"Move sharp. The subjugation force deploys tomorrow. Manage this thoroughly so that nothing is left out!"
"Yes!"
At Commander Charlotte's order the knights moved in perfect unison.
The Grimwald knights were thoroughly keyed up. The dungeon subjugation finally began tomorrow, so it was natural enough to be tense.
Charlotte handled most of the troublesome work on her own anyway, so all I had to do was check the supplies.
There was no telling how long it would take once we went in this time, so we had to stockpile generously.
"How is it coming along, Dunker?"
"Ah, my lord."
Father had come out to the barracks to ask.
"We are making every preparation."
"Is anything missing?"
"No. Since you have supported us for once, I mean to scrape up every last sack of bread."
"Mm."
Father nodded. He watched the knights lining everything up in rows, from bedding to provisions, carriages mobilized as well.
When I first set out on the dungeon subjugation he had not even come to see us off. What had gotten into him?
Was it that the imperial court was involved that made him attentive?
For all that, Father's expression looked fairly at ease.
"Dunker, the Grimwald Knight Order has all been entrusted to you."
"Yes."
"However unreasonable an order may be, if it comes from their liege they follow it even at the cost of their lives. That is what knights are. Whether they live or die is decided entirely by a single word from you."
"If your intent was to burden me before deployment, you have succeeded properly."
"It is the weight a commander must bear on his shoulders. You, who have been down into that abyss once, will understand."
He placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Even accompanying the Lionheart, Grimwald's commander is you. Do not forget that fact."
"I will carve it into my bones."
Father had in his day been a renowned commander who led the knight order to victory in countless wars between territories.
In an Empire crowded with hundreds of noble houses, the title of Five Great Houses was not obtained for free.
It felt like advice worth having.
After offering my respects, I asked in return.
"But will there not be trouble later if Bena learns you have transferred command of the knight order to me?"
"Bena has a role that suits her. The one in our territory now is not Bena but you."
Bena is my younger sister.
Sister, or rather, House Grimwald's one and only legitimate heir. Since I am a bastard.
She is away at the Imperial Academy at present.
Naturally we had never gotten along. I was far too shameful an elder brother to put out in public.
"Young Master, where should this go?"
One knight asked me while dragging a pile of hides the size of an elephant.
"Put it somewhere visible so it doesn't get lost. Have the supply unit move it tomorrow morning."
"Yes."
Father looked at the bundle of hides and asked.
"What are those?"
"Waterskins."
"Is there a need to take that many waterskins? Drinking water has been prepared in sufficient quantity."
"There is never enough water, however much you have. The amount we are taking is about a month's worth of drinking water."
"And even that is not enough?"
"There is an underground spring on the fifth floor of the Abyss dungeon. Those skins are for periodically resupplying water from there to the main body. When exploring unknown territory, all the more reason to irrigate diligently."
"I see. I will leave it to your judgment."
Supply matters. Even an aura user cannot fight on an empty stomach.
Which means manpower must be allocated precisely. My order to prepare waterskins in bulk was the sort of thing that might raise doubts, yet Father accepted it at once.
"I wish for your safe return, Dunker."
Father said that and departed.
By the time deployment preparations were finished it had become night.
I must have worked too hard. I got peckish and stopped by the kitchen.
"The Young Master is hungry!"
"We shall prepare a late supper at once!"
The head cook and the maids went to work with delight and had a dish out in no time.
An omelet, generously cooked with milk and eggs. The fresh scent of mint stirred the appetite.
When I scooped up a large spoonful of the bright yellow cloud and put it in my mouth, a pleasant softness and warmth came through.
"Mm, that's the stuff."
I would not be getting this for a while, so I had better eat plenty.
The head cook was skilled, and it was good eating.
I carried the dish out to the back garden for a walk as well.
Darkness had settled in.
There were no street lamps, of course. The mansion was bright thanks to candles and luminous magic stones, but step even a little away and it felt like the middle of the countryside.
"Oh."
I spotted something along the way and marveled in spite of myself.
—FWOOSH!
A cluster of light flashing fiercely in the pitch-black darkness.
It looked like a living creature in motion, and also like a waterfall dropping from a cliff.
Pure white light bloomed in graceful curves, illuminating the surroundings.
—Vwoom, vwoom!
At its center was her.
Third Princess Schnellia von Kondenburg.
The possessor of the imperial court's foremost talent with the sword, and a weapon of war who had conquered countless dungeons and slaughtered Apostles.
'Is she practicing at this hour of the night without an escort?'
She covered long distances in a single burst, swinging her sword.
Frankly, my eyes could barely follow the sword's trajectory, and I could not tell where her hands were.
They say a man shot dead never hears the gunshot. Because the bullet is faster than sound.
I could not say for certain, but Schnellia's sword looked far faster than a bullet. Get cut by that woman and you would die without even knowing you had died.
It was a decent side dish for a late supper. Like watching some wild short-form video.
—Fwip, whsh!
'Is she cutting leaves as they fall on the wind?'
That was certainly outside human territory.
