"Ah~ I'm exhausted... Well, it was easier than when it was Celia, though."
"Good work."
Today... or rather, yesterday, Albert and Eliza officially became husband and wife. Their wedding was supposed to be hosted primarily by the Duke Sanga household, but I, who was only supposed to give advice at first, ended up getting roped in midway and eventually became one of the people in charge. It was mainly behind-the-scenes work centered on direction and cooking...
"That said, Albert's face after the costume change was a masterpiece."
"Your sister seemed really into it, but your brother looked quite embarrassed, didn't he?"
For Albert's wedding, we generally aimed for an upgraded version of Celia and Anri's ceremony, so during the initial entrance, Eliza entered with her parents, walked halfway down the aisle with them, then proceeded to where Albert and the officiant were waiting, exchanged vows, was recognized as husband and wife, and then exited once. After the first costume change, she made her entrance again... and this is where I pulled a bit of a prank. Instead of entering from the doorway, the couple descended from the ceiling... riding down in a gondola.
Albert had been against this entrance method from the planning stage, but Eliza absolutely loved the idea of a first for the kingdom (or perhaps the first in this world), so she steamrolled over Albert's objections and implemented it. Incidentally, this entrance method was also very popular with the Duke and Earl's associates, so Albert was the only one who objected.
After that fantastical entrance, there was an introduction of the bride and groom and guests, followed by the meal, and during the meal, the wedding cake cutting took place (the cake was nearly twice the size of the one from Celia's wedding, as an apology).
After the meal, there was another costume change, but due to Albert's strong wishes, this time they entered normally from the doorway instead of the gondola. After that, there were toasts and congratulations from guests and friends, greetings from associates, and Albert and Eliza took their leave, marking the formal end of the wedding ceremony. Well, a second and third party were planned for afterward... but because far more guests stayed than anticipated, I ended up having to help with the behind-the-scenes work right up until the last minute. Incidentally, the attending guests included high-ranking nobles like Marquis Samons and Baron Haust, and from the royal family, the King, Lady Maria, Caesar-sama, and Isabella-sama attended. Apparently, normally only one pair from the royal family would attend such an event, but both pairs were curious about the wedding's content and neither would back down, leading to this unusual situation. As a result, Tida, who was expected to attend, was left out, while Luna was delighted that her companions had joined. Also, I was categorized not as a friend but as family, so I attended with Primera, while Grandpa, Jeanne, Aura, and Amour were in the same friend category as Cain (+ Sierra) and Lion. Amy attended as part of Eliza's family contingent.
"So, Primera, I have something to discuss... let's skip the gondola entrance for our wedding."
"I agree. It might be fun to watch, but being the one in the spotlight like that would be quite embarrassing."
Thus, it was decided that there would be no gondola entrance for my and Primera's wedding. If Albert found out about this decision, he'd probably complain, but if the two main people didn't want to do it, no one could force them.
Still, it was the right call to have started preparing the food, especially the sweets, a month in advance. For Celia's wedding, the main attendees were adventurers and guild personnel, with only acquaintances among the nobles, so if we ran short, I could just tell people to tough it out. But this time, nobles were the primary guests, and having insufficient food would be a disgrace for Duke Sanga's household. So I judged that having leftovers was better than running short, and prepared twice the estimated amount of food and three times the sweets. However... we barely had enough sweets. After getting Luna, Chris, and Tida's shares from the leftovers, we only had a few kinds missing, as promised to Duke Sanga in advance.
Incidentally, Primera and I were staying in the detached wing of the Duke Sanga residence. This wing had rooms prepared for guests. Primera planned to use her own room in the main house.
Albert and Eliza's wedding was held in the Royal Capital, so I could have gone back to my own home... but the banquet had run quite late, and Duke Sanga asked me to attend a family meeting being held today, so I couldn't be bothered to go back and borrowed a room in the detached wing.
"Well then, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
It was late, and a fair amount of time had passed since the date changed, so we decided to get some rest in preparation for the upcoming meeting. Primera returned to her room.
"Now then... Duke, peeping is a rather poor hobby, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh my... I happened to be passing nearby and heard Tenma and Primera's voices, so I... couldn't help it."
I couldn't very well complain about being caught peeking, but more importantly, the room in the detached wing was quite far from Duke Sanga's private chambers — there was no way he could have just "happened to pass by." That explanation didn't hold up under the slightest scrutiny.
