「Okay Lily, I've still got things to do today. Go get some sleep in. In your own room.」

Straf says, shooing Lily out of his room with his hand.

「Huh!? Why!?」

Indignant, Lily stands up with a shocked expression on her face.

「Because I don't need any more rumors spreading. Don't crawl into my bed either, I will notice.」

Straf looks at Lily and sighs with a troubled grimace.

「…But I am not sleepy.」

Lily crosses her arms, pouting and looking aside.

「Of course you're not, you just guzzled coffee. Just think of a way to occupy yourself. I need to be alone for a few hours.」

Straf shrugs, and kneels on the bed.

「Alone?… Very well. I suppose I will try and force myself to sleep. Goodnight, Straf.」

Lily gives Straf a somber look as she leaves, taking one last glance at him just before closing the door. His bored face looks back at her, waiting for her to finally disappear.

Clack…

The door shuts with a quiet latch. Lily takes a few steps away from Straf's room, before looking over her shoulder at his door again.

《…He can't permit himself to be carefree and merry, huh? All the benefits of immortality I am able to offer him, and I can't even promise he won't suffer loss again… Just like me.》

Lily turns forward again, and leaves to look for an empty room with a frown on her face. Meanwhile, back in Straf's room…

「Huh. That's a lot of skill points. I didn't even kill that much shit.」

Straf looks at the stat screen floating in front of him, and dismisses it with a wave of his hand.

「Whatever, might as well take my time and browse through the list again later.」

He shrugs, and closes his eyes, focusing on his willpower…

…

The early next morning, Straf opens his eyes.

「Stats.」

The attribute screen appears again, and Straf grins when his eyes glance at his willpower.

Dexterity: 188 [+] ▲ Willpower: 114 [+]

「Heh. Over a 100 through slow growth and dedication- Wait a moment, shouldn't it slow down past the 100 mark?」

Straf looks aside, rubbing his chin in deep thought.

「Wouldn't this mean… I can just level my bloated stats into thousands with enough time and dedication?」

Straf looks back at the stat screen, and his face twists into a massive smug grin.

「That's so fucking busted. Alright. New goal! Willpower to 200, and then, luck to 1000!」

Straf says, then hops off the bed and stretches.

「Alright, time to collect Lia and resume the snappy pacing…」

Straf leaves his room, taking the bed and his coffee machine with him. On the way to the throne room, he notices an open door off to the side. He walks inside.

「Who are you?- Ah, you're that Straf person, aren't you?」

A middle-aged man in an ornate breastplate studded with a golden, or perhaps brass silhouette of a dragon in the center.

「Yeah, and who are you?」

Straf asks, looking at the large map on the table in the middle of the room. It appears to be a map of the local region, centered on the Redwing Kingdom.

「I'm the marshal. I don't believe we've met before, I've been out of the capital since the troubles started. I've heard from the queen that is likely what saved my neck from that maniac. I handle the military affairs. Troop readiness, supply levels, estimate the level of threat coming from other kingdoms, that kind of thing.」

With his hands behind his back, he walks up to Straf, sizing him up. Straf mostly ignores the man, and is more interested in the geography of the region.

《…That is not how rivers work, what the fuck?》

Straf furrows his brows, staring intensely at the completely randomly placed rivers.

「No wonder you put our queen back on the throne. You carry yourself like a veteran.」

The man says, and extends his hand towards Straf for a handshake. Straf looks at him with bored eyes, then down at his hand.

「Ursa Gladium.」

The marshal says, looking into Straf's eyes with a serious face as he awaits his handshake.

《Damn. That's a pretty sick name… Though it's more fitting for a metal band than this guy.》

Straf thinks, and grabs the marshal's hand.

Crrackkk…

He squeezes tightly, and shakes his hand a little. Ursa's lips grimace a little, but he maintains his stone face, staring straight into Straf's eyes. The two look at each other, Straf keeps gazing at the man with a bored expression, while Ursa is grunting and straining quietly without as much as a grimace after his initial reaction.

