Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100\% Accuracy-Chapter 254: Chukcheut’s Room

Yuri quickly wracked his brain in his own way.

Running a relief camp itself might not be such a difficult task.

However, this was not the northern region, nor the center of the continent, but right in the middle of it, where the plague had swept through the area most violently.

In this situation, finding volunteer troops was nearly impossible, and if the operation were to go ahead, it would be carried out forcefully... If soldiers feared they might catch the plague, it was clear that their trust would be lost.

Yuri knew better than anyone that the morale of the soldiers was lower than ever. He could sense, with the intuition of a lord, that if he went any further in upsetting them, things would end badly.

That wasn’t the only problem.

With the supply lines to the mainland cut off by the Chel army, the situation of supplies for Yuri’s forces was not one that could be described as good, even in passing.

The claim, “The supplies that should have come to us are now being diverted to the lords of territories that were not even within our domain just a few months ago,” might sound extreme, but in such a shortage of resources, it was a grievance that could easily arise.

But not running the camp?

In fact, this was the more politically sound choice. The plague was, after all, a natural disaster, and it likely wasn’t anyone’s fault.

――If only he hadn’t spoken carelessly.

How politically disadvantageous it would be if it became known that Serpina, who had claimed to have caused the plague, was running a relief camp while doing absolutely nothing herself, simply staying idle.

He wasn’t foolish enough not to understand that.

‘...No.’

He thought, perhaps it was foolish to even consider this.

Who had forced him into this situation?

Was it Serpina? Or was it one of his remaining two comrades?

It was himself.

He had dragged everything to this point.

Because of the war, and because of the plague, he had sent his comrades away. Perhaps... it might even be his fault. His thoughts became tangled.

"Lord...?"

"Later... I’ll answer... so... please step aside."

Yuri barely managed to swallow something rising deep inside him, and then spoke.

The soldier replied loudly, then, glancing around, quietly left the palace.

‘Emma... and Hernandorf... what am I supposed to do now...?’

‘What are we supposed to do...!?’

He lowered his head, gripping his forehead tightly, as he asked the comrades who had already left, but the answer never came.

***

What does it mean to be on the brink of death?

For many people, it might have different meanings, but for Anima—it meant constantly repeating hallucinations of a specific situation from the past.

Back then, at the moment she made an unchanging promise with the five survivors who had lived through the tragedy at the academy.

The moment when she swore with her childhood friend, a girl, to "capture our souls in the red flag"... that moment, repeating over and over again in her sight.

She had come to her senses a few times in between.

She vaguely remembered talking, eating, and bits and pieces of those moments... but, when she looked back, she had often been unaware of the exact day or time, still lost in a haze of noise.

She didn’t even know how much time had passed by.

"...Ah."

The moment when Yuri reached out to her again, Anima realized, for the first time, that she was lying on a bed.

"...Where is this...?"

Once her mind cleared, she began to understand the situation with surprising speed.

She had contracted the plague. That’s why she had been bedridden.

Doctors had come to visit from time to time, speaking to her, but... she couldn't remember much of the conversations.

Still, her body felt light. She vividly recalled the experience of having her head heated like she had swallowed a furnace... but now, she could breathe properly.

Anima slowly got up, clenched her remaining hand, and stretched it out—

"...Is anyone there?"

"Advisor...?"

Anima’s vision began to flow again.

***

The first to come after hearing that she had fully regained her senses was Epinnel.

"Are you alright now, Anima?"

"Yeah. My condition is fine, but... do you really think it’s okay to come this close to me? Even though I seem to be cured, who knows what could happen?"

"No. If the people who’ve been cured, along with their families, are living fine, then it shouldn't be a threat anymore."

"...Really?"

Anima sighed briefly, then spoke in a voice slightly trembling with emotion.

"Emma... she's really dead, right?"

"Yeah... she caught the plague, and that's how it happened."

"Ha..."

Once again, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I thought I heard something about it before... but she really is dead, Emma."

"She was in really bad shape... Anima, the fact that you survived like this is a miracle. The plague has an extremely high mortality rate."

"Yeah..."

Anima wasn’t ignorant of the fact that it could have been her who died.

...She knew that wallowing in the sadness of losing her here, in this place, wasn’t what Emma would want.

Anima quickly wiped away her tears and, after gathering her emotions, moved on to the main topic.

"So, what’s been going on?"

"The frontlines are in a deadlock. The Chel army and the Carlints army have been hit by the plague. The plague itself seems to have peaked, but... honestly, I don’t know when it’ll start to subside."

"Has anything major happened?"

"Major? Well... Serpina's army set up a relief camp for the plague victims."

"Serpina’s army?"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Hearing that unexpected name, Anima seemed to tremble slightly in surprise, and Epinnel slowly nodded her head.

"Yeah. She probably became conscious of the fact that she was blamed for spreading the plague."

"...Wait. She spread the plague? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, right. You haven’t been fully aware... let me explain."

Epinnel carefully explained everything that had happened in the meantime.

How Serpina had issued a quarantine order, almost as if she had known about the plague beforehand, and how the Aishus army had made a kind of proclamation to Serpina’s army based on that.

"What? You mean the force that claimed Serpina spread the plague... was our army?"

"...Yeah."

Anima slammed her fist down on the bed as she spoke.

"What the hell kind of nonsense is that! If she actually did spread the plague on purpose, then she would have saved the lives of the lords and civilians in the central continent! Even from that point, her claim doesn’t make sense. How could anyone spread a plague like that in the first place?"

