The road to Valharat Castle wasn’t much different from the one leading to Arnel Castle.
The only real difference was that I kept seeing familiar faces for so reason.
Since Garland Eternity Saga tended to recycle the sa key officers over and over, I had seen these people countless tis before.
As expected of the Aishus Army, a treasure trove of talent.
Aishus Army's defining trait was "exceptional talent."
Its foundations were incredibly weak, but it aid to unify the continent purely through the strength of its personnel.
It required so effort to manage, but it wasn’t particularly difficult—just the right level for an interdiate-level sovereign.
After arriving at the castle gates, a guard stopped us.
"State your identity."
"Airen Juliet. I joined not long ago."
"And you?"
"I’m Swen. Like Lady Airen, I also joined the Aishus Army recently."
"Airen Juliet and Swen… Please wait a mont."
The guard stepped into a small side room.
A short while later, after apparently verifying sothing, he erged and saluted us.
"My apologies for the delay. Please, go right in."
"Hm."
We gave him a brief nod and proceeded inside the royal castle, heading toward what appeared to be the audience chamber where the eting was to be held.
Once we arrived, Airen and I found a suitable spot among the gathered officers.
Then, I took my ti scanning the participants.
Wow.
I nearly let out an exclamation.
Almost everyone here was a familiar face.
The most eye-catching among them was, of course, the second-in-command of the Aishus Army—Epinnel Rosenkross.
Her defining traits were her teal ponytail and her revealing, borderline indecent armor. She stood with her arms crossed, eyes closed, waiting for the eting to begin.
Opposite her was a woman with long, deep-blue hair styled in loose waves.
With her siege-specialist trait, she was undoubtedly Emma Adlen—one of the few officers, like Airen, with the [Siege] ability.
Clad in sturdy armor, her presence carried a similar weight to Airen’s.
The only real difference was… chest size.
Emma had an average build, whereas Airen had sothing that made it impossible for her to wear off-the-rack armor.
And then, beside her—
A massive man.
ssy black hair, towering height, muscular physique, and eyes carrying a hint of lancholy.
I didn’t usually bother rembering male characters’ faces, but the odds were high that he was Hernandorf Arisian.
The strongest warrior in the Aishus Army in terms of pure combat power.
A reliable, sturdy fighter who excelled in one-on-one duels.
Unlike Chel from the Brans Army, Hernandorf wasn’t overly aggressive, making him easier to control.
Unfortunately, his intelligence was abysmal, which made him prone to falling for enemy sches.
Epinnel. Emma. And Hernandorf.
These three were often referred to as the "Aishus Three Heroes."
That wasn’t a term I just made up—it was an official description from the in-ga character introduction.
Aside from them, most of the officers present were also familiar.
Seeing them all together made realize just how lacking the Brans Army had been.
Brans had numbers, but very few morable faces.
After so ti had passed—
"Lord Yuri is entering!"
A soldier’s voice rang out.
Walking toward the empty throne was Yuri.
"…Huh?"
Wait a minute.
The old man following closely behind Yuri…?
Wearing a deep-pressed hat, with a long, white beard—
That man was—
[Do you take Intelligence 99 lightly?]
…Oh!
Right.
I rembered now.
That old man—he was Jinor.
A man with an in-ga intelligence stat of 99, practically the maximum possible.
He was the one who had thrown into this world—how could I possibly forget him?
Though, I had no idea whether this world's Jinor was aware of any of that.
So, his full na was… Jinor Nighhardt, wasn’t it?
Wait.
Nighhardt?
Oh. Oh! Oh!
That’s right.
Nighhardt—Jinor’s surna. No wonder it had stuck in my mory.
But didn’t Reika also have the surna Nighhardt?
What the hell? His daughter? Granddaughter?
No… But Reika was supposed to be an orphan, wasn’t she?
I was certain of it.
Having played through the ga countless tis with various rulers, I knew her background like the back of my hand.
What the hell is going on?
It seed that while I had been stuck in the Brans Army, events had been unfolding in their own way here.
I never expected Jinor to be part of the Aishus Army.
But his presence here actually solved one of my biggest lingering questions.
Back when I was in the Brans Army—
I had identified the Betrayal Strategy being set in motion by the Charam Army when they suddenly started offering tribute.
But that strategy required an intelligence stat of 95 or higher, along with the [Betrayal] trait.
Did the Aishus Army even have a strategist of that caliber?
Jinor was the perfect answer.
With his intelligence of 99 and a versatile skill set, he was more than capable of orchestrating such a sche.
After Yuri settled onto the throne, she addressed the room.
"Alright. Thank you all for gathering despite your busy schedules. Let's start the eting imdiately.
Before we begin, I’d like to hold a brief rit evaluation for last month’s accomplishnts. Is everyone alright with that?"
""Yes!""
The rit evaluation wasn’t particularly important.
What stood out most was the exceptional performance of Epinnel and the Three Heroes.
It seed they were excelling in their respective roles even in this tiline.
"Now, regarding the directives from the last eting—I know everyone worked hard.
We may have failed to advance into the central continent, but we achieved significant results in other areas.
I hope you’ll continue in this manner moving forward."
Considering I had played a significant role in ensuring that failure, I felt a little awkward.
But this was my ho now.
"Alright. Let’s gather opinions on what our next steps should be. Any suggestions?"
"Lord Yuri."
The first to raise his hand was Jinor.
"Hm?"
