So, Temma. What do you think?

　The scheduled training day. I finished the mock battle earlier than expected, and Duke Sanga asked me for my impressions of the mock battle, as if to ask me just in case.

''Well it depends on the situation, but I think it's best not to think about fighting. At the very least, if you go for a win with one or two people, you will definitely die. With three people, it's more like saying that if you fight well, you might be able to buy yourself some time.

　If we consider the case of Cayos, if we buy ourselves some time, our opponent could destroy himself. That's what I've come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to go for it.

'How was the Primera?'

''If the Primera and his second in command, and those two are supported by a knight who is skilled in magic, they might be a good match even against Cayos. Well, just to say it might be, I think it's more likely that they'll be killed.

　Primera and his second-in-command would be good enough to join the Kingsguard, but many of the others seemed to be better than the average soldier. Well, they seemed to be more accurate in their coordination and individual strength than in the past, but they weren't at the level of being able to compete with the Cayos.

''Does that mean we shouldn't form a liaison force?''
'No, I think that with the training we're going to do, our chances of survival will increase considerably. But we need to make sure that fighting is a last resort, and we need to prioritize fighting to escape or survive.

　I'm saying this myself, but I don't think most of the fourth unit is capable of fighting that way. It's a good thing that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about it.

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that it is a good idea to have a good idea of what kind of training the fourth squad needs.

　I didn't pause to answer the Duke of Sangha's question.

It's about building up your strength. Secondly, we need to build up our muscles.

　I replied. 'Ideally, I'd like to develop enough stamina and speed to run and escape against a monster, but I don't think that's possible, so we should at least try to get away with minimal sacrifice when we run away in pieces.

'It may be ruthless, but I think we should also incorporate a fighting strategy that is based on sacrificing someone else.

'Sure, it's probably necessary... by the way, what do you think we need to do to make sure we can fight and win?'

　The Duke seems to want to ask how to win without using decoys, but it's a much simpler way. It's.

If we consider the unit of the squad to be three men, our chances of winning will be greatly enhanced if we can get three more than Amur, the Kingsguard, and Eliza to team up.

　That's what I'm talking about. Up to the middle of the game, those three people were able to corner Keos, and since I think the main reason why we lost was due to carelessness and lack of information, if we can surpass those three people in terms of overall strength, we will be able to win. Well, how many groups of three people can be made to surpass Amur, who is one of the best in the country as a vanguard, the Kingsguard, who is one of the top knights in terms of strength, and Erza, who is quite capable as a magician, even if the Kingsguard and the Knights of the King's Capital are combined?　That's about as high as it gets, so it's impossible for the fourth unit alone, no matter what you think.

''That's.......impossible. If we can stir up the knights of the Sanga Duke's territory and pick from the top of them, we can probably do a few pairs, but it's unclear if we can gather enough to create a squad, and most importantly, the strength of each place will be greatly reduced.''

'The other idea would be to simply increase the number of fights. However, the greater the number, the harder it is to coordinate, and I think the speed needed for a liaison team will be lost. So, even if we do it, I think we'll just move a group of three people in three squads.

That's true. If there are nine of us, we should be able to coordinate well enough with each other depending on our training... but even so, we must be short of people.

　If we let nine people act on it, this time the number of liaison teams will be insufficient.

''This is one way to make up the numbers with golems..............Ah!　In fact, my family has been working on securing a group of wizards who can produce golems for a few years now, and we've recently started to get our numbers together.

　He thought they'd think I was relying on my golem, but he quickly added that he could provide his own.　

'As a discarded piece, it's costly, but it's better than risking human life.

　If possible, he wouldn't want to use the golem as a discarded pawn, but since the death of a person from the aristocracy would cause the family's house to be noisy, and the possibility of defection if they were not good enough, Duke Sanga said with a sigh, saying that it was better to sacrifice the golem if that was the case.

''I guess we'll just have to ask Primera and the others to work hard on their training so that the cost of the golem won't be too much.......Primera!　It's time to get the men up!　Don't let him be exposed in a haphazard fashion forever in front of the Kingsguard and the Knights of the Royal City!

　The duke issued a proclamation to the knights who were still falling or sitting on the ground. However, less than half of them were able to respond to his voice right away, less than twenty if you count the number of people.

''Shall I excuse you, my lord? Fourth unit, line up!''

　As Primera hurriedly gave the command, the knight who had stood up earlier lent a shoulder to the still-heaving knight and made a line, albeit a distorted one.

''Salute Your Majesty!''

　The Primera and the others saluted to the king, who was away from me and the duke. In response, the king lightly raised his hand and replied.

''Get back on your feet!　Lord Sanga, Lord Temma-Otori, I salute you!

　He then turned to salute the Duke and me, and the Duke replied with a light raise of his hand, just like the King, but I didn't know what to do, so I bowed my head lightly.
　Seeing that I bowed, the Primera moved her troops to the edge and took a break.

