Ch.100Chapter 100. Where That Compass Points

Anima has been captured.

In a situation where no one dared to speak freely, Yurie kept her eyes closed, unable to say anything.

“……”

I just hope she doesn’t make a rash decision.

It’s not like Anima has been killed, she’s just been taken prisoner.

Serpina, who’s quick to calculate advantages, wouldn’t simply kill a prisoner as valuable as Anima. As long as Yurie doesn’t make any unnecessary impulsive moves, there would surely be a way forward.

How much time had passed like this?

She slowly opens her eyes.

Her pupils were visibly trembling, enough for anyone to notice.

She looked extremely anxious.

Her appearance suggested she couldn’t understand how things had come to this.

After gathering everyone and remaining silent for a long while, Yurie finally turned to Ginor and parted her tightly closed lips.

“…Ginor, I’m sorry, but could you handle this for me?”

Rather than acting impulsively, she’s entrusting it to her strategist first.

If she can’t properly control her emotions, this is certainly the best decision.

It seems she’s not the ruler of the five for nothing.

“Yes.”

Ginor nodded lightly, then briefed us on the current situation in Yurie’s place.

“Lord Anima Ingram used her authority to launch an invasion of Hisfil Castle. You all already know this news. However, things didn’t go well—she’s currently been captured by Serpina’s forces.”

“Then… what about General Erinandorf…?”

“……”

Ginor answered the questioning officer with a grim expression.

“He’s currently resting.”

“If he’s resting…?”

“He was severely injured.”

Erinandorf Arisian was severely injured.

At this news, the officers of the Aeshus army who held official positions began to whisper among themselves.

“How could this be… What exactly happened?”

“I heard he recklessly charged into enemy lines alone to save Anima.”

Just hearing the story, I could naturally picture what had happened on the battlefield.

Serpina’s forces retreating with Anima as their prisoner, and Erinandorf, upon hearing she was captured, charging into enemy territory alone with his club.

The bond between the five is connected so deeply—far beyond that of ordinary generals who merely drank her blood mixed with wine—that risking one’s life to save her isn’t strange at all.

As if following a script, these two people couldn’t help but expose the fatal flaw of their “deep bond.”

“I heard that if reinforcements had arrived even a little later, it could have been a disaster.”

“Reinforcements…? Oh, are you referring to the troops that were deployed a few days ago?”

“Yes. You wouldn’t have known since only the commanding officer was told the destination, but those were the troops deployed toward Raclaine Castle.”

Hearing this, murmurs once again spread throughout the room.

Though this time, the feeling was a bit different.

“As expected of Lord Ginor…!”

“So Lord Ginor had sent reinforcements in advance…!”

“……”

Ginor, hearing the officers’ comments, maintained his expression while subtly glancing in my direction.

I slowly nodded.

How the officers of the Aeshus army judge me is beyond my concern.

I didn’t mind if the plan I came up with was credited to Ginor.

After all, I’m leaving anyway.

“Wait a moment. Then, could it be that Raclaine Castle too…?”

“Didn’t I say? We sent reinforcements. The castle wasn’t lost either.”

At that moment, a female officer next to the questioning man raised her hand.

“There are reports of anomalies detected at Hisfil Castle. Is it related to our forces?”

“I’m not sure about that either. It seems something we don’t understand occurred. Thanks to it, Serpina’s forces retreated, which was fortunate for us.”

That’s a lie.

Ginor had a pretty good grasp of what had happened.

Well, I told him everything.

I shared information about how Reika’s “ability” was amplified and such—exactly as I had speculated.

There was no need to hide it from him anyway.

I heard things like ‘It seems you predicted this would happen,’ but in any case, he accepted it.

Since that day, after saying strange things to me about seeing the future with his mind’s eye, Ginor has shown great trust in my words.

After the Q&A, a brief situation explanation began.

Our allied forces that joined as reinforcements somehow managed to rescue Erinandorf.

Although troop losses were severe, we didn’t lose the castle, and Serpina’s forces took Anima as a prisoner—a very simple explanation followed.

“This is the current situation our forces are facing.”

