"Irian...?"
Jenna looked at Irian in surprise, but he remained unfazed as he spoke.
"If the strategist has no objections, I would like to support Lord Swen’s argunt."
Irian’s sudden intervention was unexpected, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) but—
Now that it had happened, I could guess why he was stepping in to assist .
A form of repaying a debt, perhaps.
Even though Janis was imprisoned, I had ultimately saved his younger sister and prevented his family from being completely annihilated.
Had I not intervened, Janis would have been lumped together with the rebels and treated as just another conspirator.
And knowing Serpina—who would never tolerate rebellion—their entire family na would have been erased from history.
At that mont, Serpina, sitting on the throne, lifted her chin slightly as she looked down at Jenna and spoke.
"Irian’s bold intervention is one thing, but Jenna—you are quite audacious yourself."
"......"
"Well, I suppose all of this little farce still requires Swen’s consent. I trust you would agree on that matter as well."
It seed that Serpina had originally intended to call out Jenna for trying to limit my influence with unilateral conditions.
But with Irian stepping in, she had now shifted to asking for my opinion instead.
After all, the re fact that she had chosen the word farce—
Not to ntion the subtle yet unmistakably furious expression she wore beneath her outwardly composed smile—
Made it clear that she was displeased.
Given the rumors already swirling around about ,
I couldn’t afford to let the perception spread that Serpina was angry on my behalf.
"I have no objections. I will abide by Lady Jenna’s request."
At my words, Irian turned to .
"Then I take it I have your permission to speak directly?"
Well, of course.
I had no reason to refuse.
I hadn’t even expected Irian to support my argunt in the first place.
While explaining things myself wouldn’t have been a bad idea,
having soone like Irian—who already held a solid standing within Serpina’s Army—advocate for my position would be even more beneficial.
And more than anything, I was curious to hear his argunt.
"Then, I’ll leave it to you."
Irian nodded at my words before beginning his speech.
"The argunts presented by both the strategist and General Cransis certainly have rit. However, the problem is that in order to conquer the Aishus Army, we would have to exhaust nearly all of our available forces.
"Excluding the capital’s defense troops and those assigned to maintain order across the continent,
our currently deployable forces amount to roughly 123,000 soldiers.
"Yet, with this number alone,
not only would we be unable to take Valharat Castle—where around 98,000 troops are stationed—
but we also wouldn’t have enough to seize Zelstrom Castle, which houses 80,000 troops,
or Raklein Castle, which sits on the border with Hisphil and holds another 83,000 troops."
A solid argunt.
It was essentially the sa reasoning I had been planning to present.
At that mont, Cransis—the one who had initially proposed the invasion—finally spoke.
"I do not misunderstand General Irian’s concerns. However, our army is currently capable of mobilizing up to 310,000 troops, is it not?
"Moreover, we have yet to properly conduct conscription,
aning that our forces could increase even further.
"If not now—when we no longer need to concern ourselves with the Brans Army at the border—
when else would we ever be able to muster such an overwhelming force?
"That is precisely why I say this is the opportunity."
"That—"
"That is exactly the issue, General Cransis."
This ti, I cut in.
This was the mont I had been waiting for.
Since Cransis—the original proposer of this policy—had spoken up,
I now had every right to respond as his equal in this debate.
Jenna, realizing this, simply listened quietly as I spoke.
"Of course, if we were to mobilize the entirety of our nation's power, we could crush even the fortified Aishus Army.
"However, doing so would require an imnse number of troops—
And, more importantly, an imnse amount of ti.
"Newly conscripted soldiers do not instantly beco battle-ready.
Training them into a competent force will take ti.
"And by the ti we are ready, our alliance with the Brans Army will have ended.
"Admittedly, the Brans Army remains in disarray,
so they may not pose an imdiate threat.
"But the real problem is that while we are spending all this ti conquering Aishus,
we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to countless potential dangers."
"Conquest always entails so level of risk," Cransis countered.
"We must accept so losses in pursuit of a greater victory, must we not?"
"If we were only talking about so losses,
then I might agree with you, General Cransis.
"But the issue is—this is not a matter of just ‘so’ losses."
I unfolded a map and pointed to the northern continent.
With a confident tone, I asked,
"What if a rebellion were to break out sowhere in this region?"
"......!!!"
"If we empty the northern continent’s forces in order to attack Aishus,
what could possibly be a more tempting opportunity for potential rebels?
"After all—
isn’t this very sa situation exactly why we see Brans Army’s current instability as an opportunity?"
This ti, the rebuttal ca in a woman’s voice.
"Lord Swen.
"The rebel factions were all recently purged.
"No matter how unstable the northern continent may seem,
the likelihood of simultaneous uprisings breaking out is nothing more than paranoia.
"It seems to that you are allowing unfounded hypotheticals to dictate our course of action."
"......."
Honestly, I had no real counterargunt to that.
