Episode 56. Your Actions Are Clearly Visible
“Cleaning up Aeshers’ forces, you say? All of a sudden?”
“That’s correct.”
I closed my eyes.
Then, after practicing several times, I slowly put on the face of a ‘very impressive strategist’ and said,
“After the schemes with both the Alephel and Charam forces failed, the atmosphere within the Aeshers’ forces has become quite unusual. It seems there are subordinates who have started to doubt Yuri Aeshers’ leadership. In an overall tumultuous state, Yuri is planning to tidy up the weaker nations at the rear, trying to compensate for the blunders this time.”
“Really? How do you know that?”
“I sent out spies not long ago.”
Of course, my words were all lies.
However, I could feel her being intensely shaken by the background of mine where nonsensical inferences had all turned out to be true until now.
“Now is exactly the time. Construct a small fortress as quickly as possible near Valharat Castle to serve as a forward base and advance from there. You must build the fortress. Right next to the mountain range seems good. Now is the opportunity, while Aeshers’ forces have not yet fully dealt with the Charam and Alephel forces. The troops… the number currently stationed in the east should suffice.”
“Why a fortress?”
“By building a fortress there, favorable fortunes will gather towards our forces.”
She, who listened to my nonsense very seriously, leaned her hand on her chin and fell into thought.
40,000.
It was a slightly insufficient number to attack Valharat Castle, but… it would be difficult to completely ignore my words, not anyone else’s.
Still, I did not rule out the possibility that she would not listen to me.
Since joining Brans’ forces and advising her for days, I vividly felt one thing.
Lynn fundamentally does not trust others. So, no matter what I say, it would be difficult for her to easily believe such fantastical talk as ‘favorable fortunes gathering towards our forces’.
Right.
What I meant was, that wasn’t all.
Valharat Castle was just a fake bait to hide the ‘real demands’.
Let’s throw the bait here.
A bait that she would surely bite.
“The vanguard… Yes, General Chel seems suitable.”
“Chel? The one in the south?”
“That’s correct. Or, giving General Calintz, who is currently under house arrest, a chance could also be good. The momentum is entirely on our side.”
“It’s a bit difficult to pull out Chel, and I have doubts about Calintz. Anyone else?”
Right now.
I rolled the bait with my tongue and spat it out of my mouth.
“Actually, it probably doesn’t matter who comes… as long as it’s not General Airen.”
* * *
“…Huh?”
Lynn caught the name mentioned by Swen precisely.
Not Airen?
Lynn asked with a puzzled tilt of her head.
“Airen? Why her?”
“Ah… That.”
At her question, Swen, breaking into a slight sweat, said as if he didn’t know what to do.
“I’m not exactly sure myself… but I feel a bad omen.”
“A bad omen?”
“That’s correct. I haven’t mentioned it before, but I often try to communicate with the heavens. To respond appropriately at moments when we must pray to the heavens like last time, it’s essential to communicate daily.”
Lynn could immediately understand that.
After all, he did meditate in a strange cave, setting up soldiers in front of him during his free time.
She could have dragged him out if she really wanted to, but it seemed like he wasn’t doing anything dangerous, so she just left him be.
“So, you do something like communicating with the heavens in that cave?”
It was a completely nonsensical story.
But since he was saying so, it seemed very plausible.
She had come to recognize his abilities by now.
She still didn’t plan to trust him unconditionally, but his demeanor of taking insults with a smile, particularly prioritizing his self-preservation, made her lower her guard, thinking he might not be such a big deal after all.
Swen then exaggerated a gesture, closed his eyes, and looked up at the sky.
“Like this… speaking to the heavens with all my heart. What should we do next? What is the most efficient path for us to decide on?”
“…Really?”
Of course.
It was utter nonsense.
If the speaker of this story wasn’t Swen, who had called down a meteor from the heavens.
He actually performed miracles.
He eerily predicted international situations, continuously speaking only truths.
Swen’s track record made this lunacy seem very plausible.
“For this operation, I didn’t consider ‘the specialist in siege warfare’, General Airen, for no reason… but strangely, this operation and she are not compatible. It’s too risky. So…”
Swen slowly opened his eyes, speaking with a slightly trembling voice.
He looked like someone who was afraid, fearing something to anyone who saw him.
“The life of General Airen seems to be in danger.”
“!!!”
“So, it might be better to employ someone other than General Airen. General Airen is a cornerstone of our forces. It’s not that we can’t win by sending her, but it’s inefficient to risk her life for a problem that can be solved just as well with another general.”
“…I see.”
Lynn said that and immediately fell into thought.
The re-invasion of Aeshers’ forces.
Though Swen personally sent spies, it was true she felt uneasy since she hadn’t heard it directly from him.
Even though he really showed miracles and for some reason, everything he said was right-
If they moved the troops again and suffered a loss, they might really be in danger.
The surplus troops, excluding those guarding the border, were already wasted by Calintz.
