Became a Strategist With an Intelligence of 100 and an Accuracy Rate of 100%

6 – Episode 6: Laying the Foundation (3)

Naturally, unsurprisingly, Tifa, upon hearing my words, responded in disbelief.

“No, wait a minute. You entrusted the fortification of the castle walls to that senile old man, so why am I being sent to the market?! I have no business sense!”

“That’s right. General Swan, I must say that I find this instruction to be incomprehensible.”

Well, it was an appointment that I myself couldn’t understand.

But still, my head was insisting that this was right.

So, it must be right. With my intelligence value of over 100, my words are always correct.

“…Swan…”

I can feel Luna looking at me with a worried expression.

She must be feeling confused as well.

Even though I’d decided to completely trust in my appointment, I still hadn’t shown anything to prove myself.

But.

If they follow my instructions now, something will definitely happen.

It will be helpful, not a bad thing.

With confidence, I spoke in a somewhat strong tone.

“Everyone, please listen to me. I understand that this may be hard for you to comprehend, but this is the best decision for our army at the moment. If good results don’t come out of it, you can even take my head, it doesn’t matter.”

“……!!”

The sudden sound caught the attention of the three individuals and they turned to me.

Knowing that it was a radical move, I had no other way to convince these people.

So, it was only natural that a skeptical sound could be heard.

“You should explain properly, shouldn’t you? You suddenly ask us to do something that is not to our liking.”

“That’s right. Explain, explain.”

It’s going to be difficult this way, as expected.

If the result is going to be the same anyway, it doesn’t matter if I add a plausible reason.

Even if I take a slightly different approach later, as long as the result is good, I can justify it.

At that moment.

Lunarion, who had been standing next to me, spoke.

“I will speak to everyone. Please listen to me.”

The attention of everyone present focused on Lunarion’s words.

“When I brought Swen here, I promised to trust this person. It was also my first testimony, and there are things about the assignment that I don’t understand… But this time, I want to try trusting him, what do you think?”

She’s taking a step forward here.

I felt sincerely grateful to her.

If I were to use any words here and insist stubbornly, I wouldn’t be able to truly convince those individuals.

Even if I call myself a bookseller, I’ve only just joined the military, so there can only be a faint sense of “I have a superior who needs my help”.

So, it was appropriate for Lunarion, the leader, to step forward here.

Yes.

If Lunarion believes in me, I must support her too.

“My lord. I entrust the decision to you.”

She looked into my eyes, closed her eyes for a moment-

Then she opened her eyes and directed a puzzled expression towards Cain and Tifa.

“For now, I hope you will follow the words of Swen, the bookseller. Those who have objections, please speak up.”

“Do we have any objections, my lord? We will strive to contribute to the repair work of the city walls.”

“Well, if Lunarion says so, then I have nothing to say… But let me just say, I’m really not confident. Don’t expect much from me because I’m lacking in achievements.”

After the two of them reluctantly accepted.

Only then did Lunarion conclude the meeting.

“Then let’s conclude this month’s meeting with this. Make sure the funds needed for the work are available in the vault. We look forward to seeing your achievements in a month’s time.”

