Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100% Accuracy

Chapter 34

Rebellion.

It referred to an act in which a vassal entrusted with a castle turned against their lord for some reason.

During a rebellion, the vassals within the castle would either support the uprising and stay or be expelled back to their original forces. However, resources such as troops, gold, and food would remain in the hands of the rebels.

If a rebellion occurred, the ironclad formation of Serpina’s army would inevitably fracture. And in that moment—whether by attacking the rebelling castle itself or a nearby stronghold—our army could seize an opportunity.

However, for Brans Army to capitalize on this situation, they would need to ensure a significant force was stationed near Zeilant Castle at the moment of the uprising.

No matter how strong Serpina’s forces were, they would be caught off guard when a coup suddenly ignited within their ranks. But they were also a nation with the resilience to recover quickly, suppress the rebellion, and reorganize their troops.

So the fact that I even reached this conclusion—
It was, ironically, thanks to Airen.

If she hadn’t suggested reinforcing the northern defenses based on her warrior’s intuition, I wouldn’t have pieced this together at this stage.

Of course, if Lyn had directly asked me, I would have given the answer.
But Lyn Brans wasn’t like Luna. She wouldn’t trust me absolutely and rely on my judgment for every little decision.

Besides, by deducing the conclusion in steps like this, I was able to explain my reasoning.
If I had just answered outright, "Invade Serpina’s northern territory," the argument would have been much harder to sell.

Anyway, the course was set.

If a rebellion were to occur, Brans Army would be too preoccupied with Aishus to take advantage of it. In the end, we would fail to plant our flag in the northern region.

But…

"I guess that’s just fate."

Lyn Brans wasn’t destined to be a unifying ruler.

And as someone who needed to serve under a ruler capable of uniting the continent, I had no reason to go out of my way to convince her.

For now, all I had to do was spend time completing my commercial duties in the market while staying close to Airen.

With that thought, I folded up my map and turned my head.

Airen had fallen asleep, leaning against the wall with her back curled up.

I approached her quietly, making sure my footsteps made no sound.

She was beautiful.

Long, crimson hair.

A delicate nose and skin so pale it was hard to believe she was a warrior who wielded a sword.

She could have simply learned proper etiquette, married into a noble house, and lived a peaceful life.

But she was born into an era of chaos, and her bloodline was not noble.

A woman who carried the burden of her father’s dying wish. A warrior who never chose the easy path, no matter how foolishly stubborn that might have seemed.

A knight. A siege warfare specialist. The last descendant of House Juliet, sworn to the Brans family.

She carried far too much, with no one to share the weight.

I had no intention of letting this woman die.

She would be invaluable to Luna when the time came for her to complete the unification of the continent.

"I will find a way to keep you alive, Airen."

I slowly stepped away from her.

Turning off the dim lantern that had been lighting the room, I lay down on my bed.

As I lay there, a thousand different thoughts crossed my mind.

Wearing the emblem of Brans Army, attending their meetings, learning about Airen’s past…

And yet, the one person who still occupied my mind—

Lunarian Iniang.

The ruler who would unify the continent.

"Come to think of it…"

A question I hadn’t asked myself in a long time.

"Can Lunarian Iniang truly become the ruler who unifies the continent?"

Absentmindedly, I entered the question in my mind.

And then—

"…What?"

"Hey! Stop right there!"

"Haha! Catch me if you can!"

Children’s voices filled the air, their laughter echoing through the streets.

"Wait… is this price really right?"
"Of course it is! The only reason it’s this cheap is because supply is steady in Arnel Castle. Try checking the next town over and see how much they charge!"

Merchants haggled with customers over their wares.

In the middle of this peaceful marketplace—

"Welcome!"

—I was standing at a counter, working reception.

"It’s good to have you folks from Brans Army here again. We appreciate your help."

From the words of the shop owner, it seemed like it was common practice for soldiers to be sent here for commercial duties.

This month, over a dozen Brans Army officers had been assigned to commerce.

The highest-ranking among them—presumably the one with the highest Politics stat—was in charge of distributing work.

And my assigned task…

Was manning the counter.

The location? A tavern.

A place where hidden talents still lurking in the world gathered, where rumors from across the continent spread.

Back when I was unemployed, I had spent plenty of time loitering in taverns, hoping to get recruited.

Perhaps fostering a bustling tavern, attracting adventurers and merchants, and encouraging commerce all contributed to economic development.

Arnel Castle’s tavern was massive, and several other employees worked there, including C-rank officers like me who had been assigned to the job.

One thing was clear from my assignment.

"My Politics stat isn’t very high, is it?"

That would explain why I had been placed in a relatively simple role.

Sure, customer service required skill, but compared to managing trade routes or handling large-scale transactions, this was definitely a low-stakes position.

Since I couldn’t see my own status screen, I had to figure things out based on circumstances.

Still, I didn’t mind.

The job gave me plenty of time to think.

First, I needed to check something.

Before falling asleep last night, I had asked:

"Can Lunarian Iniang truly become the ruler who unifies the continent?"

The answer?

There wasn’t one.

Not "I don’t know."

Not "It cannot be determined."

Nothing.

It was as if the question had never been asked in the first place.

I tried again.

I asked the same three questions I had posed before.

"Can Serpina von Eingart unify the continent?"
"Can Baranga Yuri Aishus unify the continent?"
"Can Lyn Brans unify the continent?"

Of all the questions, only the one about Lyn yielded a response.

The answer was: [She cannot.]

Fundamentally, I couldn't ask questions to myself.

