Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100\% Accuracy-Chapter 297: Straying Hearts (2)

“Yuri... what do you mean, build a shrine? What are you even saying?”

Anima was trembling, utterly shocked. But Yuri’s voice was calm—eerily calm.

“I mean it exactly as it sounds. Aside from hastily throwing together a simple grave, we haven’t done anything to honor them. They fought for our army. They were our eternal comrades.”

“Well, that’s because the situation hasn’t exactly allowed for it...”

“And besides,”

Yuri smiled and extended her pale hand, gazing at it.

In her heterochromatic eyes, the reflection of her ivory palm shimmered faintly.

“I met them in a dream. Emma and Hernandorf.”

“...What?”

“They told me they were recognized for their achievements and granted a chance to meet a god in heaven. And if we build a shrine that connects to the heavens, they said they’d be able to lend us divine power!”

Watching Yuri speak so brightly and cheerfully, Anima—if she were being honest—just wanted to drop to the floor and sob.

But she didn’t.

She forced herself to stay composed. Smiling as best she could, she began trying to reason with her old friend.

“Yuri. Okay... I think I understand what you’re saying. But the thing is, um...”

“Hm?”

“It’s just that, well, we have to prioritize. I know how much you want to honor Emma and Hernandorf, and I respect that, I really do. But there’s a good chance Serpina’s army will attack us soon, and—”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m building the shrine. Because there’s nothing we can do by ourselves.”

“...What about the budget?”

“There’s enough money.”

“Well of course there’s enough for that. I mean afterward. We’re in a situation where we’ll need to start drafting and training new soldiers, so here, we really can’t afford—”

“Anima.”

Yuri’s expression turned cold. She stared at Anima with a chilling gaze.

“Do you have a better idea?”

“...What?”

“I’m asking you—aside from comforting the souls of our comrades, do you have any other way forward?”

Step. Step.

Before Anima could even register it, Yuri was standing right in front of her.

Her eyes—cold enough to freeze her in place.

“The continent’s been devastated by plague. Even if we draft soldiers, it won’t be many. Prepare for a siege? No matter how rationally we plan, there’s no way we can defeat Serpina. Nothing we do will change that.”

“And then, in a dream, Emma and Hernandorf appeared. To save us in our time of crisis! We were given a chance to connect with the heavens. What else are we supposed to do? Do you know of some better way?”

“I... I don’t...”

Yuri’s sudden, wedge-like insistence made Anima falter slightly.

But even then, it was clear—Yuri wasn’t entirely lost to madness. She was thinking in her own way.

And if that was the case, then she could still be reasoned with.

Anima steadied herself and met Yuri’s eyes head-on.

“...Listen carefully, Yuri. We need to negotiate a ceasefire with Serpina. I don’t know what it’ll cost—money, maybe more—but one thing’s clear. We can’t waste the budget recklessly like this.”

“A ceasefire...?”

Yuri looked as if her heart might shatter at any moment.

“...You’ve changed, Anima. I can’t believe you’re saying we should make a deal with that vicious witch.”

“I’m just being realistic. It’s far more logical than talking about connecting with the heavens.”

“Unrealistic?”

Yuri raised her voice sharply, her tone accusatory.

“Connecting with the heavens isn’t unrealistic! Swen already proved it, didn’t he? The idea of connecting with the heavens is real!”

“That... Looking back on it, don’t you think it’s more reasonable to assume it was all a clever excuse? To hide that he was actually using magic?”

“...!”

“The timing lines up. Serpina’s army suddenly had a mage around the time Swen joined them. The strange phenomena he showed were likely just a form of magic. And claiming he was ‘connecting with the heavens’ was just a convenient cover—”

“Swen is not!”

Yuri shouted, cutting Anima off before she could finish.

“...He’s not a mage.”

“You can’t be certain of that. It makes sense that Serpina demanded him precisely because she knew about his abilities. I’d guess the woman they presented publicly was a civilian, just a cover—”

“No.”

“...What?”

“I am certain. I know I’m right.”

A mage.

Before he fell into Serpina’s hands, that pink-haired girl who wielded magic had definitely been with them.

Reika Nighhardt. Jinor’s adopted daughter.

Jinor had said it over and over. That they couldn’t face Serpina’s army in their current state, but if they had a mage, they could win. That with one, they could even aim to rule ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the continent in the long term.

At the time, she hadn’t taken it seriously.

She’d treated it like just one of many contingency plans.

Even when Jinor said he was leaving, she hadn’t felt any real regret. In fact, she hadn’t even considered that Reika might follow Swen and end up in Serpina’s hands. She hadn’t cared.

Yes.

She hadn’t cared. So much so that she hadn’t even realized the power that had once been within her grasp could shake the entire continent.

Swen.

Airen.

Jinor.

Reika.

They had all once stood beneath the banner of the Aishus Army...

“...I lost them. All of them.”

“Yuri, do you know something? Even just a guess?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Yuri closed her eyes, silent for a long moment. Then she exhaled slowly, regaining her composure.

“Anyway, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that thing about a ceasefire with Serpina.”

“Yuri...!”

“Right now, I have to do what Emma and Hernandorf asked of me. There must be a reason they came to me in that dream, in a time like this. If I don’t honor that...”

If I don’t, I really might go mad—

She didn’t say it aloud.

