Spending nearly the entire day by her side—if that was the definition of "devoting" myself, then it would be the correct answer.
――Of course, most of that ti was consud by state affairs.
Even though I had not officially obtained the position of the nation's strategist, Serpina, upon learning about my Insight, had begun consulting rather than Jenna for the majority of her governance decisions.
From the most trivial matters to the larger issues of what needed to be done moving forward.
While Jenna oversaw the northern continent as a whole, I was the one handling all the minor internal affairs.
And then—
Airen, who had returned to Eingart Castle with from Roze Castle, was formally appointed as Serpina’s personal escort knight.
At first, so voiced concerns that this was essentially a demotion, but—without any strong reaction, Airen simply knelt before Serpina and accepted the role without hesitation.
When I later spoke to her in private—
["You thought I was ordered to do this?"]
["Yes."]
On our way back to the mansion, Airen turned her head to look at .
In her violet eyes, the word certainty was clearly etched.
["There’s no way our lord would appoint , the deputy commander, as a re escort knight without a reason. Besides, Swen, haven’t you been spending a lot more ti with our lord lately? It was only natural to assu the topic ca up between the two of you."]
After saying that, she looked at cautiously before asking—
["...Was I wrong?"]
["No, you were right, Lady Airen. Still, I’m a little amazed at how precisely you figured it out."]
["Well, it’s you giving the orders, so of course there had to be a reason. It wasn’t hard to guess."]
Then, just as she was speaking with a relaxed smile, her expression hardened.
She moved closer, lowering her voice to a whisper.
The sudden rush of her scent wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
["It’s related to what you ntioned before—about our lord being in danger, isn’t it?"]
There was nothing more to hide from Lady Airen, so I answered her bluntly.
["Yes, that’s right."]
["I see. Understood. If it’s to protect our lord, then it’s a worthy task."]
Airen probably felt an even greater debt of gratitude toward Serpina than I did.
She would carry out this duty without any complaints if it was for her sake.
There would eventually co a ti when I would have to take her with .
This arrangent would undoubtedly help put Airen’s mind at ease when that mont arrived.
["By the way... this is a bit off-topic, but..."]
["Go ahead."]
Airen hesitated for a mont before carefully asking her next question.
Unlike her earlier serious and grave deanor, this ti, she looked flustered, her face turning bright red in embarrassnt.
["It’s just... I was curious about what kind of conversations you usually have with our lord."]
Seeing right through Lady Airen’s intentions, I couldn’t help but smile.
What kind of conversations, huh...
["Just general discussions about governance. You don’t need to worry about any strange rumors."]
["N-No, it’s not that! Swen, I— I’m not saying I believe in the rumors, it’s just..."]
["In that case, why don’t we spend so ti together today? Since returning, we haven’t had much ti to talk, have we?"]
Airen had been following a routine where she left at dawn and only returned by evening.
And I had been {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} busy being dragged around by Serpina.
["Huh? But, um... Lady Reika..."]
["She’ll be fine for today."]
On my way out, I had exchanged greetings with Reika, whose eyes were completely sunken.
From what I heard, she had spent the entire night reading, so she was probably deep in dreamland by now.
["So, let’s spend so ti together today, Lady Airen."]
Airen hesitated for a mont—
Then, lowering her head, she responded in a small voice.
["...Okay."]
And just like that, for the first ti in a long while, the two of us got to spend ti together.
For soone like , who was constantly engaged in battles of wits, ti spent with her was my only real respite.
*
Ti passed.
As usual, my exchange of cryptic questions and answers with Serpina continued.
She asked, and I answered.
It was a simple chanism, but when paired with my "100 Intelligence" ability, which ensured that every word I spoke was correct, these conversations beca sothing far greater than re discussions.
At this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was single-handedly guiding half the actions of Serpina’s army—the most powerful military force on the continent.
["So, you’re saying it’s not yet ti to start a war?"]
["That’s correct. Sothing seems to be brewing in the background."]
["And you’re saying we don’t even know if it’s a rebellion or not?"]
["Yes."]
I wanted to give her a precise answer, but with my ability, I could only see the result, not the cause.
In the past, she would have dismissed my vague responses as illogical, but Serpina was different now.
She listened carefully to everything I said, accepting my words as truth.
["...I understand. I’ll give it more thought. If the outco is inevitable, then there must be a reason behind it."]
The way Serpina approached these "absolute truths" was eerily similar to my own.
She would take the results, deduce possible causes, and then extract the most probable conclusion.
While I had full knowledge of this world thanks to my 10,000 hours of gaplay, she, as a ruler, had a much broader grasp of governance and military strategy than I ever could.
If she had the 100 Intelligence ability, she might have been able to utilize it even better than I did.
["In that case, I’m about to assign a new mission—what would be the most optimal way to structure it?"]
Honestly, being a "100 Intelligence strategist" wasn’t anything special.
