“Huh? You plan to take the 4th Castle in one go?”
*Rumble…*
Of course, it was the Imperial Knight Commander, Cain, who made such a remark.
Well, it wasn’t exactly a good thing.
The knights, confused, were probably too intimidated to question it outright.
“It seems the suppression army is under some kind of delusion after successfully taking the 4th Castle on the first day. At that time, the 4th Castle had barely any defense personnel and was as good as defenseless. But now? Not a chance. The number of troops stationed at the 4th Castle is assessed to be at least a thousand. How do you plan to break through without proper siege equipment? Are you thinking of turning the entire castle into a fiery pit?”
*Silence…*
Hmm. They’re surely asking to help, right?
The smoke of forbidden emotions was colorful.
Anyway, it was just as Cain had predicted.
It was nearly impossible to push a castle held by a thousand troops by brute force.
Even if you used all sorts of deceptive magic to sneak in, you couldn’t expect to take down a thousand alone like Sergey.
Blowing the castle away in one shot.
That expression fit perfectly.
“That’s right. I plan to completely raze the 4th Castle.”
“Completely?! All the prisoners are still held there!”
“Indeed! If that’s the case, you’ll end up killing all the residents of the castle!”
The knights could no longer hold their anger and began to raise their voices.
To be honest, it was a bit nauseating.
Those who had treated all the subhumans there as slaves after taking the 4th Castle were now pretending to worry.
Thinking about how they would capture the residents after the war and take them as loot was infuriating.
“Of course, both the prisoners and the residents will be unharmed. It’s a spell that selectively defeats only the rebel army.”
“What kind of spell…?”
“It’s possible if it’s the elites from the Imperial University. Isn’t that so?”
*Silence…*
As I turned my head to speak, Erica and Aintz were nervously darting their eyes back and forth.
I thought it was about time to stop teasing them; they looked like they might faint.
“And there’s something I really wish the Commander in Chief would make sure to declare.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Slave Liberation Edict.”
“Excuse me?”
“I want to prohibit the suppression army from enslaving the subhumans who have surrendered, and all subhuman residents in the occupied territories.”
*Gasp…*
They started glaring at me from all directions.
Their eyes turned lethal at the thought of losing their loot.
“The suppression army’s current forces have significantly decreased. They don’t have the capacity to manage prisoners and slaves. If the residents revolt in anger at being exploited after having seized the 4th Castle, what could be more disastrous than that?”
*Silence…*
“Also, an increase in free citizens means an increase in taxes. As someone serving His Majesty the Emperor, I’m sure you recognize what the right choice for the prosperity of the Empire is.”
*Silence…*
The knights who were about to voice their complaints all shut their mouths at once.
Bringing up the Emperor shut them up for sure.
The South was originally a major supplier of Empire slaves.
If the Slave Liberation Edict was enforced there, the slave traders and the Duke who would later be appointed in the South would surely be in despair.
But that was none of my business.
For now, winning the war was the top priority.
“I believe this is an unavoidable choice given that there’s no proper way to control the slaves at this time. With that, I will declare the Slave Liberation Edict across the Southern Colony region effective immediately as the Commander in Chief of the suppression army. Any objections?”
*No…*
“Then after this meeting concludes, I will send messengers to all four castles to spread the Slave Liberation Edict.”
The Slave Liberation Edict might not have a large impact immediately.
Whether they joined the suppression army or the rebel army, if they were free, they would typically flock to the stronger side.
However, at the point when the enemy’s strength was steadily diminished and the tide turned…
That’s when the residents would all change their stance to favor the suppression army, making the war much more manageable.
“Do we have a confirmed number of allies imprisoned in the 4th Castle?”
“The enemy’s messenger says that over 500 are detained, but there’s no way to verify if that’s true…”
Pelaine replied, looking down apologetically.
That was quite serious.
We didn’t even know how many of our allies were captured.
We couldn’t tell how many died or were executed during the fighting.
