I am the Monarch Chapter 65: War and more war (3)

The contents of the letter were simple.
Roan frowned.

'Byron kingdom?'

This was something he hadn't expected at all.

'In my past life they didn't show any movements until next year……'

There was no way something this important would be wrong.
Then.

'The future changed again.'

Also with their movements, this was a really bad position for Roan.
He tore the letter and put it into his pocket, and then looked at Pens.

“Then, mister Chris…..”
“Yes. He left four days ago.”
“Right. You're all working hard.”

At those words, Pens hurriedly shook his head.

“No. They're all working having fun as if it was their thing.”

At those words Roan slightly bowed.

“I will ask you to take good care of me.”
“I, I will do my best.”

Pens also bowed.
Roan became locked in his thoughts by himself after he separated with Pens.

'I really can't know when the future will change.'

The worth of the information agency could be seen because of this matter.

'I did well in focusing on gathering information of the eastern region.'

The decision of not relying solely on his memories made him see light.

'For now, let's leave the side of Byron kingdom to mister Chris.'

There was nothing Roan could do right now.
There was also a possibility that the rumor Chris heard was fake.

'The thing I should do now……..'

Stop the stir of the monsters and prepare for the attack of Istel kingdom.
He shook his head and looked towards the east.
There lied Istel kingdom.
He felt like the smell of the battlefield passed by his nose.

******

Roan concentrated on subjugating the monsters while he waited for Chris.
When the subjugation ended, they set up camps or fences according to the topography and also dug ditches and holes.
People who knew that the movements of Istel kingdom weren't normal were only soldiers with ranks above adjutant.
Normal soldiers still thought that the defensive lines were for the stir of the monsters.

“It slightly resembles the shape of a defensive line for now.”

As Benjamin ignored Aaron's reports, some holes appeared at places, but even so as they did their best even if Istel kingdom came attacking immediately. They were confident in tying down their opponent's feet for now.
Then one soldier approached.

“Vice troop commander. Someone called Chris is looking for you.”

At those words, Roan's face brightened.

'You finally came.'

It had already been 20 days since Chris left towards Byron kingdom.
As there was no news at all, he felt uneasy.
Roan hurriedly moved to meet him.
He could see Chris who was looking at him while standing still.

'It seems like the trouble he went by wasn't ordinary.'

Chris looked kind of haggard.
His hair was bushy and he looked dirty.
But even so there was a satisfied smile on his mouth.

'It seems like he gained some accomplishments to be satisfied about.'

Roan ran towards Chris and grabbed his hands.

“I was worried because there was no contact.”
“As the atmosphere over there was too solemn, I couldn't contact you as I wished.”

Chris shook his head.

“You have done well.”
“No. I just did what I had to.”

At Roan's words, Chris shook his head once again.
And then looked at Roan's eyes fixedly.

“I gained some big achievements.”

Roan just listened.
Chris continued saying.

“If I were to tell you the conclusion first, it is that the people of Byron kingdom are also preparing for war.”

He took out a pile of papers from his bag.
It was the information about the southern region of Byron kingdom which he organized.

“Mmm.”

Roan received the papers.

'Certainly. Just why did the future change now? In my past life……..'

He suddenly brought up the memories.
The reason why Byron kingdom couldn't move as they wished.
But he couldn't remember the detailed situation of the kingdom.

'How stifling.'

It certainly would have changed because of one of his choices.
Then, Chris's voice was heard.

“Although I couldn't acquire internal information, it isn't precise. But even so it seems like the two kingdoms have held hands.”
“It seems so.”

Roan said.
Historically, Rinse kingdom and Byron kingdom were just like cats and dogs.
Compared to that, Istel kingdom was on friendly terms with both Rinse kingdom and Byron kingdom.
But even so, if you had to choose a friendlier side, it would be Byron kingdom.
There was plenty of possibilities for the two of them to have held hands.

'The objective in this war for Istel kingdom would be to advance on their western territory.'

The exact objective was revealed only after the war ended.
It certainly was like that in his past life.

'The situation is turning difficult.'

Roan let out a long sigh.
Then, Chris said as if he was whispering.

“But I conjured a hypothesis on why Byron kingdom became able to participate in this war.”

He had a somewhat hesitant look.

“Um…….I think that the reason is because of our kingdom.”
“Our kingdom?”

Roan frowned at the unexpected conjecture.
Chris nodded.

“Yes. We achieved a complete victory at the Pedian plain's monster subjugation. Compared to last year, he gave them a loss almost close to annihilation. Especially, the ones with the biggest losses…….”

Roan continued speaking.

“The orcs of the north…….”
“That's right.”

Chris nodded.
He continued speaking.

“There were many guys that set up attack lines to attack Byron kingdom. But they were all annihilated……..”
“The southern region of Byron kingdom became inactive.”
“That's right. Even Violin ended up dying in the Slen battle. In the position of Byron kingdom, they are at a situation where they shouldn't even have to worry about the orcs in the south.”
“Mmm.”

Roan gulped the silence.

'I never expected that the results of Pedian plain and slaying Violin's head would become like this.'

But of course, there were still many other orc commanders aside from Rak in the northern region of RInse kingdom.

'But they are living in the northern region of our kingdom. Rather, our side is in more danger.'

Anyways, different than his past life, he thought he now knew the reason why Byron kingdom could prepare for war.
But of course, this was all a hypothesis of Chris'.
He couldn't actually know what kind of black curtain there was.

'I will have to report it to corps commander Aaron. However……'

Even if he did that, he didn't think a sharp response would come back.
It was obvious that Benjamin would ignore the report.
But even so, he couldn't just report it to the king's palace while ignoring the army rules.
No, at this time he didn't even have the means to.
His pondering deepened at this large dilemma.
Chris looked at that face of his.
He also knew much about Roan's ponderings.

