This won't affect the main story, but the Familiars of the Tamer's Guild have been given names following the progression of the manga version.
If they're officially decided, I'll report it here as well.
"Hmm... Tenma, it seems the Empire has indeed invaded the Haust Margraviate, just as expected. At the same time, they appear to have also dispatched troops toward Marquis Samons's territory."
It was a day some time after spring had arrived and the snow had cleared from around the Royal Capital, when Grandpa came to me with a letter he said had arrived from Ernest, and had me listen to its contents.
"Did they advance into the Marquis's territory by crossing over the mountains?"
"Apparently it's not entirely clear. A squad of several hundred openly advanced toward the Marquis's territory, then disappeared midway."
The Imperial squad had crossed in front of Marquis Samons's army as if to provoke them, then fled into Imperial territory when pursued. Even the Marquis's army, for all its strength, lacked the fighting force to invade Imperial territory on their own, so they had pulled back for now — but because there was a possibility that squad was still heading straight for Marquis Samons's territory, the morale of the Marquis's army had reportedly dropped.
"As for morale, they plan to temporarily return a portion of the Marquis's army to the Marquis's territory to deal with the situation and recover, but it seems the Empire has seized the initiative."
"If that's the case, will Marquis Samons use the Golem I gave him?"
"No, he probably won't use it yet. Even if operations are being hampered, it's not as though they're at a disadvantage. Besides, the war itself is still in its early stages, so he'd likely want to keep the Golem hidden as a potential trump card."
The Marquis Samons household had been put on the back foot by the Empire's harassment, but since it wasn't something that would immediately affect the state of the war and they could recover quickly, it apparently wasn't a major problem.
"Cain might be more frustrated than Marquis Samons, though. If Cain were on the battlefield, the Imperial forces heading for Marquis Samons's territory would have been his responsibility, so he's probably thinking he missed out on the glory. In his head, he's probably constantly going over things like 'what methods he'd use if he were to take the field' — that's just how he is."
At my words, Grandpa chuckled and said "Indeed," then handed me a letter that had been enclosed, addressed to me.
"What's this... oh, a procurement request for the guard squad's supplies?"
The request from Ernest was for me to prepare recovery potions for use by the guard squad.
"Couldn't you just prepare them yourselves?"
"They're probably planning to source them from various places, aren't they? Lately, medicines have been running in short supply more and more often, and considering the future, they probably want to secure more than enough for the guard squad. This season, when it's getting warmer, is when the medicinal herbs used as ingredients are easiest to come by."
I could gather herbs myself and make recovery potions, and produce ones more effective than what's available commercially. So perhaps they figured that commissioning me to make them would yield greater quantity and quality at a lower cost than buying commercial products.
"In that case, maybe I should just dilute the usual potions and pass them off."
"No, even so, that would be a matter of trust."
I warned him, thinking it was the usual kind of teasing directed at Ernest, but the old man said with a serious face:
"What are you talking about? The medicine Tenma makes has more than twice the effect of commercially available ones. So if you dilute it to half strength, you can prepare twice the quantity at equal or greater effectiveness than commercial medicine. Since these are nobles, they'll use medicine for even the smallest wound. It'd be wasteful to give such potent medicine to people like that. If you explain beforehand to Ernest and Albert that the medicine is diluted and why, they should understand."
He said that if we prepared undiluted medicine in addition to the diluted kind, they'd have words of thanks rather than complaints. What the old man said made perfect sense—there was also the possibility that Ernest and the others would dilute the medicine themselves and ruin it, so doing it in advance on our end might be more practical.
"We still have quite a stock of medicinal herbs, but thinking about the future, it might be better to use as little as possible."
Basically, I gather the materials for my own medicine myself, so while I'm active as an adventurer, I collect as many medicinal herbs as I can. That habit goes back to my childhood, and I keep enough herbs in my Magic Bag—fresh and processed, including poisonous ones—to stock an entire shop.
However, since I have no intention of leaving the Royal Capital for a while, there'll be almost no opportunities to gather them myself. So for medicine other than what we use at home, it'd be better not to dip into what I've stockpiled and instead gather them through the shop or the Guild.
"That's all well and good, but I'm worried whether you can actually get enough quantity that way."
