Genius Prince’s National Revitalization from State Deficit ~ Right, Let Us Sell the Country

Ever since her big brother had headed to the west to lead his army, Falanya dedicated time out of her busy schedule to go onto her terrace and gaze in his direction every day.

She understood it was a silly, pointless thing to do. His letters were proof enough that he still hadn’t returned. No matter how much she rubbed her eyes, she knew he wouldn’t appear in front of her.

She understood in theory, not in practice.

Now that she thought about it, she’d done the same thing while he was studying in the Empire. Back then, she looked toward the east. If there was no one to interrupt her, she could continue to stare out forever. Truth be told, with the king bedridden and the prince gone, very few people could scold her for her actions.

“Princess, please return to your room. Too much wind is not good for the body.”

One of those people, the chamberlain Holly, called from within, and Falanya turned to face a swarthy elderly woman of portly stature with short hair and dark skin.

It was uncommon to see those of her race—even in Natra. She was from the southern part of the continent, but Falanya didn’t know the details. For as long as she could remember, this woman had taken care of her.

“Just a little while longer. I have to pray for his safety,” Falanya said.

“Whether you’re praying on a cold terrace or inside a warm room, I’m sure they’ll be heard all the same.”

“That’s not true. I think God listens to the prayers of those who are suffering.”

“Then I believe God would say you should take care of yourself first. Besides, Princess, these hot, fresh pancakes may end up in my stomach if you’re not careful.”

“Oh dear, luring me in with food. What a dirty move, Holly.”

“My god says it’s a sin to let hot food go to waste.” Holly laughed as she set the table, and the scent of pancakes subtly wafted out.

Falanya finally stepped in from the terrace.

“Nanaki,” she called out toward the wall.

A boy emerged.

This was her guard, Nanaki. From his translucent white hair and red eyes, it was obvious he was a Flahm—just like Ninym.

“Let’s eat together.”

“……” Nanaki gave a slight nod and sat down with Falanya.

Holly divided the pancakes as she observed this delightful scene.

“Wein says he’s doing well in his letters, but I wonder if it’s really true,” Falanya said.

“He isn’t really the type of person to complain over small things, is he?”

Holly had long looked after Wein, too. His personality had gone through different phases, but she’d always thought he was the type of child who kept his weaknesses to himself.

“They have no problems,” whispered Nanaki, devouring his share of the pancakes. “Ninym is with him.”

Yes, Ninym Ralei. She was his trusted aide and confidant, and she was like a sister to Falanya.

“…Yes, Wein and Ninym have each other,” she said.

She trusted Ninym almost as much as Wein. When they were together, it seemed as if there was nothing they couldn’t do.

“Yes, you’re very right. Why, with Wein and Ninym there, I could ask to join their military efforts, and—”

“No,” whispered Nanaki.

“Absolutely not,” scolded Holly.

Her dreams quickly dashed, Falanya melted across the desk.

“It’s incredibly dangerous, and you don’t have any time to spare right now, Princess. You said you were interested in studying politics, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes, I suppose I did.”

Though Falanya had been raised with the tenderest love and care, she’d recently started diving into her studies in order to help her brother. But when it came down to it, her studies were quick to become a bother and slow to come to fruition. She unconsciously moaned at each and every lecture.

“Ahhh… He must be facing challenges I can’t even imagine, but I’m sure he’s dealing with them just fine.”

Falanya gave a small sigh as she thought of her brother galloping around the west.

As for how Wein was currently faring…

“THIS SUUUUUUUUUUCKS!”

He was in his room writhing in agony, a far cry from his sister’s dignified image of him.

“I’m screwed, royally screwed. How could I have seriously thought I could get out of it that way…? Yeah, right… Ngaaaaaaah!”

“Told you your greed would backfire,” scoffed Ninym coolly, her expression stern.

“Plus! Rumors are spreading like wildfire! Rumors about the very meeting we just had!”

“We never made the guards swear to secrecy…”

While Wein and Ninym had been preoccupied with their failure, the guards had passed everything that had transpired to the soldiers and residents of the mine.

The gist of the story was whittled down to: Marden tried to solve everything with money, but the crown-prince regent firmly refused for the good of his army and the people.

The guards who had already been full of adoration for Wein cast Marden as a treacherous, savage tribe and Wein as a kindhearted, sage ruler with an ear to the heavens.

Here are a few snippets from the residents and soldiers upon hearing the news:

“Damn Marden. How dare they insult those who gave their lives for their country. Nothin’ but mindless beasts!”

“Even if they could deceive us with money, it’d never hide their vile hearts.”

“Yeah, but we can always count on His Highness. Even when they offered enough gold to cover the national budget, he still shot ’em down.”

“He’s our national treasure. We can never sully a decision by His Highness!”

With that, the army’s spirit ascended to new heights. The residents of the mine were moved to tears and unanimously expressed a desire to serve His Highness until the very end of their days.

“I’m guessing now would be a really bad time to withdraw… All I wanted to do was sell the mine and make lots of money. Why’d it have to turn out like this…?” Wein collapsed on the desk. “Gwaaah.”

Ninym tried to console him. “…I think it’s a good thing. That he turned you down, I mean.”

“Whaaaa?! Miss Ninym, what part about any of this is good?! Get your head on straight! On top of being knee-deep in debt, the perfect chance slipped through my fingers. And you’re okay with that?!”

“But it would’ve meant accepting the enemy’s terms and wounding our soldiers’ pride. If you think about it in the long term, it could have damaged your reign.”

“Well, I’m not planning to be in charge for very long anyway! In fact, I plan on selling the country to the Empire the second I rise to the throne, so— Owwwww?! Quit trying to stick a potato up my nose…!” He somehow managed to stop Ninym from committing an act of barbarity and twirled the potato in his hand as he spoke. “At any rate, getting rid of this mine isn’t a matter of ‘if.’ The only problem is finding the best timing to get the opportunity back.”

“The entire army will fight until the bitter end to keep it, so it’ll be impossible to make them give that up without a strong incentive.”

“Marden is gonna lead a huge army here. Once we face them, battle fatigue is bound to hit our men hard, whether they like it or not.”

“The strength of their army is proportionate to our ego. Won’t it get our troops fired up instead?”

“I think we’ll have to fight at least one battle,” Wein mumbled, dissatisfied. “If there’s any more bloodshed, their morale will take a hit. Besides, even now, Marden is probably hoping to settle things quickly, even though we’ve failed to negotiate. If it comes to a stalemate, we can reconcile with them and sell back the mine…!”

“You just won’t give up, will you?”

“Give up? Come on! How could I? As it is, the bill is through the roof. If there’s gold for the taking, you bet I’ll grab it with all I’ve got!”

“Okay, okay, fine. Well then, should I keep an eye on Marden’s movements and prepare for the upcoming siege?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Wein nodded and continued on. “One more thing. We’ve got a few informants in their royal palace, right?”

“Yes, just a small number in both the Mahdia and Stella factions.”

“Well, get them to hint that the Stella might make a move and that they might take back the mine soon. Make it seem as natural as possible.”

“I’ll see to it.”

“I’d also like to talk to Raklum and Pelynt about battle positions.”

“Understood. I’ll call them in on the way.”

Ninym turned on her heel and exited the room. Left alone, Wein distracted himself and played with the potato for a while.

He looked up at the ceiling. “Doesn’t look like I can just leave the next one in Hagal’s hands… Guess it’s my turn now.”

Ninym found Raklum near the entrance to the mine, where he was talking with Pelynt about the location and condition of the tunnels.

“Commander Raklum, His Highness wishes to see you. Pelynt, he asks that you join him.”

“Certainly. I’ll be there immediately.”

Raklum had many duties, including giving orders to the soldiers and keeping channels of communication open with the residents. But whenever Wein called for him, he was ready to answer at the drop of a hat. The two men headed toward the building together.

“Commander Raklum, might I ask a question?” started Pelynt.

“But of course.”

Raklum had recently been appointed to handle business affairs, and Pelynt acted as the head of the mine, so the two were in close contact with each other and on friendly terms. He was asking this question as a matter of course.

“Is that Flahm girl His Highness’s favorite concubine or something…?”

“……”

Raklum jolted to a stop, and the air around them grew heavy. Pelynt realized he’d clearly misspoken, and his eyes went to the sword at Raklum’s side. He was fully prepared to die.

“…Sir Pelynt. Come to think of it, you are from Marden, correct?”

“…Yes, I am.” Pelynt nodded slowly. He’d escaped death in that moment, but he could tell it was still very close to swinging the other way.

“Then I suppose it’s unsurprising you find our ways strange. After all, the Flahm aren’t treated very well in the West.”

“……”

“Lady Ninym is irreplaceable to His Highness. I’m sure she acts as a concubine in some aspects, but she’s so much more. She is an important aide and a friend without equal.”

“That is… I see. It appears I’ve been terribly rude.”

“No, no need to apologize. I’m thankful you brought it to my attention. We’re no longer in the royal palace, after all, and I keep forgetting there are many who don’t know Lady Ninym.” Raklum closed his eyes to gather his thoughts. “Sir Pelynt, His Highness is kindhearted and a lord worth serving—but, like all kings, he possesses an unspeakable wrath.”

