Gacha Kingdom Building

After the events of the Graduation Party, I asked a few of the girls from the Kingdom to join me in planning our next moves now that we were officially at war with Terith for what they did against Isabella.

Isabella's mansion has a lot of free rooms, so we reunited with the people representing the Evretis Duchy in one of them.

Those people were her two brothers and two of her generals.

Most of the girls weren't very familiar with them, but thanks to me always following Isabella around, I became acquainted with them and could vouch for their loyalty.

The first one is a man called Gullard. He was a knight serving in the Evretis estate when Isabella was young.

However, on a certain occasion, he stood by her, and after that, he was forced to retire from his position due to the schemes of the mansion's employees at the time.

He is a kind person, but a little naive.... And also... One of the people Isabella felt she had lost.

Thankfully, once she became the Duchess, she searched for him and reinstated his position.

Not only that, she also made him Knight Commander, and now, general.

Her second general is a man called Paul.

He is a common-born and was chosen as the leader of a small village.

Said village was giving a lot of trouble to one of Isabella's vassals as they refused to pay taxes to their lord.

Isabella eventually traveled there and personally solved the situation by buying an old building that wasn't being used.

She turned it into a church and even found a nun willing to take care of the villagers and the children.

Because of this, she earned his respect and devotion.

While they weren't present during the graduation party, they were later informed and I didn't need to explain to them what happened.

Miwen: "The current situation is as follows: First, due to me kidnapping the Saint, Evretis is now being condemned by all nations in the continent. Cobierzh has warned the small nations in the south asking them not to escalate the situation further as it could put the Saint in an even more dangerous position. They have also delayed the response of Turis and the Azhieri empire, two large nations to our west. However, their envoys didn't reach Hamperlon in time, and they declared war on both Evretis and Terith..."

This was a little different from what Cobierzh's queen and I had planned, but she did a fantastic job adapting to the situation at hand.

Miwen: "As you may also know, we are currently in possession of the Dragon Of The North, although the circumstances regarding that are still under investigation..."

Even though I was talking while looking directly at her, Liz smiled at me and acted clueless.

The others in the room also had mixed reactions to that, especially the residents of this world.

Simply put, there were a lot of questions about this, and like them, I did not know the answer.

However, Elizabeth promised me that the monster would obey, and considering that it played a key role in our escape from Terith, I thought it would be fair to believe her.

Miwen: "Now, I would like to hear what you guys think before I decide our course of action."

Claire: "Then, let's get the easy things out of the way first. I don't think we will have to worry about the Navy. Terith's entire fleet was based on Evretis, and it was comprised mostly of Evretis' citizens. Marin is in the north and is powerful enough to hold her own for a while. I don't think they'll be able to conquer Licerce easily. And when it comes to fighting us... I don't think we have to worry about her."

Elizabeth: "When it comes to the land army the story is different though. Ours is the weakest between the three."

Mia: "It's not that simple... Hamperlon is a warring nation. They are interested in expanding their territory first and foremost... I think it is in their best interest to prolong this war as much as possible, which means... They will probably try to attack Terith... If I had to guess... They might try to cut through the center, surrounding Terith's army and cutting their connection to us. This way, they can preserve the justification for war by allowing us to keep Sabrina while fighting and taking as much territory from Terith as possible."

Elizabeth: "Oh, that's absolutely their directive. After all, humans do tend to be greedy. However, that philosophy is precisely why we should pay attention to our border with them."

Mia: "Huh?"

Cassandra: "...There's not much benefit for the nobles in the South to fight in the North aside from achievements. Even if the order is to focus on Terith, they will probably try to move against us to secure territory for themselves. It poses a good opportunity for us. If we can defeat them decisively while they prepare, we could deal a powerful blow to their plans, and even facilitate our campaign against them."

It's always surprising to see Cassandra talk about something else other than sex, but she is quite the war veteran...

Elizabeth could work to explain herself a little more, but her insight and intuition are also superb.

Claire doesn't seem to fall behind too much, and neither does the Valkyries. However, they seem to have a little problem conveying their thoughts since they prefer to have Skuld talk for them, which makes them lag behind the topic a little, missing the opportunity to explain their thoughts.

As for Mia... She still has a lot to learn, but she's doing well enough. I see a lot of potential in her.

Isabella: "Aren't you all too focused on Hamperlon? Terith has the inverse reason to focus on us. If they knocked us out of the war early, they can force Hamperlon into an offensive war, where they'd have the advantage by defending their territory."

...I didn't want Isabella here.

She was still feeling weak due to the poison, and Agatha and Raella said that she would need at least three more days of rest. And that was an optimistic estimate based on Agatha's ability to pull a few all-nighters and create an antidote for Isabella.

However, once Isabella threatened to curse herself if they didn't let her come, Raella ended up making a compromise to accompany her...

Even though we still have a lot of work to do with the doll's ability to facially express itself, I can tell that she is truly sorry.

