We're on a Trip - 5
After the second day's seaside date, the rest of the school trip unfolded without a single disturbance. Honestly, it would have been stranger if something had gone wrong on a school trip. The first day had simply been unusually cursed.
If there was one development that qualified as an "incident," it was that the Young Duchess had joined our party. Her experience in the Elf Sanctuary must have left quite an impression, because she had apparently dropped subtle hints to my uncle that she wanted to go out and play a little longer.
Naturally, her father was overjoyed that the daughter who usually only read books in her room now wanted to leave of her own accord—
"Hello, my lady."
"Good morning, Young Duchess. Looking forward to another day with you."
—and that was the result. Every morning now included a stop at the ducal residence to pick her up.
I had no complaints. If the Young Duchess had a personality anything like a miniature Wise Duke, I would have chosen death on the spot. But she was a miracle Enen had granted the Salon family out of pity—a gentle, adorable little girl. Who could possibly mind spending time with her? Everyone was more than happy to have her along.
"Out so early, when it must be tiring. My retainers could stand to learn from you."
Demon Duke smiled softly and stroked the Young Duchess's hair. By now we all knew what kinds of compliments she liked best, so whenever anyone doted on her, it came out in roughly this register.
"It's my duty as Young Duchess to survey the territory!"
"Hehe. Yes. Well done."
Demon Duke watched the preening child with warm eyes. Anyone could see she was treating her like a toddler, but the Young Duchess let it slide whenever it came from Demon Duke. From Demon Duke's point of view, even Iron Blood Duke and the Duke of Victory still counted as children—so a mere Young Duchess being praised at all was already more than she could hope for. She wasn't all stubborn pride; she had a surprisingly grounded sense of reality. She was going to make an excellent politician someday.
"Where are we going today?"
The sparkle in her eyes pulled a quiet laugh out of me. The day before yesterday she had tried baking bread in the grain belt; yesterday she had watched the merfolk's underwater show. After two days of pure fun, of course she was looking forward to more.
"First, we'll ride. We'll wander around and head wherever catches our fancy."
At that, her face fell a little. She had ridden with my uncle and the Wise Duke often enough that horses alone wouldn't feel special.
"More precisely, we'll be riding centaurs."
She lit up again at once. As expected—centaurs would be a first.
Delius would be perfect.
Delius—the centaur guide with a soul we'd ridden on the second day. He had even introduced himself properly and asked us to request him again if we ever needed a centaur. He wasn't the problematic sort, so I was more than willing to book him a second time.
Besides, pairing a chatty, eager-to-please centaur with a Young Duchess hungry for the world sounded like an experiment I very much wanted to run. Peak combination material.
"Oh, guests! Good to see you again! Welcome back!"
"Woooow…"
The moment Delius waved, the Young Duchess let out a dazed little gasp of awe.
Good. She liked him. My judgment, once again, flawless.
"If we keep going straight, we'll reach Frombel Lake! It connects to the river that runs through the Elf Sanctuary, so the more curious merfolk sometimes swim all the way up there! Of course, a sharp Young Duchess such as yourself would already know that!"
"That's right! I knew that!"
"As expected—so clever!"
Delius kept his pace gentle enough not to frighten her while cheerfully explaining the surrounding terrain, and he even slipped in a little ego boost at the end. Perfect. A hospitality specialist lived among us. If he had been born human, he and the Golden Duke would have been a soul-bonded duo.
"Ah—and sometimes young merfolk get caught by residents fishing at the lake!"
"Th-then what happens to them?"
"Nothing much! They're released with a warning to be more careful! And as thanks, the merfolk catch a fish from the lake and gift it to the fisherman—usually a rare one hard to land with a rod, so the residents are always delighted!"
Hearing about humans and other races coexisting so peacefully warmed the heart all by itself. If this had been Apels, they would have taken a child merfolk hostage just to snare the parents too.
"She's a bit talkative, isn't she?"
Watching Delius and the Young Duchess chatter without pause, the younger sister carrying me spoke up quietly.
"She is—but she knows so many interesting stories that I don't mind at all."
"That's kind of you to say. Big sister loves conversation. Once she has a rider, her mouth never stops."
For a moment I remembered the chatty taxi drivers from my previous life—the ones who seemed less interested in the fare than in meeting people. Delius was clearly cut from the same cloth.
"Actually, one of our ancestors joined Crefelofen and fought against Apels. Maybe that's why she gets even more talkative whenever she has a human passenger."
"My. Descendants of a war hero, then."
"Haha—is that how it works?"
She laughed softly and kept the conversation going with one story after another. Looking at it this way, the younger sister was rather talkative herself. Then again, ancestral blood didn't flow only through the older sibling. Perfectly natural.
"Oh, right—have you heard of the Hellgate? It's a crater left by the breath the Dragon Lord fired at the Apels army. There's still residual heat, so it's a restricted zone."
What was that. I wanted to see that too.
Lately I've been in the best mood ever!
"Heehee…"
Just thinking about Liri out there having a blast with my nephew made the smile come out on its own. Our Liri, hooked on playing outside—what a relief! This mama was sooo worried!
Of course quiet, sharp little Liri is wonderful too~ But kids that age oughta run around and play! That's how they grow up healthy!
"Knew my nephew was the best!"
