Ch.117Chapter 117. The Test (1)

* * *

Around the time I was getting used to life in the annex, Serpina visited my room after quite a while.

“Welcome, my lord.”

Serpina looked at me without particularly responding and said.

“Follow me.”

“Right now, my lord?”

“Yes.”

She nodded her head slowly.

I catch myself before nearly losing my mind to her beautiful appearance and the deep citrus fragrance that wafts over whenever she moves slightly.

“I’m planning to make a move soon. So, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to test you.”

“Then…”

“I was about to resume the invasion.”

Is she planning to engage in active conquest activities already?

“Didn’t you lose spare troops from the Zelstrom Castle battle? Are you planning to hire mercenaries?”

“Yes. And reinforcements are expected to arrive soon.”

Ah.

I quickly understood and nodded.

This is none other than Serpina’s army, the current strongest nation that conquered the northern continent.

Does this mean they still have troops to deploy even after expanding the front line this much?

But… is continuing conquest activities from here really the right answer?

The enemy nations they’re currently facing include the Brans army and the Aeshus army.

I haven’t made predictions yet, but continuing the war from here doesn’t seem like a good move.

“What are you doing?”

Serpina, who was walking ahead, turned her head and asked me as I was lost in thought.

“Ah, it’s nothing. I’ll follow you.”

I’ll find out once we get to the royal castle anyway.

I quietly followed behind her.

*

The characteristic of Hisfil Castle’s royal palace was that about 1/4 of it was in a collapsed state.

It seemed to have ended up this way during the process of usurping the Brans army’s territory.

Apart from being a bit disorganized due to ongoing repairs, it appeared to be functioning in its role as a building.

Upon arriving inside the castle, I observed the generals of Serpina’s army stationed at Hisfil Castle.

Except for Irian Al Kaski whom I met upon arrival, I didn’t see any familiar faces.

The only weakness of Serpina’s army in this game was that there were hardly any S-class generals.

I understood that if there were too many warriors who could turn the tide of battle just by their presence, when the base forces were already so strong, the balance would have been broken… but I didn’t expect there to be only generals who didn’t remain in my memory.

The generals I didn’t bother to remember were just there to fill numbers.

I vaguely remembered the face of a man named Yuan who appeared to be the castle lord. I might have seen him a few times when fighting against Serpina while rolling random lords.

At that moment.

“Swen.”

Behind me, I heard a small voice of a woman.

“Lady Irene.”

She smiled happily as soon as she saw me.

“Did you also come after receiving our lord’s summons?”

“Yes. And you too…?”

Nod, nod.

“It seems she’s thinking about battle.”

Both me and Irene.

I was glad that we weren’t being treated like abandoned ducklings after being recruited—

From over there, the blonde sovereign was approaching this way with the sound of footsteps.

Her walking posture was undeniably elegant, but… the sound of her footsteps was that of military boots rather than dress shoes, which was a bit different.

“”We greet Your Majesty.””

As Serpina arrived at the castle lord’s chair, the vassals all bowed their heads and greeted her at once.

The interesting thing was that they used the expression “Your Majesty” rather than “my lord.”

Perhaps they think that we, being none other than Serpina von Einhart’s army, are different from ordinary warlord groups.

Serpina raised her hand slightly and extended it forward, bringing the situation to order.

“Listen, all of you.”

Serpina looked down at all of us who were bowing our heads.

Each of these small gestures made us feel the gap that existed between her and us.

“Before proceeding with our future plans, I want to hear your opinions. Feel free to speak your minds about what you think we should do next.”

Someone spoke up after hearing those words.

A young man’s voice. A voice I’ve heard before.

“I have something to say, my lord.”

So they call her “my lord” here.

Well, from the few days I’ve interacted with Serpina, she seemed like someone who wouldn’t be overly concerned with titles anyway.

“Speak.”

The person who spoke up, Irian Al Kaski, clenched his fist against his chest and said.

“We should attack Zelstrom Castle once more.”

“Zelstrom Castle, you say?”

“Yes.”

Zelstrom Castle is where we were already pushed back once by Epinel and Emma’s momentum.

The fact that they were such excellent generals must have been a great stroke of luck for Yurie.

Though that luck was beginning to fade.

“You suggest attacking a place where we’ve already failed once. I’m curious about your intentions.”

Well, if we had to continue invasion activities from here, Zelstrom Castle was indeed the only option.

“If we must continue invasion activities from here, that place is our only option.”

Oh.

So he’s someone whose brain works after all.

I thought he wouldn’t be worth much since he wasn’t in my memory as a notable warrior.

“And why do you think so?”

