episode_0134

Tinnitus ringing in my ears.

A dusty wind that makes it impossible to see an inch ahead.

The smell of gunpowder stings my nose.

Even in the chaos, one thing is clear –

My sister and I are both standing up straight.

The duel barrier did its job.

The damage from the explosion escaped the two of us.

“Alister! Alistair!”

“Alister!”

There is no answer.

My sister and I try to shout it out again, but somewhere in our heads we already know.

There was no way my brother would have survived that explosion.

I walked towards the wreckage and tried to push through the burning tree trunk, but my hands were immediately thrown away.

The duel barrier prevented others from hurting me, but it also prevented me from hurting myself.

“Round 1 begins. The first pitcher is Colman Cantor.

Please start your turn as soon as possible. If refusal to play continues, you may be disqualified.”

A cold message from a system that doesn’t seem to care about our hearts.

Only then did I stare blankly at the table.

The 5 units I chose.

Phantom Thief Ombre, The Bunny Girl, The Veteran, and two Youth Phantom Thieves units.

6 units chosen by my sister.

1 red horse first-year student, 3 intelligence agency kite agents, and 2 intelligence agency quail agents.

“Please start your turn. If there is no response within 10 seconds, you will be disqualified.”

“… ”

“10, 9, 8, 7… ”

“My turn, walk Phantom Thief Ombre twice. Turn ends… ”

I don’t even remember what story I chose or what grand strategy was in progress.

It’s just an instinct to avoid disqualification.

But after making that declaration, I was able to lessen the shock a little.

Brother Alistair died.

That’s reality.

The reality is that my brother died…

“The second player, please proceed with the turn.”

“Alister… ”

“Turn quickly-”

“I… Red Horse walked a first-year student twice… ”

Ten young students walking forward at a fantasy table.

Only then did my sister’s eyes come to life.

“Are you saying you want to continue playing the game?”

“What?”

“You’re going to keep playing games after killing your brother!”

“I’m not like that!”

Sister Hayley was sobbing.

“I… I just thought this was an empty room! I didn’t know there were explosives planted here!”

“You’re laughing!”

“Why should I lie to you now?”

“Then abstain!”

I felt like my throat was going to tear from screaming over and over again, but I didn’t care.

“Do you think my sister is not responsible for my brother’s death just because she didn’t know that?”

“… ”

“You’ve been serving as the Director of Intelligence for several years!

They searched for funds, stole dueling beads, and eventually attacked the Karcic family and killed the duke!

So you didn’t know there were explosives? So what should I do!”

My roar split the dust and debris.

But what comes back is-

“Please proceed with your turn.”

“… Walk the Phantom Thief follower twice. And the turn ends.”

Now it’s my sister’s turn.

My sister hesitated for a moment and then declared firmly.

“Walk the Imperial Intelligence Agency Kite Agent once. After that, use wire firing.”

Wire Firing – Power Action. Select one impassable terrain within 24cm. Move this unit until it touches the terrain, then reposition it within 6cm of that location.

A kite agent stretching out.

Only then did I have the peace of mind to look into the strategy and story of this match.

Grand strategy is a battle for territory. The story I received was about cooperation and retribution.

turf war

Starting from round 1, you earn 1 point for each condition that is satisfied at the end of the round.

– 3 or more of your models are completely in the opponent’s camp.

– Your unit’s model is within the opponent’s deployment area.

– The opponent unit’s model is not in your camp.

collaboration

Main character: Phantom thief Ombre, The Veteran

Start: The protagonists deal damage to the same enemy unit.

Progress: An enemy unit attacked by one protagonist was attacked and destroyed by another protagonist.

End: All main characters survive.

chastisement

Target Imperial Intelligence Quail Agent #1

Start: Target enters friendly territory.

Progression: Target has less than half health.

End: Objective has been removed.

There is no need to obtain 4 victory points in the grand strategy to win.

My original plan was to get 2 points from cooperation and 2 points from punishment and end the game in an instant.

Nuna Crew’s Win Plan, on the other hand, aims to score 2, maybe 3 points in turf battles from the first turn with numerous forward-deployed troops.

As it is a combination of polar opposites, it would have been quite an interesting game originally…

This game was not a fun game.

No, actually…

“Walk the second Phantom Thief follower twice. End of turn.”

I don’t even know why I have to win now.

Can you capture the Director of Intelligence just by knocking out your sister?

