-East of the Holy State of Mila, the Flatlands of Mila-

I must admit that I'm a bit envious of soldiers. You see, a strategist's job is usually over before the battle even starts, and while a tactician has plenty to do during actual combat, it's more or less rote work, and barring an exceptional flash of brilliance, the battle's outcome is clear from the start. After all, that's one of the principles in 'Art of War'. However, once all the pieces have been set on the board, Robin internally sighed, it's a chore and half to actually implement them. It'd be nice to have a job which doesn't have chores at the end of it.

The crimson tactician spun on the battlefield, wielding his spear so that it flashed it a wide arc. A few rebels who had tried getting in close to him to avoid his lightning went down with blood wounds. Robin didn't bother trying to kill them. When it came to rebels, he preferred them gravely wounded to dead. Dead rebels were martyrs. Scarred and living made them into warnings.

"Thoron! Arcfire! Elwind!" Robin fired the magic off in jolts, blasting away at the ragged forces arrayed in front of him. His cloak flapped around him from the breeze. Fires raged in the background, and the battlefield felt the effects from the Valm mage teams that were trying to put them out. Robin took command of the nearest Wolfguard unit once he heard of the rebellion and luckily Aversa had managed to secure a juicy bit of information that one of her informers squeezed out of a drunk rebel officer. The rebels were attempting to take a position to harry the convoys that moved through the flatlands. Unfortunately for them, the flatlands were good for transporting goods because they were flat, and didn't have cover. Which meant that Valm could take the advantage that came with immensely overpowering guerrilla forces.

"Valm infantry, advance!" Robin thrust his hand forward. Not that Robin was using the numbers he had. He was interested in complete annihilation of the enemy, which meant he was forgoing his numerical advantage for the time being. Well, to an extent. His forces still outnumbered the enemies by almost two to one. "Break their ranks!"

"Kill him!" Robin's opposite number, the commander of the haggard group of rebels pointed his notched heavy blade at Robin. "That's the Crimson Devil himself! Kill him, and Valm's strategy falls with him!"

Zealot rebels. Robin internally sighed. His cavalry and fliers were sent around, forming a loose ring to hunt and kill the running rebels, when Robin's heavy infantry smashed into their formation and scattered them to the winds. Problem is, we've taken out half their number, and they ain't running. We'll take more infantry losses than I want, if I don't take out this leader and panic them.

"Have it your way!" Robin howled and charged forward, drawing Katarina's tome in his left hand, keeping his lance in his right.

"Die, demon!" The rebel commander rushed at him, dragging a thick furrow in the earth from his heavy blade as he dragged it through the ground.

The commander set his feet and brought his massive blade around to try to slice Robin in half. The tactician dodged with half a second to spare, a short time off the battlefield but a life time on it. Robin dashed to the side, lunging with his spear, only for the commander to leap back, bringing his massive blade with him.

"Clever. And fast." Robin readied to use an Elthunder spell. "So, how well does that sword conduct electricity?"

"Not well." The commander parried the electric bolt, taking the shock, and only mildly wincing. Robin stared in amazement and raised an eyebrow. The commander clarified. "The rust helps."

"Yeah…" Robin sighed. The blade the commander was using was in terrible condition, rusted over, notched, and seemed to creak whenever it was moved. "So, how does it all stay together?"

"Magic."

"Of course." Robin said. A lull had emerged to let the leaders talk to each other. Robin couldn't see them, but he noted the presence of a few people slowly walking up beside him. "You know I'm glad that you didn't die immediately."

"And why's that?"

"Because we could use the practice." Robin gestured. Beside him, a spear and a curved sword were extended alongside his own lance. A nexus of magic spread out as a mage began preparing a fire spell, and a similar nexus for a wind spell. "Robin squad, go! Magic!"

Robin thrust his hand and electricity crackled from it, spreading in a wave, mixing in with Vermillion's powerful fire magic and Argeni's enthusiastic wind magic. It didn't have the effect that military-scale mage bombardments had, namely the enemy's front ranks weren't a smoldering pile of ash, but it knocked them off balance.

