Chapter 149
Chapter 149
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: The Vanished King
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While battles raged in the west and east,
preparations for a coup were underway in the south.
Reginald, the leader of Ballast's independence faction and a duke, was secretly receiving reinforcements from Vurang and assembling an army.
The overall commander of the army would be Cassius Lloyd, who had shed his Vurang affiliation and covertly pledged his loyalty.
Cassius had taken charge of most of the planning.
He insisted that to succeed in the coup, they needed to divert the regular army's attention, and so he brought in Albad and the western tribes.
They had agreed to terms: topple Ballast's regime and cede them some territory. Ballast wasn't a populous nation relative to its land anyway.
Most of its population was concentrated in the central capital and the adjacent Platon region, so even if they gave up a bit of land, they could relocate the people from that area to other regions and maintain their national strength.
As for the land itself, once Ballast shed its neutral status, they planned to ally with Svenner and strike at Europa or Albad, taking it back then.
To Duke Reginald, that news was absurd.
"What? Say that again."
"Yes, soldiers believed to be from the western forces are plundering the western territories and massacring our citizens indiscriminately, regardless of age or gender!"
"How could such a thing happen?!"
Fuming with rage down to his fingertips, Reginald headed to Cassius to verify the truth.
At Cassius's side was Prince Eldric, who had joined as an advisor.
Saintess Alicia was practically glued to Cassius as well. The way she looked at him was positively dripping with honey.
They each showed different expressions at Duke Reginald's protest.
Alicia responded immediately, as if it were nonsense.
"Duke Reginald, that can't be true. The western army that came to help us is massacring civilians?"
"I don't want to believe it either. But that's the information we received!"
"It can't be..."
She shook her head in disbelief and glanced at Cassius.
Cassius smiled reassuringly.
"Duke, there must be some mistake. It's probably that bastard Wade spreading false information."
"False information...?"
"The west invaded Vurang several months ago. Do you remember?"
"O-Of course I do."
"At the time, there were rumors that the west massacred 200,000 Vurang civilians, but it wasn't true. It was just fake news."
"I'd never heard that before."
"The westerners are currently branded as barbarians by the continent's people, and their reputation has been exaggerated in the worst way. Stories like them having three eyes and four arms, or eating corpses and laying eggs inside them. Ridiculous tales are spreading unchecked. Wade... Crossing is spreading that to shake us up. So don't let it get to you, Duke!"
"I-Is that so? Are Juras Pamillion and Wade conspiring to sow chaos among us?!"
"Exactly."
Alicia bit her lip hard at Cassius's bald-faced lie.
"As expected, Wade is ruthless. Even if it's to shake us, spreading such malicious rumors!"
"Don't worry, Alicia. Once this is over, I'll drive Wade and Crossing out entirely."
"Cassius... Yes, I believe you."
Smitten with love, Alicia took Cassius's words as gospel, but Duke Reginald was different.
He wasn't that naive.
He nodded along outwardly, but inwardly, he was thinking something else.
'They're hiding something. I should play along for now.'
They had left intelligence on the current war to Cassius. As coup forces, they couldn't operate a regular intelligence unit, and their limited spies were focused on the capital, so they had no choice but to rely on Cassius and Prince Eldric for everything else.
He turned to the silent Prince Eldric, probing.
"What do you think, Your Highness?"
"..."
"Your Highness?"
Prince Eldric was grinding his teeth.
'Tetora Anistri...!!'
To Eldric, who despised sacrificing cattle for the greater good, Tetora's methods were absolutely unforgivable.
He despised Tetora. And now, he had changed his mind about the western allies he had been cooperating with.
He had his own ulterior motives regarding this incident.
But for now, he had to defend Tetora and cover for her.
If word got out that Tetora's army had massacred hundreds of thousands of civilians, it would fracture the coup forces. That had to be avoided at all costs.
Even so, his personal convictions kept him from uttering the cover-up.
As he trembled with fury, Duke Reginald's expression changed sharply.
Cassius hurriedly intervened.
"His Highness must be overworked. Duke, let's discuss this later."
"W-Well, no choice then. We'll do that."
Reginald turned and left.
His footsteps quickened gradually, almost like he was fleeing. By the end, he was practically running.
Watching this, Cassius's gaze turned icy.
He stepped away and gave orders to his attendant.
"If Duke Reginald shows any suspicious movements, eliminate him."
"Is that wise? Isn't the duke essential for the coup?"
"One saintess is enough for that."
Cassius's faction had already taken control here.
The army supposedly from Vurang was entirely Prince Eldric's forces—in other words, western puppets.
"What about Prince Eldric, then? He's been questioning our methods all along."
"It's more like he's dissatisfied with Tetora."
"If things go south, shouldn't we eliminate him too? If we leave him be, he might clash with Lady Cheonmo."
"It's not 'might'—it's certain. Once this is over, or maybe through this very event, Prince Eldric will try to remove her."
"Gu-pung... Just to be sure, are you thinking of siding with Prince Eldric?"
"..."
As Cassius fell silent, the attendant growled.
