Unfamiliar lines of cars that didn’t belong in this world were travelling from the south of the Kingdom of Sandra to the north while raising clouds of dust.

Multiple vehicles that moved without horses pulling them; vehicles that were produced in another world in a country called j.a.pan. If the people of this world saw them, they would be surprised. However, there was only wastelands all around them without even a shadow of a person.

A [Type 96 armored vehicle] was moving at the head of the convoy. Behind it was a [Horse Trailer] and nine [Type 73 Heavy Duty Truck] used for transporting personnel following behind.

The one driving the [Horse Trailer] and [Type 73 Heavy Duty Truck] were the people from the Wolf Tribe, and the one who’s driving the [Type 96 armored vehicle] was me ― Fujiwara n.o.buhide.

The sky was blue as usual.

I narrowed my eyes slightly as the golden sun shone through the earth.

The sunlight was strong.

Although there was AC attached inside, the heat from the sunlight that poured into the the driver’s seat still burns part of my cheeks. Then, I hear an excited voice from behind me.

“Amazing! So this is a vehicle!”

No, I didn’t hear wrong. In fact, it would be correct to say that I’ve heard it since the time we departed.

It was Mireille speaking while sitting at the long seat at the back of the vehicle. She was leaning the upper half of her body outside the vehicle from the left side.

“If you make a horse run at this speed, they will collapse in a few minutes! Hahahahaha!” Mireille started laughing loudly.

I wonder what’s so funny. It seemed like riding a vehicle had left a considerable impression on her.

Well, why was she riding in the vehicle? I will have to explain it.

Let’s turn time back a little.

It was shortly after Mira had woken up.

“Princess Mireille, if it’s alright, I would like to talk to you.”

When I asked that, Mireille had accepted rather quickly. It had been postponed until now, but I had to ask why the Red Dragon Knight Order was here.

Aside from that, the user of the healing magic who Mireille brought to treat Mira has already gone back to the army before Mira even woke up to inform of Mireille’s safety to the army.

Even if it’s temporary, Mireille was still the leader of the army. If such a person was together with us, a long-time enemy, no amount of worry will be enough.

Let’s return to main topic.

Facing Mireille was a wolf tribesman equipped with a weapon acting as an escort while I’ve also removed the safety on the handgun. Since I’ve already experienced betrayal once, I need to be especially careful.

When Mireille disembarked from the armored vehicle, she was surrounded by the wolf tribespeople. Mira had also tried to leave the vehicle to join our talk, but she needed to recuperate from her severe injury.

After resting for a while, I stopped at one particular spot. As the place to talk was just behind the armored car, Mira could also partic.i.p.ate in the conversation.

“I know what you want to ask. Why is the Red Dragon Knight Order here, right?” Even when being surrounded by the Wolf Tribe, Mireille was still able to keep her calm.

Upon hearing that, I nodded.

“It’s simple. Our goal is to strike at the back of the Shugurin Dukedom army who had come to attack the town. Well, strictly speaking, we are aiming to strike after the Shugurin Dukedom army has been defeated by the beastman town. It’s a shameful tactic to take advantage of the situation while you fight them.” Mireille laughed.

However, even if she said that it was shameful, she didn’t seem that ashamed of it.

“Did you already know beforehand that the Shugurin Dukedom would attack the town?” I asked.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t know. However, it seems like the supreme advisor’s scheme has fallen through.” She shrugged casually.

“Scheme?”

“It’s just a petty scheme. When the Shugurin Dukedom attacked the town, we would come to attack them to so that Fujiwardono would have a favourable impression of the Kingdom of Sandra. Another goal is to completely defeat the Shugurin Dukedom’s army here so that we will gain a dominant position on the western front.”

“I see.” I nodded.

However, in reality, the explanation was within expectations. Given Mireille’s past att.i.tude and the current situation in the Kingdom of Sandra, it was easy to imagine.

“Then, can I ask you something this time?” Mireille asked, and I replied in positive.

“How did Fujiwardono lose when we’ve already grasped the enemy army’s action? There must have been some time before the army attacked.

In other words, is it alright to say that other than the Wolf Tribe, the other beastmen rebelled?”

I gritted my teeth upon hearing that.

A wonderful insight. It struck right at my sore spot.

No, perhaps the Kingdom of Sandra was already expecting the beastmen’s betrayal.

I’ve heard during the chaos that the Fish Tribe has connections with the Shugurin Dukedom. If that was the case, it would be something that the Kingdom of Sandra would know since they are paying attention to the movements of the Shugurin Dukedom.

