Kwaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!!!!!!!
The blaze could be seen even from the distant Ryan territory.
A prickling mana reaction that anyone capable of handling mana could feel.
Then came the explosion, the blast of heat, and the visible mushroom-shaped cloud.
Watching the sight through the tinted glasses Noah had given him, Lagos was aghast despite his calm expression.
‘(Hmm… Should I prepare to run?)’
Lagos considered himself fairly strong.
He had fought and won against mages before, and he believed that no matter how powerful a mage was, one could win depending on how one responded.
But that was on an entirely different level.
A human could not defeat a typhoon, the sun, or a drought.
That was the sort of level it was.
‘(But I’ve already been paid far too much to run away… What should I do?)’
Lagos had no such thing as knightly honor, but he prided himself on having credibility as a mercenary.
Considering that, he had received far too much money from the Ryan family to simply flee.
‘(Hmm… What should I do?)’
In principle, magic of such a large-scale, wide-area attack was almost never used in war.
Mages were human too, so there was a moral burden; and the moment such magic was permitted, a hellscape would begin where large-scale massacre spells rained down on each other’s territories.
But there were always exceptions.
For example, if there was a mad lord who invaded another’s territory without justification, pillaging and slaughtering, the Mage Towers and the lords would tolerate a certain degree of magical retaliation.
Knowing very well that his own lord fell into that category, Lagos felt grateful, in a way, that he was still alive.
That brat of Cron… no, Lord Calix could have sent his knights against the monsters and sent that mage against them.
But he had not.
He had chosen the path that would keep as many people alive as possible, and thanks to that, Lagos was still alive.
Many of the Ryan family’s knights who had seen those flames and roughly grasped the situation were probably thinking something similar.
As Lagos was pondering what his lord would do in this situation, and how he himself ought to act, a booming voice sounded from behind him.
“Everyone withdraw!!!!!”
Hadam shouted so that everyone in the camp could hear.
He calmly mounted his horse and said,
“It seems that brat of Cron—no, Lord Calix—has dealt with the monsters properly, so we are returning to the territory.”
“Is that all right, my lord?”
Lagos approached Lord Hadam and asked.
From Lord Hadam’s perspective, retreating like this should have been a tremendous humiliation.
Yet unexpectedly, Lord Hadam spoke to his adjutant as if it were nothing.
“A wise lion knows when to fight. We return!!”
At his words, the knights of the Ryan family let out sighs of relief and began preparing to head back.
While almost all of them were simply thinking that they were fortunate not to have been slaughtered by those flames, Lagos was thinking something else.
He thought about his lord’s words.
Lord Hadam never admitted defeat to someone he did not acknowledge.
His words, in a good sense, meant that he had acknowledged Calix; in a bad sense, they were a declaration that he would regard Calix as a true opponent.
‘(Lord Calix, I wish you fortune in battle.)’
Hadam was brutal and believed in the logic of power, but he was absolutely no fool.
He had the strategic eye to manage a territory and lead his family to victory in countless battles.
The fact that such a man had recognized Lord Calix as an opponent made Lagos offer him his heartfelt sympathy.
* * *
After Sharen’s magic annihilated the Deep Rock monsters, the follow-up proceeded quickly.
The knights hunted down the remaining Deep Rock monsters, and perhaps cowed by Sharen’s magic, the Ryan family immediately withdrew.
Having resolved all the problems and returned to the territory, I immediately had Noah prepare it.
If everything had been resolved, then naturally, it was time for that.
That was none other than… a festival.
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard!!! To Cron!!!”
[ “For Cron!!!!!” ]
At my words, everyone raised their cups and shouted, and the festival began.
The city, which had been gripped by fear until just yesterday, was filled with the bright laughter of the people and delicious food, as if none of it had ever happened.
This was also why I held festivals like this.
After experiencing fear, people needed a luxury for the heart.
And the thing best suited for that was this festival.
It was definitely not because I wanted to hold a festival.
“Everyone, you’ve done well. Have a drink.”
“Thank you, my lord!”
I went around, pouring drinks for everyone.
I poured drinks for the knights who had suffered, the clerks who had worked hard evacuating the people, and everyone else who had been involved and worked so hard.
This was also a performance, showing that as the lord, I was paying attention to everyone and knew how much they had struggled.
