Ch.267Mueller Estate’s NPC. (2)

“Looks like Forest has already been taken from here too.”

“…Damn it.”

Three knights frown as they gather after investigating the empty house, unable to find any trace of people.

“Why are the Church bastards, not even the Empire, forcibly conscripting citizens? Does this make any sense?!”

“That’s why we’re running around. Instead of grumbling, let’s head to the next village.”

“Even if we go to the next village, this is the last one. Damn… if only we had moved a bit faster.”

At the bitter words of the young knight called Forest, the expressions of the other two knights also turn sour. In other words, they failed to prevent the citizens from being taken away.

“…Forest, don’t blame yourself too much. Since they came with the Chancellor’s directive, we’ve done all we could by resisting this far.”

“But it’s frustrating. Anyone would know that people living in such remote villages are at most in their 30s or 40s. They even took children, the elderly, and women.”

“…Conscripting all available personnel because war is approaching? Bullshit. I can reluctantly accept taking the elderly and women, but what the hell are they thinking taking children too?”

Unable to contain his anger, the knight called Forest cursed and mounted his horse again. To distract him from his agitation, as he looked ready to draw his sword and chase after the Church’s conscription officers, the knight who had been speaking comfortably to him forcibly changed the subject.

“By the way, Forest, have you heard? It’s probably today. Lady Grace is returning.”

“Huh? You mean the second daughter? I don’t particularly like her, she’s a bit too harsh…”

“Idiot. She’s just a bit rough with her words because she works so hard despite her age. If you actually have a proper conversation with her, you’ll find she has quite a cute side. Besides, the fact that you can even speak like that is because the Müller Count’s family is so kind to their subjects.”

‘In any other domain, you’d be beheaded without complaint for talking like that, you fool.’ After the senior knight’s sharp rebuke, the youngest knight swallowed hard and loudly apologized…

“That’s right! Grace is kind!! And she’s not just quite cute, she’s adorable!!”

-Papat!!

All three knights were startled by the sudden high-pitched girl’s voice and raised their swords. What? There was nothing here just a moment ago, and there shouldn’t have been any human presence?!

“W-Who’s there!”

“Is it a villager?”

“No! I’m Ira, Grace’s friend!!”

The knights were speechless at the sight of a girl with striking red hair that barely reached their waists and purple eyes, proudly puffing out her chest and shouting. What did this child just say… whose friend?

“…Ahaha. Hello? Um, I’m sorry. We were hiding and listening to your conversation.”

-Flinch!!

Turning around at the sound of another female voice from behind, where nothing had been felt just moments ago, they saw what appeared to be a female adventurer with beautiful blonde hair and clear blue eyes like a lake, scratching her head apologetically and bowing. Just where did these women suddenly appear from…?!!

-Thud!

[Lady Ira. If you run ahead alone like that, I’ll collapse again.]

And next to the purple-eyed girl, a gray woman—no, a golem?!—descended as if falling from the sky. What on earth are these people?!!

“Who, who are you?! Identify yourselves!!”

“Hmm? I just told you.”

[Lady Ira. That was an accusation, not an introduction. You need to greet them properly.]

“Ah! I’m sorry! I’m Ira, Grace Müller’s academy friend!”

At the youngest knight’s demand, the cute girl suddenly bowed politely saying “Hello,” leaving the knights completely speechless.

*

“So. You’re saying that the academy is on break or some kind of holiday, and Lady Grace’s friend, Miss Ira, came to visit the domain with her older sister, that adventurer?”

“Ahaha. That’s the summary, yes?”

The moment Ira, who had been sleeping on Gor’s back, opened her eyes at the mention of Lady Grace’s name, Rei sensed it. She would definitely dash out.

And the reason Rei didn’t try to stop her even after noticing was because of Gor’s comment that these people weren’t villains.

[All three are knights of the Müller domain. Levels between 20 and 40. According to their status windows, none are villains. Even if they were villains I couldn’t detect, they wouldn’t be a match for us.]

From Rei’s perspective, who had been contemplating whether to go out and talk to them while listening to their conversation, Ira’s proactive approach wasn’t a bad choice. So when Ira boldly revealed herself to the knights, Rei moved to a position behind them where she could subdue them at any moment, staying vigilant. And as it turned out, they were indeed not villains but reasonable people who could be talked to properly.

“…Well. Such a tiny thing giving people a scare.”

