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So-Chintzy

Conquest Arc

(Authors explanation about the previous title)

Fish in troubled waters / disturb the waters and catch a fish The 20th of the 36 Stratagems of the Arts of War. Its a stratagem where you use the opportunity during the confusion amongst the enemies to gain an advantage to achieve victory.

Valgas Duchys Capital City Red Dragon Castle-Town[1]

As a capital city, its location on the mountainside made it inconvenient to transport goods. As for why they built a capital city in such a place, its because the Valgas Duchy not only has Wyverns for war purposes but also for transportation purposes. Since the number of Wyverns was limited, they couldnt function as mass transportation, but one Wyvern could pull a gondola on the ropeway. There are also bus-like gondolas that connect each castle-city and are pulled by four Wyverns each. Since they could fly, places that are hard to reach by foot are not a big problem.

Moreover, Castor Valgas, who ruled this city, is an excellent general.

Because he was such a person, the day-to-day governing of the city was left to his capable subordinates. Since it was obvious that if a person who was weak in administration tried to get in the way of the government, the results wouldnt be satisfactory. It might even be able to be considered as good in itself. Actually, the administration of the city was stable, and so, as long as their livelihoods were stable, the citizens would respect the ruler. Thats why the citizens also supported Castor Valgas.

Yes Until the day the failure of Soumas Last Warning happened, that is

Several hours after the failure of Soumas Last Warning:

At the northern end of the Red Dragon Castle-Town, in front of the gate that led to Castor Valgas castle, the Red Dragon Castle, large mobs of people had gathered. The mob of people consisted of those from all ages and genders; they clearly represented the full range of citizens that lived at the Red Dragon Castle-Town. The people were clearly angry and resentful, and yelled their protests to the soldiers that guarded the gate that leads inside.[4]

Duke Valgas! Come out!(Angry Mob)

Why did you reject the aid from the King even though my children are starving(Angry Mob)

Damn you!!! Come out, Castor Valgas!!!(Angry Mob)

The mobs yelled out various types of pent up resentment.

High up in the castle in his room, Castor Valgas watched the state of the mobs from a window.

Shittt! Why in the world did it become like this!?(Castor)

Castor kicked a chair near him and yelled. The wooden chair crashed into the wall and broke into pieces, but Castors anger didnt calm down.

Why?! Why do the citizens know about the discussion with the King!? Were there any spies mixed in!?(Castor)

Castor-samaThat is(Tolman)

A white haired man who looked like a butler, who had been standing earlier in the room for some time, timidly began to speak. His name is Tolman Bech.[5] As a matter of fact, he was the Chamberlain of the Valgas House and had been entrusted with the domestic affairs of the Valgas Duchy. The chamberlain was quite muscular because he had quite a unique job history: originally a former vice commander of the Wyvern Knight Corps, because of his high administration skills, he was turned into a chamberlain instead.

Curiously, Tolman was hesitant to inform Castor.

It looks like the new King had broadcasted the negotiation process even to the Three Dukes territories.(Tolman)

What did you say!(Castor)

Castor couldnt believe what he had just heard. He couldnt believe what Souma had just done. It was common sense in this world that the citizens had no need to know the process of the negotiations. It will be alright to only inform them about the results of the negotiations. After all, the powerless citizens had no other choice but to accept those results.

This seemingly inane conduct had roused the citizens. Castor could only grind his teeth in frustration.

I only want you to please remember, that before you are a general, you also carry many things on your back.

He remembered the words that Souma had spoken at that time.

(Did he mean this!? That bastard, what he really meant was about this!) (Castor)

Castor had fallen into what was a seemingly simple plan. It couldnt be helped. This world didnt have any concepts of Mass Media after all. Despite the presence of the similar overtechnology[6] Royal Broadcast, the previous Kings only used it to dispatch the minimum information to the citizens. If the citizens are ignorant, then it would be easier to rule them. Also, since it would be hard to guess where the public opinion would move after receiving the information, there was no need to deliberately use it. Therefore, many people, including Castor, didnt know about the medias power in influencing public opinion.

Souma was using the difference of this knowledge against Castor.

However, there were parts that Castor couldnt understand.

Still, but why? Why are the citizens enraged? Even though I had rejected the Kings aid, they had already received the food aid from the Air Forces emergency food supply, right? The situation wasnt that bad compared to the Kings territory!(Castor)

However, the chamberlain Tolman sadly shook his head.

The citizens wouldnt be able to understand that. Because of the peaceful rule up until now, they were worried that perhaps they would be swallowed up by the danger that would happen from now on. Thus, they resented you who had invited that danger.(Tolman)

No way The hearts of the citizens that had lived alongside me for so many years had drifted away so easily!?(Castor)

Castor dropped his shoulders, crestfallen.

If Souma was here right now, he would answer Castor with a quote from De Principatibus:

If someone needed to choose one over the other, then it would be better to be feared than to be loved, correct? Men are covetous creatures that think that as long they could obtain a profit for themselves, then they could even cut down their beloved. Conversely, that fear would never fade as there is no one who is not afraid of being killed.

