"So, we can consider the commission complete, then?"
"Yes, you've been a huge help. With the additional knights deployed, breaking through our formation with that many people would be practically impossible. And we have you, Lord Tenma, to thank for the wall."
A few days after I served the white stew, additional personnel from the Count's forces and reinforcements from other nobles arrived, swelling the border army to a total of over ten thousand. That was just the nobles' knights and soldiers alone—counting the adventurers as well, the number probably approached fifteen thousand.
Furthermore, word had already been relayed to the reinforcing knights that a spy had been discovered and captured, so each contingent had organized military police from their most trusted members and kept a constant watchful eye. The spies were likely finding it harder to operate than before.
Incidentally, the reinforcing knights had been told that the vice-commander's secretary had been a spy, which nearly caused an uproar. But prior instructions had been issued to the officers of Duke Sanga's and Marquis Samons's armies, informing them of the situation and ordering them to support the vice-commander, so things settled down quickly.
As for the proportion these two forces made up, combined they were only a little over twenty percent of the total. But since the Count's forces had originally held the majority, the other noble armies together still made up less than thirty percent of the whole, leaving them in no position to object.
"The wall has been reinforced since then, so I don't think minor incidents would bring it down... But do watch out for their earth magic. I'd recommend reinforcing it sooner rather than later. If possible, using not just stone but also wood and iron would help it withstand magical attacks longer."
I'd compressed the earthen walls as much as possible, but they were still quite fragile if their earth magic broke them down. Reinforcing them with stone, wood, and iron was necessary to buy even a little more time before they fell. When I conveyed this to the vice-commander, she said the materials had already been ordered.
"There's one more thing I'd like to ask..."
"If anyone asks for my opinion about your son, I intend to maintain that it's none of my business... Lion asked me too, but I have no intention of interfering in your internal affairs."
If I stuck my nose into this, I could end up inadvertently creating strange factions within the Count's household.
If any of his relatives were plotting a coup, they would surely try to use my influence. After all, I had the royal family behind me, and in the public eye, the current Count was seen as the perpetrator in the Kukuri Village incident. To anyone with ill intentions, I would look like a very convenient pawn.
So I decided to remain neutral on the secretary affair. Of course, I expected a suitable return for that.
"After all, I'd like to maintain a friendly relationship with Count Haust and Lady Laila."
To someone unfamiliar with the situation, it might have sounded like I was threatening the vice-commander—but she seemed relieved.
Lion, on the other hand, looked none too pleased. That was because Lion served as the Count household's point of contact with me, and Lion would be the one shouldering the burden. Well, I had dropped the names of the Count and the vice-commander, but really, it all amounted to putting Lion to work.
"All right, then—let's head to the Count's place. Lion, I'll need you to guide us."
"Yeah, leave it to me..."
Whether it bothered him that he was essentially being traded as part of the deal, his response lacked its usual energy. But he'd probably bounce back soon enough... though "in three steps" was probably expecting too much.
"All right, then—first stop is the town we passed through before. Come on, everyone, into the carriage!"
Our first destination was the town we'd stopped at on the way here, and our driver for the stretch was Chris. The reason he was so excited was...
"Sis... you've run out of clothes to wear again? At least do some laundry, gah!"
"That's not it!"
"Lion, Jeanne and Aura handle the laundry for our clothes and undergarments, so even if Chris is hopeless at housework, that can't be it! He must've just created some embarrassing stain he can't tell anyone about!"
"You be quiet too, Amour!"
Lion had been staring at Chris with a look of exasperation when he caught a fist to the face, while Amour lightly dodged Chris's punch. Well, Chris being bad at housework was nothing new, and Jeanne and the others' job was looking after our daily needs, so it wasn't exactly strange.
As I watched Chris with that thought, he started trying to explain himself, but everyone brushed it off and piled into the carriage. Well, that "embarrassing stain" was probably from when he'd gotten drunk on his day off and thrown up. He seemed to think he'd hidden it, but thanks to Amour's tip-off, everyone knew. After that, I heard the sound of Lion getting hit again, but since it was business as usual, nobody said a word.
