To Meet the Future Sister-in-Law
The procession that set out to meet my future sister-in-law was splendid.
Just look at them.
“I shall do my utmost to serve you.”
“Loyalty.”
Zeke and Milo.
The two of them had dug out their armor for the first time in ages. It was rather shabby for knights or men-at-arms, but still enough to make someone think, Oh, these guys might actually be decent.
Originally other knights should have joined us, but Merlin’s message had been so sudden that it couldn’t be helped. We had to leave at least a minimal force behind in our territory, after all.
And behind them.
“Heh heh. Shall we be off, Young Master?”
Twenty standing-army soldiers led by the old veteran Herben. For reference, Old Soldier Herben was a scrawny old man who looked like he might not even be able to swing a sword properly, yet his skills were said to be considerable.
No, is it really skill?
According to what I’d overheard in passing from the two new recruits(?), Zeke and Milo, there was no devil quite like that devil.
It’s common for veterans to mess with greenhorn knights. Well… messing with guys who’ve been through the wringer like Zeke and Milo is a different story, though.
Anyway, it meant that our territory’s elite forces had set out in their own way. Of course, this alone would never cut it for face in front of the Merlin Count family.
A count family… If we’re talking about people with some clout around here, Milo would be a joke even if Zeke might not be. You could find people of Zeke’s caliber without much difficulty. Looking purely at numbers, it’ll look pathetic.
So what did I choose?
Simple.
“Golgol, Tiktak.”
Golgol!
Tiktak!
To make up for the insufficient numbers, I set out on the road with Golgol and Tiktak in tow as well. For reference, Tiktak’s Miniton unit didn’t look very cool just trailing along, so I put robes on them.
Then what about Golgol and Tiktak?
Tiktak got a robe too.
Golgol gets armor, of course.
Dressed like that and with a robe over it, Golgol looked like a proper knight.
Golgol!
You’re teasing Tiktak. You don’t have something like this, do you?
“Well… it can’t be helped.”
The loser has no say, after all. And according to Confucian thought, Golgol, who was born first(?), is naturally the older sibling.
That aside.
That bastard Tiktak… he’s an F, right?
Suspicious.
Anyway.
Like Alibaba and the Forty Thieves, I set off dragging seven soldiers and fourteen undead. And no group dared to mess with the likes of us.
What? Is the security in our territory that good?
No, that’s average.
This was something you could understand if you knew the ecology of bandits in this world. I don’t know how it was in the medieval era of my previous life, but the bandits of this world are, how should I put it… mostly all dual-jobbers. They engage in their main profession normally, and when they’re bored or their main job isn’t going well, they kill time on side paths and pick the pockets of passing adventurers or merchants.
So there’s zero damage among villagers belonging to the same territory.
Why?
Because they’re all familiar faces.
Even if the villages are different, huh? You’ve seen all the faces coming and going.
Anyway, this isn’t a security issue; it’s because I’m the second young master of the Falaon Barony, and furthermore, our procession is carrying the family banner. You’d have to be crazy to rob the lord’s procession. If you do, the villages around here will be razed to the ground.
At any rate.
After advancing for about half a day, we were able to arrive at the promised village.
Half a day… how far is that distance?
I don’t know. It’s not like the roads are neatly paved like in modern times, and I’ve never walked half a day along such winding paths before.
Anyway.
“It seems the young lady of Merlin has not yet arrived.”
At Zeke’s words after surveying the village, I nodded.
“Yes, it seems so.”
“Shall I look for a place to stay for a while?”
“Yes, and be polite about it.”
“Yes, understood. Just in case, I’ll also check if lodging is available.”
Before long, Zeke had found us an inn. Perhaps because it was a village adjacent to the Hadion Viscounty, even though the scale was small, the inn was well-equipped.
“Ah, oh my, how could such a noble person come to a place like this… Please wait a moment.”
We secured rooms while receiving the innkeeper’s extreme hospitality.
It was then that Old Soldier Herben approached me.
“Heh heh, Young Master.”
“Yes, please speak.”
