The road to Valharat Castle wasn’t much different from the one leading to Arnel Castle.
The only real difference was that I kept seeing familiar faces for some reason.
Since Garland Eternity Saga tended to recycle the same key officers over and over, I had seen these people countless times before.
As expected of the Aishus Army, a treasure trove of talent.
Aishus Army's defining trait was "exceptional talent."
Its foundations were incredibly weak, but it aimed to unify the continent purely through the strength of its personnel.
It required some effort to manage, but it wasn’t particularly difficult—just the right level for an intermediate-level sovereign.
After arriving at the castle gates, a guard stopped us.
"State your identity."
"Airen Juliet. I joined not long ago."
"And you?"
"I’m Swen. Like Lady Airen, I also joined the Aishus Army recently."
"Airen Juliet and Swen... Please wait a moment."
The guard stepped into a small side room.
A short while later, after apparently verifying something, he emerged and saluted us.
"My apologies for the delay. Please, go right in."
"Hm."
We gave him a brief nod and proceeded inside the royal castle, heading toward what appeared to be the audience chamber where the meeting was to be held.
Once we arrived, Airen and I found a suitable spot among the gathered officers.
Then, I took my time scanning the participants.
Wow.
I nearly let out an exclamation.
Almost everyone here was a familiar face.
The most eye-catching among them was, of course, the second-in-command of the Aishus Army—Epinnel Rosenkross.
Her defining traits were her teal ponytail and her revealing, borderline indecent armor. She stood with her arms crossed, eyes closed, waiting for the meeting to begin.
Opposite her was a woman with long, deep-blue hair styled in loose waves.
With her siege-specialist trait, she was undoubtedly Emma Adlen—one of the few officers, like Airen, with the [Siege] ability.
Clad in sturdy armor, her presence carried a similar weight to Airen’s.
The only real difference was... chest size.
Emma had an average build, whereas Airen had something that made it impossible for her to wear off-the-rack armor.
And then, beside her—
A massive man.
Messy black hair, towering height, muscular physique, and eyes carrying a hint of melancholy.
I didn’t usually bother remembering male characters’ faces, but the odds were high that he was Hernandorf Arisian.
The strongest warrior in the Aishus Army in terms of pure combat power.
A reliable, sturdy fighter who excelled in one-on-one duels.
Unlike Chel from the Brans Army, Hernandorf wasn’t overly aggressive, making him easier to control.
Unfortunately, his intelligence was abysmal, which made him prone to falling for enemy schemes.
Epinnel. Emma. And Hernandorf.
These three were often referred to as the "Aishus Three Heroes."
That wasn’t a term I just made up—it was an official description from the in-game character introduction.
Aside from them, most of the officers present were also familiar.
Seeing them all together made me realize just how lacking the Brans Army had been.
Brans had numbers, but very few memorable faces.
After some time had passed—
"Lord Yuri is entering!"
A soldier’s voice rang out.
Walking toward the empty throne was Yuri.
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"...Huh?"
Wait a minute.
The old man following closely behind Yuri...?
Wearing a deep-pressed hat, with a long, white beard—
That man was—
[Do you take Intelligence 99 lightly?]
...Oh!
Right.
I remembered now.
That old man—he was Jinor.
A man with an in-game intelligence stat of 99, practically the maximum possible.
He was the one who had thrown me into this world—how could I possibly forget him?
Though, I had no idea whether this world's Jinor was aware of any of that.
So, his full name was... Jinor Nighhardt, wasn’t it?
Wait.
Nighhardt?
Oh. Oh! Oh!
That’s right.
Nighhardt—Jinor’s surname. No wonder it had stuck in my memory.
But didn’t Reika also have the surname Nighhardt?
What the hell? His daughter? Granddaughter?
No... But Reika was supposed to be an orphan, wasn’t she?
I was certain of it.
Having played through the game countless times with various rulers, I knew her background like the back of my hand.
What the hell is going on?
It seemed that while I had been stuck in the Brans Army, events had been unfolding in their own way here.
I never expected Jinor to be part of the Aishus Army.
But his presence here actually solved one of my biggest lingering questions.
Back when I was in the Brans Army—
I had identified the Betrayal Strategy being set in motion by the Charam Army when they suddenly started offering tribute.
But that strategy required an intelligence stat of 95 or higher, along with the [Betrayal] trait.
Did the Aishus Army even have a strategist of that caliber?
Jinor was the perfect answer.
With his intelligence of 99 and a versatile skill set, he was more than capable of orchestrating such a scheme.
After Yuri settled onto the throne, she addressed the room.
"Alright. Thank you all for gathering despite your busy schedules. Let's start the meeting immediately.
Before we begin, I’d like to hold a brief merit evaluation for last month’s accomplishments. Is everyone alright with that?"
""Yes!""
The merit evaluation wasn’t particularly important.
What stood out most was the exceptional performance of Epinnel and the Three Heroes.
It seemed they were excelling in their respective roles even in this timeline.
"Now, regarding the directives from the last meeting—I know everyone worked hard.
We may have failed to advance into the central continent, but we achieved significant results in other areas.
I hope you’ll continue in this manner moving forward."
Considering I had played a significant role in ensuring that failure, I felt a little awkward.
But this was my home now.
"Alright. Let’s gather opinions on what our next steps should be. Any suggestions?"
"Lord Yuri."
The first to raise his hand was Jinor.
"Hm?"
