99 – The Three Quarters of the World – 1
In [The Age of Magic and Gunpowder], If you play 100 games, you will get 100 different results. They talk about fixing random numbers and all that, but I don’t know much about programming.
For this reason, Charles thought that there was a possibility that Leonia would lose in this universe. Of course, I thought there was a greater chance of winning.
However, Leonia won according to her original history, and the crown prince appears to have fallen.
The Crown Prince’s official announcement was that the Crown Prince was injured and needed to recuperate, but it was doubtful whether this was true. He didn’t know that maybe he was dead and he was hiding it and pretending to be injured. It was entirely possible for Liam.
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“Well, it doesn’t matter to me whether he’s dead or alive~”
What really mattered was the fact that Leonia had won over her crown prince.
One day, when Charles was still studying at Arcadia Academy, someone knocked on the door of Charles’ dormitory.
“Who are you?”
“… “
“You can’t open the door if you don’t tell me who it is.”
“Leonia von Arcadia.”
At those words, Charles quickly opened the door. Leonia was there. Her hair, which originally reached down to her back, seemed to have gotten a little longer and it felt like she had matured a little without me noticing it.
“As I was walking along the island, I saw an old man selling flowers.”
The princess who said that was holding a bouquet of flowers in her hands.
“I will give this to you.”
“Oh, flowers.”
“Okay. Doesn’t she look like you?”
I don’t know where she resembles me. However, Charles quietly accepted the flowers without saying those words out loud.
“I will receive it well.”
The flowers are beautiful. The scent of flowers is beautiful. Above all, she felt strange as she imagined Leonia stopping her speech for flowers and handing the old man a silver coin.
“Your Highness, would you like to leave?”
“Let’s do that.”
“I will put on her robe for a moment and come out.”
I headed to the backyard terrace with the princess. The maid served tea, and the princess and I drank tea and continued our conversation calmly.
“You were victorious over Prince Leonhard.”
“It was just a planned victory. “She’s been training just for that day for a year.”
“Yes. “It was a predestined victory.”
Charles also predicted that victory. Most people expected that Leonia would be defeated, but only the princess and Charles knew that the princess would win.
“Your Highness.”
“What is it?”
“Your Majesty lost many soldiers in the previous battle. “I heard there are less than 4,000 soldiers left.”
“That’s right.”
“It will be difficult to protect your territory with only 4,000 people. In times like this, it would be of great help if a decent-sized mercenary group were subordinated to Your Majesty.”
“I hope the commander of that mercenary group is competent. “I’ll have to give you a seat.”
“Also, it would be good if the mercenaries were skilled with muskets or long spears.”
“It would be better if it was an opponent who was in sync with an ally.”
“It would be better if the commander was young. “You will have to work for a long time.”
“I think it would be better if the name started with C.”
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at those words. It seemed that the princess needed Charles.
Of course, Charles also wanted to be under the princess. Leonia von Arcadia is weak in the beginning, but if you can survive the weak beginning, you will become a strong force with a competent monarch and a large talent pool.
“Before, I made a promise to Your Highness. “If you defeat the crown prince, I will join you.”
“It was like that.”
“I think that’s it now.”
Charles got up from her seat and knelt down on one knee towards her.
“I swear that I will never leave the palace and be loyal to the imperial family’s flag.”
This was an oath of loyalty to the emperor, not an oath of loyalty to the nobles. Charles had declared that he would make Leonia her emperor.
“Can you give me permission?”
Leonia looked surprised for a moment, but then she smiled.
“I allow it.”
With those words, Charles stood up and officially became the princess’s subject.
—–
One year and six months have passed since then. The princess repaired the damage caused by the war for one year and six months.
Meanwhile, when the Crown Prince died, his power was transferred to the Crown Prince’s child, Abel von Arcadia. Liam steadily prepared for the abdication behind her back while hiding the crown prince’s death, and thanks to Liam’s preparations, power was safely transferred to her son.
This was a kind of refreshing shock to Charles and Luna, and since it was Liam, her treacherous confidant, she thought that she would take advantage of the Crown Prince’s position to seize power, but surprisingly, Liam focused on safely handing over power to the Crown Prince’s son. I did it.
“Even though it was trash, was loyalty to the lord genuine?”
Liam de Bordeaux. Although he was the person who ruined the crown prince, his loyalty to the crown prince was genuine.
Meanwhile, Luna von Ruytwerth, who had been imprisoned by Liam, was released. This was because her sympathy was focused on Luna because she was right in requesting her retreat.
Also, the power of Count Luitbert’s family was the same. The Count Luitbert family was one of the strongest families among the crown prince’s vassals. Therefore, it was not possible to rashly punish the heir of the Luitbert family, especially when there was no crown prince.
Lastly, Charles Jean Rochepol.
