episode_0302

‘Yes. From the perspective of ordinary people, they can’t help but look at the situation from a different perspective than I do.’

From Ioline, who kept telling me that she was worried that something might be going on during the patrol, to Serpina, who said that if the altar was built, there must be a purpose for it.

What they had in common was that, for them, this world was a vivid reality itself.

No, this wasn’t something that only those two had in common. It was an overwhelming truth for everyone except me: water flows from above to below, and when you’re tired, you need to sleep to recover.

So – you can’t be sure like me.

That there’s nothing that can be achieved by setting up something like an altar.

In the game I originally played, building the ‘altar’ thing was just some sort of random encounter event.

If a memorial building is built to honor the dead general, the loyalty of the warriors will increase as they see that the monarch is truly thinking of the general.

However, in that event, it is better not to click on the option to ‘build a commemorative building’ unless absolutely necessary.

Considering the resources consumed, the falling public sentiment, and the morale of the soldiers, the only thing that could be increased was the loyalty of the subordinate generals.

Well, if you want to do some kind of concept play, I won’t stop you… … but basically, if you try to do a concept play on an old classic game that was released a very long time ago, there’s nothing immersive or fun about it, so in the end, it’s just a redundant script that no one does.

From Serpina or Ioline’s perspective, it would be impossible to know. Rather, it would be best to assume that there must be a great reason for constructing an altar in this situation.

If you were Ioline, who didn’t know that Yuuri was a person who didn’t care about the consequences when it came to his close friends, you would think that way even more. It was a fairly reasonable thought, ‘Surely a person who became the ruler of a country would not invest that much time and resources in a meaningless thing.’

Serpina’s case was a little different. She knew better than anyone that Yuuri was a human who made irrational decisions. Nevertheless, in the end, she had no choice but to converge on the same conclusion as Ioline.

Not for anything else, but because of my 100% intelligence predictions!

‘Since I know that what I’m saying is absolutely correct, Yuuri’s antics are very naturally applied to interpret the statement that ‘invading right away is not the most efficient method’.’

I think I would have come to a similar conclusion from the perspective of Serphina, who was using me, the bookworm called Swen.

―Considering the various circumstances, I am saying that it is an inefficient decision for a strategist with a 100% hit rate to engage in a battle that he has no reason to lose.

―The enemy, who should be our enemy, is not only not preparing for battle, but is wasting resources and manpower on large-scale, meaningless civil engineering projects.

The way to connect these two sentences in a tasteful way here was quite simple: just change the sentence to ‘meaningless’.

In fact, the civil engineering work is meaningful – and that’s why invading them now is not an efficient decision.

What a clear and tidy conclusion this is!

–but.

Only I know that isn’t true.

Yuuri knows that he’s just fooling around.

Then why?

A brain with 100 IQ is… … a beggar who has nailed it down as ‘inefficient’?

‘… … .’

I naturally sat down on a chair near the table.

Until then, I hadn’t even noticed that Serpina had pulled out a chair for me to sit on.

‘Just because you built an altar doesn’t mean you can use some magic or something based on it.’

After the wizards appeared on the continent, people’s perception began to accept very flexibly that ‘unexpected results can come from unexpected actions.’

Even Serpina, who doesn’t move much without evidence, expressed her stance to be on guard, so there’s no need to say anything about other people.

‘But you’re saying that prediction is inefficient. Inefficient. Inefficient… … Huh?’

……wait for a sec.

I looked up and asked a question naturally to the first person I saw.

“Over there… …Serpina.”

“Tell me.”

“Saying it is inefficient is quite different from saying it will lead to the worst outcome, right?”

“Of course. The worst conclusion itself would be one of the conclusions that are included in the inefficient ones.”

“Let me check it out right now. Could you ask me a question with a similar nuance to ‘Can you win the battle?’?”

Instead of asking me what the hell was going on or what I was thinking, she just did as I said and asked me straight, targeted questions.

“Do you think our army can invade the Aesir army and win?”

[It is something that requires great sacrifice.]

‘……uh????’

Sacrifice is necessary?

I had expected it to some extent, but the reason why this decision was ineffective was because it seemed like we were making some sacrifices in our fight against the Aesir Army.

Well then, no matter what, we can’t just keep pushing the soldiers around like this.

……wait for a sec.

