Unbending Tasks And Inviolable Principles (3)

Rescuing them was good for now. And walking deep enough to stay out of the enemies’ sight was also good, but the problem was the three people staring at the structures clearly visible inside the Forest of the Demon Dragon.

‘I didn’t think of this.’

Killing the three of them right here to silence them might be the most efficient way in a sense. However, I had never given an order to kill someone, nor did I have any intention of recklessly killing people who appeared innocent.

Since Demina was by my side, she certainly would have killed them in an instant if I ordered her to, but I had no intention of making such a request, so I hid behind a reasonably large tree as a shield and asked the three people a question.

“How did you end up being chased?”

“Recently… a large number of beastkin disappeared, so various projects were underway to expand the territory to the borders of the Forest of the Demon Dragon. As the representative, my father’s younger brother, Archduke Reumigal, received orders and was carrying out several projects here when he was bitten by a poisonous spider from the Forest of the Demon Dragon…”

Seeing the princess catch her breath as if her voice was choked with sorrow, I thought that those damn poisonous spiders had caused trouble again.

“Since my father and I are the only members of the royal family, I intended to collect his remains as the representative… but Duke Deumikal began to show his ambition.”

I had no idea who the noble the princess mentioned was. However, I just listened without letting it show.

The princess cautiously examined my reaction before speaking further.

“He schemed to take me as his wife and seize the position of the next king. Unlike Terakan, women cannot become rulers in the Briden Kingdom. Therefore, it is an established fact that whoever takes me as his wife becomes the next king… many nobles have revealed their ambitions…”

Her situation was pitiful. But that was exactly where it ended. I checked the troops struggling to enter the Forest of the Demon Dragon beyond the tree and asked.

“Was the Archduke, who reportedly died from a poisonous spider bite, someone devoted to the royal family?”

“That is correct. He was someone so devoted that he would jump into anything involving the royal family… but I do not know how he ended up like that…”

There were two possible assumptions. One was that a poisonous spider simply bit him by coincidence, just as when Princess Riana was bitten, and the other was poisoning.

Since I already knew how terrible the venom of the spiders in the Forest of the Demon Dragon was, I did not voice my thoughts for now and changed the question.

“Is the road back to the royal palace long?”

“It would take ten days by carriage, and over a month on foot.”

“Is there any other way to return?”

“There is none. We have no choice but to force our way through…”

I thought that I had really picked up a huge burden. Furthermore, when I looked at Demina, she had an expression that suggested she was enjoying the situation. I wondered if she had developed a wicked hobby of enjoying my embarrassment.

So, after thinking it over, I realized that if I wanted to utilize the Briden Kingdom, I needed to return the princess before me safely.

‘Is there no choice…?’

It was better not to reveal my identity if possible. This was because the Imperial Family might make unreasonable demands just based on the fact that I could utilize the Forest of the Demon Dragon.

My head throbbed because I was in a situation where I had not yet cultivated significant power and could not refuse all of those demands.

“Whew, if there is no choice… let us go.”

“Where do you mean?”

I pointed toward the Sky Bridge and spoke to the princess, who had a sorrowful expression.

“If you struggle and walk that way for a few days, you will be able to arrive at a place where you can be saved.”

“A few days…”

The princess looked disgusted; she likely was not used to walking, but there was nothing that could be done. So, I spoke to the knight guarding the princess.

“The princess’s skirt is too long, so cut it appropriately to make it easier to walk, and let us walk. It does not seem like those people will leave even if we just stay here indefinitely.”

I said that while looking at the even further increased troops, and since I thought they might attack blindly despite the Demon Dragon’s great reputation at this distance, I eventually began to climb the Sky Bridge with the princess, who had part of her skirt cut off after some persuasion.

Then, looking down from the bridge, there appeared to be almost thousands of enemies, and I pointed at them and asked.

“Whose soldiers are they?”

“They are Count Bollas’s soldiers.”

