To Save My Favourite Character, I Decided To Destroy the Game’s Plot

Fifty-odd years ago, the military power of the Maarten frontier counties was widely known to be superior over that of the Ausstadt region.

Both were key areas entrusted with the defense of their border areas. If there was no difference in the number of troops deployed, then what divided the two sides was the head who controlled the troops.

　Edgar von Maarten, who ruled the Maarten frontier at the time, was so outstanding that he was recommended for the rank of general.

However, Edgar declined the recommendation and took charge of the defense of his homeland, so someone else became the general.

With such a hero at the head of the army, the Maarten frontier was not safe and sound.

　The situation at that time was chaos.

The world was in a state of war that was even more violent than at present, and if the world map was not updated every other year, there would be discrepancies in the information.

　Even with Edgar reigning as a wall, there was no stability along the borders.

However, Edgar was still confident in his ability.　

　Because he knows how good he is. More than that, he was aware of his son O'Brien's potential.

　If he could give O'Brien time to grow up, all he had to do was take over and everything would be fine.

　So if I could endure until then---

○

"O'Brien says it's almost lunch time."

　Inglis, the owner of the bakery and my childhood, who opened the door and peeked into the room, said that ,

He was born into a branch of the Maarten frontier family, and had spent time with O'Brien since he was a child, preparing to become his close aide in the future.

　O'Brien looks up when Inglis calls out to him, but the next moment he returns his attention to his desk and resumes his studies.

"I'm sorry, I'm almost done."

"Your rice is going to get cold."

"You can go ahead and eat."

"You're eating with your family today, right?"

"I am. ------"

O'Brien is at his desk, refusing to comply with the repeated requests of his classmates. What the boy is studying desperately are the problems of the military academy officer class which is generally taught to teenage students. O'Brien, who can easily solve these problems at the age of five, is undoubtedly an exceptional genius.

"Hey. Hey, ------, wow. What's this?"

　Inglis, who peeked at the problem from the side, frowned involuntarily.

　He, too, was being educated to become a close aide, but even so, he could not understand the sentences that used a lot of military jargon.

"How much longer?"

"A little bit. This is the last one."

"Hmm."

　Inglis stares boredly at O'Brien, who is concentrating on his desk.

　And after a few moments...

"It's done!"

　O'Brien stood up with a big smile on his face, and when he wobbled, Inglis helped him up.

"I thought the doctor told you not to move around too much,"

"Sorry, . Thanks."

"You're hopeless without me, aren't you?"

"Well, you're my man. You're supposed to be here."

"What?'

"Thank you. Let's go."

"Look, Dad!"

　On this day, Edgar, who was busy with work, made a rare appearance at the dinner table.

It had been a long time since they were together as a family (plus the Inglis). O'Brien was excited to see his father for the first time in several days.

"What's up?"

"! I've solved the problem of how to use a crossbow to effectively destroy the enemy."

　O'Brien, in a language that does not show his childishness at all, gives a surprisingly precise answer to Edgar's question. After listening to the explanation, Edgar gently patted his son's head with a calm expression.

" O'Brien is going to make a great commander in the future."

"Really? Can I be like you?"

"Of course you can. I'm sure you'll be even better than me."

"Heh heh - I'll be a general then!"

O'Brien's smile is so infectious that it makes one smile. He may be young, but his knowledge and ideas already far exceed those of an ordinary commander. If he grows as he should and gains experience in actual combat, he will be a great man in the not-too-distant future.

　The only regret is that God did not give O'Brien two things.

His body was too weak to replace his outstanding brain.

　He was only five years old. It could be said that he was just growing slowly, but even so, his body was too tiny and slender.

His athletic ability was also poor, and doctors had diagnosed that he might have a frail body.

　A hero is a hero when he has both the knowledge and the strength to fight. Perhaps O'Brien alone could not reach that level.

　That is why Edgar attached Inglis to his son.

　A boy with the most outstanding fighting talent of all the connections a hero has.

　If O'Brien is the brains and Inglis is the sword on the battlefield, he will surely be as good as, or even better than, the great general.

"You can talk all you want, but you're not getting any food."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

　O'Brien, his family, and Inglis.

　A peaceful atmosphere at the dinner table. At this time, they were still in the midst of their happy days.

○

It was a few months later that everything collapsed.

