Ch.32Chapter 32. Monthly Regular Meeting / Brans (3)

“Are you suggesting we… invade the north?”

Farfalle couldn’t hide her bewildered expression for the first time.

As if she’d heard something completely unexpected.

“That’s right.”

At my words, the courtiers who had been listening silently to our debate began to murmur.

Even Irene was staring at me in shock.

She apparently hadn’t expected me to go this far.

That’s understandable. I didn’t expect myself to say such things either.

“No… Lord Swen. Do you understand what you’re suggesting right now?”

I could see cold sweat forming on Farfalle’s forehead.

There was no trace of the intimidating presence she had shown earlier.

She was simply flustered, caught off guard by the outlandish topic I had raised.

At that moment.

‘Ah, maybe I can use this.’

I carefully selected the most natural-sounding words and casually asked:

“What do you mean by… what exactly are you referring to?”

“I’m asking if you really think sending troops to the north to attack Lady Serpina’s territory is the best course of action.”

How perfectly she provided such an exemplary answer.

I quickly entered the question Farfalle had given me.

‘Is attacking Serpina’s territory by sending troops to the north the most efficient method at this point?’

The question was entered.

Now, all that remained was for the conclusion to be output.

[Yes, it is.]

‘As I thought.’

I had suspected as much, given that I’d reached this conclusion by eliminating impossibilities one by one, but I still lacked confidence since it was just my personal guess without using prediction.

But now I had confirmation from my IQ 100 brain, so there was no need to hesitate anymore.

The best move for the Brans army this month was to attack Serpina’s territory in the north.

Of course, I had no idea why.

Whether she noticed my thoughts or not, Farfalle spoke more rapidly than before, almost firing her words at me.

“With our current national power, we cannot invade any castle in the north. We’re clearly outnumbered compared to Serpina’s vast territory and army size. Moreover, her soldiers are seasoned veterans who quickly pacified the north and gained experience suppressing sporadic rebellions there. While our soldiers have also gained experience through many battles… considering how aggressively she has conducted her conquests, her troops are likely more skilled than ours.”

And she’s probably recruited all the mercenary groups based in the northern continent with high probability.

She didn’t seem to know that yet.

“Besides, let’s say we somehow managed to launch an attack from Kelstein Castle. The closest viable target would be Cherien Castle to the northeast. Currently, about 40,000 troops are stationed there, so considering it would be a siege, we’d need at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops, wouldn’t we? If we gather more forces and add all the troops from smaller castles near the northern front, it’s not an impossible number. But if we do that, Chorel Castle and its surrounding fortresses to the northwest certainly won’t just sit and watch as Kelstein Castle becomes completely undefended.”

After saying this, she took a deep breath.

My opinion must have been quite shocking to her.

“To prevent that, well, we could pull troops from other borders. We still have armistice agreements with other countries along our borders, but those will all end soon enough. And invading a northern castle cannot be resolved in such a short period, considering both distance and military strength. The Serpina army is no small nation.”

Having said that much, she looked straight into my eyes and said:

“Therefore, I cannot understand at all why you would suggest such a thing, Lord Swen. If you have any basis for this, I’d like to hear it. What led you to make such a judgment?”

Basis, huh.

I have no basis.

It’s just what my prediction told me.

But—Lunarian isn’t here.

Lynn Brans won’t believe me unconditionally like that.

No, thinking objectively—except for someone like Lunarian, no one would blindly believe such an outlandish story.

So I needed to say something.

If I had time to think slowly about the confirmed prediction and come up with a plausible explanation, that would be one thing—but right now, I had too little information to explain why this was the right course.

What should I say?

As I was pondering this while maintaining eye contact with her:

“That’s enough.”

Lynn’s voice came from behind.

When I came to my senses, I realized she had already walked closer to us.

Both Farfalle and I had been so focused on our conversation that we hadn’t noticed.

“The discussion is getting too long, so let’s stop here for now. Is that okay with both of you?”

She’s cutting off the debate here?

I easily read Lynn’s intentions.

‘She doesn’t want to be persuaded by my argument.’

Since the new topic was so radical, the rest of the discussion would likely revolve around me.

She seemed to somewhat overestimate me, probably thinking I might present some convincing strategy.

That would inevitably persuade her courtiers as well.

Then my suggestion—or rather, Irene’s suggestion—would become the monthly policy, which she wanted to prevent.

It was a rather small-minded action for a ruler, but considering Lynn’s attitude toward Irene so far, it was quite plausible.

However.

Her assumption that I would present a convincing strategy was a tremendous misunderstanding.

I had only just gained confidence in my prediction, without any idea why it was the right choice.

But this misunderstanding—from my perspective—was too useful not to exploit.

“I…”

“If it’s my lord’s wish, I’m fine with it.”

I answered first, preemptively.

Farfalle hesitated while looking at me, but eventually nodded and said:

“…I’m fine with it too.”

“Good. That’s how it should be.”

Lynn was a somewhat arrogant ruler.

The kind who rarely tolerates anything that goes against her mood.

It wasn’t hard to notice this from how she treated Irene simply because she didn’t like her.

Farfalle, who served closer to her than I did, probably knew this even better.

“Now, I’ll ask all of you. Those who think Farfalle’s opinion is better, raise your hands.”

At her words, the crowd unanimously raised their hands.

It wasn’t much different from before.

“Next. Those who think we should change to Irene’s opinion, raise your hands.”

This time, no one raised their hand.

It was an entirely predictable result, given that the debate had ended at this point.

Well, it didn’t matter to me. It’s not like my life would change if the Brans army didn’t make the optimal choice.

They would be the ones to regret it, not me.

