Reincarnated Aristocrat Chapter 123: Struggle

“I’ve gotten ahold of the situation at Starts Castle and will give the report.” (Ben)

　It was Ben who delivered the information that Shadow had obtained.

　It’s hard to remember his face as usual, but he’s become recognizable even without appraisal.

“Proceed.”

“First of all, we haven’t been able to take down Starts Castle yet. The main army seems to be struggling quite a bit.” (Ben)

　The main army is struggling?

　We have the advantage in terms of numbers, but I thought it might not be so easy to take it down because it is a highly defensible castle. Was my prediction correct?

“Is Starts Castle really that defensible?”

“In addition to the fact that the castle’s defense is quite solid, it seems that the soldiers who came from Beltud Castle as reinforcements have been doing quite a bit of damage. One of the main reasons for their struggles is that the facility where they store ether was ambushed and as a result, they lost a lot of the ether of explosion.” (Ben)

　That seems tough.

　Ether of explosion is an essential siege weapon to destroy a castle.

　The castle is already resistant to magic, and it’s now harder to fight a battle when they’ve lost a lot of ether.

　This may be worse than I expected.

“What are you planning on doing now? Are you going to send ether of the explosion?” (Ben)

“Yes, but by the time it arrives, it may be winter in the middle of winter and it will be difficult to continue the battles.”

　It is now June, and the weather is getting chilly.

　It’s true that if we don’t end the war soon, winter will set in.

　They are probably already camped out near Start’s Castle, so it may not be that the battles themselves will be impossible.

　However, once it snows, it becomes difficult to transport food and resources, so in that sense, the battle will be impossible.

　The coldest period is from the end of June to the beginning of July, after which the snow will start to melt and we will be able to fight.

　It’s not a very long time, but even so, with the current state of the army, it’s better to end the battle as soon as possible. The possibility of not being able to do anything for about 20 days seems quite unpleasant.

“ Thank you for the information.”

　After thanking Ben, I passed on the information to Lemail-sama.

　Lemail-sama made a bitter expression before giving his opinion.

“What a …… shame that things aren’t that much better. …… Is there anything we can do?” (Lemail)

“We should send reinforcements. This Rolt Castle has some explosive ether saved. I don’t know if it’s enough though.”

“There is no doubt that we should help Clan-sama. The problem is how do we do it.” (Lemail)

“How…”

　Is there any other way other than charging?

“There is also the option of attacking the enemy from another direction to take advantage of their weakness. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it. But there are two ways to get to Start Castle from Rolt Castle, one of which is a narrower path separate from the one we’ve been marching on. If we take this path and launch a surprise attack, it might work. Probably” (Lemail)

　If the enemy knew about the Rolt Castle getting conquered, they might already be ready, but it would still be more effective to try a surprise attack.

“I think it’s better to make a surprise attack, but … I think it’s better to discuss and decide with everyone.”

“I agree with you. And it’s best to decide as soon as possible. Bring your talented vassals with you.” (Lemail)

“Understood.”

　I called my vassals and we began the war council.