Galleria Duchy.
In front of Regent Gracia, I forced a smile.
Inside, I was panicking, but if she knew that, any negotiation would be impossible.
The Duke's mansion.
In his study, I sat facing Gracia alone. He was two years older than me, but he looked more composed and dignified, probably because he carried the weight of a nation.
(He's different from the Princess of Rolfis and the Saint, Aura.)
Sitting in a luxurious chair, he frowned at the letters spread across his desk. There were recommendation letters from Zayin, Rolfis, and Baim.
Zayin and Rolfis wrote theirs easily. Fidel seemed to think I was going to serve in Galleria and happily provided a letter. Comments like "Knowing I won't have to see your face makes me think I can sleep soundly" made me worry I'd teased him too much.
I hadn't said I was going to serve, but Fidel seemed to think so. The Successive Heads told me to let him keep that misunderstanding because it was amusing, which was also a problem.
Gracia tied back her silver hair, sighed, and leaned back against her chair while glaring at me.
"What do you want? Money? Women? For an adventurer of your caliber, you could gain status anywhere, not necessarily in Galleria?"
The last letter on the desk was from Elza, Queen of Rusworth. I'd taken it from the adventurer acting as a messenger and was using it as leverage for this one-on-one negotiation.
Indeed, Galleria was a collection of landed nobles.
If I wanted to serve, Rusworth would offer better treatment. But that would take too long to climb the ranks. Only in flexible Galleria could our plans proceed smoothly.
"I wish to serve. Also, I'll take over the letter delivery. That adventurer, apparently a former retainer of the Galleria ducal family... he's been chased through the streets, and wanted posters are circulating. He can't operate here anymore."
Gracia looked at me with annoyance but didn't seem to consider killing me. After all, I had companions. She judged that killing me alone would be dangerous if my companions acted.
"It's an enemy scheme. Really, even the witch of Rusworth plays dirty."
She called it a scheme, but I smiled.
"Is that so? Then, without the letter exchange, it'll be war from now on? We'll have to consider weakening both nations and inciting Zayin and Rolfis to attack."
Gracia's eyes narrowed, and the room was instantly filled with murderous intent. It was suffocating. It felt as though the temperature in the room had jumped by several degrees in an instant.
Gracia spoke, sounding bitter.
"The Holy Knight of Zayin — for someone with a title like that, you're awfully filthy. ...What exactly do you want?"
I didn't let my smile waver.
"Everything Galleria has. Though, when I say everything, I don't actually desire Galleria itself. I want Zayin and Rolfis to form an alliance or federation with me, just the same."
Hearing that, Gracia looked at me and seemed to come to an understanding.
"So it was you who made those two nations suddenly draw closer? How unnecessary... Here I was thinking that as long as you people didn't do anything foolish, all we'd have to worry about was competing with Rusworth."
"You weren't planning to absorb Rusworth, were you?"
Gracia snorted derisively.
"You were originally Landed Nobility, and I'd heard you hailed from the prestigious House Walt, but perhaps I overestimated you? ...Expanding your territory is important, but trouble follows everything. Division of territory. Relocation of domains, and all the other miscellaneous work. If you're not careful, civil war could break out. Isn't maintaining the status quo the safer option compared to all that hassle?"
Recently, we had been intensifying our intelligence gathering, particularly centered on Galleria. And we had taken note of the problems Galleria faced.
The issue was that its system of governance no longer matched the current situation.
Decades ago — or even a hundred years ago — it had worked fine.
The Galleria Grand Duchy had been powerful among its neighbors, and those neighbors had been extremely weak. So, in exchange for cooperation with the Grand Duchy, the Grand Duchy had provided support to the surrounding regions.
It had even become custom for the Grand Duchy to lend money interest-free and with no collateral to lords whose territories had become battlefields.
But over the past few decades, the surrounding lords had grown strong. In exchange, the Grand Duchy had lost a great deal of its power. That was only natural — its surplus strength for domestic affairs had been siphoned off by the surrounding lords and by war.
"That's not exactly safe either. From where I stand, you're just continuing to wither away as things are. You're placing far too much emphasis on war."
"...I don't need you to tell me that. But even if it looks that way from the outside, there are other ways to view it from within. If you already know our current situation, then this will be quick. Stop trying to pull Galleria to your side. I say this as the Grand Duke's deputy, but Galleria is a nation held together by having enemies. Once those enemies are gone, you can be certain it will turn its fangs on you."
That was exactly why we were resorting to such troublesome measures.
If we absorbed both nations, governance would once again consume enormous amounts of time. And if we were careless, we could end up harboring enemies within our own ranks. The nightmare of conquered kingdom's knights running amok in territories we had seized was all too real.
