Chapter 64

…?

Wait, what on earth happened while I was tuned out for a moment to lead to a situation like this?

While I stood there bewildered, the protagonist spoke flatly, as if the whole thing were absurd.

“Why are you putting it like that? We’re just discussing whether to focus on training the troops or concentrate on building traps.”

Edelina crossed her arms and let out a snort.

“So you intend to take both women for yourself? You’re a big dreamer, Hereis.”

“Edel, are you going to keep acting like this?”

“Ahem! Well, it’s not as if Lady Edelina is saying anything factually incorrect, is she?”

With Arianne joining the fray, the tide turned against the protagonist. He slumped his shoulders dejectedly.

“Stop joking around and let’s make a serious decision…”

Phew. It was just banter. Though, the expressions of the heroines—excluding the protagonist—seemed to carry a hint of sincerity.

“Now, let me summarize once more. Lady Edelina argues that putting the majority of the troops into rampart repairs and traps is a waste, so we should reduce the number of traps and focus on training the soldiers first…”

“And Sir Arianne insists on pouring all our manpower into traps and long-range weaponry.”

“Precisely. Now, Vice-Commander. What is your choice?”

The gazes of both women landed on the protagonist simultaneously. He flinched under the weight of their pressuring eyes, which practically demanded an answer. That intensity radiated right through the screen, and Mo Je-won let out a whimpering sound, claiming he was scared.

“Vice-Commander. We have no time. Please decide…!”

“Hereis, you’re thinking too long. Pick quickly.”

“Vice-Commander!”

“Hereis!”

Ding!

He could no longer evade. It was time to choose.

-Being a harem lead is hard work.

-It’s because the affection grind for both of them failed T_T.

-It’s fine, we have the Saintess.

-But what if the Saintess route requires high affection with those two?

-Then we’re screwed.

Unlike the distressed atmosphere of the chat, Mo Je-won looked like he didn’t have a thought in his head.

“Is this the setup for option one?”

-Think about it for a second, lol.

-That’s a decision driven purely by personal bias.

“The way I see it, both points have merit, right? So this is the conclusion I reached after giving it some thought.”

…? What on earth was he talking about?

A brief silence fell over the chat. Mo Je-won cleared his throat.

“Look. Arianne’s plan is to rely solely on traps and the rampart system, but that’s too extreme. No matter how bad their training is, it’s weird to just let them do absolutely nothing.”

-That’s a fair point.

-You have to give them something to do.

-But since time is so short, I don’t think training will be meaningful.

-Making traps seems better.

“Edelina wants to go for a proper balance, but because the number of soldiers is so low, there’s a high chance they won’t be able to handle both trap-making and training effectively.”

-? So?

-What are you getting at?

“As for me, since there’s no right answer anyway, I’m just gonna go with what the owner of the house says~! And I’ll pick up some Edelina affection points as a bonus!”

-That’s just a random guess then.

-His goal is definitely affection.

-But Edelina is saying that without knowing the magic beasts are about to invade.

He started off as if he had some plausible strategy, but in the end, it was just the usual. Still, it wasn’t complete nonsense; there was some logic to it.

‘If I had to choose, I’d lean toward Arianne’s side.’

I also believed that dealing with the majority of the invading magic beasts via traps provided a higher chance of survival. However, I couldn’t let him pick Arianne or Edelina.

‘I can’t let him raise their affection any further.’

The affection loss was already significant because Arianne had unexpectedly followed us here. Besides, it was fine even if he picked a wrong answer. I could just tell the protagonist to change the plan later. So, the right move was to steer him toward option three, which likely wouldn’t trigger any affection changes. Among the many small donations, I slipped in a comment.

“Sincere Life~ thank you for the 10,000 won! The one that seems the least likely? Hmm~ then…”

-Option 3?

-Aren’t all three of them kind of ‘wrong’ lol.

-I think 3 is better too.

-Hey, didn’t they disagree because doing both is impossible? It’s right to choose between the two.

-True, if they could do both, they wouldn’t be worrying like this.

“Ah! Wait a second!”

-?

-??

“Now that I think about it, is there even a need to worry? The Saintess will take care of the magic beasts anyway.”

…?

M-Me?

-He’s pulling a ‘You do it’ lol.

-A professional delegator.

-But wait, can’t the Saintess actually drive away the magic beasts??

“Right! The magic beasts just ran away with one wave of the Saintess’s hand before!”

-Sharp observation.

-But didn’t that not happen in the Count’s territory?

-That was a Mother, so they had to kill it anyway; it couldn’t be allowed to run.

-Then is this just an affection choice? Like, it doesn’t matter for the plot?

Oh no.

‘He actually realized that.’

Well, it’s not like I intended to do nothing, but this was getting troublesome. It’s difficult to cover an entire swarm of magic beasts hitting the Marquisate with just the range of a Holy Relic. Furthermore, these aren’t normal magic beasts; they’re berserking under some influence, so it’s uncertain if a Holy Relic will even work. I had hoped they wouldn’t include me in their combat strength. It seemed it was too late for that.

-How long are you gonna stay on this? Just move on.

“Ah, I don’t know! I’m just gonna close my eyes and click anything!”

What?

“Here I go, clicking now!”

Closing his eyes, Mo Je-won swung his mouse around randomly before suddenly clicking a spot. And the protagonist spoke.

“Let’s try to do both.”

-He landed on 3.

‘He survived that.’

“Are you really trying to take both of us?”

