episode_0033

* * *

After the meeting, I checked the tasks I had been assigned.

‘Commerce… … is it.’

I don’t know what my political status is, but I have to do what I’m told anyway.

I don’t know specifically what to do when I go to the market.

That’s right, because in this game, the intelligence stat wasn’t a stat that had any particular effect on commerce.

And I don’t even know what to do in the first place.

When I was in Lunarien County, I did maintenance all the time except for one exploration… … It’s a shame, but Tifa and Luna did all the repairing of the castle walls themselves because they were helpless, and Kane and I worked as if we were supporting them.

‘You’ll find out when you go to the market.’

It seemed that official work would begin the day after the meeting ended.

In the Lunarien military, it was just rolling along without anything being systematically caught, but is it really different in large corporations?

Anyway, everything I had to do for today was done.

And, the girl who came with me, Irene Juliet-

This time too, there was no given mission.

There were so many generals in Brans County that there were a few generals like her who had no missions, but they were all ordinary C-rank generals who were not that outstanding.

Only Iren was left with nothing to do even though his abilities were high.

“… … .”

I followed her back home without saying a word.

*

It was when she arrived home that she opened her mouth.

An easily recognizable feeling of regret appeared on her face, which had always maintained an expressionless expression.

“I’m sorry, Swen. I didn’t mean to ignore you, but if you seemed close to me in a crowded place… … I was worried that I would be treated poorly.”

“Now, what’s new? I already agreed with Irene’s opinion in front of so many people.”

“Okay. What I want to ask. That’s it!”

Irene asked me, strangely excited for some reason.

“What… … What does that mean? Are you saying that Charam is planning to make a secret pact with our military and betray them? Do you really think that way?”

oh. Thank you.

After saying hello to Irene, who asked me the question I wanted to type, I typed the question in my head, ‘Does Charam plan to betray our military?’

But- the result was [unknown].

This result. It wasn’t the first result I’d seen.

It was the same result I saw when the man I had been talking to before joining the Lunarien Army asked me to know whether he would win or lose in a gamble.

‘I thought it would be like this, but I guess it’s too much.’

In this game, the advice given by a strategist with 100 intelligence was about things like the monarch and the country, the outcome of a battle, the success or failure of a plan, the missions to be done, and the most efficient policy.

It seems that such a specific question cannot be asked with 100 points of intelligence.

There is no other way than to squeeze out the thoughts.

I don’t know the exact standards yet, but this will become known as big data accumulates.

“And, we have to attack Serpina County’s territory in the north? What does that mean? Isn’t that too reckless!”

I answered in a calm tone to calm down the excited woman in front of me.

“Irene. If you don’t mind, would it be okay to ask a question first before answering?”

“… … Tell me.”

“Why did you, Irene, express the opinion that we should strengthen our defense by sending troops to the north?”

Iren listened to me, sighed briefly, and then spoke.

“First, take a seat.”

She took off her heavy armor, hung it up, and took a seat at the table.

I naturally sat down across from her and looked into her eyes.

It was like I was ready to hear a story.

“Are you aware that the Serpina army and our army fought a decisive battle in the north for several months not long ago?”

“I did listen.”

While I was enjoying peace in Zeeland Castle, the Brans army must have had a hard time fighting the Serpina army.

“In the process, we somehow managed to stop it… … Even though it was a water-based battle, the enemy forces could not be defeated so efficiently. It means that our army won the immediate battle, but in the long run, the reality is that our Brans army is being pushed back.”

“In other words, does this mean that our side was behind in terms of engagement costs?”

“That’s right.”

As Irene, who possessed a siege specialty, it seemed like she had some sort of insight into this area.

“The northern part is quite populated. The central region, which makes up most of our Brans County territory, is also a very good land, but it is still in chaos. Even though the area around Annell Castle is peaceful, many of the people living in the territory along the border have already been conscripted as soldiers. Therefore, I think it is premature to mobilize 56,000 men to subdue the Aishous army in a situation where troops cannot be drawn from anywhere in a hurry. I am confident that the Serpina army will seize the opportunity and attack Kelstein Castle again.”

After saying that, Irene said, “Wait a little bit,” and stood up to prepare tea.

Whenever I saw her, she was a truly honest woman.

Soon, he accepted the teacup she handed him and drank it.

There was a subtle smoke scent in the car.

“Now that Farfalle has voiced his opinion, there is a very high chance that the bill will pass. Because she is the most trusted woman in our military.”

“So you raised your hand?”

“That’s right.”

She nodded and sipped her tea.

I see

Even though he knew he was hated, he raised his hand out of concern for the country, thinking that things couldn’t go on like this.

Even if I do that, Rin won’t recognize me, and she doesn’t expect anything like that anymore – but still, I say what I have to say.

She couldn’t help but be a loyalist, but in most world lines in the game, the result of her loyalty was tragic.

