Episode 196
Despite the wasted damage, the siege of Kleich Lake Castle continued.
I want to attack, but the surface of the lake is frozen and I can't ship. On the other hand, if you break the ice under your feet on foot, you will be annihilated.
You can't bring in a catapult or something like that, and you're awkward.
"It's not a decisive factor to attack, but I can't win just by besieging it."
Elorea muttered in the army, so I nod.
"Oh, in general, a castle is when you have a chance to get reinforcements. That's when I'm going to cage, so Ivan will eventually send reinforcements."
Since we have food from the Imperial City, Prince Warroy would not expect us to give up and withdraw.
In that case, it is reasonable to think that reinforcements will come.
Elleora looks at the outside scenery and thinks a little.
"We're widely deployed to siege the Lake Castle, so we're vulnerable to attacks from the outside. We'll be flying from inside the castle, so even a small number of enemy reinforcements is a threat."
At present, the combined strength of the Ashley Eleora Allied forces does not increase significantly. Nobles in West Lorumund have decided to wait.
Departure no longer occurs when Elleora is on Ashley's side, but they remain unmotivated.
This is the foundation of support, so Prince Ashley will have no hardships.
Bolsh puts a serious expression on the map, placing a stone marker indicating his strength.
"It's difficult to repel reinforcements while maintaining the siege. Most of the soldiers are in gangs and uncoordinated."
Apart from the Imperial Army, the soldiers of the lords have not been modernized. The command chain is also jumbled, so giving more than one command at a time can cause confusion.
Rashii, who is only attending the meeting, mutters while stacking the remaining markers and playing.
"Is this castle relieved, and wouldn't it be possible to advance north?"
I, Eleora, and Bolsh look at the same time and finally push me to that role.
I sighed and explained to her.
"Is the Imperial City going to be empty? If you leave a garrison in the Imperial City, you will have less force to advance and suffer."
Eleora smiles bitterly and continues with a gentle tone like a coach.
"And marching platoons aren't enough for combat. A chase from Lake Castle would be devastating."
"Huh ... I see."
Rashii has a face that he does not know whether he knows or does not know.
And clapped his hands.
"That's why we're nailed here. Your Highness, Worroy, after all it's amazing."
I knew it unexpectedly.
After all, it's better to settle outside the battlefield.
That's my job.
"Okay, I'm going to use the plan. I don't know if it will work, but I'm a werewolf, so I can only do this."
Lashi tilts his neck while arranging markers by color to create a beautiful geometric pattern.
"Do you want to transform into a werewolf again?"
I shook my head.
"No. Even if you do it at a castle of this size, it will be a bit tough to get it down, so it's a different way."
I grinned and knocked on the kite's shoulder, the secretary of the meeting.
"Kite, I'll get another job."
"Is it me again?"
It's hard to be a deputy.
Eleora's army established a checkpoint a few kilometers north of Kleich Lake Castle.
It's a very simple thing, but the fence is raised and the flag of Eleora's army is flashy. It is meaningless if it is not noticeable.
Two days later, the effect was immediate.
"Oh, it's a dog flute."
I was working on paperwork in the temporary shed at the checkpoint, and raised my face.
I was trapped as expected.
"Kite, let's go"
I relied on a dog whistle and entered the forest near Sekisho, where I joined the Monza squad.
"Ah, easy win. Oh, haven't you killed me?"
A pilgrim monk-like man has fallen under her feet. Looks faint.
"I was in the forest as soon as I saw the checkpoint, so it was so bad.
Because Monza's surprise is a master, he must have lost consciousness without knowing what happened.
I'll put a magical sleep on my man just in case. Enjoy Non-REM sleep for about an hour. You can also get tired.
"Even if he decided to enter the checkpoint, he would have been spotted by the magic of the kite, so that's where the kite comes in."
The kite sighed a little and squatted down by the man. Place your hand on the man's back and cast a small spell. Looks like he's using a lot of spells to look around.
Then he looked up.
"The Dniesk family secretary. And the monk's left collar, slightly thicker than the right."
If you touch it, there is certainly something thin and hard. I don't know anything from outside and I can't find any pockets. It seems to be sewn between the two layers of fabric.
"I think it's a secret book. Kite."
"I know."
One of the magics of detection is to read the contents without opening a book. I want to learn it because it looks so fun, but it's surprisingly difficult.
