I Became the Strategist the Monarchs Obsess Over

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 7

The next day, Charles received a near-perfect score on his Political Science and Diplomacy exam. In truth, this was expected. After all, Charles had personally studied Political Science and Diplomacy in his original world, South Korea.

The academic disciplines weren’t vastly different just because this was another world. What he had learned in South Korea was largely applicable in the Arcadia Empire as well. Of course, the Political Science and Diplomacy of the Arcadia Empire lagged slightly behind that of South Korea, but this was due to the technological gap between the Renaissance era and the modern age, not a fundamental difference in the fields of study.

When Charles achieved two consecutive near-perfect scores, the professors grading his exams were left baffled. Charles Jean Rochefort—he failed every subject related to physical prowess, such as Swordsmanship or Magic, yet excelled in Political Science and Diplomacy. Why was that? When one professor inquired about Charles, Dian de Balboa, who was in charge of Charles’s class, responded.

“He’s one of my students.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

“I don’t. Other than the fact that he’s an exceptionally peculiar cadet…”

“A peculiar cadet, you say?”

“There’s a rumor that Charles Jean Rochefort is accompanied by Glasia Ehrenberg as his bodyguard.”

Glasia Ehrenberg. At those words, the professors gasped in astonishment. It was no wonder—they were talking about Glasia Ehrenberg, a top talent in Swordsmanship, regarded as a potential future Swordmaster.

“A talent like that, reduced to being a mere bodyguard? He must be a cadet from a very influential family, then?”

“Actually, he’s from fallen nobility.”

“Fallen nobility!?”

How could a fallen noble employ someone as talented as Glasia Ehrenberg as a bodyguard? Just who was Charles, really?

Why did he receive abysmal scores in physical subjects yet excel in Political Science and Diplomacy? Evaluations of Charles only grew more enigmatic.

And the next day, the Mock Battle exam began. The examiner for the Mock Battle, Dian de Balboa, was a veteran knight who had spent 15 years on the battlefield—more knight than professor, really.

Because such a figure was the examiner, the students were worried they’d receive extremely harsh scores.

All except for one.

“Phew~ Finally, it’s my turn.”

Charles was warming up with a confident demeanor.

It was no wonder—Charles, or rather, Lee Si-woo, had been ranked number one in the game “The Age of Gunpowder and Magic.” His army control skills were on a completely different level compared to the second-ranked player!

It wasn’t just a close competition for first and second place; he was the undisputed number one.

Thus, he was confident in his ability to handle an army. He was sure he’d place in the top ranks. However, there was one thing that concerned him…

“I have no idea how good the people in this world are.”

While he had plenty of experience battling other players in online matches involving army-versus-army combat, he had no sense of how skilled the cadets at the Academy were. If their average skill level was higher than that of gamers, Charles would receive a low score. If their average skill level was lower, he would dominate and take first place.

“Personally, I’d prefer to be in the top ranks.”

Still, they were Academy cadets, not actual generals, so they probably weren’t as strong as him—or so Charles hoped.

Before long, the matchups were announced.

Charles’s first opponent was Andre Gomes, the leader of the bullies who frequently harassed him.

Andre Gomes, who had beaten Charles to a pulp a few days ago, was visibly startled to find himself matched against Charles. But soon, he broke into a self-assured grin.

“Charles Jean Rochefort must’ve failed every subject. There’s no way the Mock Battle will be any different.”

Since the fact that Charles had scored near-perfect marks in Political Science and Diplomacy hadn’t been disclosed to the cadets yet, Andre was under this misconception.

“The first match will be an easy win.”

To Andre’s remark, his subordinate Hugh responded.

“A-Are you sure? If you beat Charles, that crazy girl from last time might…”

“She’s just a commoner. If she dares to hit us for winning a test, my family won’t stand for it.”

That was true. Although they had momentarily forgotten due to the severe beating last time, she was, after all, a commoner. There was no reason to be intimidated by a mere commoner.

“You’re right.”

When Enrique, another subordinate, agreed, Andre smirked wickedly.

