Chapter 59: The Night Ride with the Generals
When I gave up on persuading them and returned to the castle, Roosevelt-san, who had accompanied me, led me to a reception room.
There, I was cautioned about using Elixirs at the aid station.
He told me that with those, high-ranking Knights could be sent to the front lines multiple times, which would lead to war results so significant it was impossible to say how many other soldiers’ lives would be saved.
That it was essential to get through this situation.
If that was the case, I offered an additional hundred.
I also told him to recommend consulting with the physicians about the dosage.
While we were discussing this, the General entered the room, bringing several people I didn’t know.
I was wondering who they were when they knelt before me.
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Your Majesty. I am Ronter von Arbein, bestowed the rank of Marquis by the former King. I am the father of Mary, whom Your Majesty also knows.”
“Eh, Aunt Mary’s father?! Please, raise your head!
To me, you’re like a grandfather!”
“Oh, what undeservedly kind words!”
Though he stood up, the Marquis bowed his head once more.
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Your Majesty. I am Conner Stahl. The Stahl family was bestowed the rank of Count. Please, make my acquaintance.”
Several individuals who held titles during the Belfast era greeted me in turn, but first, there was something I had to correct.
“Um, I am not His Majesty. I have no intention of succeeding the throne. I think it would be better if Cornelia-sama or Yunon-sama were to reign.”
“However, the Princesses stated that there is no one else but Rui-sama…”
Huh…? No way. They said that was fine, didn’t they? They betrayed me!
“Um, we will discuss that later.”
Upon hearing that, they revised their address to “Prince for the time being.”
No, I don’t need “Prince” either, though.
“So… are you here for me? Or for the Knights Commander?”
“Hahaha, what would such an illustrious group do coming to see me? They’ve obviously come to see Your Highness, wouldn’t you agree?”
Seriously?
I want to hear the results of Yuri’s search as soon as possible…
No, I’ll just ask. I can’t wait.
“Before that, General, what were the results?”
“Hah! Just as you astutely guessed, it seems Yurisia was in that village.
However, we were not able to meet her…”
From what I heard, she had apparently gone to the battlefield with the soldiers from that village.
She had joined them while concealing her identity.
It seemed she was acting alongside them as like-minded comrades fighting against Daltone. She was using the name Yurisia, and her height and build matched, so there was no mistake.
Since she wasn’t there, they had asked for her to be sent back upon her return and had come back.
“Do you know the whereabouts of those soldiers!?”
“No, it seems they haven’t disclosed the details of their operational movements even to their own…
However, they are currently gathering intelligence and are likely not engaged in combat.
Even if a battle were to occur, the majority are former Imperial Guard Knights of the previous King, so they are a group of high-ranking Knights.
Yurisia is apparently being treated as a rear-guard, so she shouldn’t be in immediate danger.”
Ugh… I still can’t meet her…?
Should I have them circle the village and track her scent?
No, tomorrow the Magic Tool Appreciation Society is coming.
I can’t postpone dealing with that.
But if Yuri is in danger, it’s all meaningless.
That’s right.
If I stop here, what did I even come for?!
I just need to go now and find her by tomorrow, right?!
“Excuse me. I’m going. I’ll bring her back…”
“You must not! I am grateful that you care for my daughter, but I cannot allow Your Highness to be exposed to danger because of it.”
“I said it at the beginning, didn’t I?
That I came here to risk my life for Yuri. Has that not reached you?”
“I am aware.
However, if something were to happen to Your Highness, I would not be able to face His Majesty Royce.
Please believe me. They are the elite of the elite, having fought for decades.
If she is in the rear guard, she will most certainly not die.”
What are you talking about? You kept me away because I’m important, right?
Using all sorts of forbidden-like moves!
Why are you of all people trying to stop me with such an uncertain reason!
“If she is on the battlefield, then I have no intention of stopping.”
I absolutely will not stop.
I imbued my words with that resolve and stared at the General.
“Then, it cannot be helped. I shall accompany you and protect you.”
He bowed his head as if relieved.
What the heck. So you wanted to go too, huh? I shot him an exasperated look.
Well, for me, it was more than I could ask for.
Wanting to settle things quickly and leave, I bowed my head and said, “Please.”
“Hohou. The General and Prince Rui going on a night ride together? How deeply moving.
When it comes to a search, the more eyes, the better. I shall accompany you as well.”
“Indeed. Riding out at night before a war council is quite a stylish thing to do.”
Huh? No way, are all of you going to help?
What’s with that? So heartwarming…
“Thank you very much. But, um, is it alright to postpone the war council?”
That wasn’t a problem that could be neglected either.
So many of the country’s key figures had gathered at once.
They should have been consolidating their intentions and starting to move as quickly as possible.
