Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100% Accuracy
Chapter 316: The Red-Eyed Dragon of the South (6)

"Yes. I believe this is the perfect opportunity to invade Roland’s forces, but what are your thoughts, my lady?"

At the subordinate's suggestion, Lyn slowly shook her head.

"No, Navie. I understand your reasoning, but now is not the time to move our forces recklessly."

"Is that so...? I’m afraid I don’t understand with my limited insight, but... would it be alright to ask for an explanation?"

A subordinate daring to question their liege instead of obediently following orders. The old Lyn would never have tolerated such a thing—but the Lyn of now responded to the question with a remarkably calm tone, entirely unaffected.

"Yeah. Serpina is up north, isn’t she?"

"Even so, haven’t we signed a treaty with Serpina’s forces? I thought there was still ample time remaining..."

"That’s true. We did sign one. But for that treaty to actually mean something, there needs to be a guarantee that the continent remains fragmented, with various lords vying for control. Or really, it doesn’t even need to be that many. Even a single country with the kind of national power Aishus used to have would be enough to put us at ease."

"...?"

"In other words, it’s simple. Everyone sticks to treaties, overtly or subtly, because of ‘trust.’ Naturally, that’s important. No one benefits from damaging their image as a trustworthy actor. But do you know what holds more weight than trust?"

"More weight...?"

Lyn stretched out the fingers that had been twisting a strand of her hair.

"Being in a position where you can’t engage in diplomacy with any other country at all. That’s what everyone’s afraid of—so they follow through on treaties like it’s sacred. And on this continent, once you’re seen as someone who breaks a promise, others are quick to attack under the pretense of ‘justice.’ ‘Let’s eliminate the great evil first’—a noble excuse that makes it easy for everyone to join hands. You understand what I mean?"

The subordinate nodded silently, and Lyn continued, using small gestures as she explained.

"But that absolute fear? It doesn’t apply to # Nоvеlight # Serpina’s forces right now. Even if the smaller states band together, they’d only take action if they calculated they had a real shot at victory. In most cases, the opponent of a united front ends up being the most powerful nation around."

"Let me break it down for you. Let’s say Serpina breaks the treaty and invades our borders. Sure, people will condemn her. But realistically, is there any effective way to stop her? Would Serpina, who’s already swallowed Aishus, really be afraid of losing the continent’s trust?"

"...!!"

"Like it or not, Serpina’s forces have already consumed half the continent. Back when she was confined to the northern regions, her national power was incomparable to now. Soldiers, resources—those all come from vast territories. What’s most terrifying is that, oddly enough, the people in her conquered lands don’t seem to resent her very much."

She still remembered the reports from when Serpina had been conquering the northern continent.

Rebellions had broken out endlessly, at a pace never seen in history, because she failed to gain public support in the territories she occupied. Back then, the reason Brans Army had been able to slowly take control of the central continent without much resistance was largely because Serpina’s forces had been completely bogged down by back-to-back rebellions in the north.

"Back in those days, a rebellion would've erupted by now—yet not only has that not happened, there are even absurd rumors spreading like, ‘Maybe Serpina isn’t actually that bad a person.’  Of course, it’s probably all part of Serpina’s organized propaganda efforts, but we can’t deny the outcome: she’s managing to govern with barely any chaos."

"Now, excluding Aishus—which is essentially on the brink of collapse—there are only six nations left on the continent. And of those, four are huddled in the southern continent, not counting us and Serpina. So even if Serpina breaks the treaty and invades us, she loses nothing. There’s no one left who can stop her."

"Then... haven’t we already reached a conclusion? What are we supposed to do now? Are we just supposed to stand by and watch that wicked woman Serpina stain the continent once more with the cursed banner of Eingart?"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

At those words, Lyn’s expression grew especially serious.

"Navie. You lost your father to Serpina, didn’t you?"

"You... you remember that?"

Lyn replied in a proud tone, as if the question itself was foolish.

"Of course I remember. He was a man who gave his life for me—for my sake. How could I ever forget that?"

The soldier bowed his head, momentarily overwhelmed, then raised his voice with deep reverence.

"My father only served the Imperial Army... only served Algott von Eingart. And yet Serpina, she... she murdered him so cruelly...!!"

A story too cruel to believe, even now.

Serpina had summoned both Algott and Sidmid—her rivals—to one place under false pretenses, and massacred them all in her pursuit of the throne. In that moment, the private soldier assigned to protect Algott—his father—was killed. He, too, bore the kind of deep hatred for the Imperial House of Eingart that one in ten people carried in their heart.

"It’s alright. You don’t need to talk about the painful stuff anymore."

