Chapter 175

“Association President! Have you been well!”

Tie got up from the mat and quickly gave a deep ninety-degree bow.

Ardiana’s eyes grew round.

Only after counting three seconds in her head did Tie proudly straighten her waist.

‘Because Tie knows Association President’s identity!’

It was written in storybooks that with princesses, you had to be very, very, very polite.

“I have been well, Necromancer King.”

Ardiana, who answered in a kind voice, turned her gaze toward Tie’s arm.

“More than that, Trevaga’s Tesetan…… no. I suppose now he is Agabert’s vice-captain. Has the arm you injured when you dueled with the vice-captain healed completely?”

“Yes!”

“That is fortunate.”

Ardiana smiled faintly.

Rising to her feet, she slowly looked around the area.

The new mercenaries who had been crowding the garden had already vacated the place on their own at some point.

Ardiana looked at Tie with a quiet smile around her mouth.

“Today I came because there is something I must tell you urgently. There are only two days left until mission commencement.”

Tie nodded.

He remembered what Basto had told him about the clock tower mission a few days ago.

The clock tower mission, which had been postponed because of the duel, had already drawn close again before they knew it.

“A new person has come to join the joint force.”

Tie’s eyes grew round.

Until now there had largely been two teams scheduled to participate in the clock tower mission.

House Luminen’s holy knights and Tie’s mercenary company, Agabert.

But now another person was going to join them.

“Who is that?”

Ardiana looked back at the chief administrator standing behind her, then continued speaking.

“It is me.”

“E…… eeeeh?!”

Tie was startled.

The child looked back and forth between Ardiana and the chief administrator with an expression that said he could not believe it.

“But!”

“……”

“Even though there’s a huge and scary ivy-grass magic stone at the clock tower……?”

The magic stone they would be conquering this time was yet another unprecedented magic stone.

A magic stone larger even than a large magic stone, and unusually enough taking the form of a plant.

The members had said this about it.

‘It won’t be an easy conquest. If the association has attached House Luminen and us to it, that means the conquest difficulty is considerable.’

‘Even so, we have to try as far as we can. They may be a bit without manners, but those Trevaga bastards joined us new, didn’t they? If they have any conscience, they’ll be of some help.’

‘Tie. Just in case, keep the barrier up at all times. If it feels like your concentration is slipping, recall your summons. You know that, right?’

‘Yeees!’

Though she had answered boldly, in truth Tie was a little nervous as well.

‘It was like that before too, when we got rid of the sea magic stone at Pearl City.’

When people said it was an unprecedented magic stone, a magic stone they had never seen before, somehow even Tie felt tense.

Tie looked at Ardiana with fidgeting eyes.

‘But the princess is going there……?’

Why?

In her head, Tie called up every princess she knew.

Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, the princess in Tanipang, and countless princesses passed through his memory.

When Tie finished thinking, her face became sullen.

‘I guess Princess Association President gets mistreated by her family……’

According to Tie’s data, happy princesses generally stayed inside sparkling palaces.

They had lots of cool friends, and pretty clothes piled up in their wardrobes.

And they ate delicious snacks every day too.

But if these princesses suddenly went outside the palace and ended up doing dangerous things, then that was exactly when,

‘their stepmother was mistreating them!’

With a serious face, Tie examined Ardiana’s complexion.

He wanted to ask what had made the princess go to such a dangerous place.

But according to the teaching of the grandma in unit 107, you weren’t supposed to ask too much about other people’s affairs.

After agonizing, Tie finally opened her mouth.

“Then how many subordinates are you taking……?”

If the princess was going to a dangerous place, then of course she would be taking at least dozens of subordinates, right!

However, Ardiana merely answered calmly.

“I will bring five.”

“Eeeh?!”

Once again, a huge shock crossed Tie’s face.

“Why are you taking so few? If you go to conquer a magic stone, there are lots and lots of monsters! Even monsters as small as sparrows can hurt people this much!”

Ardiana smiled bitterly.

“Who knows.”

Without realizing it, Ardiana sank into thought.

In truth, she could have brought more guards.

The guards the empress consort and Fides first proposed had in fact numbered over twenty.

‘But the one who said to reduce it to five was me.’

Ardiana was expecting it.

Once the magic-stone conquest began and the situation became complicated, the guards provided by the empress consort and Fides would take aim at Ardiana while avoiding watching eyes.

Because what the empress consort and Fides wanted was always to eliminate Ardiana.

‘That said, in order to hire other trustworthy guards……’

Pathetically enough, there was no one else in the palace she could really call her own people.

Ardiana forced a smile with difficulty.

“I am all right. Even five is enough……”

“Tie will go look for them!”

But at that moment Astie cried out innocently.

For some reason, a firm determination had settled across Tie’s face.

“A grandma Tie knows has lots and lots of super strong knights!”

And was that all?

Tie also had a hidden card kept in reserve.

Selina’s parents.

Tie neatly folded up the mat she had been lying on.

Then, tucking that thing as big as his body under his side, he said gallantly,

“Association President! This waaay!”

Several minutes later.

From beyond Tie’s pink communicator came a bright voice.

[Oh my, really? Strong private soldiers who can defeat seventeen by themselves…… if we look, I think there may be some.]

[Tie! Don’t worry! We’re at some island-like place near the North Continent right now, and the soldiers here have heads twice as big as Talochium soldiers, you know? Of course their bodies are twice as big too!]

[Shh, Selina. Mama’s on a call.]

[……]

Swallowing hard, Tie asked Catrin again,

“Thank you, Selina’s mooom! Then when are those suuuper strong private soldiers coming?”

[It was two days later at the northern old palace site, yes? I’ll send them there directly. I’ll try to match the timing, but I don’t know whether they might be late.]

“It’s okay if they’re a liiittle late!”

In any case, they would not begin the conquest as soon as they arrived at the old palace site.

Because it was a large-scale joint force, they would have to do advance investigation and divide roles too.

Tie thanked her once more.

“Moom, thank you so much!”

After finishing the communication, Tie immediately pressed another button.

Again, after a short signal, a welcome voice came through.

[Astie?]

“Gov’nor!”

Governor Marianne burst into laughter from beyond the communicator.

[Good heavens, what is it? Did the people Mother sent last time arrive safely? You’re healthy, and nowhere hurts, right? Our Raul and Enzo are also doing well in the mercenary company, yes?]

Without any sign of annoyance at Marianne pouring out questions, Tie answered boldly.

“Yeees! Tie has something to ask Governor! The people Grandma Waveril sent came well, and Tie isn’t sick, and Brother Raul and Brother Enzo are full of energy!”

[Ahh…… that’s a relief!]

Tie smiled together with Marianne, then continued to the main point.

“But Governor, Tie needs suuuper strong knights. Knights strong enough to win even if they fight seventeen against one!”

Marianne made an “Mm” sound, then continued speaking.

[Do you mean knights who have received formal appointment? They’re not holy knights, but the family has a few elite troops. As it happens Mother is here too, so I’ll ask her right away.]

The communicator fell quiet, and a short while later.

Marianne’s voice was heard.

[Where and when should we dispatch them?]

Tie smiled brightly and turned around.

Before the drawing-room tea table sat Ardiana with a blank face.

Kardia, the chief administrator standing beside her, lightly held the princess’s hand.

Ardiana slowly turned her head.

In her eyes, as though she had lost for words, there was a slightly dazed look of surprise.