Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Trump Card of Miracles and Reversals

I won the battle, but could only laugh at the result as I looked around the dank, cave-like dungeon of Lynon Castle. That’s where they’d locked me up.

The charge? Insubordination, of all things!

Obviously, Advisor Heina was responsible for this.

When we won the battle and returned triumphantly to the supply base, the hundredmen were all beaming.

That didn’t last long. Things changed in an instant. Once we reported our victory, soldiers rushed to the base from Lynon Castle.

Advisor Heina’s so easy to figure out.

She summoned me to Lynon Castle not because I’d won the battle, but for disobeying her orders. Then she had me jailed.

The hundredmen like Gibun who had my back protested that this was unacceptable, but they got slapped down by Hadan.

So, that’s why I was in the dungeon of Lynon Castle.

But the primary author of my “misfortune” was myself. I had deliberately gotten myself arrested.

I had a feeling Heina would treat me this way even if I won the battle—one only reinforced by the way that she looked at me like I was an insect.

Going by the game’s history, this is still only the earliest stages. The protagonist goes into action after the Runan Kingdom falls. I only saw the war that ruined the kingdom in the prologue, so I don’t know many of the finer details about it.

What I did know, however, was important—the most important historical fact of them all.

Ganen Castle should be falling right about now. And just one day after that, Lynon Castle falls too. That’s the history, as I know it. I don’t know how it plays out, but it’s a fact that they fall. How in the world could they make Lynon Castle fall just one night after taking Ganen Castle?

I couldn’t shake the notion that it might have something to do with the raid on the supply unit. They’d moved far too openly. Even though their scouts never returned, they not only didn’t call off the surprise attack, they even gave us time to prepare for it. My forces had finished preparing long before the attack began.

If they’d launched the attack the moment we captured their scouts, I doubt I would have been so suspicious. Basically, they knew that we’d caught their scouts, and yet they held off on the raid long enough to give us time. Even though there was the risk of their plan leaking!

That’s why I focused my attention on the movements around Lynon Castle at that same time. From what I’d been told, Advisor Heina had left her post after news of the raid came in.

What if that’s just what the enemy was aiming for? What if their true aim wasn’t the supply base, but to draw Heina away from Lynon Castle? If that’s what it was, they succeeded. I still don’t know what they were planning to accomplish by luring Heina away from the castle. The enemy didn’t attack Lynon Castle in her absence. They were attacking Ganen Castle at that time.

The answer’s here at Lynon Castle. If I’m here, I’ll be able to find out, and once I do it’s time to go on the counterattack. If I can just defend Lynon Castle, it’ll change history completely. My goal is to retake the castle!

That’s why I had come along quietly.

This world is like a game, but it’s real. The idea of taking control of it really excites me. Nothing could make a game-lover like me happier. I swear this world will be mine!

I had another reason for letting them arrest me too: Hadan took the prisoners to Heina’s place. That meant Jint was here too. If I could just persuade him to join me, somehow, that would massively boost the odds of my current plan succeeding.

Anyway, that’s how I ended up in solitary confinement.

They didn’t put nobles in the same jail as commoners. I was being treated to the luxury of my own private cell because of my nobility. Jint was towards the front of the prison. I’d checked that in advance.

But there’s something I need to do before I go to him. It’s time to level up.

I’d won a victory preventing the enemy raid, so I had experience.

Experience List

B-class Strategy x2

Victory against B-class as D-class x3

That enemy commander, Hirina or whatever his name was, had a Martial of 80, so the experience I got was tripled as a result.

My strategy using the river was B-class. Thanks to that, I rose to level 11.

You received level-up points.

Points in reserve: 550

I got 500 points this time. I was level 8, so I received 100 points for reaching level 9. Then, starting at level 10, I received 200 points per level, which brings it to 500 in total. The remaining 50, I already had.

Will you enhance your Martial? It will cost 300 points.

I started by raising my Martial by 1.

My current Martial’s 61. That’s such a small change it may not seem significant, but if I keep on raising it, I’ll be strong someday.

I left myself a reserve of 250 points. Considering the point cost for using my skills, it was probably best if I paid attention and used them as the situation demanded.

*

“Hey, jailer!”

Now I was leveled up and ready to meet Jint, but nothing was going to happen if I just stayed quiet. Since we were fellow prisoners, I decided I’d win him over by figuring out his needs and weaknesses.

He’ll definitely be an important element when it comes to my goal of retaking Lynon Castle once it falls. Of course, I’m still going ahead with the plan even if I’m unable to get him on my side. And if the plan fails, then I bail.

I had a number of plans, and my best one was to persuade Jint.

“Jailer!” I shouted again since he didn’t come the first time. Finally, a soldier appeared looking annoyed at me.

The jailer sighed heavily. “What is it?”

“I have something for you to tell the advisor. Come in here.”

“I won’t be doing that.”

“What? I don’t plan on staying in this cell for the rest of my life. What do you take me for? I’m a high noble. A count. If you could convince the advisor to free me, I’d reward you generously... I’ll give more money than you’ll ever be able to use.”

I tried enticing the jailer with money.

“Do you mean that?!”

I’m a count. They’d have trouble executing me for anything less than treason. Nobles don’t get more than a slap on the wrist for insubordination. At worst, I’ll be stripped of my current position in the military and sent back to my domain. That kind of thing happens all the time in the Runan Kingdom. That’s the class system for you. The jailer should know that too.

“Of course I do. But this is important information we can’t afford leaking. Come inside the cell. Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to escape. Why would I go to the trouble when I’ll soon be free anyway?”

“Y-You do have a point there.”

Having made up his mind, the jailer, led astray by my promises, fell over himself in his rush to open the door and get inside the cell.

“So, what do you have to say...?”

As if I’d have anything to say.

I immediately triggered the Attack command and pummeled the soldier with my fists.

The guy had a Martial of 25. Knocking him out was child’s play.

Plucking the key ring from the fallen soldier’s hip, I proceeded to the jail cell where Jint was being held.

Thock!

Biff! Bap!

I could hear them beating someone inside.

“Talk already! How long’re you gonna keep quiet, huh?!”

Jint’s interrogation was over, but they kept on abusing him under the pretense of extracting information.

What, are they just blowing off steam?

One of the other soldiers beating Jint said, “Hey, look at this. He’s got a ring hangin’ ’round his neck. Looks like a pricey one too.”

“Oh, yeah? A ring, huh?”

Jint couldn’t resist, bound hand and foot as he was. Even with his high Martial score, he couldn’t use his power in that state.

But surprisingly, when they took his ring, he spoke out loud despite never speaking a word before then.

“N-Not that!”

It must be important to him. He wouldn’t break his complete silence otherwise!

“I’ll talk. I’ll tell you everything. Just, please, give it back!”

“You idiot. It’s too late for that. Besides, we don’t need information anymore. You’re gonna be our punching bag until you die. Oh, yeah, come to think of it? You know your loose-lipped buddy? That guy’s already dead. Managed to piss off the advisor. Heh. Just kept begging for his life without telling her anything. Now it’s gonna be curtains for you too! Ha ha ha!”

From that point on, all I heard was the sound of blows.

Eventually, the soldiers came out. When they did, I headed back to my own cell temporarily. Once I was sure they were gone, I moved through the silent halls of the prison and entered the cell where they were holding Jint.

The man showed emotion. That’s important. This is a big step forward, assuming I can talk to him.

Jint was trembling. No matter how he pulled at the chains binding him to the wall with his bloody arms, he couldn’t get himself free.

“Is the ring that precious to you? Breaking your silence over it.”

“...”

Jint raised his head when I suddenly entered and started talking.

He seemed a bit surprised when he saw me.

“W-Was this your doing?!”

Looks like he’s remembered me. He’s come to a horrible misunderstanding, though.

“You misunderstand. While it’s natural to fight an enemy you meet on the battlefield, and I did win our fight there, I don’t recall beating or torturing you once you were my prisoner. Your problem is with my superiors who took you away. Those same superiors who then locked me up here for insubordination.”

I sat down beside Jint and continued talking.

“What I’m trying to say is we’re fellow prisoners now.”

I’d approached him hoping we could have a conversation, but Jint bit his lip and turned his head away.

Is he going to refuse to talk to me again?

“I could retrieve that precious ring of yours.”

The ring seemed like it was key, so I at least tried making the offer.

“You’re a prisoner too, aren’t you? How would you get it back?”

“I don’t plan to stay in here forever. As a noble, they’d never dare bind my hands. That’s how I was able to beat up my jailer and come this far. It wouldn’t be all that difficult for me to knock out those soldiers who were in here earlier and get your ring back. I’m not tied up, after all.”

I noticed that Jint’s eyes wavered slightly at my suggestion.

Looks like he really cares about that ring.

I’d found a hint in the most unexpected place.

If there’s something about it that sways his emotions, then that’s where to start persuading him!

“What do you want? I have nothing to offer you,” Jint said.

“Oh, nothing much,” I replied. “Why not join me, since you’re going to die here otherwise? I’ll save your life, and get back what they took from you!”

“Now you’re mocking me... I can’t do that!” Jint shook his head in a firm rejection.

“And why not? If you’re so attached to that ring, then that means you still want to live, right? If you have something to live for, then you ought to be willing to tell me what I want to hear, even if you’re just lying, in order to get out of here and win back your freedom... Why aren’t you trying to save yourself?”

