Once we left the city and entered the forest, we reconfigured Porter and raised its upper body upright.
We draped cloth over it, then a net on top of that, to dress it up with mud and foliage. The head was too far to the left, so we added another head—and the result was truly grotesque.
Monica, needlessly dexterous as she was, handled the cosmetic work, while Clara—whose skills with operating Porter had grown to rival my own—made it move, and just like that it became a Monster.
Seeing Porter raise both arms, Aria, Shannon, and I all applauded. Though in Shannon's case, she was probably just reading the room and clapping along. In all likelihood, all she could see was something draped over Porter.
Monica tucked her tools into the gap between her skirt and apron, then puffed out her chest proudly.
"How about it! From any angle, it looks just like one of those bizarre creatures called Monsters. No—it looks even more refined than a weak Monster!"
We covered the wheel sections with cloth so they wouldn't snag, and once it moved, it truly looked like a Monster. With those massive arms swinging and two heads mounted on top, the Monster was complete.
Aria stopped clapping and spoke.
"So then? We ambush Central's forces using this highway to rescue the Border Count's family, right? What do we do after that?"
She emphasized the word "rescue." Sure enough, it sounded a lot better than using words like "kidnapping." The end result was the same either way, though.
As I brushed the dirt off my clothes from helping with the work, I replied.
"Sorry, but I'm keeping it as a bargaining chip. We'll let it keep heading toward Fonbeau."
Shannon tilted her head.
"You don't need to negotiate with the Border Count?"
I looked at Porter—the Monster version—then turned a smile toward Shannon.
"I will. But on our terms, where we have the upper hand. Sorry, but we also need to talk to Fonbeau, and I have to keep it in our possession for a while."
To secure Fonbeau's cooperation, we needed to offer them something worthwhile in return. And I could more or less predict what they would ask for.
I'd assumed the fine-tuning of arrangements would take time, but we'd already gathered intelligence on the area, so our course of action was set.
Aria hesitated slightly, but—
"Wouldn't it be better to return the hostage to the Viscount from the start and show our sincerity? We could gain his cooperation that way..."
I shake my head.
"Sorry, but the Viscount will have to make some concessions. If he doesn't, Fonbeau won't move. Besides, this is land that House Walt carved away... let's take it back."
What Fonbeau was seeking—it was their own territory that House Walt had carved away.
Inside the Jewel. The Seventh Generation speaks cheerfully.
"A lord simply cannot tolerate having his territory chipped away. Sometimes they hand it over willingly. They might even distribute it among relatives... But a lord who gets robbed and just laughs about it has forfeited his right to rule. Someone like that isn't even worth bringing to our side!"
Mireia picks up the explanation.
"That's precisely why we need the hostage. We negotiate with Fonbeau while also negotiating with the Viscount. I don't expect him to simply back down, but if he cares about his family, he'll come to the negotiating table. If things go well, we might even be able to ask for his guidance during Fonbeau's invasion—so his cooperation would be valuable."
Clara adjusts her glasses slightly while looking at me.
"Um... Lyle? If that's the case, what if the Viscount refuses to cooperate? Having his land seized and his family held hostage makes for terrible optics in negotiations. There's absolutely no incentive for the Viscount."
I laugh and—
"Don't worry. I'll prepare a deal that has something in it for the Viscount, too."
The Third Generation speaks meaningfully.
"I never said it was only about carving away land. I'll have it ready. Properly. I promise."
Once preparations were complete, I stretched my back.
"Well, it seems a unit has been dispatched from Central to retrieve the hostage. Shall we wait for them, then?"
The messenger had already reported that the Viscount's forces were drawing near. Based on the timing, the assault would likely come within a few days.
"...Top priority is securing the hostage. And defeating the enemy commander. Clara, I'm counting on you."
Clara nods.
"Weakening the enemy's fighting strength is crucial, after all."
There was no need to wipe them all out. In fact, if the border lord's reinforcements showed up while we were at it, we'd be in real trouble. Taking out the enemy commander first would be more than enough of a success.
We decided to lay low until the time came to strike.
A few days later.
The Central unit that had received the hostage was making its way back along the highway that cut through the forest.
We had predicted they would spend a night at the border lord's castle before setting out immediately.
Before climbing into Porter's cargo bed, I pulled Clara aside, away from the others, and faced her.
"...Trying to use a Skill calmly like this is suddenly making me self-conscious. It'd be so much easier if there were some urgent reason to do it."
