Sneaking Around Still Meant They Were In Plain Sight

I hesitated over whether to contact Kiriku… but in the end, I decided to contact him.

They said it was easier to do than to worry, right? Kiriku should know the importance of sharing information, so it should be fine. You could even take this as me trusting my kids, right?

“…Kiriku. Can you hear me?”

‘Fels-sama! Yes! I can hear you!’

“Are you okay right now? I want to hear the situation over there.”

‘Yes! No problems!’

“I just heard from Lynferia that the enemy is holding out in the territorial capital.”

‘Yes! Right now, we aren’t launching an attack. We’re keeping our distance and facing the territorial capital.’

“So there’s no movement from the territorial capital?”

‘Yes. When we advanced our army, they shut the gates. We sent two envoys—Karmos and Jōsen. But they kept the gates fully closed, didn’t invite the envoys in, and Karmos and the others withdrew as-is.’

“I see. So they didn’t even sit down at the negotiating table.”

Could that even happen in this situation? If they had any sense, they’d be glad to sit down and negotiate… Why would they refuse? Loyalty to their country and king?

No, thinking normally, that couldn’t be it. If they dragged the people they governed into it, it would be putting the cart before the horse… The people were something to protect, but they were also important tools that produced privileges and profit. That was necessary not just for them, but for their descendants too. It wasn’t something they should cut off in their own generation.

If they were only thinking about themselves, there would be people who charged in with loyalty to their country and king in their hearts… but someone who dragged the people into their own self-satisfaction… wouldn’t be qualified to govern.

Yeah. I still didn’t understand what the enemy was thinking at all.

…No, maybe the problem was thinking of them as a ruler. The one responsible for the territorial capital was Karmos. The current top was only an acting lord… maybe I should assume he didn’t even have the mindset of a ruler.

I wanted to ask Karmos what the acting lord was like… but would Hawk Voice connect to Karmos?

Well… I could try.

“Kiriku, I’m going to cut Hawk Voice once.”

‘Understood.’

I ended the call with Kiriku, then tried activating Hawk Voice toward Karmos.

“Karmos, can you hear me?”

‘……’

“Karmos, if you can hear me, answer. It’s Fels.”

‘……’

Hm. Hawk Voice didn’t seem to reach Karmos. Which meant Karmos wasn’t recognized as an ally… or he wasn’t a Sword and Legions character.

Well, I’d predicted that to some extent. Unlike the game, I hadn’t used any command to turn prisoners into subordinates or anything like that. System-wise, Karmos wasn’t an ally.

For now, I should activate Hawk Eye and look over the battlefield to confirm the situation.

The moment I activated the ability, my view changed completely. Below me, Kiriku’s expeditionary force of three thousand spread out, and beyond them lay what looked like the territorial capital.

Hm… It was a bigger city than I’d imagined. With only three thousand, it seemed impossible to surround it.

But… after seeing this city, and the Einheria army’s formation, I might have figured out the enemy’s aim.

I should connect to Kiriku to confirm—no, before that.

“Lynferia.”

“Yes!”

“I just activated Hawk Eye. Do you know its effect?”

“I do!”

“Good. I’m going to share my vision with you now. Sit beside me.”

“Yes! …Huh?”

Huh? I felt like I just heard a sound that wasn’t like Lynferia… I couldn’t see what was happening on my side, so I had no idea.

“Did you sit down?”

“Ah—no! Not yet! Um, well!”

“What is it?”

“M-me, sharing vision with Fels-sama?”

“That’s right. It would be bad if I overlooked something on my own. I need someone to support me.”

“Is it truly acceptable for it to be me!? I thought sharing vision and providing support was the strategist’s duty!”

Her voice sounded like it cracked a little… Should I cut Hawk Eye once? I had no idea what was going on around me.

By the way, we’d learned that Hawk Eye had activation conditions too. What Hawk Eye could view was only areas where summoned troops were deployed.

If there were summoned troops in an area, I could confirm a fairly wide range, but I assumed how far I could expand my vision depended on how many summoned troops were in that area.

