When I was working as a civil servant, I was found out to be a muscle-brained knight by the princess knight and got sent to the front lines - Episode 193

Episode 193

“But I refuse.”

“…I haven’t said anything yet.”

“I’d love to be able to say ‘But I refuse’ to the king with such flair, wouldn’t you?”

“…Or rather, you definitely saw that, didn’t you?”

When the exhausted Jez returned to the bridge of the Mandjet/Mesektet, he was greeted by Victor. Normally, Erin would come out to greet him and offer gentle comfort. So Jez wondered, why did he have to deal with this fool when I’m already exhausted dealing with the king, prime minister, and queen? He gazed into the distance.

The pain from the queen’s attack still throbbed in his arm. It’s really frustrating. And that person is seriously frightening.

By the way, it seems Erin has left the ship and returned to the Saylor residence. René and Lilly are meeting with members of the 7th Legion who have come to the royal capital.

Seeing the weary Jez, Victor smirked and said the words at the start.

“I thought for sure Jez would accept the king’s proposal and retreat to a mountain cabin in the style of a certain someone from the East, playing harem games with three women.”

“Stop being an idiot. That’s enough.”

“By the way, I like the series you left behind.”

“So stop already.”

Victor teased Jez with a very cheerful expression. Despite feeling exasperated, Jez found that this kind of silly banter was actually a bit of a relief.

…Could it be that Victor is trying to be considerate in his own way? Jez thought for a moment, but then he saw Victor laughing at his exasperation and realized that wasn’t the case.

“But it was tough, huh?”

After a good laugh, Victor’s face grew a bit serious as he tossed a drink to Jez, saying “Don’t worry, don’t worry.”

Jez was about to drink it but stopped, looking at Victor with narrowed eyes.

“It’s really just a regular drink, don’t worry.”

“…If it turns out to be a lie, I’ll seriously hit you.”

Despite his words, Jez quenched his thirst. He sank deeply into the command seat on the bridge and sighed heavily.

“But I’m afraid I’ll run out of energy before we even get to the Divina Papal State.”

“Preparation for the expedition is reaching its final stages. On top of that, it seems like your private life is tough too. …Well, if it comes down to it, I’ll help you out with anything, even pretending to be pirates against the kingdom. So think of it as being on a big ship. Literally a big ship! …Or should I say, sky pirates?”

It seems that the carefree alchemist in front of him is willing to help if Jez ends up having trouble with the Tashman Kingdom government in some way. It’s a grateful offer from a friend, but ideally, he wants to avoid being in that kind of situation.

As the two continued their conversation on the bridge,

“Excuse me, but can we avoid such dangerous talk? I can’t really keep up with that much myself,” 

Cynthia said as she entered the bridge with a stack of documents. It was already night. After finishing a meeting, Cynthia had apparently had dinner and then returned to the bridge.

The Mandjet/Mesektet, currently in the wilderness near the royal capital, was being guarded by three hundred-man teams: the Al-Faz team, the Niemi team, and the Halvorsen team, rotating their shifts.

The ship was open to the 11th Legion members, but there were no people on the bridge until Jez and Victor arrived. At this time, everyone was probably in the living quarters.

Cynthia must have come to the bridge to finish the remaining work alone. She was impressively dedicated.

“Sorry for being so late; I’ll help out too,” 

Jez said as he stood up from the command seat, took the documents from Cynthia, and helped put them away in the command cabinet. Seeing this, Victor shrugged and said,

“It’s a hassle, but I’ll help out.”

“Why do you always have to say so much?”

“Isn’t it a huge improvement that I’m helping out at times like this?”

“…Could you seniors stop chatting and actually help out?”

As the three of them chatted and tidied up, Linnea and other staff members began to gather on the bridge. They had apparently finished their dinner.

The good camaraderie in such situations directly impacts team cohesion. The 11th Legion is a newly formed, ragtag group. However, from what he could see, they seemed to be handling things well.

…Due to the emergency situation, the working hours have become chaotic. Jez was grappling with the typical concerns of a manager, thinking about how to ensure everyone gets proper rest as soon as possible.

Thus, the preparations for the 11th Legion’s expedition were steadily advancing.

・　・　・

The next day. From the morning, the details of the 11th Legion’s expedition to the Divina Papal State were being finalized at the royal castle.

Given the events of the previous day, Jez was somewhat on edge. However, King Ramses and Prime Minister William simply said, “Sorry about yesterday, just forget it,” without any further elaboration.

Jez felt that pressing the matter further might be counterproductive. He accepted their words at face value and chose to move on, focusing on the meeting.

All possible measures were decided, including the specific route for the expedition, notifications to various countries, border security after the departure of the expeditionary force, and food stockpiling in case of unforeseen circumstances with other nations.

Then, the 11th Legion’s deployment was set for two days later, with a full rest day the following day to recharge before the departure.

The time for the debut battle of the 11th Legion of the Tashman Kingdom’s army was drawing near.