South of the outer walls of Firenburg.
In the middle of a training ground situated inside a basin gouged out like a massive meteor crater, Friedrich was clashing wooden swords with Griffith without pause.
CLACK! CLACK!
“In that stance, a thrust is better than a cut! Come at me again!”
“Yes!”
Friedrich answered in a voice filled with grit, leading with the tip of his wooden sword as he charged at the man before him as if to thrust. However···.
CLACK!
‘That··· is possible?’
Friedrich’s eyes widened when he saw the man block his thrust with the narrow, terribly narrow blade of his own wooden sword.
While Friedrich was left blank from shock, the man’s wooden sword flew toward his head.
CLANG!
“Ahk!”
“Focus, focus! Are you going to get knocked unconscious again by a stone thrown by something like a goblin, like last time? Do you know how worried Johanna was? Huh!”
Even though the man shouted while calling Johanna by name, Friedrich felt more irritation at the attack he had just suffered than any sense of insult over that.
“I told you, that happened because I was not wearing a helmet then, Master! That is why I am wearing one now! Because I do not want to be beaten to death by you!”
“Good! Then your head will not hurt even if I hit you with a wooden sword like this! Now try blocking with all your strength, hahahaha!”
With hearty laughter, the man sent his wooden sword flying endlessly toward Friedrich’s helmet.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Friedrich had to receive the man’s wooden sword strikes that he failed to block with the helmet on his head.
How much time had passed? When the lesson finally ended, Friedrich barely steadied his dizzy head, stood facing the man, and bowed.
“Thank you, Master Griffith.”
“You worked hard, Friedrich. Go rest beside your younger brothers over there.”
Friedrich raised his lowered head, and even though he was exhausted, he clenched his teeth so he would not stagger as he walked over and sat in a chair.
“Whew-, I feel like I am going to throw up.”
“Are you all right, Brother?”
“From what I saw, Master hit you in the head a lot. Are you not dizzy?”
Friedrich, who had taken off his helmet and let out a sigh, looked at Felix and Julian, who had received their lessons before him and were resting.
Though they themselves were tired, his two younger brothers were still worrying about him, and Friedrich ruffled their hair.
“Your brother is not that weak, you know. This is much better than reading books, heh heh.”
“I think so too. I like taking lessons here much more than sitting at a desk and wracking my brains. Later, I am definitely going to become a knight like Master, hehe.”
“Then I can learn magic later and use it together with swordsmanship, hehe.”
Seeing Felix and Julian smiling brightly even while exhausted made Friedrich feel both proud and sorry.
‘You are suffering because of your wicked older brother. This should be the age when you run around and play.’
Even though they were receiving an education far more intense than anything their peers could compare to because he had baited them, his younger brothers were following along well.
‘I am sorry, boys. I cannot be the only one dying, can I?’
He would make it up to them properly later.
At least in his heart, Friedrich wrote an IOU to his twin younger brothers.
Though he had no idea when, how much, or in what way he would pay the reward written on that IOU.
***
A few days later.
The day came for them to go to Asteldorf.
“Hurry and come out, children.”
“Yes!”
At Johanna’s urging, the four Medichin siblings hurriedly finished their preparations.
When they came out to the front gate of the mansion, an enormous group of carriages was waiting for them.
‘Whew-, this is tremendous.’
The carriages lavishly decorated with the crest of House Medichin and the carriages loaded full of luggage looked to number at least more than twenty.
‘Half the household moves every time the Imperial Diet is held. Impressive.’
While Friedrich was marveling at the enormous procession, Wilhelm greeted Vera.
“I will be counting on you while we are gone.”
“Please do not worry, Master. I will keep everything spotless, without a speck of dust.”
Vera, the head maid who had to manage this vast and magnificent mansion alone while Alfred assisted Wilhelm, answered crisply.
Wilhelm nodded with a satisfied expression and moved off to check the preparations. Then Alfred quietly approached Vera.
“I will buy you a gift when I return, so wait for me, hehe.”
“Why are you acting so shameless at your age? Hurry and go. Go and serve Master and Madam well.”
Vera pretended to be conscious of the gazes around them while still flirting with Alfred.
‘Now that is a married couple, hehe.’
Watching the loving couple, Friedrich climbed into the carriage.
“Brother! Hurry up!”
