9-6 Reconnaissance

I got so absorbed in preparing to intercept the enemy that I neglected the most important thing: gathering information.

Not good. Not good.

First, the nearest place—the royal palace.

Naturally, I started with the top: the king, where information should flow in first.

“For now, there’s no particularly useful information.”

“I see.”

Then I shall take my leave, if you’ll excuse me.

I clasped my hands, raised two fingers on each hand like a ninja, and vanished with a dramatic poof—even adding a smoke effect.

With Invisible magic.

“Honestly, that fellow…”

His Majesty the King sighed.

Ignoring that, the Chancellor continued.

“Well, that is fine as it is. He is, after all, an extra outside the national army—an advantageous plus factor, if useful. More importantly, regarding the budget for the coming defensive battle…”

To this old man, a war against the Empire was practically a game, but to the nation’s top officials, it was a serious crisis.

For us, if war broke out, worst case we could just run away from this country and still manage somehow.

Next, I went to check on Nielsen.

Still under Invisible, I jumped using his marker as a guide.

I also made sure to appear in midair at a coordinate that wouldn’t bump into anyone.

Like a proper noble, he was currently out hunting.

It seemed today’s prey was quite something.

He wore a beaming smile, so even with a villain’s face he was oddly hard to hate.

He was enjoying himself to the fullest with his attendants.

Nope. Next.

So, what about the Emperor of the Empire?

In his office… he was nodding off in front of his desk.

Well, at that age, official duties were pretty exhausting, yeah…

Glancing at him, I rummaged around without hesitation for documents that looked important.

But there wasn’t much of a haul.

Last time, I’d already ransacked information at Nielsen’s place.

Most intelligence that reached this office came from there anyway.

There was also a ton of other national intelligence here, so it was a pain.

Then I went to peek at the second prince, and—

That bastard was “hustling” with a woman in broad daylight!

I thought he might let something slip while flirting, so I endured watching for a short while, but keeping surveillance on this was mentally draining.

Why did I have to watch this guy’s “hustling” anyway?

What kind of punishment game was this?

It was like the feeling of a female detective being forced, all day long, to watch seized porn videos “for the investigation.”

I was an unusual adventurer who excelled at peeping, but real lewd peeping wasn’t my hobby, so I withdrew quickly.

He didn’t say anything useful either.

Seriously—every last one of them!

Crown Prince, you’re my only hope.

But His Highness the Crown Prince… was battling a massive pile of documents.

He was groaning intensely with papers spread out.

Such a handsome face, ruined.

“Your Highness, glaring at the stack won’t make it shrink.”

A woman in her early twenties—intelligent-looking, the type who wouldn’t spare even a great superior—said that.

“Francesca, you’ve got it easy. You’re not the one doing it.”

“Of course. It isn’t my job.”

His Highness Crown Prince Doran gave the woman a slightly sour, sideways glare, then silently resumed his struggle with paperwork.

These people… do they really intend to invade?

Watching this was starting to feel ridiculous.

Fine. I’ll go back to the Beast-Ear Garden and play with the little ones.

I’ll leave the rest to the surveillance cameras.

I hurried back to the Beast-Ear Garden and installed the jungle gym I’d been considering for a while.

I’d made it earlier, but I’d held off installing it because it seemed like accidents might happen.

After repeatedly warning everyone not to fall and hit their heads, I gave the “go” order for the charge.

All at once, the children swarmed the new play equipment, completely captivated.

Even the little cat kid clambered up, heave-ho, heave-ho.

Beastfolk kids were strong—so even a one-year-old could do this much.

And this one would be turning two soon anyway.

Watching, though, made the guardian’s side more nervous.

I was watching the scene with a warm smile when—

I suddenly noticed a suspicious shadow had conquered the summit and was cackling triumphantly!

Erin—was that you!?

Stop making that smug, victorious face.

That wasn’t built for you—it was playground equipment for the children.

The next instant, there was a sharp smack—the sound of a slapstick fan.

Dragged down to the ground and stripped of her title as jungle-gym queen, Erin was hauled off by Ed, who had her by the scruff.

From atop the jungle gym, the children waved goodbye as she was taken away.

Lately, scenes like this were just everyday life.

I also went and made a spinning ride too, but…

I still didn’t have the courage to put that one out.

When I was little, I’d had a terrifying experience with one.

I held on while it was spun too much, and even as the speed built up, I couldn’t let go.

I somehow endured with everything I had, barely avoiding falling until it slowed enough for me to get off— but it scared the hell out of me.

Also, what was that called again?

That horizontal ladder-like thing you hang from and move across hand-over-hand.

Right—monkey bars.

At elementary schools, they were usually installed alongside pull-up bars and slides.

I tried making those too, but they weren’t as popular as the jungle gym.

You could really get that orangutan feeling, and they were pretty fun, though.

Ah—how could I forget the classic pull-up bars?

The most standard of standard playground equipment, installed even in places that barely counted as parks.

I made several heights right away.

And then—someone immediately mastered hanging from the bar using their tail!

