Ch.185Chapter 185. How to Become Virtually Invincible

“……You want me to ask you questions?”

“That’s right.”

Yes.

Something I had never asked of anyone before, but if this request worked, it would essentially make me invincible.

That method was to constantly urge others to ask me questions.

The core of my Intelligence 100 ability was that whatever I said was absolutely correct.

Whether things took a roundabout path or some natural disaster occurred, things would always work out exactly as I said. This absolute rule was unchangeable.

Looking at just this aspect, it couldn’t be anything but an unprecedented cheat ability, but there were several rather tricky conditions.

The most troublesome of these was undoubtedly that someone had to ask me a question before I could make a prediction.

In this game, to hear a strategist’s advice, the player always had to devise a plan first and then ask for confirmation.

The probability of the strategist being right or wrong was determined by their intelligence stat, and if that strategist had an intelligence of 100, the answer would always be correct.

The fact that I could only answer when asked a question was clearly inspired by that system. After all, this world was the world inside that game.

But I couldn’t just openly ask others to keep asking me questions.

First of all, explaining the mechanism of this ability was incredibly awkward. If I suddenly said, “Please ask me what would be good,” wouldn’t I be lucky to avoid being treated as a madman?

Even assuming I decided to do so, finding someone willing was also a problem. I would need to prove that my words always came true, and even with proof, without sufficient evidence to believe it, they might dismiss it as mere coincidence.

However.

In that respect, Serpina was the perfect person to ask for questions.

She trusted me greatly. Plus, she had come closest to figuring out my true ability through her own reasoning.

Moreover, she was the one who fulfilled the final condition of being able to plausibly package all these absurd abilities.

So, wouldn’t Serpina notice?

If it were her, wouldn’t she notice that I needed “questions” and… cooperate with me without saying anything?

After hearing my words, Serpina stared intently into my eyes for a long time, lost in thought…

Then, in a very serious tone, she asked me a question.

“…Do you think it is right for our army to leave the rebellion at Linenhart Castle unresolved?”

‘Great!’

It seemed she had successfully grasped the true meaning of my request.

I quickly entered the question she had asked me.

‘Is it the right decision for our army to leave the rebellion at Linenhart Castle unresolved?’

[The fate of the United Empire will come.]

‘The answer hasn’t changed.’

One puzzle piece fell into place.

Whether or not to suppress the rebellion at Linenhart Castle was, as I expected, completely unrelated to Serpina’s death.

It meant the conclusion would be the same either way.

In other words, to avoid the fate of this United Empire—that is, Serpina’s death—I needed to approach it differently.

I recalled the first question I had received.

If dealing with Linenhart Castle didn’t matter… what remained was the dispatch.

Moreover, the fact that Serpina would die meant that, no matter what, it was connected to her.

“My lord.”

“…Yes. What question should I ask you this time?”

I’m incredibly grateful that we understand each other so well, but I mustn’t forget to prepare some packaging to somehow cover up this situation.

Above all, I needed a new question first.

“The question I’d like you to ask this time is ‘Would it be efficient for our army if Lady Serpina personally leads the vanguard and is dispatched to Linenhart Castle?'”

“Do you mean it would be the right decision for me to personally lead the vanguard and be dispatched to Linenhart Castle?”

Though the wording wasn’t exactly the same, as long as the meaning was conveyed, the result wouldn’t change.

I immediately entered that question.

And—

[No, it would not.]

—I finally obtained the answer I was looking for.

‘…This is it.’

The conclusion that it would not be efficient for Serpina to personally go on the dispatch.

From this answer alone, it wasn’t clear, but I could understand why it wasn’t efficient.

By dying, Serpina’s army, as it was called, would seize the destiny to become the United Empire. That’s what “the fate of the United Empire approaches” meant.

But if Lady Serpina survived, that destiny would still remain with Lady Luna.

All predictions were centered around the nation I belonged to, and currently, I was a general belonging to Serpina’s army. Naturally, from this country’s perspective, missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would not be an efficient method.

So.

“My lord.”

From now on, once again to save her life.

“This time, I believe it would be the right decision for you to personally lead the army and be dispatched to where General Irene is.”

I had to convince her somehow.

“…On what grounds?”

“There’s something I must tell you. I’m not trying to insult you, so please calm down and listen.”

I slowly bowed my head once…

Then looked straight into her eyes and said:

“Do you remember our previous conversation? Actually, you were right.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I can… ‘know’ the most rational outcome currently available.”

“!!!!!!”

Her pupils contracted sharply.

A means to explain this absurd ability.

Normally, such a thing wouldn’t exist, but…

If I had any luck, it was that she was a woman of the Einhart royal family.