I had grabbed Clara by both shoulders and was pressing her against a tree. While I looked down, steadying my breathing, Clara laughed.
"Now that you mention it, it did become easy to kiss whenever there was a reason. From your perspective, Lyle, it's like you only kiss out of necessity?"
If we were in a hurry, there was no problem. But with time on my hands, I couldn't help hesitating. No, right now it was necessary, so I should rush — but we still had some breathing room.
"When I'm rushing, I don't have time to overthink... but when I do have the luxury of thinking, all sorts of things come to mind..."
Then Clara stepped closer, grabbed my face with both hands, and kissed me. When I looked up in surprise, she had taken off her glasses and closed her eyes.
After a moment she pulled away, and Clara put her glasses back on with both hands.
"...We're connected. I can see the surrounding map and the unit's movements now. The response is yellow, but... the person we need to rescue is at the center. I'll prepare as well."
She picked up the staff she had propped against the tree and started walking. I touched my lips, then followed behind Clara.
"Clara."
She turned around, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"What is it, Lyle?"
I thought for a moment, shook my head, said "It's nothing," and headed for Porter with Clara walking beside me.
Inside Porter's cargo bed.
Once Monica told me to, I strapped myself into the harness, and we launched an assault on the unit dispatched from Central aboard Porter, who was disguised as a Monster.
From their perspective, it was like being suddenly attacked by a Monster they'd never laid eyes on.
I closed my eyes and could see the images Clara was seeing.
Using Porter's arm, she punched one of the panicking knights right off his horse. It was a real hit — the knight flew from the saddle, crashed to the ground, tumbled, and went still.
Shannon, inside the swaying Porter.
"Wait! Please, wait! I'm gonna throw up! I'm gonna be sick!"
Monica had stuffed a cloth into Shannon's mouth.
"You'll bite your tongue. And then it's fine to vomit. This Monica — let me mention it now since I'll probably forget — is a maid, after all."
So what if you're a maid? That's what I wanted to say, but inside the swaying Porter, it probably wasn't wise to open my mouth carelessly.
Clara skillfully maneuvered Porter and spun him around once near the center of the enemy formation.
With both arms extended outward, the soldiers standing nearby were sent flying.
When one of the knights on horseback moved to cast a spell, I touched the wall inside the cargo bed and activated a spell of my own.
"Magic Shield."
The Magic Shield deployed to intercept the knight's spell left Porter unscathed. Thinking they were up against a Monster with resistance to magic, the enemy quickly shouted at the surrounding soldiers to take up their weapons.
But the Central soldiers were cowering against Monsters they'd never seen before. I'd heard they were a legion that feared not even death, but apparently not every soldier among them was cut from that cloth.
Still, the knights' fighting spirit was high.
As they charged in with weapons drawn, Clara swatted them with Porter's arm. It was essentially a slap, but that was more than enough to send them reeling.
Blown away, sent tumbling across the ground in directions they shouldn't have gone, the knight stopped moving.
Once no more knights could be spotted nearby, Clara immediately headed toward recovering the carriage.
The soldiers parted whenever Porter moved forward. And then, that extravagantly decorated carriage —
"...Clara, that's wrong. The passengers aren't a woman and a child!"
When Clara grabbed the carriage and lifted it, two knights tumbled out from inside. They had stripped off their armor, and wine and food spilled out along with them. The pair hit the ground, took one look at us, and panicked.
They had landed on their backsides and were staring up at Porter with terrified eyes.
"It's a supply carriage! The one behind it! Deal with these two first—"
Just as I was about to give orders to eliminate the two and rescue the hostages, the Third Generation interjected.
*"Laiel, leave these two alone. It's more convenient that way. We need someone to take responsibility. Oh, and let the horses go too — they'll buy us some time."*
Trusting the Third Generation's judgment, I gave Clara my orders.
"Clara, release the horses! Then once you've recovered the supply carriage, we retreat!"
Clara retrieved the supply carriage with both of Porter's hands and then fled from the troop. The enemy didn't seem able to pursue, so we had Porter head toward Fonbeau from the Leznot Margrave's territory.
Naturally, without using the highway.
"Don't keep shaking like this."
Aria seemed relieved once the trembling from the battle subsided.
"Good — it won't shake like before, then. More importantly..."
Aria's gaze turned toward Shannon. Shannon, who had been forced to bite down on a cloth, had gone blue in the face and looked like she might vomit at any moment. Monica was handing a bag to Shannon.
