Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 352

# 353

Suddenly, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 1

Legion doesn’t want to study.

But he has to.

He was looking at a map of Chengdu, encompassing a 100-kilometer radius.

He stares for a long time.

He still doesn’t understand.

This is something a strategist should look at.

But do I even have a strategist?

No.

When you think about it, I haven’t even fought a proper war.

I’ve fought battles, but this is my first war.

What’s the charm of a battle?

Unconditional charge.

Pour magical bombardments over their heads, rain down arrows, and have heavily armed warriors charge in.

That’s a man’s battle.

But anyone who isn’t an idiot knows that battles and wars are different.

I don’t have a strategist by my side.

Dreyzer. A crazy warrior.

Lich Mamon. A crazy lich.

Bone Dragon. A crazy bone dragon.

My subordinates. Crazy bastards who only know how to fight.

Shuttle. A crazy outcast.

Regular soldiers numbering a thousand. Those damn bastards who form unions and always ask for pay raises.

Orc Legion. Crazy bitches who are obsessed with men.

Porse. Lucky bastard for getting a young wife.

Sephia and the Ogre Legion. The strongest fighters.

Raiden, the rejected Ice Hero.

“Ugh!”

No!

I don’t have any talent.

They’re all fighters.

Legion sighed deeply.

There was no one to command those bastards.

“Is it just me?”

If you don’t have teeth, you have to make do with your gums.

I have no choice but to become a strategist myself.

Legion spread out dozens of books he had bought secondhand on the table.

There didn’t seem to be a more useful book about war than this.

*Kingdom*.

A historical epic disguised as a novel.

If I master this book, I’ll have no problem with war.

“Sob.”

Legion shed tears while reading the book.

Wang Qi, one of the Six Great Generals of Qin, died at the hands of Pang Nuan. No way. Such a great general dying to Pang Nuan.

Legion closes the book for a moment and imagines the situation. What was the reason for Wang Qi’s defeat?

He replays it several times.

Wang Qi is a Grand Master [a highly skilled martial artist or warrior].

It was such a fierce battlefield that even a Grand Master was defeated.

There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t end up like that.

If it were me… what would I have done?

Thump.

Dreyzer opened the door and came in.

“What are you doing?”

Legion frowned. It hasn’t been many days since that bastard came back. What the hell was he doing that he arrived ten days later than me?

“None of your business. Whatever I’m doing.”

“I heard the story. They say we have to go to war?”

“Yeah. Duke Gong is finally out of his mind.”

“I don’t think the person who drove him crazy should be saying that.”

“I drove him crazy?”

“Then who else would it be?”

“I think you played a part too.”

“The master dealt about ten times more damage. 200 million gold? I’m amazed. How can the betting amount be in the unit of a national budget?”

“Ask Shuttle. How can you win first place with that carriage?”

“That bastard bet 100,000 gold, but he desperately told me to bet only 10,000 gold, so I won 200 million gold.”

“100,000 gold?”

“Yeah.”

Dreyzer doesn’t quite understand. 100,000 gold. Then that means he could have received a betting amount of 2 billion gold, the highest in history.

Duke Gong can’t have 2 billion gold.

No one in the kingdom has 2 billion gold.

You can’t get that amount even if you shake down the entire nation.

Even if you were a chancellor who held the empire’s power, you wouldn’t have 2 billion.

Dreyzer still doesn’t understand how that amount comes about.

“So what’s the situation now?”

“It’s serious.”

“Serious?”

“Yeah, Duke Gong seized the royal palace first. And he gagged the eyes and mouths of the royal family and the royalist faction and put his troops into the castle. He just went ahead and did it. The capital defense force, which had been neutral, seems to have sided with Duke Gong.”

“So you’re saying Duke Gong has already occupied the capital?”

“That’s right. The Duke Gong faction nobles are constantly increasing.”

“Troops?”

“Currently 80,000. But it will increase to 150,000 within fifteen days.”

