Aurora’s next mission was to respond to the barracks raid incident.
I took over that mission to let Aurora rest.
The location of the mission was the neighboring city.
It was early morning, before heading there.
In front of Aurora’s house, the Holy Knight girl bowed deeply to me.
“Douglas-san, I don’t know how to thank you enough. Thank you, truly, truly.”
“Don’t worry about it. In return, make sure you get some rest. I don’t want Aurora working herself to death for the people of this country, only to become unhappy herself.”
“Yes, I understand! I’ll work hard to rest!”
Aurora clenched her fist and looked at me with innocent eyes. I smiled wryly and patted her head.
Aurora blushed and seemed happy. The Holy Knight girl looking up at me was incredibly cute.
After that, I headed to the shared carriage stop to the neighboring city and boarded the carriage with my wives.
When the appointed time came, the carriage departed with the clippity-clop of hooves.
Inside the carriage, my wives began to chatter.
“Still, Aurora’s personality is serious. ‘I’ll work hard to rest,’ she said. Does anyone work hard to rest?”
“It’s a problem, nya. If Douglas is gone, she’ll probably overwork herself again, nya.”
“That’s true… Douglas-sama, is there anything we can do about her? It’s good that she’s diligent and responsible, but if she continues like this, she’ll break down again eventually.”
I touched my chin and pondered in response.
“That’s true. But her personality is ingrained. I don’t think telling her to change will fix it. The best we can do is probably eliminate the cause of the Holy Kingdom’s defense strength shortage.”
“Hmm…? Cause, you say?”
Elen tilted her head.
Seraphina interjected from the side.
“This barracks raid incident we’re heading to, and the mass murder incident before that—are those people involved, Douglas-sama?”
“Ah, I suspect that’s highly likely. We might have to face them—the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals—again.”
The shortage of defense strength in this Holy Kingdom, which is the cause of Aurora’s overwork, is largely due to the numerous murder cases that have occurred frequently over the past month.
I suspected that the “Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals” were involved in these incidents.
The dragon-person race, a race of half-dragons and half-humans, has survived in isolation from human settlements since ancient times.
Among them, those called the “Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals” aim to revive the Dragon Queen by taking the lives of many humans with their special weapons.
The name of that queen is Sephiroth, the ten-headed Dragon King. A being that is almost legendary, said to have wreaked havoc in ancient times.
Whether the story of such an incredible monster’s revival is true or not.
What can be said for sure is that those called the “Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals” believe in it and are killing many people around the world.
According to information extracted from Marukt, one of the “Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals” and a spear user, the more human lives offered as sacrifices to the queen, the better. However, the lives of “strong humans” are said to hold immense power, even if it’s just one.
“But wasn’t the barracks raid incident not a mass murder, nya?”
Miina asked, and I nodded.
This is about the incident we are going to deal with.
“Yeah. A single girl appears at the soldier encampments in each city and wants to fight to the death with the strongest person in the barracks. Several places in the country have already been attacked, and that girl has won every fight. —And the next city we’re heading to is expected to be attacked.”
“Wants to fight the strongest? That’s a battle junkie. It sounds like someone dangerous is coming.”
Elen muttered such a comment.
Speaking of battle junkies, I remembered Tifereth, Elen’s master and a Greatsword User, whom I fought in the arena before.
However, since the perpetrator is described as a girl, it’s probably not her.
Furthermore, the target of the barracks raid incident’s culprit is said to be a quarterstaff—a staff-like weapon about the length of a person’s height.
“Well now, I wonder what kind of person will appear.”
I murmured, gazing at the scenery outside the carriage window.
***
The carriage arrived at the destination city in the evening of that day.
I got off the carriage and, with my wives, headed to the barracks, the city’s defense headquarters.
However, as I tried to enter the barracks, a guard soldier stopped me.
“Hey, what do you want, adventurer? This is the barracks for the soldiers of the holy Holy Knight Order. It’s not a place for filthy people like you to just barge in.”
Filthy… I’ve been called that again.
I was truly dejected.
I showed the letter I received from Marco to the guard.
“I’m here as a substitute for Holy Knight Aurora. Let us pass.”
The guard snatched the letter from me and examined it, then looked at me suspiciously.
