Ch.111Chapter 111. Choice, and Consequence (3)

“M-My lord…!”

Though Ginor exclaimed in a shocked voice beside him, Yurie didn’t even turn his head in that direction as he coldly replied.

“What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me? I’ll do as you wish, so release Anima.”

The envoy, hearing those words, responded much like when he first arrived here—with no change in expression… in an extremely dry tone.

“Understood. I’m pleased that you’re a reasonable person. I will certainly convey your wishes to our lord. Well then.”

After the envoy from Serpina’s side slowly walked out, the shocked Ginor and several armed men who hadn’t fully grasped the situation turned their heads to survey their surroundings.

‘What on earth… just happened?’

If only…

If only he had offered to hand over the territory, yes, that would have been understandable.

Giving up an entire castle was, objectively speaking, an overpayment.

Anima Ingram was an excellent general. However, she was by no means an exceptional talent.

She was deeply loyal, a founding contributor who had helped her lord Yurie, and someone who had earned his tremendous trust—someone whose back you could entrust without any doubt in these chaotic times.

Although losing territory was regrettable, considering the current state of the country made it difficult to properly maintain three castles, well, whether it was Laclaine or Zelstrom, giving up one would still leave plenty of room for recovery—

That was Ginor’s assessment.

However.

Handing over an envoy was a different matter.

It wasn’t just because the envoy was Swen, who appeared to be quite intelligent and a talented general with many skills.

At least in Ginor’s eyes, Swen was a far more valuable general than Anima. Regardless of how others in this country evaluated him, that opinion wouldn’t change.

But that wasn’t the decisive reason why an envoy shouldn’t be handed over.

Even if the general was unremarkable, likely to remain unremarkable, and too unreliable to be entrusted with a proper role—they still shouldn’t be handed over.

In this world, even in these chaotic times, what warlord would hand over someone who served loyally under them to an enemy country?

This wasn’t just about basic human sentiment.

While he didn’t deny the existence of values like compassion, humanity, and sympathy, Ginor wasn’t the type of person who applied such principles as the foundation of his actions, but rather someone who would exploit them if possible.

Rather than thinking “it’s pitiful to sell someone regardless of their ability,” it would be more accurate to say he judged such actions as absolutely forbidden due to the impact they would have on the other generals.

Even the opposite scenario—being told to hand over Anima to save Swen—would have been absolutely unacceptable to Ginor.

And handing over some nameless general instead of Swen to save Anima should have been equally impossible.

At least if one were a ruler.

If one were the ruler of a country rather than the leader of a band of righteous thieves, that’s how it should be.

“My lord. I understand your momentary wavering. However, you must withdraw your message immediately. Quickly detain the envoy.”

When Yurie gave no response, Ginor continued in an urgent tone.

“What are you waiting for? Quickly call back Serpina’s envoy!”

“B-But…”

“Hurry! I’ll take responsibility.”

Despite Ginor speaking so directly, Yurie made no move to stop him.

She herself must know what her current actions meant.

And then.

“That won’t be necessary!”

From beyond, a woman’s voice was heard.

It was Epinel Rosenkroz, the de facto second-in-command of the Aeshus forces.

“General Epinel!”

“Lord Ginor, please forgive my rudeness. The current situation is extremely complicated.”

She slowly approached and addressed Ginor.

“The cunning Serpina said she would immediately execute Anima if we didn’t accept this proposal.”

“…?”

Hearing something he hadn’t been told before, he glanced at Yurie.

She too seemed slightly surprised, blinking her eyes.

That alone was enough for him to realize that Epinel was currently lying.

“Counselor, I’m speaking to you right now. Please focus on what I’m saying.”

Epinel redirected Ginor’s attention back to herself.

“It seems Swen has somehow earned Serpina’s enmity. It appears they have him in custody as an envoy. So this is coercion. No matter what opinion we express, we cannot get Swen back.”

“Then from her position, why would she need to make such a proposal?”

“What reason could there be? She’s simply testing us.”

“Testing?”

“From the position of a powerful nation, she’s asking us, a small country: will you obey me or not? That’s what she’s gauging. That’s Serpina’s way. There’s nothing to gain by defying her here.”

So.

Swen was already captured and facing certain death—

And just to see how our army would respond, she’s conducting this test?

She’s giving up territory and money to ask this question?

If the opponent were Lynn Brans, with her paranoid personality and unusually sinister nature, he might have believed it.

She was indeed someone who occasionally acted in somewhat incomprehensible and irrational ways.

Even Ginor himself had heard in his youth that Orlondo Brans’s only daughter wasn’t exactly someone to be trusted and followed.

But Serpina was different.

