Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100\% Accuracy-Chapter 299: Don’t Say Things Like That Lightly

“You want to personally join the recon team?”

“Yes.”

One thing was certain: invading Aishus right now wasn’t the most efficient move. And if that inefficiency wasn’t due to rebellion or anything else within our forces, then...

The cause had to lie with the enemy—on Aishus’ side.

That was my conclusion.

At least for now, that seemed the most plausible explanation. And to confirm it, I wanted to see things with my own eyes.

“Wouldn’t it be better to send someone else? If something were to happen to you—”

“I doubt anything will. Aishus’ control over its own territory is at an all-time low. It’s obvious they don’t have the capacity to catch an infiltrator like me. And even if I were caught—well, wouldn’t Your Majesty avenge me?”

I said it without much thought, expecting Serpina to scoff and say something like, ‘You’re not wrong. Your death would spell the downfall of Aishus.’

Instead—

“Swen.”

“...Yes?”

Serpina wasn’t smiling. In fact, her expression was incredibly serious, even grave.

“Don’t... say things like that so casually.”

“Swen, the thought of you being harmed... I hate it. No matter what happens, I absolutely hate it.”

“If you’re gone... I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to go on without you... So please. Don’t say things like that again. I’m begging you...”

She looked up at me, pleading, as she held my hand tightly in both of hers.

The dignity and composure of a monarch were nowhere to be found—just a simple, earnest girl.

I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“I... I’m sorry.”

“You should be. That really was something to be sorry for.”

“...Yes, ma’am.”

My face felt hot for some reason, so I quickly changed the subject.

“Please don’t worry so much. Even if I do get caught, they’re not going to kill me. No matter how desperate they are, they’d lose more by executing me than they’d gain. And besides, I’m confident I won’t be caught in the first place. So really, don’t worry.”

“Of course I trust you, but...”

She still looked visibly shaken.

Was the idea of me dying really that distressing to her?

In that moment, I suddenly realized something strange.

Serpina reminded me of Reika.

...Should I act the same way I did with Reika back then?

But that comparison didn’t quite fit.

Unlike Reika, who stood on equal footing with me, Serpina wasn’t just a superior like Airen—she was a ruler. A sovereign. The head of the massive Serpina Army. One of the last remaining legitimate heirs to the fallen Eingart Empire.

Was it really okay to... do something like that to someone like her?

Still... I thought maybe it was.

So, slowly, I raised my hand and placed it gently on her head.

“...!!”

I quietly stroked her golden hair.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Serpina didn’t glare at me or brush me off. She simply lowered her head and let me touch her.

Golden strands, shimmering like sunlight, slipped through my fingers.

“Please believe in me, Serpina. I’ll come back alive.”

“...”

She didn’t respond with words.

Instead, she silently leaned into me and hugged me.

The weight of the woman who ruled the world felt shockingly light. Compared to the crown she carried, her body might as well have been made of feathers.

She was infamous for her ruthlessness, known as a tyrant by many.

But here in my arms, all I felt was a warm, soft human being.

I held her quietly, stroking her hair for a long time as I tried to calm her down.

Thump, thump.

—All I could do was pretend not to notice how violently my heart was pounding since the moment I embraced her.

Who knows how long we stayed like that?

Eventually, once Serpina had calmed down, I finally broached the real subject.

“Now then, about the infiltration...”

“I’ve already thought of something.”

“Oh? If Your Majesty’s idea is better than mine, I’m more than willing to follow your plan.”

It probably looked absurd from the outside—a vassal weighing their sovereign’s opinion like that.

But Serpina didn’t seem to mind ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) in the slightest. She just smiled and nodded.

“What do you take me for, Swen?”

***

“Stop right there.”

The third checkpoint.

Once we got through this, we’d be inside Valharat Castle.

As I had with the previous two, I adjusted my wig, pulled my hood lower, and stuck close behind her back.

“State your identity.”

“I’m Ariyan, second merchant head of the Mikhail Trading Company.”

The guard studied the badge she presented for quite a while.

“Hmm, the badge checks out.”

“Then may we pass?”

“Wait just a moment. I’ve got a few things I need to take care of first...”

