Game Difficulty Is Insane
Chapter 19
Penelope’s main force withdrew.
The soldiers of Aveneu, who had barely overcome the first crisis, were calmly preparing for tomorrow.
Although they had won today, the tide of the war had not turned.
The enemy’s strength was still overwhelming, and allied reinforcements were far away.
Even so, their eyes were not soaked in deep despair without even a shred of hope.
The knights were maintaining their swords and armor, while the soldiers followed their commanders’ orders to repair the destroyed walls and place defensive supplies where they were needed.
They were doing everything they could to survive even one more day.
And their hope for survival was now directed toward a single person.
“How does it feel to be everyone’s hope?”
Romina spoke while poking Glen’s cheek with a mischievous smile.
“How does it feel? Umm… it’s burdensome?”
“Why? They worship you like that.”
Romina tilted her head as if she did not understand.
Of course, Romina had once been the Demon King’s daughter and had lived as a ruler who was constantly revered, so those gazes probably did not feel unpleasant to her.
“Honestly, I don’t really like that stuff. It’s cringey and embarrassing.”
Glen recalled the reactions around him after today’s battle.
– The Saint has arrived!
– The Saint will lead our holy war to victory!
– Ooooh! Saint! Saint!
Everyone in Aveneu Fortress, knights and regular soldiers alike, had been treating him as a Saint sent down by the gods.
It felt as if Judith Rossfeld had multiplied into several hundred people.
“It’s seriously way too much pressure.”
Glen shook his head in disgust.
Of course, he was human too, so receiving admiration, trust, and support from so many people was not entirely unpleasant.
‘And it’s true that such support and trust will be very useful someday.’
In fact, back when he had received the declaration of support from the Gray Wolf Knights, he had felt chills run through his entire body and the back of his head tingle.
However, the eyes the Gray Wolf Knights had shown him back then were clearly different from the eyes people were looking at him with today.
‘The difference between support and fanaticism, I guess.’
What Glen wanted was simply for people to see him as a capable young master they could admire at a reasonable level.
But today, they were acting as if his mere presence in their homes would bring blessings, so how could he not feel burdened?
‘It’s all my own doing, though.’
If he had known he would receive such overwhelming gazes, he should have played the role of a fanatic properly and sold the god’s name more moderately.
Of course, at the time, if he had not done that, there would have been no way to explain the bizarre actions he had taken… anyway, he should have held back a bit.
“Is that so? I just find it pleasant. You’re really bad at enjoying power, Young Master.”
“What can I do? I’ll have to get used to it. Even if it’s burdensome, those people are clearly a force that supports me.”
Once the scenario reached the mid-to-late stages and the scale of the story grew larger, he would need a force he could move freely anyway. In that sense, their fanatic behavior toward him was, strictly speaking, beneficial.
“Sure, sure. Get used to it. If you ask me, I think you’ll draw the attention of far more humans than you do now.”
With a look as if she were imagining something, Romina rubbed Glen’s cheek back and forth.
Glen pushed her hand away with an annoyed expression.
“Stop touching me.”
“Why~? Do you know how squishy your cheeks are? And it’s not like they’ll wear out just because I touch them—ow!”
He lightly punished Romina’s nonsense with a flick to the forehead.
“You never learn unless you get scolded.”
“I think I got a bump on my forehead…”
“You didn’t.”
Holding her forehead, Romina glared at Glen.
Ignoring her resentful gaze, Glen focused again on the paper spread out on the desk.
“But what have you been doing this whole time?”
“I’m planning tomorrow’s operation.”
“An operation?”
Romina slowly moved closer and craned her neck to look.
“Yeah. When I came back to the room, I got a letter from Sister Tris.”
“Oh? What did she say?”
“She said the reinforcements will be delayed.”
Romina’s pupils shook.
“What? By how much?”
“About one day later than my plan.”
In truth, this was only natural.
Glen and Tris had sent fake letters stamped with the lord’s seal to the vassals’ territories, but that was only emergency treatment.
Because of Muta’s schemes, it was only natural that allied reinforcements would be delayed beyond Glen’s original plan.
‘Even so, I was hoping they wouldn’t be late.’
It seemed the troops from each territory could not move as quickly as Glen had hoped.
“Then, for the reinforcements to arrive…”
“We have to hold out for one more day.”
“Hmm…”
Romina bit the tip of her nail.
“Can you hold out?”
“We can endure one more time, but not twice.”
Boosting morale and taking advantage of Aveneu’s terrain, which was overwhelmingly favorable for defense, would only work once or twice.
If Penelope lost her patience and launched a full-scale attack, even Aveneu would not be able to endure it.
“…So that’s why you were making a new plan?”
“Right.”
If they did nothing, Aveneu would fall, and Wordsworth would follow the predetermined scenario straight toward destruction.
“A bit of an extreme plan. I didn’t want to use it because the success rate is questionable, but given the situation, I don’t have a choice.”
“Why? What kind of plan is it?”
At Romina’s question, a sharp glint appeared in Glen’s eyes.
“Assassinate Penelope.”
“Did you just say we should assassinate the Legion Commander?!”
Jaber gaped.
At the same time, the commanders in the conference room began murmuring as they looked at one another.
“Yes.”
Hearing the seriousness in Glen’s calm voice, Jaber pressed a thick hand to his forehead.
Glen continued in a composed tone.
“As you have all heard, due to the demon scheme planted in Wordsworth by the enemy Legion Commander, the reinforcements that should have arrived at Aveneu are delayed by about one day.”
“Hmmm…”
Jaber’s expression darkened.
“As I said before, we can block the enemy demon main force up to two times until the reinforcements arrive.”
“You certainly did say that.”
“That fact hasn’t changed. We ended today’s battle in victory, and I am confident we can stop the enemy main force one more time.”
“But with the reinforcements delayed, what comes after that is the problem.”
Glen nodded.
“That’s why we have no choice but to use a somewhat extreme measure on our side.”
The deputy commander of the 8th Legion, Muta, had already collapsed in the Wordsworth estate.
If they also took down the Legion Commander Penelope, the command structure of the Demon King Army’s 8th Legion would completely collapse.
At the very least, they would be able to force the enemy army to withdraw.
