A few days had passed since the meeting with the knight commander at the White Sword Castle.
Nox, the young man who had gone to Lelis City to procure food, returned with numerous wagons loaded with meat and grains.
Irudo was very impressed by how well Nox, who used to be a simple village boy, had handled the job in the city.
Other than that, the situation at Jiiteias Castle seemed to be getting on track.
The former magic soldier candidates ― no, I should just call them my disciples by now ― were working hard on extracting the “Water Element” from herbs while taking classes from Professor Torad.
The alchemy hut was also completed, and the day when we could start making potions was getting closer.
Lord Elmer Luke Sandall, the martial arts advisor, was eagerly instructing the soldiers who had the motivation.
Jiruk took care of the training necessary for unit actions, such as marching, camping, and formation, while Lord Sandall taught the skills related to individual combat. By dividing the tasks between them, the training seemed to be much more efficient.
Especially, Lend, the young man, was constantly asking Lord Sandall for guidance. He was very reliable.
As for the security of Jiiteias Castle and the trade route, we arranged for the castle soldiers and the Shulz tribe warriors to take turns in guarding.
The clinic for Saria, who was appointed as a medical officer, was also being built at a rapid pace by the dwarves.
She immediately visited the “Medicine Village” and secured a large number of herbs. Also, thanks to Irudo’s arrangement, we hired a few young people from the “Medicine Village” as medical assistants at the castle.
In the future, I plan to teach some of the soldiers how to do first aid and other techniques.
And we also made progress on the construction of the trade route.
Of course, not all the roads between Jiiteias Castle, Battleaxe Village, and Filsand were completed.
We finished the parts that required large-scale construction or tunnel digging that I had to do using giants or long worms.
Even now, it was only possible to pass through with foot traffic or a small number of wagons.
According to Mr. Valbo, the clan head of the Daroun clan, it would take a few more months before multiple caravans could use it without any problems. It was worth it to go back and forth between the sites with him many times and use spells like crazy.
“Alright, I got the ‘Holy Knight’.”
“…Is that so?”
“Then, let the Creator God judge.”
After finishing my morning work, I was enjoying a game with my friends in my private room in the main tower.
On the table, sandwiched between me and Sedam, there were wooden boards and pieces.
It was a classic game called “Military Board” in this world of Sedia, similar to shogi.
It was my turn.
I touched Sedam’s piece with my “High Priest”, which was turned over (this game is like military shogi, where both sides use their pieces face down).
Immediately, Claura, the referee, lifted up the two pieces and checked their types.
“This is Margils’s loss, isn’t it?”
“Ah, damn it. I was fooled.”
“Margils? How vulgar.”
“…O Creator God!”
Claura solemnly announced the verdict and removed my “High Priest” from the board.
Following her advice, I muttered a word that had a similar usage to “Oh My God” in English.
Anyway, it seemed that I had misread.
If I lose with the “High Priest”, that piece must be either the “General” or the “Hero”.
Either way, it was very dangerous to have him approach my “Holy City”.
“You can’t beat a guy who just learned military board yesterday and today.”
“The game is not over yet.”
Sedam raised one eyebrow high.
I’ve been seeing it a lot lately, but this is his version of a smug face.
Sedam looked very confident for someone who had a scholarly appearance, but he was not very skilled either, since he had almost the same record as me.
As proof of that, Claura sighed and shook her head.
“As usual, it’s a pathetic military board game that I can’t bear to watch.”
“Ahahaha… Well, Gio-san and Sedam-san are having fun, so that’s good, right?”
In front of Mora, who was kindly brewing tea for us, I had to win this game no matter what.
“It’s my turn now… Is that a ‘Spy’? Should I crush it while I can?”
“…It’s Sedam’s win, isn’t it?”
“Hmm.”
“My lord, you can still counterattack.”
My trump card that was lurking near the enemy camp was exposed.
Leiha, who was standing behind me, encouraged me desperately.
She clenched her hand tightly and sweated on her forehead. She seemed to be more into it than me.
I rested my chin on my hand and thought deeply…
“Hmm?”
I turned my gaze to the window.
There was no glass, so I could see the blue sky directly from the window. A small light flew in from there.
The light settled in my hand and took the form of a postcard with a lovely design.
It was a magical postcard created by the spell of [Arcane Postcard], a secret technique.
It was probably a reply to the postcard I had sent to Elizabel before to check on the situation.
“It seems to be a message from Elizabel. Sorry, but we have to pause the game for now.”
“…Well, I guess that’s fine.”
