You'll Dream the Same Dream
"Look at it flutter so freely."
Chel, at the head of the vanguard, spoke as he watched the pure white flag snap in the wind.
"What do you make of it?"
Irene, standing beside him, answered.
"We'll only know once we step inside the castle... but I can't shake the feeling they have some other scheme in mind."
As she spoke, she recalled the face of Lunarien from the last time she had come to this place.
Those vividly gleaming ruby eyes.
The bold spirit and ambition utterly unbefitting the ruler of a minor nation—the woman who had declared, without a shred of hesitation, that she could never entrust the world to Serpina, let alone to Lin.
Irene had faced a great many people on the battlefield. Some had died by her hand; others had nearly taken her life. Yet those who carried an overwhelming presence capable of crushing others simply by existing were vanishingly rare.
In recent days, it was no exaggeration to say Lunarien was the only one.
And a person like that was throwing open the gates and declaring surrender?
No matter how she turned it over in her mind, this did not feel like someone who would fold so anticlimactically.
"Hmm..."
Just then, a soldier came sprinting from the rear.
"A message from our lord! The vanguard is ordered to enter the castle gates at once! However, she cautions that there may be some manner of trap, so proceed with care!"
"A trap?"
Chel stroked his chin.
"Well... I wonder if our lord is fretting overmuch. What could a minor nation possibly manage?"
"But Lord Kalintz was actually ambushed before."
"That's the difference between eight thousand and eighty thousand. In raw numbers it's tenfold, but when you factor in instantaneous destructive power, the gap leaps far beyond that. The situation then and the situation now are not the same."
Irene simply nodded without offering a reply. He was a man as proud and arrogant as he was skilled. Even if she added anything further, he clearly would not listen.
"Still, we can hardly disobey our lord's command."
Chel said it with a snicker, then raised his voice so that it carried.
"Listen well, all of you! From this moment we enter the interior of Jeiland Castle! Siege engines, remain on standby outside! There may be traps—every one of you is to move with caution!"
And so eighty thousand soldiers filed into the castle whose gates stood wide open.
"My lord. The search is complete."
Inside the territory of Jeiland Castle, Irene delivered her report. Lin tilted her head in reply.
"And the result?"
"......Nothing. We found not a single thing that looked like a trap."
"Did you check the royal palace?"
"We have not investigated it yet, but there are no guards in sight. It appears empty. They must have fled."
"Fled where? These people have nowhere left to go, do they?"
"That much I cannot say..."
"Well, they abandoned their country to save their own skins, didn't they? She's only the lord of a minor nation, after all."
At Parfalle's words, Lin rested her chin on her hand and thought.
Is that really what happened?
It made no sense.
Someone who kept a man of Swen's caliber at her side, fleeing so weakly?
Without preparing a single thing?
Even the leader of a minor nation did not raise an army and become its head by accident. No matter how she turned it over, the situation itself felt unnatural.
Something's off...
"Um, my lord. May I offer a suggestion?"
At Irene's words, Lin answered with open irritation.
"......What is it?"
"Would you consider forming a pursuit unit?"
"Pursuit?"
"Yes. Leaving Lunarien alive as she is... it bothers me somewhat."
Lunarien herself was of no real concern. If Swen were not here, forming a pursuit unit would be the correct move. Divide the eighty thousand carefully and comb every route without gaps, and the fleeing Lunarien forces would not be hard to find.
Just then, a soldier came racing toward them in a panic.
"My lord! There is someone in the royal palace!"
"What?"
Lin turned on the soldier.
"Who?"
"A young man with white hair. He introduced himself as someone formerly of the Lunarien army. He was found tied up behind a chair in the royal palace."
Swen!
Color flooded Lin's face the instant she heard it.
He stayed behind!
Her joy lasted only a moment. Parfalle, standing beside her, propped her chin on her hand.
"They left a retainer behind while fleeing? A difficult decision to understand."
Lin nodded.
"I feel the same... but we can simply go ask him ourselves. We came to fetch him, after all♡"
She looked at the soldier and gave the order.
"I will go to the royal palace at once. Make ready."
"Yes! At once."
Lin slowly dismounted. Irene caught her arm.
"My lord—about forming pursuit troops..."
"No. No need. The prey is right here."
"But there is only that one man in the royal palace, is there not? That means Lunarien is still fleeing. It would be best to pursue and take her. If you entrust me with even a minimal force, I will overtake her as swiftly as possible and—"
"Hey."
Lin cut her off roughly.
"Why have you been telling me what to do since earlier? I said there is no need to pursue. Planning to disobey me? Bored because you didn't get blood on your blade today? Want me to stain it with yours instead?"
"......No. I apologize."
Irene bowed her head.
In her judgment, letting Lunarien slip away like this would become a grave threat to the Brans army later. She could not believe someone of that caliber would simply abandon her country and vanish into quiet hiding.
But her lord was Lin Brans, and as Lin's retainer she was bound to obey.
"Good. If you understand, then keep quiet for a while."
