Ch.256Chapter 256. The Second Magician (2)

* * *

This was the grand mansion where Lunarian resided.

In a corner of a small reception room, Tifa and Violet sat facing each other across a desk.

“Thank you for making time for me today, Lady Tifa.”

“No, no. I had to come if only out of curiosity since it’s you, Violet, of all people seeking me out. You don’t use swords or anything. Or are you thinking of following the path of martial arts like your sister and brother?”

“It’s not that… I just had something to ask you.”

Violet said this while skillfully brewing tea.

Tifa boldly drank a cup of the hot beverage in one go, then remarked with a subtle expression.

“Ugh… it’s just hot, I really don’t understand what tea is supposed to taste like. Next time, you can prepare something like beer if you want.”

“If I prepared alcohol in the morning, Lady Luna would scold me.”

“Ahah!”

After exchanging a few trivial words like this.

“Um… this might seem like an out-of-nowhere question, but could you tell me about the person who was the strategist at Zeilandt Castle back then?”

“Huh? Are you talking about Swen?”

“Yes.”

Tifa was one of only three people who knew about Swen, along with the sovereign Luna and Cain—Kyle.

While Ginor was also acquainted with Swen, from Violet’s perspective, it was much more comfortable to ask Tifa, with whom she had spent considerable time, rather than Ginor, who was a complete stranger to her.

“I don’t mind telling you… but why so suddenly?”

She briefly considered being honest and saying, “Lady Luna seems to be overly conscious of Lord Swen”—

But Violet, despite her young age, instinctively sensed that bringing up such a topic openly in the current situation wouldn’t be a good idea.

“From what Lady Luna has told me, he seems to have been an extremely important figure for our Lunarian army… but I realized I only know fragments about him. I thought learning more about what kind of person he was would be educational.”

Someone a bit more perceptive might have questioned why learning about a servant rather than the sovereign would be educational—

But Tifa was the type who acted rather than thought, so she naturally took Violet’s words at face value.

“Swen was… how should I put it. He was truly remarkable. The kind of person who could make anything he said come true?”

“Make anything he said come true?”

“Yeah. For example… he would say things that made no sense. Like, the Brans army would be marching toward us with a massive force large enough to easily capture our castle, and he’d just say he’d go negotiate and ask us to hold out until then. And then he’d actually return with a successful negotiation. Oh, right. Do you know what the most amazing part was?”

Tifa’s face showed particular animation as she explained about Swen.

In fact—Luna had been the same. Those who knew him would become excited and speak passionately whenever they explained about him, as if they had encountered someone truly extraordinary.

“He managed to get money from the Brans army during the negotiation process.”

“…What?”

“Exactly what I said! We had prepared gold from our castle for the negotiation, you know? Naturally, since we were the ones who needed to beg for peace. But Swen got money from the Brans army instead. He succeeded in getting payment from them rather than us paying for the agreement!”

If true, it was an unbelievable achievement. And it probably was true. Tifa might be a simple person, but she wasn’t the type to spread exaggerated tales.

“When I think about that time… I used to think that in war, you just needed strong people, but it seems that in warfare beyond just battles, you really need someone who knows how to use their head.”

“I see…”

“If we could have continued with that guy, we could have seen so many more amazing things. I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing that’s keeping him from coming back…”

“About that… isn’t Lord Swen working under the Serpina army?”

Though Violet was cautiously probing due to Luna’s reaction, Tifa didn’t overreact like Luna had.

“Well, that’s just a rumor, isn’t it? I’m the type of person who doesn’t believe even the most plausible rumors unless I confirm them with my own eyes.”

“I see…”

Violet slowly bowed her head while observing Tifa’s reaction. This seemed fine.

While Tifa clearly showed goodwill toward Swen, she didn’t display the same level of obsession as Luna, the sovereign.

She briefly considered asking questions about Luna but quickly abandoned the idea.

Tifa was a good person, but she didn’t seem suitable for this kind of conversation.

