“What? There was a moat and high walls?”
“Y-? yes. It was an easy-to-protect village, being defended using a deep moat and high walls.”
“I see. Good work, you may go.”
“Ha!”
While staring at the Heralder’s back, I think about the village he’d just described.
According to him, there was a moat and high walls.
That’s strange.
I never heard of such things while performing my tax duties.
“There may be more to this than meets the eye.”
“You may be right.”
The chief butler answers me in a serious tone.
“…It may be possible that they’re planning a rebellion against us.”
“Wha-? But such a thing…”
“Still, lady niece was expelled from her house unreasonably yes? Even if Alicia-sama handed her a village to develop, it’s not like you showed her special preference either.”
“Mu.”
Hearing it like that, even I couldn’t refute the point he’d made.
Still I always thought Aria wasn’t such a child, but was it only my misunderstanding?
I regain my composure, and resume my journey towards the village.
***
After a while, we could see the pioneering village come into view.
Surrounded by high walls, a large building could be seen in the middle of it.
However, it’s defensive power wasn’t as high as it looked.
The walls were made of stone, but it didn’t seem possible to attack from top of them.
The height was also nothing commendable.
You could make something that tall, without even the use of scaffolding.
Even if it were attacked, if you rush in with a hoard it won’t be difficult to take down.
If it was made by human hands, it would fall apart easily as well.
(Wait, just what am I thinking?)
I was planning how to raze a village, which had only made walls high enough to keep monsters away.
I’m sure they must have built it after learning how vicious monsters can be.
This is all because of that head butler running off his mouth needlessly.
When I glance at him, he didn’t seem as tense as he was before.
He must have also realized that they’re just precautionary measures.
As we get near the village, there was indeed a moat dug up, and on our side of it 2 girls could be seen waiting for us.
One of them was Aria, and the other must have been a resident of the village.
They seemed to have come out in order to welcome us.
As we get closer, Aria and the girl beside her bow their heads.
I stand in front of the group, and approach them.
“I appreciate the warm welcome. Are you well, Aria?”
“It has been a long time. Thanks to Margravine Floria, everyone is faring well.”
“Enough flattery. It’s fine even if you call me aunt Alicia like before, you know?”
“No, I am not of that house anymore. It would be disrespectful of me to do that.”
“Hm. I see. Can’t be helped then.”
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It felt a bit lonely, but it can’t be helped.
If this pioneering village succeeded, I was planning on welcoming this territory as a branch of my family, but that seemed difficult for now.
There were no males in this village, after all.
It would be difficult even to maintain land in this country.
“Though I may not have much to offer, please enter my home, Lady Margravine.”
“Yeah, I also wanted to see the state of this village. Give me a tour.”
“Very well.”
We head towards Aria’s residence, while being guided by her.
The house where she lived turned out to be the large stone house, which could be seen from afar.
As I was walking, the head butler approaches me and whispers in a voice which couldn’t be heard by Aria.
“Alicia-sama. This village seems suspicious, after all.”
“? What do you mean?”
“Including that wall, the stones used to make this house are too clean. I’m afraid they may have had help from a magician.”
“What?”
Now that he mentions it, the stones used to make the house and walls seemed too neatly lined up.
Buying such uniform stones would come out to quite an expense.
Which means it’s quite possible that this was the work of a magician.
(I’ll try and pry into this)
Rather than the closed-off house, we’re less likely to be ambushed outside here even if we’re surrounded by a moat, plus it’s easier to use our advantage in numbers.
I’m also fairly confident in my magic.
As long as we’re not ambushed, it’s not out of question to turn any attackers into cinders using fire magic.
“Speaking of, Aria, you seem to have a splendid house with strong walls, but how did you manage to make all this?”
“Eh? Ah, a traveling magician recently moved in with us, he’s the one who made them. I apologize for the delay in reporting this. The Demon Forest had recently become more active, so I wanted him to stay with us till springtime. I believed registering him in spring thus made more sense.”
“I see, a magician…”
It was a magician after all.
It seemed weird that he moved in, but at least the worst case was avoided.
Wait no, maybe he’s forcing Aria to use her body in order to make him stay.
If that’s the case, I’ll offer to deal with him appropriately.
In any case, it won’t do if I didn’t meet him personally.
“We’ll manage his registration for you. I’m a bit interested in that magician though, can’t I meet him?”
“Ah, yes. Then let me call him.”
Before we knew it, we’d reached her home while chatting about things.
When I said I wanted to meet him, Aria headed to the back of the house.
Apparently, they were also living together.
“Alicia-sama, is it alright?”
The head butler asks me in a worried voice.
“I have confidence in my magic. Besides, if there really is a magician, it’s better to deal with him upfront, rather than some place where we can’t see him.”
“…I see, indeed that is certainly true.”
“I have brought him with me.”
Aria came back immediately.
From behind her, a single boy steps out.