Over the past two days, the Southern Republic has faced consecutive defeats.
Flame Magic that can evaporate hundreds in an instant.
And massive Spells capable of obliterating an entire castle.
In Lorraine’s judgment, the enemy’s magical forces were beyond imagination.
But it wasn’t all bad news yet.
Now that they were aware the enemy had magical forces, the kind of massacre they suffered at the beginning wouldn’t happen again.
Most importantly, they still had a significantly greater number of soldiers than the enemy.
Quality might be lacking, but with manpower, they simply couldn’t lose a war fought through attrition.
Of course, to wage that kind of war, strong mental fortitude among the soldiers was crucial.
They needed to instill the belief that the annihilation of the Southern Republic meant the return of subhumans to slavery.
Their lives needed to be at stake for the Southern Republic.
However, that mental fortitude was showing signs of crumbling recently.
“Once Lord Darius returns, who will lead the subhumans…?”
“They say the Suppression Army gathered Lord Darius’ corpse for the funeral?”
“What? They’ll probably just throw him in a hole anyway.”
“No, the lanterns that lit up last night were all in memory of Lord Darius. They held a formal state funeral.”
“Really?”
Rumors spread like wildfire.
The Suppression Army claimed they would guarantee freedom for all subhumans in the south.
They also stated they wouldn’t impose any conscriptions or taxes until the suppression of the rebellion was complete.
In the past, such rumors would have been dismissed as mere deceptions by the Suppression Army, met with scoffs.
But since Darius’s death and his funeral, the subhumans’ faith was beginning to waver.
Doubts started to sprout within them as to whether the Suppression Army’s claims could actually be true.
‘I need to end this quickly.’
Lorraine instinctively sensed that dragging this on would only heighten those doubts, leading to the division of the Southern Republic.
It was always the one in a hurry that had to attack.
Just not long ago, the Southern Republic’s army had been trying to strengthen its defenses in preparation for the empire’s intervention. Now, they were fully shifting to an offensive stance.
However, when magical forces were involved, they were always most effective when defending with castles.
They were being forced to face their worst enemy in the worst situation.
It was clear who had designed this scenario.
‘Schlus Hainkel…!’
Schlus Hainkel.
The man who had recently joined the Suppression Army.
He was effectively the Commander-in-Chief of the Suppression Army while leading the Imperial University students as magical forces.
The surprise tactics that caught the Southern Republic’s army off guard and the policies that swayed public sentiment towards subhumans all originated from him.
There was simply no way the Suppression Army’s fighting style and policies could have changed so drastically without him.
“Do we still have personnel at the 4th Castle who can be contacted?”
“Yes. Aside from those who have gone dark, there are still about forty remaining.”
“Monitor Schlus Hainkel and the Imperial University students’ every move and report back to us.”
“Yes, understood.”
If they were going to strike, they had to target the leader.
Killing a university student wasn’t ideal, but Lorraine was in no position to be picky.
‘Is it really possible to catch him…?’
Lorraine decided to clear her head and think coolly.
He was meticulous enough to conceal his participation in the suppression army, preventing any thoughts of magical forces from forming on this side until the battle actually began.
It seemed highly unlikely that he wouldn’t have considered the possibility of assassination or terrorism.
While the details would become clearer through reports, it was certain that he was on high alert to prevent any chances of assassination or terrorism.
‘If I’m going to act, it has to be when he’s away.’
In that case, rather than targeting him directly, they ought to strike his fellow mages instead.
When Schlus Hainkel leaves the castle for any reason, that would be the moment with the highest probability of success for an assassination.
‘If it fails, that’s really it.’
An attack aimed at university students…
It was a mission that risked the honor of the Southern Republic.
If it failed now, it would truly be the end.
Lorraine steeled herself, determined to do whatever nasty deeds were necessary to ensure the independence of the Southern Republic.
That was the only way to keep her promise to Darius.
*
Dueling with strong opponents really makes you improve.
But there is one huge problem.
Your confidence takes a nosedive.
When you’ve been completely battered in dozens of duels and haven’t won even once, the despair of facing a seemingly insurmountable wall is pretty significant.
“Cough!”
“Are you okay? I accidentally hit a rib…”
I really felt that while dueling with Pelain.
While Trie gave me the impression she was going easy on me, Pelain came at me with no mercy whatsoever.
Immediately next to me, Iris would give a scary glare at any hint of me being hurt…
Because of that, I had to dodge death more than once.
“Damn it. This is having no effect at all.”
I sighed as I put the Vafe away.
It seemed like the subhumans were a bit afraid of Vafe, so I thought it might help during fights.
But once the battle began, Pelain didn’t care at all.
It seemed she was merely a tad reluctant, not so terrified that she wouldn’t face me at all.
“No, it did have an effect.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not. After repeating the duels many times, I got a bit used to it, but in the beginning, it was so scary I wanted to run away.”
“Well, you didn’t run away in the end, did you? That means if you set your mind to it, you can overcome the fear of Vafe.”
“That’s true, but… I still think rookie fighters without any battle experience might not be able to overcome their fear and could run.”
“Thanks for the consolation.”
“I wasn’t trying to console you; I meant it sincerely…!”
It seemed I needed to take it down a notch.
I concluded that the influence of Vafe’s fear on subhumans wasn’t all that significant.
After all, if I expected the subhumans to piss their pants and run away the moment I pulled out Vafe, that would be a lie.
I’m kind of disappointed.
I was hoping to completely turn the tables on the fight.
“So, how about your horse? Have you become good friends?”
“I don’t know. It seems we’re still not there yet.”
I was talking about the black horse that didn’t fear Vafe, which I had chosen yesterday.
After a few more tumbles and practice, it no longer bucked me off.
But each time I touched it, it still snorted as if uncomfortable with me.
