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I Detest War
I was busy with preparations.
I was half desperate.
I had gone to the trouble of preparing the defense of my village, but I had no idea that I would be asked to leave the village and fight.
Then, I had to take on the challenge with a lineup that would be absolutely safe.
First of all, in order to protect the place to which we will return, we will leave Espada as acting lord, and villagers who are good with ballistas will also remain. And after that, the Espada Knights.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
“You can’t be a lord if you’re not as good as Espada.”
When I said so, Espada looked at the faces of those standing around him in turn, then nodded deeply.
“I understand. It is Van-sama, after all.”
He understood. It is Espada who is quintessential.
Now that the village was out of the way, the question was who I was going with.
“First of all, Dee and the others will take most of them as my knights.”
“Ha!”
“Till and Camsin will be in danger…”
“I’ll go! I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming!
I’m joining!”
“Oh, yes. I understand.”
I lost to the pressure.
Well, I expected them to join me.
“Arte-sama is a visitor. I’ll have her wait for me in the village.”
“…I’ll go with you!”
“Heh?”
I let out an unintentionally dumb voice. But for some reason, Arte has a very determined expression on her face.
“It’s dangerous…”
“I’m prepared.”
Unusually, Arte interrupted my words to clearly express her intentions. Besides, I exhale lightly and cross my arms.
“Then you’ll be with me at all times, right?  Then I’ll allow you to accompany me.”
“Yes!”
Arte replied happily, and I let out a sigh with a wry smile. I let out a sigh and let the smiling looks fly from around me, but I let them pass.
However, it is true that Arte’s presence would be a great help to us, and if we bring Arte’s special puppet doll with us, it will surely be a strong shield.
I’ll check the equipment and the knights in a large open space inside the village walls, with a large carriage lined up.
“…Is this how it’s going to be?  You just became a baron, so don’t tell me you don’t have much strength, right?”
I ask, and Dee crosses her arms to confirm.
“It’s more than enough if you know what’s inside. No, I’m sure you’ll be fine considering Van-sama’s age in the first place.”
Nodding appropriately at Dee’s snarling words, adventurer Ortho, who had been watching from a distance, opened his mouth.
“Shall we accept the escort request?  I wouldn’t normally be involved in a war, but I’d be willing to take on the job of escorting Van-sama.”
I raised my hands in the air and cheered.
“Oh!  That’s great!  Then let’s call out to all the adventurers and see if any of them are willing to take the job!”
What a great idea. I didn’t realize it was so easy to increase the number of people.
“By the way, Xsara-san will be forced to participate.”
“You’re treating me like that again?”
Xsara jumped up at my comment. No, no, no, what is he surprised about?
“My Order doesn’t have professional scouts. We do have hunters, but I still think they are a little different from scouts.”
Saying this, Xsara’s mouth twitched in frustration.
“That’s true, but… But since it’s a request, I’d like you to confirm that you’ll accept it.”
“What?  But Xsara-san will be executed if he doesn’t accept my request…”
“You’re going to die?  I’ll take it then!  Of course, I will!”
When I joked about it, Xsara, as usual, overreacted. The fact that she was half crying was probably because she was overacting.
“Okay. Well then, Ortho-san, I’d like you to make a request to all adventurers. For those who accept the request, five gold coins will be paid in advance. Please tell them one large gold coin after the request is accomplished.”
“…They’re all coming, that’s it. Are you sure?”
“How many people is everyone?”
When I asked this, Ortho growled with a difficult look on his face.
“Well…if you include the ones who came last time, three, four…maybe a hundred and fifty?  No, maybe a few more?”
“One hundred and fifty?  Why are there so many?”
I was greatly surprised. The original number was probably around sixty. What had happened in such a short period of time?
“Oh, it’s the publicity for the Adventurers’ Guild. Now it’s probably been passed on to the neighboring towns, and there are some new guys from THE CAPITAL. As a guild, we want to do a quick survey of the dungeon. The more people we have, the faster we can map and figure out the monsters.”
“But it’s still too fast. I wonder if the rest stop before the dungeon is over capacity?”
“No, it’s normal to spend a day or two in a dungeon, so we can take turns in the dungeon and have plenty of time to spare. After the mission is over, we go back to the village to sell the materials.”
I see.
“Well, no matter. It’s participation in a war. Tell them that it’s one large gold coin and five gold coins per adventurer. We’re risking our lives, and we want at least that much.”
Saying this, Ortho nodded with a laugh.
“Understood. But the adventuring business is a risky business to begin with, so I’ll gladly participate even with five gold coins, except for the very best adventurers. Well, I’m sure I’d be happy with more.”
I heard something about the harsh adventurer’s way of life. Well, the inhabitants of Seat Village also had a life-or-death scene, and it seems that everyone in this world has it tough.
“Okay. I think the Seat Knights will be fine, but the adventurers are always buying weapons.”
Ortho’s eyes changed color as he replied.
“Really!  They’re always in short supply!  Okay, I’ll quickly tell everyone and I’ll be the first to buy one!”
“You already have most of them, don’t you Ortho-san?”
“I’m off then!”
He either didn’t hear my point or ignored it, but he turned pale and ran away.
While most of the Seat Knights’ equipment is made of wood block, Ortho’s party is almost entirely outfitted with armor made of iron.
Pluriel has a lot of wood block armor because it is lightweight, but he just bought a mithril staff for his staff.
…Well, I’m a superior customer, so I can give him preferential treatment.
“I’m curious, I’m going to go to the Bellrango Trading Company and see what’s going on.”
I said, and Dee replied in a loud voice and headed off to check on the knights and their equipment.
It was just as well since I had been so busy lately that I hadn’t seen Rango’s face.
With that in mind, I took Till and the others to the store and found Rango looking rather tired.
When Rango sees me, he comes running with a tearful look on his face.
“Va, Van-sama!”
“What happened?”
I looked up at Rango, tilting my head, and he held out his hands to show me how hard it had been.
“It’s no big deal!  Ortho-san and the others bring us materials for magical beasts every day, adventurers complain that we don’t have enough weapons and armor, and we’re running out of food and seasonings because we have more villagers…!  On top of that, I have to teach the slaves I made into employees how to serve customers and how much things cost, and sometimes the employees fight with each other and I have to arbitrate…!”
“Oh, oh… that sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it?”
I nodded and consoled Rango as he complained like a new manager whose stress levels had hit the upper limit for a new store opening at a small business.
This is precisely what middle management is going through. Hang in there, Rango, managing your people is an essential skill.
“Huh?  What about former peddlers or slaves with experience in other trades?  You know, the gorgeous ones.”
“Ah, Mr. Medici. She’s the only one who can help me, but she’s probably just as tired as I am. She does half of the education of the slaves. He’s an angel to me, an angel.”
Rango interlaces his fingers in front of his chest, stares into the void, and mutters. He is extremely agitated.
“…Okay, I’ll help you sell your weapons and armor.”
I told him, and Rango burst into tears.
“God!”
“I’m Van-sama!”
I replied with a wry smile to Rango’s tears of joy.