“Oh, right. I almost forgot this.”

“What is it?”

“You know. About Swen.”

Suddenly speaking with a serious face, Violet tensed up and swallowed dryly.

But what actually came out of Tifa’s mouth was—

“He’s incredibly handsome.”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s true! Hey, when Luna suddenly brought in this person claiming he was a strategist and started following everything he said, I initially thought she might have been lured in by his looks!”

Feeling slightly deflated, Violet let out a small, hollow laugh and replied.

“Is he that good-looking?”

“He really is! Look, your brother, Francis. He’s definitely good-looking. I’ve heard that all the men of the Einhart imperial family are handsome, and he’s certainly quite presentable. But you know what? Even your brother would have to concede to Swen. Seriously.”

“…Is he really that handsome?”

This time, even Violet couldn’t help but be a little conscious of it.

She knew her brother was handsome… but someone even more so?

“I’m telling you, he is!”

Despite receiving education as a strategist, she was still a teenage girl who should have been attending the academy, so for a brief moment she showed interest—

“…What am I thinking.”

What importance could someone’s good looks possibly have in a time when people were constantly dying?

Still, Violet didn’t dislike having these conversations with Tifa.

Though she was an intimidating woman who would gleefully swing around a massive axe-like weapon on the battlefield with gleaming eyes, when actually talking with her, she was the type of person who made conversations enjoyable—

And in times like these, seemingly frivolous jokes and conversations had their own value.

Afterward, Violet continued to hear various stories about Swen from Tifa for a while.

Except for the sovereign Luna’s excessive obsession with him… he seemed like a genuinely good person.

* * *

As rebels, everyone was prepared for the fact that peace couldn’t last forever—

But witnessing that reality firsthand was certainly a shocking experience.

“You’re saying the Karelia army… has moved?”

“Yes. The total force is estimated at 203,000 troops.”

The soldier with a bright red armband on one arm reported the situation with a grim expression.

A massive force that had literally scraped together every soldier in the entire country.

To stably occupy Tepel Castle, which had just over 90,000 troops, they needed to bring exactly twice that number of forces.

Luna let out a small sigh and turned to Ginor standing beside her.

“It seems the rumors about them signing a non-aggression treaty with the Rolland army were true after all.”

“I believe so. Having brought such a large force all at once, their remaining territories would essentially be left empty.”

As Ginor said, the Karelia army would have necessarily had to form some kind of non-aggression pact with the Rolland army.

Though it would cost them something, from their perspective, there was no better way to eliminate our Lunarian army in one fell swoop, according to Ginor’s assessment.

“What about the possibility that they didn’t make a treaty with the Rolland army…?”

“It’s better to assume they did. Karelia is a cautious character.”

“Then, what do you think about the possibility of the Rolland side ignoring the treaty and attempting to take the Karelia army’s territory?”

“That’s also extremely low. From Rolland’s perspective, the best move is to gain as much as possible through diplomacy with the Karelia army. Directly moving their troops would only increase the possibility of losing their homeland to the Hesna army, so from their standpoint, it would be neither a plus nor a minus—just an ambiguous decision.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

Luna quickly accepted Ginor’s explanation.

She felt that even if she were in the Rolland army’s position, she would think it more beneficial to secure what she could through agreements rather than recklessly moving troops to covet Karelia’s territory.

In any case, they would soon have to fight.

And it would be the first spark that would end the long period of peace in the southern region.

“Lord Ginor.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think our army has a chance of winning this battle?”

“…”

Ginor hesitated for a moment, then looked directly into Luna’s eyes and asked.

“Would it be alright if I give you an honest answer?”

“I brought you to the position of strategist, even if temporarily, because I wanted an honest answer.”

“…”

Ginor closed his eyes and maintained silence for a moment, then, as if having made up his mind, delivered the reality to her.

“At least based on the information I have, the possibility of our army winning this battle is… nonexistent.”