Chapter 153: I Want to Gain Weight
“In this case, is doing this the correct move?”
“In that situation, if this point is attacked, your troops will collapse, you see. Therefore, in this case, you should do this…”
“I see…”
At the New Baumgarten Mansion in the Royal Capital. The five of us—me, Cornelia, Lily, Claudia, and Klaus—were learning about military strategy with Cassandra-san as our instructor.
As a lord, I’m expected to lead troops in times of emergency. Cornelia, Lily, and Claudia might have to lead troops as my representatives in a pinch. And Klaus is my aide.
The Evil God is also going to be revived, so mastering the art of warfare was an urgent task. That said, it’s not something you can learn in a day, so Cassandra-san holds these lectures for us regularly.
Cassandra-san is a woman from House Altmeier, one of the leading military families in this kingdom. I hear that in House Altmeier, children learn military strategy regardless of gender.
And Cassandra-san is quite well-versed in strategy. She’s perfect for the role of instructor.
Thanks to Cassandra-san explaining things more clearly than others, I’ve been learning about military strategy and the tactics of this world.
Claudia was also absorbing Cassandra-san’s strategy lessons like a sponge soaking up water.
Cornelia, on the other hand… had an expression like a bunch of question marks were popping up above her head, and Lily looked completely uninterested. Hang in there, Cornelia. You too, Lily!
Eleonore, who isn’t here, is probably studying strategy too. I can’t be by her side, but let’s both do our best!
“In Princess Eleonore’s case, I believe she is learning to command much larger numbers of troops, you see.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The Margrave Baumgarten Family commands five thousand soldiers, but Princess Eleonore is in a position to command the national army, as well as the forces of various houses, including the Margrave Baumgarten Family. As the numbers increase, it becomes that much more complex, so it’s far more difficult.”
“Haeh~”
After Cassandra-san pointed that out, all I could manage was a strange sound. Eleonore is amazing. I can genuinely respect her.
“I was actually supposed to study what is commonly known as imperial studies, but my body was weak… For that reason alone, Eleonore is more suited to be the next queen than I am. I withdrew thinking that, but now I feel sorry for having burdened Eleonore with such a heavy responsibility.”
Claudia had a sad expression on her face. If she hadn’t contracted the Curse of the Evil God, she would have naturally become the next queen. She must have a lot on her mind.
“Shall we take a break soon? Actually, I asked Klaus to buy some cakes from Bellemer.”
“Oh my!”
“Cake!”
“Nice.”
“Then we must prepare some tea.”
At our place, we often buy sweets from Bellemer, which Claudia is fond of. And they’re really delicious. I have a sweet tooth, you see. I can gobble down two or three pieces of cake in no time.
I wonder if this dragon body has bad fuel efficiency, because I get hungry often. In our household, ten o’clock and three o’clock snacks have become the norm.
We buy plenty of cakes and sweets, and any leftovers are given to the servants.
Since moving to the new mansion, the number of servants we employ has increased. There are servants Cassandra-san brought from House Altmeier, and also those we brought from the Baumgarten Territory. We also sometimes hire daughters of other noble families as servants for etiquette training.
The Margrave Baumgarten Family is somehow managing to maintain the appearance of a major noble house.
Though I still can’t quite believe it.
By the way, according to Cassandra-san, it’s apparently okay to make advances on the servant girls, but I’m enduring it with a will of steel. Someone, please praise me.
“Wow, which one should I choose…!”
“Lily wants all of them.”
When several whole cakes were lined up on the table, Cornelia hesitated, while Lily desired all of them. Lily is quite decisive, isn’t she?
“Maybe I’ll have one of each kind too. Ria, why don’t you have one of each as well?”
“Um, Onii-sama. I’m currently fighting my own appetite. Please don’t say things like that.”
Is it that? Is she already worried about gaining weight at her age? Girls will be girls, I guess.
“Ria, you’re slim, and you exercise. You could even stand to be a little plumper.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I haven’t been able to exercise, so perhaps I’ll just have one.”
“I will restrain myself to two…”
It seems Cassandra-san will have one, and Claudia will restrain herself to two. They should just eat if they want to.
“Hmm… I think I’ll have two after all!”
In the end, Cornelia also decided to limit herself to two. Being a girl is tough. It seems they’re also avoiding oily foods. Not being able to eat what you like is painful.
“Onii-sama, if you don’t hold back, you’ll get all round and chubby, you know?”
Cornelia said resentfully, looking at the many cakes placed in front of me.
“No, I want to gain weight.”
“Eh? You want to gain weight? Why?”
“I want muscle.”
Even though I’m always strength training, I still haven’t gotten beyond the ‘lean-but-muscular’ stage.
However, I remembered certain words from my previous life.
‘If you want muscle, get fat first!’
I believe those words, so my intention is to get fat first.
“Onii-sama, you’re fine just the way you are. I wouldn’t like a chubby Onii-sama or a super-buff Onii-sama, you know?”
“Is that so…”
It seems Cornelia disapproves, but still, there are times when a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do!