Ch.6Chapter 6. Laying the Foundation (3)

As expected, Tifa, upon hearing my words, responded with incomprehension.

“Wait a minute. You assigned that senile old man to repair the walls, but you’re sending me to the market?! I don’t know how to do business!”

“Indeed, Swen. Honestly, I think this is a rather confusing directive.”

Well, even I didn’t understand my own personnel choices.

But my mind was insisting this was the right decision.

So it must be correct. With my intelligence of 100 or higher, my decisions are absolutely right.

“…Swen…”

I could feel Lunarian looking at me with a worried expression.

She probably couldn’t help but feel puzzled too.

Though she had decided to trust me as her strategist, I hadn’t actually proven anything yet.

But.

If they follow my instructions now, something will definitely happen.

Whatever it is, it will be helpful, not harmful.

With confidence, I spoke in a somewhat stronger tone.

“Everyone. Please listen to me. I understand this may be difficult to comprehend, but this is currently the best decision for our army. If it doesn’t yield good results, you may have my head.”

“…!!”

All three turned their gazes toward me at this sudden declaration.

I knew it was radical, but I had no other way to convince these people.

Naturally, complaints followed.

“Shouldn’t you provide a proper explanation? You’re assigning tasks that don’t match our skills.”

“Yeah, explain yourself, explain.”

This isn’t going to work as is, right?

If the outcome will be the same anyway, I might as well add some plausible reasoning.

Even if the process differs slightly, if the result is good, the explanation won’t matter.

At that moment.

Lunarian, standing beside me, spoke up.

“I wish to address everyone. Please hear me out.”

Everyone’s attention focused on Lunarian at her words.

“When I brought Swen here, I promised to trust him. This is his first directive, and while the assignments may seem confusing… I’m willing to believe in him this time. What do you think?”

She’s stepping up for me.

I felt newly grateful to her.

No matter what words I might use to insist, I couldn’t truly convince them.

Though I was called a strategist, I had just been appointed to the army, so they wouldn’t strongly feel that “this is my superior to serve.”

So it was right for Lunarian, the leader, to step forward here.

Yes.

If Lunarian trusts me, I should support her too.

“My lord. I request your decision.”

She looked into my eyes, slowly closed them for a moment—

Then opened them and addressed the puzzled Cain and Tifa.

“For now, I ask that you follow Strategist Swen’s instructions. If anyone objects, speak now.”

“How could I object, my lord? I will devote myself to repairing the walls as ordered.”

“Well, if Lunarian says so, I have nothing to say… but just so you know, I really don’t feel confident about this? Don’t blame me if the results are poor.”

After the two somehow accepted it.

Lunarian finally concluded the meeting.

“Then this month’s meeting is adjourned. You may withdraw funds from the treasury as needed for your work. I look forward to seeing your results in a month.”

After the two left the castle.

I bowed my head to her in gratitude.

“Thank you for trusting me, my lord.”

“Not at all. I promised to trust you.”

After saying that, she let out a short sigh and said.

“…Speaking… formally is still difficult for me.”

“Did you not speak formally before?”

Lunarian looked at me with a bitter smile.

“No. Both Cain and Tifa told me to be conscious of my position as ruler, but that’s been very difficult for me. I managed somehow because you gave me courage. Hehe…”

“I think it would be helpful in many ways if you maintained your dignity as a ruler even when alone with me.”

Lunarian gave a small laugh at my words.

Honestly—looking just at her appearance, she was extremely cute.

If there was any flaw, it was that she didn’t look at all like someone who would unify a continent.

“Oh, right. Swen. There’s something I’d like to ask you…”

“Please go ahead.”

“Why did you send Cain to the walls and Tifa to the market? I said I would trust you, but I can’t help thinking their destinations should have been switched…”

Why did I do that?

I don’t know either.

My intelligence of 100 told me to do so.

My job was to package these three sentences as plausibly as possible.

“While Cain is certainly a slick politician type… there are definitely things he can learn by going to the front lines at the walls. The same goes for Tifa. She’s lived quite roughly since childhood and needs new experiences. Being a good general isn’t just about fighting well. And ultimately, this path will lead to the best results.”

“I see…?”

Lunarian nodded slowly and spoke with admiration.

“By the way… Swen, you’re really amazing.”

“Suddenly?”

“You immediately grasped that Cain is somewhat slick… and that Tifa has lived roughly since childhood?”

Ah, that’s—

‘That’s because I’ve played as Lunarian’s army before.’

“As expected, someone of your caliber can read a person’s life trajectory just by looking at them. That’s a skill I’d really like to learn.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Anyway, it wasn’t bad to be seen as competent.

Wouldn’t she be more likely to listen to me?

“So, what should I do?”

“Oh, I haven’t given you a task yet, have I… Is there any mission you’d like to take on?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Hmm…”

‘Let me test something.’

I looked at Lunarian and said.

“My lord, could you please ask me ‘What task do you think would be best for you to take on?'”

“A question? That’s not difficult, but…”

It was a rather abrupt request, but thankfully Lunarian asked without much suspicion.

Perhaps her trust in me was deeper than I thought.

“What task do you think would be best for you to take on?”

It’s a bit cumbersome, but this was the only way to utilize my intelligence stat of 100.

And quickly, the answer came.

[It depends on the will of heaven.]

‘…?’

The same answer appeared no matter how many times I tried.

It depends on the will of heaven.

I—am not seeing this phrase for the first time.

That’s why I could quickly understand the situation.

