novelraw Chapter 75
Chapter 75
Chapter 75
“Haken, go and come back.”
“Should I?”
“Yes, but I’ll go too.”
“What? Lord Iron as well?”
Until yesterday, I had absolutely no thought of going to Haken.
When I suddenly said I’d accompany her there, Irene tilted her head, asking why.
“I thought it might be a good chance. There’s the Horned Rabbit trade too. We can meet their person in charge, watch the festival while we’re there. Ah, and since we’re going anyway, I can pay my respects to the Lord of Haken.”
“Ah, really?”
The reason sounded reasonable enough that Irene accepted my decision to join without much suspicion.
The real reason was, of course, to help her return safely to the territory, but there was no need for her to know that.
After explaining that to Irene, I went to the Knight Orders to gather the troops I’d take to Haken.
“We’re going to Haken. Deployment will be the entire Johnson Knight Order and Crimson Comet. Rudick and the 2nd Knight Order will unload supplies at Rubina and return to the territory, while Sir Celine will escort Irene and me to Haken.”
Since spring had arrived, trade with Haken would begin.
Might as well transport the Horned Rabbits to Rubina, too.
When I explained that all three Knight Orders would depart for Rubina but only the 2nd Knight Order would return, complaints erupted here and there.
“Ha, what’s with that selfishness… How long has it even been since the wedding, and you’re already taking Celine away?”
Rudick was the first to grumble about only Celine going to Haken.
“My Lord, are you planning to monopolize the fun again? Is this racial discrimination, perhaps? Or maybe persecution of Beastmen?”
When I left the defense of the territory to the Black Lions, Limond also cried out about racial discrimination and Beastman persecution, his face full of dissatisfaction.
That fellow had become fluent in human speech, his choice of words surprisingly sharp.
Just where did he learn to say things like that?
It must have been Leon.
Among the Black Lions, Leon was the only one who used such lofty vocabulary, so I was sure of it.
Since Limond had been disgruntled when we handled the Variant Crocodile on our own, he must have learned it from Leon to use at times like this.
Honestly, what a troublesome fellow.
“Sir Celine has the most important role in this operation, so it can’t be helped.”
“Operation? All I wanted was to take a look around Haken. What’s so strategic about that?”
“It’s necessary, that’s why. I won’t accept complaints.”
“Tch. Fine, I got it.”
I simply pressed Rudick down with authority.
Though he was usually full of complaints, he tended to follow decisions once made, so this much was enough to keep things under control.
If he was unhappy, he could become the Lord himself.
–Ignorance truly was bliss.
If this operation failed, Celine would end up trapped in Haken, and his married life would be completely ruined. If Rudick realized that, he wouldn’t have dared to grumble.
In the end, his words came only from ignorance.
Thinking it was all for Rudick’s sake, suppressing him like this didn’t feel troublesome at all.
“For the Lion Tribe, it’ll be an unbearably boring task. There’s almost no chance of a fierce battle, only dealing with humans who like to scheme. Do you really want to come along?”
“Hmm? Is that so?”
“Of course. We’re visiting a friendly territory. Why would there be fighting?”
“Verbal sparring isn’t really our specialty.”
“Exactly. The Black Lions should stay behind and keep the area clean.”
When I explained that the official purpose was just to watch the festival and that there wouldn’t be any fighting, Limond deflated, sighing as he nodded weakly.
He must have thought there would be some great battle waiting for us just because we were heading into another territory.
“Ah, then you’ll be taking Leisha?”
“Hmm? Leisha? No. Why take her when there won’t be any fighting?”
“From what I hear, you’ll be going to see some festival or something… and you’re leaving Leisha behind?”
“Is that a problem?”
“Of course… Hah, this could turn out really badly…”
Limond’s pupils shook violently, as if leaving Leisha behind would cause some terrible problem. He began trying to persuade me to take her along.
“Still, wouldn’t it be better to bring Leisha?”
“Leisha?”
“She’s not an enemy, but who knows what could happen?”
“Hmm…”
“With a warrior like Leisha standing nearby, no one would dare bare their fangs so easily.”
“Heh, you’re smarter than I thought.”
I hadn’t thought it necessary to expose our ultimate weapon, Leisha, in Haken, so I’d excluded her. But listening to Limond, his reasoning made sense.
In the worst case, we might need a hidden card.
With Leisha, escaping Haken Castle carrying only Irene would be possible.
“But would Leisha even agree to go? She’d probably find it troublesome.”
“She’ll go. Trust me.”
“Really?”
Indeed, Leisha could serve as our final line of defense in case of emergency.
Moreover, since she could gauge the strength of others more precisely than I could, she might show me the true gap between myself and other human Masters.
Haken already had Masters who had reached maturity. This was a good chance to compare myself to them, even indirectly.
“So what’s Leisha been doing lately? I haven’t seen her around.”
“Ah, these days she’s been picking out promising young Lions.”
“Really? Was that something she always did?”
“No, she just decided to do it herself. Says she won’t feel at ease unless she raises at least a few dozen warriors on par with herself.”
“That’s not something easily done.”
When I asked what she’d been doing, since I hadn’t seen her, it turned out she was training the young Lions.
Young Lions, was that safe?
Leisha was like the champion of tough-love education.
Even when she trained me, her lessons began with a beating.