“150,000. That’s huge. Then what about the royalist faction?”

“They are expected to have about 180,000.”

“Doesn’t the royalist faction have fewer forces?”

“There are more neutral nobles who are hesitant about the sudden event.”

“A battle of wits, huh?”

“That’s right.”

“A battle of wits in this situation. But what on earth is Duke Gong thinking, starting a civil war? No, it’s not a civil war. It’s a hostage situation. He’s holding the king hostage.”

“Yeah, there will soon be a declaration that he will directly run the kingdom. But there’s no way the royalist faction will stand still.”

“Headache?”

“There’s no need to have a headache. It’s a showdown between the royalist and Gong factions, who have concentrated their forces. If the royalist faction gets over the castle walls and protects the king, this fight is over. If the royalist faction fails to get over the castle walls and collapses, the Gong faction will receive the royal seal from the king, and Duke Gong will build a new dynasty. What’s so headache-inducing about that?”

“Only the master can make such a complicated political situation so simple. That’s a talent if it’s anything. So which side did the master join?”

“I have no choice. I’ve done so much so far. I decided to fight with Grandpa Baserabap.”

“The royalist faction, then.”

“Well, that’s how it turned out.”

“What’s that?”

“What?”

“What you’re reading.”

“I’m reading a guide to become a strategist. If I read this, I’ll be able to win every battle even if I go to war.”

Dreyzer picked up the book Legion was reading.

“Hey, what are you looking at? Would you understand if you saw it?”

“*Kingdom*?”

“It’s a famous book. It has a thorough explanation of how to operate an army.”

“It’s a comic book?”

“It’s embarrassing, so call it a history book.”

“Haa.”

Dreyzer sighed deeply. He’s looking at the master strangely.

His eyes seemed to say, ‘Am I supposed to risk my life believing in that?’

“How many troops can you mobilize?”

“Um. About 700 soldiers who can fight properly.”

“Isn’t that too few?”

“It is few. Even Count Persimmon can mobilize up to 10,000 troops, I heard.”

“What were you doing while everyone else was building up their forces?”

“I made money! If I spend money, I can easily gather 5,000 mercenaries.”

“Then do that. Master is a count. If you go with only 700 people, you’ll only get cursed at.”

“Hmm. Even 700 are elite soldiers.”

“That’s just what the master thinks. What are you going to do with the money you’ve saved? Gather mercenaries, even if they’re just mercenaries.”

“5,000 mercenaries.”

Legion thought it was a huge force. He had never operated such a unit before.

He just felt more comfortable fighting alone.

“Are you not confident in operating a unit?”

“No, I’m not.”

“I knew it when you were reading *Kingdom*.”

“I’m telling you, I’m not.”

“We have a great strategist in our territory, don’t we?”

“Who?”

“Who else could it be? Headmaster Lauzel (the crown prince who lost his memory) who is teaching the children.”

“Ah! That’s right. There was a special teacher who was a herbalist but had mastered royal studies, military science, introduction to military science, macro military science, and micro military science.”

“I thought you had forgotten.”

“No. I hadn’t forgotten.”

“Then how about using his skills this time? It’s too bad to just teach children with his skills.”

“That’s true, but I have to ask him first. Where we’re going is a battlefield. Ordinary people can’t even imagine it.”

“Let’s ask him first. With his abilities, he can play the role of a strategist.”

Legion nodded.

Teacher Lauzel seemed capable enough.

He turned his head and looked at the books he had bought secondhand. It’s a bit of a waste.

I was going to read those and master military science.

Mark, who read Legion’s thoughts, cursed inwardly for about 10 minutes straight.

* * *

The departure date was set for fifteen days later.

Messengers from Duke Sijinpi, urging him to join the main force as soon as possible, were flying in almost every day.

Legion asked the messenger, ‘I’m going! Going! Please stop nagging me!’

