Ch.20Chapter 20. Brief Peace (2)

I went to a place where the territory’s residents were gathered in small groups, sharing food.

It seemed like some kind of harvest festival.

Several residents recognized Luna’s face and bowed in greeting.

“Aren’t you Lady Lunarian?”

At the leading man’s voice, the festive atmosphere quickly became solemn.

Rather than the mood turning awkward, it was closer to a slight tension from the unexpected appearance of an important person.

Nevertheless, there was no sign of rejection.

If anything—Luna was being welcomed by the territory’s residents.

“Lady Lunarian, welcome.”

“We greet our lord!”

“If you’d like, please try some of this!”

In an instant, the residents gathered around us.

Luna skillfully raised her hand and nodded.

“Everyone, please feel comfortable.”

‘…..’

I had told her not to use honorifics with those beneath her if possible, but changing habits isn’t easy.

If this world had a political system similar to the one in my world, it would make sense to treat ordinary people with voting rights this way—

But without such a system, it was better for a superior to show dignity.

I considered giving her another subtle hint, but…

‘Well… having this kind of leadership in this era probably isn’t bad either.’

This wasn’t in front of retainers she commanded like limbs, but before the territory’s residents.

From the perspective of public sentiment, her approach might be better.

Of course, what made her remarkable was that each of her actions wasn’t calculated like mine, tapping away at a mental calculator.

“Thanks to Lady Lunarian, peace has returned to our Zeilant Castle again. No other lords even looked our way… thank you so much for caring about us.”

A middle-aged woman nodded repeatedly, half sobbing.

Luna approached her, firmly held both her hands, and said:

“It’s not because of me. It’s because all of you never gave up and kept working hard. I hope you won’t forget that.”

“Lady Lunarian…!”

“Lady Lunarian! Please unify this continent ravaged by war!”

“How could we entrust our country to a tyrant like Serpina?! Isn’t that right, everyone?”

That’s right, that’s right!

Testimonials about Lunarian were erupting here and there.

Well, she had used 6,000 gold for the relief of territory residents and patrolled the territory very frequently, so she had definitely secured public support.

That’s why when recruitment was done, quite a number of soldiers gathered voluntarily.

Now, excluding the mercenary corps, our forces numbered around 10,000.

Zeilant Castle was small, but if it had been a castle with a much larger population, we could have gathered even more.

After chatting with the residents, Lunarian wrapped up the conversation to let them continue enjoying the festival and approached me.

“Lord Swen.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Over there….”

Luna pointed somewhere with her finger.

Looking in that direction, I saw several couples dancing around a large bonfire.

A few minstrels playing lutes created a scene reminiscent of a loading screen from a medieval-themed game.

“It’s peaceful. All thanks to you, my lord.”

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

“?”

I looked at Luna’s face.

Slightly flushed and hesitating, she eventually let out a quiet sigh as if she had made up her mind about something.

“…It’s nothing.”

What?

Why did she stop mid-sentence?

What did she want to say?

‘…Could it be.’

Having a hunch, I asked her:

“Do you want to dance?”

“Ah? Oh, yes, well, I mean….”

Seeing her inability to answer clearly, it seemed I was right.

So, was it something like this?

She wanted to join in and dance, but since I often said “maintaining dignity as a ruler is a virtue for a unifying monarch,” she couldn’t bring herself to ask?

A ruler dancing with residents at a festival might be good for winning public support, but it was far from the dignified image of a unifying monarch.

But what did it matter?

As the ruler of a small nation, there was no need to worry about such things yet.

One should know how to adapt flexibly to different situations.

“It’s fine. Let’s go.”

“What?”

“You can forget what I said for now. Go and mingle with the residents as much as you want.”

Luna was a ruler who particularly cherished her territory’s residents.

As someone who had played this game often, I thought only Karelia had that concept—loving residents and peace—but that wasn’t necessarily the case.

So here, it would be good to let her mingle freely.

However.

I thought she would immediately walk away after hearing my words—but she didn’t.

Instead, she approached me again, still hesitating.

“Um, well….”

“?”

“If, if you don’t mind… would you like to go dance with me?”

When I didn’t respond to her words, she began desperately explaining with a red face and wide eyes.

“I mean! Everyone is paired as men and women, and it feels awkward to go alone, and since I’m the ruler… it might burden the residents in various ways, so—”

“You’re asking me to dance with you?”

“Ah….”

She finally bowed her head deeply and said.

Her face had become much redder than before, now almost resembling a radish.

“…Yes…”

“….”

This game had many more events than I thought.

If this could be called an event, that is.

After spending several months in this world, I had been guarding against growing attached to the members of Lunarian’s army and developing pride in this territory.

After all, I had a place to return to, and since this was a game world, being swayed by emotions could lead to irrational decisions with consequences.

But.

I’m still certain.