Yeah, I didn’t understand that. With all his strength, he might have had a chance to escape. Like while they were transporting him from the supply base to the dungeons of Lynon Castle, for instance. Yet here he was, quietly imprisoned in Lynon Castle.

That went for our conversation just now too. The way he talked, it was like he had no desire to live.

“If you have something so important to you, then why aren’t you trying to live for it?!”

He gave no answer. But the way he acted was clearly different from at the supply base. So, I pressed on with another question.

“Does that ring have something to do with someone important?”

Jint reacted to that.

I knew it. The ring’s a symbol of love.

It was clear to me that the ring was also the key to moving this stoic man.

“Okay, look. I’m gonna get your ring back. Let’s loosen up the conditions a little. I want you to tell me about the ring. You don’t have to become my ally. If you’ll just tell me about the ring, I’ll get it back for you. Then you can at least die with it in your possession. That’s what you want, right?”

“As if I could trust you.”

“Why would I lie? What do I have to gain from hearing your story?”

“...”

Jint looked at me closely. There was indecision in his eyes. So, I waited. Our psychological stare-down battle lasted for several minutes. Jint was the first to talk.

“Will you really let me die with the ring?”

“If you tell me your story, I’ll get it back for you. I’ll keep that promise no matter what.”

“Why are you so eager to hear about it?”

“Simple curiosity. But the important thing for you should be getting back what you lost. If you really do want it back, then you just have to listen to me. That’s all there is to it.”

*

Jint made his living picking pockets in a Naruyan city. It was the only way an orphan like him, discarded by the roadside, could survive there.

Jint showed a gift for fighting from a young age, and easily seized control of a band of fingersmiths and cutpurses. Even so, they were just a tiny group that had to pay dues to a larger organization of ruffians in the city.

It wasn’t much of a life, but Jint wasn’t alone. There was a girl, Mirinae, who had been with him since he was young. He could be happy so long as she was around. He lived for her smile, after all.

“Welcome home, Jint.”

Yeah.

“I know you have to pick pockets, but be care about whose you pick, okay?”

This sort of ordinary day-to-day existence.

“Oh, my. You’ve got a grain of rice stuck on your face.”

It was what gave Jint the will to live. Mirinae felt the same way, of course. She wanted to go on living with Jint, each of them supporting the other. But their peaceful lives couldn’t last forever. Not when Mirinae was so attractive.

One day, when the two of them were fifteen, tragedy struck.

“Jint! This is bad! They’ve taken Mirinae!”

Jint had just come back to the hideout after a day’s work when his fellow thieves gathered around him, making a fuss. Mirinae had been dragged off—by the ruffians they paid tribute to. At that moment, Jint lost all sense. He grabbed a weapon and headed straight for the place where he knew they hung out.

“Mirinae! Mirinaeee!”

When Jint kicked in the door and barged inside, the goons mocked him with raucous laughter.

“Mirinae? Heh heh. We gang-raped her, man. She was a good woman, you know? Virgin too. But, hey, the organization needs money, so we sold her to the slavers. They’ll pay good money for a woman like that. It’d be a waste to just sell her off, though, right? So we all had a taste of her for ourselves first. Sorry, man. Guess we should’ve let you have a go at her too, huh? Bwa ha ha ha!”

There was no way Jint could stay sane after hearing that. He drew his knife. Tears streamed from his eyes. Blood flowed as he bit his lip. He didn’t even want to imagine Mirinae’s shame.

Her smile.

Her kind heart.

How could they do that to such a gentle woman?

“You little shit. Put that thing away. You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

Ten men kicked aside their chairs as they got to their feet, but Jint’s knife slashed through the throat of the nearest one.

Jint was born with a gift for wielding mana. Even though all he’d ever engaged in were some street fights, his abilities had still developed to an abnormal degree. He was young—only fifteen years old—but he was already far too powerful for a bunch of local thugs to handle.

Not that he realized that himself.

“Kill him!”

The surprised ruffians all rushed Jint. But Jint was many times faster than them. His knifework was frighteningly fast. And his power was unbelievable.

“S-Stay back...!”

After watching the horrible deaths of nine of his buddies, the last thug knelt down in utter terror. Jint charged in and continued to mercilessly pummel the man’s face.

“Where is she?! Where did you take Mirinae?!”

“S-Spare me...!”

“Talk, damn you!”

“The Hiruone Trade Group... We sold her to—”

Slice!

Jint clenched his fist as he watched the man’s severed head sail through the air. His hand was trembling. This was the first time he’d killed, but he felt nothing.

His only thought was taking Mirinae back. The girl was everything to him. Let her be safe. Let her still be alive. If she’d smile for him just one more time, he didn’t give a damn what else happened.

From that day on, Jint began wandering in search of the slave traders. Finally, after three years, he finally tracked them down. It took a level of tenacity no ordinary person could imagine. Once he managed to sniff out the slavers, he brutally murdered every last one of them on the spot.

Having fought a number of real battles over the past three years, Jint threw himself into the fight with no regard for his own life. He’d do anything for information. Work for dark organizations. Carry out bloody assassinations in conflict zones. He lived like a war fiend. Perhaps thanks to that lifestyle, Jint’s Martial was already above B-class by this point.

But he couldn’t find Mirinae.

The slavers had already sold her to a baron in the provinces. Jint rushed to that city. He didn’t even think twice before assaulting the manor of the baron that the slavers had told him about. Many soldiers stood in his way.

“Who’re you?!”

Jint let his knife do the talking. The manor had thirty guards.

“Call for backup immediately!”

It would take time for the domain’s army to arrive. Jint lacked the ability to calculate exactly how long, but he was confident his speed was a match for anyone’s. He smashed and smashed.

Once he broke into the manor house, Jint finally found Mirinae.

Even after three long years, he knew her at a glance. The moment he found her, a single tear rolled down his face. He didn’t care what happened to him.

But when he saw her in this weakened state and imagined the hellish days she must have been through, he couldn’t take it.

“Jint? Is that you, Jint?”

The tears overflowed from Mirinae’s eyes as she was reunited with Jint, just like she’d dreamed she would be.

The only reason she’d made it through the three years that made her yearn for death was because she had something she needed to tell him. Even though she felt she no longer had the right to.

Three simple words.

That was all they were, but she’d never been able to say them.

I love you...

She wanted to make sure Jint knew it. If she couldn’t tell him this, then she’d never be able to rest in peace, not even in death.

This pair of parentless waifs with nothing in all the world but each other had faced a depressing trial.

Jint held Mirinae’s hand tight.

“Let’s run away, Mirinae!”

And so, they slipped out of the city together.

The domain’s forces belatedly moved into action, but Jint helped Mirinae onto the back of a stolen horse and they raced off without looking back.

Shaking off their pursuers several times, they escaped to a border town that was as far from that city as possible. They’d heard rumors that there were towns near the border where those who’d lost their livelihoods to war gathered.

Mirinae tried to take her own life several times on the journey there. She would thrash about in her sleep, groaning at night. But Jint was always by her side, trying to persuade her that the two of them should live on, together.

“I can’t live without you.”

That was what finally convinced Mirinae to stop trying to throw her life away.

They settled in the border town where those who’d lost everything went, and there, Jint lived the quiet life of a farmer with Mirinae.

They could only afford one meal per day, but they were happy. So happy that, at some point, Mirinae started to smile like she used to.

But another trial awaited them.

A new king took the throne. The old sovereign who’d maintained a policy of peace died, and a young, ambitious new monarch took to the throne.

And so, the order for general mobilization was issued, and they began mercilessly conscripting people from all regions of the country. Of course, the powerless people who lived in poverty in the border town were not going to be spared from the draft.

“Take care, Jint. I’ll wait for you here. I’ll be waiting no matter what. I know you’ll never die in the war. I believe that wholeheartedly. Because you’re strong. So don’t run away anymore, okay?”

After hearing those words, Jint became a soldier in the Naruyan army. And he was soon made a disposable pawn in a scouting party. Mirinae gave Jint the ring as proof of her love. That made it the second most important thing in the world to him.

*

“And that’s my story... That ring means more to me than my life. Can you really get it back?”

Jint looked up at me as he finished talking.

“I’m sure a lot of guys have a story like yours, but not many of them stood by the women they loved to the end. No, I doubt any did... They’d have to be off in the head. I’m impressed, I’ve gotta admit.”

He’s crazy.

That was my honest impression. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. The man was insanely driven. Like they say, love is blind. Now I wanted Jint on my side even more.

I’m not going to come across many personnel of his caliber. Twenty-one years old with a Martial of 93. There’s endless room for growth there. And he’s earnest, to boot.

Unlike Randall, who was too conceited to be worth employing despite his skills, the more I learned about Jint, the more I liked him.

“But with all you’ve told me... I’d expect you to be more eager to live. I think you should have faked a surrender, then fled back to your girlfriend or found some other way to survive. I don’t understand why you’re acting like this.”

Yeah. If he had someone so precious to him, it only stood to reason that he’d struggle to survive, and yet that wasn’t his reaction.

“The new king of Naruya declared that we were to kill as many enemies as we could and die rather than be captured. If we come back home after shamefully becoming prisoners, then our families’ lives are forfeit.”

There was always a risk of prisoners leaking information. Although, their king sounded like the kind of guy who’d give that sort of order regardless. He was ambitious and managed his country with a strong centralization of power. He’d never tolerate his soldiers becoming prisoners.

He hated the idea of losing the war so badly that he was willing to reward the families of those who died gloriously in battle with riches, and slay the families of those who died pathetically.

