Ch.191Chapter 191. Divine Eye (2)

To say “dedicating” meant essentially spending almost the entire day in close proximity with her, and that would be the correct answer.

–Of course, most of that time was filled with state governance.

Although I didn’t obtain the position of national advisor, Serpina von Einhart, who had learned about my “Mind’s Eye,” discussed and decided on almost all state affairs with me rather than Jenna.

From the most trivial matters to what should be done in the future.

It would be accurate to say that while Jenna was inspecting the northern continent as a whole, I was handling all the minor internal affairs.

And.

Irene Juliette, who returned with me from Rose Castle to Einhart Castle, officially became Serpina’s knight guard.

At first, there were opinions that this was essentially a demotion, but Irene responded without any particular strong reaction, kneeling before Serpina and answering that she would gladly perform the duty.

After speaking with her separately later.

“You thought I had ordered it?”

“That’s right.”

On our way back to the mansion.

Irene turned her head to look at me.

In her violet eyes, the word certainty was vividly present.

“Because there’s no way the lord would call me, the vice commander, to be a guard knight without reason. Besides, Swen, haven’t you been spending much more time with the lord lately? I naturally thought that the topic must have come up between you two.”

After saying that, she looked at my face and carefully asked.

“…Am I wrong?”

“No. Lady Irene, you’re right. Still, I’m just amazed at how accurately you guessed.”

“Well, if it’s your order, not someone else’s, there must be a reason. I had my suspicions.”

At that moment, Irene, who had been speaking with a smile, stiffened her expression and then whispered in a quiet voice as she came closer.

The scent of her body that wafted over wasn’t unpleasant.

“It’s related to what you said about the lord being in danger, isn’t it?”

Since there was nothing more to hide from Lady Irene, I just answered straightforwardly.

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I see. I understand. If it’s about protecting the lord, it will be a worthwhile task.”

Lady Irene probably feels much more gratitude or debt of heart toward Serpina than I do.

If it helps her, she’ll do it without complaint.

Someday I’ll have to take her with me, and this decision will be a great help in making Irene feel at ease.

“By the way… this is a slightly different topic.”

“Please go ahead.”

Irene hesitated for a moment, then asked again in a careful tone.

If the previous question was quite serious and earnest, this time she seemed much more embarrassed, with her face completely flushed.

“Well, um… I was wondering what kind of conversations you usually have with the lord.”

Seeing through Lady Irene’s transparent question, a smile naturally bloomed on my face.

What kind of conversations, indeed.

“Just general discussions about state governance. You don’t need to worry about any strange rumors.”

“No, that’s not it! Swen, I, I don’t believe the rumors… but just…”

“Instead, let’s spend some time together today. Since you’ve been back, you’ve been so busy that we haven’t had much chance to talk, right?”

Irene had been maintaining a routine of leaving when the sun rose and returning only when evening came.

I was also busy being dragged around by Serpina.

“Huh? But, um, what about Reika…”

“It’ll be fine today.”

On my way out, I exchanged greetings with Reika, who had dark circles under her eyes.

I heard she had stayed up all night reading books, so she’s probably in dreamland by now.

“So let’s spend some time together after so long, Lady Irene.”

At my words, Irene thought for a moment—

Then she bowed her head and answered in a small voice.

“…Okay.”

And so, we were able to spend time together after a very long while.

Time spent with her was practically my only respite, as someone who had to give correct answers and fight battles every day.

*

Time passed.

Today, like any other day, the question-and-answer session with Serpina continued.

She would ask questions, and I would answer.

It was a truly simple mechanism, but with my “Intelligence 100” ability that only produced correct statements, this Q&A took on meaning beyond mere conversation.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was now single-handedly guiding the actions of the Serpina Army, the strongest nation, albeit with a touch of humor.

“So it’s not yet time to wage war?”

“That’s right. It seems like something else is about to happen behind the scenes.”

“You mean you don’t know whether it’s a rebellion or not.”

“Yes.”

I wanted to give her a precise answer, but as someone who could only know outcomes, I could only provide an ambiguous response.

In the past, I might have been dismissed with “that doesn’t make logical sense,” but the current Serpina was different.

She listened carefully to my every word and accepted what I said if I said it was so.

“…I understand. I will think more about that part. If that result is a firm truth, there must certainly be a reason.”

Serpina’s approach to this “absolute truth” was eerily similar to mine.

She would extract possible scenarios based on results, and then deduce which ones were most likely.

While I knew everything about this world, she couldn’t know as much even as a ruler, so her success rate was inevitably lower than mine—

But I thought that if she also had this “Intelligence 100 ability,” she might utilize it even better than I could.

She was a ruler, and would be much more versed in state management and military tactics than I was, whose knowledge came entirely from playing a game for 10,000 hours.

