Ch.28Chapter 28. Taking Refuge in Brans (3)

I slowly rose from my seat, pushing away the haziness as I spoke.

“It was just a nightmare.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief… You were making such agonized groans that I worried you might have fallen ill.”

Irene heaved a deep sigh, then soon displayed a faint smile.

Though I still wasn’t used to her manner of speech, she seemed to be quite a caring person.

“More importantly, hasn’t something more serious happened on your end, Lady Irene?”

“What do you mean?”

I asked while looking at her as she tilted her head questioningly.

“Or do you normally wear only underwear at home?”

“…Ah.”

She seemed to finally grasp the meaning of my words as her face rapidly turned red—

Then she quickly stepped back three paces, covering her chest and hip areas with her hands as she spoke.

Of course, her attempts at covering herself weren’t entirely successful.

“T-this… well, you see… I was changing into my training clothes when I heard your pained voice, Swen… I just…!”

“I understand, so please get dressed quickly. This is awkward for me too.”

“…S-s-sorry… If you found it offensive, please forgive me. It wasn’t intentional…!”

“It’s fine.”

I wasn’t particularly offended.

To be honest, her body had many admirable aspects.

Her large breasts were so impressive that it would be remiss not to mention them, despite how obvious it might be.

Her waist clearly displayed the firm, lean muscles developed through her training as a female knight.

Her thighs too were thick and solid, giving the impression that they properly supported her body as she constantly crossed swords with enemies.

Black lace underwear and a garter belt adorned her beautiful feminine form.

In conclusion, it was a sight sufficient to instantly clear my foggy mind and wake me from sleep.

After that brief commotion…

“…Ahem, ahem. I’ve shown you something unseemly. I apologize once more.”

She appeared before me wearing her training clothes.

…The problem was what those “training clothes” actually were.

They differed from her underwear only in coverage ratio—a tank top-like upper garment with shorts.

Something similar to stockings with a garter belt tightly wrapped around her thighs, accentuating them nicely.

“How is this different from underwear?”

“Huh? Of course it is. These are training clothes, while earlier was… u-underwear…”

She blushed as if embarrassed.

So once she’s wearing something classified as clothing, she’s not embarrassed?

Well, in fantasy games, female knights often wore armor that exposed their midriffs despite being called armor.

“So what are you planning to do today? Attend to your duties, perhaps?”

“Duties…”

She smiled bitterly as she spoke.

“If I had been assigned any duties, I would be doing them… but my lord hasn’t given me any specific tasks.”

‘Well, well.’

Irene was an S-class general with high military prowess.

She would clearly be extremely efficient at training, conscription, or wall repairs—tasks influenced by military power.

Of course, I could now understand why Lynn wasn’t utilizing her.

‘She’s really being intensely disliked.’

Starting with deliberately sending me, a man, to her house, a woman’s home.

Despite the ruler openly showing such contempt and tormenting her, her loyalty remained unwavering.

It was impossible not to feel sympathy for her situation.

The “compatibility value” that was simply set at -100 in the game seemed to have become cruelly vivid when realized in reality.

“Then?”

“You ask such questions. Why do you think I’m wearing these clothes?”

Irene said that and slowly picked up a sword placed in the corner of the room.

“When I have spare time, I simply train. If I waste time just because I have no assigned duties, I’ll be the one who grows rusty. It’s only natural that I must do this to be ready when my lord finally calls upon me.”

“That’s impressive dedication.”

“How about it? Would you like to join me? I have wooden swords that are good for beginners.”

She seemed to have immediately recognized that I was a beginner—or more precisely, that my military prowess wasn’t particularly high.

I was briefly tempted but ultimately declined.

“That’s alright. I have other matters to attend to.”

“Is that so? Well, if you have things to do.”

“Before that, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

I pointed to the paper and quill pen in ink on the desk as I spoke.

“May I use those items?”

“The paper? Yes, feel free to use it.”

“Then excuse me.”

“Mm.”

After answering thus, she approached the practice dummy with her sword.

Then, after taking a short deep breath and exhaling—

“…Hyah!”

She began swinging her sword at the dummy with a shout.

Though a simple motion, repeating it frequently would surely have some effect.

Is this how an S-class general’s abilities are built up, step by step from the bottom?

Anyway, having received permission, I approached the desk and spread out the paper.

The most important task I needed to do now:

Drawing a map.

In this game, while the continent itself looked the same, the positions of each country weren’t fixed when starting a new game.

Having played the game for 10,000 hours, I knew which countries existed, but I couldn’t precisely draw which castles or territories they occupied.

Still, it was necessary to at least draw the area around Brans Kingdom.

My ability was only to know “what conclusion” would come.

I couldn’t know why that conclusion occurred.

As such, drawing a map to organize the information in my head would clearly provide good clues as to why certain conclusions were reached.

With that thought, I picked up the pen.

“Hah!”

