"Grandpa, there's a knight order a few kilometers ahead."
"Hmm. Then we must be careful not to startle them. Is there anyone nearby keeping watch on the surroundings?"
The sun was already starting to set, and approaching from the sky might cause a commotion, so we decided to ask someone keeping watch in the area to mediate for us. We attempted to make contact with the five-person group that was closest, but... they apparently assumed a suspicious individual was approaching, and we ended up being greeted by a unit of about a hundred. Well, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up.
Incidentally, none of the knights in the company were close acquaintances of Grandpa or myself. The captain was a knight who had participated in a few of Din's training sessions with us.
"What! A horde of over a hundred thousand zombies! And on top of that, the two of you annihilated them!?"
The day after our encounter with the knight order, when Grandpa and I reported the zombie horde, Ernest was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the floor. Well, even if the enemy was zombies, a horde of over a hundred thousand would still cause serious damage to the Royal Capital, so his reaction was only natural.
Upon receiving this report, Ernest hurriedly took Grandpa and me to the Royal Castle. And there, in the carriage on the way,
"A monster that even Tenma and Merlin together can't defeat!?"
he screamed once more.
At that moment, the horses were startled by Ernest's shout, and the carriage nearly overturned. If the driver hadn't been Kurif, an accident would have been guaranteed. That said, even Kurif had apparently been so stunned by what Ernest shouted that the only reason an accident was avoided was because his body had moved on reflex while his mind was still processing.
"So in other words, you haven't found a foolproof method, but you've found one that seems likely to be effective... However, whether Merlin and Tenma will be able to pin down that Lich together again remains unclear..."
"Well, to be honest, we'd be at quite a disadvantage. That Lich will almost certainly come at us with everything it has from the very start. But then, we weren't exactly in peak condition ourselves last time either..."
"There are a few conditions involved, but we've gotten a solid read on that Lich's strength. If we're in peak condition, we won't be losing one-sidedly."
Grandpa and I were dragged along by Ernest to see the King and the others, and repeated the same report we had given Ernest. Upon hearing it, the King and the rest (Caesar-sama, Lord Zain, Lyle, and Jeanne) reacted in the same manner as Ernest and Kurif despite being only midway through the report, so it took a while for them to calm down.
The exchange just now was their reaction after the King and the others had calmed down enough for us to deliver the rest of our report — namely, what currently appeared to be a viable countermeasure against the Lich.
"Tenma... so if you can say that with such certainty, then we can count you as the Kingdom's
military
strength —
is that right?"
"You may certainly think of it that way. If the Empire… if that zombie horde and the Lich were to attack the Royal Capital, it would endanger Primera's life and the life of the child in her belly."
"That is the way of it. However, the Ootori house is to remain a cooperating party — they will not be joining under the military's banner."
"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince — from the military's perspective as well, I believe it is necessary to recognize the Ootori house as an independent force that stands equal to or above the nobility, cooperating of their own volition and nothing more."
"From the perspective of the Minister of Finance as well, I believe the Minister of Military Affairs is correct. This is an unpleasant subject, but if we were to count the Golems as part of the Ootori house's military strength and bring them under our banner, the compensation we would have to pay after the war would be enormous. We simply could not afford it. Rather than that, treating them as an independent force, agreeing upon a rough compensation in advance, and then requesting their cooperation — that would allow us to keep costs significantly lower."
Setting aside Lyle, I didn't think what Zain said was the kind of thing you'd discuss in front of Grandpa and me… but from my perspective, I wanted to conserve my strength for fighting the Lich, so Zain's remarks were welcome. He must have understood the full implications — including the financial side — and said it deliberately in front of us.
"Hmm, indeed, that would be easier for both the royal family and the Ootori house… However, as cooperating parties, you will need to follow the royal family's instructions at a minimum. Tenma, Merlin — you do understand that much, yes?"
When Grandpa and I nodded in response to the King's confirmation, they immediately moved on to discussing compensation. Apparently, all of it would be performance-based, and the exact amount would depend on negotiations with the other nobles, so it couldn't be determined right now. However, we would receive a separate form of compensation in the form of tax exemptions for the Ootori house's living expenses in the kingdom — the number of years and types of taxes still to be decided.
