Over the course of just a few months, I had recruited a whole host of capable retainers, including Virge, Enan, Rikuya, Maika, and Takao. That wasn’t even the whole of my accomplishments─I had also managed to bring Thomas into the fold, albeit on a trial basis, and contracted the Bangle Mercenaries to fight for me. Braham had grown massively as well, getting over a number of the bad habits borne of his inexperience. I had brought in new people left and right, and those who were already working for me were developing in the right direction.
Having more people on my side was a good thing, of course, but I was well aware that the larger our roster of personnel became, the more likely my retainers were to start developing interpersonal conflicts. As such, I decided to hold a celebratory banquet in the hopes of deepening the bonds between all of my allies. The banquet would be held in Castle Canarre, and since only my closest allies would be attending I decided to forgo putting on any shows or performances and instead simply treat everyone to a lavish feast. That, I figured, would leave everyone satisfied.
Time sped by, and before I knew it, the day of the banquet arrived. My retainers all gathered up in a room in the castle, dressed in their finest clothing.
“I would like to thank all of you for gathering here today,” Rietz said, addressing the crowd. “Thanks to an economic upturn and the abundance of this year’s harvests, along with the steady development of excavation sites that have increased our magistone output, I believe it’s safe to say that Canarre is on the rise in more ways than one. Furthermore, I believe that all of you, the count’s personal retainers, deserve a fair share of the credit for our success.”
Honestly, I thought Rietz’s speech was a little stiff. I wouldn’t have minded if he’d been more casual, or at least talked about less dry topics. Charlotte had decided that this was going to take a while, and let out a not quite subtle yawn.
“Let us all continue to work together to raise House Louvent to even greater heights, and let us provide a warm welcome to those among us who are newer to the fold! Today, we celebrate!” Rietz finally concluded, leading everyone in a toast. I joined in as well, though since I wasn’t old enough to drink yet I settled for a cup of juice instead of alcohol.
“I really am impressed. House Louvent has gained so many new followers, and you perceived the talents of every last one of them!” Licia, who was standing beside me and sipping her own glass of juice, said admiringly. “I don’t believe I’ve met quite a number of them, in fact… Are those three from a foreign country?”
It seemed Rikuya and his siblings had caught her attention. “Yes, actually─they’re from a country called Yoh,” I explained. “They’re siblings, believe it or not, and their names are Rikuya, Maika, and Takao Fujimiya. They’re my newest retainers. I’d actually forgotten that I had yet to introduce you to them.”
“This is my first time seeing them, yes! They’re siblings? Truly?” said Licia, giving the trio a somewhat skeptical glance.
“Why, good evening to you!” said Virge, stepping up to me and Licia. “I must say, Lord Ars, you’re looking positively dashing tonight, and your lady bride is as lovely as could be! And truly, what a wonderful party you’ve thrown for us─we’re ever so obliged! To think that our numbers have grown so much! What a pleasure it is to make so many new friends and compatriots, and what a wonderful day today is shaping up to be!”
Licia and I returned Virge’s long-winded greeting, only for him to say, “Oh, but look at the time─I must make the rounds and say a word to all the others! Tah tah!” and wander into the crowd before we’d even had the chance to have a proper conversation with him. He made his way over to Mireille first, then Rosell, then the Fujimiya siblings and Charlotte in turn, spending just a brief moment in conversation with each. He was a restless man, to say the least. I had to wonder if he just didn’t feel at ease unless he was talking with someone.
“Wh-Why are there this many people here…? Oh, no, no no no no… I think I’ll just go home…”
“Are ya stupid, or something?! You’re just gonna leave when we’ve got a golden opportunity to chow down for free?! And anyway, it’s high time you figured out how to hold a damn conversation! If this isn’t the right time to practice talkin’ to people then when is?!”
“N-Not now, that’s for sure! As far as I’m concerned it’s a miracle that I can even talk to you, Shin! How am I supposed to talk to anyone when I’m surrounded by strangers…?”