“……”

“As far as I know, there have been three people who’ve publicly insulted Lady Ninym.”

“…And what happened to those people?”

“They’re gone.”

Pelynt quickly understood what Raklum was trying to imply.

“Sir Pelynt, I don’t have the authority to give you orders, so it goes without saying that this is nothing but an appeal: See to it that both you and your subordinates watch your words.”

“…I understand. But if someone’s tongue does slip,” he started.

“If it does…” Raklum tapped the hilt of his sword menacingly. “…it’ll be better to pretend they never existed in the first place. If we wake the sleeping dragon, he could very well lose control.”

“……” Pelynt didn’t say another word. The two carried this silence between them until they arrived at Wein’s office.

“Your Highness. It is Raklum and Pelynt.”

“Come in.”

They entered the room. Pelynt’s face still looked nervous from their conversation earlier. They both took a knee upon seeing Wein seated in his chair.

“I have come at your request.”

“I heard there is a task for me as well. Please ask of me what you will.”

Wein listened to their statements and nodded. “Did you hear about our negotiations with Marden the other day?”

“Yes, such news has reached my ears.”

“Well then, this should go quickly. There’s no longer any chance of avoiding battle with Marden. We’ll have multiple war councils from now on to hammer out the details, but we’ll most likely decide to ultimately defend the mine and fight them there. So there’s something I want you two to work on ahead of time.” Wein grinned and began to explain his plan.

While Natra was outlining its defense strategy, Marden was moving to take back the gold mine.

“How many soldiers do we have?” In the royal court, Minister Holonyeh was spearheading battle preparations.

“We currently have around twenty thousand.”

“Much less than we planned. What’s going on?”

“The head of the Mahdia’s Monas family is still reluctant to join the troops.”

“How preposterous! At a time like this! Tell them the king will have their heads if they throw any more tantrums.”

“Understood!”

He issued more orders to his subordinates, then headed for the king’s hall.

As Holonyeh stood before him, King Fyshtarre made no effort to hide his irritation. “Holonyeh, why haven’t you eliminated those pests yet?”

“My king, please wait just a short while longer. I promise to bring you glorious victory…”

“That much is a given! Listen, those fools were insolent enough to turn down an offer to talk this out! These gnats have forgotten their station and sullied my name for a second time! There will be hell to pay!”

Even though King Fyshtarre had zero interest in diplomacy from the very beginning, it was unacceptable for anyone to reject an offer made in his name. He considered the Kingdom of Natra to be far beneath him, and he couldn’t imagine the correct response to his proposal to be anything other than humble bootlicking.

Holonyeh still couldn’t stop laughing about it. Thanks to Minister Midan advocating for a diplomatic resolution, his political opponent had been cast aside by the king and his influence at least halved. On top of that, Holonyeh was trusted with commanding the upcoming battle. Meaning the Stella had all the power. No one was left to stand in his way. If he succeeded in taking back the gold mine, his position in the royal palace would be set. He’d drive out the Mahdia blight and have both the politically clueless king and the rest of the country under his thumb.

However, a pitifully small country like this will not satisfy me… I’ll have to go big.

More ambitious efforts and a clear path ahead filled him with immense joy.

As he stood gloating, the voice of someone important reached his ears.

“Is this where you were, my king?”

A handsome man clad in armor appeared before Holonyeh and the king. He was the young general Draghwood, one of the Stella and a full supporter of Holonyeh.

“I apologize deeply for my tardiness. I, Draghwood, have arrived at His Royal Majesty’s request.”

“Hmph, about time…”

As Draghwood loudly declared his loyalty, Fyshtarre gave him a sour look and sniffed.

It was common knowledge among the retainers that Fyshtarre hated Draghwood, jealous of his good looks. Even so, now that Marden was late in the game, even Fyshtarre knew he couldn’t cast him aside—especially for a reason as petty as his face.

Moreover, the general’s youth and good looks were no accident. His handsome features would quickly make him popular with the people, and his youthful lack of experience meant he would be easy to keep a handle on. Draghwood was chosen to put on a good face and make a push for the Stella, more than for his talents and gifts.

“Welcome back, General Draghwood. I can only imagine the difficulties you’ve suffered while protecting our western lands.”

“There were no major encounters; it was relatively peaceful.”

It was true. Western Marden was stable, so he was really only there to gain clout. It was impossible for him to fail in such a place, however talentless he might be.

“The soldiers keeping an eye on Natra are the ones facing the heat.” Draghwood was well aware of the ongoing war with Natra in the east.

“I’m going to have you command our troops in order to take back the stolen lands. You’ll agree to do this, right?” Fyshtarre commanded.

“Yes, of course.” He gave a smile full of confidence. “The people of Natra are a band of savages who don’t know the teachings of Levetia. When I heard our beloved country had been ravaged by such people, I was ashamed and humiliated for letting this come to pass. In the name of our god and our king, let me show them where they belong.”

The troops gathered into formation to take back their mine. All together, they amassed to thirty thousand soldiers. Draghwood the Stella stood at the great host’s head. Their supreme commander was a symbol of their military prowess.

As the continent greeted the coming summer, both the Natra and Marden armies were set to clash in a brutal fight.

A unique feature of the Jilaat mine was that it had the mountain ridge circling in an arc around the main quarry. From overhead, it looked like the tail of a curled beast. The summit was at a relatively gentle incline, but nothing was there except rocks and sand. Ore was still being excavated from tunnels halfway up the mountain. Hardly anyone had traveled so high up.

—Until now. The main camp of the Kingdom of Natra’s army sat at the very top of the mine.

“Well, I gotta say. This makes for one hell of a view,” Wein murmured as he stared down at the foot of the mountain from his headquarters.

Surrounding the gold mine was the full might of the Marden army, ready and in position—easily over thirty thousand men.

“Five thousand versus thirty thousand. Hopeless, of course,” he commented.

Ninym sighed beside him. Five thousand. That was all they had to defend themselves. Of course, they had the supplies to last through a siege, and everything had been meticulously planned. But this large a gap in numbers was sobering to say the least.

Even so, neither of them thought this would lead to a heroic tragedy.

“So, twenty-five thousand at the front of the mine and five thousand in the back?” he confirmed.

“The back is basically a wall. That’d be pretty difficult to climb. That said, it still feels like the Marden forces are being sloppy by not stationing enough of their men below.”

“Not much surprise there,” he remarked knowingly. “It isn’t their main goal to annihilate our troops. In fact, if we tried to escape from the back, they’d probably be happy about it.”

Now Wein was certain that this overwhelming enemy still had weaknesses he could take advantage of.

“Ninym, where is everyone?”

“They’re ready for you.”

“All right, guess we better have one last meeting before the battle.”

Wein and Ninym made their way to one of the makeshift tents.

“General Draghwood, the troops are ready.”

“Good work.”

While Wein and Ninym had been gazing down the mountain, the Marden army was staring up at the gold mine. Their force was thirty thousand strong, assembled by loosening Marden’s purse strings and paying out a handsome sum.

This was the first time Draghwood had taken to the field with such a large army. It was a first for Marden, too. But his handsome face showed no signs of nervousness or worry, more along the lines of compassion and mercy.

“To have to face this many soldiers while holed up in a castle with no way to retreat… How foolish,” he said.

“Shall I take that as a testament of their courage?”

The adjutant’s reply was likely meant as a joke, but Draghwood shook his head tragically.

“This can’t even be called blind courage. They fundamentally lack the common sense to understand they’re as good as done. Anyone else would’ve been able to measure just how much of a disadvantage they’re at. Honestly, if we are to fight like wild animals, I hope they at least have the animal instinct to know when to quit. Less blood to be spilled.”

“As expected of you. To extend kindness and compassion to the enemy.”

“You have to remember: This isn’t a battle between humans. We’ve been ordered to exterminate vermin. I mean, that’d drive anyone to extend some kindness.” Draghwood looked up. “I’ll make this quick and painless. I can at least do that much.”

“—Right on schedule.”

When Wein sat back in his chair at the war council, those were the first words out of his mouth. Inside the tent were the commanding officers. Raklum and Hagal were present. There was no unrest among them, and everyone knew he wasn’t bluffing.

“It was worth instigating events within their royal palace. There’s no question the enemy is looking for a quick fight.”

“They’re hoping to overpower us with a large force so that we have no choice but to make our escape. If we don’t, they’ll take over the mine in one go. Is that right?”

“Yeah. This way, we’ve at least got a chance.”

The worst-case scenario would be getting caught in a battle of attrition where the Natra army would be forced to use up their limited stamina. If that’s what the Marden wanted to do, they would have prepared a few thousand soldiers to keep an eye on the mine and cut off Natra’s trade and supplies—instead of sending a massive army.

That would’ve been effective, seeing the surrounding regions were still under the control of Marden, and Wein was in a semi-isolated location. It wouldn’t be easy to maintain his force’s strength and continue protecting the mine if they couldn’t replenish their supplies. If things became dragged out, they’d be driven into a corner, and Natra would be the first to raise a white flag.

But Marden didn’t do that. They were too caught up fretting about the gold mine, their nation’s lifeline. They couldn’t bear to have it taken away from them for another second.

