Chapter 169: Chapter 38 Everything as Usual

By evening that day, over a dozen letters sent by Yila had all returned, progressively reporting the situation of the battle the night before. When pieced together, they painted a full picture of the war.

One had to admit, Yila was a terrifying person… From the letters, it seemed many people were willing to respond to Yila’s inquiry, from generals who appeared to have experienced the battlefield firsthand to ordinary spectators.

Even Duke Novak, who should have been involved in the war, provided information to Yila.

It was too outrageous.

“Not even half of the duchy’s councilmen participated in the battle, and the number of casualties among their troops didn’t exceed one-tenth. This is what Novak wrote–”

Yila said, extracting valuable parts from the letters, and continued, “The councilmen’s troops arrived slowly. Before they got there, the merchants’ troops had already been pushed back considerably.”

Speaking in an epic and melodic tone, Yila used a feather quill dipped in ink to mark key passages as he recounted–

“Perhaps the imperial troops were too fast, or maybe the councilmen’s soldiers needed more coordination. The members of the council wouldn’t enter the battlefield so quickly. The Novak family was no different, and many people keen on earning military merits through war would likely be satisfied with this… perhaps.”

Yila looked up at the leaders who listened like obedient children by the fire, and, gazing at them through the firelight, he smiled and said, “Why does this feel like telling ghost stories at a campfire?”

Youyou: “…”

“So, what was Duke Novak saying? He doesn’t support the war?”

Vera asked, looking bewildered. She wasn’t very knowledgeable in this area, nor were the others… Including Satan Ye, everyone was confused except for Senata, who seemed to be in deep thought.

“Novak’s message was indeed quite cryptic, but let’s first look at the other letters.”

Yila said as he picked up another piece of parchment, “This letter… is from my student. I’ll read the key parts to you.”

“…”

Vera glanced over and faintly saw the word [Uncle]… She squinted, realizing it wasn’t another letter from Isabella, otherwise she would have teased him.

“Ahem~”

Yila cleared his throat and read aloud, “Our troops advanced quickly, becoming more forceful after Ule’s arrival. The enemy troops seemed like untrained recruits. We didn’t recognize their banners; they might not belong to any council member.”

“In the latter half of the night, we saw the troops of Duke Vernon Herala and several familiar council banners. But they didn’t engage directly; instead, they seemed to be driving and urging the recruits ahead to their deaths.”

“They didn’t resist but kept retreating their lines.”

“…”

After Yila finished, Satan Ye blinked and, with her clever mind whirling, said, “Using this opportunity to train soldiers? But…”

Unsure how to express herself, she paused, while Hilena, stroking her head with loving eyes filled with confusion, said, “But, with this level of casualties… if it’s indeed for training, it seems absurd.”

Yes, if it were for training soldiers, such a method would only seem extremely foolish unless… if the deliberate defeat was truly for the purpose of training.

“Yes, from this alone, it’s hard to get an accurate answer.”

Yila said, pulling out a piece of parchment marked with a clipped corner, “So, I’ll explain this piece of intelligence. It aligns somewhat with my previous theories about the war’s purpose.”

“Ahem…”

After a slight cough, Yila, sitting by the fire, his youthful face cast in shadow by the flames, creating the illusion of an older version of himself, seemed like an old magician telling a story.

Of course, in this world, mages old enough to be teachers usually didn’t appear elderly.

“Hi hi hi, long time no see. The situation here in the duchy is quite unclear from the battlefield, but from what we see, it doesn’t seem like much has changed. People are still doing their own things as if no war is going on. However, the Caesar community seems a bit unhappy, feeling very chaotic lately.”

Yila mimicked the tone of the common folk vividly, spreading his hands, and said, “By this, we can understand the purpose of this war in the duchy… It’s likely the old trick of diverting conflicts and cleaning house.”

Seeing some people grasp the idea, Yila spoke of the less-concerned past history of this world: “Before merging, the duchy was divided into Duke Hazad and Caesar Duchy… It seems the merger wasn’t thorough.”

“…”

“Mhm!”

Vera made this sound, looking fully enlightened, and said, “So, they sent the disobedient, unstable elements to their deaths?”

“Exactly.”

Yila nodded, glancing at the surrounding leaders, realizing possibly only Vera grasped this answer… because, to the monsters, the idea of sending unstable elements to their deaths might seem very relatable.

“So to say…”

Lodya took up the speech, turning her head with black flames towards Yila and said, “The duchy is too lazy to deal with the rebels themselves, so they leave it to the Empire to handle?”

It wasn’t laziness, but those doing the cleaning shouldn’t belong to any duchal force… but close enough.

So Yila nodded, enlightening all the leaders… even if not entirely accurate, for the monsters, justification wasn’t a concern. To them, whatever the Demon King wanted was justified.

Ultimate authority… such a wonderful thing, reminiscent of an easier world that had a federation.

“Hmm, so what do we do next?”

Satan Ye asked, raising her daintily-tip-toed tail to poke Yila’s hand, looking expectantly.

“Business as usual.”

Yila stated casually and confidently, “If nothing unexpected happens, this war will last another forty or fifty years and won’t affect us. But if it does…”

“We mustn’t let either side win or lose.”