The Lord's Choice
I stared at the Duke, my voice sharp. “Father. Are you serious? War?”
Screw the cute act. I just confronted him outright.
“Yes. Morale is high, and we have ample troops, weapons, and provisions. At the very least, we won’t lack anything until we strike the Four Heavenly Kings.”
Not lacking anything against the Four Heavenly Kings? That just meant he had no idea what “lacking” even looked like. If a single lord’s army could take down one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Demon King’s territory would have been crushed long ago. The new weapons were only just being deployed to the regular forces, for crying out loud.
“Yes, of course. But assuming victory just because the preparations are thorough would be a mistake. We cannot go to war right now. You must not underestimate the Authorities of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
At my words, Duke Ashtar frowned deeply.
“What would a mere girl like you know about war?”
I’ve probably participated in more of them than you have. I’d never taken command, but I’d seen plenty of battlefields. Eugene the Hero would probably try to stop this war too. The problem was that I was now Olivia.
If I were still Noah, he might have listened.
“No, listen. We don’t even know where the Four Heavenly Kings are, right? To find them, we’d have to sweep the entire Demon King’s territory. And to do that, we’d need a map of the sealed territories. There’s no way the demons would just hand something like that over.”
Even if they had the map, the demons would never offer it up. Besides, the terrain over there was absolute garbage. Back then I’d had to carve a path by dropping meteors left and right to destroy the landscape. Maybe if we went that route… but the Ashtar army wouldn’t know the way. The Four Heavenly Kings might have already cleaned up the area by now, too. And terrain wasn’t even the end of it.
“Hmm.”
“On top of that, you’d have to wipe out tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands of demons. Sure, with the Demon King dead and his legions now answering only to the Four Heavenly Kings, we might seize an early advantage. But as time passes, the demons will start waging guerrilla warfare from all directions, tightening the noose. Can you really handle that?”
I knew this from bitter experience. I’d once considered wiping out every last demon in the Demon King’s territory myself. It wasn’t easy. Their numbers were simply overwhelming. To do it alone, I’d have to gather them in one place and drop three or four meteors. And while I was busy doing that, one of the Four Heavenly Kings would have killed me.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“No.”
“When did I ever say I was leading an army straight into the Demon King’s territory?”
Huh? Wasn’t that exactly what he was saying?
“I heard your second sibling has arrived as well. They said you called for them.”
“As expected, no matter how much stronger you are than Pector, you really are still just a girl.”
Pector was a fluke, damn it.
“Well, yes, this body is indeed a girl. But still—”
I couldn’t find any words to argue back. In noble families, women simply didn’t involve themselves in clan affairs. My mother Katarina was the abnormal one. A young lady like me had no business sticking her nose into this.
Wow. That actually stings.
“Of course we will go.”
“Wait, what kind of wordplay is this?”
Why was he going back and forth like this?
“It means we won’t be going right this moment. We still need to prepare.”
“Didn’t you say you were going before the harvest?”
That meant he was preparing to move now.
“We must go to the Demon King’s territory. But the first place we will head to is Krad Fortress.”
Krad Fortress, huh.
“Krad Fortress?”
“It is the forward base your grandfather built to enter the Demon King’s territory.”
“Is that so?”
That place was also Berna’s stronghold. Come to think of it, that woman’s obsession with Eldacrad was still burning strong. She had already gone completely mad. After the Demon King’s death, she could no longer tell right from wrong between the dead Demon King and the Eldacrad she herself had killed.
Right. So that fortress had belonged to Eldacrad. Only one problem remained. That crazy bitch Berna had once corrupted an entire village and destroyed the fortress. So while she was away, I had stormed the place. It was partly for revenge, but mostly to clear a path to the Demon King’s castle.
-Meteor Fall-
-Kwaaaaaang!-
The memory of destroying Eldacrad’s fortress flashed through my mind.
“It is a fortress that looks directly upon the Demon King’s territory. And we won’t be charging straight in, either.”
