Chapter 397
Alright, so several days have passed since that intense PvP match, and I'm in my office, looking at two items laid out on my desk.
"Hmm, what should I do about these?"
I'm sitting in the office of the lord's manor—my residence—in the pioneer village meticulously built by Don and the other craftsmen. This place is gaining so much momentum it's likely to be named "Liberta Town" eventually. The office boasts an oddly impressive, high-quality large desk and a matching genuine leather chair made from the hide of some monster—a type of leather I'd never even sat on in my previous life. On the desktop, I'm pondering what to do with the High-Speed Makers and the Time-Reducing Earrings.
"Ingrid, what do you think we should do?""I believe the safest option would be for our party to use them."
"That's the thing, isn't it? If Claudia or Nell uses the High-Speed Makers, and Esmeralda uses the Time-Reducing Earrings, our party would become significantly stronger."
The battle with the unexpected enemy, Runner Runner, yielded unexpected items.
High-Speed Makers and Time-Reducing Earrings.
Both boast performance that could be called exceptional.Therefore, I don't want to let such treasures go to waste, left unused in storage.
There is a risk of theft or someone running off with them, but if that happens, we'll thoroughly hunt down the culprit and eliminate them with full force. So, for now, I'm not considering the possibility of losing them.
In terms of trust and reliability, Ingrid's suggestion to use them within the party is valid.You could say it's the "safe and prudent" choice.
"But, there's also the option of letting Entertainer and Don's group use them.""Not the Genjirou-sama and the Garden Guards?""Yeah, exactly. Entertainer and Don."
However, I can't help but wonder if it's right to just sharpen only our party's fangs like this.There are clear benefits to other uses as well.
I accept the milk tea Ingrid offers and drink it, as if to soothe my overworked body.*Sigh*, the sweet taste seeps into my being.
"High-Speed Makers could be suitable for reconnaissance depending on how they're used, and they can be applied to pursuit. Time-Reducing Earrings also affect crafting-type skills, so they'd increase work efficiency.""But that remains within the scope of an individual. Wouldn't it be problematic for just one person to stand out?""That's the point. If we do it, we'd have to do it for everyone at once—Wait, is it getting noisy outside?"
While taking this break, I notice a commotion outside the manor.To be more precise, right now, the sound of running footsteps approaching down the hallway is getting loud.
"Liberta! Trouble!""What is it? Did another Runner Runner appear nearby? I'd be happy if it was golden again.""It's not like monsters just pop up whenever you want! Well, in a way, Runner Runners would actually be *less* troublesome!"
The source of the footsteps is Judeus, the leader of the Entertainers who patrol this pioneer village's territory.
His frantic entrance is a complete contrast to when we found the Runner Runner, so I couldn't help but hope maybe another Runner Runner had shown up, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Feeling a bit disappointed, I ask what it is.
"...With that kind of reaction, is it people, then?"
I'm probably the only one who'd be happy about a world monster showing up, but Judeus's comment about Runner Runners being "less troublesome" is also quite telling.
Events more troublesome than monsters—that would be...
"Yeah, it'll take some time before they reach the territory border, but it looks like an army will be near here in about 2 or 3 days.""An army... The Royal Capital's Knight Order? Or His Grace the Duke's troops? No, but I haven't received any report about them coming.""Neither. The banners... they belong to the eastern lord, Duke Marchias. They've pushed all the way north from the eastern territory in one go."
So, nobles are the cause of this panic.
"...Ingrid, summon Esmeralda here immediately. Contact His Grace the Duke for confirmation. You may use the Transfer Pendulum.""Understood.""Judeus, sorry, but please run to Genjirou. Tell him to raise the alert level to maximum. After that, recall all Entertainers on leave and cast a wide detection net. For monitoring the army, assign at least five people.""Got it!"
Hearing the reason, I immediately give orders to the two people in the room and set them into action.
An army approaching the territory...If they're extremists, I can understand them getting carried away and resorting to force, but what would that achieve?
Considering the opponent's motives, I lean back deeply into the chair's backrest.
I roughly understand Duke Marchias's thinking, ideology, and personality from FBO.In a good way, he's rational; in a bad way, he's an extreme utilitarian.
He values useful people, but ruthlessly demotes them upon failure.He only cares about results, disregarding the effort in the process.
So, even if underhanded methods are used, he'll accept them as long as they aren't discovered or made public, and he'll evaluate the person who did it.
Even if you work earnestly, failure means being ousted and given no second chance.
The army run under such an ideology doesn't shy away from methods.In that sense, this action isn't impossible, but it's too blatant and would draw the attention of His Majesty and Duke Edelgard.
Furthermore, a low-level, poorly equipped army like that can be intercepted easily. Heck, I'm confident we could annihilate them with guerrilla tactics before they even get close to the walls.
Is it because they don't grasp our true strength that they underestimate us and try to subjugate us by force?
"No, that can't be it."
Duke Marchias wouldn't take such foolish, reckless action.Well, to be more accurate, it's better to say his subordinates wouldn't allow it.
Except for a few, most of his subordinates fear Duke Marchias.It's on the level of fearing a dictator; they constantly feel their lives are in danger.
