Cleaning up the scene took far longer than I expected.
I had sent Damien De Millbeau’s Southern Army to advance on Nancy, but Shandra, leading the pursuit, kept sending a steady stream of prisoners.
The Imperial Army would surrender if they thought they’d be caught by the pursuit unit, surrender if they were hungry; in short, they surrendered far too easily.
Later, perhaps because she ran short on troops, Shandra even sent surrendered Imperial soldiers to our garrison without any escort, and they obediently walked all the way to our main force and quietly beca prisoners.
What is this farce…….
As a result, with the number of prisoners exceeding 30,000, nearly matching the size of our remaining forces in Valois, Desaix and I were swamped trying to manage them.
If prisoners of that scale were poorly managed and a riot broke out, there would be no greater disaster.
As for the one responsible for this whole ss, her reaction was...
-Your Majesty, isn't this a bit much? It's not just effective, it's excessive!
-Hmm……. Isn't a good thing a good thing?
-Except for the fact that we're so swamped managing prisoners that we can't even advance. We’ve already treated them generously once; if we take it back now, it’ll be chaos, so we have to feed and house them properly. Do you have any idea how hard this supply managent is, Your Majesty—Ah, look at the ti. I'm busy treating the wounded, so I must be off!
-Your Majesty! Where are you going, you damn Saintess! Eris!
-Do your best, Marquis!
And with that, she ran off.
While I was busy sighing heavily and working overti with Desaix and Berthier, Gaston opened his eyes.
*
I placed a basket of oranges beside the sickbed and looked at Gaston.
“Your Excellency Marquis Lafayette.”
“Gaston.”
Gaston, who had beco a little thinner, was lying in bed, then sat up and bowed his head to .
I gently pushed him back down and said,
“Francia's finest knight is in quite a state.”
'According to Eris, it was the sa poison that affected Christine and Baron Charon. Were those two able to recover faster because Eris focused all her power on one of them?'
Perhaps the demons have further improved that poison.
“I apologize, Your Excellency. It was due to my inadequacy…….”
“No, anyone would have been caught in that situation. It’s not your fault. Rather, we were able to win thanks to you assessing the situation and reporting it until the mont you fell.”
If I had been unlucky enough to be hit in the first surprise attack, it could have directly led to defeat in the battle.
Rather, he was remarkable for managing to halt the enemy cavalry and return alive even in such a situation.
I looked down at Gaston, who still wore an apologetic expression, and spoke.
“I'm glad you're safe.”
“……Thank you, Your Excellency Marquis.”
I t Gaston’s gaze for a mont.
I recalled the face Gaston showed in the final battle before my regression.
Why Gaston of that ti followed to the end, ultimately dying in battle, I do not know.
But I can be sure that the face he shows now is better than the one he showed then.
So, relieved, I said,
“Then rest well and take care of yourself. You'll have to help a lot in the future.”
And I will repay Gaston just as much.
“Understood, Your Excellency. I apologize for causing you concern.”
“I told you, there's nothing to apologize for. Ah, still, since you seem to be in decent shape, I suppose the two of you can eat this.”
When I pointed to the orange basket, Gaston looked puzzled.
“The two of us…… you an?”
“Yes.”
I imdiately opened the door, and Shandra, who was standing in front of it, grinned broadly.
“Ah, Your Excellency Marquis. Are you finished with your business?”
“Yes, I am. Then I must go and finish dealing with the mountain of work that piled up because you did too good a job in the pursuit.”
Who would have imagined there would be far more prisoners than enemy soldiers killed or wounded on the battlefield?
Shandra replied with a cheerful smile, saluting.
“I’ll leave it to you!”
“Yeah, well…….”
I glanced at Gaston and then replied to Shandra.
“I hope you have a good ti.”
As I left the room and walked down the hallway.
“Hahaha! You said you’d be back, but I’m the one who ca back!”
“Ahem, ahem.”
Shandra’s laughter, echoing all the way down the hall, and Gaston’s embarrassed clearing of his throat could be heard.
I chuckled and turned away.
I miss Christine too.
Ah, how much longer do I have to deal with these damn prisoners.
……Maybe I should write a letter.
*
Another three days passed after that.
The frantically busy task of organizing the prisoners was sowhat finished.
And in the anti, the letter I wrote had summoned its recipient here.
“The prevailing opinion this ti is not to release the prisoners.”
“Hmm, so it’s co to that, has it.”
It seems the number of prisoners is too large to use the tactic of lowering enemy morale by releasing them, as we did last ti.
Besides, as the countless prisoners prove, rumors of our lenient treatnt have spread sufficiently among the Imperial Army, so there's no further need for it.
“However, the supplies needed to feed those prisoners are no joke. Does the National Assembly intend to keep providing them?”
The Imperial Army prisoners number almost half of our total forces.
If I had my way, I’d feed them just enough to keep them from dying, but Eris wouldn't like that, and they surrendered trusting in our generous treatnt.
If they don't receive the treatnt they expect, they could rebel that much more easily, and we don’t have the facilities to confine that many, nor enough troops to manage them.
So, it’s more effective to keep them docile with treatnt they find satisfactory, but the money issue…….
Christine slowly crossed her legs and replied.
“So, the National Assembly is expecting you to quickly defeat that Imperial Army and conclude a peace treaty.”
“It’s easy for you to say, as if it’s soone else’s problem.”
When I replied, slightly dumbfounded, Christine chuckled.
Feeling her body move with her laughter, I subtly averted my gaze.
“So, Christine?”
“Yes?”
“How long are you going to stay like this?”
Christine was currently perched on my lap, her arms around my neck, leaning against .
Hearing my words, Christine looked at quietly, then a slight smile played on her lips, and she asked.
