Chapter 459
Chapter 459
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Another Solo Play (18)
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[Don't you want to establish an empire?]
[Don't you want to stay by Nigmi's side, who has achieved what she desired, and by your queen's side, who has become happy?]
Those words seemed to strike a massive blow in the minds of the pure and passive race.
Exactly five minutes. Cauldr, who said he needed time to think alone, stood motionless like a statue for five minutes, lost in thought. Then, as if being chased by something, he began to move hurriedly.
Whoosh! Whish!
"[The Empire's Strategies] volumes one and two, [Ben Howd's Treatise on Generals], [Chivalry and Its Strategic Value], and—"
"Whoa there. What's with the sudden books?"
"I manage most of our legion's strategies, and I learned them from those books. If you view the battlefield from the same perspective as me, we can save unnecessary conversation."
"Ah, aligning our strategic viewpoints. Textbook stuff. Then after I read them all, I'll come find you—"
"I'll give you sixty minutes. Memorize everything in them."
"....Pardon?"
"I'll go ahead and apologize to Her Majesty for your unscheduled additional audience and seek her understanding. Once you've memorized them, come to the audience chamber."
"Hey! Your Highness! Cauldr! Hey, you jerk!"
Books over half a foot thick each—and not summaries for generals, but tomes for scholars specializing in strategy. A whopping five of them.
He said he'd selected only the most basic and important strategy books due to time constraints, dumped them on me, allotted exactly one hour to read and memorize them all, then turned toward the audience chamber.
Fortunately, the sheer thickness of the books screamed [IMPOSSIBLE!] loud enough that I could grab his pant leg and cling before he left the room.
"I can't! I'm not doing it, you punk!"
"I told you to stick to one form of address."
"No, not just reading them, but memorizing? In one hour?!"
"....I can't comprehend."
"That's what I'm saying!"
Cauldr genuinely looked like he couldn't understand why I was acting this way.
"You said you're the Warlord's sole heir."
"Yeah!"
"And according to what you said about the Warlord, he's the legendary saint who annihilated our race, including Her Majesty the Queen, 200 years ago. If that's true, isn't he the strategic genius who's praised effusively in countless imperial histories for lack of ink?"
"Uh.... yeah.... sorta?"
"I've also been awestruck by some of the wise tactics from his anecdotes. I even imagined fighting a war against him, but no matter how I thought about it, nothing came to mind except overwhelming him with sheer force. Didn't you say you're something close to his clone? Is there anything I've misunderstood or lied about in what I grasped?"
"Uh, no...."
"Then no problem. If your identity is as you claim, Hyde, you'll be a strategic genius just like him, and there's no way you'd be inferior to me."
"Uh, um...."
The source of this unexpected high regard stemmed from the stories about Nigmi and Professor we'd shared moments ago.
"It was just a request to understand my limited strategic perspective. So, just review the necessary parts and come to the audience as quickly as possible."
Thinking about it, it made no sense for that lion-maned head, who had devoured the entire history of the empire, not to know about 'Saint Professor.' The moment he heard the Warlord and Professor were the same person, Cauldr's mouth had gone completely dry. From his perspective, the figure hailed as [The unparalleled supreme commander never to be seen again!] in every strategy book he'd studied had become their enemy.
Thud.
Cauldr tossed the last book he'd pulled out and left.
A pile of books that would fill a basket, and one hour given.
The allied (prospective) army commander brimming with willingness to revise strategies per my intentions right away, and me, receiving all his expectations squarely:
Hyde. Saint's parasite/farmer and great sorceress's travel companion/empress's knight/magitech engineer/Pathfinder veteran.
No training in strategy or tactics. Clueless.
"Damn it...."
Even if I wanted to say no, going in half-baked would just lead to him thinking, '....That's it, huh. I'll handle the plans from here on out,' and treating me like a useless pawn. To participate actively, I at least needed enough knowledge to follow the conversation.
What choice did I have? Cram like crazy.
Every minute and second counted, so no time for grumbling—better stuff one more line into my head.
Five books given.
[The Empire's Strategies] upper/lower, [Ben Howd's Treatise on Generals], [Chivalry and Its Strategic Value], and—
Thud.
