episode_0022

The reason why Lin Brans is attacking here with such a large army.

If it is me, Adari is correct in all these guesses.

What they wanted was me. So, once you have secured your goal, you will naturally not pay attention to the monarch of a weak country who will run away and disappear somewhere on the continent.

Why was I targeted?

It’s extremely embarrassing to say this with my own mouth – but when I think about it as objectively as possible.

It seems that the meeting I had at the last convention was quite impressive for her.

Among the monarchs, Lin Brans had a particularly strong desire for talented people. The idea that they wanted to bring under their wing a seemingly believable schemer who was working under a weak country heightened the risk of speculation.

Another piece of evidence is that there were too many troops to attack this castle.

Since she thinks highly of me, I guess she wants to prevent me from coming up with some strange plan again to overcome the situation.

Unfortunately for her, the only thing I could do was make a prediction that was 100% accurate.

In other words, to summarize.

What I have to do from now on is-

‘After making everyone run away from the castle, I am the only one left to surrender.’

With this, the Lunarien army will be destroyed for a while, but-

This is not complete destruction.

If everyone was alive, it could have been done many times.

I wasn’t sure what process the giant soldiers, who were easy in the game, would go through in this world, but in any case, this was much better than dying and not being able to do anything.

‘Well, there might be a better way than this.’

A more plausible plan.

A means that catches the eye that no one has thought of.

Since my intelligence level was 100, it would have been nice if something like that came to mind right away, but that wasn’t the case.

All I could do was come up with the perfect answer to the question.

So, at least this was the best I could somehow come up with right now.

‘good.’

Still, a decent puzzle was somehow completed from the three predictions.

There was no guarantee that this was the correct answer. However, in a situation where enemies were approaching, there was no time to just think about it.

“Everyone.”

I finally looked around and opened my mouth.

I felt that all the members of the Lunarien Army were waiting for my words.

I slowly began to unravel my plan.

“We will lose this battle. But it’s okay. Even if you lose the battle, you can still achieve victory in other areas. It is a more long-term concept: war. For the sake of the future, now is the time to take a step back.”

“But aren’t there other territories worth escaping to?”

“It seems that attacking other weak countries is not a very realistic method.”

After hearing Gustav and Aaron’s opinions, I nodded.

“That’s right. There is no way out for us. Since a non-aggression pact has been signed, attacking another country is not a good idea. However, if we continue to fight the Brans army like this, we will be 100% destroyed. but… … If you give up on the ‘concept of a nation,’ there is bound to be a way out.”

“… … Well, that means… … !”

Luna opened her mouth with a trembling voice as if she realized something after hearing my words.

I had no choice but to inform her of the harsh reality.

“Our military’s journey ends here. For now.”

“This far?”

“I will surrender to the Lin Brans army.”

“!!!”

Tifa’s eyes widened, and she immediately shouted at me with anger.

“Hey, this isn’t it! Didn’t you join our army because you supported Luna’s wishes?! Just because she surrenders to Lin Brans, there’s no way that bitch will let Luna live!”

“That’s right. I also agree with what Tifa said.”

“What… … !”

“I said I would surrender, but I never said I would turn the Lunarien Army into a force that only exists in history.”

I turned my head and looked into Luna’s eyes and said.

“Master. Take Tifa and Kane and run away.”

“… … Well, say so.”

“The place you should go is the south. Entrust yourself to the Karelian Army in the southern part of the continent. Makana Karelia, the monarch of the Karelia army, has a deep virtuous reputation and will respect his comrades, including his lord, without abandoning them. And I won’t be blamed if I leave the military with different intentions in the future.”

Makana Karelia.

If there was a ‘line of order’ in this game, she could be chosen as a representative example.

Good character. Lunarien’s desire for the world to be peaceful was no less than that of Lunarien.

No, it was only when I came to this world that I learned that Runarien Inian had such thoughts in the first place, and the leader holding that position in this game was Karelia.

Having played this game for 10,000 hours, I can assure you.

Going to Karelia County was clearly the safest place for Luna to retreat.

The territory of Karelia was located in the south of the southern continent.

In the south, there is a relatively good balance of power, and there is a country that acts as a shield from the Brans army, whether you like it or not, so you will be able to retreat safely.

“If you stay hidden, an opportunity will come someday. That is the only way to preserve one’s life for a greater purpose in the future.”

“That… … Swen. Yes, but.”

The moment I was about to hear more of Luna’s story.

An unexpected person’s voice reached my ears.

“Do you mind if I talk to you for a moment?”

I turned my head and looked towards where the voice came from.

The owner of the voice was Kane.

He was facing me with a more serious face than ever.

Why?

I felt like I was finally seeing the real face of this old royal man struggling to survive who went by the pseudonym Kain Nerkis.

“Swen. When you told me to take the lead with 1,800 soldiers, I honestly could have questioned whether it made sense to just trust you. But I didn’t do that. I didn’t want to create a conflict with my lord, and I’m honest that the country was destined to fail anyway, but even if the Lunarien army was destroyed, I could just barely survive whether it was under Branth’s army or another feudal lord.”

I listened to him.

“When I think about it now, a lot of amazing things have happened over the past few months. Because we did as you told us, money flowed in, we won even impossible battles, and two mercenary groups defected to us. I still don’t know what magical powers you have used to create this whole situation. However.”

To me, the impression of the man named Kane was somewhat vague rather than memorable.

But at this moment.

The old man’s sunken black eyes were clearer than ever.

