"Pfft."

Serpina let out a quiet chuckle, and somehow, even my own tension seemed to ease.
Well—since she was quick-witted, I supposed I didn’t need to go through the trouble of explaining everything in detail.
I met her golden eyes and spoke directly.

"…I believe a severe plague is about to spread. That is the only explanation that satisfies both conditions—"

"—Preparing for war while simultaneously withdrawing troops without engaging in battle."

Exactly.

If an epidemic broke out, stationed soldiers would collapse at an alarming rate.
From my past experience in games, I knew that within a single nation’s borders, the spread of infection could be ridiculously fast.
Given that the mechanics of the ‘meteor’ event had played out just as they did in the game, it wasn’t hard to predict that the same logic would apply here.

However… while I had only considered the impact on the military—
Serpina had taken her reasoning a step further.