Chapter 176 (1/2)

Chapter 176

「80 men from the escort unit have arrived . 」

Myla stands straight and salutes immaculately to show off to the kingdom army protecting the mansion .

The heavy cavalry lined up around the perimeter of the mansion only total 80, but they should be enough to intimidate anyone who gets close .

If I didn’t speak with Erich beforehand, there would have been a big fuss about whether the rebellion was still going on .

「80 of you?」

The escort unit was strengthened to 100 men if I remember correctly .

「Those 20 fell out of our ranks due to the strict march . All of them are new recruits . I will retrain them later . 」

「I see, don’t push them too hard . 」

I was thinking of hugging Myla and giving her a kiss, but there is something else I’m more curious about .

「Hey, you-……」

「……」

The escort unit is a squad consisting of select elite forces from my personal army .

Naturally, most of them have strong builds which make even Gido, who has a relatively large const.i.tution as a member of the mountain tribe, look small .

Amongst those muscular men, there is an individual who is clearly smaller than those nearby, wearing a helmet with the visor lowered . I can’t see the person’s face, however this one smells nice .

「……」

I strike the helmet with my fist .

「Auu!」

A high-pitched female voice .

I continue rapping the helmet, to produce vibrations and an echoing sound which should be quite annoying to the person wearing it .

「Au! Haau~! S-stop it please . 」

「What are you doing, Celia?」

The helmet was removed, revealing Celia inside who I ordered to stay at home and rest .

「I ordered you to wait obediently at home, didn’t I?」

「Uuu…… well, I-……」

「When she heard Lord Hardlett was attacked, she begged to come along no matter what, and I didn’t have time to spare to convince her otherwise . 」

Myla sighs in resignation .

Apparently she wouldn’t listen to anything if it wasn’t “you can come with us” and even clung to the horse’s back without letting go .

「I got on a horse, but my arm is fine! And also-……」

「Celia…… you disobeyed my orders . 」

I look at her with a stern expression .

Celia immediately goes quiet and her face turns pale .

Really, what was she thinking by wearing all this heavy armor, what would she do if the bone s.h.i.+fted out of place?

「Um…… um…… I…… couldn’t just sit still…… so I went against orders……」

Aah, now she’s starting to cry .

「Geez, come on, let’s take off this heavy armor, we can’t change the fact that you’re here now . You’ll just have to recover obediently here . 」

I embrace Celia and remove the armor .

「I’m truly sorry . I will accept any punishment…… wait, that’s not armor! Those are my clothes! Wah, the soldiers will see, please stop-!」

I got carried away and took off too much, leaving Celia in just her underwear .

She can be seen quite clearly by the escort unit and the kingdom army so I should take her into the mansion .

I carry the half-naked girl on my shoulder and bring her into the mansion .

Some quiet murmuring can be heard from behind me .

「Look…… they’re going to do it, right ?」

「Of course, you think the feudal lord-sama will just leave things unfinished?」

「Is the ‘thing’ we saw last time going to fit in that girl?」

「Won’t it just make her a.s.s and v.a.g.i.n.a into one big hole?」

「Don’t say whatever you feel like about me…… Aegir-sama, let me down please-! Kroll, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, don’t look this way! I’ll crush your eyes!!」

There, there, what a cute a.s.s .

I’ll rub it lots .

The escort unit takes the place of the kingdom army, who leaves the mansion in their care .

Even though the ringleader has been captured, there might be some stupid people who would take advantage of the chaos .

It is better that the kingdom army has the freedom to move around .

「In the end, we’re back to the same lineup . 」

「It seems so . 」「Yep! But it’s fun!」「Pipi’s here too~」「……I’m sorry . 」

Everyone, besides the dejected Celia who disobeyed orders to get here, looks like they’re in good condition .

Myla wanted to talk with Irijina and Pipi to get an accurate picture of the current state of affairs, but the both of them are holding their heads in distress, unsure of what to say .

I don’t have anything to do, so I’ll just relax .

Celia, who changed into her everyday clothes, is resting on my knee like a cat .

Rubbing her a.s.s as I enjoy her scent and her warmth really calms me down .

「Umm . 」

「I’m not angry anymore . But you need to listen to what I say from now on, got it?」

「I understand . More importantly-」

「Hm?」

「Is it alright if you don’t go to Lord Radhalde or His Majesty? So much has happened after all . 」

「I’m just on standby, it should be fine . 」

「Is that so? I wonder if that’s really the case……」

「It’s fine . You don’t have to worry about that, just relax and eat your sweets . 」

As expected, the luxury goods in the capital are not even close to the ones in Rafen .

