Panamera

PANAMERA COVERED BOTH EARS TO MUFFLE THE dragon’s roar of pain, then took stock of the situation.

“We were only able to do minimal damage to its back, but its eyes, mouth, and stomach have also sustained heavy damage,” she explained calmly. “It is unfortunate that we could not put it down in a single blow. Luckily, its breath was directed at the enemy; things would have been disastrous otherwise. A terrifying thought.”

Paula nodded, her face ashen. She turned around. “I-it’s still moving. Are we okay?”

“As long as we remain careful of its breath, there should be no more casualties, but it is paramount that we take the beast out permanently. Right now, pursuing the enemy is our priority. If we let them flee now, we lose.”

Paula made to reply, but her words died on her lips as five black shadows flew out of Scudet. They spread their wings and made directly for Paula and Panamera’s location.

“Wyverns?!” Paula cried. “Five at once?!”

“They are desperate. Paula, can you shoot them down?”

“W-we can!” she assured Panamera. “Everyone, get ready! Re​member to lead your shots! Every ballista operator who’s capable should target them!”

Despite the panic, Paula and her troops swiftly adjusted the angles of the catapults and ballistae, preparing to fire. The wyverns approached like a typhoon, but the squad stayed its course.

“Everyone ready?! Fire!”

At Paula’s command, the catapults and ballistae opened fire. A cacophonous storm of black boxes and ballista bolts sliced the air. Moments later, the boxes burst, unleashing their payload: countless silver pieces. Metal shuriken.

In a blink, they spread through the sky, raining hell upon the wyverns. They cut holes in wings, torsos, and legs. Raw instinct allowed the wyverns to evade any blows to the head, but they were riddled with holes. Not one went unscathed.

The wyverns dropped from the sky at a lethal velocity. Paula, frowning, shouted, “Everyone, take cover behind your shields!”

Panamera grinned, watching the soldiers conceal themselves. She stepped forward. “Incredible results. Well done, Captain Paula. Leave the rest to me,” she said, activating the spell she had just finished. “All of you stand back! Let our enemies be burned to a crisp, Vermillion!”

As she uttered these final words, three layers of magic circles appeared before her, each summoning a ball of flame. They melded with one another, creating a massive, fiery sphere. Like an enormous flamethrower, this inferno sphere spread wide and rose up to meet the falling wyverns.

In an instant, the sky was orange, and the wyverns’ hulking bodies were engulfed in flames. The flames ignited the air itself, changing the trajectory of the wyverns’ fall. Their flaming bodies slammed into the ground, one after the other, shaking the earth itself.

“Th-that was close…”

“We’re okay, but…”

The wyverns had just missed Paula and her troops, averting disaster. Paula stared at the burning corpses before her, then turned to find Viscount Panamera grinning.

Panamera’s troops were the first to react with heroic roars: “What a joyous occasion! We’ve destroyed the enemy’s dragon and their wyverns! Their primary weapons are no more! Victory is ours!” Paula and her squad soon followed suit, and the cheers grew louder and louder until they engulfed the battlefield.

These victorious cries decimated the morale of the enemies atop the wall. Bit by bit, their front line was pushed back, until Yelenetta’s forces abandoned the fortress city.

With victory in their hands, Scuderia’s forces were ready to pursue the enemy —but then they received orders to cease.

“B-but why…?” Paula asked, bewildered.

Panamera snorted. “Our leaders likely decided that the enemy’s exploding weapon was more dangerous than the dragon or wyverns. I would have issued the same order. Remember, there are mountain roads behind Scudet. Imagine trying to pursue an enemy equipped with such weapons through mountainous terrain. To pursue would be to send our troops to needless deaths.”

Paula still looked a bit confused, but she said, “I-I see…”

With a loud laugh, Panamera patted her shoulder. “Fear not. The battle is won, and we have you and your troops to thank for that victory more than anyone else. You may return to your lord with your heads held high.”

Paula blinked, but she answered Panamera’s smirk with a smile of her own.

 

Van

A GROUP OF SOLDIERS HAD BEEN WATCHING FROM a distance to see how things unfolded on the battlefield. They grinned at one another when the troops’ victorious cheers reached even their ears.

“Whelp, I guess we ended up watching the whole battle,” Van said with a sigh. He raised both arms and stretched them.

“It looks like they managed to win… I hope nobody is hurt.” Till sounded worried, but Khamsin puffed out his chest.

“No way could they have lost with Lord Van’s weapons,” he scoffed. “I guarantee that Scudet’s victory was complete and nobody was harmed.”

