Episode 154: Dream in the game becomes reality

37. Book of Heroes (5)

Shock.

Other than these words, what other words can express the feelings of the Croesian Empire?

Upon hearing the news that Duke Crimson, who could be described as the pride and protector of the empire, had failed in his mission and was killed in action, the Emperor of Creusen seemed more despondent than angry.

"Duke Crimson, one of the world's greatest swordsmen, died in vain like this?"

"So, I'm sorry."

The ministers could do nothing but bow their heads.

When Duke Crimson crossed the wall and became Grand Master, the current emperor was happier than anyone else.

"It was unreasonable to use the Crimson Dukes as a time-killer. War has many variables. "I wonder if you overlooked that too much."

However, there was someone who criticized the emperor without hesitation, the Marquis of Metis, the current prime minister of the empire.

He was already in a bad mood, but when he saw him scolding him, the emperor's face turned red as if he was about to explode with anger.

"Marquis de Métis, you speak harshly. "Don't you know that Your Majesty has given Duke Crimson enough power?"

"You mean the 8th Circle level spiritist and special forces of the Elysian Alliance?"

"exactly. That's a power equivalent to three grandmasters. Who would have thought that a force like this would fail?"

The Minister of Military Affairs came forward to support the Emperor, but the Marquis of Métis laughed.

"So, what was the result?"

"Well, that's… … ."

I couldn't help but be speechless at the Marquis de Métis' words.

"As a result, Duke Crimson was killed, the task force was annihilated, and the Elysian Alliance's hard-won reinforcements were captured. "Don't you think it's too big of a failure to just say it was inevitable?"

In response to the outspoken Marquis of Métis, Prince André screamed instead of the emperor, his face distorted.

"How cruel! How dare you criticize His Majesty, the owner of this country!"

Despite the crown prince's scolding, the Marquis of Métis did not blink an eye.

He gave advice to the emperor, who glared at him without even looking at the crown prince.

"Even in this situation, 'we are still superior to the Kingdom of Reinharts.' If you think like this, it's a problem. Everyone just laughs at and looks down on Reinharts and never wants to admit it. "We need to acknowledge that times have changed."

The sight of the Prime Minister losing his fear was heartbreaking, but the Emperor swallowed his anger by massaging his temples.

"so? "What do you want to say?"

"You acknowledge that the Kingdom of Reinharts is not an opponent you can beat with a margin of strength, but rather a strong opponent."

As the Croesian Empire, this was a statement that could never be acknowledged.

As a people who were once within the same boundaries as the Calvados Empire, they had to be inferior to themselves.

"If we continue like this, we will be defeated."

The emperor, understanding what he meant, sighed deeply.

"Don't look back and gather all your strength to deal with him."

This meant that since the Kingdom of Reinharts had projected all its power, they too had to fight back equally.

"Leaving aside Dragon Land, the Kingdom of Lucias and the Kingdom of Jordi will definitely invade."

"Just like the Kingdom of Reinharts, we must resolve that issue through diplomacy. Even if it means ceding some territory."

An extreme proposition.

But even though it was humiliating, it was clearly the surest way to achieve victory.

"It's not possible! There is no way our empire will lose against the Kingdom of Reinharts! "Right now, the troops that have been bitten by the Duchy of Xexis are enough to defeat them!"

The crown prince cried out in decisive opposition to the opinions of the Marquis de Métis.

However, there was no minister who gave strength to the crown prince's claim.

The size of the troops currently gathered in the Duchy of Xexis is almost equal to the entire army of the Kingdom of Reinharts.

This is because everyone thought that even with equal strength, they could not defeat the army of Duke Lawrence, who had outstanding mercenary skills.

"Don't you all think so?"

"… … ."

When there was no answer despite asking again, the crown prince had no choice but to get angry.

"shit!"

The emperor shook his head and felt that it was time to make a decision.

The attitude of the Marquis de Métis was extremely annoying, but as emperor, he had no choice but to make a choice for the country.

