Ch.53You Said You’re Fully Prepared

As two more weeks passed.

Demian could now counterattack against me, and Millia’s archery skills had become more useful than her swordsmanship.

Demian and I consoled Millia as she dejectedly handled her rapier.

“Well, beginners always improve quickly. Your swordsmanship will keep getting better with practice. Don’t worry.”

“That’s right, Millia. It’s thanks to all your sword training that you’ve made it this far.”

“I guess so…?”

Other than that, nothing particularly special happened.

Well, the only things I could know about were matters within the academy anyway.

I tried visiting the Adventurer Guild to earn some money, but for some reason, there weren’t any suitable requests.

I still hadn’t received a reply from Lord Landenburg either.

—-

During this time, Frider came looking for me.

That day, I was having lunch in the special building’s dining hall as usual,

contemplating what I needed to do in the slightly more than a month I had left.

Only Nigel and I were in the dining hall.

Kalix hadn’t returned yet, and Asha had skipped lunch today.

That’s when Frider opened the dining hall door and entered.

She wore the academy uniform as always,

with a fur coat over it, and held a letter in her hand.

Frider looked around briefly before walking click-clack toward me.

This was unusual. Though her hostility had lessened slightly, she still frowned when she saw me and never approached me first.

With a puzzled expression, I looked up at Frider standing right in front of me.

Her brow was still furrowed, but the feeling she gave off was subtle.

Her reddish-brown eyes contained no contempt or hostility; rather, they held bewilderment and suspicion.

What’s going on…?

Did she find some clue that I don’t know about?

If so, that would be good.

Though I doubt Frider would move this proactively. Who knows.

“What? Do you have something to say to me?”

“Would I have come looking for you if I didn’t, barbarian? It’s important, so finish eating quickly and come to my room.”

Frider left immediately after saying that.

Important business, huh. At this point, if it’s important, it must be about the werebeasts, right?

This is no time to be eating.

I put down my fork and stood up.

I’d eaten enough anyway.

“Nigel, I’m leaving first. Whatever it is, it seems urgent.”

“Yes, I’ll clean up and wait in your room.”

I left Nigel to take care of the cleanup and headed to Frider’s room.

—-

Frider’s room, which I hadn’t visited in a while, still had its ominous appearance.

Living in a room like this, no wonder her personality is so twisted.

Even priests would become crazed cultists after spending just a week in this terrible interior.

The door I had smashed before had been repaired.

It had been replaced with an iron door instead of wood, with hinges several times thicker.

“So, what’s this about?”

Frider, who had been waiting on the sofa, pointed to a chair on the opposite side of the table.

I guess she wanted me to sit down.

I walked over and sat down. The leather cushion felt quite soft under me.

On the table was a half-empty wine glass.

Naturally, there was no glass for me.

Frider, who had been waiting for me to sit, finally spoke.

“It’s been a month since you said you’d find evidence of werebeasts hiding in the sewers. Have you found anything?”

“…Not yet.”

It was a disgruntled answer.

…Well, I hadn’t even gone there yet. I was just about to go soon.

I didn’t expect Frider to press me about it first.

Maybe she took my words more seriously than I thought.

“Sigh… I was foolish to expect anything. This is troublesome.”

Frider sighed and handed me the letter she was holding.

At the end of the densely written Imperial text was the seal of Faelrun.

“News from the north. A report that a large army of werebeasts is gathering at the Sky Mountains border.”

Frider crossed her arms and legs.

Her attitude suggested she wasn’t pleased with the current situation.

“A werebeast army in the north…?”

“This news is already ten days old, so the main force of the Imperial knights is probably already heading north. That would be the normal response.”

My mind became complicated in an instant.

At this point, a large gathering of werebeasts? Was something like this in the original story…?

I don’t know. The north at this point wasn’t even mentioned in detail in the game.

I’m certain there was no bloodshed on the scale of a war, though.

My thoughts continued to connect.

Was this why the militia could openly attack academy students?

Taking advantage of the gap when a significant portion of the Imperial forces had moved north?

But the timing doesn’t match. The mid-term field training is still a month away.

Why move now? Are they planning to advance the attack…?

No, no. That can’t be.

It doesn’t make sense.

There’s no reason for that.

I unconsciously shook my head.

In the first place, unless the academy students are dispersed outside, it’s impossible for those mere twenty warriors to openly attack.

They would fail to achieve proper results and end up surrounded and annihilated.

Then why?

I couldn’t tell yet.

“If, as you said, werebeasts have infiltrated the capital… then the purpose of that show of force would be a deception to draw the Empire’s attention to the north. The problem is, there’s not a single piece of evidence to support that claim.”