"For now, the inn we stayed at last time works, right? They're at least a bit flexible there."
At Lion's suggestion, we headed to the inn where we'd stayed before... but when we received our keys, we were told—with a face where only the eyes weren't smiling—"Please don't cause any disturbances like last time." Directed at Lion.
"I'm the next head of this domain, aren't I?"
At Lion's mutter, not a single person answered, and they all hurried off to their assigned rooms. Well, Chris ducked out almost immediately to go shopping at a clothing store.
"Man, this town's really gotten lively, hasn't it?"
"That it has. This town has seen the biggest rise in goods prices in the entire Margrave Haust territory, after all."
Well, wartime was when prices rose the most, so this town near the border in a situation approaching just that was probably the ideal base for merchants.
"That said, it's only going to last until the border stabilizes, right?"
"Indeed. Thanks to Tenma's exploits, among the merchants who are calculating future profits, some are going to take quite the loss. Well, they've only got themselves to blame."
Normally, you'd expect to turn a healthy profit from construction work for base-building, trade with the military, and so on. But the wall—the most expensive part of base construction—was already mostly complete thanks to my magic. On top of that, the vice-commander had already placed orders for reinforcement materials using the surplus budget. In other words, merchants were selling to the Margrave's army at regular or discounted prices before they could jack up the rates.
Even if they wanted to profit from materials going forward, there'd be almost no demand for wall supplies. And if the enemy army withdrew upon seeing the completed base, even other trades would see thin margins. In that scenario, best case you'd break even, and worst case you'd just pile on debt from transportation costs alone.
"Well, no need to think that far ahead, I guess. It's not my problem anyway—I'm just carrying out the Margrave's orders."
"That's right. Best to just say the Margrave was more skilled than the merchants... Let's go with that story."
If anything went wrong, we could just dump the whole thing on the Margrave, since he was the one who commissioned us. Besides, Lion was accompanying us this time, so all the responsibility fell on her.
"What we got out of this is the commission fee, the glory of slaying a wyvern, profits from the materials, and credit for helping out a bit at the border... That about covers it, right?"
"No objections!"
After wrapping up that theatrical exchange with Grandpa, I turned around and asked the group who'd been listening from behind. Amour, Albert, and Cain all answered in loud voices. That gave us a majority in favor, so it was decided—this would be our official policy.
"Phew, I'm glad we managed to get our story straight before meeting the Margrave."
"No, we haven't gotten anything straight!"
Lion was the only one here showing any opposition, but she was naturally overruled.
"Ugh... prices have gone up since last time... Wait, what's wrong?"
"Listen to me, sis..."
Just as we'd dismissed Lion's opinion, Chris returned from her shopping trip. She must have sensed the odd atmosphere in the room, because she spoke to Lion, who was closest. Lion might have seen this as her chance to win over at least one more supporter, but—
"Naturally, I have no objections either!"
And that was that. Well, it was the obvious outcome no matter how you looked at it.
Now everyone except Lion was on my side... or rather, it was clear that Lion was the only one dissenting.
"Alright then, dismissed until dinner! From now on, make sure you report to someone before heading outside! Especially you two—Jeanne and Aura."
The two of them had once snuck out to see Namitaro without telling anyone and ended up getting kidnapped, so I called them out by name just to be safe. They'd surely grown since then, so I didn't think it would happen again—but Aura was exactly the type to fail precisely when it mattered most, so you could never be too careful.
"Why'd you have to call us out by name~"
Aura seemed unhappy about it, but Jeanne nodded in acknowledgment. Well, as long as one of them understood, we'd be fine. I ignored Aura's complaints for now, and everyone scattered to do their own thing. As for Aura, who'd been singled out by name—apparently not wanting to go outside and get lectured—she didn't leave her room until dinner.
"That's it up ahead. That's Shellhide—the central city of the Houst Margraviate, and where my old man lives!"
Two days after leaving the town near the border, we arrived at the central city of the Houst Margraviate. Shellhide, the heart of the margraviate, was built across a sprawling hill, with walls surrounding the entire city. Inside those walls, there were apparently numerous farms and fields that made use of water springs bubbling up from various points throughout the city. This design was meant to allow for a siege defense in case of invasion from neighboring countries.
