Chapter 8: Interrogations Are Terrifying

UNEASILY, TRON SAID, “I MERELY FELT APPREHENSIVE about conducting such a ghastly interrogation in the midst of a battle you were helming yourself, Your

Majesty. Especially because it could affect troop morale…”

Panamera snorted. “Now that I think about it, the last time Baron Van was attacked, it was Baron Nouveau’s Chivalric Order that was on patrol duty. I wonder who was on patrol last night? We must find the answer as soon as possible.”

Nouveau swallowed audibly, sweat rolling down his forehead. Tron raised his head to look at His Majesty. “W-wait! It sounds like Viscount Panamera has suspected Baron Nouveau since the beginning! Can we really trust any information she acquires? What if she is connected to Yelenetta in some way?” “Then what would you have me do?” His Majesty asked.

“In consideration of Baron Van’s well-being, I would suggest having someone of a higher rank conduct the interrogation.”

“I see,” said the king, looking troubled. “Very well. However, Baron Van has not been a lord for long. His only close tie among the nobility is Viscount

Panamera.”

Tron said hastily, “In that case, I recommend Marquis Fertio. After all, Baron Van is his son. What better ally could he have?” He said this as if it were an exceptionally good idea. His Majesty and Panamera exchanged a brief glance.

“A tremendous suggestion. As you say, they are father and son. In that case, let us proceed quickly. Somebody summon Marquis Fertio!”

One of his nearby guards ran to call for Jalpa. Seeing this, I realized what Panamera’s goal was and had to resist the urge to scream.

This had been all been planned to draw Jalpa out from the get-go. That was why His Majesty had brought up Yelenetta, despite the goal of the attacks on me still being unclear. The reason His Majesty’s words had felt off was that his true objective was to make Tron and Nouveau feel they were in danger. If things proceeded along this path, they would both be convicted of treason and potentially sentenced to death. Tron and Nouveau, as His Majesty predicted, had sensed they were losing control and begun to panic.

For my part, I had no desire to turn up the heat on daddy dearest. At least not yet. I still had preparations to make before I tried that. But this secret game had begun so suddenly that I no longer had any control over what came next. How far were His Majesty and Panamera planning to take this?

Eventually, Jalpa arrived with Stradale, the commander of his Chivalric Order. His fury was plain for all to see, and his icy glare tore Tron and Nouveau to shreds. They prostrated themselves, their faces ashen.

As I observed this, it dawned on me that Tron and Nouveau might have acted on their own. It was just a hunch…but I suspected I wasn’t far off the mark. Of course, daddy dearest was probably at least involved with the first attack and the destruction of my container. And if so, His Majesty would not overlook it.

I kept a close eye on Jalpa, wondering what would happen next.

His Majesty turned to daddy dearest. “Thank you for coming, Marquis Fertio,” he said, sounding a bit irritable.

 

Jalpa had to respond obediently. “Of course! Might I ask what the matter is?” He likely had a decent idea of what was going on here but was choosing to act ignorant. I wasn’t sure how His Majesty felt about that, but he nodded as though everything was fine.

“Mm, it is a bit of a long story,” His Majesty said, prompting Panamera to grin and raise her hand.

“If it pleases you, I will explain the situation.”

“That would be wonderful.”

Panamera walked Jalpa through the events. Jalpa shot the assassins a resentful glare. “It is shameful,” he said angrily, “to attack someone in their sleep! I will see to their interrogation myself and get to the truth of the matter!”

A look of open relief washed over Tron and Nouveau. For noblemen, they sure did wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Unfortunately for them, Panamera was not so lenient. “No, no, Marquis Fertio. I couldn’t possibly trouble you with something like an interrogation. And besides, as Baron Van’s sole ally, I believe myself best suited to perform this task.”

Jalpa choked back whatever he was about to say. He could probably bruteforce his way through this, but it would raise questions about his behavior—a dangerous risk to take in front of His Majesty. However, if Panamera performed the interrogation, Tron and Nouveau’s plot would eventually come to light, and that in turn would raise suspicions about Jalpa. If His Majesty dangled a death sentence in front of Tron and Nouveau, they might well talk, and Jalpa would find himself driven into a corner. With only these two options to choose from, it was obvious which he would take.

Just as I anticipated, Jalpa decided to brute-force his way through. “Viscount Panamera, I am grateful for your friendship with Baron Van. However, please consider my position as a father, knowing that my own son was attacked.” He stepped toward Panamera, glared at her, and said in a low, menacing voice,

“Leave this to me.”