“And is he Archduke Deumigal’s subordinate?”

“That is correct.”

That meant he had not stepped forward personally. However, the princess before my eyes also appeared to be an adult. If so, that meant the fellow named Deumigal was also quite old. Besides, Reumigal and Deumigal; the names were a bit strange.

“By the way, what is the relationship between Archduke Reumigal and Duke Deumikal?”

“They are brothers…”

Come to think of it, I had heard that the laws of this world allowed for consanguineous marriage. It seemed he intended to take his young niece as his wife to obtain the legitimate right of succession.

And if a child were born, he could use that child as an heir to assert legitimacy. And the invigorator I manufactured would be used to make that child… I felt a bit bitter after having that thought for a moment.

Honestly, it was certain that a man presumed to be an old geezer would not have tried to covet a young woman if not for the invigorators… was that why? I thought the circumstances were tragic and complicated.

After that, I asked Demina to pull a cart, and thus, we were all able to return quickly to the domain thanks to the cart Demina pulled.

The tracks were sturdy, and it could be said that the cart was pulled quite stably even though it was pulled fairly fast. It was when I got off the cart, satisfied with the results.

“….So you are the… Viscount Ingrad of the rumors?”

“Well, things were hectic, so my introduction is late. I am Viscount Ingrad of the Terakan Empire.”

“Rumors about Viscount Ingrad are also thick in Briden. There are rumors that you are a brave warrior with a tall and large build, and there are also rumors that you are a thin and shallow mage. But after meeting you like this… I think you are ordinary.”

“That is also my strength. Since I am ordinary, it is not obvious that I am a noble.”

I said it as a joke, but she nodded. I wondered if I was really that ordinary. Well, since I was the one who said it, I could not argue with her affirmation, and since there was no reason to become a weirdo for no reason, I just let it slide.

At any rate, I brought them to the domain, and I planned to send them back by having them board a ship at the harbor. Furthermore, in the case of this incident, I planned to seek a way considering that I might be able to establish exchanges with Briden if things went well, and I thought about getting help from the Lilith Trading Company.

‘Having them wear disguises and enter as merchants would be the easiest way…’

This was as far as my thoughts went. In any case, after receiving the medal back, I led them, who looked reluctant, to the Noble Hotel and made them rest for now, saying we should talk later when there was time.

Since they had not come as official guests anyway, and I had simply brought someone in crisis, I thought there was no need for me to follow them around and pay attention to every detail, so I assigned Matilda to manage them and was able to leave for the rest of my schedule, but Demina, following behind, asked.

“Do you not plan to utilize them?”

“How should I utilize them?”

“Well… I thought you could inform the Empire.”

“Interesting things would happen if the Imperial Family found out. I do not want to create such bothersome work. Therefore, I think it is appropriate to send them back while keeping it a secret for the most part, to the extent that they think they are indebted. It seems that escalating things does not always result in good things.”

She had an expression saying she did not understand. However, I was in the middle of thinking that I should gradually distance myself from the Imperial Family if possible.

Moreover, I was clearly feeling it through this incident. The Imperial Family did not want the power of the nobles to become stronger. Furthermore, I felt they were uneasy as I continued to do things. One of the biggest reasons was that the Empress did not seem to trust me.

It seemed they were inevitably interacting because they could not force the princess’s actions, but I felt they were gradually trying to suppress that as well.

‘So they tried to make it impossible to trade the items the princess wants… The justification is to turn the entire amount into remedies because of the war, but if they do that, the biggest problem will be borne by the princess.’

It was clear that many troops would visit our domain now that the harbor had been opened. Thinking that it was necessary to be careful at that time, I spoke to Demina.

“The Imperial Family will send ships to move troops to the front quickly this time. Something dangerous might certainly happen then. First, I will issue equipment to the entire Sain Tribe, and I would like Demina to help them get used to it. Is that possible?”