"[Reflections on the Perspective of the Legendary Supreme Commander, Saint Professor, on the Impossible Battlefield]...."
Professor's 'If it doesn't work, just die—no big deal~' reckless saintly antics were later evaluated by countless priests and historians who revered him as highly calculated strategic actions. They became essential knowledge for imperial military operators under the name 'A New Strategic Perspective on Situations Nearly Impossible with Conventional Strategies.'
A strategy tome nearing 900 pages, packed with tiny print and a few illustrations—like a weapon.
Ah, Professor, how endlessly troublesome in so many ways.
"....Thank goodness."
Flip.
"That guy's the villain in this world. Really, thank goodness."
With every page I turned, I imagined smashing that thick strategy tome over his head.
For the first time, I was sincerely grateful for the situation in this world where I had to crush him.
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Clunk!
"One hour! Right on the dot!"
"....Five minutes late."
"I was on time when I reached the audience chamber! Your guys dragged it out with all the inspections!"
"Tch."
Cauldr already looked disappointed—probably thought if he were a copy of 'that great saint,' he'd finish in ten minutes with a 'Oh, I already know all this~' and follow behind him.
"Your Majesty. My deepest apologies, but it seems you must rise for a moment."
"Mm.... Mmm, wanna sleep more...."
"Hyde from outside requests an audience."
"Mmm.... I told you earlier. He'd be here soon...."
Cauldr's expression soured further at Nigmi's words. He'd apparently told her I'd be quick, and she'd dozed off waiting impatiently.
"....Grrr."
'What! You gave me one hour! I came on time!'
His Highness seemed deeply annoyed at waking the sleepy queen and even growled at me. I flashed my eyes in silent protest, but all I got back was a pathetic look saying, 'I didn't think you'd actually use the full hour.'
"May I ask why our army is facing off before the walls of the holy city?"
"Yeah, compared to the mutants, their numbers are fewer but each overwhelmingly strong—the emperor's knights—so we chose a wide battlefield, and around the capital, the only places for such large forces to clash are the plaza before the holy city or near the outer capital walls. Plus, blocking the pass into the gorge where the queen is—"
"....You didn't waste time."
He was even confirming if I'd properly memorized the strategies, as if my 'Professor clone' credibility had tanked.
'It works! It's doable!'
....Of course, one hour wasn't enough to properly read the books.
Sure, I shared Professor's memories, but could someone peeking over his shoulder match the guy who'd rolled in battlefields for years, experiencing it firsthand?
'Uh.... Treatise on Generals, Chapter 12 Section 3, infantry legion strategies against auror knights.... Here?'
Instead, my memory was better than Professor's. After all, the original was a conscious entity.
In one hour, I'd wet my fingers and flipped nonstop through the strategies—3,298 pages total—and could recall them one by one, referencing what I needed on the fly!
Cheat or not, what choice? Otherwise, that monster mutant king would brand me an incompetent human.
"....Sit. We have much to discuss ahead."
Anyway, I'd passed the cutoff, so Cauldr set the still-drowsy Nigmi down from his lap and said.
"Primary goal is the empire's fall. We've dug in too deep; retreating now means losing most of the legion. Production mutants have all rooted around the capital, so retreat means abandoning them all. Considering future fights against the Warlord's legions, that's an unacceptable loss."
Straight to business, no chit-chat or formalities from Cauldr.
'Whew. Let's see. Hmm, Saint's whatever perspective, page 240....'
"....I agree. If we seize the capital, the remaining walls and urban areas give us high defensive superiority...."
Talk flowed on mutant legion status, emperor's army positions, enemy forces. Soon, markers for advances and standoffs covered a huge capital map someone brought.
"Yawwwn~"
The still-drowsy Nigmi watched from her stalactite throne with sleepy eyes.
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"I agree on pulling Marquis Malburad's outer capital forces inward. However, consuming them pointlessly is—"
"Ugh, mm...."
"Hyde. Focus."
"Hup! Y-yes."
"So, we avoid pointless consumption. If we seize part of the holy city your way, their territorial control will be highly useful—"
"Ugh, eek, ow!"
"....Take a short break."
"Th-thank you!"
Cauldr dove into the strategy session with intense passion. So passionate, that blazing fire showed no sign of dying even after a 10-hour marathon meeting.
