307 - Sarcly
――In Miranda's room in South Banseime, two beds are provided.
One is Shannon's bed, and as the night grew late, Shannon would crawl into it and sleep. In addition to the shortage of manpower, in the patchwork that was Lariel's camp, Shannon was a precious asset.
Her Magic Eyes were highly valued for their ability to read the flow of mana.
If anyone behaved strangely, Shannon would discover them.
Shannon possessed truly exceptional eyes, but due to her personality and lack of physical stamina, she was difficult to handle. Miranda, who had such a sister, was currently reading a letter.
She read by the light of a lantern placed in the room, but Miranda's expression was not good. Rather, she showed signs of displeasure.
"...I can't believe he had the nerve to send a letter. In many senses."
The sender was Ralph Sarcly――Miranda's father. It was surprising enough that he had a route to send a letter to Lariel, but she could not hide her surprise at the content as well.
The content stated that he would send members of House Sarcly staying in Cartaphus to their location. Apparently, they were on standby in Cartaphus because permission had not been granted, and it was written that if Miranda gave her permission, he could send manpower immediately.
At the same time, the recent situation in Central was also described.
The letter had been delivered to Miranda by a sailor, not by Ludmilla of Cartaphus.
"Money, or some shady connection. I don't care either way, but he's certainly energetic for someone who's been demoted."
And the important part was toward the end.
Ralph, who had seen Lariel expanding his influence independently and even absorbing the main force of the Walt family, had attempted to make contact. He was seeking a connection through Miranda.
"Fidel-san is still more endearing. No, they're both the same."
Ralph was a noble. Fidel was a merchant. Both were cunning.
It was true that they wanted internal information from Central so badly they could taste it. In fact, Lariel had judged that infiltration even in Launo was too dangerous and had given up on it.
They had decided to infer the internal information of Central from the surrounding situation.
"...While passing information to Lariel, I'll also have to arrange for a ship. I want to avoid relying on Ludmilla, so in that case, the only ones I can rely on are merchants."
Miranda folded the letter and smiled.
In the lantern light, Miranda's smile looked frightening.
"I'll praise your decision to support me in hopes of improving the Sarcly family's status, Father. But... you're a little too late."
Currently, soldiers from various regions were gathering under Lariel in Lufence to rebel against Celes――the current Kingdom of Vanseim.
By repelling the Walt family, the tide had completely shifted toward Lariel. If one ignored the existence of Celes, Lariel was the clear winning horse.
"It would have been better if you'd made contact just a little bit sooner. Well, contacting us must have been a gamble with your life, so perhaps you did your best?"
There was a possibility that Ralph had weighed Lariel against Celes and switched to Lariel. However, from Miranda's perspective, receiving support late provided no advantage.
"I'll make use of you. Well, since you offered your cooperation, I'll at least allow the family home to survive."
Miranda looked at Shannon, feeling a slight irritation that Shannon was not mentioned in the letter.
"...I should tell her to escape from Central."
Out of family affection, she decided to tell her to ensure her safety――.
――South Banseime.
In the district where craftsmen gathered, there was a warehouse.
Around the relatively large warehouse, many porters and parts were piled up.
When the craftsmen entered with exhausted expressions, Monica, wearing a maid outfit that was out of place in a warehouse, was waiting for them.
"You're late. So, the items in question?"
The craftsmen took the parts they had made at Monica's request out of a box. Gears, springs, and various parts whose purpose was unknown but had been made exactly as Monica requested were the crystallization of the craftsmen's sweat and tears.
Monica looked at them.
"...Wonderful. Now the time has come for the porter to be completed."
When Monica turned around, there was a porter, which had traveled with Lariel and the others, undergoing final adjustments.
In these final adjustments before the final battle, the porter, which had started as a mere luggage carrier, had already become a giant robot. For armor, it used that of the boss obtained in Alamsars.
Monica had made various modifications to the interior and had completed it by gathering parts using the craftsmen of South Banseime.
A transforming armored vehicle. Since it was created through joint work with Lariel by Monica, who did not suffer from self-weight, she had completed it with affection.
"Wonderful! Now the difference in performance between those three pieces of junk at Professor Damian's place and I, Monica, is clearly evident. As soon as it's finished, I must report it to that chicken coward."
To the excited Monica, the craftsmen spoke.
"U-Um... about the reward."
Monica clapped her hands. Her golden twin-tails fluttered as she clapped.
"Oops, the reward. Then, let me add a little extra."
In the leather pouch she pulled from the gap between her skirt and apron, the reward was prepared. To that, Monica added gold coins from her own wallet.
The craftsmen who received it looked relieved after checking the contents.
"She really is good with payments."
"Yeah, the payments, definitely!"
"I've done nothing but nap recently."
