Ch.91Starting City Potion Shop NPC (2)

“Welcome, sir. The preparations are almost complete.”

The table Alreina pointed to was filled with food.

“Please sit down. The knight will be back soon.”

As Adelheid and I sat at the table, Miyumi grumbled while placing a bowl in front of me with a thud.

“Damn it. I was once the captain of a mercenary assassination detachment and now I’m the deputy commander of the security regiment, yet here I am chopping vegetables.”

Glancing at her, I noticed her fingers were covered in bandages—she seemed to be handling a kitchen knife on a cutting board for the first time.

“You can practice from now on. If you don’t know how to do anything, you’ll have a hard time after marriage, won’t you?”

When Brasya said this with a smile, Miyumi was startled and glanced nervously at Adelheid.

Is she still interested in Adelheid? That’s truly unwavering loyalty.

However, Adelheid was too busy tasting the food in front of her to notice the glance.

“Delicious.”

“I made it, hehe.”

Brasya giggled.

Brasya, who supervises a city farm raising thousands of pigs and distributes them to southern pioneer cities, has become a master of pork dishes.

I heard she eats pork with the farm workers every day for lunch.

Grilled, boiled, stir-fried—she prepares it in all sorts of ways.

Perhaps because of this, Brasya’s chest has grown muuuuch larger than when she first came to the village.

She was already short, which makes it look even bigger, but she manages to balance herself well as she toddles around.

“How’s the regiment these days?”

“Same as usual.”

Adelheid answered my question indifferently, as if it was nothing special.

“Recently, the security captain of Odelin City submitted his retirement application.”

“Odelin City…? Suddenly…?”

“He’s the one who oversaw the evaluation when our security force was first established. Now the person whose evaluation he approved sits above him as his superior, so his pride must be quite hurt.”

“Hmm, I see. Well, two years is a long time to endure. So what are you planning to do?”

“If he wants to leave, he should leave. From the moment I became the regiment commander, he’s been continuously expressing his dissatisfaction behind my back. It’s right to replace him now.”

“Have you thought about his successor? It seems like we should bring someone from another city to keep those people in line.”

“I’m thinking of sending Miyumi.”

“The deputy commander?”

“Yes. Although Miyumi has a rough personality, she’s very skilled at handling subordinates. And when there’s a command vacancy in a lower unit, it’s standard to temporarily send a deputy commander from a higher unit.”

“So you’ll send her under the pretext of commanding until a new captain is selected, but actually have her take complete control.”

“That’s right.”

Things will improve a bit if Miyumi goes to Odelin City.

Among the cities under our administrative control, Odelin City is the largest, so planting our person there will definitely help.

Come to think of it, I’d like to get rid of the mayor and deputy mayor there as well.

Maybe I should have that assassin from the Zilke Republic scare them a bit. I’ll discuss this with Bellamy.

“It’s time for the knight to arrive…”

Alreina, who had been pacing by the window looking outside, suddenly shouted.

“Knight!”

The door opened and Liberone entered the shop, wearing a filthy cloak that made her look almost like a beggar.

The two-year pilgrimage clearly took its toll.

“Liberone. It’s been a while.”

“Hello everyone. You all look well.”

Another person entered behind Liberone.

Another woman in a tattered cloak.

The difference was her fiery red hair and eyes.

It was Mirella, who had grown almost as tall as me now.

“Mirella. Welcome.”

“Yeah.”

She nodded briefly in response to my greeting.

That kid, she went with Liberone to become a warrior, and it seems she’s picked up her personality too.

“Give me your cloak.”

“Oh, sure…”

When Alreina extended her hand with a friendly smile, Mirella hesitantly took off her cloak and handed it over.

Then she paused momentarily when she saw Alreina’s swollen belly.

“Um… congratulations…”

“Thank you, Mirella. Sit down. You must be hungry.”

“Uh…”

Unlike the affectionate Alreina, Mirella had a very awkward expression and tone.

It can’t be helped. After all, Mirella originally fled the city because of Alreina.

After returning to the city with Alreina, Mirella constantly tried to leave.

A war orphan, from a poor background, in an ambiguous position neither as an employee nor owner of the shop.

Mirella always thought that when Alreina returned, it would be time for her to exit.

So when Alreina appeared, Mirella eventually joined Liberone on the pilgrimage.

