Chapter 98

What in the world is going on right now?

Here, the first to grasp the situation were the guards standing behind me and Reika.

“Th-this can’t be…!”

And then.

With that guard’s voice ringing out—

Like being freed from Medusa’s curse, both Reika and I slowly regained our senses.

“This is…?”

“S-Sir Swoen?! W-what in the world is this???”

The very first thought that came to my mind after snapping back wasn’t about why this happened or why the rapier was glowing.

We had to get out of here as fast as possible.

That single thought dominated my mind completely.

“Reika, let’s go back!”

“Yes, y-yes…? Huh? B-but—”

“We don’t have time! Come on, hurry!”

Reika couldn’t even respond properly.

Her trembling eyes clearly showed her panic, but she immediately grabbed my outstretched hand. I was almost grateful for not wasting any time.

I immediately shouted at the guards.

“Bring the carriage! Strategy be damned, we need to return to Falaharte Castle immediately!”

The stunned guards nodded upon hearing my words.

“Y-yes, understood!”

The guard quickly calmed the startled horse with a loud shout and loaded Reika and me onto the carriage. Even the guards assigned for the infiltration mission into enemy territory hopped on hastily.

‘Escape from here’ was the only thought dominating my mind, so I failed to notice—

That beyond the gaping hole stood a lone figure.

* * *

“What is this?!”

“What just happened?!”

A section of Hisfil Castle’s eastern gate wall exploded with a deafening roar.

This news quickly spread to all key figures within the castle. It couldn’t have been otherwise—when the wall collapsed, it caused an immense explosion, filling the inside with thick, acrid smoke.

Just then, Serpina, who was overseeing operations nearby, quickly arrived at the scene with Lady Yuan and one of the castle commanders.

“Serpina-sama, over here!!”

Upon following the soldier’s guidance, they found—

“Impossible…!”

An unrealistically massive hole had been blasted through the wall. At this point, it was more like a pathway than just a hole.

“What on earth could have happened?”

“I-I don’t know! Suddenly there was a huge explosion, and when we looked, the wall had collapsed!”

To break down a wall like this, siege weapons would have to be used at the very least. Though, what kind of weapon could create such a clean circular hole remains a mystery, but that’s beside the point. There shouldn’t have been anything beyond the wall anyway.

If they had brought siege weapons, there’s no way they wouldn’t have noticed.

“Did you find out who did this? What were the guards in the watchtower doing?!”

“That… This side wasn’t within the line of sight of the currently stationed watchtower… Forgive us…”

“You call that an explanation—”

“Hold on.”

Serpina raised a hand, cutting off Yuan mid-sentence. Yuan immediately shut his mouth without a word.

“…”

She turned her head to confirm the position of the watchtower. Indeed… it would have been difficult to observe anything unusual from here. Besides, there was only forest beyond this hole. A place where there was no real need for surveillance. Even she herself didn’t consider monitoring this area particularly important, so blaming the staff after the fact wasn’t her style.

“Alright. The incident has already occurred. Anyway, were there any traces of anyone around?”

“Yes… None found. We searched the area but found nothing. It’s truly ghostly work…”

“…”

Unbelievable things are happening.

But once they’ve happened, they’re no longer unbelievable.

There must be a cause and effect.

Was it an earthquake?

No, if that were the case, the damage would have affected a much wider area.

Did the wall collapse due to poor construction?

That’s also an unrealistic guess.

I tried to dig up every possibility in my mind, but this was all I could come up with.

After all, history books and personal life experiences have never recorded such an event—”Suddenly, there was a roar, and a hole appeared in the wall.” How am I supposed to make sense of that?

“Yuan.”

“Y-yes, my lord!”

“Order the troops we’ve sent out to retreat quickly.”

“Retreat, you say…?”

“Yes. We’ll postpone the assault on the Aishias Army.”

“A-alright!”

Once Yuan left,

Serpina fell into deep thought alone.

Even amidst such chaos, there was no sign of panic on Serpina’s face.

She wasn’t a perfect superhuman, but she knew how a person in her position should behave.

As a leader, showing signs of unease is forbidden.

She was precariously balancing on the tightrope of her own rules.

Since something like this has happened, it’s clear someone did something.

Which means there’s no guarantee this will be the end.

This isn’t a supernatural phenomenon; something was done to create this situation, so precautions must be taken for the soldiers.

‘Really unbelievable… It’s almost like magic was used…’

Yeah.

The most realistic explanation for this is magic.

And thinking of magic naturally leads to ‘that man.’

“Thus… Based on my prediction, I believe that man might actually be a mage.”

“Evidence?”

“Well, it’s far more plausible than a ritual to the heavens causing sudden natural disasters.”

‘Magic…’

Jena mentioned it before. There’s a high probability a mage is involved.

So does that mean he really used magic?

It’s hard to believe, but considering the situation where a giant rock fell from the sky and a hole appeared in the wall, it seems most likely.

Plus, there’s one more thing.

Just now, Serpina naturally ordered a retreat from a favorable battle.

In light of this, retreating to defend the castle is a rational action.

Then, who benefits the most from this move?

“The Aishias Army.”

And what is the current affiliation of that silver-haired man?

Realizing that—

“Milord!”

A soldier rushed to Serpina.

Beside him stood a middle-aged man.

“What is it?”

“One of the villagers was nearby when the hole appeared, so we brought him immediately!”

“What?”

Thankfully, there’s a witness?

The man introduced himself as a simple farmer and recounted everything he saw.

“Though obscured by the smoke, I distinctly saw a hooded man and woman fleeing!”

