As expected, Tifa couldn’t accept my orders and immediately protested.

"Wait a minute! You sent that old man to fix the walls, and now you’re sending me to the market?! I don’t know the first thing about running a business!"

"I have to agree with her, Swen," Kane added. "Frankly, I don’t understand this decision either."

Honestly, even I didn’t fully understand it.

But my brain—my 100 Intelligence—was insisting that this was the right call.
And if my Intelligence said it was right, then it had to be right.

"…Swen…"

Luna looked at me with concern.

She probably felt uneasy too.

After all, she had decided to trust me as her strategist,
but so far, I hadn’t done anything to prove myself.

Still, if they followed my plan, something would happen.

Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be a bad outcome.

I straightened my posture and spoke with conviction.

"Please, trust me. I understand that this may seem strange, but this is the best decision for our army right now. If it doesn’t work out, you can cut off my head."

"…!!"

All three of them turned to stare at me.

I knew it was a drastic move, but there was no other way to convince them.

Of course, their grumbling followed right after.

"You should at least explain yourself! You can’t just dump random tasks on us!"

"Yeah, explain! Make it make sense!"

This wasn’t going to be easy.

Since the outcome would be the same,
there was no harm in adding a more reasonable explanation.

Before I could respond, Luna stepped forward.

"Everyone, listen to me."

Her voice drew everyone’s attention.

"When I brought Swen here, I promised to trust him.

Yes, this is his first order, and I agree it seems confusing.

But I think we should believe in him this time. What do you all think?"

She stepped up for me.

I was honestly grateful to her at that moment.

No matter how much I tried to argue,
it wouldn’t have been enough to earn their trust.

I might be a strategist,
but I had just joined the army—I didn’t command any real authority yet.

Luna stepping in as their leader was the right move.

And since she believed in me,
I had to back her up as well.

"Commander, I’ll leave this decision to you."

Luna locked eyes with me, closed her eyes briefly,
then turned to the confused Kane and Tifa.

"For now, I ask that you follow Swen’s orders.
If anyone has an objection, speak now."

"No objections, Commander. I’ll do my best with the wall repairs."

"Well, if Luna says so, I’ll go along with it too… But I’m telling you, don’t blame me if this doesn’t go well!"

With both of them reluctantly accepting their tasks, Luna wrapped up the meeting.

"This concludes this month’s meeting. You may collect any funds you need from the treasury. I look forward to seeing your results in one month."

As the two of them left, I bowed to Luna.

"Thank you for trusting me, Commander."

"There’s no need to thank me. I promised I would trust you."

She gave me a small smile but followed it with a sigh.

"…Speaking like this is still really hard for me."

"Were you not used to speaking formally before?"

Luna looked at me and smiled bitterly.

"No. Both Kane and Tifa told me to act more like a ruler,
but it’s always felt unnatural for me.

You gave me the courage to try, though. Hehe…"

"I think it’d be better if you maintained your commanding tone,
even when we’re alone. It’ll help establish your authority."

Luna let out a soft laugh.

To be honest—she was cute when she smiled like that.

If there was one flaw,
it was that she didn’t really look like someone who could unify the continent.

"Oh, right. Swen, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why did you send Kane to fix the walls and Tifa to the market?

I promised to trust you, but it still feels like their roles should be switched."

Why, huh?

I had no idea either.

My 100 Intelligence just said so.

Now my job was to dress those three sentences up and make them sound convincing.

"Kane may be a smooth-talking politician,
but there are still things he can learn by overseeing construction firsthand.

The same goes for Tifa.

She’s lived a rough life, so she needs new experiences to grow as a general.

A great commander isn’t just someone who’s good at fighting—they need to understand logistics and economics too.

In the end, this is the path that will lead to the best results."

"I see…"

Luna nodded slowly, her expression softening.

"Still… Swen, you really are amazing."

"Huh? Where’s that coming from?"

"You noticed Kane’s smooth-talking personality and Tifa’s rough upbringing right away, didn’t you?"

Oh, that?

‘Because I played as Luna’s army before.’

"I guess someone like you can read people’s lives just by looking at them. That’s something I’d really like to learn someday."

"Well, it’s just something I do."

It wouldn’t hurt if she thought I was capable—it might make her listen to me more.

"So, what should I do?"

"Ah, now that you mention it, I didn’t assign you a task, did I?

Is there anything you’d like to do?"

"Not particularly."

"Hmm…"

‘Let’s test this.’

I turned to Luna.

"Commander, could you ask me this:
‘What task do you think Swen should take on?’"

"You want me to ask a question? That’s no trouble at all."

Despite the odd request, she didn’t hesitate.

Her trust in me seemed stronger than I thought.

"What task do you think Swen should take on?"

A little roundabout, sure—but this was the only way to use my 100 Intelligence.

And the result came quickly.

[Leave it to fate.]

"…?"

I double-checked, but the answer was the same.

Leave it to fate.

I’d seen this phrase before.

Which meant I understood exactly what it meant.

The game I had been reincarnated into, Garland Eternity Saga, was an old-school classic that supported hot seat multiplayer.

