ALL NOVEL Chapter 154
154. It’s Precisely Because You’re Recognized That You Get Saddled With Important Tasks, Isn’t It?
As soon as Van, the king, appeared at the teleportation circle, everyone knelt on one knee, and Kyle reverently spoke.
“Welcome, Your Majesty Vaindeck Midlights von Maugaria.”
“Mm. How have you been, Pioneer of Elixir-dono?”
“Thanks to your exceptional care, the territory has continued to flourish.”
“Wa-ha-ha! Excellent! And good job with the long journey, too, Batista.”
“My utmost gratitude.”
Today, Van had come officially as the king, not in disguise, but his attire was almost indistinguishable from his usual adventurer style.
Hey, is that really how a king should behave?
Since we were told in advance to treat him as the king today, we knelt and bowed, but it was starting to feel a bit ridiculous.
Still, with old man Batista and Elra present, I managed to hold my tongue.
“Let’s get right to the meeting. Kyle, lead the way.”
“Yes.”
Wait a minute—he’s already gone from calling me ‘Lord of Elixirs’ to just ‘Kyle’!
Suppressing the urge to comment, I quietly followed the two as they set off.
We left the hidden room and moved to a smaller reception room.
Once the maids finished setting up the tea, Van waved his hand.
“The important meeting starts now. Maids, leave us.”
When the maids exited the room, Van let out a deep sigh.
“Haah. I really hate formalities. Relax, all of you.”
“Your Majesty…”
Old man Batista looked displeased, but Van casually waved him off.
“Everyone here knows me. And really, expecting manners from that guy over there would just make conversation impossible.”
Batista held his head in his hands. Yeah, I get it.
I found myself doing the same, questioning if we should really act this casually in this situation.
Van seemed to read my thoughts and waved his hand.
“This isn’t some kind of test. Just act normally, Craft. You too, Leafan.”
Leafan and I exchanged glances, then shrugged.
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Yep, that’s exactly what I want.”
Van answered cheerfully, seemingly serious.
“Then what was the point of the prior notice?”
“Had to say something—otherwise, you might mess up in front of people who don’t know better.”
“Ugh.”
I couldn’t exactly argue with that.
“But Batista and Elra are here, aren’t they?”
“They know the real me.”
I glanced at the two and, silently sympathizing with their hardships, they gave me weary smiles in return.
“Now that we’re all set, let’s start the meeting. Everyone, take a seat.”
At the moment, only Kyle and Van were seated, but at the king’s urging, the rest of us sat down.
“So, Kyle, when will the delegation to the small states depart?”
“I’d like to leave within a month, but…”
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes. I want to go personally, but if I do, there’s the matter of managing the Golden Dawn territory. The officials you sent are competent, but I can’t entrust them with the entire administration.”
“That’s true… Hmm.”
Van rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
“This might actually work out well.”
Muttering under his breath, Van stood up.
“Batista, I’ll need to use the magic communication device. Do we have any spare magic stones for the teleportation circle?”
“Of course, but…”
Batista furrowed his brow, sensing trouble.
Van draped an arm over his shoulder and whispered something into his ear.
“Hmm… Not a bad idea, but are you sure about this?”
“Is there anyone else as talented as him who’s available right now?”
Batista closed his eyes, then slowly nodded.
“It might indeed be a good idea. I’ll make the arrangements and excuse myself for now. Oh, Kyle, please grant me access to the teleportation circle.”
“Of course. Uh, Leafan, could you show him the way?”
“Yes.”
Without Leafan, they wouldn’t be able to access the hidden room.
After the two left, Van downed his tea in one gulp.
“Craft, a refill.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I poured tea from the pot the maids had left behind.
“…It doesn’t taste good. I should’ve made Leafan brew it before he left.”
“If you don’t like it, don’t drink it.”
Why does tea taste so different depending on who makes it?
Van probably didn’t ask Jabil-sensei because he knew how terrible sensei was at housework. Living surrounded by golems taking care of him, Jabir had become a genius at being utterly hopeless at chores.
“Kyle, how’s the territory’s management going?”
“Smoothly. Would you like to inspect it later?”
“I’d love to, but I don’t have time. We’re busy building forts across the kingdom to push back the frontier. Oh, and thanks to the wheat imported from here, the food situation has greatly improved. You did well.”
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to Craft-san and the people of the territory.”
“Next, we’ll need mass production of rice. If trade with the small states goes smoothly, it’ll silence those annoying nobles. Make sure it succeeds.”
That statement raised a question in my mind.
“Hey, Van-sama. You seem pretty rushed—am I imagining it?”
“Just call me Van… And yeah, I’m in a hurry. Big time.”
“Is noble resistance that bad?”
I knew many nobles opposed Kyle, who became a lord of a large territory at a young age.
“That’s part of it. We indeed need to stabilize the country quickly. But there’s something else I’m more worried about.”
“What is it?”
“The monsters.”
“Huh? I heard things have improved a lot since we started using the Alchemical Reinforced Stone.”
“Yes. We’ve pushed our borders forward by building numerous forts between human territory and the monsters’ domain.”
“Are you expecting multiple stampedes?”
“That’s part of it, but there’s more.”
What’s that supposed to mean?
“I’m talking about the entire human race. Specifically, about the Xebias Union Kingdom to the west.”
“Isn’t that the large kingdom across the impassable mountain range?”
“Exactly. Along with our Maugaria Kingdom and the Dubatten Empire to the north, Xebias is one of the three major nations.”
I’d heard of Xebias, but I knew almost nothing about it.
“Do you have any information?”
“Travel between nations is nearly impossible due to the monster territories. When we invited Jabil and the traitor Bella, Orthros’ second wife, we had to force our way through with wyverns.”
“Don’t we have communication devices between countries?”
“No country has spares. Now that you can make them, I hope that changes, but… Understand that these magic communicators are incredibly rare artifacts.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Since I can make them as long as I have the materials, my sense of their value is skewed.
“Anyway, it’s extremely difficult to exchange information with other nations. But it’s not impossible.”
“Go on.”
“A few high-ranking adventurers from Xebias have fled here. It seems things aren’t going well there.”
“Bad enough to abandon their country?”
“That’s what many of them must believe. Xebias’ adventurers are key to its defense. If those on the front lines feel that way, the situation must be dire.”
“……”
I didn’t know much, but the western side of this continent was said to be monster territory.
And on the front lines of that territory was the Xebias Union Kingdom. If the situation there is deteriorating…
“I believe the three major nations need to unite. Thanks to your efforts, we now have surplus food and troops. We must cooperate with other countries to defend human territory.”
“…You’re surprisingly kingly sometimes.”
“Want me to punch you?”
Since the mood had become too serious, I teased him a little.
“There are no safe routes between the three nations. The only way through is to gather strong warriors and cut through the monster territory—or use dragon knights like Orthros to fly over it. But the Golden Dawn has already defied those conventions.”
Van stood and looked out the window, gazing at the roads stretching in all directions.
“You paved roads through dangerous frontiers and built castles that can fight off monsters. Now, I want you to do the same with the small states.”
“Why the small states?”
“They’re situated between the three major nations. From there, we can create trade routes connecting the three. That’s why alliances and cooperation with them are essential.”
Van turned to Kyle, raising his hand.
“Kyle! Whatever it takes, win over the small states! Through alliances, cooperation, conquest, or merger—do whatever is necessary!”
“Yes, sir!”
Kyle immediately knelt on one knee.
“Yeah, sure, but let’s be real—Kyle can’t conquer anything.”
“I know that! But let me act cool, okay?”
It’s impossible to take him seriously.