When I put the cream confection, too sweet for me, in Celia’s mouth, she becomes all happy .

It might just be my imagination, but she feels heavier than the last time she was on my lap .

「Pardon me . Um…… at the front door……」

The one who interrupted this relaxing time was Kroll .

「Aegir! You’re here, aren’t you!?」

Promptly following him with loud footsteps is Erich .

「My, my, look who it is ……」

Celia flails about and gets off my knee in a panic .

「I told you, the two of us were summoned by His Majesty and scheduled to appear in front of him this afternoon! You didn’t come even after so much time had pa.s.sed, and I thought- ……」

「……」

Oh yeah, the letter which came in response to grant entry to the escort unit did include something about that .

Hmm, I forgot because I didn’t have someone to manage for me .

「We don’t have time anymore! Hurry up and come with me . 」

Celia looks at me as if saying “I told you so” .

That gets you a finger in the a.s.s .

「Hauua!」

Royal Palace

While looking on in amazement, I was taken to the palace where Erich, Kenneth and the King take their places around the table .

「I hear the three of you endured hard times because of this incident . 」

「No, not being able to prevent this rebellion is my fault as the person responsible for leading the army . 」

Erich lowers his head, which the King replies with a smile .

「The Royal army is an organization which deals with foreign enemies, catching some bugs hidden within the city is outside their expertise . I won’t blame you for that . 」

「Yes Sire, I hear that Your Majesty took action to apprehend Hoover . All that’s left is to stop the villains who are taking advantage of the disorder to run wild in the city, so I’ll add the palace guards to the kingdom’s army and tell them be remain on high alert . 」

「Good, I’m counting on you . Nevertheless, the three of you here were targeted by the underhanded tricks of the rebels, yet still you remain strong – how fortunate . 」

「I wouldn’t know what I would have done if Lord Hardlett wasn’t at the dance hall . I take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of everyone here . 」

Kenneth lowers his head to me .

I’m sure he would have survived even if I wasn’t there since he ran away immediately .

「Not to mention there were close to 100 men attacking Lord Hardlett’s mansion, which were actually wiped out instead …… his valor certainly doesn’t put his name as a war demon to shame . 」

I wasn’t the one who did that though .

「The story is circulating amongst the soldiers . About how he dismantles his enemies and finishes them off with a breath of fire . 」

The King and Kenneth laugh .

The two of them probably think it’s a joke, but Erich’s eyes aren’t smiling .

Information probably reached him since the personnel who cleaned up the mess of corpses was the kingdom army after all .

「Talking about funny stories, something happened at Radhalde’s place too, right?」

「Yes, those ruffians targeted my mansion thinking the ceremony being held was a party……」

It seems like Erich’s mansion was attacked right when he was holding a ceremony to appoint his corps commanders .

Unsurprisingly, the partic.i.p.ants belonged in the military and everyone carried swords on their hips unlike the officials in the dance hall .

The people who a.s.saulted Erich immediately had more than two times the amount of knights and commanders draw swords against them and were suppressed in no time .

「The end game was weak…… such a foolish, half-baked plan . 」

「It certainly stood out as a careless plan . However ……it is still a painful loss . 」

Erich lost a leader who had 15,000 troops under his command – one of his corps commanders .

He was in poor health and just so happened to be in his own home .

「Even fools who have status wield considerable power . 」

Kenneth also lost a few importantly ranked subordinates .

Having a lot of subordinates is tough .

Oh, this alcohol is pretty tasty .

「As I thought, it’s imperative to secure a larger force of personnel . We’ll expand the scope of the royal inst.i.tution and…… improve the quality of talent as well . 」

「I have no objections to that . 」「Naturally none here . 」「I agree . 」

I’ll just answer like the others .

「The two of you are likely occupied with military and government affairs . Hardlett, you don’t have anything in particular you have to do, right?」

Not good . This conversation is going in a bad direction .

「Well I have to ensure the cultivation of the southern lands and make sure the seeds for the wheat in springtime are sown……」

「That will be left to your subordinates, which is why you are here now . You will stay here until the audience in spring where you will visit the royal inst.i.tution and help develop gifted individuals . I’m sure you can teach the students some crucial intangible qualities . 」

「……I understand . 」

Afterwards, the King and Kenneth decided on many other things in a good mood and now the visits I’ve been making to the school whenever I felt like got changed to mandatory periodic visits .

