I Became the Academy’s Weakest Strategist

“Is it okay if I come in?”
“Yes…you can come in if you’d like.”
Damn it.
There is only one perfect sentence to summarize this situation.
Bizant von Erje, third in line to the imperial throne and the current student council president of Montegro Academy.
The so-called Golden Princess, now entering my room.
As soon as she, who exudes an aura of a popular person, came within 2 meters of me, my innately loner body immediately began to reject her.
Like sodium exploding when exposed to water, I was fundamentally repelled by the princess.

To be honest, the princess hadn’t done anything wrong to me.
Had the princess wronged me in any way? No.
Had her entourage attempted an unprovoked attack on me? No!
It was just my loner radar sending out danger signals towards her.

“Phew, do you have anything to drink? I’m parched from rushing over.”
“Should I bring you some water?”
“Anything is fine.”
Oh my, our princess wants water!
Then I shall fetch it for her! Of course, who am I to refuse.
I seated the princess and quickly poured water into a cup.
Even as I poured the water, the princess was staring intently at the back of my head, but I grit my teeth and acted unperturbed.
If I made even a slight mistake here, my life in this other world would end.
The moment the princess tells her entourage, “Griff Rommel was such a rude man,” my academy life and future job prospects would surely be affected.
That cannot happen.
For the sake of my happy life, I’m willing to lick the shoes of those in power!
Quicker than anyone, I brought the cup over to the princess in an uncommon display of attentiveness.
“Here’s some water.”
“Ah, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Gulp gulp.
Accepting the weathered wooden cup, the princess elegantly drank the water with both hands.
Just looking at her, she seemed so refined and admirable as a princess, yet recalling her recent actions towards me, I felt a serious sense of dissonance.

“By the way…you don’t seem to be going to class today?”
Thunk.
Setting down the wooden cup on the table, the princess gazed at me intently.
Her emerald eyes, reminiscent of the mysterious gems of South America, stared me down.
Her attitude was like a teacher scolding a truant student.

“…I’m not feeling well.”
“Did Professor Anderze permit you to skip?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask the professor?”
Gulp.
Professor Anderze, currently of the Knight Faculty, was someone who made time for failing students despite his busy schedule.
Hearing this, he might sound like a kind and compassionate saint from a fairy tale, but he was relentless.

“The professor is unwell.”
“Hmm! Then I shall take up the sword.”
“The professor had a family emergency…”
“A calamity! Then I must take up the sword! Taking up the sword will also dispel the calamity!”
He was someone obsessed with swords.
Professor Anderze’s stubborn personality was the complete opposite of my go-with-the-flow nature.
In short,
He was the perfect counter to me.

“…It’s just my state of mind.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that, Rommel.”
GG, I can’t win against this.
As I shook my head, a slight grin appeared on Princess Erje’s lips.
This princess seemed to know my personality and behavior too well, despite not having known me for very long.
As if she had investigated my background.

“Since I’ve informed Professor Anderze, you can comfortably stay in this dorm today.”
The strict, unmarried old maid professor actually permitted it, just because the princess said so?
“The professor permitted it?”
“He did, after I told him.”
Such dirty power politics.
Yes, the words of a princess would naturally carry more weight than those of a rural nobleman like me.
Even knowing this discriminatory treatment, I felt terribly upset.
The same man who barged into my dorm room at any hour when I genuinely had a cold, shouting “Rommel! Take up your sword!” was permitting me to skip class just because the princess said so?
What an exemplary knight, so obedient to power!

“Anyway, the reason I came here is…”
“…To make that request again, right?”
The demand the princess had been making for the past few days.
That is,
“Please become my private tutor.”
“I refuse.”
As sparrows sang and a breeze blew on this early morning, I rejected Princess Erje once more.
A brief silence fell.
“Oh my.”
Princess Erje’s sweet voice filled the room.
And I simply gazed at the princess quietly.
Blinking her eyes after being refused, she covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at me.
Feeling pressured by the princess’s gaze, I turned my head towards the window.
She was the third in line to the imperial throne, after all.
If such a popular person stared at a loner like me, I might just drop dead on the spot.

After a brief silence, Princess Erje’s mouth slowly opened.
“Fufu, I expected you to say that. But being refused over and over…does stoke my competitiveness.”
“…”
“Shall I take that as a challenge?”
Oh no, this is bad.
It seems I’ve been firmly targeted by the princess.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Rommel.”
“…”
Creeak, click.
“Phew…”
After the princess left, I plopped down on the spot.
What kind of curse has befallen my life for such a person to become obsessed with me?
“Damn…if I had known this would happen…I wouldn’t have done that stupid thing back then…”

The reason the princess became obsessed with me.
The key to that answer lay in the stupid thing I did a few days ago.
What stupid thing?
Telling the princess about strategies and tactics that are completely useless in this world.

“How will I get through school life now…?”
As a pitiful student targeted by a delinquent.
A single tear rolled down my cheek.

Imperial Year 1432, a season between winter and spring.
Weather that couldn’t be called cold or warm.