The two of us stepped outside the city.nnI bowed to her and exchanged greetings.nn”Thank you for your trust, Your Highness.”nn”No, I promised to rely on you.”nnShe said that, and then she released a short sigh and spoke.nn”……Something…… It’s still hard to address someone informally.”nn”Weren’t you originally like that?”nnLuana smiled sadly as she looked at me.nn”Yes. Both Keine and Tifa had difficulty recognizing their positions as nobility, but it was particularly difficult for me. Thanks to your encouragement, I was able to overcome it somehow……”nn”If possible, I think it would be helpful for both of us to show our dignity as nobility when we’re together.”nnLuana smiled slightly after listening to my words.nnHonestly- just judging by her appearance, she was very cute.nnIf not for her appearance, I wouldn’t think she had the potential to be a great leader of the continent.nn”Ah, I see. Swell. I do have a question I’d like to ask……”nn”Go ahead.”nn”Why did you send Keine to the city walls and Tifa to the market? I did believe what you said, but I couldn’t help but feel that their destinations had changed……”nnWhy did I feel that way?nnI don’t know.nnMy IQ of 100 brain couldn’t help but think that way.nnWhat I needed to do was to package these three sentences as best I could and speak them.nn”Keine is undoubtedly an expert in politics, but…… there are definitely things she can learn by being on the front lines of the city walls. The same goes for Tifa. She has lived a wild life since she was young, and she needs new experiences. As a general, it’s not enough to just fight well. And ultimately, this path is the one that can lead to great achievements.”nn”Really?”nnLuana slowly raised her head and spoke with admiration.nn”That’s true…… Swell, you’re really amazing.”nn”All of a sudden?”nn”Keine is a bit of an expert, isn’t she?…… And you immediately understood that Tifa had lived a wild life since she was young?”nnAh, that was-nn’Luanarine has played as a general before, so she knows.’nn”Definitely, to be able to read someone’s life story like Swell does just by looking at them is a truly admirable ability. I want to learn that skill too.”nn”Well, I guess so.

Anyway, it wouldn’t be bad if they saw me as capable.

Wouldn’t they listen to me better?

“So, what should I do?”

“Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t given any tasks to Sven…. Do you happen to have any desired tasks?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Hmm….”

‘Shall I test it for a moment.’

I looked at Luna and spoke.

“Master. Would you please ask me the question, ‘What task do you think would be good for Sven?'”

“Are you asking me a question? It’s not difficult….”

Although it was a somewhat unexpected question, Luna kindly asked without any suspicion.

I couldn’t help but think that her trust might be thicker than what I had expected.

“What task do you think would be good for Sven?”

Although it might be a bit cumbersome, there’s no other choice but to make use of my intelligence stat of 100.

And, the conclusion quickly came to mind.

“It depends on the will of the heavens.”

‘…?’

No matter how many times I thought about it, it remained the same.

It depends on the will of the heavens.

I am not seeing this phrase for the first time.

That was why I was able to quickly grasp the situation.

The game I became the original of in this world, “Garand Eternity Saga,” was an old classic game that allowed for hot-seat multiplayer.

What that means is that many people, such as Player 1 and Player 2, can play together.

After Player 1’s turn is over, Player 2 goes, and when all players’ turns are over, one turn passes, and so on.

Games that came out around the same time as this one usually supported this feature.

And with this hot-seat multiplayer, when [intelligence 100] is used, there can be a situation where it cannot make an absolute prophecy.

It was only natural.

At the time when Player 1 proposed an alliance to Player 2, the computer of that era couldn’t predict what decision Player 2 would make.

Therefore, in such cases when a player intervenes and introduces variables, the fortune-tellers would ambiguously say, “It depends on the will of the heavens.”

So-

It all depended on what I would become, and how I would act.

Well, I could have just stayed in and ignored the saying, “You should go into business.”

There is no way to predict my actions.

Even if there were penalties, they didn’t mean much. It was obvious.

“…Swen?”

“Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought.”

I said casually, as if a conclusion had just been reached.

“I will explore the surroundings. There may be hidden talents that haven’t been found yet.”

“Understood. I’ll leave it to you then.”

After bidding her farewell, I stepped outside of the castle.

Even though it was daylight, there were not many people around, and even the few that could be seen lacked vitality.

“It’s a desolate place.”

It doesn’t matter anyway since I can’t stay and escape from this city.

I started to explore the surrounding areas.

* * *

A few days later.

Tifa sat quietly in a corner of the market, wearing a disgruntled expression.

“What exactly am I supposed to do to help?”

On the first day, she had conversations with the market traders–

They talked about coming up with ideas to revive the market.

However, there was little progress, and the villagers, who were struggling to make ends meet, participated without enthusiasm.

In this situation, there was nothing Tifa could do but suppress her frustration at the missed opportunity.