“……”

The royal castle fell silent once again.

Ginor briefly observed Yurie’s reaction, then posed a question to all of us.

“If anyone has opinions on what we should do next, please speak freely.”

At that moment.

The sound of the castle doors opening was heard, followed by a woman’s voice.

“I’m late. I apologize.”

A female knight wearing armor with a lot of blue fabric walked steadily toward us.

It was Emma.

“Emma…!”

“It seems you’ve just arrived.”

Yurie and Ginor greeted her lightly.

She was currently staying at Zelstrom Castle with Epinel.

By the way, the battle at Zelstrom Castle resulted in our victory, as I had predicted. Originally, the prediction that “we will win” wasn’t about the battle at Hisfil Castle, but about the outcome of the defense of Zelstrom Castle.

Had she rushed here after hearing the news?

Since Epinel, the castle lord, would have many duties, it wasn’t strange for Emma to come.

“Yurie. What exactly happened?”

“Well…”

“I’ll explain the situation here.”

Ginor briefly explained the current situation to Emma.

Emma nodded and expressed her opinion.

“It seems there’s only one thing we need to do.”

“And what is that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We must go rescue Anima.”

As expected, Emma immediately proposed an aggressive approach without hesitation.

“I believe everyone here, not just the strategist, would agree on how important Anima’s name is to the Aeshus army. Yurie, you think so too, right?”

“That… well.”

“What? That expression of yours.”

Emma approached the trembling Yurie and began to shout at her accusingly.

“There’s barely time to give orders, what are you doing?!”

“…!!”

“This is no time for you to be like this! Anima has been captured! Why aren’t you giving the order to rescue her immediately?!”

This is outrageous.

No matter how strong their bond, how could a mere general act this way toward her ruler, especially in front of everyone?

“General Emma, what are you doing! Show some respect!”

“……”

Only after hearing Ginor’s words did Emma bite her lip and fall silent.

Even after witnessing this scene, the officers couldn’t say anything.

It was Ginor who finally managed to bring order to the situation.

“General. This matter will not be overlooked. After this meeting, regarding General Emma’s conduct—”

“Ginor, I’m fine…”

Yurie spoke to the agitated Ginor in a faint voice.

“It’s okay… for now, please… think about what we should do…”

“……”

And at that moment.

“I… have something I’d like to say.”

An unexpected voice came from beside me.

The owner of the voice was Irene.

“Speak, General Irene.”

“I believe that mobilizing our army to attack in the current situation could be very dangerous in the long term. Given that our existing forces at Raclaine Castle have been reduced, launching an offensive first would not be a good choice.”

In response to Irene’s words, Emma spoke in a very heavy tone.

“General Irene, are you saying this? That we should give up fighting to save Anima because it’s dangerous?”

It was a sharp voice, intimidating enough to make listeners shrink back, but—

Who is Irene?

Isn’t she the woman who endured various passive-aggressive attacks from Lynn Brans, who is second to none in being sinister?

As I thought, she responded politely yet firmly, without showing any sign of being affected.

“Emma. I absolutely do not think that way. Anima is an extremely important person to the Aeshus army. I simply want to say that fighting is not necessarily the only solution.”

“If not fighting, then…?”

“Negotiation.”

Irene said, her violet eyes gleaming.

“If we can bring Anima back through dialogue, we can avoid bloodshed.”

“Negotiation…”

As expected, Irene was an exceptional woman.

Both in expressing her opinions and her performance on the battlefield, I was becoming increasingly convinced that there were few officers as capable as her.

“But I can’t even imagine what the Serpina army might demand…”

“Even so, I believe it’s a better method than war. Please consider this point carefully, my lord.”

After finishing her words, Irene bowed her head toward Yurie.

Yurie couldn’t say anything… she was just trembling.

Just because one of the five was taken prisoner, she’s this shaken.

‘Is this why she can’t become the unifying ruler?’

Ginor approached Yurie and asked.

“What will you do? My lord?”

“……”

“My lord. Please regain your composure. Anima is still alive. To save her, it is you, not anyone else, who must keep a clear mind.”

