Ch.13Chapter 13. Lady Knight Irene

“The Second Brans Garrison technically carried the title of a training center for new recruits, but in reality, it wasn’t that important of a facility.

All they did here was basic military training; the real soldier training took place at the First Garrison, where the proper curriculum was followed.

This place functioned more as a filter to screen out those who couldn’t fulfill their duties as soldiers.

Of course, given the times, unless someone had an obvious physical disability, they would be conscripted regardless.

In other words—this place was of extremely low importance.

Naturally, the positions of those managing it were essentially dead-end jobs.

And in this place, where even the administrators held meaningless positions, Irene Juliette, once renowned as an excellent female general of the Brans army, was fulfilling her duties as an instructor.

‘Lady Knight’ Irene Juliette.

With long, straight red hair and skin that remained brilliantly white despite constant exposure to the sun.

The silver armor she wore was elegantly engraved with the emblem of House Brans, to which she remained fiercely loyal.

The only incongruity in her otherwise perfect knightly appearance was something her armor couldn’t conceal—her voluptuous figure.

Her assertive, enormous bosom strongly proclaimed that she wasn’t just a knight, but a woman.

The firm, lean muscles that clung to her body only served to emphasize her large chest.

If connoisseurs were to witness such a distinguished figure performing mere instructor duties in a place like this, they would surely click their tongues in disapproval.

Though called an instructor, all she really did was determine whether new recruits passed their basic combat tests or not.

Anyone could see she had been demoted after falling out of favor with her lord, Lynn Brans—but neither she nor those around her dared to mention this openly.

“That concludes today’s session. Good work, everyone.”

“Yes!”

After finishing what could barely be called ‘training’—really just meaningless observation—

Irene walked out of the training grounds with an unchanging expression.

‘Good. Another day of personal training.’

Though demoted and unable to perform her true duties,

she couldn’t allow herself to do nothing, as her rigorously trained body would surely deteriorate.

Without harboring a single complaint against the lord who had sent her to such a place, Irene devoted herself to daily training, simply waiting for the day she would be called upon again.

In truth, given her exceptional abilities, she could easily have resigned from the Brans army and received immediate recruitment offers from various lords scattered throughout the land with 100% certainty.

But she was born a warrior with an extremely upright character.

Perhaps because of this, she had no intention of leaving the side of Lynn Brans, whom she had once decided to serve as her lord.

‘Even if not now, someday she will need me again. When that time comes, I’ll prove my worth.’

Just as she was about to leave for her personal training—

“Lady Irene!”

From a distance, a man’s voice called out to her.

The voice belonged to the commander of the Second Garrison.

“Hello, Garrison Commander. As I’ve mentioned before, since I am your subordinate as an instructor, there’s no need for such formal address.”

Though her actual rank was significantly lower than this man’s—

He instinctively understood.

That the world he lived in as a small fry was fundamentally different from this woman’s.

While he was an ordinary person who would end his life as a conscripted soldier, the woman before him was someone who could lead numerous soldiers, stand at the vanguard, and achieve glory.

“No, how could I possibly address General Irene so casually… But that’s not important right now.”

The man handed her a letter from his breast pocket.

“What is this?”

“Our lord is looking for you, Lady Irene…!”

“…!”

Irene’s pupils contracted upon hearing those words.

She’s calling for me? Lady Lynn Brans?

“Finally, our lord has recognized your worth…! Seeing you train diligently behind the scenes every day, I’ve always felt it was such a waste that you couldn’t fulfill your potential… Surely she must have sent you here for an important purpose all along!”

“…”

Honestly.

While she had been hoping that someday she would be called upon again, she hadn’t really expected it.

She knew she had fallen out of favor with her lord. For reasons unknown, Lord Lynn Brans simply didn’t like her.

Being human, Irene couldn’t help but sense this.

She was simply fulfilling her duty as a warrior and subordinate commander with unwavering loyalty.

‘No. If I achieve merit, surely she will recognize me.’

Lynn Brans was wise, cunning, and sometimes cruel—but she wasn’t inherently evil.

And Irene firmly believed that in these chaotic times, someone like Lynn Brans in power would bring true peace rather than soft-hearted rulers.

After all, who besides her lord could stand against the continent-wide infamous tyrant Serpina von Einhart?

“…I understand. I’ll leave this place in your care for now.”

“Leave it to me? Not at all. You need never return to such a place. Please, please achieve great merit…!”

After exchanging farewells with the man who showed her such respect, Irene slowly left the garrison.

Then, for the first time in a very long while, she made her way to the castle where her lord awaited.

*

“My lord, Irene Juliette has arrived.”

“Send her in.”

“Yes!”

Lynn responded indifferently, sitting cross-legged in her chair with a blank expression.

Shortly after,

Irene walked steadily before her, knelt down, bowed her head, and spoke in a solemn tone.

“I, Irene Juliette, have arrived at your summons, my lord.”

“Yes, yes. Enough with the formalities. I need you to fight for me.”

“I am at your command. Order me as you will, and I shall accomplish it with my life.”

Despite Irene’s extremely loyal demeanor,

Lynn responded with a disinterested expression.

