Where the Compass Points

Anima had been captured.

In a situation where no one dared open their mouth, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yuuri kept her eyes closed, unable to utter a single word.

"……"

Please, don't make a reckless decision.

Anima hadn't been killed—she'd only been taken prisoner. Serpina was quick to weigh costs and benefits. She wouldn't simply execute a captive of Anima's value. As long as Yuuri didn't fly off the handle for no reason, some path forward would surely open up.

How much time passed like that?

She slowly opened her eyes.

Both pupils were trembling so violently that anyone could see it—the look of someone extremely unsettled, as if she simply could not understand how things had come to this.

After keeping everyone assembled for a long while without speaking a word, Yuuri finally turned her head toward Zinor and parted her tightly sealed lips.

"……Zinor, I'm sorry, but could you handle this for me?"

Rather than charging ahead in a rampage, she was entrusting it to her strategist first. If she couldn't properly control her own emotions, this was the best possible decision. So she hadn't risen to the position of sovereign among the five for nothing.

"Yes."

Zinor gave a light nod, then briefed us on the current situation in Yuuri's place.

"Lord Anima Ingram used her authority to launch an invasion of Hisphil Castle. That much is news you all already know. However—it did not go well, and she is currently being held by Serpina's army."

"Th-then… General Ernandof is…?"

"……"

Zinor answered the officer who had asked with a grave expression.

"He is currently resting and recovering."

"If he's resting and recovering…?"

"He sustained serious injuries."

Ernandof Arisian had been seriously wounded. At that news, the officers of the Asius Army who had long held their posts began to murmur among themselves.

"How could that be… How on earth did that happen?"

"Apparently he recklessly charged into the enemy ranks alone to save Miss Anima."

Just from hearing the account, I could naturally picture what had happened on the battlefield. Serpina's army, retreating with Anima as their prisoner. Ernandof, hearing she had been captured, charging alone into the enemy with his mace.

The bond among the five ran far deeper than that of ordinary officers who had merely mixed blood from a cut finger into wine and drunk it. Throwing one's life away to save another wasn't strange at all for them. Truly, the two of them were exposing the fatal weakness of that deep solidarity as if it had been drawn in a picture.

"I heard that if the reinforcements had arrived even a little later, it would have been a true disaster."

"Reinforcements…? Ah, you mean the force that marched out a few days ago?"

"Yes. Only the officers in charge were told the destination, so you wouldn't have known—but that force was dispatched toward Lacline Castle."

At those words, the murmuring around us rose again without pause. This time, though, it had a slightly different flavor.

"As expected of Lord Zinor…!"

"So Lord Zinor had already sent reinforcements in advance…!"

"……"

Hearing the officers' talk, Zinor kept his expression unchanged and casually glanced my way. I slowly nodded.

How the officers within the Asius Army judged ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me was none of my concern. Even if the plan I had conceived became Zinor's achievement, it didn't matter. I was leaving anyway.

"Wait a moment. Then, is Lacline Castle also…?"

"Did I not say we sent reinforcements? The castle was not taken either."

At that point, a female officer standing beside the man who had asked raised her hand.

"There are reports of an anomalous phenomenon detected at Hisphil Castle. Is that related to our army?"

"That, I do not know well myself. It appears something beyond our understanding occurred. Thanks to it, Serpina's army retreated, so it was fortunate for us."

A lie.

Zinor had roughly grasped everything that had happened. Of course he had—I had told him all of it. About how Reika's ability had been amplified, and so on—I had shared the information exactly as I had deduced it. There was no particular need to hide it from him.

He had said something like, So you anticipated it would turn out this way, but in any case, he had accepted it. Ever since the day I had made those strange remarks about seeing the future with the Mind's Eye, Zinor had shown tremendous trust in my words.

After the questions ended, a light explanation of the situation began. The allied force that had joined as reinforcements had somehow succeeded in rescuing Ernandof. There had been rather severe troop losses, but at least the castle had not been lost, and Serpina's army had taken Anima as a prisoner—a thoroughly simple account followed.

"That is the situation our army currently faces."

