I Am the Monarch – Chapter 65: War and more war (3)

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 After the first sentence, the contents of the letter became worse .

<While I was gathering information on the eastern region, I heard some rumors from travellers that bothered me .
Even so, it seems like the movement of the Byron kingdom isn’t right .
For now, I’ll go there myself to check . >

The contents of the letter were simple .
Roan frowned .

‘Byron kingdom?’

This was something he hadn’t expected at all .

‘In my past life they didn’t show any movements until next year……’

There was no way something this important would be wrong .
Then .

 

‘The future changed again . ’

Also with their movements, this was a really bad position for Roan .
He tore the letter and put it into his pocket, and then looked at Pens .

“Then, mister Chris… . . ”
“Yes . He left four days ago . ”
“Right . You’re all working hard . ”

At those words, Pens hurriedly shook his head .

“No . They’re all working having fun as if it was their thing . ”

At those words Roan slightly bowed .

“I will ask you to take good care of me . ”
“I, I will do my best . ”

Pens also bowed .
Roan became locked in his thoughts by himself after he separated with Pens .

‘I really can’t know when the future will change . ’

The worth of the information agency could be seen because of this matter .

‘I did well in focusing on gathering information of the eastern region . ’

The decision of not relying solely on his memories made him see light .

‘For now, let’s leave the side of Byron kingdom to mister Chris . ’

There was nothing Roan could do right now .
There was also a possibility that the rumor Chris heard was fake .

‘The thing I should do now…… . . ’

Stop the stir of the monsters and prepare for the attack of Istel kingdom .
He shook his head and looked towards the east .
There lied Istel kingdom .
He felt like the smell of the battlefield passed by his nose .

******

Roan concentrated on subjugating the monsters while he waited for Chris .
When the subjugation ended, they set up camps or fences according to the topography and also dug ditches and holes .
People who knew that the movements of Istel kingdom weren’t normal were only soldiers with ranks above adjutant .
Normal soldiers still thought that the defensive lines were for the stir of the monsters .

“It slightly resembles the shape of a defensive line for now . ”

As Benjamin ignored Aaron’s reports, some holes appeared at places, but even so as they did their best even if Istel kingdom came attacking immediately . They were confident in tying down their opponent’s feet for now .
Then one soldier approached .

“Vice troop commander . Someone called Chris is looking for you . ”

At those words, Roan’s face brightened .

‘You finally came . ’

It had already been 20 days since Chris left towards Byron kingdom .
As there was no news at all, he felt uneasy .
Roan hurriedly moved to meet him .
He could see Chris who was looking at him while standing still .

‘It seems like the trouble he went by wasn’t ordinary . ’

Chris looked kind of haggard .
His hair was bushy and he looked dirty .
But even so there was a satisfied smile on his mouth .

‘It seems like he gained some accomplishments to be satisfied about . ’

Roan ran towards Chris and grabbed his hands .

“I was worried because there was no contact . ”
“As the atmosphere over there was too solemn, I couldn’t contact you as I wished . ”

Chris shook his head .

“You have done well . ”
“No . I just did what I had to . ”

At Roan’s words, Chris shook his head once again .
And then looked at Roan’s eyes fixedly .

“I gained some big achievements . ”

Roan just listened .
Chris continued saying .

“If I were to tell you the conclusion first, it is that the people of Byron kingdom are also preparing for war . ”

He took out a pile of papers from his bag .
It was the information about the southern region of Byron kingdom which he organized .

“Mmm . ”

Roan received the papers .

‘Certainly . Just why did the future change now? In my past life…… . . ’

He suddenly brought up the memories .
The reason why Byron kingdom couldn’t move as they wished .
But he couldn’t remember the detailed situation of the kingdom .

‘How stifling . ’

It certainly would have changed because of one of his choices .
Then, Chris’s voice was heard .