This meant we didn’t have even a rough estimate of the enemy’s number.
Our intelligence was weak… too weak.
“I’ll deploy some intelligence operatives.”
“That’s useless. All the informants cooperating with the suppression army were either caught or have had no contact since…”
“I’ll send Saintess Iris.”
“Huh?!”
There was a sudden crash and shuffling noise from behind.
Iris widened her eyes, desperately trying to suppress her agitation.
What? Did she not see this future coming?
It seemed surprisingly, Future Sight didn’t show every single future in detail.
Thanks to that, I witnessed a truly invaluable scene of Iris in surprise.
“Are you out of your mind?! You’re sending the Saintess into the enemy’s den?!”
“I am quite sane. Duke Lorraine is equally sane. There will be no threat to the safety of the Saintess.”
Currently, the rebel army—no, the Southern Republic—was working hard to gain support from neighboring countries.
They were an ally receiving military support from the Great Forest and were likely receiving sneaky supplies from the Trud Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the elves in the desert were maintaining neutrality, but if independence were secured, they would certainly recognize the Southern Republic as a formal nation.
For them, having more forces to hold back the Empire was completely advantageous.
But treating the Saintess, who was chosen by the One God Aigis, carelessly would be tantamount to turning all countries on the continent against them.
“I want Iris to infiltrate and secretly send information using communication magic. Do you accept?”
“An assignment? I’m merely heading toward the 4th Castle under the humanitarian pretext of healing the injured, regardless of the suppression or rebel army. It wouldn’t be correct to call it an assignment.”
That was satisfying.
She fully understood the nature of her assigned task.
Right. Even if Iris couldn’t kill, she could be plenty useful as a scout moving freely in enemy territory.
A truly invincible reconnaissance that the enemy absolutely could not touch.
“Then let me summarize the meeting’s outcome. We will first send off the Saintess to gather intelligence on the enemy’s movements, and at dawn, we will dismantle the siege. The assault formation will have the Holy Knights at the forefront with mages in the middle, while the Imperial Knights guard the rear. The assault on the 4th Castle will be…”
“We will execute it tomorrow afternoon.”
“We will proceed with executing it tomorrow afternoon.”
Pelaine parroted back, wrapping up the meeting like a parrot.
At this rate, I couldn’t tell who was the Commander in Chief, me or Pelaine.
Yet, I wasn’t quite used to handling people, so I could see myself as Pelaine’s aide.
A rather loud aide…
“I believe many may be dissatisfied with me being a woman among the subhumans. But please remember that I serve only the suppression army, the Empire, and His Majesty the Emperor. I wish you all good fortune.”
*Cheers!*
A great shout echoed.
It felt more like they were forcibly raising their voices than actually believing we would win.
But this atmosphere was set to flip by tomorrow morning.
I would fulfill my promise by bringing the suppression army a great victory.
*
After the meeting concluded.
Saintess Iris prepared to leave the fort immediately.
Standing in front of the main gate with a messenger to announce the Slave Liberation Edict, soldiers and knights came out to welcome her.
“Saintess! If there’s any danger, please send a signal magic into the sky. We’ll rush to your aid immediately.”
“Haha… that won’t happen.”
“The subhumans are barbaric! Please be cautious!”
*Silence…*
Holding hands with each of them, Iris maintained a warm smile on her face.
Just then, Iris’s gaze locked onto something, and she walked off as if entranced.
The crowd parted as she walked through.
“Ah! Over there…”
The knights gasped.
Iris was headed to none other than the wall of the fortress.
A place where subhuman heads were skewered on spears as trophies.
Looking up at the high-hanging heads for visibility, Iris gently closed her eyes and put her hands together.
Pelaine quickly realized what she was doing.
A prayer.
Praying for the souls of the dead while beseeching Aigis to open the path to heaven.
The knights, who had been watching in a daze, gradually closed their eyes and began to pray as well.
‘So this is what being a Saintess is like.’
