Ch.8Chapter 8. Laying the Foundation (5)

“Come on! Take it freely. Don’t worry!”

“Take some bread! We still have plenty!”

All the money in the box was used to rebuild the village destroyed by the typhoon.

About half of the amount was spent entirely on buying food.

Under Cain’s leadership, soldiers doing odd jobs were all out distributing food to the villagers.

Though Luna had given the orders, it was Cain and I who were at the forefront of the relief efforts.

Among us, Cain was on the front lines helping people.

Like it or not, Cain was making quite an impression on the villagers through this opportunity.

“Thank you so much…”

“Thank you, sir.”

“We won’t forget your kindness, sir.”

Cain responded with a benevolent smile to the woman who said she wouldn’t forget his kindness.

“All of this is Lord Lunarian’s generosity. I hope you’ll remember that.”

“Ah… Yes! I will never forget the kindness shown by Lord Lunarian.”

Well, at least since we’ve distributed food, the public sentiment toward Lunarian’s forces should improve—

‘Is this really the right approach?’

To be honest, I wondered if this was truly the correct course of action.

We’re going to abandon this fortress anyway, so what’s the point of improving public sentiment?

With that money, we could have hired mercenaries right away. With a total of about 10,000 soldiers, we might somehow manage to defend this place with some desperate measures. Then we could actually keep this city as a stronghold instead of abandoning it.

Sure, improved public sentiment naturally leads to better security, which simultaneously develops commerce and agriculture, and as development progresses, the population increases proportionally, meaning more potential recruits—but that would take far too much time.

And no matter how I looked at it, a small nation like Lunarian’s forces wouldn’t likely enjoy such peaceful times for long in the midst of this chaotic era.

Well, since I with my Intelligence of 100 concluded ‘this is the right approach,’ it must be correct.

“Hey there, Strategist.”

“What is it?”

Cain, who had been helping with the relief efforts alongside the soldiers, approached me during a free moment.

“Was it our lord’s decision to distribute all this money?”

“Yes, that’s right. Since we found it in this village anyway, the idea was to return it to the village, something like that.”

“I see. Hmm.”

Cain cleared his throat unnecessarily a few times, then looked straight at my face and asked.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you oppose it? I mean our lord giving away all the money. Well, the intention is good, but as you know, our forces don’t exactly have money to spare. I would have expected you to oppose such an action when we don’t even have funds for immediate use.”

The clarity in Cain’s eyes as he asked the question was striking.

Not the hazy, unmotivated gaze he usually had, but rather the sharp eyes of a lion in its prime.

I answered with a faint smile.

“Do I really seem like such a heartless person to you, Sir Cain?”

“Well, not exactly. I just figured that as our lord’s strategist, you must be quite remarkable, but honestly… I’m curious why you didn’t try to stop this and let it proceed.”

He keeps circling around his words strangely, as if there’s something else he really wants to ask me.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was testing me somehow.

Cain… isn’t a bad person.

Is he perhaps testing my humanity right now?

I replied in the most nonchalant tone I could manage.

“Honestly, I did consider stopping it, but our lord’s determination seemed firmer than ever. A strategist should certainly offer opinions when needed, but shouldn’t a strategist also support the lord’s will when necessary?”

Why didn’t I stop it? Because with my Intelligence of 100, I concluded that distributing money was the best approach.

But I can’t just say that outright.

So I add a plausible reason instead.

Since I don’t know the real reason myself yet, I have no choice.

I’ll probably continue making up plausible reasons as I go along.

“I see.”

Cain nodded.

“Well, I’ll follow Swen’s words. After all, we wouldn’t have obtained this money if you hadn’t sent Tifa to the market, would we?”

“You flatter me.”

“Anyway, things seem to be wrapping up here… I’ll handle the report, so why don’t you get some rest?”

“I’ll leave it to you then.”

I accepted his kindness.

I was already exhausted from moving flour sacks with my low Strength stat.

I leaned against the fortress wall and looked up at the sky.

It was piercingly blue.

So intensely blue that… I could almost be fooled into thinking this peace would last forever.

‘That’s impossible.’

I should probably start preparing myself mentally.

I enjoyed this very brief peace while watching the drifting clouds.

*

After that, days passed with nothing special happening as we focused on internal affairs.

Cain’s recommended task was [Commerce], and Tifa’s was [Training].

When my brain recommended these two tasks, nothing unusual happened.

Cain with his high Politics handled commerce, while Tifa with her high Strength handled training.

Well, it would be strange if extraordinary luck kept striking repeatedly.

During this period, instead of exploration, I accompanied Luna and helped her rebuild the village.

Yes, Lunarian Ineanne, despite being the leader, was personally going around doing physical labor here and there.

Since I felt uncomfortable leaving everything to her alone, I followed her around after learning about this—that’s the current situation.

“Keep your spirits up. Our forces will do everything possible to help the village regain its former vitality.”

“Oh my, thank you so much. Thank you so much, my lord…”

Perhaps it was the effect of distributing money recently.

The people of Zeilant were greeting Luna as she moved about helping with various tasks, and they were extremely welcoming toward her.

Public sentiment was like a sword.

In chaotic times, those who ruled over people changed constantly.