Hearing Ginor’s words, Yurie finally sighed deeply and spoke.

“Everyone… I’m sorry. To Ginor, to Emma, and to all of you who gathered here… I think I showed a discomposed appearance…”

What could we say when our ruler speaks like that?

We simply bowed our heads and waited for her to continue.

Although she still looked anxious, glancing around, she addressed us in a somewhat calmer voice.

“First, those who think we should go to war… please raise your hands.”

Emma and a few other officers raised their hands.

But their number was clearly small.

In truth, many officers couldn’t help but agree that advocating for war in this situation would be reckless.

Anyway—

Since the question was asked, I should do what I need to do.

‘Is going to war the right approach?’

[No, it is not.]

Within the expected range of answers.

So it’s negotiation after all?

I was concerned about what to do if negotiation wasn’t the answer either, but that concern didn’t last long.

“…Those who think we should try negotiation?”

‘Is negotiation the right approach?’

[Yes, it is.]

With such an immediate answer.

In fact, even before confronting them directly, I had thought that “direct negotiation would be most efficient,” so I was already thinking negotiation was the right choice.

…Just as I thought that.

[However,]

‘Huh?’

My prediction, which always came immediately, flowed out with a very slight delay.

[It depends on heaven’s will.]

‘…What?’

What did it say?

Surprised by the answer that was a bit different from before, I entered the question once more.

‘Is negotiation the right approach?’

[Yes, it is. However, it depends on heaven’s will.]

Negotiation is right, but it depends on heaven’s will…

The compass was once again pointing in a very mysterious direction.

What does this mean?

“Depending on heaven’s will” doesn’t literally mean heaven decides, but rather that it’s in an unpredictable realm—meaning it depends on how I act.

Does that mean I can determine whether this negotiation succeeds?

‘…How??’

How could I, as a mere officer, determine the weight of the negotiation?

I’m not a ruler, I have nothing, I’m just an ordinary officer?

It makes no sense to me that it depends on me, a regular officer, rather than on the Serpina army, the subject of negotiation.

‘Wait.’

Come to think of it, wasn’t the previous prediction similar to this?

It said [Negotiate directly yourself], so it was essentially sending me then too.

But why didn’t it say “depends on heaven’s will” at that time?

‘What exactly is there that keeps trying to send me directly?’

At this point, I almost want to participate in the negotiation out of spite.

Regardless of my deep thoughts—

The discussion continued, and finally Yurie spoke in a voice that suggested she had made a big decision.

“…Emma. I’m sorry, but I’ll follow the majority opinion here. I know it’s frustrating… but I don’t think rushing headlong into war is right either… And I believe Anima would think the same.”

“……”

Emma seemed a bit dissatisfied, but she eventually nodded.

“You’re the ruler, Yurie. If we can save Anima, I don’t care what method we use.”

“…Thank you for understanding.”

A ruler seeking understanding from her subject.

Normally I would have found it ironic, but right now there was no room in my head for such meaningless scenes.

“Then, we’ll proceed with negotiation. As for the envoy… Lutz, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I’m listening!”

At the mention of Lutz, a man answered loudly.

“I’d like you to take on this task… what do you think?”

“If you command it, how could I not obey? I will definitely bring Lady Anima back safely from the Serpina army.”

“Good. As for conditions… what would be best… Ginor, what do you think?”

“The most manageable would be money. Considering our current surplus funds, we could pay up to 7,900 gold.”

“7,900? Is that really enough? The Serpina army isn’t suffering from financial difficulties.”

“The more funds we have, the better. It’s a large amount compared to a request to release a prisoner. It would be difficult for Serpina to refuse such terms.”

As the conversation progressed before me.

I suddenly raised my hand.

“Excuse me, may I say something?”

“?”

“Swen?”

At that moment, not only Yurie and Ginor, but everyone’s eyes turned to me.

But… given that the outcome of this negotiation was said to depend on heaven’s will, I couldn’t remain silent.

“Regarding the envoy for the negotiation.”

“Is there a problem?”

In response to Yurie’s question, I nodded and said.

“Instead of the person currently designated, may I go as the envoy?”