"Two-stage attack it is, then." Robin said. "Glad we now know that spreading magic that thinly is a no-go, even for us." Okay, it's actually because this is one of the few times Vermil's lack of power makes a difference, and Argeni just isn't skilled enough at wind magic yet. Also, wind magic sucks.

"Point is mine." Say'ri moved in a flash.

"Leave the commander to me!" Robin called after her as he and Zulas hurried after her.

"Aye." Say'ri nimbly dodged the man's large greatsword, stopping to observe it. She stood there and casually reversed her blade to stab the rebel moving up beside her. "That … is the most unique sword I've ever seen. It's a guide unto itself of poor maintenance."

"Kill them!" Robin leapt forward, stabbing his spear into the ground and using it as leverage to land a kick into the flat side of the blade, sending the commander back. Robin grinned as the gap was filled by ordinary soldiers. Perfect testing grounds. "Zulas, maneuver three!"

"Bladestorm, it is!" Zulas went back to back with Robin. They took their spears in their right hands and thrust it back through the space between their arms and side so that a third of the length of the spears was sticking out the other's left side. Then Robin grasped Zulas's spear and Zulas did likewise, cementing the status. "Can I say this feels stupid?"

"It's only stupid if it doesn't work! Go!" The pair spun around, scything through the soldiers in front of them, rapidly spinning to form a blade whirlwind. With the support they offered, the pair of them had rigid enough grip to cut gashes and cuts through the enemies. Robin grinned. Hah! I was right! This is crazy enough to work!

Then his foot caught a rock, and he tripped and fell.

Normally, he could pay better attention to his environment and had means to recover. That wasn't available to him, so he went down, crashing in a pile. Zulas fared a bit better, as Robin let go of everything to brace himself, so Zulas was able to maneuver a bit and stand on his own two feet.

Robin sighed and got up slowly as the rest of his squad assembled around him. "Vermil?"

"Had a nice trip, Robin?" The fire mage smirked.

"Kill everyone who saw that." Robin said. "Maximum prejudice."

"I'll make ashes of their ashes." Vermil grinned. "O magnificent flames from beyond the veil of mortal comprehension, lend me your power this once so that this pale realm may experience your divine and majestic destruction. Now, with thy arcane power, red arteries of the earth, I lend thee my strength so that you may prove to the mortals the everlasting power of the scarlet annihilation! BOLGANONE!"

The ground erupted beneath the center of the rebel forces, spewing forth a magma plume over a dozen feet in the air. Bodies went flying from the force, and lava rained downed, melting through the nearby soldiers. Panic broke out in the ranks, scattering the forces. Then as fast as it appeared, the plume stopped.

Robin glanced over to see Vermil panting from exhaustion. "Nice job. But I did say all of them."

"Does that include us?" Vermil asked.

"No." Robin considered, reaching for his spear as he got to his feet, gesturing to his remaining forces to support his spearhead and take advantage of the chaos that Vermil has caused. He tossed an elixir to Vermil. "Take thirty. Seconds. Actually, make the destruction include Argeni."

"Hey!"

"You're going to blackmail me with it." Robin said. "The rest of army didn't get a clear enough look, so they don't know I tripped over my own two feet, but you do."

"True. But I seem to recall someone saying, 'If it's stupid and it works, it's still stupid'." Argeni fired a blast of wind magic atop her horse, causing a group to stumble. To a casual observer, it seemed that she wasn't doing any actual damage. But Robin wasn't a casual observer. Argeni was directing her wind to keep the enemy's formation in a constant state of disarray. It allowed the small numbers of the Robin Squad to keep their spearhead while the remaining Valm forces crashed into the ranks.

"Vermil, Argeni, keep up the pressure. And for the record, the quote's the opposite." Robin said. "Zulas, Say'ri, with me. Maneuver seven."

"That only takes two of us." Zulas pointed out.

"So if it's smart and doesn't work, it's still smart?"

"Argeni, please stop talking while we have more important things to deal with. If seven is out…" Robin licked his lips. "Maneuver eleven, then."