Rebellion wasn’t child’s play.
Especially not after a recent failed attempt.
Would there truly be another fool who would imdiately rise up again, knowing the consequences?
In truth, I agreed with her logic.
The one who had spoken—Jenna—was not wrong.
But the reason I was insisting that "a rebellion is likely"
wasn’t because I had actual proof.
It was because of Serpina’s intuition.
She was relying on my prediction—
that "mobilizing the army is not an efficient course of action"—
to conclude that rebellion was inevitable.
Though I hadn’t known her for long,
I had interacted with her enough to understand that Serpina was not soone who made decisions based purely on gut feeling.
She was an exceptional woman.
The re fact that she had deduced the existence of my ability—
sothing no ordinary person could have done—
was proof enough of her brilliance.
She never acted without sound reasoning.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
If Serpina suspected that a rebellion would occur,
then there must be so basis for that assumption—
even if it was sothing she couldn’t fully articulate in words.
So, I didn’t hesitate.
Even if Jenna found it regrettable—
My lord was on my side.
So I could afford to be bold.
"No."
"......!!"
"The rebellion will happen.
Even if it is not an outright rebellion, as long as there is even a slight possibility of an equivalent crisis, I cannot agree with the notion that we should mobilize all forces and march south."
"Do you have any concrete evidence to support this?"
Evidence, huh?
I felt a little bad, but perhaps it was ti for a bit of verbal sleight of hand.
"Strategist, and General Cransis. I ask that you consider the fact that this is not a matter of evidence."
After saying that, I glanced toward Irian.
Catching my gaze, he nodded before speaking.
"The reason for advocating the advance of the occupying forces is, as has been stated, because this seems like an exceptionally good opportunity.
"But that sa reasoning also applies exactly to those who would plot rebellion.
"In other words, I believe Lord Swen is highlighting the possibility that our own decision could beco the very trigger for insurrection.
"If our army vacates its position, would it not appear to them as an exceptionally good opportunity as well?
"That, I believe, is the essence of his argunt."
"Hooh?"
For a mont, I was impressed.
He had taken a single remark I had thrown out and expanded it into a rather compelling argunt.
Unlike —soone who was viewed with skepticism by many—
Irian already held a respectable standing within Serpina’s Army.
And sure enough, I could feel the shift in the room as the crowd reconsidered their stance.
"Hmph—"
"It would be best if we ended this discussion here."
Just as Cransis was about to respond, Serpina cut him off.
"Allocating too much ti to Swen alone would be unfair, wouldn’t it?"
She smiled as she spoke.
Given how the balance was now tipping in my favor, her words carried an almost calculated ambiguity—
Yet the pressure in her smile was so overwhelming that no one dared to protest.
"Then, let ask again. Those in favor of Swen’s proposal—raise your hands."
At her words,
A significantly larger number of hands were raised.
Not only Irian and Airen,
but a notable portion of those who had originally sided with Cransis had now defected.
The count—
It looked like it had just barely surpassed the halfway mark.
"By a narrow margin, more people now support Swen’s proposal."
Serpina turned to Cransis.
"What do you think?
"If you still have more to say, I can arrange for a one-on-one debate between you and Swen."
Hearing this, Cransis cast a brief glance at .
Though it felt a little arrogant to assu—
He had likely realized that he—rather than Jenna—would struggle to defeat in a direct debate.
I was a strategist.
He was a general.
Just as wielding a sword was his domain,
wielding words was mine.
"No, my lord. That will not be necessary.
"I will abide by your decision, and the decision of my comrades."
"Good."
Serpina then stood from her seat and once again extended her hand forward.
"Then, in accordance with the principle of majority rule,
"Swen’s proposal shall be adopted as our army’s policy."
""Yes!""
"Phew..."
With this, I could finally act according to my prediction.
For reference, my prediction—just like before—had been that mobilizing the occupying forces was not an efficient choice.
Whether or not a rebellion would actually occur, I didn’t know—
But this decision was a net benefit to our army.
What slightly concerned was this:
If not moving the occupying forces was the wrong move,
then what was the optimal answer?
When Serpina had asked for the final vote, I had also inputted the question—
"Is keeping the occupying forces stationed here the most efficient choice?"
And the result had been—
"It is very close."
aning, the answer wasn’t entirely wrong,
but there was a possibility that the real correct answer was moving them sowhere else,
just not in the direction of Aishus.
Regardless—
the difference between "It is very close" and "It is incorrect" was still significant.
So I had no reason to gamble on the latter.
"This concludes our regular eting.
"Everyone, do your utmost in fulfilling your assigned duties.
"I ask that all of you dedicate yourselves tirelessly,
for the glory of the empire this quarter.
"Then—dismissed!"
With Serpina’s final command and the collective response of the officers,
The regular eting ca to an end without issue.
Now, all that remained—
Was to see the outco of this decision.
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