「Straf. Katastrof. Vindict.」

Eventually Straf lets go, and the marshal sighs in relief, keeping his squeezed hand hanging loosely as he carefully maneuvers it back behind himself again.

「Pleasure… To meet you… Straf. The queen has been nothing but praising you since I've arrived here.」

Ursa takes a moment to collect himself after the handshake, still grunting in discomfort, and he forces a polite smile onto his face.

「Yeah?…」

Straf loses interest, and walks up to the large table with the map on it.

「By the way, isn't the queen expecting you?」

Ursa asks, lightly wiggling his fingers with clenched teeth, looking at his reddened hand.

「Yeah, I guess. Oh! It's those fucking things!」

Straf notices something colorful under the table. He looks at a little shelf beneath, and finds red and blue figurines on rectangular stands. He takes a few handfuls of them, and places them on the map.

「The troop tokens? Yes, we use those for planning during wartime, to discuss war plans and strategies… Would you like me to notify the queen that you're here? I have been waiting for the spymaster, but I think he snubbed me.」

The marshal inches himself closer to the door, with his back turned towards it.

「Huh? Yeah, can you do that for me? Thanks.」

Straf glances at the man, and nods with a slight grin on his face, before turning his head back to the colorful pieces on the table. The marshal nods back, and backs out of the room.

《…What is wrong with his grip strength!? He almost broke my hand!》

As soon as Ursa clears the corner, he clutches onto his hand with clenched teeth. He takes a few breaths to collect himself, then shakes himself as he moves to the stairs.

《Heheheh… Finally, a fucking cliche. Of course they have these things here, how else would you represent enemy forces on a map? With regular rectangles? Circles? Stars? No way! It's the law around here, that the pieces have to be red for the enemy, blue for ours, and they have to be shaped like knights and other complex forms!》

Straf leans onto the map, looking at the figurines of soldiers before him, chuckling to himself like a madman with a massive grin. He sighs, and starts moving the pieces around.

《Okay, since I have this golden opportunity, how about I give it a go? Let's see…》

Straf looks at the map and the shape of the land, rubbing his chin. He looks at the red pieces, then the blue pieces.

《Okay, here's a scenario… Defensive war against… These guys, I guess?》

Straf places the red pieces up north, just at the northern border of the Redwing Kingdom, and straightens out to rub his chin again.

《Let's see… I guess if it's a defensive war, it would be pretty sudden and undeclared, so the troops wouldn't be ready. Let's take these guys… And these… And these guys… There. Actually, let's make it a little unfair too.》

Straf distributes the blue knights and cavalry in completely random spots within the Redwing Kingdom, and places his fists on his hips with a satisfied smirk. He shrugs, and takes some blue pieces away.

《They'd be pretty disorganized, right? It takes a moment for a country to get its shit wired together when under attack. The favorite tactic of mustached men is to exploit that time frame. I suppose the red team would make decent advances… I guess they'd easily move here?》

Straf slides the red pieces further inward into the kingdom, fanning them out as they get deeper in.

《But! As soon as the news spread, the response would be immediate! The first troops would be sent out to delay the enemy…》

He slides three pieces of blue knights to face the swarm of red knights and horsemen…

《…And there's no chance they'd win! I refuse to believe anybody here knows about elastic defense. They'll fight to the death over every single nameless village. Heh.》

Straf chuckles and grins as he tips two of the three knights halting the red forces over, tumbling them onto the ground.

《Now, that is a pretty unfair scenario. What I would do here is-》

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Straf leans onto the table, looking at the available blue figurines, and looking over the red pieces.

「Straf! You're back!」

Cycelia exclaims happily as she hastily walks into the room, clutching onto her medallion with a wide smile.

《Oh. Shit.》

Straf's face turns into a tight-lipped grimace. He hangs his head low without returning a word to Cycelia.

「I'm really glad you're back. I was worried… About many things. There's so much I have to show you and- Straf?… Are you alright?」

The marshal follows after Cycelia into the room, just as she notices Straf is acting unlike the Straf she knows.

