The Test (2)
The moment the words left my mouth — returning is the correct answer — the room stirred as one.
Anyone could see that the Serpina Army held the overwhelming advantage. The Brans Army was limping along on its last legs, and the Asius Army, at least on the surface, looked like something we could eventually crush under sheer numbers. Well — if we ignored our own casualties and simply ground them down, it might even be possible. But it would take time. A great deal of time.
Advancing into the central continent was a long-cherished ambition for the Serpina Army. Most of the officers serving under her would hardly be eager to pull back their forces at what looked like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I understood the looks they were giving me. Understanding, of course, was not the same as accepting them.
The only person I needed to persuade was my lord — Serpina herself.
Having heard me out, she replied in the same dry, expressionless tone she used with every other officer.
"I would hear your reasoning."
"Successfully advancing into the central continent is certainly an encouraging development. However, I believe the repeated campaigns have left our soldiers considerably fatigued. Now is the time to invest effort into solidifying the borders of the territories we have already acquired."
"Soldiers are tired — is that the entirety of your argument?"
Of course not. If that were all, I would never have spoken up.
"If the gains from further invasion outweighed the costs, I would advise continuing without hesitation. But the only directions we can currently advance are two: toward the Brans Army, or toward the Asius Army. Through my earlier exchange with General Irian, I believe we have already established why we must target Gelstrom Castle rather than Lacline Castle — and why we cannot, in fact, take Gelstrom Castle."
"Is that so? I would prefer to hear the explanation from your own lips."
I had hoped to gloss over it, but Serpina pressed with stubborn insistence. Was this entire exchange a test? Well — the points had already been raised. A brief restatement would suffice.
"Capturing Lacline Castle would only stretch our front lines further, making Gelstrom Castle the more rational target. Yet from our army's present position, we have no reliable means of breaching Gelstrom Castle."
"Indeed. How kind of you to summarize it once more."
She said this with another faint smile. That smile of hers was difficult to pin down in a single word. It was not simple arrogance, nor the intoxication of power that let her move me as she pleased. It was something closer to quiet satisfaction — the look of someone confirming that things had unfolded exactly as she had expected.
Of every lord I had served, hers was by far the hardest face to read.
"And next, the Brans Army. That discussion, too, concluded that leaving them as they are is actually preferable. In which case, we must cleanly abandon any further expansion of our borders."
"Then I have one more question."
"What is it?"
"Could we not simply occupy those Brans territories that do not border other nations? Leaving the Brans Army incompletely subdued may plant the seeds of future trouble, would it not? Even if total conquest is impossible, do we not still have the capacity to seize one or two more holdings?"
I felt a twinge of apology toward Serpina, but there was not a shred of sincerity in her words. This was a test, pure and simple — she wanted to see how I would answer.
"No. Precisely to prevent the Brans Army from regrouping, we must not acquire any further territory."
"And the reason?"
"The Brans Army has nearly exhausted the young men available for additional conscription within their remaining lands. For the foreseeable future, raising large numbers of troops will be extremely difficult. If their territory is compressed any further under these conditions, it would more likely provide them a foothold for recovery."
"In other words — their current holdings already exceed what the Brans Army itself can properly manage, and so leaving them be is the rational course?"
"My lord already knows this, does she not?"
That had been the Serpina Army's policy from the start. You already know all of this, and you're still asking, I thought, bowing my head. Once again, a cold laugh slipped from her lips. Strangely, even though it was unmistakably a sneer, it did not grate on the nerves the way it should have. If Lin Brans had laughed in a similar fashion, I doubt I could have taken it nearly so well.
"Then let me summarize one final time. Swen. Your counsel is that ceasing all further invasion and returning to the capital at Aingart Castle is the most efficient course of action. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
That was as far as it went. Everything I had laid out was built on imagining what I myself would do in Serpina's place, calibrated to the present situation. I believed it was the right answer — but it was time to check the answer key.
Is ceasing the invasion and returning to the capital the most efficient method?
The moment I entered the question, the absolute correct answer appeared without the slightest hesitation.
[Yes.]
Whew.
I let out a quiet breath of relief. Part of it was the reassurance that my instincts had not gone dull — and part of it was the knowledge that if the result had come back wrong, I would have had no confidence whatsoever in persuading Serpina on the spot.
From my exchanges with Irian Al Kaski and the other officers, I had already discerned that Serpina was the type who could not be moved by counsel unless it came with precise, solid grounds. Telling a woman who refused to act without conviction, I've thought it over, and this is the answer, would never work.
