Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100% Accuracy
Chapter 327: A Short Peace, Once Again (3)

After spending a long-overdue outing with Lady Airen,

not long after that, I found myself once again spending ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) time with another woman.

This time, it was... yes. The adorable girl with the soft pink twin tails—now an indispensable, asymmetrical force within Serpina’s army.

“Swen niiim~!”

From a distance, she came running with a cheerful, innocent smile.

It was Reika Nighhardt.

“Huff... huff...”

“You did great. That was a lot of effort.”

I gently patted Reika’s back.

The moment she spotted me, she came dashing all the way from afar—full of joy—but clearly wore herself out quickly.

Neither of us had great stamina, after all. If it ever came down to a strength contest, the knight Airen would easily take first place among the three of us.

“Th-thank you... Swen niiim.”

Even as sweat trickled down her face, she forced herself to smile brightly at me.

Only then did her appearance fully come into view.

She wore a very neat and elegant white dress. It was made of a light, cool fabric—perfect for this time of year.

And throughout her run, her rather large chest had bounced continuously. ...She had to be wearing underwear, but still, the way it moved was incredible. Probably best not to mention that.

“Shall we get going?”

Just as I was about to take a step forward with her—

“W-wait a moment—!!”

“?”

“S-Swen niiim! I-I have something t-to ask... huff... you!”

“Let’s catch your breath first.”

“Huff... huff... ah, right...”

She reached for the canteen at her waist, took a few sips of water, then—

“About last time! How was it?!”

“Last time?”

“With Lady Airen! You went on a date!”

“Ah...”

Thinking back to it made me feel suddenly embarrassed, and I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

“Well... it was fun.”

“And?”

“...Sorry?”

“D-did anything... happen?!”

Reika clenched her fists in both hands, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at me.

What was with those dreamy eyes? What kind of answer was she hoping for?

I briefly considered telling her the truth, but it was too embarrassing, so I gave a vague reply.

“Not... really. Nothing happened.”

“I see...”

As her shoulders slumped, I joked to lighten the mood.

“What were you expecting, exactly...?”

“I mean, just... you know... I can’t be ahead of Lady Airen...”

“Huh?”

Flustered, Reika stumbled over her words for a while.

“A k-k-kiss... you kissed, so... at the very least, Lady Airen should’ve kissed too...!!!”

“...How did this become a competition?”

“Because... I-I’m... the second wife...!”

Hearing her stammer about not wanting to get ahead of the first wife, I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

“Ah, o-of course! I know it can only happen if we’re actually married, but still, that’s...”

Even when saying nonsense like this, she still managed to look adorable. It made me feel like I’d slowly grown fond of Reika without even realizing it.

Honestly, the one who kissed me first was Lady Serpina—which, from Reika’s perspective, would’ve been a shocking revelation.

But I wasn’t even sure whether I should tell her that.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Either way, I didn’t feel bad or uncomfortable about any of this.

She had probably done all this out of consideration for me and Lady Airen, in her own way.

“Well, you don’t have to push yourself too hard. Things will unfold naturally, so don’t worry too much.”

“N-naturally, huh...!! That’s such a Swen thing to say...!”

I gently patted Reika’s head and took her hand.

She looked surprised... but no longer pulled away, and calmly returned the gesture.

Both of us had lowered our emotional barriers a lot since the first time we met.

“Shall we go, then?”

“Yes...! P-please... take good care of me today... as my escort...!”

***

The first place we visited with Reika, of course, was the Nighhardt estate.

“You’ve returned, young lady...!!”

“Reina! It’s been so long...!!”

After a brief reunion, we got to hear a bit of news about Jinor.

“That’s right. You’re Sir Swen, yes? You asked about him the last time you came, didn’t you? What timing—it just so happened that very evening, we received word about the young master.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. It sounds like he’s doing well.”

Apparently, he had even mentioned Reika, which made her flush and mumble in embarrassment.

“There’s no need to worry about me that much...!”

From a third-person perspective, his message had sounded less like concern and more like a serious contemplation about whether she’d be able to handle things well... but there was no need to hurt Reika’s feelings by pointing that out.

“And aside from that?”

“Nothing special. He seems to be doing fine under his new lord.”

A new lord... that had to be Lady Luna.