“There’s no question they really struggled to pull together thirty thousand soldiers. Their army will use up a ton of resources and supplies from day one, and they’re sure to be short on guards along the country’s borders. In that case, they won’t be able to keep this up for very long. I’d say—they’ll probably last about a month.”

He’d come to this conclusion after compiling the information his spies had gathered. It was very accurate.

If they held out against Marden for a month and forced them to withdraw, Natra would be rewarded with renewed confidence, and Marden might realize they weren’t going down so easily.

Then I might get a second chance at reconciliation…!

He wouldn’t fail this time. As he carried this mistake with him, Wein announced, “Let’s go, everyone—it’s gonna be a messy month.”

Marden made the first move. That went without saying.

There were three paths in the mountains leading up to the mine, and the Marden soldiers rushed up each of them simultaneously. Of course, Natra’s forces were waiting for them at each path, and the sharp sound of battle echoed through the region.

“Forward! Crawl over your dead comrades if you have to! Keep moving!”

“Stop them! Kick them off the path!”

On either side, the angry roars of soldiers and barked commands flew in every direction. The battlefield was submerged in heat and passion. But it was only the beginning. The determination to win rose to the surface on both sides.

“Oh, looks like Natra’s got some spirit after all.”

“Ha-ha-ha, a brush with death will make anyone frantic.”

“Seeing how long they can keep up should be fun.”

In an unexpected turn of events, the Marden commanders found that their enemy wouldn’t go down easily at the start of the battle. But as they observed their opponents, they remained perfectly calm. The enemy’s strength was only temporary. Besides, their own military force made it obvious there was no cause for concern.

In less than a few hours, we should be able to take the mountain’s third station…

Back at the royal palace, Draghwood had made the firm promise that Natra would fall within the week. At this rate, it’d likely be less than half that time. As he thought of their triumphant return in the near future, he broke into a small smile. Then, just as expected, his soldiers began to grow adjusted to the battle. A change in tides burst forth.

However, it sorely went awry.

“…What’s this?”

The Marden forces were being pushed back.

“What’s going on…?”

Peeking down the edge of the mountain summit, Pelynt was bewildered when he saw the scene below.

Since this was war and the residents of the mine were civilians, many of them fled to Natra. Those who chose to remain were conscripted as soldiers. Even so, they had hardly any training and primarily worked as military engineers.

Pelynt had stayed behind to continue acting as a mediator and now stood in the middle of a war zone. His heart swirled with feelings of anxiety and doubt. The enemy had thirty thousand soldiers. Thirty thousand. Upon hearing these numbers, Pelynt prepared for death. Being back under Marden’s rule would leave him with no more than a few years anyway. Falling on the battlefield to repay His Highness wouldn’t be so bad: That had been his line of thinking when he chose to stay.

“Why do we have the upper hand…?” he wondered aloud.

The state of the battle was beyond his expectations. One after the other, the soldiers of Natra rotated between repelling the Marden men on the mountain path and blocking their way.

As he stared down in confusion, he heard a voice behind him. “There are a number of reasons.”

Startled, Pelynt quickly turned around in surprise. “Y-Your Highness?!”

“Relax. As you were.” Wein held out a hand to stop Pelynt from taking a knee as he walked over to stand by his side.

“First of all, their men must have trained separately. Look at the back of the Marden army. There’s kind of a whitish group there, right?”

“Y-yes. That is…?”

“Their commander Draghwood’s elite forces. They look white from the light reflecting off their armor. Now, what about the Marden soldiers at the foot of the mountain?”

“…They aren’t very well equipped.”

“Exactly.” He nodded. “Most of their army consists of farmers, paid to fight. Draghwood is too stingy to use his elites and tossed the untrained soldiers into battle first. But our troops were trained to the Empire’s standards, plus we have pride and confidence from beating them last time. We’re no pushovers,” he scoffed. “On top of that—at this time of year, there is a strong air current that blows from the summit to the foot of the mountain. Thanks to that, our arrows can catch the wind and reach deep into the heart of the enemy. On the flip side, their arrows drop halfway. We’ve also placed guards in blind spots and set up a number of trenches to weaken the enemy’s offense—but most important is this terrain we’re fighting on.”

“The terrain?”

“Five thousand versus thirty thousand. The numbers are scary at a glance, but take a look. How many do you think are fighting right now?”

Upon hearing this, a realization struck Pelynt. There were thirty thousand enemy soldiers, but in reality, the vast majority were idly circling around them—doing nothing in particular. Only a few hundred were actually fighting.

“The mountain paths aren’t wide by any means. There’s no way for them to fully deploy thousands of soldiers. As a result, it went from five thousand versus thirty thousand to a few hundred from each side each duking it out. Doesn’t that just tickle you, Pelynt? The rest of them are simply a bunch of freeloaders, getting meals for no work in return.”

“I see… So that’s why you suddenly had the miners shave down the mountain. It was to create a greater incline to stop the Marden from advancing in large numbers, I’m guessing?”

“Exactly. It’s not so bad if you’re agile and not loaded down by a weapon, but trying to ascend a slope with swords and spears is hell. Even if you claw your way up, our soldiers are waiting for you at the top. They’ve got no choice but to use the designated roads.”

“However, with all due respect, what if the Marden forge their own path…?”

“We won’t have to worry about that for a while,” Wein said, shaking his head. “They probably would have considered making new paths if there weren’t any roads at all, or if they were narrower and fewer in number. But there are three to choose from, and it’s not impossible to fight on them. Carving their own way would take time and require the right tools.” Wein gave a smirk. “They’re not willing to spare the extra labor. It’s easier to use the paths as they are—and they love things that are easy. At this point, they think they can depend on brute force. My plan is all about making them believe that.”

“……” At last, Pelynt understood.

Unless this boy was just plain nice, he didn’t enter a battle to die an honorable death for his people. In the back of Wein’s mind, there was a world only he could see, and he knew for certain there was a path to victory.

“Well, we can chat more later. How’s the other matter coming along, Pelynt?”

“Ah… Yes, sir! The construction is complete and ready to go at any time.”

“Good work.”

Wein’s eyes fixated on a single point. Marden’s headquarters. Their commander, Draghwood, was probably there.

“These little surprises should be making him pull at his hair right about now, but…I’ll have him around my pinkie for a little while longer.”

“—How is such idiocy even possible?!”

Draghwood’s angry voice echoed inside the tent. The other commanders hung their heads and kept silent. As if trying to escape from the brunt of his rage, they all put on as stoic a face as they could muster.

“It’s thirty thousand against five thousand…! How are you failing to take control of one mountain?!”

Three days had passed since the start of the battle. And Marden had achieved absolutely nothing in that time.

Their investigations showed the Kingdom of Natra’s army had placed their main guard at the first, second, and third stations: the critical junctures. On top of that, they had a large store of supplies stashed inside the mine and a system that allowed the front line to be replenished through a series of checkpoints so they could continue to fight.

This was also a difficult battlefield: Trenches had been built in front of each juncture, and the extra dirt had been used to form a steep wall. Not to mention the soldiers on patrol were the physical manifestations of power and might. They cleverly worked together to fend off the Marden soldiers trying to climb up and quickly replaced the fatigued and injured with backup.

Marden’s lack of preparation showed. In a sense, the Natra army had transformed the entire mountain into a fortress, while his men had sauntered onto the battlefield with equipment good for fighting on level ground—not storming castles.

They, of course, checked for new paths and gaps in their opponent’s defense strategy, but none of the results led to anything. They were stuck in this predicament. Even their extensive resources were continuing to dwindle, and the prolonged, fruitless assault was taking a toll on the soldiers’ morale.

“These damn savage barbarians…!” Draghwood’s resentment refused to cool down. Lesser life-forms had gotten the jump on him and led him around by the nose. He covered his bruised pride with outward rage.

A messenger came flying into the tent.

“My apologies!”

“What is it?!” Draghwood barked. “Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a war council?”

Faced with a death glare, the messenger shook as he spoke. “D-deepest apologies. I have an important report from the soldiers who scouted the area…”

“Well?”

“Sir… The truth is, they’ve discovered old tunnels possibly leading inside the mine.”

“What?!”

A small commotion rippled among the commanders.

“I need details. Where is it?!”

“Hey, bring a map of the area around the mine!”

They hurriedly spread the map inside the tent. The gold mine was in the center, and the mountain ridge circled around it. The messenger pointed.

“They discovered tunnels near this part of the ridge, and when they investigated the inside, it seemed clearly man-made.”

“You mean the cave itself is natural?”

“Yes, but take it with a grain of salt: It’s a report from some soldiers. But based on their findings, they wonder if those who dug it gave up upon reaching the cave.”

“Have they confirmed where it leads to?”

“It’s appears to be long, but there’s been no confirmation yet. They wished to confer with you first.”

The messenger finished his report, and the commanders looked at one another. Amid their predicament, they’d found a new path that led them straight to the heart of their enemy. Each of them knew they were at a vital crossroad and needed to approach their next move with caution.

“General Draghwood, let’s investigate as soon as possible. If the tunnels lead inside the mine, we can instantly change the course of this war.”

