CH 213

A small city in the northernmost part of the Empire. This is the capital of the Mature Viscountess’ territory.

「Is there a problem with transporting the materials?」

She called out to her subordinates as she crossed the office in the mansion.

If there’s anything wrong, she will make a decision on the spot.

「No, everything is fine. The six large golem carriages that Your Excellency provided us. They’re working quite well, ma’am」

The mature Viscountess lifts the corner of her mouth in a satisfied smile. As a reward, she sits down at the desk in front of her subordinate and doesn’t forget to cross her legs.

『A woman is only refined when she is seen』

Lightning looked at his boss with a curious look on his face and smiled.

The gazes from surrounding that crawls to the deep of her skirt. As she felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach, she thought about what else she needed to deal with.

「Ma’am, we’ve received report from the checkpoint」

At that moment, the door facing the corridor was opened to reveal the adjutant.

The thin man with an old-looking face continued to speak after being urged by his superior.

「A messenger of the Elves has asked to have an audience with you. Apparently, it’s about the waste from the other day」

A human couple living in this town. They visit the elven village once a week with a group of large golem carriages.

They went there to pick up some waste.

After filling up the carriages with their waste, the couple returned to the empire territory. They then dumped them in a nearby valley and set fire to them to reduce their volume.

「They seem to be troubled by it. For them, it must’ve like constipation. It builds up every day, and if left untreated, it might burst at some point」

The mature viscountess laughs out loud at his crude metaphor. The adjutant let out a cough and suggested.

「For now, I will go there myself. Your Excellency will go there last」

「Got it. I’ll leave it to you」

The mature viscountess waving her hand in the air.

The lord meeting the messenger that came to complain from the beginning. She had no intention of selling herself that cheaply.

About an hour later, the adjutant entered the tent of the checkpoint.

Sitting in a chair was a stern-looking elf man. He must have waited a long time, and his untouched coffee seemed to be completely cold.

「What is the meaning of this!」

Looking at the adjutant, the elf rose from his seat and spoke in a sharp voice.

「You guys arbitrarily set up checkpoints and forbid people to pass through, what an outrage!」

The adjutant sits in his chair, frowning at the forceful words that the elf in front of him suddenly spouts. Looking up at the furious elf, he quietly opens his mouth.

「The checkpoint was clearly set up in the territory of our country. And we do conduct an inspection on people, but we don’t forbid them to pass through」

He took the coffee that the soldier brought him and sipped it. He continued to speak while bending one eyebrow a little, probably because it was too hot.

「And we don’t remember ever preventing any elf from passing through. Is there a problem?」

「Of course there is!」

The elf hits the table hard with his fist.

「The people who have been doing business with our village. Didn’t you capture them and confiscate their golem carriage!」

The adjutant deliberately rubbed his chin and pretended as if he was thinking. Then, as if he finally remembers, he nodded lightly and opened his mouth.

「We didn’t confiscate them, we put them to work for us. We pay them the same as the market rate」

The purpose of the elven messenger is so that the waste retrieval can be resumed. Naturally, he would not be satisfied with such an answer.

「The owner of the golem carriages that heads to the spirit forest. You’re threatening them, aren’t you!」

If the old ones won’t do it anymore, let’s just find someone else to do it. So he thought and looked for new people to carry it, but all of them shook their heads.

When he asked them why, they said that they were not allowed to pass through.

「There also seem to be a misunderstanding there」

The adjutant leisurely empties his cup of coffee.

「We didn’t forbid them to pass through. I just said that I would not allow them to bring back the waste from the Spirit Forest」

「Isn’t that the same thing! Why are you suddenly being so unreasonable? We have connections to the higher ups of your country, you know!」

The adjutant, however, did not move a single muscle in his face. He just shrugged his shoulders once.

「I don’t think it’s unreasonable. Why don’t you take care of your own waste on your own?」

The elf’s eyes and mouth widened in surprise as he heard what the adjutant said with a calm tone.

Unbelievable, is the expression that was shown on his face.

「It’s the spirit forest, you know? You want us to bury and burn waste in that place, the world’s greatest treasure!?」

With an empty coffee cup in his hand, the deputy remained silent.