“So, how long have you folks been here?”

“Um? You believe us? That’s kind of you.”

Rei was taken aback when the knights so easily believed their story and even sheathed their swords, prompting her to ask. They believe so readily that she’s their lord’s daughter’s friend?

“There’s nothing to believe or disbelieve. It’s obvious that if you had attacked us, we’d be dead. We’re not fools who can’t gauge someone’s ability after facing them. Besides, that red-haired miss…”

“It’s Ira!”

“…Miss Ira clearly has the eyes of someone who genuinely wants to see her friend. If she told me it was all a lie with those sparkling eyes, I’d lose all faith in humanity.”

“It’s not a lie! We’re friends!!”

“Kekek!! Fo-Forest. I like this little miss, she’s amusing.”

The knights’ hostility disappeared and the atmosphere lightened thanks to Ira’s fervent insistence on being Grace’s friend. Really, both Jack and Ira are naturals at winning people over, aren’t they?

“We arrived at dawn today. When we got here, everyone was already gone, and you all are the first people we’ve met since arriving.”

“Ahem, I see. Anyway, we’re planning to return to the central domain where the lord’s mansion is located, but if you’re truly Lady Grace’s friends, you’ll come with us, right? Ride behind us.”

“Yes! I want to go!!”

“Hehe. Yes, our goal is to meet Lady Grace, so we appreciate your guidance.”

Thanks to the surprisingly reasonable knights, we were able to get rides on their horses to our destination…

-Thud!!

“Gor?!”

“Huh?! W-Wait!! It wasn’t my fault!!! Did this golem suddenly let go of me?!”

“Ah. Right.”

[……]

Despite an accident where Gor fell off after riding behind another knight, having been separated too far from Lady Ira, we somehow managed to reach our destination, the Müller domain.

*

[…I’m ashamed. I could have just carried Lady Ira myself and run alongside.]

“…No, first of all, you look like a woman. Having a woman run alongside while knights ride horses would look really bad.”

“Kekek! Thanks to that, you ended up riding behind me.”

“Senior? I was just acting like a proper knight?!”

After Gor fell off, we explained our situation, and when they asked if Gor could ride, one knight generously gave his horse to Ira and Gor, resulting in the slightly awkward situation of two male knights sharing one horse. Nevertheless, we were able to reach our destination, the central Müller domain. Thank you, knights!!

“So this is Grace’s hometown…”

[Quite a quaint central domain.]

“Pfft! You can just call it a village. We know well that this domain isn’t particularly large.”

When Gor politely described the modest village scene that seemed too humble to be the center of a count’s domain, the knights just laughed among themselves, saying it was indeed a rural town. These people seem so good-natured. But is it okay for them to talk about their own village like that?

“That building you see there is the mansion where our lord, Count Müller, lives. The village may be rural, but you shouldn’t say the same about the Count’s mansion, right?”

[…I never said anything like that?]

“Me neither! I just thought it looked like a nice village!!”

“Kekek, is that so.”

“…Forest was in a bad mood until just now. Seems like meeting the young lady’s friend has improved his spirits quite a bit.”

“Um, Sir Knight? I overheard your conversation earlier, but what exactly is happening in this domain?”

“Ah.”

With Ira and Gor a bit further away, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn some sensitive information, so I asked the knight who was carrying me. His face, which had been smiling until just now, frowned as if his previous expression had been a lie.

“…How much did you hear earlier?”

“I heard that the Church came with the Chancellor’s directive or something, and that they conscripted even children.”

Sighing bitterly as if thinking ‘damn, she heard everything,’ he began to speak grimly.

“You know that the Empire recently declared war on neighboring countries, right?”

“Of course, anyone living on this continent would know that.”

“And shortly after, the Imperial Court issued a conscription order. However, even with an Imperial conscription order, there are legal limits to how many troops each domain can provide. For our Müller domain, considering our population, it should have been at most 40 people. That would have been covered if our entire knight order was deployed. But…”

At this point, he gritted his teeth with an audible sound, clearly furious as he continued.

“1,200 people. An absurd directive came down ordering us to conscript all domain residents under 60.”

“That’s, that’s… So now…”

“Yes.”

As he spoke, he gripped the reins so tightly they creaked under the pressure.

“With the Chancellor’s directive, about 500 citizens have already been forcibly conscripted, almost like they were kidnapped.”

His voice, though calm, was filled with rage.