"Burn down the... fortress?"
Kalinz nodded at Taltin's words.
"Yes. It's our Lord's order."
"That's... impossible."
Kalinz lowered his head and trembled with clenched fists, unable to accept it.
But I actually thought Lynn's decision was extremely wise.
'The strategic value of this fortress is close to zero for the Brands army. Rather, if it falls into Serphina's army, it's more likely to become a fatal blade aimed at our forces. The only reason they've been overlooking this was because the person in charge was none other than Kalinz. But now that Kalinz has acted on his own out of desire for achievement, it's hard to trust him anymore. Ordering the fortress to be burned down and returning is the most rational decision.'
In fact, I initially thought that a brain with 100 Intelligence would predict "destroy the fortress and escape."
However.
If she was going to give such an order eventually, she should have done so when Kalinz was taken prisoner.
But after ordering us to fight, and after we successfully defended it, now she orders us to burn the fortress?
At this point, her intentions became easier to read.
'I can't stay with the Brands army for much longer.'
Even if I'd be fine, I couldn't keep putting Irene in danger.
I felt it was time to move to another country.
"...Damn it...!"
While Kalinz Brands held a fairly high position within the Brands army,
that position came solely from being a member of the "Brands family."
No matter how capable he was, he couldn't refuse the orders of his lord, Lynn Brands.
"Now that I've delivered the message, I'll go prepare. Please be ready to evacuate by the end of today. Well then."
Taltin bowed his head and slowly left the room.
After he left,
Kalinz sighed several times, then looked at me with great regret.
"I'm sorry, Swen. To think we must destroy this fortress... that you risked your life to defend."
Well.
I didn't exactly risk my life, but there's no reason not to use that misconception.
"It's fine. If I was able to work for you, Lord Kalinz, that's enough for me."
"Really?! Do you truly think so?"
Hearing my flattering courtesy, Kalinz suddenly approached me, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said:
"I'll try to persuade our Lord once more! If you could perform that ceremony of praying to the heavens just one more time! We could annihilate Serphina's army, gather our forces, and finally plant the Brands army flag in the north! Yes, what do you say? Won't you help me make history?!"
'Good grief.'
I thought he would be reflecting after carrying out such a reckless operation.
But after seeing "my ability," he seemed to think it was worth trying again.
Of course, I don't have the ability to summon natural disasters. Obviously, I can't make meteorites fall from the sky.
So I thought I should politely refuse, but at that very moment—
"Lord Kalinz."
It was Irene standing beside me who spoke first.
"I cannot allow Swen to be assigned such dangerous tasks again. Please exercise restraint."
"...What?"
Kalinz looked at Irene with an expression of disbelief.
"General Irene... I appreciate you staying to defend the fortress, but you probably didn't remain here to fight of your own volition, did you? Am I right?"
"..."
Kalinz Brands was practically Lynn Brands' closest confidant.
He couldn't help but know that she didn't think very highly of Irene.
"Right now, I'm asking Swen, who fought for me 'of his own will,' not because our Lord ordered him to. I'd appreciate if you understood when not to interfere."
"Absolutely not. Please don't drag Swen into your reckless operations. If you insist on taking Swen, you'll have to cut off my head first."
Kalinz was slightly taken aback by Irene's strong wording and exclaimed:
"Are you defying my orders, Irene Juliet?"
Despite Kalinz's very stern tone, Irene didn't back down at all and stared straight at him.
Considering that she would normally have backed down by now, this was quite surprising.
"It's not defiance. It's advice. Please listen to my advice, Lord Kalinz. Shouldn't we avoid making another wrong decision that would sacrifice many people and put our forces in danger?"
"What?! How dare you, you...!"
"And currently, our Lord has ordered us to 'dismantle the fortress and retreat.' I believe disobeying our Lord's orders constitutes defiance, but what do you think, Lord Kalinz?"
At Irene's sharp retort, Kalinz couldn't contain his anger and placed his hand on the sword at his waist.
"You abandoned dog—!"
"Lord Kalinz!"
And so,
To prevent the atmosphere from heating up further, I immediately intervened and bowed at a 90-degree angle.
"Please set aside your anger, Lord Kalinz. I deeply regret to say that swaying the will of heaven requires many conditions. Even if we perform the ceremony again, there's no guarantee it will succeed."
"S-Swen...!"
It's annoying, but there's no need to unnecessarily provoke Kalinz here.
I casually mixed in some words that he would want to hear.
"And if you disobey our Lord's orders here, I'm concerned about your reputation, Lord Kalinz. I've heard that a great general knows when to exercise patience. And as far as I know, I believe Lord Kalinz is the most patient general in the Brands army. In this regard, I think even First Sword Chel would concede to you."
"...Do, do you think so...?"
"Yes. That's why I wanted to work under you, Lord Kalinz."
"...Hmm, ahem."
Kalinz cleared his throat unnecessarily a few times.
His previous rage had completely disappeared, and he had visibly regained his composure.
He's much easier to handle than I thought.
That was truly fortunate.
"General Irene and I are exhausted from risking our lives to defend the fortress, making it difficult for us to make proper judgments right now. However, we both hope that Lord Kalinz will make the right decision. I earnestly request that you, as our commander, consider this and show the patience that is characteristic of you."