Frustrated by the lack of response even after waiting for a while, the elf hit the table again and raised his voice.

「What a lack of awareness! You selfish bastards who only think of yourself! Very well, I will surely take this to the top brass of your country」

You better be prepared. After leaving behind such sharp parting remarks, the elven messenger kicked off his seat and walked out of the tent.

Shaking his head from side to side, the adjutant let out a loud sigh. Then, the mature viscountess appeared from behind him.

She had been listening to the conversation behind the tent.

「Coming into enemy territory alone, yell at them, and then leave. I’ll admit he’s got some balls」

The skinny old-looking man sent a gaze of disagreement at his superior’s words.

「Blunt, or perhaps he’s making light of us too much. I’d say it’s more likely between these two」

I guess that’s true, said the mature viscount with a chuckle. When her expression returned to normal, she looked up at the sky as if thinking.

「Since they can’t bring it over here, where would they carry it then, I wonder? They don’t share borders with the kingdom, so the northern countries, perhaps?」

If they can’t bury or burn it, they would have no choice but to carry it out elsewhere.

「Crossing the mountains would be too difficult. It can only be carried by a person or loaded on the back of a horse」

Of course, it is the horse that is not a golem. He adds and shakes his head.

Agreeing with him, the mature viscountess gives him instructions.

「Let them know of this matter. Told them that “The elves is raring to find a place to dump their waste, so watch out for them”」

「I understand. Then I will arrange it so that the king of Black Locust country will hear about this matter」

Suddenly, the mature viscountess cowered while holding her lower abdomen and butt.

The old-looking adjutant stood up in surprise. While being restrained with his hand, the mature viscountess squeezed out her voice.

「……It’s the after effect of wickedness of the defeated. I ended up remembering it, whenever I heard that country’s name」

The female superior is breathing roughly while spreading pheromones. The adjutant kept his face down to avoid being hit by her venom.

It took a few minutes for her to regain her composure.

***

Now the stage moves far south from the northern city.

To be more precise, it’s south-southeast, to the great hole on the southeast of Landbarn.

『The great hole』

It was a huge, mortar-shaped hole that had appeared in the middle of a wasteland. It’s about a thousand meters in diameter and probably five hundred meters deep.

There are countless golems scurrying from the slopes of the hole to the bottom. It was not only a nest for dangerous large demon beasts, but was also expected to be a valuable mineral resource.

『Report the result of your surveillance!』

The flat ground in front of the great hole. There was an A-class Knight who was shouting loudly over an external sound system.

The black armor reflected the sunlight dazzlingly. The large rose painted on it indicates that it is the beloved Knight of Count Rosehip.

(Fumu, nothing’s out of place, huh)

Small rocky mountains scattered around the large hole. C-class Knights were dispatched to climb three of these small mountains to check the surroundings.

『Line up!』

With that call, the Knights lined up in a horizontal line.

There are six B-class Knights of the Rose Knights and three C-class Knights of the Frontier knight order.

Incidentally, the three units of C-class Knights who are on the watch on top of the rocky mountains. They also belong to the Frontier knight order.

『We will now begin mining operations. Two Rose Knights will descend with me』

Two B-class Knights at the end of the line stepped forth as they made a clattering sound.

『Three units to stand guard here. Another one will escort the carriage from the bottom of the pit back here』

Four units of B-class Knights stepped forward afterwards. Knights with designs of roses scattered on a black background, all of them stepping forward.

After taking a glance at them, Count Rosehip turns to face the C-class Knights.

There are several carts for transportation placed behind the row. After taking a single glance at those, he spoke in a slightly softer tone.

『Gentlemen of the Frontier knight order. I need you to carry the golems from the bottom of the pit back here』

The C-class Knights looked at each other for a moment. Then they took a step forward.

They must have been imitating the Rose Knights.

『Good. We will now begin the mining operation!』

The Knights start to move right away. Two B-class Knights followed the A-class Knight who turned his back on everyone and walked into the great hole.

There is a huge spiral slope that runs along the wall of the great hole. They began to descend there in a group.

