Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100\% Accuracy-Chapter 259: The Second Magician (5)

After the long meeting, the remaining troops, except for the 5,000 soldiers who would defend the castle, were organized into an interception force.

The commander of the interception force was Lord Lunarian Iniang, known as Luna. According to the plan, she was supposed to meet the enemy at the forefront, alongside Tifa. Assisting her as her strategist was Jinor, and many of the most capable generals, including Mets, who could wield a sword, were part of the interception force.

Francis, along with the 5,000 soldiers, was in charge of fortifying Tepello Castle. In preparation for any potential ambush, he had set traps around the castle. Though he made various preparations, there was nothing he could do. Once the interception force collapsed, the castle would inevitably fall. He knew this well, but still, he could not stand idly by. His lord, Luna, was personally risking her life in battle, and he had to make every possible preparation.

With this resolve in mind, Francis meticulously surveyed every corner of the castle, overseeing all the finer details himself.

"General, the traps you ordered have all been set."

At the soldier’s report, Francis nodded and responded.

"Good, well done. What’s the status of the archers?"

"They are in their final training session."

"Excellent. Then make sure similar traps are set at the eastern gate."

"At the eastern gate as well?"

The eastern gate of Tepello Castle faced the forces of the Ohana army. In the past, when the castle was under Karelia’s forces, this gate was particularly important, as it led directly to the frontlines. However, right now, it was probably the safest place, at least for the moment.

"We never know what kind of trick the enemy might use to catch us off guard. Even if the possibility is low, we should prepare for everything. We must secure every possible point, don't you think?"

"Y-Yes, General..."

Before the soldier could finish, Francis, his voice sharp, turned to him.

"What's the matter?"

But the reply did not come from the soldier. Instead, it came from behind Francis.

"It would be utterly impossible to defend the east gate with only 5,000 men."

The voice, accompanied by footsteps, was unmistakably a woman’s. It was a voice that Francis knew very well.

"...Violet."

As soon as Violet appeared, the soldier saluted her, to which she waved her hand, signaling she understood.

"Brother, we must maximize the use of the resources we have. With the limited forces available, spreading them thin and preparing for everything will only lead to leaving nothing properly defended."

"..."

Hearing Violet's words, Francis turned his head toward the soldier.

"Is that what you were trying to say?"

"Ah, yes... That’s it!"

After hearing the soldier’s words, Francis stretched his hand out briskly.

"...I understand. Then, let’s focus the defense on the most dangerous areas: the west and north."

"Yes, sir!"

After the soldier left, Violet sighed softly.

"Are you nervous? You were stumbling, not like you at all, brother."

"...I guess so. What about Charlotte?"

"She’s preparing for the battle."

Charlotte von Eingart, the second child of the royal siblings brought by Kyle, was assigned to the interception force and was supposed to assist Tifa. If only she could be out there fighting as well, but she had a gut feeling that once the interception force was overwhelmed, there would be nothing anyone could do.

"...Sigh."

"Brother, I understand how you feel, but with the troops we have left, there's not much we can do. We can’t really make a difference. Sometimes, it’s better to do nothing than to act recklessly and make things worse."

"Yeah. I know..."

Plopping down onto the ground, Francis muttered to himself and sighed multiple times before finally asking Violet a question.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Jinor’s plan. Sending most of the troops into the interception force."

Violet casually sat down beside Francis. It was an odd sight, seeing noble-born youths sitting in the dirt, but neither of them cared enough to be bothered by such trivialities.

"I would never do that. Even if it’s presented as a brilliant tactic, I’d have chosen to avoid sending any troops into the interception force."

"Then what about the siege weapons?"

"...I don’t know what that brilliant tactic is, so I probably wouldn’t have advised it if I had been given the chance."

"What are you talking about?"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Francis laughed in disbelief but strangely felt more at ease than when he had been scrambling to prepare earlier.

"Well... he’s a smart man. He was the prime minister of the Empire, wasn’t he? It happened when we were too young to understand, and our father was far removed from central politics, so we don’t know exactly what kind of person he was... but still, the Empire wouldn’t just let anyone sit in the prime minister's seat, right?"

"...I suppose so."

"Right."

"I feel pathetic. I want to be of help to our lord, but... I don’t even know what kind of picture our lord is drawing. I wanted to be of use to him, somehow."

At Francis's words, Violet briefly glanced at him before speaking in a calm tone.

"I’m telling you this as your younger sibling: it’s better to give up, brother."

"...What?"

"You’ll never have ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ a moment to intervene. The tree you can’t climb is only a waste of time to keep staring at."

Before Francis could ask what she meant, Violet stood up, brushing off the dirt from her behind.

"I’m going."

With that, Violet walked off, leaving Francis to watch her go, saying nothing.

***

Several days passed.

Finally, a group bearing the deep green flag of the Karelia army became visible atop the walls of Tepello Castle.

"The enemy is right on our doorstep."

Tifa, who had been watching beyond the walls, whistled sharply.

