Ch.187Chapter 187. Overlaid Karma (2)

Irene calmed her surprised expression, then looked around cautiously before approaching me and whispering.

“…Is that really true?”

“Yes. As I mentioned, I’m not completely certain… but it’s the most likely possibility at present.”

Assassination was the cleanest explanation that fit this situation.

At least it was far more credible than a natural disaster.

First, there were surprisingly many people who hated Serpina, even just within this country.

One piece of evidence was the series of rebellions.

The fact that another rebellion occurred so soon after the previous one made it possible to gauge how intense the anti-Serpina sentiment was.

Serpina wasn’t unaware of this, so she must have quickly realized that ‘if staying still is the right answer, then rebellion will occur.’

Until the moment she could say she was used to being hated—

How much of others’ ‘hatred’ had she been forced to endure?

And second, assassination was more probable than a natural disaster as a trigger for “Serpina temporarily leaving her post.”

Of course, there would be plans to attempt assassination when she returned to Einhart Castle…

But if that were the case, my prediction shouldn’t have changed. In other words, it meant I had somehow succeeded in preserving Serpina’s life.

I would need to keep feeding her relevant questions, of course… but it was significant that we had overcome one major crisis.

After hearing my words, Irene asked me with a very serious expression.

“What should I do?”

“Please continue to accompany your lord as usual. Just ‘be aware’ of this fact.”

“Does my lord not know of this danger yet?”

“Not yet. Well, she might have noticed… but at least I haven’t told her.”

Even if I believed in my ability of “Divine Eye,” I myself wasn’t confident.

In a situation where I lacked sufficient material to explain a definitive outcome to her, speaking carelessly could ruin everything, so I needed to be more cautious than ever.

“I understand. Since we’ll return to Einhart Castle after dealing with the rebels anyway… I’ll conduct my own investigation.”

“Is that possible for you?”

Irene smiled at my question and said.

“I’ve gained quite a few followers lately.”

Having comrades who believe and follow her words.

How much must Irene, who had been terribly lonely, have needed people who would believe in her?

Seeing her achieving that goal and moving forward within Serpina’s army made me feel proud for some reason.

“I believe you’ll handle it well, but I’d prefer if you could proceed discreetly.”

“You needn’t worry. I’ll investigate through other approaches without giving any hint that I’m searching for an assassin.”

Irene wasn’t the type to make empty boasts.

So I could take her reassurance at face value without any problems.

After all, if I didn’t believe in her, who would?

“Then, I’ll see you later.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, right. Reika sends her regards.”

Irene silently nodded and went on her way to attend to her duties.

After seeing her off, I looked up at the sky.

The sky was blue without a single cloud.

While the air of this world didn’t feel particularly heavy to me… it must be different for Serpina. She said she lived each day detecting hostility and murderous intent directed at her.

Although I couldn’t say for certain yet—perhaps… this might be the condition preventing her from achieving unification.

‘If that’s true, then Serpina really is in a pitiful situation.’

I barely managed to shake off the sentimentality I was about to sink into.

First, let’s suppress the rebels before us.

Whether I liked it or not, thanks to those rebels causing an uprising, Serpina was able to preserve her life. If not for the rebellion, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to receive that question, and naturally, I wouldn’t have noticed that Serpina was in mortal danger—I would have just been swept along by the tide of history.

The flag raised to overthrow Serpina had, ironically, protected her.

‘How incredibly ironic.’

I decided to involve myself a bit more in her uniquely difficult fate.

At least while I was by her side, I wanted to be completely on her side.

And gradually—

My attraction to Serpina was growing stronger.

* * *

After the army departed from Rose Castle to suppress the rebels.

What was I doing, not participating in that—

I was spending time talking with Serpina, closer to her than anyone else.

Most of our conversation topics were about my ability, which she knew as the “Divine Eye.”

“So you can only know the outcome, not the process?”

“That’s right. I can’t know it every time, and in some situations I can’t figure it out at all… but when it comes to matters of state governance, I can usually predict what results will occur.”

“And you must receive questions to do this?”

“Yes.”

“What about asking questions to yourself?”

“In that case, I can’t make any predictions. That’s why I asked you to ‘ask me questions.'”

