I left the palace and joined the Brands army.
The streets of Jeilant that I walked every day somehow felt unfamiliar.
When I turned my head to look up at the royal palace... the bright sky-blue flag symbolizing the Brands army was fluttering vigorously.
That's right.
Jeilant Castle and the surrounding territory now belonged to the Brands army.
On the way, when I turned my head, there was the market that had just begun to show signs of life, including the new building Tifa had erected.
Going a bit further and looking to the side, the golden wheat fields that I had watched with Luna stretched out before me.
And walking a little more, the small village square where I had danced with her came into view.
Though the current scenery was utterly desolate with all the territory's residents staying inside their homes due to the influx of soldiers—
I couldn't avoid seeing the traces of the paths I had walked with her over the past few months, appearing like afterimages throughout the city.
'...Lunarienne.'
I set aside the thoughts of Lunarienne that remained in a corner of my heart.
To survive, I couldn't let anyone discover my plan to return to Lunarienne's army.
The light green flag that had fluttered over Jeilant Castle.
Someday that flag would fly again.
Until then, I am Swen of Lynn Brands.
No.
I was prepared to be anyone's Swen.
Even if it meant working like a dog under that tyrant Serphina.
And by surviving—
I will definitely join Luna, who will establish a unified nation.
At least as long as she continues to hold that destiny in her hands.
And so, emptying my heart that had once held her, I filled it with a new sky-blue sun and followed the procession out of Jeilant Castle.
* * *
The first thing Lynn did upon arriving at Anel Castle was to redeploy her massive army of 80,000 troops back to their original frontlines across the region.
"Brother. Can I leave the south to you? Let me know if anything happens."
"Yes! Understood."
Chel nodded and quickly left the palace.
Since most of the troops had come from the south, Chel was the one who needed to move fastest.
In the southern continent, several countries were engaged in fierce competition.
Among them, excluding minor countries with only a few territories, there were four major nations.
The Roland army, which shared the most borders with the Brands army; the Hesna army, which shared relatively fewer borders;
And below them, the Kareliya army and the Ohana army, which had no adjacent borders.
It was easiest to think of these four countries as maintaining a similar balance of power.
Though divided, if the national power of these four countries were combined, they would far exceed that of the Brands army.
Of course, they wouldn't form an alliance, but to conquer the south, it was necessary to narrow the frontlines as they were now.
Setting aside Serphina in the north, they needed to first deal with the numerous small countries scattered throughout the central region and somewhat concerning countries in the east, including the Aishers army, before they could confidently deploy troops to the south.
So, until the situation was somewhat resolved, Chel, the First Sword of Brands, would be stationed in the south.
Meanwhile, they would quickly pacify the central-western part of the continent, and if possible, the eastern part as well.
This was Lynn's grand strategy for the Brands army.
'The location is quite unfavorable, isn't it?'
This might sound like complaining with a full stomach, given that they owned the richest, most fertile land in the central part of the continent—
But they were certainly in a position where conflict was unavoidable.
"My lord. Should I assist Chel in the south again this time?"
Lynn shook her head at Farfalle's question.
"No. Stay here for now. Something seems likely to happen in the south... but they won't bother us immediately."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Intelligence has come in. It seems there's going to be quite a commotion."
"Is the Hesna army on the move?"
"My, my."
Lynn looked at Farfalle with an amused expression.
"It seems you have some idea?"
"Well, I was in the south until quite recently."
The border between the Hesna army and the Ohana army.
Word had come that troops were gathering there.
While there was a high possibility that war wouldn't break out, if it did?
The Roland army would be more concerned with attacking the neighboring Hesna army than worrying about us.
Then we could move according to the situation.
Whether we raid the empty Roland army or go after the Hesna army first—we held all the cards.
"That's right. So let's take our time and observe for now. By the way, would you call Swen for me?"
"Swen... you mean that man who was abandoned by Lunarienne?"
"Yes!"
Farfalle asked with a puzzled expression.
"He doesn't seem that impressive..."
"No, I was completely fooled. Of course, it might have been because you weren't by my side... but he's definitely an extraordinary person! Now that he's part of our family, shouldn't we show him around? Hehe♡"
"..."
Hearing Lynn speak so cheerfully, Farfalle fell into thought.
Was she truly a sincere ruler who cared for each of her subjects individually?
Objectively speaking, she was not.
The only ones she took care of were the S-class generals that anyone would find useful. The rest of the officers were just treated as people who handled the castle's internal affairs or filled positions in places that weren't particularly important.
From what she knew, her lord Lynn's foresight, despite some strange stubbornness, was generally not bad.
Was this man Swen truly remarkable? Farfalle was becoming curious about that as well.
"Please wait a moment."
"Sure, sure! Tell him to come in comfortably, without being nervous!"
"Yes."
Farfalle nodded and left the palace.
Exactly ten minutes later, Swen, now a free man, walked in with Farfalle.
He knelt on one knee to show respect and then uttered words that were incredibly sweet to Lynn's ears.
"You called for me, my lord."
"Yes! Welcome! It's good to see you here!"
The man who had come as an envoy saying, 'I've come to deliver a message from our lord Lunarienne,' and toyed with me with his tongue, was now kneeling before me and calling me 'my lord.'
What a thrilling feeling!
Nothing excited her more than having capable talents serve her and address her as 'my lord.'