"Well, Serpina’s army has mages, so..."

"In the historical ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) texts about mages, it’s never said they actually created a plague or anything like that. Ha... Anyway, so they’re running a relief camp, right? They’re not saying anything to their soldiers?"

"Looks like that’s the case... I don’t know if they were threatened or what, but they’re devoting themselves to the relief efforts without any concern for their own lives."

Threatened?

Epinnel thought it was entirely possible for Serpina to do something like that... but, still, she couldn’t read what Serpina’s true intentions were.

It seemed like Epinnel couldn’t figure it out either, as she lowered her head, shaking it slightly and said.

"Well, how would I know what’s going on in her head?"

Anima placed her hand on her forehead and sighed deeply.

"I don’t know who it is, but if someone put these ideas into Yuri’s head— they should be executed immediately."

"...What?"

"She’s almost been working with Serpina to turn the public opinion in her favor. If she had just stayed quiet, it wouldn’t have come to this... think about it, Epinnel. If the people in our territory started saying, 'Why isn’t the Aishus army running a relief camp?' what would we be able to say?"

"Well..."

"If we hadn’t said anything, it would have been fine, but now that we’ve already said something, if we don’t run the camp, how will the people of our territory see our army? In the long run, losing the trust of the continent’s civilians is the worst decision a lord can make. If we send soldiers to the relief camp, effectively pushing them into harm’s way, the soldiers’ trust will fall to the bottom. That’s a problem anyone can figure out with a little thought."

Who took advantage of the absence of the strategist and put such ideas into Yuri’s mind?

A familiar face might come to mind, but... it was a difficult situation to pinpoint with clarity.

"So, who is it? Who brought this up?"

"..."

Epinnel stayed silent for a long time, lowering her head deeply.

Then, as if she had made up her mind... she answered in a very serious tone.

"...It was Yuri."

"...What?"

"The person who directly declared to Serpina’s army, intending to put her in a difficult position... was Yuri herself."

...Thunk.

Her arm, which had been holding up with so much strength, fell weakly onto the bed sheet.

Her head, which had just started to heat up, suddenly began to cool rapidly again.

"Yuri... did that?"

"Yeah..."

After hearing Epinnel’s words and grasping the situation, Anima was overwhelmed by a deep, sticky despair—an emotion she had never felt in any of her past experiences.

Not when she lost one of her arms, not when she was imprisoned by Serpina and had her life threatened, not when she lost Hernandorf in battle, not even when she had heard Emma had died...

Anima closed her eyes tightly and lowered her head.

The strategist’s instincts were whispering fiercely in her ear.

So, she had to realize it.

The fact that Yuri, the lord, was the one who made the decision that led to this situation...

And that the dawn of Aishus’ army had begun to head toward its end.

***

It had already been quite some time since the camp was established.

Fortunately, Reika had been able to periodically cast buff spells on us, and thanks to that, none of us had contracted the plague.

Considering the high likelihood that at least one person coming for aid might have carried the pathogen, it was safe to say that the magic was working effectively.

A lot had happened during this time.

Decisively, the plague had subsided. The number of deaths had been halved, and the infection rate had drastically decreased.

The relief camp was becoming more and more deserted. What had seemed like a never-ending plague was finally approaching its end.

"We should be able to close the camp soon."

"I’m so relieved that nothing serious has happened..."

"It’s all thanks to Reika."

I patted Reika’s head as I spoke.

Of course, this wasn’t just empty praise. Without her, we wouldn’t have been able to run the relief camp so boldly.

If even one person on our side had become infected, instead of restoring Serpina’s image, it would have cemented the image of a tyrant who forced soldiers into dangerous situations.

And, as Reika said—there was more to be thankful for than just that.

The reputation of the Aishus army, which had essentially targeted our forces, had fallen to the ground.

They probably wanted to run a relief camp like ours.

But, naturally, they didn’t have Reika there. That meant the soldiers were exposed to the danger of the plague.

If a few more people had contracted the plague, it would have become a major problem. They were now in a position where they couldn’t do anything, and as a result, it seemed like their credibility was shattering all over the central continent.

A lord who loses the trust of the people of their territory could never achieve great things.

If all of this was a race toward the goal of a unified empire—she had already veered off course.

On the other hand, the rumors about Serpina, as expected, were shifting in a way that was "bad for the country but good for Serpina personally."

The relief camp was one thing, but after running the camp, it seemed she had started to notice the contradictions between "forcing the people to relocate" and "spreading the plague to kill the people."

This was the first time she had received a positive evaluation since she had been branded a tyrant.

Serpina had said that she didn’t mind gaining nothing from relocating the people... but in the end, that action had allowed her to escape from absurd rumors.

‘Good. From now on, acting in a way that doesn’t help the country but helps her personally... might be the right way to go.’

At that moment,

As I was resting in the base camp with Reika, Irian came in with an urgent expression.

"Swen, you’re here."

"What’s going on?"

Hearing his voice, which was unlike his usual calm self, I too became tense and asked him back.

"Well, it might just be a rumor, but... I heard something that can’t be ignored."

"Something we can’t ignore?"

Irian slowly nodded his head.

"It’s the news that a magician has appeared."

"...Pardon?"

"There’s a rumor that someone using magic has appeared in the southern continent."

I had almost forgotten about it, but now, something I could never forget was being brought to me.