Lunarian Ineanne will become the unifying monarch.

So, ultimately, I need to stay by her side to return to my original world.

Then isn’t this much okay?

“Let’s go.”

“Ah?!”

“As you wish, I’ll accompany you.”

I took her hand.

She was surprised but didn’t pull away.

Rather, she gently squeezed my hand… and said in a trembling voice:

“Y-yes! I look forward to it!”

So I danced a light dance with her in front of the bonfire.

Her snow-white skin reflecting the bonfire’s light.

Her cream-colored hair swaying slightly with each gentle movement.

Her ruby-colored eyes looking at me… were being vividly imprinted in my mind.

* * *

This was the royal castle of Anel Castle.

Lynn Brans was sitting on the throne, receiving reports from messengers.

“I have returned, Lady Lynn. We successfully established a three-week ceasefire agreement with the Aeshus army.”

“Good work. What about the south?”

Another messenger standing next to the first one spoke.

“We also successfully concluded a ceasefire agreement with the Rolland army at our border, but… we had to adjust the period to one month.”

“One month? Wasn’t it supposed to be three months?”

At Lynn’s words, the messenger bowed his head apologetically.

“I’m, I’m sorry. The Rolland army said three months would be difficult and proposed a compromise… we had no choice but to adjust it to one month.”

‘Those Rolland folks are clearly showing they’ll try something if they see an opening. I didn’t want to worry about the south for a while. But well, one month is enough.’

Thinking this, Lynn smiled and said:

“It’s fine. Actually, even one month is okay. I originally said it would be fine to go down to one month as long as we could establish a ceasefire agreement, right?”

“B-but.”

“It’s done. That topic is over. Both of you worked hard! Rest well for a while. If I don’t call you after a week, you can both work at the market from then on. Understood?”

“Yes! We will obey your command!”

After the messengers left.

A soldier waiting nearby spoke up.

“My lord. General Chel’s army has just arrived.”

Hearing this, Lynn’s expression brightened.

“Really? As expected of my big brother♡ He came up really fast!”

“Shall I call him in?”

“Yes. Right now.”

“Yes!”

Shortly after—

A man with short blue hair, who looked incredibly strong, began walking in wearing plate armor.

An overwhelmingly large build, deeply set eyes, scars scattered across his face.

Despite the scars, he was quite a handsome man.

Following him was a beautiful woman with purple bobbed hair and violet eyes, exuding a very seductive aura.

The two soon arrived before Lynn and knelt, saying:

First, the man’s name was Chel Brans.

He was known as the First Sword of the Brans army.

“Chel Brans, I have just arrived from Saintica Castle in the south as ordered.”

And the woman’s name was Farfalle.

As the strategist of the Brans army, she had been recognized as “the most intelligent woman in the central region” from a young age and had caught Lynn Brans’s eye early on.

She had temporarily left Lynn’s side to lend her strength as a strategist to the southern front where Chel Brans served as commander-in-chief, and had just returned.

“Farfalle, I have just arrived from Saintica Castle in the south as your lordship commanded.”

“Yes, yes. Welcome, both of you!”

Lynn welcomed Chel and Farfalle with open arms.

Chel asked Lynn with a puzzled expression.

“Why did you call us to Anel Castle? As far as I know, the northern front has quieted down.”

“That’s right. I don’t plan to send you to the north now. My little brother is already guarding that area.”

After successfully blocking an advance force of 55,000 soldiers.

Afterward, the Serpina army continued to launch invasions with about 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers.

As a result, they suffered quite a few casualties, but they managed to defend Kelstein Castle three times—

Somehow suppressing Serpina army’s ambition to advance into the central region.

Of course, it wasn’t clear whether they had just retreated or given up, but for now, the Serpina army was not launching any more invasions.

In this situation, to quickly gather forces except those needed to defend the north, it was necessary to stabilize the remaining fronts.

The two ceasefire agreements were for that purpose.

“And I heard you made a ceasefire agreement with the Rolland army… is that correct?”

“Yes. So we don’t need to worry about the southern front for a while.”

“I see….”

Chel asked in a puzzled tone, not understanding what she was thinking.

They had made agreements with the Aeshus army in the east and the Rolland army in the south. She had no intention of sending forces to the north.

Then what remained was the west, but weren’t there just several non-threatening small countries gathered there?

Yet she had summoned the large force that had been defending the south, including himself, to this Anel Castle.

Lynn seemed to understand Chel’s thoughts and nodded, saying:

“That’s right, brother. We probably don’t need you to deal with the west. But what we’re going to take isn’t just some small piece of land from a minor country.”

“You mean…?”

In response to Chel’s question, Lynn’s blue eyes momentarily flashed with light.

He knew that look of his sister well.

That was—the look of his sister when she went on a “talent hunt.”

“We’re going to take the piece we need to win the world!”