“Haa…”
In a corner of the library, a young girl let out a deep sigh.
“I can’t seem to find the answer…how do I even solve this problem…”
Her identity was none other than Princess Bizant von Erje.
The so-called Golden Flower of the Empire sat in a corner of the library, sighing deeply.
She had deliberately chosen this secluded spot, partly to be considerate of the regular students using the library, but also to ponder over an issue her father, the emperor, faced.

“Why did father say he would lead the troops himself…”
Her father, the current Emperor Bizant von Grewss, had raised an army to subjugate the tribesmen who had dared to rebel against the empire.
Wars between the empire and tribesmen usually ended in the empire’s victory, but this time the situation was slightly different.
Word had arrived that the tribesmen living on the plains were moving towards the mountain ranges.

War is a place rife with variables and all sorts of schemes.
Without data on the enemy, one cannot recklessly move troops.
The tribesmen, who had lived in herds on the plains for generations, were now moving to the mountain ranges?
Didn’t that reek of something foul?

Yet her father Grewss had underestimated the tribesmen, and upon receiving the report of their rebellion, immediately raised his troops.
Claiming to demonstrate the empire’s dignity, he marched out leading 10,000 elite soldiers.
As a daughter, she couldn’t help but worry about her father going off to war.
The reason she was holed up in the library, searching for a solution, was because of her father.

And,
“I need to move faster than my brothers.”
Erje had no intention of remaining merely third in line to the throne.
She harbored ambitions of becoming not just an imperial princess in name, but the brilliant empress of the empire.
To do so, she had to outshine her older brothers ahead of her in the line of succession and prove her ability to her father.
She wanted to demonstrate her competence, but lacked her own troops or the wealth to raise an army.

The only remaining option was to devise an extraordinary strategy to help her father easily win this war.
She had come to Montegro Academy’s library, said to house all the world’s knowledge, but had yet to find a clear solution.

“Ugh…”
As she groaned like a patient suffering from a severe headache, someone took a seat in front of her.
‘Who?’
Looking up, she saw a man with a distinctive ponytail seated there, reading a book.
The princess initially paid him no mind, more focused on solving her current problem.
But then, something caught her attention.
The title of the book the man was reading was enough to draw the princess’s gaze: ‘What is War?’
The book the man was reading contained precisely the information the princess needed most at the moment.
Though the man was too engrossed in his book to easily approach, the princess caught her breath and carefully opened her mouth.
If this man regularly enjoyed reading such books,
Perhaps,
By chance,
Could he help her solve her dilemma?

“Excuse me…”
“?”
Hearing the princess’s voice, the man slowly shifted his gaze from the book to her.
“This is just about someone I know.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
The man didn’t seem to recognize that she was the princess.
Most students at this academy only knew that the princess attended Montegro, but few had actually seen her face.
So it was understandable that the man didn’t know she was the princess.

“If someone said they were going to war at the Hipkas Mountain Range…”
“Then that person must be insane.”
“Pardon?”
Even before she could finish, a scathing criticism was thrown her way.
Ignoring her bewildered expression, the man furrowed his brow and continued speaking.

“Who in their right mind would go to war at the Hipkas Mountain Range? Is this person suicidal or something?”
“No, that’s not…”
“Of course, there would be some merit in occupying it. But the losses would far outweigh any potential gains from that land.”
A barrage of harsh rebukes came rapid-fire.
Her mind was left reeling as if she had taken a solid hook to the jaw in a boxing match.

“Now I have a question for you. Is there any particular reason that land absolutely must be occupied?”
“…If it’s because of the tribesmen?”
“The tribesmen who lived there are the cause?”
“No, the ones living on the plains…”
“Hmm.”
After Erje’s words, the man seemed deep in thought for a moment before continuing.
“Is there really a need to fight on such unfavorable terrain? According to military strategy, the supreme form of victory is to win without fighting. In other words, secure victory before the battle begins.”
“Oh, I see.”
“The fact that the plainsmen tribesmen moved to the unfamiliar mountain ranges must have a reason behind it.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Unconsciously nodding in agreement, as the man’s thoughts aligned with her own.
“They must have made some deal with the nomads living in the mountains.”
“Pardon?”
“The plainsmen tribesmen have lived together with horses since birth. Yet such people moved to the mountain ranges where cavalry is useless? That’s abandoning their strength.”
“That’s correct.”
The man was entirely right.
The plainsmen tribesmen were all skilled horsemen.
There was no sane reason for them to move to the mountains unless forced to.
“Based on their actions, we can infer two possibilities.”
“Two possibilities?”
“Either it’s a trap, or they have a sure means of victory that makes abandoning their strengths worthwhile.”
“?!”
“If this ‘acquaintance’ you mentioned is leading troops into the Hipkas Mountain Range, you must quickly send a messenger to stop them. Otherwise, you may never see that acquaintance again.”
“Oh no, I can’t allow that!”
Upon hearing the man’s words, Princess Erje rose from her seat with a pensive expression and rushed out.
And the man simply watched in silence as Princess Erje dashed out.