In other words, it was the kind of game where multiple players—Player 1, Player 2, and so on—could take turns controlling different factions.

Player 1 would make their moves, then pass the controls to Player 2, and once everyone finished their turns, the cycle would repeat.

Most games from that era had this feature, and Garland Eternity Saga was no exception.

But here’s the problem—when playing in hot seat multiplayer, my 100 Intelligence stat lost its absolute prediction ability.

It made sense.

If Player 1 proposed an alliance to Player 2, how could the AI predict Player 2’s response?

In situations involving human variables, strategists in the game could only offer one vague prediction:

“It depends on the will of the heavens.”

So basically—what happened next depended entirely on my actions.

After all, even if the prediction said “go to the market,”
I could still choose not to go.

The system couldn’t predict the player’s decisions.

It was less of a penalty and more of an obvious limitation.

"…Swen?"

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking."

I stroked my chin, pretending I’d reached a profound conclusion.

"I’ll explore the surrounding area. There might be hidden talents we haven’t discovered yet."

"Understood. I’ll leave it to you."

After bidding Luna farewell, I stepped outside the castle.

Even though it was broad daylight, the streets were nearly empty.

The few people I did see looked completely drained.

‘What a depressing place.’

Well, it wasn’t like I planned to stick around and build this city anyway.

I began scouting the area.

*****

A Few Days Later

Tifa sat in one corner of the market with an exasperated expression.

‘How the hell am I supposed to help these people?’

On her first day, she’d introduced herself to the merchants and asked them to share ideas for revitalizing the market.

But the poorly developed town and its impoverished residents lacked enthusiasm.

Tifa, with no clue how to handle such situations, barely held herself back from losing her temper.

If she’d at least known the basics of trade,
she could’ve taught them something—but she knew absolutely nothing.

And she couldn’t just flex her strength to get things done.

Everything she did reflected on Luna’s reputation,
and the last thing she wanted was to tarnish her childhood friend’s name.

‘Seriously, what was that scrawny strategist thinking when he dumped this on me?’

If he’d asked her to train soldiers, she would’ve understood.

But why send someone as clueless as her to the market?

‘And what’s up with Luna? She’s been acting a little… out of it.

Sure, it’s nice that she’s showing more decisiveness, but if it’s because of that guy… that’s a problem.’

Wait—had he seduced her?

With his face?

Tifa hadn’t met many men,
but Swen was undeniably handsome—
not in a rugged, masculine way, but in a delicate, boyish way that tugged at maternal instincts.

Yeah, he had that look.

The kind of guy who could charm women working at brothels just by smiling at them.

‘If he’s using his looks to cloud Luna’s judgment… I won’t forgive him.’

Maybe he needed a wake-up call?

Just as Tifa was mulling this over,
someone hesitantly called out to her.

"Uh… um, T-Tifa… ma’am?"

"?!"

Tifa turned toward the voice and saw a boy—probably around ten years old—standing there trembling.

"You don’t need to be scared. What’s up, kid?"

"Um… you’re… the one in charge of the market, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Could you… help me?"

The boy pointed toward something in the distance.

"Our shop was destroyed in the last storm,
and my father’s sick… my mother’s not well either,
and my siblings are too young…

So I have to fix it all by myself, but… I can’t."

Ah.

So he needed muscle.

Helping out seemed better than just sitting around doing nothing.

Plus, boosting Luna’s reputation wouldn’t hurt.

"Sure, I’ll help. Where’s your shop?"

"R-Really?!"

"Why would I lie to you?"

Relieved, the boy exhaled and started leading the way.

Tifa followed behind him.

At the Shop

"…Wow."

Two weeks ago, a typhoon had hit Zeilant,
leaving scars all over the marketplace.

‘And this isn’t the only wrecked building.’

While most of the damage had been patched up,
the boy’s shop was completely ruined—practically flattened.

"We’re gonna need to rebuild this thing from the ground up."

"Is… is that even possible?"

Tifa patted the boy’s head.

"Possible? That’s exactly what people like me are here for. Hey!"

"Y-Yes?!"

Tifa flagged down a passing merchant.

"Bring me some shovels and about ten workers. I’ll pay them."

"R-Right away!"

The merchant quickly rounded up ten men.

Given her intimidating presence, they probably would’ve obeyed even without payment.

But offering wages made things easier.

"Here are the shovels, ma’am."

Tifa grabbed one and started clearing the wreckage.

‘This house was a mess even before the storm hit.’

The typhoon hadn’t even been that bad.

The problem was the shoddy construction—typical of an underdeveloped town.

‘We should reinforce the foundation this time.’

With no other tasks for the month, she figured she might as well help rebuild properly.

She dug into the ground with her shovel.

Scrape.

Thunk!

"Huh?"

A strange sound.

Tifa felt a jolt run up her arms.

Thunk. Thunk.

After a few more strikes,
she realized her shovel wasn’t hitting dirt.

It wasn’t a rock either.

The impact felt metallic—like metal striking metal.

She dug around the area, clearing away the dirt.

And then—

"This is…!"

What emerged from the soil was an old, heavy chest.