After swinging her sword for a good while she came to a crisp, disciplined stop. A single silverbark leaf had landed softly on the blade, as though settling onto water.
"Spying? A poor habit."
Schnellia's voice was clear and ringing, like a glass marble dropped onto an iron plate.
I answered with a show of respect.
"Could I possibly hide my presence from Your Highness? I merely had my gaze stolen upon finding a black swan risen alone at a lakeside on a moonlit night."
"Your flattery is first-rate."
"I spoke nothing but the truth."
"Pff."
She snorted, yet showed no sign of particularly disliking it.
"We depart with the sunrise tomorrow, but you train this late?"
"A simple warm-up."
A warm-up that looked as though it could kill a hundred monsters.
Abruptly, Schnellia thrust herself forward. What a fright. I thought I was about to be cut.
Her gaze stopped on the dish I was holding.
"What is that?"
"An egg dish."
"Hm. Is it good?"
"Good tasting, and good for the health besides. Eggs are the most easily obtained protein. I recommend consuming protein daily in grams equal to your body weight multiplied by zero point eight to one point two."
"You talk exactly like a personal physician."
"Come now, what a joke."
A Full Physician at minimum, meaning professor rank or above, is said to become a personal physician. Mostly old men who have ground away at the Medical Institute for over twenty years.
Above all, a personal physician shares fate with the imperial they serve. Inevitably they become a political faction.
Where did this woman think she was dragging me into that pit.
Schnellia seemed very interested in the omelet. At the rate she was going she would bury her face in the plate.
"Can you share some."
Out of nowhere.
"This is what I was eating."
"There is plenty. That would be two portions."
"It is a lot for a late supper, admittedly."
When I handed over the spoon, Schnellia took a small spoonful of omelet into her mouth and chewed.
She seemed satisfied; her eyebrows stirred softly.
"......Not bad."
"Thank you. That is the standard of Grimwald's kitchen."
"You eat as well."
"You put the spoon in your mouth."
"Are you embarrassed? Not what you look like."
Schnellia narrowed her eyes at me as though mocking me.
What was she talking about.
"In what sense would I be embarrassed?"
"If you are not, then there is no problem, is there."
"Your Highness's saliva is on the spoon."
"You are embarrassed."
I explained flatly.
"Saliva is the best medium there is for transmitting bacteria, the source of disease. Your Highness should refrain from sharing utensils with others from now on as well."
Displeased with the answer, Schnellia knit her brow as though offended.
"Do you mean this one's saliva is dirty?"
"If we are measuring by whether it is hygienic, all saliva is dirty."
"Are you worried it might be Erosion? This one is the Empire's Greatest Sword. Erosion could not so much as pierce this one's aura."
She was so assured that I could not argue back.
"So, have you thought about the proposal?"
"You said to become a Physician as Your Highness's subject."
"Yes. Come under me and you will not regret it."
I could not deny it outright.
Schnellia really was said to be the most ascendant power in the Empire these days.
The problem was that I knew her future.
"What are you deliberating over so much? I believe I gave you time enough to think."
"I am interested in entering the Medical Institute. More than anything else because I could oppose Erosion at the front line of medical technique."
The paper Grand Physician Archibald had shown me.
Even the first page alone was full of interesting material.
The problem was that Archibald had shown me only the first page.
—Wait, you cut it off here? Where is the rest?
—Come to the Medical Institute and I will let you read as much as you like.
Modern medicine developed in an instant, and it would not be an exaggeration to say it conquered nearly every disease.
That I hold knowledge useful even in this world is thanks to the great seniors of history.
'Outer God's Erosion, on the other hand, is definitely an unknown disease that modern medicine could not overcome either.'
Erosion is the Outer Gods' main means of invasion.
Overcome that alone and perhaps this world would not become a dark fantasy.
Wishful thinking, admittedly.
Above all.
I wanted to take it on.
As a doctor myself.
That kind of ambition had been creeping up on me.
"Then what is the problem?"
"Even if I enter, I may not be able to research the discipline properly. The Medical Institute is not a simple hospital. It is also a gathering of politicians tightly bound to the imperial court and the noble houses."
"You mean you dislike being dragged into politics."
"That is right. And I have my own house's position to consider."
"That is a child's worry."
Schnellia snorted.
"I guarantee it. Neither the imperial family nor the Grand Physicians will be able to touch you carelessly."
"How can you guarantee that?"
"Because I will not let them."
The princess declared it with full confidence.
"Are you pleased?"
I was not pleased in the slightest.
Because it sounded like she meant to use me as a pretext for gaining justification to assassinate hostile factions.
It was certainly a sweet temptation as well.
Even so, being bound as a subject of this terrifying woman carried far too much risk.
There was no telling when she might be eroded by an Outer God and chop me into pieces.
'I had better propose something she absolutely cannot accept and shake her off.'
I thought it over carefully and then spoke.
"I have a condition."
"Say it."
"A contract. In exchange for my becoming a Physician, rising to the summit of the Medical Institute, and swearing loyalty as Your Highness's subject."
I said it with force.
"Hand over the thing most precious to Your Highness."
The thing most precious to Schnellia.
