It was July, a short time after the war.
　It was summer, the season for wheat harvesting.

　This year the wheat harvest in the Adelian peninsula as a whole was poor, probably due to the bad weather.
　In the Kingdom of Romalia, the price of wheat rose for a time due to the penetration of the country's overall money economy and the rising prices of goods due to the economic boom.

　But no one died of starvation.
　Rather, the home-grown farmers growing wheat seem to have made considerable profits from the rise in wheat prices.

　Originally, our country had many plains and wheat yields...
　The flood control irrigation so far has worked, and it has subsided to a slight crop failure.

　It was the rise in the price of wheat in the cities that caused problems, but this too soon subsided.
　The Cilician merchants were temporarily allowed to import a certain amount of wheat.

　Thanks to this, the price of wheat, at least within the Romali Commonwealth, showed a lull in the price of wheat.
　Now, the problem is not so much what has already been solved as what is to come in terms of diplomacy.

　The last war had to be extinguished.




　Four months later, in November.
　Little by little, the weather is changing from cool to chilly.

　However, it is easier to regulate our body temperature when it is a little colder.
　Thanks to that, the work was progressing.

　That day I was discussing with Raimondo about putting out the fire of the attempted Adelnian Liberation War.

　'I'm not going to tell you after I did it, but you won't find out, will you?

　I asked Raimondo, feeling a little uneasy.
　Because if it came out that it was a conspiracy in our country, we would be in big trouble.
　But Raimondo shook his head.

　'At least there are no rumours that we had anything to do with it,' he said. And there is no proof. Even if there were, it would be nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

　That too.
　All we did was secretly leak information to Roselle's side.

　And which country leaked the information to the Roselle Kingdom no matter how much you search for proof of that you won't find it.
　However.........

　'Let's be sure. I will spread rumors to King Fardham's country that it was Gilbed who fed information to the kingdom of Roselle.

　As long as the Roselle Kingdom accurately attacked the logistics base, it's clear that information was flowing to the Roselle Kingdom.
　And even if we can't determine the culprit, the suspects are limited.

　Romalia or Gilbed........
　Or perhaps a pro-Rosel faction in the domestic part of King Fardham's kingdom.
　It could be someone from King Domorgal's country.

　But by far the most suspicious of these is Romalia or Gilbed.
　The one who had the most to gain diplomatically was Romalia. On the other hand, Gilbet is the one who holds a grudge against Fardham.

　We will make the first move to prevent our country from getting the brunt of it.
　Once Fardam suspects Gilbed the Gilbed will point out King Fardam's lack of ability.

　So the relationship between the two countries would get worse and worse if that happened.

　''I understand. I'll take care of it.''

　Raimondo bows and leaves the room.
　Well let's get that paperwork out of the way.

　I'm about to take on the challenge of digesting a mountain of paperwork when....
　Ial rushed in.

　'Your Majesty!　King Zordias's country has invaded the western countries!

　Well......
　That was quicker than I expected.






　It's been over a year since the economic blockade on King Zordias' country began.
　According to the reports of inter-intelligence, King Zoldias' country seems to have dried up considerably.

　''It seems that this poor harvest has seriously damaged King Zoldias' country.

　Raimondo read and summed up the report from the inter-intelligence that had infiltrated King Zoldias' country.
　Apparently the price of wheat is rising in the capital of King Zoldias' country, and people are starving to death in the rural areas.

　We can't import grain.
　That said, the country can't sustain itself if taxes are lowered.
　But if the situation continues, people will starve to death, and in some cases, rebellion may occur.

　If that's the case, we'll have to invade and pillage the western countries, one or two or three!

　That seems to be the thinking.

　Well, I suppose there's no way around it.
　A country like King Zordias' country with many mountains and a low crop yield has to decline a little bit or go on a gamble.

　It seems that originally, whenever there was a famine, they blackmailed the surrounding countries, and in some cases, they were able to survive by attacking and plundering them.

　The situation in the country must have been similar to that of the warring feudal lords who ruled the Yamanashi area in the past.

　However, I have no intention of forgiving them even if I sympathize with them.

　''Nevertheless, it is stipulated that the western countries invaded by King Zoldiers' country are within the sphere of influence of King Gilbed's country.... What shall we do?

