'Huh...'

　It's very troublesome indeed.
　Now, there's a bit of a conflict in the village.

　In short, it's a conflict between the refugees and the former residents of our village.

　However, it's not that we're not getting along with each other across the board. In fact, I'd say we're on good terms with them.
　The refugee children and the children from our village play together a lot.
　From the children's point of view, it doesn't matter if they are the ones being cared for or the ones being cared for.

　And then there are the kids who are, to complicate matters, ex-siblings. The kids are very close to each other.
　Now, the adults and us, one part good, the other part not so good, I guess.

　My blessing has made it clear that the people in our village are very physical.
　And they train with swords on a regular basis, and the refugees see this and are afraid of us.

　They seem to be aware of the fact that they are being fed, and they are trying to build a good relationship with us.
　Of course I want to build one too.
　That's why we have regular drinking parties. It's a two-cation drink.

　Drinking seems to be an excellent means of communication, and we are able to talk in a certain way.
　And we've been training together for military exercises.
　And we've been training together to fight with King Ferrum when he comes to attack.
　The refugees are well aware that if King Ferrum defeats them, they won't get away with it either. After all, they are the ones who have escaped from King Ferrum's place.

　At best, total slaves, and common sense would kill us all.

　That's why I've been working so hard on my training. That's just as it should be, since lives are on the line.
　I feel better when I see them training so hard. There's a real sense of camaraderie.
　Ron is good at spear, Rosward is good at sword and Gram is good at bow, so they are teaching the refugees.

　However, swords and bows are still difficult to handle, so the spear is going to be the main weapon.
　It seems to be good to have a common enemy after all.
　

　Now for the disturbing part which is, in short, the spark.
　One is that we don't want to listen to children.
　But when I speared a bear that attacked the village and killed it instantly, people stopped talking.

　Other than that, Ron, Rosward, and Gram have shown off their abilities in more ways than one, and those who have been shown off are becoming more and more determined.

　And it seems that Ial has convinced them of many things, so this one hasn't been much of a problem.
　Well, we're in the minority.

　Secondly, this is the biggest problem.
　I'm in the camp that wants to make up with the kid I abandoned.

　I've had three other relationships like that besides Lulu.
　They really want to make up with their children and are regularly rejected by them.

　It was chilling when Lulu splashed her parents with alcohol during a drinking party. Thanks to that, no one was able to talk to him for about an hour at that time.
　I didn't have a choice, so I issued a restraining order against four former families who had that kind of relationship.

　But it seems they really want to make up with each other

_______________________________________________________________.


　I gave you strict orders to stay away from me. What's the matter with you?

　I look down at the man and woman on their knees in front of me.

　It's Lulu's parents.

　They really wanted to make up with Lulu, so they secretly escaped the refugee settlement and went to see her.
　But that doesn't mean that they can't make up with each other.
　They were stoned by an angry Lulu, who threw a stone at them and turned the hawk against them, and when they still tried to approach, Lulu began to cry.
　Gram punched them both in the face, knocked them unconscious and brought them in front of me, and that's what happened this time.
　Lulu, who was gouged out of her old wounds, is crying with So-yeon and Tetra accompanying her.

　I'm a person.
　That's why I can't help but prioritize people.
　First, Tetra and Yulia. Then there are Ron and Lulu, who are close to me in age or who are my helpers, and the other kids. Then there are the other children. And then there's Rosward's wife, Leah. This is the line of people I care about.

　I'm very close with Ial, who keeps the refugees together and we talk a lot, so we're reasonably close. He's going to be promoted to significant other in a few minutes.
　And the slaves who have served me well. They have served me well. You could say they're quasi-important people too.
　The next one to come is King Rosais, who I've known for a while... well, he's recently been set up, so he's less likeable. And Ains-san, the Cilicia merchant. He's a little more likeable because he lost me when I was buying weapons.

　And finally, the refugees.

　The refugee at the bottom of the priority list made the top-ranked Lulu cry, so my mind is not at peace.
　To be honest, I want to punch him.