"Ah. The dumb one." Say'ri said. "Well, the other dumb one now that you've already done the first."

"I'm the tactician here, the rest of you aren't paid to think! Now, go!" Robin charged at the rebel commander, with Zulas charging behind him and Say'ri a bit ahead. The commander eyed them as the three approached. Robin watched as he raised his blade to slice the team in pieces. He gestured for the move to start.

Say'ri made the first move, blurring as she hit her maximum speed. She disappeared off to the side, as Robin howled and thrust his spear into the ground, using it to vault high into the air and hurled himself with his arms to throw himself high over the rebel commander. Zulas kept his charge steady and set his lance in a thrust, as Robin summoned lightning in the sky, as Say'ri appeared behind the commander, with her hand on her sheathed blade.

"Kenjutsu-style blademanship: Iajitutsu!"

"Fangshu-style spearcraft: Straight thrust!"

"Archeanian-style Magecraft: Arcthunder!"

Lightning forked from the sky, electrocuting the commander as Say'ri slashed through him and Zulas impaled him through the chest. The commander was dead three ways, with his sword still held back for a swing. The man would have still died even if not for his indecision, but he might have managed to land a hit on one of them.

Robin gathered a nexus of lightning around him as he prepared to land. He drew his right hand back and slammed it into the ground as he landed. A nexus of lightning blazed around him, striking rebels as it did so. Robin stood up, laughing as he faced against the rest of the assembled rebel forces. Zulas walked up next to him, a spear over his shoulder, while Say'ri appeared by his other side, hand on her hilt. Valm forces in crimson uniforms rushed the rebel army.

"KILL THEM ALL!" Robin roared.

The spectacular death of their commander had done what a plume of lava couldn't, and finally unnerved the seemingly unnervable army. The rebels broke and ran from Robin's heavy infantry. Robin gestured and Vermil fired a flare in the sky, signaling the infantry.

"Run them down and kill them all!" Argeni cried.

"No, Argeni, wait." Robin sighed. "Hammer and anvil, remember? Let the cavalry clean up the stragglers, the heavy infantry has done enough fighting for the day."

"I-I-I knew that." Argeni stammered. "I did. I may have gotten caught up in the heat of the moment."

"Perfectly understandable." Zulas said. "That was one of the first good scraps we've had in a while. When did you learn wind magic, Argeni?"

"I've had a busy six months."

"Yes, but you've spent most of it in my company." Zulas said.

"I know. It's been excellent practice in keeping secrets." Argeni smiled at Zulas. "I need practice, you understand."

"I know you're entertained by trying to get a rise out of me, but I'm not certain you'll ever manage it." Zulas said, gazing at her. "I trust you implicitly."

"And that just one of the things I love about you."

"Alright, cut the doe eyes." Robin sighed. "Say'ri, how are you holding up? This is your first time in group combat, isn't it?"

"I am fine." Say'ri said. She had finished wiping her blade clean and was looking over the edge. "So this is your group. It is nice to meet them. If they aren't a bit odd."

"First time meeting you too." Zulas said, offering his hand. "I assume you know who we are, but I'm Zulas Albert, Robin most trusted lieutenant."

"Vermillion Rojo Rubrum, fire mage extraordinaire." Vermil said. "You sight it, I'll light it."

"Argenita di Cratez, pompous and overbearing aristocrat." Argeni said. "It's really a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Chon'sin Princess."

"I am Say'ri, sworn sword to Robin." Say'ri took Zulas's hand. "It is good to meet you all."

Zulas gave Robin a good look and mouthed 'sworn sword?'. Robin shrugged and gave what he considered a mildly apologetic smile and mouthed 'I'll explain later' back at him.

"Missing one, though." Argeni said. "Robin, where's Dant?"

"Asking me again won't change my answer." Robin sighed. "Deep cover assignment. Plegia. Can't be more specific. But as it happens, Say'ri and Dant have met."

"Oh, have we?" Say'ri asked.

"She was the one hiding under my desk when you came to visit me that night."

