Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Chapter 454: Strategic Discussion [III]

We discussed many things over the next two hours, both significant and trivial, until the lineup of our defensive lines was hammered into stone.

The simple conclusion we reached was that I would not be making any of them my officers. Except Juliana.

I needed Alexia and Michael’s unrivaled offensive capabilities to remain completely unrestricted.

Ray was also going to be needed on the front lines. Kang was too good a scout and tracker to be chained down in a single sector.

The only exception was Juliana. She would be my Knight.

Why? Well, the +25% speed the Knight’s Medallion would give her was too good to pass on. But that was not my real reason.

You see, the position of the two Knight sectors was far too valuable to risk falling into the enemy’s hands.

Their jurisdiction sat right on the inner flank of the western and eastern ends of the central river, neighbouring both Rooks and Bishops.

Even if Thalia’s Officers managed to take all my other pieces but my Knights, I could still delay them from reaching the Ivory Castle by either flanking them or creating an impassable choke point right in the heart of our territory.

But if they got my Knights…

Well, I would just throw my hands up and surrender at that point.

So yeah, Juliana needed to keep one of the Knight Medallions safe on her. And for the other one, I was going to have to find someone capable for the job.

By the time our discussion dragged to a close, Alexia was slumped forward against the edge of the obsidian table, groaning. “I miss Lily.”

I missed her too.

“I miss Vince,” Ray sobbed, slumped forward right opposite Alexia. “Where is that fucker?!”

I missed him too.

But now wasn’t a good time for crying over missing paw— friends. “Can you two get to work already? Look at Michael and Kang. They are already gone. Be diligent like them. Shoo!”

I wanted everyone to go out, talk to the Cadets, and handpick their own platoons. While they weren’t going to be my Officers, they’d still have all the authority to lead the Legions.

Ray and Alexia would be part of the Rooks, Juliana and Michael of the Knights, and Kang of the eastern Bishop sector.

As for the other Bishop sector, I intended to sacrifice it sooner or later. So I would lead it myself.

But my two very competent and highly enthusiastic friends didn’t move an inch. Instead, they let out a synchronized sigh and started complaining.

“It’s so easy for you!” Ray whined.

“Yeah,” Alexia added immediately in the same tone. I decided that I needed to keep her away from him. His bad influence was rubbing off. “You’ll just put on the crown and stay safe here in the tower like a glorified paperweight! We’ll be the ones doing all the heavy lifting in the dirt!”

​”Glorified paperweight?” I repeated, my eyebrow twitching. “I am not going to be the King, you dumbo!”

They both jerked up so fast you’d think I had poured a bucket of cold water on their empty little heads. Taking pity on them fools, I graciously explained the situation.

Vereshia had never said the faction leaders would have to wear the Crown themselves. That was just expected, not a rule. If it was, she would’ve either explicitly said so or made us wear it right in front of her eyes as she did with the Rings.

That meant we were free to crown whoever we wanted.

There were some risks to this, obviously.

The Crown was the most important piece on this board. It allowed the King to communicate with his Officers over any distance through the Medallions as if on a phone call.

That communication link was the only way to coordinate across a map this massive.

But even if we put the importance of that utility aside, once the Crown broke, this game was over anyway. Fortunately, the King could not leave this Castle Tower.

Even more fortunately, only Thalia could break the Crown since she was the one wearing the Ring.

That meant the King would have to be either defeated and stripped of the Crown so it could be delivered to her, or my sister would have to personally march over here to deliver a checkmate.

Of course…

I looked down at my index finger. The bronze of the metallic ring that had fused with my flesh caught the dim light of the gothic hall.

Of course, the same was true for me.

To win, I would eventually have to cross the river, break into the Ivory Castle, and press this ring directly against the runes of her Crown.

Well, that was an option, anyway.

There was this… sort of plan I had cooked up.

I wasn’t going to execute it… because it involved me chopping off my finger and giving it to someone else — someone who could infiltrate and assassinate while I drew the enemy’s attention.

Yeah…

Thalia would never see it.

It was a brilliant tactical gamble.

But as much as I loved the theatrics of it, I wasn’t quite sure if the Ring would even work if it was attached to a severed digit.

And even if I was sure, I wasn’t ready or desperate enough to self-mutilate over a stupid Mock War. There weren’t even any healers here. Oh! Yes. The Academy forbade anyone with any healing-related innate ability from joining this war.

They were all too valuable to risk getting hurt.

So yeah, call me old-fashioned, but I liked having all ten of my fingers. Though I guessed these days I had eleven.

“Do you think Lady Thalia would be crowning someone else too?” Ray asked.

Honestly, I didn’t know.

Thalia was a perfectionist. She liked having absolute control over everything. I already knew her commands were going to be dealt with fine precision.

I didn’t know if anyone else in her camp possessed the strategic nuance she’d deem worthy of holding the Crown’s telepathic link.

Casey, most likely, hadn’t proved herself yet. Other geniuses like Kaelron Vire — who I was sure had joined her camp — and Princess Alice were going to be wasted if not used on the battlefield.

But then again, Thalia was also a massive coward when it came to losing. If she thought for a single second that staying behind in that tower would cost her the victory, she’d not do it.

“Doesn’t matter,” I grumbled, waving my hand dismissively. “No use asking questions now when we won’t know the answer until the endgame starts.”