Chapter 88 – Mountain Village Territory Development (1) *Cordelia Bikini Armor Illustration
Development of mountain village territory (1)
While Prinz and Heinrich were preparing to fight, Diane and her party, who left Adria, reached Yuno’s territory through a store run by the Alchemist Guild Association instead of using a space movement magic circle, which could reveal their movements. 〈 Br〉
After passing through the gates of Chiese Castle using disguised identity cards, they parted ways with the company they had been with so far and headed to the lord’s residence.
“Hyria, Rachel~ We’ve arrived, so wake up! It’s been a long time coming on the carriage ride for two months.”
“Phew~ Is this Yuno’s territory? The castle is tiny? But the air is very clean and nice~”
“Ugh~ I’m sleepy even though I slept like that~ Sister Diane. You mean Eliza lives here, right? Now she and her husband have entered the Monster Mountains.”
“Yes. They say Yuno collapsed and needs to be nursed, so she can’t come out. Her life isn’t in danger, but she can’t move. I’m going to ask Yuno’s agent for more details. Hiria and Rachel are waiting here. You don’t want to get caught.” Br〉
“Haaam~ I understand. Since His Highness the Third Prince is not there anyway, I can use the official residence, right? I want to sleep a little longer…”
“Ugh~ Jamsun… I’ll ask you that too~ By the way, Hiria no longer treats me like a princess and just calls me Diane and only calls Yuno the Third Prince? Tsk!”
As Diane grumbled and got out of her carriage and headed towards the lord’s residence, Leah said that she was going to do it again.
“Anyway~ Why is he acting like that again? Rachel, you, Diane, do something about him.”
“Sister! How can I handle Diane? If she goes crazy and starts crying because she wants to see her little brother, it’s only going to be hard for us. Kick, kick, kick.”
Despite the awkward combination of the first princess of the empire, Diane, her brother’s ex-wife Hiria, and her sister-in-law Rachel, the two months of travel made the three women like sisters.
That’s why the girls, who had been cautious at first and called each other “Your Highness” And “Princess”, Now called each other by their names instead of their titles and spoke informally to each other, and they became friendly friends who laughed while throwing playful criticism at each other.
Diane grumbled but headed to her residence with a smile on her face, and she asked the guards standing guard if she could meet the lord’s representative.
“Hey, go away. Our Baron is so busy… It’s hard to meet him if we don’t make an appointment.”
“Hmm~ Then what should I do to make that appointment?”
“Uh-huh~ What kind of country lady is that? If you want to meet the baron… She puts her name here on the application form. And when she comes back tomorrow morning, she will let you know when she can meet you.”
The guard chased Diane down only because of the clothes she was wearing, but as soon as he saw her beauty, his attitude changed to friendly, and she told him the procedures for meeting Baron Kimberley.
“Yes. I wrote down my name here, so I can come back tomorrow, right?”
“Let’s see, Diane… The purpose is to report moving in… If you’re registering to move in, then you should definitely meet the Baron. Since he’s also doing the administrative work… Anyway, hmm, hey, Miss Diane? If this is your first time here, I’ll show you a delicious restaurant. Dinner at…”
“Later~ Mr. Guard~”
“Oh hey, you’re an old man? I’m still a bachelor in my 20s!!”
Leaving behind the guard who was flirting with her, Diane returned to her carriage and informed her group that she would not be able to meet the magistrate until tomorrow.
“Well… If I reveal my identity, we can meet right away…”
“That’s impossible. We have to be prepared for anything.”
“But can’t Hiria and I just remove our facial camouflage like you did? This is really frustrating. After all, who will recognize our faces in this rural area?”
“I guess that’s true. I’m a bit frustrated too.”
“I understand. Instead, just keep your clothes on?”
After agreeing to that, they headed to an inn and decided to stay for a day, then left the carriage and went to see the manor.
However, the three women who were watching soon became angry and entered the only teahouse in the castle.
“Wow, there’s at least one tea shop in this crappy town? It’s amazing. But why does the tea smell so bad!”
“The people are really thin. The stores are not active…”
“It seems like there are quite a lot of people who can’t eat well. Looking at it, it looks like they depend more on hunting than dairy farming for food? There are still quite a few people at the butcher shop.”
“No, even though this is the center of the territory, what level are the surrounding villages? Is this what the administrator is doing?”
“That’s right… I see a lot of room for improvement here and there. It’s clear that the person Yuno appointed as his agent is not doing his job properly.”
If Baron Kimberly, who worked overtime every night because he had no civil servants to help him with his work, heard about it, it would have been enough to grab the princess and princess by the collar and shake them, but they could see many problems with the Tessidanikana estate in their eyes, and they My head was spinning, thinking of ways to improve this place.
As the women discussed various options in the teahouse, the sound of the teahouse door opening was heard, and a pretty woman came in armed.
“Owner, please give me a cool cup of coffee here.”
“Hey~ Knight~ I’ll be colonizing you right away~”
Thinking that it was a voice she had heard somewhere, Diane raised her head to see who the voice was, and inadvertently called her name.