“I possess something called the ‘Mind’s Eye.'”

“What… did you say?”

“By closing my eyes and thinking about the question I’ve been asked… I can derive the most efficient answer through this ‘Mind’s Eye.’ That is the ability I’ve been hiding all this time.”

The final condition that could plausibly package all these absurd abilities.

That was precisely this keyword: “Mind’s Eye.”

Of course, I couldn’t forget to set up precautions.

“Of course, it can’t be applied to all questions, and there are numerous cases where I can’t predict due to circumstances, physical condition, the movement of stars, and weather… but anyway, I can derive results that are close to 100% accurate.”

I listed plausible-sounding terms to create loopholes for my ability.

The reason both Ginor and Serpina could somewhat guess my ability was because they both knew legendary stories about “strategists with the Mind’s Eye ability.”

Even so, it was ultimately just a legend, so normally one would think it was nonsense.

However, since the existence of “magicians,” which was also just a legendary tale, began to be widely known after I was mistaken for summoning a meteor.

And that’s not all. Many people witnessed when I went with Reika and destroyed the castle wall.

Yes, magicians existed. Reika, who always greeted me with a smile when I came home, was walking proof, and a very small number of people, including me and Ginor, knew this fact.

Magic was also used when suppressing the rebels to save Jenis.

If we assume that a secret shouldn’t leak to even a single person to be maintained, the continent had already begun to gradually affirm the existence of magicians.

In this situation, where the legendary existence of magicians was gradually being proven real, another legendary keyword, “Mind’s Eye,” was in a good position to be accepted.

It was truly ironic.

In the end, I created all this situation. More precisely, as a result of continuing to act according to my “100% correct advice,” this situation had come about.

Whether I had predicted everything up to this point, or whether individual predictions had combined to somehow reach this result, I couldn’t tell…

“So, please listen to me here. That is the best option our army can choose, my lord.”

At least I was confident I could convince Serpina, who already had some suspicions.

After hearing my words, Serpina remained silent for a moment, staring at me like ice…

Then carefully parted her pink lips.

“…Do you know?”

“Pardon?”

“Does General Irene also… know about this ability of yours…?”

It seemed like a rather out-of-place question in this situation, but it wasn’t one I couldn’t answer.

“Lady Irene doesn’t know. You are the first person I’ve mentioned this ability to.”

“Is that so…?”

She maintained silence for a moment, then spoke with a trembling voice.

“Why…?”

“…What?”

“Why did you tell only me… something you’ve kept hidden even from General Irene, who is precious to you?”

Besides her trembling voice, her manner of speech was strangely unfamiliar.

She who always spoke in the language of an emperor, elevating herself, now seemed to be asking simply as one human to another.

Come to think of it.

What made me trust her enough to confess this ability?

Even with precautions in place, revealing such an absurd ability could potentially be dangerous for me.

In the worst case, they could imprison me and continuously extract answers to questions—a bit extreme, but possible. My combat ability is poor, so subduing me wouldn’t be difficult.

Nevertheless, I wanted to convince Serpina.

Was it to protect the destiny of continental unification for my true lord, Lady Luna…?

‘…No.’

Let’s be honest. That wasn’t the only reason.

If that were all, there would be no need to risk revealing my ability.

I simply wanted to save her.

I wanted her not to die.

Beyond all interests, that was the only shining truth.

“I wanted to… save you, Lady Serpina.”

“!!!”

“That’s all there is to it.”

I felt my chest grow hot as I uttered those words.

It was an emotion I had never felt before.

What could this feeling be?

Looking at her as she stared at me, startled, blushing, and trembling… I was overwhelmed by an inexplicable emotion.

“……”

Serpina stared at me silently for a long time, lost in thought—

Then slowly turned her body and said:

“…Are you saying I should personally take the field?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I understand. …Swen, I will follow your wishes. However—”

Serpina turned her head to look at my face.

The citrus scent emanating from her pleasantly caressed my heated chest, soothing it.

“Later, you must tell me more in detail.”

“About… what, may I ask?”

“…Everything.”

After saying that, she blushed slightly and raised the corners of her mouth into a crescent-shaped smile.

“You’ll have to tell me everything, Swen.”

Ah.

That smile.

For a moment, the image of her smiling lovingly in my dream flashed before my eyes.

Yes. That was the warm and beautiful smile I had seen in my dream.

Not the dignified smile of an absolute ruler on a throne, but a smile that an ordinary woman might make, as if thoroughly delighted in a flower garden.

—Since your smiling face is so beautiful, I wish you could always smile like that.

It was an excessively sentimental thought for someone who had just revealed part of an ability they had never told anyone about.