Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 288: Puppet War (5)

Chapter 288: Puppet War (5)

“Nothing is certain yet. There is no guarantee that their provisions are actually south of the river. The location of their supply warehouse must also be treated as a secret within their army. It is highly unlikely that the Demon Lord army was able to learn of its location.”

Elizabeth’s complexion went dark.

“……Nonetheless, if the Demon Lord army was somehow able to get their hands on this information, it would be bad. The Demon Lord army would undoubtedly pretend to march to Parisiorum. Henrietta is in a situation where she cannot lose the Empress Dowager or the Emperor. I am certain that she will run to Parisiorum in order to check on them.”

The worst-case scenario would be if the supplies are located in the same direction as Parisiorum. It would inevitably be difficult to figure out where the enemy is going. However, Elizabeth didn’t go out of her way to mention this worst-case scenario.

“If they lose their supplies, then Henrietta would have no choice but to keep retreating. She would be forced to pillage. The hatred towards Brittany within Frankia would instantly get amplified. No, this might be what Dantalian is aiming for…….”

“Your Excellency, is Her Highness Henrietta not aware that her supplies might be in danger?”

Yuria spoke nervously.

“I do not think that she would be completely unaware.”

Elizabeth let out a sigh.

“The issue is the fact that there is no way of knowing the Demon Lord army’s intent. They might actually be aiming for Parisiorum. Is Parisiorum where Brittany’s provisions are? As long as nothing is certain, Henrietta has no other choice but to focus her army in one place…….”

Elizabeth ordered for the magic orb to be restored just in case. Yuria worked hard in order to get through the anti-magic spell. After about twenty minutes, Yuria spoke up in a defeated voice.

“Your Excellency, I apologize, but…….”

“It cannot be restored?”

“Yes.”

Elizabeth let out a deeper sigh. Realizing the enemy’s intent late could eventually lead to a critical blow. Noticing things sooner could lead to an entirely different conclusion. However, it was impossible for Elizabeth to give Henrietta the information she had.

“It seems that a Seven Circle, no, an Eight Circle mage had cast the anti-magic spell. It is not something that I…….”

“What if we utilize all of the mages at our disposal?”

“I apologize, but this is at a level where even that would not be enough. It is not only one high-ranking mage casting the spell. It seems like more than thirty demons are also supporting the spell.”

Elizabeth was keenly aware of the difference between human and demon mages.

Opposite to knights, there aren’t a lot of ways to raise mages. This was because they had to rely on their own talents to an excessive degree. To make matters worse, the Mage Tower which already had only a few mages started to cross over to the northern region of Habsburg for some reason. Thanks to this, Habsburg’s magic potential had decreased greatly.

Consul Elizabeth let out a long groan.

“No matter how much we rush, it will take us more than five days to reach Parisiorum. The fight will have concluded one way or another by that point. Yuria, there is nothing we can do but wish our friend good luck…….”

“I will raise our marching pace as much as possible.”

They could get there two days faster if they continuously replenish the stamina of their horses with magic. So about three to four days. Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel like she was grabbing at straws as she nodded her head…….

* * *

“They are attacking, Deputy Commander.”

“Lord, do you enjoy teasing this young lady?”

Laura pouted. She looked like an adorable hamster.

“Of course. Teasing you is the most enjoyable thing in the world.”

“Seriously…….”

Laura grumbled.

If there were other people around us, then I would’ve advised her to maintain her dignity as the deputy commander, but all of the corps commanders had returned to their armies because of the upcoming battle. Laura and I were the only ones in the tent. There were goblin messengers on standby, but it should be fine to ignore them.

Normally, we would’ve maintained our comms through crystal balls, but there was currently a wide-scale communications-jamming spell being cast. Both the enemy and our allies couldn’t rely on magically transmitted messages.

The reason we did this was to cause confusion. People tend to become anxious when they realize they have lost contact with the people on the outside. It would put an even bigger mental strain if the person in question is a ruler who is responsible for the fate of a nation and the lives of thirty-thousand soldiers.

I spoke as I watched Brittany’s army approach quickly from our front.