Charles provided a mansion for his family. He then successfully succeeded in abdicating his father’s title as Count of Rochepol.
In addition, thanks to the princess’s grant of land to Charles, Charles was able to go from a fallen nobleman to a true nobleman in name and reality.
The family shed tears, saying they were glad to send Charles to the academy despite their difficult lives. The reason why the family sent Charles to the academy was to use Charles to rebuild the family, and that idea came true in the end.
Charles Jean Rochepol was now called Count Rochepol, not just Charles.
Charles, who became a vassal of Leonia, began working as her agent in earnest.
“Now the real game begins.”
If this were a game, now would be the moment when the game begins. Standing at the beginning of everything, Charles thought.
“Let’s try conquering the world.”
Just like we always did.
—–
And in March 1503, when Charles turned 20. A meeting was held at Leonia’s castle.
Only five people participated in the meeting. Leonia von Arcadia, Diane de Balboa, Uriah Russell, Isabelle de Poitiers, and finally Charles Jean Rochepol, that is, me.
The agenda of the meeting was simple. Now that enough soldiers had gathered, there was a meeting about where to attack next.
“The number of soldiers that can be mobilized by our forces has exceeded 10,000. Moreover, the friendly forces have reached the peak of their strength by introducing new tactics, so rather than making these troops idle, they should attack somewhere when they have the slightest technological advantage. Where do you think we should hit?”
Diane de Balboa answered this question without even thinking about it.
“This is Binevia.”
Benevia was the fiefdom of the deceased crown prince. Dian, who was the crown prince’s subordinate until a few years ago, was insisting on attacking the place that had been the crown prince’s territory.
“Why?”
“It is a cause. If you invade another region, you cannot avoid being accused of being an aggressor. But it’s okay to hit the prince’s territory. This is because the crown prince invaded the Claudia region first. “In the long run, I think it would be better to start a justifiable war.”
“Hmm… “
The princess seemed to be thinking for a moment. And then.
“Are there any other opinions?”
The next person to step forward was Yuria Russell.
“I think the Grand Duchy of Kazan is right.”
“Grand Duchy of Kazan?”
She asked the princess as if she was puzzled. The Grand Duchy of Kazan was a nomadic nation located in the east, made up of a confederation of several tribes. It was tied to the Grand Duchy of Kronor and treated as a barbarian nation.
“Why?”
“The main force of the Grand Duchy of Kazan is the light cavalry. Because they live in regions where iron is scarce, they mainly use horseback riding and archery tactics. This tactic is strong against infantry, but quite weak against musketeers.”
“So, you are saying that we will choose a place that can be easily suppressed with musketeers.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Definitely. That is plausible too. If you fight against the Grand Duchy of Kazan, you will be able to defeat enemies that are several times larger.
The princess nodded her head, and then asked Isabelle.
“Isabel. “Have you no opinion?”
“This is the Petrine Republic.”
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The Petrian Republic is a country located on the Taspilia Peninsula, located in the northeast of the Principality of Plos, and is often depicted as a rival to the Principality of Plos. Their specialty is maritime commerce using navigation skills, and they monopolized trade between the eastern and western continents, amassing overwhelming wealth comparable to that of the Principality of Flos.
“It’s a quite unexpected name, the Petrine Republic. “Why?”
“When considering the benefits of conquest, the Petrine Republic is the largest. The Grand Duchy of Kazan has a large territory, but the production output from that territory is small. The territory is not large because there is a lot of pasture but little farmland. Even if we subdue the entire Grand Duchy of Kazan, we don’t know whether our army will be able to fight on equal footing with other powers on the Western Continent. So, you should aim for a place that will give you the biggest benefit if you win. A rich country, while a country we can win. That place is the Petrine Republic.”
“But the Petrine Republic is a representative neutral country. “Wouldn’t there be a problem with the cause if we hit that place?”
“That’s… “I think it’s something that has to be taken into consideration.”
“Indeed. One refers to the justification, one refers to the tactical advantage, and the other refers to the benefits of winning. “But there is one last person here.”
Everyone’s eyes were focused on me.
“Charles Jean Rochepol, where do you think we should invade?”
“Your Highness, the question is not what benefit you will gain right now.”
I took out the map I had prepared in advance from my pocket. And the moment she opened the map, the princess’s eyes widened.
“The real problem is not the benefits to be gained now, but what kind of country the Principality of Claudia will be 20 years from now.”
If you ask who is the best strategist in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, most people will answer that it is Zhuge Liang. However, if you ask why Zhuge Liang is so great, everyone has different opinions.
However, if someone asks me why Zhuge Liang is so great, I would like to answer that it is because he has excellent insight into the game.
“The world must be divided into three. And this is the specific plan I wrote. “This plan clearly states which direction we should move in: east, west, south, and north.”
Although I fall far short of Zhuge Liang, I plan to try my best to imitate him.