The Wager (2)
Serpina watched Swen leave, saying he would go and settle things, then sank into her chair and into thought.
Yes.
That man's name is Swen.
And I know him.
To say she "knew" him naturally included the fact that he was the man she had met in her dreams—yet the truth she recognized deep in her heart went a step further still.
Did I know Swen from the beginning?
She had no idea why the thought came to her.
Which meant, for now, she simply had to keep him close.
That was the conclusion Serpina reached.
In truth—even setting aside the matter of the man from her dreams and looking at it purely in terms of practical gain—bringing this white-haired young man into her service would be quite advantageous for her as well.
For one thing, he was a being even Jena, the State Strategist currently governing the capital in her place, had acknowledged as "possibly a Mage."
Between what had happened at the northern fortress and the incident at Hisphil Castle only days ago, the odds that he was a genuine Mage were extremely high.
Having such a man under her command would clearly be worth more than a single castle.
One way or another, Serpina found herself thinking that she wanted him—wanted Swen.
And until now, she had never once failed to claim something she had decided she wanted.
If I win this wager, you will serve me… is it?
Looking back on it now, even those words carried a certain weight.
He had spoken of an opportunity to choose a lord worth serving and the like—but Serpina had encountered more than a few of his type while pacifying the northern continent.
Most of them were men whose loyalty to the lords they currently served was not particularly deep.
In other words, he could make a proposal like that precisely because he did not serve Yuuri with any great devotion.
A general of true loyalty would have gone to the dungeon before ever staking a contest against her.
That was not a fault. Serpina had no intention of scolding him for it, or anything of the sort.
In this chaotic age, the real eccentrics were the ones who stubbornly insisted on serving only a single person.
The Brans Army, the Asius Army—in the end they were nothing more than warlord factions without deep roots, and Serpina herself knew perfectly well that offering true loyalty to the head of such a faction was the stuff of fairy tales.
That was why what she put forward was not legitimacy, but the treatment of her retainers.
If a subordinate was a being who could change lords at any time, then her policy was to ensure they never felt the need to do so.
And it was precisely at that point that a new question rose in her mind.
He was definitely in the Brans Army once.
For some reason he had left the Brans Army for the Asius Army, and now he was changing nations yet again.
If his goal was to serve a "truly powerful lord," he could simply have come to her army from the start.
Which meant… perhaps his goal was something that, as of now, did not yet exist.
How interesting.
Serpina's lips curved faintly at one corner.
"There is no reason not to serve Lady Serpina" also meant there was no reason he absolutely had to serve her, either.
She found herself curious about the true intentions of a man who could say such a thing and then, with perfect nonchalance, declare that he would serve her.
If she were to lump together every person she had ever faced, they fell into three types.
First: those who flinched in fear of her background.
Second: those who openly displayed hostility toward her background.
And third: those crushed by her background who swore their loyalty to her face without hesitation.
And Swen, by some coincidence, belonged to none of them.
This is the man who shook me in my dreams. He can hardly be ordinary.
Now the choice belonged to Yuuri.
If she herself were Yuuri, no matter how important a general Anima might be, she would never have handed Swen over.
Setting aside her relationship with him—if the people serving under her saw her sacrifice one general for the sake of another, they would inevitably be deeply shaken.
Yuuri Asius was not so foolish a woman as that. She would make the sensible decision.
In that case, she would free Swen for the time being.
But—as she had just been thinking—she had never once let slip anything she had decided she wanted.
Even if you leave my side for a while, you will soon find yourself back in my hands. Swen.
With that thought, she let out a soft little laugh. Kuhuhu.
Had Swen known the truth, there was one fact even he could never have denied.
Just now, he had missed the chance to see her looking her most alluring and beautiful.
"Guh!"
Five soldiers went down.
Showing not the slightest sign of strain, Irene looked at the soldiers of Serpina's army who were glaring at her and spoke.
"If any of you still feel like trying, you're welcome to come at me."
"General Randolph went down? That's impossible…!"
"Damn it… How is a bodyguard this strong?!"
The soldiers could not hide their shock as they stared at the last man to fall. Judging by the honorifics they used for him, he was no ordinary soldier but a general drawing a salary under Serpina's army.
She had no idea why they had suddenly attacked—but if things on this side looked like this, Swen was surely in a difficult position as well.
Which meant she could not lower her sword for even a moment.
She needed to get inside the royal castle where he was as quickly as possible.
Irene put force into her voice and called out loudly.
"I'll give you serious advice—if you want to bring me down, you'd best bring more soldiers. At this rate, you're the only ones who'll end up badly hurt."
"What…?"
"If you let me into the castle even now, I'll specially overlook the rudeness so far. I hope you'll make a wise decision."
From behind the soldiers who were eyeing one another uncertainly, a man's shout rang out.
"What are you doing? Did our lord not give the order?! Seize them!"
"B-but we don't have the numbers like this!"
"Reinforcements are on the way right now! Why aren't you forming ranks already?!"