So, even for a noble house under his command, it would be an idiotic move to arbitrarily march an army into my territory. They should know all too well what would happen if they failed.
In a way, thanks to Duke Marchias, the nobles' sense of crisis is well-trained, and their thinking about risk and return is skewed heavily towards safety-first compared to nobles from other territories.
As a result, many lack initiative and become yes-men.
"Then, the conclusion is... They've created some pretext to approach this land, getting as close as possible to the border, and have come under the guise of a formal greeting to gather information that spies couldn't obtain?"
Considering their nature, I judge the most plausible theory is that, impatient with the lack of progress, they've used some excuse to approach the very edge of the territory line. They've likely come under the pretext of paying a visit to gather intelligence.
"Got impatient with the stalemate, huh... *Sigh*, what a pain."
We could refuse the greeting and cut ties here, but then rumors would spread that *we* severed the relationship. They could turn it around, saying, "You cut us off, so we can cut you off too," which would hinder our activities on the southern continent.
"First, I'll give orders for Nell and Amina not to leave Claudia's side. Then, inform Zink-san to warn the residents to be cautious about kidnappings or such..."
Giving nobles a pretext is quite bothersome.Those guys are clever when it comes to wicked schemes.
So, it's better for us to shift towards constructing a welcome—or rather, a security net—and getting through the greeting safely.
"The interior of the second wall is under construction for the school, damn it. Why do they have to come at this timing? If they'd come a bit earlier, we could have welcomed them with the place empty. *Sigh*... I'll ask Don's group to prepare welcome accommodations and temporary housing on an urgent basis... and I should request Teresa-san and the others to prepare food. If we provide supply support, it could count as aiding them in name at least."
Thinking about the troublesome conversations awaiting me later makes me want to sigh.For a moment, the thought of leaving it to Esmeralda crosses my mind.
The possibility of Duke Marchias himself leading this march is extremely low.
In that case, there's no absolute necessity for me to go out.
"But... I want to check if any Named characters have been incorporated into Duke Marchias's army. *Sigh*, I guess I should go."
However, for gathering intelligence and assessing the enemy's combat strength, my knowledge is necessary.If capable Named characters are mixed in with ordinary soldiers, I'd be in real trouble.
There are several skilled Named individuals in the eastern territory.They are capable in combat and can also serve in roles like strategists.
If they're in unfavorable positions, recruitment might be an option, but...
"With Bermuda present, that's a no-go. If they're his subordinates, they'd undoubtedly be turned into spies. That would mean harboring a traitor in our midst. Well, could we bind them with contracts?"
I sigh at the imbalance between return and risk.
"No, there's no need to go that far to make them allies. We can just scout people who seem trustworthy instead."
Judging that being fixated on Named characters and getting dragged down would be worse, I dismiss that thought along with a sigh.
"More importantly, I should think about what to do about Bermuda."
The reason for dismissing that thought makes me want to sigh even more.Bermuda Ortus.
This character's evaluation in FBO was generally quite negative.However, he was favored by a very small subset of players.
He's a villain-type character.Consequently, he often receives poor evaluations regarding his personality. But he is also a person of considerable ability.
Bermuda Ortus's skill set is that of a buffer.He uses his subordinates like pieces in a shogi puzzle, extracting maximum efficiency.
His combat ability isn't particularly high, but he's the troublesome type when leading an army.Among NPCs, his command ability ranks high.
He fully accepts minimal casualties, doesn't speak of idealism, and seeks maximum return for minimum risk.Because of this character trait, he had good synergy with golems.If I were to use a person like Bermuda Ortus, I wouldn't assign humans as his subordinates. Instead, I'd give him a large number of golems, especially the type equipped with self-destruct functions.
More obedient to commands than people, they can be repaired if broken, they feel no fear or disgust when defeating enemies.
They act as inorganic objects, devoid of emotion.
Such golems incur enormous costs, but in terms of producing results, they have incredibly good synergy with a person like Bermuda Ortus.
"His outward appearance is good. He understands the benefits of approaching others in a favorable and friendly manner. He also knows the optimal timing for betrayal to achieve maximum efficiency."
Truly, giving a demon a metal club.In fact, it was probably Bermuda's idea to focus on magic tools as weapons.
Magic equipment isn't just for humans.Golems can use them too.
If you progress Bermuda's storyline in FBO, you learn that the reason he serves under Duke Marchias is because money is easiest to use there and their ideologies of domination are similar.
The ending Bermuda dreams of is a dystopia where human soldiers are eliminated, and humans who have lost their means to resist are ruled by golems.
A social structure that plucks out the buds of rebellion, called conflict, and establishes a ruling hierarchy.
That's what he desires to create.
And the one who listened to him speak of this dream and saw value in it was the most powerful person on this continent, Duke Marchias.
A truly "dangerous when mixed" combination.His thinking, which treats humans as expendable resources, is thorough to a level that makes my brain want to reject understanding it.
An army led by a believer of such a domination ideology is approaching.It's clear that nothing good will come of this.
"*Sigh*, knowing that terrorism is likely but having to engage anyway is a painful reality."
Thinking such thoughts, I take a sip of the now slightly cooled milk tea.