Volume 18 Chapter 5 Eldest Son Gustave
A few days had passed since Al heard some troubling news from Lord Duran, the margrave's knight, during an unexpected reunion. One morning, Al was thinking about going rabbit hunting when his big brother, Gustave, who works in the knight's group in the capital, came to visit.
He brought along Ozbert, his squire from Channing Village, and Ozbert's son, Orville.
Al decided to use the reception room in the mansion to talk with the 3 of them.
Gustave is 22 years old. He hasn't taken over as a knight from their father yet, but he's expected to do so soon. Right now, he works as a knight for the Margrave family.
Ozbert has been Gustave's squire for 7 years, and his son, Orville, who is the same age as Al, has been helping Gustave since last spring.
After arriving in the capital, Al had been trying to contact his brother to meet up, but Gustave was busy and hadn't even returned to the dorm. He only found out late last night that Al was in the capital.
So, instead of sending a message, he thought it would be faster to come see Al in the morning.
"Long time no see, Alfred! Wow, you've grown taller, haven't you?"
"Thanks, Big Brother Gustave! You've gotten even more muscular, haven't you?"
"Huh? Really?"
Saying that, Gustave smiled and flexed his arm to show off his muscles. His arms looked definitely thicker than Al's thighs.
Gustave has the same blonde hair as their father, Nelson, and they have similar eye shapes, but their body types are completely different.
While Nelson and their second brother are a bit chubby and just over 170 cm (5'7") tall, Gustave is 190 cm (6'3") tall and built like a muscle machine, which is totally different.
He showed his talent with a spear and sword in middle school, got recommended to the knight group, and has been making a name for himself there for 7 years.
"That's amazing!"
"Yeah, I might get promoted to a junior leader soon. You seem to be doing well as an adventurer too. Your armor looks pretty good!"
Al scratched his head, feeling a bit shy.
"Yeah, I'm not as good as Grandpa, but I think I can manage as a magician now. I can even use the 'Fly' spell!"
"Oh, really? That's awesome! Even the magicians in the knight group can't use many spells. It was a big problem last year."
Al smiled wryly. He had heard that from Lord Duran too.
"Going to Channing Village has become easier, and I just went there in January. If I had known you were coming here, you should have asked for a letter. Everyone in the family, including father, is doing well. Ozbert's wife and kids are doing fine too. Myron still seems to be struggling with back pain, but Neville is really stepping up to help."
Hearing about Al's family made not just Gustave, but also Ozbert and Orville, look happy.
Orville and Al are the same age and used to play hunting games together around the village when they were in elementary school.
But after graduating, Al moved to the capital to go to middle school, so they hadn't seen each other much since then.
Back then, they hadn't changed much in height or build, but now Orville was solid like Ozbert and about 10 cm (4in) taller than Al.
"A magician, huh? The Channing family is doing great!"
Ozbert said happily.
"By the way, about that January trip, Father contacted me saying things were getting complicated here, Alfred. It's good you're here. Can you tell me more? I heard the barbarians were digging iron ore from some mine to make weapons?"
Now that he thought about it, he had left the news about the iron mine to his father and quickly headed to the border city, Parker.
Wondering what was complicated, he started explaining what had happened and how it all led to this.
"Hmm, so you were flying around to attack the barbarians' village as Mary asked, and that's how you found that place. I see."
"Then, wouldn't it be easy to just have Sir Alfred come back to the village and help them?"
Ozbert's words made Gustave cross his arms and think hard.
"Alfred probably doesn't want to do anything about it anyway. He's only interested in magic and ancient ruins."
Gustave's comment made Al scratch his head. It seemed like he saw right through him.
"Father reported honestly to His Excellency Baron Marlow. He said there might be iron ore, and he is really excited about it. The Sipree Mountains have been poor because there's not much farmland, but if they can get iron, that changes everything. So, he's been pushing Margrave to send knights."
