Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 62

Training Mission (3) – A Disturbing Hypothesis

Inside the room, I thought to myself.

It was a thought that came to my mind because of the training mission. Me and my brigade had made it to Ohkur Fortress at a reasonable riding speed. We took a slight detour and as a result, we needed to pass through four fortresses.

We spent a considerable amount of time to reach Ohkur Fortress and yet, back then when the Lifrea army attacked the capital, they arrived way too fast.

Considering the time we needed to reach Ohkur Fortress, there was no way that the Lifrea army could arrive at Rudektrad that fast, even if their army had been on stand-by near the border and moved as soon as they heard the news of the 1st Division’s betrayal.

What did that mean, then?

The most plausible explanation was that when the capital was on fire, the Ohkur Fortress or Hockehalln Fortress, or possibly both were already under Lifrea’s control and the Lifrea army had been waiting inside the fortresses. 

Since the Lifrea army occupied the fortress without anyone noticing, it was natural to think that one of our Knight Divisions, other than the 1st Division that was in the capital,  had betrayed us. Otherwise, the Lifrea army should have to battle with the soldiers stationed in the two fortresses before finally reaching the capital.

If the Lifrea army was stuck battling the soldiers in the either of two fortresses, then the 1st Division would be isolated at the capital. There was also a chance that other divisions that were stationed outside of the capital would notice something was amiss, and go to the capital to help Rudek fight the 1st Division. 

But there was also a problem with my hypothesis, From what I knew, only the 1st Division ended up being incorporated into the Lifrea army. If another division helped Lifrea attack Rudek, that division should have also been a key player in Lifrea’s conquest of Rudek, yet, why was there no news of that division?

There was one answer to that question. That division was crushed by the Lifrea army. Unlike the 1st Division, the Lifrea Kingdom didn’t see much worth in this other division, so they used this division as just a tool and threw it away. As for the reason for that, I didn’t know.

In the future I knew, even the 1st Division was in the end, squeezed dry by the Lifrea Kingdom, then were thrown away. The mysterious ‘illness’ that Lucifal died to might also be Lifrea’s plot. It was laughable that a kingdom that was capable of doing such a despicable thing was called the ‘Holy Kingdom’

I have no basis for this hypothesis. I might have been just thinking too much. But, the fact that the invasion from Lifrea was abnormally fast was an undeniable fact. So it was more realistic to think that there was another or even more than one division who betrayed us, other than the 1st Division.

Assuming that there was a division that betrayed us other than the 1st Division, the next question was which was the most suspicious?

There were a few divisions that I could cross off from that list.

First, the 3rd Division.  Even after the capital went up in flames, the 3rd Division fought to the end in Gedland under Zackhart-sama’s lead and were exterminated. In addition to that, they couldn’t be the ones who had betrayed us because of their location. Gedland was way too far.

Second, the 6th Division. The future has changed a little now, but originally they would have suffered a heavy blow at the battle of Hakusha Plain and would still be holed up in Lieze Fortress, unable to move.

I could also cross off the 8th Division from the list. Although they were officially a Knight Division, they were actually an intelligence agency.

I mean, I was pretty sure both Sazabi and Nelfia belonged to the 8th Division. Though If they didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t ask but even if they were the King’s secretaries, there was no way that a court official would frequently go to the battlefield. The two of them also seemed to not mind if we noticed this fact. 

Well, it wasn’t bad for me to have someone who could directly contact the king. I didn’t know what the two of them wanted from me, but I think I’d just kept the fact they were members of the 8th Division in mind and continued to interact with them as usual. It didn’t seem they had any malicious intentions toward me.

Just like Sazabi and Nelfia who were both assigned to me, the 8th Division’s members were likely scattered across various locations. That would be more natural for an intelligence agency. I understand now why the existence of the 8th Division was somewhat vague. It was because they didn’t move as a group, unlike the other divisions.

Up to this point were the divisions I could definitely cross off from the list. Next, there were also several divisions that had a low possibility of being a traitor.

It would be the divisions that would have difficulty leaving their post and come all the way to the fortresses in the north.

First was the 5th Division.

The Yolos Corridor that directly borders the Empire was located at the southeastern Rudek. It was impossible for them to even know the situation of fortresses in the northern Rudek, let alone give the fortresses to Lifrea.

The second was the 7th Division. In the future, they would be helping the 6th Division which was isolated in Lieze Fortress to fight against the Gorber army in southwestern Rudek.

This left me with 3 most likely traitors, the 2nd Division, the 4th Division, and the 9th Division.

Although I couldn’t say for sure, I felt that the 4th Division was the least likely to be a traitor among these three.

After the defeat of the 6th Division at the Battle of Hakusha Plain, Gorber became more aggressive. In the future that I know of, the Rudek army would be pushed back greatly, but even so, the 4th Division should have been busy dealing with Gorber.

Only the 2nd and the 9th remained then.

Maybe I was just thinking too much and only the 1st Division was the traitor.

Still, when you have doubt, it would be best to dispel it as quickly as possible.

For the sake of the future that I wanted.

I stretched my body and opened the window, letting the fresh air in.

The air was getting a little colder. The winter might come early this year. I was thankful for the cold air because it cleared my head.

This was a good opportunity to check.

Let’s meet with the 2nd Division.