Chapter 62

-My mind… I think it’s going to explode…

-LOL.

The doting brag-time finally drew to a close, and the protagonist forced his stiffened jaw to move.

“Old man. So, you understand our situation now, right?”

“Of course. It means you didn’t actually betray our Edel.”

“Well, yes, but that’s not the important part…”

“Ah, and that our Marquisate has been blessed!”

“I’m talking about the fact that magic beasts will be invading the territory soon…”

Arianne closed her eyes tightly as she provided the answer.

“Well, I suppose it’s all the same thing in the end…”

-Is it?

-I don’t even know anymore.

-Just let it be.

-Arianne has given up hope, haha.

“Ahem. For now, it’s better not to tell Edel the truth and just make up a decent excuse. Our Edel is… how should I put it? A bit too romantic? She’s the type who doesn’t believe in anything that hasn’t been proven.”

“I already told her. And she treated me like a madman.”

“Ah.”

-‘Ah’ my foot.

-It’s already too late, lol.

“Enough of that. I think we all need to discuss this together. Shall I call Sir Ilian and Belita, Vice-Commander?”

At Arianne’s words, I—who had just finished drying my hair after getting out of the bathtub—hurriedly threw on my outer clothes and prepared to head out. When he heard the news, Ilian was momentarily speechless at the absurdity of the current situation, but he looked relieved that they had at least secured the Marquis’s cooperation.

‘Well, the worst-case scenario would have been both of them feigning ignorance. Considering the circumstances, this isn’t so bad.’

Meanwhile, the Marquis shot me a look as if wondering what on earth was going on now that I had joined them. The protagonist explained immediately.

“Ah, this friend knows our situation well. They’ll be helping us out in various ways.”

“Really? Hm, I see.”

Though he looked suspicious, the Marquis seemingly decided not to pry and invited us to sit on the sofa.

And so, the discussion began. The Marquis was the first to open the floor.

“So, the Saintess says an unthinkable number of magic beasts will soon attack our territory?”

“Yes. We must prepare the best defense possible before the attack begins. We need to gather as many troops and supplies as we can. Do you have a plan, sir?”

At Arianne’s question, the Marquis’s voice trailed off.

“Our Marquisate’s pockets have been a bit light lately…”

“Ah, I did hear news that the current tourism project isn’t going very well.”

-Oof, that sucks.

-This place is dead broke.

-Edelina must be suffering.

The Marquis’s mouth fell open at the blunt exposure of his shame.

“Gasp! How could Sir Ilian possibly know that…?”

Ilian replied nonchalantly, as if it were of no consequence.

“Our Order is quite well-informed regarding the rumors of the world.”

Had the news of the business failure spread so far that it reached the ears of the Church?

The Marquis’s ears turned beet red.

“…Ahem. As expected of Ralphicanism.”

He tried to act as if it were nothing, though.

“Then we’ll figure out a way as we go. First, we need to check the defense status of the Marquisate. Old man, could we see the recent administrative reports? I’d like to confirm the current situation.”

The Marquis hesitated for a moment before nodding and immediately rang a bell to summon a servant.

“Very well. Since the times are what they are, I shall have them prepared. It might take some time to organize the data, so in the meantime, why don’t you go and inspect the front lines first?”

The party was in unanimous agreement with the Marquis’s suggestion.

Seeing is believing.

By seeing it personally, they would be able to flesh out their future countermeasures.

“This is our anti-monster front line. Ahem, it looks a bit rugged, but it’s the pride of our territory, having never fallen in hundreds of years of history.”

The location of the rampart was the northern boundary of the Marquisate, not far from the mansion. It was good that we arrived quickly, but… Looking up at the rampart, I thought to myself.

‘This is bad.’

At a glance, it seemed to maintain a sturdy shape, but upon closer inspection, the gaps between the stone joints were wide open. Well, at least there wouldn’t be any issues with ventilation.

Yeah, everyone was thinking the same thing.

When I turned to look at the expressions of the rest of the party, they were exactly as I expected.

To put it bluntly, they looked like they were rotting.

-It looks terrible just at a glance.

-Is this for real?

-They said they had no money, but it looks like they haven’t maintained it at all.

‘Maybe it just looks that way because the weather is gloomy.’

I decided to think positively, as it might just be my mood. I was absolutely not denying reality. Absolutely not…

“M-M-Marquis! What brings you here?!”

As we approached the wall, two soldiers came rushing toward us. They appeared to be the guards stationed at the rampart.

“Ahem. I just came to check on a few things. Don’t mind us and go about your business.”

-How can they not mind when the Lord of the manor shows up?

The Marquis persistently refused and dismissed the two soldiers who were trying to hover.

“Old man, is there a reason you aren’t letting them guide us?”

“Ah, just in case. If they found out magic beasts were going to invade, the soldiers might run away.”

-Don’t you have to tell them anyway? They have to fight the beasts together.

-Is their work ethic for real?

-I have a bad feeling about this.

“I’ll be your guide, so don’t you worry!”

As the Marquis shouted his fighting spirit with misplaced confidence, an uneasy atmosphere drifted through the party. We followed him with strained smiles. Right, even if the exterior was dilapidated, the interior might be different. I decided to let my hope run wild.