Will she eventually die?

Because of her confrontational personality?

One thing I know. ‘Lyn Brans kills Irene Juliette, a subordinate general with whom he was not a good match, with his own hands.’

In a sentence that only contained the result, it felt like puzzle pieces were gradually coming together.

As she was staring blankly at her teacup, I carefully asked her a question.

“… … Irene. This may be rude, but-”

“It’s okay. Because you can’t make progress if you only accept the words of your subordinates as examples. It’s okay to talk freely.”

“In that case, I will ask you without any hesitation. Do you know that you are hated by your master?”

“… … .”

She said with a bitter smile.

“Okay. I know.”

“Are you still loyal?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a reason?”

“… … .”

Irene Juliette.

S-class general. Red hair and purple eyes. [Siege] Specialty and high strength. An unlucky general whose head was cut off by his lord Lin Brans at the end.

This was all the information about her that was available in the game.

The tip is also very simple, [If you want to use Airen, you must either choose Lin Brans yourself or destroy Branth’s army as soon as possible! However, even if Branth’s army is destroyed, Irene will not be hired in a long time, so be patient and try!], and that was all she said.

but.

That was all Irene Juliet practiced every day, waiting for her master to call her.

That’s all, Irene Juliette, always gave advice for the country even though she knew she was hated.

That’s just it. Irene Juliette was generous to her subordinates, did not overestimate her abilities, and even if she experienced something shameful, she did not blame it on her subordinates.

I was curious.

Why is Irene so loyal even though she is hated by Lin Brans?

Rather than setting the character as [deeply loyal], I was curious about whether the woman who was alive and breathing right now in front of me, making tea for me, and neglecting her training every day, would try to betray her master who hated her.

And I wanted to save it as much as possible.

She smiles as if she could collapse at any moment right before my eyes.

“… … It’s going to be a bit personal.”

She said that and lightly scratched the rim of the teacup with her finger.

“Because it was my father’s request.”

“Are you talking about father?”

“That’s right. After the fall of the empire, the feudal lord who occupied Annel Castle in the central part of the continent, which was the richest land of the continent, faster than anyone else was Oland Brands, a man called the king of the empire. You know this, right?”

Åland Brands.

I’ve heard of the name, but I’ve never actually flown it.

At the beginning of the game, he was already dead, and Brans was taken over by his third daughter, Lynn Brans.

“The person who served as his bodyguard by Åland’s side was my father, Kafka Juliette.”

This is my first time hearing this name.

Unlike Lin Brans, a powerful monarch in the game, Irene was just a general with some good abilities.

It was not a game that detailed the background setting of such a general.

“The day I first picked up the sword, my father always said something. We are the ones who live for the Brans family. I heard that that’s why we exist. Actually, when Orland was alive, our family was able to live without much worry.”

I focused on her story without adding anything special.

“Father died in exchange for protecting Orland’s life.”

“What happened?”

“There was an assassination attempt on Mr. Orland.”

ah.

I had a rough idea of what happened.

“At that time, the empire had just collapsed, so people still had an identity as ’empire citizens’, and there were many people who followed the Eingart family. After my father died, my mother also became ill and passed away.”

“So, following in my father’s footsteps… … Until now?”

“Yes.”

Irene said, looking at me more clearly than ever.

In those eyes, even if they were faded, pride was clearly visible.

“Serving the Brans family and living for the Brans family. After Orland Brans passed away, it was only natural for me to work for his successor, Lyn Brans. Swen, don’t you think so too?”

“… … .”

I sipped my tea aimlessly without answering.

Saying ‘I don’t think so’ wasn’t enough to convince her.

In this game, the value that most influenced general selection was the attractiveness value.

If your charm was 100, even generals who had difficulty getting hired would often ask for it.

Judging by my normal appearance, my attractiveness level would be roughly around 50 to 60, so it was a meaningless thought.

The methods I used to recruit master generals with [Loyalty 100] in the game.

1. Raise favorability to MAX.

2. Become a special relationship (friendship that is deeper than others, etc.).

3. Use tactics to reduce loyalty.

There are three that come to mind right away.

Of course, as someone who was only pushing buttons, I had no idea how to apply them in this world – but anyway, it was best to do what I could for now.

No matter what her circumstances are, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to recruit Irene to our side.

‘Let’s think about raising the likeability level first.’

Thinking like that, I felt at ease and opened my mouth carefully, putting as much consideration into my voice as possible.

“First of all, I understand. I understand why my loyalty to Rin is unwavering.”

“I’m glad you understand, but… … I think I may have brought up something too personal for someone I just met, and I’m worried that it might be a burden.”

“It’s okay. Getting to know Irene is a wonderful thing for me.”

“… … !”

At my words, Irene’s pupils dilated slightly and-

Soon, his face turned red and he turned his head to the side.

