The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 83

Episode 83:

The guards, the temple, and the magic guild who were to take over arrived belatedly.

Hearing that it was the Empire’s hidden hideout, they rushed to it even though the gate was full.

“Prince Raoul, you have made a great contribution again. “He is also the guardian of Turium.”

“Zenon’s blessing will be upon Prince Raoul, who has subdued the devil’s den.”

Since they would take care of the cleanup, Raoul returned to the mansion, leaving behind some troops.

Operations situation room.

Raoul, Bernard and the executives were gathered.

“What is the current gate situation?”

“We’ve cleared 20 of the 50 gates. The remaining gates are 25 for F grade and 5 for E grade.”

Closing the gate where the wave occurred was surprisingly simple. If you hunt the elite guardian that appears at the end of the wave, the gate will disappear by itself.

A question arises here.

The appearance of the elite guardian means that almost all the monsters have come out, so the question is whether the gate must be closed.

The conclusion is that it should be so.

If the gate where the wave occurred is left unattended, the gate becomes fixed and turns into a dungeon.

Dungeonized gates are difficult to close, and waves occur periodically, making them even more of a headache than they are now.

In any case, for the safety of the city and its residents, the remaining gates had to be processed quickly.

“Has the central army moved?”

“As instructed by the Master, we contacted the commander of the Central Corps, and both the main camp outside the city and the central army of the 1st Outer Castle were sent to the battlefield.”

“Thank goodness. “What about our soldiers?”

“As instructed by the Master, we are forming a defense line centered around civilian residential areas, and some of our spare troops are being organized into a tracking team.”

Turium’s map attached to the front of the operation room showed complex markings and updated real-time information on troop deployment and monster occurrences.

‘hmm. ‘Is this a good save?’

Because the 3rd and 4th outer walls were so large, it was not possible to deploy troops in all areas.

Perhaps that’s why the red mark representing the monster broke through the gate barrier and spread widely, but the residential defense line prepared in advance was doing its job.

The worst situation is the second outer castle.

I don’t know if it was because the First Knights were not deployed, but the monsters had already spread throughout the city.

Fortunately, the base defense network formed around each guild and temple was holding up well.

‘The first outer castle will take care of something.’

Before the wave broke out, Raoul proposed building a joint defense network with each influential noble family.

This is because if the knights and private soldiers of each family were mobilized, it would not be a task to block about 10 gates of the first outer castle.

Of course, the offer was coldly rejected.

Not only did they not know when the gate would explode, but they were not wrong in saying that it was the guards and central army’s job to defend the capital.

Instead, Raoul enlisted the cooperation of blood relatives and close families to create a defensive line only around the count’s mansion.

In addition to the First Knights, there were more than 100 knights from partner families, so no matter how many horsemen appeared, they would not be able to overcome the defense line.

According to Kane, about 500 of the horse soldiers who left the hideout were deployed to the first outer castle, but it was questionable whether the other families would be safe.

Judging from the outside of the defense line, everywhere was on fire and screams were echoing…

Raoul, who had been lost in thought while looking at the map for a while, opened his mouth.

“Unless anything special happens, the operation of troops will remain as is. “It is not our responsibility to subdue the monsters that have spread throughout the city, so leave it to the central army.”

If we turn into an urban battle instead of a defensive war, casualties will definitely increase.

The idea was that it would be better to securely protect the current defense line area rather than clumsily splitting up the troops and engaging in a subjugation war.

‘I’m not really some sort of guardian or savior.’

It’s good to save the residents, but strictly speaking, the residents of Turium were not Raoul’s relatives.

Sacrifice your subordinates to save the lives of the residents? Raoul had no intention of doing so even at the cost of loss.

Mobilizing troops to stop the wave was a thoroughly calculated political decision.

By saving the lives of residents, you gain fame and support and prepare for various scenarios in the future.

Through actual combat, the newly accepted troops will improve their sense of combat and skills and make them proud of the First Guild.

Personally, I want to solve quests and receive various benefits and rewards as a player.

The troops were moved for these various worldly purposes, and things like justice, humanity, and faith were only secondary.

And honestly, by attacking the Imperial Hound’s hideout, Raoul’s goal had been fully achieved.

‘There’s no need to force yourself to move.’

However, I had no intention of making fun of the troops.

“Have about ten of the knights join Dalton’s pursuit team, and deploy the remaining knights to the defensive line.”

“Yes Master.”

When the troop redeployment was completed, only Philip and other senior knights and ten armor users remained at the headquarters.

“How much longer will it take to replace the power armor mana stone?”

“The wizard says it will be completed in about 20 minutes.”

There are a total of 30 armor users in the First Knights.

Among them, there were only four power armors of C grade or higher.

Most of the rest were low-grade E-grade items, and the mana stones had to be replaced after the battle.

Raoul has been trying to secure power armor since he left the county, but obtaining power armor has never been easy.

