164 – 168 Episodes
– Clang.
The sound of Devian leaving could be heard.
“aaah! How could I be so foolish, I must be out of my mind.”
Feeling embarrassed at the thought of acting so recklessly and forgetting their recent coldness due to drunkenness.
“No way! Married couples can do that kind of thing, right?”
Though she tried to convince herself, the embarrassment was inevitable, regardless of her thoughts.
She had never shown such a drunk side to him before.
Just because she won once, acting all giggly like a fool.
Recalling the words she said in a sulky tone last night, asking if he was upset about her tongue…
– Heat rises…
Her face involuntarily flushes.
And…
– Thump!
Remembering that she appeared disheveled in front of him, she kicks the helpless bed in frustration.
I must be crazy… I must be out of my mind.
“Ugh… so annoying.”
I should drink moderately from now on.
With that thought, she gets up and heads to the bathroom.
***
Agrifa and Mary lead 70,000 troops towards Adria.
In the distance, cavalry raising dust as they rush towards them.
He ran up to Agrippa and stopped.
“Commander, we have a big problem. News just came in that a large Babylonian force has joined and marched towards Thessalonica.”
Agrippa’s face showed a hint of surprise upon hearing this.
“Goodness… things have taken a turn. How many are we looking at here?”
“It seems to be around 90,000 to 100,000 troops.”
“90,000 to 100,000… they outnumber us. Even so, engaging in a defensive battle would have been wiser. Is Sabielli underestimating me?”
Deviang had repeatedly requested Sabielli’s arrest and to be sent back to Rome.
“They say he’s a valuable talent. Seems like he’s clueless.”
Agrippa, intrigued by Deviang’s interest, looked into Sabielli’s background.
While acknowledging his expertise as a commander, Agrippa didn’t consider him superior.
“What? He doesn’t even know the subject and rushed out like this?”
Agrippa pondered how to handle Sabielli’s situation when Mary, annoyed, spoke up.
“Where’s that fool going, not even knowing the subject and sneaking out of the castle?”
Seeing Mary vent her frustration, Agrippa thought he should calm her down first.
“Hold on, we just need to win gracefully, right?”
Mary retorted boldly, “Is that guy really a talent? Complaining without knowing anything?”
Agrippa agreed with Mary’s sentiment.
War is essentially about numbers.
He believed a true master was one who won 100 battles out of 100 through orthodox and stable fighting.
In the Grand Duchy of Francesco, a general who won 100 easy battles was more highly praised than one who won 100 difficult battles.
Preparing to win in advance was the essence of war strategy.
“I’ll watch and see. Deviang praised him, so I should be cautious.”
Agrippa thought to himself as he tried to calm Mary.
“It’s alright. The enemy may have numbers, but they’re overconfident. We just need to defeat them decisively. Let’s set up camp here for now.”
***
Members of the Imperial Faction are gathered in a room.
However, a gloomy atmosphere hangs over them, not for socializing but for a grave reason.
To save the Imperial Faction, an absurd secret treaty was delivered to the Lord. Backlash from the homeland has been severe.
“Goodness… my Lord threatens to execute me if I don’t bring good news immediately!”
“Our Lord sent me a letter saying he’s made to sign papers and wants to die. We must expedite the witch hunt.”
Enrique addressed the anxious group.
“We are also doing our best to prepare. Given the failure of Johannes last time, we are making thorough preparations.”
The previous assassination attempt at the palace.
Although the Duke was injured, the Emperor survived.
Reflecting on the failed attempt, which Johannes had long planned, they had no choice but to prepare more thoroughly.
Failure was not easily tolerated.
Both Enrique and Luis had prepared various assassination plans, but infiltrating the palace was not easy, let alone entering the Gold Area.
They were trying various ways to find a gap in the Emperor’s security, but it wasn’t easy.
“Well… what about using the coronation ceremony?”
When a certain member of the assembly spoke up, Luis asked as if curious.
“Representative Johan. Are you going to use a poisoner?”
An elderly man in his sixties.
Johan replied.
“After the poisoning, there will be a banquet at the Imperial Palace. As far as I know, many nobles will gather, so we will need a lot of cupbearers. At that time, poison will be put into the emperor’s cup.”
Enrique asked Johan.
“But as far as I know, when selecting cupbearers at the palace, they check the backgrounds. After the last assassination attempt, they must have become stricter. Moreover, even if they host a banquet, saying they need more cupbearers seems suspicious.”
To that, Johan chuckled.
“Well, isn’t it just a matter of submitting documents? If you reside in Vairen City, where identity manipulation is easy, there shouldn’t be any issues. And as for suspicion… Considering the previous poisoning, they will probably select new cupbearers. It would be difficult to decorate the vast banquet hall solely with existing cupbearers, and it would be hard to manage with the current staff when so many dignitaries gather.”
As if reminiscing about attending the previous poisoning banquet, Luis inquired.