“Although I couldn’t acquire internal information, it isn’t precise . But even so it seems like the two kingdoms have held hands . ”
“It seems so . ”

Roan said .
Historically, Rinse kingdom and Byron kingdom were just like cats and dogs .
Compared to that, Istel kingdom was on friendly terms with both Rinse kingdom and Byron kingdom .
But even so, if you had to choose a friendlier side, it would be Byron kingdom .
There was plenty of possibilities for the two of them to have held hands .

‘The objective in this war for Istel kingdom would be to advance on their western territory . ’

The exact objective was revealed only after the war ended .
It certainly was like that in his past life .

‘The situation is turning difficult . ’

Roan let out a long sigh .
Then, Chris said as if he was whispering .

“But I conjured a hypothesis on why Byron kingdom became able to participate in this war . ”

He had a somewhat hesitant look .

“Um…… . I think that the reason is because of our kingdom . ”
“Our kingdom?”

Roan frowned at the unexpected conjecture .
Chris nodded .

“Yes . We achieved a complete victory at the Pedian plain’s monster subjugation . Compared to last year, he gave them a loss almost close to annihilation . Especially, the ones with the biggest losses…… . ”

Roan continued speaking .

“The orcs of the north…… . ”
“That’s right . ”

Chris nodded .
He continued speaking .

“There were many guys that set up attack lines to attack Byron kingdom . But they were all annihilated…… . . ”
“The southern region of Byron kingdom became inactive . ”
“That’s right . Even Violin ended up dying in the Slen battle . In the position of Byron kingdom, they are at a situation where they shouldn’t even have to worry about the orcs in the south . ”
“Mmm . ”

Roan gulped the silence .

‘I never expected that the results of Pedian plain and slaying Violin’s head would become like this . ’

But of course, there were still many other orc commanders aside from Rak in the northern region of RInse kingdom .

‘But they are living in the northern region of our kingdom . Rather, our side is in more danger . ’

Anyways, different than his past life, he thought he now knew the reason why Byron kingdom could prepare for war .
But of course, this was all a hypothesis of Chris’ .
He couldn’t actually know what kind of black curtain there was .

‘I will have to report it to corps commander Aaron . However……’

Even if he did that, he didn’t think a sharp response would come back .
It was obvious that Benjamin would ignore the report .
But even so, he couldn’t just report it to the king’s palace while ignoring the army rules .
No, at this time he didn’t even have the means to .
His pondering deepened at this large dilemma .
Chris looked at that face of his .
He also knew much about Roan’s ponderings .

‘Isn’t there be anything I can be of help with?’

Chris mulled over his thoughts over and over again .

‘Ah………!’

Although it wasn’t a clever scheme, he still thought of one method .

“Vice troop commander Roan . ”

Chris called out to him in a low voice .
Roan moved out of his thoughts and looked at Chris .
Chris faintly smiled and continued to speak .

“Should I spread a rumor?”
“A rumor?”

As Roan asked back, Chris nodded .

“We spread a rumor that the movements of Byron kingdom and Istel kingdom aren’t normal around the capital of Miller and the northern region . Wouldn’t a rational commander, who’s not like commander Doyle, pay a bit of attention to it?”
“Mm . ”

Roan gulped .

“It doesn’t seem to be that good of an idea . ”
“Ah, is that so?”
“First of all, it’s not easy to spread a rumor because the time and human power is limited . But most of all……”

His face stiffened .

“If that kind of rumor roamed around, the citizens would feel uneasy . ”
“Ah…… . . ”

Chris let out a low exclamation .
He couldn’t move the feelings of the citizens just to make the commanders move .

“Normal people fear war a lot . If a rumor about Byron kingdom and Istel kingdom wanting to attack us spreads, an ensuing chaos would occur . Because for them, it would look like we aren’t prepared at all . If we are to spread a rumor, it would have to be after our preparations are solid . ”
“I was short in my thoughts”

Chris slightly bowed .
He was a bit moved .

“I think that you’re really amazing . To think of the safety of the citizens first in this urgent situation . ”

At those words Roan sighed .

“Whew . ”

He looked at the village that was located at the south of the plains .