Van nodded, though his smile was somewhat pained; Khamsin had been in a protracted state of excitement since the battle began. “Yeah. In any event, I think Paula and the others are probably okay. Knowing Viscount Panamera, she’d have made it a point to keep them safe.”

“Viscount Panamera would definitely protect them,” Khamsin agreed promptly.

Arte giggled, looking around at them all. “Hee hee! In that case, I will call back the puppets.”

“Good idea. Best to pull them out quickly before they’re spotted.”

“Right. Then… Huh?” Arte frowned, doubt lacing her voice. “I’ve spotted one of Yelenetta’s soldiers retreating. It appears they were attacked…”

A brief silence fell as Van considered this. After a moment’s thought, he raised his head. “Let’s capture him. We might be able to figure out how our enemy got their hands on those black balls.”

“Understood. I shall give it a try.”

 

Despite our team’s victory, I decided to leave the battlefield behind as quickly

as I had arrived. The only problem was that I now had a prisoner to deal with.

“It’s over… My life is over… They are going to interrogate me and kill me…” came the man’s anguished whispers. “This is awful… I can’t go on… I don’t want to be tortured!”

I sighed. “I never thought we’d get our hands on a prince. And our second one to boot! I’m not collecting princes!” “Collecting princes…” Till echoed.

“What’s so funny about that?!”

For some reason, Till was desperately trying to stop herself from laughing. I turned around to look at the young man behind me. He was slender, with the good looks of a pop idol, bright green hair, and tears running down his face. There was currently a sword held to his neck, and boy oh boy, did he look pale. He was covered in cold sweat, which, coupled with the tears in his eyes, made him look like a middle-school kid who had been bullied all his life.

As for me, well, I was the bully. “So, you’re Freightliner Yelenetta, correct?

First of all, I have no intention of killing or torturing you. For now.”

“For now?! I knew it! Once you meet up with the main forces, you’ll have my head!”

“No, no, no, no… Man, you’re so negative! We’re not even meeting up with the main forces. I’m going home.”

“H-home…? S-so you can take your time torturing me?!”

“I’m seriously not going to do that,” I replied, exasperated.

Freightliner trembled. He clearly didn’t believe a word I said.

There was a lot I wanted to ask him, and as luck would have it, he had spilled the beans with very little fuss. I felt kind of awkward about the whole thing, but I was pleased I didn’t have to use a truth serum on the guy. “To be honest,” I said, “you’ve given us a lot of valuable information. Once we confirm you haven’t been lying, I wouldn’t mind just letting you go.”

“R-really? You won’t kill me? You’re not going to torture me?”

“Nope, not at all,” I replied breezily.

Freightliner must have been truly terrified to be acting so desperate with a child my age. I understood why, but given his status and all, it would have been nice to see at least a little bit of backbone.

Who am I kidding? If this were me, I might’ve sobbed in fear.

“Yelenetta’s really going all out, huh?” I murmured, mostly to myself.

“Alliance or not, sending the majority of their troops our way is a wild choice.

You guys might be in an even rougher position than we are…”

The light vanished from Freightliner’s eyes. “All I can think is that they’ve gone mad. There is no such thing as a perfect alliance. Everyone prioritizes their own country’s gains. Even the black balls are just being imported in. It would be one thing if we had a monopoly on them, but… If it were me, I’d…”

Freightliner trailed off and began whispering to himself. He kind of looked like he had lost his mind, but his actual words were imparting crucial information.

“Hold on a second,” I said. “You guys have an alliance with Hethel, right? The country ruling the eastern end of the continent? Were those black balls coming from the center of the continent, then?”

Freightliner sighed, his expression darkening. “Our new siege weapons, magic, castle fortifications… They’re all from the center of the continent. I wouldn’t be surprised if the black balls were as well. Neither Hethel nor Yelenetta has the technological means to develop that kind of weapon.” He looked away bitterly.

I tilted my head. It was true that new technology and knowledge typically came from the continent’s center. From what I could see, even education had made more strides over there. But this was different from any other new weapons or tactics that had been introduced before. Using gunpowder to develop arms was, to put it plainly, bad news. If those black balls were circulating around the continent, it was possible that some other nation had already developed usable firearms.

I had reassured myself that progress on that end was slow thanks to the presence of magic. But if a fighting force got its hands on firearms that were accurate even at mid-range, things would get nasty, fast.