"Ah. I was wondering who that was."

"I-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g." Argeni dragged the word out far longer than Robin would have considered possible. "A midnight visit with Dant listening in beneath your desk? Now I'm curious. Say'ri what happened?"

"I'm afraid that I can't answer your question." Say'ri frowned. "It's of a personal nature to Robin, and as his sworn sword, I cannot reveal anything about him without his permission."

"Sworn sword." Argeni said the words and proceeded to repeat them a few times as if tasting the phrase. "Sworn sword. Sworn sword. Sworn sword. Is that a Chon'sin expression for something?"

"Yes."

"I knew it."

"It means that I've sworn my blade to his services." Say'ri explained. "It's really just another way to say that I'm one of his samurai."

"Oh." Argeni blinked as her mind went from fantasy to realizing what was the actual relationship between the two. "Ah. And that's just it?"

"Yes, Argeni." Robin sighed. "That's all there is. We aren't romantically involved. And if you're so curious, the meeting was back when Say'ri was part of the rebellion, so I had Dant hide in case I needed the backup."

"Not that you needed her." Say'ri said. "You defeated me quite handily when we actually fought."

"I did need the backup at that point." Robin said. "Regardless, Zulas. What did you think of maneuver three?"

"Hmm. The bladestorm technique." Zulas frowned. "Well, it was pretty effective at wounding, but there was no actual death caused by it. Incredibly susceptible to range attacks, but we knew that beforehand."

"Which is why we deployed it once we got within the infantry."

"Right. We got the spin pretty fast, which was decent enough at wounding, but we ran into kind of a catch, because it's only effective when we charge into massed infantry, but moving fast means-"

"-I tripped and fell." Robin looked up. "This is not getting out, incidentally. The story is that one of them landed a blow against my well-armored boot. Is this understood?"

"Yes, sir." Zulas said, saluting.

"I said, is this understood!?" Robin singled out one member in particular.

"Yes, Robin." Argeni sighed.

"Overall, a decent plan for disrupting enemy massed infantry." Robin mused. "A few weeks of training over rough terrain should help. And you know what else? If we're dedicating infantry to it, we might as well turn the spears to basically giant blades to the point where we actually have giant bladed wheels."

"That doesn't seem to be practical." Say'ri frowned. "Do you really think that you can use those to slice through shield walls?"

"Maybe if the rebels were good enough to form shield walls." Robin said. "But most of these forces are hastily armed guerillas armed with sharp pointed sticks. Their cores seemed to be impressive, though."

"Yeah, I noticed that." Zulas said. "Those were trained soldiers around that commander. And I could have sworn I heard about that blade from somewhere."

"Mmm. I kind of wish I had a man like that fighting alongside my army. It's a pity he was working for the rebels. Vermil." Robin said. "The archives are a week's ride from here, right?"

"The Royal Archives?" Vermil frowned. "Yeah."

"Send a messenger. Search the archives for any mention of that man, or any like him." Robin said, snapping his fingers. "As for maneuver eleven, it's completely useless."

"Killed him pretty well." Zulas noted. "Also, you don't have to check the archives on my say-so."

"I can check the Archives on a whim if I want, it's a privilege of my station, and I will abuse it if I so feel inclined. Which I do." Robin said. "As for maneuver eleven, it was designed to kill someone that the three of us could do individually without much of a risk. Problem is, I'm not sure that can be done."

"Makes sense." Zulas said. He thrust his spear into the ground and stood straight. "You know that sometimes there can be no victory without sacrifice."

"Sometimes…" Robin's eyes turned hard. This rebellion means that the die is cast. Regardless of the fact that I didn't cause it, I can't turn a blind eye, because it's the very catalyst that I was looking for. That means that my schedule has been accelerated. Which it turns means that my abilities must grow. "Sometimes there are victories that can only be accomplished without sacrifice."

"Huh. I know better than to argue with you when you have that look." Zulas said. "Planning something long term, aren't you?"