“Can you see that small village?”
“Yes? Ah, yes . ”

Chris followed Roan’s sight and turned his head .
He could see a small but peaceful village .
Different than the soldiers who were setting up fences or digging ditches, the village men were solely focused on taking care of the harvest .
It was a scene that made you feel warm when you looked at it .

“It’s really pleasing to watch, right?”
“Yes . It feels like i’m getting happy . ”

At Roan’s question, Chris faintly smiled and nodded .
On the other side, Roan’s expression was kind of dark .

“If we can’t perform our roles well, their lives will get stepped on . ”

Even if his voice was low .
It was completely different to his positive and bright look .
Roan closed his eyes .
The smoke filled the sky .
The village that was peaceful and beautiful .
The cries and yells heard in his surrounding .
The ground wet in blood .
A horrible scenery happened in front of his eyes .
It wasn’t something he made up with his imagination .
These were the memories of his past life .

‘The things that happened in the war against Istel kingdom………’

No, it wasn’t only during the war against Istel kingdom .
Everywhere war happened, a horrible scenery followed behind it .

‘I can’t let that happen again . ’

That was what Roan wanted to do .
A real monarch didn’t betray his citizens .
Roan wanted to become that kind of monarch .
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Chris .

“Mister Chris . ”

He spoke in a low voice but with strength .

“Help me so I can help them . ”
“Ah…… . . ”

Chris exclaimed with a deeply moved face .

‘It certainly is sir Roan . If it’s him, if it’s him…… . ’

He clenched his fists .

‘I can spend all my life with him . ’

Determination .
That was an oath of serving .

‘I have to do what I can even better . Help sir Roan to do what he does . ’

He started the information agency because it was fun .
But now, he started to feel responsibility from those things .
He started to feel a sense of duty at what he started because of fun .
Today, Chris grew up one more level .
Meanwhile, Roan was wondering how to confront the Byron kingdom .

‘Won’t there be a good strategy……… . ’

His head spun .
Many strategies and tactics popped up .
But there was nothing good .
Chris, who was looking at that Roan, mumbled in a low voice .

“It’s the first time I miss the orcs this much . Just gathering the scattered ones would be enough to prevent Byron kingdom from moving as they wished . ”

At that instant, Roan’s eyes opened widely .

‘Right! Orcs!’

His mouth raised up .

“Mister Chris . ”
“Yes . ”
“Even so, it seems like we will have to talk for quite a while . ”

The smile on his mouth became even denser .
Roan continued saying in a low voice .

“I thought of a good thing . ”

*****
“Scatter to the sides!”
“Don’t separate too much!”
“Get a hold of yourselves!”

In the eastern plains of Beno castle, rose troop was training earnestly .
Roan was checking the movements of the troop from a bit far away and recording the lacking points .

‘For now, we have safely evacuated the residents to a safe zone . ’

Now, there wasn’t much time left until the attack from Istel kingdom .
They couldn’t leave the residents alone when they didn’t know when war would break out .
They gave the excuse that they couldn’t ensure their safety because the stir of the monsters was too severe .
And fortunately, the citizens reacted well to the instructions .
Because even for them, monsters frequently appeared in this region .

‘What’s left now is waiting for the answer from the transcript of the north……… . ’

The preparations were finished .

‘Whew!’

Roan let out a long sigh .
Then, the head of a war horse appeared at the end of the plain .

‘Mm?’

The war horse whipped up white dust and ran quickly .
As Roan focused on his sight, the warhorse that was far away was seen as if it was right in front of him .

“Ah……”

At that moment, a low exclamation came out .
He had clearly seen it .
That the soldier was holding a red flag .

‘Is it starting?’

Roan bit his lower lip and raised his right hand .

Flop! Flop!

At Roan’s handsign, the flagman shook his hand and the troop stopped their movements .
They had lined up while setting up a rectangle formation .
When each adjutant and squad commander stood in front of their spot .
The warhorse that was running through the plains came closer .

Flop! Flop!

The red flag that waved around with strength .
Roan and the soldiers moved their sight over the warhorse .
At the same time, the soldier riding it yelled with strength .

“The people of Istel kingdom have crossed the boundary!”

< War and more war (3) > End