A Day at the Imperial Noble Academy (3)
I was leading about twenty students around the academy grounds. They were all promising students from influential families at the Imperial Noble Academy who had attended the famous lecture.
Most were from the Strategy and Tactics Department or the Swordsmanship Department, but a few from other departments had tagged along too.
My younger brother Yozef and Izel, for instance.
Yozef was in the Humanities Department, and Izel was in the Magic Department. I could understand Yozef—he was the prized disciple of Chancellor Bilke—but Izel was unexpected.
I shot a subtle glance at Erisa. She and Izel were inseparable, like two peas in a pod.
Are they something like me and Hubeo?
But it didn't matter. I ignored it and turned to Yozef. Even if his teacher had told him to come, I couldn't fathom why he'd follow me here.
"Prince Yozef. Do you have a hobby in swordsmanship and strategy and tactics too?"
"If I'm going to manage Karl territory someday, I need to know these things. Our Karl territory shares a border with the orcs."
"Can't you just get along with them?"
"I'd love to, but imperial policy makes it impossible."
It was a perfectly obvious and precise answer. The Yosrahim Empire and the orcs were currently in a hostile relationship. As long as the Karl Grand Duke's family was part of the Yosrahim Empire, befriending the orcs was out of the question.
Good for him. Yozef was only in his first year of intermediate studies. Back then, I was dreaming of world conquest, but he was facing reality head-on.
Hubeo approached me. He was assisting me at the moment.
"Alright, time to start the lecture."
I nodded and addressed the group.
"I'll take questions now. Fire away."
Erisa raised her hand.
"Sir Baekmyeon, no lecture from you?"
"What good would my lecture do you?"
"Pardon?"
"Be honest—it's all obvious stuff anyway. You already know it all, even if it sounds fancy. So ask about what you don't know. Don't waste time."
Yozef raised his hand.
"Sir Baekmyeon, I have a question."
"Yeah, go ahead."
"What's the first quality of someone who wins wars?"
An interesting question. I answered right away.
"Luck. You can't beat a lucky bastard. If heaven's on their side, what can a mere human do?"
Yozef looked a bit dissatisfied. Clearly not the answer he wanted.
But it was the unavoidable truth. Wars were seventy percent luck.
"And the second quality?"
"Guts. Beating a guy with real grit is tough. They charge like maniacs—scary as hell."
"Third?"
"Gear. Imagine the enemy has magic bullet launchers. Regular soldiers get fried by fire or lightning before they even get close."
"Next?"
"Numbers. Eternal truth."
"After that?"
"Intel."
"So when do strategy and tactics come in?"
I gave Yozef a blank look. He reeked of someone who knew zilch about war.
"Sure, winning with strategy and tactics is cool and all. But war ain't chess where both sides start equal. If all your pieces are queens, even a chess grandmaster can't win no matter how brilliant their moves."
"Then why should we learn strategy and tactics?"
"To win with fewer deaths. Sacrifices are inevitable, but fewer is better, right?"
Strategy and tactics weren't qualities for victory—they were the mindset every general must have to care for their people. Most generals use them to snatch wins, which is downright stupid. You start a war only after you've already won it.
Of course, weaker nations often have to fight superpowers from a disadvantage. But even then, it's the same. If it's a fight you can't win, better to negotiate peace or surrender. The best option? Build up forces strong enough to repel any invasion. Otherwise, extinction.
Who the hell pins victory on strategy and tactics alone? You're already screwed if you do. Enemies aren't brainless—they study strategy too. Victory comes from national power, not tactics.
That's why guys like the Bastain king are terrifying. He fights only after winning.
"But didn't you, Sir Baekmyeon, lead a great victory against the Robros Kingdom with brilliant strategy and tactics?"
I blinked in surprise.
"When did I?"
"Pardon?"
"Kara's forces massively outmatched Robros. Total troops? Sure, we were outnumbered. But luck, guts, weapon quality, intel, justification, terrain, climate—Kara dominated everything. No way we could've lost."
The biggest factors were weapon quality and intel. Kara's superior arms made each soldier far stronger than Robros troops, and intel let us sow discord, seize Ramis, and take Polkin Gate easily.
Strategy and tactics played a role, sure, but compared to the rest? A drop in the bucket.
"So strategy and tactics are meaningless?"
"Pretty much. Want to win? Prep in peacetime. Never seen a crammer ace exams. Relying on tactics in war is like guessing test answers from context. You might nail a couple, but when graded? Your ass is exposed."
"Ah..."
Yozef nodded in understanding. I sat on a rock near the garden and scanned the group.
"Other questions?"
"Me."
Erisa raised her hand this time.
"Go ahead."
"The empire's gearing up for a decisive battle with the orcs next year. How do you think it'll go?"
I rested my chin on my hand. In my past life, Yosrahim won, but now? Hard to say.
"Dunno for sure, but it'll be skirmishes followed by a long stalemate."
"Why?"
"Your side lost its head. Where the hell did that old man go?"
"Pardon?"
"Eh, long story. Skip it. Next?"