I overheard bits and pieces of a conversation between Shin and Enan, who happened to be nearby. The two of them weren’t technically my retainers in the same way everyone else was─they’d never sworn loyalty to me, or anything─but I’d invited them to the banquet anyway. I’d expected Shin to attend and Enan to turn the offer down, but apparently Shin had decided to bring her along with him by force, much to her displeasure.
“Oh, hey, it’s Lord Ars and his wife,” Shin piped up as he noticed us. “Thanks for calling us up to the castle for this!”
“I just hope you enjoy yourselves,” I replied.
“You know I will! You really went all-out on the grub, and I’m gonna stuff my face with it! Oh, and while we’re at it, turns out Enan’s a pretty useful gal after all. Think we might have some good news coming your way before you know it… And oh, man, does that meat over there ever look good!” said Shin, who proceeded to wander off toward the dish that had caught his eye.
“When he said to expect good news, do you suppose he was talking about the airship?” asked Licia.
“Most likely, I figure,” I replied. “Maybe they’re almost finished with it! You never know.”
“Oh, that’s so exciting! Let’s ride it together when it’s finished!” said Licia, her eyes sparkling with glee.
When she put it that way, taking an airship trip together didn’t sound bad at all…except for the part where flying vessels were inherently dangerous in all sorts of ways, of course. Even after Shin got his ships off the ground, I had a feeling it could take some time before they were ready to start taking on passengers. We’d have to wait.
“Oh, there he is! Evening, Lord Ars!” said Braham, who wound up being the next to approach us. Judging by the plates full of meat he held in each hand, he was already enjoying the banquet to the fullest. “This stuff’s seriously tasty, y’know?! Want some?”
I accepted Braham’s enthusiastic offer, and sampled some of the meat as well. He was right─it was delicious.
“Y’know that Takao guy who showed up the other day? He’s crazy tough!” Braham said as I chewed. “I sparred him one-on-one a little while back, and it just might’ve been the closest fight I’ve ever been in! And he doesn’t seem to know his way around a weapon yet, so with a little training, I think he’s gonna get even more crazy-dangerous! Can I have him in my unit? Please?!”
It seemed that Braham had challenged Takao to a duel before I even knew they’d become acquainted. He made it sound like he’d won, though not necessarily by a large margin.
“Sorry, but Takao’s off the table. I’ll be having him, Rikuya, and Maika all working together,” I replied. My intention was to found a new unit for the Fujimiya siblings to take collective command of. They’d only just joined forces with me, though, so I was still a ways off from putting that plan into action.
“Oooh, right. Yeah, makes sense, since they’re related and all,” said Braham, giving up with remarkable ease.
“I’m told that your unit has been doing incredible work lately! That’s very impressive,” Licia chimed in.
Braham blushed brightly.
“I-Impressive? No way, I’m still just getting started,” he said. It was very clear to me that the compliment had gone straight to his head, but at the very least he’d learned to act like he was being modest about it. Just a little while ago he would’ve been singing his own praises before I knew it, so I considered this progress, in its own sort of way.
“Get off of me, you miserable woman!”
“Hey! Is that any way to talk to your big sister, huh?!”
“What are you─Stop that… Ah! Hey, kid! Help me out over here!”
Thomas shouted to me next, walking in my direction and dragging Mireille─who was clinging stubbornly to him─along with.
“H-Hello, Mister Thomas and Miss Mireille!” said Braham, who had stiffened up the second he saw the two of them.
“What are you doing this time, Mireille?” I sighed.
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s being an obnoxious drunkard,” said Thomas with a scowl. “You’re the count, so you’re the only one with the authority to have her thrown out of the castle, and it’s high time you used it.”
“I think throwing her out would be a little too harsh,” I said, then turned to his sister. “H-Hey, Mireille, you’re making Thomas uncomfortable! You should cut it out.”
“Huh? Oh, hey, it’s you, kiddo! You wanna hug too?”
“That is not what I said!” I shouted in protest.
Please, you can’t make jokes like that in public! I thought as I glanced over at Licia. She was smiling, technically, but since we’d gotten married I’d learned to pick out the little nuances of her expressions, and I knew for a fact that this was one of the smiles that meant her mood was about to take a severe turn for the worse.