"Auspicious energy has been detected within Valharat’s territory.
Conducting a thorough exploration of the castle and its surroundings may be worthwhile."
"Exploration, huh…?"
Huh?
It was unusual for a strategist to suggest a territorial search.
There were only two reasons they would do so—either there was a hidden talent or a valuable treasure to be found.
Then—
"Yuri. I have sothing to say, too."
Emma raised her hand.
Not Lord Yuri, just Yuri.
And she was speaking informally.
This wasn’t my first ti seeing sothing like this. Back in the Lunarian Army, Tifa had spoken in a similar manner to Luna.
But that was a four-person, practically club-sized army.
The Aishus Army had a much larger structure, so no matter how much trust she had earned, speaking like that to the ruler still felt off.
However, Yuri didn’t seem to care in the slightest. She simply nodded.
"What is it?"
"I think it’s best to take care of the Charam and Aleffel armies. Keeping them around has no further benefit.
We’ve delayed our invasion with sches and tactics for long enough.
Soon, we’ll be facing the Brans Army in a large-scale battle, so I’d rather eliminate potential threats now."
"Hmm."
Yuri nodded.
"Anyone else want to speak?"
A brief silence followed.
When no one else raised their voice, the eting continued.
"Alright. First, let’s vote.
Who thinks we should conduct an exploration of Valharat’s territory?
Raise your hand."
A territorial search, huh…
It was finally ti for to put my abilities to use.
"Is conducting a territorial search of Valharat the most efficient option?"
As always, my intelligence stat of 100 gave an instant answer.
[Yes.]
Oh.
It had been a while since I’d heard such a clear response.
Honestly, I had already expected it.
After all, the one who proposed it was none other than Jinor.
With an intelligence stat of 99, his words were 99% likely to be correct.
Unless that 1% chance kicked in, following his lead was the obvious choice.
I slowly raised my hand.
Including Airen beside , a little more than half of the room did the sa.
It seed that many within the army trusted Jinor’s judgnt.
Yuri briefly scanned the room before continuing.
"Next.
Who thinks we should prioritize subjugating the Charam and Aleffel armies?"
The outco was clear, but I still asked internally—
"Is subjugating the Charam and Aleffel armies the most efficient option?"
[No.]
As expected.
Hearing a predictable answer gave an odd sense of reassurance.
This ti, an almost equal number of people raised their hands.
However, just by counting at a glance, the numbers were slightly lower than those who had supported Jinor’s suggestion.
So, would the decision be made based on a majority vote in favor of Jinor’s plan?
But then—
"Hmm…"
Instead of saying "We’ll go with Jinor’s proposal since it has the majority vote," Yuri hesitated, seemingly deep in thought.
Is this really sothing to hesitate over?
Usually, in etings like this, the majority opinion was chosen to maintain order.
If a ruler ignored votes, it could lower loyalty or cause discord among officers.
From the officers' perspective, even if they lost the vote, they at least had a chance to argue their case in a debate.
Yet—
"Jinor. You should yield this ti.
It’s Emma’s suggestion, after all. You don’t mind, do you?"
"There is no issue, my lord. I will follow your will."
At Jinor’s response, Yuri nodded and addressed the room.
"This ti, we’ll go with Emma’s plan.
We will reclaim the territories of the Charam and Aleffel armies.
Do your best in your assigned positions to achieve our goal. Understood?"
""Yes! Understood!""
…?
No one objected.
The decision was simply made on her whim.
If this was how things were going to be, was there even a point in gathering everyone’s opinions?
And the way she worded it—“It’s Emma’s suggestion.”
Would she not have conceded if it had been soone else?
I felt like I was beginning to glimpse a fundantal issue within the Aishus Army.
But I didn’t have enough information to draw any conclusions yet.
The eting continued.
One notable decision was made at the request of Epinnel, the fortress commander—10,000 soldiers from Valharat Castle would be reassigned to her fortress.
With 53,000 troops stationed in Valharat, it wasn’t a burden to send them.
But the way Yuri imdiately agreed to it was slightly unsettling.
It seed the influence of the Aishus Three Heroes was even stronger than I had expected.
And with that, the eting concluded.
Yuri stood from her seat and addressed us one final ti.
"I’ve assigned tasks to each of you. Check them on your way out.
That’s it for today’s eting. Oh, and—"
Then, she looked directly at .
"Swen. Stay behind for a mont."
"……?"
At her words, every officer in the room turned to stare at .
The sudden attention was slightly overwhelming, but…
Well, if the ruler commands, a subordinate must obey.
"Understood."
"Good. The rest of you are dismissed."
""Yes, my lord!""
With that, the gathered officers made their final salutes and exited the chamber one by one.
I told Airen that she could leave first, assuring her that I wouldn’t take long.
Once the room quieted down, only three people remained—Yuri, Jinor, and .
I naturally stepped closer to her throne.
"What is this about?"
"Swen. I have a question for you."
"What kind of question…?"
"Well, actually—this is more his concern than mine."
Yuri slightly tilted her head toward Jinor.
What?
Jinor had sothing to say to ?
At that mont, for so reason, the phrase—
[Do you take Intelligence 99 lightly?]
—flashed through my mind again.
Jinor gave a slight nod before slowly walking toward .
"You are Swen, correct?"
"That’s right."
"……."
Why…
Why was he staring at like that?
What was going on?
Jinor gazed at , his expression unreadable.
Then, in a careful, deliberate tone, he asked—
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