It was definitely not because I enjoyed company dinners from my previous life.
“My lord, pour me one too!”
“Noah, you worked hard as well. Thanks to you, the Deep Rocks gathered in the valley.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
Noah had led the treasurers and the merchant group in preparing the supplies needed for this plan, including the boars.
For Noah, I poured the white wine she liked.
After pouring drinks for everyone like that, I looked for the most important person.
The greatest contributor to this plan, and a walking nuclear bomb.
As I wandered around looking for Sharen, I saw her on a hill, standing apart from the others and quietly watching the festival.
“So this is where you were, Sharen.”
“My lord…”
Her red hair fluttered as she watched the festival in a somewhat dazed manner.
Only when I spoke to her did she turn to look at me.
Once again marveling that this delicate woman had used such incredible magic, I sat down beside her.
“May I pour you a drink?”
“Of course, my lord. I will drink it gratefully.”
I poured her wine.
She accepted it politely, took a sip, and continued looking at the festival.
“It’s beautiful…”
“Is it?”
To me, she looked more beautiful under the moonlight.
With her red hair fluttering, she was truly as beautiful as a goddess of flame.
“Yes. Of all the places I’ve traveled, Cron is the most beautiful.”
“You flatter us. There are many territories that are wealthier than our Cron.”
Calix was a native born and raised in Cron.
But from the information I had seen in my previous life, there were many territories richer and more splendid than Cron.
There was the imperial capital, and the Blackrose family was also famous for its wealth and splendor.
But as if my words were wrong, she shook her head and said,
“Those places are splendid. But they are not beautiful…”
She looked over the territory.
Watching the cheerful, laughter-filled festival, she smiled along with it and said,
“People smiling and harboring hope for the future, and the spirits looking down on them with smiles… I believe that is true beauty.”
I had heard that elves’ sensibilities in this world were very different from ours.
Through conversing with spirits, they supposedly saw and felt many things that people could not.
Still, at the very least, I understood what she meant by calling this sight beautiful.
And I agreed with her.
“If that is the sort of beauty you mean, then our Cron is fairly confident in itself.”
“Yes. Cron truly is the most beautiful.”
After silently watching the festival with Sharen for a while, I spoke to her.
In truth, this was also why I had been looking for her.
“Sharen, is there anything you desire from me?”
“Something I desire?”
It was the matter of rewarding Sharen.
Our territory currently had no reward money fit for a mage of Sharen’s level.
To be precise, we had had it before, but now I had used it all to reinvest in the people of the territory.
So I had been thinking of giving her a reward other than money.
“Yes. As the one in charge, it is my duty to reward a vassal who has achieved merit. You have achieved merit. Though there is much money leaving the territory and I cannot give you a great deal, I would like to grant what you desire within the limits of what I can do.”
“What I desire…”
At Calix’s words, Sharen thought.
What was it that she desired?
Until recently, the only thing Sharen had desired was to help people purely and sincerely.
But after coming here, Sharen felt as though she now knew what she truly desired.
Sharen had not simply wanted to do good deeds.
She…
“I… would like my lord to make every territory in the empire like Cron.”
“E-Every territory in the empire?”
“Yes…”
When she was very young, she had grown up in a village where elves and humans coexisted.
It was a small village made by fugitives, both human and elven, and there she had been born between an elven mother and a human father.
It was an insignificant village made up of huts, but it had also been a peaceful and happy place where people helped one another and lived through their own efforts.
Just like Cron.
After coming here and recalling the memories of that time, she had found what she truly wanted.
She had not wanted to help people.
She had wanted to 『create that place』.
“If my lord grants my wish… if you turn the empire into a paradise like this place…”
Sharen rose and approached Calix.
Then she knelt before him and kissed his hand.
It was the kiss a subject gave to the lord they would serve.
“The flames of the Red Mage Sharen will burn for my lord forever.”
Sharen’s eyes burned more fiercely than ever, as if she were utterly sincere.
Sharen was that kind of character!?
Faced with her completely unexpected sincerity, I was so flustered I felt like my poker face might crack.
No, because really, anyone would be surprised if a seemingly pure half-elf mage suddenly told them to unite the realm.
For now, I said the safest thing I could to get through this situation.
“I… I understand. I will try.”
“Yes… Thank you.”
The night of Cron’s festival deepened.
And so did my worries.