Chapter 76
Wargame.
Literally, the act of simulating war like a game, gauging the battlefield through mock simulations in environments where actually commanding troops is difficult.
Historically, research into strategy and tactics through Kriegsspiel really came into its own during the Franco-Prussian War.
I don't know whether that's even accurate.
'As expected, the Imperial Japanese Navy is strong...!'—that sort of self-soothing is also sometimes used.
By nature, history nerds are beings born with genes that leave them no choice but to master every kind of board game and strategy game.
"Let's give it a shot."
I agreed right away, with the mindset of Shinji inside EVA.
How could I possibly resist this?
.
.
.
What I had imagined.
A terrain map spread across a large table, and several pieces and dice.
What I actually saw.
"Simply put, it's using illusion magic to make it seem as if you're actually commanding troops, so we can compare each side's tactics and strategies. Seeing is believing, so please take a look."
Two crystal orbs.
One magical device that looked like a beam projector.
If I placed my hand on the crystal orb.
A vivid illusion spread before my eyes, as if I were enjoying World of Tanks... no, World of Warships in VR.
All at once, the back of my neck tightened, and it felt like cancer cells were sprouting in my body.
Heavies were just base-camping, the lights weren't spotting and were just sniping their asses off, our own damn ships were firing salvos into empty air, while the enemy's loathsome guns were hitting dead center every time... ugh...
"Your expression doesn't look very good. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I just remembered some unpleasant memories..."
Just as I was writhing under the hazy PTSD that had surfaced.
"You don't even seem to know what the heat of the battlefield feels like, so what unpleasant memories? Hah, if you're scared, you can surrender now."
Admiral Winston of the navy was barking nonsense like a dog.
All the thoughts about how, with this level of illusion-magic tech, they could just make a slick virtual-reality game already, and maybe I should set aside everything else and deconstruct it as an SAO knockoff, were blown away in one shot.
I focused on grasping the conditions of the wargame I had been given.
The navy's tech tree was roughly medieval.
Galleys made up a fairly large share.
There were almost no sailing ships fitted with cannons.
Of course, if there was anything unusual...
"Mage deployment is possible, then."
"Indeed. If you can use magic in the first place, why would you need toys like Cheonja cannons?"
I roughly understood.
The mage played the role of the cannon.
And the mage's role was only to provide cover fire until the ship charged in.
Well-trained Sword Experts would zip over to the enemy ship, go whoosh-whoosh bang-bang-bang, and if they won the close-quarters fight, that was victory!
That was the kind of war meta it was.
It was so boring I wanted to die...
After all, the flower and romance of naval warfare are big-gun battleships.
The scholarly consensus is that a well-bred steamship can even take on Cthulhu.
"...You're using all sailing ships? Without galleys?"
The prince, who had been watching my force setup, threw me a question mark, but I silently finished my preparations step by step.
Even Cheonja cannons had been undervalued so badly that, at the cost of one mage, you could slap cannons all along the sides of five ships in a flash.
Want a taste of the Single-Column Formation?
* * *
Right after the wargame began.
"Greenhorns are greenhorns after all."
Winston snorted and belittled Ulysses's strategy.
In the first place, the essence of naval combat is close-quarters fighting.
The moment knights with power beyond human limits board a ship, ordinary marines are nothing more than time-buyers, keeping them from fully seizing that vessel.
Of course, ships getting stranded by mage fire was common enough, but in close-quarters combat most mages were helpless before the knights' swords.
So the point was.
How many knights could you keep alive to land on the enemy ship, and how much of an advantage could you gain in knight-to-knight combat?
Therefore, a sailing ship, being so dependent on the wind and so slow to maneuver, had no advantage over a galley.
Even so.
What could that greenhorn possibly do with those toys?
He had even cut the force allocated to Sword Experts, choosing instead to add more ships that would be taken anyway—a shortsighted decision.
This is why beginners are called beginners.
Winston concentrated and cut through the water, moving to find the greenhorn's ships beyond the horizon, waiting only to be trampled.
And then.
He witnessed it.
As if turning the entire horizon into one giant battle line, the ships were lined up one after another, even exposing their flanks defenselessly after giving up maneuverability.
At that mouthwatering sight.
"All ships, charge!"
Winston immediately gave the charge order.
Just as the sharp wedge was about to drive in.
"Stasis."
Ulysses had the mages use slow magic instead of attack magic, slowing the rushing ships down and then...
"All guns, fire."
He concentrated the ship's firepower all at once, fired in a single volley, leisurely drew a T-shape, and thoroughly exploited the momentary gap in speed.
Unfortunately.
The effective range of attack magic did not reach the effective range of ship cannons.
And as for Sword Experts, who were not even Sword Masters, they couldn't either deflect every incoming cannonball or instantly reach the enemy ship with a water-skimming leap.
From the very first clash.
The outcome had already been decided.
.
.
.
The moment Winston, half out of it, took his hand off the crystal orb and looked up.
He met Ulysses's ominous black gaze—an utterly indifferent expression that had ground up and swallowed his entire fleet.
His mouth opened slightly.
"Melee combat exists for the sake of those who can't live unless they cling to melee combat..."
A low voice flowed out.