I thanked Elizabel in my mind, who was visiting the cities of the Liuus Union for the negotiation of the alliance, and dropped my eyes on the postcard.
To the honorable lord and master of the castle of Jiiteias and the surrounding three villages, as promised by the royal law, the great wizard Gio Margils,
I am grateful to the Creator God for having safely reached the fourteenth day after leaving the castle of Jiiteias with the honorable mission from my lord, and I hereby respectfully report the following achievements.
Until today, I have reached a basic agreement with the city-states of Caron, Lushal, and Diard, which belong to the Liuus Union, on the conclusion of a military alliance against the dark demons.
In addition, I have received an offer from each of the three cities to provide appropriate wealth as a celebration of the alliance, which I have accepted at my discretion. The wealth will arrive at the castle of Jiiteias in due course.
The support and expectation for Lord Margils was immense in all three cities. Not only the mayors, councilors, and lords who met directly, but also the citizens welcomed the diplomatic corps with applause, and I was also greatly entertained.
Now, I understand that you, the wise Lord Margils, are suspicious of the word “basic agreement” that I used earlier.
The reason for this is that there is no seal to sign the official alliance document at the castle of Jiiteias.
It is a great negligence on my part that I did not notice such a basic fact while holding the position in charge of diplomacy, and I am ready to accept any punishment.
I have agreed with the representatives of the three cities that I will keep the document for now and sign and send it back later. I plan to do the same for each city that I will negotiate with later, so please do not worry about the alliance itself.
The next destination is Ryushuk, the largest city in the Liuus Union, but I promise to achieve my goal under the will of the Creator God and your glory.
This is all I have to report on my official duties.
It was really tough, you know?
I turned pale (that’s what Ted said) when I realized that there was no seal…
When you made an alliance with father and the city of Lelis, you signed the document yourself, right? That’s why you didn’t notice.
I’ll arrange for a skilled seal maker to be sent to the castle of Jiiteias, so please make a nice seal as soon as possible.
What kind of seal would you like, my lord?
My crest is “star and sword”, so how about “star and staff”?
Oh, but maybe “staff and maiden” would be better to make it clear that we are related?
By the way, the chairman of the council of Lelis, Braus, is a very nice person.
He understands your ideals well and I hope to maintain a friendly relationship with him in the future.
When we had dinner together, he asked me, “What is your relationship with Lord Margils?” and I said, “He is my former fiancé”.
Of course, there is a fact that we care for each other as much as real father and daughter or lovers, but I explained that we are a great lord and a loyal servant.
But I was embarrassed when he said, “You two are a good match”.
Speaking of which, Lake Liuus is very large and beautiful.
I’m used to the sea, but I’m surprised that there is so much fresh water.
In cities like Liuus on the lakeside, you can also ride on a sightseeing boat.
I’d like to travel around the lake on a sightseeing boat with musicians and singers. …Of course, just with you.
The dishes made from freshwater fish are also very delicious, so I’ll cook my best.
By the way, there is a custom in that area that couples who have sworn their future to each other feed each other their food. As a loyal servant, it is a great honor to feed my lord my homemade food, but it would be troublesome if they misunderstand us, right?
I don’t mind though.
Speaking of which, there are also some lovely customs for lovers…
“…Hmm…”
I pressed my forehead as my head ached.
“Miss Elizabel, you have such a strong spirit…”
“…You are loved, aren’t you?”
“It’s just a child’s nonsense. …That’s right, isn’t it?”
The three people who had been following the text of the postcard from the side also expressed their opinions.
The arcane postcard, a convenient spell that enlarges the size of the postcard as much as you write, can sometimes backfire…
“Well, well, her diplomatic skills are as expected. As for the seal… I was careless too.”
“…I suppose I can’t help but say that it was my fault. I was the one who should have noticed that kind of thing in this position…”
Claura, who had been frowning, suddenly became dejected.
If you talk about positions, it’s my responsibility after all. It’s like a working adult trying to make some kind of contract without preparing a stamp.
“Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t seem to be a big problem. Besides, making a seal… that means making our crest, right? That sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does!”
The atmosphere relaxed as Mora nodded brightly.
“Margils-sama! I have a report for you!”
The third daughter of the dark elf four sisters, Gilma, rushed into my room.
“What is it?”
“…It’s the war tribe. The war tribe man who came to the castle before… Kanbelis is coming this way.”
“!!”
The air that was supposed to be relaxed froze in an instant.
Warlord Kanbelis.
The man who put me on trial for suspicion of being the “charlatan”.
He had left the castle to deal with the elders of the war tribe about me, and now he was finally back.