Polymath Redux

Chapter 47: In preparation for an unimaginable gambit

The skies roared solemnly with darkened clouds, as though to convey the inner conflict of emotions sweltering within the first prince's mind. Under the cold clouded skies he knelt down in depression as he dryly laughed to himself; seated immune to all outside stimuli. His first strategic defeat at the hands of a masked marauder calling himself a 'hero', yet the prince had to commend him for this huge blow.

"Hahaha... he got us..."

He spoke weakly under his breath, but no so subtly that his assistant couldn't register. 'Just how did he get us?' confused; she wanted to know what exactly the prince meant by this. The false hero's declaration of war to the Wayfarer Council sounded like an empty threat that was grasping at straws. In fact Petra was convinced that the first prince would be delighted that he had successfully predicted the existence of a 'second' hero.

So then what was the problem?

"Your highness...?"

The prince stared back at her with a blank look of defeat and an empty smile. It was the first time she had witnessed such an expression from this man, though conversely it was the perfect portrayal of a defeated man who had never known defeat. She was different, as a fighter she had suffered multiple defeats and had learnt a lot from them. So she could not possibly understand what it was like to suffer a single scratch on a perfect record; the word of strategic class geniuses were far removed from her own.

"Don't you get it? He turned the entire Wayfarer Council into sitting ducks with that ultimatum."

The prince finally spoke, yet Petra was still unsure of how the prince came to that conclusion. Though she didn't speak out or ask why in fear that he would think she was dumb or unobservant.

"..."

"The fact that he made this announcement means that he knows clearly who the distinct core members of the Wayfarer Council are. This was proven when he specifically called out that Lazzaro Zeder was one of us."

The prince noticing her continuously curious gaze answered, however that wasn't enough for her to understand just yet.

"Wouldn't it be fine if we just beefed up our defenses around the core members? I admit he is strong but if we can get more capable people we might be able to prevent losing more members."

"You just don't get it, do you? Think about it, with that one message the country has gone into high alert, so if we arbitrarily increased security around random people it would be like announcing to the entire country who our members are. Not to mention that most of our members are fairly influential so the focus will definitely go on them if they did something like that."

"But what if we secretly increase security with high level individuals?"

"We would need people who specialize in stealth and protection, two professions that don't mix well so we'll be on low stock of such individuals. Not to mention, on a comparative scale you're as strong as they come and yet Phantom took you out easily."

"Then how should do we exactly go about dealing with this situation?"

"I'm thinking about it... tch, there might not be much choice other than to go on the offensive."

"Offensive?"

"It would suspicious to defend our members publically so the only way to fight this is head on. Proclaim that this 'Phantom' is a fraud and set up a forward defense strategy, that way we have a viable excuse to fight this self proclaimed'hero'. The only problem is that we have way too little information about him; how he moves, what kind of fighting style he uses, what kind of skills he has, where he is or who he is... dammit!"