Of course, lions were notorious for pushing their cubs off cliffs, but Beastmen Lions didn’t need to follow that, right?
–That had been proven false, hadn’t it? No animal actually pushed its young off cliffs.
“Really? Hah, I guess it’s only humans who beat their own children.”
Either way, I should probably offer condolences for those young Lion Tribe kids in advance.
“Ask Leisha yourself, Limond. If she’s willing, she’ll come with us.”
“Oh, good. I’ll tell her that. Hahaha.”
‘Why’s that guy so happy about taking Leisha along?’
Could it be he’d been getting beaten up by her lately?
Maybe she was relieving the stress she built up from the kids on Limond.
Since Leisha was always harshest on those just below Master level, it wasn’t impossible.
Thinking that, I finished organizing the troops.
“Sir Celine.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
After dismissing the other captains, I called Celine alone to give her special instructions.
I believed that, at the very least, Celine needed to understand the situation, even if only roughly.
“Do you want me to meet the people of Haken?”
“Yes. Even if you don’t meet them personally, it should be possible through the knights, right? You must know quite a few people one way or another. Regardless of faction, meet everyone you have connections with at least once.”
“I had no intention of associating with those people. I figured they’d just say the same predictable things anyway.”
“That’s exactly why I’m telling you to do it.”
“Is there some kind of problem…?”
“I’m not certain yet, but I have a feeling someone will latch onto Dame Irene during this visit. That’s why I’m going too.”
“What? Is there really any reason for that?”
“Well, I’m not sure either, but if it does happen, it’ll be a headache. Better to prepare in advance. You know how her brothers can be, always clinging in a bothersome way.”
Even Celine, Irene’s closest aide, seemed quite reluctant to get involved with those brothers, probably because of what she had seen and heard before.
But through contact, it was still necessary to get a rough idea of what they were thinking, so I asked her to meet them.
–It would indeed be better to know for sure.
By giving such instructions to Celine, she would also remain alert to the possibility that something might happen to Irene in Haken.
Who knew what could happen? If we let our guard down just because it was Haken, we might get struck unexpectedly from behind.
That was why, if no one else, the one closest to Irene—Celine—must never drop her guard.
“You do have a point. Understood. However…”
“What is it?”
“They will surely probe us for information. About Johnson Territory.”
“You can tell them just enough. We don’t really have anything to hide.”
“If they learn that Johnson, despite being a small territory, already has over two hundred knight-class combatants, won’t they start treating us with caution?”
“Even if they do, they won’t fight us directly, will they? If our strength is great, they’ll tread carefully around us too.”
“Understood. I’ll do as you say.”
“Good, I’m counting on you.”
If only we tried to extract information while giving nothing back, the conversation would stall.
So we had to give something in return.
Since we had nothing in particular to hide, it was fine to reveal just enough.
Besides, once formal exchanges began, the situation of our territory would come to light whether we wanted it or not. It was no problem.
After giving Celine that subtle warning, preparations for departure to Haken were complete.
A few days later.
A group departed the territory, heading toward Rubina.
About ninety knights from the territory, several soldiers brought along as workers, and seven wagons filled with Horned Rabbit meat.
To speed up the journey, the soldiers rode on the Three-Horned Mountain Goats lent by the knights.
Behind me rode the ultimate weapon of our territory, Leisha.
Two people joined this caravan separately.
They were Leisha and Dr. Nickel.
Dr. Nickel might be strange, but he knew many things and often viewed matters from a perspective different from mine.
Thinking I might need his advice, I decided to bring him all the way to Haken.
Since he was a personable man, he was also perfect for use as an informant.
As for Leisha, she was our joker card.
Once we entered Haken, she would stay close to Irene and protect her.
‘Irene still can’t fully bring out her strength.’
She had not yet completely recovered from her injury.
Though her body had healed, she couldn’t properly control her Aura.
They said it would take more time before she could completely master the suddenly increased Aura within her.
That was why it was better for Leisha to protect Irene rather than me.
If anyone tried to harm Irene by force, they would be struck down mercilessly.
“I’ll ride behind Bear.”
“Huh? Master, weren’t you going to ride behind me?”
“I don’t like horses. And iron armor is too stiff and uncomfortable.”
“Heeeng. Nothing ever goes my way.”
Leisha quickly claimed the seat behind me.
Irene, who had thought Leisha would choose to ride behind her, couldn’t hide her disappointment.
From her perspective, it was understandable.
Not only was she unable to test-ride a goat on such a long journey, which already annoyed her, but now Leisha had been “stolen” from her too.
–That red-haired girl is really something.
‘Well, it makes sense. She had been looking forward to it a lot.’
The recent capture of the Three-Horned Mountain Goats had been a huge success.
This winter had been harsh even for them, so nearly two whole herds had migrated close to our territory, only to be captured by Tito and his goat-raiding group.
Thanks to that, the number of goats we could use as combat mounts had increased by over seventy.
We had enough not only for Crimson Comet but also to pull the wagons.
The only problem was that their armor was not yet ready.
This wasn’t something that could be made overnight.
Since Irene was overly passionate about mounts, she wanted the goats of Crimson Comet to wear crimson armor, but that still required more time to complete.
In the end, despite her expectations, she had no choice but to use the warhorses they had previously ridden for this trip.
For Irene, who had dreamed of galloping around Haken on a goat, it was a disaster that made her sigh endlessly.