Lyn offered that high, relaxed smile unique to those who sit above others—

"You’re helping me now, right? So that something like that never happens again."

"My lady...!"

"We won’t lose. Right now, it might look like Serpina is thriving—but a sudden expansion of power always leads to chaos. What we need to do is wait for the right moment. As long as we endure, the opportunity will come. So until then... I’m counting on you, Navie."

"I... I swear to devote this body to Brans with all that I am...!!"

"Good."

After the short audience in the receiving chamber—

Cecil, who had been standing in for Parfalle while she was away on duty, stepped closer to Lyn and asked,

"What’s your assessment?"

"You mean about the Roland affair?"

"Yes."

Lyn answered without a moment’s hesitation.

"Lunarian will win."

"Is that so? Because of the mage? Still, if you consider the troop difference, Roland’s army has been steadily conserving their strength and resources—"

"No, Cecil. That’s not why I think so. It’s not about supplies or resources. It’s something more fundamental, I suppose."

"A fundamental reason, you say?"

Lyn let out a long sigh and mocked herself as if the very thought was pathetic.

"Even I admit it’s a bit of a ridiculous reason."

"What is it...?"

"Lunarian was that man’s first master."

"That man... you mean the white-haired mage?"

"Yeah."

She was certain now. The white-haired mage—Swen—had continued to serve Lunarian when he was under her command. And with every shift in the situation, Lyn couldn’t help but feel like all of it—Luna’s rebellion, the raising of her army, the swallowing of Karelia’s forces—was part of a grand scheme nestled in Swen’s palm.

Lyn was acutely aware of Swen. How could she not be? There wasn’t a single critical element currently moving the continent that didn’t bear his touch.

‘I don’t know why he’s still under Serpina, but... it’s true that he never considered me his true master. So what’s his aim now...?’

"He really must have been something. If even Lady Parfalle, you, and... that woman are still being affected by him despite his absence."

Lyn fell silent, lost in thought.

The woman Cecil referred to was likely Lunarian.

Though it was all in the past now, he clearly still held a deep grudge against her—the woman who had been Karelia’s sworn enemy.

"Objectively speaking, there’s nothing our army can do directly right now. If we had the troops, maybe we could station forces in the north and launch an attack on Roland or Hesna. But there’s no need to make the same mistake of overextending and losing what territory we already have."

"Then..."

"I have to survive with my silver tongue, no matter what. I’ve already shaken hands with Serpina to stay alive. And after drinking the blood of my own brothers, I can’t allow myself to fall so pathetically."

Cecil looked at her profile and thought.

He didn’t know exactly what future Lyn was envisioning—but it felt like he was once again facing a fundamental truth that applied to all things in life.

"You’re certainly not like the stories I heard."

"Hm? About me?"

"Proud, arrogant, dismissive of others. When I served under Karelia, everything I heard about you painted you in a negative light. But meeting you in person... you're completely different. The way you remember the stories of each subordinate, how cautious you are in every decision... Even if I ended up here by accident, I believe you're someone worth serving."

Lyn gave a bitter smile at that.

"That reputation was probably accurate. That’s why I tumbled all the way down here. Only after being thrown to the bottom did I realize how precious the things I’d held actually were. I’m just a foolish girl who figured it out far too late."

"I disagree. Even if that’s true, what matters is that you changed. Lady Karelia used to say, ‘Anyone can change.’"

"Yeah? Then I guess Karelia was exactly the kind of woman the rumors made her out to be."

"..."

Lyn didn’t press Cecil for a response as he fell silent with a sad expression. She simply twirled a strand of her blue hair between her fingers again.

‘It’s unfair... but I realized it too late. Now I can only wait. I have to survive. If I keep extending the treaty, if I can pit Serpina’s army against Lunarian’s, then maybe a path will open.’

Unfortunately, it was far too late for Lyn to choose her fate by her own hand.

She had shattered every option that had once been given to her, and now the answers available were limited.

Even so, she refused to give up.

She was confident she could manage Serpina’s side now. Which meant the real problem was Lunarian.

Depending on the kind of woman she truly was—her fate would be decided.

Hold out for as long as she could. And when the end came, no matter how it turned out, never curse the fate she herself had twisted.

That was her own personal atonement for those who had died for her. And for Airen, who had believed in her until the very end.

***

While each person was analyzing the current situation from their own perspective—

There was one man who had no grasp of the situation at all, and whose immediate crisis had left him sitting on his throne, agonizing.

"Dammit! How dare she point a blade at us? That arrogant bitch...!"

That man, once a born warrior but now more of a ruler than a fighter—

Was none other than Setta Roland, former deputy commander of the 3rd Knight Order of the old Eingart Empire, and now lord of the Roland Army.