“Well, if you happen to be able to introduce me to any importers, merchants, or nations that can intermediate on that front, it would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and any information you can provide about the manufacturing process and the materials required to make black balls. And since we’ve heard about Yelenetta’s invasion plans, it would be useful to get details on each army’s fighting power and anything you know about the new weapons. Also…”

I ticked off the questions on my fingers as they came to mind. Freightliner began to vibrate, and then to sob. “I-I-I don’t have enough fingernails for that! Gah! I’m going to be tortured! Killed!” he screamed.

I turned to look at him with half-lidded eyes. “I told you, we’re not torturing you,” I reminded him irritably. Then I smiled. “But if you do keep screaming like that, I’m going to smear horseradish all over your mouth and nose. Just a little childish prank.”

Freightliner had no way of knowing what the heck wasabi was, but the threat alone made him go even paler. He snapped his mouth shut.

 

We returned to Seatoh Village to find signs of a struggle, though nothing too major. Esparda stood in front of the maids and soldiers and greeted us.

“Welcome home.”

They all bowed their heads to welcome us back. Dee beamed and nodded vigorously at them. “We’re home! We took Scudet back easily, so we decided to come back early!”

Esparda’s eyes widened, but just barely. “Already? Well, I should expect nothing less from you, Lord Van. When I heard that the iron fortress had been taken from us, I foolishly assumed a castle siege would last months.”

Then he turned his gaze on the war wagons behind us and seemed to quickly put things together. He smiled but soon noticed that there were fewer of us present than expected. “What happened to Captain Paula and her troops?”

“Oh, they’ve been temporarily integrated into Viscount Panamera’s forces.

They’ll probably be pretty late returning.”

“Hmm, what excellent experience that will give them. Most would find our Chivalric Order’s lax attitude unbelievable. This is a good opportunity for them to learn how things are done in other Chivalric Orders.”

Dee shouted a laugh, and his troops grinned smugly. Sure, maybe the discipline around here was lax, but Dee’s training regimen was monstrous. If even the mood got stricter around here, people might start to have nervous breakdowns.

With that out of the way, I made my way back to the manor.

 

“Huh? You caught brother Unimog? Then wait, is this village on the edge of Marquis Fertio’s territory…?”

When we arrived at the manor, I let Freightliner out of the carriage and briefly summarized the situation, hoping to get more info out of him. But he looked around the village, doubt settling over his face.

“Correct. This is Seatoh Village, my territory.”

“…Huh. This was supposed to be an impoverished village that brother Unimog could take down easily.” Freightliner’s eyes bulged. “There’s no way this is Seatoh Village! You must be lying! I only had a brief glimpse, but that wall is grander than even Scudet’s, and all these buildings have an odd design about them. Plus you have all these incredible towers!” The soldiers to his left and right brandished their swords, but he paid them no mind.

“Awesome, right?” I said. “I made the towers on both sides super tall to make it easy for us to observe the area. I imagine our wall is tougher than the one in the capital, and we’ve even taken down a dragon on our own. I’m very proud of this village.”

“Incredible! Wait, no, no! That’s amazing, but this is definitely not a village anymore! It’s so far removed from the information we have that it’s making me dizzy!” Freightliner gripped his head in both hands.

Mm, perfect reaction. Little Van lives for this. I wonder if there’s anything else I can surprise him with…

I mulled it over as we entered the manor. I held back to receive everyone’s greetings before making my way to one of the offices, where Freightliner was tied to a chair. Flanking him were Arb and Lowe, and Dee stood directly behind, stone-faced. Arte and I sat across from him on the sofa, flanked by Till and Khamsin.

Freightliner was surrounded, which probably explained why he was trembling like he’d seen a ghost.

“Now then, young Freightliner,” I began, “I’m sure you understand, but it would be in your best interest to give us any information you have. If you don’t, you’ll regret the day you were born.”

Freightliner agreed immediately. “I-I understand! I’ll tell you everything! Just don’t kill me!”

I shook my head. “I see… You’re a stubborn one. I respect your courage as a member of the royal family, but given your situation, this is foolish. As a test, we will first pull off your fingernails, one by one. Next, your teeth. Then your eyes… What should I save for last?”

“W-w-w-wait! Hold on! I’ll talk! I don’t care about royalty or whatever! I swear complete loyalty to you, Lord Van!”

“Heh heh heh… How long can you hold out, I wonder?”

“Are you listening to me?! I’m not trying to hold out! I’m submitting with everything I have!”

Ha! This is fun. He’s great. I was thoroughly enjoying this newbie’s reactions, but then I saw Till and Arte grimacing at me. Did I go too far?

“Okay, okay, I get it. I guess we’ll have to do the whole torture thing some other time.”

