Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 60

Training Mission (1)

“Have you made contact with the minister?”

“Yes, sir.”

The plain and expressionless man replied to the old man, who was sitting on the well-polished black table.

“And? How did it turn out?”

“We were successful in inciting the second prince. He also expressed gratitude for the weapon we had supplied, however…”

“However?”

“The Second Prince demanded compensation from our side if the plan failed.”

Sakuri snorted in response to the man’s reply. If that prince had that kind of thought, he would definitely fail. That prince was nothing more than a useless pawn. Was this the limit of a man who moved so readily for the sake of another country? Dealing with that kind of person was a complete waste of time.

However, Sakuri’s response differs drastically from his thought.

“Accept his demand. Tell him that we, the Gorber Kingdom, will do all in our power to support his wise judgment.”

“Will that truly be fine, sir?”

“It’s fine.”

That prince would fail and die, anyway. Sakuri believed the plan wouldn’t succeed. 

“Understood. Then I’ll make the necessary arrangements.”

After saying that, the expressionless man disappeared from the room. Sakuri then leaned back in his chair and stretched his body. 

“Well, he just needs to draw other’s attention, so it’s fine even if he failed,” Sakuri murmured.

Sakuri’s plan has gone awry. According to his plan, the Gorber Kingdom should have built a fort in Eren Village by now, and the Lieze Fortress should be under Gorber Kingdom control as well.

Although Sakuri was prepared for some roadblocks in his plan, seeing both of his plans fail took him by surprise.

As expected, Rays Stein was a tough opponent.

But…

The Gorber Kingdom took little damage, whilst the Rudek Kingdom still didn’t even realize the real threat. 

The next step of his plan had also begun. 

“Now then, how will you move next?”

Sakuri was excited as he thought about Rays, a formidable opponent he had never even met before.

***

“Training mission?”

“Yeah. By now, the cavalry should have finished their training.”

Rays-sama called Luzel, Frein, and myself into his office, and the first thing he mentioned was a training mission. 

“I also believed it’s about time for a training mission,” stated Luzel.

“Where are we being dispatched?” Frein inquired.

They were both eager for the training mission. I understand that they were just excited to put the newly trained cavalry to the test. 

I was their leader, yet I suppose it would be tactless for me to refuse here…

“Many bandits have appeared in the area surrounding the Three Goddess Spring. Normally, the 10th Division won’t be dispatched just to destroy bandits, but I thought it’s a perfect training mission for your cavalry.”

Three Goddesses Spring. It was dubbed a “spring,” but it was actually three lakes named after the Three Goddesses, the Goddess of Earth, the Goddess of Fate, and the Goddess of Wind.

The spring was close to the border with Lifrea. Bandits were apparently lurking inside the thick forest around the path to the spring.

Because bandits would be assaulting from within the forest, it was not a mission fit for cavalry. Regardless, Rays-sama instructed us to go there. Was he implying that we should be able to achieve at least that much?

In any case, it was basically settled that we would go since Rays-sama spoke.

“I understand. We’ll leave as soon as our preparations are finished,” I said.

“This time, Gorber Kingdom wasn’t involved,” Rays-sama smirked in response to my statements.

***

There was a substantial distance between the capital and the spring. 

The capital was positioned in the southern part of Rudek to make any travel to the Gedland port easier. 

Even if the Roa Brigade was a cavalry, reaching the spring in one day was unrealistic. On the other side, it was also difficult for the brigade’s 1000 men to stay the night at a local inn.

That’s why we took a detour on our route to the Three Goddess Spring, passing through five fortresses.

Three of the five fortresses we’d be traveling through were small fortresses. Normally, there would only a few soldiers stationed at those fortresses, and the fortresses would only be utilized for temporary lodging, like we would be doing. 

The last two fortresses were huge fortresses known as the north Rudek cornerstones.

One of the two, Hockehalln Fortress, was located about halfway between the capital and the spring, and the other one, Ohkur Fortress, was located closer to the Three Goddess Spring.

Because of our alliance with the Lifrea Holy Kingdom, both fortresses only have a few soldiers stationed there, and I’ve heard that the 2nd Division will occasionally stay at either of the two fortresses.

That meant we might be able to meet the 2nd Division if we were lucky.

Luzel and Frein appeared excited.

After all, the 2nd Division was the only division made up entirely of cavalry. Of course, these two horse enthusiasts would become excited. 

I was just calmly riding on Aro’s back while observing the two’s expressions. 

I really hope the mission will go well.

T/N: I’m curious how Sakuri will react when he knows his real opponent is a 20 something man, a.k.a Roa, not the famous Rays Stein. Also, the ‘Goddess of Wind’ mentioned in this chapter is Loref, mentioned in chapter 38. I used God of Wind since it wasn’t clear in chapter 38 but after this chapter, I will continue using the Goddess instead.