《Oh shit. I can't tell her I've been playing with figurines like a fucking 5 year old. I'll be a laughing stock. I will never recover from this!》

Straf's eyes nervously glance left and right, as Cycelia draws closer, and closer.

「Straf?… Why are there tokens on the map? Were you planning something out?…」

She looks at the map, blinking in confusion.

《Ohh fffffffuuuuck.》

Straf lowers his head further, hiding his face behind his arm. Cycelia tilts her head, looking at him from the side.

《…What's gotten into him? He looks so… So in despair? Did something happen?》

Cycelia thinks as she attempts to decipher Straf's silence. The marshal approaches the table, and looks over the pieces as well.

「Huh… I can't say I have considered that angle, or even the possibility.」

The marshal says, audibly unimpressed by the placement of the pieces.

《Of course you fucking haven't! I was just playing map-painting!》

Straf covertly cringes.

「Why, marshal?」

Cycelia glances at Ursa, and they both look at the map.

「The Rankor Kingdom has been on amiable relations with us for a long time. Certainly, it isn't out of the question they could invade, it's just it's so unlikely, I have not considered it… But the placement of the pieces…」

The marshal looks at the blue pieces with a grave and troubled expression on his face.

「What about them?」

「…They are very accurately portraying out current strength, your highness. I hate to say it, but our forces are disorganized and confused right now. As unlikely as it is, if Rankor were to invade-」

In middle of the marshal's explanation, man repeatedly screams something in the hallway outside.

「…Highness! Your highness! Your highness!」

A man dressed in a black robe slides into the doorway, slamming his shoulder onto the door frame to slow himself down.

「Where have you been!? I've been waiting for you for over an hour!-」

The marshal shouts at the man, but the man interrupts him.

「Your highness! There's big trouble! The Rankor Kingdom just invaded!」

The robed man shouts with panic on his face, completely out of breath as he leans onto the door for support.

「Huh!?」 「What!?」

The news shocks both Cycelia and the marshal, who look at the map again.

「They have already crossed the border from the north and seized the fortress there! They have taken the troops by surprise! I have just now received a report that the troops closest to the border are already responding, but they're just a handful of untrained and under-equipped men! They won't last longer than two days against the bulk of their force!」

The spymaster approaches the table, still shouting in panic.

「The pieces…」

The marshal's eyes widen as he mumbles under his breath. He looks at the last blue figurine of a knight, bravely facing a much larger force alone in a narrow passage. Cycelia looks at the marshal with a concerned, serious face

「…The pieces are an accurate estimate of the forces at play, your highness. What you see is what you get. We are highly disorganized, and rallying them all together would take at least two or three weeks.」

The marshal hangs his head low as well, briefly mimicking Straf.

《Wait, really?》

Straf's brows rise.

「The men are highly distrustful after what happened. Please do not put the blame on them, they have heard the news of the throne changing hands twice now.」

The marshal sighs and looks Cycelia in her emerald eyes, with a doubly concerned and grace expression.

《Really!?》

Straf's ear moves.

「I won't. But… Those men… They can't win, can they?」

Cycelia looks at the fallen blue knights, and the last one standing.

「Absolutely not, your highness.」

Ursa shakes his head.

「Then why? Do they not know?」

Cycelia blinks, looking at the mass of red pieces flooding in into the kingdom.

「They do know, your highness. During war, lives become currency. The officers have decided to trust the crown and spend their lives to buy us some time. We can't let their loyalty and sacrifice go to waste, your highness.」

The marshal says, and straightens out. He stares at Straf intensely with curiosity in his gaze.

「This isn't what I wanted… This is not what I took the crown for…」

Cycelia hangs her head with a frown, clutching at her skirt as she quietly speaks with anguish in her voice.

「It is not a choice you have made, your highness, but it is a choice presented to you now.」

The marshal says and crosses his arms, still staring at Straf.

《…Did he know this was coming? Who is he? Some sort of genius tactician? He nearly predicted the future.》

Ursa thinks, and looks around the room. Cycelia keeps her sullen eyes focused on the fallen blue knights, the spymaster is slowly catching his breath, and Straf is still keeping his head hanging low.

