episode_0022

[To Georges Brestmaier, Commander of the Northern Areas Army.]

[It seems like just yesterday that I had a fun dinner with you in the capital. More than half a year has already passed. As defenders of the empire, we must act in a way that does not disgrace the title of Commander of the Defense Forces. I’m trying my best, but it’s not working. I don’t know what it is like for you. It’s quite hot in the south right now and mosquitoes are infested. Maybe it’s because of those damn mosquitoes that pirates are always so irritated and trying to kill people. I heard it’s always cold in the north, but there aren’t any mosquitoes, so I’m jealous. Well, there may be things that are just as painful as that. I’m leaving this small talk just in case, but what we talked about before is a secret and shouldn’t be revealed to anyone. If you did, please tell me the name of the person who leaked it. We’ll take care of the rest. Also, I heard that the Kingdom of Dorok sent 5,000 invading troops to the border. They sent a professional diplomat to ensure a smooth resolution, so I hope they will put it to good use. And I want you to burn this letter immediately after you see it. From Elias von Ehrenberg, commander of the Army of the South, to Georges Brestmaier, the rising star of the Empire.]

Sigh! I folded the letter. The contents of the letter are scary. Let’s say it’s natural to keep the details of the last conspiracy a secret, but what does it mean to tell the name of the person who leaked the secret? Are you saying you want to remove it? scary… It’s a good thing I didn’t tell Ensign Mario or Chloe… If I had told you, I would have definitely tried to kill you.

I walked over to the brazier and burned the letter. It was okay because I had the contents of the letter in my head. Ensign Mario, who was watching this, asked.

“What are you burning?”

“Oh, it’s trash. Don’t worry about it.”

“Is that so?”

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t even tell my closest associate, Ensign Mario, about this matter. Because if he said that, the sinister old men might try to kill Lieutenant Mario.

‘Anyway, the diplomat who is coming… ‘

Why aren’t you coming? The moment I thought that.

-Bam, baba bam!

Loud music could be heard from the front door. At that moment, I could instinctively feel it. In this part of the world, music was not as common as it is in modern times. Music was something that could only be heard during the procession of a precious person. A diplomat has arrived. A diplomat with a fairly high status and an ostentatious personality.

—–

“Count Barmont.”

Those were the first words the diplomat spoke. He offered to shake hands in a somewhat arrogant manner. It felt like he was looking down on me, but it didn’t seem to be because of my status, but because of my age.

‘I should either grow older quickly…’ ‘

I roughly accepted the handshake and got straight to the point.

“I heard detailed information from local military commanders.”

“The details?”

“Ah, you made the right choice. Since I don’t know how much I know, it looks like I’m trying to play it off for now. To be honest, I was a little surprised by the inconsiderateness that was not suitable for youth.”

Then what kind of fool did you think people were? I decided to first find out how much he knew.

“The commander of the Northern Army planned this strategy with the commanders of other military forces. The Dorok Kingdom Army in the northeast and the Northern Army made peace and concentrated the attack of the Dorok Kingdom Army on the Eastern Army, and the Ares Islands, located in the southeast of the empire, and the Southern Army made peace, and the Ares Islands’ attack was directed to the eastern region. By concentrating the southern and northern forces on the east, there is no room for the east to revolt.”

It’s true. That is the conspiracy hatched by the commanders of the local forces. Of course, in terms of the game, this is an operation that is close to a team kill, so it is an operation that cannot be said publicly, but for the commanders of the local forces, Vinnet Franz was no longer an ally, so we planned such an operation.

“Still, you might wonder why 5,000 people from the Dorok Kingdom invaded the border. They must have made peace behind the scenes.”

“Honestly, it’s a bit like that.”

“I’m here to explain that point.”

The current situation as explained by Count Barmont was as follows. There are several factions in the Kingdom of Dorok, one of which is advocating for the conquest of the North, while the other faction seems to be supporting the conquest of the East.

And the most important thing that the Queen of Dorok Kingdom supports is the Eastern Conquest. They thought that attacking the isolated eastern part would be the easiest way to win. In fact, strategically, that was correct.

However, we cannot completely ignore the faction that supports the northern conquest. So, in order to appeal that ‘I thought about conquering the North once~’, the current situation was that they attacked the North with a small number of soldiers.

“In a word, this invasion is just a show?”

“Exactly.”