　Well, it's okay that Gram did.

　"Do you have anything to offer me?
　I ask again, and they say, clinging to each other.

　'Please!　Would you please intercede?

　Huh.....
　You don't sound like you're sorry. So what are you going to do?
　Well, now that you've disobeyed my orders, I have to make sure you get the just punishment you deserve. And that's what I'm going to do.
　But we don't have any laws in our village.
　We have been living on our own with our children for years.

　But if I punish them myself, tensions could flare up among the refugees.
　What to do...

　'You guys have gouged out Lulu's old wounds. He doesn't want to see your faces. Lulu gets hurt just by looking at your faces. Do you understand that?
　But we're not...　
　'It doesn't matter why!　You guys left Lulu behind. This won't change. And Lulu hates you. This won't change either. Give it up!

　I yell at him.
　At the same time I yell, Ial walks into the room.

　Ial quietly approached and grabbed them both by the chest and punched them away.
　'Hey!　How dare you disobey Lord Almus' orders!　Do you have any idea what you've done?
　But yeah...

　Once again, Ial's fist hit his cheek.

　Then Ial got down on his knees himself, holding their heads together.
　I'm sorry, sir. The punishment is done. Will you please ... forgive them both?
　"...next time it happens, I'm kicking you out. Is that clear?

　I said and walked out of the room.
　Ial's stock went up in me.
　The decision was made to move up to my significant other.

_______________________________________________.


　Hey, Ial. Actually, I have a favor to ask you.
　What is it?

　Me and Tetra walk up to Ial.

　''You've been the village chief since that area was under Mr. Lagow's rule, right?
　No, my father was the village chief at the time.
　'Really?　Well, it doesn't matter either way. Can you at least tell who is still loyal to Mr. Lagow?
　The most influential people have been executed across the board, but there's still a certain amount of people who were warriors.
　'Go get in touch with those people. And ask them to call back if they do?
　'Ummm, well I'll just say it but it's a long shot, isn't it?　And I don't think for a minute that we're going to win.

　'I don't mind. If I can be sure that your loyalty to Mr. Lagow is genuine, your hatred for King Ferrum is a sure thing, and your character is trustworthy...

　I overhear Ial.

　'Reveal to me that Tetra is Mr Lagow's daughter.

　Ial's eyes widen.

　'Listen, only six people know about this, including you. Don't let it leak out. If you do leak you know what I mean?
　Of course. We are grateful to you for your help, and we will never repay you for it. But...really?

　Well, you don't believe it.
　This guy barely knows anything about Tetra.

　Huh?　You know, I haven't seen any hard evidence of this.

　Hey, Tetra. May I see your sacred script?
　Yes, sir.

　Tetra said, turning back and raising her clothes slightly.
　The family crest and the sacred letters meaning 'wisdom' were engraved at her waist.

　''It's definitely the family crest of the As family.......no doubt about it.......''
　Ial stares at Tetra's crest.

　'Don't look at my wife's back too much.

　'I'm sorry. I'll go undercover then.
　Take care of yourself. You don't have to do this. You don't want to die.

　After all, he's the only one who can manage the newcomers.

　And write your will. And name a replacement.
　I don't know how to write Cilician.
　Tetra or I'll write it for you.

_______________________________________________________________.

　Ial was visiting King Ferrum's country.

　There are more than a few hundred villages of roughly fifty to two hundred people in King Ferrum's country.
　So there are as many village chiefs as there are people in that number.

　Ial's village is the most remote in King Ferrum's country and has the fewest number of inhabitants.
　Besides, Ial became the village chief after his father died suddenly three years ago.
　So his face is hardly known.

　Nevertheless, he is the head of a village that ran away some time ago, so it's best to assume that he is reasonably well known.
　However, he's probably dead, so there's not much to worry about.

　Now, the question is how to get in touch with the As, who may be dissatisfied with King Ferrum.
　Ial had an idea of someone who might be an As sect.

