Ch.173Chapter 173. Plating (2)

After hearing my words, Serpina fell silent for a moment—

Then, with a “heh,” she let out a laugh, and after enjoying herself quite thoroughly for a brief moment, she spoke.

“Yes. I thought you would say something like that, Swen.”

“……”

“I’d like to hear from you. Why do you think that way?”

“Would you give me a moment to think?”

“Oh? So you answered without thinking first? That makes it even more interesting.”

Serpina smiled at me with great satisfaction.

Despite likely knowing how I’ve been answering through our previous exchanges, she still made a point to say I “answered without thinking”—is that just like her?

Rather than trying to provoke me… she seemed to have noticed something about my thought mechanism, but I remained calm and thoughtful without adding any unnecessary comments.

She… at least the current version of her, trusted me tremendously, unlike before.

There was a very high possibility she would listen to me even if I only provided flimsy reasons rather than perfect arguments that left no room for objection.

But—even so, I needed to give her plausible reasons.

That would create legitimacy for her choosing me.

It was something both Serpina and I needed.

Her subordinate generals would need compelling reasons to accept passing up this golden opportunity.

So, why would moving the occupation forces now be disadvantageous?

Though it might seem random each time, I needed to approach this by doing what I’ve always done. Otherwise, I’d be dragged down by the weight of my compass without reaching any conclusion.

I closed my eyes and visualized the map.

I had memorized the continental map so thoroughly I could draw it with my eyes closed.

…First, let me gather the necessary information to deduce what might be happening.

“My lord. Before I explain, I’d like to know in which territories Kalintz and Chel each started their rebellions.”

“Kalintz raised his army in the capital city of Anel, and Chel in nearby Heizel Castle.”

‘As I thought.’

Neither rebel force was currently bordering our nation.

I organized my thoughts and explained.

“Both rebel forces are currently surrounded by Brans forces. As long as our alliance continues, even if we advance in that direction and successfully occupy castles, they would become extraterritorial lands from our perspective. The premise of ‘occupying castles’ requires a military passage treaty with Brans forces, but as I recall, there is no such content in our alliance documents.”

“That’s right.”

Of course there wouldn’t be.

Our forces freely traversing Brans territory would mean, conversely, that Brans forces could freely traverse our territory as well.

Why would we grant them such permission?

Of course, we could establish an “unequal treaty,” but… even a powerful nation needs to be careful not to act too much like a bully in diplomatic relations, as it could lead to difficult situations.

Frankly speaking, if our forces occupied about 4/5 of the continent, we could pressure other nations with unilateral declarations rather than unequal treaties and face only moral condemnation without other problems, but currently we only control about 1/3, so we lack that level of power.

“Even without a treaty, there’s the option of ‘receiving temporary permission as allies’… but it’s questionable whether they would agree to such terms, and even assuming everything goes well, I don’t think our forces would gain much advantage.”

“Yes. I agree with you up to that point.”

“Then what remains is the issue with Aeshus forces…”

Objectively speaking, we didn’t have generals who could overwhelm those defending Aeshus castles.

Of course, we had Lady Irene, the “siege specialist”… but they had several outstanding generals including Emma, who had similar specs to Irene, as well as Epinel and Erinandorf, who were among the most exceptional generals in the game.

Even if they lacked talent in state administration, they were undeniably excellent generals who couldn’t be ignored. In this game, the Aeshus forces were conceptualized as a “nation starting with outstanding generals but few territories.”

Nevertheless, war ultimately comes down to resources, so we could win if we continuously attacked with the resources of our forces occupying the northern continent… but it would still be inefficient to commit all soldiers from across the nation to a single castle.

I summarized the general content and reported to Serpina.

Serpina nodded when she heard my point that “sending all troops from our territory to the front lines would be dangerous.”

Actually, if we could defeat the Aeshus forces—

An answer like [That is not the case] wouldn’t have appeared.

Even if we gathered as many troops as possible and charged, we probably couldn’t defeat them. Or even if we won, it would obviously be a “Pyrrhic victory” with devastating casualties.

From our perspective, nothing would be more beneficial than acquiring Aeshus territory.

