today, apart from the festival.”
“With Baron Elaine? What business are you talking about?”
“You don’t need to know. More importantly… Ah, Elaine. It’s been a while. Have you been well?” Gilbert smiled at me. For some reason, his gaze towards me seemed to have become warmer.
“If it’s alright, would you guide me to the lord’s mansion? I’m not familiar with the way.”
At this, Duke Hellian bristled. “How rude. I was in the middle of a conversation with young Ars.”
“Then why don’t you finish up? I was watching earlier, and it was disgusting to hear you talking about the future of the faction and whatnot. What a disgrace, doing that to children.”
“What did you say?”
The two engaging in a war of nerves.
And they’re not even Estelle and Erina.
Seeing these older men behaving like this, I didn’t feel very good about it.
TL NOTE:
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Gilbert is gonna try to use Erina as a bargaining chip.