Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100% Accuracy
Chapter 322: The Red-Eyed Dragon of the South (10)

At the very moment the battle between Roland’s forces and Lunarian’s army was truly beginning, in the barracks of Tepello Castle—

“Everyone! Don’t slack on training! Never forget that those Ohana bastards could launch a surprise attack at any time!”

From early morning, personally leading the troops in drills was none other than the commander of Tepello’s defenses and its temporary lord—Tifa.

A lord personally overseeing training in the barracks was a rare, ceremonial sort of thing. Naturally, this meant there were always one or two aides by her side pointing that fact out.

“Lord Tifa. Would it not be best to leave this to General Metz and return to your duties?”

Like right now, for example.

“You again, Violet? I told you, didn’t I? Sitting on a throne wrestling with paperwork is boring and I hate it!”

“But that’s part of a lord’s responsibilities—”

“And that’s why I passed the position on to you!”

“Without Her Majesty’s approval, titles can’t simply be handed off on a whim.”

“Come on... it’s Luna. You think she wouldn’t listen to me? We’ve known each other forever, you know!”

Violet sighed naturally in response to Tifa’s obstinance.

A subordinate sighing in front of a superior might have been a serious matter elsewhere—but Tifa wasn’t the kind of person to nitpick over things like that.

“Huh? You’re sighing now? You’re ignoring me, aren’t you? Admit it!”

“...My lady. I had generously decided to view you as a magnanimous person who lets minor things slide—but are you trying to make me revise that assessment as well?”

“You’re the one who made me this way! I told you to be lord and you wouldn’t do it! You’d obviously be way better at that kind of thing than a thickhead like me!”

Violet didn’t argue further and instead looked around for the man who was actually supposed to be in charge here.

“Where’s General Metz?”

“Put him in charge of the patrols. Who knows where the Ohana bastards might come pushing in from.”

“Any news from them?”

“Nope, nothing. Not a single step. I figured they’d move since we’ve got a pretty big numbers advantage... How scared do you have to be to not even poke your nose outside the castle once? Shouldn’t they at least be poking around out front to gauge the situation?”

“I’ve heard that Navidos Ohana is an extremely cautious man. Even when tensions were high with Hesna, he just reinforced his troops and bolstered defenses. Unless there’s a clear advantage to be gained, he’s not the type to move first.”

“That’s not caution. That’s just being a chickenshit.”

“Pfft.”

Violet suddenly laughed before quickly bowing her head.

“I apologize. That was out of line, my lady.”

“Now you say that? Whatever. I was kind of looking forward to them attacking, you know? It’d be a great chance to measure how many people my magic can cover.”

“Is your body holding up well?”

“I haven’t used magic once since the battle with Karelia. I’ve been meditating steadily like that old man Jinor suggested. A few ideas have been bouncing around in my head... I wanna try out some new spells, but I’m afraid I’ll waste energy and won’t be able to use them in a real fight, and it’s making me itch like crazy.”

With her solid abs—unusual for a woman—Tifa certainly had an aura of raw physical vitality that no one else could match. In battle, she was often more beast than human.

“You’re remarkably confident. Well, I suppose that makes sense. You’re the strongest general in our army... But even so, one must never let their guard down. You of all people know better than anyone that the stronger you are, the more important it is not to be careless.”

“...What?”

Tifa blinked, then burst into a loud, hearty laugh that echoed through the barracks.

“What’s so funny? I was being serious.”

“Nah, I’m just surprised. You? Giving compliments like that? I didn’t know you had it in you. Just so you know, I’m not giving you any rewards for it.”

“It wasn’t flattery, it was an honest assessment of the situation. Without you, we wouldn’t have won against Karelia.”

“Sure, the magic helped. But tell me—do you really think I’m the strongest?”

“...What?”

Only then did Violet realize Tifa was giving her a genuinely curious look.

“You think I’m the strongest in this country?”

“W-Well... aren’t you?”

“Nope. There’s someone out there who makes me look like nothing. I don’t get why you think it’s me.”

“...Who?”

Someone stronger than Tifa?

That sounded absurd—but what followed sounded even more unbelievable.

