“Gordon and Margaret were against this retaliatory attack, but they said the hardliners in the higher-ups had too much influence and they couldn’t suppress it.”
“I heard that too. I understand that many are strong because the First Prince is suffering damage, but sending an army also carries the risk of counterattack from the other side, and we must be prepared for commensurate damage.”
“Indeed. Now that it has come to this, we can only pray that there will be no major casualties.”
Patty, who was scheduled to join royalty soon, was still a commoner in status as Gordon’s fiancée. Therefore, she had no power and could only watch the situation. In the classroom, judging from the conversations of her classmates, there was only slight worry about something that had not yet begun. Classes at school began as scheduled, and lunch break arrived as usual.
“Josette, regarding this expedition, do you know what the Duke thought about it?”
“My father? Well, I don’t remember hearing the specifics, but I recall he was neutral, or rather, against it. The Duke’s family has no plans to send troops at this stage.”
During lunch break, Kent and Josette gathered in their usual spot in the backyard with Rachel and Caro. There, Kent asked Josette what her father, the Duke, a man of great power in the country, thought about the current retaliatory attack.
“I see, the Duke is taking a wait-and-see approach.”
“Yes, that’s what I’ve heard.”
“It seems there was a request for troops to be sent to the territory managed by my father as well, but he refused this time.”
“I see, Caro’s father is also against it then.”
From what the two of them said, it seemed that the Duke, Josette and Elnet’s father, was against it, and Baron Frederick, Caro’s father, also had no intention of actively participating.
“The military class we’re having now is related to this, isn’t it? What if they tell us to go to the battlefield?”
“Rachel, you may feel anxious, but training that only involves practicing stances won’t be of any use on the battlefield. Besides, didn’t Elnet say she’d work to prevent you from being sent to such places?”
“That’s true, but when I hear that a dispatch unit has actually been organized, I get anxious.”
Rachel, having lived a life unrelated to such things in her previous world, seemed anxious as the dispatch of troops became a reality. Caro tried to calm her down, but she lacked the power to solve everything.
“However, there’s something about this development that doesn’t sit right with me.”
“What do you mean?”
Josette seemed to have something that bothered her about this matter.
“Actually, I only learned of the mobilization today. It seems they intentionally withheld information about the mobilization from the opposition.”
“Isn’t the Duke’s family’s information network quite formidable? And you couldn’t detect it?”
“It probably means that something is moving that our Duke’s family’s intelligence division can’t detect.”
It seemed that even the Duke’s family had only recently obtained information about this matter. Josette told Kent, with a slightly regretful expression.
“That’s right. The military seems unusually motivated, and I only found out about it after coming to school.”
“Uwah!”
Someone suddenly whispered in Kent’s ear, startling him and making him jump.
“Oh dear, oh dear, you don’t need to be that surprised.”
“It’s Auntie.”
“Your Majesty the Queen, greetings.”
The speaker was Margaret. Rachel, as usual, called the Queen “Auntie,” while Josette bowed deeply in greeting, followed by Caro.
“I was just inspecting the school as the principal. You don’t need to give such stiff greetings. You can call me Auntie casually like Rachel does.”
“Th-that’s out of the question.”
“Y-yes.”
Margaret said with a touch of jest that she was patrolling the school as part of her duties.
“There we go, you all always gather here during lunch break.”
“It’s somehow become a habit.”
“I see. I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but I happened to hear your voices and wondered what was going on.”
Margaret, though holding a part-time position, was the principal of the school and thus had no business being there. Without anyone’s permission, she intended to join their conversation and sat down next to Kent.
“Ever since I took a stance against sending troops, I’ve been completely sidelined. I was surprised to hear that they would depart for the Duchy in a few days. However, even if we’re not directly involved, it’s a matter where a royal command has been issued and preparations have begun, so we will also bear a certain responsibility. For now, I can only pray that our own forces do not suffer significant casualties.”
Margaret, with a sigh, prayed that their own forces would not suffer major casualties.
“Well, I’d like to talk with you all a bit longer, but I have to return to the castle. Sorry to have disturbed you.”
After that, the topic shifted to small talk, but Margaret said she had an engagement and left the place first.
“Well, it looks like we should head back to our classrooms too.”
“Oh, it does.”
“Classes in the afternoon, huh?”
“My next class is military studies.”
“Oh dear. Elnet’s training is strict. Good luck, Caro.”
Kent checked the time and realized that the lunch break was about to end. They began to tidy up and decided to return to their respective classrooms.
“I’m back.”
“You’re late!”
The afternoon classes began, and before they knew it, it was after school. Kent went home once and then headed to Marie’s Bakery, where he worked part-time. Fuuko rushed up to Kent in an angry tone.
“Late? You’re earlier than usual, did something happen?”
“It’s not ‘something’, Catherine was called to the Sanctuary, so it’s just Al and me, and we’re swamped!”
According to Fuuko, Catherine had been summoned to the Sanctuary midway, leaving only Al and her to run the shop.
“Um, I’m here too.”
“You’re just floating around and not being helpful!”
“Oh… my value of existence…”
Emily was also present, but she had lost her abilities and could not offer direct help. Dismissed as \”non-combat effective\” by Fuuko, she sulked, spinning a nearby pillar with her index finger while floating.
“Anyway, I’ll help. Let’s see, replenishing the shelves first.”
There were quite a few customers in the shop, and looking at the shelves, there wasn’t much bread left. He immediately collected the empty trays and went to check if there was anything to replenish in the workshop.
“Marie, is there any bread ready right now?”
“Ah, Kent, welcome back. I’m baking them now. Please wait a moment.”
Marie seemed to be aware of the situation in the store, and several trays with bread dough ready to be baked were prepared. She put one of them into the oven and was in the process of baking.
“They’re ready. Take these.”
“Got it.”
Kent took the tray with the baked bread and carried it into the store, arranging it on the shelves. After repeating this process several times, the shortage of goods gradually improved, and customers began to turn over smoothly.
