From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 629 Holy Army Trusteeship

"What is this?" Ilinica, who frequented the high society of Chelias, stared blankly at the large stack of documents in front of her and asked.

Besides Ivy, the other three advisors had already left the commander's tent, leaving only Queen Godfrey to familiarize her commander with military affairs, and Ivy, who had not yet been assigned a tent.

"The documents the Holy War Knight Commander needs to sign. Holy War isn't just about marching and fighting; logistics and diplomacy are equally important tasks that you need to pay attention to." Godfrey suddenly smiled mischievously, like a little girl who had finally won a game.

"Let me see... the Candy Knights personnel allocation document?" Ilinica picked up a document from the messy map table, removed the crooked wax seal, and revealed a rather unorthodox document.

The lettering on the parchment looks colorful and crooked, as if it were written by a toddler who has only been learning to spell for less than two days.

"The Candy Knights?" Irina looked up blankly. "What is that? I thought all knightly orders were the kind that sounded really powerful, like the Hell Knights or the Wall of the End. How could there be a knightly order named after 'candy'?"

“The soldiers we saw today were not all of them. Besides the Divine Eagle Guard led by Erabes, the elite troops and new recruits I brought from Nerozian, there were also several small knightly orders—small volunteer legions that come to participate in the Holy War like to be called that.” Godfrey was already used to this.

The Holy War Kingdom of Montevi is located at the northernmost point of the world, and it is not an easy task for other believers on the continent to reach it and participate in the Holy War.

Although the Church of Iomede is widely distributed in Gralión and provides free transportation for those who wish to participate in the holy war, there are always some people who do not believe in Iomede but want to make a name for themselves by participating in the holy war and head to Montevi.

In addition, for those Crusaders who came from outside the Iomede faith, group travel became the preferred mode of transportation.

"Let me see it." Queen Godfrey took the colorful parchment from Illinika's hands. "Oh, it's them. It's a small, noisy order of halflings. I think I've already rejected their application three times. These kinds of crusaders are very common in holy wars, and we can't possibly break them all up and reintegrate them into the existing command structure. The consequence of doing so last time was that one night, the scattered dwarves and halflings regrouped under the cover of darkness and launched an attack on the demons without any orders or friendly support."

"As you can imagine, they suffered a crushing defeat and even disrupted our own camp." Queen Godfrey shrugged and shoved the document back into Illinika's hands. "From then on, we stopped breaking up these small volunteer legions that came to fight alongside us. We let them stay in their current formations behind the main force, or assign them tasks according to their abilities and strengths. In short, we need to utilize their strength, but we can't let their rout affect our main force. Well, now these are your worries!"

Illinika took a deep breath as if she were suffocating, then shoved all the documents on the table into Ivy's arms: "My wise advisor! Now these are all your tasks! I trust your judgment! And I think Her Majesty the Queen thinks so too."

Gao Furui smiled in agreement.

Ivy tilted her head expressionlessly. Was this some kind of Crusader-managed system?

“Do you know what this means?” Ivy deliberately tried to scare her. “It means that all the power of the Crusades is in my hands, and you will become a vase placed at the front.”

"Ha! I'm not worried about that at all!" Irina laughed confidently, like a jewel sparkling with fire. "Cellas's opera can't be without accompaniment and dancers, and of course, it can't be without a librettist and script design, but most importantly, it still has to be the leading lady standing at the very front of the stage, which is me! As long as I am the commander standing at the front of the Crusade, there can be no such thing as a mere pretty face!"

Ivy understood. Illinika was a woman who was very familiar with the stage and very familiar with performing in front of a crowd. As the symbol of the Fifth Holy War, she was absolutely qualified.

The tents were reopened, and Count Dylan, who had briefly been Illinika's teammate for a few days, entered the commander's tent without being notified, accompanied by two soldiers.

“Dairan?” Illinika looked at him in surprise, then asked with a hint of sarcasm, “Didn’t you set off back to Nerozian? What? You actually gave up the premiere season of the play in the capital, gave up the chef from the south, gave up the fine wine of Joning, and three delicate maids, to rush to join my holy war?”

"Ah, please forgive me, Commander, Advisor." Queen Godfrey suppressed a laugh and nodded to Daylane. "The Earl was invited by me."

“Uh…” A hint of embarrassment appeared on Dahlan’s face. “Before being dragged to see His Majesty, I hadn’t had a chance to read that thing… In fact, the Commander was right, I was just about to leave…”

"It's alright. I believe you'll forgive your monarch's rather abrupt summons, especially now that you know why I did it." The Queen gestured solemnly for Dahlan to look at Ilinica and Ivy. "As you can see, Ilinica has just been appointed as the Knight Commander of the Fifth Holy War, and Ivy is her plenipotentiary advisor. But this camp is still lacking someone who can connect with Montevi, and I've spent a long time considering who should be appointed to the highly sensitive position of 'Commander's Field Attendant and Plenipotentiary Advisor.' Now that you're already sharing my burdens in Kanaburi, show some backbone and ability, and witness the Commander win the Fifth Holy War!"

Ivy confirmed one thing again: Queen Govery was a true political animal. The long-named position that had been promised to Ivy actually already had a suitable candidate in Govery's mind.

She hasn't come out of the tent since she entered, indicating that before discussing his role in the Crusade with Ivy, the Queen had already guessed that Ivy wouldn't agree to the seemingly powerful position and had made corresponding arrangements.

What impressed Ivy even more was that Queen Godfrey made no attempt to hide these political maneuvers.