Of course, some soldiers put their own lives above those of their families. One of the men I captured was like that. His desire to survive was perfectly natural.

But Jint’s the total opposite.

“I was confident in myself, of course. I didn’t think I’d lose to anyone. I believed I’d fight with my head held high and come back victorious. But then you captured me. That’s why I can’t go back. I have no choice but to die. If I don’t, Mirinae will be held responsible. Even if I could flee with her, we’d be fugitives for the rest of our lives. I don’t want her to have to live in fear anymore.”

The king of Naruya was manipulating the public to make them distrust one another. He instituted a policy of providing monetary rewards to those who turned in anyone who acted against his policies.

Basically, the king’s making his people monitor one another. If Jint goes back home without an official discharge, the two of them will have to go on the run again. Someone would definitely report them. They’d never know peace.

Jint seemed incredibly averse to the idea of making his woman a fugitive once more, even if that meant dying instead. He was committed to making it so that the woman, Mirinae, could keep living in the town she was in.

“And that’s why you’re going to die here?”

“That’s right. I’ll die for Mirinae’s freedom.”

“So you’re going to die holding a grudge against me?”

“I was confident in myself, but I still lost. It’s my own arrogance that beat me. I’m not going to resent you for that.”

Jint was firm. His will was unbreakable. But I still didn’t understand it.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I said, venting my feelings. Jint looked at me quizzically.

“You think I’m kidding?”

“You can just live somewhere else. If you never go back to Naruya, they’ll assume you died in battle. I think that living with your love for each other, even if you can’t meet, is a better fate than death, don’t you?”

“We have nowhere to go. And no, if I can’t be with her, I’d rather die!”

Jint shook his head firmly.

He’s so determined. He’s only willing to live for her sake. So, if I’m going to gain him as a retainer, then I’ll need to get my hands on the woman too.

“What do you mean you have nowhere to go? I’m the lord of Eintorian. If you come to Eintorian, Naruya will never notice. They’ll assume you died in battle.”

“You think I could do something so shameful?!”

“Just hear me out until I’ve finished. My domain in Eintorian isn’t far from the west border where you lived. You’ll change uniforms and become one of my retainers. It’s not like I’m asking you to join the Royal Runanese Army. If you join me, then I’ll do whatever it takes to bring Mirinae to Eintorian so she can live with you. Happily, with no one to hold the two of you back.”

“What’d you just say...?”

“Do you think anything is going to change if a tyrant like your current king unites the land? Besides, what has the Kingdom of Naruya ever given the two of you? Nothing but suffering, right?”

Jint didn’t respond, but he didn’t deny it either. In fact, I could see in his eyes that he was wavering.

“I’m going to build up the Eintorian Domain, but not into a land where everyone can live easily. That kind of country where everyone’s happy is just a dream. But at the very least, I intend to make it the best country possible for those who are willing to obey me. So, follow me. I’ll make it so you two can live happily!”

“You’re just trying to trick me with pretty words too, aren’t you? I’ve had plenty of guys try to sway me, but they all had ulterior motives,” Jint shouted, his tone indignant.

You’re right.

But there was more to it than that. Even though I’d decided to treat this world as a game, I had no intention of going back on my word.

“My dream is to conquer the world. And once I do, I plan to make everyone who’s helped me happy. Well, it’s fine. You don’t have to obey me yet. The day I end this war and return to Eintorian, I’m going to help you save the woman you love so you two can be happy again. I won’t force you to join me until then. Just stay with me and watch. See if I’m a man who keeps his word. If you decide that I’m not, then you can do as you please. Die if you want to. With that precious ring of yours clutched to your breast.”

Yeah. That’s my entire pitch.

“Think it over. I’ll be getting you your ring back, as promised.”

With the conversation finished for the moment, I left the cell.

I’ll save that Mirinae of his. It’s the only way to get Jint! But first, I need to get his ring.

I headed upstairs to retrieve it. The dungeon was in the basement, and the jailers were always standing by on the first floor—usually gambling or asleep on the job—but what can you expect, really?

“By the way, what happened to the guy who went to see the nobleman?”

“Who knows? Went out, I guess. Maybe he got paid to do something?”

“That’s a noble for you. I should’ve gone myself. My prisoner only had this crummy ring on him.”

There’re two soldiers. Fortunately, it looks like they’ve still got the ring. Should be a while still before they change shifts.

“You two. Can I have a moment?”

“Hey, you’re...!”

“H-H-How’d you get out?!”

I approached the two guards and triggered the Attack command as they rose in alarm.

Thud!

Bam!

I beat the two soldiers unconscious, took the ring, and headed out. I didn’t have much time, after all. Jint was important of course, but so was history, and it was time for a historical event to take place. Assuming that history as I knew it hadn’t changed, that is!

Bwoooon!

That was the moment when a trumpet sounded.

That’s the signal that enemies have been sighted.

I hurriedly slipped out of the prison and went outside. The soldiers were panicking over the sudden crisis.

There’re no commoners in Lynon Castle. They’ve all been evacuated.

No one was going to stop me while I wore the uniform of an officer in the Royal Runanese Army. I was able to move about relatively freely, so I went up on top of the castle gate and checked the scale of the enemy force.

Royal Naruyan Army: 10,213 men

Lynon Castle Garrison: 23,410 men

We have an overwhelming man power advantage. No, more importantly, the Naruyan army’s way too small. I can’t see them taking Lynon Castle in a day with that. Sure, they have a Training score of 80, and the castle garrison only has a score of 40. But the defenders hold an absolute advantage in a siege battle. Everyone knows that.

Even with our low Training score, the numbers say Heina should be able to hold out for at least a week as long as she doesn’t open the gates and surrender.

“Hey! What’s going on here?”

Because I was wearing an officer’s uniform, a soldier stopped and saluted me before immediately answering my question.

“We don’t know. We’ve been ordered to increase our alertness because Ganen Castle fell, but I don’t know any of the details... The advisor’s gathering everyone, so head over there!”

Just how are the Naruyans going to narrow the man power gap and take Lynon Castle?

“It’s an attack! An enemy attack!”

The Naruyan army was already attacking the gates. Not the southern gates where I was standing, but the northern ones.

Crash!

That was the sound of a battering ram violently striking the gates.

The defenders have the advantage!

Just like I’d predicted, the battle was starting in a way that gave the Lynon Castle garrison the advantage.

I can’t see Lynon Castle falling quickly like this.

But the instant I thought that, the situation rapidly changed. There was a war cry from the western gates.

Yeahhhhhh!

Then, suddenly, fighting started inside the gates.

Because the enemy focused their attack on the northern gates, Heina placed scouts and then focused her forces on the northern gates too. Because of that, there was a rather small number of soldiers at the western gates.

Now, suddenly, the enemy were inside the castle! The western gatehouse was taken in no time, and they opened the gates. The heaviest fighting was in the north, but now there was a breach from a direction they hadn’t been expecting.

The enemy came from inside the castle!

To be precise, they were coming out of the underground waterway beneath Lynon Castle.

They used the underground waterway? That’s impossible!

There was an iron grate blocking the intake that let water flow into the castle. People couldn’t get in through there—only water and maybe fish.

If they tried to remove the grate, their efforts obviously wouldn’t go unnoticed.

How in the world did this happen? No, don’t tell me...

I get it. When Heina was away from the castle! What if they did the work while she was away? The raid on the supply base that I always thought was fishy—it was a diversion! The scouts they blatantly sent along the road around the castle—they were a diversion too.

The scouting party and the raid itself were both diversions.

They were all sacrificial pawns.

Their real goal had been to get Advisor Heina to panic over the raid and leave Lynon Castle.

Did they create a route to infiltrate the castle while the advisor was away, then? The royal army’s got 40 Training and 30 Morale. Their force at Lynon Castle is just awful. What would happen if Heina led a large number of troops away from the castle in a situation like that?

They’d slack off, of course.

What if the enemy used some kind of trick or plan to bust through the grate on the aqueduct during that time? There’re all sorts of ways they could have done it.

Heina leaving the castle was what sealed her defeat. Even with the gates shut tight, the enemy were able to infiltrate the castle the moment the advisor took all the officers away from it.

Come to think of it, the diversionary operations really started in Eintorian.

The plan to attack Eintorian to draw the Royal Runanese Army’s attention while the main force attacked from the north—that was the same kind of strategy!

Everything’s going according to a script authored by the Royal Naruyan Army strategist. Whoever that is, they’ve got our Advisor Heina dancing in the palm of their hand.

It looked like Naruya had quite a capable strategist—one capable of outwitting Heina!

Yeah, well, whatever. This is all within the bounds of my expectations. I can change how history develops from here. The castle’s going to fall like it did in history anyways.

I hadn’t known how the castle was going to fall before now, but I was already formulating a plan for how to take it back.

Something like the Trojan horse from the Greek myth.

With my resolve set in stone, I returned to the dungeon.

*

“Take this gold nugget. This war broke out unexpectedly, and you haven’t been able to see your mother since hearing about her health troubles, so you don’t know all the details, right? There can’t have been anyone to buy her medicine while the war is going on. If you’re going to go so far as desertion, then do the best you can for her before you come back.”

Yusen looked down at the gold nugget Erhin had given him. It was to pay for his mother’s medicine—medicine that had become all the harder to get hold of because of the war.

