Side: Yuki
"Hahaha, that's quite something." (Horst)
"Indeed. I was surprised when I heard a mercenary was being put in charge, but now it all makes sense." (wife-san)
After being shown to the room and finishing our meal, we were having a light chat about our backgrounds before the actual meeting.
Well, if we didn't properly explain our circumstances, it would probably cause all sorts of problems later.
The lord's wife had looked pretty visibly shaken at the front door when she heard the word 'mercenary,' so we decided to be completely transparent about how we ended up in this position.
It's really just the story of us rampaging through the imperial capital of the Jilva Empire.
"You believe us so readily? I did vouch for it, but normally I'd expect you to dismiss it as a joke..."
Jessica, who had been backing up our story to Horst and the others, seems taken aback that they believed it so easily.
"Indeed. Under normal circumstances, that reaction would be the natural one."
Horst nodded in agreement with Jessica's opinion.
"Then why did you believe us?"
"It's simple. Mist-dono, a Magic Sword wielder, entrusted this place to Yuki-dono. And Yuki-dono himself openly introduced himself as a mere mercenary."
"And when you combine the words of Mist-sama with a declaration that sounds absurd enough to be a joke, it's difficult to see the story as a fabrication."
Horst and his wife continued.
Jessica seemed to have found the answer she was looking for and spoke.
"So it was because of the contradiction itself."
"Precisely. Normally there would be no reason to tell such an outrageous lie. It would only earn resentment and create problems for whatever you planned to do in this town. But after hearing Yuki-dono's explanation, everything became clear. If you really beat up Magic Sword wielders, rampaged through the Jilva capital, and cornered the king, then this treatment is understandable. In fact, this arrangement is only natural. A mercenary force stronger than Lord Mist—or rather, stronger than three Magic Sword wielders. This must be an utterly unexpected development for the Enaria Holy Kingdom."
"Well... I suppose that's true. Even we had no idea what was happening when we were defeated without being able to do anything..."
"I suppose so. But with this, we can honestly serve the Jilva Empire."
At those words, Jessica shot Horst a sharp glare.
Well, it's like he's saying he's plotting something behind the scenes.
"Cut it out, Jessica. There's nothing wrong with Horst-san's judgment. If you're thinking about the safety of the townspeople, it's only natural to take various precautions. If you don't even know if we have a chance against the Enaria Holy Kingdom, there's no way you'd give us your full support, right? You're trying to keep on good terms with both sides, gather information, and be ready to switch allegiances. I think that's perfectly normal."
"...Fine. If you say so, Yuki."
Jessica didn't seem fully convinced, but she stopped glaring.
She wasn't releasing her intimidation aura, at least. At her current high level, an ordinary person could easily faint from it. The fact that she literally possessed an Intimidation skill made it even worse.
"Horst-san, we have no intention of complaining about your actions. So don't worry about it. You can send information back to your home country. There's no guarantee nothing will go wrong, after all. Stay ready to switch sides at any moment."
"I am incredibly grateful for your understanding, Yuki-dono. But is that really alright? At this point, you could easily tell us to stop passing information to the Enaria Holy Kingdom."
"On the contrary, don't stop. If you keep transmitting information through your usual channels, we can track the flow of intelligence. If you cut things off entirely, they'll just gather information through other routes, which is far more troublesome."
"I see. So you intend to control the information being leaked."
"It also lets us grasp their movements. We can't stop it completely anyway, so we might as well do it deliberately."
"Indeed..."
"By the way, while you believed our tall tale, what do you think the Enaria Holy Kingdom will make of it if you tell them?"
"They wouldn't believe a word of it."
"Exactly. If they somehow do believe it, that's fine too. It'll just make them even more hesitant to make a move against us."
That's how it works.
Even if they think it's true, they have no choice but to approach us carefully.
Officially, it looks like they were defeated by Magic Sword wielders, and we're treated as if we did nothing.
"Now then, how do you think the Enaria Holy Kingdom will move?"
"Well, assuming we transmit this information tomorrow, it will take about a week to reach the capital, another week for them to deliberate, and at the absolute fastest, a reclamation army will march down upon us in about a month."
"Even though their Holy Sword wielder lost?"
When I said that, Horst and the others fell strangely silent.
"What's wrong? Is there some issue with the Holy Sword wielder?"
"No... it's just that regarding the Holy Sword user, we only received an official decree from the capital claiming his existence. To be completely honest, none of us local lords ever felt like it was real."
"It felt like a fairy tale to us." the wife added.
My eyes narrowed.
"Hold on. When was the first time you heard about the Holy Sword wielder?"
"Only a few months before your invasion force marched across the border. We assumed it was just empty propaganda to boost morale, and since she apparently lost instantly in this battle, we figured she was just a fraud."
Hmm. Thanks to Labyris, I knew at least some of Light's background.
Assuming her story wasn't pure delusion, the Holy Sword wielder had definitely been kept secret until recently.
But even if the wielder was secret, that shouldn't apply to the sword itself. The Holy Sword should have been discovered long ago. It's not like the Holy Sword user appeared at the exact same time the sword was discovered.
"Wait. Whether the Holy Sword user is fake or not doesn't matter right now—what about the Holy Sword itself? When did it come into existence?"
