The Master and the Strategist -1
"Hhh...♡ That's...♡"
The female who had presumptuously sought the male's favor finally let out a lewd cry, overwhelmed by the flood of pleasure. Sweat from her struggling body glistened on her brown skin, making her look even more lewd.
"Go on!"
"Hhh...♡ No...♡"
Valeria resisted.
But her body, no longer her own, obeyed the orc's command with a shuddering sigh.
—Chief?
Already this late? She'd had enough for today, so it was best to stop here.
"You should start preparing to depart."
As the overall commander now, unlike before, there was far more to manage.
"Hey, wake up."
"Mmm~"
He roused the succubus who had been sleeping off to the side. The succubus he'd taken on as a secretary was, as expected, a loose woman, which only added to his responsibilities. It was a shame he had so little time to enjoy the females he'd gathered.
'There were females among them who helped with my work.'
Several had been exceptionally sharp-minded.
"Now that I look at it... this place."
He'd been too busy with camp preparations at night to notice, but now it looked familiar. Memories surfaced.
"You recognize this? It was a heavily fortified position that took a while to breach."
"Of course I do."
He'd been here before.
The Flower Garden was overflowing with women. Some had reached a point where they could enjoy a more luxurious life than usual in exchange for offering their bodies. It was, in every sense, the Flower Garden's golden age.
"Hhh...♡"
Even without doing anything, he enjoyed the females who served him willingly. Gornakh spent his days in pleasure with the bitches he owned, as usual. Of course, he had to lead as a general in war, but ever since a certain thought had taken root, he'd grown more devoted to the Flower Garden.
'Are they fighting this war to win?'
They'd charged blindly on the Demon King's word alone, with no vision or strategy to speak of.
'Whatever.'
The Flower Garden was already overflowing with women, so it didn't matter. They were the invaders, and he wasn't the overall commander, so he'd decided to simply enjoy himself.
"Gornakh?"
"Hmm? Who is it?"
There were plenty of beautiful demon women. Thinking back, the woman who had delivered the Demon King's orders to him at that time was now the Demon King herself.
"The Demon King has issued an order to you!"
'What a crazy bitch.'
He remembered that woman, who would become the Demon King, had never been entirely sane from the start. Her character was ruined, but she wasn't unintelligent.
"The Demon King says to destroy the forest on the flank, not the front."
"Was this war ever meant to be won in the first place?"
"You don't know?"
Even the envoy delivering the order thought this way, which meant things were going very wrong. Perhaps she'd been plotting rebellion from the start.
"This side is important too, so just leave it alone."
In truth, he didn't want to add more females to his already overflowing harem during the Flower Garden's golden age. Ordinary women detested this demonic energy, but this demon with a faulty mind seemed fine with it.
"Hmm... They say there's a photo of the woman guarding that forest right now?"
And the top-tier woman Gornakh loved. The suggestion from the current Demon King, who had been the Demon King's secretary in the past, was tempting. Anyway, going back to that time—
"Is she a beastman?"
"Yeah! I think so?"
'What is this woman...'
It seemed this wasn't her preparation, but a bait set by the Demon King. For an orc with a Flower Garden like Gornakh's, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.
"What was it... Oh! A peacock beastman, they say."
Peacocks were already known for their flamboyance. So the picture of the strategist commanding the forest battlefield was...
"Are you sure about this?"
"Of course."
"Alright. Let's go."
If she was a beauty worth investing time in, he wouldn't refuse. He had plenty, but it was time to add a new flavor to his Flower Garden.
A bird-origin beastman with long sleeves and a fan covering her mouth. Of course, the higher the nobility among beastmen, the closer they resembled humans, so only the slight feathers at the corners of her eyes revealed her beastman nature. A few ornate tail feathers extended from her tailbone, but regardless, she was a glamorous beauty.
But her greatest confidence wasn't her beauty—it was her strategy. As the strategist commanding an ironclad defense around this forest, she was a beneficiary of the war, unlike Gornakh, who had made his name differently.