Right now, summoned troops existed in two locations: the usual village, where they did farm work and watched the prisoners, and the army formation positioned just before the territorial capital. The summoned troops I’d dispatched to the three towns that joined our side were already gone, since their summon duration had ended. Well, installing the mana collection devices was already finished, so it wasn’t a problem.

“Lynferia, is there a problem?”

“N-no, it’s not that…”

Was she concerned about the position? In the game era, it was common for the strategist to support during war, but that didn’t matter now.

“Hm. This is simply another difference from before. The reason I share my vision isn’t because of the strategist position, but because I trust the person. In the previous war, based on experience, I shared my vision with Kiriku. But now, I need your strength, Lynferia. Will you lend me your strength?”

“Y-yes! My apologies! Use me however you wish!”

Looks like she’d steeled herself. Still, did Lynferia tend to hesitate just a little in moments like this? Once she committed, she was extremely reliable—maybe she just wasn’t good at taking that first step.

Thinking that, I shared my vision with Lynferia.

“Th-this is… sharing vision!?”

“Mm. Seeing scenery from somewhere other than your own body will feel unfamiliar, but there will surely be more chances to share vision. Get used to it.”

“Yes! I will stake my life!”

No, you didn’t need to go that hard… but motivation was good.

“Alright, I’ll connect Hawk Voice with Kiriku. Lynferia, watch the territorial capital—especially the gates on the opposite side from where Kiriku’s forces are formed, and also any movement at the lord’s mansion.”

“Understood! …I see… so this is… unity… f-fufu…”

After she acknowledged, Lynferia muttered something under her breath… but unfortunately, I couldn’t hear it clearly. Well, if she had something to report, she’d say it properly. Maybe it was just her impression of the scenery she was seeing for the first time.

This view was pretty interesting, after all. Anyway, I needed to talk to Kiriku.

“Kiriku, sorry to keep you waiting.”

‘No problem.’

Kiriku answered my call without showing the slightest agitation. If someone suddenly spoke to me like that, I was confident I’d flinch.

“Did you hear from Karmos what kind of person the acting lord is?”

‘Yes. I confirmed it during our briefing before advancing the army.’

As expected of Kiriku—thorough as always. Completely different from me, who only thought of things on the spot.

“Tell me.”

‘Yes. His name is Heirik-Fivro. He’s the third son of a noble house from an adjacent territory, and when he married Karmos’s daughter, he was adopted as a son-in-law.’

“Adjacent territory—Assen Territory?”

I asked Kiriku, recalling Viscount Assen, the strangely energetic prisoner.

‘No. It’s Harekukku Territory, on the opposite side from Assen Territory. His rank is count, but they’re a newly risen noble house.’

“A count’s house sending a son-in-law into a viscount’s house…?”

A count outranked a viscount, right? Even if he was the third son, sending him out as an adopted son… was that normal? I didn’t get it.

‘According to Karmos, the newly risen count’s house wanted ties with the old Fivro house. It was a pretty forced match.’

“It’s a messy story, but fine. What kind of person is the son-in-law himself?”

‘Apparently he’s quite arrogant, and strongly ambitious. But he seems to dislike troublesome details, and isn’t the type who can act with a plan toward a goal.’

High-and-mighty, power-hungry, but hates effort… got it.

“How is he when it comes to loyalty to the country?”

‘According to Karmos, he’s not the type to die for the country.’

So my earlier guess wasn’t off.

“Why did Karmos put someone like that in charge? Pressure from the count’s house?”

‘That’s what it seems like. He said they’re applying pressure from both money and power.’

“So it’s effectively a takeover of the viscount’s house. That might also be why Karmos isn’t passing the territory to the next lord.”

A power struggle among nobles, huh. It had nothing to do with us… but honestly, if my kids ever started fighting like that, it would really get me down.

Fighting over interests might be ‘normal’ for humans… but I still didn’t like it.

“Kiriku, what do you think the enemy will do?”

Now that I could picture the person in charge, I wanted to confirm what Kiriku planned to do from here.

‘Leaving aside the soldiers guarding the gates, the acting lord shouldn’t truly intend to defend the city. The fact he refused our envoys means the acting lord is likely thinking of escaping with a small group.’

Yeah. I thought so too.