This woman is using political maneuvering to win the trust of her allies.

Now a high-ranking official, Earl Dylan was no longer as composed as before. His expression shifted, as if he hadn't fully grasped what was happening, or perhaps he was struggling to control himself: "It's my honor... I think..." "Ha ha!" Irina immediately let out a vicious laugh, "This is wonderful! Your Majesty! If you didn't give our dear Earl this opportunity to serve our common cause, he would be heartbroken!"

“I knew we were on the same page, Commander.” Queen Godfrey smiled politely, as if she were in her own royal court, not in the chaotic commander’s tent.

"By the way, Earl. News of your appointment will reach the court in Nerozion at any moment. All the nobles of Montivell will be watching how successfully you serve the country, including all your most loyal admirers. I've even heard that a bard who is particularly friendly with you has begun to compose a ballad to commemorate your heroic dedication to the Holy War and your loyal service to the knight commander..." It's hard to say exactly what Earl Dylan has to do with "heroic loyalty," but there's no doubt that Queen Godfrey has completely blocked all of Dylan's escape routes back to Nerozion.

The count's face flushed red. To show his respect for the queen's wisdom, he bowed and thanked her in a trembling voice: "Your generosity is unparalleled, dear cousin. I am truly grateful for the honor you have bestowed upon me, I am moved to tears."

"Very well, then go and prepare quickly, Earl." Queen Godfrey watched Earl Dallan walk out of the tent with a limp.

"Alright, now there's only one last thing left." Queen Godfrey revealed a mysterious smile. "I will also join this holy war and travel with your troops to the City of Favor."

“If we were to rank the demon lords’ most wanted enemies, I think the Queen of Montivere would be at the very top of the list.” Ivy raised an eyebrow. “If those nightmares lurking deep within the World’s Sorrow discover that you are with our army, I have no doubt that they will immediately send their most ferocious demons to attack. They will stop at nothing to eliminate you, thus sowing the seeds of chaos throughout Montivere. What’s worse, this army has not yet been tested in actual combat; right now, it’s just a rabble with a core of capable men.”

“As expected of the military advisor I personally selected.” Godfrey revealed a sly smile. “You’re right, Ivy. So I can’t let the demons know about this, nor can anyone else in the army. I will gather my own troops and return to Nerezion in a grand manner. But once I leave the camp, I will select a few loyal guards to become knights in a small knightly order, joining the army incognito.”

"After arriving in Jueze City, I will appear before the troops and join the battle, just to give the demons a surprise!" Godfrey announced her plan.

This was immediately met with opposition from Irina, who had an unusual sensitivity to being "center stage" or similar status.

“This is far too risky, Your Majesty!” Illinika said, frowning. “I don’t deny that you can boost morale, but who will lead the troops? Who will command the battle? A stage cannot have two lead singers on the same side.”

Then Ilynica looked at Ivy and added, “Unless it’s a wise knight commander and her loyal mount—cough, I mean, companion.”

Queen Godfrey glanced back and forth between Ivy and Illinika, and said with a hint of rivalry, "I understand what you mean, Commander. But I thought you had delegated tasks like commanding troops and deploying tactics to our wise military advisors."

Ivy silently used magic to put the documents that Irina had forcibly stuffed into her arms back on the table.

But to his surprise, Irina wholeheartedly agreed with Godfrey's words: "Tell me, Ivy, when we attack Juanze City, who will you carry on your back during the attack?"

How come this woman hasn't forgotten her dream of becoming a dragon knight?
“Kannabri is still quite a distance from the City of Favor. We need to train our soldiers along the way, ideally by engaging in one or two skirmishes with demons to strengthen their will and courage. Then we can discuss the specific plans for attacking the City of Favor.” Ivy decided to offer some empty words first to appease these two troublesome women.

"I'm starting to believe that you were indeed sent by the goddess Iomede to help me win the Holy War." Godfrey seemed to agree with Ivy's statement and nodded appreciatively. "Actually, there have always been very few people in the Holy Army who are capable of great things. Since the Third Holy War ended with mutual accusations and killings, too many people have infiltrated our ranks who put personal desires above the Holy War. Therefore, to win this Holy War, it is indeed the foundation of victory to unite the will and beliefs of the troops."

“I knew you could handle all this!” Irina looked around her tent. “You don’t have a tent in the camp, do you? How about sharing this tent with me? It’s spacious enough; it’s too empty for me to live alone. Plus, we can discuss Crusader affairs anytime.”

From Ivy's perspective, Illini's commander's tent wasn't very impressive. A messy map table, beds separated by screens, and storage areas for armor and weapons; besides that, there were only a few large, dusty chests for storing her personal belongings.

The area that Illinika tried to allocate to Ivy was the one with the armor and weapons display shelves.

As a high mage who carries a demiplane with him, Ivy wouldn't be foolish enough to squeeze into a tent with a knight commander. He might consider sharing a bed, but this songstress named Ilinica clearly didn't see him as a human being, but rather as some kind of intelligent, talking large animal.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I'll pass." Ivy opened the Grimoire of Destruction and took out a very inconspicuous single tent. "This will do for me."

"This is far too shabby." Queen Godfrey looked her up and down. "Can you even turn over in there?"

“Perhaps you’ve all forgotten that before becoming the military advisor to the Crusades, I was a professor from a magic academy.” Ivy didn’t intend to show the two women her residence. “It’s a hidden gem inside, more than enough to host a tea party.”

Humans cannot empathize with scenes they have never seen before, so Irina and Godfrey could not understand Ivy's explanation.

(End of this chapter)