Published at 11th of November 2020 9:30 am

Chapter 357: Deceiving, deceived, and deluding

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“I have already read their first move.”

What was revealed in the war council stirred the place.

The long march was finally reaching its end.

But in this moment when the battle is right before our eyes, our morale was shaken greatly.

Tsige is still not in sight, but we were able to confirm by sight the giant wall that was only told to us from reports alone.

The moment we began to see it with our own eyes, we had no choice but to realize the power of the opponent.

A wall that shouldn’t be there, yet clearly exists.

Money, people, or things, or everything previously mentioned.

The power of Tsige was clearly shown by being able to create such a thing in a short period of time.

Even if that thing is just a fake that’s just there for show, the scale of it is something that can’t be ignored.

“I have heard that we don’t have the most recent information though?”

“Yeah, it seems like they have finally begun to worry about information leaks. There’s no doubt about that. Information from spies isn’t the only way to know about the movements of your opponent though.”

A young man that has never fought in actual combat answers the question in a cocky tone.

Must be royalty…from a branch somewhere.

Well, there’s no doubt that he is in an above the clouds social position, so he is someone that I won’t be involving myself with in the future anyways -as someone who only leads a single platoon.

The Aion army gathers both conscripted and aspiring soldiers, but it is an organization where it is tacitly understood that there’s a limit to how much one can be promoted depending on your social status.

Even within the recruits, if you are not one of those who entered the army through a designated scholarship or from the Rotsgard Academy, and on top of that are from nobility, you won’t reach the top.

There’s obviously exceptions, but you would require achievements that would remain in history as a legend in order to break a wall or two.

If you are a second son or third son of a noble family of not much importance, even if you have decent war records, the most you can get is platoon captain.

You won’t be troubled in bringing food to your table, but that’s it.

It wouldn’t be that much different from the mercenaries you can find around.

“Even so, being able to make a wall like that is impressive.”

“As I have said, that wall has nothing to do with this. This is something that happened a while ago, but there was a mage squad of our army that made contact with them.”

““Ooh…””

“It was truly foolish. The Tsige merchants feared our ritual magic, and tried to seal it.”

“How can that be. Then, they were thinking of betraying?”

“That’s right. But they are mere merchants in the end. They only see numbers. It looks like they don’t understand the placing of ritual magic in war yet.”

“It is true that if used against opponents that have no countermeasures, it would deal a big hit, but that’s exactly why any army has those countermeasures. If it is a big army, they would even form a number of squads that would concentrate solely on shutting down the ritual magic of the enemy. There’s only a few types of ritual magic, so there are decent ways to counter them after all.”

“That’s right. On top of that, their chances for action are plain, but their worth in the battlefield is extremely high. Therefore, the Aion army has formed ritual mage squads who are particularly patriotic, and their treatment is extraordinary.”

“Trying to make them betray us…pft! Sorry about that. A decent tactician would never think about that, so I ended up laughing…”

“A child would. It is true that if ritual magic activates successfully, it is the best option. Hahaha.”

That kind of conversation unfolded brightly in the meeting, and they would mix scorn towards the other party every now and then.

It is true that putting an eye on ritual magic is the perspective of a beginner.

Just like the big shots are saying, if it could be used it would be one thing, but you rarely see ritual magic in the battlefield.

Because the moment the activation of it is sensed, it would immediately be countered with an aria of their own.

There have been researches about it in the past, but there’s 7 attack ritual spells, and there’s also 7 counters that would erase them or bounce them back.

If you can gather around 10 mediocre mages, you can make use of those ritual spells, and the more you gather, the stronger it gets. In paper alone, it sounds like dreamlike magic, but there’s way too many weak points and limitations.

For example; there’s not much difference in the aria length of the attack spells, but the counter ones all take less than 1/3rd of that time.

Whether it is the attack or the counter one, the magic power is completely exposed, so it is easy to detect.

Also, the aria is damn long, and you can’t use any other aria while at it.