“It’s still a bit prickly, but it obeys commands well.”
As long as a horse fulfills its role, that’s what matters, right?
Just needing to change direction when I pull, and accelerating or decelerating when I signal is more than sufficient.
“Pffft. That actually means you’ve become really close.”
“What?”
“If it didn’t work out, it wouldn’t have let you ride it from the start. The fact that it obeys commands is proof it acknowledges you as its master.”
“I see…”
That was unexpected.
I never thought it would turn out to be a tsundere character.
It was tempting to just rip off more jerky each time it snorted.
But realizing that its showing dislike on the surface was actually a sign of affection began to change how I viewed it.
“So now that you’ve finished bonding, shall we set off?”
“…”
It was finally time to uphold the words I had said.
As the Emperor’s deputy, I would head to the Great Forest for negotiations.
I stated that in front of all commanding officers.
But now-
‘This could be bad…’
I was feeling absurdly anxious.
The number of shop coins I had was a problem.
49 coins. That means I was just one short.
I was hoping that while taming the horse, a quest would pop up to earn that missing coin, but nothing happened.
“Right. I can’t afford to waste any more time.”
But then again, I couldn’t just sit and wait for a quest to appear.
If I didn’t move, it was likely that the rebels wouldn’t move easily either.
If both sides are sitting still, there’s no way a quest would manifest.
So I had no choice but to take the initiative.
I could only pray for a crisis to pop up on the way to the Great Forest that would make a quest appear.
If nothing came up by the time I arrived, it would truly be a mess…
With the week of class cancellation nearing its end, I was left with no choice but to gamble.
“Then who will you take with you?”
“…”
Pelain perked up her ears, asking.
Looking at her sparkling eyes, it was hard to imagine her as someone who would wipe out dozens of people.
Wait, is she seriously hoping I’d take her?
“First off, you’re not coming.”
“Ah…”
Her fluffy cat ears drooped hopelessly in an instant.
So it seemed she did want to be taken along.
She was trying hard to maintain a poker face, but it was all over her ears.
“Without you, the Suppression Army would hardly function. If I left the Commander of the Imperial Knights in charge, it could all end in a complete mess.”
“Ah, that’s true!”
“…”
After I offered a bit of praise, her ears perked up again.
So honest…
She was someone I shouldn’t have let near a casino.
“Aintz and Erica can’t come either; it’s too risky.”
“Um…”
I could not disregard the possibility of surprise attacks from the Southern Republic’s army as we went and came back.
Saying they wouldn’t attack a messenger only held true when they had the luxury to spare; now, in Lorraine’s current predicament, they could easily attack and kill any messenger.
Aintz and Erica would definitely be unable to withstand that.
Both their physical abilities and mental fortitude fell far short.
“Then it should be Trie.”
“No.”
“Is there really anyone else suitable besides Trie?”
If asked to pinpoint someone suitable, Trie would indeed be the most fitting.
She was much stronger than me and possessed an indomitable will.
Yet it was exactly for that reason she couldn’t come along.
Trie had to stay at the 4th Castle.
There might still be rebel spies left there, so she needed to fill in for me while I was away.
I believed that Trie would be able to protect both Aintz and Erica.
“Then that leaves… No way, is it the Vice Commander Cain?”
“No. Am I crazy enough to take that guy with me?”
He was strong, but…
I definitely didn’t want to take him.
“I’ll take the Saintess, Iris.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Taking Iris will dramatically reduce the likelihood of attack.”
“That makes sense…”
No matter what kind of war tactics or whatever I decided, making a decision that harms the Saintess wouldn’t be easy.
Harming the Saintess would mean betraying the continent’s only deity, Aigis, effectively turning all the forces and nations of the continent against me.
Lorraine wasn’t exactly dumb enough to do that.
“And Iris has something only she can do.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Not even to me, the Commander-in-Chief?”
“Correct.”
“Even to the leader of the Order that Schlus holds dear?”
“Indeed.”
“…”
It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t tell Pelain; instead, I was worried that someone might overhear during the process of telling her.
Though I didn’t show it, her drooped ears indicated she was slightly hurt.
I instinctively brought my hand to Pelain’s head.
“I’m not doubting you. I’m just being cautious for the sake of the operation.”
“Yeah…”
“I still trust you more than my colleagues.”
That wasn’t a complete lie.
It was half a lie.
While it would be difficult to say I trusted her more than Iris or Trie, I definitely trusted Pelain more than Aintz or Erica.
I knew her silly unwavering spirit all too well as the original creator.
“I believe in you and your potential, Pelain.”
“My potential?”
“Of course. You’re only going to grow even more. You could someday be at the pinnacle of the empire.”
“Ha ha…! No way. The only reason I managed to defeat the Imperial Knight Commander was completely thanks to the weapon.”
“Tsk. Let me correct you. You will indeed rise to the pinnacle of the empire. That’s a certainty.”
It seemed like Pelain of this world had lost a bit of confidence compared to the character from the original work.
In the source material, she single-handedly established this Suppression Army and started a counteroffensive, but this time, I was intervening quite a bit, so Pelain’s role had been downsized.
So I needed to artificially instill confidence in her.
“…”
“…”
After a while without any response, I thought I had messed up.
But soon, Pelain rested her head on my shoulder with a thud.
“Thank you. Thank you for everything…”
No need to mention it.
I should be the grateful one.
It was thanks to her enduring through these tough times and raising the Holy Knights that we had made it to this moment.
“I’m more thankful.”
“…”
As I gently stroked Pelain’s head, I couldn’t help but note how soft and fluffy her cat ears were.
I couldn’t seem to stop touching them.
At this rate, I might just get addicted…
Pelain also purred occasionally, so it seemed she was enjoying it too.
I decided to linger a little longer like this.