Such genuine gratitude wouldn’t have been seen if she had merely gone around saying “I’ll do my best” without taking action.

“My lord. Let’s stop here for today.”

Noticing the sky growing dark, I approached Luna and spoke.

“But… I haven’t gone through that alley yet.”

“This is enough for today. You’ll be going around the domain helping people tomorrow too, right? It’s better to rest well at night.”

“…You make a good point. I’ll follow your advice.”

Luna wasn’t particularly stubborn.

She generally listened to everything I said.

Perhaps even her desire to distribute all the money from the box to the villagers—if I, as her strategist, had told her not to do it, she probably wouldn’t have.

Although following my words thoroughly was a condition she set when recruiting me, ultimately she was the lord and I was just one of her retainers, albeit a strategist. Honestly, if she had insisted, I couldn’t have forced my opinion on her.

Thinking about it that way, this was indeed a reflection of her character.

Her character.

That thought sparked my curiosity, and I posed a question to her.

“My lord. I have a question, if I may.”

“What is it?”

“I know the general outline… but since I’m serving you now, I’d like to hear the details. How exactly did you come to raise an army?”

“…”

Luna pondered my question for a moment.

Then she raised her head to look at the darkening sky and spoke.

“I… lost my only family, my older sister, in the war.”

Her story—Lunarian Ineanne’s story.

The reason why the ruler of a small nation with a ghost princess concept raised an army, which wasn’t properly explained in the game.

She, who existed in this world as reality rather than a game, began to tell her story.

“Five years ago, when the Emperor died without naming a successor and the declining empire collapsed, many lords took up arms. The nobles managing territories all declared independence, and in that process, truly… truly many people died. My sister was one of them.”

“What did your sister do?”

“…”

Luna stared at the sky silently for a long while—

Then, with a somewhat sad smile, she looked at me.

“Haha. I don’t usually tell this to just anyone… but I feel like it’s okay to tell you, Swen. How strange.”

I remained silent and focused on her voice.

“My sister… was the unofficial concubine of Algot von Einhart, the emperor’s eldest son.”

“The eldest son Algot von Einhart, could it be…?”

She slowly nodded.

“He’s… Serpina von Einhart’s older brother. Being of humble birth, my sister couldn’t be officially incorporated into the imperial family, so she was just favored by Lord Algot. Even to my young eyes, I could see they truly loved each other.”

A common romance story.

However, the setting that “her sister was related to the imperial family” adds plausibility to why Prince Cain specifically chose to hide his identity and serve under Lunarian.

In the game, the only information available was that “he believed in Lunarian’s purity and entrusted himself to her.”

It makes me freshly aware that this world actually exists.

“And…”

“You don’t need to say more.”

Serpina von Einhart.

How could she, neither the firstborn nor male among many imperial family members, become the most influential military faction with significant impact on the continent?

It was because she purged all her brothers and sisters.

The Blood Sovereign, the Tyrant.

It was widely known that Einhart blood now flowed only through her veins on the continent.

Though in reality, that wasn’t the case.

“So… it’s revenge after all? For your sister?”

“Perhaps. It might be revenge.”

She seemed to admit it frankly with a bitter smile—

But then she raised her head, looked into my eyes, and said:

“But I want to end this war with my own hands. I want to establish the ideal nation I envision… to create a system where such bloody power struggles within families won’t happen again. I want to bring peace to the continent and honor my sister’s spirit. If it were simply for revenge, it would be faster to just serve under someone else. …But I don’t want to take the easy path.”

‘This young lady has her own complicated circumstances too.’

I nodded and said:

“I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

“Not at all. It’s you after all, Swen.”

“What’s so special about me?”

Luna smiled at my blunt response and said:

“Well, as I told you, you’re the first person to join our forces. Not a single person accepted my offer before you.”

‘…’

I turned my gaze away from her and said:

“You will become the unifying sovereign.”

“…Really? Can I really become the unifying sovereign?”

Since another question came my way, I processed it in my mind once more.

The result was the same.

Yes.

It says it’s you. The one who will unify this continent.

I don’t believe it either.

No matter how many times I reconsidered, the conclusion remained unchanged.

She, Lunarian Ineanne, was the one who would unify this continent.

I spoke with a confident tone:

“Who am I? Am I not the strategist of Lunarian’s forces? Trust my words.”

“Heh.”

It had been about a month and a half since we met.

Though not a particularly long time—perhaps because I was essentially a founding member of this small nation.

Spending all day together had strangely made me feel attached to her.

We were also similar in age.

“The wind is getting cold. Shall we go in?”

“Yes, let’s.”

Just as we were about to head home without much thought.

“My lord!!!”

From beyond, toward us—

Or more precisely, toward Luna, a soldier was running frantically.

“…What is it?”

Luna quickly switched to leader mode and responded.

I examined the soldier’s attire.

The ordinary silver armor was similar to other soldiers, but… he wore a red band on his right arm, a familiar uniform.

This man… seems to be a messenger.

‘Oh no.’

There was only one moment in this game when a messenger appeared.

And that was—

“News that Brans’ forces are marching toward Zeilant with about 8,000 soldiers, my lord!”

When someone initiated combat.