Panamera widened her eyes and observed Jalpa’s expression for a few seconds. Finally she let out a breathy laugh and shrugged. “I suppose I have no choice. I had no idea that you cared so deeply for your son! I would love to share this heartwarming tale with my friends.” Leaving him to chew on those words, she walked over to me. “Baron Van, are you amenable to your father handling the interrogation?”

She was giving me the final say in the matter. His Majesty was looking at me too, his lips quirking up at the corners.

I sighed and glanced at Jalpa. Never in my life had I seen that expression on his face. “Father… Marquis Fertio. I would like you to handle the interrogation.”

Jalpa looked shocked. Tron and Nouveau both sank to the floor. I watched them carefully, then turned to His Majesty and Panamera. The king was looking at me with great interest, while Panamera looked furious.

I see. Panamera must have come up with this idea. I don’t know how eager the king was about it, but at least I don’t seem to have pissed him off.

Relieved, I turned back to Jalpa, who observed me in silence. I gave him my best, most natural smile. “I am counting on you, Father,” I said, bowing my head.

He frowned and tucked his chin in.

As soon as we were in a different location, Panamera began to question me. “Why did you choose Marquis Fertio? Surely you understood the purpose of all of this?”

His Majesty had returned to the front lines, and Jalpa had relocated to my underground lodgings in the name of conducting his interrogation. The only people around us were those connected to Panamera and me.

I contemplated the best way to answer her, but before I could say anything, Arte spoke up. She wore a troubled expression and her voice carried a strong hint of concern. “Um, perhaps he could not find it in his heart to do something that might lead to his father’s punishment?” she suggested.

Panamera shook her head. “Foolishness. We noblemen and noblewomen must show no mercy to those who would harm us. The moment our enemies think us weak, it’s over. That is common sense. In our world, to let our decisions be swayed by emotion is to let our houses collapse. Are you okay with that?”

I gave her a taut smile and a slight nod. “Personally, I don’t want to walk such a bloody path. But having said that, I also have no intention of letting my house collapse.” Then I smirked. “And I was most certainly not swayed by my emotions.”

“What?” Panamera narrowed her eyes.

“I intend to deal with my enemies in my own way. A way that will leave them regretting the day they thought to challenge me.”

Panamera’s eyes went wide and she blinked at me. The displeasure began to drain from her expression. “That sounds fascinating, but I would appreciate it if you followed our lead every now and then.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “The plan was to keep Marquis Fertio’s house in check and increase the authority of both yours and mine.”

Ah, so Panamera had been scheming behind the scenes. The nobility often engaged in power struggles when their nations weren’t growing territorially or economically. When one person acquired land, another lost theirs; when one person was promoted to a key office, another was demoted. Panamera was clearly gunning for Marquis Fertio’s territory and influence, because he had grown too strong for his own good.

That aligned with His Majesty’s aims of keeping the royal family in power, too. It was precisely because His Majesty sought to expand the country with one large push that Marquis Fertio’s house, known for its skill in war, had received such favorable treatment. Marquis Fertio had increased his own authority during that period, and even with his territorial expansion having come to a halt, people still flocked around him without him needing to so much as lift a finger. Other nobles, large businesses, powerful knights, and even mages came to him in hopes of serving him.

That was how Marquis Fertio’s house had gained power above its station. His Majesty sought to put an end to that. Meanwhile, Panamera, thought to be a member of Count Ferdinatto’s faction, wanted to bring down big bad Jalpa to propel herself up through the ranks. I figured that about summed up Panamera and the king’s positions. I felt bad, but being the victim, I intended to do things my way.

Panamera sighed and shrugged again. “Are you going back home, then? I expect it will take us only half a month or month or so to bring down the enemy fortress.”

I nodded. “I’m headed home,” I said resolutely. “The trip back probably won’t even take me half a month, and I really want a bath.” These words came from the bottom of my heart. I had no desire to linger any further on this sad, bloody battlefield. Given the choice, of course I’d pick the warm bed, bath, and delicious food that Seatoh Village promised me.

Panamera looked pained but nodded. “I expected as much. Until we meet again, Baron Van. The next time I see you, it will be to deliver news of our triumphant victory, so you had better prepare your finest delicacies.”

She departed gallantly, every inch the hero on her way toward the battlefield.

There was truly no one like Panamera.

After I’d watched my reliable friend depart, I turned to my people. “All right!

Who wants to head home for real this time?”

My words were met with cheers.

 

Because I’d paved most of the mountain road, we got home in a third of the time it took us to reach the border in the first place. At first I was worried about monster attacks on the way back, but Ortho and the adventurers agreed to guard us for cheap, and we got back to Seatoh Village without fielding a single attack.

Esparda and the others came out to greet us. “Lord Van, welcome home.”