“Heh heh, how could a noble person like yourself speak so highly to the likes of me… I am truly grateful beyond measure.”
“It’s about respecting one’s elders.”
“Respecting one’s elders…?”
“Mm, just that since Herben has devoted more to the territory than I have, it’s only natural treatment.”
“Ah… I can’t thank you enough. I’m moved. To think you recognize our hardships… Really, after the Baron and the first young master, even the second young master is such a good person…”
Herben seemed quite moved, his eyes moistening. Come to think of it, was this the first time I’d conversed separately with Herben and the five standing-army elites?
Anyway.
“What is the matter?”
“Ah, it’s nothing else, but this old man has something that’s bothering him, and with this foolish head of mine, I’m not sure if this is the right judgment…”
I shrewdly guessed.
So there’s some problem, but he wants to say it without upsetting my mood.
Indeed, there’s a reason he survived to that age.
Then it’s only human to listen.
“Please speak freely. I don’t know much.”
“Oh my, Young Master. Please don’t say such things. If Young Master doesn’t know much, then this humble one must die.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“Heh heh, that is… with this humble one’s short experience and dull…”
I’m going crazy with frustration.
“Um, Herben?”
“Yes, please speak.”
“Just tell me. I really don’t know shit, so.”
“Heh heh…”
Herben seemed to gauge my expression, then realizing my sincerity, nodded.
“Yes, then I shall tell you. In my opinion, there is no doubt that some mishap has befallen the young lady of the Merlin Count family.”
“A mishap?”
“Yes, I don’t know what kind. It could simply be that the road is blocked and she’s late, or she could have been attacked by monsters, or it could be because of those worthless bandit bastards. Ah! Of course, it could also simply be that the young lady overslept and is late. However…”
“However?”
“If she had departed according to the letter that originally arrived to the Baron, she should have arrived around the same time as us.”
“Mm.”
In other words, Herben’s words meant this.
She’s a bit later than the expected arrival time, so I’m worried something might have happened.
Then I had a question.
“Couldn’t Father have sent us a bit earlier? Since we can’t keep a guest waiting…”
“From the point the letter arrived, it was already impossible.”
“Mm, I see.”
Then what could have happened. Did something really happen?
As I was pondering, Herben added.
“Young Master, what I said is only a possibility. In fact, some variables are bound to occur in travel. So please don’t worry about it.”
“But that means there is a possibility, doesn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
Then what am I supposed to do about it. I tilted my head at Herben’s gaze that was subtly looking at me, then soon gave up on using my brain.
“Then let’s just casually go for a stroll.”
“A stroll, you say?”
“Yes, we can’t go far, but we can go up ahead a bit to check the situation, can’t we? Then if the vibe seems really off, we can send a scout.”
“Hmm.”
Herben listened to my words, seemed lost in thought, then nodded.
“Young Master is truly… a wise person.”
No, I just don’t want to think. You might say why make such a fuss over being just a few hours late, but since the other party is who they are, it’s better to be careful. Either way, if we just go scout up ahead a bit, there’s no problem, right?
“Then, shall I prepare?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
“……?”
“Why?”
Herben tilted his head looking at me.
“Does that mean Young Master is going together as well?”
“Of course?”
We have to go together—then just send the soldiers? In fact, if there had been even one knight-level commander, I would have done that. But whether Zeke or Milo, their skills are knight-level, but their positions are still soldiers who haven’t even received appointment yet. It’s right for me, the sole person in charge, to go.
“Heh, heh heh… Understood. Then I shall prepare. Please come out at your leisure.”
“Yes, I’ll be out soon.”
I waited, wetting my throat with the beer on the table while feeling a bit dazed. But then the Ancestor spoke as if impressed.
Did you calculate that?
“……What?”
I’m asking if that was an act you put on to curry favor with the subordinates.
“……? Why would I?”
It’s not that I don’t respect Herben or the soldiers. But do I really need to curry favor with them? Strictly speaking, their employer is Father, and I’m just borrowing that Father’s authority. In other words, we’re strangers.
Huh, then is it innate.
“……?”
Is this a discrepancy coming from the difference in perception between medieval and modern times. I don’t know.
