He drafted the contract imdiately.
Its terms were “reasonable” by this world’s standards.
“The forty-eight under Party B may not change their place of residence without permission from Party A. They may not leave their assigned administrative region without permission. They must diligently perform the duties as outlined… Isn’t this basically a slave contract!?”
“Then don’t sign it. How about I take this to the court as it is?”
“No, no, I’ll sign it!”
The bandits tearfully responded, practically shouting in agreent.
How grateful they must have been. Those guys…
I felt a bit emotional at the heartwarming scene.
When they realized I was Count Vermont, they seed startled.
It looked like Vermont’s reputation had spread far and wide.
Their expressions were filled with humble gratitude.
Once the contract was signed, the bandits were dismissed for now.
I knew their identities, so I wasn’t worried about them running.
If they fled, their families would end up as wanted fugitives.
With the contract bearing the thumbprints of every bandit, I set off toward the Arient territory.
“Mister! Mister! Can you show us the sword-coming-out-of-your-mouth trick one more ti?”
“Aslan… Are you okay? Isn’t your throat sore…?”
The carriage ride to Arient was lively.
I had gone out of my way to separate the carriages to prevent them from seeing Yuri’s real face, only for Charlotte and Yulia to co over, leaving Yuri and rilda alone together.
rilda seed to be enjoying herself.
At this point, maybe Yuri should just get engaged to the princess and make sothing of himself.
In exchange, I could take Charlotte and Yulia back to Vermont, making it a win-win.
“I can’t draw the sword myself; only Sylvia can pull it out. My throat doesn’t hurt, thankfully… but it feels strange and unpleasant every ti it’s pulled out.”
“Oh! It doesn’t hurt? That’s a relief… Not that I care or anything! It’s just that if Aslan hurt his throat and died, there wouldn’t be anyone to free us slaves! Don’t get any weird ideas!”
“….”
Without a word from , Yulia grew flustered, spewing out explanations.
Whatever her reason, wasn’t she just worried about ?
She was still bad at hiding her true feelings.
“That sword was so cool! Miss Knight! Miss Knight! Have you given it a na yet?”
“Oh, I haven’t nad it yet… Since it makes move faster, maybe it should be called… Swift…”
“I’ll na the sword.”
“What?!”
I managed to stop them just in ti before Charlotte and Sylvia’s disastrous naming collaboration could create the worst possible na.
If it were just Sylvia’s personal sword, I wouldn’t care what she nad it.
But considering it was now absorbed in my body… just imagining a sword nad “Swiftie” inside made nauseous.
“What na is it? You’re going to give it a super cool na, right?”
“As it is a gift from my lord, I shall leave the naming to him and accept whatever he bestows.”
“…”
Charlotte’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Sylvia, though less obvious, also looked hopeful.
Fantastic. Do I really have to na this sword? Can’t it just stay naless?
“Alright. I’ll co up with sothing amazing, so be patient.”
“Yay!”
I hadn’t thought of anything yet.
So I decided to buy so ti.
At least until I could sohow remove the sword from my body.
[The Evil God, Kali, is wary of the sword within you.]
It felt like I could hear Kali growling.
Wary of the sword? Why?
They say only a holy sword can harm an Evil God—could this sword be holy?
‘But if that’s the case, why isn’t she wary of Swiftie?’
Then why doesn’t she mind the holy sword, Swiftie?
Because she trusts Charlotte?
Trying to understand Kali’s whims was a waste of ti, so I gave up.
“Sylvia. You’ll have to step down as instructor.”
“What?!”
“Hand over your duties to Yuri and train a few others to fill the instructor role among the staff.”
“Wait… Am I being dismissed from my position as the head of Vermont Security…?”
Sylvia’s voice quivered as she clutched my sleeve, looking at with pleading eyes.
Did she think I’d gone mad? Why would I dismiss soone who was doing their job so well?
“I said step down as instructor, not get fired. It’s strange for the CEO to be doubling as an instructor.”
“Oh… So you’re not dismissing ?”
“Of course not. You can’t even hold a weapon without nearby now. Just stay by my side and focus on guarding . You can still handle managent tasks from the estate.”
“True…! It looks like I’ll have no choice but to stay by my lord’s side from now on… for your safety, of course.”
Relieved, Sylvia nodded, finally understanding.
Until now, I hadn’t hesitated to let Sylvia act on her own.
After all, she always survived whatever danger ca her way.
But now that she couldn’t touch any weapon besides her magic, she was vulnerable.
Her mana would be exhausted in prolonged combat, making her defenseless.
So it was better for her to focus solely on guarding . That was my decision.
“Hey! The knight always gets to be with Aslan. That’s kind of unfair…”
“Right! It’s not fair for her to be the only one guarding Mister! I want to guard you too!”
“When you’re strong enough to beat Sylvia, I’ll let you take over as my guard.”
“...!”
When I rejected them firmly, Charlotte and Yulia’s cheeks puffed out in indignation.
They were clearly upset.
Being my guard would an they could travel freely with , so they felt left out.
“I’ll get super strong! Miss Knight! Since you’re not an instructor anymore, you can train more now, right?”
“Huh? Oh… Yeah, I guess.”
“Then train all day tomorrow! I’ll get so strong, I’ll surpass you!”
