Ch.12Chapter 12. First Victory

The small castle of Zeilant.

Today, the central meeting room, which was usually used by only four generals including myself, was visited by four new faces I had never seen before.

They were all kneeling and paying respects to Sovereign Lunarian.

“I am Gustav, leader of the Raven Mercenary Group.”

“I am Kalle, deputy leader.”

“I am Aron, leader of the Chilean Mercenary Group.”

“I am Yona, deputy leader.”

Three men and one woman, who spoke last, were paying their respects to Luna.

The reason our interception force of about 1,300 men was able to stop an army of 8,000 soldiers:

Two archer units had launched a surprise attack on the flanks of the Brans army, throwing their formation into confusion and dividing the large force of 8,000 into three groups.

Then they entered the rear of the Brans army and surrounded them in a formation that seemed to embrace the Brans army, annihilating them.

I already knew where the archer units came from, since the deputy leader of the Raven Mercenary Group had introduced themselves.

But only at this moment did I realize where the rear units had come from.

The Chilean Mercenary Group!

‘I never thought those wretched people would be on our side.’

The Chilean Mercenary Group was a mercenary unit that could only be used by rulers of the Central Continent after clearing specific quests.

Their unique unit type, “medium infantry,” was superior to regular spearmen in every aspect and was an excellent mercenary group, but the problem was that they required territory from a specific castle in the Central Continent.

Because of this, given the Central Continent’s characteristic lack of empty land, if you started as a random ruler, you had to give up on recruiting them. Even if you started as a Central ruler, you would likely be suppressed by the Brans army before clearing the quest, making recruitment virtually impossible unless the Brans army spawned outside the Central region by some low probability.

From my perspective as someone who didn’t play as the Brans army because it was boring, they were a very annoying mercenary group!

With high probability, they were exclusively for the Brans army, making them the mercenary group that gave wings to the already beginner-friendly Brans rulers.

And now their leaders were kneeling before our sovereign, paying their respects.

‘Can they be recruited without doing quests?’

Even after becoming reality, this world strangely continued to follow the rules of the game.

I could easily tell by how my predictions, with my Intelligence stat of 100, were coming true despite all odds.

However.

These mercenary groups helping us now, and the fact that war broke out before even a year had passed since we started—there were strangely different aspects from the game.

‘I shouldn’t blindly trust game knowledge.’

“…You may raise your heads.”

At Luna’s words, all four people lifted their heads in unison.

“First, I want to express my sincere gratitude for helping our army. Thank you very much. Without you, our forces might have failed to defend Castle Zeilant. And… there’s something I must ask you.”

“Please ask us anything.”

“Why did you decide to help our army?”

Gustav, the leader of the Raven Mercenary Group, answered Luna’s question.

“Aron here and I were heading toward Castle Zeilant when we confirmed that a war had broken out. That’s why we decided to help Lunarian’s army.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand. Could you explain why you decided to help our army?”

“That is…”

This time, Aron, the leader of the Chilean Mercenary Group, continued.

“Our two mercenary groups were heading to Castle Zeilant to pledge allegiance to the Lunarian army.”

“…!”

Pledging allegiance meant they were offering to help our army.

Since that was the only reason they would help us, I had already expected it and didn’t think much of it, but the rest of Luna’s members couldn’t hide their surprised expressions, as if they had heard something unimaginable.

“…May I ask why?”

“Recently, we heard news that you provided an enormous amount of food and spent a great deal of money to repair commoners’ homes destroyed by a typhoon.”

After hearing Gustav’s words, Aron added:

“In my time running a mercenary group, I’ve encountered many leaders, but I’ve never seen one who puts so much effort into relief activities for their subjects since the beginning of these chaotic times. It would be remarkable even for a powerful warlord with vast territories, but for a small-scale military force running just a small city, it’s unimaginable.”

“That’s…”

Luna spoke as if she hadn’t expected this, but Aron’s words weren’t wrong.

6,000 gold was truly a fortune.

It was enough to conscript over five thousand soldiers, with plenty left over to reinvest in domestic affairs.

Even with some money remaining, it was enough to purchase mid-tier items that weren’t too expensive.

Using as much as 6,000 gold for the subjects was bound to create rumors.

Especially considering that investing just 500 gold over half a year would earn one praise as a wise ruler.

“However, we didn’t know exactly what the Lunarian army’s insignia looked like, so we might not have been able to help properly during the war… Fortunately, we spotted someone at the vanguard who resembled the old man who had actively participated in the relief activities. I’m glad we were able to help in time.”

‘Ah.’

As soon as I heard those words, I could figure out how this entire chain of events had unfolded.

[Advice] Have Tifa handle commerce -> Tifa discovers a box of money in a way only she could.

[Advice] Use all this money for relief efforts for the subjects -> In this process, gain public support, and impress the two mercenary group leaders.

[Advice] Place Cain (whose face became known for being most active in relief efforts) at the vanguard -> The mercenary groups recognize Cain at the vanguard and help our army at the appropriate timing.

