Dungeon Defense (WN)

* * *

It was only a few days later that the Anatolia Empire decided to dispatch a large-scale army.

To be exact, it wasn’t a dispatch of their army. A large number of mercenaries had been hired under the name of Elizabeth. The issue was the scale. 15,000 mercenaries were currently being shipped to Sardinia from the Anatolia Empire.

There were rumors that this was also only the first batch. According to Anatolia’s minister of foreign affairs, they were more than capable of sending a second and third batch of troops.

“…….”

I tapped my finger on my office desk.

Something was strange.

Until now, I believed that Elizabeth was joining the fray to help Sardinia. However, she was now relying on an outside power in this situation?

In this scenario, even if the Kingdom of Sardinia were to emerge victorious, they would find themselves deeply indebted to the Anatolia Empire, both directly and indirectly. This would place them in a politically constrained position, possibly even requiring them to cede a city or something of similar value.

At present, trust in the Kingdom of Sardinia has been completely lost in terms of international diplomacy. The participation of the Habsburg Republic could somewhat be justified as the action of an allied nation; however, the undeniable involvement of a third party like Anatolia meant that the international community’s opinion would turn its back on Sardinia.

……It was Elizabeth. I’m sure Elizabeth persuaded them.

The royal family of Sardinia must’ve been greatly shocked by the Grand Duke of Florence’s death.

In the midst of their despair, thinking that they would be defeated without a fighting chance, Elizabeth must have tempted the royal family. She convinced them that they could turn the tide if they involved the Anatolia Empire…….

The deal between Sardinia and Anatolia has already been finalized. Anatolia provided them troops while Sardinia must’ve offered something with less value than the regions of Piacenza, Parma, and Milano……. In other words, something they deemed to be better than losing to us.

What was that something?

If we can’t figure this out, Elizabeth’s intentions and Anatolia’s objectives will remain unclear. I greatly despise going to war in such uncertain conditions.

“…….”

It was none other than Elizabeth who mediated their deal.

In other words, this deal was something that benefited Elizabeth greatly. If it didn’t, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to persuade Sardinia into getting the Anatolia Empire involved. What could benefit Elizabeth? This was the key point.

After a considerable amount of time, I muttered to myself.

“……I see. They are going to cede Venice.”

Sardinia will either lend or cede Venice to Anatolia. This was their contract condition. I was sure of it.

Firstly, from Sardinia’s perspective, handing over Venice might seem like a cheaper deal than losing Milano-Piacenza-Parma altogether. They might see it as the price of victory in the war.

Secondly, from Anatolia’s perspective, gaining a major city and a trading hub would definitely be advantageous.

Thirdly, Elizabeth……. If Venice becomes a part of Anatolia, the Republic would break out of isolation. They would be able to freely engage with others through Venice. It would mean having a friendly port within their reach.

There was another issue here.

Why was it fifteen thousand mercenaries?

If they truly wanted to win the war decisively, deploying around fifty thousand troops would have been the right move. Being able to obtain Venice by lending fifty thousand soldiers was not an unfavorable deal. Fifteen thousand is too vague of a number. It’s not enough to overwhelm us by any means.

Could it be that Elizabeth believes she can easily defeat us if she combines her fifteen thousand with Anatolia’s fifteen thousand to make a total of thirty thousand troops?

No way. Elizabeth was known as the legendary mercenary leader. She must have recognized Laura’s prowess by now. Overpowering Laura in a war is by no means an easy task.

In that case, there was only one conclusion.

“You have no intention of winning, Elizabeth.”

The corners of my lips went up.

I knew what she was thinking.

I didn’t think she would come at us like this. Should I say this was beyond my expectations? Or should I say this was unexpected? Alright, Elizabeth. I’ll go along with your intention once. Let’s see how far you can follow along.

I activated the magic orb on my desk. Shortly after, a white mist flowed out along with an individual’s image. It was Saintess Longwy.

“It has been a while. Have you been successful in recruiting troops? I hope my adopted daughter was of assistance.”