"Well, if that doesn't work out, I can always fall back on the stock, but at this time of year, novice and broke adventurers should be eager to gather herbs. Putting a request out at the Guild should work. Also, I'll ask the Jay Trading Company to gather some too."
For the Guild, they should accept the request if I offer a bit more than the current purchase price. And since the Jay Trading Company and I had been through all sorts of shady dealings together against the Reformist Faction, the chances of them refusing were low. To check how much was currently in circulation, it'd be better to visit the Jay Trading Company before going to the Guild.
It seemed my thoughts had been read by Jayman—he had already secured a considerable quantity of herbs. Apparently, judging from the recent movements of the guard squad and the military, Jayman had anticipated that a request to make medicine would reach me through my close ties with the royal family. Thanks to that, the trouble of putting out a request at the Guild was spared, and I was able to begin production the very day I received the herbs. The condition was that a portion of the finished medicine would be sold to the Jay Trading Company... even so, since it was still a purchase arrangement, it ended up costing less than gathering herbs through a Guild request. Plus, they said they'd prioritize selling me herbs from the Company's stock, so I'd be able to steadily produce medicine for a while.
So, the medicine—produced faster and in greater quantity than originally planned—was to be delivered directly to the guard squad conducting patrols and training outside the Royal Capital... In truth, I had promised to bring it to Ernest at the royal castle, so I had come with that in mind, but since it was finished ahead of schedule, Ernest had gone to observe the training and wasn't there. So I decided to bring it out to the training grounds. I could have come back later, but since there was no telling when the medicine might be needed, I opted to go out there. However,
"It's been a while since I've had a chance to talk with you like this, Tenma."
"Yeah, it has~"
And with that, Tida and Luna came along as well. As it happened, Aina was the one driving the carriage. She was ostensibly their caretaker—or rather, Luna's keeper. And as for that person of concern, Luna, while Tida and I chatted about our recent happenings, she was tossing occasional idle responses while giving treats to Solomon and Shiromaru. By the way, the reason they both came along was partly because they happened to be free, but also due to Maria's consideration—having royals accompany me when visiting Ernest at the guard squad would skip all manner of confirmations and paperwork. Behind that consideration, it turned out, was the fact that Maria noticed the king was about to tag along (having intended to come along to take a break from work) and instead recommended the two of them. Right about now, the king was probably getting scolded by Maria and Caesar.
But personally, I could understand the king's feelings in wanting to come along for a break. After all, lately he had to watch not only the Empire's aggressive actions but also the movements of the Reformist Faction, so the workload on the king—the head of the kingdom—must have been far more grueling than I could imagine. When I was leaving the castle, Kurif came to see me off, so I entrusted him with an assortment of sweets I keep stocked in my Magic Bag—I hoped they'd at least help somewhat with stress relief.
"Princess Tida, I'll send an advance party to the guard squad. Princess Luna, we should be arriving in under thirty minutes, so please begin preparing now."
At Aina's tone, Luna—who was always slow to prepare—tried to object... but was scolded by Tida and ended up sulking. By the way, the advance party was made up of knights from the Royal Guard, and twenty soldiers had been assigned to escort Tida and Luna for this visit.
"Sorry to have you come all the way out here. Good of you to come, Tida... And Luna, what are you sulking about?"
Upon arriving at the guard squad's encampment, Ernest was there to greet us at the entrance. Almost immediately, he noticed that Luna was in a foul mood and asked me the reason... Judging by the fact that he asked me, he'd probably already figured out that something had happened between her and Tida.
"Well, let's talk about that later... I'd like to get the commission out of the way first, so where should I take the medicine?"
"Indeed, indeed. The medicine... would you mind letting me verify everything at my tent first? After that, I'll have someone standing by so we can distribute it immediately—just hand it over to them then. Let's head out. Luna, I'll bring out some snacks, so you'd better keep up!"
"I'm not a little kid, you know!"
Even as she protested, Luna docilely followed behind Ernest. Without the promise of snacks, she'd probably have tried to get a tour of the encampment and used that as an excuse to stay away from Tida.
"Hmm, so this is the diluted version, and this is the concentrated one. Even the diluted one—there's no doubt its efficacy is on par with what's sold commercially, correct?"
