A Wish to Grab Happiness

The Great Sacred Army Camp. This army with sixty thousand troops had countless tents laid out. Numerous soldiers came and went in and out of the various tents.

However, none of them would approach the tents. Even the commanding officer's soldiers had a look of trepidation on their faces.

The commander's grand tent. -- Valerie-Brightness's place.

The place of Valerie-Brightness. There is a pressure swirling in the tent that could distract a person with a weak will.

''Will Zillir still not return?''

'There's no ....... It's not making a fuss right now, but maybe one of them will soon.

'I don't want that thing to make a scene in my army. Pretend I'm the one who gave the order to return home.

Valerie didn't return her steely eyes as she told her second-in-command Dore. His exhalation was hot, so hot that it seemed he could kill his enemy with a single glance.

A day had passed since the secret meeting with Richard.

Valerie hadn't had a glass of her favorite wine and had hardly slept at all. She was wasting her precious time on the battlefield, wondering about the only decision she had to make.

--How could I be confused?

Valerie couldn't help but mock herself.

A commander, by nature, should not have the folly of "wavering". What is required of a commander is to make a 'decision'. This can be gathering information about the lack of information, or it can be standing still to assess the situation.

But there must be no stagnation in the end. It was an idea Valerie valued most.

'Do you laugh at me?　I'd feel better if you laughed at me.

'No way. I'm just beginning to realize that the master is really a human being.

Dore let a bitter smile fall from his cheeks and handed the parchment to Valerie. The black ink letters, arranged in a neat row, covered his vision.

'From the movement of people and the security posture, the fort's manpower is first and foremost three thousand. The only thing of note is that more supplies are being brought in. It was also confirmed that the main army, including the great evil, is heading to the Oryun plain. The only army left in the royal capital was really just the last army to escort them. Without a doubt, no rear-guard or relief troops will come to that fort.

Even if they rebelled, Master could drop them in half a day. I'm not sure how many brave men there are, but the difference in military strength is obvious. There are no ambush soldiers in the surrounding area, and there is no sign of a surprise attack.

The entire day was spent sending Dore to collect information. She is an excellent second-in-command, but she is essentially a competent person.

It's easy to gather a lot of information if you separate them from the duties of a deputy and focus on collecting information.

Valerie looks through each sentence of the report. The last line on the parchment made her eyes contort involuntarily. Quickly, he looks at Dore's face.

'...... I haven't heard of this stuff. What do you mean?

'So am I, My Master. But it's true. I'm sure the enemy side will find out soon. Either way, this gives them extra time to themselves.

What to do, Dore urged Valerie to make a decision without saying a word.

Once again, Valerie closed her eyes.

If you are looking at it from a military perspective, the best thing to do is to kill Richard and make him surrender. Even if he tries to resist, just trample him down. The difference in force between sixty thousand and three thousand can do that.

That is the sincere answer that Valery-Brightness' general aspect gives. There is nothing more to it than this.

But as an individual, there was an entirely different answer. Right now, Valerie's brain marrow was eating at each other's thoughts to the point that it felt like it could be split in two.

-- at any rate, the patroness of the Great Holy Church Saints is attempting to create immortals using a technique that could be called forbidden.

If it was a human being named Jir'eel, that was fine. All we have to do is kill her. It would be a blemish on the name of the Great Holy Church, but it would only take a minimum of care.

...... How is that even possible?

Blurting out, Valerie said as she questioned herself.

It is no secret that Jir'eel is a blind follower of the Great Sacred Doctrine. To her, doctrine is absolute, God is the only one, and salvation is only beyond that. She is a person who believes in the 'salvation' that religion talks about to the core.

What woman with only that faith would ever twist her faith and trample on a taboo for her own benefit?

'It's a conclusion that can't be reached by exploring her usual behavior and the stories around her one by one. As long as she's her, I don't think she'd mimic creating immortality.

Dore assured him. Valerie nodded in agreement.

Then what is happening?

A woman who is supposed to be a martyr to the doctrine has done something contrary to the doctrine. There is a clear contradiction there.

Valerie let out a breath. An exhalation that makes me think my lungs are going to empty. No, really, I'm aware of it.

These things are not contradictory. There's a loophole to keep them consistent.

But I didn't want to believe it too much. Dole and even Valerie were slightly reluctant to enter into that belief.

