episode_0298

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It was a few days ago, when I was having a conversation with Serpina in the conference room.

[No.]

‘… … ?’

The answer to Serpina’s question, ‘Is it the most efficient option to invade the Aesir Army right now?’

No matter how many times I typed it, the firm sentence [no] kept coming to mind.

What can our military do at this point?

The answer to that, to anyone with even a passing knowledge of strategy—no, to anyone simply “capable of normal thinking,” there was obviously only one possible answer.

That was, they were invading the Aesir army, which had declared war on our army.

A while ago, news came that the Kalintz Army had been merged into the Bran’s Army. That meant that the peace treaty between Serpina and Lin was now valid, and if our army invaded the Bran’s Army first, it would be a violation of the treaty itself, so there was no need to risk international condemnation.

The image of not keeping the treaty would inevitably leave a bad impression on the people of the Central Continent, whom we were supposed to rule in the long run. Serpina’s image was already shattered externally, so why bother adding more notoriety to her?

On the other hand, the Aishus army is different. Yuuri attacked our army without securing sufficient grounds, and the result was failure. The justification for invading her country has also been completely transferred to this side.

In these times, wars of aggression were not always based on a cause – but even so, to some extent, they had to have a cause in order to quickly win over the hearts of the people living in the newly conquered territory.

But why?

Isn’t invading the Aesir Army the least efficient option for our military?

‘Could there be another rebellion?’

I looked at Serpina and explained the rough results.

“Are you saying that invading would be a bad decision?”

“Yes. Do you have any idea where it might be?”

“The place where the luggage is stored… … .”

Serpina rested her hand on her chin, lost in thought.

“I don’t know for now.”

“Don’t you know?”

“Since you insist on asking, it seems like you have something you want to hear from me. Tell me. If you want, there’s nothing I won’t do.”

As Serpina spoke and laughed, I felt awkward for no reason, so I turned my head to the side and spoke.

“Rather than wanting to hear it… …I think in the past, you would have naturally said, ‘It looks like they’re going to rebel again.’”

At my words, she nodded as if she had finally understood my attitude.

“I see. But it’s different now. I got a letter from Jenna a while ago.”

“Is it a letter?”

Jenna, the former national strategist, was acting as the lord of the capital city of Eingart in place of Serpina, who had left to join the occupying forces after handing over the position to me.

“The fact that rebellions break out whenever there’s a chance, as a national strategist, Jenna couldn’t have been unaware of it. It seems like they’ve been conducting intensive patrols while I’m away. I’ve been receiving reports on them periodically. ”

As expected of Serpina, she knew what to do even without me telling her to do it.

“As a result, there are no signs or hints of a rebellion. Furthermore, even if a rebellion were to occur, we have already brought all the useful elite soldiers as occupying forces, except for the capital defense troops. Even if we somehow gather the remaining territory forces and raise a rebellion, we have set it up so that it can be suppressed at the level of the capital defense troops.”

“You are saying that you prepared thoroughly this time.”

“Rather than blaming fate for its strangeness, it is the job of a ruler to think about how to deal with it.”

The mention of fate made my mouth turn bitter again, but I didn’t show it.

A person who works so hard, trying to do everything she can… … I don’t want to say anything derogatory about her actions in front of that person.

Serpina, who had been speaking in a rather relaxed manner, soon slowly smiled and looked at me.

“Well, even so, if your mind is precisely focused on ‘rebellion’― then it’s not impossible.”

“If it’s possible?”

“If the lord of the capital city, who holds the command of the capital city defense forces, rebels, our military will suffer a devastating blow.”

what?

That means, surely… … .

“… … Wait a minute. Are you saying that Jenna is rebelling?”

“If the revelation in your heart is like that, then isn’t it possible that it can’t happen?”

“However, it is somewhat unconvincing that Jenna is rebelling―”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

Serpina, for a split second – had a face that looked like it might collapse at any moment… … so I couldn’t open my mouth.

“For her, it doesn’t matter how convincing it is.”

“Everyone did it. Starting with those who I thought would never betray me, they took up swords to kill me one by one.”

“Yeo trusts Jenna. The reason she entrusted all authority in Eingart Castle without hesitation is because she trusts her. However… … That doesn’t mean that the evil fate that is targeting Yeo will avoid Jenna alone.”

