Chapter 70
Reihart, a purveyor to the Prominence House, was visiting the mansion.
“Marquis-sama. Thank you for granting me your time.”
“Not at all. We’re always in your debt. If you have something to discuss, I’ll gladly listen.”
“I need to deliver some goods to the Royal Palace, but with so much manpower diverted to the city’s construction, I haven’t been able to gather sufficient escorts. Is there anything that can be done?”
“We’ve also diverted much of our manpower to the city’s construction, so we don’t have many to spare… What should we do…”
Just then, Claude, who had time on his hands, arrived.
“I heard Reihart-san was here.”
“Claude-sama. It has been a while.”
“Is something the matter?”
“I need to deliver goods to the Royal Palace, but I couldn’t arrange enough escorts.”
“The goods for the Royal Palace… those are the ones I requested, aren’t they? It’s not as if I’m uninvolved. If that’s the case, then I shall act as an escort.”
“I see. Claude would indeed be suitable,” the Marquis mused.
“Marquis-sama, are you sure? There are rumors that bandits have been appearing on the road to the Royal Capital recently,” Reihart asked.
“Claude is stronger than your average knight, and he’s the one responsible for this matter anyway.”
If Claude were to put everything into his Item Box and teleport to the Royal Capital, the problem would be instantly solved. But that would mean taking Reihart’s job away, so that idea was rejected.
“Well then, I’ll go and get ready,” Claude said.
No sooner had he said it than Claude left the room to prepare.
“Will he really be alright?” Reihart asked, still concerned.
“Against bandits, they won’t be able to lay a finger on him. Besides, he seems to have something in mind,” the Marquis replied.
Once Claude had finished his preparations, he and Reihart headed towards the waiting merchant caravan.
Claude had brought a horse from the mansion and was already mounted.
“Chief. What happened regarding the escorts?” one of Reihart’s men asked.
“The Prominence House said they couldn’t spare anyone, so they had to decline. However, Claude-sama himself has agreed to be our escort,” Reihart explained.
“Claude-sama? But… no matter how you look at him, isn’t he just a child?”
“The client for this particular job is, in fact, Claude-sama more so than the Marquis-sama. The person in charge is personally taking on the escort duty. And according to the Marquis-sama, he’s supposedly stronger than any ordinary knight.”
“That sounds rather far-fetched, but it’s not like we can refuse, can we? Very well, I’ll prepare for departure.”
“I’m counting on you,” Reihart said.
Reihart boarded his carriage and, upon his signal to depart, the caravan began to move.
The heavily laden carriages couldn’t pick up much speed and proceeded at a crawl.
Naturally, they caught the attention of bandits and were promptly locked on as targets.
“Boss! We’ve got a big haul comin’ our way! Not many escorts, either!” a bandit scout reported.
“It’s huntin’ time! We’ll hit ’em at the usual spot. Get everyone ready!” the bandit leader ordered.
The bandits had no idea.
They had no idea that a person who could only be described as a monster was accompanying this caravan as an escort.