"What will we do, Luna?"

Luna, closing her eyes, quietly drew her sword from its scabbard and spoke.

"Open the western gate."

"Western gate, open!"

With the loud command, the western gate of the castle was opened, and the interception force, led by Luna, moved outside in an orderly fashion. The number of troops was more than 80,000! Deploying such a large force outside the castle took considerable time. Had the enemy been a smaller force focused on mobility rather than a massive army nearing 200,000, they would likely have reached the castle before the troops even finished exiting, bringing siege weapons with them.

Despite the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, Luna's forces were still at a significant disadvantage. The enemy had more than double the number of soldiers. If the siege had been conducted from within the castle, perhaps there could have been a way to resist. But with the interception force already out in the field, the situation seemed unavoidable.

What we must rely on now... is the valiant efforts of each general and the "decisive moment" that Jinor spoke of.

It's okay.

In our army, as long as we cannot avoid this battle, we will never lose.

Luna clenched her fist and pressed it to her chest, closing her eyes as she recalled the voice of the man.

"My lord! Stay healthy! And if the opportunity comes, never let it slip away! I will return to your side for sure!"

‘...I will never let go of the opportunity I have, until the day you return to my side, I swear...!!’

Slowly opening her eyes, a red glow flashed in her gaze. The energy that even Airen had briefly been overwhelmed by began to envelop her once more.

The warmth left behind by my strategist, Swen, is in this clenched fist.

Desperately holding onto that lingering warmth, Luna shouted in a strong voice.

"...The interception force of Lunarian's army will now advance!"

"Wooahhhhhh—!!"

***

The battle began.

The first priority of the interception force, unsurprisingly, was to deal with the siege weapons. Normally, with proper troop management, they could have avoided the destruction of the siege weapons without much trouble, but...

"Goddammit, why are there so many of them?!"

As Sade cursed loudly while cutting down the Lunarian soldiers, the numbers of the interception force were overwhelming—far too many.

They had missed the timing to defend against the siege weapons. Originally, they expected only around 20,000 or 30,000 troops to emerge. But seeing the full force of the Lunarian army, they were now helpless, unable to do anything as the siege weapons were systematically dismantled.

It felt as if the defenders of the castle had been entirely pushed out.

Though it was evident that the siege weapons were being destroyed right before their eyes, from the Karelia army’s perspective, it was difficult to truly regard this as a blunder.

The enemy's numbers were 200,000 strong.

Even if the entire castle garrison had been sent out, Lunarian's maximum force was only about 90,000. Sending that kind of force without any preparation would be suicidal, wouldn’t it?

"What, even if something’s behind us, it won’t matter!"

Swish!

Though Sade was already back in action, his thoughts were not the only ones questioning the situation. Vanessa, who was overseeing the battle from the rear, was also startled by the unexpectedly large numbers of the interception force.

‘...Why?’

It seemed like a self-inflicted mistake.

Yes, our forces were initially thrown off guard. The balance was disrupted. As a result, the siege weapons were quickly neutralized. However, in a battle where the victory condition wasn’t to destroy the siege weapons, this decision was hard to justify.

But the key issue wasn’t strategy or whether someone was brilliant or not—it was simply arithmetic.

How could 80,000 soldiers defeat 200,000?

It was just a matter of simple math. With that much of a numerical difference, strategy didn’t even come into play.

‘There must be a reason behind this action. Luna Iniang is certainly not a fool. It seems we have to prepare for some unforeseen circumstance.’

The most obvious theory was enemy reinforcements, but the only possible reinforcements—the Ohana army—had already declared they wouldn’t intervene.

Even after reviewing recent developments, there were no signs of diplomatic activity.

So, what could this be?

No, perhaps the situation was designed to lead them to think that something was about to happen?

‘...No.’

Despite these thoughts, Vanessa didn’t let her guard down.

‘Since we don’t know what might happen, rushing in without thinking would be risky.’

As she was about to send word to Cecil, who was stationed at the rear with her thoughts, a soldier came running.

"Ch-Chief strategist!"

"What is it?"

"Reinforcements... It seems the enemy’s hidden reinforcements have appeared! They’re attacking from the left and right flanks!"

"...Reinforcements?"

What?

Reinforcements?

Vanessa's pupils shrank in disbelief.

"Reinforcements... from Ohana?"

"No, it’s... not from any country we know of..."

"...What?"

Confused and unable to finish his sentence properly, the soldier was not mistaken, however.

Soldiers who appeared to help Lunarian’s army were leading the charge.

On the left, leading a large force of archers, was Gustav, known to the world as the leader of the Raven Mercenaries.

On the right, commanding a rapid infantry assault, was Aaron, the leader of the Chilean Mercenaries, a man famous for his bravery.

"I swear, when Luna Iniang reappears on the stage of history, I will come to her aid."

"Until that moment, I hope you stay healthy."

These were the men who, after hearing Swen’s words and receiving Lunarian’s army’s support, had gone into seclusion. Now, they had returned to the stage of history.