“Tomorrow.”
In the middle of a small castle in the center of Zeilant, Luna was introducing me to her subordinates.
“This is Swen, who from today will be in charge of our army’s strategy.”
The two armed soldiers of Luna’s army looked at me with subtle expressions.
There were four people belonging to this place, including me.
One was the nearly 70-year-old man ‘Cain Nerchis’, in charge of politics. According to the setting, he was the man who contributed his wealth to help Luna rise as a leader. The other was ‘Tifa’, a valiant woman holding the position of general in Luna’s army. She was a childhood friend of Luna and stepped up to help Luna unconditionally. Although somewhat one-dimensional, she wasn’t the type to stab you in the back.
“Nice to meet you. I am Cain Nerchis. Don’t mind my age and feel free to speak comfortably. Hm-hm.”
Cain, an elderly man with white hair, wearing a tattered robe. I lightly shook hands with Cain, then extended my hand to Tifa for a handshake. She grabbed my hand with her large one, then tilting her head slightly, she said,
“My name is Tifa. But, Swen… are you a woman or a man?”
“Excuse me? Can’t you see? I am a man.”
“Why is a man’s forearm so pale and thin? And you have such a delicate face.”
I didn’t notice when I only saw the dot graphics, but now seeing her in person, I understood why she would say that. Her physique was more akin to a female warrior than a woman, with robust muscular build. Her red hair was tied up high for ease of movement. The large axe she carried on her back emitted an intimidating aura.
She roughly shook my hand a few times, then with a grin, she said,
“Well, anyway, I look forward to working with you, strategist friend!”
‘Phew, she’s quite intimidating.’
Just a greeting, but… Does having a low strength score make one feel somewhat weaker?
Anyway-
These two were the only talents currently under Lunarien’s army.
Cain, high in politics but mediocre in other aspects. And Tifa, decent in strength and leadership but not particularly bright. That was the talent pool of Lunarien’s army. Both had tremendous potential, of course. First, Cain. At first glance, he seemed like a typical old man who would spend his remaining days in trivial pursuits. But in reality, he was the rumored-to-be-dead younger brother of the fallen emperor of the Unified Empire. Pushed out of power struggles and barely surviving under a hidden identity, he began cooperating with Lunarien after sensing a subtle possibility in her.
In essence, he was the uncle of the infamous tyrant Serphina of the Aingardt family. Later, just before dying of natural causes, he revealed his true name and inserted all his secretly hidden descendants into Lunarien’s army. The list of these descendants was almost like a dream team of SSS-grade characters, so keeping him alive until his natural death was of utmost importance.
Then there was Tifa.
Despite looking unsophisticated, she was one of the few special individuals on the continent who could sense mana. The game, [Garland Eternity Saga], was a medieval fantasy mix not strictly accurate to historical facts, and publicly, there was no occupation known as ‘wizard’.
Cavalry beats archers, archers beat pikemen, pikemen beat cavalry. This simple mechanism was how battles were fought in the game. Being an old game, it wasn’t particularly deep.
However, that didn’t mean ‘magic’ didn’t exist at all. Only a few chosen individuals could sense the mana present on the continent and perform miraculous attacks, like shooting lightning or summoning meteorites of flame. Tifa was one of these individuals. Her unique trait was that, despite being a general-type character skilled in combat, she could use magic. Other magicians were all intelligence-type strategists, and it seemed more plausible for a wizard to be intelligent. In other words, her potential was to become the ultimate general, adept in combat and capable of using magic.
Of course, there was no information on when this ability would awaken. It was just ‘If you keep Tifa alive and in Lunarien’s army, she will eventually use magic’.
Given Lunarien’s army was based on the concept of [Rebirth], it was only fitting that the only two subordinates also followed a similar concept.
Anyway.
If I couldn’t immediately engage in a rebirth, then these weren’t particularly important pieces of information to me. After all, if Lunarien’s army was left to the CPU in-game, it wouldn’t take long for the message [Lunarien’s army has disappeared into the annals of history] to pop up after a year.
“Then, let’s begin this month’s meeting. If anyone has any opinions on what we should do this month, feel free to express them. If you have any specific tasks you wish to undertake, speak comfortably.”
Once a month, orders were given, and the subordinates would carry out their tasks for that month. This was exactly the same as the method in Garland Eternity Saga.
