Chapter 93: Charlemagne

【I refuse to concede defeat!】

System 12345 was on the verge of fainting.

I am a Galge System, not a War System!

If other Romance Systems find out that my host has eliminated all of the capture targets, not only will I be unable to graduate, but I’ll become a laughingstock for the rest of my Systemhood!

What? Why don’t I change my course of study?

Absolutely not, I am a Galge System! It’s absolutely not because only the top three scorers have the right to change their course of study!

【Erk. Let me think what else can I do.】

System 12345 pondered hard on the issue. He turned his eyes to the final portrait.

It depicted a tall and beautiful woman wearing a crown, holding a scepter and a golden sphere. She emanated a regal air.

【Should we just go after the final boss?】

【My host seems to be fond of fighting wars. Maybe he’ll give up on fighting and focus on dating if I give him an impossible opponent.】

【All right, let’s do it then!】

【My host, this is the final boss—Reincarnated Emperor Charlemagne.】

【She’s the reincarnation of Emperor Charlemagne, the man who united the Western Central Europe. She aspires to unite the world and becomes its sole ruler.】

【Sounds cliche, I know, but that’s the setting. The plot doesn’t matter in dating sims as long as the capture targets can be simped over.】

System 12345 started explaining the situation to Shu Yichao.

【Charlemagne has a holy artifact that allows her to control minds to some extent, and she uses it together with some drugs to build a ferocious army that will fight to their dying breath. On top of that, her strength is on the level of a demigod.】

【That’s why, my host, I advise you to focus on conquering the capture targets instead.】

System 12345 revealed a gleeful smirk.

【You were supposed to lead the femme fatales and tap into their strengths, such as economy, politics, or religion, to conquer the final boss, but now... Tsk tsk, that isn’t possible anymore.】

【That’s why, my host, why don’t we conquer the final femme fatale villain together?】

【She’s much taller than you, so when the two of you get down to it, it would be like a little horse pulling a massive carriage... Oh ho ho!】

System 12345 chuckled to itself before quickly continuing on.

【Don’t worry, my host. Everything will go smoothly with me around.】

【Charlemagne might look arrogant, but she’s also very meticulous and sensitive. Deep down, she’s still a young woman. She’s suffocated by a tremendous pressure, to the point where she dares not even step out of the Eternal City.】

“The Crusade has around 400,000 soldiers. Of them, we estimate that 150,000 to 160,000 are able to fight on the frontlines. Caesar, how should we go about it?”

The Apennine Peninsula was different from the vast plains. Up north was the lofty Alps, whereas in the center were the Apennine Mountains that divided the peninsula into two.

Other than a few flat areas, the region was practically made up of hills, making it difficult for cavalrymen to fight in the area.

“How should we go about it?” Shu Yichao was baffled by the question. “How else? We’ll charge in and beat them up.”

After spending some time studying the map, he quickly noticed something amiss about the Crusade’s deployment.

Large armies had been stationed in around Milan, the Po Valley, Eternal City Rome, and Venezia Giulia. These armies were sizable, but it was baffling why the Crusade had chosen to split up at all.

It’s like they are luring me in to eat them one by one!

Shu Yichao had overlooked a crucial detail—humans needed to eat.

It was logistically impractical to gather an army of 400,000 troops in a single place, let alone lead them off to war. Even feeding the soldiers under current circumstances was a huge strain on Italy.

Charlemagne had dropped quite a bit of hair trying to distribute rations to the armies.

While her holy artifact allowed her to superficially control the kings, she couldn’t alter their long-standing beliefs.

For instance, she could make her targets lean toward one of the multiple options they were hesitating over, but she couldn’t make them do something they weren’t already thinking of.

Similarly, she also couldn’t resolve some conflicts. The English and the French had just concluded their ‘hundred years of friendship’. Even if they had a common goal between them, there was no way they would be willing to stand in the same ditch.

It didn’t help that there were cities she struggled to take control of, such as Genoa. To this day, Genoa still hasn't sent any representatives to Eternal City Rome.

To make things worse, the soldiers of this era had little discipline. They had no qualms killing, robbing, and plundering from civilians, especially when they were facing a shortage in supplies. Many cities were becoming increasingly dissatisfied toward the Crusade due to that.

It would have been hard to deploy such an army out of Italy.

Fortunately, Charlemagne didn’t have to take this army out of Italy at all, for she knew that arrogant fellow would come on his own accord.

So, she exhausted herself till her eyes turned bloodshot to construct an encirclement net.

“Come!” Charlemagne looked at the map while resting her chin on her arm as if a hunter watching as her prey slowly walked into her trap. “Let’s see how the Scourge of God snaps.”

—

Starve’s Map Visualization Aid:

Shu Yichao has previously headed all the way up north to Poland, and he went ahead to attack the Holy Roman Empire afterward, specifically Austria’s Vienna)

Right now, Italy is south of him (meaning that the Alps stand between him and Italy).

The highlight region below is the Alps, and Italy is below that.