I Reincarnated But Will Try To Live Without Using My Cheat Ability - CH 301

Chapter 301 – A message only those who understand can understand

The conversation about the dungeon is over for now.

All that remains is to wait for the end of winter.

In the meantime, the Ears’ liaison handed Kiara a report.

Kiara read it over and looked puzzled.

Kiara handed me the report still with a puzzled look on her face.

I wonder what kind of problem it is.

It was a report from an agent I had dispatched to Isabeau.

A merchant who has been in contact with the demon tribe is procuring weapons and food, he said.

I commented carefreely.

“The demons seem to be moving surprisingly quickly.”

Kiara gave a small sigh.

“I wonder if even Mr. Oliver couldn’t keep them under control.”

“I don’t know which one it is yet. Please pass this information on to Sir Rossi later.”

“I understand.”

Mil shook her head, puzzled.

“With Mr. Fabio gone…and all the chaos, I wonder if they thought now would be a good time.”

“Some people might think so.”

Mil looked a little worried.

“Is our preparations ready?”

“I can’t say it’s perfect, but at least…I’d say it’s the bare minimum. We will do what we can to help, since Sir Oliver has taken the trouble to send us a message.”

At my words, Mil’s face turns surprised.

“Did he send a message?”

“This information is a kind of message. Conveying words is not the only way to send a message. If he wanted to, Sir Oliver could keep the information secret. It is a kind of message that is not hidden.”

“What kind of message? Tell us so we can understand.”

I take a sip of my tea before answering.

“More likely to launch an attack. The time is after the winter. They want to get this settled as soon as possible. That’s about it.”

“I understand if it’s about the attack, but how do you know it’s going to happen after the winter?”

“If you say you are starting procurement now, there will be a time lag. Besides, it is winter and it is hard to gather food. We can’t move until after the winter is over.”

Kiara tilted her head at my assurance.

“Isn’t there a possibility that he leaked this information, make us think that it’s after winter, and then launch a surprise attack?”

“The cold weather is still to come. Military operations in such conditions are not good for the health of the soldiers. They have already suffered a lot in the previous battle. They can’t afford to further reduce the number of soldiers.”

Kiara nodded approvingly at this explanation.

But this wasn’t all, and she immediately looked as if she was trying to figure out my intentions.

“Where can you read into this early settlement?”

“Buying in rations and weapons means they don’t have enough on their own. Under such conditions, it would obviously not be good for the battle to drag on.”

Kiara still seems unconvinced by my explanation.

She is still thinking about it with her head tilted.

“Couldn’t it be that they are buying into the idea that they don’t want to prolong the process? Are they trying to make us think there is no long-term battle, and then try to make us fight while we are ill-prepared. Or, on the other hand, they may try to make us choose a long-term strategy.”

Good point.

It’s so nice to hear a thoughtful question, not because I said it.

It makes my mouth drop open.

“That’s a very good question. First of all, the point about dragging people into a fight when we are unprepared, I am not the competitive type. If my opponent is unprepared, I will make it a long-term battle and wait for him to destroy himself. Sir Oliver sees through that tendency of mine.”

There, I take a breath.

I feel like I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately…

Oh well.

I smile gently at Kiara.

“I guess it’s about… whether there is any advantage for them in me choose the long term period. There is a possibility that they will take over some of the territories and take it as a war result.”

“Isn’t that bad?”

I laughed and shrugged my shoulders.

“If you’re in a place where you don’t have firm control, you can give it to me. Their territory is surrounded by mountains. It makes sense at first glance to secure a way out of the bottleneck. But that would be a burden to them as a result.”

Mil, who had been silently listening to the conversation, titled her head.

“A burden? I think it’s to a benefit to have more land, though.”

“If you can get food and resources from that land…yes. You get neither there. It’s just a military strategic location, but normally it’s only a burden. That’s why we abandoned the castle on the front line.”

“Won’t that give us a foothold and more options for attack?”

“Actually, not so much. Considering logistics, we have no choice but to march along the river. Even if we attack along the land, it would be difficult to maintain logistics. Even if we tried to procure supplies locally, the inhabitants have already evacuated and moved to the interior.”

Mil folded her arms and thought about it.

“If we hold back the entrance, the enemy won’t be able to attack us easily, so I think we’d better hold them back…”

Suppressing bottlenecks is the usual method of warfare.

It’s amazing that you know it so well.

I wonder if she’s actually studying it…

“That would end up with constant skirmishing. We will bleed endlessly in minute amounts, and coexistence will be a pipe dream.”

Mil looks surprised at my words.

She has never heard of the word coexistence from me before, after all.

“Didn’t you say that we can’t coexist with the demons? There’s the thing about the Holy Land and Mr. Kriemhild and the others.”

I laugh meaningfully.

It’s not that I see into the future, but I do know some things about the future.

“As it stands, yes.”

“That means something.”

“It’s a situation that Lord Oliver fears. He doesn’t have much time. So there is no way he will choose for a prolonged battle.”

Mil and Kiara look into each other’s eyes and tilted their heads.

Eventually, Mil gives me a protesting look.

“Stop putting on airs, tell me.”

“Sir Oliver is elderly and would normally have died before me. Then you would think that the demon tribe would lose their brakes and run wild with passion, and the result would be tragic. There are also those who would be behind the scenes to stir things up. He has been struggling to find a way to defuse the situation and keep things on a realistic track. Unless Sir Oliver can find a promising young man to succeed him, he will try his best to end the battle quickly.”

“That’s why he won’t pick long term battles. But… I just can’t help but get caught up in it. The word that it’s okay to give up some territory…the word that if we hold back the bottlenecks, the skirmishes will continue. I think Al is trying to settle everything in one battle. It’s a big battle that will sweep all past disputes under the rug.”

That’s a story we’ll get to, of course.

That’s how I was hinting at it, after all.

“That’s right. I’ve been trying to lure the demon tribe with that intention.”

My cold answer made the temperature in the room seem to drop.