Ch.297Chapter 297. Diverging Hearts (2)

“Yurie… Building an altar? What on earth… are you talking about?”

Unlike Anima who was trembling uncontrollably in shock, Yurie’s voice was remarkably calm.

“I mean exactly what I said. Besides hastily making simple graves, we haven’t shown them any proper respect. They’re our eternal comrades who died fighting for our army.”

“No, that’s because of the situation we’re in…”

“Besides.”

Yurie smiled, looking at her outstretched white hand.

Her pale palm reflected and rippled in her heterochromatic eyes.

“I met them in a dream. Emma and Erin…”

“What…?”

“They told me. They said they’ve been recognized for their achievements and earned an opportunity to meet the god in heaven. They said if we build an altar that can connect them to earth, they’ll let us borrow divine power!”

Looking at Yurie speaking with such a bright face – Anima, well, she wanted to collapse and burst into tears.

But she didn’t. Maintaining her composure as much as possible, she began trying to persuade her old friend with a smile.

“Yurie. I mean… I think I understand what you’re saying. But you know, this is…”

“Yes?”

“Well, there are priorities in everything. I understand your desire to honor Emma and Erin, but with Serpina’s army possibly attacking us at any moment-“

“Yes. That’s exactly why I want to build the altar. Because we can’t handle this on our own.”

“…What about the budget?”

“We have plenty of money.”

“Of course we have money for that. I’m talking about after building the altar. We need to recruit additional soldiers and train them, so-“

“Anima.”

Yurie’s expression hardened as she looked coldly at Anima.

“Do you have any better ideas?”

“…Huh?”

“I’m asking if there’s anything else we can do besides comforting the souls of our comrades.”

Step, step.

When Anima came to her senses, Yurie was already standing right in front of her.

Her eyes were… chilling. As if just looking at them could freeze you.

“The continent has been devastated by plague. Even if we recruit, we can’t get many soldiers. Prepare for defense? Realistically, no matter what we prepare, there’s no way to defeat Serpina. Whatever we do, we can’t accomplish anything.”

“And then Erin and Emma appeared in my dream. To save us from danger! We’ve been given a chance to connect with heaven. What else should we be doing? Do you know any better solution?”

“No, I…”

Though slightly intimidated by Yurie’s sudden forceful tone-

This made one thing clear. Yurie was speaking from her own reasoning.

If she wasn’t completely out of her mind, she could be persuaded- thinking this, Anima faced Yurie’s gaze head-on without looking away.

“…Listen, Yurie. We need to make a ceasefire agreement with Serpina. I don’t know how much it will cost including money and other sacrifices, but what’s certain is that we shouldn’t waste our budget so recklessly.”

“You want a ceasefire agreement?”

Yurie, with an expression that looked like it might crumble at any moment-

“…You’ve changed, Anima. To suggest joining hands with that wicked witch.”

“I’m just being realistic. Far more rational than talking about connecting with heaven and such unrealistic things.”

“Unrealistic?”

Yurie raised her voice, speaking in an accusatory tone.

“Connecting with heaven isn’t unrealistic! Swen already showed us! The concept of connecting with heaven actually exists!”

“That… thinking about it now, it’s more rational to believe he was just playing with words to hide his use of magic.”

“…!”

“The timing of magicians appearing in Serpina’s army coincides with when Swen went over to their side, right? The mysterious abilities he showed were a type of magic, and he used that excuse to hide it-“

“Swen is!”

Before Anima could finish, Yurie interrupted with a loud voice.

“…not a magician.”

“We can’t be certain of that. It makes sense that Serpina’s side demanded him because they knew about his abilities. The woman they officially present is probably an ordinary person-“

“No.”

“…?”

“I can be certain. …I, I can be certain…”

Magician.

Before falling into Serpina’s army’s hands, the pink-haired girl who wielded magic was definitely in her possession.

Reika Nighthart. Ginor’s adopted daughter.

Ginor had mentioned several times. That in the current situation, they couldn’t face Serpina’s army, but with a magician, they could win. That they could gain continental hegemony in the long run.

She hadn’t taken it very seriously then.

She just thought of it as one of several contingency plans.

Even when Ginor said he was leaving, she felt no attachment. No, she hadn’t even thought that Ginor’s adopted daughter would follow Swen to Serpina’s army. Because she wasn’t interested.

Yes.

Because she wasn’t interested. She didn’t even know if what she had in her grasp was power that could shake the continent.

Swen.

Irene.

Ginor.

Reika.

All of them were under the Aeshus army’s flag…

“…I lost them all. Everything.”

“Yurie, do you have some idea about this?”

Yurie closed her eyes and said nothing for a while, then regaining her composure, she said:

“Anyway, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear your suggestion about making an agreement with Serpina.”

“Yurie…!”

“Right now, I need to fulfill Erin and Emma’s request. There must be a reason they appeared in my dream in this situation. If I don’t do this…”

Without saying “because I might go crazy otherwise”-

Yurie left the audience chamber quickly, leaving Anima behind.