Of course, I wasn't someone to tire from just 10 hours of heated talk. Half-complete or not, my physical side was nearly full auror knight—think I'd falter at a mere 10-hour meeting?
Squirm squirm—
"Hyde. Carry me~"
"Ugh."
"Hyde, I'm gonna eat you~ Nom nom!"
"Ow! Get off, you brat!"
What interrupted the meeting was Nigmi's assault, impatient from waiting.
After hours staring blankly at Cauldr's and my heated debate, whether from boredom or whatever, Nigmi slithered down from her throne and suddenly clung to me.
"Cauldr. Uh.... Can't we finish the meeting somewhere else? Your room earlier was fine, even the hallway—"
"Impossible. Any chance of misinterpreting Her Majesty's will means it must happen with her listening and observing."
"Th-then at least do something with your queen! Give her a snack, call those other two to play like before—how can we meet or focus like this!"
"....Accept it. Her Majesty wants you now; what she wants must happen."
Even as I protested, pointing to my spit-soaked ears and shoulders from Nigmi, Cauldr barely reacted. To them, her words like 'I want the empire~' and 'Gonna play with Hyde now~' were no different. They just had to make it happen somehow.
If I pried her off by force, they'd tie me up and toss me to her, so I had no choice but to let the snake-human climb my back.
'Wasn't she scared of me?'
Not just her initial reaction, but even 10 hours ago entering the audience chamber, she'd flinched—clearly still fearing the Warlord. With trauma regressing her mentally that much, freaking out at any middle-aged man like Professor wouldn't be odd.
Yet here she was, not fleeing in fear but staring piercingly for hours, then grinning idiotically and glomping me.
"If she's rested enough, continue. Her Majesty staying like that doesn't hinder the talk. She doesn't seem a fragile specimen that'd harm her body with weakened power. She's not baring fangs either."
"No, well, it's, kinda hard to explain...."
Fair enough. I saw it as a kid nephew clinging to an uncle, given her state....
Slither—
"Hic!"
Sniff sniff—
"Hyde.... Mmm, Hyyyyde...."
"Ugh, eek!"
The problem was, her head might be a bit dim, but her body was fully mature female-like.
"I can't understand. Is Her Majesty clinging so painful?"
"You self-reproducing folks would never get it...."
I didn't know her past sufferings, but I could guess why she'd morphed human-like.
'This one envied humans.'
Her mutterings when meeting Cauldr too. Born less than two years ago, she'd lost all her family-race before even growing up. Humans, swarming everywhere, must've been so enviable. From their view, humans could find family anywhere in the world.
Inheriting even faintly the previous mutant queen's blood, over long years, Nigmi had probably shaped somewhat into her desired form.
Squeeze—
'Lord of Light!'
The huge issue was her envy being humans, seriously compressing my back as she clung.
"Get it now, why this is happening?"
"No, not at all. But it's undoubtedly a great honor."
"This?!"
Cauldr just smiled warmly and nodded at Nigmi sinking tiny fangs into my crown and hanging there.
"Reason doesn't matter; no issue. Finish the talk. We don't have endless time."
"No, wait...."
Ignoring my desperate face, Cauldr spread the capital map again. If I didn't follow, he'd finish alone.
In the end, I rejoined the passionate ranks, dangling the leech on my back. Small mercy: no lewd heat in Nigmi's clinging eyes.
'Recall it, Hyde! The unyielding will over 200 years! The miraculous will never seen again—'
"Fingers, fingers~"
"Haaah—"
"....."
Hyde. Estimated age at death: 220~222.
Travel companion of great sorceress Notum. Guard knight of Empress Lucilla. Magitech engineer of an isolated island, lived as a Pathfinder.
Travels with Notum left no room for distractions.
Imperial guard knights couldn't marry by principle.
The isolated island's magitech engineer went mad young from unrelenting mental strain.
Wanderer Pathfinder Hyde never found chances to settle with anyone due to his wanderlust.
Inheriting human Professor's consciousness fully, he also inherited the great saint's greatest weakness.
"Focus. This is about the battlefield where you step up."
"D-don't bite, no, don't cling...."
Caught off-guard by the queen's fierce assault, he fully handed the empire breakthrough finale to Cauldr—such a tragic tale.
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