Yuri turned away from Anima and quickly left the audience chamber.

Anima stood there frozen for a while.

Then—

‘This is no time to be standing around!’

Yuri was being far too stubborn. That meant it was time to talk to Epinnel.

Even Yuri wouldn’t hold her ground if both she and Epinnel pushed back together.

With that thought, she went looking for her—

Only to hear,

“Let her do what she wants.”

“...What? Epinnel... what are you talking about?”

“Exactly what I said.”

Anima was momentarily speechless at Epinnel’s words—but she quickly gathered herself.

“Fine. I won’t talk about a ceasefire with Serpina anymore. But even so, you know it’s better to at least draft some troops and raise our numbers! Weren’t you the one who said, all high and mighty, that a teacher’s job is to stop their students when they stray from the right path?! Have you already forgotten that?!”

“Of course I remember.”

Epinnel let out a long sigh.

Unlike the agitated Anima, her tone remained calm and composed as she continued.

“Anima. You know as well as I do—no amount of preparation is going to change the outcome. This isn’t a battle we can win just by adding a few more soldiers. And think about what it would mean if our commander, Yuri, fell apart mentally in the middle of all this. These are battles where we’re already risking our lives. Whether Yuri’s stable or not will affect us all far more than we want to admit.”

“You’re not wrong, but still...”

“That’s why, for now, we let Yuri do what she wants. I’ll make sure the shrine doesn’t drain too many of our resources. I’ll keep it under control.”

“Unless—” frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

She paused.

“Unless, as the nation’s strategist, you’ve got a brilliant plan that can get us through this?”

“!”

“If you do, I’ll stake my life on it. I’ll help you convince Yuri. I’ll support you every step of the way. But you don’t—do you?”

Epinnel placed a hand gently on Anima’s shoulder.

“Cool your head a bit, Anima. Dying in battle against Serpina’s army... isn’t such a bad way to go, is it?”

“...”

After leaving those words behind, Epinnel turned and left.

And Anima was left alone, lost in thought.

Was this the right thing to do? If there really was no hope left—then rather than making meaningless preparations, maybe it truly was better to focus on keeping Yuri, their leader, from falling apart.

Yes...

At last, Anima realized what Yuri and Epinnel were really thinking.

The two of them were—

Preparing for the end.

Not envisioning a future beyond this.

They were preparing for how they would meet their final moments.

That was why they couldn’t join hands with Serpina. That was what Aishus pride meant to them.

...

And if they were only thinking about the end—

Then what about me?

***

Knock knock knock.

The sound of someone at the door made me instinctively raise my voice.

“Come in.”

When the door opened—

The person who entered the quiet conference room wasn’t wearing her usual armor.

It was Airen, dressed in simple, casual clothes.

A plain white top with light embroidery. Nothing flashy. But with Airen wearing it, all that “plainness” disappeared instantly, replaced with overwhelming sensuality and allure.

The fabric clung tightly to her body—and with her absurdly large chest, there was no way the outfit wouldn’t look provocative.

And since she normally kept it all hidden under heavy armor, the effect now was... kind of devastating.

“Swen...?”

“...Ah.”

Damn it.

I must’ve been staring too much at her chest without even realizing.

I quickly turned my head away.

“Sorry. That was... unintentional.”

“...”

Airen, noticing where my eyes had been, blushed faintly for a moment—

“...It’s fine.”

“Huh?”

“If it’s you, Swen, I don’t mind. I...”

“....”

Lately, things had really been... off.

Even when I was just going about my day, the taste of Airen’s lips would suddenly come to mind.

And whenever moments like this happened, I couldn’t help but feel this kind of... frustrating yearning. Like a man desperate for something more.

No. I couldn’t let myself go there.

Even if I had feelings for her, Airen and I were still comrades. She was someone precious to me—and I didn’t want to reduce her to just a sexual image in my head.

I shifted the topic, trying to escape the awkward tension.

“What did you bring?”

“Oh, this? I received some fine tea leaves as a gift. You were the first person who came to mind, Swen.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. From my lord herself.”

Lady Serpina?

Now that I thought about it, ever since Airen had become her bodyguard, the two of them had grown noticeably closer.

“Give me a moment.”

Airen began steeping the tea with graceful, practiced movements.

Every gesture she made was so refined that, in that moment, she looked less like a battlefield warrior and more like a maid trained for this exact task.

Before long, a cup of tea sat in front of me.

I took a sip—

“...Hot.”

And I couldn’t help but smile.

Yeah. This was the kind of flavor that made you smile without thinking.

“Swen? Something wrong?”

“No. You said the gift came from your lord, right? It’s just... this is so Serpina. I couldn’t help but laugh.”

The citrus scent that immediately filled my mouth—it felt like drinking something that had been steeped from Serpina herself.

No, that sounded weird. Perverted, even.

Lately, my brain had definitely been wandering into some strange territory.

“It’s sweet. I like it. You’re right—it does remind me of our lord.”

Watching Airen sip her tea with a smile like that—she was adorable.

And once again, I found myself smiling too.

I was happy. Being with Airen gave me the deepest sense of peace.

“You look troubled. Is something bothering you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Well, you’ve been holed up in the conference room since morning.”

“Fair enough.”

Just like she said, I’d been thinking about that all day.

The conversation I’d had with Lady Serpina that morning.

And what had come from it.