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Vol 04 Chapter 119: Convergence

The news reached Kuryuu in the dead of night.

「That damn brat!!!!」

Upon hearing the news of Kailas’s defeat, Kuryuu’s face turned red with rage as he shouted. His fist slammed down, causing a crack to form on the desk.

Seeing his frightened subordinates, Kuryuu calmed down.

(According to the report, the Rosais army consists of 9,000 infantry and 4,500 cavalry. To this, 4,000 from the Carlo faction will join, making a total of 13,000 infantry and 4,500 cavalry. In total, 17,500. On the other hand, we have 28,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, totaling 30,000. We have the advantage in numbers…)

Then Kuryuu’s gaze turned towards the enemy’s fortified castle. It could fall in three days.

But if they had three days, the enemy would come. If that happened, the Rozel army would be caught in a pincer attack.

There were two options. One was to retreat once and regroup. The disadvantage of this strategy was that it would allow the enemy to converge, bringing their forces to a level comparable to Kuryuu’s own forces.

The other option was to continue the siege with some troops while Kuryuu himself went to battle with King Rosais. A two-front strategy. The disadvantage here was that it dispersed his forces.

Considering that there were 10,000 troops entrenched in the castle, he needed to leave at least 10,000 behind. Even after taking such a risky approach, his forces would still be fighting an enemy with equal strength to them.

Either option was troublesome.

「Considering the presence of an enemy behind us, retreating might be better…」

It was not the best plan, but it was the next best thing.

Once that was decided, things moved quickly.

「Prepare for retreat.」

◇

「Sigh, I’m sleepy…」

Alice rubbed her sleepy eyes as she walked on the roof. Every night, she infiltrated the capital of King Domorgal’s Country to carry out assassinations.

Originally, she targeted centurions, but recently she had started killing ordinary soldiers due to the increased security.

So far, the enemy hadn’t realized that Alice, the assassin, was coming from outside the city walls every night. Logically, they probably couldn’t conceive of someone climbing the high walls without a ladder.

The enemy suspected a traitor inside, focusing their vigilance inward. Therefore, the difficulty of crossing the walls and entering remained unchanged from the first day.

Alice could kill about three soldiers per day. Since she needed to exploit brief moments when the soldiers’ vigilance slackened, each kill took time.

If it were a one-off assassination, being flashy wouldn’t be a problem… But this series of assassinations was meant to mentally wear down the enemy.

Therefore, she needed to repeat the process many times, and it was crucial that they didn’t realize Alice, the assassin, was coming from the outside.

「Is there even any point in this?」

Alice murmured as she looked up at the moon shining in the night sky. The initial plan had been for Alice to kill the guards, creating an opportunity for a night raid to take down the city walls.

The suggestion was from Aldo Domorgal.

However, this was rejected by Kuryuu. According to him, the chances of success were slim.

Rather than taking such a risky gamble, continuing with the discreet assassinations was far more likely to be effective, Kuryuu argued.

It goes without saying that Alice was punched by an irritated Aldo afterwards.

「Well, it’s fine. I only need to fulfill my duties.」

Alice targeted a soldier in the distance. The soldier was putting his hand to his mouth while yawning widely.

In an instant, Alice closed the gap.

「Eh!?」

「Goodnight.」

One unfortunate soldier met his end.

◇

「Alice!! You finally came back!! You’re late!」

Aldo Domorgal shouted, a look of irritation on his face. Lately, Aldo was always in a bad mood.

This was because all of his suggestions had been repeatedly rejected by Kuryuu.

「I am the King of Domorgal, and I should be the most important person here. Why must I be treated with such disrespect?」

That’s what Aldo thought.

However, today he seemed even more upset than usual.

「Did something happen?」

「That coward, Kuryuu, has decided we’re retreating!! This will allow the enemy forces to converge!!」

「Sigh…」

Alice didn’t understand military tactics, so she couldn’t quite grasp why Aldo was so angry. However, judging from the dynamic where Aldo was rejecting Kuryuu’s plan, Kuryuu’s decision to retreat must be the right one.