Geographically, it was right in the center.
“Are you talking about that massive castle between the Demon King’s territory and the Empire? The one that can house tens of thousands of soldiers and store more than three months’ worth of supplies?”
“Yes, that one.”
Was it still unknown? Maybe the Four Heavenly Kings had been blocking information from leaking. Or perhaps—
“That black castle belonged to Grandfather?”
It had looked incredibly cool before I smashed it. But to break through the black barrier Berna had set up, I’d poured out so much mana that the meteor I dropped had completely erased it from the face of the earth.
“Why are you speaking in the past tense?”
“Ah. It’s nothing.”
I probably shouldn’t say anything. Besides, that was something Noah had done, not Olivia. It had been done to defeat the Demon King. So there was nothing to worry about, right?
“What is it, Olivia?”
“Well… the truth is… that fortress was destroyed by Sir Noah.”
“What?”
“Yes. Um. The mage in the Hero’s Party is actually Sir Noah’s younger sister. She told me about it.”
Sorry, Noel. If the Duke starts digging, just answer him yourself. Since you laughed at me, you can at least do that much, right?
“If that’s true…”
“After all, Sir Noah went into the Demon King’s territory alone. I heard it would have been impossible without breaking through that place.”
“I see.”
Yeah. It couldn’t be helped. Who would have guessed my grandfather—Olivia’s grandfather—had built it?
“That won’t be a problem.”
The eldest son of Ashtar had arrived. Olivia’s oldest brother. I’d heard he was overseeing the construction of an outpost, but he got here fast.
“Oh, Rockton. You’ve come. What do you mean it won’t be a problem?”
“Yes, Father. I’ve already heard the story from Kise.”
“Then what exactly do you mean by ‘no problem’?”
“I’ve crossed the border between the Demon King’s territory and the Empire several times on business. The destroyed Krad Fortress has already been rebuilt.”
Huh? It was already rebuilt? No, that wasn’t the important part. Was Rockton in favor of this war too? If that fortress had been rebuilt, it meant Berna was using it as her main base. If Berna’s army was stationed there, it would be hard to take.
“Hoh. Is that so? Does that mean we can strike immediately?”
“Not quite. Tens of thousands of corrupted troops under Berna’s command are stationed inside the fortress. And the fortress itself is different from the old one, so it would be difficult for us to break through.”
If it were the old Krad Fortress, we might have remaining records. But the one Berna rebuilt out of her longing for Eldacrad would be completely different.
“Tens of thousands? Are you certain?”
“Yes. If you give the order, Father, I will draw up the optimal strategy. However, if you truly wish to seize that fortress, you would have to throw every last citizen of Ashtar into the meat grinder.”
“Hmm.”
“Moreover, our true objective—assassinating Berna—would be impossible.”
At least Rockton was being realistic.
“Impossible, you say.”
“I know how much you miss Grandfather, Father. But now is not the time.”
The eldest was right. But sitting still and doing nothing also felt wrong. The Duke’s dissatisfaction was clearly boiling over. He had already drawn his sword; he needed to cut something. Especially after both Pector and now Berna. If he stayed quiet, the Ashtar family’s honor would be in tatters. They needed to deliver at least some form of retaliation. That would preserve face and ease the Duke’s heart.
Maybe sacrificing one legion of the Demon King’s army wouldn’t be so bad. Even if we killed them, they’d just replenish their numbers anyway. And it would help restore the prestige Ashtar had lost after the Pector incident.
“There is another way, though.”
“You have a method?”
“If it’s hard for us to go there, we should lure them out instead.”
I threw the bait at the Duke.
“What do you mean?”
“Northeast of Krad Fortress lies the Demon King’s Third Legion. Most of their forces belong to Berna.”
There was a hidden Demon King’s fortress there. The Third Legion was stationed at it.
“Is that so?”
“Originally, if Krad Fortress is attacked, the Third Legion comes to its aid.”
