I ended up heading to my first campaign at eleven years old.
That said, since leaving the Imperial Capital, it had been nothing but carriage travel—utterly peaceful. Moving from city to city, I had nothing to do. I did have alchemical tools painstakingly crafted by Little Bear, but I had no time to use them.
Still, there were changes as we proceeded into the countryside. The intervals between towns grew wider, until eventually there were fewer of them. When that happened, what became necessary was camping.
"Hmm, so it came to this."
Guided to today's campsite, I looked up at the tent where I'd sleep and rather laughed.
"This won't do. The interior is also half-finished; we would have to redo it entirely to achieve its proper form."
Helkov entered the tent first to check the situation, then came out and reported thus.
No, is this a tent, or rather a marquee? It was spacious enough to stand and move around inside, with pillars erected and a high ceiling.
"What was this marquee originally supposed to look like? From what I see, the shape seems correct, though?"
"They've only erected the base pillars, stretched the ropes, and covered it with the outermost canopy layer. Since it's not secured, strong winds will peel it back, and rain will get inside."
Ikt, who came out after Helkov, raised these issues.
Incidentally, there should have been dedicated boards and cloth for the flooring, but apparently only thin waterproof sheeting meant for the bottommost layer had been laid. Supposedly the floor only becomes complete when you layer insect-repellent cloth and carpets on top, but there was none of that either. The marquee itself should have been triple-layered, but with only the outer layer, it was apparently unusable.
"Whose blunder is this? The vanguard should handle safety checks and site selection for the campsite, and the Engineering Corps should handle the setup, right?"
I asked, recalling what I'd learned.
"The Engineering Corps officers are at fault, as is the vanguard who selected a site at the very edge of the encampment. And the command overseeing them likely failed to verify properly."
Werell's green tail swayed in irritation.
"Dusk is already approaching, so having them redo it would take until nightfall, which would be dangerous instead. Let's have the Imperial Guards increase their night watch, and resign ourselves to resting here tonight."
After all, this place was far from the Engineering Corps. Just having them bring the necessary tools would take time. The camp cots were installed at least perfunctorily, so that was somewhat better. But I felt sorry for Ikt, who had to guard me inside in conditions little different from outside.
"Hey, swap with me and rest in the carriage, Ikt."
"Then I shall do so instead. I was in the carriage during the day, so please rest, Lord Helkov, who was riding."
My retainers showed concern for one another.
"Please do not worry about me. Your Highness Asha, regarding this matter, to General Wageris...?"
"Of course, I'll issue an improvement request. Rather than handling it arbitrarily on our end, having them move on it would be smoother."
There were nobles among the military officers. Among them were people from Duke Lukaios's faction; the factions ran deep, and I couldn't exclude them. So I'd considered the possibility of such harassment issues occurring.
General Wageris, who seemed to detest troublesome matters, likely didn't orchestrate this. Such harassment seemed like it would be a hassle in reverse, so probably not.
Thus, I called the person assigned to me, showed him the situation, explained, and sent him as a messenger to request improvements. The other party was a military officer Father had assigned to me.
"Leave it to me!"
He was oddly tense, which was slightly worrying. But now, with dusk approaching, I had to prepare for sleep. After all, not just mine, but the marquees of those attached to me were also shoddily done. I had to procure at least carpets or something for those without cots.
"Huh, again today?"
The day after the shoddy camping, there had been no word, and that day we stayed in a town instead of camping. And today, the second camping instance, despite the improvement request, it looked the same as before.
"I pleaded with all sincerity! Please, once more! Entrust me once more!"
The overbearing officer headed off again to request improvements.
"I question his competence. If he ignores us again this time, dismissal would be unavoidable, would it not?"
"Yes, Nomariora, calm down a bit. We don't want to cause problems or create friction on the way there. Besides, you're tired. Don't worry about me and rest."
"Master, what kind words. With just that sentiment, I can work as much as needed."
She said with a melting smile. Yes, but today was a bit troublesome, so I spoke firmly and had her rest first.
"So, I'm going to check the situation for a bit. Sephira Sefirot."
"Ah, Your Highness!?"
I vanished using optical camouflage. Helkov reached out his hand, but I dropped back once, feinted, and dodged. Ikt moved to block the entrance anticipating this, but I accelerated with Sephira's magic and quickly got out.
"Lord Helkov, please head there as if to meet the officer."
Realizing he couldn't catch me, Werell issued instructions to Helkov as the next best plan—I heard this. I felt sorry for my retainers, but this was a good opportunity to ascertain General Wageris's true nature. Following Sephira's guidance, I pursued the officer while hidden by optical camouflage and took a route avoiding people's eyes.
"His Highness is greatly angered! Do you think the noble Crown Prince can be promised peaceful sleep in such conditions!?"
And so I ended up hearing the officer's exaggerated appeal.
"I believe I previously notified you that this is no splendid palace. We still have matters to coordinate in preparation for tomorrow's march. We have no time for wasted efforts; please withdraw."
When General Wageris treated him coldly, then further glared at by his direct subordinate's stern face, the officer walked off dejectedly. But when he exited the general's marquee, he made a face as if he'd accomplished something, so this officer was also useless. Yes, it had been a mistake to rely on that man.
"Good grief! Like I have time to indulge some sheltered brat's selfishness!"
"I inquired just to be sure, but the Engineering Corps reported no problems. How delicate can one be?"
The man appearing to be the aide reporting to General Wageris was human, and I listened to them saying such things.
"Oh, then tell them it's fine as is. Waste of time dealing with them, good grief."
Hearing that, I pursued the officer.
*(I recommend entering immediately and showing them the current situation.)*
*(Sephira, could you stop pushing such immediate opinions for a bit?)*
Certainly, that would be the quickest solution. If I went alone, by protocol it would become necessary for someone there to see me off, and thus I could show the general's direct subordinate the conditions. However, doing so would create an opening for my retainers, who were entrusted with me, to be blamed. Since I left by my own discretion, I wanted to avoid that.
*(This time, just learning that General Wageris has deficiencies in judgment is a gain. According to the military records you searched, he has no problematic conduct, right?)*
*(No instances of reprimand. However, reports exist of minor judgment errors. But these didn't affect the big picture, and didn't count as significant minuses in military evaluations.)*
This time was the same. Even if he ignored me here, the military operation was proceeding smoothly. Moreover, I was essentially non-combat personnel; unless I died from the shoddy marquees, it wouldn't count as General Wageris's error. But by then it would be too late.
*(For now, we set this aside. This single matter is too weak. Here, credibility is what matters. Between a general with accomplishments and a prince without. It's about which the army would prefer.)*
*(Wageris has no clever plan to resolve the current military rebellion. After suppressing it, he has no thoughts beyond establishing negotiations with the Empire's authority.)*
That was the method used long ago, which took seven years. Sephira understood that wouldn't solve things either.
And I could see the reality that the person Father assigned had enthusiasm but no execution. Capable people were probably already secured by other factions, so I shouldn't expect much from the practical work. Not interfering when I wanted to move, keeping in step—just having these two points made it better than the palace.
*(To get them to accept my methods too, I think of it as a bonus if they provide me with justification to take a hard stance.)*
*(The physical burden on my master, who is still growing, cannot be ignored.)*
While Sensitive still didn't understand, Sephira seemed to have grown surprisingly worry-prone.