In fact, Yusen’s mother was on death’s door because she hadn’t been able to get the medicine she needed. Erhin also gave Yusen a badge that would prove he was a retainer of the House of Eintorian. The idea was he’d use it in the capital to secure the medicine. A noble’s name would grant him access to medicines that the common folk didn’t have access to.

Yusen couldn’t reject the kind offer. The life of the woman who had raised him all on her own was on the line here.

And so, as a result, his mother was saved, all thanks to Erhin lending him the gold nugget and his name. That meant Erhin had not only saved Yusen’s life in battle, he’d saved his mother’s life too.

It was only natural he should be prepared to give his life to help someone who’d done so much for him.

That was why, after Erhin was taken away to Lynon Castle, he ran off from his unit as soon as he heard the castle was under attack.

There was someone following Yusen too. It was Gibun.

“Captain...! Wait for me! You can’t go alone!”

“Gibun? Why did you leave the unit?!”

“Someone needs to go with you, even if it’s just me! Don’t worry. I’ve told the others to stay with the unit. Those were the commander’s orders, after all,” Gibun said with a voice hoarse from all the shouting he’d had to do to finally get Yusen to stop.

“The commander’s orders?” Yusen asked, head tilted quizzically.

“Heh heh. I have orders to pass to you too, Captain. Here.” Gibun smirked as he produced a letter from his pocket. “It’s a letter for you from the commander. I came after you so I could deliver it.”

“A letter for me...?”

Surprised, Yusen began reading the letter.

Its contents hit him with a shock like a hammer to the head.

*

It was dark now in Lynon Castle, and fortunately there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Jint and I slipped out of the dungeon in the chaos, and hid ourselves in a secret space under a small temple in the city. I’d gone around asking the soldiers from Lynon Castle about potential places to hide before going there. There was no way the Royal Naruyan Army were going to know the area better than the locals when they’d only just occupied it.

Incredibly, the soldiers told me that this temple was built millennia ago.

I’d meticulously planned out every aspect of my strategy in advance. We lay in wait beneath the temple until late at night before heading out to the street. Then I watched the sky while avoiding patrols.

It was the night after they took Lynon Castle, around the time when the enemy soldiers were getting their rest. The moon shone peacefully in the cloudless sky. Gibun had taught me a system for telling the time based on the position of the moon, which told me that it was now three o’clock in the morning.

It wasn’t as accurate as a clock, of course, but Gibun would be using the same method, so we’d have roughly the same sense of what time it was.

I’d left Yusen and Gibun orders to start their mission at around one o’clock. That was two hours ago now. If they did as they’d promised, I wouldn’t have much time to relax.

I raced out of the waterway and used the system to check the north gate. It was defended by thirty-four soldiers—thirty on top of the walls and four in front of the gates.

“Jint.”

Jint was as impassive as ever. He just followed behind me. Maybe he’d accepted the idea of staying by my side and watching to see if I was a man of my word, because he didn’t say another word about dying after that. Although, he still clutched the ring to his chest, as if to say he was prepared to die anytime.

“You’re not curious what I’m trying to do?”

“You’re trying to run away, right?”

Well, I’m keeping that option open as a last resort. I can’t throw my life away, after all.

“Not quite. Even if I ultimately run away, I plan to take the castle back first.”

“Are you crazy...? How’re you gonna take a castle by yourself?”

“With a miracle?” I offered with a shrug. Jint looked at me strangely.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“To tell you the truth, the movements of your scouting party allowed me to infer a number of things. They stood out as especially suspicious.”

“Like what?”

“Your people already knew the terrain and the location of the supply base, so why do you think they still sent your party so close to the supply unit?”

“How should I know? We were just following orders.”

“And that’s why you got taken out. The Naruyans planned to throw your unit away from the get-go. Just to give us information. Well, they probably had multiple ways of going about it. I don’t really know. The point is, the Naruyan military brass used you guys as sacrificial pawns. That includes wasting a talented man like you. Yeesh, I don’t even know where to start with how bad that is.”

“It’s not like that country ever did anything for me... I can’t say I’m shocked at this point,” Jint responded without any particular surprise.

“Yeah, I suppose not. Anyway, I found it suspicious. Something about it wasn’t sitting right with me, even after I’d stopped the surprise attack on the supply base. But now that I’ve seen the operation that took this castle, I can confidently tell what the enemy strategist was thinking. Now I’m going to wreck their plans. That’ll be proof of my strength.”

“What?”

“Also, once I’ve proven myself by accomplishing what you see as impossible, I’m hoping you’ll see that it’s also true that I am capable of saving you and your woman so the two of you can live happily ever after..”

“...”

He says he’s ready to die to protect her, but it’s only human to want to live by her side in happiness instead.

“So, what do you plan to do?” Jint asked.

“It’s simple, really. Just charge the north gates, then open them. Running away’s not going to be my first objective, at least!”

“There must be at least ten thousand Naruyan soldiers inside the castle. What kind of miracle are you trying to pull off?!”

I took off towards the north gates without answering him. I’ll let my actions speak for themselves.

“Who goes there?! Identify yourself!”

The soldiers called out to me from up on top of the walls, but I ignored them and kept charging the gates.

“Mirinae tells me I’m an idiot,” said Jint, who’d followed after me. “That’s why she told me I shouldn’t try to act on my own. I don’t know if helping you is the right move. Is it really going to bring us happiness?”

“It will. If you follow me, you can say goodbye to living on the bottom. Making you happy will be child’s play next to the miracle I’m about to pull off. And not just you—her too. Trust me. And trust in the miracle!”

Bwooon!

The soldiers who’d detected my surprise attack blew a trumpet from the watchtower. Enemies would soon close in on us from all sides.

I used my skill Sweep to take out all four of the guards at once, clearing the way for Jint and I to reach the gates. Wasting no time, I made short work of removing the long bar that held them shut and throwing it aside.

“It’s the enemy!”

The thirty men up in the watchtower came down one after another.

“Jint! Will you lend me your strength until I clear the gates?”

“...”

He gave no response one way or the other.

Well, whatever, I formulated this plan under the assumption that I wasn’t going to have Jint. I’ll just have to do it alone!

I turned to face the soldiers who’d come down from the watchtower. If I left my back open as I threw wide the gates, that’d be like asking them to kill me, after all.

“It’s the enemy! They’re trying to open the gates! Kill them immediately!”

Once I’d cut down thirty men and could get back to the gates, more reinforcements started coming down from the watchtower on the opposite side. When I decided to face them, the unit of infantry that had been sleeping nearest to the gates started to swarm around me.

There were easily over a hundred soldiers. I was taking care of it all, so Jint did nothing.

I don’t know what he was so worried about, but his eyes just kept darting about in confusion. As if something were distracting him.

I’ve got points left.

So, I activated the Sweep skill on the oncoming soldiers. It was pretty effective against enemies who grouped together in big clumps like they were. The drawback was that it lacked the power to punch through the gates, but that was all you could expect from a basic skill.

Ka-boom!

It was still lethal. The big explosion blew away all the soldiers in range.

The problem’s that more keep coming.

I’d bought myself some time though, so I turned and began opening the gates.

Creeeak!

Once the gate bar was removed, it was typically a straightforward task for two soldiers to push the gates open. But since it was just me on my own, I had to put in some extra effort.

Ultimately, I got the gates open. As I did, the enemy rushed in again.

Attack command.

Attack command.

I started relying on the system to cut my enemies down. I met the enemy at the open gates. The gap between them was narrow, which prevented them from surrounding me, but things were still gradually getting out of hand.

One soldier avoided my attack and managed to graze my arm with his sword, sending a gush of blood flying.

“Urgh...”

I glanced at Jint, but he’d gone outside the gates completely and was watching from a position of safety. Once I was injured, I accepted I was going to have no choice but to activate the bonus. The soldiers in front of me all had low Martial scores, but it wasn’t looking like I could hold out against their sheer numbers.

One commander with a Martial of 61 can’t possibly hold out against hundreds of men. But with a Martial of 91? That’s another story!

As I repeatedly used the Attack command, Daitoren cut down enemies faster than the eye could see.

The problem’s that the number of enemies keeps on growing as time goes by. But I’m almost there. If Yusen and Gibun keep to the plan, then I just need to hold out a little while longer!

And so I kept swinging Daitoren and holding out in the bloody battle that unfolded in front of the gates.

“Can you really make a miracle happen?” Jint asked from behind me in the middle of combat. “I’ve fought like you did before, back when I was trying to get Mirinae back, and I was miraculously able to save her. Watching you reminded me of that, and now that I see it my body’s telling me I’ve got to help you out. It says, ‘If he’s willing to put his life on the line like this for a miracle, then try putting your faith in him!’ Are you really going to keep your promise and make me and Mirinae happy, just like you got my ring back?”

“Leave it to me. I’ll make my miracle happen here. For the sake of you and Mirinae too. That’s what I promised you!”

Once I shouted that, Jint leapt out in front of me.

Thanks to the mountain of bodies and the narrow gate slowing the enemy, he was able to find an opening to pick up a fallen enemy’s sword and join the fray.

“I’ll do whatever you ask if you keep your word. I’d give everything for a happy life with Mirinae. So, just this once, I’m going to believe in you. Now, let’s see just how you’re going to pull off a miracle here!”

Gwahhhhhh!

Jint swung his sword around, cutting down enemies one after another.

He’s got a Martial of 93, an ability score that puts him near the very top in this world!

“So, to make Mirinae happy...all of you guys have to die!”

