Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100% Accuracy
Chapter 328: At the Tidal Edge (1)

“A vassal state?”

I tilted my head for a moment at the unexpected word, but I quickly organized my thoughts.

This game did have a vassal state system.

However, once a country became powerful enough to have vassals, it was usually easier to just spend a little more time and unify the continent outright—so unless someone was doing a themed roleplay, no one actually bothered taking vassals.

On top of that, there was always the risk of them stabbing you in the back or rebelling, so if you did force a surrender, you might as well fully annex them instead of making them a vassal.

But this was the real world.

In that sense, offering to become a vassal wasn’t such a strange proposal.

No—if I thought about it carefully, this was probably the best move Hesna’s side could make.

“They must have a very clear sense of their position.”

Suppose some omniscient beings were observing the events of this continent and placing bets on which nation would unify it.

Then the nation with the lowest odds—i.e., the most likely to win—would be our army, Serpina’s.

I, of course, knew the truth: Lunarian Iniang is the one who will unify the continent.

But to an outside observer with no insider knowledge, it would seem inevitable that Serpina’s army would smoothly bring the continent under her rule.

Next in line would probably be the Brans Army—but even they would have relatively high odds.

As for the southern countries? They’d be long shots—like winning the lottery.

In other words, even from an objective outsider’s perspective, it was entirely reasonable to conclude that Hesna has no chance of unifying the continent no matter what they do.

Given that, the best possible move they could make to preserve their state would be to become the vassal of the most likely unifying power.

They wouldn’t need to become emperor themselves—as a vassal, they could receive a noble title, govern a set territory, and maintain their own authority without letting go of power.

“Are there any other conditions?”

“If you can call it a condition, I suppose. Hesna doesn’t want autonomy over just their current territory.”

“...Pardon?”

“What they proposed—was full autonomy over the entire southern continent.”

“...??”

“They said that as long as they’re granted control of the south, they’ll help us crush the Brans Army. In return, they also asked that we help them secure that control.”

“To us, that sounds like a proposal where we gain absolutely nothing... There’s no reason for our army to guarantee them autonomy over the south, is there?”

“Those who died before me must be cursing me from the afterlife. This would effectively reduce our territory.”

“What exactly are they offering in return?”

“Did I not already say? They said they’d recognize me as the new Empress.”

“...!”

So that’s it.

Even though the continent had splintered into many different states, nominally, they had all once been vassals of the old Eingart Empire.

To be recognized as Empress meant that for the first time, a duke-level ruler was acknowledging Serpina’s legitimacy.

Normally, that would’ve been a pretty tempting carrot.

But at this point? It was too late.

Even without the approval of other nobles, Serpina’s army was already more than capable of unifying the continent.

...Well, that’s what anyone would think if they didn’t know the truth—that Luna would be the one to do it.

“What do you think, my lord?”

“I don’t see any particular reason to accept the offer. Still, I didn’t want to make the decision without consulting you.”

That made sense.

If I were Serpina, I’d probably throw a question my way too—especially with my “insight” ability.

Up until now, my advice had been anything but conventional.

“Please ask as many questions as you like.”

Serpina smiled gently, then closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them again, her golden gaze focused entirely on me as she spoke.

“Swen. I ask you this: Do you believe that accepting Hesna’s offer to become a vassal state would benefit our army?”

And then came the response.

[It would be a loss on a personal level, but a long-term gain for the nation.]

‘......???’

What?

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

A personal loss but a long-term gain for the nation?

What kind of answer was that?

It was the first time I’d received a response like this. I faltered briefly.

“Swen. It seems you’ve heard something unusual again.”

“...There really is nothing I can hide from you, my lord.”

“Fufufu, is that supposed to be a compliment?”

Serpina chuckled and brushed her lips lightly with one slender, pale finger.

“Well then, what should the next question be?”

She had completely anticipated what I wanted and responded accordingly.

The more I worked with her, the more I thought—Could I ever find a monarch who syncs with me this well?

Luna also trusted my words deeply, but in hindsight, that had been more of a one-sided faith.

Serpina, on the other hand, understood the give-and-take of our relationship perfectly.

Anyway, what question would help me complete the rest of the puzzle?