"I just thought it would be nice to formally greet each other now that you're part of our new family."
Lynn immediately said with a high-tension, beaming smile.
"I'm Lynn Brands! As you know, I'm the ruler of the Brands army. I'm the one who will unify this continent. What do you think, Swen? Don't you agree?"
Standing beside her as she sat on the throne, Farfalle inwardly felt sympathy for the man called Swen.
She didn't know what ability he had used to deceive her lord to receive such attention... but the Lynn she knew was a performance-oriented person who valued results above all else.
If he couldn't produce notable achievements, he would quickly fall out of favor and have to be content with a low position, wasting his days.
If he was just someone who cared about making a living and didn't have great ambitions, it might be fine—but if he had aspirations, it would be unbearable treatment.
Besides, it wasn't the first time Lynn had made such a fuss over new talent.
And not a single person had ever met her unreasonably high expectations.
"..."
After listening to Lynn's words, Swen bowed his head and then carefully spoke.
"I will do my best to assist Lynn in achieving her goals."
"Great! I like your attitude! Yes! I hope you'll use your abilities for me from now on?"
"How could I refuse?"
Lynn looked at Swen with satisfaction, then remembered something and spoke.
"Oh, right. Come to think of it, you don't have a place to stay here, do you?"
"Not particularly... but I'm fine with staying at an inn."
"An inn? What are you talking about? Sure, the inns in Anel Castle are decent, but I can't treat a valuable subordinate of our army like that. Wait a moment. Farfalle, are there any empty rooms?"
"No, there aren't..."
Of course, she didn't personally provide rooms for all her subordinates.
She was clearly giving Swen special treatment.
"Hmm, is there no good place..."
Lynn pondered for a moment, then tapped the armrest of her chair as if she'd thought of a good solution.
"Ah, right. East Anel, 32nd Street on the right side of the palace. There's an officer living in a spacious room there. Go and live with them."
"Live together?"
"Yes! It's like having a roommate. All the buildings in that area are managed by the state, so you can just go and stay there! The person living there is also my subordinate, so you can ask them anything."
Swen bowed his head and said.
"Yes, I understand. I will stay there as ordered."
"Good!"
Lynn smiled with satisfaction and said.
"You can go now! The next regular meeting is in three days, so come to the palace then to attend. Your roommate will tell you the details. See you then?"
"Yes."
With that, Swen stood up, maintained his respectful demeanor until the end, and slowly left the palace.
As soon as Swen went outside, Lynn turned to look at Farfalle and asked.
"So? What do you think?"
"Well..."
Farfalle couldn't find the right words to answer.
After all, her first impression of the man called Swen was that he was a mediocre officer who looked rather weak, though his face was decent enough.
It's not like we're going to eat his face, and a man needs skills to be useful, right?
She couldn't understand why Lynn was so fixated on that man.
But there was no need to upset her mood at a time like this.
Farfalle finally came up with an appropriate answer.
"He certainly has an unusual aura about him."
"Right? That's what I've been saying."
'I guess that's good enough.'
Farfalle inwardly sighed with relief.
Nothing could be more terrible than souring her capricious mood.
At that moment.
'Wait a minute.'
Lynn had clearly told him to go to East Anel, 32nd Street.
She had added that he should live as a roommate with the person living there.
Farfalle knew that neighborhood well.
She herself was staying in the East Anel area.
As such, she also knew who lived at 32nd Street.
'That place is definitely...!'
A chill ran down her spine!
Farfalle looked at her lord, Lynn.
She was sitting on the throne, smiling brightly while organizing documents on the side table.
...She did it on purpose.
She deliberately sent that "man" Swen there.
'Those who fall out of favor with our lord truly suffer greatly.'
The way to survive safely in the Brands army:
Never fall out of Lynn Brands' favor.
* * *
Outside Anel Castle, within the territory.
"I'm Lynn Brands! As you know, I'm the ruler of the Brands army. I'm the one who will unify this continent. What do you think, Swen? Don't you agree?"
At that moment, I could clearly input the question.
'Can Lynn Brands unify the continent?'
And as expected, the output came ridiculously quickly.
[No, she cannot.]
'Yes, she can, my new lord.'
The result was no different from when I first met Luna.
She is not destined to be the unifying monarch.
But there's no need to voice this.
In any case, to avoid her unnecessary suspicion, I needed to gain her trust by being helpful.
After checking the map of the town square, I headed toward East Anel Street.
That place was certainly different from Jeilant Castle with its dilapidated buildings.
Despite it being evening, quite a few people were walking around, and unlike Jeilant with its aging wooden houses, this area had beautiful two-story medieval-style brick houses.
After walking for a few minutes, I finally reached East Anel, 32nd Street.
'Is this it?'
An ordinary brick house with elegant trees around it.
Still, it was much better than my quarters in Jeilant, which could hardly be called a residence with just a single bed.
Normally, I would have felt like I'd moved up in the world... but somehow, I wasn't entirely happy.
Where might Lunarienne be now?
Was she somewhere on the route to the south?
Were Kein and Tifa following her without any problems?
'...Enough.'
There was nothing to be gained by thinking about her now.
With that thought clearing my mind, I slowly knocked on the door.
And then.
A voice came from beyond the door.
"Who is it?"
'Huh?'
...It was a woman's voice.