Watching the second prince writhing as if struck by lightning in the grip of that overwhelming realization.
Winston decided to become a little more shameless.
"One more round, just one more round!"
There had to be a weakness, there absolutely had to be.
There was no way he could lose this pointlessly...!
And so, three matches, three losses.
And even.
"Hm? Is it over? That was more fun than I expected. It was a moment that let me confirm the potential of illusion magic."
He had even been defeated by the woman who was his cousin.
- Hm, at this level, you'd make for a good match with my cousin.
Unable to let go of that utterly unforgivable provocation, Winston, though he knew it was disgraceful, had gone and pulled the 'Bring her here right now!' stunt.
The result was far too tragic.
One of Wargame's features was that, if you concentrated as hard as possible, you could intricately control not only ships, knights, and mages, but even the movements of individual soldiers.
But it was absurdly inefficient, and the limit of mental stamina arrived quickly.
"How can a person possibly do that, like that... ?"
However.
The red-haired woman before his eyes.
Perfectly controlled every piece assigned to her, without the slightest margin of error.
She even fought head-on in Sword Expert duels, directly controlling both evasion and attacks, while also perfectly handling the battles in other theaters...?
Is this woman some kind of god?
With his face turned pure white.
Winston hung his head deeply.
It was a perfect defeat.
* * *
"Tin Can. Can't you make something like that?"
On the way back after tearing Winston apart and bringing peace to our era.
Honestly...
It was fun. Really.
What kind of entertainment is there in this fantasy land, anyway?
'Heroic Assembly' didn't become the imperial capital's No. 1 board game for nothing despite its gambling aspect, and it had even started to spread slowly nationwide.
And there was even a freaking virtual-reality game like this.
"Building a magic circuit is essentially the same as programming, so if you spend enough time on it, it's entirely possible. The problem is cost."
"Like a magical stage play?"
"Yes. If you simply calculate the amount of mana we just used and convert it into this world's monetary value..."
At the terrifying number that came out of Tin Can's mouth, I could only gape.
Just to enjoy one game...
Burn that much money...?
It really did seem like those game-fantasy novels weren't wrong when they said VR devices cost hundreds of millions.
Of course, the feel is a little different, though.
“What a shame.”
"If Kim Yul works harder and makes more money, wouldn't it be possible?"
"That's true too..."
For some reason, it felt like I'd gained a new goal.
Until now, money had been secondary income that followed as a byproduct of creative work, something I earned for a comfortable and cozy life.
"A freaking amazing virtual-reality historical simulation. How am I supposed to resist that?"
"Kim Yul wouldn't be able to resist."
That's right.
Grrr, I can't take it...!
My motivation began to burn.
First of all, if I think about 'Heroic Assembly,' a work that can branch out beyond just a novel can definitely secure both popularity and profit.
Considering that.
The most natural direction would be for me and Tin Can to collaborate and unleash into another world whatever the novel's characters or situations create.
And definitely, it would need to be a character-driven story to heighten immersion.
"Charles Ponzi?"
I wordlessly flicked Tin Can's forehead.
Are you insane?
Do you want to get hit by dragon breath after pulling a Ponzi scheme?
"Tin Can."
"Yes."
"Let's live honestly. No matter how you slice it, fraud is not it."
If we lived that recklessly, someday Estea might transform into a gold dragon and blast my head with serious breath.
Or Roselyn could come looking for me, tell me to repent, and smash my head in with her fist.
Chloe... she would probably go ohoho and scam people with me.
Because she's an elf, after all.
“No matter how I thought about it, history is full of people who met tragic ends.”
"That's right."
"Then if we pick someone whose entire life was miserable from the start and tell their story, wouldn't people just accept it as a genre trait?"
Tin Can looked at me like I was a madman.
After brushing off that gaze lightly.
"Tin Can, do you know how to write sheet music? If it's a song in the DB, could we transcribe it into sheet-music form?"
"I am the greatest intellect, Historie. Something like that is a piece of cake."
"Good. I've decided."
My train of thought.
Though it's not directly related to war, I could also offer a light commentary by borrowing the voice of someone who lived through the outbreak of the war itself.
A person whose own abilities are solid, whose exhaustion itself can serve as a character quirk, and who can also create added value in other directions.
Historically speaking.
The French Revolution.
And the generations that lived through one of Western history's major events: Napoleon's wars.
A man who admired Napoleon the revolutionary.
And was disappointed by Napoleon the dictator.
A man who personally lived through the dissolution of a chimera-like state that was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
The hero of the music world, Eroica.
Ludwig van Beethoven.
"A specialist-type story, a musician-type story. And since Beethoven apparently had quite a few women in his life, it wouldn't be bad to bring out romantic elements as well. And since he's an artist, his misery could even be sublimated into a thematic strength."
As for stripping away the political-and-war-specialist writer title...
Isn't there perhaps no other material quite like this?
"Once I get back, I'll have to prepare to write."
"Then should I prepare to plagiarize all the pieces?"
"...Rather than plagiarism, let's call it a tribute through remastering."
I had never written a specialist-genre work in either my previous life or this one, so quite delicate preparation would be needed.
But surely.
I had a feeling it would be a compelling story.