“As for invading the Brans army, we’ve already concluded that it’s more efficient to leave them be. If we invade Raclaine Castle, the number of adjacent enemy nations will increase. While we can certainly maintain an advantage by dealing with them one by one, if we continue to expand the front line and they form an alliance, we’re likely to be at a disadvantage. Therefore, if we’re to take anything, it should be Zelstrom Castle.”

That matched my thoughts exactly.

If we could somehow acquire Raclaine Castle without shedding a drop of blood, whether by handing over Anima or through some other condition, that would be the right move rather than targeting Zelstrom—

But from our position of having to engage in battle, that conclusion had to be somewhat different.

If we could just receive territory for free, without having to destroy castle walls or upset the hearts of the territory’s people, we could somehow manage to incorporate it.

If that wasn’t possible and we had to engage in occupation activities, then invading Zelstrom Castle without touching the Brans army was the right move.

“Then, do you think you can win?”

Yes.

The problem was that, looking at it objectively, we didn’t have the capacity to break through Zelstrom Castle.

It might be possible if we scraped together all our troops and charged in. But when we show that kind of movement, would the Brans army just stand by and watch?

Lynn Brans might be emotional, but she’s not a stupid woman.

Even if we mobilized mercenaries, if we couldn’t gain a perfect advantage, it was clear we would be defeated again.

At this point, I kept my mouth shut, wondering what kind of strategy he had prepared.

But.

The words he uttered were disappointingly lacking.

“I can do it, my lord.”

Irian spoke with a voice burning with fighting spirit.

“I’ve lived until now solely to achieve merit. I know it’s a somewhat unreasonable request, but please assign me sufficient troops. I will definitely recapture the castle and achieve merit.”

I’ve seen this type before. Kalintz was exactly like this.

The difference from Kalintz’s case was that back then, he overestimated his own abilities, while in Irian’s case, perhaps because he’s still young, he seems to be riding on momentum.

‘That’s a bit presumptuous of me to think, considering I’m also young.’

As I was thinking this, Serpina spoke in a cold tone.

“Irian Al Kaski. What will you do if you are defeated? If we lose this battle as well, you know very well that we might have to narrow our front line rather than expand it.”

“Yes. But it’s alright.”

“Are you saying you have a foolproof way to win?”

“I will definitely prove that Einhart’s soldiers do not lose.”

While Irian spoke with a voice full of enthusiasm—

The response was nothing short of frigid.

“I did not ask you to tell me pleasant words.”

“…I apologize.”

“I’ll ask again. What exactly is your foolproof method to win?”

“…”

To Irian, who couldn’t answer, Serpina changed her question.

“Then let me ask this. How will you take responsibility if you are defeated?”

“In that case…”

Irian hesitated for a moment, then once again answered vigorously.

“You may behead me if you wish.”

“Is that so?”

Serpina slightly raised the corner of her mouth.

Somehow, I understood. That smile was not one expressing satisfaction with his loyalty.

It was different… a smile with cynicism in it.

“What would I gain by beheading you?”

“T-that’s…”

“Killing someone who has failed might serve as a personal venting, I suppose. There’s also the good justification of rewarding merit and punishing failure. But what would I actually gain from it? I can easily think of what I would lose, but I don’t see what I would gain. Surely you’re not going to argue that the act of beheading you has some value that exceeds one or two territories. Would you care to explain?”

“…”

At those words, the audience fell silent.

The truth is, Luna was the unusual one; if you just think a little, her words make sense.

Life is indeed of great value, but if you wanted that value to be respected, you shouldn’t have been born in these chaotic times.

“Let’s hear opinions from others as well. Feel free to speak.”

After that, several more opinions were raised.

There was even an opinion to catch the Brans army off guard and attack them… but as was already concluded earlier, it wasn’t an opinion that needed to be paid much attention to.

Nevertheless, Serpina listened attentively to the opinions and responded by asking questions based on logic, just as she had done with Irian.

Even for suggestions that were clearly not good, she still listened without dismissing them, which made me understand her true intention when she claimed she “wanted to test me.”

‘Since I’ve joined under her, is she telling me to run wild as I please?’

If that’s the case, let me share my thoughts.

It’s not like I’m making predictions based on questions, but it should be enough to give a sense of “what I would have done.”

“Well. Are there any other opinions?”

At this point, I slowly opened my mouth.

“My lord.”

“Yes.”

She looked in my direction.

Perhaps because I was an unfamiliar face, I felt subtle gazes from around me, but I didn’t particularly mind.

What was important to me was Serpina’s gaze, not others’.

Cold eyes that didn’t give me any special treatment.

To breathe life into those eyes, I needed to prove my abilities somehow.

“May I share my thoughts?”

“You ask the obvious. By all means, speak.”

If I were Serpina, I would just…

“I think it would be best to stop the advance into the central continent here for now.”

“Meaning?”

I nodded and said.

“Return to Einhart Castle and focus on internal affairs.”