The game that is the original of this world I’ve been transported to, [Garand Eternity Saga], was an old classic game that supported hot-seat multiplayer.

What that means is—it was a game where multiple people like Player 1 and Player 2 could play together.

When Player 1’s turn ends, Player 2 plays, and when all players finish their turns, one game turn passes. That kind of system.

Games released around the same time generally supported this feature.

And precisely during this ‘hot-seat multiplayer’—[Intelligence 100] cannot make absolute predictions.

It made sense.

When Player 1 proposes an alliance to Player 2, the computers of that era couldn’t predict what decision Player 2 would make.

So in such cases, when a player intervenes and creates variables, strategists would give the ambiguous oracle “It depends on the will of heaven.”

So—

What happens to me depends on what I do.

Of course, I could have just decided not to go even if told [Going to trade would be good].

It can’t predict my actions.

It’s a penalty of sorts, but not really meaningful. It was stating the obvious.

“…Swen?”

“Ah, I apologize. Just thinking for a moment.”

I stroke my chin as if I’ve just reached a conclusion.

“I’ll explore the surrounding area. There might be hidden talent we haven’t discovered yet.”

“I understand. I’ll leave it to you then.”

I bid her farewell and exit the castle.

Despite it being daytime, there weren’t many people around, and those visible lacked vitality.

‘What a gloomy place.’

I suppose it doesn’t matter since this is a city we’ll end up abandoning anyway.

I set off to explore the surrounding area.

* * *

A few days later.

Tifa sat in a corner of the market with a disgruntled expression.

‘What exactly am I supposed to help with?’

On the first day, she greeted the market merchants—

And tried to get ideas for revitalizing the market, that sort of thing.

But there wasn’t much progress, and the struggling villagers participated without enthusiasm.

For Tifa, who didn’t know how to deal with people in such situations, all she could do was barely contain her frustration.

If she had basic knowledge about commerce, she could have taught them something, but she knew absolutely nothing.

She couldn’t use force either.

Her actions would directly affect Lunarian’s reputation in this city, and the last thing she wanted was to damage her childhood friend’s standing.

‘Really, what was that scrawny strategist thinking when he assigned me this?’

If he had told her to train soldiers, she could have understood.

What made him send someone as uneducated as her to a place like this?

‘Lunarian seems different too. I was worried she seemed vague, but decisively giving us orders is fine… but if it’s because of that male strategist, isn’t that a big problem?’

Could he have… seduced her?

With his looks?

Though she hadn’t met many men, Tifa thought Swen was quite handsome.

He wasn’t the type overflowing with masculinity, but rather gave the impression of a beautiful boy who could naturally evoke maternal instincts.

Yes. She thought he looked exactly like the kind of “big brother” who would work at a brothel.

‘If he’s using his looks to cloud Lunarian’s judgment… I can’t forgive that.’

Should she teach him a lesson?

While thinking this, for the first time since arriving, she heard a market merchant calling her.

“Um… T-Tifa…?”

“?”

Tifa looked at the man who called her.

Or rather, he was more of a boy.

He was visibly intimidated, trembling as he looked at her.

“You don’t need to be so scared. Yes, kid. What is it?”

“Th-that… I heard you c-came to oversee the m-market… is that right…?”

“That’s right.”

“Could you possibly help me…?”

The boy pointed somewhere as he spoke.

“Our shop was completely destroyed in the recent typhoon… My father is sick in bed, and my mother isn’t in good health either… My siblings are too young, so I have to repair the shop all by myself, but it’s too much for me alone… so, um.”

Ah.

So he’s asking for some muscle.

It seemed better than sitting around doing nothing.

Helping people in the castle this way would also improve Lunarian’s reputation.

“Alright. I’ll help you. Where do we need to go?”

“R-really?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

The boy finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly began walking somewhere.

Tifa followed behind him.

*

“This is no joke…”

Two weeks ago, a typhoon had swept through Zeilant.

Its aftermath had left scars throughout the market.

‘There are many other collapsed buildings too.’

Although some reconstruction had progressed over the week—

The boy’s shop was completely collapsed and in a terrible state.

“This needs to be completely rebuilt.”

“Is… is it too difficult…?”

Tifa patted the boy’s head and said.

“Not difficult at all. This is exactly why someone like me is here. Hey!”

“Y-yes!”

Tifa stopped a passing merchant.

“Bring shovels and about ten men who can work. I’ll pay wages.”

“Y-yes!”

The man quickly brought about ten strong men.

Originally, they would have obeyed out of fear if she had simply ordered them, but offering wages made it even easier to gather people.

“Here are the shovels you asked for.”

Taking the shovel, Tifa had people start clearing away the debris of the collapsed wooden house.

‘They built this house terribly.’

Though there had been a typhoon—it hadn’t actually been that strong.

It seemed that in this underdeveloped city, houses were built very poorly.

‘Better build it properly from the foundation up. So it won’t collapse.’

She had a whole month with nothing particular to do anyway.

With that thought, Tifa began digging the ground with her shovel.

After scraping the ground a few times…

Clang!

‘?’

With a strange sound, a shock traveled up her arm holding the shovel.

Clang, clang.

After tapping a few more times—

She realized something other than soil was buried beneath the shovel.

At first she thought it might be a stone, but a stone wouldn’t make such a sound.

This feeling. It was the sound of metal hitting metal.

Tifa dug around it and lifted up whatever had hit her shovel.

‘This is…!’

What revealed itself to her was—

A very old, extremely heavy box.