“Seeing their torches, it seems they brought their entire army. Should I say that she’s impressive or that she’s bold? We should’ve prepared an ambush if we knew it was going to be like this.”

“Lord, you must be joking. Even if we made a few soldiers lie in wait, they would get wiped out by Demon Lord Agares. They would not even be able to stall for time.”

“What if the ambush had more than ten-thousand soldiers?”

“Then we would have to receive Brittany’s cavalry charge with ten-thousand fewer soldiers. If I remember correctly, Your Lordship got wiped out by a cavalry far smaller than this. Are you confident we can do that?”

I shrugged. I can’t win against Laura.

“I know. We have no other choice but to leave it to Barbatos now.”

“Her Excellency is important, but Baronet Bercy’s role is also crucial. It would be nice if he moved at the right time.”

Our army hadn’t moved for half a month. However, we were at our busiest even if our army wasn’t moving.

This was what Laura said after she saw that Brittany had set up their camp with their backs against the river.

‘We will not fight.’

What does it mean to have one’s retreat cut off? It means they’re determined to fight us no matter what. Laura decided to use their passion for a short-term battle against them as soon as she realized this.

She first searched for where Brittany’s provision warehouse was located. We had already confirmed that it wasn’t in Parisiorum. This was thanks to the nobles of Frankia leaking information to us consistently.

Their warehouse wasn’t in Parisiorum. In that case, it means that it was in one of the fortresses near the capital……. The problem was the fact that there were 17 small and large fortresses near Parisiorum. It would be irrational to try and conquer all of those fortresses.

After a day, Laura spoke after examining the enemy’s camp.

‘They are transporting their supplies by boats. Their warehouse is located on the riverside. Lord, how many of the fortresses are attached to the river?’

‘Six. Mm, that definitely lowers the number.’

I gave a satisfied smile, but Laura furrowed her brows.

‘Six is still too many. Narrow it down to the fortresses on the south side of the river and not the north.’

‘If we do that, then we are left with four……. Why the south side?’

Laura gave an immediate response.

‘Our army attacked from the north side of Habsburg. Thus, the only route we could take was from the north. If it were Your Lordship, would you leave your supplies on the side where the enemy is coming from? Or would you put it on the opposite side?’

It was just as she said.

The potential locations had shrunk from seventeen to four in an instant. I asked Vassago to send out water spirits. We were going to make them follow the ships and trace them back to their warehouse. However, Queen Henrietta was meticulous.

The ships didn’t anchor at only one place. The ships would disembark from the north fortress and go all the way down to the south fortress while anchoring at every fortress in between. They hid everything in crates to make it difficult for us to tell what they were. Only one of the four fortresses was probably the real source of their provisions.

I thought that the only choice we had left was to confirm it ourselves, so I offered a suggestion.

‘Let’s try sending in spirits to attack them.’

Laura shook her head.

‘We cannot. If an uproar occurs, then the enemy will realize that we are searching for their provisions. They must not know of our intentions until the very end. Hm. You truly have no talent in warfare, Lord.’

‘……If we can’t check them ourselves, then how will we figure it out? Are you going to just guess?’

‘Use your imagination, Lord.’

Laura smiled. It was a sinister smile like that of a villain.

‘Is there a reason for us to figure it out ourselves?’

‘Pardon?’

‘Brittany will reveal the location of their provisions on their own.’

What are you talking about? Once I asked her that quizzically, Laura responded with confidence that I would understand if I just waited and watched.

Time went by.

During that time, we were getting harassed by Brittany’s detached unit. The northeastern region of Frankia was sending us provisions under the pretext of a ‘safety tax’, but the enemy was able to steal those supplies from us every now and then since we were unfamiliar with the terrain. Their detached unit consisted solely of knights, so attaching some escorts to those supplies would have been pointless.

There was a limit to how long we could endure with the provisions we had brought on our own. Despite this, Laura ordered our troops to procure lumber from the forest and we started to fortify our defenses with that lumber. It clearly seemed like we were preparing for a long-term battle.

In the end, Brother Beleth couldn’t hold back any longer as he exploded.

‘Oi, Miss Deputy Commander.’