It was a small cat boy with a very long tail, and he looked extremely pleased, like he’d finally perfected how to use it.

Still upside down, he swayed back and forth, making for a hilarious sight.

Isn’t that impossible for cats?

At best, they wrap around their owner’s arm.

That kind of trick was usually a monkey specialty.

The two bear kids watching looked oddly frustrated.

With those round little tails, there was no way they could imitate it.

Though personally, I adored those adorable bear tails.

All in all, today was a very worthwhile day.

The Beast-Ear Garden’s play facilities increased by a lot.

And then I kept going and made something I’d wanted for a long time.

I raised a bungalow on stilts, removed the desk-and-chair set, and attached “that.”

Yes—this was a veranda.

Inside, I laid down tatami that I’d succeeded in making.

I couldn’t find any plant like rush grass, so I used a substitute and made it through image-based creation.

Inside, I also hung a scroll and ink painting I’d modified from an Imperial souvenir.

For the walls, I arranged a nice earthen base and then applied a clean wall finish over it.

I didn’t have a plasterer’s skill, so this was a Japanese-style wall produced by the item box’s synthesis function.

Wearing a yukata made with cooperation from the Japan side via the internet, I crunched on soy-sauce rice crackers and sipped Japanese tea.

Not bad at all.

I could be satisfied doing this every day.

But this was a kindergarten.

There was no way those little monsters would let something this good go unnoticed.

In no time, the six-mat paradise was packed full of Beast-Ear Garden kids.

And the way they filled it… it was like some kind of little-kid pyramid, wall-to-wall.

Still, I’ll say one thing.

“Take your shoes off on the tatami.”

The kids seemed to love the rice crackers too.

They ate them with powder all around their mouths.

Unexpectedly, even Camila—who seemed like she’d prefer modern things—liked the Japanese-style crackers, crunching loudly.

Ah—there was one important task I’d forgotten.

In a hurry, I jumped by teleportation magic to the steward.

But the moment I arrived, I got told this.

“Good day, Marquis. That’s quite an unusual outfit today.”

Ah—damn it.

I’d come in a loose, casual kimono-like robe.

Even my feet were in sandals.

Well, I pretended that never happened, used my item box, and changed instantly on the spot into my usual everyday explosive-combat outfit.

Offering Japanese tea and rice crackers, I got to the point.

“By the way, the Empire folks are going to attack this town next.”

Edmont, the steward, sputtered and spit tea.

“Th-that’s quite something. The Empire, not the Royal Capital but here? Why in the world?”

He wiped at everything with a hand towel as he asked again.

“They’re targeting the Beast-Ear Garden.

They want to mentally corner me—and on top of that, kill me.

If possible, they want to recruit our S-rank, Ars; if not, they’ll kill him too.

They also said they want to kill Antonio and the Count Orston couple.”

“W-where did that information come from?”

“The Emperor personally issued an edict to the second prince. I was there, watching and stealing a look.”

The steward groaned, but then said,

“Understood. We will tighten the town’s security.”

I nodded and replied.

“We’re ready to intercept on our side, but the Empire folks are so unserious they won’t attack at all—what a problem. I want to wrap this up and get on with the summer festival and opening the pool.”

The steward gave a wry smile and said, “That sounds wonderful.”

I replied with some farewell small talk like, “I want to do lots of things in town,” and left the steward’s residence.

After I got back, I brought out a modular toddler pool like the ones used in Japanese kindergartens.

I couldn’t wait for summer.

I’d made it long ago, but I still hadn’t done assembly and water-filling tests.

I assembled it, and it was instantly packed with children.

Thanks to that, I could confirm the size before adding water.

This should be plenty usable.

I got the kids out of the pool once, called all the staff over, and did a water-filling test.

Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any leaks.

As expected of something precisely assembled inside the item box.

If I assembled it myself, it’d probably turn into a ladle with the bottom missing.

With a ladle this huge, I could become the number-one ghost ship, I bet.

A violent splash sounded—someone had already jumped in.

Then more and more dove in, fully clothed.

Yeah, I figured they would.

Unlike a Japanese pool, this one had constant purification embedded, so hygiene wasn’t an issue.

All the staff stayed right there to make sure nobody drowned.

With our stamina-monster beast-kids, it probably wasn’t a concern, but still—just in case.

It was summer, so the temperature was high.

Unlike Japan, it wasn’t humid with a rainy season, so it was comfortable for this time of year.

I’d already developed chilled wheat noodles and thin somen noodles for the season, so doing flowing somen wouldn’t be bad.

Even if we did it, though, I couldn’t relax unless the Empire attacked soon.

Should I strike first from our side, or go “remind” them?

I also prototyped fireworks, but I wasn’t fully confident about safety.

If I made the kids wear defensive magic tools, it might be okay.

How about the Glass Garden’s land as a venue?

A rainbow glass plain rippling like a desert would reflect the fireworks’ light against the night sky— it would surely look gorgeous.

Maybe I’ll do a test launch next time.

I’ll upload the video to the internet again.

My mind gradually shifted away from enemy raids and toward summer fun.