After all, the enemy was more familiar with the terrain, and if things went poorly, even the locals might end up on their side.
"Well, we've been taking countermeasures for that and more. Besides, winning through war isn't my objective here."
"What do you mean?"
"The ones I'll have enlist are Miranda Circley, Shannon Circley, Clara Bulmer, and Monica — four in all."
"...You won't be enlisting yourself?"
"I won't. I still have my letter-delivery work to do. Ah, I will help out, though. I'll be in Rolfis's territory, so if anything comes up, just send word over there. If you pass a message to Monica, I'll get contacted right away."
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
I flashed a smile.
"I'd like the House of Galleria to regain the power it once had. And if everything goes well, could you build us a port? It'd be a waste not to make use of the sea when it's right there."
Gracia looked like she was about to clutch her head.
"The sea is complicated too, because of all the territorial rights. Some lords are practically running piracy operations themselves."
"Let's try to convince them. Well, it doesn't have to be immediate — we can handle that another time."
Gracia looked at me with a displeased expression.
"I haven't agreed to hire you yet, you know."
"If you don't hire us, things could get rather troublesome. Besides, I'm not just seeking my own benefit. If everything goes well, we might be able to reach peace with Rusworth without going to war."
Hearing that, Gracia made a conflicted expression and looked down. After a moment, she raised her head with a resigned look.
"...Elza and I don't exactly hate each other. We're both in positions where, had the other not existed, we could easily have been killed. I like that you're not talking about crushing them unilaterally. I'll permit the enlistment. But if you show any signs of betrayal, your companions will die."
That was exactly my intention. My companions who enlisted with Gracia would become her vassals — and at the same time, serve as my hostages.
That way, even if Gracia didn't trust me, having hostages in hand would give her at least some peace of mind.
Well, it wasn't as if I ever planned to betray her, though.
"I'll bring all four of you right away. Miranda can handle anything. Monica too, but that one's a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to housework, so treat her as a maid. Clara has an incredible amount of knowledge. Shannon is... Miranda's assistant."
Gracia-san looked uneasy as she listened to my explanation.
"Hey, they're actually going to be useful, right?"
"I guarantee they're competent."
Yes, they were competent. Whether it was the spider-like woman, or the one who was hopeless at everything except her magic eyes, or the existence that was wrong even as a maid, or the one who loved books but had issues in just about every other area... they were all excellent.
"...They're excellent. All of them are excellent."
"Why'd you say it twice?"
Gracia-san looked even a bit more uneasy.
Leaving Miranda and the others behind in Galleria, I returned to the village where I'd be staying.
Seeing Novem doing housework for the first time in a while, I thought, *Nice!* — though I kept that to myself.
In the rebuilt house, I looked at Valkyrie Number One, Number Two, and Number Three, all dressed in maid uniforms.
"Why do these three have buckets of water, and why are they carrying them around?"
Inside the room, Number One held a bucket of water and explained to me in a flat expression.
"In order to surpass that Monica, we took on housework, but..."
Then Number Two continued.
"We ended up breaking the plates we had purchased, and..."
Finally, Number Three.
"That is why we are receiving this punishment."
Hearing that, I thought this was really going too far, and turned to Novem.
"Aren't you being a little harsh?"
However, though Novem was smiling, I could sense an unyielding will behind it. It seemed she would absolutely not forgive the three of them.
"That won't do. If you had simply destroyed all the plates, that would have been fine, but in the end, the three of you were throwing plates at each other. You even fought over who would do the work. Thanks to that, there's even more cleanup to deal with now."
When I looked at the three of them, all three averted their gaze.
(...Monica's sisters are hopeless too.)
Since I had returned, Novem asked me about the matter regarding Galleria.
"How did things go with Lady Laiel?"
I nodded.
"About as planned, I suppose. Being inside, it's hard to see the full picture of the situation — no, I'm sure they're taking it seriously from Galleria's perspective, but..."
From the outside, I wanted to say they could handle it better. But from the inside, there might be a different way of looking at it. I decided to leave that judgment to Miranda.
"So Galleria will be approached first, then Rusworth. I hope it goes well."
At Novem's words, I slumped my shoulders.
"If it doesn't go well, the only path left will be to destroy Rusworth. That's something I absolutely want to avoid."
Destroying a country was enormously troublesome.
I wanted to avoid that as much as possible while conserving our fighting strength and drawing them over to our side. The difficulty was extreme and it wouldn't be easy, but it wasn't impossible.
I looked at Novem.
