Ch.343113. To Them, I Show Respect (3)

“Don’t treat rolling dice as mere luck.”

Clack!

The wooden dice rolls to a stop, with five dots facing up toward the ceiling.

“Wow.”

In childhood.

The two of them, who once didn’t hesitate to play together.

During those times when they alleviated boredom with such games, Iriel consistently felt something beyond unfairness—something truly unreasonable.

Of all numbers, it had to be five.

“If controlling the dice roll is considered force in actual combat…”

Whereas placing and moving pieces according to the rolled dice could be considered intelligence.

“Then overseeing all of this could be seen as judgment.”

Together, these elements form tactics and strategy.

“And there’s a clear purpose to it all. In the case of this game we’re playing, it’s victory. The goal of victory is to reduce the opponent’s pieces or capture their king.”

Tap!

Günter’s black piece traverses the small leather map.

“Remember this. Only with a clear purpose can one truly advance.”

Even if we were to leave this place and head toward Her Majesty’s residence, office, audience chamber, garden, or bedroom, wouldn’t our purpose be to have an audience with Her Majesty?

“All matters in the world are like this. Never forget this point.”

……

“……”

Opening his eyes, Iriel freshly recalled that since those childhood competitions with Günter, he had never won even once.

Günter was truly a remarkable person.

He always wanted to be king and was arrogant, but he never blindly disregarded or ignored others.

He had strong convictions and was as strict with himself as he was with others.

Yet he sometimes knew when to humble his true feelings.

He was someone who, for the sake of his goals, didn’t particularly care about the means, methods, or how to reach them.

…That’s why Iriel couldn’t understand.

The current situation, from any perspective, didn’t seem advantageous to Günter at all.

Even considering military superiority, Iriel currently had the upper hand.

Bringing only the central regular army was meant to limit those who might gain merit from this affair.

Above all, since the opponent was his own brother, he couldn’t carelessly distribute the merit of defeating him among his vassals.

‘…Besides, if I had done that, it would have been difficult to set up camp here in the first place.’

Mother’s urging for an early expedition wasn’t without reason.

…Though she had only said a few words, fortunately, Iriel hadn’t taken them lightly.

If he had delayed even a day, the battle would have unfolded not here but in an even more disadvantageous location, according to Günter’s design.

‘The battlefield, huh.’

Come to think of it, even during their dice games simulating virtual wars, the advantage always clearly shifted depending on the battlefield location.

For example, on a battlefield starting from a hilltop position, it was always advantageous to begin from the high ground.

Similarly, having more troops was advantageous on plains and open fields.

But when swamps or rivers were involved, the type of military units mattered more than their numbers.

Above all, Günter’s forces consisted mostly of natives—people who excelled in forests, highlands, ridges, and swamps rather than plains.

In contrast, our knightly order could demonstrate exceptional power on this battlefield.

“……”

Iriel assessed the battle situation, referencing the accounts of several ministers, adjutants, and knights.

After concluding the war council, Iriel returned to his tent.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

The Holy Maiden dispatched from the Irenis Order headquarters on the continent to track demon worshippers.

The 6th Holy Maiden, Edmila.

Known as the Knight of the Blue Rose and the Holy Maiden of Governance, she was a holy knight whose reputation stood out even in the Empire for her achievements in battling on the frontlines, exorcising demons, and stabilizing conflict zones for over a decade.

With her dark blue bob cut and deep blue eyes.

Clad in blue-glowing full armor, she continued addressing Iriel.

“Do you truly wish for us to observe without participating?”

“Yes. This is an internal matter of Lutania. While we might seek the Irenis Order’s cooperation regarding demons… that would only be after everything is concluded. Therefore… I would appreciate if you would simply observe for now.”

“Understood. If that is Your Highness’s decision, I shall gladly comply.”

With that, she moved toward the tents on the outskirts of the encampment with a small number of holy knights.

“…That’s just for appearances. Was it actually Eileen you wanted to speak with?”

