Ch.6262. Homecoming (3)

“H-has the young master returned this time?”

“The young master has returned?”

“Is it true?!”

“…”

Hermann barely suppressed a sigh as he gestured to the maids crowding around him.

It was a firm gesture telling them to stop chattering and focus on their work.

As he held his forehead watching the maids scatter while squealing amongst themselves, a slightly amused voice came from beside him.

“The young master’s karma runs deep. I wonder if he can handle it.”

“He’s been clever since childhood, so I’m sure he’ll manage just fine, Hannah.”

“He was certainly exceptional. But I didn’t expect him to bring such distinguished guests.”

The head maid Hannah continued as she looked at the carriage visible through the window.

“The Kendrid Margrave and the Tristan Grand Duke? Have you reported to the Baron?”

“That would be difficult right now. I heard Viscount Goldic is visiting.”

Hannah gave a bitter smile of understanding at Hermann’s tired response.

“…It seems Count Chester has been showing an unusual interest in our territory lately. The Baron must be having a hard time.”

If asked who the most powerful noble in this region was, ten out of ten people would name Count Chester.

Viscount Goldic was merely his underling.

“It is strange, though.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve met Count Chester several times before. He was greedy, but he knew basic decency. He never tried to seize another’s land so aggressively.”

“…”

“I wonder what’s changed. Perhaps there’s some issue within his territory.”

“Well, I don’t think we should be worrying about other territories right now.”

Hannah said this while looking out the window again.

“Especially when such prestigious families bring their carriages to someone else’s territory at the same time… Right? That usually means…”

Hermann let out an unrestrained sigh as he understood the implication.

“…I don’t think marriage proposals will be exchanged.”

“You seem certain.”

“Both families are major nobles whose political positions would cause a storm if marriage ties were formed. If such discussions were happening, the heads of the families would attend personally.”

“…”

The bitter smile on Hannah’s face grew stronger as she listened to Hermann’s words.

Hermann felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

“Have you read this? It just arrived via magical courier.”

Hannah handed Hermann a brief letter.

“Perhaps these two families are more serious than we thought.”

The envelope bore a holy seal—specifically, a three-winged seal that indicated the highest authority. Only two people in the entire continent besides the Pope could use such a seal.

The High Priest who leads the Great Temple. And the Saint who represents all believers.

And the contents written there…

“This isn’t a forgery, is it?”

“It can’t be a lie, Hermann. No one in their right mind would impersonate the Saint. The holy seal has been confirmed authentic.”

“…”

A dizzying sensation momentarily enveloped his entire body, but it didn’t take long to regain his composure.

After all, both Hannah and he were veterans with decades of experience in this profession. They were already accustomed to unexpected situations suddenly arising.

Though nothing of this magnitude had happened before.

“…Gather all available personnel. We need to make thorough preparations.”

If what was written in this letter was true.

First, the Saint herself would be among those staying in this territory. This alone was already a major event.

But the people coming after her were even more problematic.

Unlike the Saint who was highly regarded in terms of “symbolism,” these “two” were truly among the most powerful figures on the continent!

“Make sure everyone is extremely careful. For at least a few days, we cannot allow any incidents to occur within the territory—”

As he was giving these instructions.

The sound of an explosion erupted from the office upstairs.

Followed by the sound of someone being hit.

Do you know who I am, and so on. Count Chester won’t stand for this if you touch me, and so forth.

Such screams and pig-like squeals continued.

Then suddenly fell silent.

“…”

An incident had occurred just as he said none should happen. And in the worst possible place.

At this moment, Viscount Goldic should be in deep conversation with Baron Campbell. Either way, they’re currently the most valuable people in this territory!

With this thought, a pale-faced Hermann tried to rush upstairs, but his body froze again.

“…It’s amazing how heavy a person can get with just fat. This level of laziness is admirable.”

“Well, at least it meant we could beat him longer. He held up better than expected.”

While exchanging such remarks.

He saw two women coming down the stairs, dragging the bloodied Viscount Goldic.

“…”

“…”

As Hermann and Hannah simultaneously fell silent, Darwood approached them with a gloomy expression.

“Hermann. Please prepare a carriage.”

“…Pardon?”

“With the fastest one, it shouldn’t take long to reach Viscount Goldic’s territory, right?”

“Young master. I’ll follow your orders, but I need at least some explanation. What exactly is…?”

“Just.”

Darwood clutched his head.

“That territory might change owners soon.”

“…”

“That’s all you need to know.”

It was an explanation that made it impossible to ask anything more.

●

The lord’s castle within Viscount Goldic’s territory was surrounded by security so strict it was hard to believe it was merely a viscount’s domain.

Of course, as a territory focused on mining, they had an abundance of strong men, making it easier to mobilize military resources compared to territories of similar size. But it was especially so when “special guests” were visiting, as now.

