Volume 6, Chapter 4 - A World That Begins To Creak, Part 4
6th February, 1024th year of the Imperial Calendar.
The news came in the morning. Not a moment had passed since the morning sun had begun to shine on the world.
Perhaps because of this, only a few soldiers could be seen starting their morning exercises, and the main camp of the Six Kingdoms was so quiet that the sound of footsteps could be heard. A woman was walking through the camp in her underwear.
Perhaps she was absolutely confident in her body, but she showed no signs of shame in her gait. She was so regal that the soldiers were afraid to look away for fear of looking directly at her.
When asked who was the most dazzling woman in the Six Kingdoms, everyone would say her name — Commander Lucia Levia de Anguis ― also the Queen of Anguis.
She stepped into the command center with loud footsteps as if she couldn’t hide her annoyance.
In the room, there were already staff members and even the Urpeth siblings.
When they recognized Lucia, they stood up and saluted her at once, but several of the staff members blushed at the sight of Lucia. Even though they tried to turn their faces away, the sexy atmosphere she exuded was enough to draw their attention.
However, they are no different from stones on the roadside to Lucia, even if they look at her fondly. No matter what kind of feelings they have for her, she is an existence above the clouds that they cannot even talk to her outside of a meeting.
Anyway…
“At ease.”
Lucia was woken up from a fitful sleep, and her eyes were fixed on the floor as though she were in a foul mood. The staff in their chairs turned their faces down in tension. The only ones who kept the same attitude were her assistants, Seleucus, and the Urpeth siblings.
“Heh, are you trying to seduce me?”
Eagle said with his arms over the back of his head and lust in his eyes.
But Lucia glared at him, not with embarrassment, but with murderous intent.
“…Do you want to die?”
Eagle hurriedly straightened his posture, unable to speak a word, and his whole body hair stood upright. The gravity in the room has obviously increased by some percentage. A large amount of greasy sweat poured down from Eagle’s forehead.
As the surrounding nobles groaned, Luca stood up.
“Please forgive my brother for his rudeness. This fool was only trying to lighten the mood.”
“Enough of that, report the situation.”
Lucia waved her hand as if she had just lost her temper, and the deadly atmosphere that filled the room dissipated.
Seleucus stood up from his chair in response to Lucia’s words.
“Then let me explain it to you.”
He picked up one of the pieces and placed it on the map. It is the place where the Second Conquest Army is deploying its forces. Lucia looked at Seleucus with a quizzical expression, wanting to know what he meant.
“The descendant of the God of War has launched a full-scale campaign.”
The others were particularly astonished as Lucia’s eyes sparkled with interest at his words.
“Se-Seleucus-dono… is that true?”
“Are you sure? How is it possible for reinforcements to arrive so quickly?”
The command center buzzed noisily.
“It’s true. I’ve just received a report that the Second Conquest Army has been destroyed.”
“What exactly happened?”
The command center shuddered in astonishment as the staff officer shouted.
“Why wasn’t there a report until it was destroyed?”
“What were the scouts doing? Are they scouting deep in the mountains?”
“All of you ― stop screaming.”
After banging on the desk to silence the noisy people, Lucia glared at her surroundings and then opened her mouth again.
“Seleucus… explain the circumstances.”
“You all know that the Second Conquest Army has surrounded the city of Sabelt, right? However, the Second Conquest Army may have been careless and easily raided from behind by the Grantz Army under darkness. In addition, the Lord of the city of Sabelt struck out, completing the pincer attack. The commander’s loss added to the confusion, and they were annihilated.”
“Why did they fall for such a straightforward plan?”
“There were tributes from the surrounding villages and towns, and they were having a feast with the alcohol.”
“…I can’t even say that I’m surprised.”
“In addition, a letter of praise for the commander of the Second Conquest Army was received from the lord of Sabelt, and the euphoria must have caused him to let his guard down.”
“Hahaha… What about that guy?”
Lucia laughed dryly and showed a form of anger as if she would kill him right now with her own hands. Seleucus, on the other hand, was not intimidated and continued to read the report without hesitation.
“It seems that whether he was captured or killed in battle, we have not been able to confirm that.”
“If he has returned alive, bring him before me. I’ll strangle him to death with my own hands.”
