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IBHJ Chapter 574
🕑 Added 2023-11-15 01:21:58 +0000 UTCShirou stationed his army at the borders and assigned domestic infrastructure projects.
Seeing this, Mordred had an "as expected" expression.
In life, she had studied Shirou thoroughly in order to become a qualified king. If anyone knew Shirou's ways and thoughts as a king best, it was definitely her.
She did not utilize plague as she had against Artoria. Instead, like Shirou, she stationed her army at the borders to form a standoff.
Using plague and poets against Saber previously was meant to bully and frustrate. But she knew well such tactics against Shirou would undoubtedly tie the noose around her own neck - she would be seeking death!
In Agravain's book of wisdom, there was a line: "A sword is double edged, harming others and harming oneself."
Utilizing plague and poets could create an advantage in rumors, but Shirou could also turn her own poets against her.
Moreover, her father had used this tactic against Vortigern's poets in history. Mordred had studied this precedent well, so how could she possibly make such a silly mistake?
She gathered her ministers and fiercely denounced Shirou's evilness and her own supposed righteousness. She added exaggerations and smears about Shirou's domestic rule, claiming her confrontation was not out of personal ambition, but to liberate the oppressed masses. It was a struggle to free the people.
She portrayed herself as a benevolent, righteous ruler.
Moreover, she arranged for scholars to write texts depicting Shirou as extremely brutal and evil, and citizens' lives as backwards and cruel under him. Meanwhile she was depicted as benevolent and tolerant.
This caused domestic panic towards Shirou and further reliance on Mordred.
It was public opinion control!
Having frequently used public opinion herself, Mordred knew its power well. She sought to control her side's narrative first, to prevent Shirou attacking with his own.
Though she appeared adept only at intrigue and schemes, the truth was different. Apart from Artoria's and Scathach's books, she had memorized all other books of wisdom, internalizing their sentences, contexts, precedents, and transforming that knowledge into her own crystallized wisdom.
Moreover, she had inherited the thoughts of Agravain, Bedivere, Guinevere...all of Camelot.
Indeed, she was the inheritor who had collected and integrated the kingdom's full legacy.
Perhaps, if not for the extraterrestrial incident, and she had grown up normally to inherit the throne, she may have become an emperor whose name lived on in history.
The two acted almost identically, neither starting a war. One was busy arranging infrastructure projects, the other was busy with public opinion control.
To bystanders, it was extremely boring and dull.
At least in the eyes of Saber and Sisigou, it certainly was.
Mordred's illusion didn't reject Saber and Sisigou.
They were like audience members watching a livestream, detached and able to observe both sides.
Unlike Sisigou, Saber was also a king, so she could understand both sides' actions.
"Controlling public opinion and infrastructure projects, huh..."
Saber frowned. She grasped the purpose behind both sides' moves, but not why Shirou was keeping his head down developing in this situation.
Shirou occupied Vortigern's vast lands and large population, with abundant resources. Why not attack Mordred directly?
When she had played this king's game with Mordred before, occupying Vortigern's territory herself, she had attacked first thing.
While Saber pondered, both sides made new moves.
Having arranged infrastructure plans, Shirou now also controlled domestic opinion like Mordred. And Mordred began infrastructure projects instead.
Saber frowned.
The actions of both sides were practically identical, only differing in order.
However, things were not as simple as they looked to Saber.
With his larger, familiar land, Shirou only briefly arranged infrastructure before starting public opinion control, matching Mordred's speed.
Mordred could not do the same.
Her smaller occupied territory meant intricately planning infrastructure just to match Shirou's output.
This resulted in Mordred lagging one step behind Shirou.
While Mordred allocated land, Shirou had already sent spies into her territory.
He had originally planned to spread rumors against Mordred, but the information he obtained gave him some surprise.
Mordred had controlled her domestic public opinion extremely well.
This surprised him.
It felt like he had thought he was playing PVE, only to discover he was actually playing PVP instead.
Quickly, Shirou had the spies stop spreading rumors to avoid exposure. Instead, he had them infiltrate and secretly target Mordred's generals and ministers - buying some over, impeaching others.
