Chapter 65 (1/2)

Chapter 65

“He is an incompetent commander. I must apologise for letting that happen.”

Anatour lowered his head. Both Ywain and Nikka were surprised. As for Volf, seemingly like he was pondering over other things in his mind, he was.

Anatour recognized the strength of the Noir Guard. Not only was their individual strength strong, but so was their prowess when they acted in group. That same strength was never shown in Nehderks’ troops. Let alone recognizing their strength, Anatour was also resolved to let them be the focus of their operations. That was what he had been intending to do.

“But for something like this to suddenly happen… Even though we are very close to winning the war.”

Ywain tilted his head in puzzlement. The war has been on their favor ever since the Noir Guard took command. But despite that, something like that ended up happening at this stage. This was something that Ywain found difficult to understand.

“Well, it’s really weird but… I don’t really get it but did it really seem like we were winning?”

Ywain made a wry smile at Nikka’s stupid question. Her individual strength as a warrior was reasonably good, but her insight as a commander was still lacking. It didn’t seem like the person in question herself would be putting much effort to fix that either. She would always leave the thinking to Volf. After all, it wouldn’t make any difference even if someone inexperienced was to join in when making new plans.

But it was because of her lack of insight….

“…So that’s how it was… That’s what that was all about!”

…that her words became a revelation to Volf.

Volf suddenly shouted, surprising the three. Without caring at all about their surprise, Volf excitedly began spouting.

“That b.a.s.t.a.r.d! He was aiming for that from the beginning! The ordinary soldiers don’t know about the little details on the battlefield. All they know is the exhaustion and the stagnation of the war.”

Volf’s mind began working at full speed. He began thinking about the enemy aims he only now had caught on. All of Volf’s strategies were based around the battlefield itself. He had been mistaken to believe that strategies would only revolve on using the terrain well, getting the upper hand in the battles, and defeating the opposing army.

Ywain’s wry smile became twisted. He finally realized what happened. It was a small hole the [Lion Marquis], a man to have fought countless battles, hadn’t noticed. A hole Volf and Ywain hadn’t noticed exactly because they were the [Black Wolf] and the [Lion Marquis]. This hole had been spreading up open throughout the long war.

“We are mercenaries. Results are expected from mercenaries. We brought those results just like we were supposed to. But…”

“They couldn’t grasp the value of these results. Our advantage didn’t get conveyed to them. Instead they only saw the harsh side of the war.”

Volf desperately held back his desire to laugh out loud.

Volf was above William in all aspects. He was stronger, faster, and was even a bit above in strategy. Because of that, William gave up on trying to win through those aspects. Instead, he carefully began growing the sprouts of his victory outside the battlefield, right inside his opponent’s army.