Vol 11 Chapter 205 (1/2)
Threat
The Grand Duchy of Galleria
Before the acting duke proxy, Gracia-san, I formed a smile
My insides were frozen over, but let that show, and negotiations wouldn’t be happening
The Grand Duke’s mansion
In its office, I faced Gracia-san alone She o years my senior, but the fact her atmosphere and presence were so different must have been because she was shoulder a country
(But she feels different from Lorphys’ princess, and Aura-san the holy Maiden)
Sitting in a po over the papers lined on the table, a wrinkle came to her brow They were the letters of invitation fom Zayin, Lorphys, and Beim
Zayin and Lorphys easily wrote the off to find work in Galleria, hu of how this will letyour face, it looks like I’ll finally be able to sleep soundly at night,’ I greorried over whether I had riled the man up too much
I never said I was the one getting the position, and it see Since it was interesting, the ancestors advised me to purposely keep silent on the matter henceforth, so eren’t the most wholesome ourselves
With her silver hair gathered behind, Gracia-san let out a sigh, glaring at ainst the chair’s
“So what do you want? Money? Women? For an adventurer of your level, if you wish for status, then it shouldn’t have to be Galleria”
The final letter on the table was the one froer adventurer, to use it as otiation
It’s true that Galleria was a gathering of feudal lords
If you wanted governet a better reception in Rusworth But in that case, it would take time to rise up the ranks Without Galleria’s versatility, our plan wouldn’t proceed smoothly
“I wish for governmental service And I will personally take on the delivery of the letters That adventurer was forht… he waschased around town, and his wanted for He won’t be able to work in these parts”
She looked atto kill me Of all else, I had comrades Even if I alone were to be killed, she likely detererous
“… ‘Tis a scherief, Rusworth’s witch sure turns to dirty means”
She tried playing it off as an enemy scheme, but I made a smile
“Is that so? Then you’re fine with going to ithout any letters henceforth? While gazing at both exhausted countries, you don’t think Zayin and Lorphys may try and attack?”
Gracia-san’s eyes narrowed, and all at once, the roo It felt as if the roorees
She spoke, annoyed
“Holy Knight of Zayin, for that name, you’re quite dirty yourself… state your wish”
I didn’t let my smile fall apart
“All of Galleria Of course, even if I say everything, I don’t want Galleria itself Just as with Zayin and Lorphys, I’ll have you form an alliance, and join a union”
Hearing those words, Gracia-san see
“So you’re the reason those countries suddenly closed in? You’ve done so, ould’ve only had to go to ith Rusworth alone”
“You’re not considering the fact we ht take Rusworth in as well, are you”
Gracia-san scoffed
“A former provincial noble What’s more, I heard you were of the fa yourself a bit too s are accompanied by trouble Territory division Territory alteration, and the other various tasks… play it poorly, and you won’t be able to stop the civil wars Rather than dealing with such trouble, wouldn’t it be safer to maintain your status quo?”
Recently, we’ve beeninformation at Galleria’s heart And we came to notice the problem the country carried
It was that its system of rule didn’t match up with the present situation
A few decades ago Or perhaps centuries ago, it may have worked out
Because within its surroundings, Galleria’s Grand Duke was strong, and the others were far weaker For that sake, in exchange for their assistance, the Grand Duke House could support them
For the feudal lords whose territories had become battlefields, it had become custom for the Grand Duke to lend money unsecured, free of interest
But in the past few decades, the surrounding lords gained power In exchange, the Grand Duke House had lost a large portion of its own It was natural Theto internal affairs was stolen by other lords and war
“I can’t call it safe Fro yourselves You’re stressing too much on war”
“… I know that without you telling me But even if it looks that way from the outside, there’s a different point of view from within If you know our present state, thatto lure Galleria to your side Itfrom the Grand Duke Proxy, but Galleria is a country united only by the existence of an ene at you”
So as not to let that happen, ere taking some troublesome means
If we absorbed both countries, establishi+ng rule again would take time In the worst case, we’d have to devote all our effort to internal enehts of the overthrown countries started running reckless across the new lands we’d obtained, it would be a nightmare
The eneeable on the terrain, and it’s likely the natives would take their side
“Well, I’ve a few counter a war is my objective”
“What means you?”
