novelraw Chapter 185: Childhood Friend - Monarch
Chapter 185: Childhood Friend - Monarch
185. Childhood Friend - Monarch
A defeated army is unmistakable.
The evidence was scattered throughout the camp. Instead of proudly raising their voices, the soldiers whispered among themselves. Suspicion and discontent spread through the lax discipline, causing the flags to droop and the tents to sag.
Even seasoned elite soldiers, who had experienced countless battles, couldn’t help it. No one enjoys losing a war.
Especially if the army is full of fresh recruits who haven't even received proper training. The commander had to worry about the possibility of mass desertion.
“Damn it! So, what about reinforcements? When are they supposed to arrive?! They said they’d at least send mercenaries in the meantime, but if they don't send those, how are we supposed to hold the front line?!”
- Bang!
The commander of the Royal Army of the Right Kingdom kicked the table. An inkwell spilled over, and several lieutenants hurriedly grabbed the stacks of papers to prevent them from getting soaked.
All of them were records of repeated defeats.
“What’s the use of having a bunch of knights?! They’re all green recruits who have never swung a sword. Meanwhile, on the other side...”Damn it.
While it was easy to blame the recruits, there was actually a more serious problem.
Even untrained recruits could at least earn their keep if you put armor on them and handed them a weapon. They would struggle to survive on the battlefield.
But the problem was that the other side had increased their squad sizes. The commander grabbed his head in frustration from the intense stress.
“Do they expect us to make soup with the two mages they sent? Two? What? Two months?”
At this rate, they couldn’t hold out for even two weeks, let alone two months. The front lines were continuously pushed back, and for some reason, the death rate among the knights was alarming.
Especially on the eastern front. Fifteen knights had already died there, three times more than on the northern front.
It was all because of the lack of mages.
With insufficient mages, they couldn’t even observe the enemy’s movements, while their own were constantly exposed, leading to knights being killed.
The knight commander claimed that the knights always moved under trees or in bushes to avoid the ‘Cloud Eye’ spell, but the commander didn’t believe it.
How could groups of four knights be wiped out unless the enemy had pre-planned traps?
The knight commander was undoubtedly lying to protect their pride.
“Uh... Commander.”
A lieutenant cautiously approached the commander, who was seething with anger.
“The princes will be arriving soon. Shouldn't you go to greet them?”
The commander glared.
This was the root of the problem.
A little while ago, the commander had been overjoyed at the report that the princes were coming, thinking reinforcements had finally arrived. But he was infuriated when he asked about the size of the reinforcements.
The princes had brought about a hundred knights. They were probably valuable forces obtained by pressuring nobles who hadn't yet participated in the war...
But what they needed were soldiers! Experienced soldiers!
If they couldn’t increase their magical forces, they at least needed a large number of soldiers. With the enemy increasing their squad sizes, they needed many experienced sergeants to adapt flexibly in the field.
Yet the royal family hadn't even sent the well-trained Nevis garrison. Despite being immediately deployable, they refused to send them.
“Greet them? Tell them to come on their own.”
The commander didn’t move. He sat down with his arms crossed, seething, as Prince Athon and Prince Elzeor de Lognum arrived at the tent.
The commander was about to vent his anger. But when Prince Elzeor pulled out a document, he let out a long sigh.
“I’m taking over command. From this moment, I am the commander.”
Prince Athon spoke.
It was a transfer order with the king’s seal. The commander was too exhausted to argue. As he handed over his position, he thought, So this is how the kingdom falls, resigning himself to watch how the princes would handle things.
But,
“Recall some of the knights from the front lines. Form a special detachment. The knights will lead small groups of soldiers to attack the rebels’ territories in the east.”
“But we are already being pushed back. If the knights are withdrawn, the front line will collapse.”
“We’re already behind in magical power, so the front lines will inevitably be pushed back. Instead, we’ll use the knights to scatter the rebels. Hit their undefended homes. Five knights should be enough for one territory, right?”
“What about the front lines?”
The former commander, now reduced to a mere general, asked. He had observed the princes for a few days and judged them to be less foolish than the rumors suggested, though he still spoke with concern.
Prince Elzeor de Lognum coldly replied.
“We’ll increase our squad sizes too. If they’ve increased theirs to thirty, we’ll increase ours to forty. We can manage by pulling back and narrowing the front lines.”
“What? No! If we gather so many together, we’ll be easy targets for mages. There’s a reason squads are limited to ten. It’s a balance between the mage’s fatigue and the potential damage.”
“It doesn’t matter. Whether we die to mages or fighting squads of thirty, death is the same. We just need to hold out for two months. When the front lines collapse... the command will retreat.”
Ah, they’re madmen. The general realized that the princes were out of their minds. He shouted, his beard bristling.
“Just call for more mages! Why aren’t the Nevis garrison here? What about the soldiers in training?”
The princes didn’t budge. They answered confidently.
“This battle is not worth worrying about. The fate of the war will be decided in the capital, Neviss.”
*
Sigh...
Prince Leo returned to his tent and sighed. He dismissed the bodyguard who had followed him, saying, “Good work. Go and rest now,” and sat down at the table.
Papers were piled up like a mountain.
They were petitions and reports from generals, lieutenants, staff officers, and nobles involved in the war. They included urgent supply and logistics plans, requests for reinforcements, scattered battle reports, and casualty records, all waiting for approval.