At his reply, the woman gave a smooth, practiced smile and slipped him a pouch.

“My, I do seem to lack tact.”

“I... that’s not what I meant—hmhm. Go ahead.”

Without much difficulty, we passed the guard and finally stepped foot into Valharat Castle.

“It’s been a while.”

Valharat Castle. Not quite as emotionally loaded as Arnel Castle, but still a place tied to several memories for me.

Back then, Yuri had made accommodations for me to live with Airen under the same roof.

After that, Yuri stopped relying on me for important matters—and naturally, I drifted from the center of politics. During my time with the Aishus Army, most of what I did was act as Reika’s tutor.

Or rather... play the role of tutor. In reality, I’d simply been looking after her. Not a bad time, when I thought back on it calmly.

I wasn’t obsessed with status or success, and honestly, until Luna raised her flag in rebellion, I’d been living far more peacefully here than I ever had under the Brans Army.

Of course, I never imagined Yuri would betray me by selling me off to Serpina’s army. That one really came out of nowhere. freeweɓnovel.cøm

“Looks like we made it in without a hitch.”

Just as I was gathering my thoughts, the woman beside me turned her head and looked at me.

My companion for this infiltration—

A woman who looked exactly like the old roommate I once had back at Eingart Castle: Ioline al Kasky.

“Thanks to you, I was able to get in safely.”

“Not at all. I only did what needed to be done. As a daughter of the al Kasky family, it would be shameful not to know how to disguise one’s identity.”

What kind of noble family trains their daughters in the art of identity concealment? I had to wonder. Still, she had helped me, so I decided not to nitpick.

It was Serpina’s idea to request Ioline’s help. Apparently, back when Irian—gifted in espionage—was just starting to make a name for himself, he used to sneak in and out of places like this, and Serpina had remembered those stories.

To think she could recall such details from a passing comment made by a subordinate... honestly impressive in its own right.

In any case, thanks to Ioline, we had successfully infiltrated as members of the Mikhail Trading Company—one of several mid-sized merchant groups backed by the al Kasky family. They had just enough presence to pass as legitimate but weren’t so famous as to attract attention. A perfect cover.

“Still, thank you. Even though Her Majesty ordered this, you’re not formally part of her retinue like your brothers. And this isn’t just any mission—it’s an infiltration. It would’ve been perfectly reasonable for you to refuse.”

If she had refused, I doubt Serpina would’ve forced her. Whatever her public image may be, that’s not the kind of person she is.

But Ioline simply shook her head with a bright smile.

“Really, it’s nothing! If I can help, I will. Especially since it’s you asking, Lord Swen...! And I’m just happy we get to be together again, even for a little while.”

She blushed slightly and lowered her head, and I instinctively averted my gaze, feeling awkward.

But that didn’t stop her—she kept chatting cheerfully beside me.

“Brother Janis left the estate a while ago, and Irian’s hardly ever home anymore either. It’s been so lonely, living by myself... I’m just glad I get to do something meaningful like this. Thank you for coming to find me.”

Well—technically, it was Serpina who came looking for her, not me.

But seeing how her eyes sparkled with such innocent sincerity, I couldn’t bring myself to correct her. I simply nodded along.

“Anyway, it must’ve been tiring traveling all this way, but... let’s get moving. We need to scout the area and be out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Leave it to me! I’ve been working on my stamina since that day, you know...!”

And with that, Ioline, a few soldiers, and I began scouting the grounds of Valharat Castle.

***

As we made our rounds, one thing became immediately obvious—

The expressions of the commoners were all grim.

Yes, the central continent had been ravaged by plague.

But Valharat Castle was to the east of the heartland and hadn’t been hit nearly as hard. Even during the war with Chel’s forces, the area had largely avoided direct combat.

There was no obvious reason for morale to be this low.

That is—until we saw why.

‘...That’s...’

I froze in place.

A massive construction site.

The sheer scale of the project, built right in the center of the capital, had nothing to do with military preparation.

It was absurd.

Countless commoners and soldiers had been forced into labor.

One look was all it took for me to realize what had happened.

Yuri had once again made a decision so foolish, so unthinkable—

It defied all expectation.