At Lord Luna’s words, Cain slowly raised his hand.
“My lord. I believe it would be right to invest money in the market for commercial development this time.”
‘Commercial development.’
When you start the game, naturally, the initial funds were limited. There were only two ways to gather money. Explore the surroundings, or invest in commerce to increase the monthly taxes. In that sense, Cain’s suggestion was perfectly reasonable. Continuing to explore had a low chance of yielding money, and with a character high in politics, the effects of investing in commerce would be decent.
“……Swen. What do you think?”
Luna, after pondering for a moment, turned to me with a question. I had asked two things of her.
To treat me as a subordinate as much as possible, and to consult me on any significant matters. The first was one thing, but the second was very important. To use my intelligence 100 brain, it was crucial to receive questions in some form.
And the result came quickly.
[If Cain takes on commerce, he will achieve decent results.]
But.
‘Let’s think about how I played Lunarien’s army.’
Truthfully, Luna wasn’t a lord I played often. After succeeding once with the rebirth concept, I didn’t touch it again because it became boring. Before rebirth, it was a game I could enjoy seriously, but after rebirth, it became too easy. So, while I couldn’t act solely based on my play experience as an absolute rule, it wouldn’t hurt to use it as a reference, right?
“……My lord. May I offer my opinion?”
“Speak.”
“Cain, it would be better to order him to strengthen the city walls in preparation for the enemy’s attack rather than focusing on commerce.”
“……?”
Cain looks at me, asking as if he finds it curious.
“Look here. Swen, was it? It’s pleasing to be overestimated by this old man, but… To repair the walls, someone who can lead the soldiers at the forefront is needed. Do you think these strong men fixing the walls would gladly follow an old man like me?”
After hearing Cain’s words, I realized how actual commands work in this game. To properly fix the walls in this game, [Strength] had to be high. Conversely, to achieve success in commerce, a high [Politics] was sufficient. It was a very simple mechanism where the outcomes were decided based on these values, and I had never thought about how these numbers actually applied on the work site. Cain, with his low strength, couldn’t yield good results, so it seemed like a plausible reason was attached: [Because of the lack of strength, people working wouldn’t follow orders well].
‘But I can’t just pointlessly focus on commerce.’
There was only one reason I ordered the repairs. This city was destined to be taken no matter what. Even if we forcibly conscript and train people, and develop commerce, this city – [Zeilant] was fated to be taken by the nearby Bran’s Army. The lord of Bran’s Army, Lyn Bran, was quite expansionist, so this was almost a given fact.
In that case, rather than unnecessarily developing things like markets and handing over a highly developed city – it was much wiser to solidly repair the walls, pretend to hold out in a siege, and gain time to escape.
This was not a fantasy but the exact trick I used when I actually played Lunarien. If there is a strong country nearby, first of all, run as much as possible. When you arrive at a place that doesn’t seem to have much merit for the strong country to covet, use that place as a base to somehow survive. Although it’s a game where different modifiers apply each time, and the quality of states or territories of each country isn’t fixed, the basic way of operation doesn’t change.
Luna seemed to somewhat not understand my opinion of ordering Cain to repair the walls. But soon, she nodded her head and said.
“……All right. Then, what about Tifa?”
“I’m fine with anything, just tell me what to do. I’ll do anything. Should I go repair the walls with this old man?”
“Swen. I ask you. What task would be best to assign to Tifa?”
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to just tell her to repair the walls as she said. The future is set to be a hasty retreat anyway.
Still, since I was asked, I should at least think about it.
‘What should I assign to Tifa?’
Again, my intelligence of 100 brain very quickly came to the most perfect conclusion.
[Commerce].
“……???”
What? Commerce?
No matter how much I thought about it, there was only one conclusion. [I must assign Tifa a task related to commerce].
‘……Huh.’
Although I couldn’t understand it, I trust my intelligence score. In this game, intelligence 100 always speaks the truth. As long as this is the world within the game, that condition is immutable, isn’t it!
“……Swen?”
“Ah, sorry. Just thinking a bit.”
I met the eyes of Luna, Cain, and Tifa in turn… and with a very serious tone, as if this wasn’t a joke, I said.
“Lady Tifa, please engage in commerce and develop the market.”
Hahaha, man’s breaking the game already once it starts.