Chapter 12

A small castle in Jeilrant.

Usually, only four commanders, including myself, used the central meeting room. But today, no less than four unfamiliar faces had come to visit.

And they were kneeling before our monarch, Lady Lunarien, paying their respects.

“I am Gustaf, captain of the Raven Mercenary Unit.”

“Vice-captain Kale.”

“I am Aaron, captain of the Chirein Mercenary Unit.”

“Vice-captain Yona.”

Three men and one woman paid their respects to Luna.

The reason a mere thirteen hundred interceptors managed to hold off an eight thousand strong army? Two archer units flanked the Brance Army, throwing them into chaos and splitting the massive force into three groups…

Then surrounded the rear guard, encircling the Brance forces in a formation that wiped them out completely.

I already knew where those archer units came from; the vice-captain of the Raven Mercenary Unit had just introduced himself.

But it wasn’t until now that I realized where the rear guard came from.

Chirein Mercenary Unit!

‘Those damn guys are actually on our side?’

The Chirein Mercenary Unit was available exclusively to rulers of the Central Continent after completing a specific quest. Their signature Heavy Infantry were amazing mercenaries far superior to regular pikemen – but the catch was requiring territory from a specific castle in the Central Continent.

Because the Central Continent has almost no vacant land, random starting rulers couldn’t recruit them even if they tried. And rulers starting in the Central Continent usually got crushed by the Brance Army before completing the quest, making recruitment practically impossible unless the Brance Army spawned outside the Central region by some miracle.

From my perspective, avoiding playing as the Brance Army, they were an incredibly frustrating mercenary unit! Practically a Brance Army exclusive mercenary group that gave beginner-friendly Brance even more power…

And now their leader knelt before our ruler.

‘Did they join without needing any quests?’

Even after becoming reality, this world strangely followed game rules. Just look at how my predictions with 100 intelligence always came true exactly as expected.

However…

These mercenaries helping us, and being attacked so soon after starting despite it only being a year… there were aspects strangely different from the game.

‘I shouldn’t blindly trust game knowledge.’

“…You may rise.”

At Lady Lunarien’s words, the four raised their heads.

“First, I must thank you all from the bottom of my heart for aiding our army. Truly, we are grateful. Without your help, we might have failed to defend Jeilrant Castle. And… I do have a question for you.”

“Please ask anything.”

“Why did you choose to aid our army?”

In response to Lady Lunarien’s question, Raven Mercenary Unit captain Gustaf spoke.

“While heading toward Jeilrant Castle, we saw the battle unfold. That’s why we decided to assist the Lunarien Army.”

“I’m sorry, but I still don’t quite understand. Could you explain why you chose to help us?”

“That is…”

This time, Chirein Mercenary Unit captain Aaron continued.

“Because both our mercenary units were heading to Jeilrant Castle to pledge allegiance to the Lunarien Army.”

“…!”

Pledging allegiance meant they intended to support our army. While I took it in stride since it made sense, the other members of Lady Lunarien’s team showed unmistakable shock at this unexpected turn of events.

“May I inquire about the reason?”

“Not long ago, we heard you distributed an enormous amount of food and spent much money repairing homes damaged by a typhoon.”

Gustaf’s statement prompted Aaron to add:

“In all my years dealing with many leaders as a mercenary, I’ve never seen anyone invest so much effort into helping their people since the Era of Chaos began. For such generosity, it would be impressive even from a large, powerful warlord controlling vast territories. But for a small-scale warlord managing just a small city… it’s unimaginable.”

“Such…”

Lady Lunarien responded as though she hadn’t considered this, but what Aaron said was true. Six thousand gold was an astronomical sum. It could have recruited over five thousand soldiers with enough left over for internal investments. Enough that if there was leftover money, one could buy inexpensive mid-tier items. Using six thousand gold entirely for the people was bound to spread as news. Especially considering investing five hundred gold every half-year would earn praise as an exemplary ruler.

“Just out of curiosity, we weren’t sure what the Lunarien Army’s emblem looked like, so we almost missed the chance to properly assist during the battle… Luckily, we noticed someone resembling the elder actively involved in relief efforts leading your vanguard. We’re fortunate to have been able to help in time.”

‘Ah.’

At that moment, everything clicked into place.

[Advice] Have Tifa manage commerce -> Tifa discovers a box of money through unique means.

[Advice] Use all the money to help the people -> This process gains public support and deeply impresses two mercenary captains.

[Advice] Place (the most active in relief efforts and now recognizable) Cain in the vanguard -> They recognize Cain in the vanguard and aid our army at the right timing.