''Duke Sanga, I'm sorry for asking you to do that,''
''No, those guys must have had a good experience. Even though they are knights of the duke's family, it's not often that they come to the royal castle when they belong to a local city's knightly order. And yet, he was able to wield a sword in front of His Majesty. It would make those men proud.

　When Duke Sanga said that, the king nodded hawkishly. So far, the king knows the flow of events.

''Your Majesty, may I have a moment?''

　And this is where the king's story begins to unfold.
　Maria and Lyle-sama were standing behind Caesar-sama who called out to the king. Lyle-sama hadn't been told about what was going to happen yet, and he looked no different than usual.
　The king, who was called by Caesar-sama, approached Caesar-sama and Maria-sama without showing any signs of concern, even though it wasn't something he knew about beforehand. And then they took me away from my sight.......and didn't come back.

'Duke Sanga, Temma, I'm sorry for leaving you alone. Your Majesty and the Warlord had some urgent business to attend to, so they had to leave their seats.

　Only one person came back, Master Caesar, and he uttered an apology to me and the Duke. Well, it's a play to show the people around us, though.

''Even so, the way things are going, it looks like the liaison team is going to suffer a lot of damage if something goes wrong.

''Yes, I was talking to Temma-kun about that, but under the current circumstances, it looks like we're going to have to increase the number of people in the squad to deal with it, or be prepared to throw away and use golems.''

'Well, that's a lot of work... well, you should get them involved in training at the royal castle once in a while. It will be a good stimulus for both of us.

　Master Caesar said, 'I'll take this opportunity to allow the other knights of the nobles to join in,' and he also said that he would make a suggestion to Master Lyle, who wasn't here, next time, and walked towards where the kings had disappeared.

'Well, it won't happen. Especially since the reformers won't want their forces to be known, and even if we did get them to participate, it would be better if some mid-level knights came.

　In fact, Duke Sanga also brought here the fourth unit of the Gunjo City Knights...................knights who not long ago could be treated as a burden. It's not that they're all painful or itchy, even if their abilities are known.

It's a good thing for us, though. It's a good thing for us, though, because it makes it easier to get our knights to participate. If possible, I would like to see other noblemen gain a certain level of competence before they join, but it will be difficult.

　The reason why it's so difficult is because the fourth troop is going to take a long time to build up its strength, and if the Marquis de Samons knows about this, he'll probably let them join right away.

'If the Marquis de Samons hears about the Liaison Corps, he will probably create a similar unit.

　I was wondering if there are no units in this world that do things like giving orders, but I heard that there are, but it's inefficient because basically available ordinary knights serve at the same time.

It's not a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for, but you can't really rely on it as a fighting force, and it requires quite a few horses, so in the name of cost-cutting and so on, it seems to be almost non-existent now. Besides, if it's just a little communication, the adventurers will take care of it. It's cheaper that way.

　That being said, Ted was the first thing that came to mind. Adventurers who use demons like Ted to carry information may feel that the money they cost at a time is high, but the means of transportation is basically their own, so they don't have to pay for the expenses used to keep and manage horses and other things, some adventurers arrive faster than knights who travel by horse, and if they are involved in an accident or incident along the way, the new knights' The advantage is that you don't have to replenish or compensate the survivors. Well, there are disadvantages such as information being stolen, but the advantages seem to be greater since it's just a matter of not having to use adventurers for important information.

''There are things like the Wyvern fiasco in the Haust frontier county, the imperial invasion fiasco, and monstrous disturbances like this one. There will definitely be occasions when we need our own specialized liaison unit. With that in mind, we can't blame ourselves for spending a little money.

　Just when I thought that would be the case, the Kingsguard appeared in the square where I had been training with the Fourth Squad earlier.

''Temma!　Now that we're here, let's do it with us!

　It was Jean-san who loudly invited me to join him. Today is a rare day for the main force of the Konoe Guard, and they all seem to be full of motivation, so it's unlikely that they would let me escape if I refused. In fact, Chris-san and Edgar-san are trying to get behind me to prevent me from escaping.

'The Gunjo City Knights can come in whenever they want to join, too!

　When Mr. Din shouted that, the Primera responded first, followed by the second in command, and then a dozen or so people stood up, but the knights from the nobility didn't stand up except for the first two.

''Well then, I'll take care of the Primera, shall I?''
Please!

　Chris-san was the first to catch the primera and move away from me. Following Chris-san, the female knights of the Kingsguard caught the female knights of the Fourth Unit in the same way and took them near Chris-san.
　Seeing that the female knight of the fourth unit was gone, the other knights of the Kingsguard began to catch the knights of the fourth unit who were standing one by one.

''Well then, Temma-kun, shall we play with us as usual?''