The strategist leading the war placed pieces on a chessboard and enjoyed tea. There was no urgency in her, that was her aura. A relaxed smile played on her slightly dark lips, uncovered by the fan. Her squinted eyes made it difficult to discern her thoughts.
"It seems the demons are redeploying their forces."
"Is that so?"
The strategist didn't seem particularly concerned. Her blue hair had green highlights scattered throughout, and her long hair was adorned with various jewel-like accessories, yet it didn't look overly extravagant.
"Tell them not to worry—no matter who comes, this place won't fall easily."
"Understood."
The peacock finished her chess game, but her interest quickly waned. She was more curious about who would replace the foolish demons. "It's been so convenient up until now. But of course, things don't always go as planned."
They'd set traps for the daytime assaults, and the enemy would step right into them. Then, they'd launch a night raid to restore the battlefield, leaving the enemy battered while they remained unscathed. The traps were made of wood, so materials were plentiful. Even crude traps worked wonders, but the Demon King, not being an idiot, was replacing the commander.
"Strategist, I think I know who the new commander is."
"Already?"
"H-how could I not know?"
In the current timeline, the orc Gornakh was infamous. He was praised and reviled for two reasons. First, despite being an orc, he possessed exceptional intellect, using hybrid units that combined orcish strengths while compensating for their weaknesses. His tactics were so effective that small human kingdoms had already fallen under his banner.
"If you see a procession of large carriages, you'll know for sure."
The second was the infamy befitting an orc. His prisoners were treated with courtesy, but it was clear they were all his sex slaves. Rumors said royals and powerful mages were among them.
"The Flower Garden is coming."
"The Flower Garden? You mean the one I'm thinking of?"
"Yes."
No woman had ever escaped his harem, which collected only beauties. While there were no reports of him ruining bodies like other orcs, it was certain that once inside, they rarely came out.
"You must be careful."
"Why? Are you worried I'll be captured?"
"Yes..."
At those words, the peacock removed a feather pin from her hair and placed it on the desk, smiling. Her squinted eyes, now curved with a smile, made her seem even more intelligent.
"How interesting."
"Lady Lumina, you must be wary of that orc."
"It sounds like you're saying I'm inferior to that orc."
Lumina expressed her displeasure in her characteristic archaic tone. She tidied the chess pieces and spread out a map.
"Well, as long as we hold this position, there's no need for idle thoughts."
After all, chess pieces couldn't do more than what was possible on the board.
A peacock beastman. Quite a rare race. He appreciated her unique flamboyance, but more importantly, her aura was captivating. Her sky-blue hair mixed with green strands clearly evoked a certain bird. The portrait, reflecting her love for the extravagant, pleased him. A beauty radiating intellect, arrogance, and luxury... Gornakh, the orc, couldn't resist.
The only issue was acquiring her.
"This is a mess. A complete mess."
Gornakh surveyed the battlefield, unable to hide his disappointment. He'd brought his own troops, but the previous units had been decimated to an absurd degree.
"Are they all wounded?"
"Yes..."
But the extent was severe.
'This opponent isn't to be underestimated.'
Demons were strong. That was why, even attacking the Human Realm without planning, they'd achieved such results. Of course, his own achievements counted, but other units had also won more often than not. The fact that only this area was destroyed suggested the enemy was performing well, not that this unit was incompetent.
"This is problematic."
"Indeed... With the forest here at the invasion route's waist, we need to break through quickly, but like this, we can't face the Demon King."
On terrain favorable to beastmen—
"There's a strategist woman, right?"
"Yes."
In truth, he wouldn't have come if it weren't for her. He wanted to see that smug, squinted-eyed woman flustered. And thinking of her body eventually falling into his hands already made him...
'No, I shouldn't get ahead of myself.'
There was still much to prepare. Of course, failure was possible, but getting excited too early usually led to disaster.
"Then let's give it a try."
He prepared to advance into the treacherous, trap-filled forest. Rushing in from the start would lead to exhaustion, so he planned to probe slowly.