Kite used it to read the secretary in the monk's robe.
"It's like a letter from Prince Ivan to Prince Warroy. One of the two cows you ordered can be turned into meat immediately. Would you like to eat?"
Monza tilts her head.
"What's that? I don't know."
I don't know either.
Then the kite says to Monza:
"Because the important words are replaced with punctuation marks, they're not meaningful even if read by a third party. It's easy."
Kite is used to reading such confidential documents.
Using detection magic can give you hints on decryption, and you can be a cryptanalyst.
He looked back at me with some thought.
"Because cows are used for 'big support', I think they are reinforcements.
"Huh ... I see."
Monza nods.
I nodded together with me.
"So you're asking," Would you like to send out just 10,000 of the 20,000 requested reinforcements right away? "It's not a handwriting like a clerk had written.
"You are amazing"
"If you couldn't do this, you wouldn't be able to get a job at the Senate investigator.
Do you still have it at the root?
I think about the valuable information obtained.
"It would be a hassle if you could come for 10,000 now. It would be better not to read this letter. Monza, please."
"Yes, captain"
She unscrewed the sewing thread of the monk's robe and took out a secretary from inside.
Originally, this kind of confidential document is sealed with wax, but it has been omitted this time to pursue thinness.
"Okay, let's replace it with a fake. Kite, write me."
"Please don't let me do anything!"
I know you're a noh pen.
Work hard.
Forgery would have been harder with Prince Ivan's handwriting, but fortunately it would be anything but a clerk's substitute.
Kite grumbled, but opened his bag. A set of writing utensils comes out.
There are several types of paper, ink, and pens. Kite uses magic and the five senses to analyze and choose the one closest to the real secretary.
"Um, this is a thin quill pen ... the ink is bluish black pigment ink, the paper is high quality parchment made from white lamb from the north ... by the way, what about the text?"
"Tell me that it will take me some time to send reinforcements. It should be as cold as possible. I want Prince Warroy to feel uneasy."
"It's a bad guy, Mr. Weid"
"I'm not a human"
As I shrugged, everyone in the Monza squad laughed.
The secrets are replaced, and Monza dexterously sewes the false secrets back to the monk. Since it would be difficult to notice the color of the thread, we prepared all the colors commonly used in Northern Lorumund. Maybe all right.
The kite erases unnecessary history with sabotage spells in case the spells and priesthood use detective magic.
"Okay, it's like this. Even if you use the art of the past, you don't know us anymore."
Kite suddenly asks with anxiety.
"Mr. Weid, don't your secretary remember the contents of the secretary?"
"It's possible, but wouldn't you bother to contact me verbally without having a secretary? Considering when it was found, secretarial is a big danger."
"It's the same ..."
"If there is a discrepancy between the secretary's memory and the contents of the secretary, I will trust the contents of the secretary. Also, since the Dniesk family is secretive, I will not tell my subordinates anything extra.
"Is it okay ..."
I'm not sure if it's okay, but in any case the real secretary doesn't reach Prince Warroy.
And even if you realize that your secretary is fake, do so until you take the next step.
If he realizes that the secret is a fake, Prince Warroy will try to make a fake secret and let us read it.
Then we can pretend to be deceived and let Prince Warroy look out.
It's not as easy as it sounds, but it'll work.
After that, he just wakes up naturally and slips through the checkpoint.
"Even so, the siege of the castle seems incomplete."
In this world, at night there is no way to monitor because it is completely dark without moonlight.
This guy knows how to get through our siege and approach the castle.
Will you follow me later?
Leave the rest to the Monza squad and I'll return. A pile of documents.
"Monza, you were fine.
"Yes, captain"
Waving to Monza, who salutes me, I and the kite decide to return to the checkpoint.
On the way home, my kite mutters.
"Hey Weid"
"what"
"Somehow this is plain ..."
Do not say.
"I'm not a general. In a situation where millions of soldiers move this time, I'm left behind."
I learned the tactics as it was in the Demon Army.
If you want to move 10,000 soldiers, you only need to leave one talent per 10,000. It's not the curtain of a shogun like me.
So I leave the work on the battlefield to an expert and I'm hoping to contribute a bit as a backdoor.
"Okay, we're going to be sober.
"I'm certainly plain, but I'm your aide."
"I'm also a Demon Lord's aide."
We passed through the gate of the Sekisho while having such a good conversation.