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Volume 6, Chapter 2 - A Lie In The Darkness, Part 3

The Great Grantz Empire ― Beirut territory in the northwest of the Western Region.

The main camp of the Six Kingdoms was built on the border between the west and Felzen.

The ground was filled with tents.

It was a place where as many as 50,000 soldiers would stay and sleep. The camp was formed like a kind of city.

As the sky was about to turn scarlet, the soldiers were hurrying around as if they were preparing for something.

At the center of it all is the command center, the heart of the Grantz conquering army.

Inside, people are crowded together. Even though it’s winter, the heat emanating from the people is enough to make a heater unnecessary.

This is where the generals in charge of the divisions and the commanders of the regiments are gathered.

A thin woman sitting at the honorary seat quietly raises her hand.

She is Luca Mamon de Urpeth, the acting commander of the Grantz conquering army.

She is a woman full of talent from the Urpeth royal family, one of the six kingdoms, and she is also the person who was expected to be the next king. At her instruction, the man standing by her side stepped forward.

This man is Eagle de Urpeth, the younger brother of Acting Commander Luca.

He is a tall and attractive young man with a beautiful face, just like his sister, but he has a wild and dangerous atmosphere.

“Everyone, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to come here. Let’s start the regular report.”

Eagle tapped the desk with his command stick and began to knock over the pieces on the map.

“General McRill, give me a status report on how the armies are doing.”

“Ha, excuse me for being presumptuous, but let me explain.”

The old general stood up and began to arrange the disarrayed pieces on the map.

“The first and second conquering forces are currently invading the western nobility, advising them to surrender. You can see the effect of this by looking at these bundles of letters of intent.”

General McRill ordered his subordinates to place the bundles of letters he had received from the western nobles on his desk.

“And the third and fourth conquering forces are attacking the surrounding forts. They are also doing well, probably because the main force has left for Felzen, and the defensive strength of the Grantz side is greatly reduced.”

After taking a breath, General McRill put down his last piece.

“The fifth conquering army has attacked the strongholds of the nobles who did not accept the surrender and is on a rampage, mainly looting foodstuffs.”

When General McRill looked at the people gathered here, everyone nodded in satisfaction.

Both Luca, who was sitting on the honorary seat, and her second-in-command, Eagle, had smiles on their faces.

“How is the damage status?”

“The fifth conquering army is by far the biggest. The statistics show that the number has decreased by about 7,000… The Felzen front army ― once Lucia-sama returns, there will be no problem.”

If the 50,000 of the Felzen army were to join forces, an unprecedentedly large army of 200,000 would be completed.

If the damage is around 7,000, there will be no problem. It’s the kind of damage that won’t earn a reprimand from their home country.

The biggest problem is…

“What about food?”

The food problem. To feed an army as large as 200,000, a half-hearted amount would not be enough. Even if they were to send food from their home country, it would cost an enormous amount of money. That’s why it’s imperative to procure food locally, but now that the winter season has arrived, it’s not going as well as expected.

“The stockpile is probably about two months, and we’re having people loot it, mainly for food, but if we have to feed 200,000 soldiers, the western part of the Grantz Empire will be filled with people starving to death.”

Even if they tried to buy from the locals, there was no way they would release their reserves to last the winter.

Then they would have to resort to looting, but if they went too far, it might affect their rule later on. That’s why they’re currently looting only the strongholds of rebellious nobles and not taking anything from those who have surrendered.

“There will be no problem. You should continue to act as planned. Lucia-sama is going to bring us some food, so let’s leave this issue for later.”

Luca was the one who spoke up. She tapped her fingers on the armrest and looked at the map.

“But that’s not all. General McRill, how are the people in the west? Are they doing what we want them to do?”

“Ha, I think it’s fine there.”

General McRill placed pebbles on the main road to the west that was drawn on the map.

“The main roads to the west seem to be filled with people evacuating from their villages and towns to the central.”

Roads are important. They are essential for smooth logistics, preparation for the invasion, economic development, and national stability.

If a country is invaded by another country, that particular country must immediately rush to the scene. However, if the roads are blocked, there will be a fatal delay. It would be faster for the invading country to destroy it, but they would be in trouble after their rule if they did so. But that doesn’t mean that they can afford to carry huge rocks.

