Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: The Betrayed General Betrays
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Recently, since the elves had started holding their meetings out loud, we'd been able to pick out people fluent in Elvish to keep tabs on their activities.
The discussions varied a bit each time, but lately, reports were coming in of others raising their voices louder than Vittorio.
"Please, share some of that liquid with me too!"
"Hmm..."
And right now.
Seeing Vittorio drop to his knees and beg the moment he walked in made it clear that the reports hinting at his crumbling authority were spot on.
"You mean the liquid I leave in the high elves' territory every day?"
Even as I prodded him with a touch of sarcasm,
"Yes! Just one bucket, one bucket!"
With no one else around to watch, he rubbed his hands together shamelessly, dignity be damned.
Whether it was because his two major operations had failed spectacularly, or because his clear superior, Benedicta, had arrived and thrown things into disarray.
It was surprising that Vittorio, who had earned a measure of respect as supreme commander, had fallen this far in just a few months.
"I heard you offered fresh fruits and juices to the high elves. Come for damage control, have you?"
"..."
He answered my question with silence.
"How to explain this simply... Right. Never pour liquids heavy on sweetness or saltiness onto plants—especially not the roots. Since you're here begging, I guess you didn't know that."
"...Thanks for the advice."
Watching Vittorio—the guy who'd tried to use the imperial army as his stepping stone—bow his head even under blatant mockery.
I knew some of it was an act, but it still eased the stress and fatigue building up from the recent uptick in raids.
"So, about that liquid?"
"Impatient types rub me the wrong way. Oh, right, you're an elf. Anyway."
"..."
Personally, I'd rather push Vittorio as supreme commander over the other elves.
With my minimap constantly confirming no eavesdroppers nearby, I teased him without a care.
"Well... since you've gone this far, I can't send you away empty-handed."
"...Really?"
"Of course. Unlike some people, I don't enjoy lying. That said, it's valuable stuff, so I can't just hand it over for free."
After a few minutes of delightful banter, I got to the point.
"What'll you offer?"
"Don't worry too much. I won't ask for anything too precious."
To Vittorio, who bit his lip in tension,
"I want command authority over the high elves."
"...What?"
I brought up Benedicta's command authority.
"That makes no sense... Ahem. She's still under Este's banner, and it only makes sense for us elves—who can communicate with her mentally—to hold the reins."
As expected, he reacted fiercely, knowing this was something he couldn't give up.
"Ah, poor choice of words. I mean, I'd like her to have nominal independent command authority."
"..."
"I didn't mention it before because it seemed impossible, but now even our imperial forces can communicate to some extent. She was placed under elven command for convenience, so there's no need to keep it that way."
Everyone knew the real superior was the high elf Benedicta, but nominally, she'd been under Vittorio until now.
"...Nothing else?"
"Nope."
This hit right at Vittorio's reverse scale—his desperate grasp on authority.
"..."
He bowed his head and pondered for a long while.
His deliberation dragged on so long that I started wondering if I should state my terms first.
"...How about you and I share nominal command authority instead?"
"Better than making her fully independent?"
"The dwarves can't even dream of communication yet, and among the imperial army, only you can manage it."
He'd brought up exactly the condition I wanted.
"So nominally, it means I can exercise command over her?"
"Yes, nominally."
"Well..."
I pretended to mull it over,
"Not a bad deal."
I flashed a grin at his tense expression.
"Let's make it official with a contract."
"...A contract?"
"If not, no deal."
"..."
Vittorio fell silent, then surprisingly pulled his seal from his pocket.
After quickly drawing up a simple contract, Anna entered the tent at my signal, carrying two buckets of rice-wash water.
"Adjutant Anna."
"Yes."
-Thud.
She set the buckets down next to Vittorio with a loud bang,
"Whoops..."
He hurriedly cupped his hands to catch the overflowing water, then snatched up one bucket as if someone might take it away.
"Off you go."
"Thanks!"
He rushed toward the exit, peeked cautiously through the tent flap, then strode out with feigned confidence.
"Fun elf, isn't he?"
"...General."
"Hm?"
I was still chuckling at his earnest efforts when Anna, who'd been staring at the spot he'd vacated, approached me.
"Considering what you've said about Vittorio before, this feels a bit merciful."
"It does, doesn't it?"
"...Pardon?"
She blinked wide-eyed, not expecting me to agree so readily.
"If I'd strung him along another day or two, we could've gotten a lot more. You think so too, right?"
"Yes."
"Part of it is wanting to keep him as supreme commander... but honestly, there's nothing much left to squeeze out of him."
If the orcs had rallied enough to attack the elves too, Kalligo's forces had to number well over 100,000 at minimum.
Proving it, the enemy raids were growing larger by the day.
It wasn't even certain if Este could hold out until the Red Dragon Legion and reinforcements arrived—and even if they did, there wasn't much worth getting from a commander whose authority had tanked.
"So, I went with something I wanted to test."
A personal experiment with huge potential payoff if it worked, worth the investment.
"A test?"
"If we both recognize her as under my command, maybe one-way communication becomes possible."
For my abilities, mutual perception mattered more than actual authority. Getting nominal command from Vittorio—with minimal burden on both sides—might satisfy the conditions on my end.
"...Think it'll work?"
"Not right away. We'll see after some talks."
Of course, leading other races' armies was only possible in games.
We'd never tried it here, and her acknowledging my command was key.
"If it succeeds, it won't be bad at all."
In the best case, it'd let me utilize her very efficiently.
She was still gray on the minimap for now, too risky to try immediately.
"..."
"Rice-wash water again today. The more, the better—they'll love it."
"I'll prepare it."
Once she turns green, it'll be worth a shot.
"[You're using this fruit? It's too small.]"
"Expressing doubt at the grains being too small."
"Tell them to use tens or hundreds of millions."
"Yes. [So, use over hundreds of millions.]"
"[...Did I missay something?]"
Since Vittorio had basically greenlit the rice-wash deliveries, I'd been visiting Benedicta nightly to chat,
"[Hello.]"
"[He... llo.]"
"Oh, good."
In case I could only issue commands in languages I knew, I'd even learned Common Elvish from Erika.
"[Nice to meet you.]"
"[Hm? Didn't that human say he didn't know it?]"
"...Speaking too fast."
"She's surprised you're using Elvish. [This man has recently been learning Elvish.]"
"[Clumsy.]"
"Haha..."
"Why?"
"[Not bad.]"
"Pardon?"
"Hm?"
That way, bit by bit—agonizingly slowly—I was closing the vast distance with Benedicta,
But enemy forces are approaching. Over 20,000 orcs alone."
"20,000? That's a lot."
"Could be more, but not less."
Benedicta turning green took a backseat to Kalligo's raids intensifying first.
"[Too many again today. Can't you handle it yourselves?]"
"Hm... Miss Erika."
"Asking why we can't fend them off on our own."
"Ah. [Trying... but hard to defend this... place? Position? The position...]"
"[Keep going.]"
"[...Sorry. Let's do our best together.]"
"[Hahahahaha!]"
Thanks to that—or whatever—her complaints, once aimed only at the elves, were starting to shift toward me. A good sign,
But the 6th Rear Guard is complaining of fatigue."
"...A week without rest."
"Yes. They need a break."
"Filling the gaps... We'll have to hold one more day. Other units are in similar shape."
"..."
Even the imperial army—the most rested— was wearing down.
Then one day.
"Commander! Enemy high elf sighted on the battlefield!"
"...Tch."
As if to drive the nail in.
Accompanied by elven troops, one of Kalligo's ultimate weapons revealed itself.
No more delays.