Ch.14Chapter 14. Zeilant Defense (1)

“23,000 men…”

The generals gathered in the castle were Cain, Tifa, and me.

In addition to our usual members including Luna, the ruler, this time the leaders of two mercenary groups, Gustav and Aron, were also present.

“We will join the fight as well.”

“Although we’re outnumbered in total troops, since this is a defensive battle, I believe we have a good chance of winning.”

While I certainly agreed with them…

In this game, such minor factors often depended on who the enemy commander was.

Basically, this world was based on a character-driven game where SSS-rank generals played a much bigger role than the number of soldiers, strategies, or tactics. I felt we couldn’t overlook this aspect.

“Is it possible to know who the enemy commander is?”

“Ah! Yes, well…!”

The messenger standing beside me seemed startled by my formal speech and hesitated momentarily, but soon answered with a spirited voice.

“I’ve heard there’s a woman who appears to be Irene Juliette leading the enemy vanguard.”

‘Huh? They’re using Irene?’

Irene Juliette.

As someone who had played this game for 10,000 hours, I naturally knew this general.

An S-rank warrior with the “Siege” specialty, making her a specialist in siege warfare.

She had an extremely upright character, whose loyalty would hardly diminish by any scheme, and who ignored all recruitment offers to faithfully serve her lord, Lynn Brans.

However, she was incompatible with Lynn Brans, and was destined to be falsely accused and executed by Lynn without ever being properly utilized—a tragic character.

When I say they were “incompatible,” it wasn’t just a phrase written in the setting guide.

This game had something called “compatibility values.” Simply put, there were generals who worked well together and those who didn’t.

Good compatibility made recruitment easier and created synergy when working together.

Poor compatibility had the opposite effect. It was best not to make them work together if possible.

Interestingly, Irene Juliette and her lord Lynn Brans had a compatibility of -100.

This was the worst compatibility value in the game.

It meant no other characters were as mismatched as these two.

Therefore, unless a player directly controlled Lynn Brans and somehow utilized Irene—

CPU-controlled Lynn Brans would always kill Irene Juliette. Without fail, a hundred times out of a hundred, she would execute her own talented general with her own hands.

That’s why I couldn’t help but be shocked.

The fact that she was now utilizing Irene Juliette here.

‘Was the previous defeat so humiliating that she overcame their worst compatibility?’

Well, from the Brans army’s perspective, it must have been quite a disaster.

They had brought 8,000 troops only to be ambushed and thoroughly defeated by a small nation with just 3,000 soldiers.

They had probably been planning to quickly take over the central continent before facing Serpina in the north and various warlords in the south, but getting held up in the central continent conquest must have been infuriating.

In any case—

Lynn Brans’s decision was the worst possible outcome for us.

I could see concern spreading across the faces of Cain, Tifa, Gustav, and Aron, who must have heard of Irene’s reputation.

‘…They’ll definitely break through.’

Our forces numbered around 3,000.

If we excluded those still recovering from injuries, it would be just over 2,000.

The same applied to the mercenary groups.

The Raven Mercenary Group had a total of 7,000 men, and the Chilean Mercenary Group had 6,000, but excluding those injured in the previous battle, they would have about 10,000 combined.

This meant we needed to defend against 23,000 troops with just 12,000.

Given Irene’s “Siege” specialty, which made her attacks particularly effective against castle garrisons, increasing damage to troops inside fortifications, this was a truly threatening situation.

‘She’s pushing forward mercilessly as expected.’

In the midst of their storm-like advance, our army had unexpectedly thrown a wrench in their plans.

“Swen, what should we do about this?”

Luna looked at me with a deeply worried expression.

“How should we respond… to win this war?”

Truly worthy of being Luna.

She asked me exactly the right question at the right time, which I quite appreciated.

I processed her question in my mind.

And the result was—

“…”

Hmm?

Is this right…?

After hesitating briefly, I slowly shook my head.

‘No. This is correct.’

My intelligence is 100. There’s no doubt about that anymore.

Therefore, my predictions must be correct.

No matter how unbelievable my advice might seem, I need to have confidence in it first.

With that mindset—I looked straight ahead and delivered my insight to everyone.

“For now, we defend. Hold out and delay them as long as possible.”

“But defense alone won’t accomplish anything!”

In response to Tifa’s words, I looked at her and said:

“That’s right. If we just keep defending, we’ll eventually be overrun. Especially with Irene as the enemy commander. But it’s alright. If you can just buy me time, I will personally seek an audience with Lynn Brans of the Brans army.”

“By audience, you mean…?”

“Yes.”

I nodded at Luna’s question.

“I, Swen, will meet with Lynn Brans and negotiate a ceasefire agreement.”

“…A ceasefire… agreement…?”

Everyone was visibly surprised by my words.

Of course they would be. What could we possibly offer to an army of 23,000 soldiers intent on avenging their previous humiliation and capturing our castle?