At that moment, the war fiend went wild. Jint faced a hundred soldiers with ease! Fountains of blood gushed forth—carnage under the moonlight. Enemy heads fell one after the other, too numerous to count. Once he drew his sword, he had the power to tear through anything in a single blow. His speed was on a whole other level too.

He’s truly worth a hundred men!

I felt a laugh coming on.

Yeah, that’s right. This is what outstanding talent looks like. This is the kind of superior personnel that I’ll need if I’m going to unify the land.

I felt my chest heating up with excitement. Jint wasn’t even using skills. In this world, having a Martial score of 93 meant that he had just that much mana built up inside him.

Does he not know how to use it?

His speed and power showed the mana accumulated in him, of course, but he didn’t use skills to unleash it through his weapon.

Well, I can ask him later.

Jint spun around doing nothing but normal attacks as he lopped off enemy heads one after another. He massacred them like a manifestation of the grim reaper. Even if he took some minor cuts himself, his defense was ironclad, never allowing any strike to hit his vital points.

Thanks to his efforts, the volume of enemies reaching me dwindled. It gave me the leeway to defend the gates. He was fighting alone, but his Martial of 93 made all the difference. No soldier here had the power to oppose him.

There was a mysterious smoke, like some sort of heat haze, rising from his sword.

That’s mana!

A loud trumpet sounded from inside Lynon Castle, and more soldiers began swarming us by the minute. Now it went far beyond the hundreds who had fought us at the beginning—they were coming at us by the thousands.

“We’ll fight together, Jint!”

“Together?”

I left the gates and ran to Jint’s side.

I’m done buying time. If the miracle doesn’t happen, then it means something’s gone wrong with the seeds I sowed with Yusen. And if so, the plan has failed.

If the miracle was going to happen, now was the time for it.

“What’s wrong? Never had anyone who’d fight back-to-back with you before? Don’t you think it’d be fun, facing down death together? I think it’ll be a blast! Gah ha ha ha ha ha!”

I laughed like a madman as I matched my movements to Jint’s. Our massacre quickly painted the ground before the gates crimson. I stood on ground Jint had already soaked with rivers of blood, taking advantage of the bonus to cut down enemies.

Around the time I slew my five hundredth soldier, I started hearing loud hoofbeats from outside the gate. I turned to find a unit of cavalry wearing blue uniforms—the Runan Kingdom’s color!

Yes. Thankfully, the miracle had happened. Yusen had followed the plan!

The man who led the cavalry’s charge through the gates swung his spear at the enemy soldiers. Light rushed forth from the weapon—right onto the heads of the onrushing enemies! Hundreds of heads flew into the air, the light having swept them away like the grim reaper’s scythe, every body spurting a fountain of blood.

“You’re Count Erhin?”

What an incredible mana skill. I’d had no doubt that, if all went according to plan, and if I kept the gate open, our troops would come through it.

But this man’s appearance caught me somewhat off guard.

Erheet Demacine

Age: 42

Martial: 96

Intelligence: 70

Command: 92

The Runan Kingdom’s number one commander, Erheet the Demonspear!

Much like Naruya’s Ten Commanders, Erheet was the most famous man in the cesspool of corruption that was Runan. He was Duke Ronan’s right-hand man, and in the game’s history, he’d followed his orders to defend the palace, fighting there alone until he died still standing on his feet.

“You have my respect for the fight you’ve put up. Now I, Erheet, will help you from here onwards!”

With that booming declaration, Erheet charged the enemy.

Guhhhh!

His spear slew many soldiers with each swing. That’s just how amazing a Martial score of 96 was. Also, the cavalry unit following him had Training and Morale scores that put the rest of the Royal Runanese Army to shame.

“This is what you call a miracle...?” Jint asked, his back still pressed to mine.

“Well, miracles come in many forms,” I replied with a shrug and a smirk.

*

After the fall of Lynon Castle—while Erhin was still biding his time in the dungeon—Jend, Lord of Bern, rushed into Bern Castle’s meeting room with a sense of urgency.

“Commander! Commander!” he cried. He must have run some distance, because he was out of breath. “This is terrible! L-Lynon Castle has fallen!”

Hearing this death sentence from the castellan, Commander-in-Chief Ronan had to grip the table to support himself from the onslaught of a sudden dizzying headache.

“Commander!”

“Where’s Heina...?! What’s she been doing when she was supposed to be defending the castle?!”

“We’ve received word by carrier pigeon that the advisor is currently withdrawing to the rear with her troops!”

“She’s retreating after failing to defend Lynon Castle?!” Ronan roared, slamming both his palms down on the table.

This wasn’t just an issue for Bern Castle anymore. If Ganen and Lynon had both fallen, Bern would be isolated. Without Lynon Castle behind them, they wouldn’t be free to bring in supplies anymore.

“How can we fall to the enemy like this?! What about the future of the Runan Kingdom?!”

One of Ronan’s aides, who had been listening to him vent as he was faced with the worst possible situation, cautiously suggested their own withdrawal.

“For now, I suspect we should pull back from Bern Castle... As things stand, we’ll be isolated here, and if that were to happen the country would truly be finished. Shouldn’t we pull back to the strategic pass leading into the capital and reorganize before the enemy prepare themselves?!”

“Is that the only way...?” Ronan said, shaking his head. It was true, though, that any delay now would complicate the withdrawal. In fact, if the enemy isolated Bern Castle and then advanced on the capital, they really might lose everything.

After a long pause, Ronan finally said, “Prepare to withdraw.”

It was the only choice he could make.

Ronan was leading his own personal troops, the elite soldiers of the Ducal House of Ronan, one of the major noble families. They were one of the few elite units in the Kingdom of Runan. Obviously, he hadn’t trained these men for war, but to maintain his own political power. Had he been thinking about war, he’d have put together a large-scale military force instead of a small, elite unit.

Regardless, Duke Ronan had been prepared to fight to the death defending the homeland with his men, but the enemy had seen that and chose to bypass Bern Castle to take Ganen and Lynon instead.

Lynon Castle was right next to Bern Castle.

Because of that, the slightest delay would leave them stranded in the palm of the enemy’s hand.

Ronan put together a plan to abandon Bern Castle and pass Lynon Castle as they withdrew to the capital. Anyway, because they were so well trained, they were able to rapidly begin pulling out. Then, as they were passing Lynon Castle, someone appeared, standing in their way.

It was Yusen.

“Who are you?!”

Despite wearing the same uniform, Yusen was immediately seized for suspicious behavior. Yusen identified himself and requested a meeting with Ronan saying he had something important to discuss.

Obviously, the idea of them letting a mere hundredman meet the commander-in-chief was laughable.

“Is that you, Yusen?”

Fortunately for Yusen, one of the commanding officers recognized him. It was a spot of luck made possible by his two decades of military service.

“Commander!”

“What are you doing here?”

“I have something important to discuss. It involves the retaking of Lynon Castle. Time is of the essence, so could I ask you to arrange a meeting with the commander-in-chief and explain it to him personally?!”

“Retaking Lynon Castle? What in the world...?”

The commanding officer was noncommittal, but Yusen still clung to the man for help.

“I absolutely need to run this by him. If he’s unable to meet me, I’ll give up. So please, pass him a message at least!”

“Hmm... If it has to do with retaking Lynon Castle, we can’t ignore it. Wait a moment.”

The commanding officer who had recognized Yusen nodded, then reported what had happened to the commander-in-chief.

“Commander! One of our hundredmen has something urgent to tell you about Lynon Castle. I can vouch for his identity. It seemed important, and he’s requesting to speak to you personally, sir. He’s one of my former subordinates, and not one to tell tall tales. He says it involves retaking Lynon Castle. Will you hear him out?”

“Retaking Lynon Castle? Has Heina come up with a plan then?”

“He says every moment counts, so he wants to tell you himself.”

“Bring him at once!”

This would have been unthinkable in peacetime, but the current situation changed everything. If a commoner in the capital had blocked his path saying they needed to talk to him, Ronan would have knocked their head off, but things were different now. He summoned Yusen immediately.

As soon as he was before the commander-in-chief, Yusen got down on his knees, pressed his forehead to the ground, and started shouting.

“Commander! I’m sorry to barge in, but I bring urgent news!”

“What is it? Talk.”

With Ronan’s permission, Yusen explained.

“The commander of the supply unit, Count Eintorian, is currently engaged in hostilities at Lynon Castle. He ordered me to meet you here as you passed Lynon Castle and deliver the message personally.”

“What? Count Eintorian?”

Not Heina, but Erhin? That wasn’t a name he’d expected to hear. Having given Heina the order to dispose of the man due to his reputation for incompetence, Ronan cocked his head to the side at this.

“You’re saying that man predicted I would be passing through here at this very moment?”

“Precisely, sir!”

His prediction was that once word of Ganen Castle and Lynon Castle reached them, the defenders of Bern Castle would move to the strategic pass leading to the capital to avoid isolation.

It was something Erhin could see coming because he knew from the game that Lynon Castle would fall.

And his prediction came true.

“When you say that he’s engaged in hostilities, what do you mean exactly?”

“Well... Count Eintorian infiltrated Lynon Castle alone. He’s going to open the north gate at night, when most of the enemy are drunk after their victory!”

“You fool! What is this nonsense you’re talking?!” Ronan shouted at the absurdity of it.

Even late at night, there would be sentries. They’d quickly rouse the others and defend the castle. That much was obvious. That would mean opening the gates while facing thousands of enemies. The story was totally unbelievable, of course.