“I’d hate to waste time by working on something as tedious as an investigation. Let’s send in two thousand men? Fortunately—eh, that might not be the right word—we have plenty of soldiers waiting on standby. If it’s a false flag, we can easily call them back.”

“Won’t that tip them off? I mean, we might finally have the chance to launch a surprise attack,” suggested another officer.

The commanders continued to trade opinions and strategies while Draghwood listened on in silence.

“—All right,” he finally muttered. “I know what to do.”

It’d been a week since they started to fight.

General fatigue hung over the battlefield. The Marden men were unable to break through the defenses, and the soldiers of Natra were unable to leave their fortified mine. With hand-to-hand combat peaking on day three, the standstill was quickly becoming a glaring contest.

This day ended with nothing more than sporadic clashes close to the paths. Both armies started setting up camp and went to sleep while a few kept watch.

Late into the night, there was some movement at the cave, surrounded by the trees and out of plain sight. Coupled with thick clouds veiling the moon, the night was dark and ominous. The inside of the cave was as black as if the darkness had been brewed and boiled, and it spewed forth an inky mess. An ebony silhouette oozed out of its entrance.

Not just one. Two, three, more, soundlessly followed. Then, in the blink of an eye, the number swelled to dozens more—

“—Light the torches!”

The cave flooded with light, illuminating a wide-eyed group of a few dozen Natra keeping watch, and over a hundred Marden soldiers carrying their burning lights in formation.

“It’s a trap! Retreat!” yelled a person in the smaller group.

“After them! Don’t let a single one get away!” shouted the impenetrable lineup as the two groups started to move simultaneously in an elaborate theater of hunter and prey.

It’s just as General Draghwood predicted!

Joining in on this dramatic chase was the commander in charge, Anglyru, smiling in satisfaction.

On the third day of the battle, Draghwood, upon finding out about the tunnels, had said: “First of all, we don’t know whether the tunnels actually lead anywhere useful inside of the mine. But if it does, there’s no way Natra wouldn’t know about it, right?”

“…You’re completely right.”

Of course, Natra would have investigated the inside of the gold mine the moment they got their hands on it, seeing they also had access to the miners and their knowledge. In fact, it would’ve been odd for them not to notice it.

“In that case, Natra has two ways to deal with this: either destroy it to prevent any outside forces from infiltrating into their main base or use it. My guess is the latter.”

“Why?”

“Well, you see, the tunnels can be used as an emergency escape route and to send out soldiers to launch a surprise attack. Once they realize we’ve found their tunnels, they might try to bury them, but if they’re oblivious, it’ll give us an ace up our sleeve.”

“How should we carry this out? Should we send soldiers and rush in after all?”

“No. It would be better to trap these beasts,” Draghwood spat, giving a twisted smile.

Truth be told, he was deeply humiliated by these barbarians and their effective counterattack. By trapping the Natra soldiers, he knew he’d heal his wounded pride.

In fact, the other commanders more or less wanted to move forward with this plan, too, so nobody pointed out that he wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.

“For now, we’ll keep the battle going and force them into a deadlock.”

“A-are you sure, sir?”

“It’s fine. If we enter a standstill, those lowlifes will see their chance and stir up trouble. And if the tunnels really do connect to the inside, there’s a good chance they’ll use the cave to do so… Anglyru!”

“Yes, sir!” Anglyru promptly bowed.

“You are to lead five hundred men to the perimeter of the cave and lie in wait. Starting now! When those guys come crawling out of the cave, kill ’em and storm in to finish the job,” he ordered. “They might be at an advantage now since they’re using the mountain paths to push us back. But they pose no threat on level ground. Plus, they’re such a small army that losing even a few dozen men is a fatal blow.”

“Please leave it to me! I shall smoke out those pathetic dogs and lay them to waste!”

These orders were the reason why Anglyru had hidden outside the cave. Four nights had passed, and now he was chasing after the fleeing lot, all according to plan.

“Go! Go! Don’t let ’em escape!” he barked as he ran through the dim cave, torch in one hand.

At the very least, he knew the tunnels were connected to the gold mine. That much was certain. When they reached the center, he and his men would rush in and tear the enemy army apart, and the first victory of the battle would be his.

They sure were quick to run, he thought in scorn and admiration.

As soon as they’d crawled out of the cave, he’d thought he had caught them completely off guard. But they’d turned tail almost immediately and scampered into the cave without a single casualty.

Beasts. The right thing to do is designate a few soldiers to buy enough time for someone to warn others of danger ahead. But I suppose fleeing for your own dear life is nature’s instinct when it comes down to these animals.

Their enemy’s speed was just as animalistic. Even though there was hardly enough light to see anything, they darted deeper and deeper into the cave without stumbling once.

—Hmph. That’s…

Before Anglyru’s eyes was a tunnel at the back of the jet-black cave, its periphery illuminated by bonfires. He caught the Natra soldiers scuttling inside the rocky path.

“They went down that way! After them!” Anglyru blared, slightly out of breath.

Not that his physical condition was something worth noting. After all, he was running at full speed in armor and carrying a sword, and around him, soldiers started to have the same trouble.

…Huh? he thought with a start, upon reaching the entrance to the tunnel. What about the enemy?

Of course, Anglyru and his soldiers were fully equipped. Why wouldn’t they be? They’d come to fight. But what about Natra?

…Nothing. They have nothing on them.

The Marden chased them into the tunnel. After all, those were the orders. It was why they came. Hold up. Wait. Something is off. As they hastened after them, an alarm rang inside his head.

Their enemy had no weapons or armor, and though they should’ve been caught off guard, they had made a splendid escape. On top of it all, they were visible during the entire chase even though they should’ve been able to quickly outpace the Marden forces due to being dozens of pounds lighter.

No, it can’t be.

They continued the chase, and he looked back. About ten soldiers followed behind. It was an exceedingly narrow tunnel. It was too late to either stop or turn around.

Have I just been lured into a—?

In the next moment, a thunderous, clamorous bang rang in his head, and Anglyru’s consciousness fell into darkness.

“—You’re telling me they failed?”

The messenger’s report drained all color from Draghwood’s face.

“Yes… They followed orders to wait outside the cave. When a few dozen Natra soldiers emerged from it, they followed Captain Anglyru’s command to pursue the fleeing lot into the inner tunnels, but…”

“But what? Spit it out!”

“…it collapsed. The tunnel fell down on them: Captain Anglyru and a hundred others were crushed on impact.”

“……” Draghwood’s lips trembled. The wooden bowl in his hand burst into a million pieces. “YOU SWINE—PIGS, BEASTS, DAMN STUPID IDIOTS!”

Unable to contain his rage any longer, he punted the chair and bashed it with his fists. “HOW DARE THOSE MANGY, HEATHEN DOGS TRY TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME…!”

“G-General, please try to calm down.”

“Y-yes,” placated a commander. “We understand losing Anglyru is big. But we lost only a hundred soldiers. No more than a hundred men out of thousands.”

He had a valid point. Even with all the dead and injured since the start of the war, they still had plenty of soldiers—over twenty thousand. One hundred men wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“Those Natra are no doubt throwing themselves a victory banquet, but this supposed ‘win’ is nothing more than a misunderstanding. We are the true winners: Our men closed off their escape route.”

Hearing them prattle on and on helped Draghwood finally regain his composure. He released a big sigh and picked up the fallen chair.

“…You know what? You’re right. One hundred people. It’s only one hundred,” Draghwood said to himself as he turned to the messenger. “Is it possible to fix the cave-in?”

“According to the reports, it’d take around one or two months.”

“It might as well be a dead end in this battle…” the general brusquely concluded, looking out above the tents and glaring at the summit beyond them. “Enjoy yourselves, savages. This small wound had no effect on us…!”

“—To be honest, it effects them a lot.” Wein was coincidentally laughing in a tent at the top of the mountain.

“Really? Even though we took out only a hundred of thirty thousand?” Ninym questioned.

The two were alone, so they didn’t bother mincing words.

“You’re right that we barely managed to damage their troops. We lured them in as far as we could to trap them, but the tunnel was super-narrow. Even though the miners did an awesome job setting off the trap, we can’t expect too much more. But our target wasn’t the soldiers.”

She tilted her head. “Then who?”

He lightly tapped his chest with his thumb. “The hearts of the leaders controlling the army. That’s what I was trying to get at.”

In a start, she remembered something. “That’s why you had me research their supreme commander in such detail.”

“Yep. Long story short, Draghwood is a member of the Stella elite and a devoted follower of the teachings of Levetia, which basically means he sees us as a ragtag group of barbarians.”

“…Well, he must’ve been under a lot of stress, seeing he couldn’t make any progress in this battle fighting against us ‘savages.’”

“That’s when the information about tunnels was floated toward him like a lifeboat. A chance at recovery. But Draghwood got greedy, unsatisfied with simply sending in soldiers. He just had to lay a trap and chase us to prove he was better than some beasts.”

“And suffered even more humiliation as a result.”

“Exactly.” Wein looked at the map, where there was a neat line of pawns symbolizing the enemy. There were significantly fewer pieces around the mine. “I have no way of defeating an army of thirty thousand with only five thousand,” he admitted. “But I can go for the commanders behind them.”