In this war-torn world, along the borders of a fierce war zone, peace was only a temporary beginning.

　O'Brien's hometown, happiness, pride, and everything else were destroyed by a one-sided invasion by an army of 100,000 men.

　Even Edgar could not have foreseen the extent of what was to come.

　It was inevitable. The neighboring country had secretly concluded a peace treaty with a country with which it had been in hostile relations, and had even sent forces to Maarten that it had originally been obliged to devote there.

This was already beyond the realm of military affairs and into the realm of politics. Edgar, who had resigned from his post as general and assumed command of the border area, had no knowledge of this.

The war over Maarten, therefore, turned out to be a one-sided, one-sided overtaking drama that could hardly be called a fight.

"O'Brien, run for your life!"

　While Edgar was leading his army to buy time for the people to escape, the chief stewards and others were fleeing O'Brien and his men with determined expressions on their faces.

　As they flee for their lives, O'Brien and his men see their homeland engulfed in flames and plundered to the point of pillage.

　Their fathers, who were supposed to protect them, were defeated by overwhelming odds and killed without a second thought.

　The man at the head of the enemy army raised the spear that had pierced his father's head high in the air and used the momentum of the attack to drive down his hometown.

　O'Brien, who had no power, had no choice but to flee.

○

Even after escaping from the war-torn hometown, O'Brien and his family continued to be attacked by heavy pursuers.

　Each time, someone died trying to protect O'Brien.

　At first, the few guards who accompanied them died in turn.

　When they ran out, it was the servants, who knew nothing of fighting.

When they were all killed, it was finally the family.

The lives of nobles have priority.

　Only O'Brien, whom the great hero had assured them would surpass him, had to be kept alive.

"We've got him."

The end of the deadly escape. When they managed to reach the territory of the branch family, O'Brien and Inglis were the only ones left.

　O'Brien, who was frail, was carried on his back by a boy under his command and simply carried here.

What, so?"

In order to keep his frail self alive, his family, knights, and servants all died.

He couldn't protect them.

　Why, why, why.

The little margin that was born in his heart after fleeing to the safe zone. The only question that fills it is why.

Why did it have to be destroyed?

　Why did everyone have to die?

Why was he unable to protect anything?

It was all because of weakness.

It was because he was weak.

I was protected because he lacked the strength to protect himself.

"Aaahhhh!!!!"

　O'Brien was knocked down to the depths of despair. All that remained in the young boy's hands was the escape money he had taken from his hometown and used up on his way here.

That was it. That was all.

　Except for a single coin, he could not take anything out of his hometown.

Even that one piece was not something he had protected by himself.

"　I can't protect anything with my own strength."

"Oh, how weak I am."

　The despair of that day destroyed O'Brien, who only yearned to follow in his father's footsteps, and gave birth to O'Brien, who was greedy and madly pursuing power.

○

"And so, I became a major general---or, to put it more aptly, I became the strongest. Well, I am sure that I am a sham, with vengeance at the root, and that is why I was defeated in front of a "real" general."

"Yes, I see."

"If you are worried that I might be disadvantageous in this war, rest assured, I will do my best to win."

　O'Brien looked calm as he said this. It is hard to imagine anyone making this face to be mad.

　Looking back on it now, the strategy of preserving Schneizel is not a tactically negative one.

'Then who took control of this city? Should we be relieved there too?"

"I wouldn't say "be at ease," and there's no way I could say that under the circumstances."

I suppose that's true.

It is other people who determine the evaluation of human beings, and their standard is not their words but their actions. O'Brien has done a lot of bad things up to this point. One word is not enough to satisfy him now.

　Even if most of the misdeeds were not committed by O'Brien himself, but by his subordinates.

　If he had wanted to, he could have stopped them.

But when he did not do so and became a ruler by following the established course of events, his words are not trustworthy.

--- But,

"But, I am sure that your desire for this battle is genuine. To be honest, no, I probably shouldn't be saying this. I don't care about anything except the next war. As long as I can defeat the kingdom of Meltor, which is dead serious, and prove my strength..."

Right.

　If at the root of the madness is a thirst for power, then it doesn't matter if it's insecurity or trust anymore, there's no problem in leaving it to O'Brien.

　We don't have the know-how to fight in Auschwitz. Then it is best for O'Brien to take the hatred and despair that he has accumulated over the past half century and put it to use here.

　There is no other choice.