"In addition to that, I would like to offer a job to Tenma, who is an adventurer."
Once the compensation discussion had concluded, Caesar-sama brought up a new piece of work. Apparently, they were planning to dig moats and build walls around the Royal Capital to prepare for combat in the area — anything to gain even a slight advantage against the zombie horde — and they wanted my help with it.
This plan had reportedly been drawn up right after news arrived that the zombie horde had broken through the border of the Margrave's territory. They were still working out the details of where to build what, but they weren't sure they could finish in time at the current pace, so they wanted me to dig the moat encircling the Royal Capital — something they considered absolutely essential. Of course, I wouldn't be working alone; adding me and my Golems to the effort would dramatically increase construction speed, they said.
Incidentally, the fee was set at the equivalent of fifty day-laborers per day. That included the cost of the Golems, so even if I received a fifty-person rate for just myself, accounting for work efficiency, it would more than pay for itself.
Honestly, I didn't want to take on extra work right now, but when it came to the safety of the Royal Capital, the moat was absolutely necessary. So I agreed on one condition. The condition itself wasn't a big deal, so it was immediately accepted and we moved on to discussing the work plan.
That condition was…
"A job during such a terrible time… Well, the pay is good and it's easy, so I'm in!"
"That's right. You just give simple instructions to the Golems and earn five people's worth — perfect for a bit of pocket money… Of course, if we lose to the Lich and the zombie horde, the money might end up being nothing but a nuisance."
It was the hiring of Amour and Grandpa as nominal supervisors of the Golems. If I worked alone, I'd have to dig the moat while simultaneously issuing orders to the Golems, which would be tedious and inefficient. So I had them hire two people who could serve as support staff and manage the Golems on my behalf.
"Alright, I'll dig the basic trench roughly, and Grandpa and Amour, you give the Golems orders to widen and deepen it. And Primera — do not push yourself. If you feel anything off at all, tell me immediately. Jeanne and Aura, I'm counting on you too."
Incidentally, the moment Grandpa and Amour's hiring was approved, we had the commission registered not under individuals but under the "Ootori house." This way, the Ootori side received a smaller per-person fee but could rotate personnel, while the royal family paid the same amount but got better efficiency — so the change in registrant was accepted without any fuss. Personally, I had expected Primera to stay home (which was why I'd planned to invite Aunt Martha and Aina instead), but she said it would be good to get some light exercise outside for once, so for the first time in a while, the entire Ootori household would be acting together. Note that the term "Ootori household" also encompassed the head maid (provisional), so Aura's mood was plummeting by the second. A bolt of lightning would probably strike in a few minutes — and there it went. Aura crouched down, clutching her head and tears streaming down her face.
There were always two to three people free at any given time — or more, since Slarin and the others were around too — so it might have looked like the family was just heading out for fun. But they were doing their work properly, so nobody could complain. And the free time was actually meant for training, so it wouldn't look like slacking off either. Besides, we had already submitted the Ootori household's schedule (work plan) in advance, so as long as progress matched the plan, it shouldn't be a problem even if we were taking it easy.
According to the plan we'd discussed beforehand, I would dig the foundational trench using magic, and the Golems would widen it under Grandpa's and the others' direction. So I went ahead, leaping along as I dug a roughly one-meter-by-one-meter trench. Well, "using magic" didn't mean I was casting an earth spell — I was just dropping Golem cores at regular intervals. As a result, there were spots where it wasn't really a trench but just a bunch of individual holes, but I left those as-is and pressed on. After advancing about one kilometer, I turned back and dug another trench alongside the first one, the same way I'd done with the spirit energy earlier. This would create a trench one meter deep, two meters wide, and one kilometer long.
The earth from the Golems I'd created for digging the trench would come in handy later when building walls and such, so I gathered it in a spot where it wouldn't be in the way before recovering the cores. Incidentally, from the time we started digging the trench until all the Golems returned to earth took about an hour, but the round trip for me only took around twenty minutes. The remaining forty minutes were mostly spent recovering the cores and waiting for the Golems to come to me.