I don’t think so. but… However, Ogi and his intuition tell him that he does not want to let his sister win.

“Walk the Imperial Intelligence Service Kite Agent in the East once. After that, use wire firing.”

“… You’re saying you’ll do it until the end.”

“There is nothing I can do when it becomes like this.”

“There’s nothing you can do?”

“Then if I surrender to you here, will Alistair come back alive?

The path left for me is… ”

Haley bit her lip so hard that it bled.

“This is it.”

“Sister. When your husband died at the gambling house, why didn’t you come home?”

Hayley Cantor slightly raised her head at my words.

“That’s… ”

“You probably thought the same thing back then as you do now, right?

If I admit my mistake and go to my parents and apologize, will that mean I never played with fire?”

I did not continue.

Because he couldn’t say that his daughter wouldn’t have died if he had admitted his mistake and returned as a baron.

“Same thing after that.”

“Morgana should have returned to her mom and dad even after she died?

Do you think my life would have improved if I did that?”

“So instead of coming back, my sister held the hand of the intelligence chief. Are you satisfied? That choice?”

My sister kept her mouth shut.

“And you met me again last year.

You must have seen the head of the Intelligence Bureau make a mistake and be pushed to one position.

If I had left the director’s arms at that time, my sister could have been treated as a convert.

But my sister decided to go all the way, and this is the result.”

“Then is this what you want to say? Can you go back now?”

“… ”

“You can’t do that. How can you do that when Alistair is dead?”

“You keep saying it. Going back doesn’t mean pretending it never happened.”

Immediately after saying that, I too was a little surprised by my own voice.

Because I didn’t know I could have such a cold voice.

It feels not like a cold winter wind that tears at your skin, but like an ice sea that wets your clothes and pulls them in.

“Of course, you can’t make things that have already happened never happen.

It was the same not only now that my brother died, but also in the past.

Going back means deciding to take responsibility and walking in the opposite direction of the path you took.

Continue until you reach a fork in the road leading to another path.”

“… ”

“My sister just didn’t want to take responsibility.”

If I had returned home when my husband died, I would have been stigmatized as a single mother who gave birth to an illegitimate child.

If he had returned home alone after his daughter died, it would have been difficult to avoid the fate of growing old alone in the mansion.

If I leave the Director of Intelligence who tried to harm me, I have to admit that my efforts over the past five years have been in vain.

So I didn’t change the way I walked –

“So don’t say that there is nothing you can do in the future.

My sister had plenty of opportunities.

I blew it all up with my sister’s hands.”

After that, my sister and I stopped talking any more.

The only time we open our mouths is to make declarations necessary to progress the game.

and-

“The Bunny Girl’s turn! At the start of the turn, use the bunny hop to move forward 6cm.

After that, I will use Presto to switch places with the Phantom Thief Ombre!

Afterwards, walk twice and enter enemy territory!”

“I move the third kite agent and then fire the wire again.”

The three Kite agents approach the buildings at high speed, shooting wires.

The two Quail agents start close to enemy lines with their infiltration abilities.

Round 1 ended with all five agents in my camp.

“Starting point settlement. In the Red Horse Dormitory, there are more than 3 models in the enemy camp.

Therefore, Red Horse scores 1 point.”

Since the model I sent into the enemy camp is only a bunny girl, I cannot get victory points.

However, thanks to Bunny Girl’s entry, she was prevented from gaining victory points due to ‘no enemy models in the friendly camp’.

This is 1 to 0.

I can’t stop all those models rushing into my camp next turn.

Considering the story, it would be natural to give up about 3 points.

So the question is… can I get 4 victory points in just one round?

If it’s a combination of cooperation and retribution…

“Let’s start the second round.”

[Today’s Unit]

The Veteran – Phantom Thieves, Militia, Humans

Single model unit – 21 points

Movement 12 / Defense 5 / Resistance 5 / Magic Power 0 / Learning 0 / Stamina 8

strike armament

Butt – Attack 2 / Accuracy 8 / Penetration 0 / Damage 1 / Damaged enemies cannot charge next turn.

shooting armament

Sniper Rifle – Range 36 / Attack 2 / Accuracy 9 / Penetration 3 / Damage 2

ability

Protective Color – This unit becomes stealthy if it has cloak.

Sharpshooter – This unit receives no penalty when shooting at friendly units that are close to it, and ignores Cloak, Cover, Stealth, Disguise, and Guts.