“You’re not an enemy agent, trying to lure my forces into Lynon Castle, are you?” Ronan’s tone turned harsh, full of suspicion towards Yusen.

“Perish the thought, sir. I’ve served the Runan Kingdom all my life. I don’t care if I die due to your suspicion of me. But I want you to send soldiers to the open gates so that the risk Count Eintorian is taking isn’t in vain. This is all part of his plan. I have a letter for you here. Please, if nothing else, could you at least confirm for yourself that the gates have been opened?!” Yusen shouted desperately as he thrust the letter towards Ronan. He’d struck his head on the ground so hard that blood was running down his forehead.

Ronan read the letter. It spelled out the details of the plan, but he still couldn’t believe it.

It would be completely impossible to open the gates and then hold out there alone.

“Count Eintorian wields mana. If he can get the gate open, he can hold it for some time,” Yusen opined, thinking back to the displays of martial prowess he’d seen from Erhin.

Even if it cost him his life—even if he had to end his own life right here—he intended to get Erhin’s message across. It was the least he could do to repay him.

“The Count of Eintorian, a mana wielder? Absurd...!” Ronan was saying with obvious exasperation when Erheet, who had been watching in silence all this time, spoke up.

“But Commander, if the gates truly do open... We can’t afford to miss this opportunity. Or to waste the loyalty of the man who fought to the death to open them!”

“Could it be... Were the rumors around Erhin mistaken?”

As Ronan cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, Yusen realized it was time to push the issue.

“Please, just see for yourself! If he can manage to open the gates, it should be more than possible to retake Lynon Castle like he describes in the letter!”

“Well, yes, that is true...” Ronan said, stroking his chin.

He worried about the possibility of the enemy opening the gates themselves to lay a trap—in short, the possibility Yusen was an agent of their adversaries—but it seemed unlikely. The enemy had already taken Lynon Castle. Would they really give up the inbuilt advantages of a siege battle to lure in Runan’s elite troops? No matter how many enemy soldiers inside the castle were armed with bows, his forces still vastly outnumbered them. They’d be in danger the moment the gates opened. Assuming the enemy were to employ such a reckless strategy, they’d be giving him a chance to retake the castle instead.

“I’ll check the gates. Could I ask you to prepare a hundred men for me? If the gates are open, I’ll send up a smoke signal to inform you,” Erheet, who had been earnestly listening to Yusen, proposed.

He felt that, if Erhin really was putting his life on the line, then he ought to rescue his comrade as a fellow Runanese commander. He also thought that any man whose subordinate would risk their life pleading for him like this deserved to be trusted.

“Besides, if he truly can use mana at will, then we’ll need him in this war.”

Ronan thought about the proposal a moment before nodding. He felt it was worth trying, at least. If the gates were closed, then all they had to do was continue their march to the capital as originally planned.

“Fine. Go check it out at once!”

“Understood!”

After seeing Erheet off, Ronan gave the order to all his troops.

“We advance on Lynon Castle!”

*

Duke Ronan would retreat from Bern Castle in shame, and his forces would pass by the enemy-occupied Lynon Castle but be too intent on their flight to do anything about. That was history as the game told it. His forces were the numbers that I desperately needed for the retaking of Lynon Castle.

That’s why I bet everything on Yusen.

Of course, the best outcome would have been if Duke Ronan attacked Lynon Castle on his own and I happened to be there to appear and open the gate for him. That would’ve freed me from the need to fight to keep the gates open until my allies arrived.

But alas, I wasn’t so well trusted that he was going to attack Lynon Castle on my word alone. That necessitated opening the gate first and having the duke see for himself that I had. That was the core of this operation!

“We keep fighting for now. Lynon Castle’s not back in our hands just yet!” I said to Jint, never letting up on the Attack command.

Jint, Erheet, and me.

Now that three A-class characters—each with a Martial score over 90—had taken control of the battlefield, the enemy lost a lot of their momentum.

“Who are you people?! How can you do this with so few men?! Kill them and close the damn gates! Hurry!” the enemy officer roared.

His stats weren’t all that impressive. He didn’t have Erheet’s or Jint’s martial prowess. Still, it remained a fact that the enemy had more troops.

“Everyone, gather at the gates! Can I ask you to come too, Lieutenant General?”

I was planning to join up with Erheet’s forces and hold off the enemy’s attack at the gates. His arrival meant that it was just a matter of time now.

“Let’s do it!” Erheet nodded as he cut off an enemy’s head, joining me to gather our forces at the gates. The enemy were quick to surround us. It looked like the entire enemy force, numbering over ten thousand men, were all awake now. Jint and Erheet were massacring enemies in front of the gate, but the area was already awash in enemies.

“Do you have a plan, perhaps?” Erheet asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “If my man Yusen has properly conveyed the plan, then the enemy gathering here is actually favorable for us. They’ll make for easier targets.”

“I see how it is,” Erheet responded, impressed.

“I’ll kill them all and surpass the commander-in-chief! Gah ha ha ha ha!” the enemy officer shouted, roaring with raucous laughter.

“Don’t be silly. Try looking up!”

The moment I said that, it got bright on top of the walls. Our forces had lit torches. This had been my last instruction to Yusen. A rain of arrows immediately fell upon the enemy. Terrible screams echoed across the castle grounds. There was nothing they could do but fall prey to the arrows.

“Begin the attack!”

Not long after, a unit of cavalry charged through the gates.

The one who’d given the order to attack was none other than Duke Ronan, commander-in-chief of the Runan Kingdom.

Victory was now in sight!

When dawn came to Lynon Castle, it was in Runanese hands once more.

*

Back in the capital, the king was raging.

“Those damned imbeciles. If they were going to lose like this, maybe we should have just surrendered from the beginning?”

He had been shouting all night since word came that Lynon Castle had fallen.

“This won’t do. It’s too dangerous here. I’ll abandon the capital and go to the south.”

Count Bordey opposed this idea.

“Sire, the capital is the safest place in the kingdom. Evacuating elsewhere will not help... Besides, in addition to the forces down south that haven’t joined up with us yet, we’ve also sent a request to our allies for support, so it would be better to remain here in the capital...”

“Would you shut up?! The state only survives if I survive!”

Sadly, the king was only thinking of his own life. Even if they seized his territory, he didn’t care so long as he made it out all right.

“Curse that Ronan. He said he could defend me. And some ‘Demonspear’ Erheet is. How pathetic. Prepare to retreat at once. Hurry!”

The king got off his throne with a sense of nervous excitement and began jumping around. In the midst of this, the captain of the Royal Guard rushed into the room.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“What is it now? No... Don’t tell me the capital itself is already threatened!”

If the captain of the Royal Guard was rushing into the room, that meant he had something to report. The king blanched.

“Good news, Sire! We’ve just received word that Lynon Castle has been retaken!”

“What?”

The king’s tremulous expression changed. The other nobles gathered in the audience chamber reacted in much the same way.

“So soon after it fell? Was the report of its fall in error?” Count Bordey asked as the king kept blinking, completely at a loss for words.

“That’s not it. The reports say that after the castle fell it was retaken due to the efforts of Count Eintorian!”

The captain of the Royal Guard handed the king the report which he began reading. Soon, the king smiled and erupted into boisterous laughter.

“Pfft ha ha ha ha! Pfft ha ha ha! Look at this! Look at it!” the king shouted at his nobles, laughing. “What do you say to that? The report says Count Eintorian, whom I summoned, retook Lynon Castle! What do you fools who opposed me on it due to his reputation have to say to that?! Can you still oppose my decision now?! Pfft ha ha ha! I was right!”

It was true the king had decided to summon Erhin on his own.

The king had been ready to desert the capital at any moment, but now he ran around the room with excitement.

“There’s no time to waste. Order them to make Count Eintorian an advisor in the royal army at once! Hurry!”

It was unquestionably the king himself who had put the kingdom in this position in the first place, but he gave orders as though this victory was somehow his own accomplishment.

*

The third-highest rank in the Royal Runanese Army: advisor! That’s the rank they appointed me to for retaking Lynon Castle.

Heina was dismissed. She had pleaded to the end that I should be punished for insubordination, but it did her no good. When I knelt down and acknowledged I had gone against her orders, Ronan decided to treat it as if I were acting under the king’s command and not charge me with a crime.

At long last, I was finally able to control the entire military and fight the Royal Naruyan Army without anyone getting in my way!

Obviously, the first order of business was to drive the Naruyans off as soon as possible.

That will buy me some time. No matter the country, it always takes a while after one war ends before they’re ready to start another because of the supply issue and the need to replenish and train their troops. In the game’s original timeline, it was a year after the Royal Naruyan Army conquered the Runan Kingdom before their king started the Grand Subjugation.

In the game, one year after the fall of the Runan Kingdom, Naruya launched what was called the Grand Subjugation, a campaign to unify the land using the vast numbers of troops that Naruya had cultivated.

The Naruyan king’s only just taken the throne. It’ll obviously take time for him to raise an army of tens of thousands. So I’ll have time to build up Eintorian’s power once this war ends.

From what I had been able to find out after retaking Lynon Castle, none of the Ten Commanders had been involved in the battle. For some reason, the enemy hadn’t seen fit to send them along on the invasion from the north.

“The king of Naruya is likely testing himself. Still, as embarrassing as it was to lose to an experimental invasion like that, His Majesty should be thinking about preparing for war now. Our allies will have noticed Naruya’s ambitions too, so they’ll be easy to persuade. So, we just have to overcome the current crisis!”

