Chapter 299
"Whoa, they're really going all out, aren't they?"
The report in my hands makes me feel the week spent training them was worth it.
"Liberta, what are you reading?"
"Ah, it's a report from the team I was training up until last week."
"I see."
Even for me, fully training over ten people to Class 5 all at once was exhausting.
I had taken just one day of rest, and during that time, this report arrived from the Entertainer members who were acting as liaisons, and I'm reading it now.
"Stealing from nobles' assets and exposing evidence of a major merchant's drug stockpiling..."
Nell peers over my shoulder from behind to look, but I pay her no mind and turn the page.
"At this rate, we should be able to get a central inspection team sent to Hokshi to judge the corrupt nobles and merchants there."
"That's *if* things go smoothly, right?"
"Yeah. Well, one problem has already cropped up."
Nell's gaze, swiftly reading the pages I'm turning, is fluid.
Since she originally aimed to be a merchant, she recognizes the necessity of paperwork.
Hence, she has no aversion to it.
She probably also sees information as a merchant's weapon.
"It's about the Western Hero, right?"
"Yeah, she arrived this morning and is currently in talks with His Majesty and His Grace."
We need to strengthen our forces to fight Azhdaha.
While I was training Judeus and the others, I had Nell and the others work on contracting His Grace the Duke's private soldiers and laying the groundwork to turn them into a fighting force.
Regarding the contract details, we had to coordinate carefully with His Grace to prevent rebellions, crimes, and leaks of the training methods.
On top of that, we're also negotiating with Claudia in parallel to see if we can get knights dispatched from the Temple.
No matter how you look at it, with our current forces, even if we could defeat Azhdaha, the damage would be severe.
Not just in terms of human resources, but the land pollution would be worse.
Azhdaha is the type of monster, among the sealed monsters on other continents, that spreads contamination by a wide margin.
If you mess up the game progression, the land becomes uninhabitable for a while, and a restoration quest is issued because recovery takes so long.
If that happens, there's a risk of various other quests being lost, so we players explored ways to minimize that damage.
The minimum necessary forces and strategies were established then.
And since just one method wasn't enough, various players, conscious of cost-effectiveness, created content, leading to a flood of videos like "Azhdaha Strategy Even Beginners Can Do!!"
One of those methods involved going to the Spirit World, which greatly increased safety and certainty. That was a big deal.
The preparations are tough, but if you can manage it, your win rate against Azhdaha shoots up.
I thought we'd be solid with the Duke's private soldiers and reinforcements from the Temple.
"But speaking of which, the Western Hero's name..."
"I believe it was Clarice, wasn't it?"
"Yes, the name left behind by the Mad Jester at the end."
Furthermore, the fact that the first to arrive is someone I don't know, and is presumed to be the person whose name was last mentioned by that Mad Jester, makes me even more wary.
"Ahh, the current pressing situation where we can't refuse the additional manpower is truly regrettable."
That said, letting that wariness lead us to decline the forces would be the worst of the worst strategies among our options.
We are aiming to conquer it with the minimum necessary force, but that doesn't mean we don't want *excess* force.
If, like in the game era, we didn't have to worry about public order and such, I'd just gather adventurers from around and mass-produce combat power using a Spartan method that would make even efficiency maniacs smile.
But doing that now would give individuals incredible power, and it's clear it would instantly turn into a warring states period.
The sad part is the high versatility of my knowledge, I suppose.
If we leveled up simultaneously across the entire continent and made everyone's level equal, that worry would disappear, but that was impossible even in the game era.
Therefore, we have no choice but to dole it out bit by bit and make a portion of the forces reliably usable.
In FBO's game system, there was no 'Trust' stat, but there was 'Favorability'.
When favorability was high, NPCs would become more obedient and easier to coordinate with—that kind of system.
In this world that has become reality, there's no such system. It's been swapped out for a crap-game system where you have to judge people based solely on credit and trust.
"Can't we refuse? Say we won't accept them?"
"Honestly, we're stretched thin for combat power, so if they provide a certain level of strength, we want it. Even without credit or trust, they might be usable depending on how we manage them. Plus, with international relations involved, and above all, the backing of the gods, there's no way His Majesty the King, who has to heed their wishes, can refuse. No matter what we do, we're definitely getting involved."
Integrating new forces under this kind of system is pretty tough, you know.
Claudia is pulling forces from the Temple side for negotiations, and with Lady Esmeralda attached for support, the other side understands the ducal house is serious, so forces are gathering relatively smoothly.
Training is supposed to start within this week.
As for the ducal private soldiers, the selection was already complete at the stage where His Grace wanted me to instruct them, gathering soldiers approved by His Grace.
So for this side, with Lady Iris, Ingrid, and Amina attached, training is currently in progress.
They've all broken through to Class 1 now and are in the midst of skill training.