“No way…? I heard that the reinforcement would be a Holy Knight, a Holy Swordswoman with immense power. Are you, an adventurer dude, supposed to be that substitute?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Hmph… Well, whatever. This letter seems to be genuine. Go to the Barracks Chief and hear what he has to say.”
“Understood. Let’s go, Miina, Elen, Seraphina.”
” ” ” Okay. Excuse us for intruding. ” ”
I took back the letter from the guard and passed through the barracks gate.
The three wives followed behind me.
I could hear the guard’s voice from behind.
“Still, what was that…? They were all incredibly beautiful girls… Are they that old guy’s companions? Lucky him…”
Companions, or rather, wives.
Hahaha, isn’t that nice?
Anyway, we arrived at the Barracks Chief’s office.
After knocking and entering, I was greeted by a man dressed in the same uniform as Aurora and Marco.
“Adventurer…? What business do you have?”
“I’m here as Holy Knight Aurora’s proxy. This is an introduction letter from Marco.”
I had a similar exchange with the Barracks Chief as I did with the guard.
After checking the letter, the Barracks Chief looked at me with suspicion.
“You, merely an adventurer, possess power equal to that of Holy Swordswoman Holy Knight Aurora…? I’ve heard that Holy Knight Aurora possesses extraordinary power, equivalent to a hundred soldiers on her own.”
“Aurora, who had a high fever and was about to be eaten by a pack of trolls, was saved by me. I have enough power to take down at least three trolls by myself.”
“Three trolls…!? You, an adventurer, by yourself…!?!”
“Yeah. If you want, I can even take on all the soldiers in this barracks at once?”
When I bluffed like that, the Barracks Chief shook his head.
“No, I believe you, traveling adventurer Douglas. The adventurer’s gold badge you wear around your neck also proves that you are a person of true strength. Please forgive my rudeness… But why are you involved in this matter…? You have no obligation to work for this country.”
When he asked, I explained the situation as best I could.
To put it simply, it was about my concern for Aurora’s well-being.
Upon hearing this, the Barracks Chief’s expression turned to surprise.
“What…!? So you are willing to risk your life and fight, simply because you wish to save a girl you met on your journey…? Adventurer Douglas, what a noble person you are…!”
“Uh, no, well… is that how it is…?”
I didn’t think I was doing anything that grand, but somehow he seemed moved.
Come to think of it, the supreme god Milcia, deeply worshipped in this country, governs devotion and justice.
Perhaps my actions were perceived as devoted and full of justice.
—Well, regardless.
We were granted permission to stay temporarily at this barracks.
We were told to use the guest quarters and were offered a four-person room.
This was because I said it was fine for Miina, Elen, and Seraphina, my companions, to share a room with me, which, as usual, surprised them greatly.
That evening’s dinner was served in the barracks cafeteria, along with about twenty soldiers returning from their mission.
Several people were on cooking duty that day, making a large pot of stew for the many people.
Miina and Elen went to help them, and the soldiers on cooking duty cheered.
Incidentally, Seraphina, who is not good at cooking, looked a bit out of place.
I don’t think she needed to worry about it, since I wasn’t helping either.
I had expected the soldiers serving in the barracks to be stiff and formal due to the nature of the country, but surprisingly, many of them were quite friendly.
During the meal, the soldiers asked me to tell them stories about when I defeated trolls and when I subjugated dragons.
I could only tell the stories clumsily, as I am not a bard, but the soldiers listened with great interest and looked at me with admiration.
My wives were also, naturally, very popular with the soldiers.
They said that normally there was no feminine presence around, and their presence alone made the place more vibrant.
However, in the end, all three of them clung to me, warning, “Miina belongs to Douglas, nya” “I belong to Douglas, you know” “I am Douglas-sama’s,” ” ” ” Don’t get the wrong idea,” causing the soldiers’ gazes to turn into those of simmering resentment.
I had to be careful not to be assassinated that night—just kidding.
Anyway, the main topic arrived.
It was highly likely that the enemy attack on the barracks would occur tonight, and that prediction was spot on.
The lively dinner ended, and as it was time to go to bed, it arrived.
“Good evening! I’m not a dojo breaker, but a barracks breaker! I want the strongest person in this barracks to come out and fight me to the death! Otherwise, I’ll kill everyone in this town indiscriminately!”
A cheerful-sounding girl’s voice came from outside.
