To Save My Favourite Character, I Decided To Destroy the Game’s Plot

------------------　The weight of the position of a general can be understood a little better if one looks at Schneizel on the side.

　He becomes a sword and a shield with a spirit of selflessness. In a sense, there is no personal freedom or happiness there, and that is why it is the most powerful unit to support the country.

　I am sure that it is not an extraordinary resolve.

The reason why Galdias was able to reign as the world's strongest for more than 20 years is because of his outstanding talent combined with his resolve.

Schneizel has the talent to surpass Galdias, but he cannot yet do so because he does not have that resolve.

The warrior who is stronger than anyone else cannot be so ruthless because his family is more important to him than anyone else.

　This is different from Gardias, who used to be a freed slave and had nothing. Schneizel has many important things.

　He has cut off even those things and put his country first... and at the end of it all, he is the strongest general in the world.

　In the game , Schneizel entrusted Arthur with those things he had cut off.

In this world, he is going to trust them to me.

Only with a really, really tremendous, unimaginable resolve can one become a great general.

　Therefore, it is impure to aim to become a general like O'Brien. Even if a person becomes a general in the end, it is meaningless if he cannot fully perform his role.

　When I thought about it, I realized how much of a scumbag I was.

　As I continue to grow as Schneizel's successor, I will one day succeed him. That's why I've been given special treatment so far.

　But that doesn't mean I'm going to succeed him.

Because the moment it turns out that the best way to save Crescencia is not to become a general, I will easily abandon it.

I'll throw away everything I've worked for, everything I've trusted, and I'll definitely drive only for Crescencia.

　It would be a deed that would trample on all the resolve of Schneizel, Ghardias, and the great men who have accumulated before them.

I can't help but laugh at my own image.

I may not know about Galdias, but I know about Schneizel's suffering, right?

　I'm sure that one or two nights of worrying about ignoring all of their current ties and fleeing far away with just their family would not be enough.

---There is no point in being prepared without pain.

It is only through suffering, gasping, grieving, and overcoming obstacles that evolution occurs.

　His growth over the past few years has been due to that pain. From a mere man to a great general, he is slowly cutting away the things that are important to him and becoming a pillar of the nation.

I could easily betray that kind of resolve for my own desires.

I could betray everything around me, including the idea of becoming a general.

　Ha, I'm even more of a scum than O'Brien, who just tried to become a general.

But I can't change my mind. I can't turn it around.

Even though I tried to cut down something in order to become a general, at the end of cutting down, only Crescencia's smile wouldn't disappear...

"Huh?"

"What's wrong, kid?"

　Schneizel gives me a worried look as I suddenly tremble while listening to the owner's story.

I couldn't look him in the eye.

　I thought it was just Crescencia.

After all the cutting and discarding, there was more than one smile remaining.

　Saraswati, Misha, Lucy.

So many silhouettes etched in my mind that wouldn't go away.

　Oh, shit.

　Oh well. Oh yeah.

I'm worried like this, I'm suffering, but I guess the general is throwing it all away.

　That's really, really painful.

　I'm sorry. I'm...

"No, it's nothing."

　I wonder if I'm smiling right now.

"Really? Well, that's fine".

"May I continue?"

　I nodded in reply to the owner's question. Schneizel also urged him on.

And so the story of O'Brien's past was once aired again. The first words that came out of his mouth were,

"The previous Marquis Strahl did not die of illness. He was killed by one of O'Brien's men."

I was in the middle of a conflict, and Schneizel, who was preparing for whatever might come, was shocked to the point that his thoughts were blown away.

What was the reason?"

　Schneizel immediately stood up and put his hand on the large sword on his back as if to say that he would cut it down in some cases.

The owner remained calm in the face of this.

"It's because his father was connected to the kingdom of Meltor."

"Don't be ridiculous. I know him, but he's not the kind of person who would sell out his country. And he would never have been connected to the enemy..."

"I don't believe that. We don't kill our country's heroes for no reason."

The owner continues his narration with a self-mocking smile.

"Immediately after being sent to this place, the close aides scrambled to gain power. They established relationships with many nobles, seized the largest merchant houses, and took control of the flow of money...they did everything they could so that O'Brien could always be at the top. When one controls this land to that extent, one can see the flow of power, even if one doesn't want to."

　Surely, the words spoken by the owner are true. O'Brien and his inner circle are all very good, and the result of their seriousness and actual domination of the land is what we have now.