“Some other time?!” Freightliner was vibrating like a magnitude seven earthquake.

“I’m just messing with you. Now then, with the understanding you’ll be our ally going forward, please answer all of our questions.”

“O-of course!”

This was the most positive response Freightliner had given me since we

began. He straightened his back.

 

In the ensuing hour, Freightliner spilled his guts. We were in the process of going over all of the details. “…So, to sum it all up, Yelenetta’s plans were to assault three separate locations, and judging by what we have seen, the attacks on Seatoh Village and Scudet failed,” Esparda said.

Dee smiled broadly. “Yelenetta came up with quite a plan, but their wyverns and black balls have been thwarted. This is all thanks to you, Lord Van.” Khamsin nodded happily.

But Esparda and Arte were less thrilled. Arte wore an especially grave look, and she was trembling. Esparda watched her from the corner of his eye and spoke in a low voice. “In both cases, our forces had access to Lord Van’s weapons, but the final target is Count Ferdinatto’s territory. He possesses no such armaments, and his primary forces have been dispatched to Scudet. Those left behind must be engaged in a fierce struggle.”

Everyone looked at Arte. Arte On Ferdinatto, the count’s youngest daughter. Her family was inhospitable toward her, but she was undoubtedly still concerned for their well-being.

Arte turned to me then, a brave expression on her face. Her eyes were moist, but as she spoke, her words were elegant. “Lord Van, I believe that Count Ferdinatto’s territory will be able to hold out for at least a few months, even if

Yelenetta sends their second-biggest military force there. We should wait for

Lady Panamera and Paula to return.”

She spoke quickly and frantically, so I raised one hand and cut her off. “Let’s reorganize our forces, pronto. We can’t leave immediately because I need to build new mobile ballistae and catapults, but I’ll be as quick as possible so that we can go save them.”

Tears welled in Arte’s eyes. As she struggled to fight them back, I looked at Esparda.

“Can you get the materials ready?” I asked him. “I also need manpower. Mind if I bring some folks from the Chivalric Order with me?”

Esparda was silent for a few seconds, his expression pensive. “Let us temporarily combine both orders and select twenty individuals from the group. We can also hire thirty adventurers. It will be a small team, but with your weapons, they can provide adequate ranged support. According to Sir

Freightliner’s information, the army heading for Count Ferdinatto’s territory is not yet aware of our combat capabilities. We can procure sufficient materials, so we can depart in two days’ time.” Esparda got to his feet, prompting Dee and the others to do the same.

“This is Arte’s home we’re talking about, after all. We’ll save them no matter what,” I said, rising as well. But Arte stopped me.

“No, Lord Van. I cannot rely on you for matters concerning House Ferdinatto. If you allow me to take my puppets, I can go there myself with a handful of adventurers.”

 

I needed to make another ten units on top of the mobile ballistae and catapults I’d brought home with me. I struggled to get enough bolts and shuriken bombs, but fortunately I’d already made a bunch of them, so things worked out. All that was left was to convince Arte.

“Look,” I told her, “I know you’re going there to provide backup, but you’re walking straight into the front lines. I really think I should go with you… I’m already used to traveling by carriage, so it’ll be fine. You don’t owe me a thing.”

It didn’t matter how many times I tried to convince her to let me accompany her: Arte was having none of it. She politely turned down every offer I made. I’d never seen her act so stubborn about something before.

“This is a problem,” I mused aloud. “I suppose I can force her to bring the mobile ballistae and catapults with her, but…” What was I to do?

But when nobody else was around, Arte came up beside me and grabbed the hem of my sleeve. When I turned to her, wondering what she was up to, I saw that her eyes were full of tears.

“Wh-what’s wrong? Are you so worried about your family you want to leave early? We’re planning to leave tomorrow, but…”

Arte shook her head, her shoulders trembling. Aw, crap. I really don’t understand how girls think, do I? Young Van stood there useless, his pure heart wracked with guilt.

I watched Arte sob, kind of panicked, but eventually she calmed down. “My apologies, Lord Van,” she sniffed. “I know you are truly worried about me, and yet I…”

Only then did I begin to understand the complex, confusing feelings she was dealing with. When was I finally going to start thinking like a noble?

“Right,” I said under my breath, “if I save Count Ferdinatto, his house will…”

Arte turned her puffy eyes up at me, then buried her face in my chest. “I’m so sorry!” she wailed.

I was right on the money. The problem plaguing Arte was that she had to prioritize her house’s interests. Given that Arte had been sent here to become my fiancée, it would normally be a good thing for me to come her house’s aid— but I had already overperformed.

