Ch.19Chapter 19. Brief Peace (1)

The Brans army quickly retreated.

As promised, our army did not pursue the Brans forces.

Honestly, we could have broken the agreement and chased them to strike from behind, but doing so would have made it impossible for the Lunarian army to conduct normal diplomacy with any nation in the future, so we refrained from such actions.

Besides, we had nothing to gain from pursuing the Brans army other than hindering them.

More than half of Zeilant Castle’s walls had collapsed, and over 8,000 soldiers were incapacitated—

But ultimately, we succeeded in defending this castle.

The Brans army would be busy dealing with Serpina’s forces for a while, which meant we had a golden opportunity to strengthen our internal affairs.

And here—inside the royal palace of Zeilant Castle.

Though it was incomparably humble compared to the royal palace of Anel Castle that I had visited before, it didn’t feel so bad, perhaps because it felt like I had truly arrived at my own home.

The sovereign Lunarian, Gustav and Aron who had been defending different areas, and Cain were all gathered here.

I heard that Tifa had sustained serious injuries during the war and was currently receiving treatment.

I placed a bag full of gold on the table and said:

“Three thousand gold.”

After checking the gold, Cain looked at me with disbelief, glancing back and forth between the gold and my face several times.

“So… Swen, you went to negotiate a ceasefire agreement for thirteen hundred gold, but instead you made the agreement and brought back three thousand gold?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“How on earth did you…?”

I responded nonchalantly to the astonished Cain who couldn’t continue his words:

“I did some negotiating.”

“No, negotiating aside… huh… well.”

Cain wiped his cold sweat as he looked at me.

When he first looked at me, there was no emotion in his gaze.

It was just the impression of seeing a new person, nothing more.

But as time passed, he began to regard me with caution while showing increasing amazement at my abilities—

And now, he was looking at me with a gaze full of reverence.

“Swen. You truly are remarkable. Where has someone as outstanding as you been all this time?”

“Just passing time with odd jobs here and there.”

“Haha, is that so? I never thought there would still be hidden talent that hadn’t yet emerged in these times… Life truly is full of surprises. You’re really amazing, Swen. From now on, I won’t doubt your decisions.”

“We were surprised too. Going to make an unfavorable agreement, but instead bringing back money… truly remarkable.”

“Sir Swen is certainly a person of many talents.”

Gustav and Aron were also praising me in unison.

I wasn’t the type who enjoyed being flattered, but as long as I was working for the Lunarian army, this kind of reaction wasn’t bad at all.

In the future, my intelligence of 100 would continue to make various predictions that, regardless of the process, would ultimately prove accurate. It would clearly be more convenient if they trusted me completely rather than having to persuade them every time.

“I knew this would happen,” Lunarian chimed in from beside me.

“Because I… trusted him. Thank you so much, Swen.”

It wasn’t difficult to read the deep trust in her ruby-colored eyes as she looked at me.

Yes.

Above all, the overwhelming support from Sovereign Lunarian was reassuring.

My words were always right, and if the sovereign didn’t listen to my opinions, frustrating situations could arise—

But I felt that while working under Lunarian, I wouldn’t have to worry about such things.

That’s how much she trusted my words.

She would probably continue to support me in the future.

Just to be sure, I input that question Lunarian had first asked me into my mind once more:

‘Can Lunarian Ineanne become the ruler who unifies the continent?’

The conclusion was the same as before.

The protagonist of unification was none other than the woman before me.

Honestly, even now I still don’t know how she will become the ruler who unifies this continent—

But my predictions are never wrong. She will definitely become the unifying ruler.

Until then, I’ll stay by her side as her closest aide and return safely to my original world.

Even I thought this was a remarkably stable isekai plan.

‘Is it too easy?’

Ah, no.

I shouldn’t let my guard down just because things are going well.

No matter how predetermined the future might be, the fact remains that the current Lunarian army is still an insignificant small nation.

Although we’ve managed to hold on so far, we don’t know what trials await us in the future.

And so, our army received 4,300 gold.

This time, Lunarian didn’t use the entire amount for relief of the territory’s people.

She seemed to prioritize strengthening internal affairs by recruiting soldiers, developing commerce, and providing funds for mercenary groups to operate.

In any case, this was precious capital for developing our Zeilant Castle.

At first, I thought we might soon abandon the castle.

But at this point, all the other castles close to Zeilant Castle were occupied by different leaders.

While we lacked soldiers and capital in the beginning and couldn’t expand, other lords had swallowed up the many empty castles.

Although the location so close to the Brans army wasn’t ideal, given the situation, there was no choice but to develop this place, which was somewhat regrettable.

‘It’s fine. Everything will work out somehow.’

With me here, we could solve any problem.

With that thought in mind, I assisted Lunarian at her side.

* * *

Upon arriving at Anel Castle, Irene Juliette ordered the wounded to be separated and the remaining soldiers to be resupplied before quickly heading to the royal palace.

Soon after, she was able to reach the royal palace where her lord, Lynn Brans, was located.

“My lord. Irene Juliette has just arrived.”

“…”

Lynn approached Irene who was reporting to her.

One step, two steps.

After the distance between them became close enough that their noses would touch if one fell—

Slap!

“…!!”

Lynn struck Irene’s cheek hard.

Irene’s cheek visibly reddened from the blow.

Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, her body staggered slightly—

But she quickly regained her balance and stood straight.

“What are you doing? If you had captured the castle faster, we wouldn’t have faced this humiliation. How many more days did you need?”

Lynn glared coldly at Irene as she spoke.

It was unfair.

Irene herself knew all too well how unjust this was.

But even in moments like this, she never once considered disobeying.

Instead, she bowed her head deeply in apology.

“I apologize, my lord. I failed to capture the castle due to my inadequacy.”

Just a few more days.

No, even one more day would have been enough to capture the castle.

She could have explained that, but Irene chose not to make excuses.

“I will accept any punishment.”

“Never mind that, just report the situation. How many troops remain?”

“Yes. Excluding the wounded, about 18,000 remain.”

After conducting a siege and even retreating, only about 5,000 soldiers were lost.

Moreover, not all 5,000 were casualties; the number included the wounded.

Objectively, this was an extremely good result, but Lynn was still displeased with Irene.

It was as if she thought the humiliating negotiation she was essentially forced into with Swen was because this woman hadn’t handled things properly.

“Order the soldiers to prepare to march immediately. We need to send them to Kelstein Castle.”

“Then the vanguard—”

Lynn roughly cut off Irene’s words.

“What? You want to be sent? To ruin my work again like this time?”

“…No. I am deeply ashamed.”

Irene bowed her head slightly.

It meant she would accept any punishment.

Noticing the silent signal, Lynn sighed deeply and said:

“Just in case, you stay here and defend the castle walls. Understand?”

Defending the walls of Anel Castle.

For reference, all the areas surrounding Anel Castle were Brans territory.

In other words—there was no need to defend the walls.

Assigning a general to a place where she wasn’t needed.

It was clearly a rebuke saying she was useless, but Irene nodded and said in a solemn tone:

“Yes! I will faithfully carry out your orders.”

“Good. You may go.”

After Irene disappeared from sight,

Lynn bit her nail and thought:

‘If I add 18,000… I should barely be able to defend Kelstein Castle somehow.’

Combining the existing forces at Kelstein Castle with the surrounding troops and the soldiers who had just returned would gather nearly 40,000 soldiers.

Of course, if she included the western and southern forces, the number would be more than double, but those were difficult to bring and would take a long time to arrive.

Considering that defending a castle was overwhelmingly more advantageous than besieging one, she calculated that 40,000 soldiers could sufficiently hold off 55,000.

But.

What if they hadn’t made the ceasefire agreement and were pursued?

They would likely have lost close to 8,000 more soldiers at the high end. Retreating soldiers inevitably had reduced combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the pursuing soldiers belonged to two famous mercenary groups, Raven and Chilrain’s specially trained forces. Perhaps she should have estimated losing at least 8,000 or more.

So—

That man, Swen, was right.

This ceasefire agreement had saved the Brans army from an extreme crisis.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it.

‘…Sigh.’

Lynn felt her body trembling.

She wanted to make that man hers right now, but dealing with Serpina’s offensive was the urgent priority.

‘I’ll have to go to this battle myself.’

Her eldest brother Chel was in the south, and her second brother Kalintz was unreliable.

Therefore, it was time for her to take the field as commander-in-chief after a long while.

‘This is interesting, Serpina. Whatever you’re thinking… know that you won’t be able to set foot in the central region.’

With that thought, Lynn quickly began preparations to march.

* * *

After the ceasefire agreement with the Brans army.

Fortunately, days were passing without any major incidents.

A day became a week, a week became a month.

And so, several months of peaceful daily life that almost felt tedious.

Assigning tasks to generals, making “predictions” about what tasks would be good to assign.

Contributing what little military strength I had to help with various tasks…

The appearance of Zeilant Castle had changed significantly from how it was initially.

New buildings had risen where the typhoon had swept through, and the streets that had once been desolate to the point of being gloomy and bleak were gradually regaining vitality.

Farming, raising livestock…

Zeilant Castle, which anyone would have seen as abandoned land, was transforming into a place where people lived.

The territory’s residents who witnessed this transformation with their own eyes unanimously praised Lunarian’s grace.

Looking back now, it was “peace.”

Time passed, and the harvest season approached.

Lunarian and I were touring the territory to inspect public sentiment.

Along the vast fields of the territory—

Golden wheat fields swayed in the wind.

It was the first harvest at Zeilant Castle.

“The crops have grown well.”

Lunarian nodded at my words and said:

“It’s thanks to the efforts of all the territory’s people.”

“Those same people are unanimously praising your rule. I think it’s about time you recognized yourself as an excellent leader.”

“You’re the only one who thinks of me that way, Swen. Hehe… but thank you.”

At that moment.

Some commotion could be heard from the distance.

‘What is that?’

Were they having some kind of festival?

Lunarian looked in that direction—then grabbed my sleeve and asked:

“Um, over there.”

“Yes?”

“Would you… like to go there with me?”

I examined Lunarian’s face as she spoke.

Her face was slightly flushed, and she was fidgeting in a way that reminded me of a small animal.

The patrol was almost over anyway, and if my lord wanted to go, what could I, her retainer, do?

“Shall we?”

“Ah, yes…! Let’s go together!”

Lunarian’s expression brightened at my words.

I thought her two red eyes, shining crimson in the sunlight, looked just like jewels.

Together, we made our way toward where the people were gathered.