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「When I said fan, I meant that they are trying to urge the Alucardian army’s invasion on Charalia at the border.」
「But, conversely speaking, doesn’t that mean the Alucardian army actually doesn’t want to invade Charalia?」
「I thought the army would go on the attack once they’re all ready, but… are you saying it’s actually not the case, Inglis?」

Liselotte and Leone were both wide awake and directed questions to Inglis. They were both quite the diligent and excellent girls. Rafinha should have taken a page or two from their book.

「Yes. Well, technically speaking, perhaps they aren’t exactly going against the orders of the Highland, but I suspect that the Alucardian army isn’t following them word to word either.」
「Why wouldn’t they?」

Leone once again raised a question.

「They are trying to avoid wearing out their troops as much as possible. As we know, the Venefian army is approaching from the east of Charalia. I am assuming that the Alucardian army is waiting for a situation where the tide of war is tilting in their favor so they can easily invade Charalia from the flank. Once that happens, they can take the credit they need with little effort and casualties to rightfully obtain the Hyrule Menace.」

If Inglis were to be in the shoes of the King of Alucard, she would at least read that far.

Venefique was a neighboring country to the east that had a long history of hostility with Charalia. Currently, the Venefian army was closing in on Charalia’s eastern border, where the Holy Knight Order that consisted of Raphael, Eris, Ripple, and their Knights were dispatched to in order to deal with them.

The more the war was focused on Venefique’s invasion, the more Charalia had to drive their military strengths to their eastern front, and the more advantageous it would be for Alucard who was planning to invade from the north.

Their goal was to achieve the greatest national benefit with the least amount of casualties. This was what it meant to govern people. Based on the premises, resorting to that would be nothing more than obvious.

As a Squire named Inglis Eux, personally speaking, she would rather be dispatched and plunge headfirst to the most dangerous battlefield possible and gain the maximum amount of combat experience she could harvest, but that option would be plain impossible if she had the position of a King or a Knight Commander. In conclusion, advancing her career was out of the question.

「I think the assassination plot on His Majesty Charleas was also meant to buy time. And since they’re playing that hand, they’re now on wait-and-see. After all, they can make an excuse just like this; launching the invasion after the death of King Charleas will be more advantageous.」

When Inglis said her hypothesis, Ian looked flabbergasted.

「Maybe you’re right…I mean, the assassination plot wasn’t initiated by Archlord Abel, but the King’s retainers……」
「However, the Highland has begun to grow impatient with how inactive Alucard is. It is possible that they simply changed their policy after Lord Abel’s death, but they still dispatched a Hyrule Menace ahead of time and made her loot foodstuff from the people in exchange. And since the government can’t have such atrocity continue, they have no choice but to force the army to invade Charalia in haste……and once the invasion is underway, they will ask the Highland to stop their Hyrule Menace from taking away their lands and plundering their foods! After all, they cannot oppose the Highland, no matter what.」
「By any chance, perhaps the Venefian army is actually having a hard time on the eastern border. And, because of that, the Highland is getting impatient, and then…」

Leone nodded her head in agreement with Inglis’ assessment then spoke her own mind.

「That is very possible too.」
「Indeed. Highland’s transmission of information is probably much faster than ours, too.」
「At any rate, we can’t allow the people of Alucard to be deprived of food nor the people of Charalia to be caught in the war! We have to stop this!」

Rafinha said with her eyebrows taut.

「Rani!! That is admirable and all……but it’s not something you say while your head is buried in a pillow, okay?」

Rafinha’s posture was exactly as Inglis had described. Leone, Liselotte, and Pullum were all well-behaved and orderly, and yet… Her being like this was troublesome, but what was more troubling was that she looked adorable doing it.