“Since the Viscount went personally, everything should be settled and he’ll return today. Please don’t worry too much.”

The administrator of Viscount Goldic’s territory said this while sweating profusely.

Sitting across from him was Count Chester’s head steward, putting on airs.

Power is such a bully.

They didn’t want to do the dirty work themselves, so they forcefully pushed such tasks onto neighboring territories, yet acted as if Viscount Goldic owed them a favor.

They didn’t want to hear rumors about a count’s family directly committing atrocities.

Of course, everyone knew the truth, but as long as they kept their mouths shut, no one would directly accuse them of crimes. Not unless a major noble came personally.

“He’s just a baron without any significant connections. Count Chester will easily find the land he wants.”

“That would be best.”

Count Chester’s head steward said in a cold voice.

“The Count doesn’t like waiting. If this isn’t resolved today, your territory might be reduced to ashes.”

Behind the steward as he spoke, a massive knight in enormous armor exhaled menacingly.

The Automaton “Drive Knight” type—the most popular unmanned weapon developed by the Demonic Spire.

It reportedly costs a mountain of gold just to “rent” one, not even to purchase it, but its overwhelming power has been proven countless times.

No joke—Viscount Goldic’s territory, whose armed forces consisted merely of trained locals, could be completely swept away by just one of these machines.

This weapon was a major reason why neighboring territories couldn’t properly resist Count Chester’s family’s bullying.

“O-of course.”

As the administrator of Viscount Goldic replied with a forced smile, the reception room door burst open.

The administrator was about to scold whoever committed such rudeness while entertaining guests, but he fell silent when he saw the soldier’s condition.

Even a defeated soldier straight from the battlefield would look less shocked.

“…What kind of appearance is that? What happened?”

“The territory is under attack!”

“…”

Both the administrator and the head steward’s expressions went blank.

Attack? What attack?

In this peaceful area without even bandits or thieves?

Besides that, no one crazy enough would deliberately attack such a remote place, and wars between nobles without declaration would not be tolerated by the imperial palace.

“What are you talking about? Attack? Who on earth is doing such a thing?”

“…”

The soldier hesitated for a moment.

He seemed truly embarrassed to say such words.

“The attackers are two women and one man wearing academy uniforms!”

“…”

A terribly awkward silence spread throughout the office.

●

“Stop, stop, stop! If you move, I’ll attaaaaaack!”

The soldier aiming his bow at them took a fist-sized rock to the forehead and immediately passed out.

Elia, who had been walking casually, had simply kicked up something suitable from the roadside and lightly tossed it.

The opponent had been armed with a sword and was at least 100 meters away, so he probably felt safe, but for a hero candidate, that distance was within lethal range with just a pebble.

“Raise shields! We cannot allow them to enter the lord’s castle under any circumstaaaance—!”

The squad leader who was encouraging his soldiers was sent flying into the air along with his men.

They were swept away by the wind pressure created when Elnore swung her sword while still in its sheath, rolling far away.

“Emergency! Emergeeeeency—!”

The bell rings ding-dong-ding. Desperate cries and screams echo in all directions.

And in the middle of it all, two people walk casually.

“Oh. The powder magazine exploded.”

Elia said this while deflecting three or four flaming arrows simultaneously.

Some of the deflected arrows flew into rather unfortunate places, causing a massive explosion.

People run around frantically, fires break out everywhere, and some are too terrified to even move, just screaming in place.

Chaos. A scene from hell.

“I’d give that about 20 points. Quite a few soldiers seem to have been neutralized.”

“Not even close. 10 points at most.”

“Come on, you’re being stubborn again. Even at 10 points, I’m still 5 points ahead. I get to sleep in the room next to the teacher tonight?”

“Hmm. We haven’t even entered the lord’s castle yet. The real challenge starts there.”

Such conversation flows languidly over the chaos.

“…I thought I asked you to maintain some common sense.”

“Isn’t this common sense?”

“That’s right. Nobody died, right?”

My timid protest is immediately dismissed.

Certainly, that’s true. Despite this chaos, nobody has died. There aren’t even any seriously injured people.

Even though Viscount Goldic’s standing army is at best the level of a trained militia.

These two are monsters capable of such “control” even while showing off.

‘…Why are they so strong?’

I have no opportunity to step in. I can’t give instructions like usual.

These two are completely overwhelming an entire territory by themselves.

Even though I’m currently providing buffs by activating my mental world skill, the “Desperate Situation” buff applied to me is barely at E-rank. It’s practically a non-existent buff.

So.

While I can understand Elnore being this strong, Elia being this powerful is slightly incomprehensible.

In the original scenario, she should be much weaker at this point.

[Isn’t it obvious?]

“Pardon?”

[She’s a genius. A genius among geniuses. If you keep throwing such a child into battlefields, how much do you think she’d grow?]