"You fool, have you forgotten your role as one of the Three Great Generals?!"
"I haven't. I'll consult the other leaders about Prince Eldric. For now, focus on Duke Reginald."
The attendant sighed.
In this situation, he could already picture what would happen when Tetora and Prince Eldric faced off after everything ended.
Above all, their views on postwar handling differed.
Tetora and the western leaders wanted to swallow Ballast whole as a foothold for advancing onto the continent, but Prince Eldric wanted to either preserve Ballast or establish a new independent nation with Cassius as king.
So internal conflict was inevitable once it was over.
Fortunately or unfortunately, such worries were moot.
They had assumed Tetora would win—or at worst, not lose.
That was why the next piece of intelligence left them wide-eyed.
News of Tetora's crushing defeat at Wade's hands.
It put the coup forces on high alert as well.
*
*
*
After repelling the enemy in the Sadban Mountains, I quickly began organizing guerrilla units.
With the enemy's main force annihilated, I could now hunt down their detached units as well.
"I'll commit all forces! Show no mercy to those vile bastards!"
The officers nodded fiercely at my words, full of venom.
War had no morality, sure—but this crossed the line.
The enemy had chosen civilian massacres despite having other ways to win the war. It was karmic retribution for them, personally and as an army.
I divided our forces into four units of 10,000 each to hunt the enemy's detached units.
Perhaps having learned of the main force's annihilation from escaped soldiers, the enemy detachments were frantically retreating toward Svenner's territory.
By the time that operation wrapped up, Sophia came to report.
"Ilrain, we've driven out most of the enemy forces. By noon tomorrow, everything should be finished."
"As expected from a cadre of capable officers—the work gets done swiftly."
Thanks to them, I wasn't even tired.
Sophia nodded in agreement.
Jokingly, I said,
"Since things have turned out this way, it would be great if Professor Sophia stayed on as my adjutant. I'll treat you well, so how about joining me?"
Sophia furrowed her brow, sensing the sincerity mixed in.
"Cut the nonsense. More importantly, what now? Our big victory will affect the coup forces too."
This war was bait for the coup faction.
It applied to both sides.
We had tied down the westerners to keep them from the capital; they had done the same to prevent Ballast's regular army from defending it.
But the western army's massive defeat had changed everything.
If I marched back to the capital now, the coup would be doomed.
Knowing this, the royal family was requesting my return.
"What will you do?"
"Right now, priority is aiding the civilians hit by the plundering."
"You'll still have spare troops even while doing that."
True. In the current situation, sending back just 10,000 would be devastating for the enemy.
That's why the coup forces in the south had started rushing north.
Sophia wondered why I wasn't doing it—sending 10,000 would end everything.
I hesitated.
Because this was part of Juras's scripted play.
I wavered on whether to follow his script.
'Well, we agreed to go with his plan this time.'
We were in a mutual cooperation. Even if I disliked him, I couldn't act uncooperatively.
I made my decision and began withdrawing 20,000 troops.
One of Ballast's heavyweights, Marquis Pedelin, joined midway to the capital and took command.
And that Marquis Pedelin was bought off by Crossing.
If Reginald the duke and the saintess were bought by the west and Svenner, the opposing faction had their moles too. Pedelin was one.
Pedelin moved the troops I'd given him toward the capital.
With the coup army marching north from the south, drawing all eyes southward, the forces returning from the west faced lax defenses.
The royals sent orders to head straight south where the enemy was advancing, but Pedelin replied, "The soldiers are fatigued, so we'll rest one day before going."
And just like that, Pedelin seized the palace upon entering the capital.
That had been the goal from the start.
While the coup forces moved, bring in troops from the west to occupy the palace.
A strategy to profit from the chaos and flip the coup on its head.
So the western army didn't need to win—they just had to hold position and withdraw at the right time.
My huge victory only made the royals drop their guard more.
They never imagined the guy who'd fought so hard would stage a coup.
It became a kind of method acting.
Most of the 20,000 I'd sent were private troops of nobles bought off by Crossing, so the coup proceeded without a hitch.
With this, Ballast fell under Crossing's control.
Svenner and the west could only suck their thumbs.
Because Crossing and Caliper were already attacking Albad's east.
If Svenner and the west declared war on Crossing in outrage, it would spark a continental war.
But Svenner was already at war with Tunkai and Europa.
The western army had taken heavy losses from me.
Turning Crossing and Caliper into enemies in that state would corner Svenner.
The situation wasn't ripe to escalate Ballast's war continent-wide.
So they had no choice but to watch.
'Checkmate.'
The one who devoured Ballast wasn't Vurang, Svenner, or the west—it was Crossing.
Juras.
It was all his play.
The ending should have followed his script.
However.
"Lord Als!"
Anton burst into the tent, shoving aside the flap.
His face was etched with shock.
"What is it? So urgently."
"It's...!"
Anton hurriedly relayed the coup situation he'd just received.
"The king wasn't in the palace! He'd already fled somewhere!"
"What...?!"
Ballast's king had vanished into thin air.
It was the signal that the scripted play had turned into improv.