Otome Game Mob Villain

Chapter 452

"'Rid, are you all right?"

What? Uh, yeah. I've just been thinking about some things."

Mother's voice brought me back from my thoughts, and I smiled with narrowed eyes.

Now I am visiting Mother's room with Fara and the others.

'Is that so? But don't think too hard," she said. It would be a shame to see Rid's pretty face turn into a sour face like Father's from now on."

Bu, Buddha's face: ・・・・・・

It's true, Father always has a difficult look on his face.

Only mother can talk like that.

When I was stunned, Fara blurted out, "Huh.

"Yes, I see. I, too, want Master Rid to have the pretty face he has now."

"Haha ・・・・・・ I'll take care of it for good."

As she scratched her cheek and chuckled, Farah and her mother overflowed with joyful laughter.

Mother already knew that Mel had been kidnapped as a result of the attack by Chris and the others.

When she heard about it from her father and me, she was as calm and interesting as usual without being distraught.

"I understand ・・・・・・. Rid, and everyone else. I'm sorry, but would you excuse us for a moment? I want to talk to Reiner alone."

I don't know what my mother and father talked about after that, but after a while I went to my room to visit.

But when he came to my room a short time later, he looked very frustrated and angry.

"Rid. From tomorrow onward, I want you to stay with Fara and stay with Nanalee as long as you can. She has been behaving so stoutly, but she seems to be very discouraged."

"Yes, I understand"

"Please, ・・・・・・."

Father's eyes were very kind as he worried about Mother.

After that day, Fara and I would always go to her room in the morning.

When I asked Fara to always show up when I could not go, she said, "Yes, please leave it to me! 'She agreed to do so.

While everyone was chatting and laughing, the door of the room was knocked and Garun entered.

"Master Rid. Reiner-sama wants to see you. He requests you to come to his office immediately."

The air in the room becomes tense at his words.

There is only one reason for my father to call me in this situation.

, "I understand. I'm off then. Mother, Fara."

"Yes. See you later."

'Yes . Master Rid."

I hurried to my father's office, where he was waiting for me.

◇

I visited his office and sat on the sofa in front of him across the desk as usual, as he urged me to do.

He placed an envelope on the desk with a wrinkled brow.

'Father, is this ・・・・・・?

It's a reply from the Grandeks. Take a look at it."

'・・・・・・ I will read it.'

Taking the envelope in my hand, I pulled out the letter of intent inside and looked it over.

[The letter is a letter of intent, and it is not intended to be a letter of intent. Therefore, within a few days, I will send a letter to Amon Grandek, the third son of the Grandek family, and to Citry Grandek, the second daughter of the Grandek family. Amon Grandek, the third son of the Grandek family, and Citry Grandek, the second daughter, will be sent to Bardia as emissaries to negotiate.{

In summary, here is what happened.

The previous emissaries were Elba, the eldest son, and Malbus, the second son, but this time it seems to be different.

"I suppose Amon, the third son, and Citry, the second daughter, are meant to be hostages to the Bardia family as well as messengers."

'Mm-hmm. The Grandek family is holding Mel, Chris and the others hostage. They probably sent hostages to us as well, as they want to negotiate seriously with us."

It is also possible that they are decoy ・・・・・・ 'pawns', right?"

Father's eyebrows twitched and his face grew stern.

"I don't like to think about it, but that possibility is not zero."

In that case, we should increase the number of knights and mercenaries in the narrow fortress, just in case. In addition, we should ask the Militia to provide logistical support.

Currently, the Bardia Knights are the only force in the Bardia territory that can be considered a regular army.

The mercenaries are made up of adventurers and swordsmen who have come to the area after receiving information from the guilds and smelling the scent of war clouds.

The militia is made up of citizens who have been recruited urgently from all over the country to protect the territory of Bardia.

That's all right. I will also send the knights who are guarding the border on the Renalute side to the narrow fortress.

The father let out a deep sigh as he said this.

"・・・・・・ whatever the outcome, this will be the last negotiation we will have with the Grandeks. You should keep that in mind."

I will. I would also like you to contact your father in law, King Elias, and ask him to have his troops stand by at the border point on the Renalute side. If the need arises, I would like Farah and your mother to flee that way.

If the Grandeks attacked Bardia, their retreat would be to the imperial capital or the Renalute side.

However, the Imperial capital cannot be considered safe as there is a possibility that the Imperial nobility is connected to the Grandek family behind the scenes.

Since there is also the matter of mother's medical treatment, Renalute, which is also Fara's parents' home, would be the safest place to evacuate.

'I understand. I will leave the arrangements to you and Farah."

"Thank you very much."

After nodding my head, I looked at the letter of intent again.

Amon and Citry are probably 'the kids,' I thought.

I didn't trust Elba and the others, but they might be able to talk a little.

With this faint hope in my heart, I continued my meeting with my father.

A few days later.

I received a message from Salia of the Bird Tribe, who was in Fortress of the Narrows, through communication magic.

Amon Grandek and Citry Grandek of the Fox tribe wanted to visit the main house to have a talks with the Bardia family.

If those two were to come, I would have refused.

"How do you view this?"

"I think they're either buying ・・・・・・ time, or they're up to something worse than they're doing."

From what I've seen so far, I don't think the Grandeks are going to negotiate properly.

I agree with you. But since they are asking us to negotiate, we can't refuse. The Grand Crusaders are holding Mel and Chris hostage, so we can't just go in there and attack them without a fight. And it is easy to start a ・・・・・・ war, but it is difficult to end it. It's not something we can let our emotions get the better of us."

Father said regretfully, as if to himself.

The Bardia family has taken a firm and strong stance against the Grandek family, saying that they 'will not decline to regard this as a declaration of war.

There was no way we could allow them to call up the Christie Trading Company with a letter of intent that spoke the name of an imperial noble and kidnap Mel, Chris, and the others, and even now, Father's anger was evident in every word and deed.

If it weren't for the position of lord, he would really want to go and rescue Mel and the others right away.

At that moment, I suddenly became concerned about certain contents of the letter of intent and cut him off, "And that's ・・・・・・.