“Ha ha ha! Oh, I’m just kidding! Lady Licia’d have my hide if I tried anything, and I damn well know it,” said Mireille. “Huh? Hey, look, it’s Braham!”
“Hello, Miss Mireille,” Braham repeated enthusiastically.
“Looks to me like you’ve gone and grown on us again, huh? You used to be just another plain ’ol idiot, but now you’re more like the nice li’l boy next door, or something! Still look dumb as a post, though.”
“Thank you! I still have a lot of work to do, but I’ll be giving it my all to better myself!” replied Braham.
“G-Great,” said Mireille. She seemed a little taken aback to see Braham reply so positively to her backhanded encouragement. “Hmm. Y’know, you always seemed like such a moron I couldn’t see you any other way, but now that you’ve cleared that up a bit, you’ve got a pretty cute sorta babyface thing going… Huh? Are you…totally my type?” Mireille added, catching the rest of us as off guard as she’d been caught just a moment before.
“Wh-What do you mean, your type?” said Braham, a hint of concern creeping into his expression.
“Oh, you know what I mean!” said Mireille. “So, Braham, you have anything planned after the banquet’s done?”
“Huh?” Braham blinked. “Uh, no, not really. I was just gonna go straight to bed after I finished eating.”
“Iiinteresting! In that case, how about the two of us slip away and─”
“I-I don’t really get all that sorta stuff! Bye!” Braham shouted, then fled the scene without wasting a second.
“Ah, nuts. He sure didn’t let me down easy,” grumbled Mireille.
“You weren’t gentle with your approach either, so of course he didn’t,” I sighed.
“Yeah, true enough. Looks like I’ll have to take my time bringing him around,” said Mireille, licking her lips as she watched him go.
I could only shake my head. I wasn’t interested in shutting down my retainers’ love affairs, but I had a feeling that Mireille’s in particular could be way more trouble than they were worth, and made a mental note to consider banning her in specific from flirting with any of my other followers. Thankfully, she was drunk enough that if my luck held, she’d have forgotten all about Braham by the next morning.
“Y’know, if I marry Braham, that’d make you his little brother,” Mireille said as she elbowed Thomas.
“Stop saying these awful things, woman!” Thomas bellowed in reply.
“Honestly, though, I had Braham pegged as a tough but useless idiot, and look at him now, all grown up and stuff! Looks like you’ve brought a buncha new people in lately too, and I bet they’re all just as useful, eh? That power of yours sure is working wonders, kiddo,” Mireille continued, the look on her face shifting to something much more serious than before. “Keep bringing ’em in at this rate, and keep growing Canarre, and you might just find yourself turning into one of the most powerful counts in Missian! Hell, you might already be one of ’em for all I know,” she added with a somewhat satisfied grin. “Then again, there’s such a thing as getting too powerful, too quickly. That can draw in all sorts of bad attention, so better keep an eye out!”
I decided to take Mireille’s warning to heart. She was right, after all─the stronger that Canarre grew as a county, the more wary of us Seitz would become. For all I knew, even Couran might start seeing me as a threat if I pushed my luck too far. Thankfully, my relationship with him was friendly, for the moment, and I hadn’t gotten the sense that he felt any hostility toward me yet. Couran was also a very broad-minded person, so I figured he would see Canarre’s growth as a positive development…or at least, I wanted to believe that was the case.
“Good evening to you, Lord Ars…and to your lovely companion, as well,” said Rikuya, who picked that moment to approach me with Maika and Takao at his side.
“Good evening, and a pleasure to meet you,” said Licia. “I am Ars’s wife, Licia Louvent.”
“H-His wife?! You’re married?!” Rikuya yelped in shock. I gathered that someone my age getting married was not the norm in Yoh─though of course, when I put it that way we’d tied the knot pretty early by Summerforthian standards as well. My father had apparently waited until his late twenties to get married, after all.
“Hmph─if he’s married, then that sinks my plan to wed him myself and tie our families together straight away,” grumbled Maika.
“W-Wait, what? Is that really what you were going for?!” asked Rikuya, aghast.
“Just a jest, of course.”