But, contrary to their expectations, the town fell because of the beastmen’s betrayal, which resulted in this question.

I answered in affirmative to Mireille’s inference.

“Is that so..? No, this is quite bad. Since the Shugurin Dukedom has exposed their ambitions, if the beastman town falls into their hands, our Kingdom of Sandra will be over. We can’t do anything in front of those terrible weapons.” Mireille has a slight frown.

This time, she didn’t know what to do. In the past, the Kingdom of Sandra thought that the attacks from rifles and cannons were the result of magic. However, after seeing the vehicles in addition to the cannons that were covered by cloths at the top of the stone walls, rather than magic, it was more like technology they couldn’t fathom, or so Mireille told me a while later.

“Don’t worry.” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“You will understand when you see the town.”

I used ambiguous words since she would understand as soon as she listened to stories from the beastmen who were living in that area. There was no need to explain further.

Mireille had a strange expression for a while, but after seemingly thinking on it, she changed her expression immediately.

“Then, what are you going to do now? If you don’t mind, would you like to be introduced to the King? The King understands how useful Fujiwardono is so he would never treat you badly. Of course, the beastmen who came along would not be treated badly either.”

Thinking about it, it was very attractive invitation. But, I shook my head.

“Hmm... The Dryad Kingdom, huh?”

After thinking for a while, Mireille guessed.

It was a bull’s eye. My heart jumped a little, but I didn’t answer. I just kept quiet.

Taking my silence as an affirmation, Mireille continued.

“To buy land… Do you plan on becoming a n.o.ble? Certainly, you have plenty of money. However, for someone with an unknown origin, it’s not easy to become a n.o.ble. You need to have some background at least.”

Mireille has totally determined that my destination was the Dryad Kingdom.

It could be seen from her expression and speech that she was already convinced of it.

I gave up. I was really impressed by how she could tell.

So, I made up my mind and replied.

“What did you mean by background?”

“Let’s see... For example, a person who has experience as a merchant for several years. Other than that, a relative to a priest or the son of aristocrat... The point is, you have to have a clear source of money. If I must say it, the Kingdom of Sandra has studied various things regarding Fujiwardono. But, we can’t find out your ident.i.ty. If you have some kind of n.o.ble ident.i.ty, something like this would never have happened.” Mireille explained. “Even when we look at the track record of the trade, the trade of the spices and other trade were done secretly behind the scenes. If you showed the actual thing, it might become proof. But in doing so, I think only the same outcome as with our Kingdom of Sandra awaits though..?

“...I heard that there are many beastmen there. Even if the land does not have any value, and the other n.o.bles don’t s.h.i.+ft their attention to us, as long as we move to some remote place, we won’t need to worry about anything, right?”

“Well, certainly. Apparently, no matter what I say, you will not change your decision, huh?”

The Dryad Kingdom has a lot of surplus land due to the poor land and cold climate. Even if I can’t become a n.o.ble, I would still choose to stay there. Even if the land was difficult to live on, as long as it’s not a desert, I can still do everything with my ability.

The more remote it was, the harder it was for humans to find out. Even the current town was found out because we met with irregulars like Frost.

Then, Mireille said.

“Alright, bring me too. If you decide to bring me, stop by at the Imperial City of the Kingdom of Sandra. Let’s also bring the president of the Polo firm who you have a friendly relations.h.i.+p with. In this day and society, it’s common for n.o.bles to be surrounded by firms. If you were to collaborate with the Polo firm, and they decided to invest, it would be much easier to obtain the t.i.tle of n.o.bility.”

“...What’s your reason for helping? Why are you cooperating to this extent?”

“It’s simple. Our country doesn’t want to lose Fujiwardono.”

“Money?”

If I cease to exist, the Kingdom of Sandra would not need to pay reparations. But, the benefit of the spice trade was far greater than the reparations they had to pay. In addition, everyone could see that the Kingdom of Sandra was already exhausted after the war with us, the fight with the Robutas Kingdom, and the betrayal of western lords.

Taking into account of the kingdom’s current condition, the spice trade could be said to be extremely important. It was inevitable for them to stretch out their hands if they want to keep it.

“That’s certainly true. But, that’s not all of it. I will say it honestly. Our country is afraid of you.” Mireille looked into my eyes directly.

Since they’ve been completely beaten up by us, even if she said that they feared me, it was not something that was hard to understand.