My territory was tiny. Worse yet, it bordered Yelenetta, the nation with whom we were currently at war. If I came to the count’s aid, my catapults and ballistae would be celebrated for turning the tide and winning the day; the king would even reward me for my heroism.

To reward me with cash would look like poor behavior on His Majesty’s part, because little Van possessed so little land. If he did that, he might lose the trust of some of the nobility. The most stable income for landed nobility came from taxing the citizens. Those with plenty of bountiful territory could get by on taxes alone.

Then what would happen if the king gave young Van more territory? It would have to be taken from someone else. Probably from Marquis Fertio and Count Ferdinatto.

With that in mind, should I go and protect Count Ferdinatto’s territory, what would the king do? Count Ferdinatto’s usefulness to the king had been on a steady decline, so His Highness would probably shave even more land off of his territory. But that would be unfair, given the count’s active participation in the fight to take back Scudet…meaning the king would have to give me either cash or a chunk of territory taken from Yelenetta instead.

I wasn’t sure how the other nobles would react, but with the powerful weapons in my possession, I was sure the king wanted to expand my territory. It was the most likely outcome. Arte had come to the same conclusion and decided that a member of House Ferdinatto should be the one to save the count’s territory instead.

Still, even if Arte led the charge, the king would recognize my weapons. He’d probably give me credit anyway. I folded my arms and groaned. “In that case, I guess I have no choice. I’ll send ten members of my Chivalric Order home with you as bodyguards, along with twenty adventurers.” I sighed. “And you can take the puppets with you in my stead.”

Arte wiped the tears from her eyes and bowed her head deeply.

 

“I shall be on my way, then.”

I was still worried. “Please be careful. If things look bad, never forget that you can back off,” I reminded her.

Ortho slapped his chest and looked up. “Leave it to us, Lord Van. We’ll keep her safe.”

The other adventurers nodded, smiling broadly. Kusala took a proud pose, a machine bow in each hand, and declared, “We got this covered! Hell, I’m good enough with a machine bow that I could join the squad if I wanted!”

It was the dream of every man to dual wield, but with Kusala’s chubby build, the display looked a little silly. (Kusala, dexterous as he was, had mastered the machine bow and was now instructing the other adventurers on its use. The adventurers residing in Seatoh Village and the adventurers’ town were all a cut above the rest!)

“Don’t worry,” Pluriel put in, sounding just as confident, “we will protect your future wife.”

That half smile of hers annoyed me. It was the expression she always wore

when she teased me for being a little kid. Returning it with a pained smile of my own, I said, “Please do. If you get back here in one piece, I promise to give you all a bonus. I’m counting on you guys.”

The adventurers pumped their fists and cheered. Shortly thereafter, Arte said her goodbyes to Till and Khamsin, with whom she had grown rather close, and left for Count Ferdinatto’s territory.

My original plan was to take a small group with me and tail her, but there was no way I’d be able to keep a lid on that. I’d be found out eventually. As much as it sucked, I had to believe in Arte and the others and see them off properly.

I stood aimlessly at the gate and watched them go until I couldn’t see them anymore. That was when Esparda cleared his throat and approached me. “Now then, Lord Van, you have amassed a great deal of work. I need you to attend to it as soon as possible.”

“Wait! At least let me stew in these feelings for a little bit…”

“I gave you plenty of time to switch gears, and now that time is up. As the lord, you must think about your territory now.”

“Aw, c’mon! I got home from the front lines and then worked a whole bunch. I haven’t gotten to rest in ages. I’m literally going to die.”

“If you have enough energy to complain, you will be perfectly fine. Now come. First, I must deliver a report about what happened in the village while you were gone. Additionally, Ladavesta and Sir Bell would both like to speak with you.”

“Can you put together a priority list? I don’t mind if you handle it, let’s just do this one thing at a time. Oh, and tonight we’re holding a festival and I refuse to hear otherwise. If we don’t have a barbeque, I’m going to go on strike.”

“…Fine. I had planned for you to study this evening, but…”

“Are you a monster?! I’ve been suspicious for a while, but now I’m almost certain!”

It’d been a while since Esparda and I had had this kind of back-and-forth, and it cracked Till and Khamsin up. They weren’t even trying to come to my aid anymore.

You guys are unbelievable. If I wasn’t the lord, you’d be in big trouble, I thought.

I checked on the mountain of work waiting for me at the manor. A good number of monsters had been slain and sold for cash. The problem was that the Bell & Rango Company was bursting at the seams.

“We’re running low on arrows. Please make more.”