"I can't help it. "I will accept that opinion."

"Well thought out."

However, the Marquis de Métis could not be ignored like this.

His reprimand earlier was nothing more than a challenge to himself.

"I will leave the negotiations between the Kingdom of Lucias and the Kingdom of Jordi to the Marquis of Metis. "If you fail, you will have to sacrifice your life."

"If we lose this war anyway, there will be no lives left. So, I will accept your orders with a happy heart."

It was the Marquis of Métis who did not give up until the last word.

* * *

[The Croesian Empire's surprise unit fell into Duke Lawrence's trap and was annihilated.] [It was revealed that the annihilated surprise unit included the Croesian Empire's greatest sword, Duke Crimson, and a special unit, causing great shock to the imperial family. ] [The news is that it was Duke Lawrence who took the life of Duke Crimson.]-Sound the wind music!

-oh my god! Crazy! it's crazy!

-Isn't this already a win?

-We don't know yet, but the Empire still has a lot of power left.

-Who would have thought that we would see our country truly educate Croissen!

–Brother Adrian! I thought you were going to hit it big!

-Wow, how good of a fight do you have to be to take the Grand Master's head!

–The Croesian Empire came here pretending to be proud, and look at this haha.

Of course, the most important thing in war is winning the battle.

However, I think it is necessary to raise the morale of the army in order to win the battle.

Just like in sports, there is a flow in war.

If you follow the flow well, you can often win without a big strategy. If you have a psychological advantage, your battles will become bolder, and in the opposite case, you will have no choice but to be passive.

Therefore, I did not hide the results of the war and reported them one by one to the media.

Thanks to this, the Kingdom of Reinharts is now in a situation that is no different from a festival.

The people were busy praising the troops active at the front, and of course this atmosphere directly affected the morale of the troops.

'They say compliments make even whales dance.'

For your information, I did not hide my achievements and continued to promote them through the media, so the news reached the Croesian Empire.

Thanks to this, the war situation that the imperial family wanted to hide has been made public, and they are struggling to claim that Duke Crimson's death is false information.

Well, if you don't want to believe it, just release the video.

In this way, the truth boosted our morale, but on the contrary, it caused a decrease in morale for the Imperial Army.

This made a big difference on the battlefield.

"Now, if we don't let our guard down, we can't lose."

Currently, our kingdom has conquered 30% of the territory of the Croesian Empire.

It can be said that the entire eastern part of the empire, bordering Reinharts, has fallen.

There was now a battle left with the main army of the Croesen Empire encamped in the Duchy of Xexis, but I wasn't too worried.

There were still numbers left that had not been used.

"majesty."

At that time, Gregory hurried over to me and told me some news.

"The Croesian Empire is approaching the Kingdom of Lucias and the Kingdom of Jordi."

Morale is fraud, but it is the most important factor in war.

Isn't that just information?

Blue Moon, under my command, found out and reported the movements of the Croisen Empire without leaving out anything.

I burst out laughing at Gregory's news.

"It's not just idiots."

If the Croesian Empire approached the two kingdoms, the reason is obvious.

It was to concentrate all power in one place like we did.

However, unlike us, the target they have to negotiate with is a hostile country, so it will not be easy.

To the extent that negotiations cannot be concluded unless part of the territory is given away.

"They said the representative of the negotiations was the Marquis of the Métis."

It is impossible not to know that the Marquis of Métis is the Prime Minister of the Empire.

As soon as his name came up, I could roughly understand the situation.

He is a utilitarian.

He must have been the one who forced the emperor to make an extreme choice.

"What should I do?"

To Gregory's question, I answered simply, asking what he was asking.

"Remove it."

"All right."

If such a person were to remain, it would only be a nuisance.

Gregory nodded without saying anything.

"Aaaah! "Let go!"

After Gregory left and I was organizing my future plans, I suddenly turned my head when I heard a strange, loud noise.

Then, I saw an unusual being captured in the last battle.

