Vol 6 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Empire Year 851, 22nd May—

It was a day later than expected when the First Imperial Army linked up with them on the nearby Le Lucé hill

A tent was set up on the flat, green ground to conduct a conference Even though it was dayti

Frorass to dance along with the wind While the altitude was not too low, standing on the et your hair messy

The black-haired youth— Regis Auric brushed aside the hair covering his eyes due to the strong wind and looked to the side

It was the girl who accoh it was di, which made her conspicuous Her crier

Her criis’ face fro hiirl looked over towards hied a look

The girl who carried the blood of the Belgarian Royalty was Marie Quatre Argentina de Belgaria As royalty, she was not norardless of whether he was her strategist or not If they were alone however, Regis would call her by her nickname Altina, and would also not display a foret angry if Regis displayed such a cold attitude towards her, because it would break Altina’s heart…… Though, any person with a brain would not let her feel sad

Altina opened her mouth

“Ah, ainst you, sorry”

“Ah… it’s fine”

“Is that so? Hey, you seem to be in a daze Could it be that you’re sick?”

She stretched her white hand towards Regis’ forehead

Regis immediately retreated two steps back

“I-I’m fine”

“Looking at youhimself to say He broke out in sweat in embarrassment

“That’s good…Troubleso up recently, so don’t push yourself too hard, alright?”

It was just like what Altina said Regis had gone through the attack by Varden Duchy, travelled for twenty days straight and even fought a losing battle three days ago

Luckily, the Beilschiis were relatively unscathed However, they were fatigued by the long can and battles

“Compared to us, the soldiers are even more tired… …”

While the others were e which was also the temporary office; and he did not participate in any battles directly

Altina drooped her shoulders

“Unlike you, the soldiers and I went through training, so the one that I’m most worried about is you”

“Is that so… … I can’t really deny it because you’re right…”

Altina stuck her tongue out

“Heh heh~ Since you can’t deny it, does that ?”

“That would be even better because it would lighten my workload I’ll have more time to read that way”

“I’”

“How cruel… … It can’t be helped, guess I should just sacrifice my sleep”

“Wait a is?”

“I’ around too”

“Then that’s good… … If you don’t rest properly , you will really get sick!”

“That’s because I already cut my sleep time to the bare minimum already”

Altina was surprised by Regis’ words

“You… …”

“Ah, the bare minimum rest is still rest, so I won’t collapse that easily? Probably…”

“Waaa, really!Ah, that’s right, let’s sleep together then! In that case, I will be able to knohether you’ve rested properly!”

Altina had an ‘I aenius’ look

However, Regis’ face was getting redder

As soon as Altina realised what she had said, she blushed

“Ah, no… … I didn’tweird?!”

“Y-Yes”

“I-I’m considered an adult too! I won’t sleep with a e!”

“That’s true… …”

In Belgaria, one was considered an adult when they reached the age of fifteen

Altina had her fifteenth birthday on the battlefield yesterday

Together with the maid, Clarisse, they had a small party

Jeroh-class wine It was not rare to gift wine for the coe

Altina who drank for the first time, she—

Regis shook his head and cut off his thoughts as the scene was too wonderful for hied his shoulders

“Well, I believe that girls shouldn’t share a rooe”

“I-I know that…”

Altina, whose ears were red replied

They reached the area near the tent which was situated on top of the hill

“Even e are in this kind of situation, you’re fighting against Prince Latreille for the throne, so you can’t be too careless”

“What do youcareless?”

“H otiations to me”

“Mhm, I’ll leave it to you”

The tent was guarded by the First Imperial Army’s cavalry on all sides Last month, Altina and the others ran into some conflict with theht corps

They won’t be ht as he was a little nervous, while Altina entered with a dignified look

Her attitude was as if she could take on anything that was thrown at her

The knights saluted her uniformly without hesitation, flawless and in a textbook manner

Altina returned a brief salute while Regis followed behind her

——————————————————————————————

The entrance to the tent was covered by a piece of cloth hanging down and a rock was used to hold it in place at the bottois followed closely

Upon entering, there was a herbal scent There were six knights at each corner of the tent while First Grade Admin Officer Germain was beside his lord He had a pained look and there were traces of fatigue on his face On the other hand, Latreille was sitting on a chair, looking at the ed That was an injury he received several days ago However, his face was as calm as usual and hite whilst his lips were as red as toue at all

He shi+fted his sight from the map to them and spoke

“It’s great to see you’re fine, Argentina”

“I’etic Latreille, I heard that you were injured”

“That’s right, I fell for the enes froed at us”

“Charging down cliffs and the like, I know you can do it too”

“That hen I was a child… … I never expected them to penetrate deep into the heart of an ar in a valley”

“Where did the ambush take place?”

