And After the Return...

"… Kehma-dono, congratulations on being provisionally confirmed for the rank of Margrave this time. We of House Tsuia, together with—"

"We of House Pavera, one and all, pledge our loyalty to Margrave Kehma."

"… Yeah, uh. Sure. Well, I look forward to working with you, I guess?"

I'd just gotten back to Golen Village (Golen Town, rather) when the Lord of Tsuia and the Lord of Pavera both came calling.

I showed them into the reception room, and the moment I did, they swore their loyalty to me. I'd been about to say "please, have a seat," but instead of sitting they dropped to one knee and delivered that greeting.

"With Kehma-dono ruling this region, three generations are secure. Ah, and do look kindly on Maiodoru as well, won't you."

"I humbly ask your favor for my fool of a son, Cid, too."

I knew Vonodoru well enough, since he turns up often at Beddhism Mass, but with the Lord of Pavera, Sora Pavera, whom I only really recognized as Cid-kun's father, being waited on so deferentially by a man of that burly build was a little intimidating.

"By the way, would you prefer we address you as '-sama' from now on, rather than the '-dono' we've used until now?"

"Uh… '-dono' is fine, Vonodoru-sama… There weren't any objections or anything, were there?"

"Kehma-dono. You've no need to use formal speech with us. You may even drop the honorifics entirely. And yes, there were objections, but I suppressed them."

"On our side, no particular objections came up. None at all."

Is that so… Is that so??

It's surprising there was no opposition on Pavera's side. Assuming I take their words at face value, anyway.

"I was thinking I ought to at least show off my own might, is all… ah, no. I mean, I'd been thinking that."

It was something Meiru-san had taught me. When you take up a position over others, you should first demonstrate your strength. Otherwise, so the story went, you might not be able to bring the rough-tempered men of the sea to heel, or something…?

"………… Your might, Kehma-dono? The Dragon Tamer's?"

"………… And besides, we were already shown a glimpse of it during that capture operation in Pavera, were we not."

Come to think of it, I did have that "Dragon Tamer" two-name.

And yeah, I did do a little something in Pavera too. I roughed up that merchant who tried to assassinate our chief merchant, didn't I. It was mainly Niku who went wild, but I did dig holes with magic and such.

Maybe that had something to do with there being no objections in Pavera.

"Ah, well, in that Pavera capture business it was Kuro who did all the work, so I figured I ought to show off my own personal strength this time."

"… And what do you intend to do?"

"… We've also heard from a certain personage that you brought down the Holy Kingdom, however…"

A certain personage. In other words, the story from Haku-san about me bringing down the Holy Kingdom had gotten through to them.

Well, I suppose nothing short of that would make it make sense. That someone who was supposed to be a mere village chief would end up standing at the top.

"Mmgh, the Holy Kingdom thing was just a lot of circumstances that left me no choice… uh. Should I have the new Pope send the two of you a letter, maybe? Ah, but that wouldn't count as might, would it."

"Kehma-dono? Normally one does not bring down a nation 'because circumstances left them no choice,' nor can one?"

"A-ah, I'm terribly sorry, but a letter from the Holy Kingdom's Pope is far too frightening, so I'll have to decline."

So what should I do, then. Hmm.

I'd better show them that I'm a 'fighting force' in my own right as well…

"Ah. No need to overthink it, I guess. Bring me some of your proud warriors and we'll have a mock battle… And while we're at it, maybe I'll hold a trial-of-arms contest for the soldier recruitment, too."

"A splendid idea… Incidentally, is there a particular level of skill you'd prefer?"

"On the off chance (and I do mean the off chance), it would be a grave matter indeed should the Margrave be defeated."

"Ah, thanks for the consideration. Anyone weaker than the hero Wataru will be fine."

Since all I'm going to do is wear the 'Divine Blanket' as a mantle and overpower them with magic.

Not even Wataru could do much about me so easily.

"Come to think of it, Kehma-dono, you were on friendly terms with Wataru-dono as well… Very well, we'll bring the most skilled warrior and mage in the Tsuia army."

"And we'll bring our top three knights from the Pavera army, shall we."

"Then have them all come at me at once."

Since the 'Divine Blanket's' perfect defense means I'll take no damage anyway.

As long as they don't die I can heal them. No, even if they die, I can bring them back with [Resurrection] so long as it's quick.

So I won't need to hold back much.

And so, it was decided we'd hold the mock battle on a later day.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

The day of the mock battle.

We set up an improvised arena in the plaza of Hero Wataru Confession Memorial Park, collecting a viewing fee from the spectators, and there I was to have my mock battle, me VS the combined Tsuia-Pavera force. Except…

"Listen up, everyone! Kehma-san may look full of openings, but no attack gets through to him whatsoever! Just keep dodging his magic attacks and aim for a draw when the time runs out!"

"Hey, Wataru? Why are you over there giving them advice?"

Right. The hero Wataru, who'd been confirmed to work for us, had come bounding over at ultra-high-speed skipping, and then, on top of that, ended up joining the other side.

The selected members of Tsuia and Pavera slated to take me on in the mock battle couldn't hide their shock at hero Wataru's sudden entry into the fray. "U-urgh, right," "Wait, the real deal?", "Huh, Wataru-sama's our general?!" and so on.

"You're going to be our general, so aren't you supposed to be on this side?"

"I properly got Rokuko-san's permission! So let me test my skills against you too, Kehma-san!"

Rokuko, you little…!!

And then that very Rokuko came over to me and fastened the 'Divine Blanket' onto me as a mantle.

"Do your best, Kehma. Incidentally, I've bet on you 'defeating everyone and winning within one minute,' you know."

"… Yeah, Rokuko. I'll do my best, but with Wataru against me, one minute might be impossible, honestly."

"Do your best, Kehma. Got it? 'Defeat everyone and win within one minute,' yes?"

"Yes, ma'am."

So that's how it was settled.

After our mock battle ended, the trial-of-arms contest would be held for the crowd who wanted to be taken on as soldiers of Golen Town. The schedule was packed, so let's get this wrapped up quickly.