Various Circumstances (7)

I thought that as the things needed for the domain were gradually being equipped one by one, the quality of life would become abundant and high. Moreover, I had recently been accepting humans who visited the military gates for the purpose of volunteer service, and as their number already exceeded 2,000, I was able to receive reports from Aenia and others who were in charge of training.

“So, if it is as you say, Miss Aenia, it is still impossible to issue firearms to the humans?”

“For now, yes. They are all free citizens, and some were once figures of other kingdoms. Since we cannot say there are no double agents among them, I would like us to settle on having them procure supply materials from the rear for the time being.”

Aenia had recently stepped away from the butchery workshop.

She had returned to her original status as a knight and was in charge of training the soldiers, and she seemed a bit worried about the spy issue since the war was just around the corner.

“It is information that will be revealed eventually anyway. Even so, since it must be advice given out of a desire to delay it, I will accept that proposal for this war only. Do you have more to report?”

“No. However, I have a personal request.”

“What is it?”

Aenia opened her mouth with a serious expression at my words.

“I would like you to supply Body Strengthening Potions.”

“Isn’t the volume going to the knights a constant supply?”

As far as I knew, the quantity provided to Aenia and the others was generated steadily; when I looked at her with doubt, she brought up a different story.

“I am in the middle of recruiting and teaching attendant knights. Although there are beastkin, a powerful group within the domain, I thought that because the Lord is ‘human,’ human escorts would definitely be needed when dealing with diplomacy beyond this war, and I intend to create a knight order accordingly.”

Aenia was now completely immersed in our domain. Furthermore, as a result of practicing while taking Body Strengthening Potions consistently, I heard not long ago that she had already moved past the High Expert rank and entered the beginning of the Peak Expert rank.

Only one step remained until she became a Master, but no one knew how long that one step would take.

In fact, I knew that there were thousands of Peak Experts across the entire continent who could not become Masters because they could not take that one step, so it was certainly a difficult path.

“If it is such a matter, you do not need to worry. I will tell Vincent to increase the supply volume. Is there anything else you need?”

“There is not! Ah, and I heard from Mr. Richard that he is manufacturing small-arms for our knight order; will that take a long time?”

“For now, I told him to prepare them so they can be used as personal firearms, but honestly, I don’t know how long it will take. After the Demon Dragon came and went last time, the work efficiency has dropped way too much.”

Aenia laughed awkwardly.

To put it bluntly, the quality had become incredibly high. We were now able to manufacture wonderful firearms boasting accuracy, penetration power, and near-infinite ammunition capacity, but the problem was that the devotion put into each one was so excessive that it was a troublesome situation.

‘Manufacturing only five rifles a day… Hmmm.’

The supplied quantity itself was currently on the side of having no shortage. This was because, unlike Richard, Hare was making firearms as if stamping them out in the existing way.

However, Richard had found so much joy in manufacturing new firearms that he began to produce them in truly diverse forms, and the craftsmen who were excited by this also backed Richard up reliably, allowing them to mass-produce various types of weapons.

But… it stopped right there.

“It’s a waste of efficiency. A waste! And the Imperial Army is right in front of us… Phew…”

I was currently suffering from a headache because of the information being delivered one after another from Mr. Zorban’s Ranger unit, which I had sent on reconnaissance.

“I received the news… but do you really plan to fight this war with only the beastkin?”

“Firearms and Mana Cannons are enough. In fact, it would be more accurate to see it as an excessive force compared to the enemy.”

To put it bluntly, I couldn’t even imagine what would happen if the beastkin who were issued firearms decided to engage in melee combat, especially against humans.

This was because among those who had become accustomed to firearms through much training, some had begun to freely use moving shots and even ultra-close combat.

Furthermore, because they even fired prediction shots to the point that FPS games couldn’t compare, the situation in the Arena had recently become worth watching.

“I wouldn’t know if all one million were coming… but seeing Duke Balsen’s intention in already dividing the army, I think there is no reason to lose.”

“I received the report that 300,000 are coming… but will it really be okay..?”

“Not a single person will be able to cross the wall. I guarantee it.”

It was a conviction. Moreover, 300 snipers were also evenly deployed on the wall. In the first place, because there were too many personnel whose Arena grades were so outstanding that I had to designate centurions, I had to create another rank; for now, I made it so that if one collected 10 existing badges, they could be exchanged for a Rune Badge symbolizing ‘Rad.’

And going further, I created stages so that one could collect 10 badges made with the rune symbolizing ‘Rad’ and exchange them for a badge symbolizing ‘Ing’; in effect, the stages were set so harshly that someone with a single Ing Badge would have no choice but to be treated as a hero.

In the midst of that, a beastkin with as many as three Rad Badges appeared, so things were hectic lately.

“If there is nothing special, you may withdraw. And if there is anything you need, tell Vincent and he will grant it all.”

“Thank you every time.”

In fact, the position of Aenia and the others in our domain was ambiguous. Everyone possessed outstanding skills, but compared to the combat-oriented beastkin, including the Lion Beastkin, they were at a similar or slightly stronger level, and since there was no certainty that they would become Master-level experts, the situation was all the more vaguely suspended.