　Edgar-san smiled freshly and was about to do what could only be considered the work of a demon, taking him to where Din-san, Jean-san and Sigurd-san were waiting.

'You say it's business as usual, but you've never done this combination before, have you?　If there's magic, that's fine, but what do you want to do?

It's not an option. Edgar, you can deal with them later!
No, not Mr. Edgar, Mr. Dinh should be out!
'Then get Sigurd out, too!　Temma, that's it!

　I nodded in agreement, but just before we started.

(I've never worked with this duo before... but it's usually too tight, right?

　I thought, but it was later. Without magic, he and Din-san were about 50-50 with each other, but if Jean-san was added to the mix, he had no chance of winning. If it was someone other than Jean-san, like Din-san and Chris-san, you might still be able to use that person as a shield or as a weapon, but Jean-san never showed such an opening, she was thoroughly clothed by Din-san, and Jean-san's blow came at her from behind. They made us go through a training session that could only be considered bullying in any way.
　When the bullying by the elders was over, Edgar, Sigurd, Chris, and Primera came at us. They didn't even have time to catch their breath before they attacked us, as if they were taking us by surprise. As expected of him after that bullying, he couldn't keep his strength up, and he had to do his best just to defend himself. Well, although we were being pushed around by the four of them, we didn't give them a decisive blow, so I'd say it was a draw.
　However, after Jean-san told us the end of the game, Chris-san said that we won the game because we had the advantage in the game, so I said that since the four of us couldn't beat him, Chris-san would lose. , please let Mr. Din and Mr. Jean deal with me before you say anything," said Chris, and Mr. Din and Mr. Jean pulled him away. And he was being bullied just like me.

'As bad as Chris is, Temma, you're not too shabby either.
'Well, Chris has been on a bit of a roll since winning the martial arts tournament, so it's a good feeling.

　Edgar-san and Sigurd-san didn't defend Chris-san, but quietly watched him being hit.

'Temma-san, are you okay?'

'I'm tired, but I'm not seriously hurt... well, I guess I'm okay?

　Since some injuries are commonplace in training, I felt like I said I was fine except for fatigue. I replied that, but Primera looked apologetic, so I said, "Chris-san forced you to go along, didn't he? I asked, and he gave a small nod, hesitantly.
　Then it was all Chris-san's fault, so when Primera said that she didn't have to worry about it, Edgar-san and Sigurd-san said the same thing to encourage her, and the female knights of the Kinsmen's Guard, who were watching, started to say the same thing. As a result.

''Why, if I come back alive from the demons and demon squeezing, my reputation is going down!

　In this way, Chris's reputation in the unit has declined proclamation. Well, half of them are acting like that to make fun of Chris-san, but... I guess it's not my imagination that some of them have really gone down.


'Alright!　That's enough!

　At Din-san's command, the training ended. It's probably because of the presence of the fourth unit today, but the way the knights of the Kingsguard were fired up seemed different from the usual. That's probably why the knights of the Kingsguard were discussing their plans for the rest of the day, laughing and smiling, while the knights of the Fourth Unit looked dead and dying, and the only ones who were able to stand were the second in command and a few veterans.

''Da, Fourth Squad ... stand ... bow.''

　Primera saw the knights of the Kingsguard begin to line up and hurriedly had everyone stand up and curtsy. When the knights of the Kingsguard saw this, they responded thoughtfully, calling out and waving, and with Din-san's words of dismissal, they flexed and went back into the castle, respectively.

'How many of you will be in good spirits tomorrow?'

'Maybe a little less than half..... Of course, I'm okay with that.
I'm sure there aren't many more. Of course, I'm sure I'm okay with that.

　To my question, Mr. Edgar laughed and said it was less than half, and Mr. Sigurd said it was less than that. The two of them are right, I think it's about that much too. At any rate, no matter how much the knights of the Konoe Guard greatly surpassed the ordinary knights in both physical strength and skill, they were training more spiritedly than usual, with more people than usual, and a significant number of Konoe Guard knights were straining to look good to the Fourth Unit. Normally, they would have been just as hefty as the knights of the fourth troop.

''Well, being able to be skinny is also a necessary skill for a kinsman guard.
As you can see, we can't afford to show our weakness in front of the other units.

'Don't you two get too skinny talking like that~?

　It was Chris, who seemed to be too skinny to be able to speak for others, who came in to make tea for Mr. Edgar and the others.

'Lately, Edgar-san has been saying that he's having trouble with muscle pains coming in two days, and Sigurd-san is worried about his hair loss, isn't he?　Isn't that old?　Is the day coming soon when you will give up your seat to a younger man?

