“Princess, do you remember mentioning before that distribution was being delayed?”

“You mean the Commerce Guild? Yeah, I remember.”

I nodded at Teresa’s words.

I happened to overhear something at Rob’s shop — they were saying some shipments weren’t coming in or something like that.

Since I hadn’t heard anything about it since then, I figured it must have been resolved…

“That situation began when certain western countries started gathering their own soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers. It seems they disliked the idea of potentially warmongering forces passing through their territories, possibly to wage war against the Eastern Great Forest Alliance, and thus chose to restrict movement.”

“I see, I see.”

Makes sense… I’d heard before that our Great Forest Alliance has a much smaller population, but on an individual level, our combat power is supposedly far superior.

The sheer number of monsters we face is completely different, which also means the chances to obtain Holy Coins are vastly greater… In other words, the number of people with Blessed Items or divine protection is much higher too.

That’s why, while the western nations see us as a nuisance and a block to their eastward expansion, they still maintain relatively peaceful relations.

The countries imposing restrictions probably didn’t want to appear complicit, hence the limits.

Teresa went on explaining, and thanks to her, I got a rough idea of why things had come to this and how this distant conflict might impact Riana, far from the frontlines.

However…

“…Idiots?”

That about sums it up.

“Yes. Absolute idiots.”

Hearing that made Seriana positively delighted.

This lady really is a die hard West-hater.

“Well, whatever. But still, even if we’re strong, it’s a war, right? Will your husbands be okay?”

Apparently, as a member of the alliance, this country will also be sending lords and their soldiers to the front lines.

Of course, the Duchy of Riana is no exception.

It’s newly established, but as a ducal house, it needs to maintain enough military strength to avoid disgrace.

So, it seems Liesel will be participating along with August, Alec, Zighart, and Luban—Riana’s core force, who are well known even in other countries.

Still, Riana borders a magical wilderness and is a land where monsters appear everywhere across the territory.

To protect the land, they’re apparently keeping the number of deployed troops to a minimum while only taking elites.

I know full well how powerful the main forces are… but will having fewer troops be enough?

That said, it seems people far more capable than me have already considered all that and made proper preparations.

“That won’t be an issue. Father is taking the lead in unifying the eastern faction of Mesaria. Of course, since they’ll be entering the battlefield, nothing is guaranteed… but there’s no need to worry.”

“I see—then that’s a relief.”

Of course, I’d never experienced war in my past life, but I did see it on the news.

So I’d unconsciously been using that as a reference… but it seems war in this world is a bit more… clean-cut, if that’s the right word.

The cause was utterly ridiculous—just a few high-ranking people in a few countries going rogue—but that’s exactly why they aim to crush morale in one blow with overwhelming power.

That’s why coordination is so important, and it seems the alliance side has been preparing for this for some time.

Apparently, my father is the one bringing the eastern Mesaria faction together.

Way to go, Dad!

“Indeed. There’s nothing we need to worry about on that front. The real issue arises after the main force leaves the capital.”

“…Huh? Are there people who might cause trouble?”

Well, there are factions that wanted to claim this area as part of their sphere of influence since the days of old Lortle, and they might not like how stable things are now… but I don’t think they’d be stupid enough to cause an incident.

“Sera. Do you remember how I’ve been targeted in the past?”

“Well, yeah… Even on our way back from the capital, there were a few attempts, weren’t there…”

That was back when we were just engaged, but now we’re married and even have an heir. Targeting Seriana alone now wouldn’t accomplish much.

“This is the perfect opportunity. I’ve wanted to root out the rebel forces in this land. To do that, I’ve cut off both reinforcements and communications. They must be getting desperate. Lately, they’ve started flailing about, trying to do something under the radar.”

“…Oh.”

Seriana let out a low chuckle, and I couldn’t help recoiling a bit.

Why does she have to sound so villainous?

Is she… deliberately trying to provoke an outburst?

Well, I’m sure they’ve been driven into a corner near the church’s facilities, and since they’ve been under constant surveillance, she’s probably confident they can be suppressed without any collateral damage…

“Ah! Wait, so that night you were up late—was that because of this?”

“Yes. Though I almost ran into one of the patrol soldiers and had to turn back right away…”

“Haa…”

So she’s been tense and vigilant behind the scenes, huh…

While I was sitting around looking clueless, Seriana was handling all that, and I couldn’t help but admire her.

Just then, a polite cough came from beside us.

It was Teresa.

Looks like the conversation wasn’t over yet.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sera ・【Hideout】+1 【Prayer】 【Blessing of Mira】 【Clothes of Wind】 ・【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】 【Red Sword】 【Monkey’s Arm】 ・8 cards

Seriana ・【Area Identification】 ・【】 ・40 cards

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

Alec ・【Power Strike】 ・【Red Shield】 【Fierce Horned Trumpet】 ・10 cards