Baron Marlow is the lord of the town near Channing Village. He also manages the villages scattered around the Sipree Mountains.
It sounds good if the knights come and help open the mine.
"But there are 2 problems. First, if the knights go on an expedition, they need a guide. Who do you think will have to do that?"
Well, if they need a guide, it would mean reporting it to the Channing family. But with their strength, that might be a bit tough.
Maybe he should have thought about that a bit more before reporting, Al thought...
"Second, we need to know how much iron is actually in that mine. If they dig a little and then say it's all gone, we might get blamed for it."
Al had no idea how they would investigate that. It seems like they would need to go to the mine with experts. It looks like the Channing family can't handle this alone.
"Well, His Excellency Baron Marlow probably thinks the Channing family doesn't have the power to do either. So right now, we're mainly figuring out how much burden His Excellency Baron Marlow can take and what the Channing family can do."
If they can drive out the barbarians from that area, Channing Village won't be on the front lines anymore. The damage from the barbarians would go down a lot. That seems good enough.
Still, it feels a bit annoying to be seen as unable to do anything.
"I think I know Alfred pretty well. Either way, the knights are busy with something else right now, so sending them to open the mine will probably be delayed. So, if you have some extra time, could you help with something like making a map of the area, or anything that doesn't need to be public?"
Al nodded. He was willing to help for his family's sake.
"If we don't do much, even though Channing Village is the closest to the mine, all the rights will go to Baron Marlow. If we're not careful, Baron Marlow might create a mining village, and Channing Village would just be a stop along the way. It seems silly to work hard to run the village and end up like that. Well, if it's impossible, that's fine. But if there's something you can do, I'd like to ask for your help. What do you think, Alfred?"
'Making a map should be easy, right? I remember everything I saw from the sky.'
Glee whispered that. It was true that drawing a map was simple. He thought it was fine since Neville and the others were watching, but now that he thought about it, he could have made a map.
"I'll prepare the map right away. Is there anything else you need?"
"I need to know the range of the ore and samples from different locations. Neville's letter said it was cleared over a wide area, but I want to know if it's all iron ore or just a part of it. Experts say that if we know that, we can guess how much is there."
That seems like it wouldn't take much effort.
In a few days, he wouldn't have much to do until Orson's treatment, and if doing this helps Channing Village develop better, he wouldn't mind putting in that effort.
He'll finish the hunting he planned to do near Channing Village while he's at it.
"Got it, but I don't want to be stuck here forever. Can I leave the talks with His Excellency Baron to you?"
Gustave nodded at Al's words.
"Yeah, I understand. I've been saying I can only do what I can. I'm busy with other stuff too, so I can't help much with this."
"Okay. Then I'll head to Channing Village now. I might not make it back today, but I think I can return by tomorrow. Is anyone coming with me?"
Al's casual suggestion made Gustave and the others look at each other.
"Wait a minute. If we go to Channing Village normally, it'll take a week, right?"
"I'll fly, so it'll be fine. Whoever comes can just sit in the chair behind me. Mary and Neville were okay with it. I heard all 3 of you haven't been back to Channing Village in over a year. It's perfect!"
Gustave and the others crossed their arms and started thinking about Al's suggestion.
"Unfortunately, I have a mission starting tomorrow, so it's hard for me to go. So, Ozbert, can you go with Alfred to get the map and samples? I'd like to send Orville along too, but I need him for my mission. It'll be tough if both of you are gone."
"Got it."
"Understood."
The two nodded at Gustave's words.
"Ozbert, when you go, tell my father that Alfred will help with the map and samples, but we want it to look like we hired a magic-using adventurer to make them. You don't have to say it directly, but if it sounds like it cost a lot, it'll make future talks easier."
"Got it."
"Is that okay with you, Alfred?"
Al nodded and said, "Of course." It felt like this was something Al should have taken care of in the first place, and Gustave's suggestion didn't seem to put too much pressure on him.
"Alright, let's get ready and head out."
Al switched his mood and said that.
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