Anima stood there blankly for a moment-

‘This is no time to be standing around!’

Yurie was being too adamant. If that was the case, now was the time to talk to Epinel instead of her.

No matter how stubborn Yurie was, if both Anima and Epinel tried to dissuade her together, she wouldn’t insist.

Thinking this, she went to find Epinel, but-

“Let her do what she wants.”

“What? Epinel… what are you saying!”

“Exactly what I said.”

Anima was momentarily speechless at Epinel’s words, but soon collected herself.

“Fine, I won’t mention making an agreement with Serpina anymore. But even just recruiting more soldiers would be the right approach, and you know that! You’re her mentor! Didn’t you proudly say you should stop your disciple from going down the wrong path?! Have you already forgotten that?!”

“Of course I remember.”

Epinel sighed deeply and continued explaining in a very calm tone compared to the agitated Anima.

“Anima. You know too. That no matter what we prepare, we can’t win. This isn’t a battle we can win just by adding a few more soldiers. In this situation, imagine if the commander Yurie’s mental state collapsed. It’s already a battle where we have to risk our lives. Whether Yurie is stable or not will have a much greater impact than we think.”

“You’re right about that, but…”

“So, for now, let Yurie do what she wants. Even if she builds an altar, I’ll handle it at my level to ensure she doesn’t spend too many resources.”

“Or.”

“Do you have some brilliant strategy as the state advisor to overcome this situation?”

“!”

“If you do, I’ll cooperate with my life on the line. I’ll gladly step up to persuade Yurie too. But you don’t, right?”

Epinel said this while placing a hand on Anima’s shoulder.

“Cool your head, Anima. If we die fighting Serpina’s army, that’s not such a bad life, is it?”

“…”

After Epinel left with those words, Anima was left alone with her thoughts.

If there was no solution, rather than making meaningless war preparations, was the opinion to care for the mental state of their leader, Yurie?

I see.

Only then did Anima seem to understand Yurie and Epinel’s true intentions.

The two of them…

‘They’re preparing for the final moment.’

Not envisioning a future beyond, but preparing for the end they would face.

That’s why they can’t join hands with Serpina. Because that’s the pride of Aeshus.

‘…’

If those two are only thinking about the end, then I…

* * *

Knock knock knock.

Hearing someone knocking on the door, I reflexively spoke up.

“Come in.”

As the door opened-

The person who appeared in the meeting room where I had been spending time alone was Irene, dressed in ordinary clothes rather than her usual armor.

It was a simple outfit – a pure white top with light patterns.

But just by Irene wearing it, the simplicity vanished, leaving only maddening sexiness and allure.

The material seemed to cling to her body, and with her ridiculously large chest… it couldn’t help but look more erotic than any other clothing.

Especially since she usually covered herself with armor.

“Swen…?”

“…Ah.”

Oh no.

I must have been staring at her chest without realizing it.

I quickly turned my head and said:

“I’m sorry. It was unintentional.”

“…”

Irene, whether she noticed where my gaze was directed, blushed for a moment and then.

“…It’s okay.”

“What?”

“If it’s you, Swen, it’s okay. I…”

“…”

Ah.

Lately things have been really… strange.

Just going about my business, I’d suddenly remember the taste of Irene’s lips.

In situations like this, I’d feel a certain frustration as a man.

No, that’s not right.

Even if I had feelings for her, Irene and I were still colleagues.

As much as she was precious to me, I didn’t want to see her solely as a sexual image.

To escape the awkward situation, I changed the subject.

“What did you bring?”

“Oh, this. I received some fine tea leaves as a gift. Swen, you were the first person I thought of.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. Our lord gave it to me personally.”

Lady Serpina?

Come to think of it, Irene and Lady Serpina have been spending a lot more time together since she became a guard knight.

“Wait just a moment.”

Irene skillfully steeped the tea leaves.

Each of her movements was so elegant that I thought she looked more like a professional maid than a warrior on the battlefield.

Soon, a cup of tea was placed before me-

I took a sip and then.

“…Hah.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Yes, this taste definitely warranted a laugh.

“Swen? What is it?”

“Nothing. You said you received it as a gift from our lord, right? I just thought it was so like Lady Serpina.”

The citron flavor that enveloped my mouth as soon as I drank it tasted like Lady Serpina herself.

No, saying it like that sounds a bit perverted. Lately, I seem to be having too many strange thoughts…

“It’s sweet and nice. You’re right, it does remind me of our lord.”

Seeing Irene sip her tea while saying that was so cute that I laughed again.

I’m happy. Indeed, I felt the most at ease when I was with Irene.

“You look troubled. Is something wrong?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Well, you’ve been cooped up in the meeting room since morning.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

As Irene said, I had been thinking about ‘that’ all day.

The conversation I had with Lady Serpina this morning.

About the outcome.