Episode 21: Dream in the game becomes reality

7. End of the war (1)

7th week, 48th day since the start of the war.

"Come on, Vanguard. "Please have an energy drink before you go."

Meanwhile, the battles did not stop and occurred sporadically here and there.

Explosive noises continued to rang out along the border toward the Croesian Empire, and both armies were becoming very tired as they made surprise raids and walked again.

Of course, our division was no exception.

I have now reached a point where I can sleep while binge-watching, and I can now tell whether it is a friendly attack or an enemy attack just by hearing a sound.

"thank you."

However, even as fatigue weighed heavily on the entire army, the vanguards of our division were extremely vibrant.

"It's delicious any time you eat it."

The reason is the clear liquid that is being poured to each of the Vanguards from the bottle I am holding.

A liquid that shows excellent performance in relieving stamina and fatigue, and is also very helpful in aura recovery.

So, what is this water? … .

It is the miraculous panacea 'Elixir' obtained after clearing stage 4 of the Giyeon quest.

'No, more accurately, it should be called elixir dilution.'

There was only 'one drop' of elixir in 50 liters of water.

However, as a treasure of the world, just one drop of the elixir had a great effect.

Thanks to this, the vanguards of our division swept the battlefield without showing any signs of fatigue, and were steadily accumulating achievements and becoming famous throughout the local military.

"Then I will go scouting."

Armed reconnaissance by Vanguard has now become completely routine.

William, the vice-captain of the knights, saluted me before dispatching.

"Don't push yourself too hard."

And the Vanguards followed behind William and left the camp with expressions full of motivation.

'Four weeks ago', after I rejected William's offer to help in the succession battle, our relationship seemed to have deteriorated slightly.

However, after going through various events during the prolonged war, our relationship gradually recovered, and now he is showing interest in me again.

Seeing as he didn't make a sudden offer like last time, it seemed like he was planning to wait and see how the situation played out for now, but the problem was that he didn't know how scary other people's eyes were because he was an unmanned person.

-widely.

After the Vanguards left, Adjutant Haman and the surrounding command soldiers glanced at the water bottle in my hand, but I closed the lid of the water bottle without hesitation.

'Because I can't just throw away this precious thing.'

As the tedious battle continued, the Vanguard's fatigue could not be relieved with commercially available energy drinks or healing potions.

So when I was seriously considering using stimulants, I remembered the three bottles of elixir lying dormant in a corner of my inventory.

Stimulants cannot ignore the aftereffects, and healing potions are excellent at treating wounds, but they do not relieve accumulated fatigue.

So I thought for a while about whether to use this or not, and then decided to use it with the hope that the war would end as quickly as possible.

The amount of elixir used so far is about five drops, less than one-tenth of a bottle.

However, the current elixir is something that cannot be obtained even if you pay hundreds of billions of dollars.

Although it may seem like a small amount, if you convert its value, it is equivalent to spending tens of billions of dollars, so you should never ignore your investment.

'Oh, I feel so refreshed!'

I drank the diluted elixir as a special fatigue relieving agent for the Arsia family, whose hometown is the sacred city of Everhill, and the results far exceeded my imagination.

A miraculous fatigue recovery medicine called God's Drop was created among the vanguard of the 3rd division of the 2nd corps of the local army.

"I had no idea that Ms. Arcia would be so helpful."

When Haman regained his appetite, I handed him a potion instead.

"Now there is not much time left for fatigue relief. "The burden on our Vanguards will continue to grow in the future."

Of course, you can make it as much as you want, but these days, more and more people are curious about how to make a fatigue recovery agent that affects the war situation, so I started talking about it like this.

'The raw materials have already been used up. 'It's okay to take the liquid and analyze it, but further production is no longer possible.'

Since there was nothing to be found by turning this side, the superiors could only express their disappointment.

Well, Count Otis placed great significance on the fact that his division was active.

"The brigade commander and division commander are looking for you."

"also?"

As I took advantage of the Vanguard's dispatch to rest in the commander's chair, I narrowed my eyes at the signal message.

The reason is that the frequency with which Count Otis visits me has increased significantly these days.

When I made an annoyed expression, Adjutant Haman smiled and told me not to be so mean.

"Wouldn't that mean you are trusted that much?"

Since it was a call from a great noble of the earldom, there was nothing I could do about it even though it was annoying.

I moved to the rear of the floating train that was being used as a command center.

There is a vehicle compartment that also serves as a cargo compartment at the rear.

As always, Arcia walked next to me like a shadow, followed by two knights.

"Let's go to division headquarters."

"All right."

In the car compartment, a driver who had been notified in advance was waiting for us in an armored vehicle.

The 9-seater armored vehicle we boarded rose into the air, making a low noise, and when the outer wall of the floating train opened, it took off with excitement.

-Jiying.