” As I stayed here for a few months, I thought about the happy expressions on the faces of our territory residents, who must have been the most unhappy people on the continent, having been pushed around one way or another due to geographical factors. Rather than just wanting to live in hiding on the continent, I wanted to see my lord Runarien take control of the Garland Continent, the world, and the world. That feeling is even bigger now.”

Kane said that with a wary look in his eyes.

“I will be honest. It seems to me that you, Swen, are trying to make an appropriate excuse to move your base to Branth County, drive out your lord, and then take this territory’s gold, troops, and the entire castle to her.”

“… … .”

“If you have the level of ability you have, it will be a more advantageous path for your personal life than sticking to a weak country like this. Am I wrong?”

“… … that is… … Really?”

Tifa said with a shocked expression after hearing Kane’s words.

Before I could say anything, it was Luna who came to my defense.

“Well, that can’t be possible. Swen is not that kind of person! Swen… … !”

I was embarrassed and slightly raised my hand towards Luna, who was using an honorific language towards me.

“Master. If you don’t mind, I’ll explain.”

“… … Swen… … .”

She didn’t say anything after hearing what I said.

I could easily sense that it meant consent.

Kane watched the situation for a moment, then looked straight at me and said.

“It is very difficult to build a new country once it has collapsed. I don’t know if it will take years or decades. Moreover, there is no suitable territory to settle down on the continent right now. In such a situation, ask them to abandon the country, surrender, and run away?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, but this problem is completely different from the one you had me repairing the castle wall and Miss Tifa doing commercial work in the market. As for the previous things, as you said, I can trust them at least once without asking or questioning them. But not this problem. If you want to convince me, you’d better give me solid evidence. If not, I will remain in the castle and fight until the end. I can’t understand the idea that Brans should surrender for the sake of the future without even offering resistance.”

reason.

It’s the basis.

Honestly, if I had known what the basis was, I don’t think I would have had such a hard time.

The two established facts that I predicted and obtained were, ‘To avoid the destruction of the Lunarien army, I must leave.’

And, ‘Lunarien Iniang will become a unified monarch.’

In any case, my opinion was just an inference based on these two absolute facts.

However, to Kane in front of him, he said, ‘Because my intelligence is 100, my prediction is absolutely correct.’ It was clear that trying to say the same thing wouldn’t work.

So how should we persuade them?

I had to approach it from a different angle.

If there’s one thing that Kane is probably sure about – isn’t it something like, ‘I will sacrifice this castle to impress Brans and quickly advance to an important position?’

‘That’s the part that needs to be touched.’

I pulled out a knife made of tongue.

“To summarize Kane’s words, are you saying that I am saying this to hand over the gold, troops, and territory of this Zeeland territory to Brans’ army to achieve some kind of merit and settle down there?”

“That’s right.”

“Take it all.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on my firm words.

“… … What?”

I looked at everyone and said.

“Take all the gold in the castle. And speaking of medical history. Except for the troops that can easily escape, we will split them in half and add them to the Chilean mercenaries and the Raven mercenaries.”

Gustav and Aaron, who had been watching us with bated breath, were startled by the sudden situation and asked me a question.

“Yes?”

“Are you saying that you will become our troops?”

“Yes.”

Handing over all soldiers to mercenaries.

That was my answer.

In this game, if you surrender, the soldiers within the castle will naturally be taken over by the occupying country.

Since the rules of the game apply to some extent, there was a high possibility that it would happen this time as well.

However, even if troops that were not subordinate to our military, such as mercenary groups, surrendered, they would not be taken over by the occupying country’s Brans Army.

So, the best way was to assign half of our soldiers to the mercenary group and have them each retreat from their castles.

Because mercenaries will never betray a country they have sided with unless an event occurs.

In the game, the mercenary group does not betray first, but the user can betray the mercenary group, so there have been cases of playing tricks by taking advantage of this loophole.

Since my ‘intelligence 100’ rule was thoroughly applied, it was right to think that the remaining minor rules were also applied to a large extent.

In any case, if the unification of Runarien was planned in the future, it was clear that these mercenary groups would be of great help even then.

“If that happens, Zeeland Castle will become a meaningless land even if you get 0 troops and 0 gold. At the very least, I don’t know if the castle itself, this location itself, has a very high strategic value like Kelstein Castle… … Kane, what do you think this place is like?”

“W… … Creeper.”

Kane couldn’t say anything.

Well, because this was an insignificant land.

A place where there are no talented people, the land is not fertile, there are no special products, and the population is not as large as it should be.

“If I really wanted to impress the Brans military, don’t you think I would have somehow fooled my tongue and tricked myself into doing something with the gold and troops?”

“No… … Before that.”

Kane changed his expression and said.

Strangely enough, I felt like my guard was a little off.

“You, if you openly declare surrender in an empty castle… … You could incur the monarch’s wrath and die. Isn’t that an insult to the occupying force?”

‘huh?’

That much?

In the game, when it seemed like I was going to lose, I took all my gold, provisions, and troops and ran away.

Because I couldn’t hand over the money and soldiers.

But here, the act itself seemed to be perceived as extremely insulting.

Well, since they ran away with everything, it must have felt like they were occupying it.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you, too, were to run away, or would you stay in the empty castle to greet the occupying forces? That would be virtually the same as suicide… … .”

When I heard those words, I had a hunch.

‘Now is your chance.’

To Kane now, it would look like I was putting his life on the line against Lin Brans.

I don’t think he would ever feel like a person who would betray me.

‘That’s exactly what we take advantage of.’

I slowly opened my mouth.