episode_0328

“A vassal state?”

I tilted my head for a moment at the unexpected word, but I was soon able to quickly gather my thoughts.

This game did have a vassal system.

However, if a country becomes powerful enough to have vassal states, it is not difficult to unify the continent if you just take your time, so no one would have vassal states unless they were going to play a concept game.

There were cases where they would suddenly be hit in the back of the head or rebel, so they recommended surrender rather than necessarily creating a vassal state.

But since this is the real world, becoming a vassal state isn’t such a strange suggestion.

No. If you think about it carefully, it couldn’t have been anything other than the best thing Hesna could have done.

‘It seems like you’ve become very good at self-objectification.’

Let’s assume that omniscient beings are watching what’s happening on this continent and are able to make a sort of ‘bet’ on which country will be able to unify.

In that case, the one with the lowest odds – that is, the one that is infinitely close to the arrangement – would be our Serpina group.

I’m the one who predicted that ‘Lunarien Inian will be the monarch who unifies the continent’, so I know that she can’t unify it – but to anyone looking from the outside, it looked like Serpina-kun was smoothly unifying the continent.

Next is probably the Bran’s Army. But from this point on, it’s going to be pretty high dividends. The countries in the south will each be given very, very high dividends, like winning the lottery.

That is, even from a third-party perspective, there was no problem with the conclusion that the Hesna Army would not be able to unify the continent no matter what happened.

In such a situation, the only way I could possibly maintain my country was to become a vassal state of a country that could be unified.

Even if he did not become the emperor, he did not have to give up his power as long as he became a vassal state, received an appropriate title, and ruled over a certain territory.

“Are there any other conditions?”

“If it’s a condition, then it’s a condition. What Hesna wants is not autonomy over the current Hesna County territory.”

“Yes?”

“What she proposed was―autonomy for the entire southern part of the continent.”

“… … ??”

“He said that if I hand over the authority to rule the southern continent, he would help me defeat the Bran’s army. In return, I must tell him that he wants me to help him organize the south.”

“It seems like a proposal that we have nothing to gain from… …. In the first place, isn’t there no reason for our military to guarantee autonomy for the South?”

“Those who die before me will curse me in the afterlife. In fact, my territory will be reduced.”

“What do you give me?”

“Didn’t I say this before? I said I recognize you as the new emperor.”

“… … !”

I see.

In fact, although the vassals were so numerous that it seemed as if several countries were torn apart, nominally they were vassals of the old Eingart Empire.

Recognition as emperor meant that Serpina was recognized for the first time by a prince-level figure.

Normally, it would have been a surefire way to get something out of it – but at this point, it was too late. Even without the lords’ approval, our Serpina Army could have unified sufficiently. … … At least, from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know that ‘Luna is unifying’.

“What do you think, my lord?”

“I decided that there was no reason to accept that offer. Even so, I didn’t want to make a decision without asking for your advice.”

Well, even if I were Serpina, I think I would have asked her a question at least once since she has the power of the mind’s eye.

Because all my advice so far has been, aside from the basics, out of the ordinary.

“Please feel free to ask questions.”

Serpina smiled, closed her eyes once, then opened them-

He spoke, pouring all the golden gaze in his eyes solely on me.

“Swen. Let me ask you. Do you think it would be beneficial for our military to make a treaty with Hesna County as a vassal state?”

And then, the answer comes.

[It may be a loss to the individual, but it will be beneficial to the country in the long run.]

‘… … ???’

what?

It’s a loss for the individual, but it’s a long-term benefit for the country?

What is this?

I was momentarily lost in thought at the answer I had never heard before.

“Swen. Looks like you heard something unusual again.”

“… … I really can’t lie to my lord about anything.”

“Huh huh, was that a compliment?”

Serpina gently touched her lips with her snow-white fingers as if she found it amusing.

“Okay, what would be the next question?”

He figured out exactly what I wanted and dealt with it accordingly.

The more I worked with her, the more I wondered if I could ever meet a monarch who communicated with me this well. Lady Luna also listened to me well, but when I think about it, it was almost like one-sided trust, so it would be safe to say that Serpina was a bit more suited to giving and receiving.

