Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

She didn’t expect this kind of request from him. She was already expecting him to make her do something intimate, but his words threw her off.

“Did you not hear me?” Alaric’s voice broke her from her stupor.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I was just a bit surprised. Excuse me.” She adjusted her clothes before she grabbed the letter.

What is this?

Isn’t this a letter from the crown prince?! Why would he ask me to read something this important?!

Mathilda felt inexplicably nervous. She was only a servant of House Silversword and someone of her status would never be allowed to read classified information or documents.

Is he making me read this so he would have a reason to execute me?

Her mind spiraled out of control as she began to overthink the motive behind Alaric’s actions.

Alaric noticed her trembling hands, making him raise an eyebrow. “Don’t be nervous. I just want to hear your thoughts about the crown prince’s decision.”

“Why do you think he took three hundred thousand warriors to Noyam that only has fewer than fifty thousand soldiers?”

Mathilda stiffened upon hearing this and realization dawned on her.

I see. So he just wants to hear my thoughts on this matter.

“Before giving you my opinion, can you tell me more about the situation?” She didn’t have access to military information so she couldn’t give him a proper answer.

Alaric understood what she was implying so he explained the whole situation to her starting from the very beginning.

He told her about the crown prince’s plan to conquer the six cities and all those they had discussed in their meetings.

Mathilda listened with great attention, afraid that she would miss a detail.

I see. So that’s what’s happening now.

Aren’t we in a dangerous position?

She became scared when she realized the truth.

“Why do you think he made this decision?” Alaric repeated his question.

Mathilda took a deep breath before she replied. “I think His Highness is planning to conquer the three cities successively.”

Alaric’s eyes went wide upon hearing this. “You think so? But why? Wouldn’t our troops be exhausted if they tried to conquer one city after another?”

“That’s true. Our troops will be exhausted, but His Highness probably made this decision so we could gain control of the six cities before Veronica could intervene.”

“With six cities under our hands, we would have the upper hand in the next negotiations.”

Mathilda replied.

Alaric was astounded.

“So you’re also amazing in other aspects.” He subconsciously blurted out his thoughts.

Hearing this, Mathilda blushed in embarrassment.

Alaric realized his mistake so he quickly changed the subject. “Do you think he will succeed?”

Mathilda didn’t expose him and responded with a nod. “With Lord Dominic and Lord Lucas by his side, there is no way for His Highness to fail. However, there is a big factor that might change the outcome of the battle…”

“And this big factor is?” Alaric curiously asked.

“Leroy Durova.”

Alaric frowned when she mentioned this name. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel•fire.net

Leroy Durova was someone who had betrayed Harune to join their side. He was a 4-Ringed Beast Soul Grandmaster who could command a Catastrophe-grade beast.

Thinking about it carefully, he was indeed an unstable factor.

“Oh! I think I understand it now!” Mathilda suddenly exclaimed.

“I think His Highness, the crown prince, is doing this to test if he could trust Leroy. This trip would expose whether Leroy had truly pledged allegiance to Astania. If Leroy helped the Astanian army in conquering the three cities, Harune would definitely be furious and cut ties with him.”

Alaric was dumbfounded. Not even an hour had passed since she came here, but she already managed to give an incredible input about the situation.

This girl… she is more than a slave after all…

…

Five days after Leighnard led the troops towards Noyam, they finally caught sight of the city.

It was situated in the middle of a plain so the city wasn’t hard to find. It was surrounded by tall earthen walls equipped with old ballistas.

Just like the report said, their artillery is old and some are probably unusable.

Leighnard thought as he looked at the distant city.

“Your Highness, please give me the command. I will make them surrender without us needing to fight.” A voice suddenly drifted into his ears.

Turning his head, Leighnard saw that it was Dominic. “There is no need to trouble yourself, Lord Dominic. Noyam will surrender on its own even if we don’t force it.”

Dominic was taken aback by his words. “Huh?”

He found it unbelievable. All the strongholds and cities they encountered had never surrendered to them. They all put up a resistance, refusing to surrender despite being at a disadvantage.

The residents of Harune are some of the most prideful people on the continent. He couldn’t imagine these kinds of people willingly surrendering to their army.

“I already sent someone ahead of us. If nothing went wrong, Noyam will open its gates for our troops.” Leighnard smiled faintly.

Dominic frowned. “Are you talking about Leroy’s troops?”

Last night, there was a small portion of their troops that separated from the main army and the person leading them was Leroy.

He thought that the crown prince sent the guy for another errand, but it turned out that it was for this matter.

“That’s right.” The crown prince didn’t hide it from him.

“I want to see if Leroy can be trusted. I still can’t bring myself to trust him. After all, he was born and raised in Harune. He might have some lingering attachment to his home country.”

Dominic understood his intentions.

“What if he sides with Noyam?”

With a cold smile, the crown prince replied. “I was hoping that would happen. I don’t really want to work with that guy. However, I don’t think Leroy would choose to betray us now.”

“Harune is no longer the powerhouse that it was back then. If he is smart, Leroy would choose to dedicate himself to Astania.”