“I’m home. I’m sorry for leaving work when you were busy.”
“Welcome back, Catherine. Will the temple matters be alright now?”
“Yes. It was a sudden summons, but this time it was mainly for reporting, so it’s fine.”
Now that Kent had returned from school and started working, the shop was running smoothly. After the evening rush, Catherine returned from the temple.
“Kent, I have something I’d like to discuss with you later. Is that alright?”
“What’s this sudden formality? Is it something I can’t hear now?”
“Yes. It’s a bit complicated.”
“Understood.”
Catherine expressed her desire to talk to Kent with a serious expression. Seeing her expression, Kent somehow understood that it was an important matter, but he couldn’t help but reply in his usual tone.
“By the way, the natural yeast bread is getting great reviews from customers. Thank you, Al.”
“That’s right. Thanks to Al.”
“M-M-More than that, even if you two praise me, only vines come out.”
” “Stop that.” ”
Al tried to summon vines while blushing, but Kent and Catherine noticed the floor rising and quickly stopped him.
“You guys, closing time is just around the corner, so put your all into it until the end!”
As the three of them were talking, Fuuko, who had been silently working alone, spoke up with a displeased tone. The bread made using natural yeast from apples was popular with customers, and sales were growing steadily. The anxiety that plump bread couldn’t be sold for a while was resolved, and although it was only a small amount, the shop’s sales had steadily recovered.
“Fuaaaa. Kent, I’m tired tonight, so I’m going to rest first.”
Marie, after finishing her work hours, having dinner, and bathing at home, had baked a lot of bread using the bread oven for the first time in a while, and looked sleepy with exhaustion. She seemed to have reached her limit and said she would sleep first, then went into Kent’s room.
“Kent, do you remember what we talked about at the shop?”
“Ah, you had something you wanted to talk about.”
Marie entered the room, and Kent and Catherine, having finished dinner and bathing, were in the kitchen. Al was still at the shop with Emily. Fuuko was lounging in the living room. Catherine decided to bring up the topic at this timing.
“Actually, regarding the retaliatory attack against the Duchy that we discussed before, I received a report today that troops have been mobilized.”
“Ah, I heard about that at school. The Queen also said that she didn’t know about the mobilization until just before it happened.”
Kent had somewhat expected it, but hearing Catherine’s words, he became certain.
“It seems so. Like the Queen, I was against it, so I also learned about the mobilization after it happened.”
Catherine had a slightly disappointed expression because she learned about the mobilization afterwards.
“The scale of the retaliatory force seems to be around 30,000 to 40,000 people being mobilized.”
“That’s quite large-scale.”
“Yes, the plan is to advance directly into the Duchy and occupy the capital.”
Catherine informed Kent of the final troop size and, based on the information she obtained, explained the ultimate objective of this operation.
“This is a confidential matter for the country, isn’t it? Why are you telling me this?”
“It’s to prevent the soldiers of the Kingdom from getting hurt in this reckless plan. Based on past examples, I don’t think many people can cross that forest all at once.”
Catherine consulted Kent with the feeling that she didn’t want the Kingdom to suffer any damage from this matter.
“But I can’t stop the army by myself.”
“Is that so? I believe you can do it, Kent.”
Kent thought it was impossible for one person to stop the movement of an army, but Catherine seemed to have a different opinion.
“Kent, you have a contract with the God of the Kingdom and the God of the Duchy. If you use that power, I’m sure you can prevent the advance.”
“Even so, Hanako isn’t back yet, and Fuuko is just lying around there.”
Catherine seemed to think that borrowing the power of the Gods of the Kingdom and the Duchy would somehow work, but Kent didn’t think the God of the Kingdom, Hanako, was missing, and Fuuko was just lying around in the living room, not seeming to possess such great power.
“Fuuko says it’s impossible for an organized army to get through the forest. Please ask Fuuko to at least allow them to retreat without damage.”
“I’ll try to say it, but don’t resent me if it doesn’t work out.”
Kent was asked by Catherine to negotiate with Fuuko, so he decided to speak to Fuuko, who was lounging in the living room.
“I’m tired of watching this video!”
Fuuko was lounging in the living room, watching a very old anime. It was a cheap work whose copyright protection period had expired, which Kent had ordered from a terminal a while ago and was placed in a corner of the home center’s electronics section. Fuuko sometimes watched these to pass the time.
“Fuuko, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“What is it, Master?”
When Kent spoke to Fuuko, she turned her head towards Kent without changing her posture.
“I have something to consult with you about. Is that okay?”
“What else? You’re being so formal. Alright, alright, what’s this consultation?”
Fuuko sat up and turned her body towards Kent, taking a posture to listen.
“Actually, it seems the Kingdom is mobilizing its troops towards the Duchy to retaliate for the invasion from the Duchy the other day.”
“Hmm, that’s pointless. If you do that without the power of the gods, you’ll definitely get lost and won’t be able to get out.”
“In that case, can’t you use your power to help them get through the forest?”
“That’s impossible.”
Kent asked Fuuko if she could help the Kingdom’s army get through the border forest, but she flatly refused, saying she couldn’t.
“If you want to do that, you should tell Hanako. With my power, I can drive back the invading army from the Kingdom to the Duchy, but I can’t let them cross.”
“I see. In that case, is it possible to drive them back without human casualties?”
“Hmm, it’s impossible here, but if I act directly on site, I can do it.”
Crossing the border would require Hanako’s power, but driving back the army would be possible with Fuuko’s power, Fuuko replied. Kent thought there was a compromise there.
“Catherine, Fuuko says that, but what do you think?”
“If they can retreat without human casualties, I would like to ask for that too.”
Kent asked Catherine for her opinion on Fuuko’s answer. Catherine also thought it would be better if there were no human casualties.
“So, what’s the size of the army?”
“Um, about 30,000 to 40,000.”
“That’s quite a lot. To drive back that many people, it seems like I’ll need magical power replenishment along the way. Since I’m asking you, Master, you’ll come with me, right?”
“What, I’m going too?”
“Of course. I don’t want to disappear due to magical power depletion.”
Fuuko, after hearing the number of people involved, judged that magical power replenishment would be necessary midway to carry out the plan. Therefore, she asked Kent to accompany her.
“Kent, I’ll handle things at the school, so please.”
“I have no choice. If it means preventing harm to many people, I have to go.”
“Thank you, Kent. I’m counting on you.”
Kent told Fuuko that he would accompany her, and Catherine hugged him to express her gratitude.
