Chapter 9

Who among the current rulers of the Garland Continent has the highest chance of unification?

No matter whom you ask, only one name comes up.

The legitimacy of royal blood flowing through her veins.

The vast territory obtained by pacifying the northern part of the continent.

An innumerable amount of talented individuals.

The tyrant, Serpina von Einhardt, is said to be concluding the turmoil and unifying this continent—

Even the storytellers at taverns and the civilians working their daily jobs all mention her name, hailing her as the new unifying ruler.

And then…

If we assume Serpina doesn’t succeed in unification, who would be the next most likely candidate?

That person is none other than the leader of the Brance Clan and the third daughter with extraordinary talent, Lin Brance.

Her long azure hair flows freely. Her appearance is incredibly dignified, naturally instilling a pleasant impression even on those meeting her for the first time.

Securing the richest land in the central part of the continent, she continues to grow rapidly by absorbing numerous smaller nations almost every day.

The undisputed powerhouse in the center of the continent, which boasts the largest population and many rising small countries, was undoubtedly the Brance Army.

And now, sitting on the throne with a slightly bored expression, she—Lin Brance—was receiving a report from what appeared to be one of her vassals.

“Lord, we have successfully liberated Tirandi from the Walnut Army after achieving victory in the battle.”

“Hmm? Great job, big brother♡”

We’ve finally managed to settle things with the Walnut Army after clashing several times recently.

Satisfied with a smile, Lin turned her gaze toward the kneeling man—her second oldest brother, Kalintz—and asked,

“How many prisoners did we capture?”

“We captured a total of five commanders. Please decide their treatment. Bring them forth!”

“Understood!”

At the shout of the reporting officer, soldiers brought forward five commanders with their hands bound behind their backs and forced them to kneel before her. Among them was the former leader of their group, Walnut Castellado.

“…”

“Hmm… Let me see.”

Lin slowly scanned the prisoners. There was one somewhat capable individual who had once managed to give her army a taste of defeat.

“Alright! Everyone, listen up! I believe there’s a general here who once took Haizel Castle. What was your name again… Ah yes, Gurupa, right? Who’s Gurupa?”

“…I am Gurupa.”

A man with long hair raised his head and spoke.

Upon seeing him, Lin wore an exceptionally seductive expression and said,

“Oh my… So it’s you? The one who gave me such trouble. Hmm~♡ I thought there were no forces around here bold enough to attack us first, but you certainly have guts, don’t you?”

“…”

Gurupa remained silent, but Lin seemed to enjoy that fact, giggling softly as she continued.

“So, how about it? Would you consider becoming mine? I treat capable people *extremely* well, you know? Far better than staying under someone like Walnut or whatever. Right?”

“…Kill me.”

Gurupa met her gaze without flinching, using the last of his strength to reply.

Lin stared at Gurupa with a smiling face for a moment before…

Her expression suddenly turned cold as she said,

“Hmph. So you won’t come under me, huh?”

She roughly shoved Gurupa away with her hand. With a thud, he fell to the ground as she issued an order to the nearby soldier.

“Alright. Take him away and execute him.”

“Understood!”

Thus, Gurupa was dragged away by the soldiers. Everyone in the room knew where he was headed—the execution grounds.

The remaining prisoners watched this scene unfold silently with wide eyes.

“Haa… This is boring. I don’t understand why you refuse to join me. I could show you so much more interesting scenery than these outdated old men ever could.”

After pondering for a while, Lin slowly spoke up.

“I’ll ask the rest of you excluding Walnut all at once. Do you want to serve under me or not?”

This time, it wasn’t the same enthusiastic recruitment offer she made to Gurupa. It carried a distinct lack of interest, implying something along the lines of “Do as you wish, but if you’d like, I’ll let you work under me.”

Perhaps due to witnessing Gurupa being dragged off to his death just moments ago, the remaining prisoners unanimously bowed their heads and replied.

“I… I surrender.”

“From today onward, I will serve Lady Lin Brance.”

“P-P-Please spare my life! If you do, I swear I will serve you with all my loyalty!”

“…”

Lin approached the last man who pleaded excessively with a cold stare.

“Hey.”

“Hiiik!!! P-P-Please… Spare my life…!”

“…”

Letting out a long sigh, Lin turned to the soldier and said,

“Hey. Just let him go.”

“Understood!”

“W-Wait, what do you mean… ‘let me go’?”

“You’re free. I’m releasing you. I don’t feel like paying you a salary when I can just set you free instead.”

In other words, “Rather than wasting money on employing someone like you, I’d rather just release you.”

Despite its insulting tone, the man was overjoyed at having his life spared. He repeatedly bowed his head to the ground, thanking Lin profusely.

“Thank you, thank you…! I will never forget your kindness!”

“Yeah, yeah. Go on inside. Hey, take him out.”

“Understood! Come with me.”

The man who was granted freedom continued to sob and express gratitude as he was led away, though none of it reached Lin’s ears.

Turning her head with a slight smirk, Lin spoke,

“And the remaining two will serve under our Brance Army from now on. Got it?”

“Yes, yes! Understood!”

“At your command!”

Though gaining two talents for the Brance Army didn’t make her particularly happy. She missed the prime catch, and the rest were nothing but mediocre at best.

“…”

“Ah, right.”

As if remembering something, Lin finally approached Walnut.