Even for a lord-vassal relationship, this scene was highly unusual.

“I’d like you to capture Zeilant Castle. I’ll give you 23,000 troops. Can you do it?”

“Zeilant Castle…”

Even while focusing on her training, Irene had kept herself thoroughly informed of the national situation.

Zeilant Castle was the only territory of the nearby small nation of Lunarian.

Recently, Kalintz had led 8,000 troops in an invasion there and suffered the most humiliating defeat since the Brans army had emerged on the continent.

With 23,000 troops—nearly three times the 8,000 soldiers—

She heard that mercenary groups had joined the enemy, but with these numbers, it seemed like a battle worth fighting.

“What? Don’t like it? If not, don’t do it.”

“Not at all.”

Irene immediately bowed her head and replied.

“I will ensure that the Brans flag flies over Zeilant Castle without fail.”

“Good. If you have nothing more to say, you may go. Oh, right. I can’t give you that many supplies. Our battle lines are spread out everywhere. I think you’ll get about a week’s worth—can you manage somehow?”

Lynn smiled sweetly as she spoke, but honestly, these were unreasonable conditions.

For troops engaging in a siege, only a week’s worth of supplies.

Considering how much more difficult offensive sieges are compared to defensive ones, these were incredibly unfair terms.

But Irene didn’t raise any objections and answered loudly.

“Yes. I will capture it as quickly as possible. Please do not worry.”

“…”

In a normal situation, one should be satisfied with such a loyal response—

But for some reason, Lynn simply didn’t like Irene.

There was no plausible reason for this.

Surely there are cases where people dislike others without any particular reason.

They were simply like oil and water. Lynn Brans, at a physiological level, did not take to her.

“Alright. You may go.”

“Yes. Please await news of victory.”

After Irene slowly disappeared from her sight,

Lynn twirled a strand of her hair with her finger, lost in thought.

‘I really don’t like her, but she’s definitely skilled… she should be able to handle this, right?’

There was no special reason for using someone she disliked this much.

It was simply because there was no other way to win.

First, the fact that supplies would last only a week—this wasn’t just to torment Irene, but the literal truth.

She wasn’t stupid enough to sabotage operations because of personal feelings.

Having confirmed that mercenary forces had joined the enemy, she needed to lead an army of over 20,000… and the fact was that scraping together supplies for just this period was all that was currently possible.

In that case, she needed a commander who could definitely capture the castle within this timeframe, and there were exactly two people capable of this role.

One was her older brother, Chel. However, he was still at the southern front, so he couldn’t be brought back.

In the end, the only one left was… Irene, whom she had pushed away because she didn’t want to use her.

Moreover, Irene Juliette was known as a master of siege warfare.

‘Practicality. Practicality. For the greater cause. Yes.’

And so, with an expression that remained thoroughly displeased—

Once again, she was invading Zeilant Castle.

* * *

Although two mercenary groups had joined our Lunarian army—

While the mercenary groups themselves had submitted to our army, their members couldn’t be called ‘Lunarian soldiers.’

Moreover, even though they had voluntarily joined under Luna for whatever reason, the true masters of these mercenaries were their respective leaders, not Luna.

Given that their leaders’ minds could change at any time, my wish was to recruit soldiers while we were still at peace.

“Conscription… you say.”

“Yes. Please assign both Sir Cain and Lady Tifa to handle the conscription duties this time.”

Hearing my words, Luna fell into thought and spoke carefully.

Since there was no one else around, she was using honorifics with me.

“But the shadow of the typhoon is still troubling our territory’s people… will it be alright?”

Conscription meant turning all young men into soldiers.

This meant the state would be taking away the young people needed to rebuild the villages.

But we couldn’t delay any longer.

We couldn’t keep relying on luck forever.

“The recent relief efforts have improved the people’s sentiment considerably. If not now, we might never be able to gather soldiers. Despite having two mercenary groups under our command, with only 3,000 of our own direct soldiers, our territory remains exposed to greater danger. I ask for your decision.”

After hearing my words, Luna fell into deep contemplation—

Then slowly nodded.

“…If you say so, Sir Swen… we will conscript soldiers this month.”

Good.

There weren’t any better tasks to assign those two right now anyway.

Since Luna always asked me ‘what should I assign them to do,’ I would surely have noticed if there were other duties they needed to perform, given my intelligence stat of 100.

And at that moment—

“My lord!! Are you here?!”

A soldier rushed in, shouting urgently.

One could make an issue of his sudden entry into the castle, but Luna didn’t mind and answered in a calm tone.

“What is it?”

I examined the soldier’s appearance.

More precisely, I examined his forearm.

And… as I expected.

He had a bright red cloth tied tightly around it.

He was a messenger.

‘Sigh.’

In [Garand Eternity Saga], the CPU would begin invasions after one year had passed in the game, that is, after 4 turns.

When playing as a small nation, after that first year, enemies would invade endlessly from all directions—the scene was nothing short of a defense game.

And now.

In this world where such cumbersome restrictions like “one year” had disappeared—

The fate of a small nation, having to play a [defense game], was unavoidable.

“The Brans army… is invading Zeilant Castle with 23,000 troops!”

…Shit.