「Ah!! It’s infuriating!! At this rate, the throne will slip away from me!!」

Aldo’s fist flew towards Alice’s face. Alice watched it with a cold, detached gaze.

To Alice, with her dynamic vision, Aldo’s punch was approaching her at a snail’s pace. But Alice didn’t attempt to dodge; the option simply didn’t exist for her.

「Aldo-sama. Can I come in? Did you finish your preparations for the retreat?」

Aldo’s fist halted. In a rush, he opened the door.

「It’s good to see you, Merlin-dono!! Yes, I finished preparations.」

Aldo hurried toward Merlin with a smile. His expression was radiant, and his cheeks were flushed with color.

An observant person might think Aldo was in love with Merlin.

But to Alice, it didn’t appear that way.

Being constantly around Aldo, Alice could tell something else was amiss—his eyes looked vacant.

For a witch who had lived for hundreds of years, it would probably be trivial to ensnare a brat without a single magician’s escort in her spells.

(Well, it’s none of my business.)

If Aldo ordered Alice to kill Merlin, she would execute her in an instant. But she hadn’t received such an order.

Alice was passive, for better or worse, she lacked any will of her own.

◇

「Carlo-sama!! It’s urgent!!」

「What’s wrong? Why such a pale face?」

Carlo directed his gaze at the soldier who had barged in without knocking. Carlo had been strategizing with Bartolo, Tonino, and Rene about their next moves.

「The Rozel army has vanished!! And we have received a letter from King Almus delivered by a hawk!」

The messenger handed Carlo the letter from Almus. Carlo broke the seal and quickly read through the letter.

「What does it say?」

Bartolo leaned forward, eager to know.

Carlo grinned and replied.

「King Almus will be arriving here soon.」

「Really?! That means the siege is over…」

Rene slumped back into his chair. As a civilian administrator, the siege must have been a great burden to him.

「The problem is my head. I wonder if it’s still going to be attached to my neck tomorrow…」

◇

「Finally, we’ve arrived.」

Before me stood the capital of King Domorgal’s Country. The cracks and collapses here and there spoke of the fierceness of the battles fought.

「King Almus, I thank you for your assistance.」

Carlo Domorgal stepped forward and bowed his head slightly in front of me.

The balance of power between us is evident.

In this world, countries are never truly equal. A king of a smaller country invariably needs to defer to a king of a larger nation.

「Don’t worry about it, Carlo-dono. As allies, let’s help each other,」

And as a token of friendship, I’ll take some territory though.

After my greeting with Carlo concluded, Bartolo stepped forward.

Bartolo knelt before me and bowed deeply.

「My king, the defeat in this battle is my fault for underestimating the enemy’s strength. I am prepared for any punishment.」

「Is that so…」

I took a deep breath and lowered my voice.

「Bartolo Pompeius. The recent defeat indeed lies heavily on your shoulders. Thus, you will bear that responsibility.」

「Yes, I understand.」

「I order you to assist me. Carry this responsibility and ensure victory in the next battle.」

「?!」

Bartolo looked surprised, he probably expected a more severe punishment.

「Victory and defeat are always part of warfare. If every loss led to punishment, our country would soon run out of commanders… I will mercilessly judge military crimes, disobedience, or treachery. But not defeat. There is responsibility for defeat, but no crime.」

After all, I was the one who assigned Bartolo the task. If he is guilty, then so am I.

I smiled.

「Did you thought you’d be killed?」

「No, not that far… but I was prepared to lose some of my lands.」

Why would I reduce the lands of someone who is on my side? What benefit would that bring me? Well, if he feels that responsible, I suppose it’s fine.

「Bartolo. Redeem your humiliation in the next battle. Begin reorganizing the troops immediately!!」

「Yes!!」

Now, onto General Kuryuu. This time we are outnumbered, but we have plenty of blast javelins.

I’m not sure what this hairy beast they talk about is… But we’ll handle their secret weapon with our own.