Ch.216Chapter 216. The Lunarien Army Reappears (2)

If I were to add just one more being, I would completely understand all of Lunarian’s actions.

Not Tifa or Cain, nor the other armed men following her… If some other entity were attached to her like a ghost, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to devise such an incredibly sinister plan.

‘I underestimated her too much.’

From the beginning, the plan to use Metz to provoke her, and to eliminate her if that didn’t work, was formulated under the assumption that Lunarian was thoroughly similar to Karelia.

If it were Karelia, she would try to keep her word until the end, even while being taken advantage of. So I expected Luna to act the same way, and thought that even if Metz betrayed us at the end, she would stubbornly fulfill her responsibilities.

Having thought that far, Vanessa closed her eyes and emptied her mind completely.

‘That’s not what’s important right now.’

Whatever kind of person Luna was, and whoever might be by her side—in this situation, such matters were irrelevant.

What mattered was that she had seized Tepelo Castle, an extremely useful piece of land.

And that our Karelia army had been robbed of all the war supplies we had accumulated over a long period.

The situation had become extremely unfavorable, but there was still a fundamental difference in our capabilities.

After all, the opponent had only captured one territory. The Ohana army was concerning, but the Rolland and Hesna armies above would be too preoccupied with checking each other and friction with the central continent to properly focus on our situation.

‘I suppose we’ll have to conduct additional conscription and respond quickly.’

Because we had applied military law so strictly and were concerned about public sentiment among the territory’s residents, we hadn’t pushed my opinion through. Now, the fact that there were still young men left to conscript felt like a lifeline.

As for resources, if the worst-case scenario came to pass…

‘We might have to confiscate them forcibly.’

Until now, the Karelia army, like most countries, had purchased all its military provisions using tax money.

Of course, we could plunder the territory if needed, but if public sentiment among the residents collapsed that way, we’d be facing internal rebellion rather than achieving a unified nation.

Even so, it would be better than having the nation perish because we lacked provisions to feed our soldiers.

‘Once the situation stabilizes and Lady Karelia takes control, public sentiment will naturally recover. It’s just one territory… just one territory.’

Having organized her thoughts that far, Vanessa spoke in a serious tone to her lord who was kneeling on the ground.

“My lord. We may need to take a detour. We might have to bend our principles. Would that be acceptable?”

“Bend our principles? What do you mean…?”

“I will proceed with additional troop conscription. Fortunately, we still have 30,000 troops remaining, excluding the minimum forces needed to guard the castle, but in the worst case, we cannot rule out the possibility that the Lunarian army might form a temporary ceasefire with the Ohana army and send 90,000 troops here at once. To prepare for that, we need to assemble an overwhelmingly larger force.”

“…”

Even that figure of 30,000 was barely set aside because Vanessa had insisted that “it would be good to keep about 30,000 troops in reserve.”

Given the current situation, Karelia could not possibly deny her words.

“And… along with conscripting troops, I believe we need to make a decision to replenish our war supplies.”

“A decision…?”

“Yes.”

Karelia stared blankly into Vanessa’s eyes…

Then, with a pale face, she uttered ‘that word.’

“Surely… you’re not suggesting we plunder our own territory?”

“…”

Vanessa remained silent, but it was as good as confirmation.

It was the most realistic and only way to replenish war supplies.

And the moment she heard Karelia’s words,

Vanessa closed her eyes tightly, sensing what would follow.

And she recalled why she had come to follow Karelia in the first place.

In Vanessa’s opinion, Karelia was too radiant a being to live in these chaotic times.

She genuinely cared for her territory’s people, never did anything wrong even when no one was watching, and had never once uttered a lie.

She valued each soldier and each resident equally, and was a warm person who could truly empathize with the pain of the weak.

Vanessa herself had fallen for Karelia’s character and wanted to live in a world where she became the unifying monarch, and had worked solely toward that goal.

But.

“That is… unacceptable.”

The upright character she had fallen for—

“No matter what happens, I cannot arbitrarily plunder the property of my territory’s people. Even if conscription is unavoidable… I will never resort to plundering, even with a knife at my throat!”

—began to quickly drag the Karelia army into the abyss.

* * *

Karelia merely stationed all the troops she could gather at the border—without making any special moves first.

More accurately, she couldn’t move first.

Since most of the supplies available for deployment, including provisions, had fallen into Luna’s hands, recklessly deploying a large army would inevitably be burdensome.