Anyway, what questions would be good to ask to piece together the puzzle of this result?

Without much thought, it was a simpler problem than I thought.

“This time, ask the exact opposite question.”

Serpina tilted her head for a moment, but instead of asking questions, she just listened to what I said.

“Do you think we should reject the agreement that would make Hesna a vassal state?”

[It is bound to be a loss for the country.]

‘The answer here is a bit lighter.’

Besides, this answer was exactly as I expected. Okay. At this point, I could decide what to do without further questions.

I told her with a very confident expression.

“Reject. I think it would be better not to enter into a vassalage agreement.”

“Is that the answer in your heart?”

“Yes.”

Serpina tilted her head back slightly as if she was interested.

“That’s unexpected. In these cases, instead of the obvious answer, a different answer usually comes out, but this time it’s not like that.”

“But this is the best for us.”

Serpina looked into my eyes for a moment, then nodded.

“I understand. Swen, I will do as you say. I will tell the messenger that I refuse the agreement. ”

Instead of answering, I just bowed my head.

The reason I refused to do something that would be ‘good for the country in the long run’ was to protect Serpina.

The first sentence that came out was, ‘It is a loss to the individual.’ At first, I was confused about what this meant, but I was able to figure out the situation by asking the opposite question.

If this agreement was made, it meant that something was wrong with the individual – Serpina, the monarch. Since she was ultimately the one making the decisions, it was not difficult to infer that the ‘individual’ here was her.

Of course, it wouldn’t be enough to change her fate, so she wouldn’t die or anything, but I could only guess that this decision itself would be the trigger that would lower her reputation.

If not, well, this will probably reduce the chances of her being put in danger or something.

Thinking about it that way, I began to think anew about the fate of the mischievous Serpina.

‘What is beneficial to the state, for individuals… … can only be detrimental to Monarch Serpina.’

The more the monarch’s own evaluation falls and the more public opinion grows that she is unfit for the throne, the closer she gets to a unified nation. This is an extremely miserable and strange fate.

Since unification was impossible no matter what I did, the only thing I could do was to protect this country – Serpina, not the Serpina Army – as much as possible.

‘By the way, I don’t think Hesna would have made a deal only to this side.’

If I were Hesna, a monarch who was ready to become a vassal state, what decision would I have made in this situation?

After giving my answer, I slowly raised my head and looked at her.

“Your Majesty, I think it would be a good idea to send a spy to the Bran’s Army.”

“Are you talking to the Bran’s Army? What’s going on? Is there a problem with the agreement?”

Just in case, I typed in a question asking, “Is there a problem with the agreement with the Bran’s Army?”, but as expected, the answer I got was that they don’t know.

“No, that’s not it… …I just wanted to find out something.”

“I understand. I know you are not the kind of man to give advice to a woman without reason. I will immediately organize personnel to go into intelligence. ”

Well, it’s okay since it’s not the Bran’s Army that we’re trying to monitor.

It’s not her that I want to find out about――

* * *

The royal castle of Mertian Castle, the capital of Hesna County.

“Are you saying you rejected it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm… … As expected. If you had accepted the offer, it could have made things a bit more interesting.”

Terra asked with a puzzled look at Hesna’s words.

“Now tell me, my lord. What would you have done if Serpina had consented?”

“I just thought I could get more out of Lin. Using that as an excuse.”

“Huh? You mean… … .”

“Yeah. You’re right. I was trying to use Serpina. ”

As soon as he heard that, Terra sighed deeply and said.

“I think I know why my lord did not consult me.”

“But, if we don’t take risks to this extent, we can’t hide the fact that this agreement is unilaterally advantageous to us.”

“What would you do if you had incurred Serpina’s wrath?”

“Well, I guess we can think about that when the time comes?”

Even though he said that – he probably had something in mind.

Terra was a woman who had a cool-headed understanding of her own position.

Although he was the national strategist, in our military, the most intelligent was the monarch, Hesna.

“What are you going to do now?”

“Since the weapon is not prepared, we have to just clash.”

Hesna said so, and licked my lips with her tongue.

“You are the girl that old-fashioned Orlando Brancus appointed as his successor, passing over his two older brothers. I hope you will entertain me. Hehe… … .”