Reincarnated With An SSS-Rank Talent In An Apocalyptic World-Chapter 162: Sebastian Taylor

While I was recovering, I didn't involve myself in the empire's politics, but everything moved smoothly. Not only was the cabinet successfully formed, they were able to agree on many things—like who should be considered Chief Strategist and Imperial Marshal.

Since we were still in a delicate situation, no one dared to act based on favoritism, and those who did were quickly shut down. Once the war is over, they're free to play politics, but right now, with their lives on the line, they had no choice but to put their greed aside.

Varius was elected Imperial Marshal of Althea due to his achievements. Among all the generals spread across the Ashen Realms, he was the only one worthy of the role, simply because he had been on the battlefield since he was a boy.

Even though his father was the Imperial Marshal of Solinthar, he didn't inherit the position. Instead, he fought his way up from the age of fifteen and won decisive victories that would have marked the end of Solinthar, prolonging the life of the empire until my arrival.

No one opposed the appointment.

However, the position of Chief Strategist was more difficult to decide. Not only were there many good strategists across the Ashen Realms, everyone believed theirs was the best.

That was until Caelum brought up a name they had all heard before:

Sebastian Taylor.

Sebastian came from a family that hailed from a small, neutral village of not more than a hundred people in the Ashen Realm. They didn't have much, nor did they occupy a sizable piece of land, so no one bothered them.

However, what these people did have was Sebastian—a boy so keen on warfare that he began venturing out to witness small skirmishes between kingdoms and even the wars of Solinthar.

And this was when he was only ten years old.

Through observation alone, the boy gained immense knowledge of warfare. At the age of fifteen, he began offering his services to anyone who would listen.

At first, people laughed at him and sent him away. But on one rare occasion, a general in the Kingdom of Virelia had lost his strategist in battle. Desperate, he accepted Sebastian's offer—and to everyone's surprise, what was once a losing battle became a great victory for the people of Virelia.

He worked for a few more kingdoms—anyone willing to pay the most—and always emerged victorious. But soon, he and his village began receiving death threats from the losing sides, forcing him to reconsider his priorities.

His dream, or his family?

Since then, other kingdoms—including Solinthar—sought him out. But to keep his village and family safe from possible retaliation from the losing side of any war he led, the boy put a halt to his dream of becoming the greatest strategist in the Ashen Realms.

Yes, the story was hard to believe. I felt the same way when I first heard it.

However, when everyone confirmed the story, I had no choice but to accept their request to make this kid the Chief Strategist of the Empire of Althea.

Bam!

The war room door swung open under my push and I walked in. As expected, Varius and Sebastian were already waiting.

According to what I knew, Sebastian should only be seventeen now, but the boy had grown pretty tall. He had a thin face and high cheekbones. There was something deep about his gaze that made it feel like he was looking through you, not at you.

But what I found most fascinating was his messy hair. Even with his high position and newfound wealth, the boy looked as lousy as ever.

"You are the great one?" Sebastian blurted out, and Varius shot him a cold glare.

"How dare—"

I casually signaled Varius to keep quiet and approached my side of the table.

"And you're the great tactician I've heard about? You look too young to know anything about warfare, and I look too dangerous to be a savior—but that's life." I shrugged.

"True." Sebastian wore a thoughtful expression.

Bam!

I knocked on the desk a few times, bringing everyone's attention to the map.

"So tell me, boy wonder. What do you think about our situation?" I asked, and the boy leaned in without hesitation.

"It's quite simple." He pointed toward the other end of the valley, where the Orc and Elf armies were camped.

"There's no need to move our forces through both valleys. We can just push through the northeastern valley while blocking the northwestern valley to make sure the orcs don't move around us and attack from behind."

He said this, and I frowned.

Both valleys were blocked by the armies of both races. Since the valleys were narrow, it limited how much we could take advantage of our military size.

I had considered dividing our forces and pushing through both valleys, but it never occurred to me that we could just ignore one side and attack the other.

The plan to block our side of the northwestern valley was genius. Focusing on one valley could prompt the orcs to attempt to go around us and strike from behind. If that happened, we'd be surrounded and forced to fight a losing war on both fronts.

I was beginning to like this kid.

"So how do you think we should handle the attack on the northeastern valley?" I asked.

"You should handle it," Sebastian shrugged. "You defeated Prince Thalorien's fourteen thousand soldiers and the coalition forces of sixty thousand."

He pushed back the figurines representing our army and pushed the crown forward to meet the elves.

"The elves are much weaker than the orcs and easier to deal with—that's why I chose them. With your speed and strength, you can wipe them out in an hour or two, helping our soldiers conserve their energy for the siege of the second ring." He explained further.

"In war, speed is necessary. If our soldiers do the fighting, they'll need time to rest and recover. That time will be used by the enemy to fortify their defenses. But if you can wipe them out in one swoop and give our forces the chance to charge directly to the second ring, the enemy will be caught off guard—and the siege will be much easier."