Chapter 223: Rage (2)

Everyone was conscious of the current crisis. Jerome was the first one to speak up in that tense atmosphere.

“My Lord, if you give me 20,000 men, I’ll stop the enemy. With that, we’ll be able to avoid dividing up the military.”

Jerome bravely stepped forward and said he would stop the enemy with the least amount of troops.

“No, it’s too dangerous.”

Not only was it dangerous to stop 50,000 men with only 20,000, but if the Imperial Army was to move in his direction just the slightest bit, then Jerome would be cut off.

“Sir, even if it’s a bait, 50,000 troops poses too big of a threat to our home country. We can’t ignore it like this.”

Jerome shook his head in disagreement with Milton.

“But if we fight all out against the Empire, then only the Republic would benefit, sir. Didn’t you say it yourself, My Lord? That it wouldn’t be good if we did that?”

When Milton and Jerome began to disagree with each other, Randol Sabian spoke up from the side. 

“Marquis Taker, how long will it take for our enemies to reach our homeland?”

“Based on the information we have, it’ll take anywhere between three days to a week.”

“So if you consider the distance between us, then we have about a day to spare.”

Count Sabian turned to speak to Milton.

“My Lord, please give me a day.”

“Give you a day?”

“I’ll be sure to come up with a way to get out of this crisis, sir.”

“...You do know that we don’t have time, right?”

“Yes, sir, I know.”

“Then, all right.”

Milton agreed to Count Sabian’s request. Milton didn’t ask what he was planning to do if his plan failed. He merely patted Count Sabian on the shoulder and spoke to him calmly.

“I have faith in you.”

That short phrase touched Count Sabian’s heart deeply.

“Yes, My Lord.”

Count Sabian holed up in his barracks and began to wrestle with the strategic maps.

***

Randol Sabian.

He believed himself to be a genius. He had become the disciple of Marquis Trauss, the greatest strategist in the Lester Kingdom, and once he surpassed his own master, he was convinced of his genius. Although he suffered a tremendous defeat during the Lester Kingdom’s civil war, that was because the idiotic First Prince hadn’t listened to him. As a result, he realized that while there might be some problems with his personality, he remained confident in his ability.

But Siegfried caused him to doubt himself. It wasn’t just the knights who realized the difference in skills during a war as they clashed against each other, tacticians also realized the difference in ability.

For Count Sabian, Siegfried was the first wall that he came across in his life. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see a crack in that wall. And during the battle at Litinque Castle, he had lost to Siegfried’s strategy and almost gotten his lord, Milton, killed. Although Milton didn’t think he was at fault, Count Sabian couldn’t forget his mistake.

Subsequently, even after he had beaten Siegfried with Milton’s boldness and his own skills, Count Sabian knew very well that Siegfried was better than himself. And because of that, when Milton had requested Count Sabin to remain in the country to stabilize and defend it while he fought in the Second Ideological conflict, Sabian had been secretly relieved. 

‘My smarts don’t work on Siegfried, rather, it’s my lord’s unconventional strategies that work better.’

That was how he had reassured himself, but when Milton and Seigfried were fighting a fierce battle, he realized something.

‘What am I doing here?’

Count Sabian was Milton Forrest’s tactician. He had an obligation to share his wisdom and lead his country to victory in a war. But he was scared and hiding to avoid fighting with the enemy?

‘Why did I do that?’

Because he was afraid of the war? No, that wasn’t it.

Because he was afraid of dying? No, that wasn’t it either.

Because he was afraid of Siegfried? Strictly speaking, that wasn’t it either. 

‘I didn’t want to acknowledge any further that there was someone better in a field I was most confident in. That’s why I had calmly accepted My Lord’s orders then.’

As soon as he realized his true heart after struggling with it for a long time, Count Sabin felt the ground crumbling underneath his feet.

How cowardly was this? How shameful was this? How pathetic was this?

He was so ashamed of himself he didn’t dare raise his head.

That was why he had tagged along in this war. He couldn’t run away anymore. And now, Milton desperately needed his wisdom.

‘I don’t figure something out here, I’m a useless human being.’

Count Sabian pushed himself to the limit. He stared at the strategy map with bloodshot eyes and thought of all the different scenarios in his head.

***

The next day. 

Looking haggard, Count Sabin appeared in front of Milton and began to talk.

“I found a way, sir.”

He had used up his mental power that he looked unsteady on his legs, but his eyes were shining with confidence.

When he saw Count Sabian like that, Milton responded with, “Whatever it is, we’ll use it.” He hadn’t even heard about the operation yet, but Milton had a reason for saying that.

[Randon Sabian has awakened.]

[He is now a Grand Master LV. 9]

[A new Reversal of Situation attribute has awakened.]

When Milton saw this message, he immediately pulled up Count Sabian’s status window to check.

[Randol Sabian]

Grand Master LV.9

Strength - 13                 Command - 90

Intellect - 100                Politics - 88

Loyalty - 100

Special Traits - Reversal of Situation, Battlefield Sage, Intuition, Level-headed, Silver Tongued 

Reversal of Situation LV.2: Able to come up with an operation that could reverse an unadvantageous situation. If successful, is able to do great damage to enemies and save allies. 

Battlefield Sage LV. 6: Both the strategies in discerning the overall flow of war and schemes used during fights are heightened to the level of a master. The probability of seeing through an enemy’s plan increases. 

Intuition LV.9 (MAX): Pre-emptively sense critical situations that approach your troops.