"Planning something long term, which requires a victory without loss." Say'ri said. "One that is related to maneuver eleven, perhaps? What are you planning, Robin?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Robin smiled. Time to feed a half-truth. "Well, I suppose not. The truth is, that maneuver was being developed to give our soldiers a better chance of dealing with the Shepherds. They're strong – very strong, given that they've never lost a man, and I'd rather if our elite squads not fall to pieces. If we can defeat them without our side losing men… well, that would send a rather clear message, wouldn't it?"

"I thought you were friends with Chrom." Say'ri frowned.

"Wait, you're friends with the Ylissean Exalt?" Zulas demanded.

"Yes I am." Robin looked at Zulas. "Don't worry, I'll fight him should the need ever come up, especially if Valm should require it. But the Ylissean Exalt is one of a kind, I wager. Besides, duty as Battlemaster dictates that I am cordial with anyone we aren't at war with."

"Makes sense."

"Right." Robin turned his attention back to the battlefield. "It seems that our work here is done. Say'ri, Zulas, head to the command tent. I'll join you in a bit. I have different jobs for the other two."

"Sexist." Argeni muttered.

"What?" Robin blinked. "How- I'm having Say'ri join me!"

"Nepotist."

"We're not related!"

"Huh, you're right." Argeni said. "I'm disappointed with you, Robin. Most nepotists promote people related to them, but you've gone and done it to someone you aren't related to. You're a failure at being a nepotist."

"Are you just doing this because you've realized what I'm going to assign for you and you're trying to get out of it?"

"Obviously." Argeni sighed. "Political fallout?"

"I'm only asking you because you're the best one in my entire army to deal with it." Robin said. "Honestly, you're just as crafty as I am, and have political savvy and knowledge to boot."

"The best at politics in the greatest army on the continent." Argeni sighed. "Which means more work for me."

"The rest of us will be working too." Zulas coughed.

"Right, right." Argeni directed her horse and started off for the scribe's tent, which Robin knew from experience she would hijack and run it like a boot camp sergeant, minus the salty language but with a number of equally sharp barbs and backhanded insults instead.

"So, I'm off the hook…?"

"Flare tome." Robin said, in a tone that suggested disagreeing with him was a choice only the most foolish would make.

"Noooooooooooo." Vermil collapsed with a pained expression on his face. "My free time…"

"Stop whining, you know you what that tome more than I do." Robin said.

-Command Tent-

"There have been granary strikes in the northwest and southwest. The fires should be under control by now, assuming there haven't been more attacks." Aversa's voice came clean through his comm crystal. "We're seeing attacks on a few lightly defended towns, but by and large citizens seemed to have been left out of the fight. Also, two rivers have been dammed, the Yangtze and the Longfallow."

"I see." Robin added a few darts to the board. "And do we know we're they're based?"

"Not a clue."

"I'm alone here." Robin sighed. It was a lie. Say'ri and Zulas were present as well, but Say'ri protested kicking them out of the meeting once he already invited them into the strategy tent. Besides, nothing Aversa could dig up could incriminate him, given he was innocent (for once), so Robin didn't mind giving the illusion he wasn't planning on betraying the Empire. "In your capacity as Avarice, what do you know?"

"Recruitment." Aversa said after a pause. "Even as a dark market information dealer, I don't know everything. Most of these rebellions seem to be localized, and formed from internal loyalist groups – zealots, basically. And those are hard to penetrate. I received hardly any warning – the signs are obvious in retrospect, but nothing that raised too many flags. Now, they're recruiting. Recruiting hard. There are men at every major city who'll send you to a rebel force if you know where to look."

"What signs are you talking about?"

"Weapon shipments. Food supplies. Information about trade routes and where soldiers are stationed." Aversa said. "Nothing out of the ordinary, I assure you. And they weren't all to one source. But a lot of what changed hands in the last three months were used in the attacks this past week."

"Past three months?" Robin frowned. "Aversa, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"What percent?" Robin said.

"Maybe ten? I can't get that good of a handle on all the transactions within the market." Aversa paused. "Yet, that is. My reach is slowly, but steadily growing."