"Well, if Your Grace suffered from sleepwalking, it wouldn't be entirely impossible, but..."
"That's still better than being called senile, but I assure you I suffer from neither sleepwalking nor dementia. At least not yet..."
He probably meant that no one could say what the future held, but conversations like this inevitably led to thoughts about one's own mortality — not exactly a topic I wanted to dwell on.
"Anyway, this isn't exactly the main thing I came to say, but I wanted to apologize for participating in the duchy's meeting."
Tomorrow's meeting would be attended by Duke Sanga, Albert, and everyone else registered under the duchy (Eliza included), along with the heads of two earldoms — his actual daughters who had formally left the family, along with their husbands. In other words, the duke's sons-in-law and Albert's stepbrothers would be present. And at this stage—
—his own daughter's...
...fiancé — that being me — showing up felt somewhat out of place. But it had to be connected to something. When I pointed that out—
"Well, to be blunt, you're right. This isn't something I've told my two eldest daughters or their husbands yet, but in the near future — well, I suppose it'll still be another two or three years — I intend to hand over the position of duchy head to Albert. I'm planning to announce that at the very start of the meeting."
When I asked why he would share such important information with me — the fiancé of his daughter — instead of his two sons-in-law—
"Well, saying I don't trust them isn't quite right. I simply can't..."
"...place my complete trust..."
"...in the two lords..."
"of the earldoms, or in their retainers."
That was quite a startling declaration, but once he explained his reasoning, it made perfect sense. His reasoning was this:
"As long as those two remain heads of their respective earldoms, they'll always prioritize their own houses over House Sanga should anything come up. That's perfectly natural and correct behavior for a noble — the duchy has done the same throughout its history, so I can't exactly fault them for it. But when the time comes, I can't just sit back and silently let things happen."
That was his concern. Right now, with Duke Sanga still in good health, his two sons-in-law would no doubt comply and cooperate. But once Albert inherited the title, there was no telling what would happen. After all, the person they'd spent years looking down on — someone younger and of lower noble standing — would overnight become their superior. Even if those feelings never surfaced on the surface, dark resentments could easily take root in the depths of their hearts.
"So I'm supposed to be... a deterrent?"
"I'm sorry for putting it this way, but if they understand that Tenma — a man of extraordinary power — is Albert's friend and the fiancé of his sister who shares the same mother, those kinds of thoughts may never arise, and their retainers won't act rashly either. The fastest way to seize control of the duchy is to eliminate Primera — Albert's full-blooded sister and legitimate daughter of the main wife — while the children are still young. So even if they succeeded in getting rid of Albert, once they realize that Primera would be even harder to deal with than Albert, the danger to both of them from within the family drops considerably. That's why I so desperately wanted you to attend."
The Duke Sanga said that while he trusted his sons-in-law's characters enough to marry his daughters to them, he still felt a lingering unease as a nobleman, and wanted to take extra precautions. As for me, I told him that if my mere presence at the meeting could reduce the danger to Primera, I would be more than happy to attend—and the Duke seemed quite pleased with that.
"Well then, good night. At the discussion, you don't need to worry about anything complicated—just sit next to Primera. And keep it a secret that I have concerns about my sons-in-law and that I intend to transfer the title to Albert soon."
With that, the Duke departed with light footsteps. Once I calmed down and thought about it, I realized I'd essentially been roped into becoming the Duke's accomplice. There was even a possibility I'd end up making enemies of two counts who might become my brothers-in-law—but having already accepted the role, there was nothing to be done. More importantly, if it meant strengthening the safety of Primera and, as a side benefit, Albert, I figured it was a small price to pay. With that thought, I climbed into my futon.
"Hendrik, Barkas—I'm grateful for your participation today. And while he is still only a fiancé at this stage, Tenma will also be joining us. I'm told each of you has already exchanged greetings at last night's party, so we'll skip that. Now then, let us begin the discussion regarding the future of the duchy."