A burly student shot his hand up high. Oren, my junior by two years. A Knight Department grad who'd awakened to mana two years back and become a mana knight beginner.
"Sir Baekmyeon, how do I raise my swordsmanship realm quickly?"
"What's your current realm?"
"Still beginner."
"Spar and meditate. That's it."
Oren looked puzzled.
"But to advance realms, don't you need steady mana cultivation?"
"Yeah, you can reach advanced that way. So?"
"Pardon?"
He didn't get it. I explained.
"To me, beginner mana knights and advanced ones? No real difference. All mediocre."
"But everyone knows advanced mana knights have the edge in battle."
"Swordsmanship can overcome that. Aim big. Master's realm ends it—why waste life on mana grinding? Hit master, and mana grows naturally."
"But..."
Oren couldn't accept it. Schools treated advanced mana knights as the pinnacle since master was near-impossible.
Public education's flaw. It should inspire dreams, not complacency.
Fine for average kids dreaming of mana knighthood. But for those already there? Different story.
"Mana knight? Next goal's master. No need wasting time on advanced. And honestly, elixirs solve that pointless grind—why invest your precious life?"
Oren's eyes widened. Elixirs were mythical drugs from the eastern continent, rumored to boost mana.
"Sir... do elixirs really exist?"
"Yep."
"Then why don't they reach Prosia Continent?"
"They don't have enough for themselves—where's extra for you? Some trickle through trade routes, but Kara consumes them all."
Greed lit up their eyes. Useless bitter pills to me, but not to them.
"Can you really get them in Kara?"
"Rarely, the crappy ones. Don't count on it. World has cures for ten thousand ills, but no good comes free. Abuse it, suffer later. If you wanna get strong, buy a magic bullet launcher instead. Way better. How often do you face master mana knights on the battlefield? Most die to numbers. Launchers thin enemy ranks big time. Better than any elixir."
Still, some clung to greed, already plotting trips to Kara or the east.
Self-strength looks cooler than weapons, sure. But why obsess over looks when it's life or death?
"Next question?"
Yozef and Erisa both raised hands. I picked Erisa.
"Erisa, your turn."
"How did you get strong, Sir Baekmyeon?"
"Dunno. Just happened while living. If I had to pick one? Not relying on others. Lean on people, it's comfy short-term, but you end up a slave or beggar. No way someone like that gets strong."
"But humans inevitably rely on and help each other."
"True. That's why give-and-take exists. Paying your due ain't relying—it's your own power. Relationships too. No give-and-take? They crumble. Who keeps freeloaders around?"
Erisa rolled her eyes.
"Fair enough."
"Yozef next."
"Why do we admire you, Sir Baekmyeon?"
I eyed him. Weird philosophy question from a humanities kid.
"'Cause I'm strong."
"So anyone strong gets admired?"
"Yep."
"Why?"
"World's give-and-take, like I said. Think strong folks just get admiration?"
"Pardon?"
"They get envy too. Weak get pity—and contempt. Hell, admiration/envy, pity/contempt might be two sides of the same coin. So if you care about someone, don't admire or pity lightly. Can flip to envy or contempt anytime."
A female student raised her hand.
"Sir Baekmyeon, how'd you meet the two Great Saintesses?"
Always one with weird questions. I barked,
"How dare you bring romance talk to a sacred lecture? That's for doing, not hearing. Only romance losers ask that. Tsk tsk tsk."
She blushed; others burst laughing.
A guy tossed a playful question.
"But gotta know methods to romance, right? How to get good at it?"
"Be hot."
"If you're not?"
"Tragic, but work hard."
He rolled his eyes.
"Isn't the world too unfair?"
"What can ya do? Blame it."
"Then change the world!"
"Change yourself first, punk. Only uglies whine that. And will it change? If it could, it would've. World's got unavoidable injustices."
Another guy raised his hand.
"Sir Baekmyeon, but you said the world's give-and-take. Shouldn't nature give ugly folks some other compensation?"
"Truths have exceptions, like give-and-take's limits. What can ya do? Accept your lot. But don't blame parents—they overcame that injustice, married, had you. That's success."
"Still unfair."
"You spoiled brats got no filter. Face it—you lucked out with parents. Even if ugly, don't complain. Others hate it."
I wasn't wrong. These kids were diamond spoons beyond gold. Too privileged to gripe about looks.
Another injustice without fix. Looks? Manageable with effort. But spoon color? Not so much.
Yozef raised his hand.
"Sir Baekmyeon, if the world creates such injustices, where's its truth?"
I glared.
Always mood-killers like him. Like kids demanding lesson progress mid-fun story. No wonder he caught flak.
But not wrong. Students learn.
"Truth's in the unseen. Nonexistent, so invisible."
"So humans can't find it?"
"Nope."
"Why chase it then?"
"To advance. Grow. Process matters, not result. Even 'reaching truth' ain't complete. Got it?"
"Yes, understood."
Yozef accepted easily. Not dumb—he knew no perfect truth.
After, I bantered lightly with juniors. People are people. Romance beats stuffy talk.
Romance is real; truth's a mirage.
A Day at the Imperial Noble Academy (3) End