He also began counter-espionage and anti-spy mechanisms in his army domestically. After that, he started constructing trade routes, connecting the east, west, south and north of his territory, and began resource allocation.
Due to her temper, Mordred had chosen Arthur's smaller territory. To match Shirou's productivity, intricate infrastructure work was essential.
Yet amidst her busy schedule, she heard rumors among the masses - allegations of a minister's misdeeds, or whispers of covert defections to Shirou's side.
Mordred frowned.
She wasn't stupid of course, and knew well these were Shirou's tricks.
There were already enemy's spies in her kingdom!
Though she had anticipated such sabotage, there was little to be done to prevent it entirely. Panicking now would only disrupt production. What troubled her more was the impossibility of knowing which subordinates Shirou had already turned against her.
With no other choice, Mordred focused her efforts on exposing the spies and eliminating Shirou's influence within her court, though this delayed her plans.
To prevent Shirou from gaining ground during this distraction, she bribed the Irish kingdoms near Scotland to launch raids across his borders.
The Britain she had simulated was much like Vortigern's kingdom in its early stages - Mordred controlled Wales and southern England, while Shirou held Scotland and central-northern England. In this way, the illusion Mordred had created was slightly more advanced than Merlin's dream at that time.
Mordred's bribery of the Irish kingdoms forced Shirou to divert some of his troops to defend Scotland. Seizing this opportunity, Mordred advanced her army, pressing on the frontlines and putting pressure on him.
Seeing her maneuver, Shirou raised his brows in pleasant surprise. Playing this kind of game, it finally no longer felt like playing against an AI, but against another player!
Watching intently, Saber tensed in anticipation. War would finally start! Or so she had hoped.
But Shirou cleverly feinted. He moved military supplies to the borders, looking like he was going to go all out against Mordred, scaring her into quickly withdrawing her defense line.
Then, he actually moved his main troops - the magnificent Pict and Saxon army with waving banners and rumbling drums - to the Scottish border instead. Their thunderous approach caused the invading Irish to hesitate indecisively.
At this time, Shirou sent envoys to the two countries closest to Scotland, establishing friendly relations.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of this timing, Mordred investigated the domestic spies and finished surveying the domestic land situation. She then assigned manpower to start executing the construction plans.
The two did not directly start fighting, but raced to improve their own national power instead.
This was extremely boring in Sisigou's eyes. Construction was just not as exciting as the direct violence of war.
However, Saber had an extremely solemn expression. She even borrowed paper and pen from Sisigou to record key points. She could see the wonderful parts in their actions.
Unlike the kings she had known, Shirou and Mordred were rulers who extremely valued domestic development. Their political instincts were very keen. For example, controlling domestic public opinion was something she had never done in life.
If she had controlled public opinion when she was alive, would she still have been betrayed? This experience let Saber gain a lot of insight.
Moreover, Shirou immediately had his spies change targets when he noticed Mordred's skilled public opinion control. And Mordred almost unhesitatingly bribed the Irish to attack when folk rumors revealed there were spies sabotaging her ministers.
These were results of highly sensitive political instincts.
Plus, their maneuvering against each other was extremely wonderful in Saber's eyes. It was like two peerless swordsmen comparing martial arts, countering each other move for move - one side solidifying their defenses while the other looked for breakthrough points.
There were many things Saber had never done in life, or even considered. Sending spies and controlling public opinion through white terror were completely new concepts to her!
Saber benefited greatly from observing them.
Then the situation changed again. While assigning personnel for infrastructure, Mordred also started training spies to infiltrate Shirou's country.
But this...
was already within Shirou's expectations!
Comments
JeanMartin Freites
Looks like this battle between equals may not be so equal after all.
Duck
🗿
Claude
Well, that's because you're not supposed to know his name... 🤔😉
Duck
This might not be relevant, but I’ve been meaning to ask… what was Shirou’s name before he was sent to the Nasuverse? I get it’s not entirely relevant given he’s made Shirou’s name his own but I’m still curious. All we know is he was a soul and that’s it.