– Indeed, it has been a while. Miss Daisy is quite capable. We were able to recruit the mercenaries with ease thanks to her. She is so kind-hearted that I cannot believe she is your daughter.

I unintentionally let out a laugh. Kind-hearted? Who was? Daisy? She must be joking. I have never met a human as wicked as Daisy in all my life.

– If there are no pressing matters, I do not particularly wish to speak to you.

“Is that so? I actually enjoy speaking with you quite a bit even if there are no pressing matters. Have you had dinner? The sky here in Sardinia is clear, so it is rather pleasant.”

– I am hanging up.

It sounded like she was actually going to hang up, so I raised my hand to stop her.

“I understand. I will get straight to the point. Saintess Longwy, it is time to move.”

– ……Are you sure? Is this not a month sooner than planned?

The orange-haired saintess’ expression became serious.

“The plan has changed. Who would have expected the Anatolia Empire to get so actively involved? Thanks to that, our schedule has been pulled forward. At this point, no country can criticize us even if we make our move.

– But I have not contacted Her Highness the Queen yet…….

“Oh, I can assure you that Her Highness, the Queen of Brittany, will be greatly pleased to go into action, even if it is just by a day. Rumor has it that there is unrest among the nobles in her country. She must be troubled since it seems they might try to start an uprising.”

– …….

“The ambitious campaign to capture Frankia ended in a failure, and now their path to continental expansion has been completely blocked due to the humiliating treaty they had to sign. I am sure the dissatisfaction among the nobles will not stop here. Haa, it is regrettable.”

– What are you trying to say?

“I am suggesting that she should be trying to gather the favor of the nobles right now, should she not? They must be enticed with gifts. Saintess Longwy, your beloved queen is now in a state of urgency. Please contact her at once.”

The Saintess went silent.

You aren’t going to refuse after all this time, right? The Saintess has to resolve herself as well. This was like a landslide. Once it starts to crumble, you have to push it through to the end. After about a minute, the Saintess looked at me with renewed determination.

– No, there is no need to get permission from Her Highness the Queen. I will make the report.

“Oh? Are you saying that you will bear all the responsibility?”

– Yes. It would be cowardly to hand all the responsibility to someone else. I will be the one to start this.

The Saintess spoke clearly and loudly.

– From today onwards, our Kingdom of Brittany will participate in your nation’s war.

* * *

“Your Excellency! I have a significant matter to report!”

Kurtz Schleiermacher burst into the office that was set up in Florence. Contrary to his urgency, Elizabeth’s expression was somber. She had both feet up on her table and her eyes were glued to some documents.

“You are making a fuss. Is there anything in the world that is not significant to you?”

“No, this is no time for jokes. The Empire has handed Genova over to another nation!”

“…….”

Elizabeth lowered her legs and sat up straight.

“That is definitely ‘significant’. Continue.”

“It was Brittany! Damn it. Your Excellency, it was given to Brittany. This isn’t even funny!”

Kurtz had rushed as fast as he could to deliver this report, so he was catching his breath while also grinding his teeth. Elizabeth was somewhat surprised. It was rare to see Kurtz this upset.

“Brittany should lack the cause to get directly involved in the war. What happened?”

“……To be precise, it wasn’t Brittany. It was Saintess Jacqueline Longwy. The official first saintess of the Temple of Athena. The Empire ceded Genova to the saintess in a humanitarian capacity.”

Kurtz managed to calm his breathing as he continued to give his report.

“As you know, the Empire has no need for prisoners. They were apparently going to sell the people of Genova off as slaves like the time with Pavia. The southern cities of Frankia had voiced their desire to purchase them…….”

“But the Saintess intervened.”

Elizabeth could immediately envision how the situation unfolded.

Citizens were being sold off as slaves en masse and the Frankish cities stepped forward to purchase them. In a desperate moment, just when all seemed lost, the pacifist and conciliatory figure, Saintess Jacqueline Longwy, stepped in and said ‘No!’…… What a brilliant scenario.