"There were traces that his predecessor had been controlled by Meltor."

"Controlled?"

"Yes. He was even older than us, so he had been suffering from a dementia for several years. His body was declining, his thinking ability was deteriorating, and Mertoll had his hands full. There were plenty of spies."

"Is that why you killed him?'

"Yes. The first time I saw him, I thought, "I'm not going to let him get away with that. But at the same time, we found a way to make O'Brien the ruler of the land without being accused".

　I see.

　With his predecessor suffering from dementia, he would not be able to go beyond the war over the land.

So instead of helping their predecessors, they carried out a plan to cut off the parts of the land contaminated by Meltor with the entire interlocutor and set up O'Brien instead.

Fortunately for them, the grounds were already in place for O'Brien to rise to the top.

Just when they had reached the stage where all that was left was to eliminate their predecessor, the cause (for them) to eliminate came before them---is that the truth of the past year's political upheaval in this region?

　It is not something to be commended.

　What they are doing is assassination. It is a usurpation of the power held by the Marquise de Strahl.

　But at the very least, they have their own logic, really just barely.

'If you doubt it, you can visit O'Brien later. We've left all the evidence with him. Well, if they suspect we faked it, that's the end of it."

"I honestly don't understand or agree with that. If he wanted to be a general, he should have stuck to it until the end. How can he fall down to this level and then take over? There's no such thing as consistency."

"I'm sure you're right. It is no wonder that people think so. In fact, we had lost sight of what we wanted to do."

"I don't trust him. How can we trust O'Brien to fight this war with us?"

"I don't see a problem with that. It was we who replaced him as the ruler of the land, but he has been active since then. He has been acutely aware of the signs of war and has been completely prepared for it to this day."

"To repel a major invasion, and to match the General in battle?"

"Yes, Norwin," he said. That's the only way to make O'Brien's wish a pseudo-fulfillment. If Meltor is serious, Isaacs will definitely come out of it, which has been going head to head with the Gardias in their heyday. So he'll be ready to take this war to the ground with absolutely no loose ends."

Schneizel, who had heard everything, was still far from satisfied and remained silent, then opened his mouth reluctantly.

"What are you going to do if I tell the truth?"

"That's not possible. It is impossible for this place to lose O'Brien at this point in time. It would be after the war."

"Damn it, after the war, you don't care if your old master gets fired?"

"Yes. It is still better to die a quick death than to live a slow life. You can see it in O'Brien's eyes today, he is going to risk everything on this war. I bet he doesn't even think about what comes after."

　Is that really the case?

I understand that it is not O'Brien but his men who have created the current structure of domination in the region, but that does not guarantee that O'Brien would be willing to lose everything now.

Oh, hell, no.

　I still don't understand.

O'Brien must have been driven mad by the magic of his status as a general.

There is no way he could ever comprehend it.

I can understand the theory that because he's mad, the only thing he can believe in is his attitude toward war, but...in the end, he still needs to be careful.

"Well, that's about all I can tell you. Anyway, if you are worried about O'Brien's influence on the war, there is no need at all. We can expect reinforcements in the case of a crisis, and we have the capacity to hold them off until that time."

We had no choice but to keep our mouths shut in the face of the owner who concluded the conversation in this way.

　They are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. We do not expect them to understand us, nor do we want them to agree with us.

　But what the owner still wanted to tell us was that the magic power of the position of "general" is enough to cause this to happen.

If my future follows me to the rank of general, then it is possible that I, or someone else who is competing with me for the position of general at that time, will become a secondary O'Brien.

　Some kind of madman, huh?

I understand the logic behind O'Brien becoming the ruler of the land, but um---.

　Why was that old man so obsessed with the General? That's the only thing I don't understand.

"Excuse me, sir..."

　The owner rolled his eyes and his expression hardened.

, "Yes, you're right. That's not for me to say. If you want to ask, why don't you ask O'Brien directly?"

"I don't think he'll tell you."

"Hm, I see. Well then---"

　The owner pulls out a coin from his pocket and puts it in my hand.

　What is it?

It is very dirty and rusty, and the edges are chipped, probably because it is old.

　Such a bad coin is not even good enough to be put into circulation.

So what's this all about?

"Show it to O'Brien. Maybe, yeah, unless he's feeling really bad or something, he'll answer what you want to know."

"Huh."

So this bad coin, you say it's the key?

I don't get it, but, well, I'll have to ask him then. If we're going to go into this anyway, let's go all the way to the end.