"Please throw up in here. Spilling it on the floor is fine, but if you splash it on the Chicken, he won't let it slide. Well... I do love taking care of a soiled Chicken, though."
I looked at Monica.
"I think you should rein it in a bit."
—The Leznot Margrave's castle was in chaos.
The Central troops had returned seeking help.
When making their way to the scene, the carriage bearing the Leznot Margrave's family crest was battered and torn, as if it had been slammed into the ground.
The knights immediately searched the surrounding area, but the unit that had returned seeking help had been delayed in sending word because they had no horses.
By the time the Margrave's subordinates began their search, a considerable amount of time had already passed.
The person in charge—the two surviving knights stood before Barius, who fixed them with a gaze brimming with fury.
"You two... you abandoned your charge and fled?! All that high-and-mighty attitude, and yet you let my precious family be taken by Monsters!"
Neither of the two knights had bodies that showed any training whatsoever. One was a man so fat his clothes looked ready to burst. The other was slim by contrast—too slim. With no conditioning to speak of, the pair looked like men who had earned their knighthood solely on their family's name.
"Th-that's—!"
"Margrave! If you lay a hand on us, Central will—! Ce-Ceres won't stay silent about this!"
Hearing those words, Barius clenched the right arm he had been reaching for his sword with. He glared at the two knights with eyes filled with killing intent.
"Two knights who failed their mission—well, if Lady Ceres sees fit to forgive you, that's all fine and good!"
Spitting out those bitter words, Barius ordered his subordinates to continue the search.
"Find them no matter what! Parselena and Braubei... my grandchildren, no matter what it takes..."
Seeing Barius's agitation, his subordinates hurriedly scrambled to assemble an additional search party—
Fonbeau.
Having hastily fled the Leznot Margrave's territory, we saw a boy sleeping in the cargo bed with his head cradled in someone's lap.
The brown-haired, green-eyed boy—resembling his mother—was sleeping soundly. The one holding him in her lap was his mother, Parselena—a woman with straight brown hair and green eyes. She appeared to be in her early twenties, though she could easily pass for a teenager.
Having cut through the roads and entered Fonbeau, we had forced our way across the river by Porter and pushed deep into the territory.
During the journey, I had managed to persuade the two of them to some degree, but they remained wary of us. Parselena looked exhausted, yet she had not once fallen asleep in front of us.
I let out a sigh.
"You really should rest—it's not good for your health. You must be worn out from the tension alone, if nothing else."
Parselena thanked me for my suggestion.
"Thank you. However, I don't trust you. Central's forces did rescue me, I'll grant you that, but because of that, House Lesnoto has been put in a difficult position. Frankly speaking, you've caused us nothing but trouble."
Inside the Jewel, Mireia was laughing.
*'You're absolutely right. There's nothing we can say to that.'*
I repeated a line I'd said many times before.
"We have no intention of harming either of you. Besides, I believe the Marquis of Lesnoto is unharmed. You're not by his side at the moment, after all."
The Third Generation spoke, chuckling.
*'He's probably writing a strongly worded letter of complaint to Central by now. Central knows they're in the wrong here, so they won't push too hard. But if they do push too hard, that just creates an opening we can exploit.'*
The Seventh Generation was of the same mind.
*'If you'd openly oppose the Marquis of Lesnoto, it would make it far easier for us to draw you in. Normally both sides would reach some compromise, but given the current situation... and it also depends on what Ceres decides.'*
Parselena looked toward me, her hand gripping [Braubei]'s shoulder in a protective manner.
"I see... so you won't harm us. Are you planning to demand ransom from Lesnoto? Let me warn you—House Lesnoto is a noble family entrusted with guarding the border. We are not as gentle as you might think."
Though Parselena carried an air of calm composure, her expression was utterly serious. The situation had been shifting rapidly around her, and she'd no doubt been under tremendous stress—yet she held up remarkably well.
The Fifth Generation murmured.
*'Mother is strong, isn't she.'*
She was probably seeing a reflection of herself and her own mother in that moment. I turned to Monica.
"Blankets and something to drink... prepare herbal tea and something easy to eat. I'll go tell Clara to slow down."
As Monica nodded and began preparations, Aria—who had been tending to Shannon, who lay resting beside us—spoke up to me.
"Are you sure? We're running tight on time, aren't we?"
I nodded and replied in a low voice.
"It's better than having her collapse on us. Besides, it's hard to watch."
Having said that, I headed toward the front where Clara was.