I didn’t realize it until I looked on site with Hawk Eye, but the territorial capital was huge. With our expeditionary force of three thousand, there was no way we could surround it. And with six gates, if we split evenly, we could assign only five hundred to each gate.

Since each gate was naturally far apart, by common sense, armies that split up couldn’t coordinate easily.

Three hundred versus three thousand was hopeless, but three hundred versus five hundred in a holding-out battle might be manageable. They said siege-breaking required about three times the troops, after all.

Of course, holding one gate meant nothing. If we concentrated our forces in one place, the others would be wide open—basically a free pass. Naturally, the troops that passed through other gates would attack the only gate offering resistance from both inside and outside… and the rest didn’t need saying.

To be blunt, it was a completely meaningless act… but the enemy likely wasn’t interested in defending the territorial capital in the first place.

The reason they haven’t fled yet was probably to appeal that they fought to the last moment, but were forced to retreat by sheer numbers.

‘Therefore, we intend to capture all six gates simultaneously and move so that we do not let a single person escape.’

“Hm…”

‘Whether the enemy disperses their forces or concentrates them, it makes no meaningful difference to us.’

That was some serious brute-force assessment, Strategist.

Well, the evaluation was probably correct.

But…

“Kiriku, your estimate isn’t wrong. You can’t see it from there, but the enemy is concentrating their forces at the gate closest to your position.”

They’d been moving in secret, but it meant nothing in front of Hawk Eye, which could peer down from above.

“But this time, instead of splitting the army, I want you to attack that gate as-is. Also, move so you don’t kill them. Can you do that?”

‘It’s easy.’

Since it was a city we’d govern from here on, I wanted to minimize deaths. We already had about thirty dead in the previous war. Part of it was not wanting to be hated, but this was Karmos’s city. For his sake too, we should avoid deaths as much as possible.

I was convinced we had enough of a gap in strength to fight that arrogantly.

“To make governance easier later, let the acting lord escape. That makes it easier to play a lot of cards.”

‘…I see. So that’s what you mean.’

If the lord Karmos trusted ran away, it would damage Karmos too, but that acting lord was someone another house shoved in with power. We could shift a certain amount of the negative image onto them. Of course, I planned to control the information.

“Who is the diplomat infiltrated in the territorial capital?”

‘The one infiltrated in the territorial capital right now is Cougar.’

“Got it. Leave the acting lord to me. I’ll move Cougar—any problem with that?”

‘No problem. Should we wait for your next contact to begin the battle?’

“Yes. Do that. After I give Cougar instructions, I’ll contact you again.”

Before I connect to Cougar, I should also check with Lynferia.

“Lynferia. Any movement on their side?”

“There’s no movement at the gates, but it seems they’re preparing carriages and horses at the lord’s mansion.”

“Hm… preparations to flee. As expected… but it’s unpleasant. Using soldiers and citizens as their shield…”

“I want to cut him down this instant, but…”

“…Heh. Just this once, judgment isn’t our job. Cougar, can you hear me?”

‘I can hear you! What’s up?’

When I connected Hawk Voice, Cougar’s underling-like speech came through… It was my first time using Hawk Voice on Cougar, but… he responded like it was totally normal.

Maybe there was some kind of warning sign beforehand? Well, no one could use it on me, so I didn’t need to worry.

…No, if I was hiding from enemies and you suddenly spoke into my head, reacting weirdly could be dangerous. I should check that next time. But right now, there was something more important.

“The acting lord is preparing to flee the city. Let him go until he leaves the city. Once he’s outside, capture everyone who fled with him. Don’t kill them. Can you do it?”

‘Piece of cake!’

“Good. I’m counting on you. I’ll send a unit for retrieval, so watch them until then.”

‘Roger! The acting lord’s at the mansion—yeah, they’re prepping horses. Horses look cool, but they’re not even that fast. Why do people ride those?’

“For us it’s nothing, but for people around here, it’s probably a convenient means of travel. Still, don’t let your guard down.”

‘Of course! I’ll carry out Fels-sama’s order for sure!’

Cougar’s tone sounded like an underling, so it made me oddly uneasy… but ability-wise, there was no problem. It should be fine.

Alright, preparations were good… then let’s begin the capture of the territorial capital.

“Kiriku, begin.”