“Now, now. If everyone is aboard, let us depart.”
With Friedrich as the last to board, the procession of House Medichin toward Asteldorf began.
***
‘Ow. Even though the cushions are packed in so thickly, my tailbone is throbbing.’
By the time they passed through the mansion’s front gate, which was like a city gate, and moved through Firenburg, his backside was already starting to ache. It looked ultra-luxurious, but the ride comfort was terrible.
‘When I return, I will have to make leaf-spring suspension or something. But with the iron currently being produced….’
While Friedrich’s head began to ache from the wretched taste of the Middle Ages, where such a thing could not even be dreamed of, the carriage procession passed beyond the gates of Firenburg.
“All troops, escort formation!”
“Deploy escort formation!”
The escorts were elites among elites: ten Aura Owners, twenty Aura Users, five 4th-Circle Battle Mages, and even ten 3rd-Circle mages.
As if that were not enough, one thousand cavalry from the “Weiß Reiter,” the hammer of the Etilant Army, were accompanying them.
‘This is how it should be.’
The majesty of the Etilant Army, with not only the guards but even the horses clad in silver barding, was itself a spectacle that made his chest swell.
“We have placed sufficient troops, defensive engines, and supplies in every fortress facing Latius and Sütern. If anyone strikes our Etilant while you are absent, Mayor, they will pay the price in blood.”
After receiving Griffith’s report that every precaution had been taken against any possible situation, Wilhelm nodded with a satisfied expression.
“As expected of the Chief of Staff. Let us depart.”
“Yes, Mayor. Depart!”
“Hyah!”
CLOP! CLOP!
As if blessing their journey, the sound of horses’ hooves rang out brightly.
***
They traveled like that for quite some time.
The fortress of Moratz-Debus, the closest passage through which they could cross the Asfrus Mountains, began to come into view. It was the easternmost gateway fortress on the Sütern side among the passages through the Asfrus Mountains.
“That is strange.”
“What is, Brother?”
When Friedrich muttered, Julian, who was looking out the window beside him, asked.
“The carts. It looks like they loaded extra food.”
At that, Julian tilted his head.
“Maybe it is to feed the horses?”
Friedrich burst into a small laugh at the unexpected answer.
“Yes, I suppose that must be it.”
Even if horses ate a lot, it did not seem as though they could eat all the massive amount of food loaded into those freight wagons.
‘It is not as though we are taking a long detour. Strange. There is too much food.’
While Friedrich was wondering about that, Griffith stopped the procession, took the flag of House Medichin, approached the wall that stretched in a straight line, and shouted.
“I am Viscount Griffith von Berstein, Chief of Staff of the Etilant Army! I command the escort force for Consul Wilhelm Medichin and his family, who are on their way to attend the Imperial Diet!”
“Confirmed, my lord! Please wait a moment!”
A soldier who leaned his upper body over the wall checked the flag of House Medichin, then disappeared behind the battlements.
Not long after, the gate opened narrowly with a creak, and a middle-aged knight rode out on horseback.
“It has been a long time, Viscount Berstein.”
“Have you been well, Baron Kver?”
Griffith exchanged greetings with Baron Kver, a middle-aged knight who boasted a thick beard, while gradually closing the distance between them. Friedrich also watched the two men closely with curious eyes.
“This is a gift from the Mayor to you, Baron. Please accept it.”
“I was already nearly at the bottom, so I am truly grateful, ho ho.”
Griffith handed over a finely crafted wooden box, and after looking inside it, Baron Kver’s face broke into a broad smile.
Soon, Kver closed the box, approached Griffith, handed him a letter, and lowered his voice to say something.
Griffith remained serious from beginning to end as he listened, then finished the conversation and looked at Wilhelm.
Seeing that, Wilhelm nodded, and Griffith spoke to Baron Kver.
“Thank you for helping us every time, Baron.”
“What is there to thank me for? Thanks to the Consul, my people live without worrying about their meals, so I should be the one giving thanks. I pray that the gods’ protection will be with you.”
“I hope you remain well until the next time we meet, haha.”
After shaking Griffith’s hand with a gentle smile for a moment, Baron Kver released his hand, turned around, and gave an order in a ringing voice.
“Consul Wilhelm is passing through! Open it wide!”
