The Audience (2)

"I'd like Rokuko's help too, but I already owe her so many favors that we'll handle this on our own."

"Oh, I really don't mind, you know? Kehma's excellent! Though that would only pile up more favors for you, of course."

"That won't do, Rokuko-chan. I'm going to use her on the understanding that, should it fail, our story is 'a Demonlands core acted on her own and we had nothing to do with it.'"

Haku-san breezily laid out that cold-blooded arrangement.

But well, that's assassins for you, I suppose. Fail, and you feign ignorance and cut them loose.

"It's not as though I actually need you, you know? I simply don't want to lend out the Divine Sword, so I'm throwing an impossible demand at you. I never dreamed you'd really go through with it… now, did I?"

"I see. So that's the pretextthe deal… Though once I pull off your impossible demand, you won't have any choice but to lend it, will you."

To that, Haku-san only gave a soft "Ufufu."

In any case, they're hashing this out with Rokuko sitting right here, so surely the promise will be honored once the task is done.

"Still, Kehma-san, do you really have time to spare, lounging around sipping tea in a place like this?"

"Huh? Well, the report on the Holy Kingdom's wrapped up, so I figured I'd take it easy for a while."

"Oh, is that so. I'd have thought that, now it's becoming Golen Territory, you'd need to form a territorial army."

Hm?

"… A terri… torial army…?"

"Official military force is necessary for public order, you know? It's the sort of might that befits your station… Oh, I know. Let me make you a present of a territorial army, Kehma-san! That would be a fitting reward for all your recent work—"

"Ah, I'll put the army together myself, so I'm fine."

An army handpicked by Haku-san is terrifying on far too many levels. Truly. Deeply.

"… Rokuko, what's the situation in Golen Village right now again?"

"We've got adventurers running patrols and a town watch in place. Karisoto District's pretty much the same."

"I see… Well, worst case, I could just field a legion with DP…"

Their loyalty would certainly be more assured that way, but a legion raises awkward questions, like where I'd supposedly rounded up that many people, and that would poke all sorts of holes in the story.

… Then again, if the story is that I received them from Haku-san, there'd be no problem, I suppose.

"In that case, just lend me your name."

"I could simply assemble an entire army for you, you know? Well then, let me give you equipment. That much would be fine, wouldn't it? I'll send over a whole batch of matching sets. You'll want spares for now as well, so would thirty thousand sets do? You'll need provisions too, yes."

"Nnngh… For now, I'll start recruiting from the people of Golen Village… er, Golen Town."

Umm, thirty thousand counting spares, which means… just how big an army am I supposed to be raising here?

If she went and slipped magic swords or magic armor into those thirty thousand it'd be a headache, so I'd rather decline, but maybe I ought to accept this time. It's far too many to bother making with [Create Golem], and just thinking about the upkeep, food included, is enough to make my head throb.

"Oh my, Rokuko's Master. When it comes to an army, so long as the quality is good, a few thousand, or even a few hundred, will do, you know?"

"Quality. Right, quality, huh… Hmm. A few hundred good ones, and I could manage both assembling and maintaining them."

"Was that good advice, I wonder? Rokuko, shall we call that one favor's worth?"

"Sure."

… Ah, I just thought of something good.

"Haku-san, as the reward for this whole affair, please give me Wataru."

"… I see, very well. As part of your various rewards, I hereby approve assigning the hero Wataru to the Golen Territory Army. I'll throw in ten thousand sets of legion equipment while I'm at it."

After only the briefest moment's thought, she granted it without fuss.

Being saddled with Wataru beats having Haku-san foist a batch of her own underlings on me, hands down. He may be one of Haku-san's subordinates, but he's confirmed not to be a being made from DP. Wataru, that is.

Besides, given his relationship with Nerune, bringing him over to our side works out just right.

"That said, Wataru isn't suited to leading troops, you know? Personality-wise, he's more the lead-the-charge type."

"As one general among several, he'll do just fine. If I pair him with a reasonably capable aide… yeah, could you also lend me some personnel who can teach our monsters that sort of thing?"

"Very well. I'll lend you Sally and a few of her subordinates. Contact me once you're ready. This, too, is included among your various rewards, so no payment is required."

Wasn't Sally-san the commander of the First Chivalric Order or something? Well, one of the Four Heavenly Kings showing up this readily is nothing to be surprised at anymore.

… Haah, my workload's gone and piled up in all sorts of ways.

But come to think of it, things run just fine as they are, so even once I become Margrave, there shouldn't be any need to rush to bring on more personnel. I'll take my time gathering them.