「Don’t blame me. I’m sleepy.」
「Sure, sure. Then, I guess we should finish the talk soon. For the time being, we need to decide what we will do from now on! Should we head for the capital of Alucard, or should we go straight to the prison in Lekrea?」

From what Inglis saw, Lahti’s Father, the King of Alucard, seemed to take actions in a way that minimized the loss of his country. He seemed to have his resolve in order.
He should be someone that could be reasoned with. Talking with him might be worth a try, but… if it ended poorly, that meant they would just waste their effort.

Far from that, the King of Alucard might even give an order to either kill or apprehend Inglis and her team, aside from Lahti and Pullum, for infiltrating from Charalia.

If they aimed for the liberation of the town of Lekrea, they would likely encounter the rumored Hyrule Menace and the Highlanders under her. And if they did, she could almost certainly expect a battle to happen. The sooner they release the people imprisoned in Lekrea, the more lives they could save.

But, doing so without the approval of the King of Alucard would rouse up another political disaster. After all, they would be hindering Alucard’s plan to invite the Hyrule Menace in order to strengthen the national defenses against Magic Stone Beasts.

「……Hmm, I’m torn. What do you think?」

When Inglis asked them that, all the others looked at her as though she just pulled the rug under their feet.

「That’s surprising. Since it’s you, Inglis, I thought you would say you want to fight the Hyrule Menace that’s in Lekrea.」
「Indeed. Have you perhaps upset your stomach?」
「Ain’t it the opposite? She’s too hungry her head’s gone cuckoo?」
「Hey, Lahti, that’s rude against Inglis.」
「Th-, that’s right. Miss Inglis is thinking about the wellbeing of Alucard seriously.」
「Fufufu…」

Inglis only gave an enigmatic snicker at their responses.

「Naive, all of you!!」

Rafinha who watched it all playing looked at Inglis peevishly.

「If we stop by the capital first, we could get into some trouble and end up seeing a lot of battles anyway𝅘𝅥𝅮 is what Glis is thinking!」
「……Th-, that’s not true. No, not at all!!」
「Lies. See there, your cheek is twitching! That’s your gesture when you’re lying, I know it!」

Her puffy cheek was then pulled.

「Dhadh’s nodh idh! Dhadh’s nodh idh!!」¹　

Well, it was true that there were pros and cons in prioritizing either option, so Inglis should be able to bring in her own interest in the mix.

First off, they would head to the Royal Capital and try to discuss with the King of Alucard, but he wouldn’t accept their offer and promptly attempted to execute them. That would count as one battle.

After that, they would head down to Lekrea and fight the Hyrule Menace that was tormenting the innocent people. That would be two battles.

At the same time, the Alucardian army near the border would start their invasion as Inglis’ little platoon took too much time going from place to place to stop them. They hastily made their way to the border and called out to the army to call off the invasion, but due to lack of information regarding the defeat of the Hyrule Menace that plagued their people, the army would refuse to listen, and thus they had no choice but fight them to stop them. Which meant three battles.

And that would be the ideal course of development in terms of expanding Inglis’ real battle experiences.

If they headed towards Lekrea first, the political strife later on would be messy, but that fight mainly would be in the domain of Lahti as a Prince of this Kingdom, whilst the battle itself would likely be ended in just a single battle.

Whilst Rafinha wasn’t off the mark with her accusation, Inglis would like to assert that her first and foremost priority was to resolve this situation. She wasn’t that heartless of a person.

「W-, well, either way, Lekrea and the capital are in the same direction anyway, so let’s think about it on our way there, okay? 」 Lahti suggested.

「He’s right. Not to mention, we may get more information on the way too.」 Ian agreed.

「At any rate, we’d better hurry.」 Pullum also nodded.

「Then, once we have our naps, we’ll be on our way.」
「You’re right, Leone. We will.」

It seemed that the discussion was about to end, but…

「Hold on, guys. I know that we need to hurry, but we still have to do what we can do……to help the people of this town!」

Rafinha was the only one to bring up that notion, her face showed determination.

1. That’s not it! That’s not it!!