"Yes. I picked a few at random and tested them, and I didn't feel much difference from the store-bought kind."
Well, by "tested" I meant I'd made two cuts on my own arm, applied my homemade version to one and the store-bought version to the other, and checked the recovery after a few hours—so I couldn't say it was conclusive. But it did feel like the homemade one healed a bit better.
"If you say so, Tenma, there shouldn't be any problem. I'll have the payment calculated as soon as the count is finished, so just wait here for a bit. In the meantime, you can tour the guard squad's encampment... Actually, would you mind being a conversation partner for Cain?"
My acquaintances in the guard squad were limited, so if Cain was around, I had no issue going to talk to him—but I didn't understand why Ernest was specifically asking me to do it.
"You know about the Imperial Army heading toward Marquis Samons's territory, yes? As it turns out, we've received reports that several villages were attacked by what appear to be Imperial forces. Fortunately—I'm not sure I should call it fortunate, but a knight patrol that was making rounds in the Marquis's territory managed to drive them off. However, over a dozen people were killed before they were repelled. Ever since that news came in, Cain's been acting differently. He's been on edge lately. Garat from the Dawn Sword, who's been assigned as his support, has been keeping a careful eye on him, but the people around him are still walking on eggshells."
"So you want me to snap him back to his old self?"
"That's right. I don't care how you do it."
"Understood. Getting paid to beat up Cain—what a wonderful commission! I'm on it!"
With that, I bolted out of Ernest's tent. I'd forgotten to ask where Cain was, but I could just ask someone nearby, and even if they didn't know, I could use [Search] to find him in no time. Just as I was about to dash out, I thought I heard something like "About the commission..." but... I was probably imagining things.
I hadn't gone far from Ernest's tent when I spotted three acquaintances huddled together. Perfect—I'd ask those three where Cain was.
"Lion, Jin, Lina. Do any of you know where Cain is?"
"Hm? Oh! Tenma! What's up?"
When I approached the three and called out, Lion looked surprised and asked what I was doing here, so I gave them a quick explanation. Incidentally, Jin and Lina had noticed me before I even spoke up, but they'd stayed quiet until Lion caught on. Maybe they thought it wouldn't be right to answer ahead of him.
"Cain's unit isn't posted here. Let me see, it was... um..."
"They're a few hundred meters north of here. And Albert's unit is a few hundred meters south of here."
Lina filled in for the tongue-tied Lion, giving me the general distance (the direction she pointed in was slightly off from where Lion had been pointing).
"Right, right, that's about it. Oh yeah, Tenma, Cain's been in a foul mood lately, so try talking to him, will you?"
"Sure. Ernest already asked me to do the same. He said to do whatever it takes to set him straight."
When I showed him my clenched fist,
"Oh! That's a huge relief!"
Lion said, looking genuinely pleased. Beside him, Jin and Lina had apparently figured out what the fist meant too, and were smiling wryly.
Walking in the direction Lina had indicated, I soon spotted several tents. I headed for the largest one, and inside, Cain was staring intently at some documents. He was so absorbed that he hadn't noticed me at all.
"Hm? Oh, Tenma. What do you want?"
It was actually a squad member stationed a short distance from Cain who noticed me. Since Cain hadn't caught on and I wasn't moving, the guy looked somewhat annoyed as he called out to get his attention.
Even so, Cain's words carried a sharp edge that was out of character. If I could pick up on it after just meeting him, then the squad members who worked alongside him every day, compounded by the difference in rank, must have had a miserable time of it.
"Ernest asked me to give you some sparring practice. So with that said, let's go!"
"I don't have time for this!" Cain shouted, but I dragged him out to the open square by force.
"For a weapon... if I use a bow, Cain will just run around avoiding me, so something for close combat... No, actually, let's just go hand-to-hand while we're at it. I've got those training gloves I used with Gramps... Think my spare pair will fit you?"
Since there was no time to change, we decided to spar with just my outer jacket removed.
Cain looked thoroughly displeased, but as more onlookers gathered and his chances of slipping away dwindled, I deliberately took my time removing the jacket and handed him the gloves, waiting as he reluctantly put them on.
