After breakfast, we split up the work and got moving.
“Well then, we’re off!”
“Be careful out there.”
With Ao perched on her head, Shiro headed toward the plaza together with Fran, Horn, and Sue.
The main attraction this time should have been the goddess statue that Ao created before. However since it was wrecked, it had to be remade. Thankfully, Ao could carve a wooden statue in a single day. So as long as there was spare lumber, it could be remade in no time. The rest is mostly heavy lifting, so Shiro and the others will be very helpful here. And since Sue and her group were deeply involved in the wedding preparations as well, they could handle coordination with the related parties.
“Alright then, let’s begin the meeting.”
“…Right.”
And for some reason, I ended up participating in a strategy meeting with the former margrave, the Margrave, and Emilia-san regarding countermeasures against House Kasuak and the Human Supremacy Cult.
Seriously, why was I being included in this?
Wondering that the whole time, I trudged reluctantly toward the study. As for Kent-chan, Maria-san and Toria-san were keeping him company and playing with him.
“Now then, you’ve crossed paths with criminal organizations in frontier territories all across the kingdom. Do you think they’ll back down quietly after this?”
“I don’t think so. I’m certain they won’t stop here. If I had to guess, they’ll make their move either right before the Harvest Festival… or during the festival.”
“Mm. The same as the conclusion I came to. Which is precisely why we asked you to stay for this discussion.”
So that was why they kept me behind. They wanted to hear about my experiences dealing with underground organizations up until now. Well, if that was the case, then maybe I really could offer some useful advice.
“Based on what we’ve seen so far, the real heavy hitters usually appear at the very end. Also… this is just my intuition, but it feels like the enemies we’re facing are gradually getting stronger.”
“That instinct is probably correct. To those criminal organizations, you and your companions are practically priority targets now. In terms of raw offensive power alone, suppressing your group is already difficult. And on top of that, my wife has personally trained you.”
The Margrave’s lips curled slightly.
“You’ve grown even stronger since then, haven’t you?”
Just as the Margrave said, ever since Emilia-san started training us, I’d become much better at controlling my body in combat. Maybe that was why I could now keep a bit more composure even in the middle of battle.
“The Harvest Festival is one of the biggest events in this frontier territory. Those underground organizations intend to make a spectacle of destroying it—to advertise their existence. And by provoking unnecessary conflict, they hope to throw the kingdom into chaos.”
“Either way, we have to stop whatever they’re planning. Though being forced into a defensive position makes this pretty difficult…”
Still, the Harvest Festival is only two days away. The real question is on how are we supposed to prepare for whatever the criminal organizations had planned.
Emilia-san continued,
“The wedding-related events are always the highlight of the festival. And since there will be many women on stage, it’s the perfect target for people like them.”
“They’ll likely try to destroy the goddess statue as well. To the Human Supremacy Cult, it’s an eyesore they’d rather erase.”
The Margrave added grimly.
“In that case… Sue and the others are basically the key to everything.”
The wedding events would keep Sue and the girls busy throughout the festival itself. Ao would probably stay close to support them, but the real issue was how close I could remain during all of it.
“You’ll be near the plaza anyway, Shun. We’re having you cook at the food stalls.”
“Uh… this is turning out exactly like what happened in the northern frontier territory…”
So in the end, my role would probably be the same as before—keeping watch over the entire area from the stall and rushing over the moment something happened.
The key point now is how the organized crime group will respond.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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