“This test is the perfect opportunity to get revenge on him.”

Andre was determined to utterly crush Charles and humiliate him.

The exam began, and the students were divided into four groups to start the Mock Battle.

The test, conducted in a tournament format, involved controlling wooden puppets. The side that knocked down the opponent’s wooden puppet first would win.

It was similar in concept to modern strategy simulation games!

This was a category Charles was extremely confident in.

The first match was between the Third Princess of Leonia and someone named Agathy, whom Charles didn’t recognize. The fact that he didn’t know them likely meant they were an extra, not a playable character.

The Princess deployed a textbook combination of 20% cavalry, 50% infantry, and 30% archers.

“Not using the Tercio formation?”

Well, it made sense. From the Princess’s perspective, firearms were a trump card to be revealed later in real combat. She wouldn’t want to showcase the essence of the Tercio formation in a mere test.

Her opponent, seemingly aware they couldn’t win with a standard formation, brought out 40% heavy cavalry and 60% heavy infantry, opting for an elite, concentrated force to execute a central breakthrough strategy. They were putting everything on the line for a single decisive blow.

However, the Princess skillfully maneuvered her cavalry to flank the enemy while slightly retreating her center and advancing her wings, creating an excellent four-sided encirclement. Surrounded on all sides, the enemy was annihilated without even managing to destroy much of the Princess’s wooden puppet.

Her army control was so flawless that even the spectators and professors of Tactics watching through the magical monitor were left speechless.

“Impressive.”

Charles silently praised the Princess in his heart. Her meticulous army control was nothing short of artistry.

When it was Charles’s turn, he chose a composition of 40% heavy infantry and 60% longbowmen.

Seeing this, Charles’s opponent, Andre, burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

Charles asked, his tone calm, as Andre struggled to suppress his laughter.

“Infantry should always outnumber archers. After all, infantry are supposed to protect the archers. Don’t you even know the basics? And no cavalry, either…”

Andre sneered. Technically, he wasn’t wrong. Infantry were meant to shield archers, so it was standard practice for infantry to outnumber archers. But what was the purpose of standard practices? To be broken. There were countless tactics in the world, and Charles’s strategy was far from conventional—it was downright irritating and dirty.

That was because the 4:6 infantry-to-archer strategy Charles was about to employ was so infuriating that it would be labeled unsportsmanlike in online matches. Of course, no such rules existed at Arcadia Academy.

“Pfft… A composition where archers outnumber infantry? Do you think you can even take out 10% of my forces with that?”

In response to Andre’s taunt, Charles simply smiled enigmatically.

—–

The battle between Andre and Charles began. Andre, following the standard tactics taught at school, deployed his light cavalry for reconnaissance.

As they scouted the battlefield from west to east, contact with the light cavalry was lost in a corner of the eastern mountain. They had likely encountered and been defeated by the enemy’s scouts. But it didn’t matter. The fact that both sides’ scouts had clashed in the eastern mountain suggested that the enemy’s main force was also likely stationed there.

Andre led his army toward the east. The enemy had set up camp on the mountain. According to military strategy, fortifying a position on a mountain was not advisable, as supply lines were easily cut off.

Andre considered targeting the supply lines but decided it wasn’t necessary against someone like Charles. After all, Charles was using an unorthodox composition where archers outnumbered infantry.

Cutting off the supply lines to secure victory was one option, but Andre wanted to win in a more spectacular and decisive manner to crush Charles’s pride. He wanted to show Charles that without Glasia, he was nothing.

Thus, Andre resolved to launch a frontal assault on Charles’s forces stationed on the mountain. He believed that such an unbalanced army, with more archers than infantry, wouldn’t last long and would quickly crumble. With that thought, Andre shouted at his wooden puppets.

“All units, prepare for battle!”

The wooden puppets began moving into position one by one. Archers at the front, infantry behind them, and cavalry, which would normally be on the flanks, were placed at the very rear due to the narrow mountain pass. And then…

“Charge!”

With Andre’s command, the battle between Charles and Andre commenced.