“…This settles it, Swen. While there wasn’t a clear winner in the debate, it seems Farfalle had the advantage. It appears you failed to persuade people.”

I bowed my head deeply with the most humble expression I could manage, and answered in the most respectful voice I could muster:

“How could I possibly hope to win a debate against Lady Farfalle? I’m satisfied just to have learned from the experience.”

“…”

Farfalle’s gaze as she looked at me was unusual, but…

Anyway, I seemed to have navigated this situation well enough.

After all, I only needed to gain Lady Irene’s favor.

And so the debate ended.

I slowly returned to my original position behind Irene.

She was looking at me with great concern.

You really don’t need to worry about me so much.

Lynn called out in a loud voice, as if to change the atmosphere:

“Our army’s action plan for this month is ‘The Conquest of Valhalart Castle.’ Everyone, do your best in your assigned roles.”

“Yes! Understood!”

After the subordinates’ responses echoed throughout the royal castle,

Lynn raised her hand and said:

“Next, we’ll assign individual roles. Check the castle walls for your duties. This concludes our monthly meeting. Good work, everyone.”

With those words—

My first monthly meeting with the Brans army came to an end.

* * *

With the meeting participants gone, the royal castle felt somewhat empty except for the guards.

There, Farfalle was pacing around with a serious expression.

‘Swen… how does that man know everything?’

She had tried her best not to show it during the debate, but everything he said in the early part of the discussion was correct.

The secret proposal from the Charam army.

The grand plan that an envoy, who had recently brought gold to improve relations, had quietly mentioned to her.

Saying it was difficult to speak in front of the ruler, he had discreetly told only her first.

That’s when she had also heard about the Aeshus army’s plan to invade the Alepel army.

And certainly.

After hearing Swen’s words, she had felt somewhat persuaded.

Why hadn’t the Aeshus army conquered such a small country until now?

Rather than “didn’t conquer”… “couldn’t conquer” seemed more natural.

If that was the case, what was the reason?

Yes.

Up to that point, she had genuinely been impressed by this man called Swen.

She could understand why his lord, Lynn, paid so much attention to him.

Until Swen said, “We should attack Serpina’s territory.”

‘That’s an absurd opinion.’

In debates, it wasn’t uncommon to throw out ridiculous opinions to shake the opponent’s resolve.

She had no idea how he had figured out that she had received such a proposal—but his suggestion seemed like nothing more than empty bluster.

At that moment:

“Farfalle.”

“Yes?”

Lynn, sitting on the throne, spoke up.

“What do you think about Swen’s opinion?”

“You mean his suggestion to attack Serpina’s territory in the north?”

“Yes.”

Farfalle answered without a moment’s hesitation:

“It’s an extremely unrealistic proposal. Isn’t that why you cut off the debate in the middle, my lord?”

“…Well…”

The answer was somewhat unsatisfying, but she had no intention of changing her opinion.

“We don’t need to worry about the northern front right now. I, Farfalle, will definitely deliver Valhalart Castle into your hands, my lord, in return for your trust.”

“…”

Lynn remained silent, lost in thought.

Then she wondered:

‘Why did I cut off the debate in the middle?’

Lynn knew well that Swen was no ordinary man.

From the beginning, he had shown signs of knowing that the Serpina army from the north would attack the Brans army.

Could he have informants in the north?

She couldn’t be certain, but perhaps he had some way of learning about the northern situation and circumstances—and was basing his words on that?

After all, without performing some kind of “miracle,” that humiliating armistice agreement would never have been concluded.

So even if his opinion seemed absurd… perhaps it was actually feasible. Deep down, that’s what she thought.

But.

Swen hadn’t come to that position with his own opinions.

Strictly speaking, the opinion Swen advocated was… Irene’s opinion.

If Swen won the debate and convinced everyone, wouldn’t the Brans army adopt Irene’s proposal as their monthly directive?

She hated that.

Even she, who always made cold judgments for the sake of the country—her judgment became clouded when it came to Irene Juliette.

Swen’s prediction had been correct.

Of course.

Setting aside her dislike for Irene—if Swen’s words were trustworthy, she would change her opinion too.

But wasn’t it absurd to believe in her mere speculation that “he has some way of learning about the situation and circumstances”?

No matter how much she had recommended Swen herself, she couldn’t blindly believe him without concrete evidence.

He wasn’t her only subordinate, and she had quite a few strategists, including Farfalle, the Brans army’s chief strategist.

Even so, since it was Swen who had spoken—a man who seemed to possess strange insights in Lynn’s eyes—she couldn’t completely ignore his opinion.

‘Considering the possibility of something happening in the north, it might be good to station some troops there.’

Not as many troops as Irene’s opinion suggested—

But it seemed reasonable to divert some forces from those intended for invading the Aeshus army.

Come to think of it, Swen was living in the same house as Irene.

Given that neither had said anything, were they getting along well enough?

She had thought about accommodating them if Irene came first to apologize, or if Swen said it was uncomfortable living there—

But if they didn’t come to her, well, what could she do?

‘…Never mind.’

Lynn was an extremely stubborn woman.

The kind of person who wouldn’t think of changing things if both parties were satisfied.

This straightforward personality of hers enhanced her charisma as a leader—but it also had the side effect of making her stubbornly inflexible in strange ways.

And in that respect—her evaluation of Swen, who didn’t bother to come to her, was becoming increasingly ambiguous.

‘Swen. I need more time to figure out whether you can be mine or not…’

No matter how capable he might be, if he ultimately couldn’t become hers, then at that time…

She twisted her hair as she thought.

It was a habit of hers when she had a lot on her mind.