Chapter: 255
Elpheira stretched her stiff shoulders and got up from her seat. Sir Montblanc was panting and circling her feet, beside him were the remnants of an Ivan-brand dog chew that had been discarded.
Outside the window, children were laughing and playing. It was still a strange sight. She could hear their voices, but not their footsteps.
St. Basilicia Orphanage was surprisingly tranquil. This meant that despite the chaos of the past few days, there was no damage done. Even at a time when the Counterintelligence Command and the administrative offices had been completely wrecked, this small fortress stood unscathed.
Was it because it was located relatively on the outskirts? No. If that were the case, it wouldn’t explain why the city’s slums took the hit directly.
As one went further to the outskirts, and the population density decreased, more corpses would appear. This was almost the fate of any city. No matter how good the security was in Frechenkaya, they couldn’t save the impoverished on the city fringes.
Thus, the terrifying reason this orphanage could remain intact was something else. A deep, dark truth that probably only she had sensed among the outsiders.
“Indeed, this is what a training ground for Yermov’s agents looks like.”
This was the cradle of the trainees whom Ivan Petrovich Yermov carefully nurtured.
Even if the barrier spells were activated, about two-thirds of them could appear beyond the detection range of the spells. It was uncertain how that was possible, but by the time they reached graduation, they almost completely vanished in terms of ‘presence’.
It was as if they were merely mimicking what Yermov did…. These little time bombs, who followed his every action, also possessed the kind of liveliness typical for their age, making it impossible to predict what they might do.
Maintaining this fortress of horror was the presence of Yermov, a strange teacher with a peculiar hat, and surprisingly high-quality food.
“Hey, kids! It’s time to eat!”
“Wow!!!”
She thought she had a clear view of the entire playground, yet outside her line of sight, numerous children appeared silently and dashed towards the dining hall.
They often emerged from bushes, trees, or sometimes even from seemingly empty walls. If she hadn’t been a Mage, she would have suspected ghosts or evil spirits.
Elpheira loosened her shoulders and finished her simple grooming before standing up. She had no appetite, but she had made a promise.
To always keep her meal times. Perhaps it was something her father had advised, and it was the one condition Ivan had given her when he accepted her into this orphanage.
Even if she did not keep it, they would not throw her out, but Elves were civilized beings who understood the weight of promises, unlike humans.
With a slight smile, Elpheira made her way to the dining hall.
On a small chalkboard at the entrance of the dining hall, the menu for today had been elegantly written.
– Potato soup.
– Wheat bread.
– Pie served with minced meat.
– Mushroom pickles and salad.
“Something about this seems odd.”
Although the menu was utterly ordinary, how many people were there? Being a sensible Elf, Elpheira was aware that the Cathedral sometimes offered free meals.
However, no Cathedral in this world would serve anything more than thin porridge. This place was a welfare facility that did not charge a single penny from its residents as they did not even force children of that age to engage in economic activities.
Even children in rural farming households would work the fields at that age to earn money, but the children here did none of that. They simply played, ate, attended classes from invited lecturers, went to the Cathedral, or slept.
“Hey, Michelle! You need to eat your vegetables!”
“Ugh!!”
In one corner of the dining hall, a child was being scolded for trying to avoid vegetables. My, it was unimaginable for an orphan to be picky about food.
The diet that Ivan claims is based on ‘nutritional science’ (it’s simply a mixture of various ingredients as long as they’re fresh) and the facilities built by pouring out all his pension, personal wealth, and donations.
The food provided to the children was always surprisingly high in quality, the education was entirely free, and even for those children who didn’t wish to graduate, they were provided with housing for a small fee….
It was hard to adapt to the disparity between Ivan, who would drag someone to a torture chamber just for bumping shoulders, and this place, which felt like an orphan’s guardian angel manifesting in the human world.
And the crucial part was.
“Why on earth is Yermov eating that?”
Elpheira dipped her bread into the soup, and couldn’t help but think of Ivan’s cursed dog chew.
“…Olegha.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Ivan replied with a calm expression. The ropes binding his arms could easily be broken with a little effort, a fact Elizaveta was likely aware of, yet he still needed to play along with her grievances.
It seemed that Isabel’s arrest had further fueled her anger. Isabel was imprisoned in the underground dungeon. The reason given was blasphemy and lewdness; in other words, close to disturbing the peace.
“The former king has awakened, and because of that, the mausoleum is in shambles.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“The vampires descended en masse and cast necromancy over the entire city, and for nearly a fortnight, the skies over the city have been shrouded in darkness.”
“That is accurate, Your Majesty.”
“Call for the court physician….”
Elizaveta slumped weakly into her chair and muttered.
“Tell the physician to bring awakening potions. Whatever it takes, I want to wake up from this nightmare.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Not ‘yes, Your Majesty!!’ Ugh… ugh!!”
As Elizaveta held her neck, the maid dashed out in a panic.
“Physician! Summon the physician!!”
After some chaos, receiving the physician’s pulse check, Elizaveta gazed at Ivan with a gloomy expression.
“I’ve already received useless reports from the military. They only said there was an undead commotion, and yes… Olegha’s lineage.”
Since the incident occurred, the military, unable to cope with the whole city, had chosen silence. They saw blocking the gates and severing contact with the outside and inside as fulfilling their responsibilities.
The Capital Defense Army had been neutralized due to the recent civil war. The 3rd Legion was disbanded, taking its place was the Counterintelligence Command.
Originally, the Krasilov 3rd Legion were remnants of the royal reinforcements. Perhaps in the days of the former king, but dating back to Kirill’s era, the royal forces could be considered Alexander’s subordinates, so now even utilizing them would seem absurd.
