Chapter 15

Under Iren Julieat’s command, the Brance Army soldiers began a simultaneous charge towards Jeilrant Castle.

“Charge!”

At Luna’s single word from atop the castle wall, elite archers of the Raven Mercenary Unit unleashed a torrent of arrows.

The overwhelming number of arrows raining down from above was surely dealing heavy damage to the enemy soldiers, but…

‘There are too many…!’

It’s an army exceeding 20,000 troops. Even if not all of them are concentrated at this East Gate, there are far too many even with the forces divided.

No matter how many arrows we fire, it’s only natural we can’t stop them all.

Moreover…

From afar, boulders from the catapults are beginning to fly.

BOOM!

The tremendous sound drowns out even the soldiers’ cheers, blasting into Luna’s eardrums. We’re at a disadvantage. Fortunately, Sir Swoen focused on repairing the walls, or the gates might have fallen much quicker with resources diverted elsewhere.

“Swoen…”

Swoen said that making a ceasefire agreement is our only option. Honestly, I still don’t quite understand how he plans to achieve that, but Luna trusts him. He was her first companion and strategist who believed in her.

“I’m counting on you… I’ll hold out as long as possible, so please hurry!”

Back to the scene below the castle walls.

Tifa, axe raised high, shouted loudly from atop her horse at the front lines.

“Everyone! Prioritize attacking their catapults! Got it?!”

“OOOOH!!!”

Showing off the results of their training, Tifa’s troops were charging forward incredibly bravely despite being outnumbered.

Their morale remained unshaken because their great General Tifa was leading them personally at the forefront.

“Come on all at once, you little brats!”

Tifa was cutting down enemy soldiers left and right with expert axe swings. Panic was beginning to spread among the Brance Army ranks.

“What, what is this monster…!”

“She’s coming this way!”

Recognizing the collapsing formation, Iren quickly assessed the situation. That general up ahead was overpowering our soldiers with her axe.

“Hmm.”

Even in a minor nation, they have some capable individuals.

Iren shouted loudly to the troops.

“Everyone, fall back!”

At Iren’s words, the battle momentarily ceased before she slowly advanced on horseback.

“My name is Iren Julieat. And yours?”

“What do you want with my name, bitch!”

Tifa pointed her axe blade at Iren.

“Why waste time chatting when you could be fighting me properly already?!”

While someone who values chivalry might find this extremely rude…

Iren seemed to like Tifa’s response, chuckling slightly as she spoke.

“You’re quite the beastly friend. I like people like you. But!”

CLANG!

The sound of two weapons colliding echoed through heaven and earth as their massive axe and sword met.

“People as wild as you tend to have short lifespans. Quite unfortunate, isn’t it?”

“What about your big mouth?! Come at me, you damn girl!”

CLANG!

They exchanged several blows. Just that was enough to gauge each other’s skill level. This realization shocked Tifa.

“…She’s strong, this woman!”

Knight Iren – Tifa had naturally heard that name before. However, she was the type to trust what she saw and heard herself rather than rumors. Besides, the rumors only mentioned exceptional siege warfare abilities without much else, so she assumed average personal combat skills.

After exchanging a few blows, she quickly realized…

There’s no way I can defeat this woman with my current abilities!

“Damn it!”

But then again…

How could Lunarien Army ever defeat a powerful nation like Brance if we went one by one like this? Didn’t that wimpy young strategist say he’d definitely return with a ceasefire agreement?

Therefore…

“I’m holding on! I have to hold here!”

CLANG!

“Just give it your all already. You might really die if you don’t.”

In response to Iren’s words, Tifa bit her lip and shouted.

“Your head’s the one that’ll roll! Come on, you damn girl!”

“HAAAT!”

The only thing that can turn this battle around now is Strategist Swoen. Until results come from Swoen, Tifa continued swinging her axe against an unbeatable opponent, thinking only of that.

* * *

Riding my horse at breakneck speed…

If I were going to Kihara Castle where I stayed before joining the Lunarien Army, I could have arrived within a day, but Lin Brance’s residence is further away at Anel Castle.

One day, two days… Managing to barely reach Anel Castle after catching naps on horseback.

“Should I just go straight to the palace?”

In games, you just press the ‘Diplomacy’ button then ‘Execute’ to immediately meet with the foreign ruler…

But actually trying to meet a ruler turned out to be surprisingly complicated.

“Halt!”

Already stuck here unable to enter at the castle gate.

“Who are you, boy?”

“…Hmm. Will this work?”

Can’t use the 1300 gold diplomatic funds.

I took out 30 gold from my personal wallet.

Though losing 30 out of 130 is quite painful, if I can’t get inside, the Lunarien Army will be annihilated. What choice do I have?

“I’m not suspicious. Can this work somehow?”

“…Hm… Alright then, you may enter!”