Bringing up how Liberone had long ago told her to become a warrior, she asked to be taken along to become one.

Both Liberone and I knew it was just an excuse.

But if we didn’t take her, we couldn’t know what extreme measures Mirella might take to distance herself from me.

So Liberone took Mirella, saying she would at least keep her under control.

And today they’ve just returned from their long two-year pilgrimage.

Seated in a chair, Mirella glanced at me and quickly averted her gaze.

“Mirella! Mirella! Why have you grown so tall?!”

“Haha, yeah…”

Mirella gave a faint smile to the excited Brasya, but after that, she never looked at me again.

* * * * *

During the meal, we listened attentively to Liberone’s calm account of her pilgrimage.

This pilgrimage was a trial for Liberone, a middle-ranked knight, to earn a promotion.

She had followed a specific pilgrimage route designated by the order and the knighthood, overcoming all sorts of hardships and adversities before safely returning.

Now Liberone will become a high-ranked knight, finally gaining the authority to take charge of a temple in a specific city.

This is precisely why we’ve been blocking and delaying the order’s attempts to build a temple in our city.

It’s better to have Liberone in charge of our city than someone else.

“It’s a miracle you returned alive.”

Adelheid briefly summarized everything after hearing Liberone’s story.

As she said, the survival of Liberone and Mirella was nothing short of miraculous.

Without the strategy guide I had written for them, Mirella might have died halfway through, even if Liberone survived.

Perhaps it was because she had overcome so many near-death experiences.

Mirella, who had grown considerably, had completely lost her once vibrant demeanor and now spoke as little as Liberone or Adelheid.

While constantly avoiding my gaze, Mirella kept stealing glances at Alreina’s swollen belly whenever she could.

However, when Alreina spoke to her, she would awkwardly laugh and evade the conversation.

“Oh? The mayor is here!”

Just then, the door opened and Brasya shouted as Bellamy entered.

“Sorry I’m late, everyone.”

Bellamy, with dark circles under her eyes, sat down and rubbed her forehead.

“I’ll have to go back to city hall after dinner. I still have unfinished business.”

A fitting schedule for the mayor of a first-class city who receives protocol equivalent to a marquess.

With Bellamy’s arrival, the conversation naturally shifted from the pilgrimage to city affairs.

With the security regiment commander and southern governor present, it was inevitable.

Building additional southern pioneer cities, additional pig requirements, burying a recently discovered subway station, replacing the mayor and deputy mayor of Odelin City, and so on.

Various proposals were made on the spot, and Bellamy listened to all of them carefully.

The intelligent Bellamy was probably already weighing all possibilities and reaching tentative conclusions in her mind.

“I’m sorry, but I need to get going now.”

Shortly after, Bellamy wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up from her chair.

“Now that the knight and Mirella have returned, let’s create more opportunities like this. I really enjoyed today.”

Everyone followed Bellamy outside to see her off.

“Oh, and Alreina.”

Just before boarding the city hall carriage waiting in front of the shop, Bellamy turned to Alreina.

“About what you suggested last time. It will probably be approved soon.”

“Ah! Thank you so much, Mayor!”

Alreina bowed deeply with a bright expression, her forehead almost touching the ground.

What did she suggest last time? Is there something I don’t know about?

Bellamy gave Mirella and me meaningful looks before boarding the carriage.

“Mirella.”

After the carriage departed and everyone was about to enter the shop, Alreina stopped Mirella.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

I wondered what Alreina wanted to discuss with Mirella.

However, Alreina pushed the rest of us, including me, back into the shop.

Alreina and Mirella talked alone for quite some time.

Peeking through the window, I saw Alreina explaining something while Mirella listened quietly at first, but later seemed to panic, shaking her head and hands vigorously as if refusing.

She also pointed at Alreina’s swollen belly.

Then Alreina grabbed both of Mirella’s hands as if persuading her, and Mirella blushed, bit her lip, and lowered her head.

Then she nodded very briefly, and Alreina hugged her, concluding their conversation.

I’m dying to know what they discussed.

Shortly after, Alreina returned holding Mirella’s hand.

Seated in a chair, Mirella glanced at me, sighed with a desperate expression, and ran her hands through her hair.

Then she looked at Alreina with a miserable gaze.

In response, Alreina smiled and patted Mirella’s back.

What’s going on with those two…