"……"

The royal castle fell quiet once more. Zinor glanced at Yuuri for a moment, then posed a question to all of us.

"If anyone has an opinion on what we should do going forward, speak freely."

At that moment, the sound of the castle doors opening reached us, followed by a woman's voice.

"I am late. My apologies."

A female knight clad in armor with a great deal of blue fabric strode toward us with firm steps. It was Emma.

"Emma…!"

"It seems you have only just arrived."

Yuuri and Zinor offered her light greetings. She had been staying at Gelstrom Castle with Epinel.

For reference, the battle at Gelstrom Castle had, as expected, ended in our victory according to my prediction. The prediction of we will win had never been about the battle at Hisphil Castle in the first place—it had been about the result of the Gelstrom Castle defense.

Had she rushed here upon hearing the news? As castle lord, Epinel would have much to do, so Emma coming was nothing strange.

"Yuuri. What the hell is going on?"

"That's…"

"Allow me to explain here."

Zinor briefly explained the current situation to Emma. Emma nodded, then voiced her own opinion.

"There appears to be only one thing we must do."

"And what is that?"

"Is it not obvious? We must go rescue Anima."

As expected, Emma put forward a hardline stance without a moment's hesitation.

"I believe not only our strategist but everyone gathered here will agree on how important the name Anima is to our Asius Army. Yuuri, you think so too, right?"

"Th… that is…"

"…What? That look on your face."

Emma approached the trembling Yuuri and began to shout at her as if scolding her.

"We don't even have time to issue orders right now—what are you doing?!"

"…!!"

"This is no time for you to be like this! Anima has been captured! Why aren't you ordering a rescue right this instant—what are you doing?!"

Unbelievable. No matter how deep the solidarity, for a mere general to do this to her sovereign—and in front of everyone watching?

"General Emma, what is the meaning of this! Observe proper etiquette!"

"……"

Only after hearing Zinor's words beside her did Emma bite her lip and fall silent. Even after witnessing that scene, the officers said nothing. It was Zinor who barely managed to settle the situation.

"General. This matter will absolutely not be overlooked. Once this council ends, General Emma's treatment will—"

"Zinor, I'm fine…"

In a thin voice, Yuuri spoke to the thoroughly agitated Zinor.

"I'm fine, so… for now… think about what we should do…"

"……"

And at that moment.

"I… have something I would like to say."

An unexpected voice came from beside me. The speaker was Irene.

"Speak, General Irene."

"For us to form an army and attack under the current circumstances carries a high probability of becoming extremely dangerous in the long term. With the existing forces at Lacline Castle reduced, launching an expedition first would not be a good choice, in my view."

At Irene's words, Emma spoke in an extremely heavy tone.

"General Irene, are you saying this, then? That fighting to save Anima is too dangerous, so we should stop?"

It was a voice sharp enough to cow anyone who heard it—but who was Irene? Was she not the woman who had endured the full range of Lin Brans's underhanded attacks, a woman second to none in dealing with the passive-aggressive?

Just as I expected, she showed not the slightest sign of being ruffled, responding with courtesy and unshaken composure.

"Lady Emma. I do not think that at all. Lady Anima is someone of the utmost importance to the Asius Army. I merely wish to say that fighting is not necessarily the only solution."

"If not fighting…?"

"Negotiation."

Irene's violet eyes gleamed as she spoke.

"If we can bring Lady Anima back with words, we need not shed blood."

"Negotiation…"

As I thought, Irene was an exceptionally capable woman. Whether in offering opinions or in her performance on the battlefield, my conviction that few officers matched her was growing stronger.

"But I cannot even begin to imagine what Serpina's army might demand…"

"Even so, my belief that it is a better method than war remains unchanged. I ask that you carefully consider this point, my lord."

Having finished speaking, Irene bowed her head toward where Yuuri stood. Yuuri could say nothing… she merely trembled from head to toe.

One of the five had merely become a prisoner, and she was shaken this badly.

So that's why she can never become the unifier.

Zinor approached such a Yuuri and asked.

"What will you do, my lord?"

"……"

"My lord. Recover your composure. Lady Anima is still alive. To save Lady Anima, it is not someone else but you, my lord, who must keep a clear head."