Until Luna raised her army, I needed to get through this as uneventfully as possible. And the easiest path to that end was proving to Serpina that I was a useful man to keep around.
"I am certain of it."
"Oh? Certain, are you?"
"Yes. Certain. Even setting aside the reasons already given — when every factor is weighed together, I believe this is the only answer."
At the conviction in my voice, the corner of her mouth curved upward with what looked like genuine amusement. I could afford to sound certain. With a prediction of [Yes] behind me, what was there to fear? And if it happened to leave her with the impression that my words were always correct, so much the better.
In that moment, Serpina rose from the lord's seat and addressed the entire assembly.
"You have all heard, I trust? I understand your desire to continue fighting. But this is not the time. Seizing vast territory is not the sole measure of victory in war. For now, we must set battle aside and reorganize our ranks."
Then she turned to me, extending one pale hand. Absurdly, the way she lifted her arm and looked down at me made her seem like a goddess bestowing a blessing.
"Swen. You are the first to voice an opinion that aligns so perfectly with my own thoughts. I wish to thank you for speaking the words We ourselves ought to have said."
So Serpina had intended to withdraw the army from the very beginning. Given that my Intelligence of 100 had confirmed it was correct, it was safe to say her mind worked rather well. Then again — Serpina had always been a superhuman with uniformly high stats across the board, politics aside. I was beginning to understand why, even in the hands of a beginner player, she could achieve continental unification without much difficulty once the player grew familiar with the game — whatever the CPU version might have been like.
"And further."
Her gaze, which had been fixed on me, shifted abruptly toward the other officers.
"We are not the sort to dig into the pasts of those who offer Us sincere counsel in this moment."
"……!!"
And only then did I understand — why Serpina had gone out of her way to conduct this "test."
"You all know that the rightful sovereign of this nation — and indeed of this continent — is I, Serpina von Aingart, heir to the blood of Aingart. Our will is the will of the state. And in this very moment, We Ourselves declare that We shall not inquire into the past."
Everyone held their breath, listening in absolute silence. Not a single person dared speak; her presence alone held them down.
"Nor does this apply to Swen alone. Whoever among you stands here now — so long as you offer Us your full loyalty in this moment — We shall never cast you aside. Surely none among you are so foolish as to miss the meaning of these words?"
She had… been looking out for me, in her own way.
By deliberately pressing me for reasons before the entire assembly, she had preserved my standing — and by declaring that ability would render the past irrelevant, she had taken my side.
When all was said and done, I was a man who had already changed lords three times. The Lunarien period could be set aside, given that the nation itself had fallen — but I had still betrayed Lin. And though Yuuri had discarded me first, Irene had in turn betrayed her for my sake. In the eyes of outsiders who knew none of the details, the two of us would look like nothing more than faithless generals who switched sovereigns on a whim.
I had thought the odd looks directed at Irene and me were merely wariness toward new faces. Apparently not. And Serpina, sharp as she was, could hardly have failed to notice those stares.
At that moment, her golden eyes met mine. From a face so cold it barely shifted, I felt — absurdly — a warmth.
I understood.
— I will protect you and Irene.
That was what she was telling me now.
Haa.
I exhaled a short breath, and finally admitted it. From the perspective of a man who had rarely received proper treatment from any lord save Luna, every one of Serpina's gestures was dangerously compelling. I could no longer deny it.
"What lingers with me… Swen, is that gaze of yours. The way you look at me."
That gaze of yours lingers…
Even if every bit of this was calculated, my heart still wavered.
At this rate, I really need to keep my head straight.
The place I belonged was not at Serpina's side. It was at the side of Lunarien, who would one day reveal herself without fail. So long as I had made that promise to her — and so long as the predictions continued to hold — that fact would never change.
…It had to be that way.
By the time I had grown accustomed to life in the annex, Serpina paid me a rare visit.
"Welcome, my lord."
Serpina did not answer. She simply looked at me. Depending on the circumstances, such behavior might have felt like being ignored — yet somehow, it did not sour my mood. Perhaps that was part of her personal charm. Her Charm stat was extraordinarily high, after all.
"Make ready to depart."
"We leave today?"
"We do."
Ready to depart or not, I had scarcely any luggage to pack. The seven thousand nine hundred gold brought for diplomatic purposes, the carriage I had arrived in, and the minimal escort of soldiers had all returned to Valharat Castle with Anima.
"If I may ask — where am I to be sent?"
Serpina met my eyes directly and answered.
"You will accompany me to Aingart Castle."