Frider shrugged.

The only evidence was my vague testimony.

That wouldn’t be enough to convince even a single noble, let alone the Empire.

“What if we called Imperial knights to the capital based only on your word, and your claim turned out to be false? What if their army’s purpose wasn’t a simple diversion, but they actually intended to invade the north? The north would be in even more danger with reduced forces. So, I was hoping you’d bring some evidence…”

Frider stopped speaking and looked at me.

With another sigh, as if I were truly pathetic.

Feeling a surge of indignation, I offered various excuses.

“Look, I’ve been busy preparing in my own way. Training people who can fight werebeasts, trying to get silver…”

“Silver? It wouldn’t be much help at the first-year level anyway. How much did you gather?”

“Well…”

I hesitantly explained the situation to Frider.

I had asked Asha to gather quite a bit of silver, but I couldn’t buy and use it yet because I had no money.

“This isn’t a joke… this won’t work. Come with me.”

Frider irritably stood up.

“Where are we going?”

“To your dwarf friend’s room. Asha, right?”

Her steps were resolute, mixed with irritation and certainty.

I hurriedly followed behind her.

—-

Fortunately, Asha was in her room.

Perhaps surprised by Frider’s unexpected visit, Asha looked back and forth between me and Frider with wide eyes.

“What’s going on, Haschal? Why are you here with Frider?”

“I don’t know either. Frider suddenly brought me here.”

She headed straight here after hearing about the silver.

Did she want to see it with her own eyes?

“This amount isn’t bad.”

Frider smiled slightly at the pile of silver ingots, then turned to me.

“Barbarian, how many people did you say you trained? What weapons?”

“Uh, two students. Demian, who’s ranked first in the knight department, and his friend Millia. They use a greatsword, a rapier, and a bow.”

Originally, there were only five people worth using as fighting force. Of those, only two were close to me.

But why is she suddenly asking this?

“Two? Only two? Really, I can’t believe… no, I guess first-years are all the same.”

Frider, who had been muttering to herself, looked up and tossed something to Asha.

Asha caught it in a fluster.

There was a clinking metallic sound.

“Huh? What’s this? A money pouch?”

The leather pouch was filled with gold coins.

“A commission. One greatsword and one rapier. Base material black iron, with silver plating on the surface. And use the remaining amount to make silver arrows. Two days should be enough, right?”

“What? Oh, yes. I can make them in two days… but silver plating? With what Haschal said before, why suddenly?”

Asha asked curiously.

Frider clicked her tongue, then bent down to bring her face close to Asha’s.

Their eyes were just a span apart.

“Listen well, junior dwarf. This is advice from your senior.”

Her tone was low and gentle, as if giving friendly advice.

The content was anything but.

“If you want to be a merchant, never, ever ask about a customer’s circumstances. Merchants who ask such things tend to go bankrupt within a few years… or are found as corpses. Understand?”

“……”

Asha closed her mouth.

Frider smiled with satisfaction and straightened up.

“So, is this enough? When they’re finished, give them to those two, and keep the remaining arrows as spares. Barbarian, you come with me again.”

As if saying we should return to her room now that business was done, Frider grabbed the doorknob.

My goodness, I suspected it, but she was planning to provide silver with her own money.

I’ve been misunderstanding her all this time.

From now on, I’ll call her Lady Frider.

“Thank you, great senior Frider!”

I expressed my gratitude with the utmost respect.

Anyone who gives me money is worthy of respect.

Frider’s body abruptly stopped.

Her neck creaked as she turned to look at me, her expression full of shock.

Goosebumps covered her neck visible above her collar.

“You’re giving me, the creeps. Don’t talk, like that.”

Frider, barely managing to say those words, staggered out of the room.

—-

We returned to Frider’s room.

As if trying to forget the unpleasant memory from earlier, Frider sat calmly on the sofa and took a sip of wine.

“Once the weapons are completed, we’ll start searching the sewers the next day. The five of us—you, those two, me, and Sir Nigel.”

“I understand about me, but Demian and Millia are regular students?”

Regular students can freely go out only after becoming second-years, right?

In their first year, they have to follow the academy curriculum.

That’s the rule.

“That’s no problem at all. For one or two regular freshmen, I can just say I’m taking them on an early external field trip. Unlike you, I’m a somewhat trusted figure in the academy.”

Frider smiled confidently.

I smiled back.

“Ohhh, Senior Frider. Ohhh…!”

I fled the room, dodging the flying wine glass.

Still, I was glad that most of the problems I’d been worrying about were solved.

Now we could naturally start investigating the sewers, and with five people searching, we should find something.

Just three more days to wait.

—-

The next night.

The capital was engulfed in flames.