A few days ago, at Anel Castle.
"My lord. Chel Brands has just arrived at the royal castle of Anel."
Chel, the First Sword of Brands who had been guarding the southern front and Lynn's older brother, knelt before Lynn who was seated on the throne.
"Welcome, big brother. Is this the first time we've seen each other since the conquest of Jeilant Castle?"
"..."
Chel doesn't bother to answer her question.
Even though he had been stationed at the southern front, he was still a person with ears and eyes.
The man who was the target at Jeilant Castle, and the unbelievable events that occurred on the northern front.
And the rebellion that followed... These were all facts he had heard with his own two ears.
And the starting point of all these events was the Jeilant Castle offensive, where he and the now-traitorous Irene had led the vanguard.
Yes.
The betrayal of Irene Juliet.
From Chel Brands' perspective, it was an incredibly shocking event.
When he was still young.
His father, who was still alive then, always used to tell him, the eldest son:
"Chel. You will become the timber that will lead the Brands family in the future. And just as I have Kafka—Irene will play that role for you."
Of course, contrary to his father's words, he never ended up inheriting the Brands family.
As he grew older, instead of studying politics or diplomacy, he spent all day craving battle, and at some point, his father seemed to have excluded him from the line of succession.
In truth, Chel didn't really care about that. He was better suited to dismounting from his horse and wielding a sword directly rather than giving orders from a throne.
The virtues of a ruler included not unnecessarily standing at the forefront. If the leader died fighting too far ahead, the collapse of the nation would only be a matter of time.
Besides, if he became a ruler, he would have to constantly make complicated political calculations, and he thought his cunning little sister would be much better at that sort of thing.
The problem was Irene.
His father, Olland Brands, had valued her extremely highly.
Chel himself felt the same way. Back when he had crossed swords with her in practice, she was the only woman who had shown skills comparable to his own.
Even from Chel's perspective, someone who rarely acknowledged others, Irene was someone he couldn't help but recognize.
Of course, the reason Olland valued her so highly wasn't just because of her strength.
It was because of her tremendous loyalty to the Brands family.
Raised and trained by Kafka Juliet throughout his life, she was a faithful servant who lived only for the Brands family.
That was Irene Juliet.
Whenever Chel observed her, he was convinced that she, of all people, would never betray them no matter what happened.
That's why he was shocked when he heard the news of her betrayal.
Of all people, Irene Juliet?
Why on earth?
From his position, far removed from central politics due to guarding the front lines, it was difficult even to guess what disaster had occurred to bring things to this state.
His younger brother Kalinz had committed a serious blunder and was under disciplinary measures, and his younger sister and lord, Lynn, had been betrayed by the deeply loyal Irene...
Not knowing exactly what was happening, he had suddenly signed a three-month armistice with two countries adjacent to the southern border.
And then he was summoned here.
"You've heard, haven't you, brother? Roughly what happened."
"Yes, I have."
"Good, excellent!"
Lynn said with a bright smile.
"The goal is just one thing. To erase the Aishers army from the map forever. And to capture Irene Juliet alive."
"Capture her alive, you say?"
"Yes! I'd like her to be brought before me alive, without being killed on the battlefield."
"Why is that?"
It didn't seem likely that she would employ Irene again at this point.
No, shouldn't she be killed without question?
She betrayed our army. And she took 30,000 soldiers with her.
If she could be killed, wouldn't it make sense to do so?
"I know. You don't understand why I'm saying not to kill her, right? I understand how you feel, brother."
Lynn lightly touched her lips with her finger.
"But, for the price of betrayal to be just her worthless life... Don't you think we'd be getting the short end of the deal?"
"...What?"
"Despair."
Lynn uttered the word "despair," then immediately laughed with a "kuhuhu."
Her eerily sinister laughter filled the royal castle.
"After making that damned traitor feel the greatest despair she can possibly experience... then I'll kill her. And it won't just be a simple death. If I cut off her fingers one by one, what kind of screams will she make? In agony, knowing that no one can help her, she'll keep begging someone she can't reach to save her... Finally, she'll beg me to spare her life...!"
"...!"
"And in front of that woman writhing in pain... I'll devour Swen, whom she seduced...♥"
Shudder!
Quite amusingly, Chel was now—
Unable to respond, overwhelmed by his younger sister's aura.
Swen... that white-haired man recruited during the Jeilant Castle offensive.
The man who supposedly used something like magic at the northern fortress.
That man seduced Irene?
He wanted to ask what exactly she meant, but he simply couldn't.
From Lynn's blue eyes... an extremely gloomy and sticky resentment was leaking out.
"Huhuhu... I wonder how it would feel to have the man she tried to take from me stolen back right before her eyes...? What kind of expression will Irene make then? Aren't you curious too, brother? Kuhuhuhuhuh...♥"
She twisted her body for a moment, letting out an incomprehensible laugh.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she spoke with an incredibly fresh smile.
"So, brother. I'll give you 53,000 troops, so please deal with the Aishers army as soon as possible. Understood?"
'53,000 troops?'
The combined number of troops from the southern front and the capital defense forces.