　The man's name is Boros.
　He was a former member of the As family and had fought against King Domorgal's country many times and made achievements.

　He was on leave and at home when King Ferrum rebelled against him.
　He was easily captured because of this.

　Initially, King Ferrum tried to kill Boros.
　Boros's loyalty to Lagow-As seemed genuine.

　But he couldn't kill him.
　The reason was simple.

　The soldiers and the inhabitants of Boros's domain, encouraged by King Ferrum, had risen up and pleaded for their lives.
　As expected of King Ferrum, he couldn't kill them if his supporters pleaded for their lives.

　Later, Boros was allowed to swear an oath of allegiance to King Ferm and was reassigned to guard the frontier.
　There are many other warriors who were deemed unnecessary to kill for similar reasons or because of their original low status.

　The problem is that we don't know if Boros pledged allegiance to King Ferrum for reasons of either sparing his life or to avenge him.
　But Ial almost certainly believes that he's an Athenian.

　This is because there are rumors that he has been in contact with other permitted warriors.
　But it's only a rumor.
　King Ferrum hasn't been able to execute him either because he can't confirm it.
　He's trying his best to deny it.

　Nevertheless, there's no choice but to hang this on.


_


　First, Ial came to the village where Boros had been moved to the left.
　It's near the border with King Domorgal, but it's not of much strategic value.

　It is such a place.
　There, Ial disguised himself as a merchant.
　The goods are furs and wine received from Almus.

　First of all, he goes to a small mountain in the vicinity of the village.
　
　He forcefully breaks his right leg.

　A kind resident rescued him thus infiltrating the village, somewhat unnaturally.



　Now, he spoke flippantly of his false name and false origins.
　Then he asked if he could pay for his goods to stay with him until his broken leg was healed.
　The villagers were very happy about this.
　The value of the goods he was offering to pay for their stay was greater than the food he was consuming.

　Then, through the village chief, Ial contacted Boros.
　They had a drink together and became friends.

　This is how I found out that Boros is a good-natured man, and he is very cautious.
　And cautious.

　Even when Ial casually broached the subject of King Ferm and Lagow As, he never expressed his dissatisfaction with King Ferm.
　However, just for a moment, his expression moved.

　Apparently, he was not very good at lying.
　Thus, Ial figured that Boros was almost certainly an As sectarian.

　However, there is still no proof.
　I would like to have more definitive proof.

　But here was one unexpected thing that happened.
　His broken leg healed faster than he had expected.

　Normally, it would take two months to heal, if not longer.
　But it took a week for it to stick and two weeks for it to walk.

　So Ial decided to lie about it, and secretly keep an eye on Boros in the middle of the night, pretending that he's still healing.
　However, he couldn't just go around in front of Boros' house.
　Ial sneaked around the village with his crutches.

　Worse, to excuse himself for forcing himself to practice walking.

　But the evidence is not so easy to find.
　I'm still going to stake out Boros's house, knowing the risks....

　Ial looks at the full moon as he thinks about it.
　Then a small shadow crossed in front of the full moon.

　It was invisible to ordinary human eyesight, but it was faintly visible to Ial, who was beginning to be affected by the blessings.
　The shadow was an owl with a tube like object strapped to its leg.

　The owl flew straight to Boros' house.

　An official emissary of the King of Ferrum would not use an owl flight in the first place.
　In other words ... it was either a fellow As, King Rosais or King Domorgal in private.
　Either way, there is no doubt that he is dissatisfied with King Ferrum.

　Thus, Ial had solid proof.


　The next day, Ial went to Boros' house.
　'As a matter of fact, yesterday I was practicing sneaking around and saw an owl. I strapped a letter to his leg.
　Ial said that and Boros pulled out his sword almost simultaneously.

　The sword stopped just short of Ial's neck.

　'What do you mean?'
　Would you like to know where Lady Tetra-As is?

　The look on Boros' face at that moment was quite a sight, Ial later said.

