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Side Story Chapter 20

-Yup?

“Can you eat weapons by any chance?” Kireua asked.

-Weapons? Swords? Serpent[1]? Oh, that’ll be tasty.

“…You crazy coal lump, you’re trying to eat a dragon now?”

The most important ingredient for this operation was a spear that resembled Selim’s. Since spears were common enough, given that they were favored by the infantry, and Joshua Sanders was practically the god of victory, there were many replicas of Selim’s pitch-black spear. However, that was impossible to imitate the spear’s color because the spear was a divine weapon made from adamantium, which could only be found in the Demon Realm.

“Try this.” Kireua handed Coal a metal lump, which superficially resembled Longin but barely even qualified as a spear. It would really serve better as a flagpole—in fact, the national army’s banner-bearers actually carried this kind of spear around like a talisman.

-Bweh. That looks bad. I’m not going to eat that.

“Ah, please. Just this once,” Kireua begged.

Coal’s help was essential in this operation, so Kireua was prepared to ask Coal one more time.

“What are you doing here?”

Kireua spun around, surprised and found that Anna was standing next to him with a smile, having crept up on him without making a sound.

“Anna…?” he muttered.

“That was quite impressive. ‘The Heaven’s Mind Military Tactics, Chapter 1: Winning Without Fighting!’” Anna quoted in a low tone.

Kireua frowned. “Are you mocking me?”

“No, I’m just curious if you actually have a plan or you were just talking big.”

“…We’ll see,” Kireua quietly replied.

“This Heaven’s Mind you mentioned is Icarus, right?” Anna asked. “The greatest genius in the Avalon Empire.”

Anna vividly remembered the time when Icarus had begun to be mainly referred to as the Heaven’s Mind. Ironically, that was after the current Emperor of Avalon had gone missing; royal subjects normally gained popularity alongside their master taking the throne.

For the past decade, Icarus had acted as regent for the missing Emperor of Avalon. At the time, the situation in the Palace was like the calm before the storm. There had been no one who could inherit the throne—the Emperor’s children had been too young. Until the two princes became adults, Icarus had fooled the world for a decade using a very remarkable method.

“Who could have imagined that she has been pretending to be the Emperor of Avalon? She did use Reipon, the artifact developed by Iceline zin Rebrecca, but Icarus doesn’t know anything about martial arts, magic, or swordcraft. Dozens of assassination attempts were made against the Emperor of Avalon every day… Gosh, I can’t even think about doing that.”

Just like Anna said, Icarus hadn’t used a body double; she’d pretended to be the Emperor herself and imitated Joshua Sanders perfectly. She had served only one man for over a decade, so she was the only person for the job. In the end, Icarus had fooled the world perfectly. When the deception later came to light, she had started to be called Heaven’s Mind for her guts and intelligence.

“The military tactics taught by the Heaven’s Mind… I’m looking forward to seeing this operation in action,” Anna said excitedly.

“You know…” Kireua blurted.

“Hmm?”

“The First Prince should have been in the north, but he showed up here. If you were leading the southern rebel army, what would you think?”

“Well…” Anna pondered for a moment. “I would think that there is a problem in the northern region.”

“Yes, that’s that.”

“…What?” Anna tilted her head.

“There is a problem in the northern region, and the southern army’s leaders would know that by now. Judging from their reaction when Selim first showed up, they didn’t know about that until now.”

“Well, if they knew the First Prince was here, they would never have agreed to the tournament. Selim Sanders is notorious for being freakishly strong.”

“In that regard, do you think the situations in the east and west rebel armies are okay? The north rebel army is the strongest, but they have a problem.”

Anna stiffened.

“If I was their commander, I would become worried about this.”

Anna\'s eyes widened.

“I’m asking this just in case, but how did they contact you when they asked for your help?” Kireua asked.

“…I once handed out special crystal balls that can be used to call me. Since my goal was to live peacefully in Avalon, I needed to make some allies.” Anna shrugged.

“Yeah, that part has been bugging me. It’s strange—they may all be called ‘rebels’, but they’re technically independent armies.”

Kireua became certain that the four Superhumans with the Four Guardians’ authorities had simultaneously started their uprising, driven by their own ambitions. That was why Dargo had founded the Southern Avalon Empire.

Their goals were obvious: the Emperor of Avalon was missing, and the winner would take everything. Whoever conquered the palace first was going to become the emperor. There was one throne, but four hyenas fighting for it. From the very beginning, they had no reason or motivation to work as one group. Besides, they were too greedy to yield to any of each other.

“Even from the start of the uprising, the rebel armies from the four regions didn’t start their rebellions by agreement. When the hyena in the west made a move, the other hyenas realized that their chance had come and revealed their fangs.”