『Drop the clay golem at the bottom of the pit, don’t leave it in the middle of the road!』

Count Rosehip gives instructions in a loud voice.

A golem made of clay is no match for the Rose Knights. However, if the corpse is left unattended, other golems will come to eat it.

『Copy that. I won’t let it in the way of the transport team』

One of the Rose Knights answers immediately. He threw a front kick at the clay golem in front of him and knocked it down the slope.

From this point, the perspective shifts to the pilot riding that Knight.

(I don’t even have to use my sword)

Instead of killing them, it’s better to send them tumbling downward. If that’s all, doing it like this is more efficient.

Having made that decision, he kicked the clay golem away and moved forward.

(It won’t come crawling back up, right?)

I was sure that everything would be fine, but I looked down the slope to make sure. What I saw was exactly what I expected.

A fallen and cracked clay golem was being swarmed by other clay golems.

(Uwa, their eating it)

It’s like when you throw food into a pond where a school of koi lives.

(The weak become food for the others, huh)

While following the back of my superior, I kick the next clay golem with my foot.

The clay giant floats in the air and falls back first to the lower level. After being half destroyed by the impact of the collision, it’s a repeat from the scene earlier.

(The more they eat each other, the more they refine each other, and the higher quality golems are born, was it?)

I understand that. But cannibalism is still not a pleasant thing to watch.

(What a tough world out there in the wild, really)

While being grateful he was born a human, he continues to kick the golem down as they move forward.

『We’ve entered the Stone Golem layer. We’re just getting started!』

He hummed as he kicked over the clay golem. But the tone of Count Rosehip’s voice made him tense up as expected.

The strength of the Stone Golem is about the same as a standard B-class Knights. In other words, it is weaker than the Rose Knight and stronger than the B-class Knights of the Frontier knight order.

But that’s only when it’s one-on-one.

(We’re in the middle of raiding their nest. It would be dangerous if we got surrounded)

When I looked at my colleague standing next to me, he was also looking at me. I got the impression that he was uneasy.

The pilot was probably swallowing his saliva right now/

(Don’t worry, because I’m here)

I nodded at him, and he nodded back. He seemed to be somewhat relieved.

(I can’t show my unsightly side in front of my lover now, can’t I?)

I’m sure he feel the same way.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

『We’re going to protect chief’s rose!』

He shouted with the external sound system to tell himself. Then he put his energy into his own rose.

***

At the same time in Landbarn.

A middle-aged man with little hair, the Margrave, was thinking as he stared at the southeastern sky.

「Is there something wrong?」

A skinny man with a handlebar mustache calls out to him. The Margrave turns and opens his mouth as if troubled.

「Count Rosehip left behind half of the Rose Knights here, but…」

He cut off his words for a moment and slightly tilted his head.

「Maybe he should bring a little more with him. Is what I thought」

The Ghost Knight that appeared in the great hole, and the mining in the form of golem hunt. No matter how much force they have, it never seems to be enough.

Handlebar-mustache exhaled lightly when he heard this. Because this was a topic he had thought about many times.

「Now that the Lord Reaper has gone to the Holy City, the Rose Knights are the key to our defense. We can’t afford to thin out the defense of Landbarn any further.」

Seeing his superior didn’t nod in agreement, Handlebar mustache added.

「Our enemy that we expect to face is the Ghost Knight. Pardon me from saying this, but we will be outmatched if it’s only with Your Excellency’s Frontier knight order」

That’s where he always draws his conclusions. The problem is that the opponent is a Ghost Knight.

The Frontier knight order is different from the Rose Knights. If they were to be shot at, they would be flustered and their formations would be broken.

Knights with such a strong unity like Rose Knights are rare in this world.

「But, still…」

「Your Excellency」

It is a conclusion that had already been decided. Handlebar mustache interrupted the Margrave’s attempt to retort with a sharp tone of voice.

「People worry more about the places that are far from their sight. If we send any more forces, Count Rosehip will be more worried about us instead」

The Margrave’s shoulders slumped. He’s aware that he has said something counterproductive. He then utters a few words of apology.

Then he switches his mind and goes to his desk to complete his paperwork.