“Yeah, that’s right. She asked me various things, and it seems she’s correct.”

Eileen’s expression clouded slightly.

“…It appears that the second mother was somehow related to them.”

“The second mother, huh.”

Iriel had heard enough to make some guesses, but he knew nothing about her true identity.

Even Eileen didn’t know, which said a lot.

“It’s strange. She kept asking me all sorts of things, saying I resembled her a bit.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. People from the Empire say I look like the first mother, while she says I resemble the second mother.”

She glances at her blue eyes with a suspicious expression.

“By the way, does it really seem like they have no intention of negotiating with you? You’re brothers, after all. When will you have another chance to talk if not now?”

“That may be true, but…”

The other side was refusing even the approach of envoys.

In this state of seeking a final resolution, it was difficult to convey intentions easily.

“At this point, I’ll have to face him directly on the battlefield.”

“……”

Eileen gives him a sympathetic look.

“If he’s your brother, that makes him my brother too. I just can’t understand why you two are doing this.”

“…I’m no different. I don’t understand what he’s thinking either.”

Had he simply maintained the status quo, he would clearly have been the crown’s successor.

So why, why did he bring matters to this state?

What he was pursuing—Iriel couldn’t begin to guess.

As Günter always said, purpose, directional pursuit—Iriel simply couldn’t discern it.

‘What do you want?’

You who claimed to act for mother’s sake, you who only yearned for her recognition, why would you raise arms against her…

“…?”

For a moment, Iriel felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

But it was immediately shattered by the arrival of a messenger.

“Your Highness. The enemy movements appear ominous, so to report…”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

Iriel raised his hand, cutting off the messenger’s words.

Feeling somewhat apologetic for the gesture, he patted the messenger’s shoulder.

“Tell everyone to remain vigilant and ready to respond at any time. I’ll join shortly.”

There’s no time to be lost in thought.

Iriel donned his armor.

And following him, along with some guard knights, Eileen accompanied him with a troubled expression.

After a full day of standoff and sizing each other up, the two forces finally began to close the distance and boost their fighting spirit shortly after sunrise the next day.

****

While Iriel had comprehensively organized the battle plan by incorporating the opinions of his comrades and subordinates,

Günter had thoroughly imposed his own views to resolve the situation.

However, everyone accepted his directives without complaint because they were so rational.

‘Half-measures would lead to failure on both fronts.’

Günter’s power stemmed not just from legitimacy but from his competence and potential.

Above all, crisis is also opportunity.

Günter clearly understood that a leader’s role is to instill confidence in overcoming crises.

In that respect at least, he was already an impeccable ruler.

“……”

Günter stood at the front of his formation.

But once the battle commenced, his position became somewhat ambiguous.

As the troops curved like a bow to encircle the enemy, Günter’s central force naturally seemed to be pushed back, appearing to merely hold ground though this was actually by design.

‘The most… orthodox formation for encirclement and annihilation.’

But this also meant a formation that could only be completed if the army operated organically.

Günter prided himself on being able to perfect this and drive back the enemy.

However.

‘…The variable is the knightly order, isn’t it?’

No matter how well he constructed and built this, there was nothing he could do about the knightly order’s offensive.

The absence of asymmetric forces.

Of course, his side also possessed asymmetric forces, but their usage methods were somewhat limited.

‘……’

Above all.

If those forces were used, there was a high possibility of mass slaughter.

Therefore, Günter deliberately delayed their deployment.

‘A moment should be enough.’

Even without an aerial battalion, Günter could visualize the entire battle situation.

And as adjutants began to record the battle information transmitted by the small aerial battalions, drawing enemy and friendly positions on the sand table in real-time, Iriel felt anxious.

‘It might be better to go to the frontlines myself.’

Such an opportunity would soon be given, but not yet.

The enemy would know that the tide of battle would turn the moment Iriel was directly harmed.

Therefore, Iriel’s personal appearance, while boosting morale, meant taking on greater risk.

