A few days later, the transport unit carrying the holy coins finally arrived in the territorial capital.

The evening before, they had reached a town two stops away, and while we were informed of their approach, the townspeople were not. The sudden arrival of a large unit near their town caused some confusion. However, the situation quickly settled when Liesel, dressed in ceremonial attire rather than armor, appeared on horseback.

The dungeon had been discussed during the festival, and people were aware that this was about the right time for its reopening.

Still, if they had informed the town a bit earlier, there wouldn’t have been any confusion.

Liesel and Seriana should have realized that… or was it intentional?

At first, I was just observing from above, but something about the whole scene felt staged.

Regardless, the unit safely entered the town and proceeded straight to the Knight Order’s headquarters.

There were about 50 members in total.

Considering they were transporting an extremely valuable cargo from the royal capital, the number seemed a bit low. But apparently, half of the unit had been sent back upon entering the Riana territory.

Originally, the unit had 100 members when it departed from the royal capital.

Even so, the number still felt small. However, the soldiers from the territories they passed through had accompanied them along the way, bringing the total to around 200 at any given time.

For the lords of those territories, it was a good opportunity to mobilize their own troops freely, so they were happy to cooperate.

Unlike our land or Zelkis’s, the more refined territories have strict jurisdictional divisions between towns, making it difficult for even the ruling lords to move troops as they please.

There’s a lot of politics involved…

◇

“Hey, Lady Seria. Is there nothing planned after this?”

After returning to the room from outside, word arrived that the Knight Order had completed the reception procedures.

Of course, we couldn’t accommodate everyone in this mansion, so they were distributed among Alec and August’s estates, as well as the barracks of our own Knight Order.

Only a handful of high-ranking officers were staying here.

Not that it mattered to this southern wing, since they were all men.

Teresa had gone to oversee the arrangements, and I would get a report from her once she returned.

The town had been excited for a moment when the unit arrived, but now everything seemed back to normal. Was that fine?

There was a ceremony planned to officially open the dungeon, but the preparations had already been completed. The Adventurer’s Guild had closed down a few days ago to link its underground level to the dungeon.

According to the schedule, Liesel and I would be heading to the dungeon the morning after tomorrow, but nothing had been planned until then.

“Yes. This is only a transport unit, and there are no accompanying merchant caravans either. It won’t affect the residents. Of course, we need to prepare for the adventurers who will start arriving soon…”

“I see… makes sense.”

Normally, when a large number of soldiers move, merchants and other civilians travel with them.

Bandits and monsters tend to avoid heavily armed groups.

This pattern is especially noticeable during the spring enrollment season.

It’s not an official recommendation, but civilians often take advantage of military movements for safer travel.

In terms of military strength, this unit surpassed those spring convoys.

However, they were transporting holy coins.

The real threat wasn’t monsters but people.

That’s probably why they didn’t allow anyone to follow them.

Now that I think about it, when I was observing from above, there weren’t any followers trailing the unit.

The Central Knight Order is well-disciplined.

Even after arriving, they wouldn’t go wild in town.

They would leave in a few days.

In that case, it made more sense to focus on the adventurers who would arrive after the dungeon’s opening.

“Hm?”

“What’s wrong?”

As I was thinking about all this, Seriana let out a surprised noise.

She had been reading a letter delivered along with the reception report.

Was there something unusual in it?

“Oh. It seems that this unit is being led by Yusef.”

“…Yusef? You mean the Grandmaster?”

I had forgotten his family name, but Yusef was the Grandmaster of the Knight Order.

Lords of counties and above could form their own Knight Orders, so he wasn’t in command of every knight in the country. However, in times of crisis, all authority would be consolidated under him.

In essence, he was the highest-ranking knight in the kingdom.

Incidentally, he was good friends with the old man from the Müller family.

They were around the same age and had a similar personality.

Still, for Yusef to come all this way personally…

Well, I suppose transporting 10,000 holy coins warranted such precautions.

…Thinking about the real situation behind it all made my chest ache.

“That Yusef, huh. Take this to Liesel’s office.”

Seriana had finished writing her reply as she spoke.

After confirming that the ink had dried, she rolled up the letter, sealed it, and handed it to me.

“Hm? Got it.”

I wasn’t sure what the letter said, but based on the timing, it was probably just a greeting.

“I don’t know about Lord Zighart, but Alec and Lord Luban should be there too. They might bring up dungeon exploration, so gather as much information as you can.”

“Oh! Good point!”

Elena’s words made me clap my hands together.

Alec had left town to meet up with them, and Luban had been busy with various matters as well.

This was a great opportunity.

“Alright, I’m heading out!”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind Garment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】・15 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・8 cards