“…”

[It’s not just Elia, that Lady Elnore is quite remarkable too. Both of them seem to be not even halfway to their growth limit.]

Calivan spoke with an amused voice from within the Soul Linker, which I was supplying with holy power to activate my skills.

[You’re particularly loved by monsters. Impressive, isn’t it?]

“…Don’t tease me.”

[No, I sincerely think it’s impressive.]

“What is?”

[Both of them look like they’d do anything you say. Don’t you think?]

I sigh as I continue walking.

It’s difficult to respond, so I skip answering, but Calivan continues giggling regardless.

[You’re the only one in the world who can ‘handle’ two such powerful women. I’m not joking when I say that’s impressive.]

“You speak as if your sister is being handled like an object, with such amusement.”

[Of course it’s amusing. What could be more entertaining for a brother than seeing his sister completely smitten with a man?]

“…”

[You’re not that ill-mannered anyway, and as long as you handle things properly later, it’s fine. At least for now, I’m just enjoying the show.]

“…”

Is this person really a Holy Knight?

As I was pondering that thought, several windows appeared before me.

[ You’ve achieved great results in battle through buffs applied to ‘Party Members’! ]

[ AP will be awarded! ]

[ You can increase the proficiency of desired characteristics through AP! ]

Seeing this calms me down a bit.

This is why I’ve been keeping my mental world active despite its limited effectiveness.

‘Let’s see…’

I invest all the accumulated points in one place.

< System Message >

[ Your proficiency has improved dramatically! ]

[ The characteristic’s grade has been promoted from ‘Basic’ to ‘General’! ]

< Mastery Info >

[ Characteristic: Alchemy – Basic ][ Grade: General ]

[ Proficiency: 0% ]

[ You can engrave lines on your body by sacrificing a medium. Different patterns of lines can form arrays with various effects. ]

[ ■ Only living creatures can be used as mediums. ]

[ ■ You can currently engrave up to 6 lines. ]

[ ■ The power of the array increases with the number of lines. ]

[ ■ From General grade onwards, you can learn alchemy with special properties. ]

Not bad.

With this level, I’ve achieved the basic requirements to receive proper alchemy tutoring from Valkarsus later.

No matter how powerful alchemy is, asking him to teach me three-line alchemy would be like dropping a nuclear bomb to kill a chicken—a complete waste.

As I was organizing this, another window appeared next to the skill window.

< System Log >

[!Unconfirmed record!]

[ Target ‘Gideon’ has unlocked a skill under your influence. ]

[ ‘Tristan-style Swordsmanship: Severance’ has been added to the target’s skill set! ]

[ This function has been added to ‘Skill: Guidance’! ]

Since it appears as a log rather than a message, it must have been recorded earlier but I hadn’t checked it. It seems to have automatically appeared after being unchecked for a long time.

Checking the timestamp, it appeared around when I was fighting Valkarsus. I must have been too preoccupied to notice it.

‘You did it.’

I smile slightly as I read through the contents.

It means he faithfully completed the “assignment” I gave when we met previously. The next level of the Formless Sword written in his diary.

The problem is.

< System Log >

[ Target ‘Gideon’s trust in you has skyrocketed! ]

[ A related event will be created soon! ]

This is attached to it as well.

“…”

Suddenly.

A chilling thought occurs to me.

From my experience so far, when this game says “a related event will be created soon,” the event usually follows within days.

And there’s another person besides Gideon who has this notification.

< System Log >

[ Target ‘Kendrid Margrave’ has begun to take interest in you. ]

[ A related event will be created soon! ]

Gideon and the Kendrid Margrave.

If asked to name the most hostile nobles within the Empire, they would undoubtedly be among the top.

Events for these two are being created “simultaneously.”

With strong implications that they’ll arrive soon.

“…”

So.

If I’m not careful.

The Tristan Grand Duke and his daughter.

The Kendrid Margrave and his adopted daughter.

I might see both combinations at the same time.

With me stuck in the middle.

‘…Just imagining it.’

It’s suffocating.

No joke, if that really happens, it wouldn’t be strange if someone declared war and conflict erupted.

That’s how bad the relationship is between those two.

“…”

Well, surely it won’t go that far.

They’re among the most distinguished nobles in the entire Empire. What are the chances they’d come to this remote place—

“Good. The lord’s castle. Now our bet truly begins.”

“Hmph. You should prepare to concede your position.”

[ An event related to ‘Kendrid Margrave’ has occurred! ]

【Event: First Impression】

-The Kendrid Margrave has considerable interest in you. Mostly negative, but the Margrave only believes what he sees firsthand!

-Try to make the best impression possible on this person inside Viscount Goldic’s castle! Something good might happen!

“…”

Well, it seems highly likely.

I’m about to meet at least one of them in here.

Shit.