　Ial said, pointing to the western countries.
　I see, it would be a violation of the treaty to send troops here,' he said.

　But the western countries have requested our help, haven't they?

　Perhaps he would have made a similar request to Gilbed for help....
　Well, considering the slow organization of King Gilbed's country, we won't make it in time.

　The main focus will be our country.

　''It's about time. As for our relationship with Gilbed. I'm tired of getting a thank you for that one.'

　If you destroy the country of King Zoldias, you can invade the western countries and that's easy.
　After that, if you conquer the southwestern countries, the entire southern region will belong to Romalia.

　At that point, the relationship with Gilbed, of course, and the alliance against Gaul is unnecessary... I'd like to say that...

　'Let me just say no to that. Gilbed wouldn't be that hard of a listener.

　So we're going to send an army?

　I nodded at Raimondo's question.

　''And while we're at it, let's get some of the western countries incorporated into the Kingdom of Romalia in the midst of the chaos.

　What, you don't need to be afraid of Gilberto.

　How many men does King Zoldiers have?
　The report says 10,000.

　Ten thousand ... that's just total power.

　How many men do you think you can give?

　I asked Bartolo for his opinion.
　Bartolo thinks for a moment and then answers.

　'Let's go with 40,000.'

　Quadruple.....
　Bartolo seemed intent on rounding them up in overwhelming numbers.

　'Alexios. Do you have any input from you?

　Alexios is a Romalian nobleman by status, but he is still an outsider.
　He has led mercenaries, etc., but he has never led the Romarian army itself, so he has no experience in participating in military councils.

　However, the economic blockade of King Zoldias' country was Alexios' idea.
　That's why I called him here.

　'I think it should be challenged with ten thousand.

　Ten thousand.
　That's the same number as King Zordias's country.

　The nobles and generals present at the military council all frowned at once.

　''What is the reason for that?''
　If you attack in large numbers, King Zoldiers will surely escape. It will take a long time to defeat King Zoldiath who is holed up in the mountains. Even the food situation in King Zoldias' country is in a critical situation. If they wage a war for a long period of time on top of that, King Zoldias' country will be devastated. The goodness of the occupation will fade and the resentment of the people will turn to Romalia.

　Well......
　If there are a few of them, King Zordias will challenge me to a decisive battle, and I can defeat him with that for sure.
　Does this mean that we can end this in a short battle?

　I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them. After that, we should attack the castle (...) with an overwhelming force.

　.........Hmm.
　If he succeeds, Alexios' plan will be far more effective and easier to rule later.

　Bartolo. What do you think?
　'I disagree. King Zoldias is strong. This is certain. Of course, he is not an enemy that can't be fought and won. But we have an overwhelming majority of troops. I don't think there is any need to attack a small number of men.

　For me personally, I prefer Bartolo's method.
　With Bartolo's method, King Zordias' country can certainly be brought down.

　A general who can defeat a large number of troops with a small number of men may be a great general.
　But the monarch that general serves would not be competent.

　A truly excellent monarch would let his generals have three times as many troops as the enemy.
　An even better sovereign would have never started a war in the first place.

　War is a subterfuge in diplomacy.

　But I'm not capable of uniting Adelunia without war.
　I will continue to use force.
　And after that, I will have to rule.

　The devastation of the occupied territories must be avoided.

　...should I take a gamble?

　Suddenly, a certain historical episode comes to my mind.

　When a great power was conquering a country, the king asked how many troops his generals needed.
　The successive generals said that they needed 600,000 and the young general said that they needed 200,000.
　The king adopted the young general's aggressive plan that he could conquer the enemy with 200,000.
　However, the young general failed at the last minute and eventually the successive generals covered up the mess.

　.........
　.........
　.........

　I thought about it for a while and then came to a conclusion.

　"Alexios Cornelius.

　I looked Alexios straight in the eye.

　'Can you do it?'
　As you wish.

　.........
　.........

　All right, that's good.

　"Alexios Cornelius. "Alexios Cornelius, assassinate King Zoldiers' army with 10,000 men. Bartolo Pompeius will be in place with 30,000 men. When King Zoldias' army is defeated, you will march on King Zoldias' capital.