Chapter 1:
Japan’s Famous Castle
“GREAT WORK TODAY, EVERYONE! I WANTED TO reward your hard work, so my people went and slew a sanguine tiger! They also took down some rock scorpions and hekaton bears on the way! Eat your fill and rest up!”
Having delivered this greeting, I gave the signal. Dee and the others made their way over, leading four horse-drawn carriages stacked with massive monster corpses. Even the well-trained knights couldn’t keep quiet at the sight. “Rock scorpions?!” one exclaimed.
“No way!” said another. “It takes thousands of Order members to take down a sanguine tiger or hekaton bear!”
“Yes, but rock scorpions should be impossible to kill without the help of fire mages!”
The shouts came from every direction. I didn’t know the exact number of people present, but it had to number in the thousands, meaning this barbecue was standing room only. Not even a huge fortress like this could change that. I’d heard once that a certain dome in Japan had seating for fifty thousand people. Now that I was faced with an audience of thousands myself, the mere thought of that number was giving me a headache.
I looked over the gathered crowd. Nobles, mages, and Chivalric Order commanders stood at the front. Behind them were the commanding officers of individual squads, and further back, the general soldiers, surrounding the fires. Getting everything ready had taken some time, so a lot of them looked ravenous at this point.
“Let the barbecue begin!” I cried, raising my own skillet, loaded with meat. “Get some meat on your skillets, cook them up, and feast the night away!”
The soldiers erupted into cheers of elation and relief. Everyone scrambled to get their meat and then started cooking, filling the air with savory scents. Some folks were already digging in.
“Oh, and we have salt! We’re so far from home that I couldn’t provide any other spices, but please make sure to salt your food!”
With that out of the way, I tucked into my own meal. For wild game, albeit high-grade wild game, the bear meat was pretty tasty. This was my first time trying it, and I found it tasted kind of like lean pork. Was that also how bears tasted back in my own world?
As I ate, I noticed the nobles had gathered around the scorpion meat. One said, “It’s been some time since I last partook of rock scorpion! How about you?”
“Well,” said his companion, “I’m embarrassed to admit this is the first time I’ve even seen one.”
“Is that so? It’s quite the delicacy. Please enjoy yourself.”
They were all excited about the scorpion meat, which resembled lobster or crab. Well, it was effectively mountain food, so maybe it was tricky for Scuderia’s nobles to get their hands on it. I found it interesting that the monsters in this area were completely different from those near Seatoh Village. I’d have to investigate what sort of monsters lived near the ocean next.
“Lord Van! Have you tried the scorpion yet?” Khamsin asked, approaching me with a gleam in his eyes. He held multiple skewers of rock scorpion meat in his hands, apparently having cooked them himself so that he could bring me some to try. Till and Arte looked at one another and smiled.
“No, not yet! Thanks a bunch.”
“Might I have a taste as well?” Arte asked.
Looking excited, Khamsin bowed and presented the skewers. I took one cheerfully and learned that, just as I’d expected, it tasted like crab. Exciting!
Everyone kicked back, relaxed, and enjoyed the barbecue. At least, we enjoyed it until we heard sudden yelling from the soldiers on the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range side of the fortress.
The lookouts on the wall shouted something, and pale-faced messengers sprinted over to deliver the message. “M-monsters! A group of horned boars have descended from the cliff! About fifty of them!”
The messengers appeared to belong to one of the other Chivalric Orders. As soon as the various commanders got the message, they leapt into action.
“Sentanta Chivalric Order! Ready yourselves and take formation in front of the wall!”
“Th-the Pinin Chivalric Order will equip themselves with heavy gear!”
“Farina Chivalric Order, ready the horses and support the mage squad!”
Amidst this chaos, the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order sprinted calmly to the wall, then took up their positions behind the ballistae and readied their machine bows. I grilled some more meat while the soldiers gathered near the wall. Once there was barely anyone left in the square, another messenger arrived to deliver a new report. “B-Baron Van’s Chivalric Order has eliminated the monsters!”
The few nobles who remained nearby went wide-eyed. One said, “Can’t you do your job right?! These are horned boars! Surely you mean that they pushed them back, not eliminated them!”
“You make it sound as though his men accomplished this on their own!” shouted another.
The poor messenger shrunk in fear. He bowed his head repeatedly before he dared to speak again. “I meant what I said! All the monsters were annihilated by Baron Van’s Chivalric Order! They did not push them back! They slew them all!”
The nobles fell silent. How typical, I thought, side-eying them. Then I turned to Till.
“Can I have more tea, please?”
“Right away.”
