Ch.64Establishment of the Guard (2)

“Is this not a sin?”

“That’s right, sister. Having thoughts is not a sin. However, if you were to act on those thoughts, that would be a different story.”

“Oh, I see. I understand. Then I’ll focus on the actions I’ve taken.”

The 2nd Squad Captain continued her confession.

She admitted to stealing the Captain’s underwear from her laundry, using the excuse of helping with armor to do this and that, pretending to accidentally touch the Captain’s chest while riding the same horse during rear guard duty, and suggesting they bathe together to save water since they were the only two women, then squeezing and fondling.

“Whew, that feels better.”

Having confessed all her sins, the 2nd Squad Captain sighed with relief, while Liberone let out a completely different kind of sigh.

Holy Knights were warriors selected by the church for their strong holy powers.

They were known for their upright minds that could never be swayed by ordinary external stimuli.

As executioners of judgment, this was only natural.

But Liberone couldn’t maintain her composure during the 2nd Squad Captain’s confession.

For the strict and conservative Liberone, the idea of a woman desiring another woman was unthinkable.

And to think it was directed at her superior officer!

But this was a time for hearing confessions, not passing judgment.

She had to accept everything.

After the 2nd Squad Captain left, Adelheid entered.

Liberone already knew that Adelheid was the captain of the Remugen mercenaries.

She expected the confession to focus on crimes committed while leading the mercenary group.

She thought it would be much easier than dealing with the 2nd Squad Captain.

“Very well, sister. Please share everything that’s in your heart.”

“Yes, Knight. Please forgive me. I stole Jack’s underwear and wore it.”

From the very first confession, Liberone felt dizzy.

* * * * *

And so the confessions of the former Remugen mercenaries came to an end.

Based on these, Liberone would provide certification of the two women’s identities.

A former Imperial Knight, a certified potion shop owner, an Imperial city mayor, a royal palace magician, and a Holy Knight from the church.

With such certifiers, it would be difficult for anyone to raise objections.

I went through a dimensional gate to the imperial capital with the magician Blanchard.

We were heading to the Imperial Justice Department to go through the necessary procedures and see if we could get the wanted status lifted.

“Hmm, I see. The Remugen mercenaries, correct?”

The Justice Department clerk tapped his cheek with his pen as he muttered.

“Adelheid, captain of the Remugen mercenaries, and her subordinate Miyumi. This Miyumi person isn’t specifically named in the wanted list. She’s just included in the general warrant for the entire mercenary group.”

“Then there shouldn’t be any particular problem.”

“Well, that’s true, but… *sigh* This is essentially covering up and hiding the past, so it’s not something I can easily decide. Please wait a moment.”

As the clerk got up and left, the magician whispered to me.

“Jack. What if some strict chief prosecutor from the Justice Department shows up? Wouldn’t that be troublesome?”

“We have so many certifiers. It will definitely work out. I’m certain.”

“How can you be so confident? Have you done this before?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then what gives you such confidence? Suspicious…”

Meanwhile, the clerk returned and guided us inside.

As expected, it was the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the Justice Department.

Just as the magician had worried, a very stern-looking prosecutor was reviewing our submitted documents.

“Lifting the wanted status of the Remugen mercenary captain? To make her the city guard captain?”

“Hello, Prosecutor. That’s correct.”

“Why on earth would you do that?”

“Adelheid has put her past behind her and is dedicated to serving our Starting Village. The certifiers listed there guarantee this.”

“Certifiers, huh? What? A Holy Knight? Are you saying a Holy Knight provided certification?”

“Yes. That Holy Knight has been staying in our village since the beginning of the year, doing various volunteer work.”

“What kind of village is this?”

The prosecutor muttered something while reading the documents several times.

“I understand for now. Since you’ve submitted the application, we’ll review it, but don’t get your hopes up. The Remugen mercenaries were troublemakers on an imperial scale.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

As we were leaving the Justice Department, the magician grabbed my arm, still looking suspicious.

“Hey.” “What?”

“You’re really the potion shop owner from Starting Village, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then how do you know so much about these procedures? Were you a civil servant before?”

“I’m just a potion shop owner.”

“No, that can’t be right. The way you’re handling this makes you look like a graduate of the Imperial Civil Service Academy. Are you hiding that you’re junior to me?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I’m just a potion shop owner.”

“This is strange…”

Magicians are fundamentally very intelligent. You can’t use magic if you’re stupid.

That’s probably why Blanchard was so suspicious of me.

But no matter how much she suspects or narrows her eyes at me, she would never imagine that this world is a game and I’m a player who has possessed a character.

