Chapter 34. Focusing on the Mission at Anel Castle
Rebellion.
The act where a vassal entrusted with a castle turns against their lord for some reason.
During a rebellion, vassals in the castle could either stay depending on their allegiance or be expelled back to their original forces, but resources like troops, gold, and food could be seized by the rebels.
Anyway, a rebellion would create a rift in Serpina Army’s formidable ranks.
Using that moment—whether to attack the rebellious castle or a nearby one—could this be a way to advantageously lead our forces?
However.
For Brans Army to take advantage of this situation, it was necessary to have sufficient troops stationed at Zelant Castle at the moment of the rebellion.
Even if Serpina Army would be in disarray immediately after a coup, they were a nation capable of quickly suppressing the rebellion and reorganizing their ranks.
So, arriving at this conclusion was—ironically thanks to Airen.
If Airen hadn’t suggested using her “warrior’s intuition” to fortify the north, this method would have been completely unattainable at this point.
Of course, if Lynn had directly asked me, I could have provided an answer—but Lynn wasn’t a ruler who unquestionably trusted me like Luna did.
And deducing step by step allowed me to reach this conclusion; if Lynn had just asked me directly, selecting persuasive words for the prediction “Invade Serpina Army’s territory in the north” would have been quite a challenge.
Anyway—the course was set.
If things remained as they were, even if a rebellion occurred, being preoccupied with Ayshus Army would prevent any proper action, ultimately failing to plant Brans Army’s flag in the north.
But, well—
“It must be fate.”
Lynn Brans was not meant to be a unifying monarch.
Being under the service of a unifying monarch in the future, there was no need to sincerely persuade her, right?
During this time, I spent my days engaged in commercial activities in the market and spending time with Airen.
Thinking this way, I organized the map and turned around.
Airen was squatting with her back leaned against something, fast asleep.
I quietly approached her, making sure my footsteps were silent.
She was beautiful.
Long red hair.
A well-defined nose and skin too white to seem like a swordsman’s.
She could have easily been taught proper manners and married into a noble family to live peacefully—her beauty was sufficient for that. But she was born in turbulent times, and her lineage was not noble.
Stubborn to a fault, yet she chose not to take the easy path, carrying her father’s legacy and struggling—beyond being a knight, a specialist in siege warfare, and the sole descendant of the Juliette family that served the Brans family.
Airen, the woman beyond all those titles, was shouldering far too much alone, unnoticed by anyone.
I did not intend to let her die.
This woman would undoubtedly be of great help in completing Luna’s “unified nation.”
“I will somehow save you, Airen.”
Slowly moving away from her and extinguishing the lantern that dimly lit the room, I lay down on the bed.
Lying there, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.
Wearing clothes bearing Brans Army’s insignia, participating in meetings for Brans Army, hearing Airen’s personal stories…
Meanwhile, one woman still occupied my thoughts.
Lunarien Iniagne.
The monarch destined to unify the continent.
“Come to think of it.”
A question I hadn’t asked myself for a while.
Could Lunarien Iniagne become a monarch who unifies the continent?
Before falling asleep, I casually entered that question in my mind to check again.
…And then.
“…Huh?”
—
“Hey, you there! Aren’t you stopping?!”
“Ahaha. Try catching me if you can!”
Children’s shouts and laughter.
“This… is it really right to charge this much for it?”
“Ah, come on, it’s correct. Anel Castle’s market is still well-supplied, so it’s cheap here. Just go to the neighboring town and see how much they charge.”
Customers haggling over goods with merchants.
In the midst of a remarkably peaceful marketplace, what I was doing was—
“Welcome.”
Surprisingly, serving customers at a counter.
“From Brans Army, right? We’re counting on you as always.”
The owner’s words indicated that it was common for generals to come and help with such tasks.
Over dozens of generals from Brans Army were assigned commercial tasks this month.
Among them, the most capable—or presumably the one with the highest political stat—led the effort, distributing tasks to everyone.
