At the Tranza Inn for the Third Time

My own group had grown quite large.

As my close aides, I had Azure Bow Wickhart and Dick, the easygoing powerhouse.

Roa Company consisted of Ryuzel and Frein.

Lufa, Nerphia, and Sazaby handled the behind-the-scenes support work.

Somehow, this had turned into quite a situation.

The other day, we'd only just held a wrap-up party for the bottling project, but today we were gathered in the dining hall of the Tranza Inn for a welcome party for Ryuzel and Frein. Since none of us were strangers to one another, everyone settled in fairly quickly.

Still, I felt like every dish today came in slightly larger portions than usual. Sule-san, the inn's poster girl, also seemed to be in particularly high spirits.

Perhaps the addition of the newcomers, Ryuzel and Frein, was the main reason.

Frein had the refined features one would expect of a noble, while Ryuzel was a handsome young man known for his narrow, sharp eyes, with a seasoned air despite his youth. Why did people like that keep gathering around me? ... Yeah. Dick was my kindred spirit.

As for Dick, for the time being he would be placed under Frein's command rather than remain one of my close aides.

The reason was horses.

Roa Company would be a cavalry unit. Wickhart, who had once been a commander of some renown, was no problem, but Dick had almost no experience riding, partly because of his build.

"Dick's role on the battlefield is to protect Roa from nearby. As long as he can properly keep up with us to the battlefield, there shouldn't be a problem," Frein had decided, and he was drilling Dick in the minimum riding skills.

Frein's unit had to convert its infantry into cavalry in a hurry anyway, so he agreed to take Dick on as part of that effort.

"Learning to ride is one thing, but finding a horse that can carry Dick is the real challenge," Ryuzel said with a laugh.

Ryuzel's unit was providing full support for Frein's unit's riding training. At the same time, the Tenth Knight Order was creating another cavalry unit, so they were busy helping with that as well.

Ryuzel in particular was working at full tilt, since Rays-sama had entrusted him with procuring the warhorses. Though, to be fair, he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, getting to work with horses every day.

"Still, are we really sure Roa Company is the right choice...?" I let out a heartfelt sigh.

"What's this? Are you still worrying about it? We said we're fine with it, so what's the problem?" Frein said, but the responsibility was enormous. Any mistake I made would directly put the lives of these good-natured friends of mine in danger.

And as Rays-sama had said, we'd become one of the most mobile units in the Tenth Knight Order. Naturally, Roa Company's decisions and speed were bound to have a significant impact on the Tenth Knight Order.

Thinking about it that way, I couldn't help sighing again.

"It'll be fine, won't it? We'll help out as much as we can on the battlefield, too, you know?" Nerphia was the one saying this... Wait, Nerphia?

"Nerphia, are you planning to go to the battlefield?"

"Huh? I was planning to. I told you, didn't I? The King's scribes accompany military campaigns, too. It's not helping out; it's my actual job, you know?"

"Well, yes, you did say that, but..."

"Please rest assured. If I may be so bold, I have more battlefield experience than you, Roa-sama," Nerphia said as she drained her wine. I'd thought so before, but being a King's scribe was far too brutal.

"I wish I could..." Lufa complained. If Nerphia and Sazaby were going to accompany us to the battlefield, Lufa really would be the only one left behind among this group.

"No, Lufa... the battlefield isn't any fun, you know?" Truly, it was nothing but hardship and pain.

"But..." Lufa puffed out her cheeks, but there was no way I could take her along.

"Because Lufa-dono takes proper care of our inventory, we can march out with peace of mind." Wickhart reasoned with her like that, and when he handed her some dessert, her expression brightened at once.

"Even so, Roa, I had no idea you were up to something strange behind the scenes," Ryuzel said, referring to the bottling project.

The bottling project was nearing the final stages of ramping up production, so although it was still confidential, we had been given permission to tell Ryuzel and Frein about it.

It had been decided that constantly sending them away whenever someone asked about the bottled goods was counterproductive.

Nerphia had told me the king would make a grand announcement in about a month. I was looking forward to it a little.

"Yeah. It's not really anything strange, though."

"Really? You never think about anything but strange things, do you? Like that Sassar the other day." Frein joined in.

"Ah, that was an interesting weapon. If we prepared plenty of them around the cities, even ordinary people would be able to fight." Sazaby had caught onto that without my explaining the long-handled spear in detail. Sharp man.

When Rays-sama asked Drew about the long-handled spear after hearing about it from me, Drew's answer was a little unexpected.

"Why not just use Sassar as-is? If you tie a stone or anything, really, to it securely first, it becomes a weapon, right?"

That would certainly keep costs to a minimum and make preparation easy. I heard that, once convinced, Rays-sama proposed to the king that they be kept on hand as defensive equipment not only at every fort, but in every town and village as well.

It was a little amusing that this had ultimately given Sassar a new use.

"What are you going to make next?" Nerphia asked with evident interest.

I did have something in mind, but I wasn't sure whether I'd unveil it. So I hedged, saying, "I don't come up with things one after another like that."

I looked around at everyone laughing happily.

Little by little, ever so slowly, I felt the cards I could play against Lucifar=Belas and the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea were increasing.

I wondered what expressions they would make if I told them right now that I had come from the future.

Would they laugh and call it a joke... or...

There were more people I wanted to protect now.

If I looked at it that way, this was no time to agonize over something as small as a company. I had to steel myself and move forward.

On my own, I quietly steeled my resolve anew.