'Isn't there be anything I can be of help with?'

Chris mulled over his thoughts over and over again.

'Ah………!'

Although it wasn't a clever scheme, he still thought of one method.

“Vice troop commander Roan.”

Chris called out to him in a low voice.
Roan moved out of his thoughts and looked at Chris.
Chris faintly smiled and continued to speak.

“Should I spread a rumor?”
“A rumor?”

As Roan asked back, Chris nodded.

“We spread a rumor that the movements of Byron kingdom and Istel kingdom aren't normal around the capital of Miller and the northern region. Wouldn't a rational commander, who's not like commander Doyle, pay a bit of attention to it?”
“Mm.”

Roan gulped.

“It doesn't seem to be that good of an idea.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“First of all, it's not easy to spread a rumor because the time and human power is limited. But most of all……”

His face stiffened.

“If that kind of rumor roamed around, the citizens would feel uneasy.”
“Ah……..”

Chris let out a low exclamation.
He couldn't move the feelings of the citizens just to make the commanders move.

“Normal people fear war a lot. If a rumor about Byron kingdom and Istel kingdom wanting to attack us spreads, an ensuing chaos would occur. Because for them, it would look like we aren't prepared at all. If we are to spread a rumor, it would have to be after our preparations are solid.”
“I was short in my thoughts”

Chris slightly bowed.
He was a bit moved.

“I think that you're really amazing. To think of the safety of the citizens first in this urgent situation.”

At those words Roan sighed.

“Whew.”

He looked at the village that was located at the south of the plains.

“Can you see that small village?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”

Chris followed Roan's sight and turned his head.
He could see a small but peaceful village.
Different than the soldiers who were setting up fences or digging ditches, the village men were solely focused on taking care of the harvest.
It was a scene that made you feel warm when you looked at it.

“It's really pleasing to watch, right?”
“Yes. It feels like i'm getting happy.”

At Roan's question, Chris faintly smiled and nodded.
On the other side, Roan's expression was kind of dark.

“If we can't perform our roles well, their lives will get stepped on.”

Even if his voice was low.
It was completely different to his positive and bright look.
Roan closed his eyes.
The smoke filled the sky.
The village that was peaceful and beautiful.
The cries and yells heard in his surrounding.
The ground wet in blood.
A horrible scenery happened in front of his eyes.
It wasn't something he made up with his imagination.
These were the memories of his past life.

'The things that happened in the war against Istel kingdom………'

No, it wasn't only during the war against Istel kingdom.
Everywhere war happened, a horrible scenery followed behind it.

'I can't let that happen again.'

That was what Roan wanted to do.
A real monarch didn't betray his citizens.
Roan wanted to become that kind of monarch.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Chris.

“Mister Chris.”

He spoke in a low voice but with strength.

“Help me so I can help them.”
“Ah……..”

Chris exclaimed with a deeply moved face.

'It certainly is sir Roan. If it's him, if it's him…….'

He clenched his fists.

'I can spend all my life with him.'

Determination.
That was an oath of serving.

'I have to do what I can even better. Help sir Roan to do what he does.'

He started the information agency because it was fun.
But now, he started to feel responsibility from those things.
He started to feel a sense of duty at what he started because of fun.
Today, Chris grew up one more level.
Meanwhile, Roan was wondering how to confront the Byron kingdom.

'Won't there be a good strategy……….'

His head spun.
Many strategies and tactics popped up.
But there was nothing good.
Chris, who was looking at that Roan, mumbled in a low voice.

“It's the first time I miss the orcs this much. Just gathering the scattered ones would be enough to prevent Byron kingdom from moving as they wished.”

At that instant, Roan's eyes opened widely.

'Right! Orcs!'

His mouth raised up.

“Mister Chris.”
“Yes.”
“Even so, it seems like we will have to talk for quite a while.”

The smile on his mouth became even denser.
Roan continued saying in a low voice.

“I thought of a good thing.”

*****
“Scatter to the sides!”
“Don't separate too much!”
“Get a hold of yourselves!”

In the eastern plains of Beno castle, rose troop was training earnestly.
Roan was checking the movements of the troop from a bit far away and recording the lacking points.

'For now, we have safely evacuated the residents to a safe zone.'

Now, there wasn't much time left until the attack from Istel kingdom.
They couldn't leave the residents alone when they didn't know when war would break out.
They gave the excuse that they couldn't ensure their safety because the stir of the monsters was too severe.
And fortunately, the citizens reacted well to the instructions.
Because even for them, monsters frequently appeared in this region.

'What's left now is waiting for the answer from the transcript of the north……….'

The preparations were finished.

'Whew!'

Roan let out a long sigh.
Then, the head of a war horse appeared at the end of the plain.

'Mm?'

The war horse whipped up white dust and ran quickly.
As Roan focused on his sight, the warhorse that was far away was seen as if it was right in front of him.

“Ah……”

At that moment, a low exclamation came out.
He had clearly seen it.
That the soldier was holding a red flag.

'Is it starting?'

Roan bit his lower lip and raised his right hand.

Flop! Flop!

At Roan's handsign, the flagman shook his hand and the troop stopped their movements.
They had lined up while setting up a rectangle formation.
When each adjutant and squad commander stood in front of their spot.
The warhorse that was running through the plains came closer.

Flop! Flop!

The red flag that waved around with strength.
Roan and the soldiers moved their sight over the warhorse.
At the same time, the soldier riding it yelled with strength.

“The people of Istel kingdom have crossed the boundary!”

< War and more war (3) > End

Translator's note: Sponsored chapter! This one, the next one and almost all of the following chapter has been sponsored by J.G. So give him a big applause!

Thank you for reading!

Translator : Subak

Proofreader: st8_lupe.

Chapter end