Ep1c

17

A few days later, the Holy Elsren Empire invasion force――the northern army, in a certain tent.
A map was spread open and about twenty men sat around it.

“They moved?”
“Yes, to the east……”

The blonde man sitting at the head of the table frowned as he listened to his subordinate’s report..
Aleha Klauzera Shuindel Sarshenka.
A general of the empire, one talented enough to rise to this rank at a young age without using his family’s power.

Aleha was born as the third son of a great noble and had no chance of succeeding the family.
So naturally he entered the army and with his abilities, he made many achievements on the battlefield and received the honourable, though noninheritable, title of Shuindel――paladin, directly from the emperor.
The title of paladin is an honorary rank that is a reward for military achievements and is the greatest honor that any soldier could receive.
Aleha received it in his thirties and as a renowned general of the empire, also made many contributions in this invasion.
His life was smooth sailing, nothing stood in his way――but now, wrinkles creased his brow.
He pondered the incomprehensible report he had just received.

“……why now?”

Aleha had spearheaded the invasion of the Kingdom’s eastern territories and has earned enough achievements.
He built the foundations for taking the impregnable fortress Wulfenite by taking down the Kingdom’s general, Carmeda.
His contributions are worthy of the title of paladin.

But earning too many achievements causes jealousy.
High society is a dangerous place.
Aleha is aware that many envy him and monopolising achievements would lead to more disadvantages than advantages in high society.
That is why Aleha left the taking of the major objective, Wulfenite, to others and also avoided the southern invasion, instead volunteering for the unappealing role of locking down the enemy’s forces.
Of course that was not all, it was also because the enemy this time was special for him.

――Bogan Argalitte Vezrinea Christand.
Alberan Kingdom’s famous northern general.
Aleha had suffered many defeats at the hands of Christand before becoming a general.

Christand’s attacks are relentless.
He would attack weak points, causing the formation to collapse, push through and deal critical damage in one strike.
If attacked, he would absorb it, then counterattack even harder.
His attacks are lightning quick and relentless, nobody could endure it and he has never lost a battle with equal numbers.

Aleha had already realised his talents when he faced Christand and had broken through Christand’s defenses many times.
But each time, the Christand army would break through the empire’s weak points even quicker, forcing Aleha to retreat despite his local victories.
Everybody focuses on Christand’s relentless attacks, but his army’s greatest strength is in their retreat.
The parts of his army at a disadvantage would have a multi-stage retreat planned out, allowing them to weaken the enemy’s momentum and buy time until a counterattack can deal a critical blow.

Aleha has read every record about Christand and has studied him more than anyone.
You could even say that Aleha managed to come this far by studying Christand’s many tactics.
Bogan Christand, the great commander that rose through the ranks with his abilities alone despite being born as a low-ranking noble.
Aleha has similar circumstances, being born as the third son and unable to succeed the family, sent to the army instead. So despite being enemies, Christand’s brilliant achievements inspired him.
If they had been born in the same country, Aleha would have been a devote follower of Bogan.

This is the first time Aleha faces Christand in the same position of general.
His role is to intentionally create a stalemate, occasionally skirmishing but avoiding a decisive battle and locking down the enemy forces.
Aleha would like to defeat Christand and is slightly dissatisfied with this role, but also believes that nobody else can contain Bogan.
Because he had studied Christand more than anyone else, he could understand Christand’s thinking.
Aleha had stabilised the stalemate and believed he had seen through Christand’s plans, which is why Bogan’s sudden movement confused him.