“The ones to take office will be 【Miranda Circry】, 【Shannon Circry】, 【Clara Bulmer】, and 【Monica】 Those four”
“… And you won’t?”
“I won’t I uy Ah, I’ll still help out,happens, just send a notice over there Though if you use Monica, you’ll be able to get in contact with me in no time”
“Just what are you trying to do?”
I smiled
“I’ll have the Galleria Grand Duke House regain the power it once held And if everything goes well, could you build up a port? Having the sea so close, and not using it is a waste, I’m sure”
Gracia-san looked as if she wanted to hold a hand to her head
“The rights to the sea a lords is a complicated matter And there are even some places where the feudal lords themselves commit acts of piracy”
“Then let’s persuade them Well, it’s fine if we can’t do it immediately, so that can be for a later date”
Gracia-san looked ata reluctant expression
“I’ve yet to say I’ll hire them”
“If you don’t, there’ll be quite a bit of trouble, you know? And it’s not as if I’oes well, you may be able to make up to Rusworth without war”
Hearing that, she looked doith a conflicted expression After a while, she raised her head with a face as if she had given up
“… For Elza and I, we are foes we cannot bring ourselves to hate For us both, we are in positions where if we didn’t have an opponent, it wouldn’t be strange we be killed I’ve taken a liking to how you won’t say one side overnment service But if you are to show any traitorous actions, your comrades’ lives are forfeit”
That was my intent My comrades to come under her surface would becoes
With that, even if Gracia-san didn’t trust es in her hands, she would be able to have some peace of mind
Not that I’h
“I’ll send the four at once Miranda can easily handle anything Monica is the same, but she’s omnipotent in housework, so I ask you please treat her as aShannon is… Miranda’s helper”
Hearing my explanation, Gracia-san started to look anxious
“Oy, they’ll truly be of use, right?”
“I guarantee they’re competent”
Right, those girls were competent Even if one was a spider-like woman, and one was useless in all fields but her De as a maid, and one was a booklover a little probleirls were capable
“… They’re capable Those girls are capable”
“Why did you say it twice?”
Gracia-san looked a little worried
–
–
–
Leaving Miranda’s party in Galleria, I returned to the village ere taking a stay in
Seeing Novem do housework for the first tiht to myself, but I’ll keep that my secret
In the rebuilt house, I looked at theValkyrie Units One, Two and Three
“Why are you holding up buckets of water?”
Inside the room, Unit One held up her bucket as she expressionlessly explained it to me
“We were training in housework to surpass that Monica”
Following on, Unit Two
“We broke the plates you purchased”
Ending at Unit Three
“So we are holding them as punishment”
Hearing that, I thought it was a little much, so I turned to Novem
“Isn’t that a little harsh”
But while Noveive them It doesn’t seem she had such intentions
“That’s no good If it was just breaking all the plates, that wouldn’t be a proble plates at each other They got into a fight over ould do the work Because of that, they even needlessly increased the a that had to be done”
When I looked at the three of them, they averted their eyes
(… So Monica’s siblings are broken as well)
As I had returned, Novem asked about the matter with Galleria
“So how did things go on your side?”
I nodded
“As expected, I guess But it seems there were more circuht, or how should I put it… no, looking from within Galleria, it really is serious, I’m sure”
Looking froether But from the inside, perhaps there was a different viewpoint to be found I decided to leave the decisions on that area to Miranda
“You approached Galleria first, and next is Rusworth, right I hope it goes well”
On Novem’s words, I lowered my shoulders
“If it doesn’t go well, Rusworth will have no path left but destruction I want to avoid that by all means”
Overthrowing a country was really a pain
I wanted to avoid that astheid, but it wasn’t so impossible
I looked at Novem
“When infiltrating Rusworth, I’ll be having you and the others working hard I really want to do soh”
We had gradually begun collecting info on Rusworth’s internal affairs as well But the h minister was only respected at the center, and the area around that That’s exactly why he was troubling The fact that his popularity was so high at the center Even if I was to drag hi
Perhaps happy I was relying on her, Novem spoke with a smile