Watching Serpina's soldiers flounder in the sudden chaos, Irene let out a quiet sigh.
"…So you insist on shedding more blood."
She had already issued a firm warning, and she had no intention of giving up here—but the problem was Reika, still hiding behind her.
Irene herself made her living on life-or-death battlefields, but Reika was simply the daughter of the Nighthart house who followed Swen so faithfully.
Since marriage talks with Swen were already underway, the things Irene had to protect naturally included not only Swen but Reika as well.
Just then—
"Um… Lady Irene…"
"I'll hear whatever it is later. Don't move. It's dangerous."
"It's, um… I…"
"…?"
Hwaa.
Reika took a short breath, then spoke with an expression that looked as if she had steeled herself for something.
"Um… I'm grateful you're worrying about me, b-but… I absolutely won't just hold you back, Lady Irene, so it's okay."
"…?"
"So… could you move a little to the side… please?"
What?
If she stepped aside, Reika would only become an easier target for the soldiers.
But the voice saying it was far too earnest.
"Are you serious?"
"In a situation like this… I don't lie."
Did she have some way of breaking this deadlock?
Irene carefully, just barely, shifted to the side and opened Reika's line of sight.
And then—
"…!!"
A sight she could scarcely believe even as she watched it unfolded before her.
Serpina's soldiers still seemed not to have noticed…
But from Reika's hand, a red sphere that looked as if it were blazing into life began to take shape.
Th-that's…!
"Everyone, charge!"
Reinforcements must have joined them at just that moment—they began to rush toward Irene and Reika.
There were quite a few of them. Was this really going to be all right?
"Hyaaah…!"
The very instant Reika's voice rose from behind her—
"Everyone, it would be best if you stopped there."
A man's voice she knew well reached Irene's ears.
"Swen…!"
"Ah, S-Swen…!"
Fortunately, every soldier's gaze locked onto me at my words.
I did not waste the opening and finished delivering my intent.
"This is Lady Serpina's order. Please do not attempt to seize us any further."
"What? How are we supposed to believe—"
Just as the man who seemed to be the soldiers' representative was about to snap at me—
"That man is correct."
From behind me stepped a tall, handsome man with black hair that stood in rather stark contrast to my own.
"Lord Irian…!"
So that man's name was Irian.
I had run into him by chance on my way out of the castle. Thinking the soldiers would never listen to me alone, I had explained the situation and asked him to help—and he had readily agreed. I simply had never thought to ask his name.
The man offered Irian a salute. Irian returned it lightly, then raised his voice toward the soldiers.
"The order to seize the envoys of the Asius Army has been revoked! This is our lord's will! Everyone, return to your posts!"
At Irian's words, the situation was brought under control with remarkable speed.
In the end, every soldier who had been surrounding Irene and Reika withdrew.
"There are injured among them."
"I would like it known that it was self-defense."
At Irene's words, Irian nodded calmly.
"I roughly understand. Don't worry."
I stepped toward him.
"Thank you for your help."
"It's nothing. Excuse me."
And so, with Irian taking charge of the wounded soldiers, the situation somehow came to a close.
Only then was I able to return to Irene and Reika's side.
"Swen, what happened? Are you all right?"
"Swen…!"
Both of them looked so openly worried about me that I almost felt apologetic.
"I'm fine. I made it back safely, at any rate. …Of course, we won't be able to return to Valharat Castle for a while."
"What…? Can't return… what do you mean…?"
At Reika's question, I explained everything that had happened so far to the two of them.
"I see. So you were nearly seized and thrown into the dungeon. That is why they attacked us as well."
"A d-dungeon…! But Swen, you only came as an envoy…"
"It's none other than Serpina von Aingart. The rumors we heard seem to have been roughly accurate."
I gave a slight shake of my head at Irene's words.
"I don't think that's entirely the case."
"Why do you think so?"
"I'm not sure of the details, but well—she accepted the proposal I made, didn't she?"
Irene muttered, "Is that so," and accepted it at once.
Lately I had begun to feel that she would believe me even if I claimed beans made soybean paste.
"Anyway, I'm sorry. Both of you got caught up in this because of me."
"No, Swen. You have nothing to apologize for. Rather, I'm glad I was able to follow. If I had been separated from you and wasted time without knowing anything, it would have been terribly lonely."
"I-I'm fine too…! I came prepared… I talked everything over with Father, so he probably… will understand."
After saying that was a relief—
I looked back toward the royal castle.
There was nothing more I could do now.
Like it or not, the outcome of this contest would be decided not by me or Serpina, but by Yuuri.
All that remained was to wait for it.
A rest for a while, then.
I was already thoroughly used to waiting.
Back then, before Luna recommended me, hadn't I spent day after day killing time with nothing of meaning to do?
Taking Irene and Reika with me as I set out once more toward the castle, I cast a question that would never reach its destination into the wind.
Lady Yuuri.
What choice do you intend to make?