“Well then, I’m thinking of assigning a mission soon—what would be the most appropriate way to organize it?”

In truth.

Being an advisor with Intelligence 100 wasn’t anything special.

Its essence was simply answering questions like that.

I gave her the most efficient answers to all her questions.

As a result.

Much greater changes were occurring in this country than I had anticipated.

She prevented natural disasters in advance, earning the trust of her domain’s people.

Through reasonable deals with merchant guild leaders, she obtained a year’s worth of military provisions at a low price.

Her decisive action also prevented the proliferation of bandit groups.

Since following her orders always yielded the best results, Serpina’s reputation naturally began to improve.

While her reputation among the military commanders wasn’t bad to begin with, considering that the hearts of the domain’s people weren’t completely loyal to her, this was an extremely encouraging development.

As these good results continued to repeat, Serpina no longer hesitated.

At first, even after learning about the “Mind’s Eye” ability, she accepted some of my advice with slightly dubious expressions.

But from some point on, she began to trust my words implicitly.

I could feel her expression toward me changing in real time.

The returns weren’t just that.

With every exploration, only good news began to arrive.

“What are all these?”

“These are… treasures that came from exploring the surrounding domains as ordered.”

Not treasure, but treasures.

Before Serpina’s eyes, five different treasures were being presented.

An excellent sword, a medical book compiled by six generations of a family, a military tactics book written by an outstanding scholar… a legendary wine and a highly valuable gem as well.

All of these were the results of following my opinion that “exploration” would be good.

Serpina distributed all of them to her subordinate generals.

When asked why, she answered calmly with an indifferent expression.

“I have no interest in collecting. Things exist to be used by people. Wouldn’t those items prefer to be handled by someone rather than rotting in the royal castle’s treasure vault?”

Even so, seeing is coveting, and it’s not easy to consistently give treasures to subordinates like that.

The only thing she didn’t share with others was the military tactics book.

She seemed to keep that for herself to study separately.

I heard that it was Serpina who used the strategy to lure Anima out of the castle.

She appeared to value listening to her generals’ opinions while also considering her own judgment important.

After all, a ruler was a decision-maker, and to extract the best opinions, one couldn’t neglect study.

Of course, with me, an advisor with Intelligence 100, by her side, she would always get the correct answer, so there wasn’t much need for such effort—

But regardless of that, she continued to hone herself without distancing herself from study or becoming lazy.

Nevertheless—

“You’re saying it’s still not possible?”

“That’s right.”

A question that Serpina had begun to ask me occasionally from a certain point:

‘Can Serpina von Einhart unify the world?’

And the same conclusion always drawn: no, she cannot.

Although the nation was developing progressively, this answer never changed.

“I see. I understand.”

Serpina would neither express disappointment at the result nor question it further; she would accept my words and then resume her duties.

She might have asked what the reason was at least once, but it seemed she was determined to silently fight against her fate.

Not neglecting her studies was probably part of that. It could be seen as her own effort to overcome the evil deeds she had committed and become a unifying ruler.

To her, who was confronting fate like that—

I could never, ever tell the truth that ‘If Lady Serpina loses her life, this country can become a unified empire.’

I could only continue to help her as I had been. Since keeping her alive was also beneficial to Lady Luna, I could assist her without much deliberation.

While accompanying her like that—

A decisive event occurred.

* * *

It began with ‘exploration.’

“Is sending General Celia to Kelstein Castle the most efficient method?”

[Close.]

‘…No.’

I shook my head.

After several rounds of Q&A, I had concluded that sending an exploration to Kelstein Castle would be efficient, but the question was who to send.

The exploration itself was a fixed value; it was more about selecting the right general for the exploration.

Based on various circumstances, I thought that if I selected the correct general, the answer would be [Yes].

Serpina nodded and said.

“I’ve now called all the generals who don’t have missions.”

“It seems it must be a general who is currently on a mission.”

“Hmm…”

Serpina fell into thought for a moment, then began to continue her questions.

“Is sending General Irene to Kelstein Castle the most efficient method?”

“…”

I almost got flustered when a familiar name came up, but.

[Close.]

‘It’s not Lady Irene.’

As I shook my head again, the names of generals under the occupation army began to be listed, starting with Irene.

Kransis, Jayden, Yuria… How many unfamiliar generals’ names flowed by except for Kransis.

“Is sending General Irian to Kelstein Castle the most efficient method?”

‘…!’

After inputting questions mechanically, I suddenly paused.

“Huhuhu…”

Serpina let out a very satisfied laugh and spoke.

Indeed, hiding expressions in front of her was extremely difficult.

“It seems that’s the correct answer, Swen.”

The result of the question— [Yes.]

“…That’s right.”

I bowed my head and said.

“Please dispatch General Irian to Kelstein Castle.”