"Well, in truth, there's only been one siege as far as I know. And it was quite a long time ago, plus it only lasted a few days, so it's hard to say exactly how long Shellhide could actually hold out."
That siege wasn't because the city was directly surrounded, either—apparently, Shellhide just happened to lie along the enemy army's line of advance, so they fortified the city to meet them head-on. But they actually managed to drive the invaders back in open battle before they even got close. And then, in the subsequent counterattack, they succeeded in expanding their territory, which is how Shellhide ended up so far from the border. Well, if siege warfare happened that often, the residents wouldn't be able to stand it.
"As for local specialties, I suppose you could say horses."
"For eating?"
Amour reacted immediately to Lion's explanation, but unfortunately, they were talking about military horses.
"This area has a lot of plains and hills, and even just letting the horses graze freely naturally strengthens their legs and backs."
For that reason, the military horses produced in the vicinity of "Shellhide" are apparently traded at high prices. Well, even those top-tier military horses would probably be no match for Raiden.
"Tenma, this is Raiden's chance to shine!"
"No, Raiden stands out plenty even without being here."
Cain calmly deflected Amour's comment. Amour nodded in agreement, saying "Yeah, that's true," but I was paying close attention. The old man driving the carriage this time had reacted to Amour's words by gripping the reins tighter, only to hastily let go when he noticed me watching.
"Lion, just asking to be sure... 'Who are you?' isn't going to happen here, right?"
"You'll be fine! Probably..."
"Alright! A thousand gold on 'they won't know'!"
"Me too!"
"Count me in!"
"I'm in!"
"This time for sure!"
Albert, Cain, Chris, Amour, and Aura were all expecting that this time, Lion would actually pull it off. Meanwhile, the old man and Jeanne both said "That's definitely not going to happen" and were betting on "they'll know" once again. And then...
"I'll just say it... You're an idiot."
The result was exactly as expected: "They knew." Well, if people here couldn't figure out who Lion was, then Lion should seriously consider declining the succession. Or else, he could punish those who didn't know by his name. Though if he did that, virtually everyone would end up learning Lion's face—but it would come with the reputation of "the man who punished people for not recognizing the face of their own heir."
"Well, I actually knew, though."
"You knew, but... it's more fun when you don't know, so I couldn't help myself."
"Well, I mean... Lion isn't the one who's going to play along with our expectations here."
"I really thought Lion would do it, though..."
"My allowance..."
Albert and Cain had bet on "they won't know," even though they already knew the outcome, simply because it seemed like it would be fun. Chris had bet with a hopeful "maybe they really won't," while Amour and Aura had bet fully expecting that they wouldn't figure it out...
"Well, let's call it here with the fun and games. We've got to meet with Margrave Haust, so let's start getting into the right frame of mind."
We were currently on our way to the Margrave's estate, guided by the knights who had been called by the gatekeeper. The two who won the bet were serving as drivers. Originally, Jeanne and Aura were supposed to drive, but the old man had insisted on swapping with Aura, saying something like "In case anything unexpected happens, I'd like to know what's going on outside." His real reason was probably more along the lines of "I wonder if there's anything interesting to see."
However, the old man's little whim was anything but a welcome surprise for the Margrave's knights. Even setting aside the past, they were already on edge about welcoming a famous figure from Kukuri Village—a place that had been involved in a dispute. When a knight tried to calm his nerves by chatting with the driver, he was suddenly hit with (according to Amour and Chris) a final-boss-level appearance. As a result, the knight who hadn't realized who the old man was and struck up a conversation recognized his true identity just seconds later and was so shocked he froze solid.
"That knight—if Tenma had been sitting next to Merlin instead, the shock might have been too much and his heart would've stopped."
That's what Chris said after the knight had been rebooted. And as if to prove the point, the knight who had frozen up was heard saying to a fellow knight during the journey,
"I feel like my lifespan just got shorter... I wish it had been Lord Lion sitting there..."
or something to that effect, barely above a whisper. For the knights, Lion—their future lord—might serve as a kind of emotional stabilizer.