"Auspicious energy has been detected within Valharat’s territory.
Conducting a thorough exploration of the castle and its surroundings may be worthwhile."
"Exploration, huh...?"
Huh?
It was unusual for a strategist to suggest a territorial search.
There were only two reasons they would do so—either there was a hidden talent or a valuable treasure to be found.
Then—
"Yuri. I have something to say, too."
Emma raised her hand.
Not Lord Yuri, just Yuri.
And she was speaking informally.
This wasn’t my first time seeing something like this. Back in the Lunarian Army, Tifa had spoken in a similar manner to Luna.
But that was a four-person, practically club-sized army.
The Aishus Army had a much larger structure, so no matter how much trust she had earned, speaking like that to the ruler still felt off.
However, Yuri didn’t seem to care in the slightest. She simply nodded.
"What is it?"
"I think it’s best to take care of the Charam and Aleffel armies. Keeping them around has no further benefit.
We’ve delayed our invasion with schemes and tactics for long enough.
Soon, we’ll be facing the Brans Army in a large-scale battle, so I’d rather eliminate potential threats now."
"Hmm."
Yuri nodded.
"Anyone else want to speak?"
A brief silence followed.
When no one else raised their voice, the meeting continued.
"Alright. First, let’s vote.
Who thinks we should conduct an exploration of Valharat’s territory?
Raise your hand."
A territorial search, huh...
It was finally time for me to put my abilities to use.
"Is conducting a territorial search of Valharat the most efficient option?"
As always, my intelligence stat of 100 gave me an instant answer.
[Yes.]
Oh.
It had been a while since I’d heard such a clear response.
Honestly, I had already expected it.
After all, the one who proposed it was none other than Jinor.
With an intelligence stat of 99, his words were 99% likely to be correct.
Unless that 1% chance kicked in, following his lead was the obvious choice.
I slowly raised my hand.
Including Airen beside me, a little more than half of the room did the same.
It seemed that many within the army trusted Jinor’s judgment.
Yuri briefly scanned the room before continuing.
"Next.
Who thinks we should prioritize subjugating the Charam and Aleffel armies?"
The outcome was clear, but I still asked internally—
"Is subjugating the Charam and Aleffel armies the most efficient option?"
[No.]
As expected.
Hearing a predictable answer gave me an odd sense of reassurance.
This time, an almost equal number of people raised their hands.
However, just by counting at a glance, the numbers were slightly lower than those who had supported Jinor’s suggestion.
So, would the decision be made based on a majority vote in favor of Jinor’s plan?
But then—
"Hmm..."
Instead of saying "We’ll go with Jinor’s proposal since it has the majority vote," Yuri hesitated, seemingly deep in thought.
Is this really something to hesitate over?
Usually, in meetings like this, the majority opinion was chosen to maintain order.
If a ruler ignored votes, it could lower loyalty or cause discord among officers.
From the officers' perspective, even if they lost the vote, they at least had a chance to argue their case in a debate.
Yet—
"Jinor. You should yield this time.
It’s Emma’s suggestion, after all. You don’t mind, do you?"
"There is no issue, my lord. I will follow your will."
At Jinor’s response, Yuri nodded and addressed the room.
"This time, we’ll go with Emma’s plan.
We will reclaim the territories of the Charam and Aleffel armies.
Do your best in your assigned positions to achieve our goal. Understood?"
""Yes! Understood!""
...?
No one objected.
The decision was simply made on her whim.
If this was how things were going to be, was there even a point in gathering everyone’s opinions?
And the way she worded it—“It’s Emma’s suggestion.”
Would she not have conceded if it had been someone else?
I felt like I was beginning to glimpse a fundamental issue within the Aishus Army.
But I didn’t have enough information to draw any conclusions yet.
The meeting continued.
One notable decision was made at the request of Epinnel, the fortress commander—10,000 soldiers from Valharat Castle would be reassigned to her fortress.
With 53,000 troops stationed in Valharat, it wasn’t a burden to send them.
But the way Yuri immediately agreed to it was slightly unsettling.
It seemed the influence of the Aishus Three Heroes was even stronger than I had expected.
And with that, the meeting concluded.
Yuri stood from her seat and addressed us one final time.
"I’ve assigned tasks to each of you. Check them on your way out.
That’s it for today’s meeting. Oh, and—"
Then, she looked directly at me.
"Swen. Stay behind for a moment."
"......?"
At her words, every officer in the room turned to stare at me.
The sudden attention was slightly overwhelming, but...
Well, if the ruler commands, a subordinate must obey.
"Understood."
"Good. The rest of you are dismissed."
""Yes, my lord!""
With that, the gathered officers made their final salutes and exited the chamber one by one.
I told Airen that she could leave first, assuring her that I wouldn’t take long.
Once the room quieted down, only three people remained—Yuri, Jinor, and me.
I naturally stepped closer to her throne.
"What is this about?"
"Swen. I have a question for you."
"What kind of question...?"
"Well, actually—this is more his concern than mine."
Yuri slightly tilted her head toward Jinor.
What?
Jinor had something to say to me?
At that moment, for some reason, the phrase—
[Do you take Intelligence 99 lightly?]
—flashed through my mind again.
Jinor gave me a slight nod before slowly walking toward me.
"You are Swen, correct?"
"That’s right."
"......."
Why...
Why was he staring at me like that?
What was going on?
Jinor gazed at me, his expression unreadable.
Then, in a careful, deliberate tone, he asked—