Thanks to him, Liri gets to have fun, and the school trip's in Cenes—how lucky can one aunt get! Hope they come again next year!
So—a celebratory, wish-granting whiskey, bottoms up—!
"Hnnh?"
Right as I was about to knock it back, the communication crystal suddenly flashed.
What what? Could it be my nephew? Or the little nephew? Either way, this aunt is always welcome!
"It's been a while, Wise Duke."
"Hnnh?"
Nope?
The face that appeared the moment I answered wasn't either of my nephews. A half-gray-haired man with the cigar he always kept in his mouth now held in his hand.
"Golden Duuuke?"
Aww, I was hoping for the nephews…
"My. That disappointment is rather blatant. I'm a little hurt."
"C'mooon~ every time you call, it's always some annoying mess, thooough~?"
"Anyone listening would think I spread plague wherever I go."
Watching the Golden Duke chuckle softly made me a tiny bit hopeful. So maybe this time it wasn't anything special?
"Of course it is."
"Ehh."
Awful. Truly.
"In any case, it's important enough that I contacted you myself. It's urgent, so I'd appreciate it if you heard me out even if you have other business."
"What what? Did Zereno jack up the tariffs again~? Business not going well~?"
I tilted my head and waited for his answer. What was it? If the Golden Duke called something urgent, it had to be money, right?
"A full withdrawal order has been issued for every Ministry of Special Affairs force that went north. I only just heard it through my in-laws, so the other dukes likely don't know yet."
…
I burned the alcohol still circulating through me into smoke and exhaled it.
"All of them?"
"All of them."
At that, I set the bottle down on the table. I would have preferred a money problem. A real agenda item had just detonated.
"The order only just went out, so most of them will still be in the north—but it was an order to halt their missions and prioritize return above all else."
The explanation was concrete, but it was not a welcome one. If every force received a simultaneous order to interrupt their missions and return—not wrap up and return—that was never an ordinary headache.
There were only two situations that produced that kind of command. Either the Ministry of Special Affairs had nothing left to gain by moving alone, or operating at the scale of a mere company or detachment carried a high risk of being wiped out in an instant.
"Impressive. First time in five years?"
"Has it already been that long. Or has it only been that long?"
Just like five years ago, when the Heaven-Defier rose.
"That said, nothing is confirmed. They took severe losses once by judging too late, so this may simply be an overreaction."
A fair point. When the Heaven-Defier appeared, the Ministry forces operating in the north had failed to extract in time and suffered devastating casualties. Having only just recovered their footing, they would not want to repeat the mistake of five years ago. Flinching at the slightest sign was only natural.
Of course, that was only a possibility.
"You serious?"
"I mean that I hope so."
The Golden Duke answered as if he expected nothing of the sort. Right—just as he said, the Ministry overreacting was only a wish.
They took heavy losses, so now they're careful with their lives? Maybe for some other department. Not the Ministry of Special Affairs. Those people would keep advancing with a blade stuck in their own bodies if the Emperor hadn't ordered otherwise. Withdraw just because they were afraid of casualties?
Ridiculous.
The Ministry's withdrawal was His Majesty's will. And if His Majesty had ordered a full simultaneous pullback, then something serious had definitely gone wrong in the north.
"Word from the Imperial Family will arrive soon enough. I'm telling you in advance so you don't scramble when it does. You and I both get buried in work whenever something blows up."
"Ha. Lucky last year was a bumper harvest."
"That is fortunate. Last time it was a poor one, wasn't it?"
Those words dredged up old memories one after another. The Heaven-Defier's appearance, the nomads' uprising, and the war that dragged on for two years.
Of all times, the war had broken out right after a bad harvest—how much suffering that had caused. We were already short on food, and then we had to scrape together military provisions on top of it. I nearly lost my mind.
"I'll leave it there. Ulken's forges will be busy soon enough—I ought to ship them materials in bulk so Iron Blood Duke can breathe a little easier."
I nodded without a word, and the light in the communication crystal faded.
Then I picked the bottle back up off the desk.
Celebration and well-wishes, my ass. This was an irritated whiskey, bottoms up.
After swimming in Frombel Lake while the merfolk held her close, the Young Duchess was so worn out that she fell into a deep sleep. Water play really was more exhausting than most other activities.
It would have been a little awkward if she hadn't woken by the time we reached the ducal residence—
"Nepheeeewww! Did you have fuuun?"
—but the Wise Duke was already at the front gate, waving both arms wildly.
"Eheheh, our Liriiii~ looks like you played your heart out!"
"Yes. She's going to be quite tired."
Looking at the Young Duchess asleep on my back, the Wise Duke grinned and carefully gathered her into her arms. The affection filling her eyes as she looked down at the child left no doubt—however different their personalities, this was unmistakably her own daughter.
"Thank you! Liri must've had so much fun with you too!"
"We enjoyed ourselves as well."
When I offered a small smile, the Wise Duke giggled in return. I wasn't just being polite. The Young Duchess had a quiet knack for lifting the mood; it really had been fun.
"Oh right right! Nephew! Come here a sec!"
"Ah—yes."
I had already handed the Young Duchess back and was about to return to the lodgings when the Wise Duke beckoned, so I carefully leaned in.
"Soon a bitter cold will come to the north. Keep that in mind, nephew."
And at that perfectly sober, crystal-clear whisper, my body went rigid.