Under the pretext of military reduction, the 3rd Legion had been stripped down to the bare minimum needed to maintain public order in the capital. Massive military spending was allocated to the Counterintelligence Command, which happened to be deployed on this expedition.
Thus, it could essentially be said that Elizaveta’s fault for the city becoming physically empty was reasonable….
“How could one expect that!!?”
“Your, Your Majesty. Please calm down!!”
The physician gasped and bowed his head to the ground. Watching that scene, Elizaveta gritted her teeth as she sunk back into her chair.
“Tylesse has been destroyed, and the northern front could sufficiently manage with the 1st Legion and the Dwarves. Even if the demons went insane and descended, there’s no way they could reach Frechenkaya…”
Marching to Frechenkaya from the northern front, especially at this season, would be reckless suicide. Krasilov was far more dangerous in the summer than in the winter.
Due to Rasputitsa, the supply lines would be in disarray, infantry would struggle in the mud, and war machines would sink into the marshes, losing mobility.
And amidst that, would the northern lords sit idly by? No. The ‘surviving nobles’ of this era were all veterans of the Great War, so the crazed demons became trapped and perished inside this country.
Both the north and east are stable. Tylesse has no way to threaten Krasilov, and Einar from Drovian has no possibility of raising a legion to attack Krasilov, and the northern Demon Realm is safe in summer.
Thus, the only threat comes from the south, and Elizaveta was precisely leading the charge in the south. The Southern Six Nations had become a refugee camp.
In such an era, how could one possibly predict that Frechenkaya would be ravaged by the hand of the equator? This was not a military blunder in any way….
Elizaveta felt wronged.
She could only glare at her husband with teary eyes as she thought of the monster who wreaked destruction, regime collapse, and mass slaughter wherever he went, camouflaged in a (somewhat charming) human guise….
“Your Majesty, we must send a messenger to the 1st Legion. Even if the entire northern front hasn’t collapsed, it means there was a route of infiltration from Olegha’s Great Rift to here.”
“I’ve already dealt with that. I sent quick funds via the underground train, so it shouldn’t take long.”
Elizaveta, annoyed by the physician who kept checking her temperature and pulse, shooed them away with one hand and tapped the table.
“Bankar. Is there no other information?”
She spoke while looking at the most competent intelligence officer she had brought along.
When she told him to secure the academy underground, they uncovered ancient ruins. When sent to Tylesse, they obstructed the civil war. After hiding in Kalion, they defeated the Seven Dragon Lords. When they instigated a holy war in the Southern Six Nations, they toppled the Papal Enclave.
In layman’s terms, he was a man who could grasp, predict, and resolve information that should never be known ‘at that point’.
Could Olegha’s followers have been aware of the assault on Frechenkaya from the Southern Six Nations? That would be impossible. However, Ivan had dashed out, claiming he needed to return to the city as soon as possible.
And now, he was reporting details about circumstances that even the military, which had guarded the city for two weeks, had failed to grasp. Information he had gleaned and obtained by vanquishing all the heads that had infiltrated the city on the very day of his arrival.
This man could read between the fragmented information to discern the grand scheme. As she had up until now, Elizaveta trusted this man’s ‘information’.
Though she couldn’t trust the man’s ‘behavior’. Anyway.
Indeed, Ivan bowed his head before his king and spoke.
“The 1st Legion will not be in a position to move.”
“Why is that?”
“If I were to attack Drovian, I would first neutralize Krasilov’s 1st Legion.”
Ivan calmly continued as he gazed at Elizaveta.
“If the 1st Legion is neutralized, and the northern territories are being attacked, then this country loses the capacity to deploy legions abroad. It would be quite overwhelming to manage the imminent offensive right in front of us.”
“Drovian will be attacked?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Currently, there were only two ‘Hero Parties’ in the United Kingdom. Enrique and Einar.
Targeting Enrique among them meant that they intended to cut off intelligence capabilities for the forthcoming large-scale war. Without the Dwarves, the vampires would be the best intelligence asset that the demon army could muster.
And if war intelligence was necessary, it obviously meant that war was imminent. Where would it begin? Ivan would likely prioritize Drovian.
If Einar and Huscal were removed, Drovian would have no choice but to collapse on its own. The Yarl would never heed those weaker than themselves, believing that other competitors were weaker.
Therefore, this meant that something similar to what had happened in this city was now happening to Einar. However, Einar and Huscal would not fall so easily with this level of force, so it might be possible that the Seven Dragon Lords appeared directly there.
Thus, if Drovian collapsed, they could expand their front lines across the continent from the western front by using Drovian as a foothold. Attacking Tylesse directly would be difficult, but all borders west of Krasilov and the vast steppes leading south would wholly fall to the demons.
To prevent the war with minimal losses, they needed to hold them back in Drovian.
If all of Drovian’s territory fell to the demons, well.
The next frontline would be Krasilov, and if the demons circumvented the now half-ruined Southern Six Nations, they would be unable to respond to all fronts simultaneously.
Trained agents must always assume the worst in any situation and seek the best solution.
Ivan had prepared, considering Drovian’s downfall over the past few days.
“Send me to Drovian. Your Majesty, you must support the 1st Legion and maintain the northern front.”
Elizaveta looked down at him with tired eyes, feeling despondent.
This monster was indeed trying to leave his mark on all civilized nations of the continent, she thought.
And this foolish man, as always, was trying to rush into perilous places once again, trying to break free from her embrace.
Yes, the academy arc is over. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed that this side was not the right one.
If so, she needed to consider the clichés of other genres.
The clichés of Hero tales: most notably….
‘Allied nations are destroyed at the onset of war.’
While there was still time to act, she would save Drovian.
And she would save Einar, her old friend.
That was the core of the operation Ivan had prepared for the last few days.
EP43. The Academy is Closed for Business.
