"What's this about...?"
Leo, Paul, and the other soldiers glanced around in confusion, while Theo, undisturbed, stood up and began organizing the central table.
"Explain," he said.
Luke nodded and walked over to the table. He placed the textbook he had found while cleaning the supply room earlier onto the table. The soldiers, who had been quietly observing, gathered around it, intrigued.
"Basic Combat? I’ve seen this sowhere before... Ah! Isn’t this the textbook we had in our first year at the academy?" Leo exclaid as he recognized it.
"That's right. I always thought that the real stuff is in practice, not books, but now, for the first ti, I’m starting to wonder if I was wrong," Luke said, flipping open to a page he had looked over earlier, pointing at the top with his hand. Everyone’s gaze followed.
To understand your enemy completely, you must penetrate their center.
Underneath the bolded text, it elaborated that no matter how great your abilities or intelligence, you cannot achieve the desired result without penetrating the enemy’s center. This unexpected theory caught everyone off guard, and they stared at Luke, confused.
"Let’s be honest. The ‘cards’ we have can't serve as concrete proof. If we present them to Welharun, they’ll dismiss them as baseless suspicions and easily slip away," Luke continued.
"Yeah, and that’s why we’ve been struggling so much to find other evidence," Leo said in a tired voice.
"Right. But it was always going to be hard from the start. Welharun knows that Benji and Hayes were captured by the Empire, so they’ll be extra cautious. No matter how much we try, how much we pressure, how much we rack our brains—we won’t get far," Luke added.
It wasn’t impossible, but with the Emperor pushing for results quickly, it seed unlikely they could make any significant progress. Theo had already quietly listened to Luke’s words, fully aware of the situation.
"So, I was thinking, maybe we should try sothing else," Luke said, pointing again to the textbook.
"H-how... wait, are you suggesting we infiltrate Welharun?" Paul asked, his voice hesitant.
"Yes," Luke replied, and everyone was stunned.
"Here, it says it clearly: To understand your enemy, you have to get to their core. And just so you know, this book was created by so of the most skilled soldiers out there," Luke added confidently.
Despite how surprised he was by his own suggestion, he stood firm.
When Luke had been at the academy, he hated the lectures. He felt that soldiers should be out fighting, not sitting around studying theory. Back then, when a professor had said, "What you learn here will help you in the future," Luke had scoffed inwardly. But now, seeing the truth in those words gave him chills. As he casually read through the book earlier, the hairs on his neck had stood up.
"The answer to battle lies in practice, but when it cos to creating strategies and making plans, this kind of knowledge is necessary," Luke realized for the first ti.
"So, are you suggesting we do what they did with Benji? Infiltrate them the sa way?" Leo asked. "If that works, we could definitely catch them in the act, but it’s a huge risk. If they catch us, we could be in danger. Welharun might make the first move and strike us."
"Yeah, and with the Empire causing a fuss like that, we could even end up being the ones blad for starting a war," Leo added.
Paul agreed. "Also, Welharun has supposedly sealed off their borders, so infiltrating won’t be easy."
"I see your points, but I think there’s a way," Luke said, his deanor unchanged.
The attention turned back to him. Leo and Paul made valid points, but Luke wasn’t °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° backing down.
"There’s only one way," Luke said with a smile. "A legal, totally smooth way to get into Welharun."
"Such a way exists?" They all looked at Luke, skeptical.
Theo slowly spoke up, "An embassy."
Their eyes t in mid-air. Luke smiled, and Theo instinctively flinched.
"Exactly. The timing and sequence are perfect. Soon, we’ll be sending an official delegation to Welharun, right?"
"Yes. That’s correct," Paul confird.
Luke’s smile grew wider. "Through that delegation, entering Welharun is no problem. And like Leo said, even if sothing goes wrong, we’ll have a valid reason for being there."
"But do you think Welharun will accept a delegation from the Empire?" Paul asked. "Given the current state of their internal affairs, they might refuse to let us in to avoid giving us any excuse to attack."
"That’s a valid point, but I think it’s highly unlikely," Theo interjected.
"Since Benji and Hayes were captured, Welharun doesn’t know what’s happened to them. In other words, they’ll have to be cautious too. They don’t know how much we’ve learned or what we plan to do. Refusing an official delegation would raise too many questions, so they probably won’t," Theo explained.
"It’s a psychological ga," Theo concluded.
"Commander, Luke’s plan sounds like it’s worth trying," Leo said, after considering it for a mont. "The final decision is up to you."
Theo didn’t respond imdiately. He sat quietly, thinking deeply. No one interrupted him.
Theo was clearly weighing the success rate of this plan, its pros and cons, in his mind.
"Alright. This seems like the best strategy we have right now," Theo finally said.
Everyone nodded in agreent.
"But we’ll need approval from the Emperor for this plan," Theo continued. "If any of us are going to infiltrate Welharun via the delegation, we’ll need the Foreign Minister’s permission."
The ntion of the Foreign Minister caused everyone’s expressions to darken. Anyone involved in state affairs, especially the military, knew what kind of person he was.
The Foreign Minister was known for his dislike of soldiers. He saw the intellectuals as the true driving force of the nation, while soldiers were rely expendable tools.
Even Theo, the young noble and future heir of the Redrick family, was looked down upon by him.
"The old man... I an, the Foreign Minister, probably won’t be on board with this. I can already feel the headache coming," Leo sighed heavily.
"If that’s the case, let’s go higher," Luke said suddenly.
"Go higher? What do you an?" Theo asked, confused.
"We’ll go straight to the Emperor and get his approval. That way, even the old man won’t be able to say a word. After all, the Emperor himself has been pushing us to bring results quickly, so he won’t refuse," Luke said with a grin.
Everyone was stunned. It was an unexpected idea, but it seed strangely plausible.
"Wow, that’s a bold move, but it actually makes sense," Leo laughed.
Skipping over the Foreign Minister and going straight to the Emperor—sure, it was an effective thod, but no one would have thought of it so easily.
But Leo expected Theo to reject the idea. After all, he was known for his strict adherence to protocol, and for his respect for procedure and formality.
If Luke’s suggestion were followed, it would bypass the Foreign Minister, which was a clear violation of the process. Normally, the Foreign Minister would be contacted first, followed by the Emperor.
According to protocol, it was a risky move. The Foreign Minister would definitely be upset.
"...Alright. Let’s go straight to the Emperor then," Theo said, to everyone’s surprise.
He nodded without hesitation, and there was no sign of doubt in his expression.
Leo, astonished by the unexpected response, looked at Theo with a mix of disbelief and admiration.
‘Ah, he’s changed.’
Leo smiled to himself and nodded.
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