Still, it seemed they were earning their keep in their own way, but honestly, there were many times I lived while forgetting about them.

Was it to the extent of feeling their presence by greeting them as I came and went?

At any rate, while thinking about Aenia and the others who didn’t catch my eye yet—though it might be different if they became Masters—it was just then that I picked up a new report.

I saw Vincent coming into the office breathlessly. Since he had recently brought his entire family to live with him, his expression was always bright, but he spoke to me while turning a bit more brightly pale.

“An… En, Envoy has arrived from the Empire… and you will have to come out to see this.”

“Who came that you are acting like this?”

“….It is Princess Riana.”

I wondered what on earth she was thinking to come when the war was right in front of us. I thought that her arriving like this must have been through a teleport magic circle.

First, I was able to leave the Lord’s Castle and call Demina and Wijel to move together; when I entered the Lord’s residence and arrived at the location where the inner magic circle was, I felt something strange while looking at Princess Riana through the hole where we could only check each other’s faces.

‘Why does she seem to be alone…?’

Since I couldn’t understand it, I first reached a position where we could look at each other’s faces; when I looked at Princess Riana, I could see that she was quite haggard.

Her skin looked crumbly, and her hair was not neat.

Furthermore, seeing that her pupils were shaking slightly, she seemed to be afraid of something, so I tentatively threw a question.

“Why on earth did you come…?”

“….I ran away.”

“From what?”

“From the Imperial Family….”

A strange silence settled over the hall; so, first putting Wijel at the front, I used Construction to open the passage leading to the inside of the room where the magic circle was. I sent Demina inside to check if there was anyone else, but after confirming that no one else was there, I had to just stare absurdly at Princess Riana, who had come here alone.

“Did you come to become a prisoner of war?”

“….I said that you and I would be able to get along well again.”

“You must have been rejected.”

“That’s right…. It seems Her Majesty thinks you are an ‘evil’ that is eating away at the Empire.”

“The thing eating away at the Empire is not me, but the treacherous subjects who disturb the Empress with idle talk.”

“I know. But she won’t listen… Up until now, your life had been accomplished according to your will… and when an existence that doesn’t go according to your will appeared…. perhaps she wanted to brush you away.”

I recalled the time when I was appointed to this Ingrad Domain. I had once thought that she probably couldn’t ignore the merit of healing her daughter, so she had to give a reward; citing the point that a hit could be taken to her political standing no matter what form the reward took, she might have appointed me to a white elephant domain to try and control it so that it wouldn’t reach anyone else’s hands.

Furthermore, there was no way the Empress wouldn’t know the value of the medicine I made, and since all humans would return when the Moon of the Demon God arrived after a long period of suffering here in the Ingrad Domain, wouldn’t she have tried to win me over, as I would surely be fed up by then?

I had thought of such things. However, that also began to fall apart as things started to resolve easily, and the Empress’s administration of state affairs would have begun to run unsmoothly.

Since there would have been many nobles making noise, I, who was not controlled due to various circumstances and was expanding my power rapidly, must have been an eyesore.

“Even so, your current actions, Princess, do not fit the situation. What on earth did you scheme before coming?”

“I wanted to see you. I… adore you.”

“Those are grateful words, but I do not adore anyone. I shall reject that heart as well.”

“Why!!”

“Because it is out of the blue. Did you bring this up thinking it is a confession that particularly fits the situation?”

“….Because I felt like I would die if I didn’t at least do this. I only hoped for you to do well. I hoped for you to build the achievements and merits befitting me and come to receive me!”

It’s an absurd story. No, perhaps because she is a flower of the Imperial Family who doesn’t know the ways of the world, she might have been living inside such an imagination all the more.

Moreover, the timing was bad. War was imminent. The subjugation army was marching through the Dragon Mountains. The time it would take to reach our Ingrad Domain from the entrance of the Dragon Mountains was roughly 20-odd days; in the meantime, some were scheduled to go toward Ishtain and some to our domain.

It meant it was a point where less than 20 days remained until the battle broke out. But at such a crucial time, she suddenly appeared and is talking about love?

It was just preposterous. Even so, I thought it would be a foolish thing to send her back as she was. So I looked at Wijel and spoke.

“Escort Princess Riana politely to the hotel annex and monitor her strictly. You must make sure she cannot leave the annex.”

“Understood.”

But at this time, hearing my words, Princess Riana shouted.

“Just why are you doing this to me! Why are you treating me so coldly?!”

“If you asked such a question while knowing… I think there is a problem. No, if you don’t even perceive why that is… that would be more of a problem. At any rate, you are welcome. We will treat you politely, so I would like you not to resist.”

Wijel led Princess Riana, who was biting her lip tightly like that, and I sealed the Lord’s residence again; preparing for the Imperial Knight Order that might arrive as a follow-up, and after finishing reinforcing the interior a bit more firmly, I was able to leave the Lord’s residence.

It was a moment where I welcomed an unexpected prisoner due to the whim of a brat.