episode_0300

Large-scale civil engineering works.

If you were to list things that a country preparing for war should never do, this would definitely be near the top.

While I was wondering why on earth they were doing this, Ioline approached me after talking to a few workers herself.

“What is all this?”

“It seems like they are building an altar… … .”

“An altar? What altar?”

“So, that’s… … We’re building a building where we can house the fallen heroes… … .”

“Yes???”

I was astonished at the incredibly creative answer and asked again.

“I think it was a building honoring a person named Hernandoff and a person named Emma. Judging from the way you muttered their names over and over again… … .”

“That can’t be… … .”

I heard that Hernandez was hit by Chel, but did Emma also have a different reputation?

But as soon as those two names were mentioned, I thought I knew why Yuuri was doing this.

‘If two out of those five people died… … .’

At first, I thought that this might all be some kind of giant trap targeting our military.

Of course, if someone were to act so out of the ordinary, a normal person would have to wonder if there was some ulterior motive behind it.

But what if two of the five core members of Aishus were involved in this incident itself?

I really can’t understand it – but it seems like a thoughtless action. In other words, it was highly likely that in this situation, it would be right to build a luxurious altar or something for the purpose of appeasing the spirits.

Yuuri was already a person who once committed a mistake that no one could understand in order to protect someone precious to him.

Because I was the one who became the victim of that incident, I knew better than anyone else.

In addition, I and Mr. Ioline, accompanied by soldiers, went on a long exploration mainly in the outskirts of the Balharat territory, but-

Apart from the enormous amount of people and resources being invested to build the massive altar, nothing really of note was happening.

So, the night deepens-

First, we set up a suitable place to stay at some distance from the Balharat territory and lit a campfire.

“What should I do? Should I look around a little more? I think there’s something hidden, no matter how much I look at it, I can’t help but think that’s the case… … .”

I shook my head and said to Ioline, who asked with a worried expression.

“No. I think I can just look around for today. There’s a good chance there won’t be anything behind.”

“Is that so… …? But didn’t Swen also say that there was a high possibility that something would happen in the Aishus Army?”

“That’s what I said, but… … .”

Yes, now we were faced with a slightly more ‘intuitive’ problem.

So then why is it that going in with our soldiers now is not the best outcome for our military?

It seemed that the current Aishus army could be destroyed without much difficulty if invaded.

Certainly, Epinel was a great general, and even considering that the Eishius army had several excellent generals, even if they weren’t as good as Epinel, I couldn’t even imagine a scenario where we would lose to a nation that would waste the morale of its soldiers with such inefficient actions before a battle.

Still, my predictions are never wrong.

When I said it was ‘inefficient’, I meant that it was a method that would be inefficient even if the sky fell.

It was reasonable to assume that such a message was printed because there was a way that was several times more efficient.

What was even more concerning was that, unlike last time, the conclusion was not simply [they win the battle], but rather [it is not efficient].

Clearly, our military loses something. And in this case, it is a very big loss compared to what it would have been if it had gone with other options.

Is it possible that a rebellion is taking place on the mainland?

Could it be that the heavens and the earth, unable to watch Serpina do well, are once again being controlled by cosmic forces – falling into the same pit of fate?

–no.

If not a rebellion, then what the heck is it…?

“Excuse me.”

It was only then that I realized that Ioline, sitting next to me, was calling me desperately.

“Sorry, I’m just lost in thought for a moment.”

“No, I like the way Swen looks when he’s lost in thought.”

“Is that so?”

I looked at Ioline with the thought that she liked everything.

For some reason, she had her head down and was looking at the floor instead of at me.

Knock knock.

As the crackling of the bonfire began to sound, Ioline’s voice floated through the air and reached my ears.

“Swen.”

“Huh?”

“Have you ever heard from Irian Orabeoni?”

“What is it?”

“So, that… … .”

She hesitated for a while, then looked into my eyes clearly as if she had made up her mind about something.

“About marriage.”

“… … Ah.”

“If Mr. Swen has a woman in mind, I don’t mind if she’s his second, third, or fourth wife.”

Now that I think about it, Irian said something like that.

He asked if Ioline had any intention of taking him as his wife.

At that time, Irian was my superior, so he spoke to me as if he was making a subtle suggestion, but now he was a subordinate who spoke to me formally.

‘Marriage.’

It’s been quite some time since I’ve been in this world.