“You don't like it?”
Her soft breath on my chin—
“No, it's not that.”
If anything, I quite like it…….
It’s just that this is my Command Center, it’s broad daylight, and my subordinates are outside—those minor details are what concern .
Christine tilted her head slightly, then spoke with a low laugh.
“Reading your letter, it seed you missed terribly, so I was trying to express how much I missed you too, but perhaps-”
I imdiately reached out, held her face, and pressed my lips to hers.
Sharing a kiss that seed to devour each other's breath, feeling Christine's ragged breathing, I said.
“On second thought, this is incredibly nice.”
Christine’s face turned completely red, and she ducked her head.
She seems bold, yet she gets shy at the strangest things.
That too is cute, so I hugged her and whispered.
“You must have been busy, but I’m very happy you ca all this way for .”
“It’s just that soone was needed to convey the National Assembly's opinion, so I volunteered.”
Despite this lack of honesty, my unbelievably lovely fiancée had co all this way. What did it matter if it was dayti or the Command Center?
I should just enjoy this precious ti to the fullest-
Just as I was thinking that, there was a knock at the door.
Christine tried to get up quickly, and for a mont, a mischievous urge arose to greet my subordinate while she was still in this position—but I resisted, as I might truly be resented for it.
“Co in.”
“ssenger! Your Excellency Marquis! A dispatch from the Southern Army Command!”
“Hmm, let see.”
As I took the dispatch from the saluting ssenger, I glanced sideways. Christine, as if nothing had happened, had a calm expression, her lips hidden behind a black fan.
I tore open the dispatch and my eyes widened.
“They've captured Nancy? An unopposed entry?”
“Yes, Your Excellency Marquis! Grand Duke Leopold's Imperial Army seems to have retreated to tz!”
That Grand Duke Leopold would give up a key strategic point like Nancy without a proper fight suggests the Imperial Army’s condition was far more serious than I thought.
Or perhaps Damien moved much faster than I expected, not even giving the Grand Duke ti to regroup.
“Yes, good work. You’ve done well for Count Milbeau. Tell him this side will depart as soon as the situation is under control.”
“Understood, Your Excellency Marquis!”
The ssenger saluted imdiately and withdrew.
I wanted to secure Nancy before the Imperial Army recovered from their losses, but I didn't send Damien expecting him to take Nancy single-handedly before the main force even finished reorganizing?
Is that bastard really going to have paved the way for my arrival and be waiting for ?
This is absurd. This is completely—
“……You've made Count Milbeau a hero, haven't you?”
At Christine’s words, I put a hand to my forehead.
“It’s because that man, uncharacteristically, accurately read my intentions and finished preparations for the move, so I entrusted it to him. I didn't particularly intend to promote him…….”
Knowing Christine hadn't thought highly of Count Milbeau before, I spoke defensively, but Christine gave an unexpected reply.
“That wasn't Count Milbeau's idea; it was Giselle Davy's counsel.”
“……Is that so?”
Indeed, I had thought sothing was strange.
Am I that easy to read? I wondered, but then again, if I were, Count Milbeau wouldn't have suffered so many consecutive defeats against .
But if a newly assigned officer assisted him as staff officer, then it makes sense.
I knew Giselle Davy received high marks for tactics at the military academy, but I didn't realize she was that competent. If I had known, I would have used her myself rather than assigning her to him.
No, wait.
Pausing for a mont, I slowly turned my gaze to Christine.
“But, how do you know that?”
Christine smiled, fanning herself gently.
“Because one must understand one’s allies as thoroughly as one’s enemies.”
At her calm reply, as if stating an obvious fact, I was at a loss for words.
“…….”
It had seed strange when Christine, who hadn't thought well of Damien De Millbeau, recomnded him as the Southern Army Commander, but now I see she had him properly leashed and under surveillance.
I let out a dry laugh, and suddenly a different thought struck .
“……Christine?”
“Yes, Pierre. Go on.”
“……Perhaps you have your eyes in my Command Center as well?”
Christine blinked, then smiled deeply.
……She only smiled.
Hey, why no answer?
Looking at Christine, whose jet-black eyes glead as she smiled, I truly understood what Kroxx had said.
It seems my beloved fiancée is even more dangerous than I thought.
And the fact that I find it reassuring rather than scary ans I'm not normal either.
I let out a light sigh and spoke.
“Well, very well. Christine, are there any locals hired in Alsace-Lorraine with whom we still maintain contact?”
“Yes, there are still so. Not many, though.”
“Good. Then, I have an idea. May I ask for your cooperation?”
Christine replied with a bright smile.
“Of course, anything I can do to help.”
If we persecute those excessively nurous prisoners now, we’ll lose the justification Eris painstakingly built. Yet, if we send them back, there are too many.
The National Assembly's demand for a swift conclusion isn't unreasonable.
But we’ve already suffered countless sacrifices, and Grand Duke Leopold, having retreated after ceding even Nancy, must have bought so ti to reorganize his troops.
Now we are the attackers, and a frontal assault on a prepared defensive position would be unwise.
Especially since that place is the Imperial Army's last stronghold, Grand Duke Leopold will desperately try to defend it by gathering all his remaining troops and resources.
Defeat there would an the Empire's total defeat.
Still, they are already cornered, and their morale is at rock bottom. If so, we must use what we can.
I recalled my conversation with Eris and smiled.
-Very well, Your Majesty. Since you’ve said this much, I’ll try to think differently.
-That they are people, just like us?
-……Well, it seems it can be used to shake the Imperial Army.
-You have no romance.
'I've entrusted romance to Eris, so it's my role to use the results of her goodwill in my tactics.'
'War doesn't always have to be fought honorably and fairly with only swords and guns, right?'
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