Chapter 164

“We’re going to take the Kingdom of Hydra?”

“Yes. Don’t you want a flat land by the sea?”

“That is… I don’t need to tell you that I want it badly, but…”

The land of the Kingdom of Rapier is all mountainous and not very fruitful.

It was not hard to imagine how much they had envied the fertile and vast land of the neighboring Kingdom of Hydra.

“Didn’t the copy of the letter from the Prime Minister include a description of the invasion force?”

“Yes, it did. 16,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalries, and 300 hundred dragon cavalry are nearly fifty percent more than I had expected.

“You’ve got it all figured out. You have a good grasp of the situation.”

Yuri then handed the documents from her <Inventory> to King Raven.

“These documents…?”

“This is a summary of the information on the Kingdom of Hydra that was gathered by the secret agents I sent over there. I want you to read it, especially the breakdown of the army stationed in the capital on page 7 of the document.

“… Oh my. The Hydra Kingdom has a high level of counterintelligence and it is impossible to extract information from them. You have a very good secret agent, do you not, Yuri-dono?”

“Yes, they are very good.”

Yuri was frankly flattered to be praised for her work on <Nadeshiko>.

King Raven quickly skimmed over the seventh page of the document Yuri had mentioned.

“When was the date of this information?”

“It was four days ago, but I’ve already confirmed that the garrison has not increased since then.”

“Hmmm… This time, the opponent is seriously planning to destroy the Rapier Kingdom.”

The Raven King let out a heavy sigh of relief.

This time, the Kingdom of Hydra will leave only 1,000 troops in the capital and send all other troops to invade the Kingdom of Rapier. It was obvious that his country intended to ‘crush’ the Rapier Kingdom, without having to think about it.

“Well, it doesn’t matter how many troops they have, I’m going to destroy them all without missing a single one.

―――So instead, the Rapier Kingdom should take the capital of the enemy kingdom. What can you do with only 1,000 soldiers left in the capital of the Kingdom of Hydra?”

“That’s… well…”

“After the enemy invasion army has been eradicated, I’ll set up a【Transfer Gate】so that you can move from in front of the royal castle of the Kingdom of Rapier to in front of the royal castle of the Kingdom of Hydra in an instant. That way, the army of the Rapier Kingdom will be able to attack the enemy’s capital directly. Moreover, they can ignore the entire city walls and the gates of the royal castle and swoop in from within.”

“You mean you’ll go that far?”

“Yes, I’ll・・・・・ take you there. However, we will not join you any further. The only thing we have at this point is a mutual defense treaty.”

The Mutual Defense Treaty is a promise of cooperation during defense, not a promise to join forces during an invasion.

The only thing that the Yuri Empire will do is to eradicate the enemy invasion force, and also to set up a【Transfer Gate】for them. The control of the remaining enemy royal castle should be done by the generals and soldiers of the Rapier Kingdom.

“… There are only 1,000 soldiers left in the enemy kingdom, and most of them will be assigned to guard the gates and walls of the city.”

“Yes. I’m guessing that the defenders of the royal castle will be around 200 to 300.”

“If we send about 1,000 troops, we will not be defeated. If we take control of the gates of the royal castle and close them first, the soldiers guarding the gates and walls of the city will not be able to rush to support.”

“If we close the gates, the people inside the castle will not be able to escape, so we can kill two birds with one stone.”

The royal castle of the Kingdom of Hydra is surrounded by an empty moat nearly ten meters deep and high walls, so it is impossible to enter the grounds without crossing the bridge on the front side.

Therefore, once the gate is closed, it is possible to completely separate the inside of the castle from the outside. The king and the nobles inside the castle would lose their only way out, and it would be impossible for the soldiers outside the castle to come to their rescue.

Of course, if they rode dragons and flew in the sky, they would be able to go back and forth across the moat and the wall. It seems that the Kingdom of Hydra is planning to send out all of their dragon cavalries, so there shouldn’t be any left to defend.

“Hmmm… Would you mind if I shared this story with my son?”

“To the First Prince Lexmar? Ah―――perhaps you’d like him to have a military career?”

“Yes. I’m still in good health, but I’ll be handing over the throne to Lexmar sooner or later. If I can get him to perform the feat of ‘conquering the capital of the Hydra Kingdom’ here, the succession will go smoothly when I hand over the throne to Lexmar one day.”