Still, the feeling of being a modern person did not completely disappear and lingered somewhere in my mind.

It was the same even then. For me, who was familiar with the concept of free love, I had a strong feeling that arranged marriage was not a very good idea.

“Mr. Ioline.”

“Please speak.”

Ioline looked at me with a very calm expression.

It was definitely a different feeling from when Airen or Reika looked at me.

Wouldn’t it be polite to respond appropriately to her here?

“You don’t need to marry a man you don’t like for the sake of the family. Besides, I’m not that great compared to the Al Kaski family.”

“… … Yes?”

“I know it must have been difficult to refuse directly. To be honest, it would be difficult for someone who is a member of the family to go against the will of the head of the family.”

Even in these times, I at least wanted to marry someone I loved.

Both Airen and Reika… … I felt something between the two of them that went beyond an ordinary relationship, as a man and a woman.

When I talk about similar things with two people, I can feel a definite chemistry happening. My heart starts pounding, my face feels hot, and I can see their cheeks turning red as if they’re going to burst.

Compared to him, Ioline-san seemed calm. Her speech was very businesslike, and her face didn’t seem particularly red. Perhaps the marriage wasn’t her intention, but rather Irian’s wish to maintain a connection with me. Just like how Ginor had done to me before.

“I… … .”

“Anyway, don’t think too hard about it. I’ll explain to Irian that I refused-”

“… … Wait a minute!”

Ioline cut me off and then lowered her head repeatedly with a surprised expression.

“Sorry, sorry! I think I committed a huge offense without realizing it… … .”

“No. More importantly, what’s going on?”

“… … I’ll tell you everything.”

That moment.

For some reason, I was overcome with the illusion that I was in a vacuum, without even hearing the crackling sound of a campfire.

“I’m not saying this because of my brother’s wishes.”

“… … Yes?”

“If it’s Swen, I think he’s a really great guy. That’s why I was the first to bring up the subject of marriage. Since I have to get married anyway, I think it’s right to go to a man I can emulate.”

Ioline says so, without avoiding my gaze at all.

Only then do I realize.

Her face, illuminated by the orange glow of the bonfire, was slightly reddened.

“Ever since I was young and took Youngae’s lessons, my dream was to serve a husband I could truly respect. Like my father. Even though the time I met Swen and spent time with him was very short… … I could tell. Swen was different from other men.”

“So, if it’s okay with you, Swen, I want to live with you. If you want, I’m willing to live with Swen’s other wives. You don’t have to follow our family name. If I leave the family and marry Swen, I’ll be yours, right?”

“Is that so?”

I didn’t really have that kind of view on marriage, but the expression on her face when she said that was so resolute that I couldn’t even bring myself to object.

“Yes. But, as I said earlier, if Swen already has a woman in mind, I don’t have any intention of making a fuss. I don’t want to be a bother. ”

“That’s right… …let’s go.”

The only difference was the way I spoke, but if you really think about it, I was just repeating the same thing I said a moment ago. – Ioline smiled and answered my question.

“You can ask me as many times as you want. I will tell you as many times as you want. If it is okay with you, Swen, and if there is still an empty space in your heart… …I would like to dare to step into that space. What do you think?”

Even though it was an empty seat, I could have four wives in this world.

So, unless you like four people at the same time, there should be an empty seat, so why does Ioline insist on asking such a question?

no.

To me now, there was a much more important issue than why she asked that question.

That’s right, I couldn’t just tell her straight away, ‘That’s not it, but’.

‘… … !’

I barely managed to swallow my breath as an incredibly bold thought occurred to me without me realizing it.

Let’s calmly go through the obvious things one by one.

I was in love with Irene. I wanted to marry Irene. So, one spot was filled.

My relationship with Reika was complicated in many ways… … but I didn’t want the kiss I shared with her to be a meaningless moment. Maybe I’ll end up marrying her too. Two seats were already filled.

Actually, these two didn’t have much of a problem.

Because I, too, was fully aware of it and at the same time, I was also one of those people who had finished preparing my mind.

There were two biggest problems.

Firstly, while thinking of Airen and Reika, at the same time… … I thought of the face of Serpina, someone I should never have feelings for.

And secondly, even if we add Serpina, there would still be three people, so there would definitely be one spot left, but for some reason――

Here, I instinctively felt that accepting Iolini would bring about unimaginably enormous consequences.

why……?