Commissioned as Strategist of the Lunarien Army
Wait.
Stay calm.
I turned her question over in my mind once more—
Is it true that I, Lunarien Iniang, cannot unify this world?
No matter how many times I asked, the conclusion never changed.
If it doesn't mean she can't… wait a second.
Not being unable to do something meant, in other words, that she could.
Which meant… the sovereign destined to unify the continent was none other than Lunarien Iniang?
Oblivious to the fact that I was spiraling into a kind of panic, she wiped her tears, then bowed her head again and again in apology.
"I'm so sorry… I've shown you such an unsightly side of myself… I won't trouble you any further, Sir Swen. But… may I ask one last question…?"
"…Go ahead."
I kept my tone as even as I could manage. Even so, I could feel it—caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, I was trembling, just a little, without meaning to.
Fortunately, Luna didn't seem to notice. She looked at me with the utmost seriousness.
"Could you tell me… who comes closest to being a sovereign capable of unification?"
"A sovereign capable of unification, you say?"
"Yes."
She nodded, her eyes resolute. Even after hearing such harsh words from me, she clearly had no intention of abandoning her dream of unification. Then again, if a little "you can't do it" was enough to make her quit, she never would have raised an army in the first place.
"As you said, Sir Swen, I may not have what it takes to become a unifying sovereign. But even so, I cannot turn away from the suffering of people in pain. So please—lend me your wisdom. In your judgment, what kind of sovereign should I set as my goal and strive toward?"
"What kind of sovereign…"
Her words barely registered. All I was doing was repeatedly asking myself the same question: Can Lunarien Iniang achieve unification?
The answer was the same every time.
And then—
Wait.
What kind of sovereign would be best, she asked?
This… might actually be a question I could use.
"Lady Luna. Before I answer your question, may I say a few words?"
"Hm? Ah… y-yes, of course."
She answered with cold sweat beading on her brow. She was putting on a resolute front, but she had to be extremely tense. Being rejected after a scouting offer—and after hearing such cutting words—would have taken a toll on anyone's nerves. And yet… she was doing everything she could to hide it, trying to extract whatever useful information she could from me.
It was something I never could have known from the game alone: that a woman named Lunarien Iniang was this steadfast.
But that didn't matter right now. Right now, I needed to receive questions.
"I imagine several leaders come to mind when you think of those who show promise as ideal unifying sovereigns. There are already people making names for themselves in this age of chaos, after all."
"…Yes."
"What kind of leader would be suitable… Would you tell me which ones come to mind?"
The blind spot of my ability. I could only make predictions when someone else asked me a question. I was certain my Intelligence was 100. But even so—I found it hard to fully trust a brain that kept concluding, of all people, that Lunarien Iniang would unify the world.
So what then?
I had no choice but to verify it.
Fortunately, Luna seemed to understand. She nodded several times, then sank into thought before carefully posing a question.
"…The leader of the Brans Army, Lin Brans… Could she be the one capable of unifying the world?"
Question received.
Can Lin Brans unify the world?
The answer came easily.
She cannot unify it.
"…Lin Brans is certainly talented, but she has a streak of indecision at critical moments. On top of that, her inferiority complex toward her older brothers is a flaw. I can't guarantee she would be able to achieve unification."
I tacked on a reasonably plausible explanation. All I could predict was yes or no. As for why something would or wouldn't come to pass—I had no way of knowing.
Luna nodded at my words, then spoke again.
"…Then what of Baranga Yuuri Asius, who commands the trust of so many? Could she unify the world?"
Can Baranga Yuuri Asius unify the world?
Conclusion: she cannot.
"She has exceptional leadership that draws many people to her side, but her foundation is weak, and fortune tends not to favor her at decisive moments. It would be difficult."
"Then… does that mean the tyrant Serpina von Aingart, who currently holds the greatest power… will ultimately devour this entire continent…?"
Luna's expression twisted as she named the final leader.
The Tyrant Serpina.
The legitimacy of being a survivor of the fallen, once-unified Aingard Empire's imperial family; an outstanding pool of talent; territories so vast they bordered on cheating; and abilities so exceptional they were almost absurd. Setting aside her oppressive rule, she was, in truth, the one closest to unification.
Even in the game, if you left everything to the CPU and ran about ten simulations, she would unify the continent six or seven times out of ten. The remaining two would go to the Brans Army.
But the epithet "Tyrant" hadn't been attached to her for nothing. She was extremely warlike and showed no mercy to her enemies. She maintained no particularly close relationships even with those nearest to her—and so, when you played as her, there were no personal events outside of warfare at all.