“Make it more obvious next time, please!” Rikuya groaned. He always seemed to make a point of calling out Maika’s more eccentric behavior. “Oh, I’m sorry, I should have already introduced myself. My name is Rikuya Fujimiya, and I’ve recently entered House Louvent’s service,” he continued, turning back to Licia.
“And I am his sister, Maika Fujimiya!”
“I’m Takao Fujimiya…and there’s so much good food here, I think this is the happiest day of my entire life,” said Takao, finishing off the trio’s introductions with a smile so broad, I didn’t doubt his claim for a second.
“You always say that whenever there’s enough good food on the table to satisfy you,” Rikuya said with a shake of his head.
“Hey, kiddo, are those three the new retainers you got the other day?” asked Mireille, who’d still been loitering nearby.
I confirmed her guess, then introduced her to the three of them, pulling Thomas into the exchange while I was at it.
“Yoh… Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I drank some great booze in Semplar once that was supposed to be an export from Yoh. Yeah, I’m sure of it─it was real good stuff,” said Mireille, pausing for a moment to bask in the memory of a drink long passed. “And now that I look at her…isn’t that Maika kid totally my type?” she added, a distinct glimmer of interest entering her eyes.
She’s hopeless. Thomas was right─I should’ve driven her out of the castle while I had the chance, for her own sake.
“Your…type? Does that mean you like me?” asked Maika with a cock of her head.
“It sure does,” said Mireille with a nod.
“Interesting! I don’t know why you’ve taken a liking to me, but I don’t dislike it when people appreciate me!” said Maika with a smile that told me she didn’t have the foggiest idea what sort of dubious thoughts were going through Mireille’s mind at that very moment.
“O-Oh, gods, she’s adorable… I’ve always wanted to corrupt an innocent little girl like her,” Mireille muttered.
Yup. Definitely hopeless.
I resolved to never, ever invite Mireille to an event where alcohol would be served again…though I had a funny feeling that she’d find a way to show up uninvited, regardless.
“Hey, you. I’m gonna have to ask you to stop leering at my sister now,” said Rikuya, stepping in to give Mireille a piece of his mind before I had the chance to stop her.
“What?” grunted Mireille. “Look, guy, mediocre men don’t interest me. Take a hike, ’kay?”
“Wha─You did not just call me mediocre to my face!” shouted Rikuya. Mireille had just happened to pick out his sorest subject, and for a moment I thought the two of them were going to come to blows.
“Hey, Mireille,” I interjected in a last-ditch effort to keep things peaceful, “they’re opening up a few bottles of some really nice alcohol over on the other side of the room! We only have a few, though, so you’d better hurry if you want some!”
“Wh-What?! Gotta go, bye!”
And just like that, Mireille was gone in a flash. My story hadn’t been a complete lie, for what it’s worth. They really were passing out drinks on the other side of the room─it’s just that those drinks weren’t anything special, in truth. Considering how drunk Mireille already was, though, I was pretty confident she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
“You certainly have some…eccentric retainers, don’t you?” said Licia.
“I can’t deny that,” I admitted, “but if I made a list of my most eccentric followers, I think Maika and Takao would end up in the top ranks.”
“Y-Yes, I suppose I can see that.”
“One moment─Takao, I can accept, but I don’t appreciate you treating me like an eccentric as well, Master!” Maika irritably interjected.
“The three of you are from Yoh, I believe? What sort of place is your homeland? I’m afraid I know next to nothing about it,” said Licia.
“Hmm─where to start…” said Maika. “It’s an island nation, for one thing. Our diets consist largely of fish, and the locals are a rather hot-blooded bunch, on the whole. Civil wars are common, and thanks to the ousting of the royal family, I believe the land is likely controlled by a variety of feuding warlords at the moment. That’s just speculation, of course. For all I know, some nobleman somewhere has become the new king and united Yoh under his banner.”
“I see… It sounds rather like Summerforth, then, at least when it comes to the civil wars. Our emperor is still alive and well, of course… You said your royal family was defeated? That must have been quite the difficult period for everyone involved.”
“Y-Yes, it certainly was,” Rikuya awkwardly muttered.