“Some residents’ drains are clogged. Running the water doesn’t fix anything and it smells. Please fix it as soon as possible.”

“Andre had his third child. We would love to have you name him.”

“We don’t have enough carriages. According to the company, the ones available on the market aren’t nearly as good as Seatoh Village’s carriages. They would like Lord Van to make some if possible.”

“We have new residents. About fifty in total, but ten of them wish to join the

Chivalric Order. Please interview them.”

All kinds of requests had piled up in my office.

“Can you ask if any of the new residents can work at the Bell & Rango Company? I’ll interview them eventually, along with the folks who want to join the Chivalric Order. I’ll make some more carriages when I get around to crafting consumables. Do we have enough horses? It sucks having stinky toilets, huh?

Let’s prioritize fixing that. Andre had another child, eh? What about Van

Damme for a name? Sounds strong, right?”

With my plan of action in place, I zipped over to the scene of the toilet disaster. Something was odd.

“Ah, Lord Van! Thank goodness you’re okay!”

“Long time no see, Ami. I’m still in one piece, but thanks for your concern! I heard your toilet’s clogged. Did you flush anything weird?”

“No, just the bark I use to wipe…”

“That’d do it. Master detective Van’s already solved this little mystery. Next time, could you buy toilet paper from the Bell & Rango Company? It’s a daily necessity, so they sell it super cheap.”

“Oh, thank you so much! I’ll make sure to use that stuff going forward!”

“…All right, clogging solved. I widened the sewage piping, so things should be fine now. Okay, I gotta get going.”

“Th-thank you very much! You’re the best, Lord Van! You’re just like they said! Fast, considerate, and cheap!”

“Why does that sound like a business catchphrase?!”

While I was running about performing maintenance on toilets and sewage pipes, I began to seriously question my role as the lord of Seatoh Village. Is fixing this kind of stuff really my job…? But hey, if everyone’s happy, who cares?

“Here you go. A set of one thousand arrows. We’re running low on materials, so please issue a request to the guild to replenish our stock. Oh, and I made a war wagon, if that’s all right? If you take the mobile ballista down, you’ll have plenty of room to load stuff onto it.”

“Thank you so much! Actually, one of the traveling merchants also said he would love to have one of these carriages.”

“That’ll be one platinum for a single carriage. Ask him if he’s good with that the next time he drops in.”

“W-will do!”

Making things is part of a lord’s responsibilities… Honestly, I shouldn’t think too hard about this. Van, you are a crafting machine.

I went about finishing jobs, eventually finding myself in talks with Bell over at the manor.

“I got in touch with a merchant friend of mine who deals in monster part transportation, and I’ve put out a formal request, but we’re reaching our limit.”

“Hoh.”

I nodded seriously at Bell, who seemed terribly exhausted. He let out a deep sigh and dropped his shoulders. “We’re very close to the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range here,” he said, “so there’s not much we can do about all these monsters. The problem is that normally we’d only be able to chase off the larger beasts, but instead we end up killing them and collecting their parts. And those parts are in pristine condition!”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

Bell glared at me. “It’s profitable, which is good. We’ve been giving out special bonuses when we sell above a certain amount, to prevent any kind of disparity before we hire new workers. And just like you said, we’ve been able to sell daily necessities and food at a low cost to the villagers. The problem is that we stick out like a sore thumb.”

I cocked my head at him. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve been splitting up to sell parts in other large cities outside of the capital, but the fact that we’re constantly going around hocking such valuable materials has really made us stand out. It looks irregular. The Business Guild is going to audit us soon.”

“Didn’t that happen before?”

“That was only the Mary Chamber of Commerce, the kingdom itself, and the Adventurers’ Guild. All the businesses around the nation are part of the guild, but they’ve never been investigated before. It’s unheard of for a tiny little business out in the sticks to come under investigation!”

It kind of felt like he was throwing shade my way, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Bell sure wasn’t making it easy for me to crack jokes. “Wait, isn’t the Business Guild the biggest in the world? Their headquarters is in the next continent over, right?”

“Exactly! They haven’t made any big moves on this continent yet, but over there, they’re the top dogs.”

“Why would they be coming here…?” I sighed, which made Bell glare at me again.

“I’ve wondered if they might be colluding with the Mary Chamber of Commerce and the Scuderian government under the table. To keep membership numbers high, the guild doesn’t take any money from tiny businesses outside of a small admission fee. With bigger businesses, though, they take a portion of all sales.”

“I see. It makes sense that they would come to investigate, then. Will someone from the Mary Chamber of Commerce come as well?”

