Private Army (1)
Erinn and Ser-Aria headed for Obern, one of the cities of the Empire.
It belonged to none other than the Achilles Duchy—the very territory ruled by the family of Military Minister Yureinia Achilles.
It was not the central city of the duchy, yet as a city under ducal rule it boasted a respectable level of development and size. A little too large to call a small town, not quite big enough to call a metropolis—perfectly mid-sized.
The reason they had strong-armed even Salisius into letting them come here was simple: to verify and make use of the information Karna had given them.
Ser-Aria sat atop Obern’s low walls and took a casual swig from her bottle.
“Pwahh. Erinn, do you really think they did something like that?”
Erinn, who had just finished subduing and tying up the wall guards, tilted her head at the question.
“What do you mean, Aria~?”
“I mean, even so—would they go that far? That Military Minister woman may have hated you, but… wasn’t she still working for the Empire? And yet…”
Ser-Aria recalled the information Karna had shared.
—Suspicious activity has been detected in the Achilles family’s territory. It seems Yureinia Achilles is abusing her authority as Military Minister. Investigate Obern, one of the cities in the duchy.
What Karna wanted them to look into in Obern was the current state of affairs resulting from Yureinia Achilles’s abuse of power. Of course, he had not neglected to tell them exactly what kind of abuse was taking place.
Ser-Aria’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Illegal private army training, of all things…”
Every noble in the Empire who held a territory kept private soldiers to defend it. But because those forces were, in the end, an army, any noble who maintained them was required to submit precise reports on their status four times a year—once each quarter.
If the numbers grew too large, the Imperial family ordered a reduction. Failure to comply was treated as treason, for it was taken as proof of intentions beyond mere territorial defense.
Naturally, the training of private soldiers also had to be reported. Failing to do so was a serious crime. And what Karna had told them was that Yureinia and the Achilles ducal house were committing exactly that crime.
“The possibility is more than enough. Overseeing reports on private armies is the military’s job. And the highest authority in the military, alongside the Emperor, is the Military Minister. She’s the final checkpoint before anything reaches the Emperor. If she put her mind to it, she could do whatever she wanted.”
Erinn spoke on.
“Assuming she’s been nursing other ambitions all along, that is.”
Ser-Aria fell silent for a moment at Erinn’s words.
“…Then the way she’s been keeping you in check all this time starts to make sense.”
“Hmm~?”
“If the Military Minister was trying to gain something through military movements, the biggest obstacle standing in her way would obviously be you, Erinn.”
“…Heh, you’re right.”
Erinn gave a light nod.
“Then all the pointless bullshit she’s been pulling finally makes sense too~♡”
She said it lightly, yet one point still puzzled her the same way it puzzled Ser-Aria. In the two lives she had already lived, this particular fact had never once come to light.
Of course, this life was diverging from the previous ones in many ways—but for even Yureinia’s movements to have changed…
…Or maybe I simply never knew.
Looked at that way, it was not wrong. Whether in her first life or her second, if one counted only the absolute years, she had not been active as a Hero for very long.
Both times, lack of strength and certain accidents had caused the party to collapse rather quickly. Combined, the two lives had not even reached five years.
The first time, sheer lack of skill had led to a crushing defeat against the Basilisk King; she had died only two years after beginning her activities.
The second time, unnoticed cracks within the party had half-destroyed it, and in that state they had fallen to a Demon King’s Army corps commander—none other than the Magic Corps Commander. That had happened two and a half years after they started.
So both times, Yureinia might simply not have had enough time to make her move. That was why Erinn, now living her third life, had never known.
“…Well, that’s why we came to find out for sure, right~? Karna might’ve just gotten it wrong~ the dummy♡”
“Yeah… true.”
Ser-Aria rose from her seat and ran a hand over her bow, checking it once.
“Something wrong?”
“No. Just… realizing I’m going to have to hurt people again.”
“…You’re surprisingly delicate sometimes, you know that? Usually you just drink without a thought in your head~♡”
“I don’t drink without thinking, okay?”
“Pfft, sure~♡”
Erinn laughed lightly and leapt down from the wall first. Watching her land so lightly below, Ser-Aria muttered to herself.
“…Without this stuff, I couldn’t stay sane.”
Together with Ser-Aria, Erinn moved across the rooftops, scouring every corner of Obern’s streets. A place for training private soldiers would surely occupy a fairly large plot of land; traveling the rooftops should give them an open view and make it easy to spot.
Yet, as expected, any site where Yureinia might be raising a private army was not so carelessly exposed. After roughly half a day of combing the city from end to end, the two met again at their starting point.
“Find anything~?”
“Pwahh, nope. Nothing.”
“Hmm…”
Erinn pondered briefly. If the information had come from Karna—a Hero of another nation—and moreover from his lord, the Crown Prince of the Shah Zar Kingdom, then whatever Yureinia was doing could not be small in scale.
