READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 76
Chapter 76: The Annexation of Gildoruk (3)
“If we keep holing up in this castle, we have no chance of winning!!”
“But if we go out to fight, we’ll be wiped out immediately!!”
“Damn it!! If only that mercenary had held out a little longer, we could’ve made our next move!!”
The council meeting at Rekuryaku Castle was in complete chaos. To put it simply, they were arguing over whether to continue the siege or to go out and fight.
(Logically, if we keep holing up, they’ll definitely kill me and surrender with my head. But there’s no way Zabeiru would settle for that. They’d massacre everyone here without a doubt… To avoid that, we’d have to fight once and make them think we’re tough… But… That’s impossible.)
Sosua had no choice but to reject her own plan. The reason was simple: even if they fought, there was no way to make the enemy think they were strong.
Sosua’s side had no commanders. The people gathered around her were from noble families, but they were all from minor branches, and most were practically commoners. In short, they had no experience leading troops.
Commanding troops is a special skill, one that can’t be learned overnight. Those who had that skill had mostly died in the early battles against the Zabeiru Military.
In such a situation, fighting against the battle-hardened Zabeiru Military would be easier than twisting a baby’s arm. Defeat was inevitable.
(Sigh… I’m too tired to even think about this. We’re going to die anyway, so what’s the point of thinking? Might as well just say it…)
Sosua had considered every possible solution, but no matter how she looked at it, there was no way out. So, it was only natural that she was starting to feel like, “Whatever, let’s just do it.”
“Everyone, listen.”
As soon as Sosua spoke, the arguing stopped, and all eyes turned to her.
“In this situation, there’s no way to turn things around. I will surrender and offer my life in exchange for sparing all of you.”
Everyone’s faces froze at Sosua’s words. Her statement was the last resort that everyone had secretly considered, but no one had dared to suggest it first.
“W-What are you saying!!”
“If we lose Her Majesty, Gildoruk will be completely destroyed!!”
“That’s right!! We must avoid that at all costs!!”
In the next moment, everyone vehemently opposed her decision.
“But if we do nothing, all of your lives will be in danger.”
Sosua said this with a pained expression.
Her expression might have evoked a desire to protect her, but Sosua wasn’t trying to ask for help. She was just too tired to think anymore. It was a sign of her mental exhaustion.
(Huh… So there’s at least one decent person in the Gildoruk royal family?)
(At least she’s not like those other trash.)
Ryoshua and the others were starting to feel a little moved by Sosua’s words. It had been some time since they brought her here, but they had no memory of her acting spoiled. She never complained about the poor meals or the shabby rooms.
This wasn’t because Sosua had no complaints, but because she had figured out that Ryoshua and the others were on Zabeiru’s side, so she had given up on relying on them.
“Isn’t it pathetic to never fight and just hope for happiness?”
“Y-Yes, we can’t just not fight at all.”
At Ryoshua’s words, Reos and the others nodded. Though they often clashed, this time they surprisingly agreed.
Their opinions aligned, but their underlying motives were completely different.
Ryoshua wanted to weaken Reos’s forces—in other words, to thin them out—while Reos and his group wanted to sell themselves to Zabeiru at a high price.
Reos and his group already knew they had no chance of winning. So, even if they surrendered to Zabeiru, they believed they needed to prove their worth. It was a naive plan, but they were dead serious about it.
“But that will only result in unnecessary sacrifices.”
“Your Majesty, don’t you trust us?”
(Of course not!! Incompetent allies are worse than capable enemies!!)
Sosua barely managed to swallow her words at Reos’s statement.
“It’s heartwarming that Your Majesty cares for us, but if we don’t fight at least once, we’ll be looked down upon during negotiations.”
Sosua couldn’t argue with Ryoshua’s suggestion. If it was framed as a fight for the sake of negotiations, she couldn’t strongly oppose it.
“…Understood. I don’t know much about actual combat, so I won’t interfere. I wish you luck in battle.”
“Yes!!”
With that, Sosua stopped intervening.
With Sosua’s approval, Ryoshua and Reos immediately prepared to go out and fight.
(There’s zero chance of winning… I just hope the casualties are minimal…)
Sosua couldn’t help but wish for that.
However, contrary to Sosua’s expectations… they won the first battle.
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