The man named Hendrik was the husband of Rachel, the Duke's eldest daughter, and the head of the Counts Salsamor household. The man named Barkas was the husband of Angela, the Duke's second daughter, and the head of the Counts Cariostro household. Both were well-built, with personalities more suited to military officers than civil officials—and because of that, there was concern that they might clash with Albert, who leaned more toward the civil side. From the greetings I'd exchanged with them at last party, they didn't seem like the type to change their attitude just because someone was military or civil—they appeared to be the sort who would evaluate anyone based on demonstrated ability. Of course, I'd only met them once and spoken for about thirty minutes, so I couldn't be sure of their true nature, but according to Albert and Primera, they were roughly the kind of people I'd sensed them to be.
"First, I have an announcement from the duchy: I intend to transfer my title to Albert in the near future."
Upon hearing the Duke's words, everyone besides me and the two counts looked surprised. Apparently, he hadn't told the counts about the title transfer—though perhaps they'd guessed it from the timing of being summoned right after Albert's engagement, or from the fact that I was in attendance.
"I imagine this comes as a surprise, but I don't mean immediately—I'm thinking within the next few years. And using the marriage as an opportunity, I plan to entrust Albert with more responsibility going forward."
"I will do my utmost to live up to the name of the next Duke Sanga."
After Albert's declaration of resolve, applause broke out, and the announcement concluded smoothly. If things were going to go this well on their own, I wondered whether I'd really been needed—but since my role was purely as insurance, I should probably just be glad everything ended without incident.
"Now that the announcements are out of the way, let's move on to the discussion..."
I had thought everything was completely over, but upon hearing the Duke's words, I realized I'd misunderstood. He had asked me to join the discussion, but in his opening remarks he'd said "announcements." In other words, the real thing was only just beginning.
From there, the discussion proceeded in two parts—military matters and economic matters.
On the military side, perhaps because I, an outsider, was present, they didn't go into fine detail—though the one exception was the messenger corps, for which a considerable amount of information was disclosed. Personnel and routes were still kept secret, but since Primera was the head of the Duke Sanga household's messenger corps, I imagine the Duke determined it was fine for me to know anything short of classified intelligence.
"So what you're saying is that on open grasslands, we need to watch for quadrupeds, and in forests or anywhere with obstacles, we need to watch for bipedal beasts and Monsters. We'll need to train them to handle both."
The Duke Sanga summarized the key points for the messenger corps as he listened to the counts.
"Tenma—as an adventurer, is there anything else we should be aware of?"
The Duke's tone was different from usual, which struck me as odd, but I assumed he was speaking this way because nobles from other houses were present.
"I think the forests are precisely where you need to watch for quadrupedal enemies the most. Bipedal Monsters—Goblins and Orcs—can wield weapons, so they're certainly a threat in obstacle-rich terrain. But given the training level of the knights from the Duke's and Counts' houses, I don't think they warrant that level of vigilance. Rather, the real priority should be staying alert for agile, stealth-scented beast-type Monsters and making sure you don't get ambushed. And beyond even that, I'd recommend watching out for insects and plants as well."
The counts, whose opinions had essentially been rejected, shot me a brief sharp glance—but once they heard the rest of what I had to say, their expressions quickly returned to normal.
"What do you mean by insects and plants?"
"Enemies like wolves and goblins aren't that difficult to spot if you stay alert, but things like insects and poisonous plants are hard to notice even for knowledgeable people. Aggressive venomous insects will pounce on you the moment you get close, and if one latches onto you, getting rid of it is a real hassle. With poisonous plants, you're generally fine as long as you don't put suspicious ones in your mouth, but some cause a rash just from touching them, and others produce toxic airborne spores. The same goes for insects—you can end up poisoned without even realizing it, and even if you do notice, if you don't know how to treat it, the effects can leave lasting damage."
Then there are things like venomous snakes that creep up on you without being noticed, which in some ways makes them even more troublesome than Monsters.
"So we'd need at least a basic knowledge of poisons and their treatments as well... This is turning out to be harder than I expected."
Since the communication units the Duke envisioned would essentially be small, independently operating squads, it was only natural that the amount of required knowledge would increase.
"Primera. Have there been any incidents like what Tenma described?"
"There haven't been any such reports so far, but that's likely because the units are still in the experimental stage and have only been using well-maintained roads."
On well-maintained roads, they could quickly detect approaching Monsters, and venomous insects and plants were regularly cleared out, so apparently such problems hadn't arisen until now.
"If they were operating in larger numbers, we could assign a few medics to each unit, but with small squads, that's difficult... We might want to reduce the number of communication units and instead increase the members per unit. Thank you for the valuable input."
