Ch.26Chapter 26. Taking Refuge in Brans (1)

I left the palace and joined the Brans army.

The streets of Zeilant that I had walked every day somehow felt unfamiliar.

When I turned my head to look up at the palace… the bright sky-blue flag symbolizing the Brans army was fluttering vigorously.

That’s right.

Zeilant Castle and the surrounding territory now belonged to the Brans army.

On the way, when I turned my head, there was the market that had just begun to bustle with activity, including the new building Tifa had erected.

Going a bit further and looking to the side, the golden wheat fields that I had watched over with Luna stretched out.

And walking a little more, the small village square where I had danced with her came into view.

Although the current scenery was utterly desolate since all the territory’s residents had gone inside their homes due to the influx of soldiers—

I couldn’t avoid the afterimages of the paths I had walked with her over the past few months appearing throughout the city.

‘…Lunarian.’

I set aside the thoughts of Lunarian that remained in a corner of my heart.

To survive, I couldn’t let anyone discover my plan to return to the Lunarian army.

The light green flag that had fluttered over Zeilant Castle.

Someday that flag would fly again.

Until then, I am Swen of Lynn Brans.

No.

I was prepared to be anyone’s Swen.

Even if it meant working like a dog under that tyrant Serpina.

And by surviving—

I would definitely join Luna, who would establish a unified nation.

At least as long as she continued to hold that destiny in her hands.

And so, emptying my heart that had once held her, I filled it with a new sky-blue sun and followed the procession out of Zeilant Castle.

* * *

The first thing Lynn did upon arriving at the royal palace in Anel Castle was to redeploy the large force of 80,000 men back to their original frontlines across the region.

“Brother, can I leave the south to you? Let me know if anything happens.”

“Yes! Understood.”

Chel nodded and quickly left the palace.

Since most of the troops came from the south, Chel was the one who needed to move fastest.

In the southern continent, several countries were competing against each other.

Among them, excluding minor countries with only a few territories, there were four major nations.

The Rolland army, which shared the most borders with the Brans army; the Hesna army, which shared relatively fewer borders;

And the Karelia army and Ohana army, which existed further down without sharing any borders.

It was easier to think of these four countries as maintaining a similar power structure.

Though divided, if the national power of these four countries were combined, they would far exceed that of the Brans army.

Of course, they wouldn’t form an alliance, but to conquer the south, it was necessary to avoid having too wide a frontline.

Apart from Serpina in the north, they needed to first deal with the numerous minor countries scattered in the central region and somewhat concerning countries in the east, including the Aeshus army, before they could confidently deploy troops to the south.

So, until the situation was somewhat resolved, Chel, the First Sword of Brans, would be stationed in the south.

In the meantime, they would quickly pacify the central-western part of the continent, and if possible, the eastern part as well.

This was Lynn’s grand strategy for the Brans army.

‘The location is really not good here.’

From the perspective of owning the richest and most fertile land in the central part of the continent, it might sound like complaining with a full stomach—

But they were certainly in a position where conflict was unavoidable.

“My lord, shall I assist Chel in the south again this time?”

Lynn shook her head at Farfalle’s question.

“No. Stay here for now. Something seems likely to happen in the south… but they won’t bother us immediately.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Intelligence has come in. It seems like there’s going to be quite a commotion.”

“Is the Hesna army moving?”

“My goodness.”

Lynn looked at Farfalle with an amused expression.

“It seems you have some idea?”

“Well, I was in the south until quite recently.”

The border between the Hesna army and the Ohana army.

Word had come that troops were gathering there.

While there was a high possibility that war wouldn’t break out, if it did?

The Rolland army would likely target the Hesna army next to them rather than worry about us.

Then we could move according to the situation.

Whether to raid the empty Rolland army or to target the Hesna army first—we held all the cards.

“That’s right. So let’s wait and see for now. By the way, would you call Swen for me?”

“Swen… you mean that man who was abandoned by Lunarian?”

“Yes!”

Farfalle spoke with a puzzled expression.

“He doesn’t seem that impressive…”

“No, I was completely outplayed. Of course, it might have been because you weren’t by my side… but anyway, he’s definitely an extraordinary person! Now that he’s become part of our family, shouldn’t we tell him various things? Hehe♡”

“…”

Hearing Lynn speak with such delight, Farfalle fell into thought.

Was she truly a sincere ruler who cared for each of her subjects individually?

Objectively speaking, she wasn’t.

The only ones she took care of were the S-class generals that anyone would find useful. The rest of the generals were just treated as people to handle internal affairs of the castle, or to fill positions in places that weren’t particularly important.

In her opinion, her lord Lynn’s foresight, despite some strange stubbornness, was generally not bad.

Was this man Swen truly remarkable? Farfalle was also becoming curious about that.

“Please wait a moment.”

“Yes, yes! Tell him to come in comfortably without being nervous!”

“Yes.”

Farfalle nodded and left the palace.

Exactly ten minutes later, Swen, now a free man, walked in with Farfalle.

Then, kneeling on one knee to show respect, he uttered words that were incredibly sweet to Lynn’s ears.

“You called for me, my lord.”

“Yes! Welcome! It’s good to see you here again!”

The man who had come as an envoy saying “I’ve come to deliver a message from our lord Lunarian” and toyed with me with his tongue was now kneeling before me and calling me “my lord.”

This thrilling feeling!

Nothing excited her more than having capable talents serve her and address her as “my lord.”