“Serpina, I’m sorry, but can you ask me one more question? Could you ask me something along the lines of ‘How can I minimize losses in this battle?’?”

This question was honestly ambiguous.

Even though it was a question about combat, I had a feeling that there might not be an answer-

Still, it was a question that had to be asked in order to sort out the puzzle in my head.

“What do you think our army should do to minimize losses in this battle?”

Serpina, without a word, recited the questions I asked her, polishing them up.

And the answer I hear is –

[It depends on the will of heaven.]

what?

It depends on the will of heaven. This answer is, in other words, me, not someone else.

The answer was that the conclusion would change depending on what I did.

‘Invading now is inefficient. The most efficient thing we can do is to prepare for war with the Aesir Army. Whether we can invade now and win is up to us. We will probably win, but it will require great sacrifice. This proves that it is ‘inefficient.’ And finally, in order to avoid losses, I must do something myself… … .’

A clearly different perspective from mine and others.

The outcome of a battle changes dramatically depending on how I respond.

… … !!!!

bang!

Without realizing it, I slammed the table down and stood up.

Only when I got the answers to the three questions did I feel like I was starting to see the future.

And then, I noticed that it was none other than Monarch Serpina looking at me.

“Ah… … I’m sorry. That, I… … .”

“No, it’s okay. It seems like something else came to mind.”

“… … Yes.”

I began to have a faint idea of how to deal with it.

“Then can you tell me? Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask that for a while now, and my body was getting excited. Hehe… … ♥”

If it were any other time, I would have been flustered by the sentence that had a strange sexual nuance in the voice or attitude, but now I was filled with a strange confidence.

I answered with the feeling that I would cross the line right away.

“Is it okay if I just get excited? I’ll make sure to satisfy you. Deep down.”

“… … !!”

Serpina, who heard what I said, slightly lost her expression without answering, then her face turned red and she turned her head away.

That reaction is pretty tasty.

That’s how it feels. Serpina-sama often says things like that when she sees me reacting in this way.

“Well, that’s… … Anyway, tell me what you think I should do.”

Seeing Serpina struggling, I suddenly felt like teasing her, but-

At least for now, even I was itching to talk about something else.

“It’s not that different. It’s just taking advantage of everyone’s psychology.”

“Using psychology?”

“To be precise, it’s not psychology―”

――It’s about using their gaze in reverse.

With that, we can arrive at the ‘most efficient’ method.

* * *

After some time had passed.

Finally, something that could be called an altar was completed.

In fact, it was a result that was considerably shabby compared to the plan, to the point where it could be considered more like an outline rather than a completion.

Although it ended up being smaller than originally planned due to various limitations, it still took up a lot of space and was still a relatively luxurious place compared to the current circumstances.

The first thing Yuuri did after completing the altar was to gather the soldiers and pray to heaven.

“Ern… … Emma… … If you are watching, please give us the strength to overcome… … !!!”

This event was attended by many religious people who had lost their place after the turbulent times.

Ironically, various religious practices that had disappeared into history began to be revived thanks to Yuuri’s capital.

‘… … .’

Anima was giving up everything and joining in on this farce.

It is said that the fact that the scale could be reduced to this extent was thanks to Epinel’s intervention, so it would be right to say that it is fortunate to be satisfied with that.

Anima, standing next to Yuuri, looked at Yuuri as he repeated his prayer over and over again, then closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Emma. Hernando.

I think we will be visiting you soon.

Even though we couldn’t achieve our goal… … Still, I’m sure we’ll be able to meet in one place soon.

At that time, please don’t blame Yuuri too much. And please don’t blame me for not being able to fundamentally prevent this situation…

Knock, knock.

When I came to my senses, I felt tears flowing.

Is this the end?

‘no…….’

Wasting time on such a stupid thing without even being able to fight properly is the last thing our military does.

If only we could somehow come to an agreement with Serpina, even now, we wouldn’t have to end the story of the Aishus Army here.

Since I can’t do that… …I have to die like this?

Even though she knew it was a problem, Anima knew.

That there was nothing left for him to do.

As is the case with humans, there are things that are sought only after being pushed to the limit.

‘Oh my god… … !’

Please, please don’t abandon us.

Please, please make a miracle happen, anything… !!!

And, surprisingly―

――A miracle began to happen.