“Human equipment will be rather uncomfortable for the Sain Tribe. No, all tribesmen who can artificially perform beastification might think it is uncomfortable.”

“It might be uncomfortable, but for now, it is also important to show that we are well-equipped.”

If they thought we were easy to take advantage of, there was a risk they would create pretexts with all sorts of excuses. To put it bluntly, they could occupy the remaining land in our domain and apply pressure.

For example, they could put forward the justification that the harbor must be protected by the Empire because it is in a strategically important position.

I knew that there were fortresses where Imperial troops were stationed in the domains of local nobles in such a manner. Therefore, there was no law saying it could not happen to our domain.

If that happened, there were many ways to handle it. I could do things like monster herding from the Forest of the Demon Dragon to make them attack the garrison, but I wanted to avoid methods where innocent people died due to greed if possible.

Afterward, after sending Demina back to Wijel, I went to find Richard.

A week, I was in a situation where I had handed over the basic prototype of a firearm to Richard, who could perform enchantment magic, to see if he could imbue it with the magic I wanted.

“Welcome!!”

Richard greeted me with a fairly bright face; although I had a hard time procuring some of the special metals he wanted, at any rate, I had provided all those items and set things up for him to research.

Furthermore, I had built a workshop and small ‘Magic Tower’ just for him inside the lord’s manor, and Richard was working himself to the bone, deeply moved by this.

“Is there any progress?”

“All forms of magic you want can be imbued. No, the imbuing is already finished, but there is a problem.”

I wondered what kind of problem there was.

“What is it?”

“The price… is absurdly expensive. I am using mithril to maintain the internal engraved magic circles, but I wonder if it is an item worth spending this much money to create.”

“First of all, how was the power test?”

“Since it is not a familiar item… most people cannot handle it well.”

There were approximately ten firearms made by Richard. It seemed he had brought beastkin to try using them in order to find an average.

So, since I was the one who devised it, I said I would participate in the experiment, received a firearm, and stood at the firing range.

Standing at a position where the target was visible, the distance appeared to be about 100m, and while roughly examining the area and listening to the instructions for use from Richard, I could think that it was quite good.

“….And iron balls are contained here. Because of the weight, I think it is better not to load more than 20 rounds. If the user is a beastkin, it seems more could be loaded, but…”

Although it was an initial form, the shape of the manufactured firearm could be said to feel like a commonly known paint-ball survival gun.

The bullets themselves were made of iron balls, and with a 70cm barrel, it felt quite long and heavy. And looking at the rifling carved inside the barrel, I could confirm that Gilbert had done a good job as ordered.

Furthermore, to balance the grip itself, he placed a handle in the middle of the barrel and attached a reasonably sized stock to maintain weight distribution and stability through shouldering; even though it was the first time, it perfectly possessed the desired form to an admirable extent.

‘Craftsmen aren’t called that for nothing…’

Nevertheless, since it was an unfamiliar item to them, I picked up the firearm while explaining. The weight seemed to be about 4kg, and after thinking that it might be heavy if one was not used to it, I opened my mouth.

“Well, first, it can be said that the basic posture for this weapon is to hold it supported against the shoulder like this.”

Then, taking a standing firing position, I aligned the front and rear sights and aimed at the desired target. Then I pulled the trigger, and as if firing a recoilless gun, along with a ‘pop!’ noise, the iron ball flew at an invisible speed and pierced a hole in the target.

“I will have to fire a few more shots to be sure, but I will need to experiment more with accuracy and range. Still, the performance is excellent. Is that leather armor draped over the target?”

“….You use it well?”

“Because I am the one who devised it. I will teach the method, so please gather users. By the way, about that price which is supposedly a problem. Exactly how much did it cost for you to say that?”

“…It seems close to 1,000 large gold coins will be consumed. Because the amount of mithril to go inside is too much…”

It was not a small price, but I spoke to Richard.

“Let us not dwell on small change. The initial goal is 3,000 units. Got it?”

Richard turned pale.