His fingers gripped around the innermost piece, the enemy’s headquarters.

“When the heart suffers fresh wounds, it can hinder the decision-making process. The more we injure Draghwood, the duller their army’s movements will become. He’s stumbling along just the way we hoped he would.”

Watching her master fiddle with a pawn, Ninym shrugged. “I’ve always thought this, Wein, but you really do have an awful personality.”

He smirked. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Charge! Go forward!”

“Today’s the day we take down their filthy base!”

“YEAAAAAAAAAH!”

The Marden forces took their aggression one step further, attacking their enemy with more fervor than before, as if to compensate for their losses.

Their strategy was to continue applying pressure in numbers—simple, but difficult to fight against. Even the Natra soldiers were starting to feel the losses after beating back their enemy time and time again, only to be met with more soldiers.

As the days progressed, the Natra forces destroyed their own positions near the first station on the mountain paths, as if to say they couldn’t take it anymore. They then pulled their lines farther up the hill.

Hearing this report made Draghwood’s perpetual frown break into a smile, and the Marden soldiers finally felt as if they were making headway. Relief spread across the army.

—But this moment didn’t escape Wein’s attention.

“Raklum.”

“Sir.”

Under the moonlight, Wein and Raklum stood alongside each other on the summit. Below them was the sleeping Marden army. A night watch was on guard, but it was easy to tell they were being careless. It was understandable. The Marden found strength in numbers, and though their men had attacked at night, there had been no retaliation from Natra so far. On top of that, they’d just gained the upper hand tonight, putting them in a good mood. An army consisting mostly of farmers couldn’t help but let their guard down.

For this reason, Wein told Raklum, “Be flashy, but don’t play around like you did in the Polta Wasteland.”

“Leave it to me.” Raklum gave a solid nod as he jumped on his horse.

The horses had been brought to the summit beforehand, and about thirty cavalrymen were majestically waiting behind Raklum, ready to set out.

“Well, let’s get started—all units, move out!”

At his order, the thirty horses simultaneously galloped down the steep mountain into the night.

The cavalrymen darted down the mountain on horseback, setting ablaze as many enemy tents as they could, continuously moving from one location to another so as not to get caught.

Those were the only orders Wein had given Raklum’s group. But they had gotten in-depth information about their enemy in order to carry this out.

“Right now, I’m going to tell you what I’ve observed from the enemy’s movements this week.”

Wein had talked about the sleeping quarters of the low-level units—those structures were their targets. He had discussed at length how to spread fire according to predicted wind directions. He had designated soldiers for this attack, their route to take to advance, and possible escape routes.

Watching him spread the map, place the pawns, and speak in minute detail, Raklum had been unable to hide his admiration.

It was information anyone could have gathered if they had taken the time to investigate the Marden army. But how many people could actually pull off such a thing?

On top of this plan, Wein had made them practice traveling down the mountain on horseback before the war. He’d been drawing this plan in his head ever since.

“That’s the plan. Any questions?”

Of course, there hadn’t been any.

What they did have was confidence this plan would work.

—And here they were.

The thirty cavalrymen galloped past the confusion and chaos spreading among the Marden as the flames started to engulf them.

“What the hell’s going on?!” “Wake everyone up to help put out the flames! It’s spreading!” “It’s the cavalry! I saw them start the fire!” “Where are they?! Where’d they go?!”

Frantic roars and screams leaped out of their mouths. But nothing more happened. By the time the Marden forces recovered from their state of shock and took up their bows and swords, their enemy was already long gone, kicking up dust in their wake.

“They really fell for it, huh, Captain? Almost makes you feel bad for laughing!”

Raklum listened to the excited voices clamor behind him. There was no doubt it’d been a success. The unit had rushed down the mountain before the snoozing soldiers had a chance to respond. No one had been able to stop them from spreading the fire.

“Ha-ha! Just look at those Marden fools. They’re runnin’ around all over without even any weapons.”

“Their stupidity is a blessing. Thanks to that, we were able to fly right through.”

With a job well done, the soldier’s faces relaxed. But unlike the others, Raklum was tense. If the Marden army was an ocean, his team of cavalrymen created a high tide, thanks to Wein’s keen knowledge of its coastal conditions. But as his men continued onward, he worried they might alter the current and create a whole new series of large, crashing waves.

To a sea of thirty thousand, a group of thirty soldiers was nothing more than a pebble. If they misread the direction of the current, the small Natra detachment faced the possibility of being crushed to dust in an instant.

But that was why Wein had chosen Raklum as captain.

“—Left face!” he yelled, and the cavalry simultaneously made a hard turn.

As they shifted their gaze to the hill in front of them, they realized that the initial chaos had subsided and that over a hundred Marden soldiers were pulling themselves together and gathering into formation.

If the men on horseback had just plunged right on in, their movements would’ve been halted.

“That’s our commander Raklum for you. That’s one sharp nose.”

“I refuse to ruin His Highness’s plan with carelessness,” he replied coolly. “…It’s almost time,” he breathed out as a strange rumbling reached the ground beneath them.

“All right! All units, escape formation!”

The horses had their physical limits. After exerting all their energy to wreak havoc on the Marden, the cavalry had to get out of there before it became impossible for the horses to move altogether. This thundering noise was their cue. Well, to be exact, it was more than just a signal. It was another plan being carried out, not at all related to Raklum’s group.

“Don’t get out of formation! We’ve got to make it to the foot of the mountain in one go!”

“Roger that!”

Raklum and his men synchronously turned their reins toward the mine.

Sensing a commotion, Draghwood sprang up from his nap, hastily grabbed his sword propped up nearby, and dashed out of the tent. Before his eyes were a number of fires flaring up around the foot of the mountain.

“General! It’s an enemy attack!” The adjutant ran up to Draghwood, who was standing there wide-eyed. “Just now, we’ve gotten reports that their cavalry came down from the mountain and ran around setting fire to our encampment!”

“What?!”

Going down the mountain slopes—cliffs—by horse at night was insanity. But they must have managed to do it, seeing that the place was now surrounded by flames.

“How many?!”

“I-I’m not sure! It’s complicated: Some are saying less than a hundred, while others are saying hundreds!”

The Natra couldn’t have possibly hidden hundreds of horses in the mine. Maybe one hundred at most. Draghwood came to this conclusion swiftly on his own and moved on to the next question.

“Where are they now?!”

“That’s unknown as well! It seems with all these fires and ensuing chaos, some of our men have not only helped out our enemy but also taken their side!”

“Ggh…!”

Their enemy was clever—much too clever. He had to put a stop to the madness first, but where to even start? Hesitation flitted inside Draghwood’s mind. As if to mock him, another situation suddenly cropped up.

“—Wh-what?!”

A noise. A loud sound.

Even amid the tumultuous scene, the strange nose reached his men’s ears. It sounded like the rumble of a large mass coming down from the mine.

It couldn’t be, Draghwood told himself. Their entire army is coming down the mountain all at once…?!

Their opponent’s plan was to send in the cavalry first to stir up trouble, then use the main force to finish off the confused soldiers. Shaking his head furiously, Draghwood saw the situation to come.

Absolutely idiotic! We may be confused, but there’s thirty thousand of us! We can’t be beaten by a mere five thousand men!

But the truth was, it was the sound of a large army descending upon them. They must have a target. Something valuable enough to warrant the attention of five thousand soldiers. That was— The headquarters?! Here?!

If it was impossible to fight the Marden military head-on, what if Natra narrowed their target down to this one area? What if their plan was to take the Marden army off guard and run right through them—to take the commanders’ heads?

It’s…plausible!

Of course, everything Draghwood had thought of was only conjecture. But there was no time to ponder it further.

“Gather all the surrounding troops here and take the defensive!” he barked. “Have any far-off camps do the same and prepare to stand by! Gathering our forces takes priority! Even if they spot an enemy force!”

“Y-yes, sir!” As the adjutant quickly relayed this to the messengers, they scattered in every which way.

As Draghwood continued to order the nearby men, he sharply glared at the mine. “Barbaric savages, don’t you dare underestimate me. You won’t take my head so easily…!”

From then on, the Marden army moved swiftly, carrying out their commander’s orders. Their headquarters was reinforced with a defense team, prepared to lie in wait for their opponent. By that time, the harrowing rumbling had already stopped. What could their enemy be doing? Were they unsure of what to do next? Or secretly making their move?

It wasn’t an option to piece together the entire story in the dead of night. Tension among the soldiers only continued to rise. However, when the skies finally began to clear, a new development smacked Draghwood right in the face.

“No way…!”

The Natra army hadn’t come down from the mountain.

What had come down from the mountain were huge boulders and logs. By dragging them up the summit beforehand and pushing them back down, Natra had created the illusion of a large army moving through the cliffs toward them.

Why did they do such a thing?

The answer was to secure the defensive base on the mountain path by the first station. The Marden had gone to such great pains to get it, but now Natra held it once again.

…To get ready for the enemy’s attack, I fortified our headquarters and ordered any place that wouldn’t reach here in time to defend themselves independently. However, as a result, they each became isolated and couldn’t collaborate with nearby groups…!

