Ch.123Chapter 123. Opinion Proposal Meeting (2)

“Is that so? I find myself curious about that reason. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask for an explanation.”

In response to Sika’s words, I nodded slowly and said.

“It’s simple. Because soldiers are needed there.”

“…I don’t mean to be rude, but that sounds like you’re merely repeating the obvious.”

Sika’s words weren’t wrong.

Honestly, I don’t know the reason well either.

The only fortunate thing was that Amin, who had brought up the topic earlier, had brought a map.

“Lord Amin. Could I possibly borrow the map?”

“What? …Here it is.”

Amin handed me the map with a reluctant expression, not hiding the doubt on his face.

As I spread it out on the table—

“…”

Serpina von Einhart and Jenna, who had been sitting quietly, approached.

It seemed they too were curious about what I was going to say.

Just their movement alone caused several people participating in the opinion forum to visibly waver.

“Here, please check the map.”

Taking advantage of everyone’s focus, I quickly examined the map.

Amir Castle.

A normal territory located at the far eastern edge, with rivers and mountain ranges.

If placing troops here is the correct answer—if a rebellion were to occur, it wouldn’t be here.

Yes, rebellion.

If placing troops in the rear area is the right answer, then the only answer is rebellion.

If opinions like “troops should be stationed in the capital” are emerging, it means the northern continent isn’t completely under control, so it’s quite plausible.

But the problem is—

“Do you perhaps think a rebellion will occur around here?”

Serpina, who hadn’t uttered a word, pointed to a castle and spoke.

It was Haiser Castle, located closest to Amir Castle.

However.

That’s not the correct answer.

“No, that’s not it.”

If a rebellion were to occur at Haiser Castle—

Before I could say anything, Serpina spoke first, saying what I was about to say.

“Indeed, if we assume a rebellion will occur in this area, it would be more efficient to station troops here rather than there.”

The place Serpina pointed to was Chorel Castle, located at the lower left of Haiser Castle.

Stationing troops in a castle where a rebellion might occur is dangerous. There’s a high possibility the troops might join the rebels.

So, the best method would be to preemptively secure a nearby location, and it would be more rational to place them at the closer Chorel Castle rather than the more distant Amir Castle.

So, it’s not about ‘rebellion.’

“Then perhaps…”

This time it was Jenna who addressed me.

As she tilted her head slightly, her brown hair swayed gently.

“Are you concerned about bandits appearing in this area?”

To the upper right of Amir Castle, there was a settlement spread across a mountainous terrain.

It wasn’t uncommon for territory residents to become bandits and attack castles when morale was low.

But this follows the same logic as before.

“That’s not it either.”

Jenna stared at my face intently.

She seemed to be anticipating what I was about to say.

“If bandits were to emerge from this settlement, they would more likely attack Herder Castle located just above, rather than Amir Castle. It has lower defenses, far fewer troops, and crucially, it’s closer.”

“…Indeed, that’s true. Then I must ask.”

Jenna looked straight into my eyes.

“Why exactly should troops be stationed at Amir Castle?”

Not rebellion, not bandits.

Yet, placing troops in the rear rather than at the border is the most efficient method.

“…”

I examined the map and let out a small sigh.

Then, putting on the most knowledgeable and relaxed expression I could muster, I desperately studied the map.

‘What is it? What’s left?’

Why is stationing troops here the right answer?

If a brain with an intelligence of 100 predicted it, then it must be correct. This is no longer something to doubt.

That means there must be a ‘situation that can only be prevented by stationing troops here.’

It’s not internal rebellion.

It’s not bandits from nearby settlements.

The only notable terrain feature around the castle is just a large river flowing in front.

‘…Huh?’

River…?

Curious, I checked where the river connects to.

The massive river crosses over mountain ranges, winding its way into the central continent.

The map Amin brought only shows this much.

The map itself primarily depicts the northern continent where Serpina’s forces’ territories are marked, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Excuse me, Lord Swen? Your answer…”

“What? No, just a moment. Let me think…”

I reflexively responded when I heard Jenna’s voice…

It seemed Serpina had stopped Jenna from speaking further.

Her pale hand was stretched across Jenna’s chest.

Anyway.

Even if the map is cut off, I was confident I could visualize what lies beyond.

I’ve played this game for 10,000 hours. I’ve seen the same map tens, hundreds, no, literally thousands of times.

When you start the game, the screen basically only shows the map. So, whether I like it or not, I had to memorize it.

‘Calmly.’

In my mind, I picked up a brush and began drawing the cut-off part of the map.

The river… winds between mountain ranges, flowing to the eastern part of the central continent.

Once it reaches the eastern edge… there’s just one castle nearby.

And that castle is—

‘There’s definitely Zeta Castle.’

Zeta Castle.

Once the capital of the Alefel forces, and now belonging to the Aeshus forces—it was the fourth castle of the Aeshus forces.

Located at the upper right of Valhart Castle and the lower right of Zelstrom Castle, a remote castle.

The Aeshus forces’ territory consisted of four castles.

The capital Valhart, Zelstrom to the north, Raclaine to the west, and finally Zeta to the east.

“…!!!”

And then, I began to understand what this prediction might mean.

‘Are the Aeshus forces coming up the river?’

While it would require some tidal assistance, I couldn’t say it was completely impossible.