Brother Beleth got up during a meeting. Once everyone turned to face him, Brother Beleth glared at Laura as he spoke.

‘You may be Her Excellency Barbatos’ and Dantalian’s lover, but I have to say my piece. Are you sane?’

Laura received the comment with a flat gaze as she responded.

‘I am rather proud of my ability to be sane at all times, General Beleth.’

‘Hah. Those brats from Brittany have been stealing from our supplies. I won’t stop you from dragging this out into a prolonged battle, but we can’t fight with nothing to eat, you know?’

Brother Beleth roared. He was actually the most against letting a human be the commander, and if it weren’t for Barbatos, he would have revolted a long time ago.

‘We should increase the number of guards, or, if that doesn’t work, then we should crush the enemy before we’re wrung dry. Despite all this, you’re telling us to peacefully cut trees. No matter how I look at this, you look like a coward who’s afraid to fight.’

‘……Haa.’

Barbatos let out a sigh from the other side of the table. Brother Beleth didn’t relent, though.

‘Miss Deputy Commander, try explaining yourself to us. I’m warning you now, but if your answer isn’t decent, then I’m going to just lead my unit to attack. If you’re frightened, then add guards to the supply route.’

‘That is impossible, General Beleth.’

Laura locked her fingers.

‘Our supply route must continue to get pillaged.’

‘……I’m pretty sure you said that you were sane earlier. Did I hear wrong?’

‘You heard correctly. I am sane.’

Brother Beleth’s expression turned into a scowl.

‘Then you’re saying we should have a prolonged battle even though we’re running out of provisions? Oi, Miss. It seems like one of us shouldn’t be allowed to talk about military tactics. And I keep getting the feeling that your side is the one that should be staying quiet.’

‘Provisions are relative.’

Laura showed a casual smile.

‘Even if we were to only have a week’s worth of provisions left, it would be our victory if the enemy only has a day’s worth left. We simply need to have more provisions than the enemy.’

‘Isn’t that the problem!? Those bastards are getting their supplies through the river, but our land route keeps getting messed up!’

Brother Beleth bellowed in anger. Laura’s expression hadn’t changed one bit even though she was receiving the murderous intent of a high-ranking Demon Lord. She spoke in a quiet voice.

‘Brittany’s army has set up their camp with their backs against a wall. They are blocked off by us. In other words, the river is the only way they can get their supplies.’

‘……Why are you saying something so obvious?’

‘Let me ask you a question here, General Beleth. Brittany’s detached force has stolen our provisions.’

The corners of Laura’s mouth slowly went up.

‘Where will they take those stolen supplies to?’

Someone let out a gasp. I turned and saw that it was Paimon. Paimon spoke up while keeping her mouth behind her fan.

‘They will head to their provision warehouse. They will store it there and add it to their own supplies!’

‘That is correct, Commander Paimon. The provisions pillaged by their detached unit will be reserved in their warehouse. That is why I allowed them to pillage us so that we could track them back.’

Laura turned to Beleth.

‘I have already figured out which fortress has their provisions. The only thing left for us to do now is burn that fortress down. General Beleth, as you can see, I am sane.’

‘…….’

‘I really favor brave soldiers. Since General Beleth seems like he is burning with the desire to fight right this instant, I will generously leave the most blazing fight to you. Please take care of Agares. It’s the traitor Agares. It should be an enjoyable battle.’

Brother Beleth’s face went pale.

Laura smiled brightly. Her smiling face alone was comparable to that of a pure angel. Of course, the words that came out of her mouth were like a death sentence.

‘I believe that you will not refuse, General.’

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Quick apology. I genuinely lost track of time and got my days mixed up, which resulted in me forgetting to upload this chapter yesterday. I honestly didn’t realize that time had gone by this fast. Doesn’t really help that I’ve been sort of feeling out of it lately. I’ve also been rather concerned about the TV thing that’s going to be happening soon. I’m probably not going to appear for more than 5 minutes in it, but I REALLY don’t like the idea of me appearing on TV. Ugh…I’ll push through.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter, which will most likely come out a day sooner.