So, what would they use instead?

Those who help and those who run away use the road equally. The more people who flee, the more damage they can do to the country. In other words, reinforcements from the Central of the Grantz Empire would surely be delayed. Above all, it will also play a role in preventing the western nobles from escaping.

“It’s just as we planned.”

Eagle chuckled. He gave Luca a sideways glance, and she nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s all going well, just as our country ordered.”

“The fact that the operation went so well must be due to the fact that we defeated one of the five generals.”

Many of them bowed their knees without a fight.

At first, the western nobles were bullish, but once they were exposed to the corpse of one of the five generals, they began to surrender.

“The Great Grantz Empire has fallen. Where has the lion that dominates the world gone?”

When Luca muttered regretfully, her younger brother Eagle raised his voice in a joyful tone.

“It’s good to see that the old lion is no longer scary. The less resistance, the less damage we suffer. First, let’s tear the west to shreds.”

“I agree with you, but I’m afraid of what might happen if we get too violent.”

“Why?”

I don’t know what you mean, Eagle asked, and Luca sniffed unhappily.

“Eventually, the west will belong to the Six Kingdoms, but the people will not easily follow if there is a disaster when we rule.”

“That’s why we’re using the whip and the candy. As General McRill said earlier, it seems to be going well.”

Looking at the map, Eagle continued.

“We forgive those who obey us, and we punish those who turn against us. The point is, we are looting to make an example of them. What’s wrong with that? In fact, I think that if we burn down the villages and towns that we see and instill fear in them, they won’t rebel as much.”

Eagle pointed this out to Luca, but she immediately shook her head and denied it.

“Excessive aggression can cause hatred. It can be passed onto the next generation, and in time it can become a bug in the lion’s den and become a factor in the destruction of the country.”

People are valuable only if they are kept alive. It is people who produce food, clothing, and shelter. Weapons, money, and even land cannot be obtained without people.

“And now is the time when we need fame and achievement more than infamy.”

Luca emphasizes. Her tone was as if she was rebuking him for making such a mistake.

“I understand. That’s why we are following the instructions from our home country, isn’t it?”

Crossing his arms behind his head, Eagle leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling in frustration.

“If we need achievements… what is our future plan? It seems that Lucia-sama is already on her way here, and with her numbers, the army that will conquer the Grantz will be as large as 200,000.”

General McRill is implying that joining Lucia will make it harder for them to earn achievements.

The main army is still on standby, divided into six armies, even though it leads 150,000 people.

In this situation, they cannot earn anything.

“Are we going to keep waiting like this? Or should we head to the Central before them?”

“Of course, we should attack the Central. It seems that there are no strong-willed men in the west. I think we should leave this place to the others and head for the Central alone.”

Although Eagle, who wanted to fight against the strong, argued bloodily, Luca seemed to remain calm.

“We should not be in a hurry. First, we need to cut down the west and stop worrying about the future, and then join Lucia-sama to attack the central.”

“My dear sister… aren’t you a little too cowardly? You have obeyed the orders of the higher-ups in our country. I think you should be free to do the rest.”

“If we do something wrong, we’ll be finished. Do you realize that there is no end in sight for us?”

“…I know. But the point is, even if it is arbitrary, the point is to win. We should beat the Grantz Empire completely so that they can’t complain about anything.”

“In the first place, if we, who do not know the land, attack the central without a plan, we will not be able to gain the advantage of the land. Above all, it is winter now. You could even say that we are leaving the time of the heavens behind.”

Luca dismissed her brother’s belligerence with a disgusted look and slammed his command stick down on the map.

“The first thing to do is to send out scouts to gather information about the Central. Read and understand the movements of the Grantz Empire, do things carefully, and accumulate achievements after reaching the original goal.”

“…I understand. I’ll follow your lead, sister.”

Eagle is unhappy with this, but unable to disagree with Luca’s opinion; he fell silent.

“It’s time to be patient. If we fail here, that woman will come out and take all the good things from us. That’s why we have to endure for now. Do you understand?”

After looking at his brother lovingly, Luca gently admonished him.

“…Yeah, I know.”

Eagle nodded obediently, losing his earlier bravado.