There is a relationship between cause and effect in all things in the universe.
　Whether it is the earth ruled by science or the earth world where mysteries and miracles have not disappeared.
　There is always a cause and an effect.
(Something is at stake ... big enough to affect the future of our military ... the question is, what is it?)
　Sudo and Shardina, the meaning that their attitudes point to is the same.
　Celia stares at Shardina's back, which doesn't move slightly with her face down, and desperately activates her brain.
(I'm here to play the role of a military strategist. Think about it. What we know now ... remember what happened after that messenger came to report.)
　Each and every conversation after the reported surprise attack on Zaruda's side was well recalled in Celia's mind.
　Then Celia finally realized something.
(Wait ... what did that message say?　(Some of our troops have been sent to war...)
　What comes to mind after that is what Sudo said.
(Sudo said. If I let it run out of control any longer, it could be fatal........run out?　In other words, they sailed in a different way than His Highness had in mind.
　When Celia's thoughts had progressed to that point, all the pieces were connected in her mind.
(Depending on the number of troops that moved, Sudo said, the future would depend on the number of troops that moved... and the true meaning of what sent Rolf-sama and Saito-dono to calm the various units.
　It is a horrible ending to put into words.

'This ambush is a decoy ... and what awaits the troops fished out for bait ...'

　At those words that escaped from Celia's lips, Shardina, who had fallen on her face, turned her sharp gaze to look at him.
　Eyes filled with rage and sorrow.
　That showed that the answer that Celia gave was correct.
　Shardina and Celia stared at each other in silence.
　Beside them, Sudo is smiling with the same fearless smile as always.
　In such a situation, the heavy silence was broken by the knight who ran into the tent.
　He must have been running in too much of a hurry.
　He knelt before Shardina before he had time to catch his rough breath.

'Message!　Sir Saito-sama, Rolf-sama reports that the various units have been successfully calmed down.

　Celia involuntarily patted her chest at those words.　
　The fact that Rolf, who was originally supposed to be in charge of defending the fort in the rear, had come to the Ushas Basin, the front line, can be said to be a blessing in disguise.
　It was Shardina's decision to want someone who could defend the camp in order to put all hands on deck, but it turned out to be an unexpectedly good thing.
　If it weren't for someone like Rolfe, who has a proven track record of dignity, there is no way he would have been able to calm these rampaging soldiers.
　Saito is not a bad guy either, but this situation must have been too much for him to handle alone.
　Celia smiles with relief at her joy.
　However, the grimness had not disappeared from Shardina's face.

''How many soldiers went into battle without permission?''

'Ha!　From what I've been able to ascertain, there are about 8,000 of them, mainly from the Third, Fifth, and Eighth Knights of the Western Sector.

　Hearing those words, a sharp tongue strike escaped from Shardina's lips.
　If this Zaruda's surprise attack was a trap to fish out the Oltmere Imperial Army, the chances of their survival were infinitesimal.
(Eight thousand........more than expected.
　The majority of the troops that sailed out without permission to Shardina were sent out as hastily as reinforcements.
　The downside of the Lutmea Empire, which has a vast land area, is the downside of the Lutmea Empire.
　Even though it called itself the same Oltmere Imperial Army, it was still different from the Knights who had been operating under their own command for many years.　
　Shardina herself couldn't say that she was able to make full use of them.

''Rolf-sama has requested permission to go out to rescue you?

　Shardina is silent at the words of the messenger.
　If nothing is done, the only thing left for the eight thousand troops fished out is death.
　But whether it's right to jump into it, knowing it's a trap.......

I guess we'll just have to cut our losses.

　Sudo interrupted from beside Shardina, who was silent.
　It's an irritating voice.
　In the face of this crisis, Sudo's attitude is not the slightest bit different from his usual.

''A loss?''

　Celia tilts her head, unsure of the meaning of the word.
　An unfamiliar word.
　At least Celia had never heard it before.

