The weather was growing colder.

    Before I knew it, quite a bit of time had passed since I arrived in this world.

    And yet—for reasons I couldn’t quite explain—I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen.

    It’s too peaceful.

    According to intelligence reports, the battle between the Serpina Army and the Brans Army had more or less concluded, with Brans successfully defending their position.

    Additionally, both the southern and eastern fronts were quiet.

    That meant, logically speaking, the only remaining target would be our side—the western front, where our castle was located.

    Yet, strangely enough, time continued to pass without incident.

    Of course, I had no intention of simply sitting around doing nothing.

    Our army was doing everything it could.

    We conscripted as many soldiers as possible without harming public morale.

    Currently, including the mercenaries, our total defensive force stood at around 31,000.

    Even if we completely disregarded public sentiment and squeezed every last available man into service, we would only gain another 2,000 troops at most.

    There was no point in further conscription.

    Instead, we focused on training.

    I ordered the recovered Tifa to oversee military drills, while Cain was tasked with continuous fortification work on the walls—assuming no unexpected events disrupted our plans.

    Not just Cain, but Luna and I as well worked alongside him to reinforce the walls.

    As a result, we had significantly improved our defenses beyond what we had during the previous siege.

    None of these efforts would have been possible without Luna’s authorization.

    However, she trusted me implicitly—so much so that if I told her I could make bricks out of beans, she would believe me.

    In reality, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I, not Luna, was the one truly governing and leading this nation.

    And one more thing—

    We had sent envoys to negotiate six-month-long non-aggression pacts with the surrounding minor states that bordered our lands.

    This included the Garamil Army, which had once assisted the Brans Army in invading our territory.

    In this world, there were no lifelong allies or eternal enemies.

    Garamil itself didn’t bear a particular grudge against us—they had simply been coerced into aiding Brans through something akin to blackmail.

    In a way, I had merely preemptively taken measures to avoid falling into the same trap.

    Fortunately, the minor states were too preoccupied with managing their own affairs to pose any major obstacles, and the treaties were secured without issue.

    The biggest problem our army faced now was, as always, a lack of talented personnel.

    I had been using my 100 Intelligence to its fullest to resolve the issue, but nothing promising had come of it.

    Even if we launched an all-out search for skilled officers, we wouldn’t find anyone.

    While it was nice not to waste time on a fruitless endeavor, I couldn’t help but feel that even in the game, recruitment had never been this difficult.

    Gustav and Aaron, the leaders of the Raven Mercenaries and Chilean Mercenaries, respectively, were technically working for us.

    But as mercenaries, they remained separate entities—outside of battle, I had no real authority over them.

    That meant the entirety of our administration fell upon just four people: Cain, Tifa, Luna, and me.

    We desperately needed more capable hands, but time continued to slip by without a single recruit—even a C-rank officer—joining our ranks.

    But still, we’ve done everything we possibly could.

    In the game, when playing as a minor state, it wasn’t uncommon to meticulously prepare for every scenario—only to be utterly crushed by absurd levels of bad luck leading to an unavoidable game over.

    I wasn’t worried about total defeat since Lunarian Iniang was destined to become the unifying ruler—that was a fixed future.

    Yet, for some reason, I couldn’t shake this strange sense of unease.

    Whatever. I’ll think about it when it happens. My predictions are never wrong anyway.

    With that, I cleared my mind and continued heading toward the walls to resume repairs.

    I had walked for a while when—

    I spotted Cain approaching, hurriedly making his way toward me.

    Since I was near the royal castle, it was likely that he had been heading in that direction.

    "What’s the matter?"

    "Swen! I was just looking for you."

    Upon reaching me, Cain took a moment to catch his breath before speaking.

    "Come to the castle at once—Her Majesty has summoned you. It’s urgent."

    "Urgent?"

    "A messenger has arrived."

    "......!!"

    A messenger had arrived.

    That could only mean one thing.

    It’s happening.

    "Am I the last one to be informed?"

    "Yes. I’ve already told Tifa while she was overseeing training."

    "Understood."

    Without hesitation, I quickened my pace, heading toward Zeilant Castle with Cain.

    Inside the castle, five of us had gathered around a table before Luna.

    Cain, Tifa, Aaron of the Chilean Mercenaries, Gustav of the Raven Mercenaries, and me.

    "......Thank you all for coming," Luna said, her expression serious.

    "What’s going on? Is it Brans? Did they make their move?"

    "Yes. That’s correct."

    At Tifa’s question, Luna nodded.

    Given that we had secured non-aggression pacts with all our neighboring states, Brans was the only force that could be attacking us.

    "Good. That red-haired knight isn’t coming again, is she? I’ve been dying to get payback."

    Tifa thumped her axe against the floor, her enthusiasm evident.

    Though she had recovered far faster than expected, she had been on the verge of death during that last battle.

    There was no way I was going to let Tifa, one of our key combatants, fall here.

