episode_0074

After boarding the ship, which had been prepared faster than expected thanks to the governor’s authority, I began to think about the coming war.

The conflict between the empire and the elves in this game was originally inspired by the conflict between the ancient Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes in the world’s history…

The severity was incomparably worse.

In order to deal with the Germanic peoples, the real-life Roman Empire implemented various policies against various tribes within it.

He effectively controlled the war situation for a considerable period of time by using a policy of thoroughly opposing some tribes while forming alliances with some other Germanic tribes.

However, the crazy empire in this game continued to thoroughly oppress the elves solely to facilitate the supply of slaves.

As a result, the worst situation was created in which a fierce war had to continue with the elf races, who were thoroughly united in anger.

After ascending to the throne, the Empress was trying to improve her relationship with them by regaining some of her real power…

Due to a long history of resentment and persistent interference from high-ranking families who profit from the slave business, no great results have been achieved yet.

In the end, in the midst of all this, this large-scale war broke out.

‘…is it not a great migration, but a great invasion?’

While trying to guess the scale of the elf invasion, a scary thought occurred to me.

The great migration of Germanic peoples, which was said to have been triggered by the Huns’ invasion, was not an invasion in itself, although it was large in scale.

Of course, there were no wars for over 100 years, but manpower was steadily supplied to the empire until Rome declined to the point of irreparable decline.

In some respects, they could be seen as actually slowing down Rome’s decline.

However, the elves here are not driven by something. I have no intention of finding a new place to live and settling down.

They vividly remember the conflict and persecution that lasted for hundreds of years, and the indignities they endured, and come to seek revenge.

Considering the lifespan of elves, there was a high possibility that those involved in those wars were still alive and leading their tribes.

If the race of elves itself attacks the empire…

‘Well, elves have a long lifespan, but their population increases at a slow rate, and among the elves that flock there, some may be warriors…

Even so, the size of the elves that will come… is estimated to be at least hundreds of thousands.’

With that number, even if they are non-combat personnel, their mere presence acts as a burden.

Whether you focus your attack on a few specific border fortresses or attack all fronts at the same time, you will be able to significantly hinder the imperial army trying to respond.

Even so, each elf warrior is a warrior who has devoted a significant portion of his long life to honing his martial arts.

Of course, it is foolish to think that individual inaction alone can determine the direction of a battle, but it is even more foolish not to regard such warriors as powerful enemies.

In the first place, they were also the ones who had already learned how to make the most of their inaction in the war from past battles with the empire.

A war against enemies with high morale, large armies, and even strong enemies with a pledge for revenge.

To have any chance of victory, the empire would naturally have to mobilize a large army to counter it.

It is natural that many of the rear corps should be additionally deployed to the Ermanian front, and private soldiers from the great families should also be mobilized.

The latter was allowed, and the empire maintained its heyday of national power for a long time. Unlike the original Rome, although the power of the emperor was weak, the number of troops that could be mobilized was much greater than at similar times…

The problem was whether the great families would willingly cooperate in this war.

If you think about common sense, the cause of the war in the first place was the slave trade, which was their main source of income.

If they lose this war, they will become fertilizer and fruit for the forest where the elves live, so they will have to take an active role.

However, in other words, since their cooperation is essential to win this war, they could have waited until the end to raise the ransom.

Only after the forts on the front line have been breached and several cities burned can they barely move their heavy bodies.

‘If they stick to that attitude, even if they make a move in the beginning, that in itself will be a political burden for the Empress.

Especially if you listen to their demands to mobilize troops…

Not only will the various reform policies you are trying to implement now be put on hold, but the slave business problem in particular may get worse.’

Even if they succeed in stopping this great elven invasion, if they become the protagonists of victory, and the empire’s vices fester even deeper…

Any future the Empress envisioned, a better empire, would have to be abandoned.

‘I can’t leave it like that.’

Beyond just a sense of justice, I had to stop it because I was afraid of what would happen to my precious beings in such a dark future.

That was the stronger motivation than anything else in solidifying my resolve to head to the battlefield.

“River, here you are.”

“Thank you.”

He carefully folds the letter containing his determination and ties it to Jeon Seo-gu’s leg, which was brought and handed to him by a soldier in the galley.

‘We need to get some news to the system faster.’

As I flew the bird in the direction of the island, I hoped that the time saved would be enough to prevent tragedy.

Especially since we were about to jump into the middle of a place where a tragedy might soon occur.

“How long will it take for the ship to arrive at the port?”

“With a favorable wind, it won’t take that long. I think it will arrive by early morning at the latest.”

“I see. Good job! It’s okay to go now.”

Even after sending the soldier away, I continued to stare at the direction where the land of the empire would be, and beyond that, Ermania.

As I picture in my mind the war clouds that will soon be swirling around the ground where my eyes are directed and where I will soon step.

I promised myself that I would definitely overcome the storm that those clouds sprinkled and see the sunlight.

——

On the other hand, there were also those who gathered under the shadow of the war, under the shade of the forest full of trees.

New footsteps overlap endlessly where footsteps have left their mark, and weapons hiding the eerie light of the day beneath the lush branches and leaves form another forest.

There was also an elf leaning against a tree and watching the whole scene.

A gathering of her compatriots on this scale has probably never happened since the giant tree she was leaning against was still a young bud.

Because this was the first time.

The reason why all the children in the forest came together like this for only one goal.

If there is an event that can be compared… it is a large-scale ‘offering’ battle dedicated to the forest that raised them.

A victory in the past where a significant number of elves gathered together and swallowed up all three legions of the empire into the forest.

It would have been the victory of that time when the greedy empire was cut off with a sword to prevent it from poking its tongue deep into the forest.

Although the elven tribe that led the victory declined greatly due to subsequent divisions and the empire’s persistent retaliation.

Since the Empire could not enter the depths of their forests, they tormented them even more viciously by setting fire to the outside of the forest and slaughtering and capturing the elves who came out in anger and selling them as slaves…

That victory, and the sacrifices and damage the elves had to endure for it, were never meaningless.

At the time, the Empire must have thought that such brutal retaliation prevented the collapse of the Ermanian front and cut off the Elves’ victory before it could sprout something bigger.

The seed had already been planted at that point, and it grew slowly but steadily over the past hundreds of years until it finally bore its present fruition.

And on the day the seed was planted in this forest, an elf who was there was watching with his own eyes what kind of giant tree the seed had become.

Still, she wasn’t thrilled. He did not even raise his sword while crying for revenge.

I just looked at them and continued to breathe slowly and deeply in time with the wind blowing through the leaves of the forest and her brown hair.

So much so that the other elves standing guard around her looked at her with some confusion.

When she finally opened her mouth again, her guards and the other chieftains even flinched in surprise for a moment.

“…How much did you raise?”

“There are so many that it is difficult to count them all. Warchief.

Seeing that the Warchief has gathered a huge number of elves, even the previously passive tribes are encouraged and joining.”

“Hmm…”

Upon hearing the report of an elf chief, the war chief of the elves closed his eyes for a moment and sighed lightly as if savoring the answer.

The two hands holding the handle of the sword held at an angle on the ground put strength into it, and the sword sheath lightly scratches the ground of the forest and stands upright.

The elf finally got up by touching the ground with it and took a few steps, looking somewhere in the distance with an eye with a long scar on one side.

“…As soon as all tribes are gathered… attack the empire.

Tell the warriors of each tribe to sharpen their weapons for the last time and offer the blood and flesh of their enemies to the thirsty and starving trees of the forest.

We will bury the empire forever beneath the shadows and roots of the forest.”