I Became the Strategist the Monarchs Obsess Over

Chapter 41

"Hahaha! Haha!"

Duke Chronor laughed loudly. The nobles around him holding beer mugs laughed along with him.

The castle of Duke Chronor had somehow turned into a party hall. Faced with the enemy, the knights found the unexpected party atmosphere puzzling.

However, among the nobles, many saw this as an opportunity. Duke Chronor was usually a very restrained man who rarely laughed, like a stone figure. But recently, for some reason, he had loosened up a lot. Many thought this was the time to make a good impression on him.

"Everyone, drink up! This is good alcohol! Really good alcohol!"

Duke Chronor raised his beer mug high. When Duke Chronor offered, the nobles drank, and after drinking, the nobles began to collapse one by one into chairs nearby, swaying and dizzy.

Since Duke Chronor personally encouraged it so strongly, no one dared to question the true nature of this drink. They simply drank, collapsed limply, swayed, and returned home.

This repeated for several days. Instead of overseeing military affairs every day, Duke Chronor continuously enjoyed the parties. Some nobles opposed this while others participated, partly because they wanted to curry favor with Duke Chronor, but the bigger issue was that they, too, wanted to escape the unstable situation in the North that had been divided into three parts.

With every party, people became increasingly weak to opium. Dorothea somehow managed to procure large quantities of opium, which she continuously mixed into people's drinks.

Opium calms the mind. No matter how dire the situation, a single dose of opium could bring peace to one's thoughts.

But at the same time, it also rendered a person's mind vulnerable. No matter how critical the moment, someone under the influence of opium would become dizzy and unable to respond appropriately.

Meanwhile, as Duke Chronor and the nobles under him were not in their right minds due to opium, Emilia relentlessly suppressed small rebel factions and gradually expanded her power.

On the other hand, Raknar von Scone, Emilia's opposing force, also gathered various rebel forces to increase his strength. However, there was a fundamental difference between Emilia and Raknar.

Emilia personally wielded her sword to eradicate rebel forces and claimed the territories for herself, so most of the land she controlled was directly under her rule.

In Raknar's case, however, he merely united numerous large and small rebel forces under feudal contracts. In short, Raknar's forces had too many captains and not enough sailors.

On this matter, Raknar commented as follows:

"Our chain of command is a mess. Every time we need to make a small decision, the nobles gather to hold meetings. This kind of problem will eventually lead to a major disaster."

"But we have more land and more soldiers, don't we?"

At his subordinate's words, Raknar shook his head.

"We have more numbers and more land, yes. But the strength of an army isn't just in its numbers. Lady Emilia's army has greatly boosted morale from consecutive victories. If we were to face Lady Emilia under these circumstances, it wouldn't be easy to hold out."

However, Raknar's subordinates couldn't understand him. They had more numbers and more land, so what was there to worry about?

But those who understood the situation all sympathized with Raknar's analysis. For example, this person.

"Duke Chronor, Your Majesty!"

Usami Akra, the strategist of Duke Chronor, shouted loudly at Chronor. Chronor, who was drinking beer laced with opium, looked at Usami with a heavily intoxicated face.

"What is it, Usami?"

"You must stop the opium! Lady Emilia is continuously building her forces. We don't know when she might invade!"

However, Duke Chronor waved his hand dismissively as if annoyed. Following this, his knights appeared and dragged Usami Akra out of the hall. Usami Akra was deeply concerned about the current situation.

Although Emilia was steadily building her forces, she occupied the most fertile land in the South. If only they could focus on defense, they might be able to hold her off. But in this critical situation, to be swaying in a daze because of opium... When did Duke Chronor become so ruined?

Usami lamented, remembering that Duke Chronor wasn't like this in his younger days. But Duke Chronor had already changed significantly.

Meanwhile, Emilia was not the type to excel at strategy, but she had a vague understanding of the current situation.

If things continued this way, her father, who held the wealthy southern region, would win. She needed to act quickly while her father's forces were weak.

The problem was, if she attacked her father, Raknar would strike her from behind, and if she attacked Raknar, her father would retaliate.

With the three forces eyeing each other, no resolution seemed possible.

In such a situation, Emilia heard a strange rumor: her father had become addicted to opium and was not in his right mind.

The rumor came from various sources. It wasn't just one or two nobles openly seeking opium.

Emilia doubted the truth of the rumor. Duke Chronor wasn't the type to do such things, but he had a talented strategist, Usami Akra, by his side. If it was Usami, he could easily spread false rumors to deceive her.

Thinking this, Emilia decided not to take action until she could confirm the truth of the rumor.

But it wasn't long before the truth of the rumor became clear.

Emilia originally had 16 siblings.

But now, only the three most exceptional of the 16 remained.

The weak, timid, or unlucky ones had already died. Of Karl von Chronor's children, only the three who endured Chronor's hellish training survived.

Among them, the eldest was Emilia, a swordsman and a Sword Master. Next was Dorothea, a mage, and lastly, the youngest, Rohan, an assassin.

One day, while Emilia was staying in her castle, she sensed someone's presence. When she got up, she found her youngest sibling, Rohan, standing before her.

"Rohan von Chronor."

Emilia called her youngest sibling's name. Rohan was a beautiful boy with white hair like Emilia. And Emilia continued speaking.

"Did you come to kill me on Father's orders?"

But Rohan silently shook his head.

"I no longer follow Father's orders. Dorothea sent me to you."

Dorothea, the most charming of the three siblings and their father's favorite, was well-known. But Emilia and Rohan knew the truth. Despite her outward charm, Dorothea held more resentment towards their father than either of them. Therefore...

"So, you didn't come to kill me."

At those words, Rohan quietly nodded.

"Then what is your purpose here?"

"Dorothea turned Father into an opium addict. Not only Father but also the influential nobles following him. If you act now, Father won't be able to respond quickly."

Emilia's mind raced. The possibility of Rohan lying was nearly zero.

Emilia didn't hate Duke Chronor, but her younger siblings Dorothea and Rohan despised him. Therefore, they wouldn't deceive her to help their father. Emilia didn't base this on judgment but rather on trust. During their hardest times, it had always been the siblings who supported each other.

Emilia decided to believe Rohan's words. She believed Rohan would never lie to her.

"I will return now. I have something to do."

With those words, Rohan went out the window and returned to Karl von Chronor's camp. Meanwhile, Emilia rose from her bed and organized her thoughts for a while. How should she move forward? The decision didn't take long.

-----

When morning came, Emilia suddenly summoned all the soldiers.

After gathering the soldiers, Emilia immediately led an entire army of 5,000 somewhere.

Emilia didn't tell her soldiers where they were going. At first, the soldiers thought they were heading to attack Karl von Chronor. Even some of the commanders believed this.

But Emilia suddenly changed direction, aiming for Raknar's position. That's right. If Emilia attacked Karl von Chronor, who was dazed from drugs, he wouldn't be able to respond properly. But during that time, Raknar would strike her from behind.

On the other hand, if she attacked Raknar, Karl couldn't strike her from behind because he was drugged. With this in mind, Emilia drove her army like lightning, taking down Raknar's castles one by one.