That’d been their opponent’s strategy all along: isolate the soldiers stationed by the mountain paths as individual positions that only fought on their own. While headquarters was frantically upping its defenses, Natra slipped in to steal back these areas, which was their ultimate goal.

“Those damn…!”

The Marden soldiers knew how important those checkpoints were and how difficult it had been to obtain them. This loss would have a tremendous effect. After staying up all night to keep watch and breathing a sigh of relief just before dawn, this unexpected turn was going to drop their morale whether he liked it or not.

On top of that, this fire was going to cost them in damages moving forward. The situation caused so much bewilderment that the Marden started to attack their own kind. If he added up all the dead and injured during the course of this battle, it’d easily reach into the thousands. A significant amount of resources and supplies were incinerated into ashes.

It was scores worse than the cave-in. They’d fallen for a trap—again.

“DAMN THEM ALLLLLLL!” Draghwood howled into the night, unleashing his rage and resentment.

Without his knowledge, he’d found himself wrapped around their enemy’s finger.

They realized they’d been fighting for half a month.

Their night raid had left Marden with seven hundred men dead and two thousand soldiers wounded. Desertion continued to be a problem, which dropped their total count to about twenty-three thousand.

Of course, it wasn’t as if Natra had suffered no casualties. Out of their five thousand soldiers, three thousand were left. As a whole, their defenses were spread thin. But based on results alone, it was clear they were putting up a stiff resistance. Their soldiers understood this, and their spirits were high amid the trials they endured.

That was the most significant difference between Marden and Natra.

As his army rejoiced, Wein was in a tent locked in a staring contest with his paperwork.

“Food supplies are fine. As for other supplies…we’re definitely running short, but we can still make it work.”

From every direction, the reports flew in, and they were in better condition than Wein had expected.

“Man, it’s so hard being right all the time! It’s so freakin’ hard when things work out exactly as planned!” he boasted sarcastically.

By his side, Ninym was in total agreement for once. “It’s wonderful everything is going well. Compared with us, our enemy’s offensive strength has been a lot weaker recently. Do you still think they’re going to withdraw?”

Wein shook his head. “Absolutely not. There’s no way. Maybe if they’d done it within a week at the very start of battle, but it’s too late for them to back out now. We’ve given those guys a hell of a beating, and they still got nothing to show for it. They’re pretty much bursting at the seams, ready to get back at us.”

Wein gave a good-natured smile that said And it’s all thanks to me.

He continued. “They must’ve finally realized bulldozing their way through won’t work. They’re probably busy concocting a new plan. I bet they’ll strike back as soon as they’re ready.”

“By ‘new plan’ you mean…a siege weapon?”

“Yeah, I mean, they’ve only got weapons to battle on level ground. Don’t you think they’re scraping together a ladder or a catapult right about now?”

“Even if they brought a catapult to a mountain, they wouldn’t be able to use it,” she observed.

“People tend to forget the obvious when they’re driven into a corner.”

If his troops were able to get past Marden’s next scheme, they would finally put this fighting to rest by hitting their enemy with more snags and roadblocks. With that, Marden might even start entertaining the idea of reconciling with him. Whether the crux of it survived or not was all in the groundwork.

“My plan is perfectly sane. In two weeks, we can kiss this cooped-up life good-bye.”

Ninym responded with on-the-fence skepticism. “That’d be wonderful news. I’ve had enough of this mountain view.”

“You’re tellin’ me. I want to kick back in the royal palace again.”

“I could use a nice bath. I have to conserve hot water here.”

In wartime, water was a precious commodity, doubly so when you’re barricaded in your own fort. The most you could hope for was an occasional wipe down; soaking in a bathtub of hot water was out of the question.

Ninym was no exception to this rule.

“Ah, I thought you were standing so far away from me lately. Could it be because you smellOWW?!”

She’d flicked a pawn straight at Wein’s cheek.

“Will you stop saying such things?”

“GWAAAAH… D-don’t think this means you win.”

“It’s not about whether you win or lose.”

As they bantered back and forth, they sensed someone entering the tent.

“Pardon me, Your Highness.”

It was Raklum. Wein and Ninym righted themselves and faced him.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Sir. We have a messenger from Marden.”

“A messenger?” He frowned.

Sending a messenger here meant Marden was hoping to negotiate a deal. It was something he’d secretly been hoping for. He should have gladly welcomed it with open arms.

But the timing was slightly off. Marden was conserving their power for a full-on assault. For them, the idea of reconciling was a mere afterthought.

Maybe we drove Marden into a corner earlier than I thought… No, that’s not it. It could be they’re here to throw us off before they attack. Or…

He erred on the side of caution and gave his orders. “Understood. At any rate, let’s agree to meet. Ninym, hurry and set up the location. It should be…let’s say about halfway up the mine. Raklum, have the guards in the area heighten security. Marden might move out while I’m still getting everything ready.”

“Understood,” she replied.

“Please leave it to me!”

Ninym and Raklum swiftly exited the tent. Wein used this time to continue his thoughts.

…Their homeland could have put them on hold. The Marden army is way off schedule, after all. Fyshtarre and the royal palace must be furious, wondering why they haven’t gotten the mine back yet. The vassals are probably starting to sweat a little beneath the collar, too. One of ’em probably suggested this, even though it’s late in the game.

And if the vassal was so important that Draghwood couldn’t ignore him, he needed to at least send a messenger, even if it was just for show.

Of course, this was just Wein’s hypothesis. He had no idea whether that was actually the case. But with Marden fighting past their proposed schedule, the royal court was, no doubt, pressuring them to wrap things up.

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh, Draghwood?” purred Wein, picturing his opponent’s dour expression in his mind.

Long story short, Wein’s guess was right on the mark.

“General, another messenger from the royal palace,” announced a commander.

Draghwood clicked his tongue and turned toward one of his grim-faced officers. “Handle it and get them out of here. I don’t have time to deal with them right now.”

“But, General, with all due respect, if we reject another messenger, they may start to wonder if something is going on…”

“They may even bring up the siege weapons we’ve been collecting.”

“Tch…” Draghwood gritted his teeth, making no effort to hide his impatience.

This was the difference between him and Wein. The crown prince was the kingdom’s new leader. Even if he didn’t deliver what he promised, all he had to do was a little arm-twisting—and he had the power to see that through.

On the other hand, Draghwood was just a military commander. He could never compare to the authority of a king, who could cut off one’s professional and corporeal head whenever he fancied. Draghwood needed to continue offering results—obvious results—to the king and his chief vassals to prevent them from offing his head.

But he couldn’t do it. The mine should have been recovered in a week, but twice the time had already passed. Progress was so slow that they ended up having to request the siege weapon, a new plan. Of course, the palace would send messengers to ask what’s going on. The headquarters had been able to dodge the issue and chase the messengers away so far, but time was running out. It felt as if he could hear the voice of Minister Holonyeh taking the fall for him. The minister held a shield at Draghwood’s back, but even that continued to crumble away.

“…What was the message?” he asked quietly, drawing a long breath.

“Sir. We are to seize the mine immediately. To do that…we are to reach an agreement with Natra.”

It was the other commanders’ turns to lose their tempers.

“Absolutely moronic! A compromise—now?!”

“Impossible! We’ve spilled so much blood fighting for them! And for what?”

“General Draghwood, let’s forget the gossipmongers in the royal court and move forward with the assault!”

One by one, the officers rejected this decision unanimously. But it wasn’t just hubris that stood in the way of ending the war: It was also their impatience. They hadn’t even received any battle honors yet.

At this stage, they couldn’t possibly hope for this new plan to earn them any awards.

“……” Draghwood shared their sentiments, of course, but had to react appropriately. “Fine, send a messenger to Natra.”

“G-General?!”

“But that’s…!”

“Relax. It’s superficial. We can send a messenger and still save face when Natra refuses our offer. In the meantime, we’ll move forward and take back the mine with force. See? Everything works out.”

The plan seemed to satisfy his officers, and they nodded as one.

“Logan, you go as messenger.”

The man Draghwood pointed out was his adjutant. Only one of his trusted personnel could ensure all hopes of reconciliation were dashed.

“Don’t kiss their ass too much,” he warned. “Make them want to fight till their dying breath.”

“In the end, barbarians need very little provocation, right?” Logan snarked.

“Right. But don’t screw up and piss ’em off so much they kill you.”

“Understood.”

After reviewing the conditions of this proposal for a few hours, their messenger was sent off to the mine.

When Ninym saw the messenger arrive at the meeting, her very first thought was This guy has no intention of negotiating anything.

Logan spoke with arrogance, even though the man sitting on the other side of the table was a crown prince.

“For these discussions, consider my words to be those of Supreme Commander Draghwood. That said, Prince Wein, your pet dogs down here are quite well trained. General Draghwood has high regard for them.”

At this, a jolt ran through the guards, surging in their bodies. If Wein hadn’t held them back, Logan would’ve been skewered on the spot.

“Well, Sir Logan, what has brought you here to us today? Surely you wouldn’t climb a mountain simply to provoke us?”

“Of course,” he snorted. “We don’t waste time in such useless pursuits. I’ve come here with one purpose: to seek reconciliation,” he said, but the conditions he tossed out were absolutely absurd.