I had asked the Kingdom soldiers who had been trapped inside the fortress. When Krad was attacked, the Third Legion would arrive and work together with the fortress to annihilate the human army.
“You want us to circle around and take out their reinforcements first?”
“Exactly. We only need to wipe out those troops and return. Even if we take only twenty thousand instead of thirty thousand, the Third Legion only has about half that number. With a surprise attack, we can defeat them.”
If we brought the new weapons like cannons and guns, a single surprise assault might even annihilate them completely. I had no reason to occupy the place myself.
“Will it work?”
“Until now, Ashtar has only ever played defense. They won’t expect us to march all the way to the Third Legion’s position and launch an attack.”
Especially if Berna was the one in command. With nothing but her twisted love for Eldacrad and zero understanding of military strategy, she would be wide open to a surprise strike.
“With the new weapons, we can suppress them. We annihilate the Third Legion and draw the enemy straight to Ashtar.”
“Ashtar is the Empire’s front yard. If we enter the Demon King’s territory, it becomes difficult. But if we make Ashtar the battlefield, we can easily crush Berna even if she foams at the mouth and comes running.”
“Even if they don’t take the bait, killing over ten thousand of the Demon King’s troops would still be a significant gain.”
If we hit and ran like this, they probably wouldn’t come. The Four Heavenly Kings weren’t fools. Looking at the current state of the Demon King, they had no way to handle things themselves. Berna might get angry enough to come if her personally raised army was destroyed. But could she really invade a region protected by the Seven Stars and the Hero’s Party alone? The only one who might join her would be Seto.
If the battlefield was ‘Ashtar,’ then I, along with the Seven Stars, could step forward and fight. Noel would be useful in battle as well.
“Yes.”
“By the way, Olivia.”
“Yes?”
“How do you know all this so well?”
Ah. To someone who had never even left the Empire, this knowledge might seem suspicious. But I had an excuse ready.
“It’s all thanks to Noel, the mage of the Hero’s Party.”
Time to throw Noel under the bus. How dare she try to act cute with me? That girl definitely let her mind wander while I was gone.
“Hoh. That Noel girl seems better than the Hero.”
“Of course! She is Sir Noah’s younger sister, after all! Feel free to order her around as much as you like!”
Since she’s in the Hero’s Party, you can work her to the bone!
“I see. You two must be quite close.”
“Yes. We became quite friendly in the mausoleum.”
This should be enough. Noel would probably get dragged into the war anyway. Let’s see how well she handles the bomb I just handed her.
“Then I shall consider it. I will discuss this matter with your brother and make a decision. You may leave.”
He looked quite troubled. The Duke was a lord. He couldn’t simply throw away the lives of his people. He would probably make a rational judgment.
As I left the Duke’s office and walked down the corridor, Seria was standing there quietly, watching me. She was hugging her teddy bear.
“What? Why are you staring at me so intently while hugging that bear?”
Her expression was full of discontent.
“How could you abandon me and go on a mausoleum date with that washboard?! Come to think of it, Kise is flat too, and so is Noel. Do you have a thing for flat chests?”
Why was she looking at me like that?
“You call that a date?”
“It’s that popular fantasy horror magic experience date all the noble couples are doing these days!”
I’d never heard of such a thing. The nobles these days must have lost their minds.
“No, does that make any sense? I told you I met Berna.”
“That crazy bitch Berna is nothing but a passing whore in front of you, Lady Olivia!”
No, if my grandfather hadn’t helped me back then, I would have been in serious trouble. Noel probably would have stepped in, but I still would have taken heavy damage. I might have even lost an arm.
“You’re still seeing me too much as my old Noah self.”
My stamina now was nothing compared to back then.
“Anyway, it’s too much! If I had been there instead of that Noel woman, I would have blown away any illusion like that in an instant!”
“No, what—”
Did I do something wrong? Besides, Noel and I are siblings, and I told Seria that before. How could she think that was a date?