“I just thought it would be nice to formally greet each other now that you’ve become a new family member!”

Lynn immediately spoke with high tension and a beaming smile.

“I’m Lynn Brans! As you know, I’m the ruler of the Brans army. I’m the one who will unify this continent. What do you think, Swen? You think so too, right?”

Farfalle, standing beside her as she sat on the throne, inwardly felt sympathy for the man called Swen.

She didn’t know what ability he had used to manipulate her lord to receive such attention… but the Lynn she knew was a performance-oriented person who valued results above all else.

If one couldn’t produce notable achievements, they would quickly fall out of favor and have to be content with a low position, wasting their days.

It might be fine for someone who just cared about making a living and didn’t have much ambition—but for someone with aspirations, it would be unbearable treatment.

Moreover, it wasn’t the first time Lynn had made such a fuss over a new talent.

And not a single person had ever met her unreasonably high expectations.

“…”

Swen listened to Lynn’s words, bowed his head, and then carefully spoke.

“I will do my best to assist Lynn in achieving her goals.”

“Great! I like your attitude! Yes! I hope you’ll use your abilities for me in various ways from now on!”

“How could I refuse?”

Lynn looked at Swen with satisfaction, then remembered something and spoke.

“Oh, right. Come to think of it, you don’t have a place to stay here, do you?”

“Not particularly… but I’m fine staying at an inn.”

“An inn? What are you talking about? Of course, the inns in Anel Castle are nice, but I can’t treat a valuable subordinate of our army like that. Wait a moment. Farfalle, are there any empty rooms?”

“No, there aren’t, but…”

Of course, she didn’t personally provide rooms for all her subordinates.

She was definitely treating Swen specially.

“Hmm, isn’t there a good place…”

Lynn pondered for a moment, then as if she had thought of a good idea, she tapped the armrest of her chair and said:

“Ah, right. Go to East Anel, 32nd Street on the right side of the palace. There’s a general using a spacious room there. Go there and live together.”

“Live together?”

“Yes! It’s like having a roommate. All the buildings in that area are managed by the state, so you can just go and stay there! The person living there is also my subordinate, so it should be fine to ask them anything.”

Swen bowed his head and said:

“Yes, I understand. I will stay there as ordered.”

“Good!”

Lynn smiled with satisfaction and said:

“You can go now! The next regular meeting is in three days, so come to the palace then to attend. Your roommate will tell you the details. See you then?”

“Yes.”

With that, Swen rose from his seat and, maintaining his respectful demeanor until the end, slowly left the palace.

As soon as Swen went outside, Lynn turned to look at Farfalle and asked:

“So? What do you think?”

“Well, um…”

Farfalle couldn’t find the right words to answer.

After all, her first impression of the man called Swen was that he was a general with a decent face but looked rather weak and unremarkable.

It’s not like they were going to eat his face, and a man needs skills to be useful, right?

She couldn’t understand what had happened to make her so fixated on that man.

But there was no need to upset her mood at a time like this.

Farfalle finally came up with an appropriate answer.

“He certainly has an unusual aura about him.”

“Right? That’s what I’m saying.”

‘Is this enough?’

Farfalle inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Nothing could be more terrible than souring her capricious mood.

At that moment.

‘…Wait.’

Lynn had clearly told him to go to East Anel, 32nd Street.

Adding that he should live as a roommate with the person living there.

Farfalle knew that neighborhood well.

She herself was staying in the East Anel area.

As such, she also knew who lived at 32nd Street.

‘That place is definitely…!’

A chill ran down her spine!

Farfalle looked at her lord, Lynn.

She was sitting on the throne, smiling brightly while organizing documents on the side table.

…She did it on purpose.

She deliberately sent that “man” Swen there.

‘…Those who fall out of favor with our lord really have it tough.’

The way to survive safely in the Brans army:

Never fall out of Lynn Brans’s favor.

* * *

Outside Anel Castle, within the territory.

“I’m Lynn Brans! As you know, I’m the ruler of the Brans army. I’m the one who will unify this continent. What do you think, Swen? You think so too, right?”

At that moment, I could clearly input the question:

‘Can Lynn Brans unify the continent?’

And as expected, the output came ridiculously quickly.

[No, she cannot.]

‘Yes, she can, my new lord.’

The result was no different from when I first met Luna.

She is not destined to be the unifying ruler.

But there’s no need to voice this.

In any case, to avoid her unnecessary suspicion, I needed to gain her trust by being helpful.

After checking the map of the town square, I headed to East Anel Street.

That place was certainly different from Zeilant Castle with its dilapidated buildings.

Despite it being evening, quite a few people were walking around, and unlike Zeilant with its aging wooden houses, here were beautiful two-story medieval-style brick houses.

After walking for a few minutes, I finally reached East Anel, 32nd Street.

‘Is this it?’

An ordinary brick house with elegant trees around it.

Still, it was much better than my quarters in Zeilant, which could hardly be called a place to stay with just a single bed.

Normally, I would have felt like I’d moved up in the world, but… somehow I wasn’t entirely happy.

Where would Lunarian be now?

Somewhere on the route to the south?

Were Cain and Tifa following her without any problems?

‘…Enough.’

There was nothing to be gained by thinking about her now.

With that thought clearing my mind, I slowly knocked on the door.

And then.

A voice came from beyond the door.

“Who is it?”

‘Huh?’

…It was a woman’s voice.