Ch.302Chapter 302. The Blind Spot of a Veteran (2)

“Right. From the perspective of ordinary people, they can’t help but view situations with a different perspective than mine.”

From Ioline, who kept talking to me out of concern during patrol, to Serpina von Einhart, who said there must be a purpose for building an altar.

The common thread was that for them, this world was vividly real.

No, this wasn’t just common to those two. It was an overwhelming truth for everyone except me, as basic as water flowing downward or sleep restoring energy when tired.

That’s why—they couldn’t be certain like I could.

That building something like an altar wouldn’t accomplish anything.

In the game I used to play, building something like an “altar” was just a random encounter event.

If you built a memorial structure honoring a fallen general, the loyalty of other officers would increase as they saw the lord’s sincere regard for his generals.

But in that event, choosing to “build a memorial structure” was generally best avoided.

Considering the resources consumed and the drop in public sentiment and troop morale, all you gained was the loyalty of your subordinate officers.

If someone wanted to do a concept play, I wouldn’t stop them… but in such an outdated classic game released so long ago, concept plays weren’t immersive or fun, so it was just excess script that nobody used.

From Serpina’s or Ioline’s perspective, they couldn’t know this. Rather, assuming there must be a significant reason for building an altar in this situation was their only reasonable conclusion.

Especially for Ioline, who didn’t know Yurie’s tendency to act rashly in matters concerning her friends. It was quite rational to think, “Surely a national ruler wouldn’t invest so much time and resources in something meaningless.”

Serpina’s case was slightly different. She knew better than anyone that Yurie was someone who made irrational decisions. Nevertheless, she would ultimately converge on the same conclusion as Ioline.

All because of my Intelligence 100 prediction!

‘As long as she knows my words are always right, Yurie’s eccentric behavior naturally serves as evidence for my statement that “immediate invasion is not the most efficient method.”‘

I thought Serpina, who employed me—Swen the strategist—would reach a similar conclusion.

—Based on various circumstances, a strategist with 100% accuracy is saying that engaging in a battle we have no reason to lose is not an efficient decision.

—The supposed enemy is wasting resources and manpower on meaningless large-scale construction rather than preparing for battle.

The way to connect these two statements elegantly was quite simple: just correct the phrase “meaningless.”

In fact, that construction has meaning—and therefore invading them now is not an efficient decision.

What a clear and neat conclusion!

—However.

Only I know that’s not true.

I know Yurie is just doing something pointless.

Then why?

Why did my Intelligence 100 brain… insist it was “not efficient”?

“…”

I naturally took a seat at a chair near the table.

Until that moment, I hadn’t even noticed that Serpina had pulled out the chair for me to sit.

‘Building an altar doesn’t enable you to use some kind of magic or anything.’

Since magicians appeared on the continent, people had become very flexible in accepting that “unexpected actions might lead to unexpected results.”

Even Serpina, who rarely acted without evidence, was taking a cautious stance, so there was no need to comment on others.

‘But the prediction says it’s not efficient. Not efficient. Not efficient… Wait?’

…Hold on.

I looked up and naturally asked the person immediately visible.

“Excuse me… Lady Serpina.”

“Speak.”

“Saying something is ‘not efficient’ is quite different from saying it leads to the worst outcome, right?”

“That’s right. The worst outcome itself would be just one of many inefficient conclusions.”

“Let’s verify this. Could you ask me a question similar to ‘Can we win in battle?'”

Instead of asking what was going on or what I was thinking, she simply asked the refined question I requested.

“Do you think our army can invade and defeat the Aeshus forces?”

[It will require great sacrifice.]

“…What???”

Great sacrifice?

I had somewhat expected this, but indeed the reason this decision was inefficient was that we would suffer some kind of sacrifice in battle against the Aeshus forces.

If that’s the case, we certainly can’t just throw away soldiers.

…Wait a minute.

“Lady Serpina. I’m sorry, but one more. Could you ask me something along the lines of ‘What is the best way to minimize losses in this battle?'”