If you want to use them properly, it would be in a large scale war between armies, but easy to prepare against.

In other words, it is supreme bliss if it were to hit.

That’s ritual magic.

Considering that Tsige has a lot less battle experience and there’s a heavy difference in numbers compared to Aion, this is a valid option though.

“However…if we are aiming for ritual magic, shouldn’t we just shoot? Even that wall would be…hm?”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I had the mages fake that they are betraying us. In other words, their first move will be to chant the arias for ritual magic at the other side of that wall -thinking that we have lost our defenses against ritual magic.”

““Ah!””

The unbelievable workload for creating that wall would be worth it if it is to buy time for when ritual magic is used.

But that will end in wasted effort, is what our General was saying.

Laughing began to slowly spread in the area.

Learning about the opponent’s plan, let them swim around, then turn it around and win.

It is the certain victory pattern of Aion which specializes in information battles.

In battles where the battlefield is faraway, a gap will be created no matter what with the army that can be dispatched as well as the speed of information that can be gathered.

However, Tsige may be a remote region, but it is within the country.

There must be plenty of spies infiltrated, and their internal conditions must be barenaked already.

And so, we can also mobilize a large army that we have been accumulating and accumulating for a long time.

We are invincible and victory is certain.

That’s the battle style of Aion.

It seems the General ahead, Morgan-sama, and the one here is no different from usual.

If…his son Dio-sama is still alive, he would have noticed the danger of it.

It is true that the Aion army is big, but Dio-sama and I felt that their way of doing things is dangerous.

The battlestyle of stripping the enemy naked beforehand, and overwhelming them with numbers.

The latter half is so simple, and it makes me uneasy to think about what would happen if preparations were made beforehand to crush that advantage.

Well, I am aware that I am in the minority.

Also…

“It may be pointless, but tomorrow I will try proposing the representative of the Rembrandt Company -who we are letting swim- to do a war of words to compete for the Blessing. It won’t be hitting, but they are preparing artillery. Closing the distance as much as possible before the battle begins isn’t bad.”

This General-dono that I don’t know the name of has some decent thinking there.

A war of words means approaching the opponent and having a verbal clash.

You can’t do that unless you have a decent amount of courage and confidence.

We will be receiving the Blessing, so that’s a clear advantage -no, this time around, it would be certain victory itself.

The morale that had been shaken by that wall had been raised splendidly with just a couple of words.

Can’t say I like or dislike it, but there’s no fault in it.

The type of people that are great to have in an advantageous battle.

“Apologies for the intrusion!!”

“! Ooh, speaking of the devil, looks like the messenger has returned. Go ahead and speak it here. What was his answer?”

Patrick Rembrandt; it may be an enemy soldier, but he is not the type of man who would kill a messenger, huh.

“Yes! Reporting! I have been entrusted a letter from Patrick Rembrandt, but I was also given an oral response and a verbal message.”

…

He gave the letter to the General while fixing his breathing.

“Merchants do underhanded things with a proud face. Continue.”

“‘Dear General Flare, I thank you for the invitation to a war of words. However, we have no intentions to participate in it. If you want to cling onto the Blessing of a god, then do so as you please. Tsige won’t entrust its fate to a god’.”

“…What?”

The General and his lackeys in the war council, as well as many others like me reacted to those words.

Give us the Blessing?

With this difference in numbers?

I heard he was a skilled merchant, so I thought he would be quite the troublesome opponent, but was I overestimating him?

I think the confusion and questions of everyone were a matter of course.

“‘A time to begin the battle was not specified, so we will be beginning the war tomorrow morning, at sunrise. We are still learning the etiquette of war, so please consider it a handicap for facing a big army. Well then, I won’t be able to serve as the guide, but I hope you have a good road to Hades’, that’s all. The other side requested the message to be given exactly as stated, so I have done so. Please forgive the rudeness!”

“…What does ‘Road to Hades’ mean?”