    "Still, didn’t we prepare as best we could?" Cain asked, glancing at Luna’s troubled expression.

    "The walls are stronger than ever, we have more soldiers than before, and their morale is at its peak after two consecutive victories."

    Cain wasn’t wrong.

    We had prepared as much as humanly possible.

    We had known that Brans would eventually invade again.

    It wasn’t as though we had refused to seek an alliance with them—we had tried.

    But every single prediction I made regarding diplomatic negotiations ended in failure.

    Brans would never ally with us, no matter what.

    I could predict the future, but I couldn’t change the results.

    That was why we had focused on fortifying for a defensive war instead.

    Then why—

    Why did Luna look so utterly defeated?

    "......You’re right, Cain. We did everything we could."

    "Then, that means...?"

    I slowly asked.

    "Swen...?"

    Luna must have noticed the change in my expression, because she called my name with a worried look.

    I turned to her, keeping my expression as neutral as possible.

    "My lady, I deeply apologize, but I need a moment. Please allow me a bit of time to think."

    "......Alright."

    Luna nodded, watching me with concerned eyes.

    I ignored her gaze and immediately re-entered the key questions in my mind.

    "Will Lunarian Iniang become the ruler who unifies the continent?"

    [Yes.]

    Next.

    "Is there a way to win this battle?"

    [No.]

    Same as before.

    No matter what we did, we could not win this battle.

    And the last question.

    "Is this truly the end for Lunarian’s Army? Is destruction unavoidable?"

    [No. Leave Lunarian’s Army.]

    Three predictions.

    Now, my job was to figure out what narrative these three absolute truths were forming—

    To extract a path forward from them.

    *

    Interpreting a fixed outcome and tracing back the exact process that leads to it was difficult.

    But identifying a necessary step within that process was much easier.

    Lunarian’s Army would not be completely wiped out today.

    Why?

    Because Luna was still destined to unify the continent.

    As long as that fate remained unchanged, ensuring the survival of her army was in my best interest—

    Because I needed to be one of her retainers in the unified empire if I wanted to return to my own world.

    However, there was no escape route.

    Which meant that, for now, Lunarian’s Army would disappear from the map.

    Why?

    Because we could not win this battle.

    Losing this fight meant losing Zeilant Castle, and Zeilant was our only territory.

    Without land, we ceased to be a legitimate ruling force.

    So if I combined these two absolute truths—

    Only one conclusion emerged in my mind.

    "Lunarian’s Army will vanish temporarily—only to reappear later in history."

    Lunarian Iniang would not die.

    She would survive.

    Through some event or another, she would rise again.

    The issue was everyone else.

    If Tifa and Cain—who had yet to reach their full potential—were captured, they could very well be executed.

    Lyn Brans.

    I recalled how Lyn Brans, controlled by the CPU, handled prisoners in the 10,000 hours I spent playing this game.

    She recruited those she found useful.

    And if they refused to serve her—she executed them.

    For prisoners she considered worthless, she would sometimes let them go.

    But there was one exception.

    There was one kind of prisoner she never spared—

    Rulers.

    If the captured individual was a leader, their head would roll.

    She saw them as potential threats.

    There was a reason I had to restart my game over and over while playing as a minor nation.

    Even if she recognized their talents, she wouldn’t keep them as subordinates.

    She believed that anyone who had once ruled would never truly serve under another.

    Now, what if I assumed Cain and Tifa were captured?

    They would both die.

    Cain’s political stat was high.

    Due to the unique circumstances of our army, he had been assigned to wall maintenance instead of administration, but in reality, he could efficiently manage both commerce and agriculture.

    Tifa, meanwhile, was an A-rank general—short of S-rank, but still an exceptional fighter.

    And neither of them would ever swear allegiance to another ruler.

    Cain, despite his hidden background, had no desire to serve under a powerful lord.

    Tifa’s personality made the idea impossible.

    Cain might survive if he concealed his identity and laid low.

    But Tifa?

    She would be executed without question.

    I can’t lose anyone.

    Even if the future was guaranteed, even if Luna’s eventual victory was set in stone—

    Losing a single ally could drastically alter the difficulty of that future.

    That meant Tifa and Cain couldn’t die.

    They had to be protected—for the future revival of Lunarian’s Army.

    Which left only one option.

    We all needed to escape.

    We had to flee the castle together.

    Sticking with Luna, who was half-guaranteed to survive, was the safest course of action.

    At this point, a natural question arose:

    Wouldn’t Brans send a pursuit force if the ruling lord fled with a small escort?

    But I knew they wouldn’t.

    Because of the third prediction.

    [No. Leave Lunarian’s Army.]

    If my departure was what allowed Lunarian’s Army to avoid destruction—

    Then all I had to do was figure out why my leaving was the key to survival.

    The answer came easily.

    "Lyn Brans isn’t here to destroy Zeilant Castle."

    "She isn’t here to erase Lunarian’s Army completely."

    "Her true objective... is me."