Water Magician

Chapter 214: War and Peace

“Did any message come from the Empire?”

“Yes, Your Excellency Minister of Finance. The disturbance in Count Gother’s fief has implicated people from the Empire and the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement that ‘The Empire will do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of their citizens’.

They were in the Minister of Finance’s office located in the royal capital Crystal Palace’s castle, commonly known as ‘Palace’.

Finance Undersecretary Schart was reporting to Finance Minister Fuka.

Minister of Finance Fuka utilized all his wiles to redirect the investigation away from himself regarding his involvement with Duke Flitwick, the Union, and Knight Commander Baccara before the royal capital disturbance.

Furthermore, he continues to occupy a corner of the palace as a key member of the nation who had contributed greatly to bringing the royal capital disturbance under control.

The announcement from the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the same report delivered to all the other ministers, reached Fuka.

“In other words, it’s a declaration to dispatch an army to the Kingdom? It’s the usual pattern.”

‘Protecting one’s citizens’ is a technique often used in all ages and countries.

Of course, it will lead to war.

The Empire and the Kingdom have been fighting wars consisting of tens of thousands of soldiers every few years for the past 30 years.

The case this time round seemed to be the trigger for the same once again.

Normally, that would be a ‘usual’ thing, and preparations would proceed solemnly, but the Kingdom had not yet recovered from the chaos of the royal capital disturbance.

Due to the disturbance in the royal capital, the Kingdom’s Knight Order was destroyed and is currently being reorganized.

Besides that, the guards in the aristocratic district during the turmoil died, weakening the military strength of the royal capital and its surroundings.

Furthermore, with the deteriorating public security situation in the eastern part of the country, which has continued for some time but showed no sign of subsiding, the shortage of military strength was becoming conspicuous throughout the Kingdom.

“The Minister of Military Affairs urged the northern lords to participate in the war.”

“Is that so… Even if we draw, the lords who participated in the war will have to be paid a reward from the national treasury… The financial burden will increase even further…”

Minister of Finance Fuka immediately came to the realization that there was an issue with his authority.

Indeed, no state action is more expensive than war!

“Well, we can consider the rewards for the feudal lords after the war…will there be soldiers from the royal capital?”

“Yes. Although it is still being reorganized, the Kingdom’s Knight Order will appear. Also, the Court Magician Order and the Kingdom’s First Army. And conscripted militia.”

“That is… going to cost money too…”

Fuka said with a deep sigh.

His tone became even more direct compared to before and it seemed that Fuka’s feelings of despair were deepening with each passing moment.

The southern city of Rune was peaceful.

It was especially peaceful around Ryo.

It was peaceful as usual.

Wake up before sunrise.

Stretch vigorously for 30 minutes.

Then, outside the ramparts of Rune, he runs while creating a miniature Tokyo Tower with ice on his hands, feet, and shoulders.

Have breakfast, and then devote his time to alchemy until noon.

During that time, Sera would come by and read a book in the living room.

For lunch, they often eat together at restaurants near the east gate, such as Houshoku-tei.

After that, it’s usually mock battles at the lord’s mansion.

For dinner, sometimes he eats at home, sometimes he eats at the adventurer’s guild cafeteria or a shop he chances upon.

Then he takes a bath and goes to bed.

An astonishingly routine life.

There are two forces that could disturb this regular life.

The first is the three people from ‘Room 10’.

And the other …

“Ryo, are you there~?”

An A-rank adventurer swordsman who walks in through the side door without even knocking.

He came in expecting Ryo to be there, but was surprised to find a female Elf reading a book in the living room.

“S-Sera…”

“Hey, Abel. Ryo is reading alchemy materials at the back.”

“Yes, I was reading, but it seemed that some suspicious swordsman came in, so I came out.”

Abel was surprised, Sera kindly pointed where Ryo was, and Ryo came out from the back.

“O-oh, my bad.”

“If you really think so, you should at least bring some souvenirs. Right, those delicious crepes sold in the city for two people!”