“Don’t you think so as well, Kurtz?”

“Quite. The southern cities of Frankia are indebted to the Saintess, so they quietly backed down. The Empire then complained about how a saintess was intervening in a war between nations…….”

“And the Temple of Athena must’ve paid for the slaves.”

Elizabeth smiled.

Kurtz let out a sigh.

“……Did you already know?”

“No. I consider this an excellently orchestrated drama. A story worthy of Dantalian’s crafty pen. I did wonder which side he was going to bring in, but it was Brittany, huh? So, what happened to Genova?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

Kurtz didn’t even try to hide his displeasure as he spoke.

“We were saved by the Saintess. Without her, we would have been sold as slaves. After all this waterworks……the Empire suggested that if the Temple of Athena was going to go that far, then they should just purchase the entire city instead. The Temple accepted the offer.”

As a result, only the ownership of Genova was swapped from the kingdom to the church. All the rights and properties of the citizens remained intact.

Kurtz Schleiermacher added that the reputation of Saintess Longwy had skyrocketed to unimaginable heights thanks to this achievement.

Recently, the actions of Saintess Longwy have been relentless. Shouting for continental peace and racial harmony, the Saintess had actually concluded several negotiations. She even narrowly escaped a suicide bombing during the previous republican representative meeting. A saintess dedicated to peace and willing to sacrifice herself for it……that’s the impression people hold of her.

Her true identity was the Kingdom of Brittany’s informant.

It was a distorted image that had been manipulated from beginning to end by Dantalian who sought to exploit religion. The Saintess willingly allowed herself to be used by Dantalian in exchange for certain benefits for the Kingdom of Brittany.

“The issue is the fact that the Temple and Saintess both do not have any military strength. Your Excellency, do you know who Saintess Longwy requested reinforcements from?”

Elizabeth was easily able to answer Kurtz’s question.

“Henrietta.”

The Queen of Brittany, Henrietta de Brittany.

A ruler known for having designated Goddess Athena as their state religion and also for her deep personal friendship with the Saintess. The one person to whom Saintess Longwy had sincerely pledged her loyalty.

“So this was Dantalian’s aim.”

A chuckle slipped out from between Elizabeth’s lips.

“Similar to how I knew that he was going to start a war, he too knew that I would participate. Since he knew our Republic would get involved, he knew that the Empire would gain a justifiable reason to pull in another third party.”

“I hate to admit it, but it seems your prediction was correct, Your Excellency.”

Kurtz placed a stack of paper on the desk with an audible thud.

“Here is a list of the troops that Saintess Longwy had personally gathered. Negotiations only concluded yesterday, but somehow, she has already recruited over four thousand mercenaries. All of them being cavalrymen to boot.”

“What incredible timing.”

“According to their official statement, they were originally going to be sent to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for the sake of maintaining public order. That is obviously a lie. Your Excellency, the Empire intended to involve Brittany from the very beginning!”

With this, military forces from across the continent converged in Sardinia. The armies of the Habsburg Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Anatolia Empire, and the Kingdom of Brittany…….

Elizabeth quietly closed her eyes.

‘All right, Dantalian. I will chase you to the end.’

—Elizabeth and Henrietta ended up standing in opposite camps.

A smile grew on Elizabeth’s face as she could only feel deeply impressed by the man who managed to craft such a grand screenplay.

And thus, the second Chrysanthemum War took a swift turn into an unexpected route, catching every nation off guard.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Uh, I’m not sure what to say. There hasn’t been much of an update since my update post. My dad’s diagnosis doesn’t come out till Oct 5th, so it’s basically the waiting game until then. The situation still doesn’t feel “real” to me right now, but I guess that’ll change once I go to our family reunion this Thursday. Yay…

Well, I’m doing my best to distract myself from that. Or at least trying to. Hope you guys don’t mind the wait between chapters. I obviously haven’t been too motivated.

In any case, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.