Encounter: Serpina's Army (3)
When I arrived at the royal castle, the generals remaining at Valharat Castle — Irene among them — were gathering one after another.
I exchanged a light nod of greeting with her, then found a suitable place to wait as the officers assembled.
Before long, once Yuuri confirmed that everyone expected had arrived, she spoke from the throne in a grave tone.
"Sorry for calling you all in so suddenly while you were on duty. You've probably heard the news on the way, so I'll skip the formalities and get straight to the point."
Yuuri closed her eyes once, then opened them slowly as she continued.
"Serpina's army has invaded Gelstrom Castle with roughly seventy thousand troops."
Gelstrom — that was the former capital of the Charam Army, located north of Valharat. Currently, Epinel was holding it as its lord.
From Yuuri's rough explanation, Gelstrom Castle currently fielded about fifty-three thousand soldiers. Here at Valharat there were sixty thousand, and Lacline Castle held roughly sixty-nine thousand.
"That's the situation. Let me share my thoughts first. Losing Gelstrom Castle would put us in a difficult position in a number of ways. It's territory we worked hard to expand, so honestly, I want to hold onto it. I'm thinking of sending reinforcements to fight them off — what do you all think?"
Hearing this, Zinor bowed his head and spoke.
"We could hold them off, but what comes after concerns me."
"What comes after?"
"While our forces are drawn away to provide support, Serpina's army may immediately advance additional troops toward us here."
"Well, wouldn't that be fine? They can't attack three castles at once, can they?"
"That is true, but… if we keep bleeding soldiers that way, I fear we will ultimately find ourselves at a severe disadvantage."
"So, Zinor. What's your opinion?"
"Abandoning Gelstrom Castle is one option."
"Abandon it…"
While Yuuri lowered her head slightly in thought, Zinor laid out his full reasoning.
"Serpina's army is a great power. Maintaining three fronts against them would be a considerable strain on our forces. Our soldiers don't spring up endlessly like water from a fountain. Concentrating our well-trained troops at Valharat Castle here and at Lacline Castle — our forward base — so that Serpina's army cannot invade freely would be the correct approach, in my judgment."
"But is that really okay? We're still handing over a castle either way, aren't we?"
"If we must surrender a castle, it is better for us to give up Gelstrom, which sits off to the north and is difficult to defend, rather than Lacline Castle, which occupies a critical position."
"And after that? We can't just sit on the defensive after handing over a castle, can we?"
"I would suggest forming a temporary alliance with the Hesna Army in the south."
"An alliance?"
"Indeed. If not Hesna, then even the Roland Army would do. They, too, face the calamity that is Serpina's army, no differently from us. Fortunately, our forces will not seem particularly threatening from their perspective. If we forge an alliance and establish a defensive line, even Serpina's army will not be able to treat us lightly. It would be even better if the Brans Army moved as well during that time."
No matter how powerful Serpina's army was, if every nation ganged up on them across every front, they would clearly find themselves in serious trouble.
In that sense, Zinor's proposal was quite possibly the optimal course of action available to us right now.
Indeed, if I were Yuuri, I would have done exactly as Zinor said — safely extract the troops, generals, and supplies from Gelstrom Castle, then strengthen the defensive forces centered on Valharat and Lacline, which bordered the enemy.
Simply redistributing Gelstrom's fifty-odd thousand troops evenly between here and Lacline would create an extremely hard-to-breach defensive line of roughly eighty to ninety thousand soldiers per castle.
The territory would sting to lose in the short term, but looking long-term, that approach was far more efficient.
It might feel frustrating, but without playing it this way, a weak nation could never defeat a great power.
Hold out and hold out again, using every dirty, underhanded method available, waiting for the opportunity that would inevitably come.
That was the winning strategy — so Zinor's "abandon the castle" plan sat well with me too.
But then—
"Please wait a moment, my lord."
Someone to the side raised a hand.
I'd crossed paths with him a few times, but his face hadn't stuck in my mind.
"Glen, go ahead and explain carefully."
So his name was Glen.
The young brown-haired man called Glen appealed to Yuuri in a forceful tone.
"Retaking a castle once lost is extremely difficult. Broader territory means more subjects under our rule, and that directly translates into national power. For our Asius Army, which can ill afford to lose even a single castle, to simply abandon one without even fighting — I find that hard to accept, even coming from our strategist. And furthermore!"
Glen pounded his chest with his fist as he spoke.
"Who are we? We are the Asius Army, bound by blood beneath the red banner. The one currently defending Gelstrom Castle is none other than Lady Epinel Rosencross, the finest general in our Asius Army. Lady Emma is there assisting her. No matter how renowned the enemy generals may be, seizing Gelstrom Castle from Epinel and Emma with a mere force differential of that size will be no easy feat."
