Volume 2 Chapter 2 I Woke Up to an Absurd Request
Our relaxed atmosphere vanished when His Excellency Duke Hoffman showed up, and we scrambled to prepare tea in the guest room.
Even though he said, "Don't worry about it," we couldn't help but be flustered.
"Oh, is this Narely grass tea? Hmm, it has a lovely, fresh aroma."
"Th-thank you. You're quite knowledgeable."
"Well, when you have a title, you get invited to tea parties, whether you want to or not. You naturally become familiar with tea. I'd rather be training, if I had the time."
"Hahaha..."
Lene was visibly tense as she served the tea.
Well, it was probably her first time serving tea to the His Excellency Duke.
By the way, we used teacups, not beakers, thankfully.
"When I first met you, I thought, 'They have a workshop in a run-down place like Sartzstadt?' But now, it's almost back to what it was when it was considered a strategic point. I heard you found a vein of ore and reopened the mines?"
"You knew about that? Yes, Lene and I investigated and found the ore vein. Though, it was really just that the vein was exposed by a big earthquake."
That's right, the ore vein appeared because of the big earthquake a year ago; we just got lucky.
If someone else had gone to that abandoned mine to deal with the goblins, they would have found it.
"Even so, it was once an abandoned mine. I doubt anyone would bother to go looking there. Between that and the restoration of the harbor, you two are blessed by fortune."
"Fortune... huh..."
If, as His Excellency Hoffman Duke suggests, we are indeed blessed by the heavens, then I suppose we wouldn't have gotten entangled in the Dark Mage's schemes.
But, well, that's not something we need to discuss now.
"So, Your Excellency, I believe you are the captain of the royal guard. May I inquire why you have come to Sartzstadt?"
Putting aside the small talk, I decided to ask about something that had been on my mind.
This person is not only the captain of the knight corps but also serves as the guard for His Majesty the King.
It seems he occasionally acts as a bodyguard for Her Highness the Princess in secret, but surely Her Highness isn't here again, is she?
His Excellency the Duke said, "Regarding that," took a sip of tea, and then alternated his gaze between me and Lene.
"There's something happening in the Strauss Marquisate to the north that I need to tell you about."
"The Strauss Marquisate...?"
Lene tilted her head.
The Strauss Marquisate, as the name suggests, is the land ruled by Marquis Strauss to the north of here, bordering the Marquis Reichner territory.
Honestly, I don't hear many good things about the Marquis, but since a capable Marquis like Reichner is rare, we should let that be.
"Yes. To avoid unnecessary confusion, I'd prefer if you didn't speak of this outside for now... There have been reports of increased demonic activity in the Eastern Forest of the Strauss Marquisate."
"...No way, a stampede?"
A stampede.
It's a phenomenon where monsters become more active and their numbers increase.
The cause is still unknown, but various monsters start acting in groups, and any land a stampede passes through is ravaged and destroyed.
I've seen towns wiped out by stampedes before, back when my sisters and I were with 'Teacher,' and it was awful.
It was like a terrible storm had passed through, tearing everything to shreds, with no trace of life left behind.
...Which means the Royal Knight Captain is here because...
"Just as you suspect, I came to this town to command the troops heading to the Strauss Marquis territory."
"...I see. Could it be that your visit here is also for preparations related to that?"
"Precisely. I appreciate you getting straight to the point."
His Excellency Hoffman Duke nodded at Lene's words.
I see, so I guess I won't be able to relax for a while.
"In that case, I need you to prepare 100 <Magic Stone of Diamond> and some healing potions. Can I count on you?"
..........
I wanted to punch myself for having the naive thought of relaxing for a bit just seconds ago, and I froze, still in the position of sipping my tea.
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