“It’s great to be back, Esparda!”

I took the first chance I could get to wash off all the sweat in a nice hot bath.

By the time I was out, we were ready for the big barbecue.

Wait, who even gave the order for that???

Before I could really ponder this, I found myself standing in front of a fire, a skewer of meat in my hands and the people of Seatoh Village grinning all around me. “Well then,” I said, “in celebration of the Seatoh Chivalric Order’s safe return, let the barbecue begin!”

Everyone erupted in cheers. I still had no idea how the barbecue had even happened, but I went with the flow as everyone turned their meat skewers toward the flames. In an instant, the delicious aroma of top-grade meat filled the air, putting the citizens of Seatoh Village in high spirits.

“Let’s eat!”

“Yeah!”

Once their meat was cooked, the people of Seatoh Village dug in. Our humble village’s main street—the venue for our massive barbecue—was lively with cheers, laughter, and merriment.

“This is delicious, Lord Van,” Arte commented at my side. She was tucking into her share of meat and fruit.

I nodded, still a bit bewildered. “It is, but…how did this all come together? Who got the ball rolling?”

Arte blinked, seeming surprised. “Huh? I had heard that you planned to hold a big barbecue.”

I offered her an ambiguous nod. “Ah, I see… Someone was extra thoughtful and pushed the plan forward.” I kept nodding, then brought some of that perfectly cooked meat to my mouth.

Mm, delicious. This special Van sauce is the best.

 

With that done, I got to work on the various jobs and tasks that had accumulated in my absence.

“Lord Van! Our population has increased by a thousand people! We need more housing!”

“Lord Van! The dwarves are going on about wanting to smith orichalcum weapons!”

“Lord Van! We can’t sell off all the monster parts we’ve acquired, so the guild is sending us some personnel to help sort through and ship everything!”

I tried to manage this chaotic deluge of demands and opinions.

“I suppose families of three or more should get their own houses. I feel bad, but single people and couples will have to settle for shared housing.”

“We haven’t gotten any more orichalcum from Ladavesta, right? Wait, we have? In that case, tell the dwarves I’d love a cool spear.”

“I’m grateful for the Business Guild’s help, but how much should I pay their personnel…? A single gold per month?! That’s crazy expensive! Let’s try compromising on a single gold for two people. If that’s no good, send a letter to Apollo telling him we’ll talk to the Mary Chamber of Commerce instead!”

Three days of running around went by this way, with meals being my only downtime. Those breaks didn’t last long, either, because after dinner I was treated to Dee’s beaming smile and Esparda’s stony face while they trained me.

By the time I was able to go to bed, I was dead on my feet.

I’m so tired. Maybe I should’ve just stayed at the border where the fighting was, I thought, half-floating in the huge bathhouse that I was using all by myself.

“You have done well, Lord Van,” Khamsin said politely. I felt like crying.

“What do I have left? The apkallu issued a request for lodging in the water, and the Bell & Rango Company wants more storage facilities. Oh, and there was that request for more roads in the village.” I counted each job on my fingers and felt even more like crying. “Housing in the water… I mean, I’d love to go all out and make a shrine or something at the bottom of the lake, but diving underwater to do that would be tough. What if I wore a goldfish bowl or something and had the kids pull me down? No, they’d definitely try to prank me…”

Hearing me mutter about each new idea that entered my mind, Khamsin remembered something. “Oh! I totally forgot, but there was a request from the

Esparda Chivalric Order to expand the adventurers’ town!”

“What?! They make it sound so simple! That’ll take me a week or two, at least!” I complained.

“The fact that you can do it even that quickly is surprising,” Khamsin replied, looking exasperated.

I kept whining, even as I opened up a mental map of the town. “The biggest problem is that I built the town over the road. It’s surrounded by the forest just ahead of the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range, and in the opposite direction the land slopes upward. If I’m going to expand it, I’ll have to start by leveling the ground.”

Khamsin snapped to attention again. “Oh, right! I forgot to tell you, but we’ve been cutting down trees in that forest, so the land there has already been cultivated! What if we expanded the town in that direction?” He started waving his hands all over the place. “So this is Seatoh Village, right? Then over here is the adventurers’ town, and…it would be here! There are no trees around here!”

This explanation sent me into a misery spiral. “W-wow, awesome. Guess I’ll expand the town, then…”

“Great!”

FYI: after my bath, Till’s special ice-cold fruit water was delicious.

 

Anyway, I made the Bell & Rango Company some new storage space right away, since that job was high priority. I built it with a basement this time around, which would help with the whole real estate shortage problem we were currently having. “You guys should be good for a while. I’m counting on you to handle things with the Business Guild, okay?”