“So, you’re saying that advancing toward Brans forces is currently impossible due to our alliance relationship, and although we’re at a slight disadvantage against Aeshus forces, even if we win after investing time, what we gain is likely to be disproportionate to our efforts?”

“Yes.”

“……”

After hearing my words, Serpina fell into thought for a moment, then looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked.

“Is that all you have to say, Swen?”

“Yes, that’s all.”

“Then may I share my opinion now?”

‘…Huh?’

Her opinion?

Suddenly curious, I looked into her golden eyes and gave a silent nod of approval.

“You just said it would be dangerous to gather all soldiers from our homeland.”

“Yes. To be precise, it’s more about inefficiency than danger, if I may clarify.”

“From my perspective, the situation seems more dangerous than inefficient.”

“Well, certainly it would be dangerous to leave territories without soldiers…”

“No. It’s more than dangerous.”

After saying that, she filled her voice with conviction.

“Because rebellion will occur.”

“Rebellion… you say?”

Because internal rebellion would occur, advancing to the continent in the current situation would be dangerous—

Of course, I had considered this.

However, I thought it wasn’t very realistic for another rebellion to occur so soon after we had just suppressed one a few days ago.

It felt like lightning striking the same place three times in succession.

That’s why I hadn’t mentioned it.

I wasn’t confident I could convince Serpina, let alone her subordinate generals, with “rebellion will occur.”

“Then Swen, I’d like to ask you a question here.”

“A question…?”

“What do you think? Is rebellion likely to occur in our forces?”

‘…??’

I wondered why she was suddenly fixating on “questions”… but anyway, I processed her question.

Of course, the result was as expected.

[Unknown.]

As I thought, questions that specifically ask “what will happen?” don’t get answers.

I couldn’t give a satisfying answer, but I should say something.

“While it’s not completely impossible… even though the north is chaotic, the blood of dozens of generals who dreamed futile dreams has barely dried. In this situation, it doesn’t seem likely that rebels would risk exposing themselves…”

“Oh?”

“If I were plotting rebellion, I would wait for a more suitable time rather than acting now. Don’t you think so too, my lord?”

I looked at her amused expression and began my persuasion.

But.

She started talking about something completely unrelated to what I was trying to persuade her of.

“‘Doesn’t seem likely to expose themselves,’ you say?”

“…Pardon?”

“‘Would wait for a more suitable time,’ is that it?”

“My lord?”

“Swen. Let me ask once more. I’m thinking of leading the occupation forces south. Can you tell me what you think about that?”

‘…???’

I wondered why she was asking that question again, but since nothing had changed, my answer remained the same.

“As I said, I believe it’s not the appropriate time at present.”

“Then what about the talk of rebellion occurring?”

“…It doesn’t seem likely with high probability…”

…Ah.

Only then did I realize why she had been asking me those questions.

“Yes. You assert with certainty that ‘it’s not the appropriate time’ for us to move south, but you speak without any certainty about whether rebellion will occur, talking only about probabilities. No—”

“The only thing you’ve spoken to me with certainty about is the opinion that ‘moving the occupation forces would be inefficient.’ All your reasons fall within the realm of expectations and speculation.”

“And it’s not just this time. You always speak with certainty about results, but you speculate rather than speak with certainty about the process.”

She rose from her seat and slowly walked toward me.

This situation.

It wasn’t the first time.

Yes.

Back then, the person who came closest to understanding my ability through our question-and-answer sessions.

The ill-fated strategist of the Aeshus forces despite his advanced age, the man called the Sage of the Former Empire—Ginor Nighthart.

That man… had also made me feel this chill for a moment.

And now.

The “chill” I felt from Serpina…

“Swen. I’ll ask just one thing. A question that can resolve all the doubts I’ve felt during our conversations. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’d appreciate it if you would humor my whim.”

When I came to my senses, her face was right in front of mine again.

Foolishly, in this situation, I remembered the sensation of our lips meeting once before, and my heart started racing again.

Serpina looked straight at me with a slightly flushed face… her eyes sparkling, and asked like a curious young girl.

“Could it be… that you can only perceive outcomes, and nothing else…?”