The demands included: immediate withdrawal from the mine, confiscation of all weapons, return of the mine residents, and compensation for suddenly seizing Marden territory. Wein wouldn’t want to go forward with this negotiation.

“What do you think, Prince Wein?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot accept under those conditions.”

It was an obvious conclusion.

“Our aim is to reach as equal a compromise as possible,” claimed Logan. “However, if you prolong this war, I’m afraid your head may return to your homeland severed from your body.”

“A frightening thought indeed. However, Sir Logan, I expect I’ll be home returning in triumph.”

“I see. It seems you’re surrounded by nothing but dogs. I’m warning you only out of concern for your welfare, but you’d do well to keep company with those who question your own folly.” Logan stood. It seemed the meeting would end the same way it started.

Honestly. What a waste of time. Sighing inside, Ninym already began mapping out the postmeeting cleanup in her mind.

But something unexpected stopped her in her tracks.

Logan had halted and pivoted around when Ninym caught his eye.

“You ought to toss away the ashy slave. Keeping such a filthy thing nearby is unfitting for one of noble blood,” he spat.

“ ”

Logan was oblivious to the fact that the air in the room froze over.

Ninym tried to talk to Wein, but any words she wanted to say held fast in her throat. From behind, she felt an unfamiliar, bloodcurdling energy ooze out of Wein’s body.

“Sir Logan.” Wein’s flat voice echoed in the room. “You said before that your words were those of General Draghwood… Are you sure of that?”

“They certainly are. What of it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Please tell the general that I hope he looks after his health.”

With a questioning look, Logan departed without another word.

Even after he was long gone, Wein sat motionless. As tension filled and congealed in the room, Ninym steeled herself.

“Y-Your Highness,” she called out.

“I let you down, Ninym,” he interrupted. “Jiva was different, so I got careless. Prejudice against the Flahm really does run deep in the West. I wasn’t thinking about it clearly enough when I brought you here: I put you through a lot of pain.”

“N-not at all! You did nothing of the sort…”

“I’ll be more aware from now on. Well, I’ll leave the rest here to you. I’ll head back to headquarters.”

“…Yes, understood.”

Wein stood and began heading toward the summit. With his order to tidy up, Ninym could only watch his back fade into the distance.

When he was finally out of earshot, Wein growled at his guards. “Call Raklum.”

A few days after this meeting, Marden was finally prepared to launch their attack. With the gold mine as its stage, the war between Marden and Natra had reached its final act.

“General, all troops are in position!”

“The ladders have been set in all directions.”

“We await your order, General.”

The commanders lined up in front of Draghwood were jabbering, talking on top of one another. He let out a deep sigh and gave them a piercing glare.

“It’s been three weeks since the battle started. We’ve wasted enough time.”

What was supposed to be a quick war turned into a tangled mess. Draghwood had lost his men to dirty, wicked schemes, and his once-plentiful supplies continued to edge dangerously close to rock bottom.

“This is all because of my immorality. I’ve caused you and everyone else great hardship.”

An easy victory had been dragged on and on. He was unlikely to receive any recognition or awards for his efforts. In fact, there was more than enough possibility that he might be tried as a war criminal or something.

But none of that mattered anymore. If he could defeat the barbarians, he’d be satisfied.

“Our humiliation ends today. By the time evening comes, we’ll dye this mountain red with the blood of the foreign scourge—go forth!”

““Yes, sir!””

With the sun blazing at its zenith and their sights set on the mine, the Marden were ready to launch its full-scale attack.

Soon enough, Wein caught wind of the news at the summit.

“So they’re finally going for it, huh?” he mumbled to himself. He quickly issued orders to the messenger. “We’re deserting the defensive posts in the lower half of the mine. Gather soldiers to tighten security higher up.”

“Understood!”

“Also, tell the miners to collapse any tunnels halfway up the mountain and lower. We don’t want the enemy getting in any of them.”

“I’ll see to it immediately!”

The messenger rushed out of the tent. The only one left, Ninym turned to Wein.

“Can we hold out?”

“Doubt it.” His reply was concise. “We’ve kept control of the situation by restricting their attack routes to the mountain paths. If they carve out their own way of climbing up, it’ll become a battle of attrition. Once that happens, we haven’t got a chance.”

“You mean, we wouldn’t have a chance if nothing changes. Right?”

“Exactly.” He smiled. “I’ll leave Hagal to command here. Step back and support him, Ninym.”

“Okay—but don’t die, Wein.”

“How could I? I’m leaving my heart here. I don’t see why I would,” he cooed, stroking her hair lightly. And with that, he left the tent.

Waiting outside for him was Raklum.

“Your Highness.”

“Raklum, how are we looking?”

“Everything is ready. We can depart at any time.”

Wein nodded in satisfaction. “Time to pay his dumb mug a visit.”

At the gold mine, the battle raged on, mostly one-sided.

The Marden forces bypassed the mountain roads by stretching long ladders up the cliffs to climb them one by one, like ants swarming a giant mountain of sugar.

Despite their superior skills, the Natra soldiers were clearly outnumbered. They’d fortified the upper half of the mountain and did their best to keep the enemy back, but even from the foot of the gold mine, it was evident they were slowly being picked off.

“General, our units are overpowering them in all directions!” reported an animated voice, a messenger.

Anyone could tell the tides had shifted in Marden’s favor at long last.

“Then it’s only a matter of time before they surrender,” said one of Draghwood’s commanders.

Around the room, the officers in the headquarters wore bright, optimistic expressions. But then Draghwood addressed them sternly.

“Don’t grow careless. You don’t know what desperate acts a savage will do when cornered,” he growled. “Is the back of the mine under control?”

“Yes. Even if the enemy tries to escape, we have enough men in position to stop them. Sir Logan has taken command, so there should be no issues.”

“Good. If they do spy any of those beasts, show no mercy. We’ll make sure every single one rots on this land,” he spat.

Just as Draghwood was gloating in his grandstanding, he could see a few Marden cavalrymen rush into their tent.

“The general! Where is General Draghwood?! There’s an urgent message from Captain Logan!”

The voice traveled far for all to hear. The commanders looked at one another, anxious to hear the news. Any urgent news had never been good for them. Did something happen at the back end of the hill?

“…I’ll hear it. Get the messengers.”

“S-sir! Hey, you guys over there! The general is this way!”

Called over by the commanders, the messengers dismounted their horses and ran to Draghwood and knelt in front of him.

“Report. What did Logan say?”

“Yes. Um…,” a messenger said falteringly, placing down a knapsack and flinging it open to reveal its contents.

Logan’s head rolled in front of Draghwood.

Huh—? Everyone’s mind went blank for a few seconds.

The messenger stomped on the ground to fill the silence and unsheathed his sword in one fluid movement. “—He said he’d meet you on the other side.”

With a sharp flash of light, the blade sliced through Draghwood, and he collapsed backward into a heap, his eyes frozen wide in shock. As his armor hit the ground and made a piercing shrill, time finally began to move again.

“B-bastards, what are you— Gah?!”

The commanders had all drawn their weapons, but the messengers were faster, carving their swords through the gathered men and cutting them down. With that, spears rained down from outside the tent and dispatched the rest of the officers in the blink of an eye.

“Your Highness, it’s done.”

“Good work,” the man who’d struck Draghwood answered simply. He looked at the fallen general. “…Huh, you’re still alive?”

Fresh blood seeped out of the crevices in his shredded armor onto the ground, but Draghwood drew a ragged breath as he glared at his attacker.

“I knew it—I’m no good with swords,” the messenger said.

“Guh… Koff! Bastard, you’re…”

“What, do I remind you of someone?” he asked as he took off his helmet.

He was a young boy with facial features one might dare to call cherubic. It was a face Draghwood knew.

“You… You’re Wein…!” he gasped.

“It’s our first time meeting face-to-face like this, isn’t it, General Draghwood?” Tossing aside his helmet, Wein Salema Arbalest gave a wide smile.

“Why? Why are you here…?!”

“Well, I came to take your head. You’ve been a bad boy, Draghwood. All this fighting left your headquarters wide-open.

“Gngh…!”

As Draghwood glared up at him with malice, he noticed the sword lying beside Wein’s feet. His wounds burned, scorching hot against his skin. The taste of iron filled his mouth. He just needed to grab the sword. If he could buy time, someone would realize there was a problem at the headquarters.

“No one’s coming,” Wein said.

Bull’s-eye. Draghwood’s shoulders trembled.

“My soldiers are stationed all around this tent, and every last one of yours is busy on the mountain. Short of a fire breaking out, they won’t give this place a second thought.”

“You talk like you know everything…!”

“I do know everything. It’s how I got this far.”

“What?!”

Wein shrugged his shoulders indifferently at the dying Draghwood, who was desperately refusing to back down.

“I wanted to see if we could keep the Marden army at bay by getting them caught up in the frenzied fighting on the battlefield. That was my basic plan. It funny, isn’t it? It’s a lot harder to exhibit restraint when you’re at an advantage. Your army—from soldiers on the outskirts to you guys here at the center—were restless today. We’ve been up there watching you scramble around for three weeks, you know. Finding a way to slip in was way too easy.”

“……” Draghwood opened his mouth to object, but his current situation was proof enough.