Forcing conscription would certainly drop public morale.
Normally, she would have thought more carefully.
“Airen’s life… might be in danger?”
Just the premise alone made Lynn’s thought process too easily twisted.
To her, Swen so far had been a very capable strategist, despite his overwhelming desire for fame and fortune, even laughing off insults directed at him.
His advice was always right. At first, she thought it was like clairvoyance, but the recent pieces of advice also had their own bases.
Of course, he was making the absurd claim that he ‘communicates with the heavens’… but he had already shown the results. That he was a man who could communicate with some grand entity.
There were rumors of him being a wizard, but she thought magic didn’t exist in the world, and the ‘wizards’ she learned about from ancient documents didn’t perform rituals to communicate with the heavens.
In other words.
Doesn’t this mean she could eliminate Airen… without any risk?
Honestly.
She disliked Airen.
Since the moment they met, when Airen was the daughter of a bodyguard, she didn’t like her.
There wasn’t a special reason. Thinking about it now, it was correct that there wasn’t a reason. Initially, she thought it might be because Airen was better than her in every aspect, but in the end, she was the sovereign, and Airen was just a subject.
But to just take Airen and execute her?
Honestly, she could
find a suitable reason to do so if she wanted- but this was definitely a risky move.
If rumors spread that she became a tyrant like Serpina, it would complicate many things.
If she had overwhelmingly strong forces like Serpina, it might be a different story, but Brans’ forces were not at the level of Serpina’s.
She was cunning but not foolish. Dealing with Airen had to happen on the battlefield. Dying in battle was the most natural scenario.
Honestly, the decision to have her stay behind and defend the fortress last time, upon reflection, wasn’t it a grave mistake? It was practically sending her to death.
Fortunately, Swen somehow managed to cover it up.
And now.
One of her subordinate generals, who ‘seems to only speak the truth,’
Was saying that Airen’s life might be in danger.
Lynn looked around.
Parfalle was not here.
Only two soldiers standing guard heard the conversation between me and Swen.
This was enough.
She could deal with her without any rumors spreading.
Swen, the party concerned, was closer to a coward than expected. She was confident she could manipulate him as long as she gave him what he wanted.
She thought.
Finally, a real opportunity has arrived.
The moment to ‘clean up a real thorn in the flesh’, in a slightly different sense, has arrived!
Moreover, according to him, in the outcome of the battle- taking back the castle and Airen might die at the same time.
Of course, she might not die, but being with Swen, there was a high chance of finding another opportunity through ‘communication with the heavens’.
Normally, she would have thought a bit more carefully…
But in front of such an appetizing bait, like an ordinary person, she quickly spun her happiness circuit.
“…Alright, Swen. Since it’s your opinion, I’ll consider it positively. Of course, the details might change in the end, but that’s okay, right?”
* * *
I looked at Lynn, who fell into thought after hearing my words.
Think and think again.
Decide for yourself, over and over.
“How to make use of my strategy.”
Please think and think again.
You’ve got the chance to use my advice, haven’t you?
It doesn’t matter about Valharat Castle, right?
That’s not what you want, is it?
You want to kill Airen Juliet, don’t you?
Don’t you want to eliminate her without any risk?
Pretend to be generous.
Soon, you’ll call her, promising an opportunity with a kind smile.
Then command to build a small fortress in front of Valharat Castle and use it as a base for attack.
You’ll need to follow my advice exactly. If anything is amiss, the fate I seem to have predicted could twist.
In the end, you’ll surely say with a smile, expecting her to achieve great deeds.
Ultimately, after building the fortress, you’ll hand over full authority to her.
You’ll do that, Lynn Brans.
Your actions are clearly visible…!!
“…Alright, Swen. Since it’s your opinion, I’ll consider it positively. Of course, the details might change in the end, but that’s okay, right?”
“Done!”
I bowed to her with confidence.
“Understood. However, if we delay further, everything might go awry, so I hope you’ll act as quickly as possible.”
“Alright. If we really take Valharat Castle with this… I’ll appoint you as the new national strategist of our forces.”
“!!!”
I made the most surprised expression I could muster.
And then, with a slightly trembling voice, I said,
“If… if you could do that for me, I promise to continue to serve and assist Lady Lynn to the best of my abilities.”
“Sure. But don’t get too hopeful. Changing the national strategist is not as simple as it seems.”
I was aware of that much.
Her words were her way of keeping me in check.
To her, I must seem like someone obsessed with fame and fortune, laughing off her insulting remarks.
However.
Because of that, I felt grateful towards her.
Thank you, my lord. For remaining sly to the end.
For moving exactly as I had hoped.
“I’ll be going then.”
“Alright. Anyway, you’ve worked hard so far. From tomorrow, until I give you a new order, you can rest.”
“I’ll be waiting for the day you call me.”
I slowly left the castle.
Of course, I had no intention of seeing her again.
This was our last private meeting, after all.
“Then I should also get ready.”
I hurried home.
