TD Chapter 35: I am Sorry for Laughing

“No, I’m sorry for laughing at you,”

　After a bit, I managed to say just that. My mouth was still slackened, but I guess I’m calmer than I was earlier.

　Panamera looked at me with a suspicious look, and Arte looked at me with concern. Espada, Dee, and Kamsin are still watching Panamera with a hint of caution, but I don’t think they’ll clash.

　I wasn’t aware of it, but the tension seems to have diminished thanks to me starting to laugh.

　I chuckled and opened my mouth.

“Let’s correct that misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

　I nodded to Panamera, who was raising their eyebrows.

“The only two subordinates that were given to me by my father were a child and a maid. I also didn’t receive any financial aid.”

　Panamera’s eyes narrowed as I announced that.

”…Then what are those knights and the steward? There two young knights hiding outside. Aren’t they your subordinates?’

　Dee quickly responded.

“We voluntarily followed Master Van. The other day I got a letter from the Knight Commander’s guy telling me to return immediately, but I ignored it.”

　Saying such, he let out a hearty laugh. Though that wasn’t exactly something which he should have been laughing about.

“You have to return, it’s an order from your commander. If you don’t head back, you will probably be expelled from the order.”

　I tried to reason with him, but Dee only laughed in response. As I watched in dismay, Espada interjected as well.

“As you can see, I am an old man,” he said, “and when I heard that Master Van was going leaving for the frontier, I found that it was a perfect opportunity to retire. To myself busy in my old age, I intend to teach Master Van everything I know.”

　What an annoying hobby. Isn’t he just harassing me?

　I’d like to complain about that, but it’s not so hard these days, since the lectures have become rather short these days.

　Dee’s training time has been reduced a bit because he now has his hands full with training both Kamsin and the other children of the village.

　Well, it doesn’t change the fact that they still make a point of coming to torment me every day.

　I guess it’ll be training in the evening and studying after dinner… again. As I smiled bitterly at the thought, Panamera opened her mouth with a confused face.

”…Then how do you plan to explain the transformation of this village?

“Would you kindly follow me? I will show you something which might clear up your misconception.”

“Hm? Where are you going?”

　Panamera’s eyebrows furrowed again in disbelief as she stood up.

“Outside. You just need to accompany me as I build a new outer wall.”

　When I told her that, Panamera stood up silently, even Arte stood up with a start.

　When we walked, the soldiers who had been beautifully aligned turned to observe us. Actually, it seemed that they only had their focus on Panamera.

　With a sideways glance at them, I headed for the main entrance to the village. Then Panamera, who has been following close behind, turned her head to the soldiers and said, “Follow me, we are going on an inspection.”

　After saying that, the soldiers quickly regrouped and followed her.

　The villagers had gathered around, but the only greeting I could afford them was a small wave. As a nobleman was in my presence, it would be socially inexcusable to mingle to much with the peasants while ignoring them.

　The social obligations of the nobility are a pain in the butt.

“Oh, can you guys bring some woob-blocks?”

　I suddenly remembered that I didn’t have enough materials and ordered a nearby villager to procure some. The villager complied and ran off to gather people to help him.

　Thankfully, it seems like they will fulfill my request without issue.

　After passing through the gate, crossing the drawbridge, and marching along the road for a while, an impatient-looking Panamera opened her mouth.

“Just how far away do you intend to build this wall?”

　Is she still suspicious? Well, I suppose my actions have been a little suspect.

　Seeing as we had walked a fair distance, I turned to ask Espada a question.

”Do you think that this is a large enough distance?”

“Yes. If it’s the wall of the main hexagonal body, I believe this distance to be enough. For any axillary bodies, we would need to travel a little further out.”

“Good. Let’s make it around two meters long so that we can easily modify it later if we feel the need to do so.”

“Of course.”

　After such an exchange, I turned back to Panamera.

“I will now begin the construction of the walls.”

“…Right now?”

　Panamera’s eyes tremble in surprise, turning them so look at Espada. Espada, who silently nodded his head in confirmation, began chanting on the spot. After about ten seconds, the chanting ended and the magic was activated.

　In the blink of an eye, the earth buckled and a huge wall of dirt appeared just beside the road. It was about two meters long on either side and at least five meters thick. The height of the wall was ten meters.

”Mm… so you are a retired expert four-element magician? But with just this, when the magic power is lost, this wall should also collapse and become meaningless.”

　Walking to the front of Panamera, I faced the newly formed wall of earth and put my palm against it.

　As it was made of unprocessed earth, it’s material composition was incredibly varied.The wall contained not only earth and rock, but also bone, volcanic rock and some ores.

　Normally, I would like to make a perfect concrete wall, but I didn’t have the required materials. This would have to do for now.

　After seeing that the wall had been solidified, I picked up the woodblocks that the villagers had brought in.

”…Is that the strange material that you used to build those houses?”

　While Panamera watched with interest, I quickly joined the wood blocks together and began to create the gate. I would coat the gate with metal later, but the shape and sturdiness of the gate needed to be taken care of first.

　I can build a five-meter-high double-doored gate in just ten minutes. It takes only five minutes to form the basic shape, the rest of the time is spent on patterns and decorations.

　The upper part of the gate would be connected to the other side of the wall later, but this should be enough for now.

(T.L. Note: Not quite sure what this meant, but it at least sounds right.)

“There we go… it looks about right.”

　Muttering that, I turned around to see Panamera and the others looking up at the gate with stunned faces.

　The accompanying soldiers also expressed visual shock at the sight.

　Breaking the silence, a confused Arte opened her mouth with a pout.

”…Van-sama, what is your magical aptitude, exactly?”

　Those words brought Panamera back to her senses.

“Yeah, that’s right. What was that? How can you do such incredible things? What the hell are you…”

　Flustered, Panamera tried to ask her questions calmly, although they ended up coming out in a terse and broken manner.

　I shrugged my shoulders at that and smiled vaguely.

”Unfortunately, I have an aptitude for production magic.”

　As I told her this, Panamera’s eyes widened and she shifted her gaze to the newly formed gate.

”Such an incredible power is a strategic threat. You can easily establish a stronghold to fortify a key location in less than a month. As for why such an incredible person is here… there can be only one explanation. Marquis Fertio is planning to use this power to invade the Count’s territory…”

”Oh, my father doesn’t know anything about my powers. He threw me out the moment he found out I had no aptitude for the four-elements.”

　When I replied, Panamera’s eyes narrowed in dismay and she exhaled.

”… How idiotic. How wasteful. With this power, the Marquis family could have become an incredible power… I suppose, since they kicked you out, that they could never have imagined that you would have possessed so much power. I, for one, would have never guessed that someone with your aptitude could show so much potential.”

　I point in the direction of the village to Panamera, who was muttering such things with a grim face.

“Then, let’s head back. I’ll resume construction of the walls tommorow.”

　When I told her that, Panamera nodded with a complicated face.

”I understand. I wanted to see you build some more, but it can’t be helped.”

　She agreed without an resistance. Apparently, Panamera’s misunderstanding had been successfully resolved.

　That’s good.

Previous Next