　Chris-san says so and treats them as uncles, but........they are not that much older than Chris-san. In fact, they are so close to the same age that you could say they are the same age.
　The two men who were treated like uncles by Chris-san were quietly angry. They were already clenching their fists so tightly that they felt as if they were going to bleed, and blood veins appeared on their foreheads as if they were going to spurt out blood. And Chris hadn't yet noticed their anger.

'Hmm?'

　As I was watching the three of them, half amused by what was going to happen, I saw Jean-san make a gesture from a distance telling me to do something about Chris... with a smile. I replied that I couldn't, and this time Din-san was amused and started to make the same gesture.

'I can't help it.......well, I'm sure today.......oh!　There she is!　Come on, come on out!

　I looked into the dimension bag I had placed in the corner to meet Jean and Din's expectations. Then I unleashed the demon(...).

'Meh?　........meh!

Wait, the target is Mr. Chris the chance to make up for his daily grudge is now!

　Then I suggested 'Merry', the black devil.
　For a moment, Merry braced herself to collide with me, but when I made her look at Chris just before she jumped on me, she seemed to understand what I meant right away. For Merry, who is always stressed out by being forced to mooch, I decided to say that now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

''Meh.......meh!

　Merry looked at me with respectful eyes, then purred as if to salute me.

Meh~........meh!

　He rushed towards Chris.

'What?　Why is Mary here....?　Now, damaa!　Forgive me now, yeeeeeeeeeeeee!

　Sure enough, Chris didn't have enough left over to make a fool of Edgar and the others (rather, he seems to have left less than the two of them), and when he noticed Merry's lunge, he couldn't escape, and was blown away by a body hit to his back, and was chased down when he rolled, Chris The three of them were suffering from hell. And Chris-san was being laughed at by the remaining knights of the Kingsguard. Among them, Jean-san and Din-san laughed loudly without restraint, while Edgar-san and Sigurd-san smiled like fools. Besides, the knight who had gone back to see what was going on when he heard Mr. Chris's shouting came to check on him, so all of the Kingsguard could see him being beaten by Merry.


'Merry, it's about time you came back,'
Meh!

　Merry tried to crawl away from Chris, who tried to crawl away, but he kept giving her body blows and stomps over and over again, and finally he looked contented on top of Chris, who had stopped moving.
　I couldn't bear to call out to Mary like that, but I called out to her to come back as I had to leave soon, and she surprisingly and honestly came back and went into the dimension bag herself.

'Temma I didn't ask you to go that far, you know.
'So am I... or rather, why are you bringing me here?'

　Dinh and Jeanne were taken back by Merry's behavior, but when I told them that Merry's behavior was inevitable since there was an aspect of Chris's own fault, they agreed with me that it was, and ordered the female knight who was nearby to move Chris to a corner.



　Well, to say I was kicked out is an exaggeration, but they shoved her into a dimension bag and left her with me on my way to the royal castle. I guess Jeanne and the others were going to tell me that they were going to leave Mary, who was in the way, with me to finish redoing the laundry and other cleaning, and get her away from the mansion.
　When I told the two of them about it, Din told me that it was a problem that I hadn't told them that I had brought her here, but since no one but Chris had been harmed, I would pretend that I hadn't seen her. As expected, it was a bad idea to keep quiet about bringing him along, but it was a form that was overlooked because he wasn't a demon and he didn't cause much damage.

''But there is a condition,''

　Jean, who had been overheard by the knight who had finished carrying Chris-san, offered a condition of exchange. It was.

'Is this a Shilomar mooching party?　As long as you can provide me with a snack for Shiroumaru, I'm sure I'll be fine.

　When I said that, the female knights of the Konoe Guard and some of the male knights cheered. After all, the knights who can come as escorts for Mary and the others are limited even among the konoe guard, basically knights like Din-san, Jean-san and Chris-san who met them when they came to Kukri village in the past are the main ones, and even if other knights are occasionally assigned to be in charge, they are often made to wait outside or return to the royal castle once.
　That's why the knights who love animals as much as Chris-san do look at him enviously when they can interact with Shiroumaru and Merry at any time, and knowing that, Chris-san brags about Shiroumaru's fur and Arie's comfort in his arms.

'Hmm?　...Oh, I'll tell them that too.

　As Din-san and I were discussing the scheduled date of the mooch party, the female knight was overheard by Jean-san again.

'Temma, about that mofo party, Chris would like to be banned. You don't mind, do you?

　So I nodded instantly. However, as soon as I made it a condition that Chris-san would be restrained and that he would bear the burden of facilitating and guarding the mofo party, I heard a voice saying yes.　

　A few days after the training, an unidentified masked person (according to the security knight) tried to sneak into the venue for Shiroumaru and Mary Ally's mofuri party, the knights found him and chased him around, but he escaped, and his whereabouts are not known after that........ Edgar told me that a number of reports had been left alone in the anteroom of the Kingsguard and placed on the desk of Chris, who was supposed to have been assigned to organize the paperwork.