“Anything you’d like to say? Mr. Walnut?”

“…I…”

The balding old man, Walnut, trembled slightly.

Even though he was now a prisoner, perhaps because he was once the leader of an army that fought against her, Lin still addressed him respectfully.

“…If you spare me, I will do my utmost to assist you.”

“Oh my, really? Having the illustrious former leader of a nation help us is quite exciting, isn’t it♡”

Lin smiled faintly before changing her expression and lowering her voice.

“But no, I can’t accept that.”

“…W-What…?”

“You’re supposed to be a leader, aren’t you? How pathetic is it for a leader to beg for his life? You couldn’t even live up to half the loyalty shown by Gurupa, who died for you.”

“B-But… Gurupa acted on his own-”

“Shut up. Your foul stench is unbearable. Do you know why your army managed to retake Haizel for even a moment? It was because of Gurupa. And yet, you claim you started a war without understanding that?”

Lin glanced sideways at the soldier standing nearby.

The soldier immediately understood her unspoken command—”Take him to the execution grounds.”

“This way!”

“Wait… Lady Lin Brance! Please spare me! Have mercy…!”

Walnut continued to plead pitifully, but Lin ignored him completely, returning gracefully to her throne.

“Ugh. Losing to such a pathetic guy really ruins my reputation.”

With the prisoner situation resolved…

Kalintz, who had been kneeling all this time, cautiously opened his mouth.

“My Lord. What are your plans moving forward?”

“Hmm? Same as always. We need to conquer neighboring small countries to expand our territory. We must secure the central region as quickly as possible to match the power of Serpina’s army in the north. By the way, how did the spy we sent to Jeilrant fare?”

“He returned. As usual, Lunarien Iniyan occupies the area with approximately 3,000 soldiers and three subordinate commanders.”

“Three? Last time it was two, right? An old man and some carnivorous woman, wasn’t it?”

“That was confirmed last time… However, witnesses reported seeing a young man with white hair frequently accompanying Lunarien Iniyan. Perhaps they’ve recruited a new commander.”

“Hmm? A new commander joining the crumbling Lunarien Army? Are you sure it wasn’t just some random guy Lunarien is fooling around with?”

“Well… That’s uncertain…”

“Hmph.”

It was getting boring. She had approached the fight against the Walnut Army with enthusiasm, expecting to gain Gurupa. But conquering the Lunarien Army would only yield the small city of Jeilrant, and none of their talents seemed particularly impressive under her command.

‘Still, what can you do? The more annoying it is, the faster you should get it over with.’

Lin turned to Kalintz and said,

“Big brother, is Chel big brother currently in the south?”

“Yes.”

Chel Brance.

The older brother of Kalintz Brance and Lin Brance’s eldest brother—a man renowned as the strongest swordsman in the Brance family.

“Um… Can Kalintz big brother handle this alone?”

At Lin’s question, Kalintz bowed his head and replied,

“Is there any doubt? If you entrust this to me, I will bring Jeilrant Castle to you. Negotiations have already concluded.”

Negotiations completed…

While it seemed unnecessary to go through all that trouble, Kalintz would surely manage it well.

Lin nodded in agreement.

“Got it. I’ll prepare an appropriate number of troops for you. Let’s finish this quickly.”

“Understood!”

Once they defeated five more factions, including the Lunarien Army, they would have fully pacified the Central Continent. Though the last battle against the Eista Army was slightly concerning due to proximity…

Still, she was confident they could pull it off. After all, who was she? Lin Brance, of course.

‘The person destined to unify the continent is me.’

She smiled contentedly, a beautiful, elegant, and dignified expression.

* * *

Having heard the news from the messenger, Luna and Swoen quickly returned to Jeilrant Castle.

Inside the castle, Tifa and Cain were already waiting, having received word earlier.

“They’re coming?! Did you hear that? The Brance brats are attacking us!”

“…I heard. Who’s leading them?”

“Most likely Kalintz Brance. We have reports confirming he was gathering an expeditionary force in a nearby village.”

Cain’s statement darkened Luna’s expression.

“Kalintz Brance… He’s not an easy opponent.”

Kalintz Brance.

Of course, I also recognized that name.

When playing as the Brance Army, there were always two commanders leading the charge in battles: Kalintz Brance and Chel Brance, the brothers of the ruler Lin Brance. While Kalintz, the second brother, wasn’t as brilliant as Chel, his calm nature made him less susceptible to strategies compared to the unpredictable Chel—an S-class commander. In fact, I often preferred using Kalintz over Chel precisely because of this.

‘So we should abandon the village and retreat, right?’

Despite spending a lot of money to boost the morale of the villagers…

No matter how I thought about it, there was no clear path to victory in this battle. Even adding up all the minor commanders under Kalintz, they would easily outnumber us by five or more. On our side, including myself, we only had four people. Not to mention, the enemy’s troop count was more than double ours—an utterly hopeless situation.

“Swoen. What should we do?”

Luna sought my counsel. Thankfully, my intelligence was at 100, so following my advice should work somehow.

With that somewhat naive thought in mind, I processed Luna’s question in my head. Then…

‘…Hm?’

The answer derived by my brain was—

[Appoint Cain as the front-line commander and engage the enemy. This is the optimal strategy available to us now.]

Once again, an absurd response popped into my mind.