I don’t know why they’re only nagging me so much when there are so many knights with stellar power.

“It just means that Count Legion of the Holy is expected to do that much. Hehehe.”

Lauzel, who was promoted from headmaster to strategist, replied with a smile.

Hehehe?

How old is he that his smile is like that?

The only military expert in the territory.

So I treated him well.

Dreyzer said I had to visit him three times or something. I asked him three times because I didn’t want to force someone who didn’t want to be a strategist.

Who?

The lord himself!

Then he followed me with an expression that said, ‘I don’t want to do it, but I’m helping you because you asked me to.’

Then he says he can’t work with the headmaster’s salary or something. He’s asking for money.

That bastard is using his head.

I did everything he asked.

100 gold just for participating in this expedition.

An additional 50 gold per battle.

Additional victory allowance.

Additional overtime pay.

I paid a total of 1,000 gold.

No matter how I think about it, I feel like I’ve been ripped off.

Was Lauzel always such a money-grubber?

Or has he become worldly, unlike his innocent-looking face?

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been forcibly molested by some bastard in front of my house.

Anyway, Lauzel became a formal strategist.

He’s so cocky now that he’s a strategist.

Look at him. Look at him.

He’s got so much power in his shoulders.

He emphasized that he was simple. As soon as he became a strategist, he put on silk clothes. He said he walked around the school in those clothes for hours.

He’s the king of bragging.

His tone is also arrogant.

What’s with the fan?

Why does he cover his mouth with a fan every time he speaks?

Ah, geez.

He’s seen something somewhere.

Okay, let’s be patient.

He’s the only strategist.

What’s the point of having hundreds of guys who are good at fighting? They can only shout ‘charge’ unconditionally.

“What divinity am I? Don’t make me blush with such words.”

“I overheard it from Dreyzer.”

“What?”

“The lord’s hidden skills.”

Legion shrugged his shoulders. That bastard Dreyzer, he must have praised me a little because I’m his master.

“Dreyzer said that Dreyzer is the strongest in the territory? And then the lord. Anyway, that’s amazing. I knew you were a wizard, but you’re the strongest after Dreyzer. Well, you probably won’t have to go out and fight directly. The lord can just sit back and stay behind.”

“…….”

Other words don’t enter my ears.

That bastard Dreyzer.

He’s going around saying that.

Who’s weaker than who?

I’m going to gather them all soon and give them a piece of my mind. Their discipline is completely gone.

“Is the mercenary recruitment going well?”

“Yes, it’s going well.”

Lauzel nodded with an expression that said not to worry.

Well, he’d be a fool if he couldn’t even do this.

He recruited mercenaries from the mercenary guilds in the former count’s territory with a groundbreaking amount of money.

If you participate in this war, you get 50 gold unconditionally. He also attached a victory allowance of 50 gold.

Usually, no lord gives a victory allowance.

I went one step further and promised to pay a death allowance to the family.

The death allowance is a whopping 100 gold.

More than 10,000 people applied to recruit 5,000 mercenaries.

They give several times more allowances than other territories.

They can’t help but come.

“I hope you recruit those with skills. You can bring in the good ones as full-time employees.”

“There are many wolf-like people. They don’t like being tied to one place. Especially the more skilled they are, the more they tend to be like that.”

“Still, try to find them well. Who knows? There may be quite a few mercenaries who like our territory and want to settle down.”

“I understand.”

Lauzel nodded.

Legion thought about introducing the orc female warriors to the mercenaries who couldn’t get married.

Orc female warriors are more popular than you think.

They’re good at fighting.

They’re good at hunting.

They earn money well.

They’re good at night work too.

The only thing they can’t do is cook.

The fierce face becomes familiar if you keep looking at it.

Orc female warriors were the best brides for men with less ability.

“Then let’s go see the mercenaries’ skills.”

Legion, who was feeling good thinking about the increase in the territory’s power, said with a bright smile.