“Can you describe their appearances in detail?”

“W-well, as I said, the smoke was too thick to confirm… Sorry…”

“No, that’s fine. Let me ask one more question about physical characteristics.”

“Physical characteristics?”

“For instance, distinctive hair colors.”

Upon Serpina’s inquiry, the man paused in thought before nodding as if recalling something.

“Now that you mention it…”

If the man’s hair color turns out to be silver, I’d be confident to conclude this was magic.

Awaiting his response anxiously…

“The woman’s hair color was unlike anything I’ve ever seen around here. It was pink.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. That’s all I remember… Sorry.”

Pink-haired woman?

As rare as a young silver-haired man, it’s useful information, but still not decisive evidence.

“Understood. Thank you for your cooperation.”

After dismissing the man, Serpina fell into thought again.

If the man’s account is true, it means the hooded couple suspected of causing this chaos fled. Then why did they do this?

After organizing all the fragments thus far, Serpina sighed briefly.

Thinking further won’t resolve anything that can’t be resolved.

Even though they fled, as long as there’s a possibility of them using “magic” again, we must focus on defending the castle.

“Hassla.”

“Y-yes, my lord!”

The silent commander, busy following the situation, jumped at Serpina’s words.

“Immediately gather the troops to defend this location. Handle it similarly to guarding the gates.”

“Ah… Understood!”

“Good. Leave it to you.”

After saying this, Serpina swiftly moved away.

The male warrior accompanying Yuan watched her retreating back and thought,

‘She knows my name…!’

One confirmation of a commander’s name, even if he’s an unremarkable one, shows her character of remembering names.

Another soul was captured by her overwhelming leadership.

* * *

“…”

The carriage returning to Falahart Castle was deathly silent.

Neither me nor Reika felt the need to start a conversation.

We lacked the mental space to talk. After all, I couldn’t even understand what had just happened.

‘The rapier suddenly started glowing… Reika’s fireball was sucked into my rapier, like a magnet.’

And then the fireball grew to an absurd size at the tip of the rapier blade—

The moment I swung it, it shot off in the direction the blade pointed.

Objectively speaking, my rapier amplified her magic.

The problem is, I hadn’t realized this ability existed.

‘Does this decorative item have such power?’

I’ve invested 10,000 hours in this game.

10,000 hours!

That’s an insane amount of time spent.

Because of that, I believed I knew everything about this game. My Divinity 100 brain confidently assured me I could navigate anything since I knew everything about this game.

However…

Only now did I realize this decorative item amplifies magical energy.

Maybe the situation is more serious than I thought.

‘Come to think of it…’

I remembered when I obtained this item.

Jinoru advised me to explore the surrounding area, which seemed like the optimal action.

My prediction matched—it was indeed the best course of action for our army: exploration.

Just exploration. Think about it.

And all I got was a decorative weapon.

Would a Divinity 100 brain declare obtaining a purely decorative item as the optimal action?

Back then, I casually brushed it off as “whatever, at least I got an item,” but… this world is based on a game, yet it’s not the game itself. It’s reality.

Previously, when I was with the Lunarien Army, I earned gold.

I used the gold for charity, gained recognition, and annexed two mercenary units.

It started with gold, but it didn’t end there.

Considering that, it makes sense this item amplifies magic and was discovered in the country where Jinoru, Reika’s mentor, belongs.

‘How many moves ahead do they want me to see?’

Does having Divinity 100 automatically mean seeing several moves ahead?

It’s absurd, but… nonetheless, I fulfilled the mission.

Any sensible castle lord would withdraw their troops after witnessing such destruction. With this level of power, they might lose the castle.

They’ll waste time reasoning and deducing the use of magic, but even that works in our favor.

‘So, whatever happens, I’ll act as if I knew everything.’

Thinking that cleared my mind.

Relaxing, I noticed Reika shaking beside me.

“Reika.”

“Ah, yes…!”

“Don’t worry too much. You did great.”

“Bu-but…”

“Things didn’t go exactly as planned, but thanks to you, we succeeded.”

“…”

Reika didn’t respond, but I didn’t feel the need to add anything.

She must be overwhelmed by various thoughts.

After all, she just witnessed the destructive power of her magic capable of becoming a lethal weapon.

Sometimes, people need their own space.

“We’ve arrived.”

At that moment, the carriage stopped.

I gently helped Reika out.

Remembering when I visited Lin Brance as an envoy of the Lunarien Army.

Yeah, let’s try that again.

Acting as if everything went according to plan, I headed toward the Falahart Royal Palace.

*

“Swoen, you’re back safely! How did it go?”

To Yuri welcoming me, I responded with the calmest expression possible.

“It’s not too late.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Smiling,

Act like you know everything.

With that mindset, I slowly opened my lips.

“Don’t worry. The Serpina Army will retreat.”

“Really? Did the strategy succeed?”

“Yes.”

“Phew…”

Yuri sighed in relief and continued.

“Actually, while you were gone… a messenger arrived. We heard Anima was in trouble. Everything you warned us about turned out to be true.”

That part unfolded exactly as predicted.

I had prepared excuses in case of a natural disaster, but it seems unnecessary.

After all, meteors falling from the sky can’t happen twice, right?

“They urgently requested reinforcements. Thanks to your warning, we had already dispatched support, but I was incredibly anxious…”

She added sincerely, her voice trembling slightly.

“Thank you so much… Swoen.”

Close call… huh?

I merely bowed in response.

“If I’ve been of help to my lord, that’s all I need.”

Wishing this ends well.