“Representative Johan, have you ever participated in a previous poisoning banquet?”
To that, Johan smiled warmly and replied.
“When you’ve been a representative for a long time, you get to see many things.”
Upon hearing this, Luis, Enrique, and the other members nodded.
“Very well. We will first devise a detailed plan and inform you.”
“hahahaha… Of course.”
The discreet conversation they were having would remain unknown even in dreams.
This conversation was flowing into the intelligence bureau.
***
Sabirelli urged the soldiers to march forcefully, arriving at the desired location at the right time.
“The Imperial Army is due to arrive in a few days. We must finish the work before that.”
With that thought in mind, he looked at the map.
To the left, there were hills, and to the right, the vast Adriatic Sea stretched out.
Sabirelli’s hand grabbed a horse on the right.
“Here, we will build a supply warehouse.”
Placing a marker indicating a supply warehouse at the center of the hill, he pondered.
“Although it’s on top of a hill, it’s not a fortress, so the enemies might feel it’s worth a shot.”
Thinking this way, Sabirelli’s hands moved busily.
“If we fortify too carelessly, they might suspect a trap.”
Arranging the soldiers and positioning them in front of the soldiers, he completed a wall that would effectively block any advancing enemies.
“With this formation, there will be gaps in the defense that can be exploited at night.”
Of course, Sabirelli had no intention of stopping there.
To conceal his true intentions to some extent, he stationed archers in the second line.
“This way, it could be seen as a fairly solid defense.”
However, there was a significant gap in this formation.
The gap between the first and second lines was wide enough that if one broke through the first line and made a large leftward detour, they could rush towards the supply warehouse.
“This placement may appear adequate, but to the astute Agripa, this gap will be apparent.”
Thinking this way, Sabirelli calmly assessed whether his deployment was flawed.
Just as the cavalry was about to attack the supply warehouse, the soldiers on the hilltop and hillside swooped down on the cavalry.
‘Hmm… Seems lacking.’
Agrippa knew Mary was in Sabnelli’s unit. That beastly Mary…
‘I should probably have the second-line troops pull back.’
Sabnelli anticipated that capturing her would bring tremendous benefits.
‘We should position the cavalry and pikemen here so that the relief troops can’t be easily sent after the battle is engaged.’
By moving the cavalry between the first and second lines, any passage for the enemies to traverse would disappear, preventing the dispatch of additional relief troops after the battle.
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‘Hmm… Good.’
They lure the enemy in using the supply depot as bait. A trap worthy of Sabnelli.
‘The enemies will likely covet their supplies. It’s as good as our lifelines.’
In reality, the supplies collected from the Adriatic region.
If these were to burn…
Sabnelli’s army would no longer be sustainable, and there would be no comparable supplies to requisition.
Quite literally a ‘sink or swim’ situation.
‘Anyway, without a significant victory, we won’t gain the support of the Eastern nobles.’
Though Sabnelli wasn’t sure of the patriots among the Eastern nobles, she fervently hoped they would rise for the Kingdom of Nicaea.
***
Observing the enemy’s deployment, Agrippa and Mary are lost in thought until Mary, seemingly astonished, speaks first.
“Is this the guy your brother mentioned as talented?”
Mary, with a robust bone structure, looks bewildered as she gazes at the deployment.
The front is clearly well defended, but the flanks are in poor shape.
Especially looking at the left wing, it doesn’t seem like an easy task to break through with cavalry at night.
Moreover, if they break through the left, they reach the supply depot immediately.
A few fireballs there would cause significant damage.
“Should I make a daring move tonight?”
As Mary speaks, Agrippa silently gazes at the map.
“Hmm…”
Seeing Agrippa lost in thought, Mary speaks.
“Agrippa? Should I make a daring move?”
When Mary speaks loudly, Agrippa seems to come to his senses.
“Huh? What?”
Seeing Agrippa’s foolish expression, Mary furrows her brow as if annoyed.
“No! Should I raid the supply depot and come back?”
Smiling softly at Mary’s words, Agrippa replies.
“No, we can’t. It’s a decoy at the supply depot.”
“Huh? A decoy? I don’t get it. Wasn’t it just a rookie mistake?”
Mary asks, not understanding Agrippa’s words.
“No. Sabnelli has commanded the army several times, despite the short duration. I’ve achieved quite a bit in battles big and small. He wouldn’t have such a sloppy formation, right?”
Agrippa had been evaluating Sabnelli highly for some time.
-If that guy were under me as a slave… No, he’d probably work a little less overtime.
Deviang, who had a fairly accurate eye for evaluating people.
Carefully, Sabenelli was observed.
“And Sabenelli is a master at setting traps. Probably setting a trap using the supply warehouse as bait.”
Mary nodded at those words.
“Well then, assuming that’s the case, what should we do next?”
In response to Mary’s question, Agrippa also nodded.
“We set the trap poorly, so we need to use it to our advantage.”