“I see… truly a fascinating ability.”

Serpina looked at me with sparkling eyes.

In her gleaming golden eyes was not the usual charisma of an absolute ruler, but a girlish curiosity full of things she wanted to know about the world.

“Now I understand why you gave such strange advice. However, I still have questions remaining.”

“I’ll answer everything I can.”

After all, to save Serpina, I needed to be in the same boat as her.

While keeping some insurance, there was no reason to unnecessarily drag things out and withhold information.

“That time. Do you remember when rebels claiming to carry on Sidmid’s will rose up? When Rahelven led them.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“You said ‘there’s a possibility that Aeshus forces will invade here.’ Was that also discovered through your ability?”

“No. That was… closer to inference based on my imagination rather than something I discovered.”

“Inference, you say?”

Hearing this, Serpina nodded as if finding it interesting.

…It might be disrespectful to think this about my lord, but Serpina responding to each of my words with enjoyment was quite adorable.

“It’s simple. I received a ‘result.’ Then, I work backward, eliminating impossible situations one by one. That’s how I formulate propositions to advise you. In that particular case, the fact that ‘troops were needed at a seemingly insignificant castle’ suggested to me that ‘there might be a possibility of invasion there.'”

“I see. But… because the conclusion was so outlandish, what you said and what you didn’t say became different?”

As expected of Serpina.

Just from hearing my words, she accurately grasped my circumstances.

“That’s right. Even so, it was a bit difficult to imagine such detailed aspects in my mind.”

“By the same logic, dropping boulders from the sky followed similar reasoning?”

“Yes. The result I obtained then was ‘victory for our army.’ From that, I worked backward to figure out how our army could win.”

“So that’s how it was…”

I gave Serpina a wry smile as she nodded.

“That’s all there is to it. I don’t have talent or insight, I can only perceive outcomes. The reputation as a white-haired wizard or such fame is mostly an illusion.”

Serpina listened to my words, fell into thought—

Then spoke with a somewhat resolute tone.

“I cannot agree with that, Swen.”

“May I ask why?”

“If you lacked talent or insight, wouldn’t reverse engineering be impossible? Even with the ability of ‘Divine Eye’ that can tell how results will turn out, inferring why those results occur would be impossible without being knowledgeable. I’m confident you would have become an excellent strategist even without the Divine Eye ability.”

The sudden praise made me feel embarrassed and awkward.

“…I don’t think it’s quite that significant.”

“You need to give yourself more credit. Excessive modesty is unpleasant to see. Hehehe…”

Serpina laughed happily like that for a few minutes…

Then, with a flushed face, she grabbed my hands with both of hers and said.

“Lynn… and Yurie, they foolishly handed over such an incredible talent to me without properly utilizing you. How foolish. Truly foolish. Moreover, Lynn lost not only you but also General Irene. This situation itself feels like nothing but fate to me, Swen.”

Serpina said this while licking her lips as if salivating.

Her desire for me was so obvious it almost seemed pure.

Indeed, even in the game, a general with 100 intelligence was extremely helpful to a ruler.

Always saying the right things, everything gets resolved if you follow their instructions.

Of course, as in the case of the Lunarian army that was destroyed by the Brans forces, some things simply couldn’t be done no matter what—but still, perfect prediction was inevitably a great help.

From Serpina’s perspective, I must be someone she’d want by her side no matter what.

However, I—

“Swen.”

Without giving me time to continue my thoughts, Serpina addressed me.

“Yes, my lord?”

“I want to hear your advice on a matter.”

“I can’t do everything, but…”

“It’s fine. If you can’t figure it out, just say so. And I won’t blindly follow your words either, so don’t feel pressured.”

Serpina spoke to me with sparkling eyes.

I wondered what to do… but giving a few pieces of advice should be fine.

It’s not like I could twist fate with my ability, and generally my answers tended to be reasonable to the other party.

Things like “it’s efficient to have a general with high strength repair castle walls” and such. In fact, most of my predictions didn’t go beyond that scope.

Only a few incomprehensible predictions had troubled me.

While I was thinking about this somewhat lightly—

Serpina threw a direct fastball deep into my core.

“Can I, Serpina von Einhart… unify the continent and rebuild the Einhart Empire?”