Damian let out a deep sigh. Rylan rely eyed the man while tilting his head, a possibility starting to form in his mind.
Nowadays, there’s only one thing that can make him worry like this.
The war was getting worse, as wars always did. That was his guess.
“Do you rember when we talked about the Kingdom of Mar?” Damian asked after staring at the window for a few seconds with a conflicted expression.
“I do,” Rylan replied with a grave expression. There was no way he could forget such a strange move by the Ceotha Kingdom’s king. Continuing to support Mar was borderline idiotic at first sight, but he knew that there must be more to this decision.
Damian sighed again.
“We can’t pull away our helping hand, and things aren’t pretty.”
“Naturally. How bad did it get?”
Damian looked into Rylan’s eyes with a bittersweet smile.
“So far, it’s only mostly been sanctions and threats. Mar isn’t weak enough for the Empire to trample over easily. But the situation will continue to escalate.”
Rylan tilted his head.
“Do you an that the Empire will beco more aggressive toward Mar?”
It was the wrong judgnt. In accordance with his expectations, Damian nodded.
“That’s why I need to talk to you about—”
“No, that’s the wrong assumption,” Rylan interrupted before Damian could continue, looking completely serious. “If Mar is as powerful as you’re making it out to be, the Empire won’t go for it.”
Damian furrowed his brow.
“…What do you an?”
“I guess it isn’t wrong to say that the Empire will beco more hostile toward Mar, but,” Rylan waved his index finger in a circle, drawing attention to their surroundings. “It’ll attack us first.”
Damian frowned and opened his mouth to reply. A second later, his expression changed entirely. Rylan nodded as he realized that understanding had dawned upon his master.
The best way to deal with a beast that is too large is to cut off its legs.
There were still a few kingdoms and forces supporting Mar, Ceotha being one of them, as they had discussed. Even if their military power wasn’t comparable to Mar’s, the Empire would still be able to affect the kingdom by destroying all other factions supporting it. It was only natural to assu that the Empire would target Ceotha before beginning an open war against Mar, especially because the circumstances between Mar’s royal family and the Belmont house seed to be more complicated than a re alliance.
“…So, you want to say that we’re in even greater danger than I thought,” Damian said after a few seconds of silence.
Rylan readily nodded.
“Put simply, we’re fucked. You should have talked to about this earlier.”
Damian let out a sigh for the umpteenth ti and stood up while rubbing his forehead, then turned around to look at the window.
“…I can’t believe I made such an obvious oversight. Shit. I’ll need to talk to Henry. We were so busy thinking of ways to deal with the grand sche of things that the possibility that the Empire would attack us first didn’t even cross my mind. No, it did, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Damn it.”
Rylan stood up as well. Berating Damian for missing such a thing would be pointless.
People make stupid mistakes when they’re stressed.
Damian was the one who shouldered the kingdom’s greatest burden, as its strongest Mage. In tis of war, the level of stress he would be under was imnse. The king’s position wasn’t much different. If anything, Rylan resented the two n’s forces and aides for also missing this realization. But he wouldn’t judge them, either. Right now, there was no high-ranking official who could take it easy. No, maybe there was one. Rylan narrowed his eyes at the thought of his grandfather.
“Beating yourself up about it won’t change anything,” Rylan said. “The best ti to realize this mistake was before it happened. The second-best ti is right now. We need to move. I’ll start the preparations on my end, as well.”
Damian turned around and stared at Rylan with a strange expression.
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“…You seem awfully calm about this.”
Rylan only shrugged. The old Mage continued to stare at him for a few seconds before shaking his head.
“You’re right,” Damian continued with a pensive look. “And there are few places more attractive than Magic Academies for the Empire to target.”
Rylan readily nodded. Now that the wheels in his master’s mind were turning, the man was catching up to his line of thought in real ti.
“On average, students are weaker than adult Mages and killing them would cripple the kingdom’s future. Even if this Academy is guarded by you, given the Empire’s forces, they wouldn’t simply give up on the possibility.”
Damian frowned. Finally, the man seed to understand the severity of the situation. Rylan kept a calm expression, but his heart was heavy. The idea of his family being put in danger because of the continent’s wars or even of random students being affected was terrible.
Damian looked at Rylan.
“I wanted to talk to you about what I would like you to do, given the current situation, but…”
Rylan nodded.
“I know. Let’s still go over everything you wanted to say, just in case I missed sothing as well.”
Damian took a deep breath and sat back down on his chair.
“Now, let’s think about this together.”
