The Cast Die

Vac had been called to meet King Pyrrhus alongside Medea. Once they arrived in the meeting room, they saw Pyrrhus alongside a few other men in the military outfit of Sicily, who seemed like higher ups. Pyrrhus nodded at their arrival, and gestured for them to be seated. Pyrrhus then said, “I have good news for you Vac. We've finally found a way to get you that airship you need to get home, though it certainly will not be easy.”

‘That’s good news. I can go back after all this time! Hmm, I guess I'll have to say goodbye to Medea though. Well, I guess we can arrange for a way to visit.’

Next to him, Medea frowned and asked, “What is the plan, King Pyrrhus?”

Pyrrhus smiled and said, “The target is Civitavecchia, the location where a number of airships are stored, and the place that was stolen from us for its mana ore all those years ago. It was my very own home, and the trigger for our war against those accursed Romans. And now, it's time to take it back! We've made all the preparations needed, falsified information to send to spies, and have begun preparations for the victory to come, guided by Nikke. So heed my words, men. Here's the plan. We've already spread word about the Labyrinth, and have exaggerated tales of its power. As such, they're likely going to expect us to use it, and we will, as bait that is.”

‘Using the Labyrinth of all things as bait? I guess that's certainly a bold plan, but the bait will certainly work.’

“They will, of course, take it because regardless of anything else, the Labyrinth is a potent weapon they'd wish to take away from us. Or so I'd normally say, but General Fabius is one of the most frustrating enemies I've gone up against. He's slippery like an eel, and his strategy, as cowardly as it may be, is effective.”

There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room, with a distinct undertone of annoyance.

Vac leaned towards Medea and asked in a low voice, “What exactly is that guy's strategy supposed to be?”

Medea sighed and whispered, “The crux of the Fabian strategy is to win by not fighting.”

‘Win by not fighting? What kinda nonsense is that?’

Pyrrhus continued, “As such, we will prepare several backup plans in order of potential deviances, which we'll go into at a later time. For now let's assume the main strategy works as we hope it will. We've sent out various groups to explore the Labyrinth, and have found several ‘doors’ to it like the one we originally found, some of which can be used in this mission. Their locations are on the map, which you may take note of.”

As Vac took a look, he noticed that Asclepius’s village was very close to the target location.

‘Huh, that's interesting. I guess I can drop by and meet him after this is done.’

Pyrrhus continued, “We’ll make it seem as though the battle is on the ground by sending our army head on and using the Labyrinth to set up various pincer attacks. However, the main assault will be from above. Vac here will prepare gliders that can be used by our soldiers. That is his people’s specialty, after all. We'll have some aerial training for the men to get used to it as well. My daughter and her dragons will, of course, be a part of that as well. Alongside this we'll use our catapults, with both regular large rocks and the special hollow rock within which we'll hide more men. We've already begun scouting the area and are setting them up in the best available locations.”

‘So my role is to prepare gliders, huh. I guess I can do that, just need to practice the spell to imbue them with Jupiter's magic. I had my granny do that for me before. But wait, is launching people in that manner safe?’

He turned to Medea, but before he even spoke she caught his eye and said, “This is a favored and carefully honed tactic of ours. The ones inside will turn parts of the inside into sand to cushion their impact, while also using shields. It requires a lot of training and took time to build up, but it allows for some very unorthodox strategies.”

Pyrrhus looked around the room, taking in the reactions, and then began to speak once more.

“Now, as I said we can't expect everything to go according to plan, so let's explore various scenarios…”

As he walked towards where General Fabius was relaxing in order to deliver his report, Alexander considered the situation. It was the closest thing he'd had to a break in a long time. Pyrrhus had asked various allies to apply pressure on them using guerrilla tactics, while closing off escape routes. Alexander had been sent out to all over the place to deal with it.

He was touted as the strongest weapon of Rome, but even he got worn out, as he admitted to himself ruefully. And so he entered the chambers of one Fabius Maximus in a sour mood, although that itself couldn't be told from his body language. Even if his face had been visible under the mask, his practiced poker face would've hidden it all.

With a lazy salute he said, “I've dealt with most of the problems, but it's likely more pests will show up. And the main threat is yet to come. Now, how are we to win the coming battle, maintain minimal losses, repel the enemies, and ensure the retrieval of the die?”

Fabius gave him a sly smile and answered,

“Now who in the world said we need to win?”