Lin turned and strode toward the royal palace of Jeiland Castle. Parfalle, following, glanced at the bowed Irene with a look of quiet sympathy.
"I understand General Irene's concerns, yet wasting forces to chase a fleeing lord of a minor nation is not sound. Once our lord's objective has been achieved, the gathered troops must be redistributed to the front lines without delay. Even with an agreement in place, leaving the lines empty is dangerous. So please do not take it too much to heart."
Parfalle seemed to be offering comfort in her own way. Sensing the intent, Irene nodded.
"It is fine. As a general of the Brans army, I merely follow my lord's orders. Thank you for your concern."
"......"
Parfalle gave a slight nod and walked after Lin. Irene let out a short breath and followed them at a measured pace.
This was the royal palace of Zeiland.
Until mere moments ago it had been the base, capital, and main keep of the Lunarien army—a place of constant work. Now it had fallen into enemy hands in the space of a breath.
And I was kneeling, bound by rope to a pillar near Luna's chair where I had been sitting.
Before my eyes stood the woman I had once greeted as an envoy.
The blue-haired lord Lin Brans looked down at me with an expression of pure, unfiltered satisfaction.
"Hello, Swen♡ How have you been? It's really been ages. How many months has it been for us?"
"......"
I gave no answer. She did not wait for one and simply continued.
"So—what exactly is this situation? Won't you explain it to me?"
Here we go.
I kept my face as impassive as I could.
"Our lord... no, the former lord Lunarien bound me here, then led the troops out and escaped the castle."
"Is that so? Then why didn't she take you with her? Don't tell me that Lunarien girl has a fetish for tying handsome boys like you up in places like this? Ahaha♡"
I ignored the light jab and answered in a serious tone.
"I do not know the reason. However... Lunarien suspected that I had been colluding with Lady Lin Brans."
"Colluding?"
"Yes. I have no idea why she thought so, but..."
"Hmmm."
She looked down at me in silence. Regardless, I had to say what needed saying.
"Since things have come to this, I intend to place myself under Lady Lin Brans. I will lend you my strength."
"Is that so?"
Lin spoke—then the bright smile vanished from her face in an instant, replaced by a cold tone.
"I don't need you, though. What now?"
"Is that so?"
Do not panic.
She needs me. My prediction already proved it. I do not know why she is saying this, but she cannot possibly possess the power to rewrite a future already fixed.
"Yeah. How am I supposed to believe a word you say? For all I know, Lunarien planted you here as a spy. Don't you think? Leaving only you behind while carting off every soldier and every coin of gold—doesn't the whole setup feel a little too staged? Ah."
She hooked a smile back onto her lips and spoke in a teasing lilt.
"Don't tell me this is your scheme, Swen? You realized I came to fetch you, so you decided to sacrifice yourself to save your lord or something like that? If that's the answer, what tremendous loyalty. Right?"
Surprisingly sharp.
As expected of someone who had climbed to the seat of a named lord—she was no ordinary person.
Still, I could not afford to look flustered here.
"If that is how it appears to you, I have nothing further to say. But I have not spoken any falsehood."
"Of course you haven't. Fufu...♡"
"And if you truly have no need of me, then there is nothing to be done. Still, I will beg for mercy. If you simply spare my life, living quietly as a farmer would be more than enough."
"What?"
She echoed the word, then burst into peals of laughter as if she had heard the funniest thing in the world. The sound rang through the empty palace.
"You're not sulking, are you? Fine. The part about not needing you was a lie. I dragged this much force all the way to this tiny, shabby castle—it'd be pretty stupid not to notice."
She walked over to where I was bound, crouched so that our eyes were level, and continued.
"Listen, Swen. You know what? Whether this is your scheme or something else entirely, I don't care. I want to make you mine. And there aren't many people I've wanted this badly, you know? And—"
Just as she had once before, she lifted my chin lightly with her pale hand.
"I'm confident I can have you. The scenery I show you will be faaar more splendid than the boring view a girl like Lunarien could ever offer. I guarantee you'll like it a great deal. You'll soon come to dream the same dream as me, Swen...♡"
The same dream, is it.
I closed the mouth that had been about to say, Sorry, but my dream is to serve under the lord who unifies the continent.
Whether Lin truly did not know what I was thinking, or knew and simply possessed that much confidence, she smiled and asked,
"So—won't you work under me?"
What was left to hesitate over?
My answer had already been decided.
"I will."
"Wonderful♡ Just wait a moment!"
She came right up to me, spread both hands, and began untying the ropes. Her face and body pressed close; the same perfume I had smelled when I first met her as an envoy stabbed sharply into my nose.
The ropes fell away.
Free once more, I took the hand she held out to me.
"From this day forward, I will work for Lady Lin."
"Yeah! Looking forward to it. Fufufu♡"
After the Lunarien army—a minor nation that had possessed only a single territory—was destroyed, I officially became a member of the Brans army.
In a way, I had achieved the very first goal I set when I possessed this world.