With Jinor’s capabilities, he was likely already serving as a national strategist.

It was undoubtedly thanks to him that the first mage to appear had been deployed effectively, and that Karelia’s and Roland’s forces had been defeated one after the other.

After that, Reika and I had a long-overdue tea time together.

Though we called it a “light tea time,” we spent the entire evening drowning in sugar from the sweets and cakes she kept baking.

I wasn’t particularly fond of sugary treats, but I wanted to match her mood—she clearly enjoyed using the kitchen again after so long.

Reika, the maids—everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Even after the meal, we wrapped up our date by meditating together in peace.

“Being able to sit like this with Swen again, closing my eyes and feeling the mana... it makes me so happy. Hehe...”

“I’m happy too.”

“I want to go back to Eingart Castle soon, and live peacefully with Lady Airen and Swen... For that, I have to work even harder...!”

Using magic to kill soldiers surely wasn’t something she’d gotten used to—but Reika, admirable as ever, showed no sign of struggling, always doing her best to keep up with us.

Peace for the continent...

My heart grew conflicted for a moment, knowing that it wasn’t Serpina who would bring peace, but rather Luna...

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. Now was the time to focus fully on Reika.

The time I spent with Lady Airen and the time with Reika each gave me a different sense of peace.

No matter how you put it—it was all precious to me.

***

During the rest of my leave, I truly lived a laid-back life, just as Serpina had advised.

I invited both Reika and Airen and enjoyed meals with the two of them, or took quiet walks alone through the bustling streets of Valharat to observe the state of the city.

Thankfully, the public sentiment among the people was improving by the day.

Even though Yuri had squandered much of the territory’s resources in her final years, I had expected the people to still long for Aishus rule after such a long reign—but to my surprise, the recovery in public opinion had been rapid.

Well, from my perspective, I was glad I didn’t have to see Serpina being demonized and insulted for no reason anymore.

In any case, Serpina truly hadn’t summoned me even once during my entire vacation.

I was able to rest—literally rest—for the first time since I entered this world, since those early days before I met Lunarian and spent my time idling at the tavern.

And so, the full week came to an end.

“Swen. Your expression’s much better now. Have you been well?”

“Thanks to your consideration, I was able to rest deeply for the first time in ages. I’ll work hard to repay the favor.”

“No need to work hard or anything. You’ve already done more than enough—I’m not expecting anything more from you.”

“You mustn’t say that, my lord. The prophecies born of my inner vision still hold true, and I will continue to act for your sake.”

“Fufufu, I see. You’re flattering me again—looks like you’ve really recovered your composure.”

Serpina laughed behind her hand with amusement, then looked down at me and said,

“Then, let’s get straight to business.”

“Yes. I’m ready for anything.”

“A diplomatic envoy has arrived.”

“...Excuse me?”

A diplomatic envoy?

Who would even send an envoy to our army?

It was strange to say now, but the Serpina Army was practically the enemy of the world.

Far from diplomacy, we’d have been lucky not to be constantly condemned.

No nation had ever signed an agreement with us.

“Where are they from?”

“From the Hesna Army.”

Hesna.

The southern country that had seized Raklein Castle and pushed Aishus to collapse—now our new border neighbor.

“When did they make the offer?”

“About a week ago.”

A week ago...?

That would mean the envoy arrived right after my leave began.

I considered complaining—why hadn’t I been called in?—but then again, maybe it was Serpina’s way of being considerate.

She must’ve sensed my thoughts, as she shook her head with a small smile.

“They’ve been treated with the utmost hospitality while they rest. Given the long journey, offering them a break isn’t such a bad idea—so don’t worry.”

Even if they shared a border with us now, traveling from the southern continent to the central one required crossing vast rivers and treacherous mountain ranges.

It was precisely because of those natural barriers that the southern continent had remained untouched by the continent-wide war and was able to maintain its own order.

“What are their demands?”

“An alliance.”

“An alliance...?”

That’s all well and good, but... what are they offering?

From our perspective, there was no particular reason to join hands with them.

And that’s when she said—

“If we accept, they’ve agreed to recognize me as Empress.”

“...What?”

Seeing the stunned look on my face, Serpina gave a small smirk and tossed it out like a casual remark.

“In other words—they’ve declared their intention to serve under me. To become a vassal state.”