Level-headed LV.9 (MAX): High resistance to temptation and bribes, and can remain composed even in the face of death.

Silver Tongued LV.8: Persuade or subdue others through dialogue. Maybe counterproductive when utilized on an individual with strong pride.

‘So you’ve finally reached it, Sabian.’

Milton was moved. Count Sabian’s intelligence had finally reached 100.

This was the first time Milton had seen a 100 since Siegfried. And even if Siegfried had stats that were at a 100, those were only Command and Politics. His Intelligence stat was at 99. Although it was only a difference of one point, at this point, Count Sabian had exceeded Siegfried in terms of intelligence. 

So how could Milton not trust him?

Milton patted Count Sabian on his shoulder and spoke earnestly.

“You are my soldier, bring me my victory.”

With that one phrase, Count Sabian felt rewarded for everything.

***

The Lester Kingdom’s army was split into two: 150,000 troops remained to fight against the Imperial Army while 100,000 troops moved down south to face Lucas Florian who was aiming for the Lester Kingdom.

This information fell immediately into Antras’ ears.

“Do we know who are the commanders of both armies??”

“That’s unknown, sir.”

“You don’t know?”

“No, sir. Both armies are flying Milton Forrest’s flag. I believe it’s a cover to distract us, sir.”

“......”

After listening to the messenger’s report, Antras slowly waved his fan, lost in thought.

‘If they’re hiding who their commander is, then that means that they’ve read my ploy. Looks like there’s an excellent tactician on the Lester Kingdom’s side.’

But Antras wasn’t shaken too badly. Even if the other side read their intentions, it wouldn’t have much of an impact on their operation. Whether they knew his ploy or not, the Lester Kingdom had to split their army to stop the 50,000 troops led by Lucas Florian. And if the Imperial Army focused on either one of the Lester Kingdom’s armies, then the Imperial Army could reduce their force in half. 

“Is there any change in the Republican’s movements, yet?”

“Yes, sir. It seems like Barron’s 100,000 troops and Siegfried’s 200,000 troops are at odds, sir.”

“I see. As I thought, it wasn’t a perfect alliance.”

Antras had some idea as to why the Lester Kingdom had joined. Since they couldn’t sit on the sidelines while the Empire was holding dominance, they had forced their way in. Seeing how they had suddenly joined in without formally declaring war, it was obvious what kind of a position the Lester Kingdom was in.

‘In the end, there’s no military alliance between the Lester Kingdom and the Republic. At least not yet.’

If the Lester Kingdom and the Republic worked together, then things would get difficult for the Empire. That was why Antras intended to remove the Lester Kingdom from this war before then.

“Tell the entire army to start the operation immediately. The target is the headquarters of the 150,000 Lester Kingdom Army that is confronting our forces.”

“Yes, sir!”

Under Antras’s command, the Imperial Army moved quickly. They were giving up the front lines to the Republic and were focusing their attack on the Lester Kingdom’s army headquarter.

Antras added one more measure. He headed towards the barracks where a man was calmly standing with a sword in his hand. The man was standing with his sword in the center, maintaining the most basic of position as he meditated without a single tremor. 

Antras spoke to him.

“I’m sorry to bother you when you’re training, Duke Schweiker.”

That’s right. This man was the strongest man in the Empire. He was Duke Christian Schweiker; along with General Barron of the Republic, he was one of the most powerful men on the continent.

“Please speak.”

He maintained his posture as he spoke to Antras.

“I wish for you to lend me your strength in the next battle.”

“There’s an enemy that’s strong enough for me to appear?”

“There’s a chance that we’ll have to fight against either Milton Forrest or Jerome Taker.”

Both Milton and Jerome were powerful men whose reputations had spread throughout the continent. Since they had become Masters at a young age and established themselves on the battlefield, people judged them to have surpassed Lucas Florian, a young Master of the Empire.

However..,

“Even if it’s not me, someone else will be able to beat them.”

Duke Schweiker didn’t seem interested. 

Even if Antras held operational control over the army, there was someone who could refuse him - Duke Christian Schweiker. In fact, even if the Emperor gave an order, Duke Schweicher wouldn’t follow it if he didn’t feel like it. He was a man with enough ability and presence to allow such insubordination.

Thankfully, Antras wasn’t foolish enough to try and force his authority on a man who wouldn’t allow it. Instead, he used a different method.

“I agree with you, but as I get older, I just keep worrying. I feel like we’ll need your strength in this battle.”

“......”

Duke Schweiker remained silent. But he couldn’t maintain it when Antras continued to say, “As your master, Duke Sebastian’s friend, I beg you. Can you just think that it’s an old man’s vigilance and do it?”

At some point, Duke Schweiker began to have no interest in anything else but improving his performance. Wealth, power, and honor, none of it mattered anymore. However, he couldn’t stand aloof in the face of Duke Sebastian’s name. Duke Sebastian was his teacher and benefactor who had discovered and taught him when he had been nothing more than a son of a fallen noble. 

Half the reason he was participating in this war was to avenge his teacher’s defeat. The other half was because of the offer Antras had made him.

“...Can you fulfill the offer you made me?”

“Of course, but to do so, we must deal with the Lester Kingdom first. And as soon as possible.”

“Understood. I’ll join the next battle then.”

Antras smiled when Duke Schweiker agreed.

“I thank you for your hard work.”

Duke Schweiker didn’t respond and withdrew into his own world again.

Seeing him like that, Antras thought to himself.

‘As expected, that man isn’t far off.’

Antras believed this war had to be rushed.