“In other words, they’re going to fight each other if we leave them be?” Anna guessed.

“Of course, we, the national army, have to disappear first since we’re the common enemy. Since the leading hyena in the south is gone, his baby hyenas must be doing some calculations of their own.”

“They must have a lot on their minds. Our biggest problem is the possibility of those remnants joining the eastern rebel army or the western rebel army, but they won’t be able to because of their greed.” Anna chuckled.

“Even if the remaining rebels in the south decide to join the other two rebel armies, they don’t even have a means of communication, so they’ll have to send a messenger—meaning it’ll take time.”

“In the worst-case scenario, won’t they send messengers to both rebel armies?” Anna asked.

“Not an option.”

“Huh? Why?” Anna tilted her head in confusion.

“It’s obvious. If I’m the head of the western rebel army and find out they also sent a messenger to the eastern rebel army, then I would take it as an act of betrayal.”

Anna’s jaw dropped. She had thought Kireua was only talented in swordcraft, but he was also exceptionally skilled in seeing the bigger picture. While Selim Sanders had the talent to conquer the continent with his martial arts, Kireua Sanders’s scholarly knowledge and sword skills gave him the potential to be a true monarch.

“The best scenario is they destroy themselves out of their greed. Dargo rane Suspen was a great commander, so without him, the southern rebels are just a mob,” Kireua concluded.

“…What if they choose to unite with the other rebel armies?”

“That\'s highly unlikely since the end result is obvious. The rebels in the southern region are only going to be used and then tossed aside. The pie named Avalon is already too small to be divided among the other remaining rebel armies.”

Anna had lived for quite a long time, so she was sure of one thing: in a time like this, one had to always consider the worst-case scenario. It wouldn’t be too late to imagine a happy future after everything was over.

“There is a chance of them embracing all the risks and joining the other two rebel armies since the Combat Emperor and Selim Sanders are here,” Anna said.

“In that case, we have two methods at our disposal. If those rebels choose one of the two remaining rebel armies and send a messenger, we can disguise one of our people as a rebel of the southern rebel army and send the messenger to the other rebel army.”

“You’re going to make the western rebel army and eastern rebel army fight each other?” Anna asked.

“Of course, they aren’t going to fight right away if they have brains since the rebels in the south are useful right now. The eastern and western rebels are going to instruct the southern rebel soldiers to carry out high-risk operations and use them as human shields. It’ll be easier to win later if they eliminate the people on the other side when they have the chance.”

Anna was now unsure of how far Kireua was looking ahead.

“There is a chance that they send messengers to both sides and hide the fact, but only an idiot would do that. There is no way such a guy can fill in for Dargo rane Suspen. Anyhow, if they make such an unwise decision, that’ll make things much easier for us because we only need to leak the information to the other rebel armies.

“I said we have two methods, right? The second method is for us to make a move before them.”

“How?”

“One of the reasons for those rebels in the southern region to send a messenger is to check the truth. If something did actually happen in the northern region, they need to see the state of the eastern and western regions.”

Now that Anna thought about it, Kireua was right. Even if the southern rebels weren’t going to join the other rebel armies, the chance of them making a move was quite high.

“So we’ll make up something that makes it look like something bad happened in the north, east, and west, before our rebels in the south can see for themselves.” Kireua smiled slyly. “On a side note, I favor this method. It’ll be quicker, and we don’t have to risk sending our people to the east or the west.”

“…You…”

“So, Anna, I need your help.”

Anna was completely speechless. SHe didn’t have to ask what bad event Kireua was going to fabricate as she had seen enough of his skills to trust him. Whatever he was planning, he would make it come true.

Anna grinned. “I like smart people.”

“Stop with the silly talk. You’re going to help me, aren’t you?”

“What’s in that for me?” she asked.

“…Have you forgotten about our oath? For the next decade…”

Anna shook her head, cutting him off. “Ah, I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you! I won’t do that. Even if I’m working for you, you have to throw me a bone. I need praise to work harder and feel fulfilled.”

“You gotta be kidding me…!”

“On a side note, a virtue of a good ruler is to be able to draw out his subordinate’s full potential. You know that, don’t you?” Anna smiled.

Kireua closed his mouth. He didn’t think that Anna would listen no matter what he said. On top of that, he really needed Anna to maintain the act for this operation. Unless she played her part seriously, the chance of the enemies finding out that that was all a ruse was high.

Kireua gave up. “…What do you want?”

Anna beamed and pointed at her cheek. “Here. Give me a peck here if I do a good job.”

1. The raw is 이무기(Imoogi). In Korean mythology, snakes are able to become dragons if they cultivate themselves long enough. Serpents that are on the verge of becoming dragons are called imoogi. ☜