This question was honestly ambiguous.

Even for a battle-related question, I thought there might not be an answer—

Nevertheless, it was a question I needed to ask to organize the puzzle in my head.

“What do you think we should do to minimize our losses in this battle?”

Serpina refined and recited the question I asked without complaint.

And the answer that came was—

[It depends on heaven’s will.]

What?

It depends on heaven’s will. This answer meant it depended not on someone else, but on me.

The conclusion would change depending on what I myself did.

‘Invading now is not efficient. The most efficient thing we can do is prepare for war with the Aeshus forces. Whether we can win if we invade now—we probably would win, but it would require great sacrifice. This proves it’s “not efficient.” And finally, to avoid losses, I need to do something myself…’

The clearly different perspectives between me and everyone else.

The battle results that change dramatically depending on how I respond.

…!!!!

Bang!

Without realizing it, I slammed the table and jumped to my feet.

Only after the answers to the three questions did things start to become clear.

And only then did I notice that Lady Serpina herself was standing beside me, watching.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I just…”

“No, it’s fine. More importantly, it seems you’ve realized something.”

“…Yes.”

I was beginning to get a faint idea of how to handle this.

“Then can you tell me? Actually, I’ve been burning to ask about it since earlier. Hehe…♥”

Normally I would have been flustered by the strange sexual undertones in her voice and attitude, but right now I was filled with an odd confidence.

I immediately answered with a feeling of crossing a line.

“Is burning all you need? I’ll make sure to satisfy you thoroughly. All the way to your deepest parts.”

“…!!”

Hearing my words, Serpina, uncharacteristically, slightly lost her composure, then her face turned red and she quickly turned away.

That reaction is quite delicious.

So that’s how it feels. Lady Serpina must have said those things to see this kind of reaction from me.

“W-well… anyway, tell me what you think we should do.”

Seeing Serpina flustered, I briefly thought about teasing her more—

But at least for now, even I was itching to talk about other matters.

“It’s nothing special. It’s just about using everyone’s psychology.”

“Using psychology?”

“To be precise, not psychology—”

—but using their perspective in reverse.

With that, we can reach the “most efficient” method.

* * *

Some time later.

Finally, something that could be called an altar was completed.

In truth, it was so rudimentary that it would be fair to say only the outline had appeared, making it quite shabby compared to the original plan.

Although it was finished on a smaller scale than initially planned due to various limitations, it still occupied a considerable area and remained relatively luxurious given their circumstances.

The first thing Yurie did after completing the altar was to gather the soldiers and offer prayers to the heavens.

“Ern… Emma… if you’re watching, please give us the strength to persevere…!!!”

Many religious people who had lost their way in the chaotic times participated in this ceremony.

Ironically, various religious practices that had disappeared into history began to continue thanks to Yurie’s capital.

‘…’

Anima participated in this farce, having given up on everything.

They should be grateful they were able to reduce the scale this much thanks to Epinel’s intervention.

Standing beside Yurie, Anima looked at Yurie repeating her prayers over and over, then closed her eyes and bowed her head.

Emma. Erinandorf.

It seems we’ll be joining you soon.

Although we couldn’t fulfill our purpose… at least we’ll meet in one place soon.

When that time comes, please don’t resent Yurie too much. And please don’t blame me for failing to fundamentally prevent this situation…

Drip, drip.

Coming to her senses, she realized tears were flowing.

Is this really the end?

‘I don’t want this…’

To think that spending time on such foolish things would be our army’s final act, without even properly fighting.

If only we could somehow make an agreement with Serpina even now, we wouldn’t have to end the story of the Aeshus forces here.

Since we can’t do that… do we have to die like this?

Though knowing this was the problem, Anima also knew.

That there was nothing left she could do.

As humans do, she finally turned to something in this desperate situation.

‘Oh God…!’

Please, don’t abandon us.

Please perform a miracle, anything at all…!!!

And, surprisingly—

—a miracle began to happen.