“Lord Cordelia?”
“Hmm? Huh? Huh? This… Her Royal Highness?”
As soon as Cordelia entered the teahouse and saw Diane’s face, she ran forward. As soon as she came in front of Diane, Cordelia saw the faces of Leah and Rachel and bowed down in front of them.
“Cordelia, the senior knight of His Majesty the Third Prince! His Majesty the First Princess of the Three Houses.”
“Shhh!! Quiet, quiet!!”
Diane covered Cordelia’s mouth and carefully lifted her head to make sure no one was listening. Fortunately, the owner of the tea shop had gone into the kitchen to make the tea, and it was only after confirming that they were the only people in her shop that she covered Cordelia’s mouth.
Released his hands.
“Ah… No… How on earth are these precious people here…?”
“It seems like the situation in the capital hasn’t been communicated properly up to this point. I don’t think there’s anyone worth going back and forth here.”
They told us about what happened in the capital and their situation.
“Whew~ That’s what happened… It was also known here about a month ago that His Majesty King Karl III passed away. I also reported this to His Highness Yuno, who is recuperating in the elf realm… However, due to circumstances, His Highness will not be moving for another half a year. Because your body is helpless…”
“I see… Just how injured is Yuno? I heard there’s no harm to her body?”
“Yes… His body is fine… But it’s a mental problem, so he’s only conscious for about 6 hours a day. But at first it was about 4 hours, but now it’s increased to 6 hours, and I’m seeing improvement.”
“Really? I wish I could see it…”
“I also went into the elf realm to heal from the injuries I sustained during the last monster invasion, and thanks to that, I was able to get permission to enter. It would be difficult to just go in.”
Diane was nodding her head at Cordelia’s words, and every time she turned her head down, she tilted her head to see a red light shining through Cordelia’s armor.
“But Lord Cordelia? What is that on her lower abdomen? I think I see something red… Is it possible that her injuries haven’t fully healed? In that case, I need to make a potion…”
Cordelia was surprised by Diane’s question.
“Ah… No!! Her Royal Highness!! This… What is this… Ah, that’s right!! I’m here for a moment on my way to report to Baron Kimberly… So I’ll just leave!”
Cordelia, who was flustered and gibbering, quickly got up and ran out of the teahouse without even saying goodbye.
“Driver!! You have to bring the coffee truck you ordered!!”
The owner of the tea shop ran out, but Cordelia was nowhere to be seen, so he placed the coffee Cordelia had ordered on Diane’s table, asking them to taste it.
“What car is this?”
When a black tea, which I had never seen before, was placed on the table, Hiria, who usually likes tea, showed interest.
“Ah! I guess you’re a foreigner? This time, the driver brought coffee from the elf realm. If you grind it and drink it, the scent is perfect! Some people don’t like it because it tastes bitter, and some people don’t like it because it can make it hard for them to sleep at night depending on their constitution. There is also”
The owner strongly recommended her coffee, saying that it can be enjoyed warm or cold, and they each took a cup.
“Oh, really? It smells so good! It tastes a little bitter, though.”
“So now I started cultivating it in my garden. It wasn’t difficult to grow, and it soon bore fruit.”
“Hmm~ Really? Is it possible to package just a few of these coffee fruits?”
“Yes, it is possible! It is also a good idea to brew the tea yourself and find the consistency that suits you.”
Hiria’s head was spinning as she thought about ways to make money from these fruits, and it led her to think that she should further punish the magistrate who was not able to utilize this specialty product.
After additionally touring the estate and assessing the situation, they returned to their lodgings and enjoyed a peaceful afternoon on the balcony, enjoying the clean air of the Teshidanikana estate and the scent of coffee made by Hiria herself.
Meanwhile, Baron Kimberly and Myer were bewildered after Cordelia reported that her party had arrived.
“Ah… Why are they here? Shouldn’t we start with His Majesty’s funeral?”
“That’s…”
Cordelia informed Diane of the current situation in the capital.
“But why didn’t we get this news?”
“Why would you come to this corner of the countryside to get some kind of military support? You probably thought it was just a waste of time.”
“Moreover, Prince Lee’s side probably did not want to create a reason for His Highness Yuno to participate in the war by informing Her Majesty Yuno of the current situation. Of course, even if she needs to recuperate for another half a year, she may overdo it and go to war.”
“Now that I think about it, it seems that His Highness the Crown Prince did not want to place a burden on his younger brother, His Highness Yuno. That is why he sent his younger brothers and wife to His Highness Yuno to protect them. Then, there will be less room for His Highness Yuno to interfere unreasonably.”
Cordelia asked Kimberly and Meyer, who were discussing various ideas, whether it would be better to first bring Diane and her group to hear the detailed story. Only then did they come to their senses, quickly pull the carriage at the residence and head to the women’s lodgings that Cordelia had identified.
*Illustration of the current state of the inside of Cordelia’s armor