Kenneth is probably the one who wanted to get the King to order me to go to the school .

On the other hand, Erich is making a slightly sour expression .

Although I think I’m the one who looks the most displeased right now .

「Can I ask someone to be my a.s.sistant in the lessons?」

Kenneth nods greatly .

「Of course . Leaving it all to you may not be sufficient in teaching the students the standard practice and the finer details . 」

In that case, I’m still safe . I’ll leave 90% of the work to Myla .

I’m almost certain that she would love to be an instructor .

An image of her firmly whacking the desk with a teacher’s baton in one hand while the students stare intently at her comes into my mind .

「……Seriously, if you just took it easy at Kenneth’s party, we might have been putting flowers beside him at the funeral by now . 」

Erich complains to me as we make our way back home on the shaking carriage .

「The Government Affairs Commissioner was the first one who went into hiding . I’m sure he would have stayed alive . 」

「He’s completely inept at fighting, yet he’s got a knack for sniffing out danger . That’s why he’s so irritating…… and also, I wanted to talk about how you attended a ball held by his faction first . 」

I made sure to keep that information vague…… but he realized .

「Well, that’s because escorting his wife, who was in the carriage, would be the gentlemanly thing to do . 」

「I’m sure he lured you in with the pretty ladies . That guy is really-……」

Bullseye, as expected of someone who’s been with me for a long time .

「There are a great number of teachers in the royal inst.i.tution who are female as well . In particular, most of those in domestic affairs are subject to Kenneth’s influence . That’s why in order to avoid that, he made it a point to a.s.sign the females who were former secretaries and a.s.sistants as teachers . Women are often kicked out of a faction, you see . 」

「What did you say!?」

I stand up in the carriage and hit my head on the roof, prompting Erich to glare at me .

「With that said, don’t lay your hands on them! Women who can teach are valuable! I won’t tolerate them getting pregnant and becoming your lover . 」

「I don’t think I’ll do something as thoughtless as that . 」

「Seriously, one day you will ruin yourself because of your love for women . 」

「How harsh . 」

While smiling, I can feel my d.i.c.k raise its head up slightly .

「So, those guys who attacked your mansion……they were burned pretty nicely . Don’t tell me it’s because you can actually spit fire . 」

「Hahaha . 」

「It’s not like a siege weapon was brought out . Witnesses nearby claim that they sighted fire raining down from the sky . Is it perhaps a spellcaster?」

「Maybe . 」

Erich sighs and shakes his head .

「Geez, where do you find people with such varying talents…… is that individual planning to enter the army?」

「That’ll be impossible . The kid is faint of heart after all . 」

「A woman, huh……」

「Yes, I don’t want to let her out of the palm of my hand . 」

「Well, I don’t care what becomes of a single magic user . However, watch over her to make sure she doesn’t use her power in the city . 」

Magic users are powerful forces in small scale battles, but they can’t shoot their spells endlessly so they won’t be able to affect much in a battle involving tens of thousands of people .

More often than not, having a talented commander is more important .

That’s why Erich backed off this issue so easily .

It may not be a good idea to let many people know about this though .

That night, a modest banquet was held for Myla and Celia . The escort unit guarding the perimeter of the mansion were given delicious food and alcohol too .

「There are no abnormalities in Rafen?」

「Yes, nothing much has changed…… Nonna-san getting chided by Carla-san for her selfishness happens daily though . 」

That sounds just like them as usual .

「Also, the number of Aegir-sama’s children has increased again . 」

「What?」

「The maid girl who you got pregnant earlier gave birth and came to greet us after she recovered . 」

Aah, that girl…… I can’t remember her name .

「Several girls from the mountain tribe brought their children over as well . They said they won’t go back home until a name was chosen for their kids so they’re staying in the mansion right now . 」

「I see, I see . 」

It’s bad those girls have to wait because I’m not there .

As an apology, I’ll inject my seed into them again before they return to their territory .

「You really are the enemy of all women . You’ll be stabbed eventually . 」

「I would be satisfied if I got stabbed by a woman . 」

The area became lively and Dorothea, who was accompanied by the children, happily enjoyed the feast as well .

I’ve given her plenty of gold, but she doesn’t really buy any fancy things .

According to Adolph’s information, the cost of living for Dorothea and the kids is just a fraction of Nonna’s allowance .