“My lord… … .”

Even after being betrayed so much, you never stop trusting someone.

But I thought her true ‘strength’ was not simply that she never gave up on her faith – it was that she never ruled out the thought that she might be betrayed by her faith again.

Although I was speaking casually, the terrible loneliness she must have felt shook my mind… …and once again, I felt my heart go out to her.

“… … Swen. If you give the order, we will immediately withdraw the occupying forces and head to the capital. For the time being, it would not be a bad idea to focus on internal affairs. We will also have to manage the newly acquired territories of the Che Army. How is it? What path does your ‘mind’s eye’ illuminate? ”

“… … .”

okay.

Back to the question, it was a proven fact that invading the Aesir forces here was not the optimal option for our military.

At this point, it was pointless to doubt the results. So, we should not doubt the fact that it would be to our military’s advantage to do something ‘different’ rather than invade right now.

So then – what should we do?

“… … My lord, I will check whether you should return the soldiers to the capital without invading.”

“Are you suggesting that all soldiers should be withdrawn to the capital city of Eingart?”

I retyped Serpina’s question, which gave me a perfect answer to my question.

[No.]

“… … It doesn’t seem like a good idea to send troops to the capital city.”

“Then does that mean it’s not a rebellion?”

“I can’t guarantee it. But… …it’s true that the possibility of it not happening has increased.”

As Serpina said, only a rebellion in the capital city could inflict a devastating blow on our forces – that was the premise.

She wasn’t the type of person to do things sloppily, so I figured I could trust her.

“I see… … .”

For Serpina, who sighed in relief as she said that, I hope we can somehow get an answer here.

“My lord, please ask questions in a way that discusses national policy.”

“What should our military do in the future?”

In general, there were no answers to questions that were this precise and pointed.

Just one thing. If it was something related to state affairs, battles, or war, there were times when my brain with 100% intelligence would directly give me direction.

My prediction that it would not happen this time was right on the mark.

[Prepare for war with the Aesir Army.]

‘… … ???’

The problem is that the prediction that an answer might come out turned out to be correct.

But I had no idea what that answer meant.

‘Prepare for war? But invading now is not a good idea??’

What the hell is this?

It seems like I’ve extracted everything that I could from the questions… … From here on out, it seems important to find out why this result came about, but I don’t think I had enough materials.

If you think about it simply, something went wrong with our military at the time of the invasion, and that would be tantamount to a mutiny –

‘Is this really… really a rebellion?’

But then why wouldn’t withdrawing troops to the capital be the optimal response?

… … No. If a rebellion were to break out at this point, the troops wouldn’t be able to reach the capital… … If there was a better solution, then it wouldn’t be strange for that answer to come out.

‘No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem right.’

I don’t know if it was just an intuition, or if it was a natural feeling of sympathy for Serpina because she felt that her fate was too cruel.

For some reason, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that ‘a rebellion’ wasn’t the right answer.

“My lord, it seems that we are running low on materials. However, I don’t think there will be a rebellion in any case.”

“Did your mind help you to be sure of that?”

“… … No. In fact, if we assume that we only follow the revelations of the mind, it is most reasonable to think that a rebellion will break out somewhere. ”

“But how can we be sure? It’s embarrassing to say this with my own mouth, but… … If we think about Yeo-ui’s fate, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that a rebellion will eventually break out somewhere?”

“Please trust me on that part. No matter how strange the fate of the lord is, if you add a variable like me into it, how can it change?”

“… … !!!”

“?”

what?

Did I say something wrong?

Her facial expression changed so dramatically from something I said without thinking…

“Mixing… …is what it is.”

“? Yes.”

“I see. You’re mixing her with you… …right?”

She chewed on that word for a long time and then-

“… … I understand. I will follow your will. ”

I was a little concerned that his face was so red, but I didn’t think there was any need to make a fuss about him since he was listening to me well.

“Thank you. In that sense, I would like to find out a few things.”

“Say anything. I will be your hands and feet.”

“I wonder if it’s right for a monarch to say something like that… … .”

The first thing I asked her as she smiled was――

“Please organize a search party to go undercover in the Aishus Army.”

“Will that be okay?”

No, that wasn’t all.

I carefully made my true intentions known.

――Please include me in the search party.