And my assigned task was customer service.
The location was a tavern.
A place where undiscovered talents gathered and rumors from across the continent circulated.
During my days as a wanderer, I too spent time in taverns, hoping to be recruited by anyone.
Perhaps developing such taverns where adventurers gathered and undertook various quests was indirectly contributing to commercial development.
Anel Castle’s tavern was quite large, so besides me, there were a few other staff members, including some C-grade generals assigned here like me.
Being placed in such a role indicated one thing to me.
“My political stat isn’t that high, it seems.”
Hence, I was assigned to a relatively less skill-intensive job.
Of course, customer service could delve into endless depths of professionalism, but given my relatively leisurely pace, it didn’t seem like a critical position.
Without a status window, I had to guess my stats as best as I could.
Regardless, it wasn’t bad.
Having more time allowed me to test various things.
Firstly.
The question I asked before falling asleep, “Can Lunarien Iniagne become a monarch who unifies the continent?”
There was no answer to that question.
Not “unknown” or anything, but simply no response, as if the question wasn’t received at all.
This felt similar to not asking a question in the first place.
Although a question could be revisited multiple times once asked, it was strange that a previously asked question yielded no outcome.
Prompted by this oddity, I immediately posed several questions to myself.
All were questions I had received when I first met Lunarien.
“Can Serpina von Aingarth unify the continent?” “Can Yurii Eishus of the Baranga family become a unifying monarch?” “Can Lynn Brans unify the continent?”—these three questions.
Among them, only the last question about Lynn yielded a prediction.
The answer was, “No.”
Fundamentally, I couldn’t ask myself questions directly.
To make a prediction, I needed to hear the question from someone else.
Once I heard a question from someone else, I could repeatedly self-reflect on it.
But—even though these were undoubtedly questions I had received before, no outcome was produced.
At this point, I vaguely guessed there was one rule I had been unaware of.
That is—
“Do the questions I receive reset when my serving monarch changes…?”
If this was true, it simply explained why only the question about Lynn yielded a prediction.
After all, that question was the first one Lynn asked me after recruiting me.
Then my question was—
Essentially, since predictions are linked to the affiliated army, are questions related to that army prioritized?
Though being able to predict the futures of other monarchs complicates this slightly.
Of course, this wasn’t a perfect answer.
While a reset seems plausible, whether it occurs based on a certain timeframe or due to another factor I hadn’t noticed was unclear.
“Anyway, it’s unknown for now.”
Asking someone to inquire if “Lunarien Iniagne can become a unifying monarch” could easily provide an answer again, but without Luna’s unquestioning trust, wandering around asking such peculiar questions would certainly draw unwanted attention.
Airen was there, but our relationship hadn’t deepened enough to make such a request.
“There will be a chance to check again someday.”
With that thought, I carried out my duties in the tavern without much enthusiasm.
Whether contributing to commerce in this manner was meaningful was debatable… After all, in the realm of internal affairs, political stats were much more crucial than intelligence stats.
Well, I wasn’t particularly eager to get involved anyway. Why exert so much effort for Brans Army, to which I temporarily belonged?
“Let’s just work.”
Thus, I spent my time working fairly nonchalantly.
—
After about 1.5 weeks into the mission, “that news” arrived.
“Are you saying I should halt the mission and immediately return to the castle?”
I asked the soldier who came to fetch me.
“Yes. The lord is looking for you, Swen. You can pause your current duties as per their instruction.”
“Lynn is looking for me?”
What could it be?
I couldn’t guess the reason for being sought at this juncture, but—
“Guess I’ll find out when I get there.”
“Understood. I’ll get ready and head to the castle immediately.”
“Yes, I’ve delivered the message. Farewell.”
After briefly exchanging farewells with the soldier, I explained the situation to my colleagues at the tavern, left, and made my way directly to Anel Castle.
Arriving at the castle, wondering why Lynn had summoned me, I prepared for whatever was to come.