“Luna.”

“Luna... Her Majesty??”

“Yup.”

That Luna was much stronger than Tifa?

Of course, she always charged into battle herself and had even won a martial arts tournament hosted by Karelia’s army... But Karelia had few true warriors of high skill to begin with. And crucially, Tifa—who could be described as a human-shaped beast—had skipped that tournament entirely because she found it too much trouble.

“Well, now that I’ve started using magic, maybe it’s closer... but if we just went head-to-head, I wouldn’t stand a chance against Luna.”

Violet, saying nothing, studied Tifa’s face closely.

...At the very least, she didn’t seem to be lying or joking.

Tifa was the type who was easy to read, not someone good at telling lies. If this were a joke, Violet was confident she’d have picked up on it by now.

Is she telling the truth...?

“Wow. Even you’re making dumb faces now. I feel like I’m seeing all sorts of new sides of you today.”

“No, I just...”

Violet finally gathered her composure and asked,

“Then why... has that never come to light until now?”

“Hm?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“If Her Majesty Luna is truly that powerful... then why hasn’t her reputation as a great warrior spread?”

“That’s easy. Luna’s heart used to be really soft.”

“...Soft?”

“Yeah. She always hesitated when facing enemies. She was always wondering: if she really went all out here, would it be right to kill them? I only know because I happened to ask her once—but I’ve known her a long time. I can tell how her thoughts tend to flow.”

“She... hesitated, you say...”

“Until just recently, Luna never once fought at full strength. Whether it was tournaments or real battles. She always held back.”

Tifa placed a hand on Violet’s shoulder as she stared blankly at her.

“Sounds insane, right? But it’s true. Before we came here, Luna told me something.”

“She told you something?”

“She said she was ready now. That she wouldn’t hesitate anymore. After killing Karelia, it seems she started thinking deeply about a lot of things.”

“That’s why people are going to find out now—who was lying low all this time, patiently waiting for the right moment.”

“...!!!”

Tifa looked toward the soldiers training in the barracks and spoke softly.

“Chel Brans. Epinnel Rosenkross... ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) All of them only rose to fame because Luna never revealed her true self.”

Muttering this, Tifa’s thoughts turned to another formidable figure—one she would never forget.

The red-haired female general who shared her crimson hair: Airen Juliet.

Back then, she only survived because of Luna’s intervention. But now... she had confidence that things wouldn’t go so easily for her enemy.

...That woman—I’ll be the one to take her down. Not Luna. Me. No matter what.

***

Everyone watching the duel held their breath the moment they heard the weapon fall.

Not a single person understood what had just happened.

“U...uh...”

A grotesque sound, not even worthy of being called a death cry.

The kind of sound a half-dead creature might make—its thoughts severed before it could even comprehend what was happening.

Ting!

The first thing to hit the ground was the weapon.

Setta Roland’s sword.

The sword that had become a symbol of his pride, the blade he carried when he rose to vice-captain of the 3rd Knight Division, the one that accompanied him as a lord of the Roland army—a half-extension of himself.

Now it lay shattered, cleaved in half, dulled, discarded on the ground like trash.

And next—

Thud.

A head.

A human head.

Only one exchange had occurred.

There hadn’t even been a proper exchange of blows. Just a single clash.

And so no one could speak.

Even though they saw the head rolling on the ground, they didn’t comprehend that it was Roland’s. Their thoughts shut down.

“......”

Thump!

Only after the weapon fell, then the head, did the rest of the body—still mounted—slide from the saddle and collapse to the earth.

Luna turned slightly, her glowing red eyes falling upon what was once Roland.

Her Adina Sword, still in hand, was soaked in dark red blood—so much so that one might have thought the blade itself had always been crimson.

She said nothing as she stared down at the blade stained with blood in her scarlet gaze.

Then, with a single motion—she raised her sword high into the air.

――UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!!!!

The cheers for the new warlord of the age erupted in response.

Anyone who witnessed that scene with their own eyes could not help but reach the same conclusion.

The name that would define this era—

Was not Serpina von Eingart.

But Lunarian Iniang.

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