'Yes, it's a loss. It's really a good idea to try to save them here and spread the wound, because if you try to save them here, there really is no way to recover from it,

　Cutting your losses.
　It's a stock term, but simply put, it means to settle a loss.
　A stock that you thought would go up in price dropped in value right after you bought it.
　Of course, stock prices fluctuate up and down every day.
　Therefore, you can believe that the price will rise and continue to hold on to the stock.
　But on the other hand, it is also possible for the stock price to keep falling.
　A stock that you bought for 100 yen dropped to 90 yen the next day.
　That's a loss of ten yen.
　If you believe that the price will return to one hundred yen two days later, you will choose not to sell, and if you believe the price will drop to 80 yen, you will decide to let go of the stock while it is still at 90 yen.
　If he decides that the price will continue to fall, he is prepared to let go of his stock for a loss of 10 yen, which is called cutting his losses in the world of stocks.
　Then, what exactly does Sudo mean by "cutting your losses"?
　It is.........

So you want me to abandon them instead of sending in the rescue teams?　

　Celia gulped at Shardina's words as she stared at Sudo with a hateful light.

''Of course, if Your Highness insists.......this Sudo, I won't tell you not to send out a rescue squad. However, if you send out a rescue team, you must be prepared for the future to be even more difficult. Besides, if you head out there now, you will only be the target of individual destruction.

　Sudo gave a disgusted smile.
　It says on his face that the decision is yours to make.
　Now, the decision.........

You're advising me that you know what will happen if you choose to do that, right?


　He's an irritating jerk, but it's hard not to recognize his warrior prowess and his talent for intrigue.
　In fact, Sudo is just saying what needs to be said.　
　As the adage goes, advice hurts the ears, and the right words can irritate a person's heart.

''Of course. "Of course, if we leave them to die without a rescue team, the morale of our army will suffer. But the problem is that whichever option you choose, you will still suffer. Then it is only a matter of choosing the path of least damage and giving up the best for the next best.

'Do you choose to maintain morale or do you choose to keep your numbers up...?

　Shardina involuntarily bit her nails.
(If I don't send a rescue squad, the soldiers will be unhappy with my command... or worse, there's a chance of mutiny... but sending a rescue squad in this situation with the high probability of a trap, it could widen the wound even more. ........)
　Whichever choice was made, it was a huge loss for the Oltomere Imperial Army and a huge problem that could frustrate the invasion of the Kingdom of Zaruda.
　A difficult situation no matter which one they chose.
　There would probably be no correct answer.
　It's a guy who calls it an unfree choice between two.
　But the option of not making a decision here doesn't exist.
And just like Sudo said, everything rests on the twin shoulders of Shardina.
　That's the responsibility of the person leading the army.

''All right........''

　A painful choice.
　After a long silence, Shardina finally opens her mouth.
　But the words that followed never reached anyone's ears for good.

'My God!　Your Highness Shardina needs to see you at once!

　Because I was overcome by the cry of a new message rushing into the tent....


　Elena sits down in a chair in her room, which is cracked open in one corner of Fort Ushas, and tilts the cup in her hand as she looks out the window into the darkness.
　The strong spirit of alcohol slides down your throat and burns your guts.
　Elena doesn't normally drink much alcohol, but on the battlefield, she occasionally feels compelled to drink.
　Especially after a battle...
　Normally, the images of her now deceased comrades in arms would come and go in Elena's mind.
　But now, Elena's mind is occupied with the image of a woman.
　She is a young maiden in luxurious armor.
　Her face is white and misty, and she can't see anything.
　That's right, that's the figure Elena has in mind of Oltmere Emperor Lionel's confidant and most beloved daughter.

''Hmmm........I thought you would definitely send out a rescue party, but you seem to be more calm than I thought. Did I underestimate you a bit on this one........

　With a small sigh, Elena tilts the bottle of wine to the one placed in front of Ecclesia, who sits down to face her.

I think it's a pretty brilliant decision. I'm sure they also knew it was a trap. Well, as a general in an army, this kind of decision is only natural.

