"In our duel, this coin also serves as a tool for bribery. But mine is more valuable than yours. So, while it functions just like the one you hold, if we happen to bribe the sa target, this coin—a representation of the profound depth of ti—will have priority."
Jenkins explained the function of his Jewel of Ages.
"Are you targeting specifically?"
Salhir II asked.
"No," Jenkins replied. "It's just a coincidence that I had a coin like this on ."
Ti wouldn't pause for Jenkins and Salhir II's conversation. While the two players in Nolan conferred, the situation in Ruen was in constant flux.
On Jenkins's side, Dolores and the other two princesses under his command were acting according to his plans. While pulling all their forces back into the royal palace, they also dispatched search parties throughout its halls. Dolores herself didn't know what she was supposed to be looking for, but it was clear from their conversation that she believed her father must have hidden sothing in the palace before leaving Ruen.
The situation on Salhir II's side was less optimistic. The move he made was to abandon the search for Dolores, dispatching part of the city guard to maintain order within the city and another part to stand watch outside Ruen's walls.
But the first prince's ideas were completely different from his father's, and so his actions didn't align with his father's move. As soon as the round began, he imdiately deployed every person he could muster to every corner of Ruen. His goal was to find Dolores, Wendy, and Praise.
The Stuarts who had entered Ruen didn't know the victory conditions, so the simplest strategy was naturally to eliminate their competitors. But Dolores hadn't made a big show of her retreat to the palace, so when her brothers and sisters discovered she wasn't at her residence, their first move was to launch a city-wide search rather than look for her at the palace.
This led to Sarrot achieving almost nothing in the third round. Furthermore, a conflict broke out between the city guard and the police force, and the two sides nearly ended up in a gunfight in the streets.
"How unlucky."
The fourth round was about to begin, Jenkins said quietly. Salhir II glanced up at him but ignored the taunt.
"Sarrot has been this way since he was a child," the king said. "He has talent, but his impatience for quick results often makes him lose sight of what truly matters."
"In one more round, the Northern Garrison from outside the city will enter. I imagine the princes will be forced to begin defending the city."
"No. Sarrot may have his flaws, big and small, but at least he's willing to trust his followers."
Salhir II pointed to the ga board, where a red star had appeared on the edge, just outside the city of Ruen.
"My eldest son may have overlooked the potential risks tonight, but his younger brother noticed. So..."
On the board, Sarrot Stuart suddenly received a letter from a servant. His expression changed drastically as he read it, and he imdiately went to find the commander of the city guard.
Although the observers in Nolan couldn't see the letter's contents, they could roughly guess that the first prince's side had discovered traces of army movents in the mountains outside the city.
"No one is perfect or omnipotent, not even a king. To lead a country well, the most important thing isn't to be all-powerful yourself, but to know your own weaknesses and find followers who can compensate for them."
Salhir II said this to the three princesses at the table. They didn't understand why he was telling them this, but they could only nod to show they had heard.
"So, in the next round," Jenkins asked, "do you plan to have your sons defend the city, or will they attack the palace to capture Dolores?"
"That's quite clever," he continued after a mont. "If the Northern Garrison successfully enters the city and purges the nobles, you achieve your goal. But if Sarrot and his brothers manage to stop them, then your pawns beco the heroes who defended Ruen... It seems that either outco is favorable for you."
"That's why, when making any decision, you must do your best to secure a position from which you cannot lose."
Salhir II smiled. He lifted his teacup and took a sip, and Jenkins noticed his hand was trembling. Though his mind was sharp, his body was failing him. He couldn't stay up all night like a strong, healthy young man such as Jenkins.
"Then in the next round, Sarrot will use the walls of Ruen to mount a full-scale defense. He will search the Ruen armory and find sothing unexpected inside."
"You didn't happen to hide a few steam cannons in the Ruen armory, did you?"
"Only small-caliber ones."
The king said, "And only just over thirty of them."
The princesses at the table looked unsettled, and Jenkins, too, was surprised.
Perhaps due to certain principles and aspects of steam technology that Jenkins didn't understand, the steam cannons of this world were far more powerful than any weapon that could be called a "cannon" in his forr world. Furthermore, due to issues of safety, cost, and transportation, even a city like Ruen shouldn't have possessed so many.
"So you really were prepared all along," Jenkins said, before voicing a new question.
"Since you said tonight's duel was a spur-of-the-mont decision, what were these steam cannons hidden in the armory for in your original plan?"
The three princesses were also curious about this, but they didn't dare ask so directly. Salhir II covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed twice before slowly answering.
"If the army's 'purge' of Ruen didn't proceed as planned, then I would switch to these cannons to do the 'purging'."
His tone was perfectly placid, but the aning behind his words was enough to make one's skin crawl.
"But that's your capital city. Were you really prepared to do that?"
Jenkins couldn't help but ask again. He knew that kings were iron-hearted, but he hadn't imagined the man could be so ruthless.
"A capital can be rebuilt. If we run out of citizens, more can be moved from elsewhere. If doing this ensures a peaceful transfer of power for the kingdom, then it is worth the cost."
"Tsk."
Jenkins couldn't help but click his tongue in disapproval. Seeing his reaction, the king of the northern kingdom spoke to him again.
"If you intend to inherit Fidektri, you will sooner or later understand my way of thinking. When you bear responsibility, you are bound to see things from a different perspective. When you reach my age, you will no longer think as you do now."
Although Salhir II's directive for this round was defense, a round was only half an hour long. Ruen was a vast city. Even using the ancient city walls as a foundation and abandoning the slums around the periter for a better defensive position, it would be extrely difficult to deploy their limited forces and get everything prepared in just thirty minutes.
Salhir II had, of course, thought of this. So, before Jenkins could begin his own preparations, the king took a folded, yellowed sheet of paper from his pocket. It wasn't modern paper, but a small, neatly cut piece of parchnt.
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