Raising a private army would definitely require a wide plot of land. And if even Ser-Aria, Divine Archer of the High Elves, had failed to find it…
“…That means it’s not above ground.”
“Mm? There’s an underground?”
“What else could it be~? It didn’t suddenly shoot up into the sky, did it~♡”
“True enough.”
Ser-Aria shrugged.
“But if it’s underground, how do we find it? Searching every building in a city this big is impossible. We’ve only got two days left.”
“…We narrow down the buildings.”
“Huh?”
When Ser-Aria tilted her head, Erinn answered.
“No matter how much Yureinia is a direct descendant of the family that rules the duchy, not every building in this city belongs to the ducal house. If they’re raising private soldiers, they would have built the underground facility based on a building their family currently owns.”
“…So we only need to find buildings owned by the Achilles ducal house. But finding those will be a job in itself, won’t it? We can’t just barge into buildings and demand the ownership papers.”
“Then we find someone who would know~.”
“How?”
“This is Obern, after all.”
Erinn said.
“There’s a merchant guild branch here that has to treat us as VIPs~♡”
“…Ah?”
Following Erinn’s suggestion, the two sought out a certain merchant guild. Its emblem was a roaring golden eagle.
It was none other than a branch of Aurum Aquila, the guild with which they had formed a connection in the Behend Kingdom. Erinn and Ser-Aria walked in as if they owned the place.
“Hm?”
“Are you customers?”
A woman who seemed to be the branch receptionist approached them.
“I’m sorry, but Aurum Aquila is not receiving guests at the moment. If you would please—”
“Oh, so you’re not taking customers. Does that mean you turn VIPs away too~?”
“Pardon?”
Erinn produced a token. Ser-Aria pulled out an identical one. They were the tokens Ophelia, head of Aurum Aquila, had given to Erinn and the rest of the party.
“That’s the Guildmaster’s…”
Recognizing it, the receptionist straightened her posture at once.
“My apologies, honored guests. I will escort you to the Branch Manager immediately.”
“Thanks~♡”
Watching the receptionist’s attitude flip in an instant, Ser-Aria spoke with mild bemusement.
“Being a VIP really is nice.”
“Yeah~ Especially with merchants who value trust above all else~.”
Guided by the receptionist, Erinn and Ser-Aria were led to the Branch Manager’s office.
“Branch Manager Race, guests of the Guildmaster have arrived.”
“What?!”
A startled voice came from within, then the door burst open and a solidly built man appeared. Judging by sheer bulk alone, he was nearly as large as Albrecht, who had been tempered by farming and adventuring.
He seemed surprised first by Erinn and Ser-Aria’s faces—as if he already knew who they were.
“You two are truly the Guildmaster’s…?”
“Here~.”
He examined the token Erinn held out and exclaimed in astonishment.
“Th-this is… genuine.”
“May we come in~?”
“Of course! Please, come right in! You there—bring our finest tea at once!”
“Yes, Branch Manager.”
Race, Branch Manager of Aurum Aquila’s Obern branch, treated Erinn and Ser-Aria with the utmost courtesy. Guests acknowledged by the Guildmaster were the most precious clients Aurum Aquila possessed.
“This is Yorkshire Principality black tea, said to be the finest of the year. Please, try some.”
“I’ll gratefully accept~.”
“Pwahh, I’d rather have liquor.”
Ser-Aria said so while taking another pull from her bottle, yet she had already noticed for some time that the tea’s aroma was excellent.
“Still, since you offered, I might as well try it.”
“Haha, I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Erinn spoke.
“More importantly, you haven’t even asked why we came~?”
“What’s the rush? When guests of the Guildmaster arrive, proper hospitality comes first.”
“Hmm, then I’ll get straight to the point.”
Erinn did not hesitate. Time was short to begin with; she had no choice.
“How many buildings in the city of Obern are owned by the Achilles ducal house?”
“Buildings owned by the Achilles ducal house? Why are you looking for those?”
“To put it simply, it’s a matter of national security~.”
If Yureinia Achilles truly was illegally raising a private army, it was a national security issue. It was treason against the Emperor.
“National security… you say?”
“You know who we are, right?”
“Yes, of course. Hero Erinn, and her companion, the Divine Archer Ser-Aria.”
“You can just call me Aria.”
“Then I shall address you as Lady Aria. In any case—if the two of you are saying so… is this truly a matter of national security?”
At Branch Manager Race’s question, Erinn gave a light nod.
“That’s right~♡”
Erinn smirked, a mischievous little smile on her face.
“Because Yureinia Achilles is secretly raising a private army here~.”
Race’s eyes went wide at those words. And Ser-Aria, watching Erinn spill everything without a single lie, was equally appalled.
…Why would you just say that out loud!?