The days of meeting with Alec about the future of the governance of the expanded Drintle territory continued.
　Even though Cain was a frontier count classified as a senior nobleman, he didn't have his own faction. Other than Alec, there was no one else who could be entrusted with governing.
　The upper echelons of the Esfort Kingdom also understood that, so they would send a deputy from the country.
　Currently, those deputies are working on confirming the territory that was divided from the Istin Republic. The actual handing over to Cain will be some time in the future.
　At that time, a call came to Cain from the royal castle in a hurry.

''What in the world is that ......?''

　Cain had been casually summoned to the royal castle, but this time he nodded his head as he brought an envelope sealed with wax by an official messenger.

''This is an official summons, isn't it? Ordinary nobles don't go to the royal castle unless they're ministers.''

　Cain nodded at Coran's words as he handed him the envelope.

'I'm going to the castle for now. I'll leave the mansion to you.''

　Cain rode the carriage to the King's Castle.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

　As soon as they arrived at the royal castle, they were ushered into an unusual reception room by a squire.
　In the room are the King, Duke Eric, Prime Minister Magna, and his father, Garum. This time, however, there was one stranger sitting in the room.
　He looked like a beastman, with pointed, wolf-like ears from his head. The beastman's eyes widened slightly when he saw Cain's face, but as if to hide his expression, he lightly bowed his head and turned to face forward.

''Here you are,''
Oh, he's waiting for you. Sit down there.

　Cain entered the room and the king beckoned to him as if he had been waiting for him.
　When he sat down at his assigned seat, Prime Minister Magna began to speak.

'We will now conduct preliminary negotiations to be conducted before the audience. This is the first time for you to meet the Count of the Cain Frontier. I would like to introduce you first, this is Lord Hagnes, who is staying in our country as the ambassador of the Kermes Beast Kingdom. As a matter of fact, the Beast Kingdom of Kermes was invaded by the Byzantine Empire.

　Cain frowned at Prime Minister Magna's words. They used to invade many countries here and there and kept the neighboring countries as their vassal states, but recently they hadn't invaded other countries.
　In fact, the Kermes Beast Kingdom had also been invaded several times, but it was also stated in the history books that Cain had called, that the Beast Kingdom, which was mainly made up of beastmen, was more physical than the human race, and they had returned and made them retreat every time.
　Moreover, although the Esfort Kingdom and the Kermes Beast Kingdom are not neighbors, they have an alliance with each other.
　Trading from the land route was not possible due to the Byssus Empire on the way, but they used the sea route to trade with each other. Many beastmen also live in the Esfort Kingdom, many of whom moved there from the Kermes Beast Kingdom looking for possibilities.
　In fact, the head of the Sarakhan Chamber of Commerce also moved there in his parent's generation.

'...... So why ...... this time?　I've heard that in terms of strength, the Kermes Beast Kingdom is stronger than us.
"Mister Hagnes, would you care to explain?

　Vizier Magna urges him on, but Hagnes looks a little unconvinced.

''First of all, I apologize at this time. I was waiting for you when I heard that the upper echelons of the state were gathering, but why is a child ...... in this place?　Even His Majesty said he would wait for you first.

　The upper echelons of the Esfort Kingdom understand what Cain is capable of, but the power of God's Apostle is kept secret and not made a big deal out of it.
　That's why, from Hagnes, who has never met him before, why would a mere child be in this place?　You would think that it would be inevitable to be troubled.

'I suppose that can't be helped, Lord Hagnes. But this Earl of the Frontier Cain, although the son of the Frontier Earl of Garum, is a man of great military prowess, and as a Frontier Earl, he also governs his domain. Moreover, he's even engaged to His Majesty's daughter, Duke Eric and Duke Liebert's daughter. If you've heard that much, you'll understand how important he is.
That said, .......

　Vizier Magna's words made sense to him, but Hagnes was not convinced.

'By the way, you're the strongest in the country, okay?　You know our Knight Commander. The Duke of Lieberit's daughter. He's stronger than that.
............ Huh?

　Hagnes was stunned by the king's words.
　Hagnes was shocked to hear him say that he was the strongest in the country, as she had always thought he was only a child.
　In beastman nations, strength is justice, and the royalty has been the lion and beastman for generations. That's why it came as a surprise to Hagnes.

''It's true that if the Esfort Kingdom and Cain-kun fought, they would lose,''

　Hagnes froze at the shocking revelation, which even Duke Eric said as a slight to him.

'That would be the right thing to do, though: ....... Well, we can't blame him for this, let's keep talking.'

　After regaining his composure, Hagnes goes on to explain the current situation.

　The invasion began suddenly. At first they thought it was an invasion that happens every few years and responded to it, but unlike usual, strong warriors and wizards appeared and several cities were corrupted and occupied by strong warriors and wizards.
　The three especially strong ones were two warriors and a female wizard.
　The Kermes Beast Kingdom was being defeated by these three.

"The strength of our beast kingdom is so strong that even the general class can't stand up to them, and this is why I asked for help from the Esfort Kingdom: ......
...... Even so, we can't openly antagonize the Byssus Empire. It wouldn't hurt to send someone who's good at recovery magic .......

　The Kermes Beast Kingdom has a high food self-sufficiency rate, so there was no problem with food, but few beastmen had magical backgrounds, so the only way to deal with them was to create potions or adventurers who could use less recovery magic.
　The more they retreated, the fewer potions were left, and the more they lost their lives.
　That's why I made a request to the Esfort Kingdom this time.

I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them," he said. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. But the three of them are still not able to do that much damage: ......

　The king crossed his arms and growled.

"The scouts tell me that the three are known as 'The Brave,' 'The Holy Knight' and 'The Wise'.

　At Hagnes' words, Cain stood up vigorously, tapping the table.