"When we infiltrate Rusworth, I'll need you and the others to give it your all too. I'd like to do something about that elusive prime minister."
Information about Rusworth's inner workings was gradually coming together. But the more I heard, the clearer it became that the prime minister was only respected in the capital and its immediate surroundings. That was precisely what made him troublesome — it meant he was popular in the capital. Even if we wanted to drag him down, that popularity was an obstacle.
Novem seemed pleased to be relied upon, beaming as she replied.
"Leave it to me, Lady Laiel."
That was what she said.
Three mass-produced Valkyries were conducting an investigation in the territories of House Galleria.
Draped in robes bearing the crest of House Galleria, no one dared challenge the three.
The place they had visited was a river that looked ready to overflow at the first sign of rain.
"If we improved this spot, wouldn't the kingdom's strength recover right away?"
As one of them spoke, another pointed ahead. With visors covering their faces, their expressions were unreadable, but they didn't seem particularly pleased.
"This is the border between House Galleria's territory and another house's. Even if we only dealt with this spot, it would be difficult."
The remaining one surveyed their surroundings.
"If there's a water source, people will naturally gather... which means many lords hold claim here as well?"
At the very least, at this single location, House Galleria and two other houses all had rivers running along their shared borders. Between the competing water rights and the difficulty of implementing any measures, this place had been left unattended for decades.
"......I'll send a report to Master. I hate that insufferable Monica compiling the information, but when I consider Master's burden, there's no other choice."
Grudgingly, one of the mass-produced models used the line to Laiel to send the information——.
——House Galleria's residence.
Monica, reluctantly cleaning the room, let out a sigh.
"Those degraded copies... making eyes at my Chicken. I told them over and over that image data is heavy, so don't send it."
She muttered complaints under her breath while cleaning the room, her golden twin-tails swaying back and forth. By Monica's standards, the work was sloppier than usual, but those around her seemed satisfied with her efforts.
From those around her as well, her reputation for meticulous work had preceded her.
However, to Miranda and the others who knew the full picture, her lack of motivation was plainly obvious.
Exasperated, Miranda sat down on the sofa, crossed her legs the other way, and spoke to Monica.
"Monica, you've been entrusted with an important job by Laiel, so do it properly. And honestly, saying 'House Galleria' and all — it's really just the largest territory in the surrounding area, that's all."
Miranda organized the documents, reviewing the territorial information Monica had gathered as she laid out plans for the future.
"If they could just manage flood control, national strength should recover fairly quickly, don't you think?"
Clara, who had been peering at the documents from the side, voiced that opinion. But if it were that easy, Gracia would have done it from the start.
Miranda pressed her hand to her forehead.
"The territory's in a tricky position. And it looks like they're feuding over rights and interests. No wonder people want to just leave it alone. Even if you tried flood control, the arguments alone—who pays how much, what happens to the rights—would drag on for decades... Are these people stupid?"
Clara looked at Miranda.
"Is it impossible? I've read several methods of flood control in books, so I'm familiar with the geography—"
Miranda skimmed through the materials.
"They do nominally follow the royal family, but they'd pick up weapons and fight if their own interests were at stake. They apparently rejected our proposal too—we'd take on all the flood control work and maintain their existing rights just as before. Guarantees in case of failure, arrangements around that... Ugh, this completely kills my motivation."
Clara seemed to grasp just how bad it was after hearing Miranda's explanation.
Laiel had chosen Miranda and the others and sent them in, but even Miranda couldn't see how to turn this situation around.
Miranda turned to Monica.
"So, did Laiel send any instructions?"
Monica turned back with a reluctant expression.
"He says to do what we can for now. Basically, he wants Leold to build up a track record on the domestic governance side. His directive was to prepare two more pioneer villages—bringing the total from two to three."
Monica said that much, let out a sigh, and went back to work.
"...I feel like that chicken is crying because he misses my cooking."
She grumbled something to that effect, but Miranda ignored her.
"Okay, I get that we can only do what we can, but will changing two small villages into three really shift the current situation?"
Miranda began planning a Leold-led initiative to establish pioneer villages, following Laiel's instructions——.
*The world is cold. Especially cold to young people who don't know how the world works. But it's also a fact that the words of young people who don't know the world carry no weight!*
Inside the Jewel.
While listening to the Fourth Generation's protests, I was learning about strategies to turn Galleria's situation around.
I raised my hand.
"Um, but how does that connect to the pioneer villages?"
The Round Table chamber.
A three-dimensional map of Galleria was projected above the round table. Using a thin rod-like object, the Fourth Generation pointed to a particular section.