"No, how much of the attacks used information found on the black market?" Robin asked.

"Oh. Um, eighty percent, I think?" Aversa said. "I'm curious as to what you make of it."

"Right." Robin bit his lip. "Your orders are simple. Infiltrate the rebel forces. Not run-of-the-mill infiltrators. You know the stash of sealed orders I gave you?"

"Yes."

"The one marked Shadow Puppets." Robin said. Sealed orders were magically sealed, they were enchanted ink that would only be revealed once the reader said the code word. Normally Aversa could crack the enchantment with her Darkgift, which is why Robin had Ravena seal the orders. He hadn't told Aversa, who promptly cursed Robin out for having her train Ravena the first time she got locked out the orders. "Code phrase is 'the giant keeps growing'. Robin out."

"I understand." The comm crystal flashed twice.

Robin pocketed the device and turned to Say'ri and Zulas. "Impressions?"

"I thought Aversa was your spymaster." Say'ri frowned. "What is Avarice?"

"She is." Robin said. "Avarice is a dark market broker, willing and able to supply just about anything, if the price is right."

"Seriously? You've got someone actively working the black market?" Zulas looked at exasperated. He looked over at Say'ri, who was just standing still with a look of disinterest on her face. "Hey, Say'ri! Are you okay with this?"

"If Robin is doing it, it means that he considers it needed to be done." Say'ri replied. "I suspect if we do ask him, he will give us an answer along the lines that the black market will exist anyway, so he might all well be the one in control of it."

"Heh." Robin grinned.

"Having a predictable excuse does not justify your actions."

"And there it is. Say'ri's signature reverse cut." Robin sighed. "Yes. I have Aversa working in the underworld, because much as I would like it to the contrary, it exists. And I'll squeeze every bit of usefulness I can from it."

"Well, that's fun enough." Zulas said. "Sketchy morals aside, what's the plan?"

"Depends." Robin studied the map of Valm. "What do you think the threat is? Say'ri, Zulas, I need both of you to run your thoughts past me."

"Finally learned humility?" Zulas cocked an eyebrow.

"No. It's just refusing to take other people's advice is a such a common flaw that my pride won't let me make it." Robin said. "Regardless of the chance. Zulas, you first."

"The attacks began in three places." Zulas pointed. "Chon'sin. Rosanne. Nova. They all have one pretty obvious thing in common – they were, in order, the three last parts of Valm that were conquered by Walhart."

"Yes, I noticed that as well." Robin said.

"The rebellions all started within a week of each other." Zulas noted. "They also have a similar pattern of attacks which suggests that they were all caused by a central person, or persons. However, therein lies the problem. The attacks are, for lack of a better description, wild flails at Valm. Sure, they're attacking targets and succeeding more often than not. But the fact of the matter remains that they just don't have the manpower or strength to be effective. Valm's just too big."

"I concur." Say'ri frowned. "Though Zulas is wrong about one thing. They are attacking with exceptional skill. The Empire is built upon mass redundancies, to the point that entire units of soldiers going missing is occasionally treated as a rounding error. However, they are causing an amount of trouble disproportionate to the attacks themselves."

"Explain." Robin said.

"Here." Say'ri pointed. "The Yangtze river is used as one of the major travel routes for Valm. Everyone knows that. But in the event the Yangtze is blocked, the supplies are diverted through this area here – the flatlands of Mila, on the land. Slower, yes, but it's the only way to handle those kinds of logistics."

"I know that." Zulas frowned. "But it hasn't stopped supplies, has it?"

"Take a look at this garrison." Say'ri said, indicating a position located near a mountain pass. "It was one of the first places attacked. There are supplies meant to travel through the mountain range, but the mountains are infested by bandits. The garrison exists to escort them, but without the garrison, the supplies must take another route."

"You noticed." Robin felt a smile creep on his face. "Very clever. Yes, that's a maneuver which is reminiscent of me. The supplies are diverted, except they're also diverted through the flatlands as well."

"Oh." Zulas stared. Then he began looking over the board, noticing similar patterns. "Wait, are they doing that everywhere? I mean, is that why they attacked us here?"

