By the way, I tried to appraise the status of Hammond-san and Karl-san, but neither had particularly high skill boards.
The next morning, while I was preparing to leave and moving towards the castle gates,
“Ars, are you well?” (Hammond)
Hammond called me.
“Yes, what is it?” (Ars)
” I have something to enquire about my daughter. She seems to be in a bad mood lately. You seem to exchange a lot of letters with Lithia, but is there any reason for her mood that you can think of?”
Bad mood?
Unfortunately, I have no idea.
The contents of the letter I received recently should have been the same as usual.
……No, wait?
I certainly read the letter, and I didn’t feel any discomfort in the content.
But after reading the letter, did I reply?
I don’t think I wrote one.
When I was thinking of writing a reply, I had forgotten about it because my father had collapsed and the governor had just been assassinated.
I’m sure it was rude that I forgot it, but would that make Lithia take such a change in attitude that the others can tell?
Well, I wonder if there was a possibility that she was enjoying the correspondence with me from the bottom of her heart.
Then it’s no wonder that she’s in a bad mood.
I told Hammond that I forgot to reply to her letters.
“Oh, that might be true. My daughter was very excited to hear from you every time. She might be busy with all sorts of things, but she loves to hear from you whenever possible.” (Hammond)
She’s certainly looking forward to it, as Hammond says.
I have done something wrong.
“I understand. I will write one out as soon as I return.” (Ars)
“Thank you on the behalf of my daughter” (Hammond)
The conversation ended and Hammond-san left.
We left the castle and hurried back to the mansion.
○
When I returned to the mansion, I received a letter from Lithia.
The contents are,
“Ars, I haven’t heard back from you for a long time. What happened? Is there anything I did? If something had happened, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.” (Lithia)
Was written.
It was a letter that made me feel guilty.
Given her nature, it is doubtful that she’s so saddened, but she might still felt guilty.
I will immediately reply,
“Lithia had done no wrong, I’ve forgotten to reply because of my father’s collapse and the governor’s assassination. I am sorry”
I sent a letter with an apology.
After that, I decided to meet with Russell and Ritsu in the study room and discuss the future policy again.
“Well, it’s the policy from now on, but as the mayor said, should I first increase the fighting force for the battle?” (Ars)
“We need to improve our armaments, but it is difficult to increase the number of troops anymore. We can train our troops more, but not increasing the number will not lead to a faster increase in our strength. ” (Ritsu)
“Is that so?” (Ars)
“If the battle happens before Raven-sama is recovered, I think Ars-sama will lead the troops, so Ars-sama must get used to commanding the soldiers first. I think it would be nice to have a mock battle to lead the soldiers.” (Ritsu)
Is it a simulated battle?
Unlike actual battles, there won’t be any casualties, but I think it’s better to do it.
To avoid panicking in an emergency, there is no other way than to gain experience in fighting in simulated battles.
“Is there anything you want to add to Russell?” (Ars)
“Well, did the mayor declare the heir he will side with? Will he be able to defeat his brother?” (Russell)
“I can’t judge based on the information I have.” (Ars)
“Oh no. But I don’t think you need to know so. If you side with the loser in this battle, the poor and weak Louvent family will be crushed. You have to win.” (Russell)
“…That’s right. But I can’t go against what the County Mayor decided.” (Ars)
“If you find out that the heir will lose, you have to persuade the mayor to surrender the heir, and if that doesn’t work, you must betray them.” (Russell)
“betrayal……” (Ars)
I wonder if there is a possibility that I will not be able to live in the future without doing something like the Sengoku Daimyo.
“Now we don’t have enough information. Without it, no tactics or strategies can be established. Even now, we should somehow actively collect information from all of Messiaen.” (Russell)
“How to do it concretely” (Ars)
“…Would you like someone to gather the information? Use soldiers.” (Ritsu)
“Will it work?” (Russell)
“Hmm…” (Ritsu)
Russell and I were worried,
“There is a great place for information gathering. It is a mercenary company called “Shadow”. They are good at shadow magic, good at information gathering, working behind the scene. We can hire them if we pay them, but it will not be a small sum.” (Ritsu)
“Mercenary… It would be bad to hire a mercenary without my father’s consent. I should think about it after my father’s physical condition recovers.” (Ars)
“That’s also true.” (Ritsu)
However, it was good to know that there were mercenaries specialized in gathering information. I think the idea that information is the most important is correct.
“I can’t hire mercenaries, but I’d like to select some soldiers who seem to be good at gathering information and dispatch them to various places in Messiaen. It is better than not doing anything.” (Ars)
“I understand” (Ritsu)
Two things that were decided in today’s discussion are to practice a mock battle and to send vassals to collect information to various places in Messiaen.
After a few weeks.
The unexpected happened once again.