The Lionheart Knight Order, of course.
The Empire was going to fall into chaos.
Not just the Empire, but the whole continent.
Humanity would face an ever more powerful Outer God invasion.
And when that time came.
'With them at least, we could survive.'
Of course there was no chance Schnellia would accept this condition.
The Lionheart was her critical means of fighting the Outer Gods and the base on which she expanded her power in the imperial court.
"The thing most precious to this one."
As though it were a condition she had not anticipated, Schnellia's eyes widened.
Then again, who in their right mind would say something like this to imperial blood?
Honestly I would rather have received a heap of money to open my hospital.
But if the world was destroyed as in the original work, that would mean nothing at all.
Above all, asking a woman who is not even your wife for money to open a hospital is a bit trashy.
No, wait.
Is my reputation not trash already?
"Is that all?"
"And I would also like some gold coins......"
"Gold coin? What do you intend to use it for. How much do you need."
"Enough to put up a five-story building......?"
"If you require a residence, you may live in my palace."
"No, I did not mean it that way. I want a hospital, more like."
A brief silence settled in.
Too transparent after all, perhaps.
But that lasted only a moment.
"Heh. Very well. I understand your intent entirely."
"Ah, really."
"However, a promise made with words alone is over the moment it scatters on the wind."
Schnellia drew her sword.
"I will make a Covenant."
What was that.
"It is how an aura user communicates with the world. It is not what it is meant to be used for, but it is the law by which one binds oneself with a restriction one cannot break, and thereby strengthens one's aura."
"What do you mean, cannot break?"
"If one breaks the terms of the Covenant, that person loses all of their aura."
"I beg your pardon."
This woman had leapt past my common sense.
She was actually accepting a condition like this, and not only verbally — she was preparing a definite means of enforcement on the spot?
I had not wanted a promise that heavy.
Before I could say anything to stop her.
Whoosh! Schnellia's sword began to shine.
"Heaven and earth, all radiance that exists upon this land, hear me."
A pattern was carved onto the back of Schnellia's hand.
"I, Schnellia von Kondenburg, do make this Covenant."
Light whirled and bound itself to her heart.
"When Dunker Grimwald rises to Grand Physician, this one shall hand over that which is most precious to her."
—FLASH!
With the declaration, the aura of the Covenant seeped into her.
"Upon the name of my revered ancestor, Sandra von Kondenburg."
Whoosh!
The swirling cluster of light subsided. The wind blowing around us went quiet as if it had never been.
Hell of a flex.
"Dunker Grimwald."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"From this moment your blood flows for this one, and your flesh shall be used for this one."
Hm. So in other words.
I had now become Schnellia's subject by some law of the world.
'I'm done for.'
This is why you should not run your mouth carelessly.
Regret it though I might, the water was already spilled.
To hell with it. She says she will hand over a knight order and set up a hospital for me, so I may as well run the hope circuits.
What else could I actually do?
What can I do other than hope Schnellia does not fall to corruption and stays sane.
Instead.
'If Schnellia truly does not turn to the Outer God's side and history changes.'
There would be no better contract terms than these.
I knelt on one knee and offered my respects.
"I dedicate my loyalty to my liege."
With this, the secret contract between Schnellia and me was established.
"I will give my first order."
"Speak."
"Tomorrow's subjugation."
Schnellia bent at the waist and looked down at me.
Silk-like black hair brushed my cheek as it slid down.
"You will take supreme command."
Me?
***
After Dunker had gone.
Schnellia picked up the plate he had left behind.
'To think he would present such an audacious contract.'
He was a man who far exceeded expectations.
He had always been unpredictable, but today was on another level.
'To propose such a condition to me, of all people.'
When recruiting a noble into her faction.
Most would entreat her for terms suited to their standing.
Trading rights for their territory, a tax reduction.
Practical matters.
She was imperial blood. It was normal for a noble to bow his head and come to her first.
But Dunker had asked for neither taxes nor rights.
'The thing most precious to me...... is it.'
He had asked for her heart.
Is the most precious thing to anyone not their own self?
Her own heart.
Which is to say, when she one day became Emperor.
He had requested the seat of prince consort, standing at her side.
The request for a hospital was an extension of the same.
It is common to give a spouse who is a Physician support for their practice.
The hospital Dunker spoke of here would mean not an ordinary clinic but the Medical Institute itself.
He was a man of ambition.
There are many who mention impossible dreams and grow drunk on their own potential, but few who prepare steadily to make the impossible real.
Was it not no different from a declaration that he would change the world as a doctor?
It was no different from openly declaring that he would use her, imperial blood, as a means to that end.
'Audacious.'
Stirring the egg dish and taking one more spoonful.
'......Wait.'
Another thought bloomed in Schnellia's mind.
'It may be for his own purpose, but saying he will become my prince consort means.'
A proposal of marriage......
No.
It was not so romantic a matter.
He and she had merely become a relationship of using each other for their own ends.
"......"
The dish and the spoon were both still warm.
Because Dunker's warmth remained on them.
Schnellia soon set down the spoon she had been eating with.
It was absolutely not out of embarrassment.