"Imagine throwing a stone in a lake." Robin said. "If you toss a stone, it causes small ripples. But if you throw two near each other, the ripples interact. And that is what we're seeing here. These rebels are being led by someone crafty. Someone brilliant. These actions are being performed by those who are looking to cause mass disruptions towards Valm. Oh, and they didn't mean for us to win here. In fact, I think they just showed up here so our supply lines would have to go through the flatlands as well."

I'll keep this to myself, but I can't shake the feeling that whoever started this rebellion wants it to be noticed. And by 'noticed', I mean awaken the full military might of Valm. Why else would they all start within a week of each other? The smart move is to stagger them, and make it looked like news of one triggered the other two. Robin mulled over the information. Of course, if they don't realize it, I would rather they not know.

"So you think this is all caused by a single leader?" Say'ri said.

"Do I think that three separate rebel forces are being caused by a single unified force?" Robin asked. "Yes. I do. The only reason against it is just sheer implausibility, and let's be honest about it. The world has never been kind enough to me that I can ignore something just because it makes no sense. So. One force it is."

"A puppetmaster." Say'ri grit her teeth. "I will be honest, Robin. One of you was enough. If what you are saying is correct, there is an evil version of you. Well, eviler. You do happen to already be quite evil." Zulas hid his mouth, chuckling, while Robin rolled his eyes. "I suppose this person had had agents throughout Valm, acting as his cat's paw within these rebellions, and timed them to act simultaneously." Say'ri said. "As for motives, I cannot ascertain them."

"Yes, I definitely think that there's one person behind it." Robin nodded. "As for who it is, seeing as it's an eviler version of me, let's refer to this person as the 'Gray Tactician'. And he's quite the skilled mage, too."

"Why are you sure he's a mage?" Zulas asked.

"Well, not a typical mage." Robin amended. "Are you familiar with illusionists? It's an interesting type of magic which can do things normal magic cannot."

"I've never heard of it." Say'ri confessed. "Illusions, you say? I thought magic cannot create those."

"Exactly." Robin looked up, grinning. "Illusionists specialize in using trickery to pretend that magic is being done, but in actuality doing things that you don't notice. For instance, suppose I showed a coin and placed in in my hand." Robin flipped a gold piece and neatly placed it in his right hand. "Which hand is it in?"

"Your right hand?" Say'ri cocked an eyebrow.

Robin opened his right hand to show no coin. Then he closed it and opened his left hand. The coin was in it. He held up the coin, holding it so that Say'ri could see it. "Want to try again?"

"I see." Say'ri's eyes narrowed. "You managed to retain the coin while falsely placing it in your left hand. Try it again."

Robin nodded and brought his hands together, so his left was under his right, dipping a bit into his right sleeve while his right hand held the coin, set to flip it. Robin then flipped the coin high into the air. Say'ri's eyes moved, tracking the gold coin as it spun end over end, reaching the apex and then falling. As it fell, Robin set his arms in a X with his palms outward and whipped both hands past the coin.

"Now which hand?" Robin asked, hands spread wide apart.

"You have decided to change how the trick worked, I assume, because you're afraid that I will actually see your move. Unfortunately for you, I saw it clearly that time." Say'ri said. "It's in your right hand. This time for sure."

"Now, before I open my hand, let me just tell you something. There are two components to a good illusion." Robin said. "The first is the distraction. The second is the reveal. Let's take the trick I just used. The distraction is when I tossed the coin into the air. The problem is that you were looking at the coin."

"Why wouldn't I look at the coin?"

"Because of the second part of a good illusion." Robin opened his left hand to show the gold coin, again. "The reveal. A master illusionist always has you looking were he wants you to, and not where you should. You deduced that I swapped because I didn't want you to see my move. In fact, I started with the false pass just because I wanted you to look at my hands."

"So, where was the trick?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" Robin mused, focusing on the pin-strewn map. "In this case, we were supposed to look for a connection between the attacks. But as Say'ri observed, it's not the connection between the attacks we need to look for, but the connection between the results."

