Gaius Amidonia

Gaius Amidonia (ガイウス・アミドニア, Gaiusu Amidonia) is a character of Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki series. He was the father of Julius Amidonia and Roroa Amidonia and the crown prince of the Principality of Amidonia.

Appearance
Gaius was a tall, muscular man, with red hair and a small goatee.

Personality
Gaius was an arrogant and prideful man, who carried a longstanding grudge against the Elfrieden Kingdom, due to the war 50 years ago, where Amidonia lost half of its territory. He followed a 'military-first' policy and waited for the opportunity for revenge against Elfrieden.

Biography
Gaius Amidonia VIII was the crown prince and ruler of the Principality of Amidonia during the time of Kazuya Souma's summoning and ascension to the Elfrieden throne. Seeing Kazuya as a young and inexperienced ruler emboldened Gaius into offering assistance to both the Efrieden Kingdom and the Three Dukes. This was with the intent of regaining the land lost in the war with Elfrieden half a century ago. Due to the lack of farm-able areas, Amidonia could only rely on its mining industry for income and was in a constant state of food shortages.

Since the death of his father, the former King of Amidonia, Gaius had ruled the principality with an iron fist and made certain that the citizens would always blame Elfrieden for their hardships, rather than trying to improve the nation's economy and infrastructure. With the rebellion of Castor Vargas and Georg Carmine, and the start of the One Week War, Gaius saw this as the perfect opportunity to invade Elfrieden during the conflict, and retake the territory that once belonged to Amidonia. Despite being warned by his Finance Minister Gatsby Colbert, that such an action would violate the First Clause of the Mankind Declaration Treaty, thereby forcing the Gran Chaos Empire to intervene, Gaius ignored all advice and moved 30,000 troops through the Ursula Mountains and attacked the Fort of Altomura.

However, this act of war was anticipated by Kazuya Souma and his prime minister Hakuya Kwonmin. As a countermeasure, Excel Walter was already stationed at Altomura, and through its governor, Weist Garreau, was able to stall the siege for a day. After Castor and Georg were defeated, Kazuya announced his intention to invade Amidonia and take the capital city of Van. Gauis had no choice but abandon the siege and head back to Amidonia to save Van.

During the return trek, the Amidonia Army suffered massive casualties, due to the muddy terrain, food and water supplies and harassment by the Marine Corps led by Juna Doma. Gauis ruthlessly sacrificed many of his foot soldiers in the muddy terrain and conscripted peasants into the army to build his numbers back up from 15,000 to 25,000.

By the time Gaius and his forces reached Van, it was met by the already entrenched Elfrieden forces, which numbered 50,000. Despite putting up a fight, the outcome was inevitable and Gaius led 500 of his men in a suicidal charge in an attempt to kill Kazuya. Using a decoy to distract Ludwin and the Royal Guards, Gaius made his way to the Elfrieden encampment where he faced Carla Vargas and Kazuya's Little Musashibo dolls. Despite being heavily wounded and even taking a point-black explosion from a bomb in a Musashibo doll, Gaius kept on advancing. However Elfrieden archers launched a volley of arrows that dealt a fatal blow.

Before leading the suicidal charge, Gaius had instructed his son Julius to escape the battle and place all the blame on the failed Elfrieden invasion on Gaius himself. This was so that the Gran Chaos Empire would not see this attempt at seizing territory as Julius' plan. He had also designated his son as the new ruler of Amidonia and told him to uphold the hatred against Elfrieden. However, Gaius' wishes would never come to pass after Julius was forced into exile and the whole of Amidonia was annexed. The final nail in the coffin was that his daughter Roroa would become Kazuya's Third Primary Queen, thereby legitimizing his claim to Amidonia.

As a form of closure to this turn of events, Kazuya would hold a memorial festival to honor Gaius and settle any lasting resentment among the populace.

Differences compared to Web Novel
In the Web Novel, Gaius is killed by the surprise spear attack from Kazuya's four Little Musashibo dolls, as opposed to the surprise arrow raid in the Light Novel.

Military Tactician
Gaius was capable of leading an army and is trained in warfare and tactics. His methods were ruthless and he would sacrifice hundreds or even thousands of men to achieve his goals

Swordsman/Soldier
Gaius had proven himself capable of holding his own against a Dragonnewt like Carla and several of Souma's Mushibo dolls.

Equipment

 * Unnamed magic cloak: Cloak imbued with damage-reducing magic that lessened impacts from projectiles.

Weaknesses
Like his son, Gaius had no real talent in managing the day-to-day domestic affairs of the Principality, nor its economy other than diverting all profits towards strengthening the military. His rule by blaming all the country's woes on Elfrieden could only go so far. His obsession over revenge against Elfrieden and re-taking Amidonia's lost territory made him extremely short-sighted and narrow-minded. His impatience and quick-temper eventually led to his demise and the annexation of his country.