44. Chapter 44
“I see… So it failed. Huh, I lost another really good human resource.”
Hugo, the Foreign Minister of Liberitoa, who had received a report from the spy, kept his weight on the chair he was sitting on.
Hugo was the only one in the tightly closed room, suitable for summarizing the situation without hindrance.
Intelligence personnel who were proficient in providing information and assassination missions, were valuable. Their upbringing began in early childhood and was very costly. It was a great loss in a strategy similar to abandoning valuable chess pieces. It was a really sad loss for Liberitoa.
Craist’s recapture attempt failed, Ferrius’ poisoning attempt failed, and now the assassination plot orchestrated by Hugo also failed.
“The layers, the fortress, Highserk soldiers, Demon Fire, Gerard, and even one of the Three Heroes… this battle… we may lose.”
The number of troops of the Four-Country Alliance, which exceeded 60,000, had decreased to 32,000. In terms of numbers, it would still be twice as many as the Highserk army, but the Four-Country Alliance couldn’t even enter the fortress and was instead pushed back.
There would be a chance to win if the Alliance managed to capture the layers once again.
In Hugo’s homeland, the Liberitoa Trade Federation, there were “black water” springs in the desert where powerful and deadly monsters such as “Red Scorpion” were residing.
Sufficient enough to burn Sarajevo Fortress intermittently was brought, and a large thrower was also installed in the occupied layer. All this was ruined by a total attack, which was triggered by a surprise attack of the 《Demon Fire》 user.
“Using normal means won’t be enough. Then―― there is only the Demon Territory.”
With normal troops, there was no chance of winning against the Highserk Empire, which still held Sarajevo Fortress. Hugo looked at the map away from Sarajevo Fortress and pointed to the largest Demon Territory in the center of the continent.
The large thrower was lost, but the Liberitoa black water was safe as it was shipped to Lake Celta. And Hugo thought it would be a waste not to use it.
It was the largest and strongest Demon Territory on the continent, and even transporting a barrel of black water would cost some troops. However, since the situation was bad unless something big happened, the answer was fixed in Hugo’s mind.
There was enough to burn the forest in the Demon Territory, so no problem with that. What Hugo had to do was whisper a sweet invitation to Craist, who had suffered much damage from the revenge of King Ferrius, blinded by the revenge of his younger brother. For example, using the fact that one of the “Three Heroes” had been taken. If Hugo could talk well, Craist would agree to his plan.
However, if this failed, Hugo would have to develop a new strategy.
Then, a girl who succeeded her father and became the ruler of Myard appeared in Hugo’s mind.
A patriot who was still immature, but who cared about her country. She wouldn’t be convinced by the plan for sure. Hugo, however, laughed and thought that the weak Myard couldn’t do anything if it was three against one.
Fortunately, the Liberitoa soldiers had the least damage and now had the most troops here compared to Myard, Ferrius, and Craist.
Successful or unsuccessful, the Highserk Empire would be hit hard, Hugo figured.
Hugo, finally summing up his thoughts, called his followers together and gave instructions. From the beginning, there was no option for Hugo like “achieve nothing and return to the country”.
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“Are you serious about burning the Demon Territory on the outer edge of Myard?”
The angry voice of Rita Myard echoed in the closely guarded tent. Now, the Principality of Myard had only the territory of Celta. As a member of the Four-Country Alliance, it had the fewest forces to mobilize. And the new ruler, Rita Myard had limited influence as the youngest among those sitting in the leader position of the Alliance.
However, as the country’s representative, Rita couldn’t remain silent after she knew her country would be devastated.
“That said, is there any other way to move the Highserk Empire from Sarajevo Fortress? If you burn down the forest in the demon territory, the demons will attack the Highserk soldiers. Of course, some people from Myard, will be sacrificed, but it’s the price of necessity.”
Hearing, the selfish words of the Foreign Minister, hatred was swelling up within Rita
However, thinking that she had to be calm, Rita calmed her breathing. She understood that if she allowed herself to be enraged, it would only lead to what the old fox wanted.
“Do the other two countries agree with the operation at the expense of the people of their allies?”
In the tent, other than Rita and the Foreign Minister of the Liberitoa, sat the King of the Ferrius Kingdom and the Commander of the Order of Reharzen on behalf of the King.
The Knight Commander answered Rita’s question.
“Sacrifice is an integral part of the war. Craist has made great sacrifices. Despite being a country that joined after being invited to this war. The one that needs to have the determination to win, isn’t it the Principality of Myard?”
Then King Ferrius preached.
“Ferrius has also made a great contribution to both the military and civilians. This is the only way to knock the Highserk Empire down to hell. Burning the Demon Territory on the outer of Myard will also cost my Kingdom. And we’re prepared for it!”
Feeling craziness in King Ferrius’ eyes, Rita realized that the death of his younger brother, whom he had been fond of, had a severe effect.
Rita herself had lost her great father and her hometown in the Battle of Aidenberg. She could understand the luscious temptation of vengeance. Still, she couldn’t let herself be tempted by it as a ruler of a country.
“But!!”
Hugo interrupted Rita, who raised her voice, since now he had lit two candles.
“If you allow Highserk to recover here, you’ll be attacked one by one. The Highserk Empire can’t help but cut the opponent’s neck once attacked. That country is terribly aggressive in the name of the Defensive War. And if you don’t draw them out of Sarajevo Fortress, the Highserk Empire will regain its strength and mobilize troops from its territory. I don’t want to say this, but if that happens, Myard will be the first to sink.”
In short, what Hugo wanted to say was, that because he was thinking of Myard, there would be a need to burn the forest of the Demon Territory on the outer edge of Myard. That in the end, it was for Myard.
Rita’s persuasion continued, but the conversation slowly moved on to what she feared most.
“In the agreements, the direction of the war would be decided by a majority vote. Right?”
King Ferrius, in a hurry to conclude, presented a plan that Rita didn’t want to hear the most.
“It’s definitely written in the agreement.”
“If so, let’s take a majority vote. Craist Kingdom votes in favor of burning the Demon Territory.”
“… ugggh, the Principality of Myard votes in objection.”
“Ferrius votes in favor.”
“Liberitoa Trade Federation votes in favor.”
“It’s 3 to 1. It’s decided, we’ll burn the Demon Territory on the outer edge of Myard.”
“That land is a Demon Territory with mighty demons that even the “three great countries” don’t touch carelessly, and the degree of danger is different from other Demon Territories. It cannot be handled by humans!!”
It was a box that shouldn’t be opened, in which even monsters classified as S and A class dwelled.
Sadly, from the point of view of ordinary people, Rita would be among those involved in opening the box that would put her people in danger.
“We will use adventurers to burn the forest. It seems that the adventurers who have been locked out of their hometown will cooperate. Aren’t the people of Myard very devoted? Let’s pray for the success of this operation.”
Rita clenched her fist, thinking that everything had gone according to the expectation of the Liberitoa’s Foreign Minister.
In the end, a country without power could only ever choose nothing.
Rita looked to the sky in her helplessness, but she could only see the tent’s fabric, which made her feel trapped inside even more so.
TN: Join my discord channel if you want.
Thanks for the chapter!
Damn not only were the previous ruler of Mynard an idiot by enacting a scorched earth policy which got him lynched by his own people. These other rulers are trying to incite a monster/demon invasion that’ll probably bite their asses in the butt. The monsters will most likely invade other lands and not just the ones they want the war to stop in.
Thank you very much for the chapter
I don’t think this will end well…