「Dorn, is the report written here true?」
Godwin verified with Dorn. That, too, is to be expected. It is because Dorn himself had seen it that it was believable, but having read the report, it couldn’t be answered with a simple “yes, it is.”.
「The town is smaller than Volton in scale, and yet it is a large enough town that it can be considered a fortress town. Above all, a curtain wall and moat had been laid out. The strength of that town’s defenses likely surpasses the town of Volton.」
Essentially, a fortress city is not a city that can be made to such an extent. But this is if we’re talking about Earth. For Mildgard where magic exists, as a result of using Earth magic to construct protective walls, large towns with high populace like the town of Volton exist. But even so, for a town to be nearly complete in just under a month, it is extremely absurd.
「Master, I believe going on an inspection once is a necessity.」
「………… I should start by seeing it with my own eyes, huh.」
Godwin nodded at the chamberlain of the Margrave House Xervus’ suggestion.
「So, Dorn, how many soldiers would be needed to invade it?」
「………… if the stationed soldiers number 2000 men like planned, it would be difficult even with 20,000 men.」
Once Dorn explained that the walls were bestowed with 『Harden』 and 『Magic Resistance』, the number he gave out didn’t seem all that strange.
「It takes no less than 10 times the soldiers to invade it or it would be impossible, I see.」
「And if it were just ordinary soldiers, they wouldn’t be able to do anything and will just lose. Iruma-dono is not all too aware of armies, but he appears to have imagined a town that could withstand an attack from tens of thousands of monsters.」
「Can it be a wedge………?」
「Yes, it can be a wedge.」
Originally, the goal of a pioneering village in that area of the savage lands is to make a fortress in it in the future to keep an eye on Triaria and act as a wedge. Starting from the village surrounded by protective walls, a strong fortress would eventually be built. It would baffle Triaria should they invade Valkyra Kingdom and Yggurle Kingdom.
And so, as a result of Takumi’s excessive enthusiasm, Godwin and King Lobos’ plans could be accelerated 10 years forward.
「I will send a correspondence to His Majesty that it would be better to have an inspection come from royal capital as well.」
「Indeed. Because that town had emerged, it shows the possibility of possessing those savage lands. Having said that, Triaria Kingdom must pass through Lomaria Kingdom to attack that town, lest they be dominated by monsters by passing through such savage lands. Even they should have learned from their invasion of Yggurle Kingdom 50 years prior.」
At the time of the invasion at Yggurle Kingdom 50 years ago, Triaria marched through the savage lands, and by the time they arrived at Yggurle after much struggle, Triaria had lost no less than 10% of their soldiers overall. As a result of that, they had nearly lost the war with Yggurle. Since then, Triaria had many hardships rebuilding their national power over many long years.
「Likely even Triaria would not move carelessly.」
But whether Triaria had abandoned their ambitions or would trigger another flare-up, nobody knew.
「Takumi-sama, I have a small favor to ask.」
Having finished the construction of the castle and its walls on the hill, I was making revisions in various parts of town when Sophia, who had on a serious expression, came with a request.
「What is it?」
「A few days ago, Dorn-dono had brought the pioneers, but Takumi-sama, were you aware that there were widows among them?」
「Ah, there might have been a few.」
「No, there is only 1 at present, but……… she has a slight problem……」
Sophia was being evasive, seemingly hesitant to talk.
Upon inquiry, there were apparently three widows, but two of them had been remarried to bachelors among the pioneering people.
「What is it? Does she not want to be remarried?」
「No, she was the only one young among the three women, and I think they wouldn’t have been a good match.」
Apparently, 2 out of the three were human women in their 40’s, and the remaining 1 was a beastwoman in the early half of her 20’s. The bachelors among the pioneers were an elderly man whose wife had gone before him, and younger man in his 40’s.
「The stationed soldiers are young, aren’t they?」
「I have considered that as well, but “how about employing her as a maid for the house?” was what I was thinking.」
Certainly, it is unimaginable to remarry so soon after losing her husband. That having been said, here, it is a relentless world for a woman to keep living in by herself.
「Got it. I’ll meet her once.」
「Thank you very much.」
Knock, knock.
「Come in.」
「Excuse us.」
The door opened and the one who came in was a woman in her mid-20’s. Large bright red eyes, chestnut brown hair, a bit shorter than Sophia at approximately 166cm, and had long slender limbs. She has a steep and bulging chest line, a slender waist, and a wide hipline showing her maturity as a woman. And similarly a beastkin like Laeva. The woman, maybe because of the culture of her race, was wearing lascivious clothing. Foxkin like Laeva wear clothes similar to Japanese clothing, but the clothes of the woman in front of me had high skin exposure. Wearing a bikini top-like clothing, her cleavage created a deep shadow and seemed like they would spill out at any time. She was wearing a micro miniskirt-like clothing on her lower half, exposing her lovely thighs with no regret. Beastkin tribes have many tribes that wear clothes with high exposure. It might be a normal thing for the people of this world, but when a real bunny girl shows up in front of me, even I, who always sees beauties like Sophia, Maria, and Laeva everyday, couldn’t stop my blood pressure from rising.
Yes, the beastkin woman is from the Rabbitkin. On her head were two long tawny ears that were slightly darker than her hair. Different from tribes like the Foxkin, Dogkin, Catkin, it seems they have retrogressed and did not have a tail.
「(Seriously, this world. The ratio of beautiful people here really is high.) Please, take a seat.」
That woman seems slightly haggard. She probably had hardships from their pioneering village being deserted. Perhaps her husband dying before her and her anxiety of not being able to see a future have accumulated. But even these did not undermine her beauty.
Once we finished our self-introductions, I had a simple interview with the woman and decided to hire her as a maid.
The woman’s name is Marnie. She is 24 years old and she lost her husband half a year ago. Having no other relatives, she came to this place with the pioneers, but it seems she didn’t have the willpower to cultivate a field and live by herself. That was when Sophia called out to her and offered her a job as a maid while she searches for what she wants to do.
「Let’s see, Maria’s responsibilities would decrease so I think it’s alright.」
「That’s right, I have my adventurer work too, so I’d be glad to receive some help.」
It seems even Maria is in agreement.
「Laeva doesn’t have time to do housework, so if Takumi-sama and Maria-san are for it, then I support it too.」
「Then hiring her is all right. Also, Takumi-sama, I would like it if Marnie is not entrusted with just help at the house but with your everyday necessities as well.」
「Umm, why?」
With the intention of securing materials, we accept many requests at the Adventurers Guild. “Wouldn’t it be dangerous if she were to come along?” is what I said.
「I think it would be tough for Marnie-san to be alone in a large mansion for many days.」
「Ahhh, y-you’re right.」
Marnie-san’s husband, who died half a year ago[1], suffered from a serious illness soon after they got married and passed away not even 2 years into the marriage. She did her best to do her ill husband’s part in the reclamation, but her husband passed away from not receiving direct medical treatment and the village being abandoned, so the thread holding Marnie-san together likely broke from the mental strain. One could say that by the time she realized it, she was here with other pioneering people.
「Then Marnie-san, please support us by working for our daily necessities. Let’s discuss your salary, too.」
「…… please do.」
Following Sophia’s advice, Marnie was hired as a maid. I wonder if it’s because Sophia was from noble origins that it’s normal to have a maid constantly wait on us hand and foot.
***
Footnotes: