Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Vampire's Northern Subjugation War
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Vampire's Second Princess.
Command tent.
The commanders' meeting was underway.
All the commanders except Elwin were in attendance.
He had finished organizing his troops and decided to stop by.
"Lord Elwin brought three thousand troops with him."
"Doesn't that make our forces stronger?"
"Hahaha! Indeed. Lady Alensia gets one barony's worth. Lady Benia gets two. But with Lord Elwin here, the tide has turned."
"We can win this. We can rack up merits and take one step closer to the dukedom...?"
The lively chatter among the subordinates gradually died down.
They looked at Alensia, whose expression had turned grave.
Alensia's mind was elsewhere; their discussion wasn't registering.
She was lost in thought over another matter.
'A close friend...'
When Elwin arrived,
when he knelt before me,
I had to offer a greeting.
'Welcome. My...'
That's when I realized my mistake.
What was Elwin to me?
I hadn't defined it yet.
Fiancé? No.
Ex-fiancé? Absolutely not.
No fitting word came to mind.
And her subordinates were watching.
So she blurted out the only one she could think of.
Close friend.
'A close friend...'
"Ahem, Lady Alensia. Lady Alensia?"
Alensia snapped out of her reverie at the subordinate's voice.
"What is it?"
"After our discussion, we think it's fine to entrust one sector to Lord Elwin."
A sector?
To seize territory faster than Benia,
they needed to split their forces.
Centered on their current position:
One unit to the northeast (Clan).
One unit due north (Alensia).
That was the plan—to divide into two units.
A disadvantage compared to Benia's three-unit split.
'Entrust a sector to Elwin?'
That would speed things up, but...
Elwin would be in danger.
Elwin lacked the two most crucial things.
Knight. Mages.
And send him into danger?
What if he got hurt...?
"Elwin's forces are weak. Commanding a sector would be too much for them."
"But, my lady. With our current strategy, we can't beat Lady Benia."
I know.
How could I not?
"Surely you're not planning to lose like this?"
No.
She absolutely refused to lose to Benia.
The problem was that she hated the idea of Elwin getting hurt even more.
"Still, no. Elwin's unit has numbers but no substance."
"Still, no. Elwin's unit has numbers but no substance."
Alensia's voice carried from outside the command tent.
'No substance in my unit?'
Elwin felt offended.
He had brought as many troops as possible to help Alensia.
Even half—no, a third—of his current forces would have gone unquestioned.
Yet...
this was the treatment he got.
Whoosh.
He roughly flung open the tent flap.
Thud. Thud.
He deliberately stomped loudly as he entered.
"I couldn't help but overhear."
"Ahem."
"Cough."
He looked at Alensia, who sat silently.
"Lady Alensia."
"Speak."
"I'll take one sector."
"..."
"My forces aren't without substance."
At Alensia's request,
he had prepared for two months specifically for this war.
He assigned Hans special training,
and brought every ballista produced in Iron Village.
He even brought three thousand slave soldiers,
filling the gaps with the Salamander mercenaries and additional hires.
After all that preparation,
this was the treatment.
His excitement faded,
and reason took hold.
'Ah... that was a mistake...'
In his anger, he had slipped up.
To some ears, it sounded like direct defiance of Alensia.
And Alensia wouldn't let such insolence from a subordinate slide.
She wasn't called cold-hearted for nothing.
He needed to say something quick.
Before things worsened...
He first gauged Alensia's expression.
'What? I can't read it.'
Had something happened lately?
It was like this at the Frontier estate too—her face unreadable.
At that moment,
Alensia averted her gaze.
'Huh...?'
She looked away first?
Why? What was going on?
A moment later,
Alensia met his eyes again and spoke.
"Elwin, I had no intention of belittling you."
An excuse? An apology?
Why say something like that?
"The other heirs borrowed their families' strength. You didn't. You brought only your own power."
"..."
"Even if your forces are weaker than the three heirs combined, I don't look down on you. Quite the opposite—I respect how you've built your strength to come here."
The worries and disappointment in his heart melted away in an instant.
They say even ten bad turns melt with one good one?
That's how he felt.
Today, Alensia was unusually gentle. Different from her usual self.
"I misunderstood. My apologies."
He bowed to Alensia
and took the empty seat right next to the head position.
It was the closest to Alensia, alongside Clan.
From this distance, her face was crystal clear.
The tent settled down,
and Alensia spoke.
"We'll proceed with the original strategy. Clan and I take the sectors. Elwin, you'll handle rear cleanup and..."
"Lady Alensia."
"What now, Elwin?"
His body flinched for a moment.
Her usual demeanor had returned.
"I'll take a sector too."
"Didn't I say your forces aren't enough?"
Irritation laced Alensia's voice.
Her expression was readable now.
She was angry.
Seeing her angry face oddly put him at ease.
Better than when it was unreadable.
"You're right, Lady Alensia. So just provide a little support. Then I can handle a sector."
Her expression softened at the word 'support'.
"I see. With key resources, it should be feasible. What support do you need?"
"Mages."
Alensia nodded slowly.
"Very well. Mages from the Gray Mage Tower..."
"No. My sister and her classmates will suffice."
"You..."
"Lady Alensia, you underestimate me too much. I... showed disappointing sides often during our engagement, but I'm different now."
"I... don't trust you?"
Alensia pondered briefly, then assigned him a sector.
Based on the current encampment:
Northeast sector (Elwin)
Due north sector (Alensia)
Northwest sector (Clan)
With that, the meeting ended,
and the commanders filed out starting from those farthest from the head.
One by one, the numbers dwindled,
leaving only Elwin, Clan, and Alensia in the tent.
As he moved to leave,
"Elwin."
"Yes?"
"If the situation turns against you, retreat. I'll handle the rest, so run without fail."
"...Understood."
Outside the tent, a burly man waited.
"Elwin."
"What?"
He only bowed before Alensia, not Clan.
"Refrain from using the word 'fiancé' in front of the lady."
"Noted."
A woman, not a man.
A duke's daughter, not some ordinary noble.
Words like broken engagement or fiancé wouldn't help Alensia.
Depending on the view, they could be fatal.
Overly imaginative fools might spin wild delusions.
'They don't know Alensia.'
He had spent four years as her fiancé.
He was one of the few who knew her best.
Alensia had no interest in men.
Her sole focus was the dukedom.
She kept only one man close on personal terms: him.
'Though that personal closeness wasn't all sweet nothings.'
He patted Clan's broad shoulder, blocking the path,
and returned to his unit.
Vampire's encampment.
Elwin's unit.
The three thousand soldiers were resting in their respective spots.
'To execute our prepared plan, we need to move independently.'
The plan was tailored to his unit.
Mixing with others could disrupt it.
"Heir, how did it go?"
Hans, who had been managing the troops, ran up.
"We've been assigned the northeast sector as an independent unit."
"Excellent!"
"Announce it to the soldiers, and from now on, proceed according to plan."
"Yes, sir!"
Alensia hadn't trusted him to the end.
'No substance in the unit. And if it's disadvantageous, retreat? Run without fail?'
"Is this karma?"
He had indeed shown shortcomings over their four years together.
Much of it due to struggling with the new culture.
"This time, I need to show them properly. The completely changed me."
As he steeled himself,
his sister and her friends approached from afar.
His stern expression softened,
replaced by a faint smile.
"Oppa... Oppa-bunny!!!"
Oppa-bunny? What was that?
"Oppa-bunni!!"
She ran up like a girl, then composed herself like a lady to greet him.
"Our Elena's all grown up, huh?"
"Hehe. These are my classmates."
"Good to meet you all. Stay close with Elena from now on."
"Yes! Lord Elwin!"
"Don't worry. Elena's our leader."
"That's right."
It was just as the students said.
They all deferred to Elena.
"Hahaha. Is that so? Well, welcome anyway."
"Oppa-bunni, can I tour the camp with my friends?"
"Go ahead."
His sister and her friends entered the camp.
"With them joining... the plan becomes even more perfect."
Elena: 3rd Circle.
The rest: 1st to 2nd Circle level.
Low circles didn't matter.
What mattered was that they all specialized in earth magic.
"All preparations are complete."