《Okay! I didn't want to do war stuff this soon, but I have no fucking choice. I need to flip the thing with Lily onto its head, and unfortunately, this is the perfect opportunity.》

Straf sighs, and looks at the fallen pieces with bored eyes.

「…Straf?」

Cycelia tilts her head when she sees Straf move a little.

「I will order the troops to rally, your highness, but we should expect severe losses, both in land and people-」

「I will handle it.」

Straf says, and straightens out, interrupting the marshal and placing his hands in his pockets.

「You can't. The troops don't know you, they will not listen to your order to rally-」

Ursa shakes his head, trying to explain that he can't rally the troops.

「I didn't say I will rally the troops. I said I will handle it.」

Straf says, and turns for the door.

「What? Straf, what do you mean it!?」

Cycelia follows Straf, seeking clarification as she furrows her brows in great concern. The marshal joins in on following him.

「What else, Lia? The war.」

Straf shrugs as he nonchalantly says.

「What!? Straf, stop! Stop!」

She grabs onto Straf's thick, hard bicep with both of her hands, and futilely digs her boots into the ground to try and stop him. Straf stops on his own, and looks at Cycelia over his shoulder with bored eyes.

「Why?」

Straf bluntly asks.

「Straf! Don't be ridiculous! This is a war! It's not a single monster, or a small handful of them! It's tens of thousands of men armed to the teeth! And Rankor Kingdom is subject to constant skirmishing from the north! They have an immense amount of veteran troops!」

「So what?」

Straf shrugs, furrowing his brows at Cycelia.

「So what?… Straf! What if I don't see you again!? I have so many things to show you! What if… What if you just don't come back?」

Cycelia clutches onto Straf's shirt, her eyes wetting as she looks up at him with her pink lips trembling.

「Young man! The queen is right! Who do you think you are!? One man army!? Do you think the troops with you in the lead can somehow turn that numerical advantage around!?」

The marshal joins in, and points at the red mass on the table as he shouts.

「Huuh? Why would I order some dumb peasants around? I'm just going to go in there and kill the commanders.」

Straf smugly smirks, still keeping his hands in his pockets.

「Wha-?」

The marshal is instantly taken aback by Straf's response.

「Straf! Stop being ridiculous! You can't win a war like that!-」

Cycelia shouts, but the marshal's hand in front of her distracts her.

「No, your highness… That is a possibility… A decapitating strike… If the enemy forces' commander were to die, it's likely their coherence would fall apart. It's entirely possible they would even rout. But…」

Ursa looks at Straf with a serious face full of concern as he speaks to Cycelia.

「…But?」

「I don't think I need to say this, your highness, but it's incredibly dangerous. I don't know who Straf is, exactly. If he is an experienced assassin, he just might pull this off. It's possible we could avoid this war taking a bloody turn.」

He lowers his hand, still looking at Straf. Cycelia lowers her head, and clutches onto her medallion.

「I wouldn't call myself an assassin. I'll just walk in and kill them. That alright with you, Lia? I don't have to coddle them? Handle them with white gloves? I can just off them?」

Straf shrugs with his hands, and quickly returns them back to the pockets.

「I… Do what you must, Straf. I can't be so selfish as to ask you to not spill blood… But please try to spare as many lives as you can. This must be simply a foolish decision of Rankor Kingdom's new king. He has large shoes to fill, so he must be thinking war is the best path… I doubt the people have a choice.」

Cycelia answers, unable to look into Straf's eyes as she fiddles with her medallion with a sullen face.

「Yeah, yeah, just quick in an out. I guess I'll borrow a horse or some shit. See you tomorrow, Lia.」

Straf turns to leave again, heading for the door…

「Oh yeah, Lily wanted something from you. She's sleeping somewhere.」

…But stops only to point his finger at Cycelia, turning around briefly. He says with a smirk on his face, and shrugs, before disappearing outside the doorway…