Germain, as at the side replied to Altina

He pointed to the map

“Here Because it’s a path through the mountains, it is very narrow The eneement”

“I see……”

In such conditions, it would be hard to protect the headquarters regardless of how big their army was These kinds of paths halfway down theit One would not realise it si at the map

If we’re invading the ene against the enemy’s traps and ambushes However, this is the Eht

They needed to have detailed information to understand the terrain to lay an ae amount of traps The enemy sure is praiseworthy

Altina pointed at Latreille’s injuries and said

“It can’t be helped that you were ambushed, but what about the injury?”

“I was injured by the Mercenary King Gilbert using his special weapon, the trident I thought I avoided it, but another attack came He was more skilled than I expected”

He was still looking towards the map

Ughhh, Altina softly grumbled

“So it was the roup, Renard Pendu…”

“Argentina, there appears to be a few problems on your side too”

“There’s a little… …”

Altina had a bitter expression

In the battle against Varden Duchy, the eneirl was an expert in using crossbows as she shot the bodyguard Eric and also daed Altina’s sword, the Grand Tonnerre Quatre

Latreille picked the pieces up from the map and twiddled with it

“How’s the Seventh Imperial Army?”

“I believe I had that written in the report clearly Lieutenant General Barguesonne died along with most of his soldiers”

The Seventh Imperial Army that had twenty-one thousand soldiers was reduced to ten thousand in the battle a few days ago

Four thousand killed in action, five thousand injured and two thousand deserters

Though there ht be deserters ere considered dead, and vice versa In any case, it was not easy to write a detailed battle report since they had lost the battle

On a side note, aiment, they only suffered one hundred casualties frohts

Latreille pressed Germain to continue, and Germain spoke

“I’ll be reporting the situation for the First I the Third Imperial Army and the mercenaries, we have about thirty thousand While we lost about a thousand in the battle a few days ago, it did not affect us greatly and we still have ample supplies”

It was natural since only their headquarters was attacked

Immediately after that, Gerh Britannia

“Currently, the High Britannian Ar Their total strength should be about seventeen thousand”

Geraria while blue represented the enemy

Forty-four thousand against seventeen thousand…

In tere

Latreille moved the pieces that were on the map

“Considering the defeat of the Second and Seventh Iht not necessary mean assured victory… … However, to protect the capital, an all out assault is our only choice That’s what I think”

Gerreement

Regis did not deny it either

While this strategy was direct, it was a good idea

It was different froe part of their forces They had five thousand cavalry with them now Even if they were attacked from the sides, they could still reduce the nuaria had already lost thirty thousand soldiers If the First Imperial Army was taken into account, half of the military force was lost After this battle ended, it would probably be hard for Belgaria to hold onto the other battlefronts

High Britannia was not the only eneainst Latreille was troubled because he understood this

“Sir Regis, do you have any different ideas?”

So seemed out of place

Normally, in these situations, the sharp-witted prince Latreille would gaze at the target’s eyes to see through their thoughts and intentions This time however, he kept his eyes towards the map, which was very rare

As to hoeird that was, Latreille having use of, and acknowledging Altina was already a strange sight; and then he asked Regis, Altina’s strategistfor help He was playing his cards unorthodoxly

Is the situation for the Eer?

Or could it be…

—Now isn’t the ti Prince Latreille

Even if Regis took the bait, it was unclear if he took it out of his interests In addition, Regis did not prepare anything, so he would face ht have hiis found out his secrets

It would be best to sort out the information first

Fro; h Britannia had already set-up their ca to the reports, the ene out in the wilderness It would be dependent on the weather, but the earliest ti their ht

They could protect theainst rain and wind if they set up camp, and cook warm meals with simple pots However, soldiers on the round and eat their food cold Even the technologically advanced High Britannia could not change that They most likely won’t make their troops suffer unnecessary hardshi+ps

Precisely because of that—

“I believe… … the First Imperial Army should head towards the capital

Latreille finally turned his head this way

“Sir Regis, youa frontal assault? Then, what is your plan?”

“That’s right… … Although the capital Versaille doesn’t have any walls, it still has a few strategically positioned fortresses Can’t we buy some time if we make use of them?”

“Hmm?”