Anyway, the important thing is this.
Something might have happened to the future sister-in-law?
I can’t just sit by and watch something like that. Of course not.
“Young Master, preparations are complete.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
I set out with the soldiers. I don’t know whether this step will end as a stroll, or as the entry into some other incident.
Anyway.
“Golgol.”
Golgol!
“Tiktak.”
Tiktak!
Mm, reliable. Yeah, this should be enough.
The entrance to Falaon Territory.
A mountain valley thickly shrouded in untimely fog.
Rina gasped for breath as she curled up her body.
“Young Lady, Young Lady, don’t be afraid. I-It’ll all be okay.”
With that small body, who was she trying to protect by covering her. But Rina desperately covered ‘Young Lady’ and hid her body in a narrow rock crevice as she whispered.
Don’t be afraid. It’ll all be fine.
But ‘Young Lady’s’ reaction was cold.
“Rina. Am I an idiot?”
“Young Lady, what are you saying. How could Young Lady be an idiot. Young Lady is the smartest and most beautiful person in Merlin.”
“Yes, that’s not wrong. Then, would someone as smart as me not know the current situation?”
“Uh, that is…”
Rina tilted her head. Yes, Young Lady is smart. That’s why, even though she’s the third, she’s the one who receives the Count’s favor! So she got even angrier.
For such a person to marry into the Falaon Barony!
What the hell is that magic stone for! Even though Young Lady chose it herself, for Rina who sincerely cares for Young Lady, it was truly infuriating.
Anyway.
“Rina, we were attacked by a group of unidentified undead. And looking at their unorganized movements, they’re either remnants who lost their caster or naturally occurring undead. But I’ve never heard of there being land polluted enough for undead to naturally occur in Falaon Territory, so they must be remnants who lost their caster, right?”
“Uh… that’s right?”
“That means the purpose of the undead wandering around out there is blind slaughter. Right?”
“Uh… I think so.”
“But in this situation, what hope is there?”
“Uh…”
Rina thought carefully then soon agreed. And said.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Uh, just because?”
“Haha.”
Young Lady Ellie rarely burst into laughter.
“Rina, it’s not something for you to be sorry about. This is just… yes, my fault for volunteering for a political marriage to escape my siblings, while still not wanting to let go of power. If I hadn’t insisted so stubbornly, something like today wouldn’t have happened.”
“B-But…”
Rina made a tearful face. She needed to comfort somehow but had nothing to say. Why. Because Young Lady’s words weren’t wrong in the slightest!
“B-But you never know! The people who came out from the Falaon Barony might save us…!”
“Rina, I don’t know everything, but I do know this.”
“W-What?”
“It would be impossible with Falaon’s knights. That means beyond that fog, there’s a being that even our knights couldn’t handle.”
“Ah.”
Yes, that’s right. During the escape, they threw their bodies to protect Young Lady Ellie from the enemy beyond the fog. And contrary to the thought that they would return soon, they still hadn’t returned. Even Merlin’s knights had lost their lives.
But.
Even if someone comes from Falaon, could they survive?
Grooooaaan—
Kruk, keruk!
From beyond the wicked fog, the cries of undead rang out. Listening to those cries, Ellie calmly settled her mind.
“Ah, Young Lady. Still, still you never know. A knight might appear just like a prince on a white horse?!”
“Haha, Rina. Even if one appears, that would be your prince.”
Ellie knows. That such luck won’t come. Even if ordinary undead can be handled somehow… ‘that thing’ that lured the knights one by one beyond the fog and hunted them is something Falaon’s knights couldn’t handle.
But she hoped.
“I’m sure, th-they’ll come!”
For that pitiful child at least. But would there really be a chance?
Ellie tightly gripped the dagger she kept in her bosom.
Rather than meeting a miserable end at the hands of undead…
I shall end my life with this hand.
Then, it was after quite some time had passed that human voices were heard from beyond that fog.
“Ah, Young Lady?”
“…I hear it too.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t too late.
But.
—Valhaaal—laaaaaaaa!
What on earth is that sound?