The dwarves, gnomes, and human craftsmen were relieved that they could finally relax. Monica spoke to those craftsmen.
"Oops, about the request for spare parts—"
As soon as she said that, the craftsmen tried to run away from the warehouse, clutching the bags of money dearly.
However, Monica's selling point was her unnecessarily high specs.
Cutting them off and standing at the warehouse entrance, she smiled.
"Wait right there. I'm now going to request replacement parts and maintenance components."
The craftsmen looked at Monica's smile and felt despair――.
――Glacia, who had come to South Banseime, was walking through the city in casual clothes before the strategy meeting for Vanseim.
In her home country, the Duchy of Galleria, her younger brother Reold was now handling government affairs in place of Glacia, who was the Acting Archduke. Currently, most of the power had been smoothly transferred to Reold, and she was in a lighthearted position.
With her long silver hair tied back, she walked through the streets of South Banseime with female knights who served as her guards. However, because she had been released from her heavy responsibilities...
"Oh, I thought the scale had grown larger than before, but the number of shops has increased too."
She looked at the lined-up stalls with enjoyment, and while the female knights were surprised by the change in Glacia...
"Glacia-sama, you have already had lunch today. It would be problematic if you were to eat at a stall."
Released from being the Acting Archduke, and with Reold's accession as Archduke imminent, Glacia was feeling giddy.
"Why not? You all eat too. By the way, the skewers at that shop over there are very—"
At the place Glacia pointed to, there were already customers.
"Erhart, this one is delicious too."
"Hey, stop being so clingy. Oh, what Erhart is eating looks delicious too."
"Hey, Erhart~"
A man wearing a tank top, looking like he had no place to hide, was huddled on a long bench. He was surrounded by the women of his adventurer companions, but a short distance away, men were watching Erhart.
"Who the hell told them where Erhart was?"
"It wasn't me!"
"Look at him. Erhart, who was so happy that he could relax because today is a day off... is that depressed..."
Glacia and her party looked at Erhart. Erhart and the others attracted attention from their surroundings, but since it wasn't a very rare sight in South Banseime, few people paid it any mind.
Seeing Erhart like that, Glacia spoke.
"...Is a man not happy when surrounded by women?"
She asked the surrounding female knights, but since they were warriors, they were at a loss for an answer. Then, perhaps hearing Glacia's voice, Erhart looked up.
"You over there, do I look enviable to you? Huh, do I!"
Seeing the tearful Erhart, Glacia and the others shook their heads. Then, Erhart spoke.
"This is all because of that bastard Lariel. He dumped all sorts of things on me... damn it. It should be permissible to punch that bastard a few times."
Glacia's guards cast sharp glares at Erhart. When Glacia signaled them with her hand, the guards released their grip on the hilts of their swords.
"Are you an acquaintance of the Alliance Leader? I think it would be better not to say such things?"
Then, Erhart seemed to realize he had messed up.
"Ah, sorry. We've been acquaintances since my adventurer days, so it just slipped out."
"Adventurer days, huh."
Glacia spoke to Erhart, wanting to learn more about Lariel.
"Hmm, I'd like to hear various things. How about it, would you talk to me for a bit? Let's see, the reward... I'll cover your meal costs."
Then, Erhart's companions nearby all turned toward Glacia at once. Glacia was surprised by the number, which easily exceeded ten.
However, Erhart spoke.
"Sorry. Today is my first day off in a long time. I've been busy lately and can't relax."
Gently declining, Erhart stood up from the long bench.
"I see. My apologies."
"It's fine. Besides, it's not an interesting story. Back in the adventurer days, I got involved and was repelled. We're only in a relationship where we talk a bit since then."
Erhart and his companions headed somewhere. While watching them, Glacia thought for a moment.
"...I wonder why. That tank top man's back looks soot-stained."
Glacia tilted her head――.
――While the main members were gathering in South Banseime.
Shannon was shopping with Aria and the Valkyries, who were accompanying her as guards.
To be precise, it was a patrol disguised as shopping.
She was going outside like this to find intruders with skills that Lariel alone could not discover――the likes of spies.
While looking at the goods placed in the stalls, Shannon watched a man sitting down. He was a man who looked like a vagrant who had drifted into the lively South Banseime from somewhere.
Shannon looked at the man.
"...Aria, that person."
Then, Aria, who was by Shannon's side as a guard, looked at the man out of the corner of her eye. He looked like nothing more than a sitting beggar, but if Shannon said so, he must be doing something.
Sensing the presence of someone using a skill, Aria informed the Valkyries. Once the information was passed to the other Valkyries, someone else was to handle the situation.
Aria shifted her gaze away from the beggar man.
"A beggar man, huh. Come to think of it, they've increased recently."
Ever since Beime was trampled by Vanseim, vagrants like this had been flowing into South Banseime one after another.