It wasn’t a difficult decision.

“Please ask the exact opposite this time.”

Serpina tilted her head slightly, puzzled—but she didn’t question me. She simply complied.

“Do you believe we should reject the agreement to make Hesna our vassal?”

[It would undoubtedly be a loss for the nation.]

‘This answer feels a bit lighter.’

And it was exactly what I expected. Good.

This was enough to decide what needed to be done—no further questions were necessary.

With a confident expression, I declared,

“Reject it. I believe it’s best not to form a vassal agreement.”

“Is that the answer from your insight?”

“Yes, it is.”

Serpina tilted her head back slightly, speaking as if she found it all rather fascinating.

"How unexpected. At times like this, I’m used to hearing more unusual answers instead of the obvious one—but not this time."

"Still, this is the best option for us."

She looked into my eyes for a moment, then nodded.

"Very well. Swen, we’ll do as you say. Inform the envoy that we will reject the agreement."

Instead of replying, I gave a deep bow.

The reason I rejected the option that was supposedly a "long-term benefit for the nation"—

was to protect Serpina.

The first message I received had said, “It will be a loss for the individual.” At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of that,

but after asking the reverse question, the picture became clearer.

If we accepted this agreement, the “individual” would suffer—that is, Serpina, as the monarch.

Since she was the one making the final decision, it wasn’t hard to deduce that “individual” referred to her.

Of course, it wouldn’t be so dramatic as to change her fate entirely—she wouldn’t die or anything.

But it might become the spark that damages her reputation. That was my best guess.

And if that weren’t the case... well, then at least this decision would lessen any potential risk to her.

Thinking that far, I found myself once again reflecting on the cruel irony of Serpina’s fate.

“That the path benefiting the nation... must come at a loss to the individual—the monarch Serpina herself.”

The more her reputation as ruler declined, the more the public opinion saw her as unfit to lead,

the closer the nation came to unification—what a wretched and tragic destiny.

Since no amount of effort could lead her to unify the continent,

the only thing I could do was protect her—not the Serpina Army, but Serpina the person.

That aside... I doubt Hesna offered this deal to us alone.

If I were in Hesna’s shoes, if I were a ruler prepared to become someone else’s vassal... what would I do?

Having found my answer, I slowly raised my head and looked at her.

"My lord. I believe it would be wise to send spies into the Brans Army."

"The Brans Army? Why? Is there some issue with the agreement?"

Just in case, I asked my inner sight whether there were problems with an agreement between Brans and Hesna,

but as expected, the answer came back as “unknown.”

"It’s nothing like that... there’s just something I’d like to confirm."

"Understood. I know you’re not the kind of man to offer careless advice. I’ll begin assigning personnel to the intelligence unit right away."

That was fine.

After all, the one I wanted to observe wasn’t Brans herself—

***

Royal palace of Mertian Castle, the capital of the Hesna Army.

"They refused?"

"Yes, that’s correct."

"Hmm... just as expected. Still, it would’ve been more fun if they’d accepted the proposal."

At that, Tera asked in a puzzled voice.

"May I ask now, my lord? If Serpina had accepted, what were you planning to do?"

"Oh, nothing much. I figured I could squeeze a few more concessions out of Lyn using that as leverage."

"...Pardon? You mean to say...?"

"Yup. It’s exactly what you’re °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° thinking. I was going to use Serpina."

At those words, Tera let out a deep sigh.

"I think I now understand why you didn’t consult me."

"If I don’t take risks like this, it’d be impossible to hide how one-sidedly beneficial this deal is for us."

"What if you incurred Serpina’s wrath?"

"Well, I’d just deal with that when the time came, wouldn’t I?"

Despite the way she said it, there was no doubt she had some kind of backup plan.

Tera, after all, was someone who understood her position very clearly.

Though she served as Hesna’s chief strategist, it was their ruler—Hesna herself—who had the sharpest mind in their army.

"What do you intend to do now?"

"Since the weapon isn’t ready yet, I’ll just have to face her head-on."

Hesna licked her lips slowly with her tongue as she spoke.

"She’s the woman that stiff Oland Brans chose as heir over both of his sons. I do hope she’ll entertain me. Fufu..."