I drank a magic recovery potion to regain my stamina, then, after a good scolding from Rosalia for pushing myself too far, returned to my room to look over the report from the Adventurers’ Guild.
Numerous monsters had been sighted on the mountain near my territory. There were more orcs, goblins, and other beasts than there would be normally, and the numerous adventurers who set out to slay them for the rewards had gone missing. I thought back to a specific event from the video game.
These were all signs that a stampede was incoming: a monster outbreak.
“If I remember correctly,” I muttered to myself, “after defeating Weiss, the hero not only ends the monster outbreak in Hamilton but also stops it from spreading into the surrounding territories as well. You increase your loyalty points with the citizens by defeating monsters that were left to their own devices. Yeah, I knew it. That stampede occurs because of what happens on the mountain.”
Monsters were powerful creatures. If I didn’t come up with a plan, this outbreak would do irreparable damage to my territory and cause my people to lose what little loyalty they’d finally started feeling toward me. Besides, I was growing quite fond of them as well. I didn’t want there to be any victims in all of this.
What was I supposed to do? Just as Rosalia knocked at my door, I sighed.
“Pardon the interruption, Lord Weiss,” she said. “It’s lunchtime. Um, I brought your favorite dish, and I worked super hard to prepare it.”
“Dammit, Meg!” I cursed her, wherever she was. “You ran your mouth!”
“I was happy to hear you love my sandwiches so much.” Rosalia giggled and met my eyes with a warm smile.
Her expression had me a bit flustered. Ever since I cried in her arms, it felt a little like Weiss’s emotions were mixing with my own. But I wasn’t the one who cried that day. It was Weiss!
That was what I wanted to say, but she’d probably think I was losing my mind, so instead I shot her a question to try and change the subject.
“I believe this is all accurate,” I said. “It says they located five monster nests. Would it be okay to ask Kaiser and his men to take care of them?”
“I think it would be wise to refrain from half-heartedly provoking the creatures,” Rosalia answered. “Plus, our men have little experience fighting in cramped environments like caves. Such locations are ill-suited for large-scale battles. Usually, one would hire adventurers to handle this, but…”
“I’ve already spent a whole lot of money between paying back my debt, improving public safety, and hiring a ton of new men.” I finished the thought for her. “I also spent a lot on developing new industries…”
“Yes. Unfortunately, you cannot do anything too exorbitant…”
“Would it be possible to request help from neighboring territories?” I asked. “If there’s a monster outbreak, that would be bad for them as well.”
“You are correct, but, um.” Rosalia hesitated to answer. “Unlike the previous lord, you never attended any of their parties, so we have no means of making contact.”
“And they’d probably say no anyway, since it’s not like they know me at all…”
Both Rosalia and I sighed. We had more soldiers now, but that just meant I had hired people who needed work. They’d only recently started training, so I couldn’t possibly send them into real battle.
That being said, my loyalty points were still way down, so I could easily imagine what would happen if I raised taxes. Crap, I was totally stuck!
I can’t give up! I have to make Weiss and Rosalia happy!
“Fortunately,” I said aloud, “I believe we have time before the monsters leave the cave. Let’s think up a solution together.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Pardon me, Lord Weiss,” Meg said from the door as she knocked. Her cheerful voice dispelled some of the heavy atmosphere in the room. “You have a letter.”
“Thanks. What does it say?”
“You have received an invitation from Marquis Bloody to attend his daughter’s birthday party,” Meg replied. “Since his second daughter, Lady Aigis, is around your age, maybe he hopes you might befriend her?”
“A party, huh? Now’s really not the time for that sort of thing—wait! Did you say Aigis?! Aigis Bloody?!”
Aigis was an enemy character you fought in the back half of the game. After beheading her fiancé for rescinding his proposal, she bathed in his blood, which led to her being called the Evil Bloody Mistress.
She appeared in-game as an enemy character, wielding a demonic blade passed down to her by her ancestors. She also possessed evasion-up stats thanks to her Mind’s Eye skill and could even strike player characters while totally ignoring their defense stats, plus attack twice in a row. She was a tremendously difficult boss character with skills so powerful, they were basically cheating.
She used her men like pawns, refusing to open up to anyone. While she was beautiful, she was hard to please, but her icy personality made her popular with women as well as men who happened to be masochists.
Normally, I would have thought that it was unwise to get involved with her without a plan, but House Bloody was a famous family of warriors. I could make use of that. At the start of the game, the house had already fallen, but if they still had the means to throw a party in this current timeline, that meant they still held some authority.
If I can get close to them, they might be willing to lend me their strength!
Since I’d played the game, I knew all of Aigis’s likes and dislikes, so I was confident I’d be able to get in her good graces.
“All right, I’ll attend the party. Let them know for me.”
I mentally calculated what I would need to do to get her family’s aid, as well as how to get close to her. It was entirely possible that she’d meet me with disdain, but I would try anything I could at this point.
Furthermore, what if she had some kind of tragic past, just like Weiss? I hadn’t caught up with the game’s timeline yet. If it was at all possible, I wanted to save her.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Lord Weiss? Are you all right? You seem rather nervous.” I must have looked out of sorts during our carriage ride to the Bloody mansion because Rosalia sounded quite worried when she spoke to me.
“I’ll probably be fine,” I answered. “I had your help with practicing and everything.”
In my previous life, I’d been about as far removed from these kinds of social excursions and etiquette as one could get, but Weiss must have been formally educated on it all; as soon as Rosalia taught me something, I managed to commit it to memory with no issue.
That being said, learning about something and actually putting it into practice were two different things, so I was still a bundle of nerves.
I was living as my fave now, so I couldn’t do anything that would bring us shame.
“Here, take this,” Rosalia said, handing me her kerchief. “It smells like herbs meant to calm one’s heart. Use it when you feel anxious.”
“Rosalia… Thanks!” I grabbed it from her and immediately took a sniff.
“Hee hee, I am your personal maid. You need not thank me.”
She was right about the herbs’ efficacy, and it wasn’t long at all before I felt calmer.
“Lord Weiss,” Rosalia said with a blush, “this might seem odd coming from me, but it is a little embarrassing having you smell one of my possessions right in front of me.”
“Saying that is going to make me think about it!” I replied, looking between her face and the handkerchief.
Once we reached the mansion of House Bloody, I stepped down from the carriage and made my way forward. At first glance, the town surrounding the mansion didn’t appear particularly active, but it was several times bigger than my own territory, and the central home was quite lavish as well.
The two of us made our way into the party hall.