　Ecclesia smiled leisurely.
　As a matter of fact, it could be said that it was a wise decision not to send out troops to rescue the troops that Shardina had fished out.
　However, it was only to say that the worst was avoided.

''Well,''

The question is, will she be able to regain the trust of the soldiers after this...?

　What's important to a soldier is his own life.
　What's best for the commander is not necessarily best for the soldiers as well.
　Shardina's failure to turn to the rescue squad should cause a strong distrust of her among the Oltmere soldiers.
　Driven by the fear that they themselves will be turned into disposable pawns....

'Well, she's too young to do it. Even though she has experience in warfare, it was all done against the backdrop of the national power of the Oltmere Empire, and all of it was won or lost. You are too inexperienced to pull the balance of warfare once it has been tilted back to the Oltmere side.

　It is a spare smile that the strong turn to the footsteps of the weak.
　In fact, no matter how resourceful he is, in the eyes of Ecclesia and Elena, Shardina is like a baby bird with a shell on its ass.
　By far, she has too little actual battle experience.
　Especially the experience of surviving a hopelessly outnumbered battle.

''The rest is up to the aides........''

Well we can't let our guard down just yet.

　Elena nodded at Ecclesia's words.
　Shardina's caliber was roughly predictable.
　The rest depended on the competence of the person assisting her.

''Well, we can't come to a conclusion even if we think about this and that now. For now, let's just rejoice in the victory of the war.

　After saying that, Elena raised her cup and showed it to him.

''Yes, Grahart-san did a better job than I expected. With this, we've cut down roughly five to six thousand of the enemy soldiers.......

　The troops led by Grahart make a further surprise attack on the flank of the Oltmeer soldiers who were fished out by Ekklesia's surprise attack and chased after her as she retreated.
　The double-layered surprise attack is the heart of this trap.
　Although the plan itself should be considered a success, Ecclesia must be feeling unsatisfied somewhere in her heart.　

''For a large scale trick that took a lot of time and effort, I feel it's a little unsatisfactory, but it can't be helped. We should be satisfied with this for now........''

　Elena smiled bitterly at those words.
　Quite a bit of time and sacrifice went into the preparation of this trap.
　The fact that Elena and Ecclesia had been holed up in the fort and on the defensive since the arrival of reinforcements was all for this one moment of the day.
　When comparing the results of cutting down five to six thousand of Altomere's soldiers with the time, effort and cost spent, it's honestly hard to say which side of the equation you'll be leaning towards.

It's good to know. I'm not going to decide on a winner based on this.　

''That's true but now we have zero trump cards that we had because we've also used the bow cavalry at the back. The rest of us really have no other choice but to stay on the defensive.

　Ecclesia shook her head at Elena, who replied by cowering her shoulders.
　However, there is no shadow of anxiety on her face.
　A smile appears on their faces.
　There was no anxiety in the two people laughing at each other.
　Because they believed in one man who was shot like a wedge in the distant Oltmere Empire territory........
　And suddenly, there was a hurried knock on the door of Elena's private room.
　By the hand of the goddess of fate........

'Oh my God!　Oltmere's camp is in a hurry.

　A knight's shout comes from outside the door.
　Elena and Ecclesia nod to each other at those words.

''It looks like it's started.......Ecclesia.

You're right...

　There was no need to ask what.
　In a daytime battle, the Oltmere Empire's troops had not only suffered great wounds in the number of soldiers, but also in the morale of the soldiers.
　Under such circumstances, it was difficult to imagine the Oltmere Empire side conducting a night attack.
　If that was the case, there was only one possibility left.
　I believed it.　
　If you don't believe it, there is no way Elena would have been fully engaged in the defense of Fort Ushas if she didn't believe it.
　But I am sure that somewhere in the back of my mind I felt a bit of anxiety.

'You really did it........Mikoshiba Ryoma.......'

　With a sigh of admiration, a man's name escaped Elena's mouth.
　The war between the Kingdom of Zaruda and the Oltomere Empire that had begun with the battle of the Notis Plains and lasted for a year and a few months.
　It was finally coming to an end.
　By the power of one man........