“Are you perhaps from another world?”

“What? No! That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

“Why would it be impossible? Other worlds definitely exist. You might not know, but occasionally beings cross over to this side.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Of course, this is something only magicians know about. Ordinary people wouldn’t believe it even if they heard it. The same goes for the temple.”

What is she talking about…? Are there other people who have crossed over besides me?

Wait, thinking about it, there was something like that.

There are occasional mid-boss characters in the game who are set up as coming from other worlds.

But that’s different—there surely can’t be other players like me.

* * * * *

While waiting for the results of Adelheid’s wanted status review, we proceeded with establishing the city guard.

First, we created a new organizational chart for the knights.

Adelheid would be the captain, with the 2nd Squad Captain as her deputy, and four platoon leaders below them.

Sir Hostante declined the position of advisor, saying he really wanted to rest now.

Liberone couldn’t take an official title as she belonged to the church.

After provisionally organizing the structure, everyone moved their belongings to the guard barracks.

The barracks, which we had built during the city upgrade preparations, included a training ground, storage, and a mess hall.

We decided to start carrying out duties now, anticipating that Adelheid’s wanted status would be lifted.

The administrator, village development committee members, and Adelheid spread out the city map and held lengthy discussions.

They divided the city into zones and assigned risk levels, identified invasion routes from outside, various defense operations, public safety plans, patrol routes, and duty assignments—all very complex matters.

This would form the foundation of our city’s security operation plan.

Perhaps due to her experience leading the insane Remugen mercenaries, Adelheid began drafting the security operation plan without much difficulty.

Of course, the administrator and I helped document it. Adelheid and the 2nd Squad Captain didn’t know how to do such things.

Just like when we were preparing the city upgrade documents, the administrator and I gathered in the guard administrative office with Adelheid, the 2nd Squad Captain, and the platoon leaders, spending days and nights working.

The potions we had brought to stay awake were already gone, and proportionally, the pages of the security operation plan had increased.

As soon as Adelheid’s wanted status is lifted, we plan to appoint her as the guard captain and report the city security operation plan to the royal palace.

“Hey. I heard the review results are in.”

Magician Blanchard, who had just returned from the imperial capital through a dimensional gate, called for me.

“What did they say?”

“Well, it’s a bit troublesome. They want money. It’s like, um, bail for all the damage she’s caused to the empire.”

“I see…”

How much could the damage to the empire amount to?

“They’re asking for 2,000 gold coins.”

“Ah, is that so? I understand.”

Blanchard tilted her head at my response.

“I said 2,000 gold coins, not copper coins.”

“I know. That’s what I heard.”

“No, 2,000 gold coins is practically the same as saying they won’t lift the wanted status. Why are you so optimistic?”

“Could you please inquire with the Justice Department if they would accept goods instead of cash?”

“Goods? Does this city even have anything worth 2,000 gold coins?”

“Ask if they would accept something like Gambrinite as a substitute.”

“Gambrinite?!”

Blanchard’s eyes nearly popped out.

“You have that here?!”

A significant amount of Gambrinite had been mined from the cross-section of the mountain range that Alreina had blown away previously.

Just in case, we had hidden it and not disclosed it to the royal review team, but now it would come in handy.

A few chunks of Gambrinite would easily cover 2,000 gold coins.

Completely dumbfounded, Blanchard went through the dimensional gate to ask about this and returned with the Chief Prosecutor and an unfamiliar dwarf.

“Nonsense! There’s no way something so precious could be in a rural place like this… It’s real?!”

The angry dwarf jumped when he saw the Gambrinite I presented.

“There’s actually Gambrinite here! Damn it! What is this! It’s real Gambrinite! Bloody hell!”

The completely excited dwarf spat as he ranted.

“Investigator, please calm down. Is this genuine?”

“Of course it is, you idiot!!”

The dwarf raged at the Chief Prosecutor’s question.

“Listen, Chief Prosecutor. Let’s accept this instead of gold coins. 2,000 gold coins is nothing compared to this. Please, I beg you, take the Gambrinite. Please.”

And so, the 2,000 gold coins were settled with a few chunks of Gambrinite.

One might wonder if a mercenary captain’s crimes commissioned by illegal acts should be so cleanly resolved with money, but 2,000 gold coins is a different story.

Now Adelheid is free. She no longer needs to flee from the army.

“Ah…”

Upon hearing the news, Adelheid could only open her mouth, unable to speak.

“Thank goodness, Captain…”

The 2nd Squad Captain stood beside Adelheid, crying with tears and snot streaming down her face.