Ch.805Please Take Good Care of My Daughter.

There was a time when I thought that way too.

Grand Duke Valdemar, who had been marveling at how I could have possibly found the holy sword already.

It didn’t take long for his expression to crumple like a father who just received negative paternity test results.

When I told him that the sword’s rightful owner wasn’t me but a young knight of ordinary lineage, he was merely a bit surprised, but…

After I delivered the bad news that not only werebeasts but monsters would soon be coming down the mountain range, and that a wide military road connecting the north and south of the range had appeared, he began looking at me as if I were a werebeast myself.

He wouldn’t have looked at me like this even if some rascal had come asking for his blessing to marry Frider because she was carrying his child.

“Um… Your Grace? Let’s think positively. There’s no guarantee the monsters will come south, right? Baryachrus will also have its hands full with monster problems, so there’s no need for major concern.”

That’s why I had no choice but to offer various excuses to calm Grand Duke Valdemar down.

It was obvious he wanted to draw his sword and fight to the death, but knowing he’d lose, he was barely restraining himself.

Grand Duke Valdemar was middle-aged with a grown daughter—if he collapsed from high blood pressure due to anger, that would be a serious problem, wouldn’t it?

If I sent the Northern Grand Duke, who was supposed to be holding back werebeasts and monsters, to his grave due to hypertension, I wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath.

“Besides, isn’t the military road cutting through Heaven’s Mountain Range actually beneficial for us?”

“…Beneficial?”

“Yes, beneficial. Werebeasts have always been able to cross the mountain range easily even without such a passage, haven’t they? Meanwhile, the Imperial and Northern armies have struggled just to cross the mountains.”

The reason humanity couldn’t subjugate the werebeast nation of Baryachrus wasn’t just because of the werebeasts’ strength, but primarily because the Heaven’s Mountain Range served as a natural barrier blocking military advances.

The steep slopes of the mountain range, the cold that soldiers couldn’t endure without deploying at least company-sized units of mages.

Crevasses appearing out of nowhere, and blizzards that hit unexpectedly like a call from an ex-lover at 3 AM.

And avalanches that were nothing short of disasters that soldiers couldn’t resist.

Deploying a large army to march on Baryachrus was essentially a massive suicide mission—burying tens of thousands of soldiers under the snow of Heaven’s Mountain Range.

That’s why even Lacy, despite advocating for the extermination of werebeasts, didn’t dare send her holy army corps beyond the mountain range.

“But now, we have a wide-open road instead of having to climb steep mountain paths.”

That alone would clearly reduce expected non-combat casualties significantly.

Moving through a wide road meant there was no need to disperse soldiers according to terrain, making it possible to deal with various threats somehow.

In other words, the formation of a road connecting the north and south of Heaven’s Mountain Range was actually beneficial for the Empire.

Especially Lacy—she would be absolutely thrilled.

I had no intention of telling her, but if she learned that pulling out the holy sword had created a military road to Baryachrus, she might drop to her knees and start praising Elpinel right there.

Claiming that Elpinel had answered her prayers with a miracle.

“So, this situation isn’t harmful to Faelrun but rather beneficial. Think about it. This happened because the holy sword bestowed by Elpinel was drawn, so it must be Elpinel’s will. Would she ever do anything harmful to humans?”

So I played the Elpinel card.

No, come to think of it, I wasn’t really exploiting her name.

Elpinel was the one who sealed her sword in such a place, so this was indeed Elpinel’s responsibility, right?

Isn’t that so?

“Many people here worship Menes, but Elpinel is said to care for all people, so the northerners are also under her protection. Therefore, this must be a miracle performed by Elpinel for the Empire and the North. That means there’s no need to worry.”

Perhaps my consolation, subtly implying “Don’t you trust Elpinel? Are you a non-believer?” worked well.

“Huh…”

Grand Duke Valdemar, who had been looking at me like a debt collector who caught someone trying to flee without paying, let out a blank chuckle, his face now resembling a loan shark looking down at a debtor offering gambling chips as payment.