To make a prediction, I needed to hear the question from someone else.

Once someone else asked the question, I could repeat it to myself as many times as I wanted.

However—despite having been asked these questions in the past—I was now unable to retrieve any answers.

At this point, I began to suspect a rule I hadn’t realized before.

It was—

"Do my previously received questions reset when my allegiance changes…?"

If this were true, it would explain why only Lyn’s question was still valid.

Because she was the one who first asked me that question when she recruited me.

So, does that mean my predictions as a "strategist" are primarily tied to the faction I belong to?

But then, why was I previously able to foresee the future of other rulers?

This wasn’t a complete answer—just a theory.

Maybe my predictions reset at fixed intervals.

Or maybe some other condition was influencing the reset.

"Whatever the case, I can’t get an answer right now."

If I wanted to confirm Luna’s fate, I just needed to get someone to ask about her again.

But unlike before—when Luna would always indulge my questions without hesitation—trying something like that now would only attract suspicion.

Airen was around, but we weren’t that close yet.

"I’ll have another chance to check later."

For now, I focused on working at the tavern, dealing with customers as instructed.

Did this really count as contributing to commerce?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

But in administrative tasks like this, politics mattered more than intelligence.

At the very least, I didn’t particularly dislike this job.

Coming up with ways to improve the market would have been far more tedious.

Besides, I was part of Brans Army now—why should I work harder than necessary?

"Might as well just do my job."

And with that, I spent the rest of the day working without much enthusiasm, passing the time.

*

It had been a week since the mission began.

On my way back from the market, I bought a snack that all the children were carrying around. It was a typical pastry—soft bread filled with a sweet jam-like filling.

"I'm back."

"Hmm. Good work."

When I arrived home, I was greeted by Airen, drenched in sweat and resting in that ridiculously revealing training attire of hers.

"Have you been swinging your sword all this time?"

"That’s right."

The lean muscles tightly attached to her waist were probably the result of that relentless training.

Feeling a bit guilty given the contrast, I spread out the snacks I had bought on the table. Airen, noticing what I had brought, approached with interest.

"What's that?"

"A snack. The children of Arnel Castle were all eating it."

"Ah… Swen, do you like sweet things?"

"Not particularly. But you always make tea for me, don’t you? I thought it might go well with it."

Airen’s home did have refreshments, but they were mostly mild rather than sweet. If we were going to brew tea anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to have something sugary alongside it?

"I see… But I’ve been focusing on my training, so I try to avoid sweet foods as much as possible."

I figured as much.

Someone so devoted to maintaining their physique was bound to be mindful of their diet. Aside from the welcoming feast where she grilled meat for me, she mostly ate modest portions of simple meals.

"Well, if you’re abstaining from sweets while training so diligently, I suppose there’s nothing I can do about it—"

Just as I was about to put the snacks away—

Thump.

A hand landed on my wrist.

"……"

"?"

"…Ahem."

She cleared her throat awkwardly, unable to say anything.

Even when I tried to move my hand, I couldn’t. She was pressing down with surprising strength, making it impossible to pull away.

"…Airen."

"What is it?"

"Do you want to eat this?"

"……!"

Seeing her face flush red in an instant, I knew I had guessed correctly.

After spending some time with her, I realized—she wasn’t great at hiding her emotions.

But at the same time, she was struggling. It seemed to go against her self-imposed discipline, making her hesitate.

In moments like this, all you had to do was give a little push.

"If you don’t mind, let’s eat together. A few shouldn’t hurt."

Unaware of how persuasive my words were, she hesitated for a moment before covering her mouth with her hand and nodding.

"…It’s not like I want to eat it or anything… But since you went through the trouble of buying it, it would be rude to let it go to waste."

Her lips curved slightly upward in a way that was oddly mischievous.

Why, though?

Hearing her obvious lie, I suddenly felt the urge to tease her.

"No, it’s fine. If you’re only eating it out of obligation, then there’s no need. I’ll just eat it all myself. Don’t worry about it."

"Wha—?!"

"I wouldn’t want you to force yourself. It’s better if I just take care of it."

"Ah… that’s not… I mean…"

As I nonchalantly pushed the pastries aside, she leaned forward slightly—like a cat eyeing a treat.

Her violet eyes flickered with clear disappointment.

She was terrible at lying.

Alright, that was enough teasing.

Smiling lightly, I nodded.

"I’m joking. Let’s eat together, Airen. I bought them for that reason, after all."

Hearing my words, she looked strangely aggrieved, puffing out her cheeks slightly.

"…Swen, sometimes I really don’t understand what goes on in your head."

"I hear that a lot."

"…Pfft."

She let out a small laugh before getting up and heading toward the kitchen.

"I’ll wash up quickly and bring some tea. Wait here."

"As you command."

It had been nearly ten days since I started living under the same roof as Airen.

I was getting used to her.

*

'That news' arrived about two and a half weeks into the commercial mission.

"You want me to stop the mission and return to the capital immediately?"

I asked the soldier who had come to fetch me.

"Yes. The lord has summoned you. She said you may temporarily halt your assignment."

'Lyn is looking for me?'

What for?

I couldn’t think of any reason she’d need me at this point—

‘Well, I’ll find out when I get there.’

"Understood. I’ll make the necessary arrangements and leave for the capital right away."

"Yes, my message has been delivered. Then, I’ll take my leave."

After exchanging brief farewells with the soldier, I explained the situation to my colleagues and left the tavern, heading straight for Arnel Castle’s royal capital.