*
“23,000 soldiers…”
In the castle, gathered were Cain, Tifa, myself, and Lord Lunarien, along with Gustav and Aaron, the leaders of the two mercenary bands.
“We will join the battle.”
“Though outnumbered, our chances in a defensive battle are still good.”
While I agreed with them, in this game-like world, such factors often depended heavily on who the enemy commander was. SSS-tier generals often played a crucial role, so this aspect couldn’t be ignored.
“Do we know who the enemy commander is?”
“Yes, that…!”
The messenger, startled by my formal speech, hesitated but soon answered confidently.
“The enemy vanguard appears to be led by a woman resembling Airen Juliet.”
‘What? They’re using Airen?’
Airen Juliet, an S-tier warrior with a specialty in siege warfare, was known to me from my 10,000 hours of gameplay. Fiercely loyal to her lord Lin Brans, she was destined to be unjustly executed by Lin in the game due to their incompatible personalities.
Their compatibility rating was -100, the worst possible in the game. This meant unless the player intervened, CPU Lin Brans always executed Airen. Now, Lin was using her, indicating the previous defeat must have been a massive blow.
This was the worst-case scenario for us.
Everyone, including Cain, Tifa, Gustav, and Aaron, seemed troubled upon hearing Airen’s name.
“We are heavily outnumbered…”
“Our forces total just over 12,000, including the mercenaries, against their 23,000.”
With Airen’s siege expertise, our situation was indeed dire.
“How should we respond, Swen?”
“What can we do to win this war?”
Lunarien’s question was apt, and I processed it with my intelligence of 100. The answer I arrived at was unexpected but had to be correct.
“We must defend. Drag out the battle as long as possible.”
“But defense alone won’t solve anything!”
“True, continuous defense will eventually lead to a breach, especially against Airen. But worry not. If you can just buy time, I will personally meet with Lin Brans for a truce.”
“A truce…?”
“Yes.”
Lunarien nodded at my response.
“I will negotiate a ceasefire with Lin Brans.”
Everyone was stunned. What could we possibly offer to make Brans’ army, intent on avenging their humiliation, agree to a truce?
“Lord, how much gold can our army currently mobilize?”
“……All together, it will amount to about 1,300.”
“That will be sufficient. I shall return with a truce agreement for 1,300 gold.”
Upon my words, Cain spoke to me in a tone as if pleading, trying to persuade me.
“Look here, Sven. I acknowledge you. I can tell you are an exceptional man. But… isn’t this too unrealistic? Rather than that, wouldn’t it be more practical to use that money to borrow troops from surrounding nations? In a defensive battle, even a little more manpower could turn the tide in our favor, couldn’t it?”
His words were reasonable.
If we lose here, our nation will be doomed.
If we are scraping together all the remaining money, wouldn’t it be a wiser choice to create a situation where we can hold out even a little longer?
But I spoke in a resolute tone.
“No. If we do that, we will end up doomed anyway. Just surviving one or two more days won’t lead to victory. I stake my life on achieving this truce agreement. Please, in the meantime, do whatever it takes to protect this castle.”
I could stake my life several times over.
I wasn’t afraid at all.
I was confident in what I said.
After all, my intelligence of 100 advised me to ‘negotiate a truce.’
“Lord, make a decision.”
“…….”
Lunarien seemed to not ponder much this time.
Her complete trust in me reached me without difficulty.
I, too, quietly affirmed.
She would trust me unconditionally.
“I wish for Sven to proceed with the truce agreement with Brans army for 1,300 gold.”
“Yes!”
“And the rest of the generals will defend this castle with me. We will not organize a special interception unit. Tifa and I will defend the east gate, and the mercenaries will defend the other gates. If anyone has an opinion, feel free to speak.”
“No objections.”
“We will follow!”
“As long as we can hold them off, why would we need any other opinions?”
Hearing Lunarien’s order, the generals dispersed to prepare for the defense.
That settled it.
I wasn’t too worried since I was always right – but still, I needed to move as quickly as possible.
The advice could change depending on the situation, just like in this game.
If I asked the same question tomorrow, I might get a completely different piece of advice.
“Well then, I should get going too. I’ll resolve this as quickly as possible, so just hang in there for a bit. Farewell.”
“……Sven.”
At that moment.
Lunarien grabbed my shoulder.
And then… with a fragile look in her eyes, as if she would crumble at the slightest touch, unlike the strong demeanor she showed just a moment ago, she said to me.
“……You must return alive. You understand?”
Indeed, was she overly tense?
I appreciated her taking my advice to ‘maintain a dignified presence in front of everyone’ literally, but… it seemed her nature posed various difficulties.
To ease her tension, I spoke in a playful tone.
“Is this an order?”
But.
Instead of even slightly smiling at my joke, she responded in an extremely serious voice.
“Yes. It’s an order. If you don’t return alive… even if I die and lose my physical body… I will follow you as a soul. If you die arbitrarily… I will never forgive you.”
?
I felt something was off, but… in any case, I had no intention of dying.
I wanted to safely return to my original world. At least for now. I missed my family too.
“Understood. I will return safely. Please take care of the castle.”
Hearing my words, she finally showed a faint smile and nodded her head.
*
“Advance at maximum speed! Those who lag behind will be left! If you want to avoid a miserable fate, don’t slack off!”
Airen was rushing with an army of 23,000.
Naturally, soldiers started falling out of line.
Despite the short distance to Jeilant Castle, with this speed, it was clear that up to two or three thousand soldiers would drop out.
‘It’s a week. I have to bring down the castle in a week.’
Though she was not aware, she was known amongst her peers as a specialist in siege warfare.
Even with the loss of some soldiers, she instinctively knew that attacking the castle quickly, given the shortage of supplies, was the only advantageous path.
A week was an incredibly short time. She instinctively understood that this was the only way to show something to Lynn Brans, who had reinstated her.
Perhaps her urging worked.
Before the sun set, the east gate of Jeilant Castle came into view.
The castle walls were densely packed with archers.
And in front of the gate, a considerable force was positioned.
The vanguard… a female general wielding an axe.
According to the information she had, it was definitely Tifa.
“…….”
Airen slowly extended her hand.
At the same time – catapults on either side slowly revealed themselves.
Preparing siege weapons for a siege battle was only natural.
And perhaps anticipating this –
“Let’s go, guys!!”
They began to charge first from their side.
To get the catapults within range, they needed to move closer.
If they did, it would inevitably lead to a battle where the enemy, showering arrows from the castle walls, had a significant advantage.
But still, this side had twenty thousand men.
Just once. If they could break through the gate just once… victory would be theirs!
Airen shouted with a voice like thunder.
“All units, charge!!!!”
Uh oh, Luna is being corrupted