episode_0037

“Um, over there… Lucille?”

I carefully entered the door. As I closed the door, I felt the figure on the bed flinch.

“It’s been a while.”

“… ”

“I went on an expedition to the central region. You’ve had a hard time protecting your territory.”

“… ”

Lucille was speechless. I cautiously approached her bed.

“Hey… ”

As I approached the bed, I saw Lucille’s face covered in a blanket. The corners of her eyes were red.

“Did you cry?”

“I didn’t cry.”

“Uh, uh… Really?”

An awkward air flowed for a while. I knew. Lucille and I got along well. Nevertheless, it was entirely my fault that the atmosphere became this awkward.

“Are you disappointed that you didn’t come?”

“… ”

“I should have come a little more often. Right?”

“… Why didn’t you come?”

Of course, there were excuses.

“I was busy preparing for the central expedition, and I couldn’t physically come here after the full-scale expedition began. You know because you prepared a lot too, right? Preparing for war is inherently very busy.”

“You could have come before preparing for war. If it had been September last year, it wouldn’t have been as busy. Moreover, it is 3 days from Torgenberg to Meyer Castle.”

“That’s… !”

It was true. There were many opportunities to come see Lucille. Still, he never came to see me. It was entirely my fault.

“To be honest, I forgot. Because there were too many things to worry about. I’m sorry.”

“Is there nothing else to say besides that?”

“I won’t do that next time.”

“… ”

She was silent for a while. And it wasn’t long before he answered that his worries were over.

“Can I trust you?”

“You can trust me.”

“Will you come even if you’re busy?”

“I will put everything aside and come find you.”

“Then… ”

Lucille always had an expressionless expression. It felt that way when I first saw it. But now I know.

“I will believe it.”

Although their expressions were not as colorful as others, I could tell even the slightest changes. The fact that she is smiling.

She let go of her anger and talked with me about our expedition to the central region for a while. In the original story, she plays an active role in the central expedition instead of me. But that wasn’t the case in the current story. In other words, it was like I had taken away her opportunity.

Therefore, I decided to tell her everything she should have enjoyed in the first place. From one to ten. All the experiences I’ve had.

We talked about the expedition to the central region for a while and discussed the plans we had to show in the future. And before I knew it, it was already the next morning. We talked about the international situation. All night long.

—–

The next day, Lucille brought someone over. She looked to be in her early to mid 20s, but she was a bit tall for a woman and had a pretty face.

She was wearing a shabby dress worn by ordinary people, and from anyone’s perspective, she was an ordinary person. But I knew this woman’s identity. However, since this was my first time seeing it in this world, I didn’t pretend to know it.

“Lucille, who is this person?”

“Lilia, greetings.”

“This is Lilia. I think it would be quicker to read about me than to explain.”

She raised her hand to her face. Then her appearance instantly changed into that of a soldier wearing armor.

I was a little surprised. I know she has this ability, but it was still surprising to see it in person.

“Has the ability to temporarily change appearance. The duration is not very long, but the main task is to infiltrate enemy territory and extract information.”

I couldn’t help but admire her as she spoke fluently in the voice of a perfect young man.

“Do you work for Lucille?”

“Yes. Yes.”

If it were my subordinate, I would have spoken informally, but my subordinate and Lucille’s subordinate are different. If I were to be specific, I am a subordinate’s subordinate, but just as my master Leona would not treat my younger sister Lucille carelessly, I should not treat Lucille’s subordinate carelessly. Feudalism works that way.

Aside from that, in the original story, this woman was Lucille’s right-hand woman. However, in this episode, since Lucille is the head of the family rather than the head of the family, I thought she might go for a different master this time, but it seems like Lucille was hired well.

“Lilia’s abilities are not limited to illusion magic. They are an elite who can do many things, including swordsmanship, martial arts, infiltration, and languages of many countries.”

“Awesome.”

“He is my subordinate. When you need Lilia’s help, please come see me in person.”

Lucille puts emphasis on the direct part. I guess I was quite disappointed that I didn’t come visit for a long time.

“Of course, Lucille.”

When I stroked his head, he closed his eyes as if he felt good. Lilia seemed to have cringed at that sight, but she made a displeased expression. Well, it feels a bit bad for siblings to do this. But what can we do about Lucille being cute?

Soon, Lilia returned to her original form. Transformation… It seemed true that illusion magic did not last long. That was generally the case with magic and swordsmanship in this world. Basically, it is a low fantasy story, so although there is magic and swordsmanship, there are few people who have abilities useful enough to use in real life.