The plan to use the Ohana army was also very similar to Violet’s prediction.

In fact, it wasn’t difficult to recognize that this was the best option available if one could think a little.

Honestly, from Vanessa’s perspective, dealing with Ohana rather than Lunarian would be more comfortable, as they weren’t particularly threatening.

A few days later.

Additional troop conscription took place within the Karelia army.

Since all able-bodied personnel had already been conscripted, this time even those less suited for war—boys who hadn’t yet shed their youth, the elderly who could barely wield a sword—were all mobilized as soldiers of the Karelia army without exception.

Naturally, this situation could only lead to discontent among the territory’s residents—

But there was no choice but to somehow match the number of troops this way, or they would be at a disadvantage in the long run.

The problem was that Karelia truly refused to plunder resources.

Even though they had somehow gathered troops, they couldn’t use them if they couldn’t feed them.

With harvest time still far off and no additional resource supply possible, the Karelia army found itself in a position where it could do neither this nor that.

Especially when they couldn’t even properly deploy their existing forces.

There’s a saying:

If you’re going to do something, do it perfectly without hesitation; if not, don’t even touch it.

Unfortunately, Karelia was doing neither.

Following her principles, she refused to plunder, but she did proceed with forced conscription by employing Vanessa.

This neither-here-nor-there situation could not possibly work to the Karelia army’s advantage.

In this situation, Vanessa couldn’t bring herself to push her lord any further.

If she really pushed her strongly here, the image of “Monarch Karelia” that she had desperately created would crumble as someone unilaterally manipulated by a single strategist.

Karelia had a gentle personality. If Vanessa really pushed hard, she would eventually comply.

She also knew well that her absolute power came from Vanessa’s ruthless establishment of hierarchy, so if Vanessa demanded it with life-or-death determination, she would probably agree.

Vanessa thought for hours on end about how to overcome this situation.

There was just one solution that would allow her to push through her intentions without damaging Karelia’s status.

‘…It’s my life.’

In the end, she would take everything upon herself and die.

Then, forced conscription, plundering, and perhaps even more could be done while maintaining Karelia’s status.

She vividly remembered when she first met Karelia.

She was convinced that only Karelia could heal the continent shattered by the tyranny of the Einhart Imperial Family.

Humans, once born, would eventually die and disappear. If the Karelia army were to perish, she would clearly lose her driving force to continue living.

If she was going to give her life anyway… it would be best to spend it in the most efficient way.

Vanessa truly thought so.

Yes.

If, as the religious people of the prosperous continental era had cried out, “God” truly existed.

And if He looked favorably upon Lady Karelia, who was willing to achieve the greater good for everyone despite being ill-suited for these chaotic times.

Then, she thought, a situation would surely unfold that would allow them to overcome this predicament.

*

“What… did you say?”

A few days later.

Summoned to the audience chamber, Vanessa turned pale as Karelia sighed deeply and spoke.

“You remember too, don’t you? That man Cain… I hear he’s actually a member of the imperial family.”

“That’s…!”

“Kail von Einhart. That’s his real name.”

A member of the imperial family, which was thought to be extinct except for Serpina, had appeared.

This alone would have great significance for the territory’s residents across the continent who had nostalgia for the prosperous imperial era.

And of all people.

That person… was the old man who had been constantly assisting Luna by her side.

How could this be happening?

It felt like being prey that had wandered into a rigged game.

It was as if God… instead of her lord Karelia—

“And he proclaimed before everyone that he would recognize Lunarian as the next emperor to lead the continent.”

—was smiling upon this person called Lunarian.

Vanessa barely managed to prevent her body from going limp for the first time.

‘No… let’s calm down first.’

But.

“Vanessa…”

“…Yes.”

“I didn’t… summon you just to tell you that story.”

Vanessa noticed that her lord’s voice was trembling strangely and looked at her.

…Her green eyes were shaking.

Like someone who had realized that something that should never have happened… had occurred.

“Answer me honestly, Vanessa. Is there… something else… that I don’t know about?”

—Ah.

Hearing those words, Vanessa tightly closed her eyes.

“At the same gathering where Kail made that statement, Metz, who betrayed us, also added something.”

With a pale face, Karelia asked Vanessa once more.

“Is what he said… true?”

“…”

Very slowly, but surely—

Everything that Karelia had built up over a long period… began to collapse like a sandcastle.