The Strategist Knows Everything

"Get out of there!

Sophia's room sounds so strong that she won't be allowed to say whether or not she has one. Sophia and I were the only ones in the room, and Sophia was the one who spoke up. It's rare to point a word in the form of an order at me, and most importantly, it's been since I first met you.

"I'm not leaving."

Sophia stares at me. My stomach hurts by accident. But there is no reason to leave. If I leave here, there's no one in the castle who can stop Sophia. When that happens, Sophia will get out of the castle. Master Dio left me to avoid that. There is no reason for me to leave.

"I told you to leave. Wouldn't you know if you didn't exercise your powers?

Open Sofia's status. It has more than a hundred fighting abilities. Because no one exceeded a hundred in combat, they thought the hundred was the highest price, but they didn't. And I've never even known to say that numbers fluctuate.

When I first saw it, Sophia's fighting power was in her nineties. Is it a matter of concentration or motivation or something like that? By the way, the charm that was one hundred and fifty has fallen to ninety. I'm sure there's no one here who knows Sophia the Plain and thinks she's more attractive now.

"So if you can get your cool back, why don't you?

Since defense is impossible from the beginning, there is only one way to say this. If Sophia advances with strength, she can't stop citing the total power of the castle. Of course, if that happens, the injured will continue. If you lack calm enough to know that too, there's nothing you can do about it anymore.

Sophia weaves a blue cape from above her white robe. That's Sophia's outfit, said to be the supreme maiden. And when you go to a dangerous place, it is also something that you wear so much that you can always go. It seems to be an excellent incorporation of defensive magic, and neither physical nor magical attacks work.

I'm wearing it to get out. Why are you going outside? Because there are enemies, and they are about to defeat them. Why are you trying to defeat me?

Because the enemy has demanded that Sofia come out of the castle alone, holding hostage a nearby village, a village that Sofia has taken several trips to. There are about three hundred troops holding the village hostage, and it seems that catching the king's immediate beauty, said to be a hound, is the task of the rough guys. It was this morning, the fifth day since Dio came out. And now it's daytime. Response deadline expires tomorrow morning.

"Yukito!"

"It's no use yelling or yelling. Never retreat. You can't leave if you ask me to. I was left here to stop you. You know what I mean? Why don't you just calm down first?

With delivery in mind, I keep looking at Sophia over the status screen. Combat is down and up. I guess I'm lost. If you're shaking, you have hope.

"Why don't you look for what you can do first? If you can't, I'll go with you. I won't let you go alone."

"But... you have to come alone……………."

"Loss as much as you take in between. I'm not complaining about a servant sticking around. The purpose of the opponent is to take you under the king, so I have to take care of you until the king's capital. If that's the case, it's more convenient for the servants to be there, and if they have to, they'll be hostages. I think we're gonna think about that, huh?

Take as long and talk as you can. Seeing the gradual decline in fighting power, I am heartbroken. First of all, we succeeded in making it stop. The next step is to open up the current situation.

If the deadline expires tomorrow morning, I will say that I don't mind this evening. Would it be an ambush multiplied by night if I were to aim?

When I think about it a lot, Sophia rocks in a flirtatious way. I rush over and support my shoulders.

"I…… have involved that village………."

"It's not Sophia's fault. Besides, I'm fine. There's still something I can do. Wouldn't it be that hard to disable Sofia without the hostages?

"Yes……. Not only me, but all the magicians in the escort, are elite. I think if we can fight properly, we can disable it without sacrificing."

"Then I'll figure out a way to free the hostages. But that will also depend on Sofia and the escorts..."

"I don't mind! Yukito, I don't care what happens to me…… the village, the children…………"

"My job is to protect Sophia. I'll protect the village and you."

I'm not really kidding about the fight. If this was a strange girl and Lady Dio hadn't entrusted me with it, I might have thought I'd give it to her. But it's Sofia who tells me to give it to you, and Dear Dio deposits the full powers. There are two reasons now, even though just one of them is enough to decide to be ready.

I feel reluctant to fight, but more than that, I feel like I'm not giving Sophia away, and I owe Dear Dio many times more.

Neither is it a joke to give it to Sophia nor to betray Dear Dio's expectations. I will never let you, and I won't.

■ ■ ■

"Please give me an opinion that is not abhorrent. What do you think we should do?

I gathered the men who were the Lord in the room where Dio had gathered the absentees before he came out.

Count Eulen's younger brother, the castle owner's deputy, is ill and unable to move out of bed. When I told him to see me earlier, he told me I'd leave everything to him. I honestly think I'm going to throw up on expectations and authority that's too heavy.

I'm not the only one who thinks that, and so are the faces collected. They weren't the ones who played that important role. Perhaps more than me, in puzzle.