The Duke lamented the difficulty of operating units at a small scale while wracking his brain over countermeasures. I'd been worried there might be pushback from the counts, but they seemed just as troubled—perhaps they had limited experience beyond fighting other humans.
And with that, my role came to an end. The meeting then moved on to economic discussions, which were outside my jurisdiction. There was one topic that concerned me, though—the counts wanted to know the recipe for the Tenma-brand sweets being served at "Manpukutei" in Gunjou City—but before I could decline, Duke Sanga interjected and said that wouldn't be possible, so the topic was dropped.
However, before the topic could be dropped, Rachel and Angela—who had stayed quiet until then—had already asked Albert to regularly send them sweets
...and Albert had agreed, so for the two of them, it turned out to be a satisfactory outcome. Well,
"Primera... That was their goal from the start, wasn't it? Getting sweets sent to them?"
"I think so. Getting the recipe would be ideal, but receiving the actual sweets would be more than good enough, wouldn't you say?"
A classic negotiation tactic—make an outrageous demand first, then settle for what you actually wanted. Though in this case, it felt less like a calculated move and more like they'd simply targeted Albert by brute force... I hoped he'd do his best, since this was important work for his future as head of the house.
The meeting ended on that note, but right after it concluded, Eliza—
"By the way, Tenma. This person seems to be up to something shady with you—is that something you could tell me about?"
—chimed in with something that sounded absolutely terrible.
"Albert... Don't drag me into this..."
"No, wait! I don't know anything either!"
Since I had no idea what this was about, I wondered if Albert had done something that dragged me into it, but he seemed just as clueless as I was.
"Sister-in-law, isn't this some kind of misunderstanding?"
Primera stepped in to mediate, but Eliza showed no signs of backing down.
"Well, lately, Albert-sama has been having secret conversations with Tenma and getting all excited about it, and yesterday he was grinning from ear to ear while mumbling things like 'Tenma's...'!"
Apparently, Albert had also been leaning close to my face and saying things like "That's exactly my type" and "It would be better if it were a bit more rounded." And hearing all that, I finally figured out the cause.
"Albert, should I just hand it over now?"
"Go ahead. I would have preferred to wait until things settled down a bit, but there's no helping it now that it's come to this."
After hearing Albert and my conversation, everyone seemed to realize that we'd been plotting something. At the same time, they also seemed to notice that Eliza was slightly off the mark.
"Tenma, is that something you can bring out here?"
Duke Sanga's tone had returned to its usual familiar manner, now that his duties as head of house were finished.
"It's not that I can't, but I think it would be better to bring it out in the garden."
"Well then, let's go to the garden!" The Duke took the lead, followed by the counts. After them came Albert and me, and then the women's group trailed along… but Eliza was still suspicious, staring at us from behind. Primera, who had been the quickest to figure out the cause besides Albert and me, was trying her best to calm Eliza down. And watching all this, my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law were laughing with amusement.
"I'll bring it out around here."
What was being unveiled under everyone's watchful eyes was—
"A carriage?"
It was the carriage we'd prepared as a wedding gift for Albert and Eliza, done in a deep blue color scheme. It was about four meters long and nearly two meters wide, with a driver's seat that could fit two people and a box-shaped carriage body behind it that could hold about four more. This was only regarding the 'appearance,' of course.
"Tenma, would you mind if I took a look inside?"
"Be my guest."
Albert asked eagerly, so I opened the door, and he ushered Eliza inside, almost pushing her along by the back. And then—
"Eh... wh-what?!"
"It's even better than I expected."
Paying no mind to the bewildered Eliza, Albert was inspecting the toilet and changing room with an expression of satisfaction.
"Albert, what on earth are you doing? ...Tenma, there's something I'd like to ask of you."
"Father. Brother and sister-in-law only received the carriage as a wedding gift, so it would be improper for you to receive one without anything in return. Please give up."
Duke Sanga, suspicious that Albert and Eliza weren't coming out of the carriage, had peered inside — and the moment he did, he tried to ask me for a carriage with a dead-serious look on his face, but Primera cut him off before he could finish. However, the Duke apparently couldn't bring himself to give up even after Primera's words, and he turned toward me with pleading eyes... but just as I shook my head, Albert called for a timeout, so the Duke made a frustrated face and reluctantly let it go.