Lilia would be in the top 1 percent, or even 0.01 percent. Not only are there few illusion wizards like her, but there are even fewer people who can speak multiple languages and martial arts.

“Thank you, Lilia.”

“Yes. i look forward to. Franz.”

—–

Leona held a festival in her territory within the Duchy of Torgenberg. It was a festival called the Victory Festival or the Victory Festival.

It is a festival commemorating the victory of the war, and there will be many festivals like this in the Krusenstein family’s direct territory. That was because he would win a lot in the future.

Lucille also ordered the same festival to be held in the Myer family’s territory. Festivals are good. This is because the accumulated money is released and the economy is active by stimulating people’s consumption.

But there were other reasons why festivals were good too. That was because Lucille rarely went out of the house.

Lucille is a typical Indian. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t do outdoor activities. This is because she was top-notch in war command.

But she only goes out when necessary. He is a completely different type of person than me, who often moves around to relieve stress.

Because Lucille was like that, I sometimes wanted to take her out. That’s why I held Lucille’s hand and took her to the castle village festival.

When I first entered the festival, the first thing I saw was someone handing out masks. What is the point of constantly recommending masks? Are you a miscellaneous merchant? I wanted to, but it wasn’t. The person was giving away masks for free.

We thought it was a good idea, so Lucille and I got masks and put them on. Even if it looks like this, it is the lord and the lord’s representative. Wouldn’t there be someone who recognizes it?

That’s why I covered my face. This was because if they covered their faces, they could play as much as they wanted without having to worry about being recognized.

I asked Lucille.

“Why are everyone here wearing masks? Are there any rules for this festival?”

“Oh, there is a reason for that.”

“Why?”

“It was made so that those who died on the battlefield could freely join in and dance, regardless of whether they were allies or enemies.”

“Ah… ”

It was meant to soothe the soul. It’s a kind of culture. Well, that’s a good thing for me. Because I wanted to hide my face.

“Of course, there is a nominal reason and a different actual reason.”

“Is there such a thing?”

“Currently, how many spies do you think are hiding in the Krusenstein family?”

spy. The moment I heard that, everything made sense. However, because I wanted to talk more with Lucille, I deliberately pretended not to know and asked.

“Well? Wouldn’t that be a lot?”

Lucille laughed softly. It was as if they had even discovered that I was deliberately pretending not to know because I wanted to talk to Lucille. 100 intelligence, I can’t underestimate you.

“That’s right. Spies are coming in from all over the world to keep an eye on the Kruzenstein family, which has shown overwhelming power against the central families. And Leona… ”

She placed her hand on the cheek area of my mask.

“A masked festival was held on purpose for such spies. So that the spies can enjoy it to their heart’s content. Cover your face and participate in the festival so that you can naturally take information about the Krusenstein family.”

“Are you saying that you were considerate of spies from the enemy country?”

“Yes. There may be a purpose to show off that you don’t have any weaknesses to hide, but in general, that’s the case.”

“Ah… ”

I didn’t know. Even though it was me, not Lucille, who was around Leona. She could see everything from a thousand miles away.

“He’s my younger brother after all.”

As I stroked Lucille’s head, a miscellaneous merchant spoke to me next to her.

“Good-looking men and women who fit in well there~”

“I can’t even see their faces, so how do I know they are handsome men and women?”

“It’s been a few years since I’ve been in business, but I know it when I see it. By the looks of it, the woman is one of the most beautiful women in the entire country, right?”

“Ho… You can’t underestimate the merchant’s keen eye.”

Lucille laughed softly. The merchant naturally handed me a pretzel and I handed him the money. It was a reward for making Lucille smile.

“Thank you for your sales, handsome men and women! For reference, the stage is taking place over there. If you want to dance, now is the time!”

“Oh. Should we go see the sights?”

“Yes.”

After walking along the direction pointed by the merchant for a while, we came to a square, and in the square, many people were dancing to the music of the orchestra. Most of them appeared to be couples or married couples.

“Would you like to dance? Princess.”

When I got down on one knee and stretched out my hand, Lucille looked around, not sure what to do, but then took my hand.

“Good. His Excellency the Count.”

I looked around in surprise, but no one was seriously listening. Since I was the first to tease her by saying she was a princess, everyone seemed to think they were just playing around with each other. He seemed to have no idea that he was a real count.

Lucille and I held hands and started dancing. It was not a professional ballroom dance, but a simple dance that anyone could memorize at once, but I felt like my heart was being healed by the peaceful time it had been since then.