Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Eve of Dawn
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That blunt statement brought a momentary silence.
And then one of the staff officers spoke up.
It was the one who had just called Lize a "ten-year-old girl."
"That's too much of a leap. We were born on this land. We grew up here, and we've built our families here."
The staff officer's voice grew louder.
"Legion Commander... if I may be so bold, you've only just arrived. The young lady is the same. But we're different."
The other staff officers nodded slightly in agreement.
A supportive atmosphere.
"Even after the war ends, even if you return to your main family, we'll stay here. We'll have to keep living on this land. Our children, our grandchildren too."
The staff officer placed a hand on his chest.
"So our opinion is more realistic... if I may say so. We know this land better than anyone."
Another staff officer chimed in.
"The nomads are like a typhoon. They sweep through, but they don't stay. They plunder, they burn, and then they leave. They don't occupy."
It wasn't wrong.
Nomads are inherently fragmented. They split into tribes, divide into clans. They band together temporarily for plunder, then fight over the spoils and scatter.
Conquest is different. To hold territory, they need to stay united. It goes against their nature. Plunder rarely leads to conquest.
"The staff officers are right~."
Lize's voice echoed through the meeting room.
A child who would never have spoken up first under normal circumstances. Her hands were clenched tight, trembling.
"...What?"
"If we retreat, the staff officers can survive~. Even if the Kuman Tribe comes charging in, you'll manage somehow~. Surrender, flee, hide. It's your homeland~. Plenty of places to hide~."
The staff officer's face flushed red.
"Th-that's what we've been saying..."
"But our young master will die~."
"...What did you say?"
"If we retreat, the young master dies~."
The staff officer glanced at me before speaking.
"B-but as long as the Duke is alive, nothing will happen to the Legion Commander, right? Everyone knows His Grace favors you..."
"Do you know why the Duke protects our young master~?"
No one answered.
"Ability~. The conviction that our young master has more talent than Young Master Ernst. That's why he protects him~."
Lize glanced at me briefly.
Then turned back to the staff officers.
"Wiped out 500 orcs without a single casualty~. Beat Duke Sylvesta at chess for the first time in 300 years~. Upon arrival, exposed embezzlement and executed the deputy legion commander~. Captured 30 Kuman elite warriors~."
She ticked them off on her fingers one by one.
Her tightly clenched hands were still shaking. But her voice didn't waver.
"All proof of ability~. That's why the Duke protects our young master~. Because he thinks he might surpass Young Master Ernst~."
Lize's voice lowered.
"So if we run away from here~? He becomes a coward who fled from 2,000 cavalry. No matter what he did before, it won't matter~. The final impression will be 'the guy who ran'~."
A chill settled in my chest.
The girl was right.
The reason my father protects me. It's not love. It's an investment.
The expectation that 'this child might surpass Ernst.'
The moment that expectation vanishes, I revert to being just a troublesome bastard son.
Lize stepped forward.
"In that instant, the Duke's protection disappears~. 'So this is all he amounted to,' he'll think, disappointed~. No, he might not even be disappointed~. He'll just lose interest~."
The staff officers' faces hardened.
"Then~. Young Master Ernst will kill our young master~."
Blunt.
Too direct.
The meeting room froze solid.
The staff officers couldn't meet each other's eyes.
And I, too, was convinced.
No, not convinced—acknowledged. Lize had merely put into words what I'd vaguely sensed.
Run away, and I die.
Then there was only one answer.
I cleared my throat a couple of times.
The room's attention shifted back to me.
"So. What does my chief of staff think?"
I looked at Lize as I spoke. A deliberate title, infused with authority.
The staff officers' expressions twisted. Humiliation, displeasure, anger. But none dared speak.
Lize hesitated for a moment.
Then, habitually, she put her finger in her mouth.
Smack, smack.
An action utterly out of place in the tense atmosphere.
One staff officer swallowed a sigh. A look of pity.
"Can we win?"
"..."
Lize's red eyes wandered in the air.
Eyes calculating something.
"Seventy percent~."
A low voice.
Seventy percent.
70% win rate.
Not bad for a gamble. No, considering the situation, it was quite high.
But.
Lize's gaze shifted.
To Sir Heinrich, standing in the corner of the meeting room.
Her red eyes looked up at him.
Sir Heinrich didn't move a muscle. But as if sensing the gaze, the corner of his mouth twitched upward slightly.
