Chapter 48: Betting Big

Via had been busy all day in her office.

Saint Anso City was currently receiving a continuous influx of goods from outside—everything from oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar to magic crystal carriages.

Almost the entire city depended heavily on external supplies to make up for internal consumption.

Cecilia had been very diligent in allocating resources to the human side, but allocation could only reduce waste, not conjure supplies out of thin air.

“I already applied to the Demon King for the next batch of supplies yesterday, and the Demon King replied—refused! Lilith denied my request on purpose because she sees how Saint Anso City is growing stronger under me!”

Via munched on a caramel biscuit as she vented her frustration.

In reality, Lilith’s refusal was simple: as the Demon King, with limited resources, she couldn’t possibly allot enough supplies for the humans in the city.

And since Via wasn’t exactly “one of them,” Lilith naturally wouldn’t allow her to use demon resources to sustain a group of humans.

“That’s expected. I imagine her next line would be—since these humans were your choice to keep, you have to find the resources yourself, right?”

“More or less.”

Via said with a headache.

Unless absolutely necessary, she didn’t want the demons in the city to starve.

These demons were her foundation going forward; she had to secure their loyalty first.

But she also didn’t want the ordinary human citizens to suffer too much.

“If she says ‘find your own resources,’ then I think there’s one place that might satisfy you, Senior.”

Cecilia whispered in her ear.

“What place?”

“The capital of the Borg Duchy—Dvorlysik.”

Cecilia pointed to a city on the map.

“Dvorlysik isn’t even our territory. Isn’t it occupied by another Demon King’s army now?”

“Yes, but that Demon King’s army has already suffered heavy casualties and will likely struggle to hold against the human siege soon. Senior, why don’t we retake the city after the humans drive them out?”

Dvorlysik was the capital of the entire Borg Duchy, the transportation hub of the vast plains, and the most abundant source of resources.

Outside the city lay broad forests and farmland.

This city and its surroundings were the lifeblood of the Borg Duchy.

But the city’s weakness was that it was indefensible.

A city on the open plains lacked natural barriers or complicated terrain.

While its position as a transport hub facilitated rapid movement of supplies, it also meant enemies could attack from any direction with ease.

In fact, the Duke of Borg had thought of this, building several strong fortresses on the mountains and hills surrounding the plains, using the terrain to their advantage.

As long as these fortresses stood, Dvorlysik would be safe.

The problem was, two years ago, this so-called fortress defense line was breached by the demons.

The demons paid the price of losing three grand dukes and tens of thousands of soldiers to break through.

But later, the Church and allied nations pushed them back beyond the mountains.

Since then, the situation had stalemated.

When Via arrived, she abandoned the idea of a head-on confrontation at the mountain front and pulled her troops away.

However, among the demons who disliked Via, some stubborn ones believed she fled because she was incompetent and that they could take the plains in one fell swoop with their own forces.

They paid a heavy price again to forcibly recapture Dvorlysik.

Now, this Demon King’s army was stationed inside the city.

But from Via’s understanding, it wouldn’t be long before the human forces drove them out again.

Because once the surrounding fortress towns fell, the city would be completely exposed. These demons still thought the humans’ magic crystal cannons were just kindling?

Once the cannons opened fire from all sides, no matter how many demons there were, they’d be forced to endure the artillery shells directly.

The humans hadn’t attacked yet only because Via’s pressure was sufficient; the only advantage on the human frontline was overwhelming firepower, so they dared not redeploy large numbers of cannons.

“Not yet. I get what you mean, but if I reduce pressure on the frontline and indirectly cause the Demon King’s army in Dvorlysik to be besieged, they’ll still blame me later.”

Via knew the stubborn demons all too well.

The Demon King stationed in Dvorlysik was a demon noble from the ogre race.

Those ogres who earned the title of duke usually did so through military merit.

Because of this, these ogres really disliked her.

Back when she was a saint commanding the holy crusade on the frontline, their armies suffered nearly fifty percent casualties in several large-scale battles.

The Demon King was furious and stripped hundreds of ranks from them, even demoting their demon lord to the lowest tier.

It was no wonder they bore her no goodwill now.

If Via relaxed pressure and allowed the humans to retake Dvorlysik, they’d definitely turn around and accuse her of deliberately letting the humans move troops there and causing the loss of the city.

“…Senior, does the demon race have this much internal trouble too?”

Cecilia was truly enlightened.

She’d thought such mutual sabotage and blame-shifting was unique to humans but never expected demons had the same.

“All races are the same. In fact, any highly intelligent race inevitably has such issues. The difference is demons operate under a ‘might makes right’ logic, so these conflicts usually don’t escalate too far.”

After all, when things got out of hand, someone with sufficient status would forcibly suppress the conflict.

For example, before Lilith’s absolute power, even if the entire ogre race was dissatisfied, under the demon consensus, they could only quietly accept it.

The problem was, Via didn’t have Lilith’s absolute power to suppress them.

“Well… Senior, I have an idea.”

“Tell me.”

“You don’t dare ease pressure on the human frontline, but the Church’s elite forces are mostly still held in reserve—not deployed yet. If this was just a straightforward battle, they wouldn’t risk moving their elite troops so easily.”

Cecilia tapped herself as she spoke.

“But if it involved a runaway Fallen Saint? For example, a Fallen Saint who fled to the demons and ended up in Dvorlysik, which is relatively easy to besiege?”

“…Are you crazy?”

Via frowned.

She understood Cecilia’s meaning.

Put simply, it was using the Saint as bait to lure the Church’s elite forces out.

After all, the demons inside the city hadn’t rested yet, and the city was relatively easy to capture.

Taking the city and the people inside would be far easier than launching a direct assault on Saint Anso City to capture the Saint.

“I’m not crazy. I’m perfectly sane, Senior,” Cecilia said with a smile.

She really wasn’t crazy.

Because she knew she was about to make a bold gamble.

If she won, everyone would rejoice.

If she lost… well, at worst it wouldn’t be much worse than the betrayal she’d suffered before.