TL Note: I changed the terms "Second-in-Command" to "Adjutant". The
former is like an Assistant or Vice commander, the latter is an
Assistant(secretary) to a commander.
After we judged that the battle was over and all the enemy monsters are
fleeing one after the other, we then proceeded a two-hour chase, in which
we eradicated the remaining monsters and made sure we left no room for a
single one to escape.
After that, we returned towards the direction of the city gates, also calming
the soldiers who were still in heat brought by the aftermath of the battle.
The Ogres' retaliation caused us some damage, but overall, the results were
very good.
"See? I told you it's gonna go well."
I said to Lucy as I turned my head over to her.
Right now, we're talking to each other while walking side by side towards
the direction of the gates.
"Yes, I was able to make a decision, thanks to Yuushin's encouragement."
Lucy also responded in a gentle tone.
From the way she talked, it seems that the tension of the battlefield has also
dissipated in her, as if her earlier panic attack was a lie.
Well, earlier just now she has taken down a huge ogre with her own two
hands. if this success didn't bring an impact to her, i don't know what will.
Nevertheless, this is a good development for her, as she should now have
the confidence to stand on her own.
By the way, now that I have looked at their capabilities firsthand, I
discovered that all the units under Lucy are also veterans in actual combat,
despite their armors looking like a miss mash of some sort and their shitty
marching. And as expected of the vassals of the previous generation, they
also are a top-quality bunch.
We already had the troops and the resources. All that remains is to keep up
the excellent work, and we'll come out on top eventually.
This also means that I won't be looking for other commanders to suck up
for now, just for my survival.
"What I did was not much of a big deal. As all of it was up to Lady Finlay
in the end."
This is true. I was just setting up the scene.
Still, I am glad that Lucy got some good results in this war, if I honestly
speak up what's in my mind.
Lucy had always admired her father for his excellence in battle, and for
that, I had predicted she would end up following in his footsteps sooner or
later.
And it turned out to be true, as in this battle, she was able to get her first
war credit.
"This was truly a brilliant battle this time. With this, milady can now
officially call herself Baroness Finlay."
At that moment, the man who had always been listening to our conversation
from behind came to us.
I had exchanged a few words with this man, who seems to be the chief
vassal of Lucy, but he didn't say anything to me, not even a question on the
fact that I suddenly came out of thin air and fit myself in as Lucy's adjutant
without him knowing.
I don't know if me showing results in this battle is the result of him not
berating me, but honestly, the silent treatment he was giving me is actually
scaring me for a bit. I couldn't read what is in his mind after all.
"Eh...that, you see...."
What's more, whenever this old man spoke, Lucy is always on ears on him.
But this time, the words of the man, whom I assumed to be their chief
vassal, made Lucy look a little troubled.
Come to think of it, she had been addressing herself as a daughter of a
baron ever since we met, even though her father has been dead for some
time.
If she didn't have any other siblings, shouldn't she have taken over the
barony long ago?
While I was wondering for an answer, suddenly, this chief vassal casually
spoke – to me.
"You see, our young miss has been withholding the succession to the
baronial title from her father. In name, she is still in mourning, but we know
that deep inside, she was still unsure whether it is right to accept it,
probably because she hadn't earned any merits until now."
"I see. So that's what you mean. And with the current situation, Lady Lucy
will be...."
"Yes. Now that our young miss has finally earned her first achievement, it
would be the perfect time to formally inherit the title. But, of course, it was
also our desires, as her vassals, that she would succeed her father's title as
soon as possible."
As for me, I also want Lucy to accept the high position.
As for why, well, receiving the backing of the head of a noble family would
give me more privileges to use and more power to speak. And although I
plan to avoid it as much as possible, I would feel more reassured if I have
someone backing me should I come into conflict with another aristocrat. If
y ou a re a ble to rea d this mess age , you ar e rea di ng from an un aut hori
zed aggr ega te site. Re ad at m y Wor d Press at sta bb ing with a syring e.
ho me. blog to sup ort me and my tr slat ions.
For this, my and this chief vassal's opinions became identical.
In that case, I'll try to fire her up some more.
"I also think it would be a perfect time for milady to inherit the title."
"E-even Yuushin is..."
For some reason, Lucy is surprised that I had agreed that she should inherit
the title. I wonder why?
But now that we're into it, let's give her another push.
"By all accounts, milady has received the most contribution in this
defensive battle. Thus, I also think that now it's a great opportunity for
milady to show your intention that you'll succeed Baron Finlay's footsteps,
who was also renowned as an excellent commander."
I don't know a shred of what her predecessor was like, but as long as Lucy's
idealistic, it will be easy to flower up some parts to push her into it.
"Uh...okay."
"Thank you very much. I'm sure that everyone would be pleased to see that
milady has now inherited the peerage as she is now a respected
commander."