“It is apparently a saying in Lorel that means the path to death.”

“…In other words, he is saying that he will be giving us the Blessing, and despite that, he will be winning?”

“…”

The messenger reacted to the bloodthirst and fell silent.

Of course he would.

He managed to return from the enemy camp, and yet, it would be no joke if he were to be killed in his own ground.

But this is an inconsiderate messenger.

No matter what the other party asks of you, he should have confirmed with our leader about whether it is okay to say exactly as it was told, which would have reduced the chances of being killed.

But ‘Road to Hades’ is quite the old one, and it is a phrase from a foreign country.

…

No, wait…

Could it be…

“…It was tomorrow morning, right?”

“Huh?”

The slightly short words of the General.

His family name is apparently Flare.

Right now my head is filled with another matter, so I have no time to be caring about that though.

“Rembrandt said that he would begin the war tomorrow morning at sunrise, right?”

“Yes! No doubt about it!”

“Everyone, it is as you heard just now. The merchants that are trying to catch us off guard in our arrivals with ritual magic and the outer wall apparently don’t need the Blessing! As they wish, tomorrow, we will overtake that wall, and finish that impudent rebellion! Got it?!”

Angry roars.

The war council was once again covered in exaltation.

Everyone here most likely felt as if they were mocked.

If they have an 8th ritual magic or something, I would understand a bit why they would mock us to this extent.

No…there’s no way that’s the case.

Even if they discovered an 8th one, it would still follow the boundaries of element, effect, and aria to a certain extent.

More importantly, there’s something that’s bothering me.

I watched the messenger that finished his job and left the place without hiding his fatigue, and I also left the tent that’s burning with hostility towards Tsige.

“Can I have a bit of your time?”

“? Who are you?”

“A captain of one of the many platoons here without a high standing family, name’s Maxon Riny.”

“Thanks for the polite response. And so, what is it you wanted to talk about? Sorry, but I just got a heavy load off my shoulders, you see. I want to take a rest.”

“In that case, please tell the person in charge of the second division my name. I will invite you one as an apology for stopping you.” (Maxon)

I show a gesture of holding a drink.

“…How considerate. I like that.”

“I want to hear out one thing. I won’t ask for your name and I promise I will forget your face today.” (Maxon)

“You are being quite reserved there. What’s the matter?”

“I was incredibly impressed by your courage when facing the General, but something also bothered me, you see. Hey, why didn’t you confirm first whether it was okay to relay the message exactly as you heard it?” (Maxon)

If it is just mere coincidence, then that would be the end of it.

If that’s not the case…

“…Amazing, right? I have been confident in my courage for a long time…you are making a face that’s saying that won’t be enough of an answer for you.”

“Please, bro.” (Maxon)

“I have a higher social status than a sticks noble family like Riny. Well, it is like comparing heights between dwarfs though.”

“…”

“That Rembrandt merchant prostrated to me -while holding a large sum of cash. I say that, but he had an extravagant house that you wouldn’t find even in Aion, and he was prostrating on top of a super fluffy carpet that you can’t hear footsteps from at all though. Honestly speaking, I received a warm reception and treatment that I have never had with any country, city, or race as a negotiator or messenger, so I might have felt a bit of compassion for him from that.”

“…I see. He wanted the General to hear those words to such an extent?” (Maxon)

“It was apparently the obstinacy of a merchant. I don’t understand what they think.”

“Thanks, I am feeling better now.” (Maxon)

“I see. Then it will be a feast, Maxon.”

“Yeah, look forward to it.” (Maxon)

I safely managed to ask what I wanted to ask.

After seeing the messenger off, I avoid the eyes of others and return to my platoon.

There’re around 120 small platoons, but they all know each other for a long time.

I strike small conversation while returning to the tent, and put my hand in the luggage.

In there, there’s a letter of unnecessarily fine quality paper.

“Rembrandt Company, huh.” (Maxon)

It is written that it is okay to respond on the appointed day.

And the contents of it…

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