There was a reason she was called the Hegemon, despite being labeled a tyrant or witch.

The numerous generals who had served the imperial family followed her not without reason, but because she had demonstrated and proven her abilities.

Her bloodline alone wasn’t her only qualification.

Even from his perspective, he had decided not to serve her because of the excessive cruelty she displayed in personally eliminating all her siblings, not because she lacked ability.

Would someone like her make a proposal that offered her nothing, solely for the emotional reason of wanting to see our army’s reaction?

When proper negotiations could have earned her a territory, why would she bother?

If she truly had a grudge against Swen—

She could have simply captured and killed him without proposing such a negotiation.

As Ginor silently organized his thoughts, Epinel spoke to him in a cold tone.

“Counselor, haven’t you often spoken about how a small nation survives? This is just part of that. As a small country, do we really have any choice against the unilateral actions of the powerful Serpina forces? All we can do is save at least one person. You understand that, don’t you?”

“…”

She was an excellent general, but occasionally she would openly reveal her old emotions like this.

He didn’t particularly mind. If anything, he was grateful.

It’s easier to deal with someone whose intentions are transparent than someone whose thoughts are unreadable.

Epinel turned to address the armed men and soldiers.

“Listen! The Serpina forces have unilaterally imprisoned our envoy and are attempting to disrupt our morale with pointless questions. For now, we have no choice but to endure, but we will surely build our strength and someday take revenge on her. Understood!”

I see.

Only then did he finally understand why she had appeared here at this moment.

Yurie’s decision was one that no general, unless exceptionally dull, could comprehend.

There would certainly be talk. No, more than that—generals would resign one after another, potentially shaking the very foundations of the nation.

So she was creating a situation where “there was no choice” or “there was no other way.”

Conveniently, the opponent was Serpina, notorious for her cruelty. It would be convincing to claim such a tyrant had committed a violent act.

That would contain at least some of the chaos this decision might cause.

In this country, the influence of the founding contributors was stronger than anywhere else.

Given Yurie’s character, he probably wouldn’t have tried to evade the situation by lying. He would have stubbornly shouldered the consequences of his judgment.

This must be Epinel’s idea, not Yurie’s.

Objectively speaking, she was undeniably a talent who well complemented the ruler’s deficiencies.

‘However, even so, there will still be some repercussions.’

Any retainer with even a modicum of intelligence would surely notice something strange.

Anyway, in a situation that could no longer be reversed—

Ginor once again pondered the fundamental question.

What does the Serpina army gain from this decision?

The claim that she targeted Swen due to a grudge lacks credibility.

So, looking only at the conclusion—

Serpina voluntarily gave up the opportunity to acquire territory?

For what?

—To obtain Swen.

‘Was Serpina’s target the person Swen himself?’

Certainly.

Assuming she knew his true abilities well—even if he were the ruler, he would prefer to acquire Swen rather than territory.

And the moment he recalled “his abilities”—

It felt as if someone had struck the back of his head.

‘What if… all of this was Swen’s intention?’

Swen had the ability to see the future.

Of course, there was no concrete evidence, and he himself denied it.

But the circumstantial evidence was perfect. All of Swen’s decisions had been correct, and he had recently witnessed with his own eyes how Swen sometimes made decisions that could only be made by someone who knew future outcomes.

The way he assessed situations and thought—

It was the method of “someone who knows future results but doesn’t know how they will come about.”

From the beginning, it wasn’t Yurie’s decision for him to go as an envoy.

Didn’t Swen himself say, “I will go”!

Perhaps Swen knew everything—that this would happen.

Would such a person volunteer as an envoy just to “be sold”?

That couldn’t possibly be the case.

Thinking this way, the conclusion became clear.

‘Moving to Serpina’s forces was… the most efficient future he saw…!’

Turning his head slightly, he looked at the silent Yurie.

Despite Epinel’s efforts to salvage the situation, his bewilderment was evident.

It was then that Ginor truly realized for the first time:

His lord, Baranga Yurie Aeshus, was someone who could never grasp the world, no matter what.

The one fortunate fact in this situation:

He had assigned Reika to accompany Swen.

If Serpina’s target was indeed Swen, she wouldn’t treat his companion Reika carelessly.

This way, even without personally entering Serpina’s service, a connection to Swen would be maintained.

There would likely be contact from Reika’s side. By then, there would be an opportunity to subtly inquire about Swen’s true intentions.

That moment.

Maintaining allegiance to Aeshus would last only until then.

‘I should start looking for a way out.’

The ruler who would unify the continent didn’t necessarily have to be Yurie.

If she made foolish choices swayed by emotion, the solution was simply to let go of her hand.

That was the conclusion of Ginor, known as the Sage of the Continent.