It was practically the entire military force, excluding the troops in the west that were being reorganized and Serphina's forces in the north.
If things went well, that would be great, but if something went wrong here... the somewhat stable situation could be greatly shaken.
'That should be enough.'
From what he'd heard, the Aishers fortress had just over 40,000 soldiers, including troops that were originally from our army.
And a similar number of soldiers were believed to be at Balhart Castle.
Moreover, at a convenient timing, the forces at Balhart Castle seemed to be currently engaged in battle with the Alepel army.
And crucially, the first target wasn't a castle but a fortress.
He judged that with this number of troops and sufficient siege weapons, there was a good chance of victory.
Especially since Chel himself would be leading the vanguard.
The most concerning factor was the existence of the traitor Swen... but if they could somehow block his strange arts, he was confident they could win.
"As soon as the western front is cleared, I'll send additional troops, so try to conquer all the way to Balhart Castle with this expedition. Understood?"
If he received the soldiers from the western front, he would be able to control over 90,000 troops.
This should be enough to conquer the Aishers army, he thought.
"Yes! I will obey your command!"
Chel answered thus and steeled his resolve.
Yes. What did it matter what was happening right now?
If he was told to go to war, he would go.
If his sword needed to be stained with blood, it would be stained.
That was how Chel Brands lived in these chaotic times.
* * *
Arriving at the royal castle with quick steps, we were greeted by Yuuri with a serious expression seated on the throne.
"Irene Juliet, having received your orders, I have just arrived at the royal castle."
"Irene, you're here. Swen is here too."
She briefly greeted us as we knelt, then immediately got to the point.
"You've heard, haven't you? It seems the Brands people are on the move."
"...I'm sorry."
In response to Irene's words, Yuuri shook her head and said:
"No, well... I'm not blaming you or holding you responsible. The choice to accept you was made by me, of my own will. First, we need to deal with what has happened."
"Are you planning to resist?"
Ginor, standing beside her, asked with a serious expression.
"For now, it seems that's what Epinel wants to do."
"But... if we choose to resist and end up losing troops, we could suffer greatly. Right now, abandoning the fortress and gathering at Balhart Castle to hold out with those forces would be—"
"...Ginor. I'm really sorry, but I'd like you to go to where Epinel is for now. If you want to persuade someone, I'd prefer you to persuade Epinel directly there rather than talking to me."
"..."
Ginor couldn't respond to Yuuri's words.
'I see.'
Now I could see what the problem was with the Aishers army.
Epinel, Emma, and the "Aishers Three Girls" including Erinandorf, along with other founding contributors.
In this country, these founding contributors had too much influence.
If Lynn or Serphina were monarchs who ruled as absolute beings above their subordinates, Yuuri and Lunarienne were closer to being leaders of a somewhat more horizontal collective.
Setting aside which was right or wrong, that's just how the two types differed.
However, while Lunarienne, despite her weak nature, knew how to push her opinions, Yuuri seemed rather to be swayed by the founding contributors.
Thinking about it that way, I understood why the meeting had resulted as it did. Emma was one of the founding contributors, so it was natural that Ginor, who had joined later, would be overruled.
I had personally experienced such a group dynamic before being reincarnated.
Namely, the military.
A mysterious group where everything revolves around "how long you've been in."
In the Aishers army, what was most valued wasn't individual ability, but how long one had stayed and contributed—
In other words, it was essentially based on seniority.
A ruler who cares for her comrades, treats everyone like family, and has the leadership to make others follow her—
Ironically, behind such a ruler was a weakness that prevented her from absolutely ruling over them.
After all, she couldn't step on her beloved comrades to rise above them, could she?
While these might be excellent virtues for the leader of a band of righteous outlaws, she was the leader of a country.
Acting like a tyrant wasn't good, but being constantly swayed like her wasn't good either.
From the beginning, Ginor didn't need to persuade Epinel; if she, as the ruler, said "come back," Epinel as a subject should naturally return.
But she didn't do that. She was asking her subject to "persuade" another subject.
And she was the ruler!
'Is that why Yuuri can't achieve unification?'
While I was thinking this,
Yuuri, seemingly having made a decision, stood up and said:
"Irene. I'll give you 3,000 additional troops, so please take the vanguard and join Epinel at the fortress. I'd like to give you more soldiers, but they've already been deployed. Once you arrive at the fortress, please follow her instructions as if they were my own."
"Yes, understood!"
"Ginor. Please join Irene's army and head to the fortress. Understood?"
"...Yes, understood."
"And Swen too."
Yuuri finally looked at me and said:
"I have many expectations for you, Swen. If you can make an impact, I'd appreciate it. You'll hear the details from Epinel. Understood?"
Many expectations, she says.
It seems she's expecting something like the miracle I performed at the northern fortress...
But of course, I don't have the ability to summon such things.
Still, if predictions come like they did then... I'm sure I can find a way.
"Yes, understood."
And so, along with me, Ginor, and several unnamed Aishers army commanders—
The 3,000 soldiers led by Irene set out for the fortress located west of Balhart Castle, which once belonged to the Brands army.