Chapter 339: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 339
The knights of Pruna Border, the Kelone Knights, rode on Giant Turtles and shouted toward the Silver Wave Knights.
"Stop! If you come one step closer, we will fire immediately!"
The Silver Wave Knights stroked the heads of the dolphins they were riding and laughed.
"Sounds like a kitten crying in fear."
The Silver Wave Knight Commander alone crossed the border riding a dolphin. The Kelone Knights threw their javelins without hesitation.
Four javelins flew accurately toward the Silver Wave Knight Commander, but the commander caught them all with four hands that had grown from his back.
"...What?"
The Knight Commander's eyes had turned purple, and three horns had grown through his helmet.
"A devil!"
"No, this is evolution."
The Kelone Knight Commander immediately gave a hand signal.
"Begin firing!"
At that moment, hundreds of devils leaped up from the riverside where the coastal artillery was positioned.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
As the artillery batteries were ambushed by devils, no artillery fire could be launched.
Boom!
The Silver Wave Knight Commander moved all four hands simultaneously and shot toward the Kelone Knight Commander.
Thud!
In the blink of an eye, the Kelone Knight Commander fell with four javelins embedded in his chest.
The Silver Wave Knight Commander stretched out his hand toward the confused Kelone Knights.
"Everyone, charge! Dedicate the Eileen River to the almighty King of Niflheim!"
***
Caesar skimmed through the declaration of war.
Why would the Kingdom of Dior invade? They simply invaded because it seemed feasible.
"So you're saying the Kingdom of Dior announced they would change their national name to Niflheim?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"Now they're not even hiding that they're devils."
"Since there have been testimonies from refugees escaping from the Kingdom of Dior for some time, it's not that surprising."
In fact, Niflheim had revealed its ambitions since Prince Denver attacked Sanctus Lumen and Shalibi.
You could say what was bound to happen has happened.
"More importantly, the Kingdom of Dior... No, I should call it Niflheim now. Niflheim said they would only target the Pruna Border and told us not to support the Pruna Border. They said if we provide support, they would consider Homigraph and Sapientia as enemies and invade."
"They're talking nonsense. After what those Niflheim bastards suffered from me, why would they leave Homigraph and Sapientia alone."
"Then should we provide support to the Pruna Border?"
"Of course. Jerry, what kind of support do you think would be best?"
Jerry stood up from his seat and said.
"First, artifact support seems best. I heard devils swam underwater and launched surprise attacks. To counter that, it would be good to produce and supply artifacts that were used against mere people in the past."
Then the Homigraph Police Commissioner, sitting on the opposite side, stood up and spoke.
"My opinion differs. I think it's too late to help the Pruna Border."
Jerry frowned.
"Are you suggesting we abandon the Pruna Border?"
"Yes. The Pruna Border is collapsing at an unbelievable rate. The army of the Pruna Border has essentially lost its will to resist. We should instead establish a new defensive line in the Wizard Province."
"Do you know how difficult that would be? It's much more efficient in terms of time and resources to defend the existing defensive line in the Pruna Border!"
"Then how will you transport supplies and people to the Border? By the time we depart, the Pruna Border might already have fallen."
Caesar slammed the table. The conference room instantly fell silent.
"Now, are you all done talking?"
The Police Commissioner adjusted his monocle and said.
"Lord Caesar. This is..."
Caesar waved his red staff in the air and said.
"I'm not Lord Caesar. Right now, I'm the Grand General who has received all military authority from Arch Duke. Will you not use the correct title?"
"...I apologize, Grand General."
"Well, since everyone seems to be struggling, I'll give a very simple and clear answer."
Caesar stood up and pointed to the map of the Pruna Border.
"By now, they would have passed the second defensive line of the Pruna Border and be heading toward the third defensive line. Even if we provide support as quickly as possible, the third defensive line will be breached or under attack. Are there any remaining defensive lines after that?"
"No, there aren't."
Jerry's expression hardened, and the Police Commissioner nodded as if to say 'I told you so.'
"Then, is there a defensive position in the Wizard Province?"
"There isn't one in the Wizard Province."
"Then let me ask one thing. Do you think it would be faster to create a defensive line? Or to recapture and repair a defensive line that has already been breached?"
The Police Commissioner and other staff found it difficult to answer.
They had already guessed what decision Caesar had made.
"Bring the schematic of the third defensive position."
The schematic of the third defensive position was hung on the wall. Caesar used his red staff as a baton to point at the map.
"When the Pruna Margrave established the defensive position, he designated the Kingdom of Dior as the main enemy. So all infrastructure, including coastal artillery batteries, was installed in a way that was advantageous for defending against an invasion from the Kingdom of Dior."
"Then if we were to attack the third defensive position that they just successfully occupied, would they be geographically advantaged or disadvantaged for defense?"
Jerry opened his mouth with a confident expression.
"We would have the advantage."
"Good. So we should tell the Pruna Margrave this: Defend the third defensive position, but don't try too hard to defend it. If you pour in all your manpower and military supplies recklessly, it will be difficult when we try to recapture it."
Caesar looked at the clock. It was 9 PM on May 5th.
"One hour from now, martial law will be declared throughout the Wizard Province. We will transition to wartime administrative system, and all adult males who can hold a gun and all knights staying in the Wizard Province are subject to conscription."
"Understood!"
Caesar looked at Jerry and said.
"Jerry, devise a plan for the recapture operation of the third defensive position and brief us in two days. You'll need to stay up late tonight and tomorrow. Is that okay?"
"Yes. Understood, Grand General."
Caesar picked up his staff and coat and said.
"I'll go report to Arch Duke, so actively cooperate with Chief of Staff Jerry. Police Commissioner Keverik."
Keverik spoke with a stiff expression.
