Ch.15Chapter 15. Zeilant Defense (2)

Under Irene’s command, the soldiers of the Brans Army began charging toward Castle Zeilant in unison.

“Fire!”

At Luna’s single word, the elite archers of the Raven Mercenary Corps stationed on the castle walls began raining down arrows.

The overwhelming volume of arrows pouring down from above was certainly inflicting heavy damage on the enemy soldiers, but—

‘There are too many of them…!’

An army of over 20,000 men.

Of course, not all 20,000 were concentrated at the east gate, but even if they had divided their forces, the numbers were still overwhelming.

No matter how many arrows they fired, it was simply impossible to stop them all.

Moreover.

In the distance, boulders were beginning to fly from catapults.

BOOM!

The massive sound struck Luna’s eardrums with enough force to drown out even the soldiers’ battle cries.

The situation was unfavorable.

It was fortunate that Lord Swen had focused on repairing the castle walls; otherwise, Luna feared they might have lost the gate very quickly.

‘Lord Swen…!’

Swen had said it.

That negotiating a ceasefire agreement was their only path forward.

Honestly, she still wasn’t sure how such an agreement could be reached, but Luna believed in Swen.

After all, he was her first ally who had joined her with complete trust, her first strategist.

‘Please… I’ll hold out as long as I can… so hurry…!’

The scene shifted back to the base of the wall.

In front of the gate, Tifa raised her axe from atop her horse and shouted loudly to her soldiers.

“Everyone! Prioritize attacking the catapults! Understood?!”

“UOOOOHHH!!!”

As if eager to demonstrate the results of their training, Tifa’s soldiers charged valiantly against the enemy.

Despite the clear difference in military strength, the soldiers’ morale remained unbroken.

Of course—their great general, Tifa, was leading the vanguard alongside them.

“Come at me all at once, you little runts!”

Tifa was slaughtering enemy soldiers, wielding her axe with deadly precision.

Seeing her cut down enemies even faster than the arrows raining from the walls, a ripple of unease began to spread among the Brans Army soldiers.

“W-what is she?! That monster…”

“She’s coming this way!”

Noticing the enemy formation breaking, Irene quickly assessed the situation.

Up ahead, a female general was overwhelming their soldiers with her axe.

‘Hooh.’

Even a small nation had someone quite capable.

Irene shouted loudly to her soldiers.

“Everyone, fall back!”

At Irene’s command, the battle momentarily paused.

Then she slowly advanced on horseback.

“My name is Irene Juliette. And yours?”

“What good would knowing do you, bastard!”

Tifa pointed her axe blade at Irene.

“Instead of this tedious conversation, if you want to fight, then come at me properly!”

It was the kind of response that someone who valued chivalry might find extremely rude, but—

Irene seemed to like Tifa’s reaction, chuckling softly as she replied.

“You’re quite the beast. I like people like you. However!”

CLANG!

The sound of their weapons colliding—Tifa’s axe against Irene’s massive sword—echoed across the battlefield.

“Wild ones like you tend to have short lifespans. What a shame!”

“Why is your tongue so long?! Come on, you bastard!”

CLANG!

The two exchanged several blows.

That was enough for them to gauge each other’s abilities.

At this point, it was Tifa who was alarmed.

‘…She’s strong, this woman!’

The female knight Irene.

Tifa had certainly heard the name before.

But Tifa was the type who believed what she saw and heard rather than rumors.

Besides, rumors only mentioned Irene’s exceptional siege warfare abilities, saying little else, so Tifa had assumed her personal combat skills would be unremarkable.

After exchanging just a few blows, she realized with dismay:

She couldn’t defeat this woman with her own abilities!

‘Damn it!’

But.

If they were to judge things one by one like that, how could the Lunarian Army ever hope to defeat a powerful nation like the Brans Army?

Besides, hadn’t that frail flower boy strategist said he would secure a ceasefire agreement?

So—

‘I’ll hold! I have to hold here!’

CLANG!

“Why not fight with your full strength? Otherwise, you might actually die.”

At Irene’s words, Tifa bit her lip and shouted.

“The only head that’ll roll on the ground is yours! Come at me, bastard!”

“Haah!”

The only one who could turn this battle around was the strategist, Swen.

Holding out until Swen returned with results—

With only that thought in mind, Tifa continued to clash her axe against an opponent she couldn’t defeat.

* * *

I rode my horse at full speed.

If I were heading to Castle Kihara, where I had stayed before joining the Lunarian Army, I would have arrived in a day—but Lord Lynn Brans resided at Castle Anel, which was further away.

One day, two days… somehow I managed to reach Castle Anel, barely sleeping in the saddle.

‘Do I just go to the royal palace?’

In the game, you could simply click the “Diplomacy” button followed by “Execute” to have an audience with the ruler of another country—

But in reality, meeting a monarch proved far more complicated.

“Halt!”

I was already stopped at the castle gate, unable to even enter.

“Who are you?”

‘…Hmm. Will this work?’

I couldn’t use the 1300 gold I’d brought for diplomacy.

Instead, I took out 30 gold from my personal wallet.

It was a significant loss from my 130 gold, but what choice did I have? If I couldn’t get in, the Lunarian Army would be destroyed.