Lucia repeatedly struck her hands with her iron fan and breathed hard, perhaps to unify her mind.
“…The tribute was probably a trap designed by the “Ancient King.” What country is he from? How can he make such a mistake in the time of war?”
“Urpeth Kingdom, yes. Do you recognize the name General Lekigmaev?”
“Oh, yes, that’s our guy… Hah, he fell for such an obvious trap.”
Eagle covered his face with one hand and shook his broad shoulders in shame.
“I’m so ashamed…”
He exuded anger as he said this, and Luca, who sat next to him, quietly raised her hand.
“In order to regain our honor, we will defeat the Descendant of the ‘God of War’ ourselves. Seleucus-dono, how many soldiers does the enemy have?”
“Including the soldiers of the surrounding nobles, I’d say more than 30,000.”
“Then 50,000 troops should be enough. Her Majesty Queen Lucia, may I have your permission to go into battle?”
“You should stop, I understand your desire to redeem yourself, but if this is part of the Ancient King’s scheme, you will be jumping into a deadly situation.”
“But, you see… I cannot leave my country in disgrace.”
“Just give up for now. It was all about our superior numbers, which led to our carelessness and the destruction of the Second Conquest Army. We may have the upper hand in the war, but we can’t afford to be complacent.”
“We won’t be careless!”
Eagle slammed his chair to the ground in a rage. Unfortunately, some of the debris hit a few of the staff members, and they lost their strength and fell down.
“Her Majesty Queen Lucia. Can’t you leave this to us?”
Stepping on the wreckage of the chair, Eagle, with a blue vein on his forehead, gives a twitching smile. He wanted to jump out of the chair right now, but his reasoning seemed to be holding him back.
“You have a very short temper, you know. Or would you like to have some fight with me?”
Lucia glared at Eagle again and smiled venomously as she ordered the fallen staff member to be taken to the infirmary.
“It would be a lot less bloody, wouldn’t it?
“That’s…”
“Then stop barking. It’s only a loss of twenty thousand. The remaining 180,000 are still alive and well, so if the Grantz Army were to attack in the darkness, they would only be defeated individually.”
Lucia stood up and pointed to the map with her iron fan.
“Above all, the wedge has already been driven.”
Lucia smashed the pieces of the Second Conquest army and poked at the pieces of the Third Conquest army nearby.
“You are certain that the Third Conquest Army is the one closest to the Ancient King?”
When she asked Seleucus to confirm, he nodded.
“If so, let them strike the Ancient King two or three times and then join up with the main army. The remaining three armies should do nothing and join up with the main army as well.”
“You mean to bait them?”
“Hmm. Listen, give strict orders to the Third Conquest Army not to make any serious moves. It will only encourage them. There is no guarantee that the western nobles who surrendered will not change their minds if they lose. So don’t take any chances. All they need to do is to repeat the provocation.”
“Then what should we do?”
Luca asked while patting his grumpy brother on the head.
“You must regain your wits and keep in mind that the Ancient King must be defeated.”
Lucia also instructed them to change their supply routes and to disband the army temporarily.
“But why now? I don’t mind changing unit commanders, but disbanding the entire unit and reorganizing it will disrupt the chain of command.”
Lucia wrinkled her nose when she saw that Seleucus was trying to say that it was a bad idea.
“That’s fine, spread the word that the Six Kingdoms have not established a chain of command. You can also spread rumors about the Urpeth siblings and me not getting along.”
To prevent any escape, they lured the “Ancient King” deep into the west. It’s a blatant invitation, but if the entire army is forced to retreat temporarily, they will have no choice but to come after them. Then, many western nobles who have been freed from the threat will join the Ancient King.
That’s when the Ancient King will be finished, and he will swallow the time bomb and explode.
“If you understand, you must act immediately.”
Lucia said, and her staff and subordinates rushed out of the room.
In the hustle and bustle of the command center, Lucia stopped one of the men.
“Eagle, wait a moment.”
“Hmm? I have to follow my sister, or she will get angry with me.”
“You still love your sister, don’t you? But don’t worry, it won’t take long.”
Lucia looked at the shining blue crystalline stone in Eagle’s left hand and cleared her throat.
Her eyes glistened like a ferocious predator that had found its food.
“Are you ― are you prepared to die for your sister?”
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