The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

Jessica said, “Then all the more reason to ask why you are doing this now. Destroying one of the Kingdom of Tarapaca’s major cities with your own hands. Is this what your patriotism looks like?”

General Jerome calmed the emotions that had just flared out of control. Then he said, “You are right. This is what my patriotism looks like. And who told you that destroying this city was my goal? No. This is only the process. It is part of the ritual.”

Euphemia froze for a moment, then blurted out, “Ritual… the Rank Five to Rank Six advancement ritual?”

General Jerome said, “To create an inferno with one’s own hands and drink the potion within it. That is the advancement ritual for Rank Six of the War Path.”

Euphemia’s brows drew tight. “So what does that have to do with patriotism? Isn’t this just something you’re doing for yourself, driven by pure selfishness?”

Hearing that, General Jerome gritted his teeth and said, “Do you know how many times the Pentagram Alliance has pressured the Kingdom of Tarapaca? Do you know how many soldiers they have gathered along the border? Anyone with eyes can see their ambition.”

“And under those circumstances, when I went to request more supplies for the border and prepare for the war that was clearly coming, guess what that foolish king, that spineless idiot, told me? He told me to withdraw with my corps.”

“He was actually preparing to accept the Pentagram Alliance’s unreasonable demands. He was going to sign a humiliating treaty without a fight, surrender a vast stretch of border territory, and hand over at least three cities on that land to the Pentagram Alliance.”

“I could not accept that. Everyone on the front line had already made up their minds to defend our homeland, even if it meant dying in battle. And at that exact moment, that damned king in the rear betrayed us!”

As for why General Jerome had prepared this advancement ritual in Auxerre City, the reason was actually very simple.

First, everyone knew that the War Path was the official path of the Pentagram Alliance. Once General Jerome’s plan succeeded and his advancement was complete, he would immediately activate his follow-up arrangements and spread the claim among the nobles that this had been an attack planned by the Pentagram Alliance.

Given the recent frequent clashes between the two countries, and given that those nobles had no way to personally ask the Pentagram Alliance for confirmation, the claim would be fairly believable. After that, General Jerome, now advanced to Rank Six and far stronger than before, would have a greater voice. If he used those nobles to pressure His Majesty, perhaps he could forcibly change the king’s mind.

Why choose Auxerre City?

Because this major city was important, but not important enough. A disaster of this scale would hurt the Kingdom of Tarapaca badly and stir up the people’s will to resist, but it would not cripple the country at its core.

General Jerome said, “In exchange for one city, we keep a vast stretch of land and three cities upon it. This is a necessary sacrifice.”

For a split second, Euphemia almost felt persuaded.

But she quickly snapped back to herself and said, “All of that is nothing but your own assumption. Even if you truly succeed, who can guarantee His Majesty will agree to your request?”

From the previous separation of church and state, it was not hard to see that the king valued power greatly. The Kingdom of Tarapaca was also a highly centralized country.

So even if General Jerome succeeded, he might still fail to persuade the king.

Euphemia said, “No matter what, that is not a reason to burn down a city.”

Destroy one city to save three. At first glance, it might sound like a profitable trade.

But human lives could not be measured by numbers. In theory, one person’s life and three people’s lives were equal. There was no higher or lower value between them.

Besides, who said everyone in the three cities ceded to the Pentagram Alliance would die?

The Pentagram Alliance could not possibly massacre entire cities, could it?

But on the other hand, if General Jerome succeeded, everyone in Auxerre City would die. That much was guaranteed.

General Jerome ignored Euphemia and looked toward the person who truly had authority on Special Affairs’ side.

He said, “Captain Jessica, what do you think?”

Jessica clearly wavered.

But she soon steadied herself and said, “Miss Euphemia is right. No matter what, this is not a reason to burn this city down.”

Hearing that, Jerome could not help showing a helpless expression.

He sighed and said, “It seems negotiations have failed. Though I never expected to convince you in the first place. At least I have delayed you long enough. Farewell, everyone.”

At the same time, two blocks away at [Kobdo National Academy], all students had been given the day off under police warning. Because of that, the entire academy was empty and quiet.

On the back hill behind the school, the adjutant who had briefly met Freya and Euphemia before was now kneeling on one knee.

His hands were clasped together, and spirituality surged around him as he murmured, “I offer myself to you, my General.”

This was the other ability of a Rank Five War Path [General], aside from [Battle Formation]. It was called [Grant Devotion].

It was a very strange ability.

As the name suggested, the essence of this ability was to grant another person the power known as [Devotion], and the only person who could receive it was the General’s [Adjutant].

The [Adjutant] could use this ability to exchange positions with the General or exchange lives with him.

To put it simply, when the General was on the verge of death, the [Adjutant] could use [Devotion] to die in the General’s place. After that, the General would instantly return to full condition. If the two were far apart, the General could even escape danger directly.

Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was that the [Adjutant] had to be willing to do it.

Clearly, the one before them was willing.

It was worth noting that in the previous simulation where Nolan died and the Mobile Unit killed General Jerome, Jerome had used this ability to escape successfully and hide himself away.

In other words, that simulation had not actually cleared the crisis. If Freya had not ended the simulation early and had instead let the full thirty days pass, the disaster would still have happened.

Of course, Freya did not know that right now.

In front of Jerome’s residence, before everyone’s eyes, the General suddenly turned into another person.

The adjutant looked at the gathered officials with a solemn expression and shouted, “Form ranks!”

“Ha!”

All the [Soldiers] stepped forward heavily at the same time.

Their movements were perfectly identical.

An invisible pressure spread from every [Soldier], gathered in the air, condensed into one force, and linked itself to the adjutant standing in the center of the crowd.

After advancing to Rank Four on the War Path and choosing the [General] class change, one would gain the ability called [Adjutant].

At first, the General could only choose one person as their adjutant.

Once the choice was made, and with the General’s permission, that adjutant could use the General’s abilities on their behalf.

For example, commanding the [Soldiers] summoned by the General, as well as using the ability known as [Battle Formation].

After all, a General did not need to personally stand on the battlefield at all times. Sending someone else to fight in their place was perfectly reasonable, wasn’t it?

After reaching Rank Five, the number of adjutant slots increased to two.

That was also why, back in the third simulation, Jerome had valued Freya so highly. He had genuinely thought about raising Freya up and making her his second [Adjutant].

Back in the present, the official practitioners led by Jessica immediately prepared for battle.

Jessica swung her right hand, and a long blue spear flashing with arcs of electricity appeared in her palm out of thin air.

She took the lead and charged straight toward the adjutant.

“Mmm.”

Seeing this, Euphemia immediately turned and ran.

At the same time, when Freya saw the fight begin, she called out to the Earth Church members beside her.

“We’re going in.”

As they rushed forward, she began using [Blessing] over and over, applying various enhancements to every Earth Church member.

These included, but were not limited to, [Strength Enhancement], [Speed Enhancement], [Hardened Skin], [Mental Barrier], and more.

What? The War Path enemy probably had no mental attack methods?

Freya’s answer was simple. Since she was already applying buffs, she might as well apply every buff she could.

Her spirituality would recover soon anyway. It did not matter.

Without exaggeration, even an ordinary person who received this many buffs from Freya could probably clash with a Rank One War Path practitioner.

And every person here was already a practitioner to begin with.

…

P.S. Information that can now be made public.

The three class changes of the War Path are [Warrior], [Hunter], and [General].

The three class changes of the Law Path are [Punisher], [Arbiter], and [Listener].

The three class changes of the Earth Path are [Earth Branch], [Life Branch], and [Giant Branch].