Thankfully, it worked.

I did expect it would. Though there was no such system in the [Garland Eternity Saga] I entered, another similar genre game made by the same company did have a feature for bribing guards.

Anyhow, I successfully entered the interior of Anel Castle.

“Wow.”

Entering the castle, I immediately lost myself at the scenery before my eyes.

Like a fantasy game teaser movie, the bustling cityscape made me acutely aware I had truly entered another world. After all, until now the only cities I’d seen were the average-sized Kihara Castle and the crumbling small town of Jeilran Castle.

The number of people moving about inside was on an entirely different scale. The reputation of Anel Castle as the largest fortress in Central Continent was well-deserved.

“I don’t have time for this.”

I immediately looked for what appeared to be the royal palace.

It wasn’t difficult to find.

There stood a castle with a central tower clearly fit for a ruler.

“That’s it. Let’s go.”

I quickly rode toward the location of the castle.

*

Worried I might get stopped unnecessarily at the gate and meeting the ruler wouldn’t be easy…

But fortunately, meeting the ruler itself wasn’t too difficult. Though after a light body search, soldiers stuck to both sides like they were monitoring me, but compared to not being able to meet due to some strange conditions and wasting unnecessary time, this was much better.

“Wow.”

The interior of Anel Castle’s royal palace was extravagantly luxurious.

The furnishings were extremely valuable-looking, and various decorations exuding both intimidation and majesty were more than sufficient to make me, an outsider, feel quite insignificant.

Compared to Jeilran Castle’s so-called royal palace which was basically just a brick-built living room, this was something else entirely.

In the game, the castle interiors were uniformly designed so I didn’t notice much difference.

Thinking about it now, having such differences makes it feel more realistic. Though since this is reality itself, discussing realism feels kind of funny.

“Still, big companies are good.”

Following the soldiers’ guidance for how long…

“Wait here.”

One of the soldiers guarding me said this, opened the door ahead, and went in. Then after a while…

“Come in.”

Alright.

Finally getting to meet the ruler.

Recalling game dialogue, I gripped my slightly nervous heart and entered.

*

The door opened.

I stepped onto the crimson carpet-lined corridor leading to the audience chamber.

Flanking both sides were what appeared to be Brance Army generals standing in a row. While some might feel intimidated by all their gazes on me…

“I don’t need to be scared.”

Right now, I am the “100% guaranteed to succeed” super client coming to make an agreement.

They will accept my terms. No other outcome is possible because Divinity 100 foresaw it.

Walking confidently forward without hiding my confidence.

And finally…

I reached the entrance to the audience chamber.

Inside were the ruler, envoy, two guard soldiers watching my actions, and only the ruler’s strategist.

This is my actual battlefield as envoy – the audience chamber of the royal palace.

Feeling like a visiting away team player, I slowly opened the door.

As the door closed…

A woman sitting lazily on the throne came into view.

Long blue hair and equally blue eyes.

Exquisite beauty with regal presence.

Clearly possessing jewel-like features, yet radiating an aura beyond mere prettiness.

Perhaps fittingly so. That petite yet beautiful woman ascended to the supreme position of Brance Army, surpassing her two older brothers.

The Lin Brance I remember was just a blue-haired woman from pixel art portraits, hardly striking.

But seeing her in person makes complete sense.

You instantly recognize her as a ruler. Someone who cannot tolerate being subordinate to others.

My first female ruler encounter since Lady Lunarien Iniang.

Lin Brance was smiling faintly at me.

“Over there… no strategist?”

Is the strategist absent?

There are a few notable strategists of Lin Brance’s army that come to mind. Perhaps there’s some special circumstance?

Or maybe she thought a minor nation’s envoy could be handled alone?

Anyways, I’ll do my best with the given situation.

I slowly knelt down.

Then recited the line I’ve seen dozens of times in the game.

“I’ve come to deliver a message from our ruler, Lady Lunarien.”

Hearing my words, Lin Brance chuckled amusedly and spoke in a low voice.

“Oh~ Coming as an envoy during wartime with such a pretty face. You’re braver than you look, aren’t you?”

Though she used openly belittling vocabulary, I won’t react to every little thing she says.

If I let myself be intimidated here, I’d quit being a strategist.

“Fine. I’ll hear you out.”

I slowly raised my head.

The fate of the Lunarien Army rests on my shoulders.

Time to wield my silver tongue.

Don’t lose confidence.

It’s fine. I have Divinity 100 intelligence.

“Let me offer you a proposal you simply cannot refuse.”

“Hmm? A sweet proposal, you say. That piques my interest. What is it?”

Like a salesman offering a deal that won’t come again,

I grinned shamelessly and declared as confidently as possible.

“We’ll give you 1300 gold. Please sign a ceasefire agreement with us.”