That was the reasoning Ronan gave me when I asked him why. It had been less than a year since the new king took the throne, but word of his ambition had already spread across the continent. Ronan’s view was that he sent in the army he had developed over the last year without the Ten Commanders to see how they’d do.

Of course, Ronan didn’t seem to have any intelligence to back that theory up.

If the Runan Kingdom had that kind of espionage ability, they wouldn’t have lost without being able to put up a fight. Anyways, the key thing here is that the Ten Commanders aren’t in this war. They didn’t participate in the war in the game either. There’s no way to know the exact details of why not at the moment. But the reason doesn’t matter. All that matters is defeating the invaders. If the Ten Commanders aren’t around, then the only one we need to watch out for is the enemy strategist!

*

Experience List

B-class Strategy x2

I got a B for strategy.

The plan had a high degree of risk, since if Duke Ronan didn’t send troops, we couldn’t have taken back the castle. If I’d retaken Lynon Castle without relying on the duke for backup, maybe I’d have gotten a higher grade, but there’s no point speculating about that. It was impossible to do it without joining up with the royal army.

You are now Lv. 13.

Regardless, I still went up two levels. Level ups are calculated off a base experience value, and then modifiers are applied. The base value is simply how many enemies you kill. If one of those enemies has a higher Martial than you, that adds a multiplier in this system.

This time, I killed a lot of enemies because I fought by myself for an extended period instead of leading troops.

You received level-up points.

Points in reserve: 500

I gained 400 points. I’d spent some of my reserve points to use skills in the battle, so the 400 I gained were added to my remaining pool of 100. Since I’ve got more points now, I’ll immediately put some into enhancing my Martial.

Will you enhance your Martial? It will cost 300 points.

Your Martial is now 62.

It’s only a small increase, but it’s important to build it up one step at a time. Soon enough, I’ll have a score of 70. That leaves me with 200 points. I plan to hold them in reserve for now.

*

Valdesca Frann slammed his head down on the desk. Then he picked his head up once again, a dazed look on his face. His forehead was turning red. Even in spite of this, he smacked the desk with it again, and it got even redder. Mert jumped a little every time as he watched on.

Valdesca’s always like this, thought Mert. He engages in self-harm whenever something’s bothering him.

That’s why he couldn’t stop the duke. He could only watch.

Slam!

Frann smacked his head against the desk once more before shaking off the pain. This was all because the enemy had taken back Lynon Castle.

His plan had been perfect, but some incomprehensible actions on the enemy’s part allowed them to retake the castle. The enemy acted almost as if they knew Lynon Castle was going to fall in one night.

Their victory hadn’t been mere happenstance. Acting in a manner that suggested they knew the Naruyans’ plan, the Runanese had used Ronan’s forces which were retreating from Bern Castle to take back Lynon Castle.

“By the way, I believe I asked you for intelligence on Runan’s new advisor.”

“About that. We gathered information, and everything was as expected.”

“The lord of Eintorian, the commander of the supply unit, and the person who retook Lynon Castle. It was all him?”

“Indeed, it was!”

The diversionary attack on Eintorian, the surprise attack on the supply unit, the seizure of Lynon Castle—this man was present for all three of these failures. He’d swept the legs out from under them. It was thanks to him that the enemy had concentrated their man power up in the north too, instead of dispersing their forces in response to the advance party’s attack on Eintorian as originally planned.

“Commander... What do we do now that they’ve retaken Lynon Castle...?”

If things had gone accordingly, they should have been in the Runanese capital by now. Valdesca clenched his fist as he came to one, firm resolution.

“Have no fear. I never thought we’d need to use the House of Frann’s power against the Runan Kingdom, but this time we’re going to win!”

*

Having taken Castle Bern without bloodshed, the Royal Naruyan Army advanced on Lynon Castle.

Royal Naruyan Army

Manpower: 48,720 men

Training: 80

Morale: 60

The Royal Naruyan Army had invaded with seventy thousand troops, but they’d lost over twenty thousand in the raid on the supply unit and the battle at Lynon Castle. Their initial Morale of 80 had plummeted by 20 points too.

The Naruyan troops encamped outside Lynon Castle immediately launched a total offensive.

They need to take Lynon Castle before attacking the capital because if they ignore the castle, it’ll cause problems for their supply lines later. That would leave them isolated between Lynon Castle and the capital. You can’t fight a war on an empty stomach, so if they can’t take Lynon Castle and secure their supply lines, there’s no point in advancing on the capital.

Considering that, I could understand the total offensive. I still had my questions about the way they were doing it, though.

“Their attacks are too simple. And it’s suspicious how they’ve concentrated the attack on the north gates too... This could be a diversion.”

“A diversion, you say?”

“It’s possible. Let’s divide our forces. Concentrating ourselves in the north to answer their focused attack isn’t our best move. We should have men at every gate. Also, though we’ve blocked it off, we can’t overlook the underground waterway either. We need to continue searching all of Lynon Castle.”

That was my proposal at the commanders’ meeting. Ronan adopted my idea, and left me in charge of the intensely contested north gates. I returned there as soon as the meeting finished.

The enemy’s continuing their simplistic attack. It’s a little too...orthodox, you might say. Pound on the gates with siege weapons, and use ladders to climb over the walls.

Their tactics were all too common. The attack was still focused on the north gates and the area around them. Honestly, we didn’t have the spare man power to split up. If we ran short of men, they’d smash through the north gates. Still, the enemy strategist would think of that too, so it was essential that we keep investigating all of Lynon Castle.

Which is why I’ll have to make up for our man power shortage in other ways.

“We’ll destroy the enemy battering rams. Pour the molten iron!”

“Yes, sir, Advisor!”

After making the proposal to Ronan, I had the weapons of our fallen enemies melted down and turned to molten iron. We had former blacksmiths among the soldiers at Lynon Castle, and a lot of smithies for them to work in, so there was no problem getting it done.

The rams burst into flames as soon as the molten metal touched them!

The plan takes advantage of the way molten iron can burn up wood in an instant. It’s way faster than setting them alight with flaming arrows.

“We’ll burn the ladders too! The longer this drags on, the worse our position will be!”

Burning their rams and ladders would inevitably sap the enemy’s enthusiasm. If we could manage to do that, then it would be our turn to go on the offensive.

Yeahhhhhh!

With the siege weapons destroyed, our side’s morale rose. The focused attack on the north gates bogged down, and the enemy were forced to withdraw.

“Don’t let your guard down! It’s not over yet!” I shouted to my men, watching the enemy’s movements.

Eventually, the retreating soldiers came to a stop.

They’re out of bow range.

“Huh?”

That’s when twenty men carrying big shields advanced on the gates. They were all protecting a single man. This move was incomprehensible to me.

Once the man reached the castle gates, he looked up from the center of the group and shouted, “Are you Erhin Eintorian?”

He was looking straight at me.

The enemy already knew my face.

Well, there were plenty of survivors of the Naruyan attack on the supply unit, so nothing to be surprised about there. I just want to know what this situation is.

“Yes, and?”

I could say one thing for sure: I now knew who the strategist tormenting Runan was.

“I’m terribly sorry, but you’ll have to die!”

As he shouted that, a massive mana circle appeared before him—a powerful one, radiating golden light.

*

Valdesca Frann

Age: 28

Martial: 90

Intelligence: 96

Command: 90

His abilities are straight As! How is he so unparalleled?! And just look at that magic circle!

There were two ways of manifesting mana, and this was one of them. It involved complicated formulas in the creation of a mana circle, and while it was normal for mana circles to be far more powerful than weapon-based mana skills, they needed to be created in advance to be activated. That meant they had the drawback of requiring preparation, but we’d been fighting at the north gates a long time. He must’ve finished the mana circle while we were.

Which meant this battle at the north gates was, in fact, a distraction, but that was entirely within the realm of expectation. It was the entire reason why I’d reduced our man power here and had our men patrolling the entirety of Lynon Castle to prevent whatever the enemy strategist was planning.

“In the end, victory will be Naruya’s!” he declared, full of confidence.

Well, he was right to be confident.

He’s delayed our forces at the north gate!

Even with some of our forces sent elsewhere, the largest group was still here at the north gates. I couldn’t see Ronan being able to defend Lynon Castle alone after repeatedly losing to this guy. As he raised his hand, the entire enemy force behind him split into two.

They’ll be heading for the east and west gates.

It looked like the only way to stop him now was to destroy the mana circle. The problem was that the moment he used it, his Martial score rose from 90 to 99. Once it triggered, it went back to 90.

That means his Martial score is 99 with the mana circle, and 90 without it. It’s the same logic as how I have a Martial of 92 with the bonus, but an effective Martial of 97 when I use Crush.

That meant the barrier I was seeing in front of me had a Martial of 99, and my Martial 97 Crush couldn’t break it.

“Gibun, you calm the men! Have it done by the time I get back!”

I’d deployed Yusen and Jint on other missions, so I gave Gibun his orders and then raced down to the gates.

Valdesca Frann’s magic circle, huh?

I felt like I was finally starting to get a grasp of what it was.

It’s because the game actually starts on the day of Naruya’s Grand Subjugation, one year from now.

This was all stuff from before the game started. It was explained in the game, but for whatever reason, Valdesca’s name never came up there. This was the true identity of the character who was only identified as the Royal Naruyan Army’s strategist. The great nation that once held dominion over the continent, the Ancient Eintorian Kingdom, was ruled by the Twelve Continental Families and the Royal House of Eintorian.