"... I was wondering if I could abandon the village..."

"Right. I've already put out an early horse for Master Diorud. If you could just turn the soldiers this way, there would be no problem. Even if it's a caged castle, you'll have half a moon."

"I regret it but that's all I have……"

The field heads in the direction of abandoning the village in an instant. It's definitely not a choice in me, but I snort like everyone else says it's the only way. No, there was only one person who didn't snort.

It's a girl with brown hair on her ponytail. Would two or three be younger than me? If it's Japan, it's about freshman year in high school. The feeling is a little crazy because of watching Sophia, but a classmate would be cute enough to stick around and watch it during class. But the appearance of even being adorable is backwards, wearing a knight's armor, and his fighting power exceeds eighty. Most importantly, I haven't been able to figure out how fast it is. I have just 90 stats. Are your feet fast, or are you fast when you ride a horse? It's subtle, but anyway, she's not in the debate, she's staring at me.

"Something?

"I'm Mikana Hazard, captain of the Second Horse Riding Platoon. May I ask you a question?

"Hazard? Mr. Gordo's kin?

"It's my grandfather. It was my team that was on the escort when His Royal Highness found you down, so I brought you to my grandfather's house nearby."

I see. I woke up at Mr. Gordo's house. I finally figured out why. For once, you won't need respect because you're going to be my subordinate who's depositing full powers at the moment.

"Thanks for that. I have to thank you too."

"That'll be later. I think Lord Clay sees things in a wider perspective than we do. Your Highness must have advised you from that point of view as well. So can you tell us the advantages and disadvantages of abandoning a village from your point of view?

I thanked the girl named Mikana for her assistance. My gaze totally gathered on me. Now everyone will listen to me.

"Let's start with the biggest problem. If you abandon the village, Master Sofia will leave the castle. Of course, to drink demands and save the village."

"What is it!?

"What do you mean!?

"It means as it is. I managed to pull it off, but the more I said I wouldn't quit exercising my strengths, the more I decided to abandon the village, I think it would pop up."

"If so... What about Master Sophia?

Micah looks at me with a straight eye. Is it more accurate to say that I'm trying to find out what I'm thinking than to say I'm going to see it? More importantly, he hastens to say it quickly without sparing any effort.

"You'll get caught. The village you are holding hostage to is one that Sofia has taken to several times, so if you take the village hostage, you will not be able to do anything about it. Even if you can resist and perhaps drive back by yourself, there will be sacrifices in the village. When that happens, it will be Albion who hasn't shut up. I don't want to scratch the name of the supreme maiden. Albion takes all the blame, well, you're right, but you'd say it's on Velis. Then it becomes a diplomatic issue, and there is also the possibility that the nobility currently on Dear Dio's side will leave."

"Please be concise."

"It's because of you. Well, I was wondering if I should think that everyone on this scene doesn't have a neck. It's the cause of the deterioration of our relationship with Albion, and more importantly, if the Dios lose, of course, we don't have our lives."

Seeing more and more blue faces, a little, really little, but if I enjoyed it, Micana stopped me. You could say a little more. To the people who said such a pity to abandon them.

"Then Lord Clay thinks we should save the village. Is that okay with you?

"You, too, right?

"I became a knight to help someone who could be abused in front of me. That's still the same."

"That's comforting. It's already a hassle, and you ignore the details. It's subtle to call it a measure, but two. You can either disable the enemy before attacking the village, or you can multiply the night to send out an ambush unit, disable the enemy who will be in the village, and the main unit will attack."

"The former undoubtedly makes a sacrifice to the villagers. I don't know if I can win first. We lose in numbers, and we hear that the hounds are wildlings, but their arms stand."

"A small number can be protected. Master Sophia and his escorts have promised to cooperate, so I think the fight itself will be over. But I'm sure there will be some sacrifices."

"The latter is a bet, isn't it? If the ambush unit notices, it's over, and the ambush unit is dangerous."

Mikana says, he starts to put his arms together and come up with ideas. Look at the status, I knew you were intelligent too, but how can you be quite the head turning kid. Now this kid made me do a risk calculation in an instant. It helps that these kids are here. It would also deal with sudden events.

"We need time to work out a plan, but we don't have that time. Shall we decide if we will have a night raid first? Opportunities are unique. If you take it off, you're done there, but if you don't do anything, you lose everything. Drop your backwards consciousness."

"I agree. As a knight… we cannot overlook the hounds' occupation"

Potatoes and a voice of approval rise after Micana. Night assault is a unanimous decision at first. Of course, they will expect it, and we need to do something about it.

I don't know if I can say one thing, but I've come up with one. Sofia's cooperation is essential to that.