"You're saying that there's even more damage going on than we assumed." Zulas said.

"Yes. But that's not even the worse part." Robin said. "You see, with enough ripples, you can cause what a massive rock can cause. These attacks – some of them are haphazard, to conceal the true goal. And right now, not even I can guess what it is."

"So, back to old standard?" Zulas said. "Just kill all the enemies?"

"Yes, but we're going to do it very specifically." Robin grinned. "Tai tai no sen."

"Attack and forestall." Say'ri translated. "A way of attacking at the same time as your opponent, such that you are both countering the attack and launching one of your own with the same strike. One of the more esoteric concepts in Niten. How do you mean to do this?"

"The Wolfguard." Robin replied. "You see, Say'ri, if you wanted to stop me from doing the trick, you should have simply snatched the coin from midair. The Valm army is large, but it was meant for large scale conflicts. The Wolfguard, on the other hand, was made to deal with a small threat that could occur anywhere. And they shall. Just based on the targets that have already occurred, it's simple to see what kind of strikes they're going for. All we have to do is mobilize the Wolfguard to respond in kind."

"Stop them from gaining any more victories…" Zulas trailed off.

"Stop them from making any headway." Robin finished. He withdrew a piece of parchment from his cloak and began drafting the orders. "I'll take it from here. Get some rest, both of you. I'm going to be spending more time in a command tent for this fight, so you'll have to pick up my slack."

Say'ri bowed and excused herself. Zulas lingered. "Robin. Mind if I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"So, I was thinking." Zulas said. "That trick you did – well, I assume you got it from Ravena, right? I think Dant taught her some sleight of hand, because she wanted to practice it on me."

"Yes." Robin nodded.

"So, the first trick actually was slight of hand." Zulas said. "But the second trick wasn't. When you flipped the coin up, you simply took a second coin and put it in your left hand while Say'ri wasn't looking."

"Removed it from my right sleeve before I even started the trick, as it happens." Robin nodded. "I caught the coin with my right hand. So what are you worried about?"

"Even if Say'ri snatched the coin, you still could reveal the coin to have been in your left hand the entire time." Zulas said. "In other words, you still could have asked her which hand you had the coin in, and she would have been wrong if she said you didn't have one."

"I know all that." Robin frowned. "What's your point?"

"How do you know that your opponent is playing the sort of game where you win by stopping all his moves. Maybe just by letting him take the first move, he's already won."

"Don't be ridiculou-" Robin almost finished the sentence before his brain caught up to his mouth. "Wait. No, that doesn't make sense. No, hold on. Just because there doesn't make sense doesn't mean there isn't, in fact, a sense to it. Yes, I see. Or rather, I don't, but someone could."

"Um, Robin?" Zulas raised an eyebrow. "Mind translating?"

"Simple." Robin exhaled. "You might be right that our Gray Tactician has already won with this opening move of rebellions, but I, for one, can't think of a reason why that is. But just because I can't think of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We might all be getting played for fools."

"That would be bad."

"Yes." Robin nodded. "However, the possibly is remote – and even if it was the case, there's nothing we can do now. The best option is to just to attack."

And even if Zulas is right, within months, the Shadow Puppet plan will put the rebels under my control. Robin thought. The thing with rebellions is that the leadership tends to be rather sporadic, outside of the one in charge. And if I have the ear of the one in charge because I control the information they're getting, then the rebellion is a ship adrift where I control the wind. And my Wolfguard will be empowered to deal with them, and the CDO plan will be furthered by at least one stage. Overall, in the long term, this rebellion may prove to be rather useful to me.

I suppose the old adage is true. There's really no sense in letting a crisis go to waste.

Report: I don't know how useful this will be for you know, but Risen! Yeah, I know those things, but I have no idea how they crossed the ocean to Valm, so I figured it wasn't worth telling you about, and no one really seems to care at all on this side of the ocean. Heck, they fought a full-scale war and no one seemed to care. Honestly, they're a nuisance, but if you really want I could dig up some more information - Anna.