"As far as we know, the Holy Sword appeared at the same time as the wielder. Normally, if a Holy Sword were discovered, rumors would spread regarding its selection process and the search for a suitable wielder. But we heard nothing. And for the Holy Kingdom, simply announcing the existence of a Holy Sword would be valuable. Now that you mention it... when exactly was the Holy Sword discovered?"
Something was off... Was one of my assumptions wrong? Did Light literally stumble upon the sword out of nowhere?
Either way, I'd have to ask Light directly. Not that I expected her to cooperate willingly.
As for Light Revive, the Holy Sword wielder, she had naturally become a prisoner after the battle. Marley and the others were currently holding the Holy Sword and interrogating her.
Unfortunately, the results had been terrible.
At first she kept insisting it was all lies and refused to accept reality, then she started crying as time passed. Right now she's stubbornly refusing to talk, convinced that help will come. Thanks to our intervention, she hasn't been tortured, but without us she'd probably already be in the grave.
Anyway, the Holy Sword talk isn't going anywhere right now. Let's move on to other topics.
"It doesn't sound like we're going to solve the mystery of the Holy Sword with our current intel. Mind if we switch topics?"
"Of course. My apologies for not being able to provide any useful information."
"No, the whole Holy Sword situation seems strange. We'll both need to gather more information."
"...Indeed. So, what else do you want to know?"
"Since we're already talking about swords, I heard the Holy Kingdom also has Magic Sword wielders. Do you know anything about them?"
"Yes. The Enaria Holy Kingdom possesses five Magic Swords and four Magic Sword wielders."
"Heh, so there's one sword without a wielder?"
"No, one person uses two swords."
"Hoh."
Dual-wielding Magic Swords, huh.
As a personal combat asset it's impressive, but having one sword per person would probably be more strategically convenient.
"Eh!? I thought a Magic Sword could only be wielded by one person!?"
Jessica cries out in surprise beside me.
That was the first I'd heard of such a rule.
Yeah, I'd never heard that rule before either.
Though I guess it sounds like a rule that would exist.
"Is that how it works in the Jilva Empire as well?" Horst noted. "It is supposed to be the absolute rule in Enaria as well, but a single exception appeared about seventeen years ago. I happened to be stationed in the capital providing security for the selection ceremony at the time. The selection ceremony itself was open to the public, and they desperately had many women try it in order to increase the nation's strength."
That made sense.
A single Magic Sword wielder was said to equal ten thousand soldiers.
Of course they'd search desperately.
"As I mentioned earlier, I was stationed in the capital until about fifteen years ago, so this was roughly seventeen years back. A young girl grabbed the hilt of a sword half in jest. Well, that sort of thing happens often during the selection ceremony. If a child turns out to be a Magic Sword wielder, their entire family instantly becomes wealthy."
"And she just smoothly drew it out?"
"Ah, no. The selection ceremony requires gripping the Magic Sword and manifesting its power. The moment that girl grabbed it, a great wind blew through the hall, blowing away decorations and extinguishing the torches."
"So that's how the selection works. Isn't that dangerous?"
"That level of reaction was unprecedented. At any rate, the venue descended into chaos once it became clear a wielder had been found. The girl herself had no idea what had happened and tried to run away in fear. But she accidentally touched another Magic Sword beside it..."
"And she activated that one too, huh."
"Yes. Suddenly, the ground beneath our feet began to violently collapse and erupt into massive stone pillars. It was an absolute disaster."
Oh great.
A terrain-alteration type.
The natural enemy of tanks.
"So that was seventeen years ago. Meaning this dual-wielding Magic Sword wielder has been handling Magic Swords for quite a long time."
"Indeed. After that, she went to the front lines and achieved a furious string of victories, greatly contributing to the current prosperity of the Enaria Holy Kingdom. It's said that a full quarter of the Holy Kingdom's current territory was carved out by that dual-wielder."
"That's amazing. While we're at it, may I ask the name and appearance of this dual-wielding Magic Sword wielder?"
She seems to have a lot of information, so it can't hurt to keep her marked.
"Of course. Her name is Prism Arkansiel. As for her appearance... I believe she is 23 this year. She is a stunning beauty with a gentle personality. There is one curious thing about her hair, though."
"Her hair?"
"Yes. Normally it is white, but when she uses her Magic Swords, the color changes. Not dramatically, but it faintly shifts into one of the seven colors of the rainbow."
A name that's a mashup of English and French, plus rainbow color-changing hair... What is she, a walking anime protagonist trope?
...At any rate, Miss Rainbow would require some independent investigation.
Now then, it's time to start talking about the town and figure out how we're going to handle defense and such. We don't have the luxury of gathering information forever. To create that breathing room, we need to build a secure base.
Sigh... splitting Steve and Britt up was a painful decision.
Because now I have to do actual work.
* * *
"Achoo!!"
"Gross. Watch where you're sneezing, don't get it on the documents."
"How about showing some concern, Zargis!?"
"Fine, fine. What's wrong with you anyway? ...Don't tell me you caught a cold? Because if you're contagious, I am immediately requesting permission to head back to Weed for my own health safety...!"
"As if! Quit talking and get back to work. My guess is the Boss is talking about me somewhere."
* * *
"Achoo!"
"Did you catch a cold, Britt-san?"
"No, it's probably just someone gossiping about me. Don't worry about it, Mist-dono. Our security detail is entirely flawless, so please rest easy."
"I see. I am counting on you."
