The Heir of the Dragon Emperor and his Bride Corps Translation

24.2 A Purchase by the King and his Sworn Sisters and Gathering Intelligence on the Side

Haruka and I separate from Lizette and start walking.

Haruka: [Aniue-sama, do you think that the dragon vein magic circle is inside the “Land Enlightened Cult’s” fortress?]
Haruka suddenly says as she looks at my face.

Me: [Yeah, magic circles were either in castles or towns during the era of the Dragon Emperor. So, if the fortress is from the same time period, then I think it’s pretty likely the magic circle is there.]
Haruka: [Still, we can’t just attack it out of nowhere.]
Me: [It’s cause we don’t know the enemy’s strength. If the fortress was to suddenly have 100 soldiers stationed inside…]

….No, I could just wipe them out using “Dragon Breath.” Although I’d fine going forward with this, won’t Lisette and Haruka be troubled? Both of them would definitely follow me in after all.

Me: [I just want some basic information. Just learning number of people inside the Fortress would make this easier.]
Haruka: [Then, why don’t we try going to the mercenary guild?]
Me: [Mercenary guild?]
Haruka: [To be more precise, it’s the place where the King-sama and Viceroy-sama recruit soldiers. During times like this where a nasty cult is causing trouble everywhere, the fighting strength of just normal soldiers isn’t enough. As such, other people are temporarily employed.]
Me: [Just like the so called “Adventure Guild”.]
Haruka: [That’s……I don’t know about that, but they have information about “fighting any enemy in any place.” They’ll probably give us information about the fighting strength of the cult.]

I see. That’s a perfect place for collecting information.

Me: [Okay, let’s go and have a look. Please show me the way.]
Haruka: [Leave that to me, Aniue-sama.]

With those words, Haruka takes my hand.
Haruka: [This is for preventing Aniue-sama from getting lost.]

Haruka laughs as she stares at my face in wonder.
Haruka: [This is Aniue-sama’s first time visiting this city, so just in case.]
Me: [No, there aren’t enough people walking around to get lost.]
Haruka: [But in this world, whenever the sworn-imouto guides her sworn-brother around, her duty to lead him by the hand.]
Me: […..Is that so?]
Haruka: [Doubting your sworn-imouto isn’t good, Aniue-sama.]

After all, Haruka is grinning.
Haruka: [I see, looks like once we return, I need to tell Aniue-sama about the sworn-brother and imouto rules.]

Although, Haruka is bashful, it can’t be helped. We resume walking, holding hands as sworn-brother and imouto. We immediately find the “Mercenary Guild” Haruka mentioned. On the main street before the building is a crowd of people holding swords and shields. They’re quite conspicuous.

A sign has been placed by the entrance. Written on it is:
Me: [“Looking for warriors to stand against the “Land Enlightened Cult. A volunteer soldier who’s virtuous—?”]
Haruka: [These volunteer soldiers, aren’t they just free labor?]
Me: [Although, if it’s the people from this town, they might cooperate.]
Haruka: [It still has nothing to do with us.]

She’s right. What we’re trying to do is completely motivated by self-interest.

Soldier: [What? Are you guys aspiring volunteer soldiers?]
A soldier standing at the entrance looks me and Haruka. He is different from other soldiers. A coat of arms has been placed on the chest of his armor.
Soldier: [I’m a soldier under “Kitaru Viceroy-sama’s” direct command… Fumu, the two of you are too thin to be soldiers. Still, you can probably be part of the supply unit. You two don’t want be voluntary soldiers, right? The supply unit moves quite slowly…they are always short of people. We can employ even you two. How does payment in food sound?]

A faint smile crosses his face as he talks.

….Don’t joke with me. They’re slow and always short of people…… because they make easy targets for the enemy.

Me: [Yeah, true…]
Still, I pretend to think about it for a bit. Just that much is good. I was a working adult in my world, after all. Now, to utilize my reality processing ability to extract information from him.
Me: [The decisive battle against the “Land Enlightened Cult” will become a legend, right? Being involved in that would be a honor.]
Soldier: [Yeah, that insect cult where only the upper class are willing to fight. All the others are just a gathering of peasants. They won’t stand a chance against trained soldiers.]
Me: [But, I heard they’re hiding inside a fortress.]
Soldier: [Doesn’t matter. The great “Kitaru Viceroy-sama’s” soldiers are fighting. No matter the size of the fortress, it will go down in no time. Although,]

The soldier’s lips twist with a sardonic smile.

Soldier: [In the end, only we soldiers who’ve been serving Viceroy-sama for generations will get rewarded for this. The volunteer soldiers and mercenaries, they will be our stepping stones. Even so, this is a great honor enough for them.]
Haruka: [That’s amazing…]
Me: [Re-really now…]
Haruka and I nod with monotoned responses.

It’s easy to understand. Let the volunteer soldiers and mercenaries fight it out while the enemy’s base is attacked by the soldiers under the viceroy’s direct command. Other than that, I understood from the conversation that “Kitaru Viceroy’s” army will soon attack the cult. Considering that a public notice that was put up, the cult probably knows of this as well.

But with that said, whether this soldier-san knows accurate information about the fortress is unknown. According to the Harpy, the cult’s fortress is on top of a rocky mountain and is quite small. It can only fit in 10 people at most. However, being on a mountain top makes it hard to attack. Furthermore, there’s only one path to the fortress. If they focus their defense there, getting through would be a tough battle.

Since I also requested the Harpy to carry reconnaissance, I’ll get more detailed information about it later.

Haruka: [So, what should we do?]
Me: [Yes?]
Haruka: [About the volunteer soldier talk.]

Oh, about that.

Soldier: [Right now, the number volunteer soldiers is still small. If you’re lucky, you might catch the eye of the hime-sama[1] commanding the army. So how about it? Writing down your names and addresses will be enough…]

Haruka: [Aniue-sama!]
Suddenly, Haruka pulls my sleeve. She uses all her might and moves me away from the soldier in front of me.

[For interrupting your conversation, excuse me!]
All of a sudden, a young girl appears from behind us and raises her voice.
Girl: [You’re a soldier under the direct command of Kitaru Viceroy-sama?]
Soldier: […I am.]
Girl: [I come with a good story for you to hear.]

The young girl’s light blue hair shakes as she talks. She is petite. From what I can see, she feels like she’d be in the upper grades of elementary school. She’s wearing a shabby robe holds a dagger in her hand. Both her hands and her feet are covered in dirt. I get the feeling she’s exhausted.

Regardless, she lifts her head and looks straight at the soldier.

Girl: […I’m a warrior from the capital, my name is Yukino. In search of a true Lord to serve, I’ve travelled all over the country. I’ve come here to confirm if the Kitaru Viceroy is worth for me to serve.]

The young girl raises a finger.

Yukino: [Please, I request an audience with Viceroy-sama. Should accept me, something like the fortress of the “Land Enlightened Cult” would be ours in a flash.]

She puffs her chest as she makes her declaration to the soldier.

Then—-

Soldier: [Too small, too thin. Making unrealistic claims. Despite that, full of arrogance. If I take you in, you’d become my problem. Not accepted.]
Yukiko: [Eh?]

Po—its.

The young girl is quickly thrown out of the “Mercenary Guild.”


E/N: I’m going to try adding people’s names before their lines. Let me know if you like it or not. Depending on your answers, I’ll keep doing it or not.

[1] princess

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