Rest had accepted Urla's request, but... of course, he wasn't going to head to the eastern plains right away.
The person in overall charge of this frontier development was the Second Prince, Andrew.
Rest made his way toward the development corps headquarters, where Andrew was likely to be.
"It'll be evening soon, but... it should still be fine at this hour."
Now that a barrier had been erected and development had reached a natural stopping point, Andrew's burden had lightened considerably.
His workload seemed to have decreased compared to before, so there shouldn't be any problem going now.
"Excuse me — is His Highness Andrew in?"
"Ah, Count Clover. He's inside."
"Lady Bethras is here as well. You've been given permission to enter whenever you like, Count Clover. Please, go on in."
"Oh, Senior Yusgos is here too. Thank you."
The familiar soldier let him inside.
Rest thanked him, then entered the building and made his way toward Andrew's office.
"Your Highness Andrew, it's Rest Clover. May I come in?"
"C-Count Clover... just a moment...!?"
When Rest knocked on the office door, a flustered voice called out from inside for some reason.
There was a brief clattering from within... and finally, permission to enter was granted.
"P-please, come in..."
"Pardon the intrusion."
When Rest stepped inside... just as he'd been told, Andrew's two adjutants — Yusgos and Bethras — were there alongside him.
The two of them... for some reason, were completely exhausted and out of breath.
"Haah, haah... s-sorry for making you wait..."
"Phew, phew..."
Andrew was at his desk. Yusgos was by the wall.
Both of them were breathing heavily, and it almost seemed like they were perspiring as well.
"Did I... interrupt something?"
The atmosphere was thick, as though they were hiding something.
Had they been in the middle of a meeting about highly classified matters?
"No, not at all...! We were just discussing some important work matters... sorry about that."
"No, please... I'm the one who should apologize for intruding so suddenly. If it's a problem, I can come back tomorrow..."
"No, it's fine... More importantly, what brings you here?"
"Actually..."
Rest explained the story he had heard from Urla.
By the time he finished his explanation, Andrew's breathing had settled and he appeared calm again.
"I see... I had heard that a large monster was nesting in the eastern marshlands, but I never expected it to be a worm."
"What should we do about it?"
"Even if we leave it to House Lavender, they'd eventually subjugate it... but there would likely be casualties, so it'd be best to deal with it promptly. If Count Clover is willing, would you lend them a hand?"
"Of course, I don't mind. Let's have the great eastern nobles owe us one."
"That would be good... Still, for Lady Urla to ask you directly... I can't quite figure out what she's thinking..."
"That makes two of us."
I couldn't figure out why she had bypassed Andrew to ask Rest for a favor.
It wasn't as though House Lavender had any particular ties to us, so there had to be some reason behind it.
"Come to think of it... I heard she's the next head of House Lavender, but she seems awfully young, doesn't she?"
"Ah, well... her grandfather is the current head, but the original heir—her father—went missing. That was over ten years ago now, so there's a good chance he's gone for good. And her mother is gone too, apparently. That might explain why she seems so gloomy."
"I see..."
So she had no parents.
Whether that had anything to do with her circumstances and personality, I couldn't say, but... I couldn't help feeling a strange sense of sympathy.
(A kid that small, representing House Lavender and participating in the dangerous work of developing the demon realm... I think I'm allowed to look out for her a little.)
And so Rest once again resolved to lend Urla his aid.