Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 278: Grand Coalition

Chapter 278: Grand Coalition

* * *

A strong tension was looming over the castle’s meeting room. All of the generals present were completely silent. Queen Henrietta let out a sigh while everyone else was gloomy.

“I am sorry. They one-upped us.”

Leader Elizabeth shook her head.

“There is no one here who should be sorry. I am also at fault for not seeing through the other party’s intent…….”

There was an unusual scene in the meeting room. The table was split in half with the chief retainers of Brittany sitting at one side while 20 magic orbs were displaying a combined image on the other. It almost looked as if the chief retainers of the Habsburg Republic were seated there.

Henrietta suppressed the frustration that was surging up as she spoke.

“Rudolf von Habsburg. Elizabeth, is he actually alive?”

“……Honestly, there is no way to know. Nonetheless, it is widely known that Barbatos is talented in black magic. Controlling a corpse is probably a simple matter for her.”

Henrietta smirked.

“Then we were one-upped by a dead corpse. To use even a corpse for their schemes. How befitting of Demon Lords.”

The silence looming over the room became heavier.

There was a total of 17 people seated. The two nations pursued meritocracy, thus, this meant that the 17 people gathered here were some of the most competent people in humanity. These great individuals all looked depressed.

“Hmph.”

Henrietta let out a displeased snort. She locked her fingers together as she leaned back in her chair.

“Batavia and the free cities are sticking with the Demon Lord army. What are they planning?”

“……A portion of republicans believe that the very act of fighting Demon Lords is a ploy carried out by nobles.”

Elizabeth spoke carefully.

“Instigating the masses so that nobles can maintain their positions, this is what they believe is the essence of the war against the Demon Lords. They most likely believe that cooperating regardless of one’s status and race is the true meaning of being republican.”

“The Nightmare of Bruno.”

“Indeed.”

Elizabeth nodded. Dantalian had declared at Bruno Plains that the holy war was nothing more than the logic of the ruling class. His influence was still prominent to this day.

Queen Henrietta smiled cynically.

“Hmph, go beyond status and race? Do they not realize that that causes more political incitement? If discrimination disappears, then a new status and race will appear to be distinguished and fought against. That is how humans are. What a bunch of fools.”

“But it is true that we are in this predicament because of those fools.”

Elizabeth didn’t agree with her friend’s point of view, but she overlooked it.

“The nobles in my country have been getting vocal lately. It may be Crowned Prince Rudolf, but is his cause of subjugating a Demon Lord itself not correct? This is what they are saying. They are hoping for imperial order again and not a republic.”

“Why are you not purging every last one of them?”

“I also wish to do that…….”

Elizabeth let out a weak sigh. Thinking about it now, she had been sighing a lot as of late—something which she never had to do before. She used to be full of confidence and her face used to shine with certainty and hope.

Only a few years had passed since this time. A past that felt so distant that it was almost immemorable. Why did it feel so distant?

At the time, she was in the springtime of her youth. She didn’t have a single doubt about the reformation of the empire. However, the empire fell and a long drought followed. A summer of dust and drought controlled by Dantalian…….

“A majority of commoners support the attitude displayed by the nobles in Heidelberg. They do not have any actual power yet, but their influence is strong enough to sway public opinion. There is a chance public opinion could worsen.”

That’s right. Even this was because of Dantalian.

The story about the people who threw themselves before death for the sake of saving their city was referred to as ‘The Six of Heidelberg’ and had immense popularity. It was so popular that the bards all around the continent have been singing about it. The story was slightly embellished as the mayor of Heidelberg was described as a cowardly and greedy soldier, while the six nobles were described as noble and great individuals.

The nobles had kept quiet for the past several years. Even 2nd Imperial Prince Ferdinand was executed mercilessly. The common nobles would get purged the moment they showed even the smallest sign of rebelling.

In other words, the nobles were being favored for the first time in several years. Of all times, Dantalian had to organize a massive army during this extremely rare situation. To make matters worse, the nobles were supporting Dantalian’s actions…….

Was this nothing more than a coincidence?

‘It is too perfect for it to be a simple coincidence…… but it is also much too grand in scale to say that it was carried out by a single person. Both possibilities do not make sense.’

But what if this happened because Dantalian willed it?

Then when did it all start? When he gave the nobles a platform in Heidelberg? When did he get in contact with the Republic of Batavia? Before starting the war? Or was it further back when he went around under the fake alias of Jean Bole during the civil war in Frankia?

Why were the free cities agreeing with Dantalian’s plan?

For the past three to four years, free cities have been springing up all throughout the continent. Elizabeth and the other high-ranking members of Habsburg were happy because they thought that it was because of the success of their revolution. They were glad because it meant that republicanism was gradually becoming stronger.

……But, this was a one in a thousand chance, but what if the success of their revolution wasn’t the cause? What if Dantalian’s scheming was hiding behind the independence of these cities?

In the first place, weren’t they able to become a republic because of Dantalian? Was Dantalian already planning out this grand scheme—his plan to bring in Batavia and the free cities in order to make Frankia fall—that far back?

‘That’s ridiculous.’

That’s right. Even if it’s Dantalian, it’d be impossible for a single person to move history to this degree.

