Chapter [NaN] |
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Intermission 6 Ryo’s Training (Part 2)
Editor: Tseirp
(I am Ashley Buckland, the head of the East Gate Royal Capital Guard. For a long time, I was a member of the Kingdom of Knightley’s western garrison, but after the liberation of the Kingdom, I was transferred to the Royal Capital Guard. Coming from a Count’s family, I was put in charge of the east gate immediately after my transfer. More often than not, I would be the target of envy and jealousy, but I was blessed with a good workplace and have been allowed to work for the past month without any such problems.
When I was in the western garrison, some of my colleagues used to harass me because I was relatively young, but that has never happened to me here. My subordinates listen to my orders and are very hard-working. Normally, most of the garrison in a city would be slacking off in their work, but I guess it’s different in the royal capital.
So, I have no complaints about the job or my workplace. No problems whatsoever. Except for one thing that troubles me occasionally…if I had to say….
And that would be Duke Rondo.
Such a bigshot, without any attendants and wearing just a magician’s robe, would just wander outside the castle…. Even then, he produces a guild card, not a duke’s plate, so the newbies of the garrison pass him without realizing that he is the Duke of Rondo…like I did.
Then, His Excellency runs a short distance away from the castle gates, where he begins to unleash his magic…against the walls of the royal capital.
When I first saw it, I couldn’t help but run up to him to stop him….
“Hm? Don’t worry, the walls repel magic, so they won’t break.”
His Excellency said so…and he was certainly right…. But, he probably didn’t realize that I was stunned and couldn’t utter a word. He actually shot an ice lance. Which, indeed hit the walls and ricocheted back toward His Excellency. His Excellency slashed at it. With a light blue sword, which I couldn’t tell where he took it out from. It’s called an ice sword apparently….
After that, His Excellency released several ice lances at the same time, and began to strike them down with the ice sword. It seemed like some kind of training, from the looks of it…. Although he said he was checking to see if there was anything wrong with the function of the walls… sorry but, nobody is going to believe that excuse ….
Oh no, that is disrespectful. The third daughter of a Count family questioning the premier duke… if it becomes public, my entire lineage could be wiped out.
So, from time to time, His Excellency the Duke of Rondo uses the walls for training…. I reported it to my superior anyway for the record, but he shook his head several times and said:
“Just pretend you didn’t see anything.”
From then on, the garrison has been turning a blind eye to His Excellency’s actions…. And honestly, I can’t say for sure if that’s the best course of action. Of course, if His Excellency’s actions had victimized the citizens of the Kingdom, I would have carried out my duty and tried my best to admonish him…even at the risk of my family getting wiped out! But that’s not the case….
No one is complaining, on the contrary, His Excellency even helps out from time to time.
He cuts and transports stones and wood to be used in the city’s recovery efforts…. Even the workers he’s assisting are most likely unaware of the fact that he is a Duke….
And as the third daughter of a Count family, I must admit that it’s a situation that is totally lost on me…)
“Thanks for helping out again today, Ryo.”
“Don’t sweat it, chief. We all want the capital to be all nice and new as soon as possible.”
There were workmen repairing the various facilities in the capital that were damaged during the liberation war as well as the ones that were neglected during Raymond’s rule.
They were repairing not only public facilities but also, in some cases, even facilities belonging to merchants and individuals.
It seemed that the reason for that had to do with… a discussion about whether it would be a good look for the Royal Capital, which is the face of the Kingdom, if only public facilities were cleaned up and the rest were left in a state of disrepair.
As for the financial aspect, a considerable amount of money will be paid out by the Royal Government apparently, but at present, there simply wasn’t enough manpower.
Not only in the royal capital, but in the entire Kingdom, recovery efforts and reconstruction work were underway, so there weren’t enough blacksmiths, stonemasons, woodworkers, and other craftsmen to go around.
Especially in the royal capital, there were almost no masons….
“On the day the royal capital fell, quite a few of the stonemasons from the royal capital came here to quarry stone…. They ran into a little trouble with the transportation which dragged on until late in the night. And they weren’t about to work in the night, so they tried passing the night in the quarry shed over there, and that’s when it happened…”
The person who explained this to Ryo some time before was the chief in front of him.
Incidentally, that chief is a blacksmith.
Since there weren’t that many stonemasons in the royal capital at present, Ryo often helped him to cut the stones.
Using <Abrasive Jet>.
One time, after Ryo bought his Rune house, he remodeled it and installed a bath.
The bathtub itself was made of wood that looked like hinoki cypress, but the entire bathroom was constructed out of granite.
And he had used his <Abrasive Jet> on that project.
So, he knew very well that his water-attribute magic would come in handy in cutting wood and stone.
“Wow, your water-attribute magic never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many times I see it, Ryo.”
“Oh please, you flatter me.”
Ryo was embarrassed by the praise he received from the chief.
“Anytime you’re not around, I have no choice but to quarry the stones myself, but I just can’t do it as well as the masons or the way Ryo’s magic cuts it out perfectly.”
“You are a blacksmith, aren’t you, chief? Do you also work with stones?”
“Nah, stone is not my thing. I do blacksmithing and woodworking. Originally, my job is to make carriages.”
As chief said that, he ran toward the direction where it seemed he had been called from a distance.
The apprentice, who was listening right beside him, supplemented his information.
“The chief’s carriages are amazing. They have a reputation for being very comfortable to ride in, even though he doesn’t use alchemy or magic.”
“That’s indeed amazing.”
Ryo replied, thinking of the guild carriage that uses alchemy to reduce vibrations.
But to reduce the vibrations without using alchemy….
Then Ryo remembered a conversation he had with Abel a long time ago.
He recalled Abel mentioning it while they were riding in the guild carriage.
That there was now a carriage that was comfortable to ride and doesn’t employ alchemy.
And the name of the maker was… one he had also heard back on Earth as it turned out….
Only that on Earth, he’s a well-known gun maker….
“Kalashnikov…”
“Oh, so you do know of him after all! That’s the name of the chief.”
“Oh, my!”
What a small world.
Ryo returned to the King’s office after helping with the quarrying of the stones.
“Abel, the walls were in good working order again today.”
“Hm? Of course they are…. It’s been up and running since King Richard’s time.”
“See, that carelessness may later bite you in the ass. We must always be prepared.”
“O-Okay…. Well, thanks for checking.”
“Oh please don’t mention it.”
Ryo was somehow embarrassed by Abel’s words.
Carrying on a conversation is such an arduous task….
“Which reminds me, you remember that chief I occasionally help out with quarrying, turns out he’s actually the infamous Kalashnikov.”
“Quarrying? Oh, you’re talking about the city’s recovery efforts. Yes, as I recall, Kalashnikov, the famous carriage maker, was put in charge of it. I remember signing the papers.”
“Abel, you knew about this, and you kept it to yourself!”
“Er, I’m just finding out now myself that you’re helping out with that though?”
“Ugh…. Well, now that you know, please pay me too!”
“Forget it.”
“Why not?”
“Because, you’re a noble, Ryo. It is only natural for a noble of the Kingdom to work themselves to the bone for the benefit of common people.”
“Noblesse oblige…privilege entails responsibility…”
Ryo muttered and let out a deep, deep sigh.
Nobles don’t always get to be arrogant and pompous as in some fantasy story world it seems….
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Bronze readers are now 2 chapters ahead; Silver readers 3 chapters ahead; Gold readers 4 chapters ahead; and Mithril readers 5 chapters ahead and have started Volume 2 today!