“Edelina!”

“Fine, fine. Can’t even take a joke.”

Edelina shrugged her shoulders.

“How do you plan to do it? The reason we were trying to choose one or the other was because we’re short-staffed.”

Edelina once again blamed her father for drastically reducing the Marquisate’s military forces. The protagonist paused for a moment before speaking.

“Actually, I think we might be able to find reinforcements.”

“What?”

“Reinforcements? How?”

-??

-This is the right path?

-The protagonist was hiding troops?

-Why are you only saying this now, you jerk?

-He did say last time that he requested support from the Duchy.

-Ah, right, is it that? But back then he said he didn’t know when they’d arrive.

“Wait, was that ever mentioned?”

-Yes.

-It was mentioned.

“Dammit. Why don’t I remember that?” Mo Je-won grumbled.

-That’s because…

-It’s a fact everyone knows except you.

-Je-won, did you know? The illiteracy rate in Korea is 4.5%…

-The 4.5% Man, lol.

-That’s higher than I thought?

-Let’s just say he has dementia.

-Hey now.

To be honest, I recalled hearing it too, but it had slipped my mind. Regardless, it seemed he had chosen the right answer by sheer luck. Behind Mo Je-won’s grumbling, the protagonist replied.

“I told you I contacted my family before.”

“Ah, you did mention that. Asking for support from the Rubel Knights.”

“Did a reply actually come?”

To Lord Hereis,

How could we, the Rubel Knights, refuse a command from our Young Master?
We will gladly come to your aid.

-The protagonist really does have a plan for everything.

-Option 3 was the right answer all along.

“They said they’re coming,” Hereis announced.

The tension in Arianne’s and Edelina’s faces visibly melted away.

“But do they have the resources to spare?”

Arianne asked worriedly, knowing that magic beasts might strike the Duchy as well.

The protagonist nodded and spoke.

“They probably said they’d come because they can handle it.”

“That’s the best news we could ask for.”

“To think the Ducal Knights are coming to help with our territory’s rampart construction. I feel a bit apologetic.”

Edelina, who still didn’t realize the magic beasts were truly going to invade, looked a bit embarrassed.On the other hand, Arianne’s complexion began to liven up, like someone who had found light after wandering through a thick fog. It seemed she finally saw a glimmer of possibility.

“Saintess! Please wake up!”

I told you to call me Belita here…

BAM!

Ah.

“It’s the magic beasts! It seems the day you prophesied is today!”

My senses returned instantly.

I bolted upright and turned my head to see Ilian, looking pale as a ghost while clutching the shattered door handle in his hand.

…I didn’t need to ask why.

‘We’re in trouble.’

It had only been three weeks since we arrived at the Marquisate. The rampart construction was still in full swing, and even the Rubel Knights hadn’t arrived yet, but the magic beasts were already here. I knew the relief operation for the Marquisate had a high degree of uncertainty, but this was even more brutal than I expected.

‘I might have been too complacent.’

Should I have come to the Marquisate immediately as soon as Chapter 3 started—or even before it began?

If I had done that, I wouldn’t have been able to attend the medal ceremony.

‘Should I have skipped the ceremony?’

…No.

Missing a ceremony hosted by the Imperial Family would have trashed the protagonist’s reputation and surely put him on the Empire’s blacklist. Even with a valid reason, it would likely have been fatal for later progress. Besides, it was only a difference of two or three days. Not enough time to significantly change the state of the war.

‘This was the best I could do.’

From now on, what matters is what happens next. What we’ve accomplished in the last three weeks isn’t negligible. We have to make it work somehow within the given situation.
My heart was aching with extreme tension. I poured a potion—one I secretly summoned into my hand—into a glass on the bedside table and gulped it down, trying to stabilize my weakened mind. This stuff also provided a slight awakening effect.

“Where is everyone right now?”

“They are commanding the soldiers at the rampart.”

“Let’s go there too.”

Ilian blocked my path as I tried to head out the door.

“It’s too dangerous. The Saintess should evacuate to a safe place…”

…Is he crazy? That’s not something someone who roughly knows my situation should say.

It seems he’s not in his right mind either. I chose to persuade him gently.

“Sir Ilian. It will be alright.”

“…Then please, stay as close as possible to either me, Sir Hereis, or Sir Arianne at all times.”

When I agreed, only then did Ilian step aside.

-Whoa, what is that?

-All those things running through the dust are magic beasts?

-I thought it was an earthquake, lol.

Arriving out of breath at the top of the rampart, I saw the party staring blankly at the horizon beyond the wall.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—

There… a legion of magic beasts, too numerous to count, was filling the vast horizon.

“Wh-what is… this…”

“Oh, Ralphican…”

The Marquis was supporting Edelina, whose legs had given out from the shock. Among the soldiers, some had lost all spirit and were crouching in corners calling for God…

“It’s over. We’re finished…”

There were even those who were pessimistically accepting death already.

‘At least I’m glad no one is turning tail and running.’

Though, to be precise, they seemed too stunned to even think about running. I turned my gaze back toward the magic beast legion. Because of the swirling dust, I could only see silhouettes, but they seemed to consist of relatively small magic beasts.

“At this rate, we should be able to handle them all with traps.”

At my sudden voice, the protagonist and Arianne flinched and looked at me. I guess they didn’t even realize I had arrived. The protagonist soon regained his composure and replied.

“If this is the end of it, that is.”

-It 100% isn’t.