Bell nodded. “Of course. They’re the ones under the most scrutiny, to be honest. A small business in a small territory is producing a huge sum of wealth, and the Guild fears that the Mary Chamber of Commerce is taking it all.”

“If they were right, that would be a problem, but nothing shady is actually going on here. Shouldn’t we be fine?”

Bell looked annoyed by the whole thing. “Sadly, it’s not that simple. The Business Guild investigates everything, down to the tiniest of details. They’ll even want to investigate whether the local lord is in cahoots with us. In other words…”

“They’re investigating me, too?” Bell nodded decisively.

 

Arte

AS WE PROCEEDED DOWN THE ROAD, A FAMILIAR sight unfolded before me.

Fields of wheat, bipedal demi-dragons pulling carriages… In Count Ferdinatto’s territory, villages and towns were relatively distant from one another, so instead of using horses, we used dragons. They were slow-footed but tough beasts.

Something was off, however. Usually, the road would be packed with traveling merchants and adventurers. I would have expected it to be busier than it was.

“I knew it,” Ortho said aloud. “Just as Freightliner said. They invaded in the count’s absence.”

Pluriel threw him an irritated frown. “Don’t say that in front of Arte!”

Kusala folded his arms and nodded. “She’s right, Ortho, pal. Guys who can’t show no thoughtfulness never get the girl.”

“Ugh… You’ve gotten real big for your britches now that you got yourself a gorgeous wife…”

I couldn’t help but smile, listening to their conversation.

I was concerned about the invasion, but there was no point in panicking. Lord Van wouldn’t have if he were here. He would make some kind of joke to calm everyone’s nerves.

At first, I’d thought he had an unshakable heart of steel. I was wrong, though. The true reason Lord Van never panicked, feared, or cried was that he had the heart of a true noble, and the pride that came with it. By staying strong in the face of conflict, Lord Van gave his followers the ability to manifest their own true powers.

“I appreciate your concern, everyone,” I said at last, smiling at them. “First, let us head to the city and learn what has transpired. The lower city is surrounded by a wall, so we will make it in time. We should not panic.”

Ortho and the others stared at me for a moment, looking shocked, but the shock soon gave way to smiles and nods. It seemed that I might have impressed them, at least.

 

Van

I DIDN’T LIKE THE IDEA OF BEING SUSPECTED OF SINS I didn’t commit, so I organized all of our monster parts and materials so that they would be easy to count.

One of the pros of little Van’s government was that it was extremely transparent. Fair and upright, honest accounting, candid, and—if that wasn’t enough—delicious. That was our motto. Honestly, I had no idea how things would shake out, but I figured an open-door policy and telling them to “go right ahead” would do the trick. They’d come away from this experience thinking, “What an impressive attitude! Someone so honest could never evade their taxes, never mind commit embezzlement!”

There is not a single hole in little Van’s plan, ba ha ha ha ha! I finished my preparations, wanting to be ready for our incoming visitors at any time.

But as the days passed, Bell’s expression only darkened. No matter how much we lined up in storage, there were always more monster parts coming in.

“Rock scales, flying bichir, giant forest trolls… Oh, and there’s even a red

saber. Wow, a black drake?! Isn’t that a lesser dragon?!” One by one, parts from giant monsters were shipped into storage, concluding with an actual dragon.

My surprise was perfectly contrasted by Bell, who whispered to me, “These new parts haven’t been reported to the capital, never mind the Business Guild.”

“Huh? Why?”

He turned to me, his eyes shining with tears, and explained what he’d been up to. Or hadn’t been up to. “Those damn adventurers just keep slaying dungeon monsters, so the Adventurers’ Guild has been passing them off to us! And then the apkallu keep giving the village rare ore, I guess as a way of paying taxes to you or something, and Esparda has been selecting a few from those and giving them to us… Plus, the adventurers pop into our shop all the time to get their hands on the equipment you’ve made. There’s been no time to get around to the monster parts from the creatures defeated by the village’s defense force! No matter how hard I try, I only have the time to strip the parts.”

He’d been turning in weekly requests for more personnel, but he still didn’t have enough hands. On closer inspection, there were huge bags under the poor guy’s eyes, and he’d clearly lost some weight.

“Man, you poor guy.”

“…That didn’t sound very sincere,” he said, sounding exhausted. This was a man who’d lost all of his trust in humanity. It was all well and good for a person to keep busy, but this was just too much.

“So what you’re telling me is that the Bell & Rango Company, raking in the dough, is doing some serious embezzlement.”