Latreille was in deep thought

Germain had the same expression too

Since Altina was the only one who knew that, she had a s look

Regis continued:

“If we do a frontal assault, ill have too many casualties This would threaten the Eh Britannia, we h a frontal assault”

“That’s right If we exhaust ourselves too much, it would definitely cause problems in future battles”

“However… If we can stall for ti, the enemy’s musketeers would be ineffective, and neither can they use their shi+eldbearers to assault the castle Even the type 41 Elswick cannons don’t have enough firepower to break through the metal-reinforced walls”

“That’s true, but if ere to keep defending for a long time, the Eh Britannian arht not just watch idly by and attack us too”

The neighbouring countries have aria enter a defensive stance, they would attack like bees swar nectars

If Belgaria had friendly relationshi+ps with neighbouring countries, they would be coh it was too late to consider such a thing

“That’s true If we factor in the neighbouring countries, we have at h Britannian Army out”

“A defensive battle is not feasible Sir Regis, do you have a better idea?”

Regis carefully exaain

From the books he had read, he selected the cases that were most similar to the current situation

This example should be fine

Still, Regis was not that confident

“I believe we should cut their supplies”

“Oh?”

Latreille was thinking

While Germain was surprised

“Then, if we are talking about their supplies, there’s an arh there are reports that half of them are supply units… … Their escorts are still uns, so how can in against the that we have to protect the capital, we can’t commit too many people”

“Ahh… … It’s true that it would be tough winning against an army of ten thousand Further if they send more soldiers in from their home nation”

“That is so In the end, High Britannia could still send in more soldier and supplies

Unlike Germain who still could not understand, Latreille see and had a serious expression

“Sir Regis, could it be that you’re ai their supply shi+ps?”

“That is correct… …Since High Britannia’s shi+ps are their only source of replenishi+ng their supplies, if we targeted those then we should be able to turn the tide of the war”

Latreille shook his head

“Irettable… … The Eainst their steamshi+ps”

“That’s true, ill lose if we fight them head on”

Regis acknowledged the difference in military power between the two countries

Latreille had an intrigued look as he listened carefully to what Regis was planning

In panic, Germain exclaimed

“Why are we discussing about attacking their supply lines if it won’t succeed in the first place?!”

“There are ies to defeat an eneer than our own”

“What did you say?!”

“What I meant is there’s no other way to protect the Ereat if there was a way to defeat the seventeen thousand unit arreat casualties and losses as a result”

“Facing such a strong opponent… You said… you can win?”

Germain narrowed his brows as he was in utter disbelief

Latreille asked as to confirm it

“Can I leave it to you… … The Empire’s fate… …”

“Personally, I would leave it to someone else if there’s someone more suitable than me…”

“That’s ih Britannia’s steamshi+ps, only a Wizard could do that!”

“Ah, I can’t use ic either… …”

“If possible, the strategy would be just like ht be more suitable to call it monstrous”

<tl:ic and=”” monster=”” sounds=”” sort=”” of=”” similar=”” in=”” japanese=””>

“I do not have that kind of talent… … I only knohat to do because I read it in books… ”

“Hmm,”

Latreille closed his eyes

Germain looked at his lord worriedly

Altina placed both of her hands on the table and leaned forward

“Is there any reason to hesitate, Latreille! Isn’t it because you don’t want a frontal assault that you called for us?! Coy that would not protect the Eestion much better?! It will be fine, just leave it to us!”

Latreille stretched out his hand and stopped Altina

“You’re entina… … I haveabout how is’ plan”

“So you agree with Regis’ proposal?”

“Tell me how many you need”

Altina turned around and looked at Regis

“How many?”

“That’s right… … I believe our Border Regireat if there are local units assisting us”

“It’s enough with just us!”

Fufu, Altina puffed out her small chest

Latreille gave a wry smile

“So you still require local unit’s aid? However, I can’t let Argentina be the er”

“Ah, I’s?”

“Kuku… … Looks like you learnt quite a bit Be it in battle, econoood teacher”

“I was taught by hihly”

“True Then, the Beilsche with the remnants of the western units to forentina… … Though your rank will have to change “

“Rank?”

“Admiral Bertram who is stationed at the Western Sea have a rank of Vice-adether with Fort Volks, you will be pro you are unsatisfied with?”

“I’m fine with it, it’s not like I care about ranks in the first place”

“It’s just like you… … Germain, the letter of appointment”

“Yes!”

Germain as his assistant took out a letter and placed it upon the table