Chapter 7: It's Hard to Act Cool

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A crisp knocking sound echoed.

"The door isn't locked, come in yourself!" Zalanda’s slightly weary voice came from inside the room.

Gavin pushed the door open in response and walked in, saying, "I saw that Captain hadn't gone down for dinner, so I brought your portion up."

After Gavin walked in, Zalanda didn't even turn her head.

Given her perception, she had identified him the moment he reached three meters from the door; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so relaxed.

At this moment, Zalanda had already taken off her armor and changed into comfortable casual clothes. Even in loose attire, it couldn't hide her proud figure. Years of intense exercise had left her with curves in all the right places—her feminine features were prominent yet not overly exaggerated. The ancient saying from Earth, "a fraction more would be too fat, a fraction less would be too thin," was perfectly suited for this time and place.

Her long, fire-red hair, which reached her waist, was simply tied back and draped behind her. The candlelight reflected off her smooth face, seemingly radiating a pearlescent glow, while carrying a hint of fatigue and vulnerability rarely seen.

"Just put it to the side; I'll eat in a little while!" Zalanda waved her hand without looking back, having no defenses against Gavin, whom she had watched grow up.

"I know what the Captain is worrying about. As long as you finish all the food, I have a plan to offer!" Gavin’s delivery of the meal was a pretext; the offer of a plan was the truth.

"Oh!?" Zalanda was finally intrigued. "Tell me first, what am I worrying about? If you guess correctly, I’ll consider your proposal!"

"Alright," Gavin agreed readily. "Big Sister's retreat plan is built on the premise of completely crushing the goblin force outside the castle. Not just a simple defeat, but a total rout—making them scatter and fear pursuing us, even when they see us dragging our families out of the castle. But defeating them is easy, while routing them is hard. Right now, the Captain doesn't have a good strategy and is fretting over this. Did I guess right or wrong?"

"Eat first, eat first. Once I'm full, I'll listen in detail to what strange things are spinning around in your little head and whether they are worth me borrowing," Zalanda laughed heartily, answering Gavin with her actions.

Gavin could clearly feel the skepticism in Zalanda’s gaze.

There was no helping it; the two were simply too close, with a relationship somewhere between siblings, mentor and student, and master and servant. Everything he knew—at least until he was sixteen—was basically taught by Zalanda. Although he had shown intelligence since childhood, he was far from being a prodigy.

For him to suddenly pop up with a plan for something that was giving Zalanda such a massive headache, it was no wonder she was suspicious.

But now, Gavin couldn't care about that, because he knew the trajectory of the next few days all too well.

Zalanda would indeed go on to achieve countless glorious accomplishments, winning every battle and earning the title of "Queen of Strategy," but that was forged through countless fires of war and failures—and it certainly did not include the Battle of Nortburg.

In this battle, Zalanda hadn't lost, because she did lead the army out of Nortburg and delivered the people here to Dalauma. If one ignored the price paid in the process—at least two-thirds of the people of Nortburg were left on the road during the retreat, and Gavin was one of them.

After Zalanda became queen, she still regretted this incident deeply, believing that the strategy she adopted at the time should have been more cautious and secure.

Back then, Zalanda had only defeated and scattered the goblin army before rushing onto the path of retreat. She hadn't expected the hobgoblin warlord of that goblin tribe to be a capable figure; in less than half a day, he had organized a pursuit force that dogged the Nortburg retreat column all the way.

Coupled with the various small troubles and riots during the retreat, it was far more than Zalanda had imagined.

Most importantly, the idiot Roang had meddled, turning what should have been a guaranteed victory into a pyrrhic one, costing them over half their cavalry.

With their mobile forces severely damaged, even after defeating the enemy, they had no way to pursue the advantage. They could only keep moving, abandoning the straggling women, children, and the wounded along the way. By the time they reached Dalauma, their numbers had been drastically reduced.

This time, thanks to Gavin's efforts, all the cavalry had been preserved, leading to a divergence in the path.

Zalanda ate with a somewhat masculine air, much like how she fought, yet it still carried the grace of her training. She quickly swept the food from the tray clean. At this point, even if someone gave her a "Hero's Feast" summoned by magic, it would have tasted like wax to her.

She was currently grasping at straws, not expecting any earth-shattering insights from Gavin, just hoping he could offer some opinions to stimulate her withered inspiration and see if she could come up with a good tactic.

In other words, she still didn't hold high expectations for Gavin. Again, they were too familiar—familiar to the point where she knew exactly what he was thinking. At a time like this, having someone to talk to was good enough.

"Although we have decided to abandon the castle, the enemy doesn't know that. We can fully exploit the information gap, play some tricks, and consume the enemy's effective strength as much as possible," Gavin didn't hold back and threw his idea out directly.

As expected of the future Queen of Strategy, Zalanda understood immediately. She slammed the table and stood up. "Why didn't I think of that? We not only have enough bows and arrows, but also a unit of heavy infantry. We can fully open the city gates, lure them into attacking to their heart's content, and wait until their vassals and cannon fodder are mostly consumed before launching a counterattack.

If there aren't enough goblin vassals, even if some hobgoblins escape, they won't have the guts to continue pursuing us. Even if they do come, our cavalry has enough strength to drive them off or even wipe them out!

Luring them to attack isn't hard. The leader of this goblin tribe doesn't have high command skills; we just need to open the gates, and those little goblin fools will charge forward mindlessly.

We must arrange three ten-man archer squads here, three here, and five here. A ten-man heavy infantry squad is enough here, and another one here.

And those wagons can be used as obstacles to form an arc-shaped formation. Arrange more civilians with spears behind them, and with the support of the medium-armored infantry, it will be enough to protect their safety and exert considerable combat power.

Someone! Come here! Summon all the ten-man squad leaders; I'm holding a meeting!"

"I'll go call them right away!" Gavin scurried out, but after two steps, he turned back and kindly reminded her, "Big Sister, I suggest you change your clothes first. Holding a military meeting in a bathrobe is a bit damaging to your image."

"Got it!" Zalanda waved her hand impatiently. With her mind set on tactics, she probably hadn't even heard what Gavin said.

"Sigh... my 'luring the enemy into the trap,' my 'catching the turtle in the jar,' my 'driving the sheep' tactics..." Gavin shook his head and sighed as he walked.

Before coming up, he had planned everything out for half a day.

Not only had he simulated the plan, but he had even thought of the names for the tactics, preparing to show off in front of Zalanda and satisfy his little vanity by eliciting a few impressed looks.

As it turned out, he had barely started, and she had grabbed the rope and pulled the rest out herself, even going as far as the troop deployment, leaving him with a belly full of unused ideas. Even for someone who had lived four lives like Gavin, it was a bit frustrating.

This frustration came and went quickly.

Because this person was none other than Zalanda, who had taken care of him since he was a child. Her quick reaction showed that she truly possessed a unique advantage in this area.

He didn't fear Zalanda being strong; he feared her not being strong enough. Only then could he leave with peace of mind and a clear conscience.

Since she possessed enough talent in this area, shouldn't he add some fuel to the fire?