Now, there was not even 0.01% room for doubt.

My intelligence is 100. And my predictions always come true.

This world’s physical laws bend themselves to ensure my advice comes true!

“…”

“Ho…”

I could feel the astonished gazes of Cain and Tifa standing beside Lady Lunarien. Their expressions were easy to read: ‘Could you have possibly foreseen all of this?’

Of course, from their perspective, it would seem that way. After all, following my suggestions led to clearing what seemed like an impossible mission.

At this moment, my task was simple.

Put on a very wise-looking expression and slowly nod as if I foresaw everything.

The important thing isn’t that I foresaw the entire situation.

What matters is making others think I foresaw everything.

After all, if the conclusion is correct, filling in the blanks is trivial. By doing so, I give credibility to my infallible advice, ensuring others follow it without questioning, even when it doesn’t make sense.

As a strategist rather than a ruler, creating momentum within the faction to push my opinions is crucial.

While Lady Lunarien Iniyan seems likely to listen to me normally…

I cannot predict my own fate in these chaotic times.

Approaching Lady Lunarien like a sage, I advised her.

“My lord, accept them. They will undoubtedly become a great strength for our army.”

“Swoen…”

Lady Lunarien looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, then addressed the kneeling captains and vice-captains.

“We sincerely thank you for your assistance. We will never forget this kindness. In the name of Lunarien, your actions shall henceforth be ours.”

Placing them under her name meant accepting their allegiance. Understanding this, the captains bowed their heads in reply.

“Yes! We will serve faithfully.”

“We shall be Lady Lunarien’s sword and shield.”

Raven Mercenary Unit, seven thousand strong.

Chirein Mercenary Unit, six thousand strong.

Combined, thirteen thousand mercenaries joined the Lunarien Army. Considering they were well-trained mercenaries rather than ordinary soldiers, it was an excessively favorable outcome for six thousand gold.

* * *

This was Anel Castle, the base of the Brance Army.

Kalintz knelt deeply, appealing desperately to his ruler Lin Brance.

“It’s all my fault. Please take my life.”

“…”

Eight thousand invading troops annihilated.

Countless officers lost their lives.

Only around 120 soldiers survived along with their general Kalintz Brance.

An unprecedented catastrophic defeat in Brance Army history.

And it was against the minor nation of Lunarien, whose existence Lin didn’t even bother inputting into her knowledge database.

Lin asked pensively.

“Onii-sama. What exactly happened? Explain so I can understand.”

“…We were ambushed. Later investigations revealed mercenaries of considerable skill joined them.”

“Mercenaries?”

“Yes. One of the soldiers recognized their insignia. Apparently, the Raven Mercenary Unit and the Chirein Mercenary Unit… assisted the Lunarien Army in battle.”

“…What?”

Even Lin couldn’t help but be shocked here.

She was well aware of the Raven and Chirein Mercenary Units.

Especially the Chirein Mercenary Unit, which her side was struggling desperately to secure cooperation from.

“Helping some minor nation’s ruler instead of me? Unbelievable…”

Though the situation itself was absurd…

As a ruler, Lin fully understood dwelling on the absurdity of what had already happened wouldn’t solve anything.

“Can’t help it if we lost due to insufficient information from the ambush. Still, getting beaten this badly… For now, stay out of the frontlines and help with reorganization in the rear. You should step down from being vanguard commander and take some time to cool off.”

To an outsider, Lin’s words sounded like a compassionate ruler forgiving failure…

But Kalintz could sense this was actually a demotion for the failure.

His life was spared likely because the battle resulted from an ambush and because he belonged to the Brance family.

But.

Does a defeated general really have any excuses?

“…Understood.”

“Alright. You may go.”

After dismissing Kalintz, Lin fell into thought.

“If the Lunarien side now has two mercenary units attached, we’ll need to get serious about capturing them… But I can’t bring Onii-sama Chel from the south either…”

Lost in thought, Lin sighed deeply and recalled someone’s face.

“Do I really have to use that woman?”

Really annoying.

Extremely annoying.

But for the greater cause, there’s nothing to be done about it, is there?

Lin called out to a soldier guarding nearby.

“Hey.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Is there the second training barracks where new recruits are trained? Go fetch Irene there.”

“Understood!”

Though she was the same woman Lin herself exiled not too long ago, there was no choice now.

She was the only blade worth using at the moment.

“Well, if you’re going to be a proper ruler, you need to learn to do unpleasant things too.”

And thus Lin rationalized her actions.