The difference with the besieging force was seventeen thousand — fifty thousand versus seventy thousand. From a defender's standpoint, the situation wasn't extremely disadvantageous.
Battles under these conditions typically turned on the skill of the generals and commanders, and as this man Glen claimed, Epinel and Emma were indeed SS-Class generals.
Certainly… it did feel like we might be able to win.
"As the strategist said, I won't deny the possibility that sending reinforcements could put the castles we draw from at risk. And I acknowledge that our forces are not infinite. But if I may be so bold — Serpina's army is not infinite either. Moreover, they are facing not only us but the Brans Army as well. So I believe it would be unwise to abandon the castle rashly."
"So you're saying we should send reinforcements?"
Glen shook his head at Yuuri's question.
"No. I don't think we even need to send reinforcements. Even without them, Lady Epinel, Lady Emma, and the strength of our Asius Army should be more than enough to hold. I earnestly request that we place our trust in Lady Epinel here and leave the decision to her."
"Hmm…"
Given Epinel's personality, she wasn't likely to flee — so if given the decision, she would probably dig in for a siege.
Leaving the contemplative Yuuri behind, I organized the two men's arguments in my own mind.
Zinor's proposal: pull the troops from the castle and strengthen our defensive line here. I thought this side was better too.
Glen's proposal: trust Castle Lord Epinel. If it were anyone else, maybe not — but with Epinel and even Emma there, it wasn't such a far-fetched claim.
Well.
That was just their opinions.
Now it was time to ask for my own "infallibly correct" opinion.
I could have just let it pass — but before starting the discussion, Yuuri had clearly said to us:
I'm thinking of sending reinforcements to fight them off — what do you think?
Since a question had been put to us, I could seek an answer.
I input that question into my mind as-is.
Is fighting Serpina's army head-on the right move?
The answer came out with absurd speed.
[You will win, at least.]
…Huh?
What?
We'll win, at least?
Given how outstanding Epinel and Emma were as generals, it seemed to mean we'd somehow manage a victory…
But then shouldn't it just say [You will win.]?
Why that result?
If it said "at least"… did that mean there was something more to it than simply winning?
"…Swen?"
No, think about it the other way.
When do we normally use expressions like "you'll do X, at least"?
When you'll do X… but that isn't everything…?
When the method… isn't particularly efficient…?
"Swen?"
Then someone lightly touched my waist.
"…Swen."
"…Ah."
It was Irene, standing beside me, who snapped me out of my confusion.
Coming back to my senses, I found Yuuri looking at me.
"Is something wrong? You don't look well."
"No… it's nothing. I was just lost in thought for a moment. My apologies."
"Swen, I asked what you think. I want your opinion too."
"Mine, my lord?"
"Yes. You're the one who spotted the ambush during the fortress battle, Swen. I'm curious about your thoughts. What do you think?"
"So… when you ask what I think, you mean regarding whether or not we should defend Gelstrom Castle?"
"That's right."
"…"
Since my mind had said "you'll win, at least," we would win — so there was no real need to abandon the castle…
Even so, I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the ultimate correct answer.
That thought seeped into my words without my realizing it.
"Well… the strategist's words have merit, but as Lord Glen said, we will win. Lady Epinel and Lady Emma are outstanding generals, after all."
"Ohh… so you think so too!"
Glen smiled at me as if pleased, but Yuuri seemed to catch something in my words and asked back with a puzzled look.
"We'll win, you say? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean… we will win, yes. Lady Epinel… will hold the soldiers off."
"…?"
Just as I was wondering how to explain this, a lifeline came flying from an unexpected quarter.
"Swen, do you perhaps believe there is another way?"
"Pardon?"
This time it was Zinor, who had been listening beside Yuuri, who put the question to me.
"Another way…?"
And then he naturally handed me the question I needed most in this moment — a question that felt like blessed rain.
"I'm asking whether you think there might be a more efficient method than this."
…Ah!
Only after hearing Zinor's words did I grasp the true nature of the dissonance in my mind.
Right.
"You'll win, at least" meant — "you'll win, but that isn't the efficient method," didn't it?
Which meant there was a more efficient way.
Thanks to Zinor asking whether I thought there might be a more efficient method, I could input the question into my mind.
Does it mean that while we would win, pulling the troops out as Zinor said is more efficient?
Well, I just needed to check the answer.
I quickly input the question: Is there a more efficient method than holding out against Serpina's army in a siege?
The answer… once again flowed out without the slightest hesitation.
[Rather than anyone else, go meet Serpina yourself and negotiate. That is the most efficient method.]
……
Surrounded by the gazes of everyone waiting for my answer, I was once again cast into a vast ocean called "What on earth does that mean?" — compass in hand, pointing unerringly in the right direction, yet with no clear indication of which way that was.