(An excerpt from De Principatibus. Chapter 17)

Although these are blunt words, this was also the reality. If you were forced to hit someone and you had to choose between your friend and an uncle with a scary tattoo on his body, who would you choose? The majority of people would hit their friends. Everyone treasures their life, and if they hit their friend, then perhaps they would only need to frantically placate them to become friendly again. This was the calculation that that people had in their minds.

The number of protesters keeps increasing. It seems that they had also gathered in every city in our territory. Perhaps the Carmine Territory also has the same situation(Tolman)

Shit! Wont it be difficult to assemble the Wyvern Corps like this!?(Castor)

Although the Wyvern Corps were hailed as the Kingdoms strongest unit, it doesnt mean that they were always gathered at a single place constantly. The high ranked ones were given territory for themselves, and the others rented rooms at these territories. So, the actual condition of the corps was that they were dispersed throughout many different cities in the territory. Although, the subordinates would gather if there was a proclamation, Emergency!, just like in Japans Kamakura period[8], it would be impossible to gather them in these currently chaotic conditions. In this way, even if the Air Force became hostile, they couldnt mobilize like they used to. Soumas Information Warfare had herded them into a position where they could not move.

The appearance of the dejected Castor was seen by his daughter Carla from the shadow of the door. Castors wife and Carlas mother, Axela, received the advice from her own mother. She divorced herself from the Valgas House and had taken Carlas baby brother with her when she returned to the Walter Duchy. However, Carla remained behind. Not only did Carla inherit some of her fathers rough personality, but her pride wouldnt let her forgive herself if she escaped and abandoned him.

(The new King Souma Despite looking for a fight, he tried to decide the match outside the battlefield, truly the most detestable opponent for a warrior. An opponent that Liecia trusted so much that she can even cut her hair for him.) (Carla)

Carla also saw the scene where Liecia cut off her platinum blonde ponytail. Liecia was her friend, so she knew about Liecias serious personality. Her actions gave off an impression that she wouldnt hesitate even for a bit. She had already resolved herself to such an extent. Thus, Liecia who showed such resolution wouldnt be a half-heartened opponent.

(Currently there are 500 Wyvern Knights in Red Dragon Castle. The opponent is someone acknowledged by Liecia, so he certainly has already planned something. And the key to whether or not we can bite and tear that plan to shreds are the 500 Wyvern Knights.) (Carla)

Actually, at this point, Carlas leadership abilities as a general had exceeded Castors, and she was trembling with excitement at the hunch that a strong enemy will come soon.

On the other hand, when the 50,000 soldiers stationed in the southern part of the Amidonia Dukedom heard the news that the Elfrieden Kingdom Royal Army had already marched to subjugate Duke Carmine, they immediately commenced their invasion of the Elfrieden Kingdom.

One route leads to Duke Carmines Territory. Even if the road was open and easy for marching, Carmines territory stood in the way of this road. It can be said that the Carmine Territory served as the Guardian Shield of this route. Since they had already communicated with its lord, Georg Carmine, they could brazenly walk down that route. However, the Amidonia Army didnt use it.

The reason was that the Amidonia Army told both the Royal Armys side and the Three Dukes side (although the Navy had already separated) that they were the reinforcements for their respective sides. Because of this, they could not take the direct route to the Carmine Territory, lest they would be thought of as supporting Duke Carmine. The other reason was because it was to their national interest if the war between the Royal Army and the Kingdoms Army could be prolonged as long as possible. Later, Amidonias military intervention might be needed to achieve this condition. If, for example, they supported the numerically superior Kingdoms Army, when they achieved victory, the Kingdom would be immediately consolidated under Georg, and Amidonia would only receive limited rewards.

NOT PICTURED: The city of Nerva, since Spoiler!

For that reason, the Amidonia Army chose the other route that passed through the southern mountainous region. It was a route that passed through the Goldoa Valley halfway amongst the Ursula Mountains at the southern Amidonian-Elfriedenian border. The road in this direction is rugged, but after the crossing the valley, they would arrive at the outskirts of Altomura City. The melt water that flowed from the Ursula Mountains made this region the number one breadbasket of Elfrieden. It was a region that was formerly a part of the Amidonia Dukedom in the past.

Amongst the marching Amidonia Army, the Duke of Amidonia, Gaius VIII, and the Ducal Prince, Julius, rode horseback while showing off wicked smiles.

Kukuku, it would be better if the King and the Three Dukes clashed as hard as possible while we recover our lost territory.(Gaius)

Fufufu, that is so true(Julius)

The sun darkened as they crossed the valley. Both of them couldnt stop believing in the bright future awaiting them ahead.

Table of Contents

Okay! Since Larvyde-san already finished the chapters after this expect release from him soon!

[1] A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to/surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include Caernavon

[3] A Daimyo under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and famous as one of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake. Often times said to have a simplistic personality.

[5] =Toruman Behha

[7] Souma refer to many opposition medias that circulated in Western-style Democracy. (EN: Think: John Olivers show on HBO, the Daily Show and the Colbert Report for the TV counterparts.)

[8] For the European and American reader, just imagine French or England feudalism in Middle Ages, or for Paradox players, imagine Crusader Kings 2