Elizabeth believed she was simply overthinking things. However, she would feel as if she were caught in a swamp with no solid ground whenever she thought about how far Dantalian’s scheming went…….

Elizabeth rubbed her temples.

“……As long as Batavia and the free cities are on their side, the Habsburg Republic does not have much grounds to take part in the battle. If we openly form an alliance with you, then the other republic nations will become hostile to us.”

“I see. Republicans believe that you’re on their side, after all. That makes sense.”

Henrietta forced out a laugh.

“Elizabeth, this almost feels like a plan targeted at you and not me.”

“…….”

“It seems Mr. Nightmare of Bruno is more afraid of you than me. Well, fine. Getting mixed up with something trivial like justifications is not my style anyway.”

Henrietta took something out from her pocket and placed it on the table. She had taken out a fancy-looking ring. It was the ring that represented the right to exercise supreme command over Frankia and was something that only the emperor of Frankia could wear.

The fact that it was with Queen Henrietta and not the emperor made it obvious who actually had control over Frankia. Elizabeth raised a brow.

“Henrietta, why do you……?”

“Last night, Henry, the Emperor of Frankia, suddenly became bedridden due to an illness.”

Henrietta smiled.

“It’s a serious illness that is unknown, so it will be a while before His Excellency the Emperor will be able to participate in national affairs.”

“…….”

Why did the leader of Frankia fall ill now? Henrietta’s smile alone was enough to answer this as the high-ranking officers of Habsburg shuddered.

“If I allowed myself to be stopped by justifications, then this would have never fallen into my hands. The great country of Brittany would have never escaped from the peninsula and set foot in the center of the continent. Elizabeth, justifications are temporary measures taken by people who cannot win with their strength.”

Henrietta stood up. Once she did, all of the members from Brittany’s side stood up as well. One of the generals approached Henrietta and helped her put on her red mantle while a different vassal took out a pipe and presented it to her.

Henrietta took a puff from the pipe.

“Strength. That’s absolute. No matter how much the Nightmare of Bruno uses his head to create justifications and substitute skirmishes, if we win, then all of his efforts would crumble like a sandcastle. He wants war? I will more than gladly partake in that dance.”

After saying those words, Henrietta left the room, her generals following after her. The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the meeting room for a while after they left.

The magic orbs were turned off.

Among the vassals of Habsburg, Kurtz carefully spoke up.

“Uhm, Your Highness. Even if it is difficult for us to participate in the battle, the army of Brittany is the strongest army on the continent. I am not sure, but do they not also have the Demon Lord called Agares on their side? I do not think there is a reason for us to be so pessimistic.”

The other generals nodded in agreement. Knights were already monstrous people, but Brittany’s knights were even more monstrous. Their cavalier to footmen ratio far exceeded any other nation.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth shook her head.

“You do not know this. Henrietta does not as well. Just now, Henrietta said that she would start a war, but that is wrong. The war already started long, long ago…….”

Elizabeth let out a sigh.

“We were supposed to form an alliance with Brittany during this war. This would have been the entirety of our forces. But what about the enemy? We thought it would be the entire Demon Lord army.”

“…….”

“And yet, how did things end up? We have been removed from our side, but the enemy joined forces with a republic and several free cities. We looked away for only a moment and ended up like this.”

The enemy managed to reinforce their army while also removing a portion of our forces without shedding even a single drop of blood. If you were to rate this in terms of strategy, this was undoubtedly an artifice that could be called the absolute best.

“For Henrietta, wars are determined by how they are fought. Diplomatic warfare and fighting for a cause are nothing more than the cornerstones. However, the enemy thinks otherwise. Combat is nothing more than an extension of war. They are merely the conclusion of the war. ……This is the way of that man, Dantalian.”

Elizabeth felt a bitter taste in her mouth. Her friend, the beautiful queen, was mistaken. She thinks she is jumping into the war of her own volition, but that was absolutely not the case. Was she aware that their very viewpoints were different……?

“There is no way such an individual would leave the outcome to fate. He would have planned out a battle where his victory was the only possible outcome.”

“…….”

“My dear vassals, I am scared. Something that happens once will not happen again; however, something that happens twice will always happen again. Dantalian has already caused the Habsburg Empire to fall. If he is able to cause the collapse of Frankia as well, then would any nation be able to prevent their collapse before that man?”

The answer was obvious. No nation would.

Elizabeth had to do something in order to not meet such a conclusion. Even if she couldn’t join the main army, she could create numerous detached forces and harass the Demon Lord army from behind. If her soldiers are disguised as volunteer soldiers, then they shouldn’t get caught by the people.

“Let us organize detached forces. We will attack the Demon Lord army from behind via the frontier of the Habsburg Empire.”

“Understood!”

The generals responded boisterously.

They were going to cut the enemy’s supply line and hinder them. If possible, they were also going to protect Brittany’s army from the side. These things alone should be enough to put the Demon Lord army in a predicament. Elizabeth was confident in her ability to latch on to the enemy persistently like a hound dog.

The rest was up to Henrietta. Elizabeth prayed sincerely for her victory…….

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Uh, not much to say. It’s just going back and forth between Dantalian’s and Elizabeth’s perspectives. This chapter came out a day late, but it was nice being able to just relax and hang out with friends for once. It’s been like 6 months since I last hung out with them.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.