"As things stand, it's obvious that improving this area would greatly restore the nation's strength. There are plenty of other points that could be improved too, but this is the top priority."
It was a region where Galleria's territory was entangled with those of other houses, and for various reasons, flood control had been left unaddressed.
"They seem to have made all sorts of excuses not to carry out any flood control. If it were me, I'd get started right away."
The moment I said that, the Fourth Generation slammed the rod down on the table with a sharp crack.
"You're naive! Way too naive, Laiel!"
"Eh, really?"
The Fourth Generation shot down my optimistic thinking.
"Do you have any idea how much time and money flood control projects require? Manpower too. And then to go ahead with it and—oops, it failed—that's not something you can just shrug off. A lord who fails and ends up in a terrible situation would rather not touch the problem at all, honestly."
I genuinely couldn't relate to that mindset. From what I could see on the map, flood control was possible through several approaches. If they could tame the flooding rivers by doing this, carrying it out would absolutely be the better choice.
"Besides... does the current Galleria even have a specialist in flood control? Anyone in domestic administration would do. Can the territory maintain its current state, let alone hope for further growth?"
I thought for a moment.
"There isn't one. I looked into the retainers to some extent, but almost all of them are geared toward combat, or rather..."
"Exactly! Sitting cross-legged on this rich land without having done a thing all this time—Galleria is the worst! Back in my day, there was nothing and it was miserable! The land was mostly wasteland, there was no industry, no specialty products. And then they hand you a barren plot of land and call you a baron. Looking back now, His Majesty is starting to seem like a rather unpleasant person."
As the Fourth Generation went on like this, the Third Generation burst out laughing.
"You're slow! You're too slow to catch on, Marks!"
The Fourth Generation adjusted his glasses.
"I was that busy too, you know—I didn't have the bandwidth to think about anything else. Now then, here's the question: would Lyle trust Galleria's ducal house if they told him to cooperate on flood control?"
"He wouldn't."
That was right. There did seem to be more reasons for concern than not. In fact, he understood how lords would feel—they'd rather be left alone entirely.
"So that's where building a track record comes in. There's a suitable stretch of land right around here. Flood control is necessary, but if we pull it off, a few villages will spring up."
The location he pointed to was where a small river that flooded at the drop of a hat flowed through. It was overrun with Monsters and so difficult to develop that no one had even attempted it.
"You want me to develop this land?"
"That's right. Flood control is needed, and it comes with a decent level of difficulty… If this succeeds, it becomes Leold's track record. It'll take several years before things stabilize, but once the framework is in place, there won't be a problem."
What mattered was accumulating a track record for Leold.
By doing so, Leold would be recognized as someone suited for domestic governance. Lyle explained that lords who disliked war and wanted to pour their efforts into administration would gravitate toward Leold—or receive directions from him.
"Will it succeed?"
"Make it succeed. Lyle—you can use magic, right? And you've got the Valkyries and all."
"Huh? But I've been told it's not good to use magic for this kind of thing!"
"There's no problem if nobody's watching! We'll handle the groundwork up to a certain point, and you handle the rest! Besides, the first rule of a mage is: don't rely on magic for everything! Lay the foundation, put people to work, and the villages practically build themselves! …Well, the biggest challenge is maintaining them afterward, though."
Apparently, maintaining things in this world was surprisingly difficult. Circumstances changed, and villages were often destroyed when Monsters appeared.
"So if I build a track record, I can move on to the main objective afterward?"
"The odds go up considerably. Whether you have even a small track record or none at all makes a huge difference in persuasiveness. Oh, and let's have Eva spread the word among the Elves that you've been doing great work on domestic affairs. That's essentially why I asked her to stay."
I nodded and resolved to act on the Fourth Generation's instructions. And then the Fourth Generation—
"Now things are getting fun!"
I shout it energetically enough, but the reactions around me are lukewarm at best.
Fifth Generation included.
"Ugh, that won't work... I'd rather set traps at the points Rusworth would attack from and take them all out in one fell swoop."
Mireia looked unamused.
"It'd be solved in an instant if Laiel just pushed Gracia down. That girl always looks like she's bound to struggle because she never meets anyone."
Seventh Generation included.
"...It would be simpler if the Galleria Royal Family just went ahead and conquered the surrounding territories as they are. Or rather, for these marginal territories, shouldn't you force them to choose right now — submit or fight? If you find a pretext, claim righteous justification, and win, the surroundings will have no choice but to stay silent."
Once I learned about the troublesome state of Galleria's internal affairs, I ended up saying we should just make them submit.
You lot, try to be a bit more united.
I don't think the thought I had was wrong.