They say when something is so absurd, all you can do is laugh—and that was exactly the Grand Duke’s reaction.

Of course, I wasn’t a debtor, and while Grand Duke Valdemar might have looked like a loan shark, he had nothing to do with usury.

“…You…”

“Yes?”

Grand Duke Valdemar cleared his throat and shook his head.

“…You would have been highly successful as a merchant rather than a saint or knight.”

I smiled awkwardly, feeling like I could hear his unspoken thought that I was like a con artist.

—-

Whether my persuasion worked well, or he was too dumbfounded to pursue the matter further, Grand Duke Valdemar didn’t press any more questions.

It seemed like he decided to keep his mouth shut, realizing that arguing would be pointless.

In any case, thanks to that, we were able to prepare for our return to the mainland without being held back by questions of responsibility.

Though we did gain one more companion.

“Follow Haschal—no, Marquis Median? You’re joking too much today, Father.”

“This is no joke. Accompany Marquis Median and assist him for the time being.”

Grand Duke Valdemar brought Frider, who had been making a werebeast leather bed in her room, to us while we were preparing to depart, and handed over her custody.

“In these uncertain times with suspicious werebeast movements, are you asking me, a daughter of Faelrun, to abandon the duties of the Grand Duke’s family? Even if you’re my father, you can’t…”

It seemed this hadn’t been discussed beforehand, as Frider protested that she couldn’t do such a thing.

It wasn’t that she disliked following me, but rather that she felt a sense of responsibility—shouldn’t a member of the Grand Duke’s family protect the North?

“You don’t need to worry about your duties to the Grand Duke’s family. This father is still alive and well.”

But Valdemar’s will was firm. As firm as his hardened face.

“Or are you already coveting the position of family head? Are you saying the current head is too old, old-fashioned, and incompetent to be followed or trusted?”

“No, that’s not what I meant at all!”

Are you trying to push your untrustworthy father aside and take over as family head? Even Frider would find it difficult to counter such a one-sided attack.

If she insisted on staying after hearing such words, it would be like throwing dirt on her father’s face.

How many children could openly defy a father who asks, “Don’t you trust me?” Rebellion is one thing, but outright saying “I don’t trust you” is another.

At least Frider wasn’t that type of person. Rather, she was the opposite.

Just by how she constantly mentioned Faelrun, it was obvious how much pride she took in her family and her father as the head.

“Then obey. This is an order I’m giving as the head of Faelrun.”

“But…!”

“This is also for Faelrun’s benefit. Landenburg will soon become an independent kingdom. A country founded by someone who repelled the Ka’har army and slayed a dragon. Forming a strong friendly relationship with its monarch would be of great help to the North. Don’t you agree?”

That’s not something you should say in front of the person concerned.

I stared blankly at Valdemar with a face that said “what are you talking about,” and the Grand Duke, avoiding Frider’s eyes, glanced at me with an expression that seemed to be asking for a favor.

Perhaps due to his harsh features, it felt less like entrusting his daughter and more like a gangster asking me to choose between donating a kidney or an eyeball… but the message got across, so it didn’t matter.

“Besides, there’s not much for you to do staying in the North. When it’s not hunting season, you spend all day locked in your room making taxidermy and furniture.”

“Kuh…!”

Having nothing to say, Frider bit her lip slightly and glared at Grand Duke Valdemar.

An expression that was weaker than resentment, more like a pout. The face of a child looking at parents who nag them to go outside instead of being cooped up at home.

No, it wasn’t just like that face—it was exactly that.

Although he listed various justifications to persuade Frider…

In the end, wasn’t it just a father who couldn’t bear to see his grown daughter shut away in a dark room obsessing over dissection and taxidermy, trying to kick her out to make some friends?

Frider too, while fully understanding her father’s intentions, was simply making excuses because she didn’t want to give up the joy of immersing herself in her hobby.

It’s so obvious.

People who stay cooped up in their rooms without friends are all the same.

They come up with plausible reasons why they need to stay in their rooms to counter their parents’ nagging to go outside.

But it’s all useless—they just end up getting smacked anyway.