The old Mage began to speak, while Rylan listened with rapt attention. Damian started by telling him of the general context of what was going on. The Kingdom of Mar, a small but powerful mariti nation at the edge of the continent, acted as powerful opposition to the Empire’s recent expansionist ventures. Because of its comrce, Mar was a nation with many allies and with great support. Most of those allies had stepped back under the Empire’s threats, but those that remained were almost all capable of negotiating with the Empire to so degree. The sole exception to this was Ceotha, which supported Mar for personal reasons. Once the discussion reached this point, Rylan furrowed his brow.
Yeah, we’re fucked.
Still, he let Damian continue.
“And as we just discussed,” Damian said, rubbing his chin. “The Empire will likely co for us. We need to identify which places and factions would be the first few targets. This naturally includes the Academies, but also military bases and civilian spots. In the worst-case scenario, the Empire might choose to attack housing areas…”
Damian continued to speak, but Rylan didn’t get the feeling that the man was speaking to himself even once, despite Damian’s rambling-like words. His eyes had remained bright the entire ti. It was a conversation between two equals.
“Damian, are you familiar with war?” Rylan suddenly asked.
Damian threw him a grave look.
“…I am.”
“Then you should know that we need to always assu the worst-case scenario,” Rylan replied with an equally serious expression. “The Empire won’t start by targeting Caer Rhelon. They’ll go for large towns and cities at the edge of the kingdom’s influence, or places where the military force isn’t great enough. By sending teams of elites, they’ll raze entire cities to the ground with no casualties.”
Damian nodded, then threw Rylan a strange look.
“…You seem to be familiar with war, too.”
Rylan shrugged. Damian narrowed his eyes, then sighed and nodded again.
“It’s likely that Cantavega will beco a target,” Damian continued.
Rylan resisted the urge to wince. Of course, it was a conclusion that he’d already reached.
I can’t let anything happen to them.
Cantavega’s people had already suffered enough because of his past self’s actions. The least he could do was protect them in this ti of need.
Rylan continued to talk to Damian about the general situation before moving on to the specifics, which included the size of the forces the Empire would likely send, as well as possibilities such as enemy espionage and infiltration tactics. Because tackling the Magic Academies head-on would be difficult without overwhelming power, due to their many defensive spells and facilities, it was more likely that the Empire would choose to send a small number of undercover agents. It would also be a way of sparing their own forces to prepare for war against Mar and other kingdoms.
The discussion went on. After a certain point, Rylan brought a point he thought was worth talking about more than almost any other.
“How will the noble houses react to the Empire’s advances, belligerent as they may be or not?” Rylan asked.
Damian went silent before gritting his teeth.
“…They wouldn’t be willing to fight for the kingdom at all. From their perspective, there would be no harm in going under the Empire’s wing and letting the kingdom be taken over by it. They don’t even realize that we would then be at the Empire’s complete rcy.”
“And the Astassiers?”
This ti, Damian frowned.
“I have no way to predict how Gael will act. He might already be in talks with the Empire, whether it’s with their military branch or their noble houses themselves.”
Rylan tilted his head.
“You can’t control him?”
Damian scoffed and leaned back in his chair.
“It’s painful to admit, but Gael is strong. As a whole, the Astassier house is even stronger. Their influence is second to none in Ceotha, but they’re also well-established among other nearby kingdoms. If Gael decided not to help us, it would be a great blow to this kingdom’s forces. And one we wouldn’t be able to do anything about.”
Rylan frowned.
“It’s that bad, huh?”
Damian rely nodded.
“You should be careful. He isn’t going to give up on you easily.”
Rylan nodded back and let the discussion continue. In the end, both he and Damian ca to a single conclusion.
“I need to get stronger,” Rylan said as he stood up. “As soon as possible.”
Damian also stood up and nodded.
“Spend more ti with here. I’ll teach you everything I can. I’ll also grant you special leave to raid Dungeons, but don’t go overboard.”
Rylan extended his hand for a handshake after nodding. Damian hesitantly grasped it before looking at Rylan straight in the eyes.
“Thank you, Rylan. Not once did I have to ask you if you would be willing to fight for this kingdom. In a way, it was a mistake of mine. I’m glad you’re here.”
Rylan gave him a smile.
“I don’t want the kingdom I grew up in to be ruined, mostly because of my parents. I’ll do my best.”
Damian smiled back.
“The fact that you aren’t trying to pretend to do this for love of your holand or whatever is actually more reassuring. Now, today’s classes are important. After those are done, co back here if you can. There’s much to do.”
Rylan nodded and turned around, a bit lost in his own thoughts.
We’re running out of ti.
The noose around the kingdom’s neck was starting to tighten. Damian had already explained why Henry was unwilling to stop supporting Mar despite the consequences, so Rylan had no choice but to discard that course of action.
All he could do was beco more powerful as quickly as possible.
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