If only she had basic knowledge about commerce, she could have taught them something, but she knew nothing.

She couldn’t even exercise her skills.

Her actions would directly affect Luna’s reputation in this city, and Tifa didn’t want to do anything that would tarnish the reputation of her childhood friend.

“Seriously, what was that unreliable advisor thinking when he assigned me this task?”

She would have understood if he had asked her to train soldiers instead.

Why did he send someone so ignorant like her to this place?

“There’s something strange about Luna too. She seems oddly distracted. If it’s because of that male advisor… It’s a big problem, isn’t it?”

Could it be… a conspiracy?

With your face?

Tifa didn’t meet many men, but according to what Tifa saw, the man named Swen looked quite attractive.

He didn’t have an overwhelming masculinity, but he gave off a beautiful boyish charm that could naturally stimulate maternal feelings.

Yes, he seemed just like the older brother of the women working at the teahouse.

“If he’s the type of person that obscures Luna’s eyes and ears as an unblemished man… I cannot forgive him.”

Do you want me to take a look at your hand?

While Tifa was thinking about that, she heard someone calling her, the first time a market merchant has called her since she arrived here.

“Um… um, T-Tifa…?”

“?”

Tifa looked at the man who called her.

To be precise, he should be referred to as a boy.

He was looking at her, trembling and completely shrinking.

“You don’t have to be so scared. Yeah, kid. What’s the matter?”

“Um… well, I think… you came here to be in charge of the market this time… right…?”

“Right, something like that.”

“Could you help me a little…?”

The boy pointed to somewhere with his finger and said.

“Our shop collapsed in a recent typhoon… my father is sick and bedridden, and my mother isn’t in good health either… my siblings are too young, so I have to repair the shop alone… That’s why…”

Ah, I see.

So, you’re asking for some help.

It seemed better to spend time helping people in the castle than just sitting around doing nothing.

By helping the people in the castle like this, the reputation of Luna would also improve.

“Yeah, I’ll help. Where do we need to go?”

“Really…?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

The boy finally let out a relieved sigh and started walking somewhere slowly.

Tifa followed behind him.

*

“This is no joke…”

Last Sunday, a typhoon hit Zeirant, the city.

The aftermath left scars throughout the market.

“There are many collapsed houses besides this one.”

Although some rebuilding had taken place over the course of a week-

The area that appeared to be this boy’s store was completely demolished and in a very dismal state.

“We’ll have to completely rebuild this house.”

“Well… is it difficult?”

Tifa said, stroking the boy’s head.

“What’s difficult about it? I’m the one who told you to do this. Hey!”

“Oh, yes!”

Tifa called out to a passing merchant.

“Bring a shovel and about ten able-bodied workers. I’ll cover the wages.”

“Yes, understood…!”

The man quickly brought about ten laborers.

Even if she had simply called them, they would have hesitated to work under her intimidation, but since she offered to pay them separately, it seemed they were able to gather people without difficulty.

“This is the shovel you referred to.”

Accepting the shovel, Tifa instructed the workers to start clearing away the wreckage of the fallen wooden house.

“They completely destroyed this house.”

Although a typhoon had come, it wasn’t even such a strong storm.

It seemed that the houses were built very poorly, perhaps because it was a low-developed city.

“It would be better to build the foundation properly. So it doesn’t collapse.”

For a month, when there was nothing else to do.

Tifa thought that way as she raised her shovel and began digging into the ground.

After scraping the ground a few times.

Clank!

‘?’

With a strange sound, a shockwave was transmitted to her arm holding the shovel.

Clank, clank.

After a few more hits-

She realized that there was something buried under the shovel, not just dirt.

At first, she thought it might be a stone, but if it was a stone, it wouldn’t make this kind of sound.

The feeling. It’s the feeling of something metallic colliding with each other.

Tifa cleared her surroundings and lifted out something that collided with the shovel.

“This is…!”

The object revealed to her was-

A very old and very heavy box.