I did one more round trip in the opposite direction, finishing the morning's work. There was still a bit of time before lunch, but since we'd completed most of the day's planned work in the morning, we decided to take a longer lunch break and spend the afternoon alternating between supervising the Golems and training. That said, Grandpa and I were still feeling the fatigue from fighting the Lich and the zombie horde, so we said we'd do basic training while checking how our bodies were holding up. That meant the intense sparring was left to Amour and Aura. And with Aina there to serve as a solid instructor, that should work out fine.
This afternoon work scene of the Ootori household drew strange looks from contractors and adventurers who'd taken on similar commissions, passersby, ordinary citizens, and curious onlookers who'd come to see what was going on — but since our work was progressing far faster than anyone else's, nobody could complain. However,
"Jeanne, you have less stamina than everyone else, so you need to run more! — And, Amour! Don't sneak-attack me while I'm giving advice! That's dangerous!"
"Tch..."
Starting the next day, for some reason, a Royal Guard bearing the title of "Supervisor" was assigned to us... I actually thought these people had it rougher than we did, but in truth the "Supervisor" role was more of a bonus — their real purpose was to watch for spies (agents of the Empire or the hardline Reformist Faction) among the workers, and to survey the site so that requirements beyond the trench and tactical planning could be properly assessed. So knights were dispatched not just to the Ootori household but to other locations as well. The reason Chris was chosen, apparently, was that since our household was off the charts in every sense of the word, they decided to send someone already familiar with us. The result was the birth of yet another demonic instructor.
Incidentally, another Supervisor was also assigned — and that one was Edgar... He seemed to have given up on getting Chris to do any work, so he completely ignored Chris's behavior while checking the work progress and surveying the terrain. During this, they also held discussions about the trench and the walls, and regarding the terrain, it was flagged as a problem that the area around the Royal Capital had very little elevation change, making it difficult to employ terrain-based tactics.
So proposals were made for driving in stakes and such, but since they were effective for defense yet unsuitable for offense, the idea was put on hold — they decided to consult with Din first before proposing it to Lyle.
Then, the following day — the third day of work — the trench was completed, and the rest would be adjusted by the Knights Order to suit their needs. Din and Jean came to check on progress that day, and while they were surprised by how quickly it was done, they were convinced once they heard how many Golems had been mobilized. Incidentally, the trenches being handled by other contractors were all only about a quarter done, so from the perspective of the royal family who'd placed the orders, the Ootori household's cost performance was remarkably high. As a result, additional work was commissioned.
The next work location was a spot several kilometers from the Royal Capital — a place the zombie horde would likely pass through when advancing from the direction of the Haust Margraviate, and one of the locations the military had identified for intercepting the zombies. The commission involved digging several open-topped trenches for military defense, as well as transporting the excavated earth and stone.
This time, since the distance was a bit much, we couldn't bring Primera along, but I said that if Grandpa and Amour were here as alternates with me, we could probably finish the open-topped trenches in a day or two — and Din said he wanted us to start the work from tomorrow.
In terms of the contract, it would be an extension of the previous work, so the conditions were apparently the same. However, the open-topped trenches didn't need to be as large as the ones built near the Royal Capital (though several were required instead), and it seemed like each trench could be completed in a single round trip.
"If we push hard, maybe we could do it in one day?"
"Well, wouldn't stretching the work to about a day keep them from catching on?"
"...Tenma, Merlin-sama, the Captain said to start from tomorrow, but we need to determine the exact positions of the trenches, so please begin the day after tomorrow."
And just like that, Jean changed our work schedule. Tomorrow they'd dispatch the Knights Order's engineering unit to the site to determine the trench positions. I didn't think this was because they'd taken our little joke seriously (though it might have been), but rather because the trenches we'd dug could potentially get in the way of the Knights Order's operations — that was probably the deciding factor.
I received a simple document from Din listing the completion of the Ootori household's commissioned trench work and the details of the work starting the day after tomorrow,
and all
of us were heading home when—
"Big sis should just go home with Din..."
"Aura, you really shouldn't say things like that…"
"Jeanne, it's too late."
Little scenes like this played out, and there was even a moment where Aura held her head again and broke into tears, but other than that, everything went smoothly and they made it home without incident.