"...Hmm... Patience, huh. Well... Swen, you must have been through a lot too, and with our Lord's orders... that would be the right thing to do."
Kalinz wasn't that stupid.
Once he cooled down, he could understand what was right with just a little thought.
He must have had time to reflect while alone in prison.
He sighed deeply and looked at Irene beside me.
"Irene, regardless of the reason, I'll specially overlook this matter considering your service in fighting for the fortress. But next time, you should think more carefully about how to speak. Understood?"
"Yes. Thank you very much for forgiving my rudeness. I will keep your words in mind."
Fortunately, Irene bowed her head instead of sharpening her tone further.
'Phew.'
"So we really have to destroy the fortress..."
Kalinz muttered as he left the conference room.
Alone in the conference room, I could finally speak to Irene.
"Lady Irene. There's no need to be so confrontational with Lord Kalinz."
"No. Swen, I don't want to put you in dangerous situations anymore. It would be the same with anyone other than Lord Kalinz. I absolutely cannot compromise on this."
It seemed that her sense of debt to me was greater than I had imagined.
If that's the case... perhaps the time has come.
I carefully asked a somewhat impertinent question.
"Even against Lord Lynn?"
"..."
Hearing those words, Irene slowly turned her head toward me.
Her violet eyes were looking at me more clearly than ever before.
"Swen. ...There's something I need to tell you. It should be fine to say it now."
"What is it?"
Hearing my question, Irene put on an extremely solemn expression.
Then, she drew the sword from her waist.
With the sound of the sword leaving its scabbard, she thrust it into the floor.
Her sharp blade stuck into the conference room floor.
Holding the sword with both hands, she spoke in a very serious tone.
"Swen."
"Yes."
After hearing my response, she closed her eyes.
I couldn't tell exactly what she was thinking about—
But I thought it might be about Lynn Brands, whom she truly wanted to protect.
But by now, she must know.
That she herself could never protect Lynn no matter what.
She slowly opened her eyes.
With an extremely serene expression, her eyes fixed solely on me, she whispered:
"...From now on, I will live not for Lynn Brands, but for you, Swen."
I said nothing and simply looked at her face seriously.
"My sword will exist to protect you. My body will be used for you. I, Irene Juliet, from this moment forward, am wholly yours, Swen."
"If anyone tries to harm you, whoever they may be, I will use all my strength to stop them. ...And."
She, who had been so solemn—put on a somewhat girlish expression and blushed.
"If you don't mind... I was thinking... I could continue to brew tea for you."
"That's the most important thing, Lady Irene."
Hearing my words, a faint smile appeared on Irene's face.
It was a very solid smile that wouldn't crumble no matter what.
"You have a somewhat light-hearted side even in moments like this."
"But it's true that's the most important thing."
Irene spoke again in a serious tone.
"While we're with the Brands army... no, regardless of which army we belong to, I, Irene Juliet, will be a knight solely for you. Just as you said you would protect me."
Only after hearing those words did it start to feel real.
I had finally succeeded in changing a predetermined fate.
I had managed to save her from the tragic fate of dying because she couldn't abandon her faith.
Just for this, I felt fortunate to have come to the Brands army.
"I look forward to working with you, Lady Irene."
"Yes."
After our brief private ceremony ended,
She put her sword back in its scabbard and asked in a somewhat serious tone.
"By the way, Swen. There's something I want to ask you."
"Please go ahead."
"It seems that Lynn is not the lord in your heart."
Hearing Irene's words, I shrugged my shoulders.
There was no point in hiding anything from her now.
"Was it that obvious?"
"I'm afraid so."
If she were her usual loyal self, it would have been different, but now her body and heart belonged not to Lynn Brands but to me.
Therefore, she had no hesitation in uttering such disloyal words despite being part of the Brands army.
"I'm curious about your true lord. Whoever it is, if it's someone you, Swen, choose to follow, I will follow them too."
Lord.
Yes, my lord.
From the beginning, there was only one person.
"I serve the only person who can conquer this continent and become the unifying monarch."
"Oh, the only person? Who might that be?"
"Lady Irene probably knows them too. Didn't you meet them in person a few months ago?"
"...!!!"
She seemed to have an idea and asked me in surprise.
"Could it be... you think Lunarienne will become the unifying monarch...?"
Ah.
Thank you, Lady Irene.
For asking such an appropriate question again.
After a very long time, I was able to input "that question."
'Is Lunarienne Iniang the person who will become the unifying monarch?'
And once again—
The answer came surprisingly quickly.
[Yes.]
'Ha.'
I let out a sigh of relief.
You're safe, my lord.
* * *
Madlan Castle.
This place, the capital of the Karelia army, was undisputedly the largest city in the southern part of the continent.
During the Unified Empire era, it served as the commercial center of the south, with fertile land and surrounding mountains making it an excellent location for building a city.
And here, a woman with cute cream-colored short hair and red eyes—
"Thank you all for your hard work! Please hang in there a little longer! We'll reach our target soon!"
She was plowing the fields with farmers, holding farming tools.