"Come on, Cain! You've got this!"
"If you can even land a single hit, it's basically a win for Cain!"
Before I knew it, Lion and Albert had blended into the crowd of spectators and were cheering him on, but Cain was pretending not to hear.
"Once you're ready, feel free to start whenever, Cain. Though if you take too long, I'll be coming at you."
"Gah! Why do I have to do this?!"
Cain launched a desperate attack, but... he was never particularly skilled at unarmed combat to begin with, and on top of that, he was moving purely on emotion, so dodging his strikes was easy.
"Your attacks are all over the place, Cain. You need to aim more carefully."
"Then why don't you just finish this faster, Tenma! I want to get this unit up and running and head back to my territory as soon as possible!"
For a moment, I thought he might mean having the Security Corps dispatched to Marquis Samons' domain, but judging from his words, it seemed more like once the unit he was currently in charge of became functional, he intended to pull out of the Security Corps entirely. In practice, I doubted he'd actually be granted permission to return to the Marquis Samons domain even if the Security Corps were dissolved, but Cain probably didn't have the composure to think that far ahead right now.
While Cain was venting everything he'd been bottling up, I didn't attack at all and simply continued dodging every strike. I figured a bit of stress relief might help him return to his usual self, but... gradually my own irritation grew, and before I knew it, my evasions had turned rough enough that even I could tell.
"Even if Cain did return to the marquis' territory, at this rate he'd only be dead weight. Lacking experience, lacking ability... A unit led by someone like that would probably collapse into utter ruins before long."
Along with the way I was dodging,
my verbal jabs
had gotten harsher too, but in that regard, this was entirely of my own volition.
"Even so, that's none of your business, Tenma! You've never had the experience of failing to protect the people you were supposed to protect — bwagh!"
I had meant to provoke him, but when I heard Cain's words, I reflexively threw a counter. I pulled the punch, so I didn't think he was seriously injured, but he still tumbled several meters across the ground.
"Cain, I may not have had the experience of failing to protect those I was supposed to protect — but I have had the experience of failing to protect
those I
could
have
protected.
Right in front of my eyes."
At my words, not just Cain, but Albert and the other unit members who had been watching fell silent.
"Back then, if I had used 'Tempest' right away after the Dragon Zombie appeared, maybe Father and Mother wouldn't have died. Even if I couldn't have guaranteed a kill, I could have dealt significant damage from the start. Enough to minimize casualties as much as possible."
When I used Tempest, the Dragon Zombie was weakened from the previous attacks, so that may have been why I was able to defeat it — but perhaps I could have beaten it even without those injuries. Even if Tempest hadn't been my opening move, if I had told Father and Mother about it and built our tactics around it, I still believe the two of them wouldn't have died. They were actually holding their own against the Dragon Zombie. If I had coordinated with them and exploited an opening, activating Tempest should have been entirely possible.
"The reason I couldn't do it was because I lacked the resolve. Back then, I didn't have the confidence to unleash Tempest as stably as I can now, and I was afraid that if I failed, I might die. While everyone was putting their lives on the line, I didn't have the courage to take that one step forward at the critical moment. Well, the fact that they were fighting well without it was part of the reason too. Still, if I had used it back then, Father and Mother might not have died."
It might be pointless to dwell on "if only," but Cain's way of speaking as though he had never once felt this kind of regret before really rubbed me the wrong way.
"What's done can't be undone, and there's no way Marquis Samons hasn't already made his move. Besides, if Cain were to head out to the battlefield and collapse, the morale of the Marquis household would be completely shattered. That would have a significant impact on the war effort. And fundamentally, isn't there already an element of keeping Cain and the others in the Royal Capital as hostages? If that's the case, I can't see the King simply granting them permission to return. Even Lion understands that, which is why he's been quietly staying in the Royal Capital..."
Cain, still lying on the ground, stopped moving entirely upon hearing my words, his face turned toward the ground. The emotional intensity he'd shown when we started this so-called training was gone, so I figured this was probably fine — but if it wasn't, I was out of options.
"Tenma..."
Just as Cain tried to say something,
"A messenger! A messenger is here!"
A knight galloped through the guard unit's encampment, still mounted on his horse.