Agreements only happen when there’s something the other side can gain.

Yes, if they ask “We’ll withdraw our army, but what will you give us in return?”—you need something concrete to offer.

“My lord, how much gold can our army currently muster?”

“…All together, about 1,300 gold.”

“That will be enough. I’ll negotiate a ceasefire with 1,300 gold and return.”

Hearing my words, Cain spoke in a pleading tone:

“Listen, Swen. I acknowledge you. I know you’re an extraordinary man. But… isn’t this too unrealistic? Wouldn’t it be more practical to use that money to hire troops from neighboring countries? Since this is a defensive battle, even a small increase in our forces would give us a significant advantage, wouldn’t it?”

His argument was sound.

If we lose here, our nation is finished.

If we’re going to scrape together all our remaining money, wouldn’t it be wiser to create a situation where we can hold out a little longer?

But I spoke with a resolute tone:

“No. That would only delay our inevitable demise. Holding out for one or two more days won’t be enough to overcome this. I stake my life on successfully negotiating this ceasefire—please just defend this castle until then.”

I could stake my life as many times as needed.

I wasn’t afraid at all.

I was confident in my words.

After all, my intelligence of 100 had advised me to ‘negotiate a ceasefire.’

“My lord. Your decision.”

“…”

Lunarian—this time, she didn’t seem to deliberate much.

Her complete trust in me was readily apparent.

I was also quietly confident.

She would believe in me unconditionally.

“I ask that Swen attempt to negotiate a ceasefire with the Brans army using our 1,300 gold.”

“Yes!”

“And the rest of the generals will defend this castle with me. We won’t form any special interception units. Tifa and I will defend the east gate where the enemy will approach head-on, and I ask the mercenary groups to defend the remaining gates. If anyone has any opinions, please speak freely.”

“No objections.”

“We’ll follow your orders!”

“We just need to hold them off, right? What other opinion would we need?”

Having received Luna’s orders, the generals dispersed to prepare for defense.

This will work.

I’m not particularly worried since my advice is always correct—but I should still move as quickly as possible.

Even in this game, advice could change depending on the situation.

If I were to ask for advice with the same question tomorrow, I might get a completely different answer.

“Well then, I’ll be heading out now. I’ll try to resolve this as quickly as possible, so please hold out just a little longer. Farewell.”

“…Lord Swen.”

At that moment.

Lunarian grabbed my shoulder.

And then… with no trace of the strong appearance she had shown just moments ago, she looked at me with such a fragile, pitiful gaze that seemed like she might crumble at the slightest touch.

“…You must return alive. Understood?”

She must be extremely tense.

While I appreciated that she was following my advice to ‘maintain a dignified appearance in front of everyone,’ her personality seemed to make it difficult in various ways.

Trying to ease her tension, I spoke in a playful tone:

“Is that an order?”

But.

Far from laughing at my joke—she answered in a deadly serious voice:

“Yes. It’s an order. If you don’t return alive… even if you die and lose your physical body… I will follow you as a spirit. If you die recklessly… I will never forgive you.”

?

That felt a bit intense, but… in any case, I had no intention of dying either.

I wanted to return safely to my original world. For now. I missed my family too.

“Understood. I’ll return safely. Please take care of the castle.”

Hearing my words, she finally nodded with a faint smile.

*

“Everyone advance at maximum speed! Those who fall behind will be left! If you want to avoid a miserable fate, you’d better not slow your pace!”

Irene was leading a forced march with her army of 23,000.

Naturally, many soldiers were dropping out during this process.

Despite the distance to Zeilant Castle not being particularly far, at this pace, it was obvious that as many as two or three thousand troops would fall out, but.

‘One week. I must bring down the castle within one week.’

Though she wasn’t consciously aware of it—she was known as a siege warfare specialist.

Even with some troop losses, she instinctively knew that with limited supplies, quickly reaching the castle and attacking was the only advantageous path.

One week was an extremely short time. She instinctively understood that this was the only way to prove herself to Lynn Brans, who had given her another chance.

Perhaps her urging was effective.

Before sunset, the east gate of Zeilant Castle came into view.

Archers densely lined the castle walls.

And in front of the gate, a sizable force had taken position.

The vanguard commander at the front was… a female general with an axe.

According to her information, this must be Tifa.

“…”

Irene slowly extended her hand.

Simultaneously—catapults gradually appeared on both sides.

Wasn’t it natural to prepare siege weapons for a siege battle?

And perhaps anticipating this—

“Let’s go, everyone!!”

The enemy charged toward them first.

The catapults needed to advance further to get within attack range.

If they advanced, the battle would inevitably favor the enemy archers raining arrows from the castle walls, but.

Still, they had 20,000 men.

If they could break through the castle gate just once—just once—victory would be theirs!

Irene let out a thunderous battle cry:

“All units, CHARGE!!!!”