The monster attack and their subsequent eradication was the shocking climax that brought our barbecue to a close. People were basically done eating anyway, though, so it wasn’t any huge loss. I ended up instructing people to take whatever leftovers they wanted with them the next day, so if anything, it actually made the soldiers happier.
Unfortunately, the knights above the rank of commanding officer were more focused on me than the meat. The nobility hounded me too.
“Lord Van…” Viscount Pinin whispered to me. He sounded shocked. “Have you developed some kind of poison that allows you to take down large monsters without severely wounding them?”
I cocked my head, setting my teacup on the table. “Huh? I could have sworn that there were rumors about me doing the rounds… Ugh, don’t tell me I’ve been self-conscious all this time for no reason?!”
I turned to Arte, feeling my cheeks flame. It would be mortifying if it turned out I wasn’t even remotely famous. This is awful! Terrible! I want to dig a hole and bury myself in it!
Arte shot me a pained smile. But then Pinin spoke again, looking troubled. “No, I heard rumors of your prowess well before I was summoned to this battle—that you had slain a large dragon, for example. But when I visited your village, I saw the dwarf forge and assumed that was how you accomplished such a feat.”
Farina nodded. “Indeed. I heard that you used tremendously powerful bolts…but in the end, bolts are just bolts, I thought.”
Relief washed over me. I smiled at the two of them. “I get it. Most people would never think to take down large monsters with arrows. Even I surprise myself sometimes.”
Their eyes went wide and dumbfounded. Then someone burst into laughter. “Pfft… Ha ha ha!”
This was enough to break the floodgates. The other nobles and commanders started to laugh as well. The atmosphere lightened and I saw Arte, Till, and Khamsin sag in relief.
Pinin and the others hadn’t been able to distinguish themselves during the big battle against Yelenetta. They’d been positioned in the rear of the long marching formation, literally unable to participate in the fight. They’d never had a chance to see how the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order fought, and given how abnormally fast our village had grown, they must have assumed I was receiving aid from His Majesty or Jalpa. All of which contributed to their suspicions of me as a new member of the nobility and to their jealousy when I was treated like the most accomplished combatant in a battle in which even His Majesty had participated. I was certain they even resented the king at this point.
But whether it was the barbecue or the chance to see my Order in action with our machine bows and ballistae, their attitudes toward me had clearly softened. Compared to their behavior earlier in the day, these nobles were acting downright modest.
“Well, I knew Lord Van was different from the start.”
“I can see why His Majesty requested your aid.”
“Would it be possible to purchase some of those incredible weapons from you?”
These guys were adorable. They were all bearded, middle-aged men, but I couldn’t help but see them like pet iguanas. I smirked. There, there. Have as much meat as you want!
Pinin turned to me, a serious look in his eyes. “Lord Van… Quite frankly, I underestimated you. I thought that you were just a child and assumed, based on how developed your territory was, that you received aid from Marquis Fertio or His Majesty. But I think I always knew, deep down, the reality of the situation.” He looked up at Kumamoto Castle then, narrowing his eyes. “Though I suppose that, having seen you build this in only a day’s time, I would have been forced to accept your abilities either way.”
He laughed again, prompting the other nobles to join in. Even Dee, just returning from the wall, chimed in.
“Ha ha ha! Precisely! I fancy myself his most devoted follower, and not even I thought he should build lodgings beyond the wall!” He looked up at the castle. “How could I have anticipated such a unique, defense-focused castle? Lord Van is always thinking of his citizens and doing his best to make his lands more comfortable to live in. Viscount Panamera and Count Ferdinatto support him because they understand this, and they see how diligently he devotes himself to finding new ways to protect his people. In time, more like-minded individuals will gravitate toward him, creating a force to be reckoned with. Now that you have all seen where Lord Van’s heart lies, is it foolish of me to hope that you, too, will make a priority of allying with him?”
Dee flashed a powerful smile, one that spoke both of confidence and hope for the future. It struck a chord with the nobles who’d been unable to participate in the big battle. At least, that was what it seemed like to me, watching Dee’s impassioned plea bring a tear to their eyes. I thought I even heard some people actively sobbing.
“Uh… What exactly is happening?”
Despite being present for the whole conversation, I had the distinct feeling I’d missed something. I watched, bewildered, as a bunch of grown men openly wept.
I had been excited for the barbecue, but I was even more excited to spend a night in my new Japanese castle. I may not have been able to recreate the texture and feel of tatami, but the view from the castle tower and watchtower were wonderful. Both structures were plucked straight out of old period flicks. I’d managed to emulate the sort of wooden-floored halls you always saw in the big climactic scenes, and I’d even recreated the continuous Japanese-style rooms that were separated by sliding screens.