Choose Lin Brans and you got events with her brothers; choose Baranga Yuuri Asius and you got simple camaraderie events with her subordinates. Nearly every named sovereign had at least one or two minor personal events. She was the only one among them who had none.
Of course.
In a way, she was also the reason I had been dragged into this world. After all, she had gone out of her way to reject me—despite my Intelligence of 99—and then cut off my head.
Looking at Luna's horrified expression, it seemed she hated Serpina. Thinking about it, that wasn't hard to figure out. She had said she became a leader because she couldn't bear to watch everyone suffer, that she wanted to bring peace to this world.
Serpina was a woman who would unify this continent in blood. Truly countless people would die wretched deaths. And even after unification, given her nature of trusting no one, a bloody purge would inevitably follow—plunging the land into decades more of chaos. Luna's reaction was entirely understandable.
I slowly repeated the question she had given me, turning it over once more in my own mind.
Can Serpina von Aingart unify this world?
My brain, with its Intelligence of 100, delivered a crystal-clear conclusion at remarkable speed.
"…"
This time, even I was at a loss for words. With the other sovereigns, I had at least been able to invent plausible reasons. But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find a single convincing reason why Serpina would fail to unify the continent.
The biggest reason she wouldn't achieve unification was, in fact, the player. Without player intervention, she was a force that almost never fell.
Unable to come up with a suitably convincing sentence, I simply failed to answer—and Luna, it seemed, took my silence as affirmation. Her face darkened in an instant.
"I… see. So in the end… only by becoming a sovereign like Serpina can one finally complete the unification of this continent…"
Then her body began to tremble—until, as if steeling herself for something, she drew a deep breath. She looked at me with those two ruby-red eyes of hers and spoke.
"…Sir Swen. Thank you truly for sharing your invaluable insight with me today."
For the briefest of moments, a terribly sad expression crossed her face—fragile enough that it seemed it might shatter at a touch. Then she forced a gentle curve onto her lips, managing a pitiable smile.
"As you said, Sir Swen, I may be inadequate to become a unifying sovereign. But when I think of the people who will tremble in fear under the tyranny of Serpina's army… I cannot simply sit here and give up. And yet I cannot become someone like Serpina, either. I… intend to walk a path of my own."
Lunarien Iniang.
In the game, she had been little more than a character summarized as "If you want a late-bloomer concept, go for it." The ideals she held, the convictions she carried, the voice trembling before me as though she might collapse at any moment… all of it was beyond anything I had known.
And my brain, with its Intelligence of 100, continued to insist—fiercely, at least in this moment—that she alone was the sovereign who could unify this world.
"Well then. I've imposed on you five times already, up through today. I only hope you remain in good health."
As she rose from her seat to leave, I—
"Wait!"
—caught her without thinking.
"…?!"
Luna stared at my face in blank astonishment, as though the possibility of me stopping her had never even crossed her mind.
I…
Why had I been trying to join the Brans Army?
Because I wanted to survive. With a force like the Brans Army, I figured I could get by without much trouble. There was no guarantee unification would even happen in my lifetime, so my honest wish had simply been to bury myself in the countryside and live out my days in quiet leisure for as long as I was alive.
But—
If unification was achieved, I would be able to escape this age of chaos and return to my original world.
In that case?
Wasn't the correct answer to serve under Luna—the sovereign who would achieve unification?
Moreover, achieving unification also meant never being destroyed. In a way, it even satisfied the condition of safety.
Of course, the Lunarien Army achieving unification didn't automatically mean I, serving under the Lunarien Army, would never die—but as long as I didn't throw myself into mortal danger, the odds of my life being at risk were low.
With a sovereign of Lunarien Iniang's caliber, I was confident I could mold her however I pleased as her strategist. She seemed like the type who would listen to most of what I said, too.
And decisively—my Intelligence was 100. I simply wouldn't fight any battle I was going to lose.
So—
"You are prepared to become a unifying sovereign, are you not?"
"Y-yes…? …I am, but…"
"To make use of me means, in other words, that you place your trust in me. Can you promise me your absolute trust?"
"That means… don't tell me…!"
Realizing at last why I had stopped her, she stared at my face with her eyes gone wide, the whites showing all around.
Yes.
For me, the most advantageous position was clearly at the side of a unifying sovereign. And if Lunarien Iniang was the woman who would become that sovereign—
"I will join the Lunarien Army."
There was no reason not to serve her.