Letter

October came, and Allen turned eleven.

Since clearing out an Orc village at the end of May, he had wiped out some twenty Orc villages. There were still plenty left, but he was determined to clear them all out. Naturally, he was starting from the north of the White Dragon Mountains, with the resumption of mithril mining in mind.

As a result, preparations for the northernmost of the four mining sites in the White Dragon Mountains were progressing at a brisk pace. Mining had originally been expected to take at least three years to get underway, but it now looked like that could be shortened to two.

Arrangements to find workers for the mining site were also underway. Starting early next spring, they would begin preparing a village to house the miners and the smelting furnace for refining the mithril ore. Recruitment had already begun.

(Everything’s going smoothly. I’ll clear out all the Orc villages, and if possible, all the Armored Ant nests too. Then I can become an adventurer next year.)

When he was eight, Allen had thought he would quit being a footman and leave the mansion once he turned twelve. Three years had passed since then. He’d been at the mansion for quite a long time.

Allen, I’m counting on you to look after Cecil. Protect her for me.

Whenever he thought about leaving, Mihai’s words came back to him. What had he wanted Allen to protect her from? If he’d meant for Allen to serve Cecil for the rest of his life, that wasn’t something he could do. He tried to think of another meaning, but couldn’t figure it out.

“I hear we have a messenger from the royal family coming today.”

“That’s what I heard, too.”...