Chapter 34.1

“I will go straight to the point. Here. Build on Earth Mountain [1] on the west side of the castle.”

She moved her finger again.

“And here. Dig an underground tunnel on the north side.”

“A tunnel and an Earth Mountain……?”

“The Earth Mountain doesn’t actually have to be built completely. It’s just a feint to distract the enemy’s attention. The tunnel is more important. Once under the castle, fill the tunnel with gunpowder and oil, and explode it. The castle wall will collapse together with the tunnel. Since our troops are far superior, if the castle wall comes down, you will be able to commandeer the castle completely.”

“……”

Giscard was surprised to find her answer very different from what he expected.

But that did not mean her solution was anything outstanding. Because…

“Perhaps… did Madam not consider that there might be rock blocking the way?”

Digging through an enormous rockwall in order to go further was impossible, realistically. Even if they dug with all their might, it would take a lot of time. In the end, the enemy would figure out their strategy too.

Giscard continued to speak with a sigh.

“It’s not that we didn’t think of doing that too. However, there is a lot of granite in this vicinity, and it will be the same underground as well. If we hit an obstacle while digging, it will all be wasted labor.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I once saw a map in Father’s office.”

In order to have a handle on minor lords like Count Altair and control them, he had gathered all their weaknesses in a document.

How Count Altair was confining subhuman slaves [2] even though it was prohibited by law, how the impregnable fortress he was so proud of actually had a secret weakness… things like that.

Her father did not show it to her directly, but in her previous life, she had coincidently stumbled upon it a few times. And each time, Nadia had spared no effort to memorize the contents of the document.

As a concubine daughter, she somehow knew instinctively that the document would be of use to her in making her life more comfortable, even if it was only by a small amount.

“As you said, there is a lot of granite in this region. But here…”

Nadia’s finger hovered above the map to point to the northern wall of the castle.

“The land in this area is weak.”

“……”

Giscard was now more surprised than before.

If what she said was true, then there was hope for seizing that loathsome Vallon castle after all. His feelings on Nadia aside, he really hoped her words were true. But taking her at her word just because it gave him some hope would be a silly thing to do.

Why would he blindly believe someone who came from an enemy clan?

“…How does Madam know about this?”

“Father thought that Altair might one day become an enemy, so he had his weaknesses dug up. I can vouch for its veracity.”

“No, that is not what I meant. That’s certainly something Duke Balazit would do; I have no doubts about that. I am asking how we can be certain that what Madam said is truly from that document.”

“What reason would I have to lie about that here?”

“Do I have to spell it out? Surely, it would make the both of us very uncomfortable.”

“So what you mean is that I am getting in the way of your plans, you people who would have returned home empty-handed anyway? I am not foolish enough to destroy the trust I finally received, with the thorny herbs, just to thwart people who would have returned home with nothing anyway.”

“…….”

Giscard was at a loss for words. Every word she had said was right, and he had no way to refute her.

If she just let them be, they would not be able to take the castle either way. So why would she try to throw a spanner in the works?

But just because it was true did not make it any less upsetting.

A cold air filled the inside of the tent, so frigid it made one tremble.

Unable to continue looking on, Glenn stepped in.

“Let’s stop here. And you relax, Sir Giscard. Nadia, let’s first go out and talk…”

“I will comply with military law.”

“What?!”

This time, Giscard was truly gobsmacked, enough to make him stare at her with his mouth open.

“Military law…”

“I am not a soldier, but you can treat me as one in your authority as the highest-ranking commander here. If I lied, punish me to the full extent of the military law.”

“……”

The price of deceiving and misleading the troops during times of war… was capital punishment. There wouldn’t even be a need for a trial.

Even an old hand at war like Giscard was surprised at her courage to put her own life on the line. He couldn’t tell if she was bold or if she was just being reckless because she had no countermeasures.

“……”

“……”

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Notes:

[1] Earth Mountain: 토산 (土山). Just like it sounds, it is a large mound of earth that an army can stand on to fire at an enemy fortress. Some images from google:

[2] Subhuman slaves: 아인종 노예. A wiki fandom entry (in Korean) describes 아인종 as monsters (eg. goblins, kobolds, orcs, ogres etc) that have some human characteristics.