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I refused to fight together with the traitorous Expana of the Demise Cult, and when I reported this to Sicily afterward, she praised me with open arms.
“As expected of Leon-sama.” (Sicily)
She said.
“Forgive me, I made a strategically important decision without asking you, Princess.”
“But Leon-sama is my shadow strategist.” (Sicily)
“You still have the final say”
“If so, I have now decided. High Priest Expana is also my enemy. I care about how he would affect the people.” (Sicily)
“I see.”
As expected, even Chloe will also participate in the battle of words.
“Her Highness is always right. You’re too hard on yourself, Leon-sama. You are not the kind of person who would want to join forces with a villain to win, even at this stage.” (Chloe)
“Well, that’s right. It is all because of our princess here.”
With that, I decided to make full use of their trust.
“So now what do we do?” (Sicily)
“My strategy is simple. I’m going to fortify this mountain and intercept Maxis. In the meantime, I’ll organize a detachment to retake Reinhardt and urge the sensible faction of the army in the capital to rise up and attack Maxis.”
“It’s a great plan. Except that it’s still only on paper.” (Chloe)
“What a hard to please maid.”
“Because the life of Her Highness and the fate of this country are at stake.” (Chloe)
“That’s right. And you are right. My plan is still a theory on paper. I’m sure everyone is aware of that, so we’ll focus on securing Reinhardt.”
“What about the sensible people in the army?” (Chloe)
“The only one who’s definitely on our side is Lieutenant General Ziggurat.”
Lieutenant General Ziggurat is a general of this country, a veteran general who started as a soldier.
He is known as the conscience and standard of the Ernian army, and he hates to do anything out of line. He is also known as a man of integrity and generosity and is second only to the Princess in popularity among the soldiers.
During the Kerich Affair, he sided with the Princess and boldly attacked Kerich’s army. It is hard to imagine him as an enemy, which is why Maxis is wary of him.
Ziggurat was currently being sent to the front lines against the Empire and could not easily move.
When I explained this to her, Chloe’s expression darkened.
“Worst case scenario, we should assume that General Ziggurat will not support us?” (Chloe)
“Oh, I sent a crow, but it seems that he’s having a hard time.”
“I’ve heard he’s being harassed by the Ernian Army.” (Chloe)
I can easily imagine the harassment from the conservative faction of the military, with Lieutenant General Ziggurat clearly a patron of the princess. He had to send in new recruits who had no training and received only minimal equipment and supplies.
“However, his power is still great, and I sincerely hope that he will come, but for now, let’s fortify this Mount Shibi.”
“Yes. In addition to that, I want to unify the will of the anti-conservatives through Lieutenant General Ziggurat.” (Sicily)
“I’ll leave that to you, Princess. I don’t think I’m capable of doing that.”
Sicily says that’s not true, but it’s a waste of time to argue, so we went straight into our respective tasks. The princess wrote hundreds of letters, and I was cleaning up Mount Shibi. Meanwhile, Chloe helps Sicily.
“Now, since ancient times, it has been decided that men will do hard labor. Victor, Nine, and your men will come and work with me.”
We walked out of the room where the two were using.
“Yes sir!” (Men)
They responded.
The fortification of Mount Shibi is simple enough, but it’s a lot of work.
The mountain is uninhabited, and it must be done entirely by military personnel.
Though that will save the people a lot of trouble.
I instructed the officer in charge of supplies to buy materials and ordered him to do the civil engineering work.
I ordered them to dig double trenches and barriers.
In the meantime, instead of watching from the rear, I decided to solve a problem peculiar to Mount Shibi.
“For now, we’re just using the dragon’s lair that we defeated before, but once we start digging on a larger scale, other dragons will surely notice our presence.”
“If you wake up someone sleeping, they’ll be in a horrible mood.” (Victor)
“That’s how it is.” (Nine)
“That’s why we will drive away the dragons around here.”
“I’d like to apply for overtime pay, overtime pay and a bonus.” (Victor)
“I can’t, because as of now, we’re rebels, and our military pay has been suspended.”
“On the contrary, our accounts may have been frozen.” (Nine)
Nine says sullenly.
“It’s a good thing you’re so tiny, you don’t have to pay for food that much.” (Victor)
“Shut up, you old man, don’t call me tiny.” (Nine)
Sparks flew between the two of them, but I knew that the two of them would work well together, so the three of us worked together.
“I want to take some soldiers, but it’s good with just us three. This is good for saving money.”
“Well, we’re shorthanded right now with all the civil engineering work, so what the hell.” (Victor)
“It’s no use for small fries to take on a dragon. It’s better to challenge them with strong soldiers.” (Nine)
Nine, who knew all about dragon biology, was infinitely right. A soldier who could not pierce the skin of a dragon would only slow them down.
“The only thing that can penetrate the scales of a dragon is Victor’s greatsword and me and Brother’s forbidden magic.” (Nine)
Nine said this. Victor seems to have sensed something and pulled out his greatsword with ease.
“I’ve always thought that every man should slay a dragon at least once. I have to admit, I’m shaking in my boots.” (Victor)
I said goodbye to the princess as I gazed at my two trusty men.
Sicily announced her departure with a serious look on her face.
“I’m going to accompany Chloe to General Ziggurat. The general himself may not be able to move, but if we can get him to write a letter, we’ll have more allies.” (Sicily)
“It’s a good plan, and if you don’t mind, stay here, with Lieutenant General Ziggurat being at the forefront of the war against the Empire, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Are you doubting my abilities at this point, Leon-sama?” (Chloe)
Chloe and Sicily protest, but I calmly reply.
“I’m not doubting your abilities. But on the battlefield, you never know what’s going to happen. There are countless stories of undefeated generals who have won victory after victory, only to be killed by a stray arrow.”
It’s true and general, but Sicily rejects me with a smile.
“I appreciate your concern, but if there is ever a time for me to be on the front lines, it is now. Of course, I will be careful of stray arrows and assassins, but if I don’t meet General Ziggurat here and now, I will regret it for the rest of my life.” (Sicily)
“-Well, I know. No, I knew that. I’m not going to say anything anymore. I trust in your luck and in Chloe’s strength.”
Leave it to me, Chloe said, showing me her biceps. After that, I gave her a few pieces of advice, and then I started to prepare to kill the dragon. Sicily says that killing dragons is thousand times more dangerous, but she’s not wrong.
The dragons are not all the same, but the strongest of the ancient dragon species can be defeated by five strategic class magicians. No ancient dragon species had yet been discovered in the mountains of Shibi, but we were told that there were monsters close to it.
Also, the dragon we had defeated last time had not been defeated in a straightforward manner, but rather by a “trick”. We had won the battle by damaging the dragon’s wings and trapping it.
This time, two of my one-hundred-and-fifty men joined the battle, but it would still be a challenge to defeat a dragon. However, I wanted to avoid having my men attacked by dragons during civil engineering work at all costs.
A fight with the dragons was inevitable.
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