A beastman who looks about 13 years old and has fox ears and a fox tail.

It was the highest elder of the Elysian Alliance whose name was 'Iris Marignan'.

"Arcia, don't bother her too much."

The reason she let out a strange roar was because Arcia kept bothering her.

In just a few hours, she had completely become Arsia's favorite doll, and her hair, ears, and tail were all decorated to the point where there was no ribbon attached.

At my words, Arcia, who was holding a comb in her hand, gave an OK sign and lifted Iris to her side.

It's like a piece of luggage.

"Hey, you barbarians! "Is this how you treat prisoners?"

Iris struggled loudly, but I thought it was cute and a smile appeared on my face without me realizing it.

"I heard that you only participated as a personal activity, not as a volunteer for the Elysian Allied Powers. Then you are not a prisoner."

"what?"

"Iris's current status is that of a criminal who interfered with our kingdom's war."

At my words, she blinked her big eyes with a foolish expression.

After hearing it, I guess I thought it wasn't wrong.

"By the way, what were you thinking when you supported the Croesian Empire? "If I had just stayed quiet, this wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah… … ."

She trailed off at my question.

"I tried to take a small step and get what I got, but I didn't think Duke Crimson would be defeated so easily?"

When I pointed out exactly what I was thinking, Elder Iris averted his gaze.

And then he blew a silent whistle and tried to distract himself.

"Well, I have no intention of causing harm, so please remain calm until the war is over. "You are a hostage to prevent the Allied Powers of Elysia from entering the war."

Because she was passive in battle, she was able to easily kill Duke Crimson.

Thanks to this, even though I was part of the hostile camp, strangely I didn't feel hateful.

Maybe it's something that has something to do with it.

"You can play with Arcia like you are now for a while."

"what? evil!"

She, who had been conversing while snuggled up next to Arcia, struggled again.

I understand why Arcia likes it so much.

He was a person who enjoyed being bullied.

"You lied when you said you liked me!?"

When Iris shouted, I turned away, saying I had no idea what she was talking about.

"You just said you wanted to meet me, but you never said you liked me?"

"That's the nuance! "Nuance!"

With those last words, she disappeared into the darkness with Arsia.

After all, a fantasy world is a fantasy world.

Such a cute creature exists.

* * *

Nothing goes as planned.

This was the feeling felt by key figures in the Croisen Empire when the war with the Kingdom of Reinharts began.

And this was no different for the Prime Minister of the Croesian Empire, the Marquis of Metis.

"This is true."

However, this time, after receiving a special order from the emperor and participating in the negotiations between the Kingdom of Lucias and the Kingdom of Jordi, the Marquis of Metis was able to understand the true nature of that strange feeling.

"For an organization that surpasses the Empire's intelligence department, I can only laugh."

It was the power of information that gave them an edge over the Croesen imperial family.

No matter what I did, the enemy noticed right away, so I had no choice but to use my strength.

Whether it's Mangyeong and Black Eagle, or Blue Moon.

"Do you belong to the royal family? Or is it from the Lawrence Duke family?"

The Marquis of Metis asked the black masked men who had annihilated the empire's envoys.

The person who appeared to be the leader smiled and raised his sword to deal with the Metis Marquis.

"The Duke of Lawrence. "He lacks the dignity to be considered to have been raised by a royal family."

The masked man flinched at the Marquis de Métis's subsequent remarks, making the mistake of revealing that his guess was correct.

Naturally, the masked man's eyes became sharper, and the speed of the sword swing became faster.

"Was the real threat not the Kingdom of Reinharts, but the people hiding within it?"

The Marquis of Métis, who supported the Croesian Empire to the point where he poured out harsh words to the emperor.

He died without having achieved anything.

"I am disappointed."

People who realized the truth that Adrian was hiding were appearing one by one, but none of them died without being able to tell the world about it.

Ordinary people would think that this war was won only because the Kingdom of Reinharts prepared well.