Nothing is forever, of course. As the kingdom waned, it splintered, and each of the Twelve Continental Families created a country of their own. Naruya, Runan, Matein, and the others had originated with the Twelve Families. The House of Frann were also one of the Twelve Families and, together with Naruya, had built the Naruya Kingdom. The king of Naruya with his S-class mana, the Ten Commanders of Naruya with A-class stats, and then Valdesca Frann—these people were the reason why, even in the game, the Naruya Kingdom was the strongest force on the continent, and served as a sort of final boss.

Still, while I knew who Valdesca was, I’d never predicted that he was the enemy strategist because he only really became a significant presence in the game’s history in the second half. I only remembered him because I knew the second half of the scenario, but I’d had no idea he was present from so early on.

Well, forget all that for now!

“Stop! Valdesca Frann!”

When I went down to the gates and shouted his name, Valdesca approached me with a dubious look.

“How do you know my name? It hasn’t been made public yet, even in Naruya.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be fair if you knew me but I didn’t know you, now, would it? I’d rather you not underestimate me.”

“I don’t know what sorts of intelligence-gathering capabilities you possess, but you’re finished now. To the best of my knowledge, no one could destroy this mana circle but His Majesty himself!”

I shook my head at this confident declaration.

“Valdesca Frann! You’re so full of yourself! This isn’t over yet!”

The mana circle had a Martial value of 99. There was no way to destroy it, not immediately. But I had the system on my side.

His Martial score is extremely high. That means that, yes, there is a way! A system I can use on high-Martial commanders!

So, facing him with total confidence, I shouted, “One-on-one!”

Will you challenge your opponent to a one-on-one battle?

I activated the system’s One-on-One command! Such was the system I had access to—the commands I’d used in the game worked in this world too. The dueling mechanic was an element that was present in the game I’d been playing, and in others like it. There were lots of similar one-on-one duels in the Sengoku period too.

This world’s no different from the Sengoku period. Lots of countries have fractured apart and are battling in order to form one country. That’s why there need to be one-on-one fights.

Still, there were lots of situations in the game where it wouldn’t allow you to use One-on-One. That’s because, normally, while you’d want to challenge commanders who were weaker than yours to single combat, the game prohibited you from activating One-on-One. There were only a few exceptions in special circumstances where it did allow it.

For that reason, it was a useless command in a lot of ways. Seriously, who would challenge a commander who was stronger than them to single combat? But when a weaker commander used One-on-One against a stronger one, it always activated. Yes, one hundred percent of the time!

That was my current plan.

My Martial’s 62. Valdesca’s is 90. And the system only applies to me.

I figured that meant so long as a weaker person challenged a stronger one, I would meet the conditions to activate it! Additionally, One-on-One created a space in the game where only the two characters existed—a One-on-One arena!

Once that zone manifests, it should let me out of his seal!

Things went as expected. As soon as I activated One-on-One, the area around us went dark. In that instant, the golden light of the barrier shattered, and blue walls formed around me and Valdesca. The arena for our exclusive battle had formed!

“Wh-What?”

Valdesca’s face twisted in shock as he looked around the space, despite showing no change before this.

“H-How...?!”

At last, his gaze fell on me, shaken. He seemed pretty confused by what was going on.

“You destroyed my circle...? What in the world...?”

The system’s powers just look like mana to the people of this world. That means, to him, I apparently just used more powerful mana than he has!

I approached Valdesca who had a grim look on his face.

“The King of Naruya is the King of Destruction. He is a being that brings calamity to this world. Do you accept that path?”

“It is the duty of House Frann!” Valdesca shouted before adding, “But what is this...?!”

Will you use the bonus?

Now I just have to take him out. There’s no way I’m gonna be recruiting him given the House of Frann’s deep ties to Naruya!

That being the case, the sooner it was done the better.

Never give a mana circle user time in a fight. It’ll be a pain if he manages to make one. Now’s my chance, while he’s still confused.

I gripped Daitoren and charged Valdesca.

Without the mana circle, his Martial’s 90.

Only a bit higher than mine with the bonus!

On top of that, as he was now, Valdesca was too unnerved to respond to my attacks. He hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of his magic circle being broken.

I’m going to finish off the man who accounts for a good third of the Naruya Kingdom’s combat potential here and now!

My sword was drawing closer to him—but that’s exactly when it happened!

“Your Highness!”

Suddenly, three men appeared in front of him.

Here, in the One-on-One space?!

“Defend His Highness!” one of the men shouted, and the other two sprang towards me.

They appeared to be retainers of the House of Frann.

In that case, I’ll use Crush!

I took aim at Valdesca. Daitoren flew straight towards him with a beam of white light. His two subordinates who’d moved between us fell, but not before Valdesca and the man beside him disappeared with a red magic circle!

They’d disappeared just as suddenly as they’d appeared.

Shit! I wanted to finish him off no matter what. But how was I supposed to stop him from teleporting like that?

It was the same type of magic as the magic circle used to store the gold beneath Eintorian Castle.

I think he’d used an item similar to the pendant that I used to get inside the vault, but the House of Frann were students of mana. They’d spent over a thousand years researching it. I couldn’t really complain that I’d had no countermeasures.

I’ll just have to get stronger. That’s all.

The mana circle he’d used had a Martial value of 99, while Crush only let me handle Martial scores of up to 97.

Once I raise my Martial another two points, I won’t have anything to be afraid of!

The one other saving grace was that Crush’s knock-out effect lasted for five hours. That was more than enough time to drive off the rest of the enemies without Valdesca around.

*

Valdesca awoke from his wanderings in the abyss. He had a splitting headache.

“Ungh...!”

The retainer who’d saved him knelt before him.

“Your Excellency!”

“Mert...?”

The moment he saw his retainer Mert, he knew why he’d awakened here.

“Did you use the Frann family treasure?”

“It was the only way to save you, sir. I will accept any punishment!”

The ancient treasure contained a mana circle that the House of Frann had created over the course of a millennium. Because of their powerful mana, such treasures each had their own unique characteristics.

“Then...the treasure was destroyed, I suppose.”

“Yes... I’m terribly sorry!”

“Well, it’s no matter. You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s my own fault for not knowing my opponent... More importantly, our forces!”

“Again, I’m terribly sorry, but without knowing when you might awaken, I couldn’t have them remain on the field... This is Loen, along the Naruyan border.”

Loen. That was the first domain they had stationed their troops in for this invasion. They had started from there and taken the northern domains of the Runan Kingdom one by one.

“...”

Valdesca ground his teeth.

He even got the best of me. There’s no way our forces could hold out against such a man without me there to guide them.

“Order all our forces to retreat! We should withdraw at once. Send the messengers out immediately. We must save every soldier we can...”

“Understood, sir!”

It was a total defeat. He’d lost in every way. Valdesca quivered.

Erhin Eintorian. To think there was such a man in the Runan Kingdom. One who could not only defeat me, but destroy my magic circle as well!

“Next time, if there is a next time... I swear...”

Slam!

Valdesca slammed his head against the wall as he muttered.

*

Their commander-in-chief, Valdesca Frann, had vanished. That alone sent the Royal Naruyan Army into a state of panic. There were a number of officers who served under Valdesca, but none were as capable as he was. By the time they learned the strategist had fled in defeat, they had already lost much of their man power.

“Retreat! Pull back!”

By the time the commanders ordered their troops to retreat, their man power had been reduced to eighteen thousand men. The Royal Naruyan Army abandoned not just Bern Castle and Ganen Castle, but began to withdraw from all of the occupied territories.

Yusen and Gibun laid in ambush along their retreat. That cost them further man power losses, and when they finally managed to escape, they headed for Ruon Castle, to the relative safety of the supply base there.

“Open the gates!”

When they arrived at Ruon Castle and saw the royal flag of Naruya and the ducal flag of House Frann flapping in the wind, the Royal Naruyan Army breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the castle. Setting down their weapons, they began relaxing here and there. Their flight had been just that desperate. And as soon as they’d let their guard down, a thousand soldiers wearing the Naruyan military uniform assaulted them.

“Kill them all!”

Fully exhausted and without a strategist like Valdesca, the Royal Naruyan Army were mercilessly slaughtered.

Furthermore, at the head of that unit of one thousand troops, wearing the garb of a common Naruyan soldier, was the head of House Demacine of the Runan Kingdom, Erheet Demacine.

When the mightiest warrior in Runan swung his spear, the troops who had already been thoroughly exhausted when they entered the castle fell before him, unable to fight properly. Those who’d remained outside were so terrified that they gave up on the supplies there and fled.

Without their crafty tactician Valdesca, the Royal Naruyan Army received a one-sided beatdown.

Erheet, who had led this surprise attack, let the enemy flee and closed the gates.

“We aren’t going to pursue them, Lieutenant Commander?”

“That won’t be necessary. Everything’s gone as the advisor said. They’re already in the palm of the advisor’s hand. As such, I should continue following the plan he laid out. We’ll seize the enemy supplies. There’s nothing to worry about.”

When he first told me to lie in wait here—not join in the battle at Lynon Castle, even though the castle must be in danger—I thought it was an absurd idea. But ultimately, everything went just as planned.

“I’ll have to share a drink with him once the enemy are eliminated. Yes, we’ll drink all night long!”

Erheet was sincerely pleased to see a man of such unusual talents had appeared beneath Runanese skies.