Training a total of 1000 people all at once would mean not enough dungeons or skill scrolls.
We can boost their stats, but regarding skills, the schedule is tight enough that they'll have empty skill slots.
Thanks to the pre-selection and the recognized track record of training the administrative team, this training is also progressing smoothly.
"Sounds tough."
"Not as tough as what you're doing, Nell."
And the person in the most crucial position for this training is Nell.
Securing scrolls by the thousands is not easy.
We're using the full authority of the ducal house and the royal family to buy out the skill shops.
Specified skills are running out of stock day after day just to secure them.
Even then, it's impossible to have enough.
The purchase price has been increased based on calculations by the royal family and His Grace, but that doesn't suddenly make the available numbers skyrocket.
If skills are lacking, the training naturally stalls.
The complete training plan for FBO involves leveling and skill training as a set.
If skills are insufficient, leveling inevitably has to stop too.
Promotion Orbs are also essential.
Items and leveling are inseparable on the path to becoming the strongest in this world.
The one helping with that is Nell, a character with a cheat-like immense luck.
Luck so immense you'd suspect she was a debug character created by the game's operators.
The truth is that the power of a being known as a 'Great God' has partially flowed into her, but even I don't know the full details.
"Me? I'm just running lower-level dungeons on a loop."
"Just being able to activate Fortune's Summoning and do high-speed loops is pretty amazing, though."
High-speed runs of lower-level dungeons, utilizing her Class 8 stats.
This feat is only possible because we have Nell, who drops scrolls left and right even on normal runs.
Otherwise, I'd have to ask what kind of ascetic training leveling a thousand people is supposed to be.
We were having this exchange at the mansion within the Duke's grounds, enjoying a rare day off, when the sound of the door knocker at the entrance echoed.
"Did we have any plans for visitors?"
"Not that I know of."
With Ingrid out, the responsibility for greeting guests falls to either me or Nell, who are here.
I briefly considered pretending no one was home, but since I'd informed His Grace I'd be at the mansion, I thought he might have sent a messenger for some business.
Getting up from the sofa, I headed to the entrance with Nell.
"Huh? Why are there so many?"
Using Presence Detection to gauge the number of people at the entrance, I found it was several times—no, over ten times—more than I expected, waiting outside the door.
I sensed no hostility, so it wasn't an attack or anything.
The door knocker sounded again. I wondered if it was okay to open the door.
"Who is it?"
For now, I confirmed the visitor through the door.
*'It is I. Edelgard Duke.'*
So, the visitor was the Edelgard Duke.
Normally, he sends a herald and gives prior notice, so why the sudden visit?
That must mean the group of presences behind him is the issue.
"Understood. I'll open it now."
It didn't feel like he was being held hostage or anything.
In fact, if they were the type to take the Edelgard Duke hostage, we couldn't build a cooperative relationship anyway, so we could just write them off.
Thinking that, I opened the door to find a troubled-looking Edelgard Duke and Lotus-san, who had likely knocked.
Behind them were his guard knights, and for some reason, the King was also there, and furthermore...
"......"
There was also an Elven woman staring intently at me.
To be more precise, an Elven woman surrounded by uniformed knights in full plate mail, whose inner essence was likely also Elven.
Instantly understanding what kind of group this was, I suppressed a sigh.
After glancing back and forth between the Elven woman and the Duke a few times,
"Shall I introduce myself?"
"Yes, that would expedite matters."
I don't know the intent behind bringing the Western Hero here, but she probably wished to immediately meet the person deeply involved in the oracle's contents.
And if it's the word of the gods, neither the King nor the Duke have any means to refuse.
I wish they'd consider our schedule before acting, I sighed inwardly, keeping my expression neutral as I stepped forward.
The Duke and Lotus-san stood behind me, and once we moved before the King,
"Lady Clarice, this is the hero of our country."
I was introduced by the King, who had apparently designated me as a hero at some point.
Ah, so that's how it's going to be, I thought. As I was introduced, I performed the noble greeting I'd been using often lately—placing a hand over my left chest and bowing my head.
"My name is Liberta. I am honored by the introduction."
I gave a safe, standard greeting.
She was a beautiful woman, as elves often are, and it was rare to see one wearing glasses.
Her neatly styled, light green hair made me want to call out "Class Representative!", and her appearance exuded an intellectual atmosphere.
She was taller than me.
I had no choice but to look up at her slightly.
"Your polite greeting is most gracious. I am Clarice Norland, Thirteenth Seat of the Grand Assembly of the Elven Nation of Felia. By divine oracle, I have come to become your disciple. My master, please guide me."
But that upward gaze was swiftly lowered.
She knelt, bowed her head, and proclaimed me her master.
*(What am I supposed to do now?)* I looked to the Duke for help, but he just shook his head slightly.