In fact, in the game, it was possible to move troops along rivers.

However, it wasn’t a good method because it consumed many more turns than usual and morale dropped during the journey, so I had momentarily forgotten about it.

But… even if this world is based on the game world, it’s still reality.

I couldn’t definitively say it wouldn’t happen.

No.

For stationing troops at Amir Castle to be the most efficient, this was the only scenario.

If this is true, the Aeshus forces would be striking us from behind.

Normally, it might not matter. But all our forces in the north are concentrated at the border with the central continent.

If they succeed in attacking from behind, they could significantly shake our forces.

Even if they quickly lose Amir Castle afterward, it wouldn’t be a significant loss for the Aeshus forces.

‘Whose idea is this? Ginor? Anima?’

Considering the exchanged letters, it was unlikely to be Ginor’s strategy.

If that’s the case, this must be Anima’s idea…

Indeed, as someone who served as a national strategist, she seemed to have some brilliant insights.

“…”

I slowly raised my head and looked around.

Serpina, Jenna, and the rest of the officers seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for me to speak.

The question now is how to explain this…

“May I have everyone’s attention.”

I nodded slowly and said.

“There’s a river flowing near Amir Castle. While this river serves as a lifeline for the territories around Amir Castle… from a different perspective, it also serves as the only connection to the remote Amir Castle.”

It was a bit unnerving how Serpina was staring at me, but I tried not to get nervous.

Even if my opinion seemed somewhat incomprehensible, she seemed to respect it, so it was worth expressing.

“If you follow this river, it eventually flows into the sea on the eastern side of the continent… and during that journey, you inevitably encounter one castle. Lady Jenna.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know which castle that is?”

Jenna pondered for a moment, then quietly nodded.

“Are you referring to Zeta Castle?”

“Yes. You know it.”

“But I don’t understand what you’re implying. Surely you’re not suggesting the enemy would breach that treacherous river with tidal assistance to advance on Amir Castle?”

“That’s exactly it.”

“…What?”

Jenna’s eyes, which had casually thrown the question, trembled slightly upon hearing my answer, as if they had lost their way.

I also clearly witnessed one of Serpina’s eyebrows twitch slightly.

“There’s a high possibility that the Aeshus forces will advance on Amir Castle via the river.”

“…???”

Jenna frowned slightly, as if she didn’t understand.

Not just Jenna, but the other officers also looked at me with expressions that seemed to question what I was saying.

Honestly, even I think it’s too abrupt. Saying we should station troops in a remote location because the enemy might attack along the river—what kind of out-of-nowhere suggestion is that?

But, just one person.

Serpina, without breaking her expression—

With a voice full of compassion, just as she had addressed Amin, Sika, and the other officers—she posed a question to us.

“An interesting opinion. In this opinion forum, anyone can freely express their views. Now, everyone. Feel free to share your thoughts on Swen’s opinion.”

The first to respond to her question was Miles.

“It seems like a rather far-fetched idea. The very notion of coming up the river doesn’t seem very realistic.”

“While it’s not a bad idea in terms of setting up countermeasures, I think there might be more efficient ways to utilize our troops…”

With Sika adding another comment, it seemed my opinion was generally received negatively by everyone.

Well, can’t be helped.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be confident if asked to provide detailed evidence.

I only knew the result and pieced things together.

And so, the twenty-eighth opinion forum concluded.

“Everyone, thank you for your hard work today. I promise to review each of your opinions at least once.”

“Yes, understood!!”

The schedule for the opinion forum seems to end here.

It was literally just for suggestions, without necessarily deciding on anything, which definitely felt different from a meeting.

If troops aren’t stationed at Amir Castle, Serpina’s forces will certainly suffer losses, but that was beyond my control.

In reality, even if the northern continent is temporarily shaken, it won’t reverse the war situation. My predictions only select the most efficient means at each moment.

With that light thought, I was about to leave the royal castle after greeting everyone.

“Excuse me.”

“…?”

I turned my head to see who had placed a hand on my shoulder—

It was Jenna, who seemed to have rushed here urgently.

“Lord Swen. Would you please return to the audience chamber for a moment?”

“What? What’s the matter?”

“It’s by order of our lord.”

‘….’

She called for me.

I had a good guess about what this was about, but I pretended not to know and followed Jenna back to the audience chamber.

“Welcome, Swen.”

Serpina extends her pale hand towards me once again.

And then, as if she had been anticipating this moment of private conversation with me… with an incredibly enchanting smile on her lips, she spoke to me as if baptizing me.

“Your opinion was truly intriguing. An ambush by coming up the river—even I couldn’t have imagined such a method.”

“…”

“So. If you’ve presented an opinion, there must be a basis for it?”

Asking for the basis meant that Serpina was willing to accept my opinion not just as an opinion but as a ‘proposal.’

It also meant she was going to interrogate me, just as she had interrogated Irian before.

What should I do?

I thought about responding casually, but… as long as I’m acting under Serpina’s forces, I needed to give her the impression that my words were somewhat accurate.

Like with Lynn Brans, there might come a time when I need to exploit that psychology.

If that’s the case, it’s time to engage.

As if sensing my thoughts… she asked me again in a very pleasing voice.

“I want to hear your thoughts, Swen. Would you care to explain? On what basis are you certain that the Aeshus forces will attack from there?”