"Still, for a town built on hills, there sure are a lot of slopes. With Lyden it's no worry, but it must be rough with other horses."
"Well, that's also why there are so many rules here that are different from other towns. Merchants from out of town are always getting warnings from the guards."
The "rules" Lion was referring to were apparently two main regulations that applied to most roads in Shellhide: one being that, aside from pedestrians, all traffic was basically one-way, and the other being restrictions on right turns.
In Shellhide, with its abundance of slopes, accidents between passing horse carts seemed to occur frequently. As a countermeasure, most roads outside the main avenues were made one-way with right turns restricted, which apparently helped reduce collisions between horse carts and horses.
Having some roads be one-way or prohibiting right and left turns at certain intersections wasn't unheard of in other towns, but Shellhide was apparently unique in having such restrictions on the majority of its roads. Merchants and adventurers visiting for the first time would unknowingly violate the rules with their carts.
A first offense would only result in a warning, but from the second offense onward, a fine would be imposed.
Additionally, the amount of the fine apparently varied depending on the cumulative number of past violations and the circumstances of each offense.
"It looks like we've arrived."
I felt the carriage slow down and looked out the window. We were just about to stop in front of a large gate.
The gate guards seemed surprised by Raiden, but after an explanation from the accompanying knight and Lion, they quickly opened the gate and guided us to a place where we could park the carriage.
"Sorry, but I'm going to go ahead and make some preparations."
"I'm coming with you."
"Me too."
Not just Lion, but Albert and Cain also separated from the group for the time being. The two were probably receiving some kind of instruction from their fathers.
"A handling guide for Lord Tenma, perhaps... ugh!"
The moment Aura said something careless, Jeanne, who was beside her, delivered a swift punch to her side. It came with a silent warning: "What if it gets back to Aina through Chris?"
Realizing her slip of the tongue (though certainly not directed at me) because of those words, Aura timidly glanced at Chris's expression. But Chris just grinned broadly, as if she were looking at something amusing. Seeing that, Aura was frightened to an exaggerated degree. To be honest, even I thought that look on Chris's face was scary, so Aura's fear was probably inevitable.
While we waited like that in the carriage, Shiromaru noticed someone approaching and alerted me. Jeanne went out to check, and it turned out to be a woman in a maid uniform who had come to guide us to the Baron's location.
"This way."
Following the woman's lead, Grandpa, Amour, Chris, Jeanne, and then Aura and I walked in that order behind her. After a short walk, we came to a door guarded by two knights.
"I have brought the guests. Please open the door."
The knights showed a moment of hesitation, then quickly bowed and opened the door.
"Thank you for your trouble."
The woman said that to the knights, then stepped into the room without hesitation, still leading the way. As we entered the room behind her, we saw a man sitting on a sturdy-looking chair some twenty or thirty meters ahead. Given the situation, that man was probably Baron Haust. As proof of that, three people stood meekly in a row beside the carpet that stretched all the way to the man's feet.
All three had looks of surprise on their faces, but knowing their place, they refrained from saying anything.
The woman who had guided us continued walking without even a glance of concern at the fact that she was in front of the Baron, and then she said:
"Please wait here."
With that, she guided us to within about ten meters of the Margrave, then moved to stand beside him. For reference, Jeanne and Aura had followed us into the room, but as soon as they entered, they slipped over to a corner. This was because the two of them held the status of
retainer
— while they were permitted to enter the room, they were not allowed to stand before the Margrave.
"Oh..."
When the woman positioned herself opposite us beside the Margrave, Chris let out a small sound, as though something had just clicked. And from Chris, a distinctly surprised atmosphere began to radiate.
"What's wrong, Chris?"
Without turning around, I whispered to Chris, who was right behind me, and—
"I just realized, but that person who guided us all the way here... she's the Margrave's wife."
These words came back to me from Chris.
At that unexpected answer, not only me but also the old man and Amour, who had been eavesdropping, couldn't help but glance at Chris for an instant before immediately staring at the woman with all their might. At the edge of my vision, I could see Lion holding his head in his hands. Unlike Lion, the woman now revealed to be the "wife" wore a delighted expression, as though a prank had succeeded.