“Understood!” Rango beamed.

“Thank you so much,” Bell cut in. It was like he’d been waiting for this moment. “Truth be told, we have a few more requests to attend to, so if you don’t mind, we’d like to go over them now…”

He spoke politely, but his eyes were bloodshot. I could feel the flurry of requests coming, but I was too busy to handle whatever he had for me. “Ah, sorry, I actually have to go expand the town now.”

“What?”

“Right now?”

They stared at me, chewed over my words for a moment, then looked at one another. Finally, they turned back to me.

“Where?” Bell demanded. “Are you expanding it ahead of where the town starts?”

“If you’ve acquired new land, we would love to set up shop on some of it!” said Rango.

They advanced on me in their excitement. Apparently I had lit fires in their merchant hearts. “I’m expanding the town toward the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range. For now, I plan to dismantle part of the wall and double the size of the town.”

“Double?!” they said in unison. Apparently, their excitement had doubled too.

I understood their reactions. The number of adventurers and visitors coming through Seatoh Village was increasing by the day. In terms of people moving here permanently, we were looking at five hundred new residents per month; with adventurers, we saw monthly gains of a thousand people. Those adventurers often came on jobs and then left for the next town, but the percentage of those who eventually came back to Seatoh Village was actually very high, or so I was told. The population of the village was soaring. By this point, most of the folks from neighboring villages had also moved to Seatoh Village, pleased that we had lots of jobs and housing to boot.

Amidst all of this, the Bell & Rango Company was growing at a speed that was, quite frankly, insane. Unfortunately, that also meant they had a huge shortage of personnel, which was causing problems. But little Van had his own issues to deal with! In fact, things were so busy that he was considering learning some kind of technique to enable him to create shadow clones of himself!

The main roadblock there, of course, was that little Van had no clue how to go about learning such a technique. Teehee.

At this point, all I could really do was prioritize the jobs that came in and get things done to the best of my ability. “I’m aiming to expand the town so it can house another three thousand adventurers and merchants. And His Majesty will probably return shortly, so I want to have this done by the time he gets back.” “Hmm,” said Bell. “I guess I should refrain from making any further requests.

At least for now. I’ll speak with you another day.”

“’Kay!” I replied gently.

I said my goodbyes to Bell and Rango, grabbed Khamsin, and left the adventurers’ town to go check out the construction site. It wasn’t long before a group of people caught up to us.

“Lord Van! Please wait!”

It was Paula and her machine bow squad. Even little Porte, the squad’s youngest member, was with them. It looked like they’d come in a hurry; only ten members were present, and they were all equipped with light armor, machine bows, and short swords.

“It is dangerous outside, so we will protect you!”

As happy as Paula’s heroic words made me, they also led me to feel conflicted. “No, no, no. You guys must be exhausted from that long march. You need to rest.”

Paula shot me an exasperated look. “I could say the same to you. I heard you haven’t rested at all since we returned. The villagers and the adventurers are all worried about you.”

“Wait, really?” Ah, man. I guess this comes with being so popular, I thought bashfully.

Paula nodded. She wore the most serious expression she could muster. “Of course. If anything were to happen to you, Seatoh Village would be finished. We can’t yet construct buildings or make weapons on our own. Without you, this village does not exist.” Then she smiled sunnily.

I was a bit wounded to hear that my only value was in making things, but I kept that to myself. I would just cry into my pillow that night instead. With a sigh, I asked, “In that case, can you guys come with us?”

“As you wish!”

Paula and the others saluted me. Everyone had mastered the formalities that came with being in a Chivalric Order, including wee little Porte. The fruit of their hard training, no doubt.

Still, I wished they would show as much consideration for my wounded heart and soul. Little Van was the type of child who thrived on praise!

 

Upon our arrival at the construction site, I confirmed that most of the wooded area had in fact been cultivated. All the tree stumps really make me feel like I’d come to a forestry site. The area was also much bigger than I’d anticipated.

“I can’t believe we’ve cut down so many trees,” I whispered. “We’re destroying nature.”

“How so? You can find trees anywhere,” Khamsin replied. He looked confused.

I see. It was true: either the human population of this world was much smaller than my old one, or this world’s natural areas were much more vast. It was normal here to traverse long, winding roads sandwiched between deep woods and mountains before finally arriving at a population center. Going to a neighboring town or village took a few days at best, and at worst it could take several weeks for a round trip. That was the world I now lived in.

In that case, maybe it wasn’t such a big deal that we’d cut down all these trees.

Okay, I won’t let it bother me. I tried very hard to convince myself of this before I turned my attention back to the forestry site.