Hearing Zinor's words, Yuuri finally let out a long sigh and spoke.

"Everyone… I'm sorry. To Zinor, to Emma, and to all of you who gathered here… I think I've shown you a disheveled side of myself…"

When the sovereign says that, what can one say? We simply bowed our heads and waited for her words. She still looked restless, glancing about, but she addressed us in a voice that had somewhat steadied.

"First, those who think… we should go to war, raise your hands."

Including Emma, several officers raised their hands. But—clearly, their number was small. In truth, many officers could not help but agree that advocating war in this situation was reckless in itself.

Anyway—a question had come, so I had to do what I needed to do.

Is going to war the correct method?

An answer within the expected range. Then is it negotiation after all? I did wonder what to do if even negotiation wasn't right, but that concern did not last long.

"…Those who think we need to attempt negotiation?"

Is negotiating the correct method?

The answer came immediately. In fact, even before facing them head-on, it had come back as direct negotiation is the most efficient, so I had already thought negotiation would be right.

…The moment I thought that.

Huh?

My prediction, which always came out instantaneously, flowed out a single tempo late—ever so slightly.

…What?

What did it say? Surprised that the answer differed slightly from before, I entered the question once more.

Is negotiating the correct method?

Negotiation is correct, but it depends on the will of Heaven…

The compass was once again pointing in an exceedingly mysterious direction. What on earth did that mean?

It depends on the will of Heaven did not mean that Heaven itself truly decided—it meant it lay in an unpredictable domain. In other words, it would change depending on how I acted.

So I could decide the success or failure of this negotiation myself?

…How??

How could I, of all people, set the weight that decides the negotiation? I was neither a sovereign nor someone with anything to my name—just a mere officer. It wasn't even dependent on Serpina's army, the other party to the negotiation—it depended on an ordinary officer like me. No matter how I thought about it, I could not understand.

Wait.

Come to think of it, wasn't the previous prediction similar to this one? It had said [Negotiate in person yourself], so that time too had been essentially the same as sending me. But why hadn't it depends on the will of Heaven come up then?

What the hell is there that keeps making it try to send me in person?

At this point, I almost wanted to go negotiate myself out of sheer stubbornness.

Separate from my being lost in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought—the discussion continued, and at last Yuuri spoke in a voice that seemed to have made a major decision.

"…Emma. I'm sorry, but I'll follow the majority opinion here. I understand you're frustrated… but I also don't think starting a war recklessly is the right call… And I believe Anima would think the same."

"……"

Emma looked a little dissatisfied—but then nodded.

"You're the sovereign, Yuuri. As long as we can save Anima, any method is fine with me."

"…Thank you for understanding."

A sovereign seeking understanding from her vassal. Ordinarily I would have found the irony amusing, but right now there was no room in my head for such meaningless scenes.

"In that case, we'll proceed with negotiation. As for the envoy… Lutz, are you there?"

"Yes, please speak!"

At the name Lutz, a man answered in a loud voice.

"I'd like you to take this on… what do you say?"

"If you give the order, of course I must obey, must I not? I will ensure Lady Anima is brought back safely from Serpina's army."

"Good. As for the terms… what would be good… Zinor, what do you think?"

"The most straightforward would be money. Considering our current surplus funds, we should be able to pay up to 7,900 gold."

"7,900? Will that really be enough? Serpina's army isn't exactly suffering a financial crisis."

"The more funds one holds, the better. It is also a large sum relative to a request to release a prisoner. From Serpina's perspective as well, it will be a difficult condition to refuse."

At the very moment the discussion was proceeding in front of me, I suddenly raised my hand.

"Excuse me, may I say a word?"

"?"

"Swen?"

In that instant, not only Yuuri and Zinor but everyone's gazes began to fix on me. But… now that it had been said that the result of this negotiation depended on the will of Heaven, I could not remain silent.

"Regarding the envoy who will undertake the negotiation."

"Is there some problem?"

At Yuuri's words, I nodded and spoke.

"Instead of the person just nominated—may I go as the envoy myself?"

—I said.