Is the guy a little awkward?

Well, since this was said to increase favorability, it would be right to see this reaction as a good one.

“Keuhum. hmm… … Anyway, my story is pretty good, so I’ll leave it at this. Now let’s get to the point.”

She covered her mouth with her fist and cleared her throat a few more times before opening her mouth again.

“Conclusion that we must attack the territory of Serpina Army in the north… … I want to know the basis for that.”

“The basis.”

To be honest, I don’t know either.

I just made an inference based on the results so far -> Farfalle asked a question at the right time, so the result I applied was the correct answer.

But – it was true that something definitely happened in that the result was like that.

“… … .”

I thought about making something up right now, but I thought it would be okay to tell it after I was a little more certain.

It wasn’t a discussion right now, the policy had already been decided, and there wasn’t anything we could do just because Iren was listening.

“The things I can grasp are vague, but my thoughts have not yet been refined. Could you please give me a little time?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Then I’m glad.”

I didn’t have anything to say right away, but it worked out well.

I felt like I needed to think about this problem on my own.

at that time.

“Swen.”

“Yes?”

“… … Thank you.”

She blushed slightly as she said that.

Why?

Perhaps because of the way she spoke, Irene, who felt like a strong warrior, now felt like a woman who just needed someone to lean on.

“My opinion… … Thank you for your support… … It’s the first time it’s happened.”

I spoke in a serious tone.

“Irene. Let me tell you, I am not raising my hand to sympathize with Irene. I only listened to Irene’s opinion because I thought it was the most reasonable. Please keep that in mind.”

“… … Sure.”

She smiled at me again.

This time, it didn’t look like it was going to collapse at any moment.

*

That night.

After completing the training, I left Iren, who was asleep, behind.

I unfolded the map of the northern region I had drawn, looked at it in the dark lantern light, and fell into deep thought.

‘Clearly something is happening in the North.’

The prediction result of an intelligence of 100 is that launching an attack on the north is the optimal outcome.

But no matter how much I look, the angle doesn’t come out.

The northern castle had a large number of troops gathered on either side, and if troops were raised to enter from this side, it would inevitably be a perfect situation to attack Kelstein from another location.

I looked to see if there were any variables related to the newly built fortress, but I couldn’t find anything in particular.

‘There is a reason why Farfalle was so dumbfounded.’

Even I, who have cleared this game over a thousand times, feel like it’s ridiculous, but I wonder how terrible it must have been for them.

Of course, since it is a world created based on a game that is not very realistic in terms of tactics, there is nothing wrong with using cheats to bring in several SS-level officers and officers with the [Siege] specialty.

It was a meaningless assumption at the moment.

anyway.

Nevertheless, if ‘launching an attack in the north’ was the most efficient method, it meant that something absurd would actually happen.

I thought of all the variables in the game.

Anything that can happen in the game.

Among them, we mainly selected the cases that seemed suitable for our army to invade Serpina even though the Serpina army was in trouble.

First of all, we erase things that are unlikely to be of much help to our military even if they occur and an invasion is required.

Quite a few ‘variables’ disappeared at this stage.

After that, I organized the remaining things. There were three in total.

first. A natural disaster occurs.

There was a natural disaster in this game.

While playing a game, something truly absurd happened: if you were unlucky, a huge earthquake would occur and your team’s castle would be destroyed.

What is an earthquake? It was more plausible than the ending of being completely destroyed by a meteorite. Of course, there was a small possibility of being hit by a meteorite.

To begin with, this was an almost arbitrary worldview in which there were only a few wizards who used magic, so there were quite a few events that seemed to have been created arbitrarily.

But the probability was very low. Even if it is based on a prediction of 100 intelligence, it is improbable that even I can recall scenes that I have only seen a few times while playing the game.

I wonder if the number of cases is this one.

So let’s ignore this.

The second is the sudden death of a monarch.

If a monarch dies without appointing a successor, there is a high probability that a country with many fiefdoms will be divided into three or four.

Therefore, there were people who repeatedly saved and loaded and played tricks to assassinate the monarch of a large country.

If the country is divided, it would naturally be a good time to advance into the North.

but… … Serpina dies?

She is the main character of this game who survives throughout the scenario, and in a way, she was even the face of the game.

Because she was the absolute powerhouse that unified the continents in most world lines.

Plus she was young. And it was healthy.

So, I thought that this was actually similar to a natural disaster.

okay.

There is only one thing left.

The number of front lines that Serpina County must respond to suddenly increases.

therefore-

I marked the two castles to the north with an O.

Chorelle Castle in the northwest, and Cherien Castle in the northeast.

One of the two castles.

In which of the two –

‘The rebellion… … ‘Are you awake?’

third.

A rebellion and an army raised in the castle due to a coup d’état.

No matter how much I thought about it, this felt like the right answer.