_______________________________________________.



　Are you Lord Almus?
　Yes.

　In front of me is a large man with a bad look in his eyes. And an old woman with a cane.
　Next to him is Ial.

　And beside me, Tetra.

　'May I have a look?'
　Okay.

　Tetra rolls up her clothes with her back to the large man.
　The old woman touches the sacred letters on Tetra's back. It began to glow faintly.

　'There is no doubt about it. These are the sacred letters and family crest I carved on four-year-old Tetra.
　The old woman assured him.

　'Master Tetra!
　Wow!
　As soon as the large man saw the family crest, he knelt at Tetra's feet.

　''I'm sorry for doubting you. But ... good. I'm so glad!　This Boros, I haven't had a happier day than today since that defeat!

　Wow, there's a grown man crying...
　You're well-liked, Mr. Lagow. Let's visit his grave sometime.

　"Lord Almus!
　Wow!

　He suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder.
　My nails are digging in!
　Ouch, get away from the pain!

　'I'm sorry!　But thank you!　Thank you so much for protecting your daughter until now. From now on, all of my vassals, including myself, will be loyal to you.
　Yeah, thanks. All right, now cry.

　I hand him a handkerchief.
　Boros wipes a tear with his handkerchief.
　Hey, don't blow your nose!

　But that doesn't mean we have to fight a war, does it?　We have a power differential. We avoid war whenever possible. You understand that, right?
　'Yes, sir. I understand that you shouldn't initiate a battle with a low win rate as much as possible.
　I hope so.

　My only goal is to protect people and this place.
　It's not that I want to become a king or a wealthy person.

　I'm not going to be able to tell the difference.

　It's not a bad idea for a small village.
　'We've worked hard on the ramming. All we need to do is dig a bunch of pits and we're done.

　It's been ten months since then.
　It's been very difficult.

　I hear there's this secret weapon, by the way.
　Well. You want to see it?　Actually, I'm almost done with it.

　I take out black powder prototype number 100.
　And for the hundredth time in my life. I want it to succeed.
　The ratio of glass, sulfur, and charcoal is seventy-five to ten-fifteen.
　This will be placed in a sealed container.
　That's how we can make a bomb.

　We went through 99 trials and errors. I think this ratio is perfect.
　Black powder is easy to make.
　But turning it into a deadly bomb is very difficult.

　If you give it a strong impact, it will explode, but if you just set it on fire, it will only burn.
　That's all you'll get.

　I place the black powder on top of the magic circle and place my hand on the magic circle.
　The magic circle begins to glow dimly.

　This magic circle was developed by Tetra.
　The effect is that five seconds after the magic power is poured out, it will ignite.

　I hurriedly leave the place.

　Five seconds pass.

　A roaring sound pierces through my head and the ground shakes.

　''I guess it's a success.
　We look at the site where the explosion occurred.
　When the white smoke clears, the gouged out ground comes into view. This seems to have quite a bit of killing power.

　This is amazing. What kind of magic is this?
　It's not witchcraft. Well, it's partly a spell.

　Boros looked a little frightened.
　A big man is frightened. It wouldn't be good for King Ferrum's soldiers.

　''With this, you're sure to win!
　Well, I don't know.

　I'm pretty dubious about that.
　After all, there are so many enemies.

　'If there's going to be a battle, is it in another two months?
　Yeah. It's harvest time. And that's just over a year ago. There's a good chance they'll come back for the tribute. It was colder than usual this year, so it will be a bad harvest there. They'll be trying to get back their crop. Of course they'll refuse. We don't have any stockpiles either, you know.

　I'd really like to buy myself another year of time, but....

　The basic idea is to break their ranks with a bomb and then charge in.

　The Phalanx is strong because it's a solid formation.
　If it collapses, we're on our own.

　To begin with, the Phalanx has the weakness of not being able to move flexibly.

　Moreover, the soldiers over there are of low skill and morale.

　If possible, it would be better if they retreated before they reached the village.