We had decided that there was no need to spread around his family’s royal status without reason, so for the time being me, Rietz, and Rosell─who we’d gone to for information on their homeland─were the only ones who knew. I was considering letting Licia in on the secret later on, though.
“Okay, we’d better go introduce ourselves to everyone else,” Rikuya said, then led his siblings off to speak with the other guests.
I watched them go, a little worried about how that would work out, but thankfully, their socializing seemed to proceed without any serious issues. They kept their introductions simple and to the point, and it seemed things would work out between them and everyone else just fine, much to my relief.
The rest of the banquet passed by without incident, and eventually, the evening’s celebration drew to a close. It had been a roaring success, and it seemed to me that the bonds between my retainers had strengthened. Considering how much I was planning on expanding their numbers in the long term, I had a feeling that we’d be having a lot more of these gatherings in the future.
○
“Well done,” said Boroths Heigand. He was currently working out of Fort Purledo, located in the Purledo county of Seitz, and had just received a report from a spy he had dispatched to gather information.
After the disastrous invasion of Missian that Boroths had overseen, his standing had fallen so dramatically that he had half expected to be exiled or executed for his failure. The Duke of Seitz, however, had chosen not to punish Boroths in any particular capacity and instead had once again instructed him to seize control of Canarre by any means necessary. Boroths’s instructions were clear: to bring Ars Louvent over to Seitz’s side, or if that proved impossible, to put an end to him.
On those objectives, Boroths and the duke were very much in agreement. Ever since the failure of his first invasion, Boroths had prioritized building up his forces, sabotaging Canarre’s capacity to defend itself, and gathering information about the enemy while he was at it. Canarre, unfortunately, seemed to have a very capable network of spies themselves running counterintelligence, and Boroths’s agents hadn’t been able to obtain as much information as he’d hoped. Worse still, the brigands-turned-soldiers that Boroths had dismissed from the army and sent into Canarre to wreak havoc had apparently been exterminated before they could cause much damage to speak of.
I see now that he simply has too many capable followers for these plans to work. Half measures won’t be enough to win us the day…and we don’t have the time to build up a force strong enough to claim Canarre by brute force. I’m running out of options.
One point in Boroths’s spies’ reports had been consistent: the Count of Canarre had been taking more and more individuals into his service as time wore on. There was no way of judging how capable those newcomers were yet, of course, but Boroths was confident that more and more monstrous talents would be taking to the field on Canarre’s side in the near future.
As if the personnel situation wasn’t dire enough, Canarre’s economy was also going through an upswing. The state of affairs was favorable for Missian on the whole, but Canarre in particular had been implementing one exceedingly rational policy after another. Canarre’s officials had proven capable of interfacing with its people, as well, and civilian enterprises had been speeding along at a breakneck pace. It was plain to see that Canarre was developing at a rate that put the other counties of Missian to shame. If that economic boom were to spread to the neighboring counties as well, then they would soon be a threat that Seitz couldn’t ignore.
I need to snip this in the bud…and to that end…I suppose an assassination is the only means I have left.
Boroths knew what he had to do, but resolving to assassinate a political figure and carrying that assassination out were two very different matters. None of Boroths’s personal retainers had the skills to succeed at such a task, and so he had concluded that his only choice was to hire a third party…but information on capable killers-for-hire wasn’t easily obtained, either. Boroths had learned of one master assassin so far, and had sent his men to find them, but as time passed by no report seemed to be forthcoming.
By that point, Boroths was starting to panic.
“Have we still not managed to make contact with Zetsu?” he asked one of his nearby retainers.
“There’s still no word, sir,” the retainer replied.
“I see… I’m starting to wonder if the information we received was even true in the first place,” Boroths said with a shake of his head.
Just then, another of Boroths’s men burst into the chamber. “A report’s come in, Sir Boroths! We’ve found Zetsu!”
“You have?! Excellent!” said Boroths, a look of relief coming across his face.
“They’ve agreed to speak with you, and are waiting in the parlor at this moment.”
“The parlor? Understood─I’ll leave at once.”
Boroths stood up and headed for the parlor. At long last, the assassination of Ars Louvent would be set into motion.
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