“No! I just haven’t had time to get to everything! Haven’t you been listening?” Bell demanded.

I chuckled. “Sorry, sorry.” Pointing to the materials, I asked, “Then couldn’t you just say that these are scheduled to be reported?”

Bell folded his arms and groaned. “There’s just so much here. I don’t know if they would believe me. This is my first time being investigated by the Business

Guild, so I’ve never spoken to or met with anyone from it.”

“Wait, really? Is this really all that uncommon?”

“Not exactly.” A complicated expression crossed Bell’s face. “They send investigators to the Mary Chamber of Commerce every year, but someone at the top deals with them, so people like me, well…”

That made total sense. Whoever got dispatched from the Business Guild was effectively a tax officer, so they would only speak with key members of the organization who could explain a given situation. “Well…I’m sure things will be fine.” If this was the first time for all of us, then there was no use freaking out, so I wasn’t going to bother doing so.

Apparently on the verge of tears, Bell sighed again. “I’m going to keep doing what I can for a little bit longer. I’ll finish my material ledger so that I can prove that we planned to report these parts. Though I’m only half done…”

“Yikes. In that case, let me gather all the paperwork so that we can show how busy the Bell & Rango Company has been. I’ll have all the monthly revenue documents, employment reports, and sales documents on my equipment gathered for you.”

A nasty sound escaped Bell’s mouth. “Ah…” Cold sweat began to run down his now-pale face.

I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve been evading your…”

“N-no, it’s the opposite.”

“What?”

I had no idea what he was implying, but Bell laughed dryly and looked at me.

“We’ve been…overpaying our taxes…”

“Wait, for real? Thanks!”

I couldn’t believe they’d been doing that in secret. I’d have to sell him a bunch of new weapons and armor at wholesale prices down the line as thanks… though that could ultimately lead to more profit and more tears.

But then I realized something important. “Wait, doesn’t that mean I’m the one who’s going to come under suspicion?”

Bell suddenly looked incredibly meek. “You’ll be under even more suspicion than us for collusion…”

“What are you doing, Bell?!”

“I-I’m so sorry!”

I did a complete one-eighty, complaining at him while he bowed his head in deep remorse. Then I shot him a wry smile and waved one hand. “I’m just messing with you. How could I get mad when you did all of this for me? Next time, just pay me the normal amount. I’ve gotten more than enough money from you guys.”

Bell nodded, still holding back tears.

Truth be told, Seatoh Village’s revenue was insane. The tax money we got from the Bell & Rango Company wasn’t insignificant, but it was still just one part of the total sum. Honestly, the profit from selling the monster parts we got from the Seatoh and Esparda Chivalric Orders was even bigger. Oh, and just for the record, the money we got from selling my equipment, ballistae, and arrows was also pure madness.

Some expenses went toward reducing the price of necessities and consumable goods at the Bell & Rango Company; those were sold at a deficit. And if more money was required to make that possible, I covered it with my own personal funds. I also paid for the apkallu’s food, daily necessities, and sundries.

Then there were the operating expenses for the Chivalric Orders and the fairly high salaries for the knights themselves. Esparda and the others needed to be paid as well. There were also subsidies for the farmers who had lower incomes. I was still paying the poll tax for everyone who lived here, but I didn’t plan on demanding they pay those taxes anytime soon, if ever.

My territory was significantly more advanced on employee welfare than pretty much anywhere else, and it was still totally in the black.

I would have loved to claim that this was all thanks to my superior managing skills, but that wasn’t really true. Unlike other territories, we didn’t have to spend money on roads, walls, building construction, or any kind of infrastructure maintenance. This was a massive boon for us. Building a wall was supposed to require several months of work and a huge number of people; we didn’t have to concern ourselves with that. Consequently, our territory made a net profit that other territories could never hope to replicate.

“…Wait. If we just explain exactly what’s going on in this village, wouldn’t that be enough to convince them?”

“W-would it?” Bell sounded dubious.

No, no. Little Van’s plan is perfect! “Just leave this to me. As the lord, I’ll deal with the investigator from the Business Guild myself,” I declared, smacking my chest.

At long last, relief washed over Bell’s face.

Only two days later, an individual who called themselves a guild investigator arrived at Seatoh Village. The Bell & Rango Company’s office staff, Esparda, Till, and Khamsin all worked together, pulling multiple all-nighters to finish filing the important documents we needed. I definitely hadn’t expected to go through all of this.

Despite my nerves, I set out to greet the Business Guild investigator. I still hadn’t received any tidings from Arte, but I was hoping she was doing okay and not pushing herself too hard.