He was mortified, but he tried his best to dig through his mind for clues to how this could have happened—and came to a sudden realization. “Wait! I knew a small army of yours was coming down the mountain! I even received reports on who was in command.”

“Impossible. After all, we never came down the mountain.”

Draghwood’s eyes swam. How the hell did they get here if they didn’t come down the mountain?

“You remember the tunnel in the cave, right?”

His consciousness was fading away. “N-no way, they said clearing the debris from the cave-in would take months…”

“Next to that.” Wein smiled merrily. “The miners dug us a tunnel right next to it beforehand: one leading right from the mine to the cave.”

“ ” His entire body shook. “Im…possible.”

“The purpose of the cave-in wasn’t to get rid of Marden soldiers. It was to make you forget about the cave altogether.”

Everything Draghwood had mounted and piled together, all his awards and achievements as a proud military man, came crashing down upon him. Whether he liked it or not, Draghwood knew this boy outmatched him as a leader in every way.

“Then, all we had to do was open up a new tunnel, put on your armor, and go outside. No one would ever guess we were Natra men. We just happened to run into Logan on the way here.”

“…So you’re saying we were wrapped around your finger this entire time?” Draghwood coughed out.

Look. The sword. By his foot. You can still move. Accept it. You failed as a leader. But you can still have his head.

“Heh… Heh-heh, koff, bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.” Draghwood laughed as he continued to gush blood. Laughed and laughed and laughed, then— “HAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Collecting the last of his strength, he dived with all his might for the sword by Wein’s foot.

“Well, this wasn’t really part of the official plan, but—” Wein plunged his sword through the general’s torso as it writhed on the ground. “I swore I’d cut down any who insult my heart.”

A single gleam. And his body split in two, slumping onto the floor.

“Later, Draghwood.” Wein wiped the blood off his blade and sheathed it in the scabbard.

Beside him, Raklum had removed his helmet to bow reverently.

“That was marvelous, Your Highness.”

“You call this ‘marvelous’? …Oh, c’mon, why are you crying, Raklum?”

“My apologies. I was so moved by your swordsmanship…”

“…Okay, okay. We better get going. I might have said otherwise, but their troops at the back of the mine might send people over once they realize Logan’s gone.”

“We’ll continue to set their base ablaze according to your plan, correct?”

“Right. Focus mainly on food and supplies. We’ve got to make it clear something’s wrong and throw them in a panic so the rest of our men can crush them. Let’s go.”

“Understood!”

They hopped back on their horses and lowered their torches to engulf the camp in flames. It spread in an instant, and the corpses of Draghwood and his men were swallowed up in the dancing fire. The ash quickly rose into the sky, sending a message to the soldiers fighting on the upper levels of the mine.

“H-hey, look over there!” “Is that fire coming from the headquarters?” “Wait! Is this another attack by the enemy?”

No Marden soldier had forgotten the fire from the nighttime raid. They carried the trauma of those flames, and for this reason, their composures began to crumble as chaos spread among them. When the messengers reported the deaths of Draghwood and the other commanders, their hesitation grew fatal.

There were those who resisted, those who tried to withdraw, and those who were simply dumfounded. Without any guidance, the Marden soldiers had lost the power to fight. As the number of casualties grew, the Marden forces practically tumbled down to the foot of the mountain in retreat.

The sun was beginning to set as Wein and the others made it back up to the summit. They were greeted with praises and cheers from the soldiers, whose blood was still boiling from the heat of battle.

“Oh! His Highness has returned!”

“Your Highness, I’m glad to see you in good health!”

“The strategy worked like a charm!”

Most of the soldiers were injured. The death toll wasn’t that small, either. But their faces were lively and energetic as they celebrated Wein’s safe return and extolled his praises.

“You did extraordinarily well, every last one of you! There is no doubt today that we delivered a heavy blow against the Marden! Victory is close at hand! Think of this as our final hurrah and stay focused!”

“YEAAAAAAAAAH!” The soldiers’ war cry shook the earth.

Wein moved forward to walk among them and share a quick word or two with each one. The old general Hagal was waiting for him in the distance.

“Hagal, thanks for holding down the fort while I was gone.”

“No such thanks are needed.” He bowed reverently.

“I’d like to hear an update on the current situation. What’s going on with Marden?”

“Of course. They’ve given up on sieging the mine. I believe they’re now strengthening their defenses on more level ground some distance away. From their current location, I’m guessing there’s no possibility of another attack.”

“Probably because they’re fighting over who’ll succeed as leader and whether to continue the war.”

“Do you believe they will, Your Highness?”

“Not a chance,” he said with conviction. “We’ve proved to Marden that they were overexcited for a war that turned into a huge failure. That must have killed any remaining morale. Not to mention most of them were burned to a crisp. I bet the commanders will put all the blame on the late Draghwood and decide to withdraw. Well, if anyone takes command here and fails, they’ll have to take on the responsibility for losing this war.”

“That makes sense,” Hagal agreed with a nod.

Then comes a meeting to reach an agreement and reconcile… That’s my real battle.

Wein couldn’t fail this time. He’d palm off this dud of a mine back to Marden using every last trick he had.

I need to start laying the groundwork. I’ll have Ninym help out, too…

With that in mind, Wein came to a sudden realization.

“By the way, where’s Ninym?”

“Lady Ninym is going around to each group, checking on their injuries and casualties. She should return shortly.”

“I see. Well, let’s have a little pre-victory drink until she gets back.”

Just as he was about to ask Hagal to join him, an uproar came from the edge of the mine. They looked at each other and immediately ran toward the source.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Ah, Y-Your Highness, well… Please look over there.” The soldier on guard pointed at the plains the Marden were occupying.

Wein looked over and could hardly believe his eyes.

The Marden army was marching farther and farther away.

“Does this mean…they’re withdrawing?”

With their backs to Natra as they slouched toward the border, the army was clearly withdrawing. There was no other explanation.

But Wein had his reservations. Sure, it’d be great if they pulled out completely, but it was happening way too soon. Anyone with the power and rank to make this decision should have already joined Draghwood in the afterworld.

“Hagal, do you think they’re trying to fake us out?”

“…No, from the looks of it, it seems like they are retreating. In their current state, the soldiers wouldn’t be willing to pull such a petty trick.”

“……”

Nnnghhh. Wein groaned inside.

It’s not that he wasn’t happy about Marden retreating so quickly. The sooner they left, the sooner they could start negotiating. But he still couldn’t help but think something else was going on.

“Um, Your Highness, pardon me, but…” A timid soldier next to them suddenly spoke up. “Could it be this really means we won…?”

Wein noticed the thousands of soldiers around him shifting their gaze from him to the retreating army, back and forth.

What should he tell them? Wein considered for a moment.

“Everyone, listen up! The Marden have turned their backs on us and are running home!”

Even the farthest soldiers turned their ears to listen to his announcement.

“However, it very well may be the start of a despicable plan against us! All the same, if they’re using an underhanded tactic, they have all but admitted they’re no match for us!” he thundered. “Therefore, I shall make a declaration right here! —We Natra have won this war!”

The area around the gold mine was hushed. There wasn’t a single peep.

Then, in the next moment, cheers erupted from the soldiers with the same force as a bomb explosion.

“Let me hear your triumphant cries! Let the Marden know we are the victors!” Wein encouraged.

They gave a resounding hoot that flooded the surrounding area and was loud enough to shake bones.

“Is this all right?” Hagal whispered into his ear.

Wein nodded. “There’s no doubt they’re up to something and will be ready to strike back soon enough. We’re preparing by boosting morale. Don’t drop your guard, Hagal.”

“As you wish.” He bowed respectfully.

Weaving her way through the hooting crowd, Ninym appeared before the two. “So this is where you were, Your Highness.”

“Oh, Ninym… What’s wrong?” Wein could sense something was off. “I heard you’d been examining the injured. Is it worse than we thought?”

“No, our soldiers actually suffered less than expected.” She shook her head. “It’s something else. Your Highness, we just received word from one of our spies in the royal capital of Marden.”

“Oh? What? Did Fyshtarre get so mad he went on a vassal-killing spree?”

“They’ve surrendered,” she reported.

“………” It took Wein several seconds to process this information. “Surrendered?”

“Yes.”

“Marden?”

“Yes.”

“…To whom and how?”

“To the neighboring country of Kavalinu. They were unable to hold out against the large-scale assault, since the majority of their troops were fighting here, and…King Fyshtarre was killed, so…”

What the hell was Marden doing? How the hell could Fyshtarre be so friggin’ dumb?

As various curses tore through the back of Wein’s mind, the more present half of his consciousness was able to arrive at a more important issue.

“Hey, Ninym… We were supposed to meet with Marden after this, right? To reach an agreement?” Wein somehow managed to speak with a bit of civility. “What do you think will happen if we try now…?”

Ninym couldn’t meet his eyes and answered apprehensively. “Seeing they’ve been destroyed, I imagine it’d fall through…”

“……”

Huh. So that’s it.

It’d just fall through.

Wein gave a small sigh and looked up at the sky.

Then he screamed.

“WHAT. THE. HEEEEEEELLLLLL?!”

His futile cries were swallowed up by the soldiers’ happy chants and faded away.