And whether he possessed enough military might to sweep through the enemy as a tactical weapon was somewhat questionable.

‘Is it still far off?’

Nevertheless, as the knights’ movement to encircle and drive the enemy’s rear was detected, the battle situation began to change rapidly.

Although the rebels had prepared for this, they could only delay it.

The rebel rear forces began to be swept away in real-time.

“It’s slower than expected.”

Hearing his adjutants’ opinions that even this was slower than anticipated, Iriel’s eyes flashed.

“If their rear defense is thorough, doesn’t that mean they’ve put less force on the front?”

When Iriel immediately ordered his horse to be brought, his adjutants were surprised and tried to dissuade him.

“Your Highness! The situation is already unfolding according to our army’s intentions! There’s no need for you to personally…”

“No, that’s not it.”

It’s forming in his mind.

This was like a scene he had seen before, somewhere, sometime.

A scene? No.

On the leather map, when Günter and Iriel had conducted mock wars.

…Iriel had clearly seen how Günter’s moves were applied.

‘He encircled our forces with an arc formation, pushing our army into the beast’s maw, but that wasn’t all.’

The weakness of that formation is, surprisingly, its vulnerability to breakthrough.

Therefore, if the center is pierced before the flanks complete their encirclement, the formation itself collapses, and the flanks end up being surrounded instead.

After that, it’s essentially just cleanup.

But what if the center holds firmly?

That’s why Iriel had split his forces, using mobile troops to counter the enemy’s mobile forces, and sending a small detachment to target Günter’s rear center.

And what had happened then?

‘Even though it was just a dice game.’

The problem was that even if the dice numbers had been unfavorable, if the pre-positioned troops, their allocated numbers, hadn’t been appropriate,

Günter’s center would surely have been pierced.

But despite targeting the rear, Günter’s center had not been breached, by just one dice number difference.

As a result, while the center tied up the rear mobile forces…

…the beast’s jaws had closed, devouring all of our forces.

“Move immediately! There’s no time to waste!”

It’s the same now.

Although the knightly order had completely disrupted the enemy’s cavalry and mobile forces…

…war couldn’t be fought with knights alone.

Moreover, the number of knights on both sides combined didn’t even reach 100.

Meanwhile, the troops deployed for battle numbered thousands.

And each one of those thousands was a precious life.

“Eileen!”

“You don’t need to tell me! Just ride!”

“……”

Iriel’s lips twisted at that steadfast trust.

He didn’t want to soil her hands.

Nor did he want to soil the hands of his other comrades.

“…Kuk!”

Gritting his teeth firmly, Iriel spurred his warhorse and charged toward the battlefield with his guards and escort knights.

And.

“……”

When a spirit mage detected this movement and urgently reported it, Günter rarely smiled.

“Yes, as expected.”

As expected.

At those words, the expressions of those around him became filled with elation.

But Günter’s eyes remained ice-cold.

‘Yes. We expected this. More precisely, I had determined this would happen to you.’

But you don’t yet know that plans don’t always unfold as intended.

‘Especially with her present.’

She, Kael’s sister, whom I heard about when I was with Kael.

No one yet suspects that she will be a massive variable in this battle.

‘That’s enough.’

Come, Iriel.

Even if you cannot become a hero yourself,

You must reach the bleeding frontlines and be reborn as a hero.

Only then will no one object to you standing at the forefront in the future.

And no one will doubt it.

Only then will your authority and dignity be firmly established.

No one would dare doubt the owner of the throne born of sword and sword.

‘Including your own growth.’

Perhaps even this is unnecessary, but.

‘Yes. The dice have already been cast long ago.’

You sing for the living.

I, as always, will sing for the dead.

“Execute the prepared grand spell as instructed.”

At Günter’s command, several people hastily left their positions.

As everyone around him became inspired by the ominous and malicious victory…

“……”

Only one person walks on the frost, raising a poisoned cup to the world.