‘We’re screwed.’

It didn’t take long to reach that conclusion.

-Umm…

-It feels really poor.

-Can they actually block magic beasts with this?

Exactly. It wasn’t just that the rampart looked like it would crumble from the outside.
Even to an amateur like me, it was clear the interior needed a massive overhaul.

‘One hit from a large magic beast and this thing is toast.’

Furthermore, the weapons hadn’t been maintained at all; some were even rusted over.
To put it in a single sentence…

Yes, that was exactly the state it was in. Feeling a bit embarrassed, the Marquis scratched his cheek and made an excuse.

“Ahem. Well, you know. Our Marquisate never really had a reason to invest in the defensive front.”

“And why is that?”

Arianne, looking gloomy, shot back. The Marquis, however, raised his voice with a thick skin (the thief calling the owner a thief).

“Because! Not a single magic beast has invaded our territory in the last few hundred years! Even if they did, the Duchy blocked them all! How could I waste money on a rampart that isn’t even used!”

“Sigh… old man.”

The protagonist covered his face with one hand and let out a deep sigh.

-Oh, so the Duchy was just too good at blocking them?

“Ahem! Anyway, that’s why I cut the budget a bit. Actually, it’s been quite a while since I did.”

“Even so, to maintain a rampart that holds the safety of your citizens like this…”

“Tsk tsk. Hereis. Do you even know how much better I can make the lives of the people with the money meant for rampart maintenance? Just this time, thanks to opening new roads, commercial activity has flourished and the economy has revived! It was also used to support farmers struggling with poor harvests!”

The Marquis, seemingly determined to be brazen, raised his voice further.

“Hereis. You’re still young so you don’t know, but running a territory is no easy task. It’s about placing limited resources in the right spots…”

• Is that what’s important right now? Everyone’s gonna die because of you.

Tell me about it… The Marquis’s choices might have played a big role in developing the territory, but in the end, if you can’t protect your citizens, what’s the point of it all?

“What are we going to do?”

Arianne couldn’t bring herself to say anything to his face, but she clearly had a lot of pent-up frustration. As soon as we returned to the mansion after ordering the rampart repairs, she criticized the Marquis scathingly.

“That man’s head—no, his brain is like a flower garden!”¹

“Arianne, calm down.”

…Does changing ‘head’ to ‘brain’ really make it any better?

-Well, she refined it at least, haha.

-Ah, calling an elder ‘head’ in that rude way would be a bit much, lol.

“The number of soldiers is one thing, but their training is a bigger problem! It’s a complete mess! They look like ignoramuses who got in through nepotism just to eat up a salary! The weapons are rusted!”

“The old man said we should start preparing quickly from now on.”

“It’s a relief he’s at least cooperative! Did you see him smacking his lips because he hated the thought of the money going into the repairs?”

“No matter how much he hates spending money, surely it’s not enough to give up the Marquisate.”

“You never know!”

-We’ll see about that, lol.

-Arianne is right, Protagonist.

Still, since he was the head of an allied family and his friend’s father, the protagonist tried his best to defend him. Arianne, with a pouty face and puffed-up cheeks, continued to point out the flaws in the defense line.

“And even if we repair the wall now, it won’t be strong enough to withstand that many magic beasts.”

“Well, a project of that scale would take months. There’s nothing we can do.”

“I suppose it’s better than nothing. But with a makeshift wall, we won’t be able to hold out if something like a Golem-type magic beast shows up.”

Ilian also grumbled, resting his chin powerlessly on the table.

“Well, is that the only problem? The troops are a problem, too. I could tell at a glance. They don’t have the skill to be raised into a force capable of fighting magic beasts. Simple cooperative training might be possible, but… ah, the weapons won’t mean much either if the soldiers using them are like that.”

“It feels like it’ll be difficult with just us. Can’t we request outside support, Vice-Commander? The Duchy is close, after all.”

“Hmm. Actually, I already sent a request to the family. But I don’t know if they can arrive before the day of the raid. There will be attacks on the Duchy as well, so I don’t know how much force they can spare. I haven’t received a reply yet.”

“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”

“Everyone, calm down for a moment. If you don’t want to die a sudden death here, we have to find a way.”

“…I suppose so.”

“…It is as the Saintess says.”

However, time flowed mercilessly without any clever tricks coming to mind. Arianne, who had been worrying with her head on the table, asked me.

“Saintess… I’m sorry, but is there anything that could serve as a hint?”

-Saintess, save us T_T.

-Help!

-Isn’t she sleepy? I feel like she’ll get an epiphany if she just takes a nap.

-Can’t we just force her to sleep?

-LOL, you can’t exactly give a neck-chop to the Saintess!

I see some terrifying things in the chat… I felt a chill on the back of my neck.

Where on earth were the Saintess’s human rights?

And it’s not like I had a brilliant solution either.

‘To be honest, I only came here trusting in the protagonist’s plot armor.’

Well, if I didn’t want to get a neck-chop, I’d have to find a way somehow.

‘Should I try to recall the game’s story?’

Let’s make full use of my advantages as a possessor.