“Hahaha, upon hearing the news not only of Prince Rui’s return but also of the blessings you have brought, we saw a ray of hope and simply couldn’t sit still, so we came. We wouldn’t be here if Your Highness wasn’t!”
“Indeed, indeed! This opportune moment, where defeating the hateful Daltone could lead to the revival of Belfast, is the best of fortunes. It can only be divine providence. Kahahaha!”
They probably all understand how dire the crisis is.
No, perhaps that’s why. They’ve likely understood the crisis for much longer.
Our funds have recovered to some extent.
King Lestall had been incredibly generous. Converted to Japanese yen, it was on the level of two billion or so.
Considering Belfast’s small territory, that shouldn’t be a small amount.
But it didn’t seem like enough to be a beacon of hope in this crisis…
Could it be that the Mithril was a bigger deal?
Even Roosevelt-san was so surprised he recoiled.
In any case, if I can bring Yurisia back, that’s all that matters.
Advancing the war talks will come after that.
And so, we rode out into the night on our Familiars, but even Raku’s and Fuu’s noses couldn’t find her.
It seemed they inevitably lost the trail at the line where she returned to the village. We were allowed inside this time, but it was still no good.
We had them circle a wide area to see if they could pick up the scent again, but that didn’t work out either.
After searching for several hours, we ended up returning with nothing.
And since we were returning, I decided to switch gears.
Considering the possibility that finding her might take time, I wanted to steer the conversation towards hitting the Daltone Army as far away as possible, so I suggested we return and hold the war council.
Of course, if that direction proved disadvantageous, I would give up on it, but I wanted to discuss that aspect.
Reinforcements for the fort.
Traps to ensnare the enemy.
A plea for former Belfast soldiers to return.
Creation of combat Magic Tools.
Utilization of Abyss Materials.
There were many things to discuss just from my side.
Of course, the high-ranking nobles also had various proposals, and in response, I suggested we prioritize and do everything possible within the limits of our funds, discussing what should take precedence.
That discussion continued until dawn.
There was just too much to talk about.
A large part of it was that I didn’t know much about the Daltone Army, but they willingly explained their tactics without any sign of displeasure.
In fortress sieges, they mainly use physical attacks, namely Rock Bullet, but in open field battles, Fireball is their main weapon.
Apparently, fire is more effective in pure anti-personnel combat.
At that point, I handed over the fur Coat I was wearing and demonstrated its fire resistance, explaining that it was armor made from Abyss Material.
They were thrilled by its fire resistance, enough that I didn’t feel any heat even when my arm was continuously exposed to flames, and it was decided to mass-produce it.
I also showed them some lightning magic that seemed usable for offense, but it appeared they already had something similar.
It had high firepower, but its range was limited to within the controllable area, so it was considered a magic of low utility.
The typical controllable range was apparently about twenty meters at most.
If the opponent was of equal strength, that would mean they were also within the opponent’s melee attack range.
If you couldn’t activate the Magic Circle in an instant, it might be difficult to use.
However, the amazing thing about this magic was that, to some extent, it could be guided.
Of course, bending it after it’s fired is impossible. The speed is just too great.
But you can change the direction of the magic to some extent.
Yes, you can manipulate the impact point.
Normally, magic just flies forward from the face of the deployed circle, but lightning magic has the property of flowing along one’s own Magical Power.
Knowing I could manipulate it after deploying the Magic Circle, I thought it would be quite valuable, but I was disappointed when they said it was unusable.
Apparently, guiding your Magical Power to the target before activation takes too much time and isn’t practical in actual combat.
However, Light Magic was surprisingly well-received. Though it doesn’t affect people, they said if it could erase Magic Circles and Magical Power, it would be effective.
However, it was so overly complex that I was told it would be difficult to even activate it without spending years, let alone by the start of the war, so I decided to prepare it as a Magic Tool instead.
“Then, is this one also impossible?” I asked, showing them my Storage Magic. But apparently, it’s at a level where even someone skilled in control would take ten years to learn just that one magic, and even then, success isn’t guaranteed.
I ended up being flattered quite a bit, with them calling me things like Great Archmage or Sage-sama.
And so, after we finished discussing various things, it was arranged that from now on, everyone would act individually and submit reports.
The division of roles was mainly split into two groups.
I took on the Magic Tools and trap-related matters.
The sale of Abyss Materials, mainly Mithril, was taken on by Rontar-san. My aunt’s father accepted the task.
Conner-san said he would assist me.
He said it was because, being as unknown as I am, I would likely struggle in the city.
The other people were tasked with gathering personnel. They left, fired up, saying they would contact every single one of their old friends who had left Belfast.
Conner-san and I decided it was sleep time until evening.
We had rooms prepared for us, and then we each rested separately until evening.