Now, there was absolutely no room for doubt, not even 0.01%.

My Intelligence is 100. And my predictions are always right.

Every physical law in this world adjusts itself to make my advice come true, even if it has to bend over backwards!

“…”

“Hmm…”

I could feel Cain and Tifa, who were beside Luna, looking at me with astonished expressions.

Their expressions were very easy to read.

They were looking at me with a message along the lines of ‘Could it be that you predicted all of this?’

Well, from their perspective, that’s how it would seem. After all, they followed what I suggested and completed what seemed like an impossible mission.

At this moment, what I needed to do was simple.

Maintain a very knowing expression and slowly nod my head.

As if I had predicted all of this.

The important thing wasn’t that I predicted this entire situation.

What mattered was that I ‘appeared’ to others as if I had predicted the entire situation.

As long as the conclusion was correct, the rest could be pieced together afterward.

By appearing this way, I added credibility to my always-accurate advice, making others follow my opinions without opposition even if they didn’t understand them.

As an advisor rather than a ruler, it was extremely important to establish this kind of momentum for pushing my opinions within our faction.

Of course, with Lunarian Ineanne as our ruler, she would likely listen to me anyway—

But in these chaotic times, even I couldn’t predict what my fate would be.

I approached Luna like a sage and advised:

“My lord. Accept them. They will surely be a great strength to our army.”

“Swen…”

Luna looked at me and fell into thought for a moment.

Then, looking at the leaders and deputy leaders kneeling before her, she said:

“I sincerely thank you for helping our army. I will never forget this. Under my name, Lunarian, your path shall be our path.”

Placing them under her name meant she was accepting their allegiance.

Understanding this, the leaders bowed their heads and replied:

“Yes! We will serve with all our loyalty.”

“We will be Lord Lunarian’s sword and shield.”

The Raven Mercenary Group, 7,000 in total.

The Chilean Mercenary Group, 6,000 in total.

A total of 13,000 mercenaries joined the Lunarian army.

Considering they weren’t ordinary soldiers but well-trained mercenaries, it was an excessively favorable outcome for the price of 6,000 gold.

* * *

This was Castle Anel, the stronghold of the Brans army.

Kalintz was kneeling with his head bowed, pleading to Sovereign Lynn Brans:

“I am ashamed. It’s all my fault. Please kill me.”

“…”

The invasion force of 8,000 had been annihilated.

Countless officers had lost their lives.

Only about 120 soldiers survived, along with their general, Kalintz Brans.

It was a devastating defeat unprecedented in the history of the Brans army.

And it was at the hands of the minor nation of Lunarian, not even a renowned country like Aeshus—a nation she hadn’t even bothered to input into her mind.

Lynn Brans asked, deep in thought:

“Brother. What exactly happened? If you’re truly ashamed, explain it so I can understand.”

“…We were ambushed. From what we learned afterward, it seems mercenary-level soldiers joined the battle.”

“Mercenaries?”

“Yes. One of our soldiers recognized their insignia—it appears the Raven Mercenary Group and the Chilean Mercenary Group… joined the Lunarian army.”

“…What?”

At this point, even Lynn couldn’t help but be greatly surprised.

She was well aware of both the Raven Mercenary Group and the Chilean Mercenary Group.

Especially the Chilean Mercenary Group, which the Brans army was struggling to gain cooperation from.

‘They’re helping that minor nation’s ruler instead of me?’

The situation itself was absurd, but…

As a ruler, she knew all too well that continuing to be bewildered about something that had already happened wouldn’t solve anything.

“If it was an ambush, it couldn’t be helped. How could you win with insufficient information? Still, it was quite a severe defeat. I’d like you to stay back from the front lines for a while and help with reorganization. It would be good for you to step down from your position as vanguard commander and cool your head.”

To a third party, Lynn’s words might have sounded like those of a benevolent ruler covering for failure—

But Kalintz could feel it. This was a demotion for his failure.

The fact that he was still alive was likely because this battle had occurred due to an ambush, and because his surname was Brans.

But.

What excuse could a defeated general have?

“…I will obey your command.”

“Good. You may go.”

After dismissing Kalintz, Lynn fell into thought.

‘If two mercenary groups have joined the Lunarian side, we’ll need to get serious about conquering them… but I can’t bring Brother Chel from the south either.’

Lynn continued to ponder before finally sighing deeply.

Then she recalled someone’s face.

‘Do I have no choice but to use that woman?’

She really disliked it.

She really, really disliked it, but was it unavoidable for the greater cause?

Lynn addressed a soldier who was on guard duty beside her.

“Hey.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Go to the second barracks where they train new recruits and call Irene for me.”

“Understood!”

Even though she had personally demoted this woman, now she had no choice.

She was the only blade available to use right now.

‘Well, being a ruler means having to do things you don’t like.’

Lynn rationalized her actions this way.