Plain Girl Hero of Darkness
Selected Separately One By One - (5)

The Autonomous Cavalry Regiment pursued a strategy of defeating the enemy separately. The landlords in the north of the Kingdom had turned to the Empire, but the people still had enmity towards the Empire. Sparks can turn into rebellions in a short period of time. To prevent this, after Rosenmarie had conquered the region, he deployed his army everywhere.

This strategy exposed the flaws in Rosenmarie's plan. As the northern territories were captured by the Empire at once, the success of their campaign made them forget about the dangers of deploying their troops too little. Repeated night raids by the Autonomous Cavalry Regiment had destroyed 15 Imperial companies and three small forts.

As a result, the landlord who betrayed the Kingdom inadvertently created a favorable situation for the Seventh Army. Ashton who devised this plan was enjoying a late dinner beside the campfire with Olivia and Claudia.

"Ashton's plans have gone so far."

Claudia held a piece of appetizing bird meat in one hand, and the other hand marked a cross on the map.

“It looks like so.”

From the info they gathered, the northern army had over 70,000 soldiers. In contrast, the Seventh Army numbered only 28,000. Even after reducing the number of enemies to about 60,000 with a strategy to divide and conquer them, they were still outnumbered 2:1. They would definitely lose in a direct confrontation.

“Our opponent is not stupid either. They should be aware of the cons of spreading their power now. It would be bad if they gathered their strength now. "

“You're right, Lieutenant Claudia. We must stop the plan of division and conquest for now."

“Hmm? I don't understand what you mean. Shouldn't we reduce their numbers as much as possible before they concentrate their power? "

Claudia frowned as she returned her gaze back to the map.

“Sorry for not explaining clearly. More precisely, there was no need to continue this operation. You'll understand if you read this."

Ashton took out a letter and gave it to Claudia. This is from the intel unit Ashton arranged for this operation.

"Let me see."

Claudia opened the letter and read it. It is said that the achievements of the Autonomous Cavalry Regiment have lifted anti-imperial sentiment at new heights. Ashton also sent agents to infiltrate the enemy, and spread rumors that the mob was planning to revolt.

“-so, you did all this in secret. And now, the enemy would hesitate to concentrate their strength. No one wants to be stabbed in the back. Is this the true purpose of your dividing and conquering strategy? ”

"really so. There's a limit to how much we can cut their numbers. As mentioned in the letter, anti-imperial sentiments increased, and the Empire definitely knew of it, then they would not be able to ignore it. Do you know how many people there are in the northern region of the Kingdom?"

“Think... there are 3 million.”

Claudia thought for a moment, and quickly gave a correct answer.

"really so. This fact alone was enough to bind the Imperial units stationed in the region."

The intangible chain of 'suspices' is safer than the real chain. Ashton concluded that at least 30,000 Imperial soldiers had been tied up.

“You... really scary guy.”

Claudia looked at Ashton with a hint of fear and respect. Ashton scratched his cheek shyly:

Crimson Knights had 27,000 troops stationed at Windsam Castle. He may say that the odds are fifty fifty, but Ashton does not feel optimistic about the battle. After the battle on the plains of Almheim, he knew very well how powerful the Crimson Knights were.

“Yes, you're the one who got us this far, Ashton. Leave the rest to us, after all, you're useless in battle, Ashton."

“Haha, you are right.”

Claudia's teasing made Ashton laugh sheepishly. Olivia would teach him from time to time, but his swordsmanship and sportsmanship showed no improvement. Guile who signed up at the same time as him showed talent in this field, and was completely different from a rookie who trembled in fear of bandits. This applies to all the recruits who participated in recapturing Fort Lamburg.

More recently, Olivia began to appease Ashton in a gentle tone "There are things that humans are capable of and incapable of doing." Guile had also mentioned it wisely in the past, so Ashton accepted it well.

People should get used to their best abilities. This balance was the most important, so he wasn't too angry about this.

“By the way, Major really sleeps well.”

Claudia looked at Olivia who was leaning against the tree trunk and sleeping. He must have been exhausted, and was still holding a half-eaten piece of bird meat in his hand. His lips that were stained with oil drooled. It was hard to imagine him being the Death God that frightened the Imperial soldiers.

“We have been running to and fro for the past few days, it must have been heavy for him.”

“That's true. How could such a beautiful girl become a Death God. Calling him an angel would make more sense."

And so, Claudia started to complain while waving her fists. His arguments sometimes went against common sense, but he was actually serious. Ashton felt speechless at first, but decided to comfort him with a casual growl. However, it made Claudia angry for some reason, and she looked at him with eyes full of vengeance.

“Why do you underestimate this? Besides, this is all Ashton's fault. You added the Valedstorm emblem to his armor."

Claudia became even more ridiculous, so Ashton turned his gaze to her silvery-white armor — and her emblem which was a winged shield and helmet.

“But didn't all the nobles add their emblems to their armor and shields? Lieutenant Claudia, your armor also has the emblem of the Jung clan, right?"

“M-Maybe so, but..”

Claudia was writhing her body as if trying to hide her emblem. Recently, he would reprimand Ashton whenever they talked about the emblem, as if Ashton was the main culprit causing all that.

She seemed to be very unhappy that Olivia was summoned as the God of Death. When Ashton asked why, he would answer faintly, and he still did not understand what he was unhappy about.

"The Valedstorm emblem does feel unpleasant, but I don't think it's the reason why others call Olivia the God of Death ..."

The skull was surrounded by a deep red rose, and two scythes flashed behind it. The emblem was strongly associated with the God of Death, but Ashton felt that Olivia's actions contributed more to it. He slaughtered the Imperial army as if he was mowing the grass.

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...To Be Continue's...