Mireille continued.

“The fear from the King of Sandra in particular is remarkable. He even told the retinue that if they so much as talked about putting their hands on the beastman town in future, he will behead them. Even to me, the king gave a strict order to not have any bad behavior on this expedition.”

I was a little surprised when I listened to this, but I didn’t intend to believe all of it. It would be better to think that only half of it was the truth.

“And then?”  I urged her to continue.

“Before, you told me that the Shugurin Dukedom’s army will never get the town’s military power. This means that the beastmen left in the town still don’t know the secret of the power. This means that all the town’s power came from Fujiwardono, from your own strength. You have knowledge that can’t be described with words, a rare alchemy talent.”

“...I will just say that what you said wasn’t wrong.”

If you only looked at the results of [the ability to make town], what Mireille said wasn’t not wrong. It would be something they could understand as soon as they heard the story from the beastmen in the town.

However, to notice it even before she even heard about it, what a keen insight. It’s something to admire.

“Perhaps, everything in the town was made by Fujiwardono?”

It was useless to hide it anymore, so I nodded silently.

“As expected, the fears of the King of Sandra were true. How could such a city come out of nowhere? Now, all the puzzle pieces have been completed. I thought such tremendous power would be impossible. But, with that which is impossible, everything becomes possible.”

Mireille’s eyes were s.h.i.+ning brightly. She looked like a normal child. Her appearance wasn’t like the time of when she was weakened. It felt like she was being possessed by a fox.

“What we seek is only friends.h.i.+p. Even if Fujiwardono is captured by any other country, we will not become hostile with you, and will ask for you to be pardoned. That’s why we hope to have a collaboration.”

I didn’t reply immediately. Even if they said collaboration, when I think about the Kingdom of Sandra’s actions so far, I can’t trust them easily. I need to think about it silently for a while.

“Are you hesitating? Whether to believe it or not? Certainly, our Kingdom of Sandra had waged war with you. However, even if there are differences between each country, they are no different in their core. I will tell you that the Dryad Kingdom is the same. Although there are beastmen gathered there, the kingdom didn’t turn a blind eye to them. They just thought that moving the army to the place where the beastmen gathered was only a waste of money. Though the n.o.bles in the Dryad Kingdom put on a good appearance, they actually look down on those poor people. That place is strangely petty.”

Somehow, I remember the samurai from the Edo period. They try to show off by spending money without caring about their financial status, so it’s not uncommon for them to have a lot of debt.

“In other words, what I want to say is this. Is it not the same whether you start over again from our Kingdom of Sandra or the Dryad Kingdom? Or, did you already secretly establish a certain relations.h.i.+p with them? What I mean is, which one is better?”

Mireille’s question made sense. Even I don’t want to taste another rebellion.

Besides, there were other problems. I don’t know the detailed route to the Dryad Kingdom. It’s impossible that plains will continue all the way to my destination. If there was someone who could guide us, I would be be thankful.

In addition, it would be lonely if I bid goodbye to Elsa like this. I wonder if it’s because I was betrayed by the beastman that even if our relations.h.i.+p wasn’t that deep, I still wanted to cherish it.

Furthermore, I would need help to build a new trade route.

Thinking up to here, I let out a small breath. In truth, the answer may have already been decided from the time Mira was rescued.

“Alright. I look forward to working with you from now on.”

Once the talk concluded, my tone became natural and polite.

Like this, Mireille decided to stick with us.

Since it had become like this, I also explained about the current situation of the town with Mireille. It was something that couldn’t be covered up anyway. It just happened to be a little bit earlier.

Since she was going with us, Mireille’s weapons were confiscated, and besides Mira, there was another wolf tribesman in the armored car as protection against Mireille.

Part of the Red Dragon Knight Order that Mireille led also returned back to the Kingdom of Sandra. As for the other part, they were left behind to monitor the Shugurin Dukedom’s army and the beastman town.

Besides that, as I mentioned before, when Mireille went back to the Red Dragon Knights to issue orders, I purchased a [Horse Trailer] to carry Catherine and Mireille’s horse.

And then, the vehicles continue running on the rough land.

How far will it last? It’s like the end can’t be seen at all.

“We will not win! After riding this, I can feel how convenient this is! This thing called a vehicle is amazing! Hey, Mira! You come up here too! The wind feels good!”

“Do- Don’t drag me into it!”

Mireille’s laughter could be heard for a long time from behind.

It seems like she really liked the vehicle.