Since the quantity produced was not large in the first place, orders were received through auction every year, but this year’s product was already sold out.

The only way to get it was to buy used items, but mid-level items and above could not be traded.

In fact, 20 of the 30 power armors were obtained from his parents’ house with the help of his father, and the ones that Raoul himself obtained were used items purchased at more than twice the regular price.

Honestly, it didn’t really matter if it was expensive or used. As long as it worked, power armor was a sufficient strategic weapon in itself.

In any case, except for the power armor of Raoul and the executive knights, all of the mana stones were being replaced, and even when the replacement was completed, if the cooldown expired, they would not be able to use even half of their full performance.

We weren’t fighting over the power armor activation timing for no reason.

Raoul took a break to think about his next goal.

“What are you so worried about?”

Ravel asked as he sat down by Raoul’s bedside. She looked brighter, probably feeling better after getting some fresh air outside for the first time in a while.

“Actually, there’s something that bothers me a little.”

“What?”

“Palace.”

“Is that what Viscount Planck said?”

“It’s not like that…”

Honestly, I didn’t think it mattered much what happened to the king or the royal family. No, on the contrary, I deliberately avoided it.

This is because he was worried that his intervention would distort the future.

I also thought that even if history continued as it should, there would be no great harm to the Ashton family or to myself.

If things continue like this, the royal family will fall into disrepute and the power structure will be reorganized around prestigious noble families.

“I thought so, but suddenly I became anxious.”

“For what?”

“I feel like the future I already know has changed.”

You wouldn’t have noticed it if you had stayed still, but many things have already changed since Raoul was reincarnated.

Not only was the name of the Earl of Ashton, which had been forgotten in people’s memories, revived, but Raoul and the First Knights were also building a tremendous reputation.

Originally, this was a family that was destined to become extinct sooner or later, but there was no way Raoul would just watch that happen.

If the Ashton family survives, it will rise and become more powerful, but is it really right to just watch the royal family fall?

“I thought it would be better to actively intervene now.”

To be honest, Raoul preferred to take the initiative rather than sit back and wait for something to happen.

This is because I wanted to become a person who creates my own plan, not a clown who dances on the plan laid by others.

Even in his past life, he walked his own path without compromising with big powers.

Thanks to this, I lost my life and was reincarnated in the game world, but I did not regret my past. I just felt sorry for my lack of strength.

Ravel seemed to understand Raoul’s feelings and said with a smile.

“There is no right answer in life. And I believe that there is no fixed future. Isn’t the information written on the Link Cafe just a record of one possibility? “I don’t think Raoul needs to be too caught up in that information.”

Ravel spread his wings, landed on the skill encyclopedia, and continued speaking.

“Neither I nor this child are written there. And Raoul has also changed so much that it’s hard to believe. So, I think it’s okay for Raoul to believe in himself more and move as he wants.”

After hearing Ravel’s words, Raoul felt a little at ease.

‘okay. I think I was trying too hard to find the right answer.’

Unless you are God, how can you find only the right answer in every choice?

It is true that we need to think and move carefully, but sometimes bold decisions are necessary.

As I organized my thoughts, I suddenly found myself looking very funny.

Thinking about it, it was unlikely that he would be able to change anything just by going to the palace now.

The royal palace was filled with strong men that he could not deal with, including the royal knight corps of the kingdom’s best knights.

It was difficult to believe that the trend would change just because he and a few knights entered the war.

‘I guess I’ve become conceited again. Come to your senses!’

They say they have been successful so far, but that is because they have used knowledge that others do not know.

There’s still a long way to go, but I’m already overconfident…

“Thank you. Thanks to you, my problem was solved. As expected, I feel reassured because I have supporters.”

In response to Raoul’s praise, Ravel pushed up his glasses and said.

“Hmm. If you know, you can rely on me more in the future. It’s probably hard to find a great supporter like me. “Okay then, I’ll just leave~”

Perhaps because he was embarrassed by what he said, the label went into the skill encyclopedia.

Raoul, who looked at the scene with a satisfied expression, soon gathered his thoughts and called the knights, including Philip.

“After the maintenance of the power armor is completed, we will go to the inner castle. “Check the equipment and gather.”

“You mean resistance? “Can I come in now?”

No one could enter the inner palace. If you want to visit, you have to obtain a permit in advance through the government office, and even then, the gates are completely closed after midnight.

“well. “I can’t guarantee that, but I have no choice but to go for now.”

“I will prepare, Master.”

Honestly, everyone is probably curious about the situation in Naeseong, where the royal palace is located.

It was already known that a gate had appeared in the inner city, and it was possible to guess to some extent that something had happened there.

Tingling.

The terrifying aura coming from the palace sent a chill down my spine. I tried my best to ignore it until now, but not anymore.

‘Let’s go and decide whether to intervene or not. ‘I should at least check to see what happened.’

What is really going on in the royal palace? Raoul consoled his anxiety by petting Regnator.

(Continued in the next part)