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Frontier Lord Chapter 014: The first visitors, three ladies

Chapter 014: The first visitors, three ladies

Leaving the yurt, I headed east and looked into the distance to see what our visitors were like.

A group of ten people should stand out among the grass… ah, I see them. They were some… no, still quite a distance away. Three on horseback and seven on foot…

Quite extravagant for a bunch of thieves, I thought. It would spell trouble for me if they were carrying bows — I should have worn my armor.

Oh? The three on horseback are… women? And the armor they’re wearing… it’s flamboyant? Or extravagant, I guess? They’re dressed in gold and silver… is their armor shaped like a dress?

At any rate, I deduced from their getup that they weren’t really capable of defending themselves.

What a bunch of fools.

But were these fools friends or enemies? They didn’t look like thieves. Wait… those on foot are wearing armor worn by the Kingdom’s soldiers? They’re friends, then…

Oh. One of them has spotted me.

「Dias-san!」, yelled a young, black-haired man. 「Long time no see!」

Waving, he ran towards me.

Is that… the Klaus who fought with me on the battlefield?

「You’ve put on a bit, Klaus. You look completely different without that stubble, too.」

「I’ve certainly gained weight — didn’t eat all that well during the war, you know? You’re living the good life as a lord now… but it looks like you haven’t put on much, though?」

「I may be eating tasty stuff every day, but it’s not like I’m having banquets or anything. Anyway, what brings you and that flashy entourage of yours here?」

「Ah, I’m just a guide. And an escort, I guess? The ladies on horseback have business with you — I said hello first because we’re on good terms.」

Klaus looked at the dress-armor-clad trio. Now that I could see them up close, I was sure that I had never seen them before. What could they want with me?

「By the way, Dias-san, could you show us to your mansion? It’s been a long journey, and they are tired.」

「My mansion… well, it’s more like a yurt. But I’ll show you where I stay anyway. Is that okay?」

「Please do. I’m looking forward to seeing what your lordly residence is like.」

It’s nothing worth looking forward to, I thought. But I found it easier to show them personally rather than trying to explain it with words. When the yurt I used for practice was in sight, I noticed that it was the only thing I could see. Thanks to Aruna’s concealment magic, my actual yurt, the toilet, the well, the storage yurt and the stable had all disappeared from view, leaving only a wide expanse of grass.

This concealment magic is really something, I thought.

Though I could trust Klaus, I wasn’t so sure about the rest. I wondered if Aruna could keep the magic up, but I nevertheless needed her and the Meias to wait a little longer while I settled this matter.

I guided Klaus and the ladies clad in dress-armor (who were looking at the practice yurt in disbelief) inside. Everyone except for two foot soldiers, who remained outside to look after the horses, gingerly followed me into the yurt. I sat down all the way at the back, then told the visitors to find a seat around me.

After some hesitation, Klaus, the ladies and the other soldiers began to sit down. They looked disgruntled, and were frowning. The most flamboyantly-dressed lady, who had sat in front of the rest, was the first to speak.

「It is an honor to meet the esteemed hero, Dias-dono. I am Diane. If I may ask, what is this cloth house of yours…? I see no attendants either. Is your mansion still in the midst of construction at some other location?」

Her long, silver hair swishing around, the lady clad in dress-armor spoke without taking her silver pupils off me.

Mansion? Attendants? What was she on about?

「If I may call you Diane-san… I have no attendants. Neither are there any fancy buildings such as a mansion. What you see here is all there is. It may look unimpressive, but I put it up myself through quite a bit of effort.」

My visitors began murmuring among themselves — Diane with the other two ladies, and the foot soldiers with each other. They were not so much upset as confused. The ladies discussed something in hushed voices, and when they were done, Diane spoke up again.

「Did I hear you say that you put it up yourself, Dias-dono? What happened to the craftsmen?」

「Craftsmen? There’s no way there are craftsmen on this desolate grassland, is there?」

「But you could hire them from the nearest town, couldn’t you…? Father… I mean his Majesty said that he had given you a handsome allowance. And a lot of reward money, too…」

「Handsome? I received not a single coin…」

「C-Come again…?」

「I received no money at all. I was suddenly told to become a lord, and I was then escorted into a horse-drawn carriage without a word of explanation. They brought me to this grassland, and I received nothing. I had neither water nor food, in fact… I thought I would die all the way out here, in the wild.」

Trembling, Diane fell silent. The other two ladies — out of which one had braided golden hair, and the other short, brown hair — had been staring at me from the moment they entered the yurt. They began shaking, too. The foot soldiers, especially Klaus, frowned. They puffed their bodies up, and anger appeared on their faces.

Some time passed, during which nobody said a word. I still had no idea what Diane-san and the others had come to do. I was also not sure why Klaus looked infuriated. I felt bad for making Aruna and the others wait for me, and wanted to end things quickly so I could return to their side.

