CH 115

“Lastly, Master Rust. First, let me congratulate you on the fantastic job repelling the latest attack. Your alchemy freeing the soldiers that were being controlled is a military gain that surpasses a whole army.”

Says Kalin with a serious expression.

“Thank you for the kind words.”

I give a safe answer, also with a serious expression.

“Well then, I would like to hear your thoughts. We will need your potions if we are ever going to take back the capital. But can we produce enough?”

I close my eyes for a bit to think.

“It would be hard, if we are talking about potions for almost every single inhabitant. There are medicinal herbs that are hard to come by in Habbafulton. If circulation throughout the country stops, we won’t have enough even if we empty our stockpile.”

“I see, so dispatching a large army right away won’t be feasible. We have to retake lands where we can gather medicinal herbs first, or…”

Kalin’s eyes start sparkling.

“Lady Kalin…”

I say to try to deter her.

“What?”

“Even if we do head to the capital with a few elite troops, you will have to stay here.”

“Wha!? Why!? My nickname of demon slayer isn’t just for show!”

“Yes, I know that very well. But you really just want to let loose and go crazy, right?”

“O-of course not! As a knight, if some sort of disaster happens to the capital, it is only natural for me to be the first to come running.”

I look at Kalin with cold eyes as she gives me her excuse, and then peek over to Ahri, who responds with a light nod.

“Lady Kalin, you have been hard at work dealing with paperwork for several days.”

Says Ahri while approaching Kalin.

“Y-yes. And?”

“And even though you almost had a chance to fight, you ended up doing nothing. Surely you are disappointed.”

“Y-yes… No. No, no. Not even a little…”

“But your well being does not concern just you anymore. You are the one guiding us, and Habbafulton. Every single one of its inhabitants needs you.”

Ahri says while taking a knee.

“And to add to that, if the enemy’s hands reach all over the country, that means you might currently be the noble with the highest position in this nation.”

I say with a smile, and then thank Ahri with my eyes for opening this path.

I really want to avoid the nightmare scenario that is our leader spearheading a charge into the enemy.

“Ahh… All right. So, what do you think?”

Kalin drops her shoulders in disappointment. I guess she really wanted to fight. She listlessly returns to the first question while waving one hand.

“Please order me to retake the capital. I will put a ribbon on it and hand it to you as a present.”

I figure I’m being a bit too mean to her, so I declare this as an apology.

I do this while working out a plan in my head that I think might work.