Although it is a scene from a science fiction movie when viewed from Earth, this is actually not a very difficult technique in Rondel, where magic exists.

It's just the 3rd circle's float magic, the 2nd circle's lightweight magic, and the 1st circle's wind added.

Personally, I think the great thing about Rondel is that it has made these devices so common that they can be widely used.

We succeeded in reducing the burden on the magician through automation, increasing efficiency by combining the magic of the magic circle even with the same driving method, and lowering the unit cost through mass production.

Because of this, artifacts, like machines and electronic products on Earth, were able to penetrate into the homes of common people.

This revolution in the magic industry created what Rondel is today.

-Keeeeee!

It is always spectacular to see the floating trains of different families arranged in a row, like our Lawrence estate's floating train that can transport up to 800 people.

It only took 5 minutes to reach the floating train where the division commander, Count Otis, was located, but Black Eagle, who noticed my departure like a ghost, flew in the sky, lowered its altitude, and landed on top of the vehicle.

-thud!

"Nigger, sleep."

I opened the window, got up, and handed some beef jerky to Black Eagle.

For reference, Neomneung is the guy's name.

I thought the name Black Eagle was too indifferent, so I gave it a name that was easier to call.

The black dog with the beef jerky in its mouth flapped its wings widely and flew high into the sky.

By now, the people around me seemed to have gotten used to the black guy, so they didn't show much of a reaction.

"great job."

After a while, I arrived at the Otis family's injury train and expressed my curiosity as I saw cars carrying other unit commanders arriving one after another.

Looking at the situation, it seemed like all the high-ranking commanders in the division had been summoned.

'If it's something related to battle, you can inform me through communication without calling... … .'

Other unit commanders, whom I had become quite close with, seemed to have no idea.

Are there any important announcements that cannot be made public?

"Please come quickly."

A luxuriously appointed hall inside the floating train.

This was Count Otis' battlefield office.

The Count, who was now as familiar as the guy next door, opened his arms and welcomed the commanders, and the moment I saw his bright smile, I thought, 'No way?'

With the war intensifying, there was only one thing the Count could have reacted like that.

And the Count picked up the wine bottle on the table and shook it, as if to let me know that my guess was correct.

"Rejoice, you won't have to listen to the damn sound of artillery fire anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"The end of the war will be declared soon. "The foreign ministers of both countries are currently in contact."

This is truly good news.

The commanders all breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the count's story.

"It seems like the Croisen guys had no intention of going into an all-out war in the first place."

Although the current war situation was tense, it was difficult to believe that a complete all-out war was in progress.

No matter how strong our Reinharts Kingdom's national power was, it would have been difficult to deal with the Croesen Empire, which was attacking with all its might.

If it leads to a full-scale war, not only our kingdom but also our allies will participate in the war, which could soon escalate into a continental war.

In the end, this war was only large in scale, but it was a local war that was no different from an annual event.

"These guys are really crazy. Why on earth are you doing this? … ."

"It's obvious, isn't it for the purpose of strengthening the imperial authority?"

After all, wherever you go, politicians seem to think the same thing.

Why didn't the neighboring countries of Korea, where I lived in my past life, do the same?

They are causing tension between countries over trivial matters, and using the mass media to incite anti-Korean sentiment and divert attention to the outside world.

It was like that in my previous life, but this life as well, I feel like I am unlucky in a neighboring country.

The commanders all smiled bitterly at the count's thoughts.

But even for a moment, everyone's expressions relaxed at the thought that the war was over.

"What should we do with the Vanguards who have been dispatched?"

The Count answered my question by personally pouring a glass of wine and handing it to me.

"Until the declaration of the end of the war is confirmed, we must continue this war game."

It's a war game... … .

It was truly an aristocratic statement.

It may not be the right line to say when thinking about the dead people, but it was a metaphor that everyone could not help but nod to in their hearts.

It is always the lower level people who die due to the decisions of the higher level people.

Isn't this a very different story from Earth?

"Now, Brigadier General Adrian. "Frown up."

After hearing Count Otis' words, I came to my senses and quickly corrected my expression and smiled awkwardly.

He pointed to the gold medal hanging on my chest.

"After all, isn't your Golden Lion Medal also a trophy of war? "If the war ends like this, you won't be able to ignore the Congo that will fall on you, so enjoy the moment."

A convenient way of thinking in many ways.

But it was absolutely correct.

I gained too much from this war to argue about its irrationality.

'Yes, since when was I so kind?'

As I clinked wine glasses with the Count, I thought about my own future rather than the victims of this war.

The end of the war meant returning to the family.

'I need to level up even harder.'

Six weeks have passed since the 6th circle was achieved just before the start of the war.

My current level is 199.

It took a long time due to inconsistent connection times, but now there is only 1 left until level 200, which was the primary goal.

If you reach level 200 and complete the Giyeon quest, a new 7th Circle Archmage will be born in the kingdom.