Though it would be a tedious task requiring some time, Irene’s shouts served as pleasant white noise.

*

And so the day came to an end.

Irene, without official duties, lived an almost superhuman lifestyle.

She would wake up, quickly wash herself, and begin training.

Then she would eat lunch.

She prepared lunch, which consisted of simple rye bread with butter to spread on it—a frugal diet.

She always served tea with it, though I couldn’t identify exactly what kind it was.

Just some black tea or green tea… or perhaps water steeped with some other kind of leaf.

It wasn’t bad. The aroma was quite nice too.

After eating, training would resume.

Then came dinner.

The dinner menu consisted of dried fish, bread, and a salad of mixed vegetables.

Only after dinner did her training end.

She truly embodied the image of an ascetic walking the path of the sword.

After finishing dinner and my bath, I asked her as she emerged with water still dripping from her hair.

“Are you resting now?”

“Hm? Yes, I am.”

“Do you train like this every day?”

“Basically, when I have no duties, I always follow this routine.”

“That’s impressive.”

Irene didn’t particularly respond to my admiration as she slowly tore off a piece of bread and asked:

“By the way, you seemed to be drawing a map.”

“Yes, that’s right. I wanted to understand the situation around Brans Kingdom.”

“The map looked quite detailed. Do you have prior experience in mapmaking?”

Of course it would be detailed.

I had seen this map dozens, hundreds, no, thousands of times while playing the game.

How many mouse clicks had I made while looking at this map?

Still, I couldn’t tell her that directly.

“Well, a little.”

“I see. You have an unexpected background.”

Thinking this was a good opportunity, I asked her a question.

“By the way, Lady Irene.”

“Yes?”

“While I’m familiar with the continent’s geography… I haven’t yet figured out which countries surround Brans Kingdom. If you know anything about this, could you help me?”

Hearing my words, she nodded and said:

“Are you asking for help with the creation?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure how helpful I can be.”

“You’ll definitely be helpful. Lady Irene is such a versatile person.”

My true feelings slipped out unintentionally, but she seemed to think I was flattering her and smiled subtly as she replied:

“Flattery won’t get you anything. Though I don’t mind it.”

Huh?

She looks quite pleased despite what she’s saying.

Is she more starved for recognition than I thought?

Well, it makes sense—no matter how hard she tries, she’s being oppressed by her lord, the very person whose recognition she desires most.

“Why wouldn’t it? You like it, Lady Irene.”

“…Do you talk to everyone like this?”

“Of course not.”

I said with a grin.

Irene looked at me with a faint smile and slowly approached.

Though we’d only met a day ago, I felt we communicated surprisingly well.

She didn’t seem to be particularly wary of me either.

“Well, if I can help, I will.”

She came close to me.

Inevitably, her enormous breasts touched my body.

Not an unpleasant sensation at all.

“First, in the west there are various minor countries… but I see you’ve already filled this in.”

“I gathered that information while working for Lunarian.”

“Then let’s move to the east. There are three powers there, with Aeshus bordering us directly. Aeshus is also the only country we need to be concerned about. Beyond them, the Charam and Allepel kingdoms govern small territories as minor states.”

Charam and Allepel kingdoms.

All familiar names.

Both were rather insignificant minor countries.

Their talent pools were mediocre, and their rulers’ abilities were slightly below average.

They were extra countries that would leave no historical footprint unless controlled by a player.

It seemed that in this world I had incarnated into, they had respawned near Aeshus Kingdom.

While that’s certainly better than respawning near Serpina’s kingdom… they probably don’t have much chance against Aeshus.

But.

‘Huh?’

Two minor countries… both still surviving?

Even so, it was somewhat surprising they were still alive.

In such a confrontational setup, at least one of them should typically have disappeared under Aeshus’s military boot.

From Aeshus’s perspective, they would have devoured them long ago if they could have.

Just as Serpina’s kingdom quickly eliminated surrounding minor countries, Aeshus too would typically start gradually consuming neighboring powers after somehow surviving the first three months with their overwhelming talent pool.

Perhaps the two minor countries had formed an alliance, establishing a delicate balance with Aeshus?

If that’s the case, one question remains.

If this were true, Aeshus would be facing two fronts, and there would be no reason for Brans not to have invaded Aeshus, which would inevitably respond sluggishly with its divided front.

‘…Something’s going on.’

I didn’t know exactly what it was, or if this information was even that important—

But clearly, something unusual was happening compared to the normal situation.

Just in case, I asked her:

“Lady Irene. Do Charam and Allepel kingdoms still exist on the continent?”

“Yes, they do. Charam recently presented gold to our kingdom.”

“???”

They gave money?

Of course, there was a diplomatic command to give money to improve relations, but nobody ever used that command.

In this game, no matter how much you improved relations, it meant little unless you formed an alliance.

Moreover, when giving money for improving relations like that, it was for another purpose.

After raising favorability and promising joint attacks…

‘They stab us in the back.’