There were developments of new villages and places seeking manpower. However, they had not been able to save everyone.
Then, while watching the man, Shannon spoke.
"Ah, he stole it."
When Aria also turned her gaze to the man, money had been inside a small box-like thing placed in front of him. The man had collected it and was smirking.
After tucking it into his bosom, he just sat there again with the empty box.
"So he was pickpocketing with a skill. Well, it's good that he's not a spy. With that level of ability, he could have had a more honest job... huh?"
Aria looked at the man, trying to remember someone.
Then, Shannon spoke.
"Come to think of it, there was a man with a similar skill before. He attacked with invisible hands... ah, he was a knight of the Walt family."
It was Alfred Baden, who was Lariel's senior disciple. Hearing that, Aria remembered.
"The one from when we met Celes in Central? I wonder if they're related?"
"Who knows?"
While Aria was struggling to make a judgment, the man stood up and headed somewhere――.
――The back alleys of South Banseime.
Although South Banseime was lined with new buildings, there were inevitably places where eyes rarely reached.
Gathering in such places were people who had lost their way and men who were former soldiers. Soldiers from Beime who had fled. Villagers. Soldiers who had been pressed into service by Vanseim and drifted here.
The one leading such men was a man of the Barden family.
He placed today's earnings on a wooden box.
There were not only copper coins, but silver coins and even gold coins.
"As expected of Big Brother!"
"With this, we'll be fine for a while."
Then, the man shouted.
"You idiots! We'll use this money to buy weapons. Listen, if this many people arm themselves and move as a group, many of those cowards will lose their nerve. Then we'll run gambling and rule South Banseime from the shadows."
The men spoke to the leader, the man of the Barden family, who said such things.
"B-But will it work? The soldiers are patrolling, saying gambling is prohibited for a while..."
"We just have to buy them off with money. Besides, my family home is a vassal of the Walt family. I'll use the name and, after a while, seek employment with the Alliance Leader. That way, it'll be easier to move."
Once, there was a family that the Second Generation had let manage gambling affairs. That was the Barden family. In the confusion when the Third Generation died in battle, they recovered the documents exchanged at that time and held power in the underworld by parasitizing the Walt family.
A man who knew the methods of his family home had now started moving in South Banseime.
"Are you an acquaintance of that Alliance Leader bastard!"
At the subordinate's words, the leader spoke.
"I've never even met him. I was just a spare for my brother. But he's still just a dim-witted son of the Walt family. I'll suck every bit of sweet nectar I can. If that bastard wins, there's a possibility we could rule the underworld of the continent――"
As he said that, the subordinates' heads flew.
The leader, surprised, looked up at the man who was standing on the wooden box before he knew it.
A man with blue hair, looking down with blue eyes――it was Lariel.
"A member of the Barden family, I see. You certainly talk a lot."
"N-No way... are you Lariel-sama? No, this is, uh――"
To the man trying to make an excuse, Lariel swung down his katana. As the man's head flew, the remaining subordinates ran through the alley as if fleeing.
However.
"Nope, not allowed~"
A woman's voice sounded. Contrary to the happy and gentle voice, the men, entangled in threads, were captured.
Miranda, after confirming that all survivors were captured, approached Lariel's side.
"Was that okay?"
Looking down at the man of the Barden family, Miranda asked Lariel.
Lariel wiped the blood from the blade, returned it to the scabbard, and began to walk.
"Sorry, but there's no mercy. They've made me suffer for many years."
Miranda, exasperated, spoke.
"You're making it sound like you're the one who suffered. You mean your ancestors, right?"
Lariel spoke while walking.
"Honestly, adding more work when I'm busy."
Miranda, walking beside Lariel, spoke.
"Thanks to that, you haven't even been able to meet Novem."
When she said it with a giggle as if joking, Lariel fell silent. Representatives from various countries were gathering, and it would be problematic if various issues arose. Therefore, Lariel himself had moved.
However, it was obvious that there was a personal reason for it.
"You should have just left it to me. I would have handled it well."
Miranda was the one primarily in charge of such processing. However, Miranda also knew that Lariel did not think very highly of that.
Lariel himself wanted to release Miranda from her current work. However, there was no replacement. And Miranda was utilizing those feelings of Lariel's.
"...I didn't like leaving it all to you either. It's my problem too. I guess I have no choice but to leave it to someone else. Personnel who can do these shady things are necessary."
Miranda looked at Lariel, who said such things.
"I like that you have a bad side like that, Lariel. You're more trustworthy than a good person."
Then, Lariel turned back to Miranda with a complex expression.
"...Various things happened and I became like this. I used to be an innocent boy. Before I knew it, I'm a great villain just like Celes."
"Ahahaha, isn't that great? Besides, if you win, you're a great hero. That's how the world works."
Miranda laughed and then walked behind Lariel――.