Can't you think of it this way? The woman who was supposed to be a martyr to the doctrine did not violate it. It was the doctrine that had been twisted. So Zillir became a martyr to a new one. This way the contradiction would end.

Who could say that to Jir'eel and make him listen? There are only two people.

His Holiness the Great Holy Pontiff - Saint Arueno.

'This is ridiculous. ...... ridiculous!

Valerie said quietly, then said with a show of rage.

It's all speculation. Not enough information. But other than that, Valerie couldn't see any other way forward. That's why his chest is beginning to heat up and rage.

Valerie is not as confident as Zillir, but as a great saint, she is confident that she is obedient.

He was aware that the development of knowledge, like heraldry, would bring misfortune, and he was even convinced that it was the strong and great who should lead his people.

But today, on this day, Valerie was lost.

Why would someone who is also the patroness of the saints use forbidden arts?

Why does the Great Holy Church allow such things?

Her scepticism swelled. It is only if you believe in the Great Holy Church that Valery is imitating a firebrand instead of destroying Zebreylis. It is only if you believe in the Great Sacrament that you can be relieved of the disappointment of the heroes of the Suzif fortress.

--Will you really believe in this?

That was the moment Valerie asked herself.

In front of him, he saw gold.

◇◆◆◆

...... That was quicker than I thought. Either Valerie's guy has grown up, or there's another guy working on it.

Richard muttered from the walls of Fort Medraut. The exhalation dissipated in white.

Sixty thousand troops had seen and taken in the initial movement of the army deploying for the attack on Fort Medraut. A move that would not be made as long as Valerie continued to be lost in her position.

She had definitely made a decision. She would accept our surrender and stomp it out if necessary. The time we used was a day.

A whole day short of the time I promised to earn.

'I'm not sure what to do. You can still surrender my head and surrender the fort as you promised.

You must be joking. You said yourself that you were desperate.

Richard smiled back at his second-in-command Vicia's words, but he wasn't really joking.

What I said about dying was if Rougis couldn't make it in time, even after buying the promised time. It was a different story if Valerie had made a decision this quickly.

Regardless of how you struggle from now on, you have half a day to go. It doesn't matter how early Rougis is, he won't make it in time.

It was a clogged up, defeated warrior. It's true that we could see the defeat from the beginning. Still, Richard bought time to find a chance to win in it. But that, too, had run out of steam.

For the first time in a long time, Richard let out a sigh that spilled from his lungs that wasn't a sham.

Two or three schemes wriggled in his head, tracing his thoughts. But he was soon cut off. The end result was the same, even if I repeated it a few times.

'No?'

The part where he rounded up Dore, dragged Valerie out, and luckily took care of the demon's united body was good.

It could be said that it was a tightrope walker that was working well. But it was no good now. There are too few hands to take.

"General.

Bithia called out to Richard, who was speechless as his brow wrinkled, from behind him.

The way he was dressed in armor instead of his second-in-command uniform gave the old man more dignity than usual.

'Prepare for warfare.'

Say something stupid. You may be a good man, but you're not. You may be all right, but your men are not. You can't get the men involved in a war they can't win.

With his eyes on the 60,000-strong army, Richard said.

An army is an organization where supremacy is absolute. The soldiers obey their commander's orders without questioning them, which is why warfare is so important.

Therefore, the commander is always obliged to lead them to victory. They must respond with pride that their deaths were a necessary sacrifice.

"We won't last a day against Valerii. Half a day. "Half a day against Valerie." "That's not going to happen if he's serious. Any more and it's just a bad idea.

'General. The General will be in time. All we have to do is wait for him. Isn't this an easy war?

Bithia said with an exaggerated clatter of her basket.

Richard chuckles, but still tries to prevent Bithia from speaking.

A message rushed to Bithia. They exchanged a few times, and Bithia nodded. Then a small piece of parchment is handed to Richard.

He looks at it. His eyes widen and once again Richard lets out a sigh.

'...... That's a really bad idea, Bithia.'

There is no one who wants to leave, sir. The general seems to underestimate the skill of his soldiers. You're not the only one who deserves a little help.

Richard cleared his throat at his second-in-command, as usual. Pouring the drink into his mouth. Stomping on the castle walls.

'Can't help it. 'Oh, well, we'll just have to fight. Let's go down in history for a bit.