Isabella: "Unless there is something I am missing. Miwen?"

Miwen: "Yes, well... You don't have to worry about Terith. I have already won."

Isabella: "...Huh?"

Miwen: "Remember when I said that I didn't need your help if I were to go to war against them? Well... I wasn't lying. Initially, I planned to take over their country, set you guys free, and then fight Hamperlon with their army. It is already done, so I can simply snap my fingers and have it happen. I was going to wait for the whole deal with the dragon to happen before doing it since Sabrina, Edmond and you and your brothers seemed to have your fate tied to it and I didn't want to let it factor in against Hamperlon, but... Now I'll just focus on using it at the best possible moment to defeat Edmond in the most despair-inducing way."

Isabella: "But... How?"

Miwen: "Oh? Aren't you the brightest student in the academy? I'm sure you can figure it out~"

Isabella: "...Does it have to do with the kidnappings...? But... What did you do, Miwen?"

Miwen: "You're no fun..."

She could have at least taken a little longer to figure it out.

However, she has been thinking about this for a long while already.

All she needed was one last piece to figure it all out.

Miwen: "As you imagined, Lana was the one behind the kidnappings. She entered their houses by jumping from shadow to shadow or dragged them into alleyways by coming out of their own shadows. Then she... politely asked... for them to sign a contract. The terms just had them sell their souls to a certain Devil."

Actually, this started before I fully understood Elizabeth's capacity as a Devil, so we were making blood contracts, which carried a little more risk as we had to draw some of their blood first.

But once I was in a pact with Elizabeth, I used her abilities to streamline the process and make it a little more secure.

Before, as part of the contract, they weren't able to talk about what happened, but now, with Elizabeth having full control of their souls, they can't even remember.

In other words, I spent all this time planting sleeper cells in Terith's noble families.

Miwen: "When it comes to Terith, I have already decided. I'll have a few lookouts to figure out when they are close to us. Then, I'll invade their capital from up above. Once taken, Edmond is sure to have its army walk back. We'll have Evretis' cavalry pursue him along the way, and I'll force the nobles under our control to start a rebellion against his army. By the time he reaches me in the capital, he'll be in no fighting condition. After that, I'll improvise a good show. Sounds good?"

Isabella: "Sounds evil... How will you take the capital so quickly?"

Miwen: "It won't be very well protected since the border with Hamperlon is so well protected. I doubt the few who remain will want to fight the Dragon Of The North, and I can land an entire army whenever I want. Not to mention, any knight who is not directly serving the royal family will have been called back home by the nobles under my control."

I'd be surprised if they put up even the weakest fight in such circumstances.

Isabella: "You... When did you start planning this?"

Miwen: "When I discovered we were back in Mia's world."

I even tested this a little by using the pact to force some nobles to pressure their families into helping Isabella during her trial.

In a world with no surveillance, this was the most suspicious and risky moment of this whole operation.

But even then, no one seemed to have noticed a thing.

Isabella: "I'm at a loss for words... Then... What about Hamperlon? Do you have anything against them as well?"

Miwen: "That one isn't so easy. Most of the nobles there are tough... It would take weeks to break even a single one. However, I do think we have a good chance against them. As Cassandra said, we can get a lot of momentum by striking them while they are still preparing."

Whoops.

Even though I wanted to hear more of what the others like Anna and the Valkyries had to say, I ended up spoiling my decision.

Miwen: "Hamperlon has three castles along our border. Mavic at the southmost, then Lari, and northmost there's Ilta. Mia, which one do you want us to take first?"

Mia: "...Me? Why?"

Miwen: "You'll lead your tribe to our first victory, it's only fair that you decide. There is no wrong answer here. But remember that we will be taking Terith not long after, so I'd appreciate it if you study and consider that."

Mia: "Fine..."

Miwen: "Great. Anna, Angelica, Beatrice, Ellie and Gullard, are going to our northmost castle. I'll have you as insurance if Edmond tries to start a siege. Elizabeth... I predict Hamperlon will call their ally from the other side of the straight if things get dicey. Hell, they might already be planning to do so. You'll take your pet there and will block the straight. After we have a little talk."

Elizabeth: "As you will."

Miwen: "Claire... You and Licia will go with Mia, Cassandra, Lana and me to Hamperlon. Isa, I'll have your brothers, Skuld, Eir, and Liefdis stay here in Evretis to take care of you. And if you behave... I'll think about rewarding you."

Elizabeth and Skuld had both praised Angelica immensely for her contributions during their mission.

Because of that, I ended up asking if she wanted something in return, to which she asked to spend the day with me.

Of course, I was going to be busy, and at first, I asked only for the girls who had experience with war to participate, but I could not refuse such a cute wish, and she sat quietly on my lap during the whole council.

I think Isabella was quite jealous of that, so maybe I can have her behave a little more by offering her the same.

Isa: "Hmph. I'm always behaving."

...I felt like I had a good chance with this one.