As Pelaine observed that scene, she genuinely admired it.
Just hours ago, they were the ones beheading subhumans and playing with their severed ears as trophies.
And now, those same people made a pretense of paying respect to the enemy.
There must have been some sort of holy power that could inspire those around her.
“They’ve gone.”
As the main gate opened, the Saintess and the messengers rode out rapidly.
The enemy seemed ready to react, but upon confirming the tall flag, they gave up the chase.
With any luck, it seemed we wouldn’t run into trouble with the messenger being caught and the Slave Liberation Edict not being properly disseminated.
As Pelaine sighed in relief and turned around…
“Good job.”
“Ah…?”
Schlus Hainkel gently smiled and patted her shoulder.
Pelaine felt like tears might burst out at that moment.
It had been so long since someone had encouraged her like that.
As the leader, she could never dream of being the one to receive encouragement.
Besides, the only reason she was recognized as Commander in Chief today was entirely thanks to Schlus.
“Commander. It’s a heavy burden, but there was no one else fit for the position.”
“Not at all. I can only express my gratitude. This is a golden opportunity to elevate the status of the Holy Knights.”
There was no end to gratitude she could express toward Schlus Hainkel.
The Holy Knights had been formed initially by both herself and the retired knight adventurer, Taylor.
The ambitious plan was to gather talented youths in swordsmanship, train them, and provide quality military strength for money. However, it had gone wildly awry from the start.
Money. Indeed, money was the issue.
Buying weapons and armor and feeding and housing the members was quite expensive.
Taylor had suggested trying to get recognized somehow.
Who would invest in a knight order devoid of dreams and hopes?
But initially, there was decent funding coming in.
To gather around ten members.
However, that’s when the trouble began.
Training them and producing meaningful results took way too long.
In the end, investors began to lose their patience and pulled out their investments.
Just when it seemed that the few investors were about to all withdraw…
Schlus Hainkel began to scoop up all the shares.
Thanks to him, we barely managed to hold off the collapse of the stock.
Not only that.
He further deposited additional funding.
Reinvesting every single dividend he received.
He didn’t interfere at all with the order’s operations, only providing full support.
There in the order, which had yet to show any results and was nothing but a bottomless money pit…
Thanks to that, they could nurture every member into fine knights without having to expel anyone.
They could feed everyone and let them sleep warmly.
That was how the Holy Knights made it this far.
Pelaine could never express enough gratitude to Schlus.
“Thank you. Let’s save such words for the deputy commander and the members. You’ll face quite a few demanding battles ahead, so you should.”
“I will perform any rigorous combat gladly if it’s under your command, Schlus.”
“It’s not my command. It’s your command, Pelaine. I’m merely an advisor who gives appropriate counsel.”
“But still…”
“I’m not the owner of the Holy Knights; I’m just an ordinary investor. I’ve merely ridden the coattails of your hard work in establishing and managing this private knight order. I would appreciate it if you didn’t treat me as your superior. If I’m perceived as above the Commander, it would create massive turmoil in the chain of command.”
“Ah… understood.”
Pelaine chuckled lightly.
He was just as she’d envisioned from their written communications.
A man who valued principles and was exceedingly modest.
Furthermore, one who didn’t care even knowing that the commander was a subhuman.
Even when the knight order was in crisis, rather than pulling out his investment, he’d come directly to help.
“Investor Schlus Hainkel.”
“That’s a bit too awkward.”
“Mr. Schlus.”
“Yes, that’s a much better balance. Not too high, nor too bland.”
The Hero.
To her, Schlus Hainkel was truly a hero.
“Pelaine. This is something quite difficult to bring up, but…”
“Yes. Please go ahead.”
“I’d like to make a rather odd request.”
The Hero suddenly turned shy and began to speak.
Whatever it is, feel free to say it.
I can fulfill any request coming from you.
“Can I touch those ears for a moment?”
*Silence…*
At that moment, contempt flickered in Pelaine’s gaze.
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