"Let's dissolve it once. Be quiet and prepare for battle so your enemies don't notice."

I had to ask Sophia, so I said so and broke up the place.

Because I'm in the upper position, even temporarily, everyone, ha. and responded. Of course, so is Micah. At least, they don't have anyone to put their inner grievances on the table. That helps. It ends tomorrow anyway. As long as we get through this now, that's fine.

With that in mind, I headed to Sophia's room.

■ ■ ■

Night. I checked the status of each of the two hundred soldiers in the castle.

The reason is simple. They're picking out an ambush squad. The criterion is speed. When I asked Mikana, she said everyone here could ride horses, so she would simply pick them fast and it would be fine. Micana seems to be unbeaten in the race for rush and horseback riding, and if you think it's the overall power of various speeds, it becomes quite a criterion of judgment. If you have similar numbers, you would prefer to have more combat power. Well, if I get ambushed, it's difficult to organize disobedience, so I don't think it's a problem to be somewhat less combative, but I can't make the right choice because people's lives are at stake.

"What kind of eyes do you have?

Somewhat, Micah whispers to me and asks me. I don't remember doing anything wrong though.

"You have black eyes, right?

"Not really... why can you choose all the people who are good at handling horseback riding?

"I know everything. You might even know Micah's secret, right?

"Huh!? Wow, I have no secrets!

"You're better at bows than swords and spears, aren't you?

"What……? Why are you doing that……………………………"

Well, if it says bow profoundly, you'll judge anyone to be a good weapon. I don't know if all the people who haven't written are to the same extent, or simply not proficient enough.

"You can go out with a bow."

"The knight in charge of the assault is based on the spear………"

"This is a surprise attack. You don't have to go that far. Except if you're confident you won't misfire the villagers."

"... my father was a hunter. I have also gone into the mountains and hunted many times with my father's help. My eyes are so good, I'm fine."

"Well, that's not a problem. Surprise Squad, is it all right if I entrust you with the command of fifty horsemen?

"You are the commander. Anywhere you want."

"Can't you do me a favor?

"It means to say show majesty. Ha, why did Your Highness leave the command with you………………………………."

"Because people can take care of it, right? Well, I'll put up my own body this time. Now, let the ambush squad get out the back door when they get a signal. We're gonna make it this way. We're gonna make it that way."

"As you wish."

I'll leave Micah with the fifty horsemen I've chosen, and I'll head slowly to the main entrance. The remaining one hundred and fifty men gathered rush to the main entrance. Running around won't start the operation unless I go.

Since the castle of Count Eulen is also a small castle town, the main entrance is far inside. Well, for that matter, more and more people are taking part in my measures.

"Clay."

"Captain Larg. Are you ready?

"Whatever. At the time the village was taken hostage, we expected to fight. I never thought I'd be shouldering you."

The big man on the horse, Captain Larg, the captain of the Sofia escort, walks the horse in a way that stands alongside me. I can't ride a horse, so Captain Larg needs me. For once, it's my escort too. I don't like the person.

"Excuse me. It'll be over soon."

"You don't care." especially where you get into people's nostalgia. "

"I'm just imitating my best friend. You're not that good with people."

"I don't think so. I still can't believe that Sophia's forgiving me."

"That is…… well, is it a coincidence? It just so happens that Master Sophia was hurt so hard to be concerned."

"... that's it. Besides, we didn't notice. So we have acted with the utmost respect for Sophia's will, not to make the same mistake again."

"Right. I was glad to take a walk."

"... but that's what got me into this situation. I'm worried about whether I should still keep him away from all sorts of things to protect him."

All of a sudden, it bothers me. Even if they say so, I have trouble reacting. Really? I can only answer that, but Captain Larg probably wants other answers. It's easy to deny, and affirmation is easier. Just put it back the way it was before.

"If you can't find the answer, I don't think that's okay. There are failures, and it is life that somehow tries to make up for them. If the filling fails, life is dark ahead, but if you can make it up to you, fine. And isn't it within your job to do something about it when Master Sophia fails?

"... Hmm. I feel sorry for myself for thinking it makes sense. And I feel more sorry for myself for running away from my job. Even though it is the escort who allows the servants to go wherever they wish, it is the end of the line to restrict the actions of the servants. I forgot."

"Now let's get to work. I'll help you."

"Do you want me to show you what Sophia believed in?

With that said, Captain Larg lifted me rampantly when he grabbed my collar and easily put me on the horseback. In the shape of being behind Captain Larg, I say a word to Captain Larg, who has suddenly accelerated.

"Please drive safely!

"Don't let them shake you down!

"Hey!?

With such an exchange, me and Captain Larg made a loud noise and crawled through the open castle gate.