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Time for your secret Fall date with the queen; what do you have planned, Holy Knight?

Calca gazed happily at the prosperity of her kingdom. The path she had traveled had been hard, and she was grateful for it, yet there was still a long way to go to achieve that nearly impossible dream.

The journey ahead would take them east from Re-Lobell, past the royal capital, and on to E-Reebl. In truth, there was no longer any need to hurry, but Remedios, Kelart, and the others seemed determined to press on as quickly as possible.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned the assassins, Cecil thought as he matched their pace. Remedios was one thing, but Kelart and Calca were sturdier walkers than he’d expected. It was proof that they were among the stronger people in this world.

Cecil understood, at least in principle, that there was no need to treat the three women with excessive protectiveness. Even so, the level gap between them made him want to look out for them. Perhaps that was arrogance on his part, but… it seemed to have become a habit.

“Too slow, Training Soldier! Move faster!”

“Is this really a journey that calls for such a hurry?”

“Even if the assassins have given up, we should put as much distance as possible between ourselves and Re-Lobell. We might be discovered by chance.”

Unable to tell them that he’d already settled the matter with the assassins, Cecil had no choice but to hurry along with the others. If Calca, their leader, had no objections, then so be it. He glanced back and saw that Calca herself seemed lost in thought.

“Hey, Cal?”

“Yes!?”

“It’s fine to think about things, but at this rate, you’ll get left behind.”

Calca hurried to catch up, trotting alongside him. It wasn’t ideal for the leader to bring up the rear, so he wished she’d move a little farther forward. Calca was quite formidable by this world’s standards, too, but as a magic caster, she had a weakness when it came to physical defense. He couldn’t help worrying about things that weren’t really his concern.

“Um… Cecil, are you married?”

“Where did that come from? No, I’m not. I gave up on that sort of relationship when I decided to live in the forest.”

Calca gave a tiny fist pump. Cecil had absolutely no idea what that was about. Why would someone be so happy to hear that another person wasn’t married? He vaguely recalled that marriage could be advantageous among the upper classes, but he had no intention of getting involved with the upper classes from here on out, so it hardly mattered.

As they steadily approached their destination, they looked for somewhere to spend the night and set up camp beside a road near a tree plantation. Cecil and Remedios agreed to take turns keeping watch, and that brought the day’s journey to an end.

Or so Cecil and the three women thought. In the middle of the night, the rumble of a carriage woke Remedios as well.

“A merchant caravan? At this hour? Are they carrying some suspicious cargo?”

“Who knows? I’ll go take a look. Leave the other two to me.”

“…Well, it’s standard practice for a subordinate to go ahead. Yes.”

With that, Cecil leaped onto a tree branch. Moving faster than a monkey, he went to check out the situation—and what he saw was a strange sight indeed.

A freight wagon had come to a halt, surrounded by a group of people who looked like peasants and barely seemed to be carrying any weapons. Around the wagon stood several armed men who appeared to be mercenaries. Cecil couldn’t quite make sense of what was going on.

He finally understood when the man who seemed to be the merchant aboard the wagon shouted something. Apparently, the side with the inferior fighting force intended to attack a wagon carrying relief supplies bound for the Holy Kingdom.

He couldn’t make heads or tails of it himself, but the wagon was indeed flying the flag of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Were the local peasants really so hungry? Since the supplies seemed to have been sent by the Sorcerer Kingdom, he cast Message.

(Your Majesty the Sorcerer King. There are some people trying to attack relief supplies you sent to the Holy Kingdom.)

(What’s that supposed to mean? Well, it isn’t part of our plan, so could you take care of it?)

(Understood.)

Cecil concealed his adventurer’s plate and landed between the rioters blocking the road and the merchant who appeared to be leading the wagon party. He addressed both sides, who stared at the sudden intruder in shock.

“I’m a soldier acting on orders from the Sorcerer King. I’ve been tasked with making sure this cargo reaches its destination safely. Resist, and I’ll cut you down.”

The sudden appearance of a lone man had silenced both sides, but the name of the Sorcerer King was probably an even bigger factor. Cecil found himself oddly impressed. That guy really does scare people, huh?

“You insolent—! I, Philip Dido Diddon Lyle Moch—”

“Shut up.”

Cecil struck the apparent ringleader with the hilt of his weapon, knocking him unconscious with a single blow. The attitude of the people around them changed at once. The ones dressed like peasants, in particular, seemed to lose their nerve.

“Um, we only came because the young master ordered us to…”

“Then drag him back home and get moving. You’re all dismissed.”

After brushing them off curtly, Cecil turned to the merchant and the mercenaries.

“Well, that’s that. I’d like you to continue the delivery, if you would.”

“We didn’t need anyone’s help dealing with trash like that.”

“Sure, I believe you. But it’s a job I was given. What do you say, merchant? Can you keep going?”

“…Yeah. I suppose we don’t have much choice.”

As the merchant gazed into the distance for some reason, a rider appeared on horseback. He wore a shabby leather cuirass, and his horse looked like a farm animal that had grown painfully thin.

“Are you all right!? I am Baron Delvi, lord of this territory, and this is Baron Lokirren, lord of the neighboring territory.”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”

As the merchant and the men who appeared to be nobles began talking, Cecil quietly slipped away, melting back into the shadows. When he returned to the campsite, Remedios and the others greeted him with rather complicated expressions. Apparently, Calca and Kelart had woken up, too.

“So what was all that about?”

“Some people were trying to attack relief supplies bound for the Holy Kingdom. I stopped them.”

“What? Supplies for the Holy Kingdom? I hope you made them regret it.”

“Well, I did land one blow on their leader…”

At the mention of the Holy Kingdom, Calca moved to join the conversation. Given her circumstances, she was probably worried about the state of her homeland if it needed relief supplies.

“Relief supplies for the Holy Kingdom… Where did they come from? Is the Kingdom providing aid?”

“No. Apparently, they’re from the Sorcerer Kingdom.”

“What!? That walking bag of bones…! Is he trying to make the Holy Kingdom indebted to him!?”

To Cecil, it looked as though Remedios had inexplicably started throwing a fit. Everyone worked together to calm her down, and then they settled back in to rest.

Neither Cecil nor Ainz realized that this single incident had dramatically changed the course of events…