"Yes, Grand General."
Look at that, his lips are sticking out three feet. He's sulking because I only listened to Jerry's opinion.
"According to the wartime organization, you're appointed as the Military Police Commander. Is that right?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"I'll put all the Special Security Officers under my command directly under you, so lead them well."
"Pardon? The Special Security Officers..."
"They're all knights or at least Aura users. Since the Kingdom of Dior is using devils, prevent those devil bastards from setting even one foot in Homigraph. Understood?"
The Police Commissioner's eyes sparkled.
"Yes! Understood!"
The wartime administration of the Wizard Province is quite well-established.
The reason, as you know, is that the Arch Duke family has been preparing for war with the Kingdom of Dior for a very long time.
If the system is well-established, Caesar's job is simple. He just needs to select S-class to A-class talent, place them in the right positions, and support them from behind.
Just like that Police Commissioner Keverik.
'He was exceptionally good at catching devils.'
Somehow, Duke Laar Arch had discovered him and appointed him as the Homigraph Police Commissioner. By appointing him as the Military Police Commander, they should be able to suppress devils trying to secretly enter Homigraph and cause trouble to some extent.
Caesar left the temporary command room. A heavily pregnant moon was floating in the sky.
'I should contact Agatha soon.'
If things are chaotic on Caesar's side, the demon realm won't be calm either.
***
After hearing all of Caesar's report, Noah Arch opened his mouth.
"Then what happens to the magic stone supply?"
As expected, from Noah's perspective, it doesn't matter whether the Pruna Border is destroyed or not. He only cares about the magic stones.
"If the Pruna Border is breached, receiving magic stone supplies becomes meaningless. The moment those Niflheim bastards set foot in Homigraph, the Ark Plan will also fail."
"So we need to support the Pruna Margrave?"
"Yes. And we'll need to mobilize all resources."
Noah tapped the table and said.
"It's certain that Niflheim invaded too hastily. Originally, they should have invaded two years later."
That would be the official history written in the Akashic Records. But that future has been twisted for a long time.
"The King of Niflheim wouldn't have attacked the Pruna Border without thinking. Either they were promised to receive external support, or they judged that we couldn't help the Pruna Border."
"I also think they were promised to receive external support. Who do you think would support them?"
Caesar recalled the letter he obtained after dealing with Smog recently and said.
"First, it would be Elijah."
"Elijah is too far away. There's no way he would directly attack Homigraph."
"Then it would be kings who have a lot of greed but not much power."
They're all thieves who emerged thinking, ‘With so many people everywhere claiming to be kings, maybe I should try being a king too?’.
The characteristic of such people is that their greed has increased but their ability is lacking, and they can't build up their abilities slowly.
So they fall for Niflheim's tricks, worship devils, and don't hesitate to become devils themselves.
Noah looked at the map of Homigraph hanging on the wall.
"I recently received reports that cultists following the devil religion are increasing within the Wizard Province. And those who follow the devil religion are also stealthily coming in."
"Does this mean that the self-proclaimed kings will move if we help the Pruna Margrave?"
"They will definitely invade Homigraph. The more resources we invest in the Pruna Border, the fewer ways we'll have to deal with them."
Caesar had already anticipated Noah's concerns.
When playing through the Valent Saga as a wizard or General, this kind of troublesome situation always arises.
Of course, although the Pruna Margrave is an ally, he collapses too easily to Niflheim's invasion, as is happening now.
There are three ways to solve this problem in the game. Either appoint weapons technicians like Theon early on, mass-produce anti-devil weapons, and train soldiers.
Or establish close diplomatic relationships with surrounding kingdoms early on and receive help.
Or just grit your teeth and endure somehow.
There's only one choice among the three.
Finding Theon early was good, but since proper magical engineering weapons haven't yet reached the development and production stage, the first method can't be used right away.
Then how about the second method? This is even more difficult.
Because Caesar broke the Holy Grail, he's widely disliked across the continent.
The moment other nobles, including Count Springfield, help Caesar, they will face opposition from the Royder Order, so this is an ambiguous choice.
Unless the Royder Order's momentum is curbed, other nobles have no reason to help.
In other words, the only option Caesar can choose right now is to grit his teeth and endure, but Caesar wants to add a variation to this.
"Thanks to Knight Town, quite a number of knights are staying in Wizard Province. If we employ them to attack the devil cult members who are gathering around, it will be better than expected."
Homigraph has been implementing knight-friendly policies since last year. Providing low-interest loans for knights to buy houses was just the basics; he made the Gale Magic Tower produce artifacts for knights, and advised the Cork Magic Tower to produce many riding beasts for knights to ride.
He even created Knight Town for knights to live together and opened a place for exchange.
Where else would be a better place to live for wandering knights who have lost their masters?
According to Caesar's plan, many wandering knights were staying in Wizard Province, and although the exact number had not been counted, it was quite substantial.
"Can you persuade the knights?"
"Most capable knights have already purchased homes and riding beasts through loans. They need money to pay off the interest, and Arch Duke and I have money."
Why would Caesar earn money so frantically?
He saved money to use at times like this.
"Then are you planning to manage the knights yourself?"
"I would like to, but I will likely be very busy, and there will probably be many who view me unfavorably."
"Because of breaking the Holy Grail?"
"There was more backlash than I expected. If I lead the knights, something will definitely be said among them."
"Then who are you thinking of putting in charge?"
"There is someone trustworthy."
"Who?"
When it comes to leading knights, what's important is economic power and honor. Without money, work motivation decreases and knights won't work, and if someone with diminished honor is the leader, knights will neglect their duties.
Assuming Caesar can solve the money problem, then who would be the knight that all knights would acknowledge as their leader?
Only one person came to Caesar's mind.
"My disciple has already gone to find them."