“I agree, you should bring that with you. As expected of Ryo, you have such good suggestions!”

Ryo asked for a crepe and Sera rode on the idea.

“Hey now, you guys… recently, you’ve been polishing your cooperation.”

Abel complained with a loud sigh.

“Of course. Good food is justice!”

Ryo declared loudly, and Sera nodded her head many times.

“This time, Ryo and I have an urgent request from the guild.”

“Me and Abel? That’s unusual.”

“Well, my group is still in Kona Village… The place for the emergency request is Bemberton Village.”

“It would take two days by carriage from Rune to reach Bemberton.”

Abel told him the location and Sera added the information.

“Yeah. They want us to go as soon as possible, and the guild carriage has been prepared and is already in front of this house.”

“I see, it can’t be helped…”

Saying that, Ryo placed the documents he had in his hand in the back room, and came out with his usual bag, Murasame, Michael’s special knife, and a robe.

“Shall we go? I’m sorry, Sera. I’ll be gone for a while.”

“Umu, be careful.”

Saying that, Sera gently hugged Ryo.

Abel’s cheeks turned bright red for some reason when he saw that spectacle.

“Well, even so, your preparations were quick.”

Inside the carriage, Abel started talking.

His face was still a little red…

“Well, it’s just some stuff to take on adventures, potions, and preserved food. And don’t worry, I packed some roasted Kona coffee beans.”

“Just as expected……”

Abel replied, expressing admiration and exasperation at the same time.

“So, first things first, what is the urgent request for me and Abel?”

A party consisting of the two of them had never received an emergency request or nomination request before.

“It seems to be wyvern subjugation.”

“What…”

It was unexpected even for Ryo.

It appeared that the City of Rune wasn’t very peaceful either.

Ever since Ryo came to Rune, he had never seen a wyvern, nor had he received a subjugation request.

Not even once but ….

“Speaking of which, wasn’t it talked about that ‘Room 10’ subjugated a Wyvern before?”

“Yeah. I heard that they encountered and defeated one with the help of Acre’s C-rank party ‘Six Petals’ during a different request. There were nine people, but the guys from Room 10 were still D-rank, right? It was a big deal.”

Hearing Abel’s praise, Ryo nodded happily.

The three people from ‘Room 10’ were former roommates.

If they were active and an A-rank adventurer praised them, he would of course be happy for them.

“However, the way they beat it was outrageous…”

“Yes… Amon was tossed into the sky…”

Ryo commented while remembering the story of the Wyvern subjugation he heard from the three of them.

“Gorky, the Shield-user of ‘Six Petals’ tossed him … Lately it seems to become a trend for swordsmen to fly across the sky…”

Abel said while pretending to be serious.

“Why don’t you try flying too? Ask Warren…”

“Yeah, absolutely not.”

“So, Guilmas chose us this time, as expected, to defeat the wyvern safely, with less risk, and as soon as possible, unlike what the guys from Room 10 did. Also, it appears that there have not been any casualties yet so we should complete the request before it happens.”

“I see.”

Ryo and Abel defeated dozens of Wyverns on their way from Rondo Forest to the City of Rune, and once asked Guild Master Hugh McGrath to sell the magic stones.

Therefore, Hugh recognizes that these two can safely defeat Wyverns.

“But this time it’s a request, right? I might be targeted by some strange noble if we complete the request too smoothly.”

When Ryo expressed such concern, Abel suddenly thought, ‘It’s too late now’, but the words that came out of his mouth were wisely different.

“It seems that this emergency request will be, at the same time, marked as ‘classified’. This is rarely done, but only the Guild Master who sent the request and the Grand Master of the Royal Capital can see the request contents. It is secured by magic or alchemy, so it’s an expensive option that can only be done once a year.”

“Then I can rest assured.”

Ryo nodded once and smiled.

It seemed that he was seriously worried about being watched by a strange noble.

“Now that that is resolved, let’s make some coffee.”

Said Ryo as he started grinding Kona coffee with an ice mill.