Kent and his companions headed for the guardhouse after finishing their interviews with the mayor.
Caroline had surveyed the town and identified areas for improvement. She implemented measures that could be addressed quickly, but it turned out that the departments managing the town, including the mayor, were not currently coordinating with the guards who were in charge of maintaining public order and security. Kent, Caroline, and Al, who had tagged along, took action in an attempt to find a compromise and improve this situation.
Caroline entered the guardhouse first.
“Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”
The guards, reacting to Caroline’s voice, all looked over. Realizing it was Caroline who had spoken, they straightened up and saluted.
“Caroline-sama! Please wait a moment, I will call the captain for you.”
The guard closest to them hurried into the captain’s room at the back.
“Captain, there’s an emergency!”
“That’s noisy, what’s happened?”
“Caroline-sama has just arrived.”
“What! We can’t keep her waiting. I’m coming right away.”
Kent and Caroline couldn’t help but smile wryly as the conversation from the back room was clearly audible.
“My apologies for the wait. I heard a rumor yesterday that the Deputy Lord would be visiting this town, but I never imagined it would be you, Caroline…”
Chuck, the captain of the guard, bowed before Caroline and spoke.
“No, this time I am accompanying him as an assistant to the Deputy Lord. The Deputy Lord is this gentleman, Kent.”
Caroline said this and presented the letter of delegation from Baron Frederick, which she had also shown to the mayor.
“I have seen it. So, this Kent is the Deputy Lord?”
“That is correct.”
“Did you all hear that?”
Chuck confirmed with Kent and then addressed the other guards.
“All personnel, salute the Deputy Lord!”
Chuck and the guards saluted Kent. Kent, unaccustomed to such treatment, felt a little embarrassed.
“I believe there may be many shortcomings, but I’ll be counting on your cooperation.”
“We are honored to cooperate. By the way, I heard you plan to stay for about a month. How will your escort be handled during that time?”
Chuck was curious why Kent and his companions, despite their position as Deputy Lord, had not brought any guards with them.
“That will be fine. We have this child.”
“This little one is your escort?”
Caroline placed her hand on Al’s head and said this. Chuck, not understanding the implication of having a child as an escort, asked for clarification.
“Actually, this is a secret, but this child is a mage who can use incredibly powerful magic. I doubt all of your guards combined could defeat them.”
“I’ve heard of mages, but they really exist?”
Caroline rephrased “fairy” as “mage.” She figured by doing so, she could claim it was magic if anything happened involving Al. However, mages seemed to be rare, almost legendary, occupations. While Chuck might not believe it if he were asked directly, coming from the daughter of a lord, it wasn’t entirely out of the question for her to have one under her command, so he didn’t argue.
“Incidentally, to avoid anyone realizing this child is an escort, we’ll be presenting them as my child with Kent. Please don’t forget.”
“Ehhhhh!!!!”
The guards exclaimed in surprise at Caroline’s declaration.
“However, just to be sure, could you allow us to test their abilities? If anything were to happen to Caroline-sama or the Deputy Lord because we neglected our duties, my neck alone wouldn’t be enough to atone for it.”
Chuck proposed this to Kent. He judged it necessary to reassure the guards, despite Al’s exceptional strength.
“Al, that’s how it is, so please do your best.”
“Okay! Can I kill them?”
“No.”
“Cheh.”
Kent cautioned Al, who was all fired up. This should prevent any fatalities.
Behind the guards’ guardhouse was a training field. It was surrounded by a fence, so their activities could not be seen from the outside. They all moved to the field and began preparations.
“Now then, to test your abilities, I have selected five of our guards who are confident in their skills. I feel bad about this, fighting a child, but I want you to face these five simultaneously.”
“Okay. I’m ready anytime.”
Al faced off against the five guards selected by Chuck.
“Begin!”
At Chuck’s command, the five guards simultaneously attacked Al.
“Ugh!”
“Guh!”
“Guk!”
“Wha—!”
The moment they attacked, three guards were sent flying. Although the guards were wielding wooden swords meant for training, the remaining two realized their opponent was strong. They gripped their wooden swords tightly and cautiously closed the distance.
“I have plenty of magic power today, so this hit is going to be strong! Tor-ya!”
“Guh!”
One more guard was blown away, leaving only one. The last guard, having carefully closed the distance, raised his wooden sword and swung it down at Al.
“What!”
Al easily caught the wooden sword and tossed the guard along with it.
“You weren’t a mage after all!!!”
Kent and Caroline watched the guard fly away, muttering his complaint.
“That guard had some pretty good reflexes.”
“To be able to complain in that state, he must be quite skilled.”
Kent and Caroline praised the guard for his efforts.
“As Caroline-sama said, your abilities seem far beyond our reach. May I have a turn as well?”
“The Captain is going to fight too? Sure, I’ll fight you.”
Seeing Al’s fight, Chuck’s fighting spirit seemed to have been ignited. He faced Al with a wooden sword in hand.
“Here I come!”
Chuck assumed a stance and charged at Al.
“How about this?”
“Hmph, is that all?”
Chuck performed the same attack that had sent three guards flying, but it was evaded.
“Ohho, so that’s how it works! Hmph!”
“Nnnh!”
With a swing of his wooden sword, Chuck left countless severed vines on the ground.
“Captain, you’re quite good. How about this?”
“Just this much!”
Chuck flicked something away with his wooden sword.
“That’s a seed.”
“It’s a seed.”
Kent and Caroline examined what Chuck had flicked away.
“It was too fast to see, but wouldn’t it be bad if it hit us?”
“We might die.”
Caroline casually commented on Kent’s worry.
“Is that all? Then I’ll go on the offensive!”
Chuck closed in on Al and swung his wooden sword down, hitting Al.
“What the—my wooden sword!”
The moment it hit Al, the wooden sword shattered into pieces.
“This guy’s rotten.”
Chuck looked at the now-broken wooden sword, only the hilt remaining. The wood had become as soft as rotted material, and the remaining parts crumbled at a light touch.
“Since you have no weapon, I win! Hmph.”
“I’m a bit unconvinced.”
Al was skilled at manipulating plant matter. Since the wooden sword was made of wood, he could instantly make it rot. This ability was dangerous, as it could cause wooden buildings to collapse instantly.
“Hey, didn’t you think about winning a bit more cleanly?”
“Eh, a win is a win!”
Al replied as if it were obvious when Kent spoke to him. The guards also wondered if Al couldn’t have simply fought the captain honorably instead of winning in such a manner, given his high capabilities.
“It’s a bit disappointing at the end, but I believe everyone has understood Al’s abilities now.”
Caroline concluded, and it seemed that the captain and the guards were satisfied regarding the escort arrangements.