And that wasn’t all.
The military doctor demanded an increase in medical personnel, and there were complaints that the conscription carried out in the occupied villages and towns was not legal. Routine issues like insubordination, handling of deserters, military trials, the replacement of commanders, and power struggles between noble-led armies were all part of the endless paperwork that Leo, the commander, had to deal with.
Even the documents that his lieutenants and staff could handle on their own were filtered and sent up to him. Leo had no time to rest his weary body. If he didn't handle these matters quickly, the problems would only grow worse.
Grasping his throbbing forehead, he scratched away with his quill. The flickering candlelight deepened the scar on his face.
The war was progressing smoothly. The enemy, failing to receive reinforcements, kept losing their strongholds and being pushed back, and Neviss was not far. They had tried to utilize their abundance of knights to raid the lands of the nobles who had joined the rebellion, but their unity had not faltered.
It was thanks to Lena.
It had been over ten months since the "beggar siblings"... no, "I" started moving. His sister was growing at a frightening pace, becoming a truly beautiful woman.
Her mature cheeks peeked through her cascading golden hair, her eyes shone with resolute determination. Though her neck remained white and slender, it was now held high, and her budding chest lifted her attire.
Lena was no longer a girl. She was not just a pretty princess. His sister was... becoming a monarch.
Understanding her role in securing victory in this war, Lena had shed her dress. She donned a sturdy uniform and traveled through the regions.
She persuaded neutral nobles, convinced provincial governors to betray their masters, and just showing her face to the citizens greatly aided in conscription efforts.
Leo paused his quill. He recalled Lena’s commanding presence in the recent meeting.
“We must not return.”
Her resolute voice silenced the noisy tent. Her golden eyes flashed, crushing the nobles' anxieties.
“Even if you return to your divided territories to defend them now, without victory in this war, you will eventually be hunted down. We must remain steadfast.”
“Are you saying we should just let our lands be raided?”
One noble spoke up among the now calmer crowd, still harboring discontent but not as agitated as before.
Lena bowed politely.
“I do not know. Forgive my ignorance. However, we have excellent generals here. Some have already had their lands raided, and some fear it will happen, but please trust our generals.”
Lena turned her gaze. Following her eyes, the nobles looked at the command staff, including the prince. In the ensuing silence, Leo realized he was being tested.
This was the stage his sister had set for him.
If he showed incompetence here, the hard-won army would be torn apart.
“We do not have many knights.”
Though it was a known fact, disappointment flashed across their faces. Leo hammered the point home.
“But we have overwhelming superiority in magical power and a significant number of fully trained elite soldiers. I will send mages with these elite units. The eastern territories are beyond help... I apologize. But we will defend the northern and northeastern territories.”
After speaking, Leo showed sincere regret, nodding to Marquis Guidan, the biggest victim whose second estate in the east was devastated. Communication with the city of Bospo, where the lord's castle was, had been cut off, and the situation in other territories was similar.
The knights, sneaking around the front lines, had massacred the governors and officials defending the estates. They might have declared these places free cities under the royal knights and installed new governors.
Fortunately, Marquis Guidan raised his hands in acceptance. Other eastern nobles, whose lands were also raided, couldn’t find words to object.
Seven mages left the camp. Each led a thousand troops to head northeast to thwart the knights disrupting the rear lines.
Though it might bring complications to the war situation, it was necessary. It was better than having the nobles desert with their soldiers and knights.
The nobles who rebelled needed to stay united to sway those still deciding their allegiance. Each noble not only contributed forces but also represented the proportion of the kingdom supporting the rebellion.
A kingdom was built by the union of many noble families.
Lena smiled brightly.
She gave him a secret wink, which felt like a sign of passing a test, easing Leo’s mind.
Thinking back to the recent events, Leo fiddled with the quill he had set down. While the sense of relief had prevented him from thinking too much earlier, he now felt something was wrong despite hearing Minseo's thoughts from Rev.
Lena was already a splendid monarChapter Despite Leo’s efforts to secure the throne for Rev, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were missing the point.
‘Would things have been easier if I had just let Lena handle it? This is about ‘raising Lena,’ not us being the protagonists.’
But in this childhood friend scenario, Lena is Lena. And she... wants to become a priest.
It’s a paradox.
Rev had decided to take the throne to resolve this complicated situation. He planned to elevate Lena’s status to fulfill Minseo’s desired outcome, and there was no rule against a princess becoming a priest, so Lena could achieve her wish.
Leo shook his head to clear his doubts. It was just confusion from intertwining scenarios with Rev.
The childhood friend and beggar sibling scenarios were different. His sister’s talent for becoming a great monarch was because of the struggle to reclaim their {lineage} in the beggar sibling scenario.
A scenario where nothing is given, without even talent, would be too harsh.
The only regret was not realizing this sooner...
Leo picked up his quill again. He read and signed documents one by one, occasionally writing letters.
He set aside the signed papers when a familiar name caught his eye in a single line.
- Viscount Bocali, who supported the eastern supply line, killed in action.
Among the mountains of documents.
Leo had no time to mourn the viscount’s death. He felt a moment of regret for the old viscount, but that was all. The document was soon buried under other papers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Highest Level Supporters (SwordGod's):
1. Diablo75009
2. SilentWhisper
3. Matthew Yip
4. George Liu
5. James Harvey
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------