“I see, you’ve thought of that. You can do whatever you want with that.”

“Thank you. I’ll call my son then.”

King Raven walked out of the reception room and came back in less than ten seconds.

He must have ordered the maidservant waiting outside to fetch Prince Lexmar.

In addition, the lady-in-waiting came to make the tea again.

The tea was just getting cold, so I was grateful. Of course, the maid had placed three cups on the table, including one for Prince Lexmar who was coming.

“Please excuse me.”

As the maids left the room after making the tea, the First Prince Lexmar entered the reception room. When Yuri bows to him, he bows back to her.

“Your Majesty, thank you very much for letting me stay with you for five days the other day.”

“I’m glad that Prince Lexmar likes my country.”

“Instead of liking it, I am filled with the feeling that I have just been shown the huge gap between my country and yours. I’ve learned a lot about the kind of country we should be aiming for.”

“I’m glad to hear that. When the war with the Hydra Kingdom is over, I plan to have a【Transfer Gate】installed, so please come visit me again anytime.”

“Yes! I want to challenge the “Labyrinth” again and train myself!”

When the Rapier royal family stayed at a hotel in Ulysses for five days and four nights, I heard that Prince Lexmar and his vassal knights were immersed in the Labyrinth.

Prince Lexmar looks like a kind young man who doesn’t like to fight, just from his appearance. He is probably a surprisingly brave man.

Of course, bravery is preferable to cowardice as the heir to the throne.

King Raven showed the documents and explained to Prince Lexmar in an orderly fashion the history of the story so far.

Yuri would take on the large army sent by the Kingdom of Hydra, the capital of the Kingdom of Hydra would be stretched thin because most of the army would be sent out, and they will raid the enemy’s capital because Yuri would set up a【Transfer Gate】.

“I’d like you to leave it to me to take control of the enemy castle!”

After receiving a series of explanations, Prince Lexmar declared without hesitation.

It seems that the prince has the intelligence to immediately understand the role that is required of him.

“Will you do it, Lexmar?”

“Yes! If you give me a thousand men, I will overrun the royal castle!”

“All right, then, from now on, I’m entrusting you with the command of 1,000 troops. I’ll take control of the royal castle of Hydra Kingdom.”

“Ah, wait a minute, please. If possible, I’d like you to leave a few more troops with him.”

When Yuri interrupted him, King Raven and Prince Lexmar both gave her a slightly curious look.

“…… Mm, why is that? I think Yuri-dono also said earlier that the defenders of the royal castle were estimated at 300 at most.”

“In terms of pure military strength, that’s true, but in the royal castle, there are not only knights and soldiers, but also civil servants, maidservants, and menial workers, right? To capture those people without harming them needlessly, I think it would be better to send some more soldiers.

―――So, here’s what I’m asking. Of those captured in the enemy’s castle, especially the female ones, can you please give them to the Yuri Empire? This is the price of setting up a【Transfer Gate】to transport the troops if you don’t mind.”

“Hmm, I don’t mind that much, but… Are you sure you only want women?”

“Yes.”

If the children of <Kuroyuri> trained prisoners of war from enemy countries, they could be reborn as human resources loyal to the Yuri Empire.

This is a great opportunity for the Yuri Empire, which is always short of human resources. However, the <Kuroyuri> girls will only train females, so there is not much need for males.

“If that’s the price, I have no objection.

I’m leaving 3,000 troops with Lekhmar to take control of the royal castle of Hydra, and I order you to capture all unarmed people in the castle without killing them.”

King Raven removes his sword from his waist and presents it to Prince Lexmar.

The king’s sword must mean that he is in charge of the soldiers.

“You have my word.”

Prince Lexmar bowed deeply as he received the royal sword.

(I think I should prepare some insurance just in case…)

If we attacked the royal castle with 3,000 soldiers, there would be no reason to not destroy it. But if they were to directly attack the castle, there was no chance that Prince Lexmar would be injured or even killed by the enemy soldiers, as opposed to waiting in the rear in a field battle.

If such a situation were to occur, King Raven’s plan to give his son a military command would backfire.

I can’t participate in the invasion directly, but… 

It’s okay if I want to indirectly add some support buffs.