It simply ant answering questions like these.
I provided her with the most efficient answers to every inquiry.
As a result—
The changes occurring in this nation were far greater than I had expected.
By preemptively preventing floods, the people’s trust in her increased.
Through rational dealings with rchant guilds, she secured a year’s worth of military provisions at a bargain price.
By acting decisively, she prevented the rise of rampant bandit groups before they could take hold.
Since following my advice always led to the best outco, Serpina’s reputation naturally began to improve.
Her standing among the military officers had never been bad to begin with, but the common people hadn’t fully embraced her yet.
This shift in public sentint was nothing short of remarkable.
As favorable results continued to accumulate, Serpina no longer hesitated.
At first, even after learning about my Insight, she had accepted my initial advice with a sowhat skeptical expression.
But at so point, she simply started believing in my words without question.
I could feel her attitude toward shifting in real ti.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
And that wasn't the only consequence.
Every single exploration yielded nothing but good news.
["What is all this?"]
["These are... the treasures we discovered while scouting the surrounding territories, as per your orders."]
Not just a single treasure—treasures, plural.
Before Serpina, five different treasures were being presented.
A masterfully crafted sword, a six-generation compilation of dical texts, a war treatise written by a renowned strategist, a legendary liquor spoken of in myths, and precious gemstones of imnse value.
All of them were the result of my simple suggestion—"It would be beneficial to conduct an exploration."
Serpina distributed all these treasures among her commanders.
When I asked why, she responded indifferently, as if it were nothing special.
["I have no interest in collecting such things. Objects exist to be used by people. Wouldn't these treasures be far happier being handled and appreciated rather than gathering dust in the royal treasury?"]
Even so, greed is part of human nature.
To distribute every single treasure without hesitation was not sothing just anyone could do.
The only thing she kept for herself was the war treatise.
It seed she was studying it in private.
I had heard that it was Serpina who devised the strategy to lure out Anima from the castle.
She listened to the opinions of her generals but ultimately valued her own judgnt as well.
As a ruler, she was the final decision-maker.
And in order to extract the best possible choices, she could not afford to neglect her studies.
Of course, with —the strategist with 100 Intelligence—by her side, she could have relied solely on my answers and still arrived at the correct solutions.
But that did not stop her from honing herself relentlessly.
And yet—
["So it’s still not ti yet?"]
["No, it is not."]
There was a particular question Serpina had started asking at so point.
"Can Serpina von Eingart unify the world?"
And every single ti, the answer remained the sa.
No.
Though the nation was steadily progressing, that answer had never once changed.
["I see. I understand."]
She never displayed disappointnt at my response.
She never demanded further explanations.
She simply accepted my words and resud her work.
One might expect her to question why—to at least ask for clarification once—but she did not.
She rely continued to struggle against her fate in silence.
Her unwavering dedication to self-improvent was likely part of that struggle.
She was making every effort to overco the weight of her past and beco a ruler capable of unifying the continent.
And yet, I—
I could never bring myself to say it.
"If Serpina von Eingart were to die, this nation would beco a unified empire."
No matter what happened, I could never reveal that truth.
I could only continue to support her as I had been.
After all, keeping her alive was beneficial for Lady Luna as well.
With that justification, I had no trouble assisting her without hesitation.
It was during this ti, while I remained by her side, that sothing decisive happened.
***
It all began with an exploration.
["Is sending General Celia to Kelstein Castle the most efficient choice?"]
[Approaching the correct answer.]
'...No.'
I shook my head.
Through several rounds of questioning, we had already established that an exploration at Kelstein Castle was optimal.
The issue was—who should be sent?
The act of exploration itself was a fixed outco.
But the choice of commander remained variable.
If I could pinpoint the correct commander through logical deduction, then the answer would be—"Yes."
Serpina nodded.
["I’ve summoned all available generals."]
["It seems the correct choice is soone currently assigned to a mission."]
["Hmm..."]
Serpina paused in thought, then resud her questioning.
["Is sending General Airen to Kelstein Castle the most efficient choice?"]
"......."
A familiar na had co up, and I almost faltered.
[Approaching the correct answer.]
'So it’s not Lady Airen.'
I shook my head once again.
Following Airen, the nas of other commanders under the occupation forces began to be listed.
Cransis, Jaden, Yuria... unfamiliar nas, except for Cransis.
One after another, their nas passed without yielding the correct answer.
And then—
["Is sending General Irian to Kelstein Castle the most efficient choice?"]
...!
My chanical process of questioning suddenly ca to a halt.
Serpina let out a satisfied chuckle.
It was exceedingly difficult to conceal my reactions in front of her.
["It seems we have our answer, Swen."]
The result had returned—
[Yes.]
["...That’s correct."]
I bowed my head slightly.
["Please dispatch General Irian to Kelstein Castle."]
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