Lize spoke again.
"...Ninety percent~."
The staff officers stirred.
"From seventy to ninety? Suddenly?"
"On what basis..."
I nodded inwardly.
From seventy to ninety percent.
A twenty percent difference.
The calculation that one Sir Heinrich boosts the win rate by 20%.
A top-tier knight, half a step from Swordmaster.
A plausible figure.
"Good."
I said.
"Tell me the plan."
Lize pulled her finger from her mouth.
Wiped the saliva on her sleeve discreetly.
And opened her mouth.
"Um, first of all~..."
Her voice was small. The words stuttered.
Clearly not used to presenting in front of staff officers.
"The enemy... has superior mobility~. They're cavalry~. If we run, they chase. If they chase, we run~. A head-on fight... is disadvantageous~."
Obvious.
But Lize didn't stop there.
"B-but instead~..."
Her finger drifted toward her mouth again, then came down.
"The enemy... isn't a proper army~."
"...What?"
One staff officer asked back.
"The Kuman Tribe~... is a tribal alliance~. Not unified under one command structure~... It's a bunch of tribes gathered together~. I heard it from that captured uncle named Kuulruk. Even tribes like the Red Deer or White Tiger are just collections of clans, so loyalty to the tribe isn't that strong~."
"So... you're saying use bait?"
Sir Heinrich spoke slowly.
"Yes~."
Lize nodded.
"Supplies~... show them on purpose~. 'There's tons of treasure here'~. Can they resist~?"
"..."
"Even if the chieftain orders 'hold back'~... with a golden carriage right in front of them~... will they all stay put~?"
They won't.
The nomads' inherent divisiveness.
The fundamental limit of an army driven by plunder.
They fight over spoils and scatter. Lize's earlier words came back to me.
"When some rush the bait~... we crush them individually~. 2,000 against 2,000 is bad, but~... 2,000 against 500 we can win~."
Lize looked up at me.
"We're~... unified under one command structure~. They move on orders, stop when told~. That's~... our strength~."
The presence or absence of unified command.
That was the difference between rabble and regulars.
Warrior against warrior, we might lose. But soldier against soldier, we win.
"A solid plan."
I nodded.
Induce division with bait, crush individually. Simple but effective. Above all, it leveraged our strength and struck the enemy's weakness.
"But~... it will require~... people to take on the dangerous role~."
Her red eyes swept over the staff officers.
A split-second silence.
Tension flashed across the staff officers' faces.
I didn't follow her gaze. I already had my answer.
"You two."
My finger moved.
First. The one who had called Lize a "ten-year-old girl."
Second. The one next to him who had nodded vigorously in agreement.
Coincidentally, the two most actively involved in the embezzlement.
"You two will each lead 100 soldiers personally."
The first staff officer's face stiffened.
The mouth that had been spouting confidently moments ago hung half-open.
"M-me?"
"Yes. You."
"B-but I'm a staff officer! Going into direct combat..."
"It's bait. Draw their attention, induce division. The most important role."
The most important role.
Also the most dangerous.
The place the enemy charges first. The place most likely to die first.
"Th-this makes no sense! I have no combat experience..."
"Refusing?"
My voice lowered.
The staff officer's mouth shut.
"Refusal means implication. Flight means implication. Understood?"
Implication.
The word settled heavily in the meeting room.
Not just themselves. Families too. Parents, wives, children, siblings.
They would recall Valerius's end.
The corpse rolling on the floor with half its neck severed.
And the wife and children executed after.
Despite being Ernst's close aide, the great Duke Walter had personally beheaded them "only halfway"—a heartwarming tale already widespread.
The two staff officers' faces went pale.
Their lips trembled. Fists clenched tight.
Humiliation, anger, fear.
A mix of three emotions on their faces.
But in the end, heads bowed.
"...I obey."
"I... obey as well."
Resignation in their voices.
I didn't look at them anymore.
I turned my gaze.
The remaining three staff officers.
Relief flashed across their faces.
'Not me.'
'I'm safe.'
Expressions too obvious.
Pathetic, but. That's humanity.
"Meeting adjourned."
I ended it earlier than planned. From tomorrow, we'd rise at dawn.
**
And that dawn.
My eyes opened on their own, and minutes later, a messenger came running, gasping for breath.
"The enemy has begun to move!"
I nodded, then spoke as calmly as possible.
"Bring my sword and armor."