「Uh… so what brings you and the rest all the way out here to meet me, Diane-san?」

「War」, she replied. 「Though I do not know the specifics, war is encroaching on the royal capital. They needed someone to request for you to lead troops to assist them… and I agreed to be that someone. You will be rewarded with the hand of either Prineshia or Miralda — those seated behind me — in marriage.」

War? There’s no way I’m leaving Francois alone! Not to mention the prospect of marriage with someone I’ve only met once — that’s more like a punishment than a reward! But above all, why am I obliged to help these people decked out in weird gear?

I’m already engaged to Aruna, too…

I had to reject them, no matter what. As for how to reject them… I also needed to keep Aruna’s existence a secret at all costs.

「I’m sorry, Diane-san, but I no longer feel like participating in a war. I have no serfs here, let alone soldiers, so I can’t offer you any troops. Regarding the marriage you mentioned, the previous war lasted twenty years — I’ll be fifty-five if this one lasts another twenty, by which I could very well be dead. Life only goes downhill after one reaches thirty years of age, so I don’t think I’ll be very useful anyway. And at the end of the day, I don’t wish to pass on having done nothing but fighting.」

Diane and the other ladies hung their heads.

Good. I have tempo now.

「There’s also no need to ask this of an aging man like me, is there? Aren’t there many young men in the castle boasting sturdy suits of armor? Though we have not fought alongside each other, they seemed well-trained when I took a quick look at them. Surely Diane-san and the others would prefer to marry a young man?」

Silence ensued. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

There was no immediate reply… but the foot soldiers, Klaus included, were making scary expressions. I wondered why they looked angry.

I wanted to check on Francois already. Aruna had been using her concealment magic from the start, and I was wondering for how long she could keep it up. The faster the conversation was brought to a close, and the faster Diane and the others left, the better.

I noticed that Diane had lifted her head.

Great, I thought. Now she’s ready to go —

「I urge you to reconsider. There are other rewards available… expansion of your territory, for example –」

She doesn’t know when to give up! I have more than enough land already, so what will I do with even more when I don’t have a single person under my wing?

「I have no desire to expand my territory. Neither do I wish for material benefits… if you placed a mountain of gold right before my eyes, I would not go to war again. If that’s all… may I ask you to take your leave?」

If I had to describe their reaction in one word, it would probably be ‘flabbergasted’. Their jaws had dropped, and it looked as if no words could come out of their mouths. For some reason, though, Klaus was smiling. The foot soldiers were nodding too.

Ah, I see… they want to go home, don’t they?

It made sense that they were smiling upon hearing my request for them to leave.

Still yet to utter a word, the ladies sat completely still.

I decided that I would, as the landlord, end this conversation with a decisive statement. With a sigh, I reached for the battleaxe next to me and slammed the handle into the ground.

「If there is nothing more to be done here, then go」, I roared. 「Your continued presence will inconvenience me greatly.」

I felt sorry for Klaus, but I had no choice. However, Klaus and the other men continued smiling. They got up silently, bowed, and made their way out of the yurt. The ladies, who had been visibly spooked and embarrassed by my exhortation, noticed their departure and hurriedly followed them outside.

I followed suit. Drawing myself to my full height, I stood there with my battleaxe and stared at the ladies’ backs to prevent them from trying their luck again. While getting onto her horse, Diane cast furtive glances at me as if she had something to say.

She brought the horse to a trot without saying anything, though, and the entire party quickly rode off into the distance.

Being tasked with escorting women like that, I thought. Poor Klaus.

「All three women were red. One of the soldiers was a strong blue, and the rest white.」

I jumped when I suddenly heard Aruna speaking to me. I whirled around to see her accompanied by Francis and Francois… when did they –!?

「Oh sorry, did I frighten you? Francois started crying because you were gone, so we crept right next to you under the protection of my concealment magic. I lifted our cover now that they’ve left.」

「Ah, ah… I see. Sorry for making you wait, Francois.」

I rubbed Francois’s head. With tears still in her eyes, the pregnant Meia bleated happily. Francis — and even Aruna — soon looked jealous, so I did the same with both of them.

…If your face turns red just from having your hair ruffled, then you still have a long way to go before you can get married.

「By the way… your appraisal magic told you that the ladies were ‘red’, right? Red means malice, so does that mean that they posed a threat to you?」

「Nope, not just myself. My ‘Soul Appraisal’ can also determine whether a person is hostile or dangerous to you, Dias. That’s because… we’re family.」

「No wonder… if they had malicious intent, that talk about war could have been a bunch of lies. Kicking them out was the right choice. The strong blue you mentioned was probably Klaus… I can only hope that he returns home safely while having to accompany those ladies.」

I was glad that the soul of Klaus, a friend, was a strong blue. Aruna, the Meias and I started walking as I prayed for him to get home safely.

Since we were here, we might as well settle the Meias’ lunch — and what better than soft grass that was less than a day old? As my apology for making them wait, I let them take their time and eat their fill.

Eat as much as you need, Francois. For your sake, and for your child’s too.