“I’m not a suspicious person. Perhaps this might help?”

“…Hmm… Well. You may enter. Go in!”

Fortunately, it worked.

I had expected this. While [Garand Eternity Saga] didn’t have this feature, other similar games from the same developer allowed bribing guards.

Either way, I was able to safely enter Castle Anel.

‘Wow.’

Once inside, I was immediately awestruck by the scene before me.

The cityscape looked like something from a fantasy game teaser movie, reminding me anew that I had indeed entered another world.

Until now, the only cities I’d seen were the average-sized Castle Kihara and the crumbling small city of Castle Zeilant.

The number of people walking around here was on a completely different scale.

It truly lived up to its reputation as the largest castle in the Central Continent.

‘I don’t have time for this.’

I immediately looked for what appeared to be the royal palace.

It wasn’t difficult to find.

In the center stood a castle with spires that anyone would recognize as a monarch’s residence.

‘That must be it. Let’s go.’

I quickly headed toward the castle.

*

After being needlessly hassled by the guards at the castle gate, I worried that meeting the monarch might be equally difficult.

Fortunately, arranging an audience with the ruler wasn’t as challenging as I feared.

Of course, I had to undergo a light body search, and soldiers flanked me as if keeping watch, but as long as I could meet the monarch, I didn’t mind going through this multiple times.

It was far better than wasting time due to some strange condition preventing the meeting.

‘Wow.’

The interior of Castle Anel’s royal palace was incredibly luxurious.

The furnishings looked extremely expensive, and the various decorations that conveyed both intimidation and dignity were more than enough to make an outsider like me feel insignificant.

Considering that Castle Zeilant’s royal palace was just a brick living room that happened to be called a palace, the contrast was even more striking.

In the game, castle interiors had a unified design, so I hadn’t noticed the difference.

But thinking about it, this level of contrast seemed much more realistic.

Well, since this was reality itself, it was silly to even consider realism.

‘Big companies really do things better.’

After following the soldiers’ guidance for some time.

“Wait here.”

One of the soldiers guarding me went ahead, opened the door, and entered.

And after a while.

“Come inside.”

Good.

Finally, I would have an audience with the monarch.

Recalling the dialogue from the game, I entered with a slightly pounding heart.

*

The door opened.

I stepped into the corridor leading to the audience chamber of Castle Anel.

A long red carpet stretched before me, with what appeared to be Brans Army generals standing in a row on either side.

They all stared at my face, which might have intimidated some people, but—

‘I have no reason to be nervous.’

Right now, I was the “super alpha” coming to negotiate an agreement that was “100% guaranteed to succeed.”

They would accept my proposal. No other outcome was possible. I, with my Intelligence stat of 100, had predicted it.

Without hiding that confidence, I walked forward steadily.

And finally.

I reached the door of the audience chamber.

Inside were only the monarch, the envoy (me), two guards to monitor my actions, and the monarch’s strategist.

This place—the royal audience chamber—was my actual battlefield as an envoy.

Feeling like an away team visiting the home team, I slowly opened the door.

The door closed.

My eyes fell upon a woman sitting on the throne with an air of boredom.

Long blue hair and eyes as blue as her hair.

A beautiful appearance full of dignity.

Though her beauty certainly sparkled like jewels, there was an aura emanating from her that couldn’t be described by the word “pretty” alone.

It made sense. That beautiful woman with her small frame had risen to the supreme position of the Brans Army, surpassing her two older brothers.

The Lynn Brans I remembered was just a woman with blue hair.

Since her portrait was pixelated, I couldn’t really appreciate her beauty.

But seeing her in person, I had to acknowledge it.

That she embodied the image of a ruler. That she was someone who would not tolerate being beneath others—I could feel it at a glance.

The first female ruler I’d met since my first monarch, Lunarian Ineanne.

Lynn Brans was looking at me with a faint smile.

‘There’s… no one beside her.’

No strategist?

I could think of several people who should be the Brans Army’s strategists, but perhaps there were special circumstances.

Well, maybe she thought she could handle an envoy from a small nation like ours by herself.

Either way, I would do my best with the situation at hand.

I slowly knelt down.

And then—I spoke the words I had seen dozens of times in the game.

“I’ve come today to deliver a message from our monarch, Lady Lunarian.”

Hearing my words, Lynn Brans chuckled as if amused, then spoke in a low voice.

“My♡ With such a pretty face, you’ve boldly come as an envoy to a nation we’re at war with. Perhaps you’re more manly than you look?”

Though she used words that seemed to look down on me, I wouldn’t be swayed by such language.

If I let myself be intimidated in a place like this, I might as well quit being a strategist.

“Very well. I’ll hear what you have to say.”

I slowly raised my head.

The fate of the Lunarian Army rested on my shoulders.

It was time to put my silver tongue to work.

Don’t be intimidated.

It’s fine. I have a brain with an Intelligence stat of 100.

“I’d like to offer you a sweet proposal that you simply cannot refuse.”

“Oh? A sweet proposal. That interests me. What is it?”

Like a salesman selling an opportunity that would never come again—

With a shameless smile and the most confident attitude I could muster, I said:

“I’ll give you 1300 gold. Please sign a ceasefire agreement with our army.”