“Yes, my lord! Hurry and open it!”
CREEEEAK!
With the sound of chains winding from above the wall, the portcullis rose and the wooden gates opened wide.
Meanwhile, Griffith handed the letter Kver had given him to Wilhelm.
“Flandern has apparently made a request to pay fifty years’ worth of tolls in advance all at once, in exchange for receiving the operating rights to two passages, including this one, for fifty years.”
“They are up to all sorts of tricks. And what happened?”
Friedrich, who had been listening from the side to the report that naturally followed, looked newly surprised.
‘Wait, could this be?’
It seemed the things he had thought were horse feed were the price paid for information.
‘No wonder they were speaking so discreetly.’
If so, it had to be fairly expensive information. Friedrich’s ears perked up.
“The Count Palatine refused, and his heir agreed. The other nobles’ opinions are divided, so nothing has been decided yet.”
‘It seems the Count Palatine of Sütern has a decent head on his shoulders. His eldest son seems quite lacking, though.’
Liam von Zeiss, the Count Palatine of Sütern, who knew how to look far ahead.
Herman von Zeiss, the heir who fell short of his father.
Even as Friedrich evaluated the House of the Count Palatine of Sütern, Griffith’s report continued.
“It may be a disruption operation, so it would be best to investigate in detail at Sütdorf and Anstelda as well, Mayor.”
At Griffith’s advice that they should activate the spies planted in the capitals of Sütern and Flandern to verify the information, Wilhelm nodded.
“The Chief of Staff is right. Since we have seen to our business, let us hand over what we brought and depart.”
“Yes, Mayor.”
At Wilhelm’s words, all sorts of food were moved from the carriages, and the sight was magnificent.
Salted fish caught in Jebeck, a port city called the “Emerald of Western Etilant.”
Wine, the pride of Merna, the “Second City of the Etilant Autonomous Territory.”
Sacks packed full of flour freshly milled from this year’s newly harvested wheat from the Sanmarin Plain in central-eastern Etilant.
Freshly slaughtered beef and pork, and so on….
Foods that Etilant boasted of were handed over to the soldiers of the gateway fortress managed by Baron Kver.
“Oh? Was it not for feeding the horses?”
When Julian offered that unexpected answer, Wilhelm smiled kindly.
“Friedrich, can you explain it to Julian?”
‘No, Father! You did not show me the most important part, and now you ask this?’
Contrary to his inner thoughts, Friedrich opened his mouth calmly.
“It benefits both sides. We obtain information from Baron Kver, and Baron Kver obtains food. Other lords would have asked for money···. He seems like a good person.”
Standing out too much would become tiring.
At Friedrich’s age-appropriate answer, Wilhelm nodded readily.
“That is right. At first, this father of yours also offered Baron Kver gold or silver coins, but he firmly insisted on food. He said that because his territory was barren, he needed more food to give to his people.”
“Ah··· so that is why···.”
“Yes. However, whether we pass through here or not, we always bring this much food. Our relationship with Baron Kver could be discovered otherwise.”
In the western continent of Ers, where lords—whether knights or mages—treated the residents, most of whom were serfs, as their own property.
In this land with such a thoroughly medieval taste.
Baron Kver, who had requested only food to distribute to his people rather than gold and silver coins, was no ordinary man.
And neither was Wilhelm, who had gladly accepted that request despite the inconvenience.
“It is not a loss. The residents here will see our high-quality Etilant food and come to feel goodwill and admiration toward us.”
“Hoo, I would like to hear why our eldest son thinks so.”
“Because there is nothing as sensitive as food.”
After answering, Friedrich smiled like a child, unlike what was inside him, and Wilhelm wore a pleased smile.
‘Rise just a little higher, Friedrich. When that time comes, let us create the future of the autonomous territory together, father and son.’
‘Ugh!’
At that moment, Friedrich flinched as if he had been shocked by electricity and looked at his father.
‘Could it be···?’
Was he already planning to grind him down?
‘If he does, that is a thank you from me, but···.’
He needed more definite achievements.
Achievements so undeniable that even if he stepped into the forefront at the age of fourteen, no one could possibly ignore him.
‘It seems I will not have time to fool around during the Imperial Diet.’
Several thoughts were blooming in Friedrich’s mind as he wanted to step onto the front stage even a little sooner.