“All day might be a bit much…”
“Hey, Earth-Earthy, do you know any other Great Spirits?”
[Kyaaah! Why are you asking that?!]
“Well, you’re the only Great Spirit I know. Just digging up dirt has its limits, you know? If I want to get stronger in multiple ways, I need to know other Great Spirits too…”
[Kyaaah! Are you saying I’m useless?! How insolent, you brat!]
As Charlotte and Yulia whispered and sched, they seed fired up with newfound determination.
Alright, go for it.
No matter what their motivation was, getting stronger was always a good thing.
“Aigo, my dear brother! It’s been too long! You must be weary from your journey. Why not stay and rest here a bit?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose. I just brought a little gift for you, so here you go.”
“A gift…?”
Count Arient swallowed nervously, his face turning pale.
Was he that excited to hear I brought him a gift?
With trembling hands, he took the contract and his eyes widened.
“F-Forty-eight n? I’m supposed to feed, house, and… pay all these people…? Brother, did I do sothing wrong? Just tell if I did!”
“Finish reading. These n are skilled at road maintenance. You know the road to the north?”
“The one that’s constantly in disrepair and often unusable?”
“It’s spotless now. They maintained it for their bandit activities. I’m transferring these skilled workers to you.”
“Is that really true? Right now, I have two hundred n working on the Vermont Highway maintenance! Even my sons and the butlers have been working nonstop to keep up… Thank you! Thank you so much! This will be a huge relief!”
Finally, Count Arient’s eyes glistened with gratitude as he knelt.
If he’d understood my intentions correctly, he wouldn’t have misinterpreted so wildly.
I gave his shoulder a firm pat before leaving.
The bandits who managed that long and difficult road should find the shorter Vermont Highway an easy task.
I wouldn’t have to worry about major issues with the road for a while.
After a brief stop in Arient, I headed straight for the capital.
My escort mission wasn’t over yet.
The job was to deliver rilda safely to the northern duke’s villa in the capital.
After the bandit encounter, the journey was uneventful, and we soon arrived at the villa.
As we disembarked, I saw Yuri courteously escorting rilda by the hand.
Noticing this, Yulia held out her hand to expectantly.
“Aah! How improper…!”
“No need to make a scene here.”
“Who’s making a scene!?”
With that, I lifted Yulia by her waist and gently set her on the ground.
She looked thoroughly disgruntled, her cheeks puffing even more than before.
Watching this, Sylvia seed to be in slight shock.
“...Did I really act like that?”
She must have rembered her own mont of clinging to my arm for a hand.
Now aware of how embarrassing it looked, her face flushed bright red.
Good. Learn from this.
“ too! I want to be lifted like Yulia!”
“Alright.”
“Yay!”
With one final flourish, I lifted Charlotte.
If only all my troublemakers behaved as sweetly as her.
Charlotte was straightforward and good-natured, making worry less about her than the others.
“We’ve arrived, Your Highness. The escort mission ends here.”
“Thank you, Count. Following your advice, I’ll be sure to study diligently during my stay in the capital.”
It was ti to bid farewell to rilda.
Behind , Charlotte and Yulia shuffled awkwardly, clearly wanting to say sothing.
Noticing this, rilda spoke first.
“Thank you for your hard work. Since the capital is close to Vermont, why don’t we et more often?”
“Great! I’d love to get closer to you, Lady rilda!”
“I used to think noble girls were all rude, but rilda’s different. Let’s et again!”
“Charlotte…”
“Hehe. Likewise. I get along better with you all than with those arrogant noble girls.”
Despite their blunt comnts, rilda just smiled, unfazed.
To her, girls her age likely fell into two groups.
Those who looked down on her as a “country bumpkin,” and those who fawned over her, hoping to benefit.
Having real friends made her genuinely happy.
“Yuria, I’ll look forward to seeing you later. Don’t forget you promised to show around the Academy!”
“Y-Yes, of course… Your Highness.”
With a bright smile for Yuri, rilda turned to leave.
Yuri’s shoulders slumped, looking utterly exhausted.
“Aslan, Aslan.”
“…?”
“Is Yuri… Yuria attending the Imperial Magic Academy?”
“Yes, he enrolled this year.”
“Wow!”
Charlotte and Yulia gazed at Yuri with a newfound admiration.
It might be ti to send these two to school, too.
In the past, I worried about Yuri seeing them, but that’s in the past now.
Should I send them to the sa Academy as Yuri?
While I had forced Yuri in as a special admit, adding two more might be impossible.
Then they’d need to pass the regular entrance exam.
Yulia could likely manage if she put in the effort.
Charlotte… well…
‘There’s always the special admissions track.’
Given her unique talent of wielding Sword Master-level strength in such a young body,
she might qualify for a special admission in the Combat Magic departnt.
Getting them both in shouldn’t be too hard.
“How about you two start school next year?”
“Huh? Why?”
“You’d learn a lot more.”
“The books in the library are enough for … Also, we have research to do together…”
“Mister… do you want to get rid of us…?”
Charlotte and Yulia looked up at , eyes filled with dread.
Their faces showed genuine fear.
Why were they reacting like this?
All I wanted was to send them to school, but the atmosphere had suddenly turned somber.
Reviews
All reviews (0)