And so, being repeatedly persuaded by her chief vassal and her new
adjutant – both who have gotten close to her in completely separate
meanings, Lucy became close to being convinced.
But we only said a few more words and stopped speaking at that point. This
is to give her some space to think. Anything more would look like we're too
insisting, so we just let her mind handle the rest.
If she's intelligent and talented as they claim, she should already know that
it is not a good idea to leave the seat of the barony vacant for a long time.
I'm sure she will nod to our proposal.
And after a few minutes of silence, Lucy finally nodded her head as if she
had made up her mind.
"I understand. I will officially inherit the barony and follow in my father's
footsteps."
At these words, the retainer and I both exhaled in relief.
Especially for the man who had been in the service of the baronial family
for so many years, it must have felt like a weight had been lifted from his
shoulders.
In contrast, Lucy's eyes showed a new determination as she took on her
new responsibilities.
"Splendid decision, milady. But I hope the results of this battle won't get
you carried away in the future. That said, please engrave in your mind what
you did in this battle, for it will help your mind to ease a lot in the next
battles."
"It is as Sir Sanada had said. We, too, as your vassals, will not allow any
single monster to touch Lady Finlay as long as we're alive."
As we sang our praises to the young lady, Lucy eventually smiled.
"Thank you, both of you. Please continue to support me, okay?"
"Yes, of course."
"I will support you till the end of this old man's life."
But as I said that line, I couldn't help but wonder how long would I be her
adjutant.
If she could continue to rise to a high position, staying by her side forever
would be fine.
But if she reaches her limits quick, I would have to give up on her as soon
as possible.
By then, I would have to get another safe job far away from the frontlines
or find a new master to work on....
As I don't have any magic or military background, I would gain no benefit
in doing it myself. I'd have to be someone's adjutant, or else I'd be feasted
by the monsters which are all over the place in this world.
(Here's hoping Lucy will continue to work all the way up.)
The longer we get to know each other, the greater her trust will have in me,
and the greater power as her adjutant I will have.
Besides, I had also sort of taken a liking to Lucy myself.
If I'm going to be an assistant in any way, I'd rather be under a beautiful
woman than a disgusting man.
As I was thinking about this, the outer gate came into our view.
The gate was still open, and from below, the soldiers from the defense units
fighting with us earlier were all present and waving to us. T his ch apt er
tran slat ion is mad e pos si ble by sta bb ing with a sy ri nge transl atio ns.
check on ly up -to- da te tran slati ons on my Wor dp ress site .
The soldiers from our side also waved in response.
"We've done a triumphant return, milady. Please show them your best
smile."
"Okay, I will."
Lucy, hearing this, nodded and also waved back to the troops that greeted
her.
After passing through the gate, we were brought some horses by a vassal
who had come before us. After riding them, we moved in a march toward
the center of the road.
They probably wanted to make a good impression of their master since it
was her first triumphant return.
And as we entered the city proper, we received joyous cheers from the
people around us.
Probably because he defeated 500 enemy monsters without that many
casualties.
In the first battle that I saw, the human side was inflicted with terrible
casualties. Maybe the low numbers this time gave them a new light.
(Then again, calculating the strength of the human side, we had 500 troops
that participated, which, all in all, almost the same number as that of the
enemy. A hundred of them are from Lucy's troops, another hundred from
the foreign legion, and the 300 rest are from the defense and garrisons,
almost the same number as our enemy. But even though there was the outer
wall, our combined 200 units of attacking forces were able to eradicate the
majority of them unilaterally, so it's no surprise that we were highly
evaluated.)
Behind Lucy's troops were the foreign legion who had helped us in the
pincer attack, but they were receiving relatively few cheers on them for
some reason.
Well, each has their own tastes on which troop they want to cheer.
Also, sorry to say this, but all the credit this time belongs to Lucy.
After returning to the troop barracks, the soldiers immediately began a feast
to celebrate our victory.
However, Lucy, as the commander, was not able to participate in it.
But this time, it was for a completely different reason. As the commander,
she had to report the results of the battle first, the losses, as well as the
supplies that were consumed.
Of course, as her adjutant, I have to go along with her.
"But to think dealing the aftermath is already this hard, and it was only for a
commander of a hundred men. How much more for a whole battalion? I'm
starting to not think about it."
"I agree. But Yuushin will help me out in the end, right?"
While Lucy was looking over the documents and signing them, I was doing
some calculations of my own.
Fortunately, the calculation method in this world is the same as that on
Earth, and once you learn the numbers, you won't have any trouble with
them.
However, it's still a lot of work, so it's not easy to finish.
In the end, it took us until just before nightfall to finish our tasks.
Still, I prefer this to going out on the battlefield and fighting ferocious
entities at any day.
"Phew. Finally done."
"Shall we take it to the command center tomorrow? I really want to rest for
the day."
"Fufufu. Then you have my consent."
And thus, in this manner, my first sortie with Lucy had ended peacefully