Because I’d built the adventurers’ town along the road, expanding toward the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range would give it a strange shape. Viewed from above, it’d look like a messy “L.”

“What should I do about this?” I mused aloud, staring at the tree trunks. Next to me, Khamsin’s expression grew troubled and he groaned. “Yes, the high ground would be favorable for battle…”

“Are you talking about defensive measures? I swear, you’re always thinking about combat.”

Khamsin can be such a kid sometimes, I thought, smiling. But then a new image materialized in my mind.

It was true that most battles came down to one side trying to take the high ground. If you could shower your enemies with arrows or stones from above, it was tremendously difficult for them to fight back. Even in close-quarters combat, fighting from below was tricky. So maybe Khamsin’s perspective on this was actually great. The big problem was the town’s proximity to Seatoh Village, but if I designed it to function as the village’s defensive line, I could kill two birds with one stone.

In other words, I could build the town such that hostile forces would be unable to target Seatoh Village directly. Then I could fortify both the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range side and the main road side for offense.

With that settled, I just needed to figure out what form this would all take and how tall I should build it. I’d make the wall around the adventurer town about twenty meters tall. The wall facing the village would be five meters, so if enemy forces ever managed to occupy the town, they wouldn’t get the high ground. Just to be safe. Now I just need to figure out the form factor…

Another important consideration was land use. If I used as much of the cultivated land as possible, the town would end up shaped like a magatama. That’d be a little odd, and I’d prefer to have it conform to Seatoh Village’s design.

It was with those thoughts swirling through my head that I struck upon an idea. Seatoh Village was a hexagram, so what if I designed the town like a crescent moon? Back in my old world, lots of nations, like Turkey and Malaysia, had moons and stars on their flags, but nobody had designed villages or towns in those shapes. I was pretty sure, anyway.

Okay, it was time for measurements. I turned around toward Paula and the others. “We need to do some prep. First, let’s make a simple map.”

“Okay!”

Despite some mild confusion over what was happening, Paula and her troops responded enthusiastically. They had no way of knowing how massive this operation would ultimately be.

 

I looked down from above, listing everything that came to mind. “Hmm, Paula should probably be a little more to the right. And then the whole thing should be bigger— No, we’ll be fine if we put the wall on the outside of where we placed the marker.”

Khamsin, down on the ground, directed traffic as loudly as he could. “Paula! A little more to the right, please!”

Paula and the others responded quickly to our instructions, holding their round iron shields all the while.

I’d started by building a chunk of twenty-meter-high wall at the far end of the construction zone. That way, I could stand on the wall and use the machine bow squad as human markers for where I would build the rest of the town. Unfortunately, the process was proving more difficult than I expected; the distance made things tricky, and that prevented me from arranging my human markers in a clean curve.

“I feel like the rear is getting smaller,” I said aloud.

“Huh?” said Arte. She and Till had brought us tea and snacks. “Oh, you’re right. And I imagine the wall itself will end up different, too.” Arte had been much more proactive in expressing her own thoughts and feelings lately.

“Yeah. We’re not directly above it, so it’s hard to judge the size of things that far away. What should I do…?” I sipped my tea, working through the problem in my brain. We’d already spent an hour taking measurements, and I was starting to feel bad for Paula and her team. “Should I gather another twenty or so people?”

Just then, I heard a loud voice from down below. “What? Is someone calling for me?”

I almost looked straight down, but quickly suppressed the urge. Peeking down a twenty-meter wall was terrifying. I hadn’t built any kind of railing yet, so I crawled forward slowly and looked over the edge.

“Lord Van! Do you need any help?”

“Huh? Dee? What brings you here?”

Below were Dee, Arb, Lowe, and a pack of twenty-odd other people. When we returned from the march, I’d told them to take turns resting for a week, but here they all were, clad in light armor.

Abruptly, Dee vanished from sight.

“Lord Van!”

“Whoa! You scared me!”

I took my eyes off him for a second and he came running up the wall. It surprised the crap out of me; I was still on all fours.

“Running up this wall will prove to be excellent training!” Dee panted. “Might

I request stairs?”

“You’re really going to use them for training?” I decided then and there to install an elevator in the wall. If I let him have his way, he’d run up and down until he collapsed. “Well, either way, I’m glad you guys are here. Think you can lend me a hand?”

Dee grinned and nodded. “Leave it to us! I asked Sir Esparda to watch the village, so take all the time you need!”

“You’re a lifesaver.” I smirked, seeing Dee raring to go, then offered my silent gratitude to everyone who had come to help, even though it meant squandering their vacation time. I was blessed with incredible friends and allies.