To be honest, I was vaguely wondering if that might be the case. When it comes to politics, I am below the average age, but when it comes to strategy and tactics, I am quite a bit better than the average person. And in my view, I don’t understand why a nation called Dorok would disturb its borders with only 5,000 people. It was correct to think that there was another reason.

“Then they won’t actually attack you?”

“I don’t know that.”

“You said it was a show?”

“It started as a show, but they could take advantage of the atmosphere and attack. And I came all the way here to suppress that part.”

Count Barmont spoke with a confident voice. What does this mean?

“I have a new proposal from the commanders of the three areas. If the commander of the Dorok Kingdom army hears that proposal, he will never try to attack the North. I came here purely for those negotiations.”

“Ah… ”

indeed. This guy is supposed to be a buffer to prevent any conflict between him and Dorok from worsening their relationship.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Because he was the person most needed right now.

—–

“So, to sum up the situation, there will be no battle with the Dorok Kingdom?”

Chloe asked. I nodded.

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Is it a secret?”

“If we find out, Miss Chloe will get hurt.”

“Hmm… ”

Chloe thought for a while and then said.

“I think it’s a more dangerous secret than I thought. Then try not to pry into that. Are you sure there won’t be a battle?”

“I can be sure of that.”

Then Ensign Mario intervenes from the side.

“That can be quite a big advantage.”

“Merit.”

I had a certain guess, but I didn’t bother to ask. This is because the situation needed to be sorted out.

“Deputy Commander Bernitz will definitely protest and try to disrupt the battle in this battle. And like last time, they will try to take advantage of the chaos of the battle to atone for their crimes. This was not a protest, but a confusion of orders. But it’s different if the situation is clear. If there is no battle, there will be no chaos, so there is no room for Deputy Commander Bernitz to escape.”

“You can be punished for the crime of defiance. Because our allies will have room to spare.”

“That’s it… Wait.”

Ensign Mario put his hand on his chin as if he realized something.

“The commander said it before. What is the crime of protest?”

“Yes.”

“At that time, I answered the death penalty.”

“That’s right.”

“Could it be that the question from back then was aimed at this case?”

I stayed silent and neither confirmed nor denied the question. Then Ensign Mario was impressed.

“The commander’s operation is truly timely. This is an operation that can end the Bernitz faction.”

“Is that so?”

“Security is the lifeblood of this operation. If this operation is leaked, the Bernitz faction will not protest. First of all, let’s keep this operation known only to the three of us, and let’s not reveal it to anyone else.”

I nodded quietly.

“By the way, what will you name the operation?”

Operation name? Do you really need something like that?

But since it seemed like Ensign Mario wanted it, I decided to build it first.

“Hmm… ”

After thinking about it for a while, I soon came to a conclusion.

“Operation Mousetrap.”

Simple is best.

—–

Bernitz was chatting with the officers following him in the deputy commander’s office.

However, the number of officers following Bernitz has decreased significantly compared to before. That number was already less than half.

Although most of the officers who had been disciplined returned and their numbers were greatly restored, there were still many who left the military or broke away from the faction altogether, leaving many vacancies in Bernitz’s faction.

But Bernitz’s sword did not rust. This is because Might was by Bernitz’s side.

“Might.”

Bernitz called his associates.

“Yes.”

“Given the commander’s strong sense of fairness, it is obvious that he will try to lead this battle himself. If I were to interfere with the commander in this battle and cause him to lose, even if it meant a crushing defeat, it wouldn’t be a dream to make him resign from office. The enemy is Dorok’s elite soldiers. Although they are small in number, they are a strong army. Use them to annihilate your allies. To do that, your role is important.”

A ridiculous plan to annihilate our allies. However, Might quietly lowered his head as if he had made up his mind.

“Yes.”

“The outline of the operation is as follows. Our troops are probably numerically superior to the enemy. So they will try to attack first. The deputy commander’s faction is located in the rear and ignores the commander’s attack order. In that situation, if the two armies collide, the commander will have to fight with less than half of his soldiers and his escape route is blocked, so he will definitely be at a disadvantage and ultimately lose. And all that defeat… ”

“Put it on the commander’s responsibility.”

“Okay. That’s it.”

Might laughed in a creepy voice. Bernitz was worried about Might’s mental state, but it would be better to be half-crazy than to have a healthy mind to use him now. With that in mind, Bernitz waited for the day when the commander would be destroyed.